A Wonderful Saturday!

Our traditional after meet photo!

A shout out to Sarah from Matthew!

Forever connected!

Oh, Analiese missed Matthew!

We love you, Matthew!

Even though we woke up to yet ANOTHER day of rain (number 5, I think!)we had expectations for a great day! We started out very early as Grace had to be at her meet by 7:45. The good thing was that it was at our gym and we didn't have too far to drive.

Grace was excited about the competition, and had been since last week's meet. She told me the other night, as I tucked her into bed, that she wished she could compete EVERY DAY! I asked why she liked to compete so much, if it was because she always did so well, or if she just liked the feeling of being out there performing. Grace said that she just liked doing gymnastics and the feel of the competition.

I took the time to then talk to her about not becoming over confident, that she, so far, has done very well but it may not always be that way and to always remember to have fun! Grace said that it was OK if she didn't win but she would always do her best. Well, I wasn't so sure that Grace would have such enthusiasm if she wasn't winning each event but I hugged her and told her that we were so glad she had found something she loved.

Well, today was a test for Grace. Even though she did her best, and scored very well, she did not place in vault! This was the first time Grace did not get called up to the podium to accept a medal. She scored a 9.00 on her vault but it was not good enough to get in the top 7! How did Grace respond? She said she was surprised but she did her best and now she knows she has to work harder! That was it....

As for the other events? 1st on bars, beam, floor and all around! Grace had an awesome beam routine. She held her handstand so long that many people in the audience were gasping and later came up to her to tell say how awesome her routine was!

I think the best part, for Grace, was that her "big sister", (a level 10 gymnast) was at the meet and was the one to give her the trophy for #1 all around! She hugged Gracie so tightly and Gracie just beamed! It was so sweet. I watched her big sister go up to the young lady who had the trophy for Grace and ask her if she could please be the one to give it to Grace. I have to say, Gracie's big sister has been so supportive of her.

After the meet, we went home to rest and get ready for next exciting event. We were meeting Matthew and his Mom and Dad for dinner! We were so looking forward to seeing him. Unfortunately, Sarah had other plans and was not able to be with us. Matthew, of course, commented on missing Sarah. I assured him that the next time we got together, Sarah would be there. He was happy about that!

I just cannot put into words the emotion I felt seeing Matthew for the first time in 3 months. It was so bittersweet. He is doing so well and I know it is because of the environment he is now in. While living with us, circumstances were such that he just was not afforded the opportunity to reach this level.

Matthew seemed to be a bit uncomfortable in how he was supposed to act around us. I can only imagine how confusing it must have been for him. I mean, we were his parents for 18 months. Now, he has new parents but, here we were and he just wasn't sure what to do. I took Matthew aside and told him how happy I was that he was doing well. I told him that we missed and loved him but, again, we were so happy he that he was happy and loved his parents! I also told him that we would continue to see and talk to him. I told him that we would call him and we wanted him to call us whenever he wanted to. He seemed to relax and understand that everything was good.

Analiese just loved seeing Matthew, whereas Grace seemed alittle more reserved. Later Grace and I discussed that even though we missed Matthew, we knew that he was doing so well because he was not with us. It is hard for Grace to understand but she is so trusting that we only want what is best for our kids that she accepts Matthew no longer lives with us.

For me, this visit was so emotional. Not a teary kind of emotional but something much deeper. I watched Matthew with his new parents, and realized that he fit, really fit. And after talking with Matthew's Dad, and learning of the challenges they have faced and seemingly conquered, being an only child has been the salvation for Matthew.

My faith in God was strengthened today. But so was my understanding that when we are called to do something it doesn't always turn out the way we envision it should. When Dave and I realized that WE were meant to bring Matthew home, we never thought, not for one second, that he was anything but our son. But, almost 2 years later, we realize that we were were never meant to be Matthew's forever family.

The journey with Matthew has been long and hard. There have been tears, stress and anger. But today, in the midst of all of the rain, a HUGE ray of sunshine burst in my heart. It was so clear that Matthew is where he is meant to be and we made the right choice for him.

We celebrated SO many successes today....

Happy Gotcha Day Gracie!

Gracie's referral picture...don't you just want to hug her?

Grace Today...still so beautiful

Almost eight years ago, I brought up adoption to Dave. I can't say that his response was very positive. I mean, he already had 4 children. Why ever would he want to ADOPT a child? I didn't give up though. I continued to bring up the conversation, explaining why I wanted to adopt. I wanted Sarah to have a full time sibling and I wanted her to have a sister. It took awhile but Dave also came around to seeing that adoption was something he wanted also. I knew where I wanted to adopt from; China. Before I had Sarah, when I envisioned myself with a child, it was always a little Asian girl.

