Pickin Time

Today is my birthday!! I'm thirty-four today (: 

I just love birthdays.

The fun part of having a Monday birthday is that I got to celebrate all weekend! 

I think birthdays should be birthweeks, don't you?

I got a day of apple pickin with my nearest and dearest yesterday. 

I have discovered my happy place. Apple trees.

To sum up our afternoon — as we were leaving Mae said "I want to stay here forever." 

Me too. 

**Update
A photographer was there taking pictures while we were at the orchard and these pictures of our family ended up in his article.  Thank you Jonathan Phillips for the feature!

dragonboat races

Today was the Dragonboat Festival that we love going to with our friends... this was our third year.  If you want to  look back to 2013 and 2012. Geez Mae has grown up and it's fun that this was Jovie and Ian's first time.

 

I'm stunned each year that we've come by how H.O.T. it is here... we melt every year and swear it couldn't get any hotter. These precious black haired beauties are melting.

Our girls were so excited about these "Chinese Princesses". They are so beautiful but also so sweet and came by to talk and hug the kids. 

The dragonboat races go on all morning and then at noon there's a big show! It starts off by the lighting of tons of firecrackers (those are not the pretty kind in the sky; but the really loud kind that just smoke.) This scared Jovie Ming to pieces and I don't think Ian much liked it either. Jovie stayed clung to me almost through the whole show, afraid they might do that some more. 

My favorite part is the dragon dance - how did these guys get this job? 

It was a whole lot of fun but we went and took cold showers and napped in the cool air conditioning. What is it about the sun that can wipe you out? Next year we will be prepared for the heat!

Mid-Autumn Mooncakes

Our family loves to celebrate Chinese holidays (as best as we know how!). This week was the Mid-Autumn Moon festival. It's a time for mooncakes and lanterns.  This time of the year the moon is at its roundest and brightest.  But I think you can tell by its name why this celebration takes place without my telling you that (:

We got to celebrate with other families at an authentic Chinese restaurant on Sunday... And when I say authentic I mean they served us chicken feet. (Something westerners find gross but in China is a yummy treat. No, I did not try it.) We made Chinese lanterns on Monday with other adopted kiddos from China, ate mooncakes, and got to see a beautiful demonstration of Chinese dance last night. I love when we get the chance to teach our kids about where they are from and, to be honest, I love it too and am so glad I have an excuse to be a part of it all! 

So moon "cakes" are a little deceiving to children who've eaten donuts, candy and sweet cakes with sugary icing. They are not really sweet. 

You can see on Ian's face just what he thought when he took a big bite. 

And then they were all about sharing, "here, you can have mine." 

The inside has red bean paste. If you've never tried it I think you would like it if you had no expectations. I think it's pretty good, but not as a dessert... 

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The Chinese dancers last night were breathtaking.  Ian and Mae were absolutely mesmerized. 

But little Jovie Ming was not at all happy... I could not figure it out but she kept her fingers in her ears the entire time and would not even let me move away for a second.  She clung to me and cried. So, was something there making her scared or bringing a bad memory back? Or maybe I'm thinking too hard and she just didn't feel well.  Either way she was not her spunky tiger baby self.  I only wish she could tell me what she was thinking. 

So I think Ian has a crush, don't you?

Mae wanted to get dressed up in her Chinese clothes to watch the dancing. I adore these kiddos in some Chinese silk. 

Eat.Them.Up.

Mae primped and pampered

We were invited to a very sweet birthday party for one of Mae's friends. It was the most amazing time ever for Mae... and so I thought I should share her pictures here. 

We walked into the place for the birthday party and it was like nothing I'd ever seen before...  Pink everywhere and covered top to bottom with roses, pink rose wallpaper, pink rose carpet, and even pink roses hanging from the ceiling.

When all of the girls got there they took them back to the dressing area to pick princess dresses to wear. There was every single princess represented and every dress she ever wore. Do you want to be Arial? hmmm... you can be her as a mermaid, or wear the dress she wore, or even her wedding dress. The options were OUTRAGEOUS!

Mae chose to be Anna from Frozen (no surprise there). She was then given the royal treatment... nails done, make-up done, and then topped with a touch of glitter for her hair.

sweet girl waiting for her turn

Isn't she lovely? However, without all that makeup she is most definitely even more beautiful. 

 Now for her first ever fashion show. 

 She is a natural princess! 

This was the perfect party for my glitter girl.  Thankful to our sweet friend who invited us to celebrate!!

The first day of school

Today was Mae's first day back to school! This year she is going to a new school... This is 5K. Big stuff.  She will spend four whole days there a week—I already miss her. 

She was so terribly excited all this morning, we've had several weeks of anticipation leading up to this day. I love this child's enthusiasm! When we got to the school I thought she was going to burst to get out of her seat and leave us. The woman helping in the car line walked Mae into the school while my precious daughter skipped the whole way beside her.

She is such a delight. 

It made me so happy to see her flitting off to her day at school. 

Ian and Jovie hardly knew what to do today without her.

  

And there really was no surprise at all to see Mae over the moon when I picked her up.  "Mom I had a GREAT day" was her first words as she got up into the car. I would have to say her first day was a beaming success. 

So, I've seen these little interviews around on a few blogs and I love it. She's had something similar done for Mother's and Father's day at school, but I thought I'd ask her about some of her favorites so we could always look back and see this. You should go ask your kids these... their answers may surprise you (:

1. What do you like to draw? Butterflies and People.

2. What makes you happy? The slide at the playground.

3. What makes you sad? Ian taking something from me. (This is classic little brother, am I right?)

4. What makes you laugh? My Boppy

5. How old are you? Five

6. How old is Mommy? I don't know, 15?

7. How old is Daddy? 22 or 25

8. What is your favorite thing to do? Play with play dough at school. (she got to do today!)

9. What do you want to be when you grow up? A mommy.

10. What are you really good at? Drawing hearts.

11. What is your favorite food? Macaroni and cheese & Chinese food.

12. What is your favorite song? Let it Go.  (no surprise)

13. What do you want for your birthday next year? Get my ears pierced. (surprised)

14. What does daddy do for work? He makes things.

15. What does mommy do for work?  Take care of me.

16. Where do you live? At home.

17. Where is your favorite place to go? The beach.

18. What is your favorite toy? My frozen dolls.

19. What are your favorite books? Raggedy Anne & Andy books.

20. What is love? Kissing and hugging.