O Christmas Tree!

Margaret Rose's kindergarten made a trip to this tree farm last week so we decided we'd give it a try. We thought we'd choose a tree that grows in South Carolina instead of the faiser fir that we usually get from the Boone area. Well we won't make that mistake again. We couldn't find anything that would even make good shrubbery and we certainly weren't paying $40+ for something that even Charlie Brown would laugh. We ended up selecting a fraiser fir that they'd imported from their farm in North Carolina. Go figure.

Mary Clare wore her Rudolph overalls for probably the last time. We'll be sad to see them go but they've made it through 2 Christmas seasons so I'd say we did pretty well. This year MC asked PoPo to sew a tail on the back for Rudolph and she was quite pleased with the result.

Despite the lack of acceptable trees, the girls had a good time on a wagon ride of the farm and playing on the playground.

What a great Saturday! Aa-Aa came for a visit and we had a pizza lunch. Then the girls made tiny little Christmas trees for their room.We ended the day by a trip to the old park down the block. I don't know when they decided to be Pooh and Miss Bee but they're awfully cute!

PPE

Mary Clare continues to enjoy her daycare free days and looks so forward to crafing with PoPo.

Today she wore her "holiday Hopper" overalls and made a pompom redbird from a Chicken Socks book and then freestyled her on Purple People Eater critter. She and Mom worked on it secretly and she kept hollering, "Don't come in Mom! Not yet! We almost done!" She was so proud of her PPE!

And here is lovely Margaret Rose home from school and enjoying hot chocolate!

My little Rudolphs

We found a McCalls christmas craft magazine from 1969 on ebay and Mom has been busy recreating for the girls some of the felt ornaments she made me as a child. They enjoy picking out the embellishments like sequins and pompoms.
























Then the girls got the idea of embellishing themselves. Oh the wonders of duct tape!

Sewing Lesson & A Parade

Margaret Rose got her first sewing lesson before Mass this morning. With a little help from PoPo she did a good job sewing a button on her shirt.Here's Margaret Rose posing in one of her new Christmas dresses. She just loves being pretty!

The other picture is of Mary Clare "helping" PoPo with her therapy.

I took the girls to the local Christmas parade this evening. It was a last minute thing as I felt guilty that there was a parade four blocks away. Lee had work he needed to get done for school but drove us to the bottom of the hill so that we might have time to find a place to sit. We realized at the last minute that I'd left my phone at home and there'd be no way for Lee to know when to come back for us. I told him we'd just walk but really wasn't looking forward to it. A very nice family let us sit behind them on the sidewalk and the girls were unbelievably good while we waited for the parade to begin. They LOVED it! It's a nightime parade so there are lots of lights. Margaret Rose moved down to sit right on the street side and started collecting candy. She was so good to turn around and share with Mary Clare. When it was all over I grabbed them tightly by the hand and tried to navigate the crowd. Mary Clare kept saying, "Come on Maggie Rose! Our feet are taking us home!" and they were both cooperative and in good spirits. We actually spotted a payphone (surely the last of its kind) and called home where Mom relayed our coordinates to Lee who had gone out to look for us. It was a nice evening and I'm really glad I took the girls. You'll notice in the pictures below that Mary Clare has started giving the stereotypical Chinese "peace sign" gesture in pictures. Margaret Rose insisted on taking a picture of me and MC. I think she did a good job.

A Visit To Santa

We had our 6 month post placement meeting for Margaret Rose today. We met at our friends' house who were having their first meeting for their newest daughter. We love our social worker. She defines the word efficient which is what let us get Margaret Rose (from seeing her picture to Gotcha Day) in a little over 6 months. The girls enjoyed playing together while we took care of business and then we went over to the mall to see Santa. Margaret Rose has been hearing about Santa for awhile now and seems to be taking it all in stride. Well of course some strange man in a funny suits flies a team of reindeer around the world, lands on your roof, slides down your chimney and leaves you presents - this is America. She loves singing "Here Comes Santa Claus" and routinely admonishes us that "Santa Claus is coming to town!" Mary Clare is another story. She likes the jolly ole elf but only from a distance. She warmed up a little last year on the train trip as they had a fantastic Santa - very low key, quiet and gentle. Last night she was all excited about going to see him but as we got closer today she started to climb up my leg and looked terrified. A told Angi that Anna Lin and MR should go and I'd stay back with MC but she somehow worked her magic and got Anna Lin and MR to hold MC between them and then distracted her until it was their turn. Somehow the influence of big sister and her friend worked and she actually sat on his lap and talked to him. And we even got a picture of her looking at the camera!
So what did our girls ask Santa for? Margaret Rose would like a doll with clothes - pretty clothes please and she mentioned that the doll was cold just in case Santa thought of bringing a naked baby doll. Mary Clare asked for a train, a blue stick with a white hand and a coconut bra - yep you read that right. Hope the reindeer don't mind making a stop in Tahiti before landing in SC.

