Happy Halloween!

Seriously...how could we resist this bejeweled costume @ 50% off?!!! Kayli is already planning how she can change the leggings to tights, call it a fancy dress, and wear it to school! Hmmm...
and Kayli wants to know if we should just stay up later tonight to spend some time eating candy? C'mon, Mom, you can have your pick!

Kayli has a friend on our block who is a couple years older than her, but the two of them have a great time playing together. The girls were thrilled that we/the moms agreed to take them out trick-or-treating together.

They just couldn't contain their squeals of delight, as they ran, hand in hand, from house to house...

Then, the grand finale, for Kayli anyway, was when we got home and had a chance to GIVE out candy for a short while. She was THRILLED to be throwing handfuls of candy into trick-or-treaters' buckets!

TOO MUCH FUN!!!

Determined

I bought a new fridge that was being delivered today, Saturday. They called ahead to give me time to empty the old fridge. I put all the food in coolers, and dismantled the shelves, and moved all the kitchen furniture around to clear a path. They came in, asked me where the water shut-off valve was...well, in the basement, of course. We went downstairs and looked and looked and looked and looked some more! They apparently have never been in a house that didn't have the water shut-off in a very obvious, out in plain sight, kind of place. I wanted to say, well, if there is "a typical", then, you can count me out! I never seem to fall into the "typical category" All someone has to say to me is "Well, usually..." and I immediately think "Oh, great!" "I NEVER seem to fall in the 'usually' category!" This is Sooo PAR for the course! Eventually the guys said they could leave the new fridge in the garage and I would have to call them back when I found the shut-off valve, so they could come back and disconnect the fridge in the kitchen to move it and make room for the new one. Oh, yeah, now that I've wasted an entire morning on this...grrr, I spent the next hour rummaging through old paperwork from the sale of this house to find the phone number of the previous owners. Finally, I located the raggedy edged 2x3 piece of paper that had the number written on it. I called. We chatted. The previous owners, during their remodeling project of the basement, had built a "fake cabinet" to "hide" the water shut-off valves! Apparently this wasn't noticed or noted during my buyers inspection. Ok, so now it's about 2:00 p.m., and I'm looking outside and noticing what a beautiful day it is...double grrr...as I keep letting the dog in and out. I kept thinking that I just CAN'T waste this beautiful weather day! I had made a list of Halloween related activities going on this weekend, and the Boo at the Zoo was one of them. After talking to Nebr Furn Mart one more time, and setting up another "hostage appointment" for tomorrow, I decided that, dangit, I am going to the zoo, come hell or high water!  I told Kayli she had 60 seconds to put on her costume! I grabbed the nearest backpack and threw in my wallet, the inhaler, a cell phone, and my camera. I did not even take the usual time to pack snacks, drinks, etc. etc. On the way out, I told Kayli to put Sprinkles in her kennel.(And apparently she thought she did...oh yeah nothing like a puppy on the loose in the house for a couple of hours!)  Luckily, we were blissfully ignorant about the loose puppy while we were at the zoo!The combination of great weather paired with the antics of the zoo animals, got me on my way to de-stressing! We hung out there for a couple of hours before heading back home to discover that Sprinkles had been running amuck through the house, and...well, like I said before, par for the course. I sure hope my luck turns around soon!
Here are some of the fun photos from today...

Ohhhh, we Really need to rub that Buddha Belly for luck!!!

All in all, it was great to get out!

A Walk in the Park

Our Fall weather has been so incredibly beautiful for the last couple of weeks, that when the weekend arrives, I can't imagine staying indoors! I tried to get some household chores accomplished, then told Kayli we would take Sprinkles for a picnic in the park. You would think I said we were going to Disneyworld, at Kayli's reaction..."REALLY? A PICNIC? YOU MEAN IT?!!!" Ok, so apparently we haven't gone on a picnic in a while :) The fact that we were bringing Sprinkles along was just...well...like sprinkles on top of your ice cream! Kayli couldn't wait to tell Sprinkles that we were going to the park!

ok, let's take this puppy for a walk...

c'mon Sprinkles, you were doing great...

What do I do now Mom?

