New House

It is official! We are now living in our new house. It is huge- at 2700 square feet (plus full basement), compared to the 1300 square foot house with no basement that we were living in before. The kids all have their own rooms, and we even have a guest bedroom. There are three functioning bathrooms, and we have a 4th bathroom ready to be finished. The house was a foreclosure, so there is much work to be done, but in the last week I have taken care of quite a few issues. We have internet and tv. The electrical system no longer is hazardous. We have clean carpet, a serviced boiler and are considering whether it is worth it to put in central air- I say no. We will have a brand new front porch completed tomorrow. The kids rooms are painted. We have a new fridge, washer and dryer. Whew! Hopefully I can manage to sort through more boxes and get the playroom and clothes organized and put away in time for Christmas...

Many Changes

Wow! I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted. So many changes. First, Bob got a new job. I admit that with an urging from me, we decided to look into moving a little closer to my family. Having three kids made me finally admit that I needed a little bit of help and though we had several close friends in Bay City, I really was hoping that the kids could be closer to at least one side of the family. So in early August, Bob resigned, and we moved to Detroit! He had to start the new job right away, so I packed up our house and found renters to move in. We found a house that we liked at the end of August but probably wont close on it until the end of next week. We are currently staying at my Grandpa's house, which my brother Patrick is waiting patiently for us to move out of, so he can move in.

So the kids are in a new school, Garrett is in a "Young 5's" Kindergarten. Basically it follows the kindergarten curriculum, but is designed for those younger kids. He will have the option to move on to first grade or repeat kindergarten. It has been WONDERFUL for him, I see a huge difference in his interest in school and fine motor skills and all of the things I was worried about. I am still pretty sure that he will be in kindergarten next year. He is playing soccer with his two cousins and is taking a "Pony" class at the school district's farm.

Caelan is in third grade at a new school, I am thrilled with the opportunities that she has there and beyond thrilled with the cultural diversity of the building. In fact her new best friend was adopted from China! We have been a bit slow in signing up for new activities as she sort of needs to accomplish one new thing at a time, but will be starting dance next week and will hopefully do indoor soccer this winter.

Lia is going to a Chinese Immersion preschool two days a week. It is a full day program (which I admit I was not sure if she could handle) and her morning is spent in the Chinese class, where they only speak Mandarin, and the afternoon is a traditional American preschool. Lia LOVES it, and after the initial week or two of adjusting to going there- crabby when she gets home is a major understatement- she is doing great. There have never been tears when I drop her off and I am just so pleased.

Once we move in to our new place, I will have pictures of the first day of school and the house and everything else. I can't wait. Our house in Bay City was awfully small for all of us, but in the new house, the kids will have their own rooms, plus we will have a guest bedroom. The house has 4 bathrooms!! It is double the size and we will also have a basement. Yahoo! Oh, and I plan to never, ever move again...

Kali

I got Kali in May of 1997 shortly after I finished my student teaching. I was living in Hamtramck with Kate. She was a very hyper puppy and Kate and I always joke about sitting on the couch with our feet on the table while she ran circles, jumping over our legs like they were hurdles. A little over a year later, Bob and I moved to Alaska, and Kali made the drive up there with Bob. She has probably been to more National Parks than me! She was in her glory while we lived in Alaska, she loved the snow, Bob often brought her with him while he went skiing or snowshoeing. She even camped for 2 months with us that first summer we lived up there, going all the way from Dillingham to Coldfeet, and down to Juneau. She was a great dog. Sadly, on Friday we noticed that her tail was bleeding, and eventually realized that it was no bug bite or cut like we originally thought, but a very large growth (probably a tumor, according to the vet). After discussing our options with the vet I decided that it was time to let her go, and on Tuesday, after 12 years with her, we put her to sleep. I am terribly sad about this, but know that we really didn't have another option. Goodbye, sweet Kali-girl.

Virginia

Bob and I used to travel quite a bit before Caelan was born. Most of you know that we lived in Alaska for a while, and every break we had was spent going somewhere. This changed quite a bit once we had kids. We managed to squeeze in a few trips when Caelan was a baby, she has always been a very easy going kid. But the arrival of Garrett put a major crimp in our ability to go anywhere. He is very active and has a difficult time adjusting to new situations, and Bob and I both find it stressful at times to go anywhere with him. I am still surprised that we brought him to China. Lia is sort of unpredictable, but in general enjoys going to new places, and as long as she has her "cozy blanket" and an unlimited supply of milk for her bottle, she is pretty content.

