Gotcha Day 2016

We've gone from this

to this

8 years ago this loving, smart, strong, stubborn girl met us in a hotel meeting room, across the world in China.  We were instantly head-over-heels in love with her!!  We still are ;)

As we do each year, the girls put on their silks and we headed down to AsiaTown for dinner to celebrate becoming a forever family.

The Noodle's Gotcha Day generally falls right around the Mid-Autumn Moon festival.  When we were in China, we were the only family who actually was able to meet their daughter on the pre-determined date.  Everyone else had to wait an extra day because of the holiday, but in our province (Fujian) they were willing to move forward with the adoption without waiting.

One the night we were there, there were many families and college students eating out and celebrating so that made it even more fun!

 This is the look when you're about to eat some serious yummy food.  Bring it!

An empty plate but a full heart--I'd like to think she's swooning over how she feels so blessed.  In reality, she's expressing her love for all things noodle, dumpling and rice related.  Ha ha!!

 And then there's this one--ready to dig into plate #2!

 Sometimes you  just need your mama to feed you baby-bird style.

I am forever grateful that God brought this girl into our lives.  She is a blessing and it is an honor to be her parents!  

Back to school traditions

As a child, the back-to-school tradition that I loved most was "girls day out".  My mom and I would go out to eat (my choice, naturally!) and then we would go shopping for back-to-school clothes and supplies.  It was always a great time of bonding (even in the teenage years) and I highly anticipated it each year.

Since I have two school age girls this year (whaaaat?!), I got the privilege of taking each one of them out for their own special day.  I had such a fun time individually with of them!

First up was the Noodle.  We dropped Mei Mei off at Lala's and then we got our shopping game on! We had our list ready and hit up Tar-jay.  Thankfully this year her list wasn't as long or extensive as in years past.  After everything was crossed off, we were exhausted!  A special treat was definitely called for and she chose fro-yo.

We chatted and laughed and she talked about how she was feeling starting 4th grade.  I know she loves 1:1 time so this really fit the bill.

A few days later it was Mei Mei's turn.  On that day, we had decided to join our friend for a shopping/lunch date down in AsiaTown before the two of us went off on our own.  As I've said before, both girls love spending time with L and her family.  They are always so gracious to us and have really helped J and I bring the girls' Chinese culture to life in a real and meaningful way (see here, here  , and here ).  Such a blessing from God to have this family as close friends!!

Those would be live eels in that cooler :/

With full, happy bellies Mei Mei and I said hello to Lala and goodbye to the Noodle and then it was our turn to shop. When you're 5, going to Target (again) perhaps isn't always quite as fun and exciting as it is when you're a bit older-haha, but she was a good sport.  She was VERY happy about getting the items off her list and wanted to make sure that she was the one putting the things into the cart--NOT me.

I was hoping to buy her a new outfit for the first day, just like Claire, but when you're being super particular about what you want (i.e. a dress with straps and a zipper down the back) sometimes things don't always pan out.  She didn't seemed fazed and instead was more interested in trying on the Elsa trucker hat with long rat-tail braid going down the back.  That did not make it into the cart, much to her disappointment.

We ended up at one of our local ice cream shops and goofed around a bit while we gobbled up the cold treat.

I'm so glad that I had a chance to take each one of them out for some special one-on-one time before the school year begins.  It was especially meaningful for me because I go back full time to teaching in just a few days.  Aaagh!  I have LOVED this time off, being at home, but I also knew that I would be going back to teaching, so all in all, I feel at peace about this new season of our lives beginning. We'll see what the fall brings!

8 years ago...

8 years ago, J and I were here

doing this

and then, in one phone call, our world totally changed.

Fast forward 8 years,

and we have this sweet, silly, stubborn, smart, WONDERFUL girl

that we are blessed to call our daughter.

"He has made everything beautiful in it's time"--Ecclesiastes3:11

Crossover

This year the Noodle has gotten involved with the group American Heritage Girls (AHG), which is an organization whose mission is to "build women of integrity through service to God, family, community and country".

She was a Tenderheart (girls ages K-3 grade) and had the opportunity to meet lots of new girls (both older and younger than she was), participate in some cool service projects and earn lots of badges. She also got to do it with her best bud, so it was a win on all accounts!

At the end of their 3rd grade year, the Tenderhearts crossover to become Explorers.  As with any scouting program, with each level that you advance, there are more expectations but also more privileges.

Her troop just had their crossover ceremony and it was also the time where they were able to receive the badges they had been working towards.  It was hard work but she was very proud of herself.  So were we!

I love that this is an organization that has the primary emphasis on becoming all that God created these girls to be but that it also ties in scouting with a heavy dose of service to others.  This is such a good balance for the Noodle.  Now, I wonder what badges she'll start working on over the summer?  

The Noodle turns 9

The Noodle celebrated her birthday right before Christmas.  Both sets of grandparents came over for a pizza dinner and ice cream cake for dessert.

We decided to postpone her party until after Christmas because of schedules, the craziness of life, etc., etc.  So glad that we did--we were really able to just enjoy it and not feel like one.more.thing.

She wanted to keep it small, so there were only a few little girls, which again was great.  The movie The Good Dinosaur was still playing and she thought it would be fun to go see that and then have ice cream afterwards.  Done and done.

Mei Mei invited a friend to join us as well.  What a sweet bunch of girls.  At one point, when all the girls went running ahead, giggling and screaming, he looked at me with a dazed look on his face and said "I guess this is our future?!"  Ha!

The movie was sweet and there may have been a tear shed or two.  As we were driving home, Mei Mei's eyelids kept getting heavier and heavier.  She just couldn't stay awake.  I guess it is a sign of a good party when you collapse on the floor right inside the door ;)

Noodle, you are turning into such a young lady!  Daddy and I love to see how God is moving in your life to grow you and shape you into the exact person who He has created you to be.  You still really like dinosaurs but are also into any kind of science.  Robots are beginning to be high on your interest list.  You love to read and given long stretches of time, will devour a book if you're not busy creating with your Legos!  You are creative, funny and such a good problem solver--we love to see your mind at work.  You are maturing and learning more and more about when to say things out loud and when to keep those thoughts in your head--ha!  We love you to the China moon and back and still love to pull you onto our laps to cuddle with you.  We know you secretly love it.  Happy birthday Chinese Noodle!!