Oh Christmas Tree . . .

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we made our annual trip to a tree farm and purchased our Christmas tree.

It was a pretty cold and breezy day, but everyone was in good spirits.

Clara Rose wasn't really sure about what was going on-- she just knew there were a lot of trees and we kept picking them up, spinning them around and looking at them.

Wim and Xavier carrying the tree into the house.

                          Clara Rose and Josie were excited to have a tree in the house to decorate.

Xavier had the honors of trimming the bottom of the tree.

Then the fun part-- hanging ornaments!

SANTA CLAUSE IS COMING TO TOWN!

Grab a Tissue . . .

Tis the Season for sad/happy stories.

http://cornbreadandchopsticks.blogspot.com/p/honours-story.html

The Big Birthday Bash!

Welcome to my big Birthday Bash!

Josie was very excited to have a Kid's Gym Birthday party with her cousins and friends. It is one of her favorite activities!

Josie and Clara Rose had a great time trying out the boucy house and all the fun things before the guests arrived.

It was a "no holds bar" go go go fun time once all of Josie's friends and cousins began to arrive.

Below is Josie chatting it up with her Jie Jie, Clara Rose and one of her best gal pals in a little teeter totter thingy.

Another Gal Pal getting in on all the fun action.

The rope swing was a big hit with all the kiddos! Look at Cousin Abbie swing!!!

Uncle Steve taking great care with Clara Rose on the rope swing.

Ge Ge shooting them up as he swings by.

After some hard rolling fun time, it was time for cake!

Josie Dong Dong picked out this cake herself especially for her big Birthday Party.

The Royal Birthday gurl, feeling a little self conscious while everyone sings Happy Birthday to her.

The Royal Cousins

More of the Royal court.

After cake, Josie was thrilled to open birthday presents!

Feeling a little self conscious and overwhelmed-- again, but oh does she like the limelight!

Distracted by presents? Not this crew!

Enough with the cake and presents-- time for some more fun action in the Kid's Gym!

Look at cousin Nate going to town on the rope swing!

Even his Dad, Uncle Bob, took a turn swinging around.

Whoa! Watch out for the rafters!

Lastly, the Birthday Girl, going for another swing.

Look at me! I'm 4-Years Old!

4-Years Old and Ready to Roll!

Veteran's Day is the day after Josie's birthday.

We had a wonderful day that largely revolved around Josie riding her new big 'gurl' bike.

Clara Rose was happy to inherit Josie's red tricycle. Clara Rose likes it much better than her own little tricycle-- because, well of course, because this one was JOSIE'S!



Look at me GO!

Guess Who is 4-Years Old!

Hard to believe isn't it?

But here she is in all her wonderful 4-year old glory-- well not quite.

This is the night before her birthday-- we were taste testing the cupcakes for Josie's Birthday Party at school

Here she is-- officially 4-Years Old!

Cheers everyone!

After a scrumptious birthday dinner of Chicken fries and french fries-- (that's it!) it was time to open presents.

Josie was thrilled with her presents! Lookat that happy face!

Clara Rose was happy to receive a few consolation presents-- it is hard to be not quite 3-years old and watch your big sis get so many new and fun things!

The biggest present of all-- a big girl bike!

Yippee!!!

Next it was time for some birthday cake- just a little one tonight. The big one is for the big birthday bash-- pictures coming soon.

All Girls Allowed

Hi Folks,

This new non-profit group is fighting against "gendercide," forced abortions and sterilizations in China.

All Girls Allowed was founded by Chai Ling, two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and former chief student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square Movement.

The mission of All Girls Allowed is to restore life, value, and dignity to girls and mothers, and to reveal the injustice of China's One-Child Policy.

Since 1980, the implementation of China’s One-Child Policy has led to female gendercide, abandonment of daughters, human trafficking and violations of women’s reproductive rights. Through education, advocacy, strategic partnerships, and legal defense, All Girls Allowed strives to:

• Mobilize the global community to advocate against the cruel methods used to enforce the One-Child Policy;
• Educate families against gender-based pregnancy termination by easing the burden of having a baby girl with monthly stipends and a baby shower gift of clothes and food;
• Provide legal defense and asylum counseling to mothers who are in danger of forced pregnancy termination or involuntary sterilization;
• Support abandoned children, the vast majority of whom are girls, by raising funds for orphanages; and
• Reunite trafficked women and children with their families.

All Girls Allowed is an initiative of the Jenzabar Foundation, Inc.
Read more: http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/about/our-mission#ixzz14tQTgEir
http://www.allgirlsallowed.org/

Folks--

All Girls Allowed is brand new-- I think it just started this month. Kind of fitting since November is National Adoption Month here in the US-- not sure about other countries. Since it is new, there is no track record of how money has been spent.

I will be leaving this information on my blog -- view right side bar and keeping my eye on this Charity.