Out of the Closet

Our closet gymnast has gone public! Today was Maya's first "Mom and Me" gymnastics class and she had a ball. Obviously the 3 different bars of varying heights were a big hit with our little monkey girl. One mom was amazed that this was Maya's first class. She said, "Wow! This is the first time she's tried this?" I told her no, Maya gets lots of practice in our closet.
I'm sure it was great for her to be free of hangers, clothes hampers, etc.



Not only were there bars, there was a balance beam....



a springboard.....



a new friend, also adopted from China....

and HAND STAMPS!

Maya's joy is full

Trail-a-bike!

Look at that face! Someone is VERY excited about her first ride on the trail-a-bike! I was a little worried that she was too little to hang on, but Lyle reminded me that anyone who can hang from her arms for long periods of time in our closet is certainly strong enough to hold onto bike handles.




Today was an absolutely gorgeous spring day. Maya pointed to the sky and said, "Wow, Mom! Look at the blue!"

And off they go! They rode the whole 2 and half miles around our bumpy dirt road. I think the trail-a-bike will be seeing quite alot of use this spring and summer.

Spring Break

Horray for Spring Break! We all have very much been looking forward to it! It has been a trying week, with a very difficult, although inspiring funeral on Thursday. Madeline had been asked to sing her friend's favorite Primary song, "Give Said the Little Stream". Madeline accepted, but the night before the funeral she came into our room just sobbing and we wondered if she'd be able to do it. She'd never been to a funeral and she said her first funeral would have been alot easier if it was for an elderly great uncle, twice removed! Madeline was really holding back the tears during the service and was doing these little hiccups. Again, I worried that there would be no way she could sing. When the time came though, she walked up to the stand looking very composed and got through the whole song. She said she just tried not to look at anyone because she could hear crying and knew if she looked at a crying person, she'd start sobbing herself.

Once again, I have to say that our friends are simply an amazing family and their strength and faith through all of this has been an inspiration to so many. I was over at Children's Hospital just a couple of days after this sweet girl had passed away and was asked by my friend to give the nurses a picture of their daughter and also let them know the date and time of the funeral. I was so impressed (but not surprised) at the effect this family had had on the staff there at the hospital. They truly loved them and were mourning with them. Two of the nurses made the long drive from Seattle to be here at the funeral. One of the nurses said, "The babies we've lost needed a babysitter."

Early Friday morning Lyle took Adam and Madeline to D.C. where he and his sister, Laurel planned to run the D.C. marathon. Poor Lyle missed his connecting flight and didn't get into DC until 11 PM, with an early-morning start time for the marathon the next day. I was thrilled to get the phone call from Madeline the next morning that Lyle had just crossed the finish line with a time of 3:25! He was hoping to be under 3 and a half hours and I'm thrilled for him that he met his goal. Laurel also did spectacularly well, finishing her very first marathon in 3:58! They are amazing!


Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Abby has been keeping us on a very busy schedule. She expects fun vacation-time activites pretty much around the clock! Here the girls are making a serious mess during craft time! Easter crafts were 75% off at the store, so Abby picked out the deluxe Easter cottage kit!

Maya loves anything that involves glue. She made some very gluey, sparkly Easter eggs.

Abby has been planning a trip to the zoo for a very long time. Obviously the girls were excited as we set off. Unfortunately, just before the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, it started to hail. It was getting close to lunchtime, so we stopped in at Panera Bread to get a bite to eat.

The girls ordered hot chocolates and were VERY pleased when these massive cups were brought to the table.

That should take the chill out of your bones, Abby!

Maya's cup is a big as her head!

Finally we made it to the zoo. Thankfully the weather did improve and we had a sunny day. The tiger was very active and went right up to the glass to get a look at Abby. We heard him roar several times. Even though glass was separating us from him, it gave us chills!

"Wait up, peacock! We just want to say hi!"
The peacock was smart to high-tail it (or low-tail it evidently) away from these two!

We Have Each Other

I love that Abby can read now and that Maya is starting to let other people read her bedtime stories! Abby is such a good big sister. I'm so glad that these two have each other.

Speaking of us "having each other", Maya's been very adamant lately about who is in HER family. I think it all started after an incident at Kinkos a couple of weeks ago. I was making some copies and Maya was chatting with a little girl who looked to be about 4 years old. The girl asked Maya where her mommy was. Maya pointed to me and said, "Mommy right dare." The girl got a very serious look on her face and shook her head and said, "No. That's not your mommy. I can tell that's not your mommy." This little girl's dad looked very embarrased and reminded his daughter that her hair is blond and her mom's hair is brown. The little girl was very determined to get her point across. "No. I still look like Mommy. That is NOT that little girl's mommy!" I really felt for the dad who looked like he wanted to clamp his hand over his talkative daughter's mouth!

