Today was school photo day at Miss Scarlett's daycare. We spent a great deal of time discussing the merits of each possible outfit...color, style, comfort. We finally narrowed it down to three choices: a blue sundress, a pink dress with a dragonfly, and a pink dress with a Dalmatian puppy. Miss Scarlett got to pick. After much deliberation, she choice the dress with the dragonfly.
Our next duty was to determine how her hair was to be done. Should we leave it down? Down with barrettes? If we leave it down, should we curl the ends under? Or should we get more creative and put it up in a ponytail or pigtails? Should I (gasp!) attempt to do a braid? Miss Scarlett decided to leave her hair down...no barrettes, no curling iron. Just natural.
When I left her at daycare, I wondered if the photographer would give her one more lick and a promise with the hairbrush. I hoped that she would smile prettily and not her silly grin that she likes to affect when we take her picture.
Today at pickup, the daycare director told me that Miss Scarlett smiled "so pretty". I was so glad to hear that. Then Miss Scarlett told me that even the photographer told her she "smiled pretty". I suppose I will find out soon enough. The photos come back toward the end of the month. I am confident, though, that whatever they look like, I will love them!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
A Tale of Two Bears
The bear on the left is named "Teddy". He is over 40 years old, and has had the bottoms of his feet and paws of his hands lovingly repaired by the mother of the child who (still!) loves him. Teddy was my first love. He calmed my fears when I was sure that there was a monster in the closet. He was a friend that patiently sat through many a tea party, class, or doctor's visit. He was never a very fancy bear...choosing to just be his au natural beary self.The bear on the right is named "Sally Callie". She is just about one year old, and belongs to my daughter. She made her at the Build-A-Bear shop shortly after her birthday last year. Sally Callie goes everywhere Miss Scarlett goes. She
has a Hello Kitty shirt, skirt, shoes, a glittery purse...the whole ensemble that a young miss needs. Sally Callie has been party to numerous dinners out, doctor's visits, nap times, etc. She is quite the cosmopolitan bear. But she is just as loved by her person as Teddy is loved by me.
Now these two bears are best of friends. Teddy spends most of his time these days benevolently watching a new bear and child play together. I can only hope that my daughter and Sally Callie have as many and even more wonderful years together. I look forward to the day when I see three bears together...Teddy, Sally Callie and Mei-Mei's (or Di-Di's) bear.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
A New Look!
Many, many thanks to the BlogFairy for the spiffy new design for the blog! The BlogFairy sort of comes when you least suspect it...much like the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny. I have never seen her, but I know that she exists!
She has made my ho-hum blog into something that looks really neat and fun! If you want a really nifty design, I urge you to check out the BlogFairy's site. You can link directly from here to her site. Look around. I am positive that you will not be disappointed!
Thank you, BlogFairy!!!
She has made my ho-hum blog into something that looks really neat and fun! If you want a really nifty design, I urge you to check out the BlogFairy's site. You can link directly from here to her site. Look around. I am positive that you will not be disappointed!
Thank you, BlogFairy!!!
Friday, September 5, 2008
A Friend from the Past
Today I ran into an old friend from back in my junior high school days. I saw her talking to the court clerk, and immediately recognized her...pretty good since it has been over twenty years since we saw each other! She instantly recognized me as well.
I remember spending the night at her house one night. Her step-father was an abusive man, and I walked on eggshells the entire time I was there. It was the first and last time that I was ever allowed to stay at her house. I am sure that if my mom had known what the home was like, I would have never been allowed to stay in the first place.
My friend was always very shy and quiet in school. She left in the 8th grade...pregnant. I did not see her again until today.
She has become a lovely woman. She now has two children and has risen well above her rocky beginning. We caught each other up on our lives best we could in the ten minutes or so before we both had to move on. We hugged each other and promised to try our best to stay in touch. I hope we can.
I remember spending the night at her house one night. Her step-father was an abusive man, and I walked on eggshells the entire time I was there. It was the first and last time that I was ever allowed to stay at her house. I am sure that if my mom had known what the home was like, I would have never been allowed to stay in the first place.
My friend was always very shy and quiet in school. She left in the 8th grade...pregnant. I did not see her again until today.
She has become a lovely woman. She now has two children and has risen well above her rocky beginning. We caught each other up on our lives best we could in the ten minutes or so before we both had to move on. We hugged each other and promised to try our best to stay in touch. I hope we can.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Adventures in Gardening
"Let's do a garden this year," my dear hubby said. "It'll be a good learning experience for Miss Scarlett, and besides, it'll be FUN!"
So we went to our local home improvement store, bought some lumber (because dear hubby wanted a raised bed garden), what seemed to be a ton of soil, seeds, and supports. "Think of all the money we'll save on groceries," I told dear hubby, almost giddy with anticipation. We flew home with our gardening goodies.