Oops, how did she slip out of her collar? Come back here, Sprinkles...

Gotcha!

Now, let's put that collar back on...

ok, maybe you'd just like to take a ride in my doll carriage...

All in all, a great day at the park!

Another Red Thread Celebration

Kayli and I have been so incredibly busy! Seems like there has been something we've committed to doing just about every night after school for the last week or so. Fun things. Lots of things. Still, keeping up this pace can wear a person out, AND, put them behind on their blog! 
Case in point, Kayli and I started off last week with our annual red thread celebration, September 26th, marking the day she was "born in my heart"! ( The Red Thread Adoption Legend, originates from Chinese folklore saying that there is an invisible red thread that connects a newborn child's spirit to all the people who will be important in the child's life. As the child grows, the threads shorten, drawing closer those people who are destined to be together.) Such is the reason I named our special celebratory day "Our Red Thread Day." This is the day I received Kayli's precious baby picture from China, and a request to become her mama, 5 years ago! This is the special day we celebrate each year because I feel like we made our special connection right from the moment I opened that email and caught my first glimpse of Kayli's picture. Right there before me, in a single photo, was the sweetest little face,that melted my heart. Right then, as I looked into those deep brown almond shaped eyes, I knew that this sweet baby was about to change my life forever! I felt that invisible red thread pulling and tugging on my heart, all the way to China! The two of us became a family, and settled in to our new life like two peas in a pod!  Now, almost 5 years later, I know how quickly time flies, and so often wish that time would stand still., Yet, watching this child grow is exciting too, so time marches on, and all I can do is remind myself to savor the moments, and keep my camera nearby, and keep on "blogging!"
So, we celebrate by wearing red, by hiding presents in red boxes including at least one item that came all the way from China, by going out to dinner, by talking about China, by talking about Kayli's beginnings, and how we became a family, and by acknowledging how lucky we are that God found Kayli in China and me in Kansas and decided we were a match that only heaven could bring together! Because of this "heavenly intervention" my sweet pea went from this...

to this...

and the fun never ends!

This year, we chose to dine at T Rex, where Kayli loves the excitement of all the dinosaurs, but is still scared enough that she cannot walk under the roaring T Rex without ducking and running!

We made a plan to get our dessert at our favorite ice cream store,yummm. Kayli likes to get strawberry ice cream with gummy bears!

I told Kayli that she could pick out something pretty to buy at Claire's, since jewelry is a bigger treat to her than ice cream or candy or just about anything else.

 She chose a beautiful rainbow colored sparkle tiara.This child just cannot pass up a beautiful tiara. So, in addition to a spoon collection, and a key collection, she's got a pretty good crown collection going!

Usually I buy some type of book for this occasion, but this year, on a whim, I just decided to write my own book and print it out at my favorite website, Blurb. 

The story is about me opening a fortune cookie each day of the week and reading it out loud. Each fortune describes a trait or characteristic about Kayli, but she doesn't know that until the end. Every day she tries to guess, for instance, one page says

Another page says "Your fortune is more valuable than gold" and she asks "Is your fortune money?" but in the end, she discovers that SHE is my fortune!

She loved the book and wants me to read it again and again! 

So, of course, since I was on a roll with the theme of Fortune Cookies this year, I decided that we should each get some type of fortune cookie jewelry. (Yes, Kayli's mom loves jewelry as much as Kayli! Or is it Kayli has learned to love jewelry as much as her mom?)  Well, it wasn't hard to find some cool necklaces online. Kayli's necklace is sturdy and strong enough for "kid wear, AND opens up so I could insert my own message!

My necklace was a bit more delicate and allowed me to personalize it with my own special message. I was thrilled!

I also gave Kayli a little key with Chinese symbols, for her key collection, and a little silk purse that I had purchased while in China...

 then we cracked open the fortune cookies and decided that both of our fortunes were "keepers!" Mine said...

Oh, yeah, gotta love that one! Then, Kayli's fortune said...

so true, about the roller coaster life right now! Is there really a "calming down" ahead?

Anyway, I'm just hanging on for the ride right now!

Happy Red Thread Day Sweet Pea!