The Weekend

John took the boys to Shoals Creek today to play in the water. The best place to play in the creek is about 5 miles from our house. The creek is about the size of the Boise River. That amazed JT, who doesn't remember wading in the Boise River to get some rocks on one of our trips. This was the first day in a week that John has felt well enough to do something. Usually on his days off, he is like the Energizer Bunny and it is hard to get him to rest, so this has been a very different kind of weekend for us. So far, thank Goodness, the boys have stayed well. Sorry there are no pictures of the fun at the creek.




Today we put in a pool! Of course, it was one we could afford. :)

She even let JT come in for a swim.
Luci ate her very first watermelon today. I was pretty excited because she has been picky and she doesn't usually like new things. I had to slice the watermelon so thin you could read through it (no kidding). Anything for adding new foods to her list!

John with Luci in the backyard.
Luci eating her noodle soup, May 25, 2007. (Notice she's not in a high chair anymore!)
Luci eating her noodle soup, October, 2005. She's grown up quite a bit, hasn't she?

These next shots are Luci being her funny self today.

Dinner, Anyone?

Here are some excerpts from a story in The Guardian today. I told you at one time about the weird food available in China, and how much I appreciate Cracker Barrel. The province talked about in this article--Guangdong-- is the one all Americans adopting pass through and we are treated to some extraordinary meals during our time there. The people of this province are known for "eating anything with four legs, except the kitchen table." And I'm not so sure even that's off-limits. One restaurant our guide took us to had boxes in the lobby filled with the "fresh catch" of the day--just like Red Lobster here at home--but these boxes had everything you could think of, from 4 different kinds of beetles (including our own familiar cockroaches), worms (silk worms and several other types), on to the more familiar toads and snakes. (When we went to this restaurant, JT and I stuck with Pepsi Cola and rice.)

Above: Here we are in that fancy restaurant: Luci is eating Cheerios from my chopsticks; John is eating who-knows-what, and JT is looking rather green around the gills. Next to JT is Jophy, our delightful guide who took great delight in our reactions to the foods here.

Pictured below: a pangolin. It is a relative of the armadillo. The article told how it is killed and cooked, but mercifully (mercy shown to you, not the pangolin), I left that part out.

'Noah's Ark' of 5,000 rare animals found floating off the coast of China
· Cargo of abandoned vessel destined for restaurants

· Illegal trade drives species closer to extinction

Jonathan Watts in Beijing; Saturday May 26, 2007

The Guardian

Endangered, hunted, smuggled and now abandoned, 5,000 of the world's rarest animals have been found drifting in a deserted boat near the coast of China.

The pangolins, Asian giant turtles and lizards were crushed inside crates on a rickety wooden vessel that had lost engine power off Qingzhou island in the southern province of Guangdong. Most were alive, though the cargo also contained 21 bear paws wrapped in newspaper.

According to conservation groups, the haul was discovered on one of the world's most lucrative and destructive smuggling routes: from the threatened jungles of south-east Asia to the restaurant tables of southern China.

According to the local media, the cargo included 31 pangolins, 44 leatherback turtles, 2,720 monitor lizards, 1,130 Brazilian turtles as well as the bear paws. Photographs showed other animals, including an Asian giant turtle.

All of these south-east Asian species are critically endangered, banned from international trade and yet openly sold in restaurants and markets in China's southern province of Guangdong, which is famous for its exotic cuisine.

One recent raid on a restaurant in Guanghzou turned up 118 pangolins, 60kg of snakes and 400kg of toads.

Pirates and Books

Bryan and a group of about 12 friends got to go to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie last night. They dressed up like pirates and had lots of fun. Apparently, Bryan was exhausted when he got home after midnight, since he is sleep-walking here (sorry, Bryan, I didn't know I caught you in mid-blink until I was posting this).

This was just a cute sight, had to take the picture! Luci has on my glasses and is reading my mystery book.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

John took the boys to see the Huntsville Stars last week. They had seats right above the home team dugout! Lots of fun. John gave them an early birthday present of new baseball mitts, in hopes of catching a foul ball.
JT brought a baseball from home for autographs--Here is Homer, the mascot, greeting the boys.
and fireworks ended a great evening.


Catching you up on Luci's virus--She is perfectly well now, for which we are very thankful. John and I have the virus now, and have about 2 days left of illness. It lasts 7 days all together. JT said his throat felt funny last night, so he may be next. We are trying our best to disinfect everything so the boys don't get sick. (Yes, Mom, we will be out there in June! So get ready!)

Some good news--Luci has slept through the night for 4 nights in a row! That is a new record. She has had lots of cow's milk, which can be a problem for some Asians, so I started giving her Rice Dream (vanilla flavor) instead for her sippy cups. That just might be the key to her sleeping all night. She still has limited other dairy products, like a little cheese or casein that is hidden in so many food items, but taking her off of straight milk seems to have made the difference.

Freaking Out

I've been asked by several people, "Why didn't you take Luci to the doctor?" or, "Didn't you freak out?" or something else similar, about Luci's high fever.