We ventured into the China adoption world at a time when quota's had been put into place limiting the number of families who could adopt. There were not many agencies who were accepting applications. But I had done my research and wanted to use Children's House International. To my surprise, right when Dave agreed to the adoption, CHI began accepting applications! We immediately began the process. Between collecting the paperwork, getting our homestudy completed, waiting for the INS (as they were known back then) and eventually the shut down of adoptions because of SARS it took us almost exactly one year to see our sweet Gracie's face on the computer. The rest, as they say, is history.....

SIx years ago a sweet angel walked into our lives and stole our hearts! We are forever grateful to Stefani and GInger of Children's House International who helped us bring our sweet Grace into our family. We also marvel at the wisdom of the Chinese when they matched us with little Wen Fei Zhen, even though we had requested a much, much younger child.

We cannot imagine another child in our lives. For the past six years we have marveled at how absolutely perfect we all fit together. When God placed adoption in my heart he knew that Gracie was soon to be found at the base of that mountain and she would need us to be ready for her. When we received our referral information, never, not once did we mourn not getting the baby we had requested. We knew that Grace was our daughter, no matter that she was 28 months old instead of 18 months.

Six years have flown by. Grace has blossomed from a frightened, quiet toddler into a wonderful, confident (but still quiet) young girl. We don't know what the next years will bring, but we sure are glad that we are on this journey together. We love you Gracie Feizhen!

Disappointment and Excitement

This weekend has been an extreme of emotions.

Today Sarah auditioned for a spot in the Atlanta Ballet's the Nutcracker. We felt pretty confident that she would secure a spot because she performed with them last year. Well, unfortunately, the economy has affected the ballet. The Atlanta Ballet has had to cut the Nutcracker casts from 6 to 4 as they will have less performances this year due to loss of income. So, that meant the spots that would have been open to the public (as opposed to the spots taken by the kids who dance at the Ballet's school) were cut.

We did not know any of this before we decided to audition. All of this information was given to us right before they took the kids into audition. So, when Sarah emerged from the audition, she looked at me with sad eyes and shook her head "no". Needless to say Sarah was disappointed (and my heart broke for her) but after we spoke and she realized that not being chosen had NOTHING to do with her dancing ability but it was all about the economy she felt better. But, she is angry with President Obama because he hasn't done what he promised. She wants the economy to do better so she can perform with the Nutcracker. Hmm...maybe she should write to him so he can view the world through the eyes of an innocent 11 year old. I mean, she is being affected now by the economy and certainly will have to pay for his fiscal decisions in her future.

On the other hand, Grace had her second meet on Saturday and once again, just amazed us all! She took 3rd place in the vault, 1st in beam, bars, floors and all around! She increased her all around score from the last meet--from 36.75 to 37.17! So, once again Grace came home with 5 medals!!!

It was a little scary for us, because during warm-up Grace landed on her head during her bar dismount and immediately burst into tears! We thought she had hurt herself but after the meet she told me she cried because she was so frustrated that she ruined her dismount!! I thought for sure the meet was going to be a wreck for her. But, Grace bounced back and once again, enjoyed herself and it showed!

Because Grace has scored above a 32 on these past two meets she has qualified for the State meet in December. We sure hope she continues to do well and places well at State.

We are so proud of both girls. Proud of Grace for doing her best and proud of Sarah for not only being brave enough to audition for the Nutcracker but to take the disappointment in such a mature way.

The silver lining? We will be able to watch the Nutcracker as a family this year. And next year? Hopefully the economy will be better and the Ballet will be able to add back the performances. Sarah will certainly be there to audition--she's not ready to hang up her ballet slippers yet!

Birthday Celebration

Let's start with the cards.

Oh, this one is purple and has a star!

Kai Lan!!

Oh, a password journal that I can keep from my sisters!

An Ice cream cake with cookies and cherries!

I'm not going to waste any breathe!

Hope my wish comes true!


What a great day! We got to celebrate Analiese's birthday today. She received several checks from relatives so off we went to Walmart. Analiese tried to tell me about this iCarly item that she wanted. I had never heard of it, nor had I seen the commercials that had sold Analiese on this so we had a slight communication problem!

We walked the aisles at Walmart in hopes that this iCarly item would just "be" there. Well, it wasn't! So we walked some more...and then we walked some more! Oh, there were a few items that Analiese picked up but they weren't things that would have held her interest for very long. So, back on the shelf they went.

There are some things that Analiese loves; drawing, writing, singing and anything electronic! I tried to talk her into combining her money to buy a Nintendo (she has a Leapster but is always borrowing her sisters' Nintendos). Analiese said, "No, Santa is going to bring me that."

