seattle soccer plus one............

...home tonight, after two days of soccer in seattle. we stayed at (zhou zhou tod), and (ie-ya ping's.) thank you guys! dani had a blast at their house, especially liking "big bella", the dog. i am proud of her, as she travelled well, only a few upsets, and very much thrived in the soccer atmosphere. she even was blessed with getting hit in the head with a soccer ball, a must for all my kids!!
dani loved and had many conversations with people, yelling "hello, i'm fine" to everyone with a huge smile. she picked up "good job" from parents cheering the soccer team and "i know" because that's what i say to her every time, (a hundred times) a day that she let's us know that she is hungry.
she helped alex warm-up before soccer games (see pictures), and than charmed the soccer audience by climbing all over the bleachers, thankfully not falling off, and flashing big movie star smiles at everyone.
alex had two good soccer days, played well and had fun!! great weather, awesome soccer, good summer fun.............
we missed john's tae kwan do bo dan belt test. i hear he did well, and am so PROUD of him!!!! way to go JOHN............

art..........from the gallery

some things to know about dani. never forget something to do for her when out and about and don't forget to pack a snack, OR TWO, with water. she is calming down a bit on having to be like everyone else and carry a backpack or bag. her's of course, is the biggest and heaviest of all. packed with color crayons, paper, extra clothes, and NUMEROUS books, anything she can get her hands on. i had to finally say no to some of the books that she was carrying around that were from the bookcase, various books about different therapies, braingym, massage and such, just because of wear and tear.
her favorite book of mine has become "happiness is a choice" by barry neil kaufman, from john's son-rise program days. she likes to "READ". today i decided to buy her an old "dick and jane and spot" book. it's hardbound, looks official, and is a beginner reader. for those of you that might have been raised in the 70's, you would probably remember learning to read with the dick and jane books. i will admit, i do.
thank god for crayons, and more crayons. they were our saving grace in china, and continue to be a tremendous asset. i think between all of us and our joint art sessions with dani, we have filled five pads of paper since china. each creation tends to be a shared project, as if whatever is being drawn catches our dani's eye, she is sure to add something special to it. coloring with crayola's has been a welcome respite from sliding down the slide for the 50th time, and climbing the monkey bars at age 42, though i am proud to say i'm hanging in there. crayons also have created a quiet space, and a time to bond with dani, and a great way to model new language.
an extra thought. dani sure likes to point out mcdonalds, i don't know if this was somewhere she was able to go when she lived in china with her foster family, i know we haven't been there with her, except twice in china. or maybe this is another red thread that only i would understand and get a chuckle out of...........

marathon soccer, fire-trucks, and cousins

just when life is busy, let's get more action going! alex had a crazy soccer week, running from the south side to the north side of town. throw some tae kwan do in the mix, show dani where her dad works, and have some family visit from out of town, and poof!!! the need for a 48 hour day!! oh, and thank you alex, for introducing me to an amazing book. when do we have time to read?
it was great to see my sister, and her son. john had a great time playing video games with his cousin, and watching him perform magic tricks. the one i want to know is the levitating one. how did you do it?
i was hoping for a catch-my-breath saturday, but i understand we have a car-wash to help out with alex's cross country team. dani likes to help out alot, so this should be fun for her..............

music for a hot summer friday.............

benny and the jets.......and survivor all-stars reruns

today was just a good day with one of the high-lights rockin out to the oldies. these girls can move! john was gratefully hiding in his room.
dani's new big deal is the trampoline, and a very cool item for gaining language. i remember years jumping with john. it's called effortless learning.
alex had a great day reading her new favorite book, and john and i spent time playing with his lego characters, and racing mario-kart. i always lose, john always wins.
john and dani are communicating through mario-kart, and it's good.
end of the night, with dani fast asleep, alex, john and i hunkered down to watch a episode of survivor all-stars. who can ask for anything more?

random picture of a bridge in guangzhou................

-when you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you-----
-Lao Tzu-

(pee-gu) meaning revealed, last chapter

we know have final confirmation on the meaning of (pee-gu). thank you to the mom who helped us out on that...............

books, (pee-gu), and possibly peek-a-boo..........

dani likes to read books, ALOT!
i have found that night-time to bed-time is much easier, if dani is well aware of what is going to happen. being as we speak different verbal languages at this time, language is often accompanied by acting out the scene. i find she likes bathtime better if she knows that she is not going to bed directly afterwards. instead, she likes to play mario-kart with john, (she needs some practice on that), and than lot's of book-reading, and than bed-time seems very comfortable for her.
tonight as we were reading "go dog go" and "i will love you forever", she started saying her favorite word, "pee-gu", but than proceeded to cover her eyes. i had a huge AH-HA moment, as i thought maybe "pee-gu" means "peek-a-boo". after a lively game of peek-a-boo, and some picture taking, dani is now soundly asleep and i am left contemplating if i might be on to something here.

play-do,.....or (pee-gu)?

here's a question for all the moms out there that have adopted little darlings who speak mandarin or perhaps the wuhanese dialect.........what does (pee-gu) mean? i have a feeling that it is something that all little children should probably not be saying, like (butt-head), or (poo-poo) as dani says it often, with relish, laughing ALOT!

play-do is the new cool thing in our house, even for all the other kids in the house. what is really quite an accomplishment is that we have four different shades and have had them for over a week, and they are still not mixed! an idea we came up with tonight was to string play-do beads on a string, and walagh......a new pink play-do necklace. as we were busy checking this new beauty out in the mirror, one bead came off and plopped onto the bathroom floor. this produced immediate laughter out of our girl wonder, and the beads than proceeded to fly off the string, left and right with help from the one wearing the necklace. luckily, i have yet to find any on the carpet, but did sweep up quite a few while cleaning up.

who can (YO-YO) now?

one of dani's favorite activities is going "yo-yo", or as we say, swimming. she has learned fast, and has figured out a part of swimming, kicking her legs. she has no fear, and immensely enjoys the lake. the only downfall, is that she gets cold fast, and that ends her "yo-yo" time.

home, chilling and very busy

first week at home, and we are all figuring out how our new family works. both alex and john have been busy with early morning runs with the cross country team, and dani has tagged along to see what long distance running is all about. alex is back at it with soccer academy training and off to practice tonight, with dani wearing a old pair of alex's shin guards, and carrying a purse.
dani and i are seeing what life's about, hanging out together and i find her a very engaging, smart little girl, going on 20. she is quick to imitate what we are doing, whether it is play or work. she is very independent, and needs to be treated as capable little person. she is doing well. i am proud of her. john, cracks me up, has offered to give dani some of his legos, and calls her "Asia"

lobby of white swan hotel

we are home............

we arrived in spokane yesterday in the afternoon. we are all tired but very glad to see john and the rest of the family. we were glad to see kathy and janell from small world, and would like to extend a very heartfelt THANK YOU!!!! you guys have done an outstanding job, and it was the smoothest adoption i've ever been a part of. (smiles..) our guides were absolulely fantastic, both of them were as different as night and day, but very fun to be with. we will miss them.

red couch picture at the white swan

this is one of our last pictures of china. this is the traditional red couch picture taken at the white swan hotel. missing john, but we were always thinking about him.