Wildlife refuge

Jeff took the girls to a local wildlife refuge. They had a great time, and I got some quiet time. They saw many animals and enjoyed themselves. Notice the shirts the girls have on...the ones they wore the first time they saw each other. They say "blame my sister" and how true is this? It was a beautiful cool day.

Camp Carter

Sara is in 5th grade this year, and they are divided into 3 groups. Sara is 5C. On Tuesday Sara left for Camp Carter, a YMCA camp. They will be gone for 4 days and nights....a little quiet in the house LOL!!! Tonight we are driving to the camp to see the skits they will present, and they will be home tomorrow. This is the first time Sara has been away and she was getting extra hugs and kisses for a week to store up for when she was away....remember these times beause. . . . there will be a time when she will be too busy to get even a single hug and kiss, but I hope it is not for a very long time!


Sara is home and had a blast and would have stayed another week or two if she could have! Ruth can not wait to go next year. We are considering sending them for a week in the summer.

Recyclenators

THIS IS GREEN WEEK across the US! Last year Ruth was on the GREEN TEAM at school, the kids has to apply for the position. They were in charge of the paper recycling in each classroom. On Thursdays, they would collect all the papers from each class' recycle box and take them to the back of the school to the two large recycle bins. We continued it big time this summer, and still continue it this year, though they are no longer officially on the GREEN TEAM. On Thursdays is our recycle days in our town. Everyone has a recycle bin for their glass, aluminum and paper goods. We leave a little early for school and hit as many of these bins until the back of my van is full. Paper for the school and cans for Sara and Ruth. Sara's teacher is collecting the pop tops for the Ronald McDonald homes, and the girls recycle the cans for their allowance. This week we are having a phone book drive and dear Jeff brought a bunch home from work from his coworkers.

HALLOWEEN

Tonight is Halloween and the girls are excited. Jeff will take the girls while I sit comfortably at home and pass out the candy. The girls are going with their friend's soccer team. They have a flatbed with hay pulled by their Texas two-ton truck...in case they get too tired to walk....yea! I think it may be for the parents when they get too tired of walking....maybe it should have lazy boys in the back.....maybe a thought for next year! The girls went for many house and brought home a load. I gave out 35 pounds of candy and about 100 Halloween pencils.

You will notice a photo of the house...I do put light, graveyards, and lots of spider webs out for Halloween. I usually have a scary sound tract, but this year I could not find it. I will be better prepared next year.


Now, for my pet peeve.....if you live somewhere else, do not drop your kids in our neighborhood. Do not drive your kids door to door, Halloween is about walking about. If you are an ADULT do not come to my door again, and do not trick or treat for your infant child....they don't even have teeth!!!!!!!!!

One Year ago...a new daughter!!

Can you believe it? A full year has passed since we saw our beautiful shy (or so we thought) daughter. She was so full of fear and hesitation at first. By the first night, we could see how perfect she was for us...God knows!








Today we celebrated with some cake and ice cream. When looking at the pictures, Sara is wearing the same PJ's as one year ago, only a size larger!

Farewell

My sister called and told me my cousin Dale passed away this morning at 11:00 am. Hopefully it was peaceful.

Busy

The girls finished their hip-hop class and helped with the Sunday evening service after the church carnival. It was tooooo cute. Sara and Ruth attended a Halloween party (Sara's first Halloween) and both had a great time. We had a short cold snap, but this did not keep the twosome off the trampoline! And now we have carved our pumpkins, supervised by a nervous mom as they use a knife! Sara was unsure what this was all about, but decided COOL!

familycrisis

I got a call that my cousin Dale from Austin was in ICU and unresponsive. He was in the hosp. because of pneumonia, then he collapsed and had a mild heart attack. His sister Joyce and my cousin's two girls drove 16 hours from St. Charles to Austin. Still no good news, so if you feel a desire, please pray for Dale. He is a young man. Their mother was my mom's sister Ruth - recognize the name - who passed almost two years ago.

countdown to 1 year

The social worker came this afternoon for our final check up, and yes she saw that Sara was thriving!!!! Sara wanted the SW to come back again for a visit....she thinks she has a new friend. We had to provide photos so we we snapping away.

Today Ruth's team worn 8-2. It was a tough game because of the strong wind!

daily race

Things are still going well here. Ruth is in full force with soccer...that girl has a strong kick and plays defense. Sara is still going strong in gymnastics and is getting warmed up for the chess club at school which begins next week.


