One Last Day

Today was the girls last day being four.  Tomorrow we celebrate their birthday.  They have been really looking forward to turning five and while I am excited it is also a big milestone.  My babies are growing up - of course they have thought they were all grown up for months.  

Their cousin Zoe (who is eleven) came to spend the day with them.  Both girls got up at 5:00 am because they were so excited that she was coming. They had so much fun playing games, painting their nails (as well as mine) and putting on the make-up they had left over from when they went to Disney and did the pirate and mermaid make overs.  I got made up too - although somehow I wound with red lip gloss on my eyelids.  Then they played hide and seek with their studies and ran around outside blowing bubbles.  After lunch we went to the pool and swam till it rained.  

Needless to say they were down for the count by 6:30 pm which was great because it gave me time to wrap their presents and get a surprise from my wonderful hubby.  I told him the other day that I would like a new camera so I could get better photos for the blog.  I said you can get it for me for Christmas and tonight evidently we had Christmas in July.  I had a lot of reading to do so I can figure out how to use it.  Hopefully I'll figure it out by tomorrow for birthday pictures.

Meanwhile - it's kind of out of focus, but I love this photo - even though they look so grown up.

Reflection on Our Match

A recent conversation on an adoption board I frequent has been speculating about how China matches our children. For those who don't know about the process - each month (although recently it's been not as frequent) the CCCWA (China Center for Child Welfare and Adoption) takes all the files of all the NSN (non special needs for those who are not familiar with adoption from China) children and the files of the people who are next in line and "matches" the children to their future parents. There are those who are pragmatic - they say they take the families from each agency and work to match them with the children who match up number wise to a specific SWI (Social Welfare Institution - some prefer to say orphanage) so that travel groups stay together.  Others say they look for similarities between children and parents - for example the quiet, bookish child with the older professor, the out going, social child with the theater lover, or the athletic child with the coach.  That they use physical characteristics or similar/close birth dates.  Then there are some who say it is destiny that chooses.  

I don't really know how our girls were chosen for us.  I don't really care, what I do know is that they are everything I ever could have dreamed of and more.  Funny, smart, silly and oh so loving.  They make me laugh, they make me crazy, and they surprise me daily.

Reading to Your Kids

Soap box time.  I believe in reading to your children.  We have made reading a daily part of our lives by reading bedtime stories to our girls.  They look forward to their story time each night (almost as much as i do) and pick out the books they want read each night.  Sometimes they go for weeks picking the same book or two over and over and other times they dig around and find something new.  But every night they cuddle up with me in bed and we read.  

If you don't read to your children ponder this.  Studies have shown that reading to your children helps you build a strong relationship.  It is a nurturing activity and encourages you both to slow down and be close.  Studies show that children who are exposed to reading early do better academically.  Reading helps your child with basic speech skills and nurtures communication skills as well.  The bottom line is that children who are read to in general are more likely to achieve academic excellence.  Besides it's just fun to read.

Sick Day

So four days before the girls birthday and we are all sick.  It started with the girls coughing at night and then the hubby started feeling icky and then I got up this morning with a slight fever.  Not a good time to get sick, my dad and his finance are coming over Thursday night to celebrate the girls birthday and then we are having a family party Saturday - so I've got house cleaning to do and birthday cakes to bake.  We went out to pick up cold medicine and grabbed lunch at Panda Express - the cups made me laugh - they said Panda Express - Gourmet Chinese.  The food was good, but it sure as heck wasn't gourmet.

We also looked for more clothes for the girls. Our county a few years back elected to go to a school uniform.  I am not happy with the policy as it has been hard to find the recommended clothing small enough to fit my slender girls.  They also don't have a uniform catalog, moms and dads just have to find clothing that fit a very narrow criteria.  I did manage to find a button up, collared shirt and jumper that will work - even though it is a bit on the large side.  

Rose modeling my latest school uniform find.

