Red Thread Day

Yes, this is a very special day, with a very significant meaning, a celebration of our FAMILY, created through the miracle of adoption! This family, our family, of two, formed by the grace of God, because a child needed a mom, and a mom needed a child! This day is absolutely a day to celebrate what we have together!
Kayli understands the reality of her beginning...that her birth parents wrapped her as a tiny baby in a blanket, placed her in a basket with a baby bottle filled with formula, then, at the crack of dawn, silently placed that basket at the entrance to a common marketplace, knowing that as soon as the vendors began showing up for their day, someone would notice this baby in the basket and rescue her. She knows that she was indeed found that day at the market, and taken to a nearby orphanage in Chongqing, China. We do not know exactly why this happened. We can speculate, based on facts we know about China, their people, and their laws. However, we will never know for sure, the circumstances that brought this baby in a basket to the marketplace this day.
What I do know is this...there were angels watching over this baby every minute of every day.
I also know that once this baby was under the care of the orphanage, there were people showing up each day to feed, bathe, and care for her, albeit basic care. I also know that although, short handed and overworked, somebody played with this baby! I know this because this baby at one &1/2 yrs. old was playing peek-a-boo, and engaging me in lots of playful baby games when we first met! She came to me with a wonderful sense of humor at such an early age!
What I do know is that we must honor the past, but live in the present! Our "present" includes,first, our little family unit of Kayli, Me, and our dog, Sprinkles. Next, our extended family and friends, whom are a big part of our ongoing "present" for which we are very thankful. So, today, we talked about beginnings, but we celebrated the present!
What we both have grown to love about this day is the simple fact that it is "our day" to do what we want with, anything we want! I also love the fun of choosing just the right gifts for Kayli, some that honor her heritage, and some, just because they bring her joy!
It is OUR celebration, together, forever, Happy Red Thread Day, to us!

Naturally there were mani's and pedi's included in our day...

there were lots of little gifts wrapped in red! I had custom ordered our special t-shirts, and LOVE how they turned out!

the chopsticks below came with removable rubber fortune cookies that can be used with any chopsticks, making it easier to eat with them. Kayli always claims to LOVE Chinese food, but the fact is, she only LOVES plain Lo Mein (and really its' only the kind from a certain carry-out place by our house) and she will eat plain fried rice, and will eat the filling out of a crab rangoon, but leave the rest behind! So, that's what we order for take-out, on our special day. Crazy girl! (So, now I have to tell a quick story... we always get take-out from a certain place. The same lady always waits on us. Long ago, I explained to this lady that Kayli was sensitive to eggs, which is why we needed our fried rice without them. She said her husband, the cook, didn't like cooking them this way, but she told him he HAD to do it anyway! So, they always accomodated us. One weekend Aunt Suzanne was taking care of Kayli while I was out of town. Kayli talked her into going to this place for take-out. Suzanne walked in with Kayli at her side, and ordered. The lady looked at Kayli, then looked at Suzanne, with a quizzical expression. She looked at both of them again, then said "She can't have egg in her rice you know?" Ha,ha, now that's what I call "it takes a village to raise a child" in full force! 

Fortune cookie coin purses...

Kayli and I have been reading this book series called Spirit Animals. I read out loud almost every single night! These two books complete the series with books 6 and 7. 

I took some fortune cookies and dipped them in white (red) chocolate! My fortune is in the picture below... it totally sounds like something I need to be reminded of!

Kayli reads her fortune, and needs a little help deciphering it's meaning...

there were more gifts...bling bracelets for both of us, a special key for Kayli to add to her key collection, and a great book about China.

Thanks, Mom.

You're So Welcome, Sweet Pea! 

Lucky Day!

So, last year, Kayli's school organized a walk-a-thon at school, as a way to raise money for all the actvities (Field Trips) and materials, etc. that the Booster Club supports. It was so successful that they decided to do it again this year. It basically involves the kids soliciting pledges from family and friends for participating in the walk-a-thon, which, this year, was carried out on the new walking trail behind the school. There was also an opportunity to buy raffle tickets for various auction items, many of which were teacher created outings such as "going out for pizza with a teacher" or "going to a movie with the principal." The raffle idea was very popular, as kids swarmed the tables to buy their raffle tickets. Well, of course I gave Kayli money to buy raffle tickets for all the auction items that were of interest to her. We bought enough tickets to put at least 2 or 3 in each jar. Now, fast forward to the day of the walk-a-thon, when the entire school gathered in the gym to hear the grand total raised today, and the winners of auction items were drawn. First bucket, "Trip to Peach Wave with Mrs. Jones" (Kayli's teacher) ...the announcer draws out a paper and reads "KAYLI .............!" I catch her eye in the audience, as everyone is clapping, she's beaming. The next bucket, "Trip to Peach Wave with Mrs. Danner"...the announcer says "KAYLI ..........!" Oh my gosh, the crowd is cheering again! Kayli is looking quite surprised. Next up, the auction bucket for a "Scenic Bike Ride w/ Mrs. D. followed by popsicles @ Mrs. M's House" ...the announcer says..."KAYLI ..........!!!" The crowd is going wild, laughing, and cheering! Kayli is hiding her head, looking embarassed now. Oh boy, this is too funny. The next auction bucket item went to another student in the audience. Then, the next auction bucket item, "A lock-in @ school for you and 2 friends w/ Mrs. W" (Kayli's 1st grade teacher) ...drum roll please...the winner is..."KAYLI ..........!!!!!" Woohoo! Now, my girl is in disbelief, and does NOT like all this attention. People are patting her on the back, congratulating her. One mom told me later that she asked to shake Kayli's hand for good-luck! Haha! People kept telling me that I needed to go buy a real lottery ticket, given the lucky streak we were on! Too funny. When I met up with Kayli at the end of the day, she said "Mom, I did NOT want to win ALL those prizes!" "How embarassing!" Once the shock of that assembly wore off, though, she began to get very excited about all the fun she was going to have with these teachers! Too funny!

 

Crazy Hair Day!

Fun w/Photography

So, like I was saying about this weekend with the bonus day off...Sunday night into Monday brought a thunderstorm, which made for GREAT sleeping-in weather! Later that day, though, as the sun came out behind the clouds and dried up the rain, it left the sky with the "perfect-for-photography lighting," I told Kayli we were going to check that last item off my summer bucket list, which was to try out a place I've been wanting to check out for taking pictures...this place was a small but beautiful garden!

Fun with Friends

With an extra day off this weekend, I was looking forward to spending a little time at home, getting some projects done, relaxing a bit, (no errands!) and spending a little time with my favorite hobby, photography. I also wanted to make sure Kayli stayed busy with more than just her ipad, so first up, I decided to open Saturday afternoon for her to invite some friends over. Two of her favorite friends from school were both free and thrilled to be having a "trio playdate!" These girls just cracked me up when I came outside to see them doing this...

Silly Girls!

they had so much fun hanging out for the afternoon, inside, outside, inside, outside, so many options, so little time...

...in the meantime, I was doing my own things, puttering around the house, stopping now and then to check on the girls, snap a few pictures, and really savoring this go-with-the-flow day! 

Later that night, Kayli and I picked up a movie and snacks, and settled in at home for our own version of Fork and Screen!

This was really a Win-Win Day for everyone!