Yearbook Time

Lin got her 2010-2011 school yearbook yesterday, and it was so cute to look through it with her. All this year I've been a little worried that she doesn't seem to have made any friends. I didn't realize that making friends would be so difficult for her. At home she's so funny and cheerful (most of the time) and just friendly. I would look at her and think, how is this wonderful girl not surrounded by a group of girls at school, chattering away like girls do? But Lin would always insist that she doesn't want friends, she prefers to be alone at school.

Well, it seems that maybe she has more friends than I thought. She was so proud to tell me that lots of kids had signed her yearbook! And she signed lots of yearbooks! Three different girls wrote their phone numbers down for her with instructions to call them over the summer. As we looked through the book together she would point out a picture here and there and say the kid's name and what class they had together -- kids I've never heard her talk about before. And she got to one picture of a girl and said "that's my friend." I'm just so happy for her! It will be my job to see that she stays social over the summer with some of these kids, so she starts 7th grade feeling like she belongs.

I mean, come on, look at that face... doesn't this girl belong at someone's slumber party?

Meanwhile, our Ruby had her gymnastics recital last week. She did great! Although she would much rather be taking ballet classes than gymnastics, and tells me this regularly, she always has such a good time at her gymnastics class. And really, how cute can she get???

Ruby is going to her very first friend birthday party today. It's a princess party, starting at 11:00am. Let's just say, Ruby has been wearing her princess dress and crown since 7:30, and she keeps asking "Is it time to go yet? Can we go now?" Just a few more minutes, kiddo...

Fun at Camp

Ruby and I had an absolutely great time at "My Mom and Me" camp this past weekend! If you live anywhere near West Michigan, or have the means to travel here, I cannot say enough to recommend Camp Newaygo. It was everything you want a good old-fashioned summer camp to be. We sang songs, went swimming, kayaking, built sand castles, played games, went on scavenger hunts, made new friends... It was just great and I can't wait to go back again next year -- "My Mom and Me" camp is for kids age 3-6, so Ruby and I have two more years. We were there only about 27 hours, but I wish it could have gone on and on. This is the same camp that Lin will be attending later this month, and all the counselors are ready and waiting to make her first camp experience the best it can be.

Enjoy the pictures!

Here's Ruby on the steps that lead down to the lakefront.

Our home-away-from-home for the night -- these are the original cabins built when the camp started in 1926.

Ruby got to sleep on a bunk bed!

The lake -- the water in the sectioned-off swimming area was shallow, only up to Ruby's chest...

... although Ruby was far too busy building sand castles to do any swimming.

Kayaking -- I'd never gone kayaking before, but now I'm absolutely hooked!

During the animal class, the kids got to see turtles, goats, a chinchila, a geko... and baby bunnies!

Ruby really did shoot this arrow, with a little help from one of the counselors.

Saturday night ended with S'mores at the campfire.

Picnic lunch at the lake on Sunday afternoon.

See you again soon, Camp Newaygo!

One Year Ago!

On June 7th, 2010, we became a family of four as Lin Guo Chu walked into our lives and our hearts. She was dragging a Hello Kitty suitcase and wearing a nervous smile. Here is a link back to our travel blog from that incredible, unforgettable day...

Our first meal together!

We spent our first day together walking through a beautiful park

Lin's referral picture...

... and our gorgeous girl today!

Weekly Update

Sorry it's been over a week since the CONCERT and I haven't updated you all on how GREAT it was!

It... Was... GREAT!

Man oh man, I screamed just like I did the first time I saw the New*Kids in person, back in 1989 (although this time I didn't cry like I did back in 1989...)

Oh, and for the record, my favorite is Joe from New*Kids! He's just as cute now as he was then!

Anyway, Lin also had a great time. I had been trying to prepare her ahead of time for what she would be seeing. I told her that it would be loud. That people would be screaming loud. That I would be screaming loud. But sure enough, she still was not fully prepared for the craziness. When the lights went out and the New*Kids came out on stage, Lin looked at me and said "Oh my goodness! You're crazy!"

Waiting for the show to begin

Woo Hooooooo!!!!

Lin also took her camera and took quite a bit of video of me enjoying the concert (in other words, screaming my fool head off). Let's just say, I will NOT be sharing said video here!

In other news, we spent Memorial Day at Dave's mom's pool. It was 90 degrees outisde but the pool water was freezing!! We spent the afternoon eating Dave's wonderful smoked ribs and having a gigantic water fight. Dave got thrown in the pool, fully clothed; his brother-in-law got shoved in also, and even those who didn't get in the water were still soaked by the end of the afternoon. It was so much fun!

Mmmm... meat.

Ignore the look of terror on her face... I think Lin was the one who actually started the water fight!

What could be cuter than a little girl with swimmies on her arms!