We used to camp and backpack quite a bit and both of us have been to several National Parks. We decided that this summer would be a good time to start the tradition that we had hoped to continue when the kids were babies of going to a new National Park every summer. Neither of us had been to Shenandoah National Park before and it seemed a manageable drive so it was decided to go there.

The first day we drove 8 hours to New Stanton, Pennsylvania, where we stayed at a hotel, swam, and went to dinner. The next day, we drove a short distance to Idlewild Amusement Park. The kids loved the rides, until I brought Garrett on "The Spider." He was terrified and everybody at the park knew it.

After the park, we went to Bedford, PA, to rest up before making our final drive to Virginia.

W arrived in Shenandoah on Sunday and stayed at a hotel in Luray, VA for three nights. The first day in the park, we went on a hike up to Mary's Rock. Bob and I took turns carrying Lia in the Ergo, but both Caelan and Garrett did the 3 mile hike with ease. Garrett came down looking like an accident victim with all of his cuts and bruises, but it didn't phase him at all.

The next day, we went to the Luray Caverns, swam in the afternoon while Lia took a nap and then went for another hike in the evening, with a man that Bob works with, Greg, who also was visiting the park. On the way back to the hotel we saw a mama bear with three cubs close to the road.

Tuesday morning, another hike was planned with Greg, but Garrett insisted that he "wasn't going to go hiking for the rest of his life." By this time he realized how cut up he was- and he was just really crabby, so I decided to stay at the hotel with Garrett and Lia. Bob and Caelan left and we went put-put golfing and swimming.




Garrett felt better later in the afternoon, so we did make it for another hike, up to Little Stony Man. Hiking on cliffs and mountain sides was a bit nerve-wracking for both of us, especially with Garrett bouncing up the hill and us trying to keep up with him the whole time, but we did it.

We left on Wednesday and made it all the way back to Michigan, and stayed with my mom at their cottage. It was a great trip and I am amazed at how well they did in the car. Where should we go next summer?

99 Things

I saw this on another blog.

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (yes, I did, at tryouts for a play at the Community House- I did not get a part)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon ( I ran an 8K, does that count??)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class- Remember Tai Chi, Beth??!?
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (when I was a kid, didn't see any whales though)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (blood)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone --pinkie finger of my right hand
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (well, I like to think so, I have had to call 911 several times).
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Given birth to a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Happy Birthday to Lia!

Preschool Graduate

Garrett is officially finished with preschool. For all of you who are wondering, it was Bob who originally pushed the idea of Young 5's for next school year. I finally got on board with the idea, even though all three of the kindergarten screenings that he went to said that he was ready for kindergarten. So Young 5's. It is a half day in our district, as opposed to full day K in Bob's school. Well, Bob seems to have changed his mind and now thinks that we should send Garrett to full day kindergarten at his school. Sigh... Hopefully we will make a decision soon.

Dance Recital

This year Caelan was in three dance classes, tap, ballet and jazz. Next year, she will be adding hip-hop to her schedule, and even Lia will will be taking ballet. So cute! Here is Caelan (and friends) in their recital costumes.

The Gator

I have really slacked off on this blog, but I did want to put up a couple of pictures of Garrett's new toy. I was pretty excited when I found this Gator at a garage sale for $40. It has definately been the best $40 I have ever spent. It is his "pre" ring bearer's gift, as he was pretty sure he didn't want to be the ring bearer at my brother's wedding in August, because it was too "embarrassing" to wear a suit. He has since changed his mind:-)

This is the expression on his face after he first saw the Gator in the shed!

French Exchange and "Cool Schools" Segment

Bob's school was on the news while the French students were visiting. Conveniently, Caelan's class was shown as was our sweet Louise! Louise is the first French student interviewed, with the pig tails:)

Lia's B-day

Lia celebrated her third birthday on Saturday. We had a small party at a park with some Bay City friends on Saturday and then on Sunday, Bob brought the kids to his parents. There was a graduation party over there but I went to a bridal shower for my brother and his fiance.

One Year!!

It has been one year since we were handed a frightened and shocked 23 month old girl at the Civil Affairs Office in Guangzhou China. Look how much she has changed!

We have been extremely busy, but I plan to update the blog more often in a couple of weeks. We have a 10 year old child from France staying with us right now, and I am doing my very best to keep my house in order while she is here!

11 Months!

Well, Lia has been with us now for 11 months! She has changed so much. She will be three on June 6 and I am considering sending her to preschool for a couple of mornings next year. We are back to working on the potty training, though Garrett's current preschool said that they would take her even if she wasn't quite potty trained. We are still undecided about what Garrett will do next year, kindergarten or young fives.