We eventually found our way over to the toy clearance aisle and found absolutely NOTHING that fit Analiese. Tomorrow we will hit Target! It's fun to allow Analiese the freedom to choose but boy-oh-boy how overwhelming it is for her to have so many choices! I'll narrow the field down for her and we'll walk away with some awesome things!

Analiese did get a Ni Hoa Kai Lan doll. She is purple (Analiese's favorite color) and has the character for "giggles" on her shirt. How perfect for my little Chinese princess! She loves Kai Lan and it is so great to be able to give her a doll that looks like her!

We did get Analiese a "Password Journal." This is a great gift in so many ways; she can keep it a secret from her sisters and she has blank paper, lots and lots of it, to write or draw on! Some day, I hope, Analiese will be a great author or illustrator!

The last gift is that we are redoing Analiese's bedroom. It will be purple (of course!) with some green and pink stripes. We will go back to the Tinkerbell theme; I bought some pictures of Tinkerbell that I will frame and hang up. Granddad Matt and Grandmom Eileen bought some wooden letters that spell out Analiese's name and we will put them up for her. I'm sure the room will look just adorable.

Happy Birthday Analiese, our family is so much better for having you as a part of it--what DID we do without you????

Happy 7th Birthday Analiese!

Today Analiese turns 7 years old! It is so hard to believe she is that old! We are going to celebrate as a family tomorrow but Analiese did get to celebrate at school with cupcakes and the PE coaches playing the Beatles birthday song for her during gym class!

I woke Analiese up by singing happy birthday to her and of course the rest of the family made a big deal out of it being her day. The best part was when I was driving the kids to school and Analiese said, "Mom, it makes my heart sing when everyone tells me happy birthday!"

Oh Analiese, Happy Birthday Baby and let your heart sing, sing, sing. We love you!

My kids are growing up!

My girls are changing, right before my eyes! Analiese came home today and told me that she and her teacher talked about "self-control". Oh my! That means my sweet Analiese is talking ALL of the time and her teacher is tired of competing with her! I hate to give Analiese a consequence for "talking" at school but I know I must, to not only support her teacher, but also to help her learn compliance.

So today, Analiese lost her TV watching privilege. With most children that would make a HUGE impact. With Analiese? She just moved on to the next thing--drawing and coloring. This is one of the best things about Analiese...she loves life! There is always something wonderful to do; watching TV, riding her bike, reading a book, doing homework, talking to anyone, dancing, talking, singing...We ALL need to take lessons from this sweet one---enjoy EVERY minute!

Grace? What can I say? She continues to amaze me in her ability to juggle her gymnastics with school! She learned a new skill today--she was able to do a forward tuck! She was so excited--but then, turn around and her level of enthusiasm was the same when she learned how to do a word search on the computer for her spelling homework! She is the most "even" person I know. I need to take a few lessons from her!

Now Sarah, of course, is changing the most! Her level of understanding of human nature amazes me. On Friday, she received a note in her locker from a boy in one of her classes. He wrote to tell her how much he liked her. Sarah was so touched, even though she doesn't share his feelings. She asked me what I thought she should do and I gave her the "mom" opinion. Sarah decided to write back to the young man. She thanked him for the note and told him how sweet it was that he liked her. She didn't ignore him nor did she "lead him on" to believe that she felt the same about him.

Having Sarah in middle school is showing us how we have done as parents! She is sensitive to others, a great time manager and an eager learner. Sarah is an awesome kid and we are so blessed to call her our daughter!

Sarah, Grace and Analiese are as different as different can be. However, there is a common thread they share...they are confident, independent and loving children! These girls are amazing and continually challenge me to be the best mom I can be. I sure I can live up to the challenge!

Final weekend of summer

Falling is not going to hurt this one!

Go Analiese, GO!












Even though the calendar says summer does not end until September 21st, this weekend has been the traditional end of the season. The weather was beautiful today, which allowed us to spend some time at the pool. It was so crowded so we didn't stay very long.

We really just enjoyed the long weekend as a family; playing Wii, watching movies and relaxing. The girls were happy they didn't have dance or gymnastics! Sarah did have to work a bit on some homework but not so much that she wasn't able to relax.

Dave did start working with Analiese to teach her how to ride a two-wheeler. He took her training wheels off and right away Analiese got the hang of keeping her balance! She was determined NOT to get hurt and covered every possible part of her body with pads or a helmet! What a kid!

Since we've been back to school for several weeks now, not so much will change for us. The girls have been into their fall schedules and we seem to have a good rhythm going. Some days Sarah is pretty stressed because of her homework load but we are working through that.

I just cannot believe that summer is over. It seems that we just got out of school and were planning our trip to Disney! I know that before I'm ready, Halloween and Thanksgiving will be here!

Next weekend the pool closes, so in between a gymnastics meet, dance rehearsal and auditions for the nutcracker, we'll try and swim one more time!