After we left the BBQ we visited the cemetary where Dave's grandparents are buried. It was a new experience for both girls, but we kept it light-hearted. Neither Lin nor Ruby could really get a grasp on the concept of burial and both girls had some questions. We talked with them honestly and I got to talk to Lin a bit more about Heaven and God and what happens when we die. But like I said, we kept it light-hearted, too. At one point we laughed so hard when Ruby, God bless her, said (and I swear this is exactly what she said), "Okay, I'm for real now. What's in there??"

And today Lin got to go on a school field trip to the zoo. Look how cute she is!

Just look at my girl, wearing shorts and a sleeveless top. It's amazing... She's been home almost a year now, and yet I still see changes in her as she becomes more comfortable in her new home. Last summer I could barely get her to wear shorts and most days she actually wore a jacket over her shirt, even in the hottest weather. It didn't occur to me then that she was uncomfortable exposing herself, like she felt that by protecting her skin she was protecting her whole self, you know? But look at her now, totally comfortable and absolutely cute as can be!

Tomorrow morning Ruby and I leave for Mommy and Me camp! We're all packed up and ready for a great time. Dave and Lin also have a busy weekend planned, and when I say "busy" I mean "sitting-on-their-fannies-watching-movies." It should be a great weekend!

I'm Ridiculously Excited!

Tonight I'll be taking my 13-year-old daughter to an event that will put me back in time to when I was the 13-year-old. If the following picture makes your heart skip a beat like it does mine, I'd love to hear about it! Who was your fave?

Woo Hoooooooooo!!!!

Spring Band Concert

Last night was Lin's 2nd, and last, band concert of the year. She did great! She plays the flute and is in the beginning band. She has had the luxury of being in class with only woodwinds this year, so each section gets a lot of personal attention (the brass and drums have a different class time). Her teacher said that next year the beginning band might be lumped in with the 7th & 8th grade band, and that would be unfortunate because they would lose all that special learning time. Ah, school budget cuts. Good times.

Every couple weeks, it seems, Lin indicates that she really doesn't want to play the flute. I keep telling her that if she's really serious about switching to a different instrument she can, we just need to know so that we can get her in some private lessons to catch up. But then she always says "It's okay," and I think it's because she's worried that we spent a lot of money for her flute and she feels obligated. We've tried to tell her that the money can be worked out with the store if she wants to switch, but she always sticks with the "it's okay" line. I think she really struggles sometimes with asking for something she wants, then thinking that doing so makes her a "bad daughter." I can almost see the wall go up in her eyes when she shoves down her feelings and says "it's okay." Ah, Chinese children's home upbringing. Good times...

Hmmm, I was going to make that the end of my post, but it ends on such a down-beat. So here's some positive stuff. Lin got her 5th of 6 report cards for this school year and continues to do absolutely great! Four As and two Bs. And her teachers tell us that they really are NOT modifying the work for her that much. She's doing the exact same work as all the other students, just sometimes she is given longer to complete an assignment or some other slight modification like that. She likes to talk about what she wants to be when she grows up. Depending on the day we've heard hair/makeup artist, lawyer, teacher, police officer ... she even said she wanted to be a pro tennis player after our last tennis lesson! She also really toys with the idea of going back to China in some capacity and I think she's surprised when we say, without hesitation, absolutely! We will support her unconditionally.

Ruby posing by the Chinese New Year display Lin made at school

Ruby's first-ever school year wraps up next week. She took a field-trip to a nature center this week and had a great time. By far the biggest thrill was that she had to take a sack lunch, just like a big kid. She and I are going to Mommy and Me camp in two weeks. It's just one night away from home, but we're going to have so much fun!

Ruby triumphant after making it across the tire course

We're looking forward to summer, but the reality is that summer will be every bit as busy as the school year, and probably more so. Bring it on!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

I spent the majority of Mother's Day with my mom and with Dave's mom. We spent the night at my parents' house on Saturday and came home yesterday afternoon, and stopped on the way home to visit Dave's mom. After that we went to a restaurant of my choosing, and I chose Mexican food. Unfortunately, Lin just does not like Mexican food. She insisted it was fine because it was Mother's Day, but when we got there and she said "I'm not hungry, I'll just have french fries." I felt so guilty! She did eat the chips and salsa, and we convinced her to try a shrimp dish which she did kind of like.

We ordered Ruby a small smorgasbord of food from the children's menu and I think she ate about 5 bites total. I'm really going to try to reign-in our dining habits. We eat out WAY too much and I know we're just throwing money down the drain. Ruby especially ends up wasting a lot of food. I need to be better about getting control of her portions. If I could just get into the habit of putting 2-3 bites of each item we're having for dinner on her plate, then telling her she can have seconds of anything she wants AFTER she has cleaned her plate. She really isn't that much of a picky eater, she likes a lot of food and we certainly don't serve her chicken nuggets and/or mac n cheese for every meal. But we end up throwing a lot of food away.

But anyway, my Mother's Day was very nice. And I have two beautiful daughters that any mother would be proud to call her own!