A couple of times during the last few days Maya has pointed to me and with great conviction told complete strangers, "That MY mommy. MY mommy." I have to say, it warms my heart.

Easter 2008

Our Easter Sunday started in typical northwest fashion with gray skies and cold, rainy weather. Also in typical northwest fashion, the clouds have now cleared away and we've had a sunny afternoon. I thought the kids looked so cute (don't tell Adam I used that word) this morning. I was proud that both Madeline and Adam joined Lyle in the church choir today, a first for Adam. Although Abby was physically present on the stand during the primary musical number, I did not see her lips move even once. Abby, on the other hand, told me that she DID sing, she was just trying to see how little she could move her mouth and still make noise.



We colored eggs last night and the little girls made a horrible mess.....

....and enjoyed every minute of it!

Madeline always shows a great deal of patience with her eggs and gets the deepest colors.

Adam is confident enough in his manliness to use pink.

The kids went downstairs at about 8:00 this morning and were very pleased with their Easter baskets. Adam got a new basketball that's touted as the ball that never needs inflating. The first thing I heard him say when he bounced it was, "hmmm, it's seems a little flat." Madeline got the game "Blokus", Abby got a set of little fairies, and Maya was thrilled with her very own backpack! She may sleep in it tonight. Here she's enjoying Lyle's delicious German pancakes while wearing the beloved backpack.



Each of the girls got an Easter dress and they all looked so pretty. Maya does not seem capable of a normal smile when the camera comes out. In this photo she was laughing because it was about my 20th attempt to get one decent picture. That little stinker!

I'm the primary nursery leader in my ward and so I get lots of Qiu time on Sundays! She loves nursery and is always very happy to arrive and eat her snack. Notice once again the backpack. And the picture face.

I was able to sneak a shot of her listening to the lesson. She really pays attention and participates. She loves learning. Oh, a kind of funny story from today. During the sacrament, a little boy a few rows back was very loudly reciting the alphabet. He was going strong through "G" when his mother quieted him. Maya didn't even miss a beat and when he stopped she yelled out, "H, I, J...."


Back home I tried one last time to get a normal smile out of her. This was the result. I give up.
Happy Easter to all. I've really felt the spirit of the day today and the joy of the resurrection.

*Just a couple of hours after I finished this post, we got a phone call that dear friends of ours from church had just lost their precious 13 year-old daughter. She had been in the hospital in Seattle for the past month fighting MRSA pneumonia. She was an amazingly talented young lady--state champion gymnast, dancer, honor student, and just a wonderful person. Our hearts are aching for this sweet family tonight

I Feel Wicked!

On Valentine's Day, Lyle and I had our "Wicked" getaway! Here is Lyle arriving at the L.A. airport. This sign greeted us right when we walked off the plane. Obviously we're in the right city!



We got to our hotel, had just enough time to change, and then we got a ride out to Hollywood. I'm glad we hadn't cut it any closer because the drive there took a good hour, although it was only about 12 miles away! It was so fun to see flowers blooming and oranges growing on the trees! This winter has seemed so long and we can't wait for spring!



We had a wonderful (and QUIET!) dinner and then walked to the theater. The whole walk there was on the sidewalk where entertainment figures have their "stars". There are an amazing number of them!

Our seats were on the 4th row and it was so neat to be that close. The woman playing Glinda, Megan Hilty, was the same actress I saw playing that role with the touring company in Seattle. I thought she was great the first time, but close-up, I thought she was fantastic. She really steals the show. The Elphaba character was played my Caissie Levy, who is new to the LA company. I thought she was great too, but I preferred Shoshanna Bean, who I saw in Seattle. This was the first time Lyle had seen the play and he loved it. The whole trip was very short, but so perfectly fun. Thank you to the Towers and Haws for watching our kids! And a HUGE thank you to Lyle who has earned major brownie points in my book!

Closet Gymnast

When I say that Maya is a closet gymnast, I don't mean that she hides her talent. I mean that she literally does gymnastics in our closet. It started a couple of weeks ago when I heard Maya exclaim from the closet, "Wow! That trick so cool!" I investigated and found that she'd pushed the clothes aside on one of the lower hanging rods in our closet. She hung from her arms, walked her feet up the wall, effortlessly swung her legs under and then up over the bar, and shocked her mom with all sorts of tricks. She even performed a couple of different "flipskies", as she called them. At one point, she was hanging from her arms and obviously trying to do some sort of pull-up. She was putting quite a lot of effort into it and grunted, "tummy!...up there!" So, I helped her get her tummy up on the bar, and she proceeded to spin around the bar!



