First Day of Preschool!!

Today it was finally Mei Mei's turn to go back to school.

She's been eagerly anticipating it and couldn't wait to go!!

After we had finished lunch, we grabbed a few photos.  She was also adamant that we pray for her before we left (be still my heart, sweet girl!).

There was no hand holding as she marched up to the doors.  Little Miss Independent!

She did let me get one more shot of her before we went in.

Today and tomorrow she's only there with half of her class for an hour but on Thursday she'll go for the full 2.5 hours with the entire class.

And she's off!

Raspberries!

Yum, yum ohhh yummm!!

The end of summer means the start of raspberry picking time.  These little fellas are so delicious aren't they?!

We went to our "farm in the city" to pick last weekend and it did not disappoint.

We headed out to row 2blue and started picking.  The littlest one wasn't nearly as into it this time and she probably ate her weight in berries (and paid for it later...).  Ugh.

By the end, it was mainly J and I picking--the older one had petered out too.

We still got quite a haul and have been eating raspberries at most meals.  Love them.

Since it was well past lunch, we decided to go to a local 1950's restaurants.  Milkshakes, french fries and burgers (or grilled cheese) all around.  Big smiles from everyone!

Painting Rocks

Last week was bright and cool and after getting inspired from this, Mei Mei decided she wanted to go paint some rocks!

We headed down to the Lake and found plenty of rocks to gather and of course throw.  So. much. fun.

"I spy a heart shaped rock!"

 She marched in to get her watercolor paints and her art mat--all set and ready to go!  I was actually going to get my acrylic paints but once I saw that she was thinking watercolors, I was all for it.  I mean, watercolors and 4 year olds are so much better, don't ya think?!  She also has a tenancy to move on from whatever she's painting to painting her nails and watercolors are sooo much easier for cleaning up!

 See how pretty they look?  The colors obviously faded, but she didn't care.  It was all about the process.  Later on in the afternoon, while I was helping the Noodle with homework, she marched right back to the porch and flipped those rocks over and painted the backside of them.

 Serious little artist at work--bless her heart!

What's Up Wednesday?

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so that means I'm linking up to share what's up with our family!

What we're eating:
Mediterranean Orzo Mac-n-Cheese is a staple that I make quite a bit.  We can get two dinners out of it, so Mama doesn't have to cook one night ;)

We're going to try this pesto pasta meal (leaving out the chicken) this week.  Looks simple enough and (bonus) I bought the ingredients to make it last week and then for some reason didn't, so had everything on hand!

I made this cod with crayfish bayou sauce a few weeks ago and everyone loved it.  Not gonna lie, it is a bit rich but it was very tasty!  Anytime I can weave fish into the weekly rota is a good thing.

What I'm reading:

First off, Jennifer Scott's At Home with Madame Chic.  This was another quick read all about how to bring that certain "Je ne said quoi" into your daily life.  There were some good tips and simple things to try in order to become more mindful as you go about your everyday life.

The second book was one that we actually finished for bible study.  I've read quite a few of Lysa TerKeurst's book and let me tell you they never disappoint!  Her humor mixed with honesty always hit home and she really addresses how to make your Christian walk relevant.  I'd highly suggest it!

What I'm reminiscing about:

Sum-Sum-Summatime!  We had a great summer and seemed to strike the perfect balance between down-time and fun-filled activities.  I wrote about it here.
What I'm working on:

I've been working on putting our China trip to bring Mei Mei home into a video.  Now let me be the first to clearly state that I am sooo not techy!  We made a video for the Noodle, but that was 7 years ago and J did more of it than me.  This time, however, I'm trying to figure it out.  We'll see how it goes!

I'm also taking an on-line course this fall until mid-October.  It is an HQT social studies course because, long story short, this was the last one that I needed.  When I go back to teaching special ed, I'll have the flexibility if I want to teach at the middle or high school level.  Now seemed to be as good a time as ever to do it.

What is our favorite back-to-school tradition?
I'd definitely say "girl's day out" is a favorite tradition to usher in the new school year.  I did it with my mom and now I'm doing it with my girls.  Always fun to go out and have a little one on one time!

Referral Anniversary

On August 21, 2013 I was fixing lunch for the Noodle after our trip to the ER for her broken wrist.  It was the second time that summer for her breaking the same wrist.  Ugh.  I would have been back at school for my first professional day but since we needed to go to the hospital, I was going in late.

It just shows how God can use all things for good and His glory because if we hadn't been home, we would have missed the phone call from our agency informing us that they had a referral for a two year old girl that they thought would be the perfect fit for our family!

Now obviously they would have left a message and tried to reach us on our cell phones, but the fact the Noodle and I were home to process through this momentous call, just shows me that God has his fingerprints all over our situation.

Now fast forward two years.  Our little Mei Mei chatterbox, who is equal parts sweet and stubborn, calm and feisty, well behaved and mischievous!

You are a delight and are always keeping us on our toes.  You complete our family!  We love you to the China moon and back!!