One of the things the girls look forward to is walking near our house to go feed the ducks!  Maddie has been sick for nearly four days now but sometimes you just need to get out or you’ll get cabin fever which in WAY worse! All I have to say is… thank goodness for cheap bread!

Beautiful Oregon days….

The Final Product

Halloween 2008 has arrived!  We bought the family pumpkin over the weekend and when we got home today, we carved away.  Maddie has been planning out her ideal pumpkin face for weeks.  Of course, the face was full of hearts.  I had a hard time explaining that knives have a hard time making the rounded edges of hearts, but we gave it a go anyway!

Miss Amelia had to join in with us and scoop out the pumpkin

The Planning Stages

seeds – of course, she had to put that orange stringy stuff in her mouth – such a babe!!

Maddie and I headed over to the Haunted House after the carving and I held her hand all the way throughout.  She was genuinely scared this year!  I honestly think she was braver last year, but that’s the life of a 5 year old!  Andy will take her out Trick-or-Treating in a couple of days so this is just the beginning!

We love you girls!  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Yummy Pumpkin Orange Stringy Things!

I love this… it’s a perfect reflection.  This is so developmental and it’s a perfect reflection.  As the end of the year comes to a close, all of the cool stuff starts to come home.  This is exactly how Maddie saw her name on that day – in that moment.  It made sense to her brain.  I love it!!!  Just think, it took me hours in Driver’s Education class my sophomore year of high school to teach myself how to write backwards for no reason whatsoever and now my daughter can do it without thinking twice!!!

When the sky is blue in Shanghai, you just have to go outside and be outside.  So I lather both girls up with sunblock and let the giggles begin.  Maddie played hopscotch and Amelia rolled around on the bear blanket just laughing at Maddie jump on one foot from number to number.  I guess from Amelia’s point of view, it would be a rather strange sight! 

And said that Maddie was required to attend during her May Holiday break so we bought a couple of tickets and headed down to Hong Kong for two full days. When we said we were going to Hong Kong Disneyland, I don’t think she truly grasped what that meant. The magic in her eyes the entire day was priceless. At one point, we were watching the Golden Mickey’s and both Andy and I had tears in our eyes for a brief moment simply because Maddie was being so four. She was in awe and had such a sense of wonder in her eyes. I swear if she had been wearing sparkly, red shoes and clicked her heals then something would have happened!!

We took the subway to Sunny Bay station and transferred to the Micky Line…seriously, the windows were shapped like Mickey on the train and the moment the doors opened, we were drawn into the magic.

Sometimes a picture says it all! Here they are… right out of the bath tonight!  BIG BLUE EYES and all…

There is no purpose in posting this other than, I think she’s pretty darn cute! Enjoy!

Sunday mornings are the best around here these days.  The girls wake up and all four of us jump into our bed for a full hour of conversation and laughter.  The laughter continues on for the entire morning – all the way through ballet – all the way through the weekly grocery shopping.  And then the evening hits…   I think I’ll just try and remember these smiles!

Back to school for the second term, completely relaxed from an amazing trip home. We came back to a mixed bag, but everything always seems to work itself out. We had new fish! Our new ayi went and bought seven friends for Pedro But Lester went missing for a full week. Thank goodness for Ms. Zhou because she had the time and perseverance to walk around calling out Lester’s name. The poor cat was caught in a trap and stuck under a bush. It has been near freezing and/or raining all week so we were happy to get him back! We’re back in the swing of things around here.

While Maddie and Ms. Zhou enjoy their Friday night movie ritual, Andy and I go out for date night. I thought for sure that we would put it on hold after Amelia arrived, but this kid likes to be a part of it all! If she’s sitting in your lap, she’s a happy camper. So… dad I continue the date nights (with Amelia in tow) while Maddie continues on with her Ms. Zhou/Maddie bonding time. Life is good!!

Maddie is speaking in terms of years now…

Me: “Maddie, how about you take a bath before bed tonight?”
Maddie: “Next year Mommy…with bubbles!”

Me: “Maddie, aren’t you going to school today?”
Maddie: “Um… no… next year Mommy! I want to go to ballet class now!”

So… Maddie is having a good year! And just to confirm that she really is having a good year, we “ran into” the Goodyear blimp in Shanghai!

In English

In Chinese

Maddie is starting to really understand this whole concept of time. She knows that when the clock reads 6:00, her favorite show is on T.V. She knows that she gets to put up her Shanghai Christmas tree in 14 days because she is marking them off the calendar. She knows that tomorrow is ballet class. So when she woke up a little cranky saying that she didn’t want to get her haircut, I played the ballet card. “But Maddie, you’ll want to make a good impression on your first day of ballet class!”

Hook – Line – Sinker!!