Notice anything different?

Lily last weekend:

Lily this weekend:

Sure, her hair is a little crazy in the first picture but at least she has bangs! Last Saturday Lily discovered a scissors in my bathroom and decided the bangs just had to go. This is not her first attempt at cutting her own hair, it is her 3rd! The second attempt, only one month ago ended with a severe scolding and the punishment to cut off her "princess hair" if she tried it again.

Now, this is a pretty severe threat since it is Lily's dream to have long, flowing hair down to the floor. After this hair cut was discovered, Lily compliantly allowed me to cut her hair into a much shorter, more manageable hair cut. Lily rarely does anything compliantly (any chance for some drama works for her) so I knew that she knew that she was in serious trouble. But, it's only hair and it will grow back...as long as she leaves it alone! Now when Lily tells people that I cut her hair, I just smile and say, "Lily started it and I got to finish it". If anyone has any ideas for her bangs, let me know.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lyra!

This week we celebrated Lyra's third birthday! This was especially exciting as this was her first birthday that we celebrated as a family. She was delighted with the cake but especially the presents!

Lyra's 2nd birthday celebrated with her Chinese foster mom with China Care. You'd think she would look happier with a cake that is nearly as big as she is!

Lyra's first birthday celebrated with her foster mother, Ruth.

And a huge thanks to Ruth for the lovely book for Lyra. She received it on her birthday and took great pleasure in opening it and having it read to her.

Alex's writing

I am going to treat you to a couple samples of Alex's writing. He brings them home most nights from school and it's my nightly challenge to decipher these amazing tales from a kindergartner. You can try your skills at getting into the mind of a 6 year-old, too! I will type them exactly as written:

the lost leisrd

Hie im GieGo I whus lust born.
But when I whoK uP my Parens
whr gon. I lookt urawhnd
My ParenS whrnt thar. So I whent
to looking for them. U SnaK PoPt out of
Nohar I uy out the Get uwha Plan.
I Got uwha frum the SnaK.

How did you do? Did you catch the tragic beginning to the story? How about the exciting action and the amazing problem solving abilities of the main character? Or do you need a little help with the translation?

The Lost Lizard

Hi. I'm a Gecko. I was just born.
But when I woke up my parents
were gone! I looked around.
My parents weren't there. So I went
looking for them. A snake popped out of
nowhere! I used out the get-away plan!
I got away from the snake.

I definitely prefer Alex's version. Want to try again? Here's another favorite written a couple months after the leisrd story so it may be a little clearer:

I get wet in the ran.
ran is wotr that falls
from the claws. do you
want to here a funy
story yes. oun day
lo cus cam ove to my haws
we wint outsid we
thot is whus raning
but it whus halling
we ranto the tramplen.
wii fellt the hall we
ran rit insid. Sum times
hall looks like ran.
Ran helps pans gro.

Again, lots of excitement with a few educational points added. Need help with any of it? Here is goes:

I get wet in the rain.
Rain is water that falls
from the clouds. Do you
want to hear a funny
story? Yes! One day
Lucas came over to my house.
We went outside. We
thought is was raining
but it was hailing!
We ran to the trampoline.
We felt the hail. We
ran right inside. Sometimes
hail looks like rain.
Rain helps plants grow.

Hope you enjoyed this kindergarten challenge as much as I did!

Lyra

Lily

Alex

Tristan

I'm back, at least for today

Did I mention I was a terrible blogger? You were warned. Chaos has been swirling through our home but my head is still above water. It seems between work, managing a home, cub scouts, swim club, mini 4-H, speech therapy, developmental therapy, homework and preschool, I barely have time to breath. Oh, and golf is in full swing so Harry has many commitments as the coach. We are all well with the family, though, and we feel so blessed to be able to have such wonderful opportunities.

I will post some pictures (which is why anyone who still checks this site is really interested in seeing, right?)

Items of interest in the last 3 months:

Spring Break: We took the world's cheapest vacation to Florida. We drove to Florida, used free hotel nights, stayed at my grandpa's house, took daily trips to the beach, cooked food at the house and had one of the best trips ever! The kids loved the beaches and parks we found in Florida.

School: Tristan in finishing up the 3rd grade and is loving cub scouts. Alex loved his first year of kindergarten and is becoming a great writer - I'll try to post an example later. Lily decided on her own that she is going to kindergarten next year. I wanted to hold her back since she will be one of the youngest in her class but she learned everything I required and now will attend school in the fall. Lyra continues with speech and developmental therapies and is making good progress.

The Mini: Harry and I ran the Mini marathon in Indy again this year. We were going to run the race together but due to some lack of communication, our 2 1/2 hours of "alone time" running with 35,000 other people didn't happen. But we both had good times and it was a positive experience by the end of the race. We are both training for another Olympic Tri this summer in our spare time (as in 5:30am).