FCC Kite Festival

Miss Twink

Spitfire and Twink making their kites.

Dash and Twink getting ready to slide.

Daddy and Twink

Jewel helping Twink "fly" her kite.

Spitfire so sad after her kite broke and flew into the water.

Here is Spitfire's kite floating in the water.

This past weekend our local FCC held their annual Kite Festival. We had such a great time and it was such a beautiful day to fly kites! The wind was a bit strong and the kids lost their kites a couple of times but they were able to chase them down. Spitfire's kite string actually broke and as you can see it ended up floating in the water.

We are looking forward to next months Lantern Festival!

It's Important To Her

So it is very important to us.

Twink has been home from China now for 21 months. We have recently noticed that she is becoming more aware of her surroundings. She seems to be soaking in everything within her sights. We have often wondered if Twink saw the difference in our family. We do believe she does.

Last week we went to a new church. We went knowing there was a larger diversity and also adoptive families. We want our children to have the diversity that a larger church would offer and this church does. When we were leaving there was an Asian family leaving a few feet ahead of us. Twink watched them until they were out of her sight. Her eyes never moved from them. Even as we passed their car, she turned her head so she could see this family. Made me wonder what she was thinking.

Then tonight, tonight at AWANA she sought out an Asian teen who just adored her. While the other girls in the circle tried to play with her, Twink wanted no part of them! She wanted the young lady who looked like her. When she was done showing off for her she went to a table where there where three Asians were sitting having coffee. She wanted them to acknowledge her but they just glanced at her, smiled and went on with their conversation. She could have picked 6 other tables to go try to strike up a conversation but nope.

See, our daughter is non-verbal at this time and is unable to tell us just how important it is to have others around her that look like her. Her actions speak louder than any words ever could. We are trying to give our daughter something she is craving. I hope all AP's see the importance of encircling their child with adults and friends who look as they do. Now I'm not saying all their friends need to look as they do but a couple would be nice. When we move, this will be of high importance to us along with a handful of other things.

Watch you child, you may learn more from watching them than you might from hearing them.

Twink will be so excited when her big brother comes home from China, as will the rest of the family! :)

Wordless Wednesday

(Click to Enlarge)

Chattering Away

I was downstairs this past Sunday and Jewel came down told me Twink was upstairs "talking" to Dad. When I went upstairs this is what I found! ;) How sweet is she?

Great Author

To follow up on a question asked in the comments in my previous blog entry, yes I did buy some great books! :)

The entire reason I went to the bookstore this past weekend was to meet author Grace Lin and to have some books autographed by her. She is a beautiful lady who is so creative and so very nice. Her mom is the one who took the picture of the two of us. :) Needless to say I bought a book to donate to charity, one for a friend and some for our family. I actually had a great time even though I had to deal with the rude customer.

Hey Lady!

Yes you, the RUDE customer from Barnes & Nobles. When I am comforting my daughter who is clearly upset about something she wants but is unable to tell me just what it is, you really should have just kept walking. I know you have no idea that she has problems with communication or sensory issues, why would you?!?! If her crying bothered you SOOOO much why did you come over to where we were? Was that dirty look necessary? I know the second one was not. Were you surprised when I asked you if you had children? I know I sure was. I bet you were even more surprise at the other customers comments to you after your snide reply back! :) I think you would have been happier to see me screaming & spanking my child rather than holding her and rubbing her back. Thankfully I had a friend that just happen to be there and fellow costumers who where just awesome! Maybe next time you'll just go to another section of the bookstore instead of looking for a reason to look at someone in judgement.

School Pictures

I completely forgot to upload the kids first day of school pictures. One week late is not bad, right? Everyone is staying very busy and here I thought life would slow down a bit. HA! I do know busier families and I don't know how they do it.

Jewel is playing field hockey again this year. We just don't know if it will be modified or JV. Seems they may not have enough girl to form the modified team. She is also learning sign language with us.

Dask is our least busy child (as well as Twink). He is not doing a sport until winter but he is learning sign language with us. I think that is enough to keep him busy. He is doing very well at it I must add. He also does AWANA one day a week.

Spitfire is playing soccer again. She seems to be doing a tad bit better and is loving it. She is not doing the sign language class but her K class does learn the alphabet and colors in her class. Pretty cool if you ask me! She also does AWANA one day a week.

Twink is just happy to tag along to a game here and there. She is not doing the sign language class either but will gain a ton from our use of it. :)

So as you can see we are not overly booked but enough to keep us hoping and one of us driving! The adoption is coming along. We are officially waiting for LOI with a couple weeks under our belt. Feels good to finally be able to say that.

Thank you to those who share some yummy recipes! I can't wait to try them.