Thanks.......

A big thank you to Connie (http://www.jadynjourney.blogspot.com/) for the pink duckie and reminder to take care of the health of our daughters and ourselves. The poem was wonderful, and Lily takes the duckie wherever she goes. Thanks for thinking of us!

Toilet Paper Bride

We totally should have won! Look at the detail on the boquet!!

All the toilet paper brides with the bride to be.

Melanie, Amanda, and Lily

Look at the detail in that veil!!!

Lily looking pensive as they count the votes..............

Lily happy no matter the outcome.

Melanie and her dog, Safka



My oldest daughter Melanie and I recently hosted a wedding shower for her best friend Amanda. We played the "toilet paper bride" game where each group chooses one member of their group to dress up in toilet paper as a bride. Our group chose Lily, who was a wonderful and willing participant. The bad news is, the bride did not pick our group as the winner (so, what's up with that? We demand a re-count!:). Of course I am kidding. We were good sports although we do know that WE WERE THE BEST!!!

Ms. Christy's Class

This is the first class that Lily was able to stay in for the duration of the 8 weeks. We had tried her at the YMCA twice before as she kept saying that she wanted to take ballet. The class seemed alittle too structured for her as she kept coming up to the window and smiling and making faces at us. Cute, but somewhat disruptive to the class. So, Lily has been a ballet "drop out" twice. And then, we heard about Ms. Christy right in our home town. What is different about the way Ms. Christy teaches is that she does a short lesson, then reads, continues with the lesson, then plays simon says, etc. etc. In addition, half the class was ballet and the other half was tap (which Lily LOVED). So, she is a ballet and tap dancing wonder these days. She is now taking a ballet and gymnastic class and we are only able to watch her on a TV monitor. And then next week, Lily will begin another class with Ms. Christy. Always a hoot to watch!

Making headway in Preschool

Lily started her 2nd year of preschool, but this year it is at the "big girl school", which is the elementary school and the same school that her daddy teaches at. Her first day was awful. She spotted daddy, wanted to be with him, and cried from 9:15 to 11:30, then slept through lunch and was awoken by the fire alarm. So before her second day of preschool, we were playing it up big; telling her what a big girl she is to be able to go to this school, etc, etc, etc. That night as Curt was saying prayers with her before bed (I was pulling my 12 hour shift at work), she ended the prayer by saying, "and obviously my father hates me; amen." My poor husband was so upset that she said he hated her; I on the other hand was impressed that she came out with the word "obviously", seeing the rest for what it was (manipulation dear). At any rate, she has done well at preschool every day since with no crying or observable discomfort. However, each day as she is leaving, she turns to the teacher and says "goodbye; this is my last day and I won't be coming back." Well, today, Miss Marty let us know that Lily just said "goodbye." So, we are making headway I'd say...........

Lily's Quilt of 100 Good Wishes

Since our past web site "crashed", I thought I would periodically post some older pictures from that site. This is Lily's quilt of 100 good wishes (actually turned out to be 88 squares) that we started during our wait. Grandma Sandy insisted on stitching it all by hand, and she finished it about a month before Lily's 3rd birthday, which was perfect because of the fall colors. Anyway, the pictures do not do it justice, as each square has an individual story of it's own. What a labor of love and creativity from all who contributed. My love and appreciation go out again to all. One of the squares that is alittle hard to see (green square that Lily's right hand is on in the bottom picture) is of a pocket with a small Asain doll inside which was created by my dear friend Diane. When we are showing others the quilt, Lily proudly takes the doll out of the pocket and says, "this is Lily" and then has the doll visit each of the squares while she tells the story about who made it and the meaning behind each. This quilt has already brought her such joy and will be such a wonderful keepsake throughout her life. For all that are in the process of making one, it is truly worth every effort and stitch...........

Colton Leaves for College.............

From left to right: Melanie, Colton, Dylan, Lily, Me, Dustin, Cassidy, Cadence, and Sherrie.

We moved Colton down to Cincinnati yesterday for "move in" day at the dorms. It is a beautiful campus and I think it will be a great environment for someone as creative as Colton. Unfortunatly, I got a migraine (it was day 5 of no caffeine and it just hit!) and we had to cut our time short. We did get him moved in though and Dylan (who drove separately) was able to stay for awhile. We are so excited for Colton to begin this new journey, but of course will miss him dearly around here. We love you Colton and are so proud of you. We know you are going to do awesome!!

Lunch, a Movie, and Blue Goo Ice Cream

I recently met up with my friend Marcia and her beautiful granddaughters for a "day out with the girls". We went to lunch at Johnny Rockets (the girls thought our waiter was Johnny himself, and he danced so well that we thought he might be as well:), saw the movie Ratatouille and finished the afternoon with Blue Goo Ice Cream. Doesn't get much better than that!

Twinkies

These two love to dress in matching outfits, so I am all too happy to indulge to make them smile a bit:). I thought these outfits were just too cute to pass up and even got them off an "end of the summer" clearance rack. I hate thinking about it being the end of summer already, but love the sales! Anyway, we had fun going to the park one evening and getting pictures along the way in their new duds. They laughed and joked about being "twinkies" just like Cadence and Colton.

Joseph ShiJun comes to visit with brother Luke....

Quite the pose, huh?!

Our dear friends brought Joseph Shijun home from China to join their family just a few weeks ago. We had a relaxing day while Lily, Luke, and Joseph swam in Lily's new pool. Oh, Lily is not choking Joseph; it is just a "love grip":). What a sweet addition Joseph is to their family! We are so happy for them all.