Lacey's First Prayer

I just finished tucking Lacey into bed. Every night she recites bedtime prayers. She asked if she could say her own prayer tonight and I encouraged her to do so. Here are the words of her first original prayer:

"Dear God, Thank you for Jesus are born. Her grow and grow. Her 12 years old. Her go to a place and talk to old woman and talk and talk. Her mom and dad go home. Then they come and look for Jesus. Them mad. Then Jesus go home riding the uncle. Amen. "

Opossum on theMove

We have successfully uploaded our first video!  Sadly, it's of a wild beast, not the children.  Here's our opossum having a midnight snack.  This pet is so much fun and I don't need to get up at 4:30 a.m. to walk him.

Oh Precious Opossum!

Here are some photos of our newest pet. We are loving it from a distance and it's oh so much less work than a housepet!

Proof that Cassie's opossum exits!

Seizing a sugar cookie!



Too cute for words



Unconditional Love

So, another week has flown by with the usual challenges and rewards.  On Monday I came home from work, met the bus and got the girls a snack.  At 4:30 p.m., I sat down on the couch and fell asleep.  So much for my great desire to get a bit of housework done each day of the week.

On Tuesday, I took Cassie to an allergist appointment.  While she was receiving skin tests, she was finishing the book, "Where the Red Fern Grows."  This is a classic that we've all read at some point in our lives.  I had a vague recollection that the book was sad.  But, most animal books are.  Suddenly, Cassie leapt out of the chair and threw her book on the floor.  She then collapsed back in the chair weeping.  The boy's dog had died!  I got her calmed down and told her she didn't need to finish the book.  Moments later she was composed and ready to ready the last few pages.  Oops!  The boy's other dog soon dies of loneliness.  By this time, I was getting teary-eyed because Cassie was so upset.  The nurse started reminiscing about  sad animal stories that she's read, and she started getting weepy.  The doctor came in and looked at us like we were a bunch of idiots and said, "Oh, my.  Are the skin tests that painful?"  When we got home, Les was cooking dinner.  He dropped a piece of meat on the floor and called for Saki to come and get it.  Of course, Saki is no longer with us.  Great.  Just the reminder that Cassie needed.  Missing, misinterpreting or deliberately ignoring my frantic gestures from across the room, Les proceeded to tell about a guy he knows who raises sheep dogs and "puts down" the ones who aren't good workers.  By this time, Cassie was sitting at the table weeping.  She reminded Les that she still felt bad about Saki.  Lacey sat down across from Cassie, looked straight at her and said, "I don't feel bad about Saki!"  We somehow salvaged the rest of the evening.

Overnight there was a bit of sleet.  So, we had a two-hour school delay on Wednesday.  The girls and I used our extra time to take down what was left of our ancient, artificial Christmas tree.  Since then, I've been cleaning up fake tree needles from all over the house.

Thursday evening Cassie decided to try sparring at Taekwondo.  I looked at her with her face all distorted from the mouthpiece and thought, "This is my little ballerina?!"  But, I managed to offer her words of encouragement and praise.

On Friday I took Cassie to a violin lesson.  As I slipped off my shoes to go into her instructor's house, I realized that I was wearing Halloween socks.  Ahh geez, slightly embarrassing.  At least they were clean.

On Saturday, Lacey and Les managed to get all the Christmas ornaments stowed in the attic while Cassie and I did the grocery shopping.  I then tackled the unending stream of laundry and Les agreed to fold.  He got tired of trying to reach his big hands into the legs of skinny jeans to turn them right side out.  So, he decided to return the girls' clothes in the condition they were sent to the laundry.  It was a little hard to fold the jeans that were half inside out and half right side out!  Won't the girls be surprised.

On Sunday, the topic at church was "unconditional love."   The vicar called the children up front for a children's message.  She asked if any of them had ever received great news.  A couple kids mentioned going to Disneyland.  Then Lacey said her great news was when she found out she was going to be adopted.  I was still fumbling in my purse for a tissue when the girls came trotting back and plopped down beside me.  Cassie leaned over and whispered, "I told her to say that." 

