Connor and the "Attiturd"

At dinner one evening, Sterling, our 14-year-old, was being a bit grumpy. Connor sighed and said, "I guess Sterling's gotta change his attiturd." We all stared at him, so after a moment he elaborated, "You know, when someone's really grumpy, you say they have a bad attiturd." We all burst out laughing. So now, when someone is being less than cheerful, we suggest that they get rid of the attiturd. Even grumpy kids have a hard time not smiling at that!

Love Without Boundaries auction

I'm almost too late, but I want to mention Love Without Boundaries heart auction that ends at various times throughout the day tomorrow. There are many beautiful items for sale and ALL of the proceeds go to pay for heart surgeries for orphaned children in China. Please go take a look!

Love Without Boundaries Heart Auction link

Connor had heart surgery when he was 2 years old. It was through the generous donations of many kind-hearted people throughout the world that his life was saved. I will ever be grateful to those people whom I will never know.

"Kids" At Play

Our friends invited us over for dessert last night. They have chickens and 3 pygmy goats in the same pen. The goats are very friendly and love to play. The kids were so excited to play with and feed the goats! Watch the video and see the pictures below!

Happy Birthday Linnea!

Yesterday Linnea turned 6 years old. Happy birthday, our sweet girl! She woke me up at 6:30 a.m. to let me know she was 6 now--ugh! On a Saturday no less. Will the day ever come that I can sleep in till 7:30?? But I got up and made her the breakfast of her choice (don't ask! she asks for weird stuff for breakfast).

She asked for an Island Princess Barbie party, but settled for a Disney Princess party instead (because I'd already bought a box of Disney Princess plastic/paper wear from Costco). I misunderstood. How I couldn't tell the difference between Island Barbie and Disney Princesses my daughter will never fathom. But she forgave me and decided the princesses were good enough.

After breakfast, we gave her our presents. The kids gave her 2 Barbie books and some little magic coloring books. We gave her 2 summer outfits and a plush Cinderella and pony set. I posted a picture of her cake, but I swear I actually took a picture of HER with the cake and I'm not sure what happened to that picture! Maybe the kids deleted it when they were playing with the camera. So I posted the one that's just the cake. When the older kids were little, I always made and decorated their cakes--Ariel had a butterfly one year, Chani a ninja turtle (she loved the ninja turtles!)--but nowadays I think a storebought cake looks and tastes just fine!

At her party, we had a pink princess crown pinata and we also played "pin the crown on the princess" (pictured above). At the end of the party, while waiting for parents to return, the girls played duck, duck, goose on the trampoline with Daryl.

We continued to allow Linnea to choose fun things to do for the rest of the day, and I know she really enjoyed herself. She has happily shared her new fingerpaints and the magic coloring books with KaiLi, with whom she has a love-hate relationship. I'm proud of her for sharing and told her so.

Oh, and Connor cheerfully submitted to being chased around for half the party by 7 screaming little girls. Isn't it nice of him to sacrifice himself for his little sister? Lol!

Making wontons

Tonight we made wontons for dinner, recipe courtesy of my friend, Anne. (Thanks!) I let the kids make the wontons and we fried/steamed them, like potstickers. They were very good! Connor just couldn't get enough. I think he must have eaten at least 20!! The boy just loves food. :-)

If you click on the pictures, you can view them larger.

I love to share funny things my kids say from time to time. This is from a few weeks ago, but I thought it was funny.

Linnea and I were eating lunch when she said, "Mom, can we go out and kill a animal, cut its head off, and stick it on the wall?" After the first moment of shock, wondering if I was going to have to watch her around the cat from now on, I asked, "Why do you ask that?" She said, "Well, Chappelle's grandpa has a deer's head on HIS wall, and I want one on my wall too!" Phew! At least I don't have to worry about the cat.....

Church hairdos

KaiLi, Linnea, and Daryl asked me to put their hair in rollers last night for church. We have church at 9:00 a.m., so if we're going to fix their hair, it has to be done the night before. I just don't have to time to curl their hair before church.

Daryl was sick this morning,so she didn't go to church after all, but here are the two little girls with their curly hair! Linnea has really long hair, so we pinned hers up with a banana clip and bobby pins, so she has losts of curls in the back. KaiLi's we clipped back off from her face with tiny little colorful clips. They got lots of compliments today. And best of all, they FELT pretty!

Conversation with KaiLi last night...

I was mopping the floor while Linnea and KaiLi were coloring and cutting at their table in the kitchen. Just for reference, both KaiLi and Linnea refer to the places they were born, and their orphanages, "my China."

KaiLi looked over and said, "Oh, we had that in my China!"
Me: You mean, this kind of mop?
KaiLi: Yes, we had that, but it smell bad!
Me: It smelled bad when they mopped?
KaiLi: Yes, smell really bad all the time.
Me: So you didn't like the way it smelled where you lived?
KaiLi: No, I not like it.

