Video of the Week - Week 3

This is one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time...





Until next time...

Video of the Week - Week 2

This is a short video our adoption agency put together about their Waiting Children (special needs) adoption program from China.  Being that Amelia's referral came to us off of the special needs list, this is a topic near and dear to our hearts.  Please take the time to listen...



 Until next time...

Sunday Snapshot - Ava @ UIL

The UIL (University Interscholastic League) is a new phenomenon to us since Ava started school here in Texas.  According to their website, "The University Interscholastic League exists to provide educational extracurricular academic, athletic, and music contests.  The UIL was created by The University of Texas at Austin in 1909 and has grown into the largest inter-school organization of its kind in the world."

Ava was first eligible to compete in UIL events this year when she entered second grade.  For her grade level, there were three events in the academic arena she could try out for and possibly compete in.  Unfortunately, she had pneumonia the week of the try outs!  So she missed out on the first two categories but the teacher in charge of the Creative Writing knew of Ava's talents and decided she would not make her final decision until Ava had returned to school and entered her piece for consideration!  The try out process for Creative Writing consisted of every child in second grade writing a short story.  Out of those entries, the top 12 were chosen and asked to write another story.  From those 12, the top 3 were chosen.  Ava was one of those three!

The Creative Writing team had practice after school every Friday for several weeks. They were able to write their stories early and submit on the day of the competition.  Each child had 30 minutes to write a story based on a series of 3 or 4 pictures they were given.  

Several weeks after the competition, her teacher called me to say Ava had placed 3rd!  We were thrilled!  Especially when we heard that Ava had not even finished her story!  She ran out of time and wasn't able to complete it but the judges liked it enough to give her third place.  That's third place out of all the other contestants (not just in this district)!  Ava was disappointed when she learned she earned 3rd - she really wanted 1st (this girl is SO competitive!)  

While the competition was back in December, they finally had the awards ceremony here at her school at the end of January.  (And let me put my disclaimer in here.  I'm still on a learning curve with my camera and the far distance + flouresent  lighting in the gym made for some challenging shots!)

This is Ava and her friend waiting before the ceremony...so cute they are holding hands!

And then laughing about it...;-)

Here is the Creative Writing Team from Ava's school (that's Ava on the far right, looking away!)  They placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.  Completely swept the category!

Here she is getting her medal...




Admiring her medal...

And posing for pictures for the newspaper...

(This is the entire UIL team from Ava's school)

And posing for pictures for the yearbook!

We're very proud of Ava and the entire team...

For more Sunday Snapshots, head on over to Ni Hao Y'all

Until next time...

Project 365 Days 37-43

Day 37 - February 6

What happens when a pipe breaks and your kitchen is in shambles?  Well, you get to use your neglected formal dining room, that's what happens!

Day 38 - February 7

We had been getting to bed late the last few nights and I think it was finally catching up with Amelia.  I found her like this, sacked out on the den floor, fast asleep.  I took my exploitive photos to document the moment, then scooped her up and laid her out on the couch ;-)

Day 39 - February 8

This is the most inclusive shot I took on this day to show how much ceiling they had to rip out.  You can also see part of the white trim they had to take down at the end of room.

Day 40 - February 9

This was the morning the second storm blew through.  They were predicting it would be as bad, if not worse, than the first storm from last week!  Luckily, while we did get some flurries, there was little to no snow but the temps were frigidly cold.  This is our dedicated pool man, Steve, braving the arctic temperature of 16 that morning, to clean our pool.  What a guy!!

Day 41 - February 10

Today was Amelia's Valentine's Day party at preschool.  As you can see, she was enjoying herself!  I wasn't going to use this picture, but I ended up liking that she was out of focus and the cupcake was in focus.  Kind of puts the emphasis on something different!

Day 42 - February 11  

This is Tommy and Magic, enjoying a quiet moment as the sun sets.  I shot this with my camera phone but was pleased with the silhouettes of the horses...

Day 43 - February 12

This picture was actually shot a few days ago but I thought the look on Ava's face was hilarious!  She looks a little shell shocked!

Until next time...

Video of the Week - Week 1

Absolutely loved this video.  One of the reasons I love Danes so much...miss my two...



Until next time...

Sunday Snapshot - Amelia

I have heard before from others who have adopted, that it takes about a full year before you see your child's true personality.  I would definitely agree with this.  Amelia came to us grieving deeply for her foster family.  It took several months before she would say anything in front of anyone outside our family.  When we were in China, we didn't even hear her voice for over a week.  And it took several days before we heard any sound from her.  But looking back, I think it's fitting that the first sound we heard from her was a laugh.  Because now?  Now we know this girl will laugh at anything remotely funny.

This week we had industrial fans in the house to dry out the walls and ceiling that were damaged when a frozen pipe broke.  Amelia quickly found one of the dryers and decided it was tons of fun to dance around in front of high velocity blowers...

And the sillier she got, the more she laughed and squealed with delight!

Spinning and twirling in front of the fan brought much joy to this delightful girl!

Her sister is her partner in merriment...

...or is that partner in crime?

And while her sister can get her laughing like no one else, this girl also has a sense of humor all her own...

And have I mentioned her laugh?

Oh. My. Goodness.  Such a laugh.  Deep, rolling belly laughs come from this little girl.

It's so contagious and full of joy, I made it the ringtone on my phone.

So every time someone calls me I am reminded of what a delightful gift we have been given...

Click on over to Ni Hao Y'all for more Sunday Snapshots







Until next time...