Of Course I freaked out. I prayed that the fever would go down immediately; that the fever would not cause brain damage, and that the fever would not cause a personality change because of the high temp in her brain. The fever did subside, and in about an hour it was only (only! ha!) 102°. Also, it was after 9 pm and we'd have to go to the emergency room, not a good place to be at night. Besides, John had the minivan with the car seat in it, so Luci and I were stuck at home. And I thought maybe, just maybe, this thermometer might not be accurate. But that baby sure was hot to the touch.

Since that night, her fever has fluctuated between 99.7° and 102°, with Luci really not feeling well--she finally ate some Cheerios today, and part of a doughnut. I'll try to get some chicken noodle soup in her later. Another good thing is that her temperature finally is below 99° this afternoon--a nice, respectable 98.6° (which is still about 1° above her usual).

Another thing that freaked me out is this:

I saw this spider (YUCK! SPIDER!) on the window Wednesday and had to take a picture. Is it clear enough for you? The spider is eating a mosquito. I could see the spider actually devouring this mosquito! Looks really cool. The only reason I could deal with this spider is because it is on the other side of the window, and it can't get me!

What a Difference a Day Makes

Dolly with a new hair-do. Luci gave us quite a scare yesterday. She had a temperature that started Sunday night and soared to 104.7° yesterday. Took her to the doctor, who could find nothing wrong with her (even did a blood test, and Luci did not cry or protest!). Told to wait and see if she got better by Thursday. Last night (late of course) her temperature soared to 107°! Waited until morning to see if it would go down, and talked myself out of running her to the emergency room. Any fever is unusual for Luci; with all the ear infections she's had (4 or 5 since coming home) she has only run a fever with one of them.

Thank goodness for Prayer and Tylenol. Luci's virus is gone, apparently, because her temp is now near normal--"just" 99.2°. Another indicator of normalcy, she is trying to give her dolly a hair-do (which also indicates she is moving out of the toddler stage). She is also annoying JT by sticking her grubby arm, up to the armpit, in his cereal box.

This is our new thermometer, an Exergen Temporal Scanner Infrared Thermometer (model #TAT-2000C). I could not find our old one, so I got this yesterday at Walmart. It was $34 and some change, about $15.oo cheaper than what I found on the internet when I was looking for this picture. It is so easy to use, I had to share it. Just rub it across the forehead and over the temporal artery (that's on your temple). So easy. Apparently Luci maxed it out yesterday because it only registers up to 107.4°.

Happy Mother's Day!

We are so thankful for the great Mothers we have. John's Mom, Elrino, loved everybody. She was kind to everyone, that is an amazing thing. My Mom, Audrey, put up with more from us than most moms. She told me today about the fire department, police, and who knows what other government agencies have called on her in the past, all about her SONS (she did not mention any trouble from her daughters! ha ha, brothers!). And John's step Mom, Jeannie is terrific, too. We all love her as much as our other Mothers. Luci, of course, claims her as her own.

You will never guess what I got for my Mother's Day present! I got a DOOR!

This is the basement door from the old house. It didn't match the doors in the new house, so John put it in the garage. He worked on it last night as a surprise to me. This door is special because it has the measurements of the three children on it from birth...the last measure before today's was the day we got home with Luci in August 2005.
Luci was found on what they think was her second day of life. She was measured and weighed that day, and those measurements are so dear to me. On our referral day, June 27, 2005, I went to this door and marked her numbers on the door. I got such a nice surprise! She was the exact same length as Bryan and JT on the days they were born! And her weight was almost exactly halfway between Bryan's and JT's.

Here they are now: Look how they've grown!!

Bryan is now 5' 6"; he's grown 6 inches in 20 months!

JT is 4' 8.5" tall; he's grown 4 inches since August 2005.

Luci is 1.5" short of 3'. She has grown 5 inches since she became a U.S. citizen.

Some other stuff:

We started "square foot gardening" this year. http://squarefootgardening.com Here are two of our squares--JT has peppers and tomatoes stared above, and below you can see that they have grown in just 8 days. In that blank square are some peas that have popped up through the soil, but you can't see them in this shot. They are probably overcrowded, but we'll deal with that later.

Aubie is standing guard--the Garden Guardian, I guess. He is keeping critters out of my cucumbers, mint and petunias. (No, we do not plan on eating the petunias--they are just pretty.) Below, you can see that the yellow squash has come up, too. We started with as many plants as we could so we could experience some success....since this is new to the kids and me, we are not sure just how plain old seeds will do. As for Bryan's square, his has all seeds--spinach, radishes, Brussel sprouts and tiny carrots. So far, his spinach and radishes have sprouted. There's not a photo here because it just looks like a box of dirt right now. Too hard to see the sprouts.

Mom, you'll be so glad to know that all those meals (I thought they might be experiments) did not scare me away from squash! Can you believe my kids actually like tomatoes and Brussel sprouts??!!

Introducing....Dr. Heath!

Heath graduated yesterday! Congratulations, Heath! Dr. and Mrs.