We just had a week off for spring break. We decided to visit Bob's family and then go to Chicago. After that trip, I feel like I may never leave the house again. Well, I guess I need to center trips around play lands and swimming pools. Garrett doesn't really enjoy museums and restaurants. We drove most of the way, but then took the train into Chicago, we spent quite a bit of time at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Caelan and I went to the American Girl shop. We saw my brother and his fiance. We ate great food, and went to Navy Pier.

Finally...

Well, my computer has been on the fritz ever since I installed a new printer. Finally, after spending hours troubleshooting, I unplugged all of the USB devices, and unplugged the power for the night and YAHOO! my camera and printer appear to be working once again.

Things here are going much better. With the weather starting to get a bit nicer, we are all in a better mood. Lia went in for her speech evaluation and oddly enough a week before hand started talking in sentences! She went from never speaking more than one word at a time to speaking in 3-4 word sentences. She does not qualify for any additional speech services. She is having less extreme tantrums lately too.

Garrett has gone to two "kindergarten" evaluations. Both have said that he is very well prepared for kindergarten. I am not convinced. He put on a good show. He is pretty smart- but can be a real pain and flat out refuses to do traditional kindergarten tasks like write and sit:) I am leaning towards young five's- he won't be 5 until mid- July, but I guess I am still undecided.

Caelan is gearing up for her visitor- a 5th grade French exchange student from Paris who will be staying with us from the end of April to the end of May. We are all very excited to have her:) She also has her dance recital in May, and she will be making her first communion, reconciliation and confirmation all in April. Whew. It will be pretty busy the next couple of months!

Well, here are some pictures from Lia's first official hair cut (I cut her bangs a couple of times) and Garrett's trip to the Dow event Center to see Monster Jam- a monster truck event.

Kreuer Fundraiser

I am sure that most of you already know about Carrie and the loss of her sweet daughter MJ last fall. Well, shortly before MJ died the Kreuer's accepted the referral of another sweet girl from China. They are currently trying to raise some money to help bring Anna Grace home.

Old pictures

I never got around to loading the pictures from my old computer to my new one when we moved in 2005. I still have no idea where the pictures from Garrett's first year are, I am guessing I had them all on CD, but here are some picures of Caelan when she was a baby. Actually for some reason I am having a hard time opening most of them- but here are a few!

Ice Fishing

Bob and the kids went ice fishing yesterday. Read about it here- be sure to read the last few paragraphs!

Chinese New Year Celebration

On Saturday we had a little party with our local FCC group, actually it is FACT (Families with Asian Children Together). We ate breakfast, the kids played games, and did some crafts. It was only the second event that we have attended since bringing Lia home. All of the kids had a great time.

Oh, and just to go along with my earlier post, I have allowed Garrett and Lia to bring in their tractors (which normally stay outside).

Long winter...

I feel like it has been forever since I posted. Things have been fine here, though I am so ready for winter to be over. We are all quite crabby. Thankfully, we have had a few days of decent weather and I have been able to get the kids out to play and ride bikes.

Lia is going to be further evaluated for additional speech services. I feel like she is still doing wonderfully picking up new vocabulary, but she is having a hard time combining words together. She very rarely puts two words together, so I am hoping that some additional speech will help. I talk to her constantly and repeatedly try to get her to repeat what I say, but my attempt to get her to say "more milk" always comes out as "milk" or "more" but never them both together.

I have to admit though, Lia has been having somewhat frequent and pretty extreme tantrums. I am trying to work through them and when she is really mad, I hold her and try to get her to settle down. I think part of the problem is that we just haven't been able to get outside much this winter. Everybody is stir crazy. Cold and snow is one thing, but it has been extremely cold. I also keep reminding myself that she is two. She has been hitting quite a bit and so far, I have not found an effective way to get her to stop.

Potty training is at a standstill. She was doing great- in fact at Christmas I thought she was totally potty trained- but she has definitely decided that she prefers diapers and at this point, I have given up. Once her mood improves, I will attempt it again, but right now I just feel like she has enough that she seems to be working on.

Oh, and to be quite honest, Garrett has also had a hard few months. He is a child who needs to be outdoors all of the time, and then he is simply an angel. But coop him up in a small house all winter and watch out. I have done my best, we go to the library at least one a week, go swimming once a week, play at the Mc Donalds playscape, children's museum, but it is just not enough. Bob thinks that we need to buy a farm...

I am going to do a more cheerful post with pictures from our Chinese New Year celebration in a few minutes so I don't leave you all with my venting.

Caelan's Blog

Caelan has just started her own blog, Stories by Caelan. Read all about it here!