Getting Better All The Time

and how could she not be with a nurse like Mary Clare? After the physical therapist brought a small pedaling therapy tool, Mom's been using the girls' tricycle with the back end propped up on books to exercise. Mary Clare provides the entertainment. I think my mom is the most amazing woman. Through this whole ordeal she has never complained and just keeps trying to think of positive ways to look at her accident. She told me she'd just been worrying that she didn't get to spend enough time with Maggie Rose and now here she is with nothing but time. She told us we were not going to look back on this as the Christmas PoPo broke her hip but rather as the Christmas PoPo came to stay. My girls will certainly never forget it and even though she only lives a mile away they are going to be heartbroken when she goes back home.

Bad Hair Days

This is a picture of Margaret Rose from last fall at Huazhou. You can kind of see why everytime we mention trimming her bangs and hair she cries and wraps her arms around her head. Well Mom gave it one more try today and told MR that we really needed to just give her bangs a little trim. Margaret Rose did what she always does but this time had enough languge to tell us, "No! No cut hair! In my China they make me bald headed!" Well this was the breakthrough moment and somehow Mom was able to explain that we would never make her bald headed. Once she was convinced that the little trim would only add to the pretty she was on board. I didn't cut much so that she might let us have another go at it. Next time we'll try and get Miss Debbie who cuts Mary Clare's and Grandma's hair to do a professional job.

BEFORE

AFTER

Let's Make a Mermaid

Oh how I love this smile!

Lee and I are alternating days to be home with Mom for awhile. Margaret Rose adores school and is happy to go each day but Mary Clare really dislikes daycare so she is staying home with us and she is deliriously happy. She gets up each morning smiling and brimming with plans for PoPo. She's been wanting to make a clothespin mermaid out of a Chicken Socks book and today was the perfect day! After crafts she helped me cook lunch and while sitting at the table she said, "Mama, this is a fine day!"

Look who's home!

Yesterday and this morning we were preparing for Mom to be sent from the hospital to a rehabilitation facility for several weeks. Around noon her wonderful doctor came in and asked if she didn't want to just go home. He said the nurses told him that Mom had been up on her own walking in the hall and was doing all the exercies the physical therapist had shown her. He said if she had someone to stay with or someone who could stay with her that she'd be just fine at home since she's so motivated to recover. We moved a twin bed into our den and had her home by 4:00. The girls are THRILLED! Margaret Rose enjoyed having breakfast on the Pooh couch after giving PoPo her tray.

Thanksgiving

Well this certainly wasn't how we pictured spending Margaret Rose's first Thanksgiving but we are very thankful that my Mom (the girls' beloved PoPo) is recovering well and is in good spirits. Mom fell picking MC up from daycare and has broken her hip. They did surgery Wednesday and were able to fix it with pins and are hopeful that that a replacement can be avoided. We are quite put out -okay maybe furious is a better word- with the daycare director who left my mom alone with MC while he went to review his surveillance tapes so that he could assure her that she'd fallen over MC's feet and not the daycare door threshold. I'm sure that made her feel much better as she sat there in pain hoping MC didn't run out the door into the parking lot. The lack of compassion just completely appalls me.

Margaret Rose is in serious need of a hair trim but she refuses to allow us anywhere near her head with the scissors. We took her to Miss Debbie who cuts MC's hair and she wouldn't let her trim it either. She just grabs her head and repeats "long hair, long hair" over and over. So we'll put up with the shaggy look for a bit longer.

The drought situation was brought home for me as we were walking to the car today. It started to sprinkle and MR looked up at the sky and in all seriousness said, "Turn off, peas (please)." Guess we haven't had enough rain for her to even know what it is.

Here's Mary Clare in her wonderful turkey overalls. MR wore them to school earlier in the week so today was MC's turn. And here's MC doing her flat frog imitation to entertain PoPo in the hospital.

God's children by adoption baptized into his grace

Today was Margaret Rose's baptism. It was a wonderful day and we were happy that so many of those we love came to be part of our sweet girl's initiation into Christ's Body the Church. Both our girls share All Saints' Day as their baptismal day. We sang two of my favorite hymns - For All The Saints and I Sing A Song of the Saints of God- and the choir once again used the descant that Lee wrote for Mary Clare's baptism for the hymn on the way to the baptismal font. Early Sunday morning I was able to show Margaret Rose a video clip of another child being baptised and she watched with great interest. She is an extremely neat child and we were afraid that the water getting all over her clothes would upset her. Before leaving the house we were running through the checklist - camera, bulletins, coats and Margaret piped up with, "I need towel. He gonna wash da hair." Well, I guess that is what it looked like in the clip she saw. During the entire service she showed remarkable poise and was nothing but cooperative. I think her lovely smile says more than I ever could about the signifcance of the day.