Fun Day Failure

Both of our girls are horse crazy.  Ever since the Arabian Knights dinner show success we've been looking for an opportunity to take the girls to see horses again.  There is a large equestrian showcase facility just down the road from the house.  A local website that advertises fun things to do with your kids advertised a Hunter Jumper Show this weekend there - it was free- so we decided to go.  We didn't tell the girls where we were going. 

When we got there we found a show ring, where a bunch of young girls and their ponies were competing and settled down to watch.  The girls were excited and happy to be there.  But then things began to go downhill.  First Rose got upset because she wanted a horse.  Her daddy took her for a walk to talk to her and almost immediately after they left Roni began to plead for a pony.  It got so bad I finally got up and went to find Rose and the hubby so we could leave.  Both girls spent the entire ride home begging for a pony.  Thank goodness our house is not too far away so it wasn't a long ride.  A trip to the swimming pool cooled things off.

Then while we were cooking dinner the little angels managed to sneak off with daddy's phone.  They were trying to take a video of Roni.  Below are a couple of the photos that Rose took.

Flashback Friday - the Girls Fourth Birthday

Next Thursday my girls will be celebrating their fifth birthday.  Wow it's hard to believe how much they've grown. So today a look back at their fourth birthday.

First we celebrated at home.  

Roni

Rose

Then we went to Walt Disney World.

Cup cakes at Hollywood and Vine.

Roni

Rose

We spent the night at a hotel.  The girls watched movies on their IPads and ate Swedish fish.

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom.

Finally a Swim

We finally got into the pool today.  The skies were threatening and the water was cold and high due to all the recent rain.  Aunt DeeDee had her underwater camera and we got some shots of the girls.

Rose

Roni

Then the girls got too cold so they went off on a butterfly hunt.

Do you see it?

Another Rainy Day

Recently all it seems to do is rain here.  We usually have a pool date with Aunt Dee Dee, but cancelled because it rained most of the morning and the forecast was for more rain in the afternoon.  So both girls and mom were feeling a little bit stir crazy.  We did come up with a rain plan for tomorrow.

But as to today - we watched the Disney version of Tarzan (again) and had chicken and stars soup for lunch.  The girls pretended to be ponies, had tea with their stuffed animals and played their new favorite Kindle game (a silly game where a little mouse sneaks around avoiding a cat and grabbing up cheese).  Whoever created this game certainly knows how to tickle their funny bone - I could tell every time they were playing with it as they both would burst out it belly laughs.  Somehow in the middle of all this fun Rose managed to trip and bust her nose.  At first I thought she was just stunned, but by the time we got to the bathroom it was a flood - I had blood on my neck, face and chest and Rose on her chin and in her mouth.  But oddly we didn't get any on the floors or clothing.  After pinching her nose for around five minutes we got the bleeding to stop and she managed to come out of it unscathed.

And the Best Dressed Kids Award Goes To...

We went to the grocery store this morning after a half hour fight.  One of the girls didn't want to leave the house because she wanted to wear her sisters shoes and said sister didn't want to share.  Finally the sister who didn't want to share decided she would and we managed to get going.  We were almost in the car when the elderly, self professed nearly blind mother of one of our neighbors called out to me.  She came over and told me that the neighbors were talking about the girls.  Evidently they all were commenting on how nicely the girls were always dressed.  

Now it happened that today both girls were in dresses, one needed to be ironed and the other was - I think - snuck out the hamper by it's wearer (upon closer inspection it was stained with fruit punch).  The dress that needed a quick press was accessorized with raggedy white "Dora" sandals that her toes hung over.  The "hamper" dress was white with orange stripes and the hotly contested zebra print shoes with hot pink lining on the bottom.  I had managed to run a quick brush through their hair and they both had reluctantly put on their glasses.  Neither girl had washed their face after breakfast.  

I thanked her a quickly loaded the girls in the car.  Hopefully I didn't blow the girls rep. 

They usually do look pretty cute.

