Stepping Out

It is snowing, yet again. I am more of a summer person and at this time of the year, I think the consensus is that we are all tired of the cold weather!

Josie got some good exercise in on Friday afternoon running around with her big brother and sister-- whom she now calls either, "duys," or "gu-gu."

"It's not really going to snow this weekend is it?"

"When is summer gonna get here?"

Josie had a fun Saturday Morning playing with her friends, Angeline and Grace. Josie and Angeline are within a couple months in age, but little Grace is a whole year younger. It is amazing to watch how she keeps up with the bigger girls and manages not to get trampled!

"Baby Grace is going to help build stuff too!"

After her nap on Saturday, we headed out to Ivy's Garden, a restaurant/banquet hall to celebrate the 10-Year Anniversary of the RI Chapter of the Adoption Community of New England (ACONE).

ACONE is a wonderful nonprofit organization that provides workshops, support groups, you name it for all segments of the adoption trilogy. Wim and I began participating with this organization long before we were able to bring Josie home, largely with their support group for waiting families and also with several educational workshops they provide for adoptive parents.

We were very happy to be able to take Josie with us to this kid-friendly celebration.

"C'mon Daddy! It is time to go and I'm dressed to Party!"

Josie seemed both fascinated and a little nervous when we first arrived at the hall. The tables were set-up with fancy plates, silverware, napkins and there was a DJ playing music.
















Soon after we arrived, Josie's friend Clair and Carly arrived with their Mommy and we all sat together. Josie felt better with more people at our table that she knew.















I was really surprised that Josie stood with all the other kids long enough for a group picture. She is in the 2nd row, 2nd from the right.

I think it helped that she was standing next to her friend Carly, who is a big girl. Carly offered her hand to Josie when Josie started crying and it did the trick.

After the big picture taking event and eating dinner, it was time to shake a leg on the dance floor and Josie Dong Dong was ready to dance the night away.

"C'mon everybody! Let's Dance!"

Clair and Carly also had a great time dancing with their Mommy.

"I'm a Party Girl!"

Link to a Good Article

There is a really good post about why adoptive parents shouldn't simply rely on "following the lead" of their children when deciding if they should talk about adoption issues, race issues, etc.

There is a link to the anti racist parent website on my blog roll as well. I've found this site to be informative.

I hope this link works-- this is a first for me on the blog.

Reena

http://www.antiracistparent.com/2009/02/23/whos-following-whose-lead/

Groceries

A quick fix to kick off the weekend.

Josie loves to help with the groceries, even though some toes may be lost to collateral damage.

Take One



I have another video, but for some reason it will not load onto You Tube, so this is it.

Hugs,
Reena

My Funny Valentine!

We've had a great weekend. First we received the great news that Wim's cousin Allison gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, named Charlotte after her Great Grandma.

Isn't she precious?

Things around our house have been pretty busy-busy the last 3-4 weekends, so we were happy to have a low key 3-day weekend.

Wim surprised me with some yummy chocolate truffles and roses on Valentine's Day. We took Josie for a swim at the YMCA followed by dinner at a restaurant we like. I don't have too many pictures because the camera batteries died out and needed to be charged.

Today we kicked back and relaxed. Jose had fun playing with her Lion Heart animal we gave her for Valentine's Day. He purrs and giggles when you hug him. Josie is funny to watch with these kinds of toys. She just doesn't know what to make of them at first. It took her until today to get use to his sounds and now she loves him.

"Are you going to make those funny sounds when I touch you?"

"I like your funny sounds."

Later in the morning, Josie decided that Daddy needed some help with his hair and started combing it to make him look 'Pitty.'

"Daddy Looks GREAT!"

After her nap Josie spent some quality time with her caterpillar before her friend Grace came over to play.

"I love my caterpillar!"

Josie and Grace had fun playing with Josie's toys and Josie was pretty good about showing Grace how to use them.

"We're putting apples in my tree."

Grace especially liked bouncing on Josie's purple Llama.

The girls enjoyed exchanging Valentine's Day treats with each other and sharing a snack after playing for awhile.

Happy Valentine's Day!

HUGS and Kisses!

Festive Friday

Josie had her very first Valentine's Day Party at baby school today. There was dancing, crafts, tattoos, snack, and pictures.

Josie didn't care too much for the dancing. I think there were too many adults (parents) in the room that she didn't know because she LOVES to dance at home.

"Nooooo! I don't want to get down and dance!"









Josie did have fun making a card for Daddy-- using scissors to cut fringe all around the card! She was pretty pensive about everything else.




"I like making crafts!!!!"




"Oh boy! I'm using scissors! This NEVER happens!"

At home, Josie had a great time looking over all the Valentine's Day cards she got from her friends. Not to mention a few tasty treats that came with them!

"Happy Valentine's Day! I have more friends coming to visit on Sunday!"

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

That's Cantonese for Happy New Year!

We are at the close of the Chinese New Year celebrations and we finished with a big FCC party. It was a great afternoon with friends and meeting new folks.

Of course, the big attraction was the Lion Dance and it is definitely a treat to get to see one up close and personal-- although, Josie Dong Dong could have done without it being quite so close and personal.




























Josie was ready to hit the road when she the Lion coming toward us. All of the kids are provided a red envelope with money to feed the Lion, but Josie decided to hold on tight to hers. She prefers to feed her Hello Kitty bank at home.















After the Lion Dance we enjoyed hanging out with some of our friends and eating yummy Chinese food catered by a local restaurant.

"Is the food coming soon?"

Josie, Angeline, and Baby Grace found some time to hit the dance floor and chase each other around a bit.




After everyone had eaten the Lion Dancers brought out the Lion costume and offered for the kids to come and see it closer. Some of the girls even got a chance to dance with it on.


"I'm not going to look."

"It's right behind us isn't it? Don't move!"

It was a very busy weekend because this weekend also marked Xavier's 11th birthday. As Wim put it, he is now starting his 2nd decade of life.

Friday-night was lots of fun. We had a yummy Taco dinner and watched Xavier open his presents. He got lots of cool games for his Wii.































It was a great night filled with laughter and excitement. Even the cat was excited.













"Yeah, this is me--- ecstatic."




















Gabrielle had fun with Josie by holding a Spongebob face in front of Josie at the table.









On Saturday, Xavier had a few friends over to celebrate his birthday. They spent some time building lego forts in Xavier's room and playing Wii. Gabrielle was able to invite one friend over so she wouldn't get to overpowered by all the boys.




























Wim took all the kids tubing at little ski resort nearby-- this is RI so, well, you know. But, the kids had fun. Sorry no pictures-- Wim forgot to take the camera.

So that is it for this weekend and for our first Chinese New Year. It sure was a great one and we can't wait to celebrate the holiday again NEXT YEAR!

"GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!"