Another nighttime visitor

Our camera only caught the tail end

There it goes, across the neighbor's yard.

Not in any real hurry

In the center is a crow in flight!

Cassie's dolls acting out the nativity

Brown Bear, the angel, climbing into place over the stable

Opossum prints!

A visit with Uncle Bill

Good thing Lacey's not allergic to cats!

That Elusive Wildlife

For days we have been stalking the large animal that has been consuming massive amounts of food in our backyard.  We were in search of some gigantic creature that was robbing food from the smaller animals.  At last!  Our spy cam has captured startling images of the unknown nighttime visitor!!  See for yourself.  Could it be that Big Foot is near our house, alive and well??

Phantastic Phamily, Phriends and Phoxes

Wow!  We logged on this morning and saw that we have had 2000 visits to our blog.  We are having a good time sharing our ups and downs and keeping in touch with family and friends this way. It's also fun to see how people from many different countries, including Croatia, South Africa, Finland and France, have happened upon our blog.  To celebrate our 2000th visit, we are posting some more pictures of the beautiful phox(es)? who have been pheasting in our yard.

Skating

We made our first trip to the ice skating rink this season.  We went out to Old Town Manassas, where they flood the pavilion and turn it into a rink.  It's small and scenic and just right for kids who are learning to skate.  Cassie was a little rusty, but only fell twice.  She was wearing red "skinny" jeans and with her long legs, she looked like a colt.  Lacey was a good sport although she spent most of her time sitting on the ice.  She finally decided that she would have greater success if she kept her skates perpendicular to the wall.

I spent most of the afternoon trying to keep Lacey from hitting the ground and then trying to pull her up again.  A guy about half my age flew past me and knocked me down.  It seemed that he actually hooked his elbow through mine and deliberately knocked me down.  But, when he returned to help me up, I thought that I was mistaken.  Then  he said, "Would you like me to wipe the ice off your butt?"  "Yeah, ya perv."  I answered!  I decided that it was time for us to clear the ice and have some hot chocolate.

Lacey's horizontal skating

Cassie and her legs

Happy New Year

We wish a Happy New Year to our family and friends and hope that you will all have a year of peace and good health.

After our earlier excitement in December, we have been enjoying some quiet holidays.  The girls both sang in the Christmas program at church.  Lacey said that Christmas is "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus," and that Christmas is for sharing.  She also said that having a sister is better than getting toys.  Cassie's Christmas wish list was short because she no longer needs to wish for a little sister.

We baked cookies and Cassie showed Lacey how to frost, sugar and generally make a good mess.  I experienced a brief moment of panic when I thought that they had both contracted head lice.  Then, I realized they had frosting spattered in their hair.

Decorating cookies

We have still been feeding the opossum, crows and other unidentified animals in the back yard.  A few weeks ago, Cassie was taking out some scraps and came face to face with the opossum.  She was thrilled to have her backyard research proven true.  Bill and Dorothea sent a sutffed opossum for Christmas.  On Christmas Eve, I set it in the backyard, with its nose pointed toward the food dish. I sent Cassie out with a bowl of scraps and watched from the window.  I had tied a conspicuous red bow around its neck because I didn't want to cause too much of a scare.  She figured it out and scooped her new child up in her arms.  The opossum accompanied us to church.  Other girls were proudly clutching new dolls and Cassie was cradling her opossum.

The Discovery of the Opossum

On Christmas morning, Cassie was up at 4:19.  I know this because she woke me up.  She smelled like she had been rolling in sugar cookies.  So, although she denied it, I knew she had already been downstairs.  We made her wait until Lacey woke up to open gifts.  Of course, Cassie soon "accidentally" woke Lacey.  We took time opening gifts because we didn't want Lacey to become overwhelmed.  Many thanks to all for the beautiful gifts the girls received and for helping make Lacey's first Christmas special.

The Barbie dolls from Aunt Laurie and Uncle Bob

I struggled to find that perfect gift for Les.  He had only asked for a couple new shirts.  Easy request to meet - oxford shirts, button-down collars, one in blue and one in white.  Regretfully, I wasn't holding my camera to capture his surprise when he opened the   Jerry Garcia neckties.   I was also able to surprise him with the "beer machine." 

