Merry Christmas 2010

Hello there! It's been a while.:o) I think facebook has officially taken over as my "go-to" place for posting pictures and information. My poor, sad little blog has been very lonely.:o) Well, we are finally settling back in to our routine now that Robert's 3 week Christmas break is over. We had a wonderful Christmas and loved that he got to be home with us for so long. This was a sad week for us...we miss daddy! But, we have been keeping very busy with pre-school! I have begun the homeschooling journey with Lily and we are having so much fun! There was a point in time when I wanted to be a teacher...and now I am! And to my own daughter no less. What a blessing! Here are some of our Christmas pictures as well as Lily's first week of school. Maybe I'll be back sooner next time.:o)

Our tree on Christmas morning. Santa was good to us.;o)

Lily got an art desk. This is actually the desk I was able to get a deal on last Christmas. Now it is finally out from hiding in the garage and full of markers, paints, paper, coloring books and all sorts of things for Lily to unleash her creativity!

Lily LOVES princesses and Toy Story. She says when she turns 5 she wants to make her room a princess room. Now we have some great pictures for her walls.

Daddy and Lily on Christmas morning...so sweet! Look at the haul she took in...sheesh!

Have I mentioned that she loves M&M's too??

The day after Christmas we got a surprise visit from the Ferns! They are dear friends who moved to Texas at the same time we were in China getting Lily. We miss them very much and are so happy they were able to stop by for a visit!

Lily and Reagan. Reagan was Lily's age (4) the last time we saw her when we went to visit them in Texas. Now she is 7. What a beautiful young lady she is becoming...it happens so fast! Lily also got a Cinderella dress-up set for Christmas from our friends Martin, Valerie and Hannah. Did I mention she LOVES princesses???

The Ferns!!

New Years weekend was pretty wet here...actually the whole Christmas season was pretty wet! But New Years weekend was wet and cold. It didn't snow here, but there was snow on the hills around us. It made for a gorgeous view. We decided to take an adventure and find some snow to go play in. Lily and I loved it! Robert...well, he is more of a warm weather kind of guy.:o) But he was a good sport!

Daddy with his camera...and Lily loving the snow.

Brrrrr! The wind that whips on your face when you are swinging makes you REALLY cold!

Following daddy's footsteps.

We have officially begun the journey into homeschooling! Well, it won't be "official" until we start kindergarten in September, but I found this great pre-k curriculum so we decided to start that now to help us get into the routine of school. Lily loves it and is having so much fun! She loves to do the craft projects and is so excited when she is able to figure something out on her own. She loves learning and I hope she stays that way.

Week 1...letter A. We'll be focusing on one letter of the alphabet each week.
"A" is for angel.:o)

Trying really hard to figure out "astronaut".

Her first mini lapbook completed. She'll have one for each letter of the alphabet which will be such a great resource later...and such a special keepsake.

This was day 3. We got to combine a fun project with the book "Ten Apples Up On Top". We've read that book many times before so she had a lot of fun with it.

Gluing apples on her "head".

I love how she drew her head! Great job baby girl!!

Look Who's 3!

On Saturday, August 15th, we celebrated Lily's 3rd birthday. I can't believe it. Didn't we just come home from China and celebrate her 1st birthday? I don't know what is going on with time, but it's just going by ridiculously fast. We had our friends and family over for the celebration and we all had a fun time. Lily got a little overwhelmed with all of the people and presents, but for the most part, she did pretty well.

This was her present from mommy and daddy...a ladybug car. How could we pass up a ladybug car?? During her party she was so sweet and showed her best friend Rachel how to use it too.

Great-Grandma, Grandma (Lao-Lao) and Auntie Jenny with baby Sara.

Lily wondering what to do with all of these presents!

Aunt Paula, Larry and Auntie Ellen watching the fun.

Mommy helping Lily open her presents. After the first one, she was so excited she ran right into the living room to play with it. I guess it is kind of mean to have a child open a present and then take it away from them to make them open the next one! Anyway, I ended up finishing the gift-opening for her.:o)

Kitchen Littles! She LOVES these. Every time we go over to our friend Mantha's house, she makes a bee-line right for these toys and plays with them for hours. She was so excited when she saw these!

A girl can never have too many clothes!

A brand new tea set from Lao-Lao. She loves to make us tea and coffee.

This is Kai-lan from the show Nihao Kai-lan. It's kind of like Dora the Explorer, except kids learn Mandarin, Chinese instead of Spanish. She is so cute!

3-D sidewalk chalk! I can't wait to try this. I'm not sure what my nervous expression is about...hmmmm.

Lily sharing her new toys with her friends.

I think someone is ready for cake!

As per Lily's request...a flower cake with M&M's.

She started trying to blow out her candles before we even finished singing!

Blowing out her 3 candles.

Mantha and Rachel.

Mike and Jenny.

Mmmm....I think she likes it!

Sean and Marley...Rachel's' daddy and baby sister.

Flowers, bugs and M&M's were the theme of the day. I had so much fun making these party favors for her friends.

These dirt cups were another special treat. They were so easy to make and came out so cute. Almost too cute to eat....almost.:o)

Mommy and daddy love you sooooooo big baby girl. You are a blessing to us each and every day and we are continuously thankful to God who in His infinite wisdom decided we were worthy to be your parents. I don't know what we did to deserve you, but we will cherish and treasure you always. Happy birthday to the sweetest girl I know.