The weather has finally gotten a little cooler, for a day or two. Next will be our indian summer and back into the 90's again....with changes like this, no wonder everyone gets sick this time of year. At least the huge outbreak of mosquitos seems to be over!

We picked out pumpkins from the church's pumpkin patch....they raise money for the youth mission trips. We decided on 2 larger pumpkins and about 7 small pumpkinetts.....this is Sara's first Halloween at home. Last year we had her only one day at halloween.....



The girls have been having fun playing in daddy's clothes getting ready for halloween...

Get well sis

Today my big sister in Katy, TX had knee surgery. She tore a tendon a few weeks ago and finally got it fixed. I lent her my crutches that I had from my knee surgery a few years ago and she was supposed to practice with them....but she did not and now is in a bind. I have been assured that she is being properly spoiled and will have a long recovery, including a long time in PT .

boys, makeup, and a new bathroom

Well, I finally finished the girl's bathroom. We did the room in purses. I began with one orange, but as you read before it was too orange. I left the bright orange on the two walls that I added border to, and repainted the rest. The small purses hanging on the wall are Christmas ornaments that we bought at Garden Ridge last week.

As you can see, the girls have been experimenting with their play makeup....and they need a little more practice. They have a long time to practice before I allow them to wear it outside the house...at least that is what I say today. I have learned that in child rearing, there is no black and white on decisions, but a ton of gray, and many other colors.





Tonight Sara told me that a girl told her that a boy in her class had told her that he liked Sara. Sara screamed WHAT!, which caught the teacher's attention immediately. The girl got in trouble, but not sure why she would, except maybe for passing this information on to Sara. Then the teacher took Sara in the hall to talk with her in private. Sara said that she cried because she did not know what to do...this was the first boy to ever tell her that he liked her. Jeff and I feel that this is good...hopefully no dating in the near future LOL!!!!!

Almost 1 year!

Last night Sara and I were talking about the days for her leading up to our coming to China. She recalled the excitment when she came home from school and Mr. Zhou called her, along with Anna, Dani, and Ling into his office. He handed her and box and said that someone sent her photos. She had no clue who would be sending her photos, and then how thrilled she was when she figured it out. She told me the other girls wanted to try on the shirt we had sent her that said "Someone In Texas Loves Me", but Mr. Zhou said no, it was only for Sara, and she told this to me proudly. I enjoyed hearing her story again, and hearing her excitment as she got to know her family that was coming for her.

At this time one year ago, we were arranging our travel plans, getting our visa and finishing up our shots. I was also busy getting Ruth ready for our leaving, and already missing her so much. We finally found luggage and began the gathering of the new dollar bills.

Happy Birthday PaPa Judd

Today is Papa's birthday....I am sure he is living it up today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Moon Festival

Today is the Chinese moon festival. We got the telescope out and took a look at the moon and in case you missed it, it was huge and beautiful. I managed to take a photo through the telescope of it. We had our US version of mooncakes, aka ding-dongs.

What is the Moon festival? Every year on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, when the moon is at its maximum brightness for the entire year, the Chinese celebrate "zhong qiu jie." Children are told the story of the moon fairy living in a crystal palace, who comes out to dance on the moon's shadowed surface. The legend surrounding the "lady living in the moon" dates back to ancient times, to a day when ten suns appeared at once in the sky. The Emperor ordered a famous archer to shoot down the nine extra suns. Once the task was accomplished, Goddess of Western Heaven rewarded the archer with a pill that would make him immortal. However, his wife found the pill, took it, and was banished to the moon as a result.
Legend says that her beauty is greatest on the day of the Moon festival

busy busy busy

We are still here. School is in full swing, as is soccer and now gymnastics for Sara, and I am very glad it is indoors and air conditioned. Sara was so good in her first gymnastics class that the teacher said that they will probably want to put her in a more advanced class very soon.

The heat is still on full blast and Sara had heat exhaustion again on Friday after 80 mins outside in PE playing soccer. Ruth got heat exhaustion on Saturday after the game-they had no subs so she had to play the whole game. I need to buy stock in Gatorade now because I am pumping it into the girls.

The girls are enjoying hip hop class on Sunday night at church. They will help put on the service in October. They are also getting good on the trampoline. I gave it another try and it scared me still. I used to love it as a child.....oh well.

