First Day of Kindergarten

Today was M.'s big day, her first day of Kindergarten! She was so excited all day and couldn't wait until I drove her to school. First thing today was her 1 1/2 hour long Gymnastics class and then we had some lunch. She was very excited to wear her new clothes, have her hair curled a little and wear her new "Cheetah" backpack. It was so cute when we dropped her off and she leaned over and gave her little sister a kiss on the check. She then started to walk towards her classroom with no problem. Her life is now entering a new phase of school and new friends. She's no longer that little baby who wanter her Mama to hold her all the time, but is now a brave young lady.

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Ready for School

My baby is going to be starting Kindergarten next week. Last night M. had Kindergarten Orientation at her school, Connoquenessing Valley Elementary (CVE for short). She was able to meet her teacher, see her classroom and also sit at her assigned table. M.'s teacher seemed very nice and I'm sure M. will just love her. Many of the children (including M.) will be riding a bus to and from school so they had a bus available for the kids to climb in and check it out. Something as little as sitting on a bus was very exciting to M. Even her little sister had to sit on the bus.

I'm excited for M. to be going to school and have the opportunity to learn and also to make new friends. Of course, I will be a little sad because my baby is growing up. Thinking of how far she has come from the tiny, crying baby that we first met almost 5 years ago and now how she has grown into this beautiful, not afraid, bright, outgoing young lady will probably make me cry.

Quilt top 22

This is a totally scrap quilt using light and medium/dark fabrics. Unfortunately I can't remember what book or pattern that I used because it's been so long since I sewed the top. It too is a larger quilt (queen/double).

Quilt Top 21

This quilt is from a book called Colorwash Trip Around the World. I made it by using varying shades of pinks to burgandy floral fabrics. It's probably about a Queen or lge Double quilt.

Charm Party Tote

After someone posted a photo of a charm purse that they made on my Red Thread Quilters Yahoo Group, I decided to try it myself. I have been trading fall type 6x6 square prints with a local quilt group (SewBroke Quilters) and I had enough of those squares to make the purse. The pattern that I used is called Charm Party from the August 2007 issue of McCall's Quilting Magazine. I think the pattern is available to purchase separately or you can order a back issue of the magazine for a little less money and not only receive this pattern but many more. It really was very easy to make and now I have plans to make more (possible Christmas gifts). My next tote is a dance themed one for M. so she has a stylish tote to put all of her dance shoes and other"stuff" when she goes to class.

Close up of the back of the purse.

Weekend of Fun

(Ohiopyle State Park)

Last weekend we had our last guests visit from out of town before School Starts in a couple of weeks. The girls's Papa from IL, Aunt K. and Cousin L. all came for a visit over the weekend. They had lots of fun seeing some sights around the area. Here are a few shots of some of the places they visited.

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The girls and their cousin at Falling Water (designed byFrank Lloyd Wright)

They also had to have a little fun. Their cousin did their hair in a crazy way and then it was photo time. A few good photos and then the silly ones....

I just had to share one of our favorite photos of M. taken while we were in China. She was just a couple weeks shy of being 1 year old and it was taken about a a week after she was placed with us. Two of her best features are highlighted in this photo, her eyes and that beautiful smile.

I thought this picture was lost forever on our old computer but I finally figured out a way to save it. My new computer wasn't able to read any of the photos that I had saved on disks (I'm not a computer whiz so I couldn't figure it out) even though the old one could read the disk. I thought all my photos were gone until today. I tried downloading the photos onto my digital camera and it worked. Now I will be busy transferring the photos from the old disks to my camera and then to the new computer to save again on Cd's.

Blue Morpho Butterfly

Would you know what kind of Butterfly this was if you saw it? I didn't (nor did her dad and the two other adults with us) but my 3 year old did. At the Butterfly Conservatory, she was the only one who said "That's a Blue Morpho Butterfly" and she was right. I found out today how she knew about the Blue Morpho. She loves Go Diego Go and the show today was all about the Blue Morpho Butterfly. Maybe I should be watching Diego a little more so I can be as knowledgeable about animals as much as E.

Vacation Fun

We spent the last week on vacation with good friends of ours. This family traveled with us on both of our trips to China to adopt our girls. Their children are also from the same Institutes as my girls. We try to get together as often as we can. This year we met up with each other in Niagara Falls, Canada and spent a few days seeing the falls, playing at the hotel's indoor waterpark and seeing other sites around the area. Then on Wednesday, we crossed the border back into the U.S. and went to Erie, PA. We spent a day at the beach on Presque Isle State Park. We also went to the zoo and a few other sites around Erie. Instead of posting lots of photos here, I made up an album on my webshots account. As you can see by the photos, the girls had a blast and were very sad to say goodbye. We are looking forward to our next vacation together.

To see the Vacation Photos, click here