The Things They Do and Say

We were watching old music videos a while back.  Motley Crue came on.  Rose sees Vince Neil singing and says, "Wow that girl is cool."

A few months back Roni was dancing while watching Dancing with the Stars.  Her daddy said, "You are the best dancer in this house."  Roni said, "No daddy I'm the best dancer on the planet."

One day at the pool Roni looked at me and said, "Mommy can we do this forever?"  I asked her, "Stay at the pool?"  I was preparing for an all out fight not to leave the pool.  She shook her head and said, "No mommy - us - can we be together forever."  

We watch a show called American Ninja Warrior.  After the girls watch it they spend days practicing their "moves".  I walked into the girls room the other day - they were way too quiet.  I found Rose standing on the dresser.  She was telling Roni who was on the bed to duck down as she was clearly preparing to jump over her.  It's a miracle we haven't had more emergency room visits.

So this morning I was getting ready to go on a job interview.  Roni came in while I was putting on make up - something I don't often do.  She watched me for a moment and then said, "Why are you putting on make up.  Is it because you are jealous that we are so pretty."  I gave her the stink eye and finished putting on my lip stick.

School Supplies - in Particular Glue Sticks

Today we went out and got school supplies.  I remember being a kid and hating seeing the back to school signs in the store because it meant summer was almost over.  Now I see the signs and I hate to see them because I know it means school supply lists and schlepping around looking for the best buy on items like glue sticks, crayons, markers, hand sanitizer and Kleenex.  Armed with our Kindergarten list we went to our nearby Kmart and walked back out almost immediately. The prices were high compared to the adverts we'd seen for Target.  So even though it was across town we drove over and dashed in through a rain shower.

We had to get twenty glue sticks per kid - which meant we needed forty sticks.  Target sold glue sticks in packs of twelve which meant three packs equalled 36 sticks - short four.  They did not have any four packs so we had to buy a six pack.  There is a class limit of 18 kids per kindergarten class which means each class will have 360 sticks of glue for the year.  Florida schools must provide a minimum of 180 days of instruction which means each class will have two sticks of glue per day - that is a lot of glue.

Before we went shopping we went out for lunch.  

Roni loves Root Beer

Rose wound up with Root Beer and Fruit Punch - she decided it was better mixed.

"Epic" Day

The girls got us up this morning at 6:00 am - maybe one day they won't be such early risers.  We had a light breakfast and the girls played for a while.  They have been busy the past few weeks working to prove to us that they are ready for a puppy.  They've been practicing with their stuffed dogs.

We then had to run over to Super Wal Mart to get Roni's glasses tightened.  I don't know how she manages it, but it seems like her glasses are constantly needing adjustment.  I strongly recommend if you have kids that need glasses you check them out - the price is right and the service is really good.  Once we had her glasses adjusted we had them check Rose's as well and then Daddy got into the act as well.  Once everyone's glasses were checked we took a quick look at the toys - two little girls have a birthday coming up.  

At noon we took the girls to see the movie Epic at the $2 cinema.  The price really can't be beat all four of us can see the movie and have popcorn and a drink for less than $20.  Both girls seemed to enjoy it, but a few scenes were a bit shall we say intense (really scary bad guy - loud music).  We both wound up with a kid in our lap for over half the film.  Hopefully they will sleep okay tonight - they were both asleep by 6:45 pm.

Flashback Friday - Cocoa at Starbucks

Visit to Starbucks.  I know a coffee shop what heck?  But the girls looked really cute.

Rose says yum

Roni takes a sip

My that's good

Roni did you drink all the cocoa?

Maybe....

That's okay - I still have some cookie.

Pirates Ahoy

Mom and Pop came over last night with a platform for the girls bed.  It came in multiple large boxes which wound up in the family room while the platform was being built in the girls room, by the time we came out the girls had decorated the boxes and had "built" a pirate ship.  We have been negotiating how long the pirate ship can stay in place since last night.