Gladis and Julio came for dinner on the 26th bringing with them Peruvian style chicken, salad and yucca.  The girls wanted to make Julio feel at home, so they brought out their "fart putty."  Well, that made him feel like a member of the family!

Julio, Gladis, Cassie and Lacey

The girls and I had a relaxing week.  Cassie spent Monday with Gladis at her apartment, while Lacey and I worked on her slide show.  On Tuesday, we drove to Loudon County with friends to browse some vintage thrift stores.  We found one antique store that specializes in German antiques.  The shop had an incredible collection of dollhouses, including a chalet and a cabin.  I found a matching set of chandeliers made from antlers that would have made a keen birthday present for Dillon except for the cost ($450 apiece).  

On Wednesday, we baked gingerbread boys and ate them for breakfast, much to Lacey's delight.  Wednesday afternoon, the kids from Odyssey of the Mind came over for a work session.  This is a school-related club that I have agreed to coach.  The 6 children involved are in grades 3 trough 5.  They will participate in an academic competition in early March that basically requires them to create and present an original drama.  I know I must come across as a lunatic for having agreed to do this.  But, the role of the coach is minimal.  I'm not allowed to tell the children what to do or to help them with anything they make.  I may question, guide and watch out for their safety.  Lacey is too young to join.  But, she watches and participates in snack time.  As the afternoon ended, these creative kids were in the kitchen stuffing cookies in their mouths, singing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," and dancing.  As I watched them, I acknowledged that this was precisely the type of activity for which my over-sized kitchen was designed.  Life really doesn't get much better than this.

On Thursday, we dressed the dolls for their annual Christmas pageant and had a couple rehearsals.  (The actual program will be today.)  On Friday, we had lunch with Mirela, Lara and baby Abby, to celebrate Mirela's birthday.  We rang in the New Year with Bob and Doris.  The girls managed to stay awake and are still sleeping.

Here's one final story.  For Christmas, Les bought Cassie a spy camera that is motion-activated and takes photos in the dark.  Les and Cassie have been hooking it to a tree at night in hopes of capturing photos of our nighttime visitors.  We weren't sure what we would find.  According to Cassie's research, opossum's have tender feet and don't like to come out when it's too cold outside!  Here are a few of the awesome photos from the spy cam!

A fox arriving at 12;32 a.m.!

A fox at 3:39 a.m.!

He's looking right into the camera!

Going for the scraps!

Cassie now wants to gets face recognition software to determine if there's more than one fox.

The other day we were watching TV and there was some inspirational/promotional message about setting New Year's resolutions.  Cassie asked me if I was going to make any resolutions.  My answer was easy - No.  I recognize that none of the things within my power to control could be any better.  (Okay, housekeeping is the only exception.)  We will continue to pray for the well-being of our family and friends.  And, we will anticipate time spent together, forming new memories in the coming year. 

Lacey's School Project

During the first week of January 2011, Lacey will be "Student of the Week" in her kindergarten class.  This is a rotating privilege that allows the honoree to bring an item to share with the class every day of the week.  Lacey wanted to share a lot of photos and I decided that it would be easier to help her make a slide show than to send in a pile of photos.  Over the past couple months, Lacey has really wanted to shun anything related to China.  She has said that she isn't from Shanghai and that she can't remember how to speak any Mandarin.  We understand that it is normal for adopted children to feel this way.  For Lacey, these feelings probably stem from a fear that she may be sent back to the orphanage.  Anyway, I spent a couple hours going through photos with her.  She selected photos from Shanghai, to include the orphanage.  I asked her if these were the pictures she wanted to share with the other boys and girls and she said yes.  Lacey dictated the captions for most of the pictures.  The explanation of the orphanage that accompanies the first slide is her own.  The only words that I had to supply related to paperwork, the consulate and her U.S. citizenship.

I posted the slide show here to make it easy for her teacher to access.  The show is scrolling on the bottom left of the blog's home page.  If you click on the show, it should take you to a screen where you can elect to view the slide show with captions.