Heath and Shanna

holding

Sophia and Sara

Audrey holding Sara and Heath holding Haley

Audrey, Heath, J.T. and John (the proud Daddy!)

Bathing, Camping, and that Goofy Dog Again

Luci loves taking baths in the whirlpool tub in our bathroom (she calls it "the pool") but the kitchen sink runs a close second. This was last night--can you see the water squirting down on her from the hand-held squirty-thing (what is that thing called, anyway)? This picture shows that Luci is named just right. Luci means "light"--she is, indeed, our angel. What a neat halo!

The boys camped out in the back yard yesterday. I thought they'd be in before dawn, but apparently they didn't want to leave the X-Box and games, TV and DVDs they were watching all night. You think it does not look too level? It is flat as a pancake compared to the yard at the old house. I camped out with the boys one night there, and you had to sleep with your feet downhill because the other way made all the blood rush to your head (sleeping sideways made you slide downhill, and we'd all end up in a heap at the other end of the tent). Now for the goofy dog. There is no picture, you just have to imagine this. Aubie the Wonder Dog has been stealing our newspapers. Not so unusual? No? How about this: After reading the paper, he folds it back up, inserts it back into the plastic sleeve and brings it back! Over the past two weeks, Aubie has taken 6 newspapers and brought back 5, sometimes a day or two later. Pretty good, huh? I figure he's still working on the Sudoku puzzle in that sixth paper, and that's why we haven't seen it yet.

Keeping Me Busy

This child! Luci has a mind of her own! (Just like her momma, you say?) Yesterday, she took her baggy full of crayons into our bedroom and climbed up on the bed. I went in just a minute later and she had chewed up several crayons, swallowed some, and then spat out the rest all over the bed. Yuck! Thank goodness the comforter and sheets are multi-colored, so even after washing it does not look too bad.



Then--Luci tells me she has to "go potty." Until yesterday, this means she sits on her little potty for a few seconds, then gets up and runs off. Usually the diaper or pull-up doesn't even get taken off. Until yesterday. I followed her, again about 30 seconds later, and she had managed to get out a new roll of toilet paper and tear off strips, dunk them into the big potty and wash her bottom. YUCK!! After disinfecting her with lots of soap, I thought the excitement was all over.



Until today. She ran off with a pencil (yes, I know she's not supposed to run with a pencil, but you try chasing a fast two-year-old who has a head start!) and made it to our bedroom again, where she managed to leave some nice artwork on the walls. I asked, "Who did that drawing?" "The bear," she said, pointing to an innocent-looking Winnie the Pooh. Oh, right. The bear doesn't even have fingers to hold the pencil. Am I supposed to believe that?? Where is that Mr. Clean Magic Eraser when you need it?

Good Friends

Today, Kalyn brought her Mom to visit with Luci and me. We had a good time! The girls spent most of their time playing, "It's Mine! No, Mine!" but managed to play nicely anyway. Looking at these pictures, you'd think the girls were close in age. Luci's 11 months older than Kalyn, but they are just about the same size. Kathy and I talked about this a long time ago--maybe it is the difference between Kalyn being in foster care versus Luci in an orphanage (the nutrition would make a big difference); plus the Northern China girls seem to be taller than the Southern China girls.

Kalyn is a real character and made me laugh every time we tried to get a photo. She's a real beauty, too. What a fun time we had! It was nice seeing a grown-up, too--Kathy, I'm so glad we got together today!

Magic, Spiders and a Goofy Dog

The kids are learning to do sleight-of-hand tricks, and here is Luci dressed for the part.
Pocus-Pocus! Luci perfects her card tricks.
I was watching JT play video games in the dark, and Luci came by. I snapped this photo and nearly went berserk when this spider appeared on the camera's screen. I catapulted Luci onto JT's bed, woke up John to get his big shoes on to kill the spider, then found the critter---here it is, below: The Ultra-Scary Power Ranger Action Figure Spider. Sheesh. Is that my Dad I hear laughing at me? And here is our goofy dog, loving Luci's generosity in handing out doggy biscuits. Love those eyes!

Grandpa's Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Dad! John's Dad, Olen, turned 80 last Thursday. We met up with him and Grandma Jeannie. This is us (I'm behind the camera) at lunch at All Steak restaurant. Funny, they serve other things besides steak.

Uncle Bobby, John, Luci and J.T.
Grandpa and Aunt Ara
Grandpa with John and the kids

The usual suspects
Grandma, Aunt Violet and Luci. Luci loved Aunt Violet's house, and had the run of it after a few minutes. Aunt Violet and Uncle Joe live out in the country and have a new, beautiful sun room on the back of the house. It was our favorite spot.
Luci meeting Uncle Russ and Aunt Patty for the first time.

Bryan accosted everyone he could and showed them magic tricks. Uncle Joe is cornered above, Uncle Russ below. (Notice Uncle Russ didn't even make it 5 feet in the door before Bryan caught him!)


Uncle Joe and Aunt Violet have a great yard for sledding. Who needs snow? Pine straw works just as well. We tried to get Luci to sled, but she decided once was enough.

This is Bryan going, going, going....