Laina Learns a Song.

Today, Laina had a MAJOR temper tantrum. It was about a toy and how she couldn't play with it when she wanted to. I taught her a song, and she learned it very quickly. She was kind enough to sing it on camera for me. Here it is:

SWIM!!

On Saturday Laina decided she wanted to go swimming. Not surprisingly, Min wanted nothing to do with swimming. I told her that she must learn to swim, even if she didn't want to. So, off to the YMCA we went. Laina had a great time. This was her first time swimming since the great houseboat fiasco of this last September. That's another story...

Anyways, the girls had on swim belts for floating and Laina was fine paddling along on her own. Min was always a half a millimeter away from full panic. We swam for about an hour. The girls were tired and ready for a rest after it was over.

Sunday, we did it again! This time, Min got a little used to things and she was able to paddle independently using a float belt and holding on to a swim noodle.

Today we went swimming AGAIN! The girls swam for a whole hour. I made Min let go of her noodle and I taught her the rudiments of treading water. I made her tread water while I counted to 10. She did this like a champ 3 times! After swimming the kids went to KidCare and I worked out in the gym.

The girls begged to go to bed at 6:30! So now, at 8:00 they are sleeping like little angles. Yeah...little worn out angles.

I have no pictures of swimming, but here's a picture of Laina wearing vampire teeth.



And Here's a picture of Min after she was digging in the dirt in the back yard.

Sweet Sisters




There's been a regular love fest going on at our house. Laina and Min will say, "I love you, sister" and "I love you forever, Mommy", and "I love Daddy, I want to see him right now". Oh yeah, and then soon after they've expressed their undying love and devotion, they'll whack each other over the head because someone has the others sock.

Halloween at our house:

Laina was a puppy.





Min was a Kitty.





They LOVED trick or treating and getting all the candy. My rules for Halloween candy are that the kids can eat as much candy as they want for a day and a half after Halloween and after that, they have to give me the candy and it will be doled out. Laina takes one bite and throws it away and then opens the next piece. Min learned from Laina and does the same thing. The short of the story is that there was no candy left by the next afternoon.

3 years a Family

On July 26th, 2005, we were given this picture and were asked if we would accept this little child into our family.








We met her on October 10th, 2005. Here's our first look at Laina in real life:



And our first family photo:



We went back to our hotel room in Chang Sha and started to make friends.



We learned she was very silly and sweet. She was also very passionate. She would scream and yell. She would tantrum and arch her back and smack her head on the floor. She was a challenging baby!

We didn't do anything for Halloween the first October she was home. We ignored it. But soon after we went to California for a visit. Here is Laina with the Monkey in the Zoo:



Here's her first Halloween, October 2006:


And her second Halloween, October 2007:



And here she is now, almost 4 years old, with her new sister...and the monkey!
Happy Family Day, Laina!

Laina's month.

Laina was born in December. But for me, her month is July. We saw her picture in July for the first time and July was the month that I knew we would be going to meet her soon and checked on the internet every day for news about when the referrals would be coming in for the babies. July 2005 is now 3 years in the past, and Laina is a very dynamic force in our family. So for the month of July, I will be posting about Laina. I'll add some in about Min, too. Her month is November, so you'll have to wait for her month to have her details.

Laina--the source the most frustrating frustrations and the happiest joys.

The dread pirates Plum

My nephew had his 4th birthday on Sunday. It was a pirate party and we were invited. Unfortunately we couldn't attend, so we had to send birthday greetings from afar. Here are our little Pirates giving their cousin some pirate greetings.





I told Min to look "Mean" and "Tough". This is what she came up with. Now, you're all terrified by her mean toughness, aren't you? Oooooohhhhh Shaking in my boots.....



Laina shows you her Pirate tattoos. Thanks Dollar Tree!!


Shiver Me Timbers, it's the dread Pirate Min, waiting to plunder your treasures. Yeah, right.

Just because...

Our beautiful girls...






About a week after we came home, we went to the beach with our friends Gisi and Moni. The girls were in the bike trailer that we converted into a stroller with the push bar. This was the first time the girls had shared close quarters for a length of time and they did great. Min and Laina now enjoy being towed behind the bike on the way to the park or some other place. When we're riding bikes, they'll have their helmets on, but since they were being pushed like a stroller, they didn't need helmets.

Two little piggies playing in the mud...

I got home from running errands and I had to put the groceries away. Laina asked if she could play outside in the back yard. I told her she could, and Min followed. I heard the water for the hose turn on. No big deal, they play in the hose and inadvertently water the lawn, so it's a win-win situation. I put away the food things and go to the window and I'm met by this:








The pink dress that Laina has on has been washed 3 times and the mud still hasn't come out. I don't think it ever will.

I let them continue playing after I stripped them down to panties. They played happily for about 45 minutes and then I had to carry them inside and shower them clean. Then I forbade them to play in the mud without permission. Punishment will be being hosed off by the garden hose instead of a warm shower. So far it's working.

My 7 minutes of Fame.

A few years ago I sent in some pictures of my mosaic coffee tables for consideration on a new show for HGTV. The program director liked them and contacted me and a few weeks later a camera crew was in my garage filming me make a table. Here's the result:



I don't think anyone really watched the show when it aired, but it was fun to do.