Then she paused for a moment while I continued mopping. Then she said, "I not happy in my China."
Me (still thinking of the smell): You weren't happy with the way it smelled?
KaiLi: No. I not happy cause I not have family.
Me: Oh, you were sad because you didn't have a family there.
KaiLi nods.
Me: But you have a family here, and we love you very much.
KaiLi: Yes, have family here. I happy now. (Thinking to herself for a moment) No, I not happy in my China.

She then turned back to color some more with Linnea.

Connor can ride a bike!

Connor loves cub scouts and just finished his Wolf a couple of weeks ago. He is now going into Bears and this week was his first week. On Tuesday, I got a call from one of his new leaders, letting me know their meetings are on Thursdays after school and that they would be working on a Bear badge about bike safety. Uh oh. My heart sank when I heard this because Connor couldn't ride a bike yet, but I knew he wanted to go to scouts so badly. When he got home, I told him that his leader had called and watched his face fall when I explained they would be going for a mile-long bike ride after working on the bike safety badge.

When Willie got home, I explained to him the problem. He decided it was time Connor learned to ride. Connor had been working on this when he was 7, but after many falls he declared that he didn't need to ride a bike, he never wanted to ride again, and he could ride his scooter instead. And that's what he has done, up till now.

When Willie told him that he was going to help him learn how to ride, I could see the conflict in his face--the war between his fear of getting hurt and his desire to participate with the other boys at scouts. After a few moments of indecision, he gathered his courage and went outside with his dad.

I went out shortly after they had gotten started, just in time to see him fall. He grabbed his knee and cried, but Willie pulled him up and got him right back on the bike. He looked so scared, his face scrunched in fierce concentration as he tried to keep from falling, and he breathed like someone having an anxiety attack, gasping for air. But he kept trying, despite his many falls. Finally, at the end of the hour, he was staying on the bike more often than he was falling. We knew he wasn't really ready for the mile-long bike ride, however.

Thursday morning, I talked with one of his leaders again. She suggested that he come for the bike safety part, then she would whisper to him that he could go before they actually got ready for the ride. So when Connor got home from school, I told him the plan and he walked his bike over to her house (it's just a few houses down from us). I know he was concerned the other kids would make fun of him, but apparently no one did. Connor said he had a good time and really enjoyed scouts, despite not being able to ride with the other kids.

Then, last night when Willie got home, he got all the kids outside and told them they were going for a bike ride. He got Connor on his bike and he rode all around the neighborhood, gaining more confidence as they rode. He didn't fall once! He was SO proud of himself!! He came in the house and said, "Mom! Mom! I can ride a bike! I can't wait to tell Denver (his best friend) that I can ride a bike with him now! And guess what, Mom?? It's EASY!!" :-)

Sleeping Beauty

Ariel was home this weekend. We had our county fair this weekend and it's held in our town. Ariel has fond memories of past fairs, so she wanted to come home this weekend to go to it. She was all tuckered out today after church and she and her dad shared the couch for a little nap. Aren't they cute?

KaiLi's new leg braces

KaiLi got her leg braces a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, they will at the very least keep her feet from contracting and turning in more, and will strengthen the weak muscles in her shins that keep her from flexing her feet. If not, she will need to have surgery when she is 10 or so to release the contractures. Right now she is still adjusting to them, so only wears them 4-5 hours a day, but next week she will begin wearing them to school. I'm sure she's not going to be too happy about this. I'm going to try to post some video, though, of her riding her scooter with them. They don't hinder her activity much!

On Tuesday it will be a year since we got her. She has changed so much in this year! Last year at this time she was just 37 1/2 inches tall and weighed 36 pounds. Now she is 43 1/2 inches tall and weighs 44 pounds! She will be 9 in July, so she is still tiny, but the progress she has made is phenomenal.

We knew when we got her that KaiLi could walk, but were concerned because her legs were much weaker than we imagined. For those who don't know, KaiLi has spina bifida which was repaired in China when she was about 3 or 5 years old, depending on reports. (I really can't be sure, but I think the report that she was 5 is more accurate). We bought a stroller in China because we realized walking long distances would tax her strength. She leaned to the right when she walked because her left leg was so weak that she had to kind of throw it forward, so she overcompensated to the right. She could only walk up stairs using her right foot and had to hold on to someone's hand and the railing, going very slowly. Although her right leg was stronger and could support her weight, it took a lot of effort for her to pull her left leg up on to the next step. She could run, but fell often, tripping over her own toes. She couldn't even step on and off the curb because she was afraid of falling, and sometimes did.

She has gained so much strength this year. She can now go up and down stairs by herself and only uses the railing "just in case," just as we would. She practiced for months, constantly saying, "Look, Mom!" as she practiced going up and down using alternate feet. She rides a bike and a scooter like a pro. She plays soccer and will probably play other sports next year as well. She is a bit slower than other kids her age, but she isn't afraid to get into the action and really enjoys playing.

We are very proud of KaiLi. She has worked so hard and is determined to do well in everything she does. We are very blessed to have her be our daughter.