Our three older kids have always been fairly cautious. And really, I wouldn't call Maya a daredevil, but she seems to be very coordinated and limber and she appears to be confident in what her body can do. When Madeline was about 8 years old she took gymnastics. She mostly enjoyed it, but one day after I picked her up, she seemed on the verge of tears. I reminded her that she can't expect to be the best at everything she tries. She sobbed, "It's not that I'm not the best. I'm the WORST!" So, she decided that gymnastics was just not her sport.
As Lyle and I watched Maya perform her closet gymnastics the other day, Lyle commented, "Hmmm. That's got to be genetic."



Walk feet up the wall, get legs in position.....



Make Mom very nervous!




Another picture from that same day. I LOVE the pigtails on Maya! Abby said, "People will know for sure we're sisters with our matching hairstyles!"

And one more pigtail shot. She looked so pretty on Sunday in her Chinese New Year dress.

And one more because she was in a pretty, girly girl mood.

She's definitely not always in a girly girl mood! This is how she'd like to accessorize her Sunday dress--with brother's basketball shoes. Also, notice Abby's backpack on the floor behind her. She LOVES backpacks, especially Abby's! There is a song on one of her favorite videos that's all about backpacks and she sprints to find a backpack whenever the song starts. She so wants to go to school. I put in an application for her to start preschool in the fall. She'll just barely have turned 3, but I know she's ready and she's just giddy about all things related to school. The other day when she was loading up a backpack and pretending to go to school, I couldn't help but think of how limited (and almost non-existent) her educational opportunities would have been had she stayed in China. Such a sad thought. She has an amazing mind and I know she's going to put it to very good use!

Chinese New Year

Welcome year of the rat! Last night Lyle and I inched out of our comfort zone a bit and hosted a Chinese New Year dinner. There were 3 families here for a total of 14 people. One of the guests was a woman that I visit teach who just moved here from China. It was a little intimidating to serve my somewhat Americanized version of a Chinese New Year dinner to someone who really knows how Chinese New Year should be done! Thankfully she was very sweet and complimentary, and most importantly, she kept a good sense of humor! Here is Maya, (our girl born in the year of the Rooster) modeling Madeline's New Year's dress.



Red and gold are the colors of Chinese New Year. The banner on the door says something like "Wealth and Prosperity" (or so I was told by the teenage boy who works at "Party City". I'm sure he's an authority on such things!)



A woman from Lyle's office gave him the decorations of the boy and girl. I can't remember their exact symbolism, but I know they represent something good!

Maya had so much fun "helping" me to get the decorations up. What probably should have taken an hour literally took all day. She was too excited about the party to take a decent nap.
We hung a curtain of Chinese characters and symbols in the entrance to the den.
I should have taken a picture of the delicious food! We had:
Chinese pickles
Jiaozi dumplings
Spicy bean sprouts
Asparagus salad
Char Sui barbequed pork with hot mustard sauce
Stir fried pork and noodles
Fried rice
VInegar fish (the WHOLE fish---head, eyes, tail...) It was served on a bed of rice and bok choy and was quite impressive.
A fruit platter
Nian Gao Chinese new year cake (it has a layer of red beans in the middle!)

It all turned out so well. Even the new year cake, which made me a little nervous, was actually quite good. It kind of tasted like a rice pudding. Everyone helped get things together, but Madeline was a lifesaver. As soon as she got home from school, she just rolled up her sleeves and got things done! She's a girl who always appreciates a good theme party!

You can see the mandarin orange on each plate. Citrus fruits are always served at the new year and they represent prosperity and health. The noodles represent longevity so they must not be cut! The fish was served whole because the head represents a good start to the new year and the tail a good finish. Serving foods whole also symbolizes family togetherness.

The girls looked lovely in their dresses. No amount of pleading will get Adam into traditional Chinese clothing! I don't know if you can see it in the picture (although she is sporting her toothy picture face), but Maya hit her mouth and now has a very gray front tooth. "...The old gray tooth, it ain't what it used to be...."

Maya is such an American toddler, that any Chinese celebrations feel just as foreign to her as to any other American. When she sat down at her seat, she picked up her chopsticks with a quizzical look and yelled to me in the kitchen, "Hey, Mom! I need a fork!" She said it with an expression like, "Someone accidently put sticks next to my plate. What's up with THAT?"

Maya is getting more amd more brave around Chinese women and actually sat on my friend's lap for a couple of minutes. This was really big for her! It didn't last long though and when my friend spoke to Maya in Mandarin, Maya burst into tears and clung to me for a good 5 minutes. I'm sure she doesn't have any memories, but when she hears Chinese women speaking Mandarin, some feeling deep down is brought to the surface and she gets weepy and very clingy.
It was interesting talking to my friend who, like Maya, is also from the south of China. She said that Maya has a very typical southern Chinese look about her and that the women from the south are generally much more quiet and shy than northern women. Hmmm....Either we were mistakenly given a northern girl, or we've Americanized those characteristics out of her!
The dinner was wonderful and I'm so glad we did it. There's so much to love about the different cultures of the world.