I have taken on the project of redoing the girl's bathroom and let me say, never use orange in a bathroom.....I am in the process of repainting the room, or handing out sun glasses to all that enter. I will do photos when I complete the project. We are going from aliens and spaceships to fashion purses. I found the cutest wallpaper border and that will be the next in.


And a special shout out to my niece Ashley---HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

9/11

Today is 9/11. . . a day that will never pass without many tears. As the planes fly over our house today due to the north wind, I admit it makes me nervous. I told Ruth a little about it today, and Sara has no idea about what it means, and I am not sure how she would handle it. Today the flags fly and we think of the ones we love, but wouldn't it be nice if this happened more ofter.

Labor Day, Soccer, Trampoline

We were in Houston visiting my family for Labor day. Had a great time and also got to visit my longtime friend Ruth and see how her new house is coming. They have a long way to go and will begin some major remodeling soon. The kids all jumped in and finished pulling the beautiful 70's wallpaper out of the 3 remaining bathrooms. It is hard to believe we used to love these things! My mom had so many hummingbirds at her feeders and we enjoyed watching them.

We are in full swing here. Soccer has begun. We lost our first game 14-1. Thank goodness it was just an exhibition game! We still have practice 2X a week and so far I have taken Ruth and left Sara at home.....but no more. It is beginning to get dark by the time we get home and Sara does NOT like being home in the dark, so she will be bored at the practice instead.

We did finally buy that trampoline. I bought it and tried 2X to assemble it myself....no good. On Saturday after the game, we had a friend come and help. He brought her two daughters, who are the same age as R&S and are part of our carpools, and it took 4+ hours to figure it out. My advice---get someone else to assemble or wait until it is no longer 100+ outside to attempt. The girls all took a shot at the jumping and of course I had to try too. There is a photo, but you will not see this. The girls do know the rules regarding the trampoline and I now have something really good to ground them from if need be...you moms know exactly what I am talking about and don't even try to say you don't think the same way.

The girls began taking Hip-Hop classes on Sunday evening at church. There were 6 different classes and on 10/28 the kids will do the Sunday service. The girls had a lot of fun doing this.

SCHOOL

School has begun. It started later this year so we had exactly 3 months together. I was excited, I thought, for them to be off to school, but when I got home and it was so quiet, I was very sad.

We got Sara to ride her bus for the first day. The traffic at her school is terrible so this was a great thing. She was very excited and rode with friends. She did get a little bus sick sitting in the back, so we may need to make front seat arrangements. Then she called and could not remember her bus number, and then still almost ended up on the wrong bus. Her 6th grade friend made sure she was on the bus and that she got to her first class alright-thanks Brianna! She loves having a locker and just bubbled when she got home. She does love her math class. Sara is in the pink backpack with her back to us about to get on the bus.


I took Ruth to her class since Sara was on her way. Both schools have the same times this year. Ruth does like her two teachers. The gifted program works a little different in 4th grade and she has 2 primary teachers. She did come home sick and told me she was very very hot and her head was pounding. She told me it began right after school when they had the kids waiting in the 103 heat for the rides. I called my nurse friend and she said it sounded like heat exhaustion and she was probably dehydrated. So I woke her up and got her to drink some and she was much better. I guess you would say her first day was overshadowed with the end of the day, but I am sure the rest will be wonderful.

I did attend the Boo Hoo breakfast at elementary school for the moms and dads dropping off their kids. Chocolate chip cookies, juice and coffee. I did a little boo hoo thinking that my baby is getting so grown up and I was NOT the only mom or dad there so there you go.....great idea!!!!!

I still carpool the elementary kids, but only in the morning this year. We do help the other if there is a need, so I may still have a few afternoon pick ups. This year we are not watching children after school, their parents feel they are OK to stay home 45 mins until an older sibling gets home.

Swingset is gone!

The new neighbors on one side have a trampoline. The problem is that it has no net so I will NOT let the girls get on it....mostly because I love them too much to gamble with their health. SO, I gave them the option of keeping our super cool swing set/fort or selling it and getting a trampoline with a net. Now, I would have been OK with either and I gave them 3 wks to decide and they had to agree. They decided on the trampoline and the 6 yr old other neighbor boy got our swing set/fort, which took much sweat, a little blood, and a few tears to move to their house. We had the kids in our pool to keep them out of the way, and at least someone was cool, while we move it then reassembled the fence.....it was only 100+