So we dragged the bags of soil over to the garden plot and emptied them out. Miss Scarlett helped us plant the seeds...tomatoes, cucumbers, Kentucky Wonder green beans, corn, carrots, and radishes. We don't particularly care for radishes, but we heard that they were fast growers and would keep Miss Scarlett interested in the garden longer.
After many evenings of "discussing" who watered last, we finally saw some sprouts. Miss Scarlett was beside herself with joy. She had a garden with food that she grew "all by herself"! I have to say, even I was impressed with what I foresaw as a bountiful harvest. I could see Miss Scarlett and me putting up loads of veggies with my mother-in-law helping us. Dear hubby beaming with pride. Such a sweet domestic tableau.
In actuality, there was no bountiful harvest. What we got were some deformed corn that looked like it was an experiment from a nuclear lab, lots of yummy tomatoes, four or five squinchy carrots, one cucumber, two messes of tough green beans and a gazillion radishes which were so hot we couldn't touch them.
Were we disappointed? Maybe just a little. All in all, we considered it was success. At least we had some fun family time and a bit of gardening adventure. We learned a lot about what NOT to do when planting a garden. We have high hopes that our next attempt will go off much better. We can hardly wait now to put out our fall crop and see what comes up!
So we went to our local home improvement store, bought some lumber (because dear hubby wanted a raised bed garden), what seemed to be a ton of soil, seeds, and supports. "Think of all the money we'll save on groceries," I told dear hubby, almost giddy with anticipation. We flew home with our gardening goodies.
So we dragged the bags of soil over to the garden plot and emptied them out. Miss Scarlett helped us plant the seeds...tomatoes, cucumbers, Kentucky Wonder green beans, corn, carrots, and radishes. We don't particularly care for radishes, but we heard that they were fast growers and would keep Miss Scarlett interested in the garden longer.
After many evenings of "discussing" who watered last, we finally saw some sprouts. Miss Scarlett was beside herself with joy. She had a garden with food that she grew "all by herself"! I have to say, even I was impressed with what I foresaw as a bountiful harvest. I could see Miss Scarlett and me putting up loads of veggies with my mother-in-law helping us. Dear hubby beaming with pride. Such a sweet domestic tableau.
In actuality, there was no bountiful harvest. What we got were some deformed corn that looked like it was an experiment from a nuclear lab, lots of yummy tomatoes, four or five squinchy carrots, one cucumber, two messes of tough green beans and a gazillion radishes which were so hot we couldn't touch them.
Were we disappointed? Maybe just a little. All in all, we considered it was success. At least we had some fun family time and a bit of gardening adventure. We learned a lot about what NOT to do when planting a garden. We have high hopes that our next attempt will go off much better. We can hardly wait now to put out our fall crop and see what comes up!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Waiting
Waiting is so hard! Just yesterday, Miss Scarlett asked me when it would be her birthday. She had just gone to a birthday party for a little friend, and it was on her mind. I told her it was still a couple of months away. Then she asked when Mei-Mei (little sister in Mandarin) was coming home. Since we are still likely months away from a referral, all I could tell her was that I don;t know. Her reply? "China is taking a long time! Can't you just tell God to make China give us Mei-Mei?" If only.
How does one deal with waiting for something you want badly? Do you go on with life as usual, putting the thought of the event on the back burner of your mind until such time the happy event occurs? Do you constantly monitor each and every aspect of the wait, tormenting yourself over every possible pitfall or milestone that you reach? How are we supposed to handle a wait?
I believe that God would have us wait patiently and honor God in the wait. Hebrews 5:10-11 (The Message) says "Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail."
Waiting for Miss Scarlett to come home from China was one of the hardest waits of my life. It was very hard to "let go and let God". But let go, I did. And I was greatly rewarded for it. For the very day that we had put in our adoption application, was the day Miss Scarlett was born in China. And we were greatly blessed!
So God has proved to me over and over again how much He cares for me. And I hold on to that love He has for me, and all of His creations, when the wait becomes hard. Dear friend, I pray that if you are waiting for something, that you know that God has it all under control. He is still on His throne. May you stay the course, let go, and let God.
How does one deal with waiting for something you want badly? Do you go on with life as usual, putting the thought of the event on the back burner of your mind until such time the happy event occurs? Do you constantly monitor each and every aspect of the wait, tormenting yourself over every possible pitfall or milestone that you reach? How are we supposed to handle a wait?
I believe that God would have us wait patiently and honor God in the wait. Hebrews 5:10-11 (The Message) says "Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You've heard, of course, of Job's staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That's because God cares, cares right down to the last detail."
Waiting for Miss Scarlett to come home from China was one of the hardest waits of my life. It was very hard to "let go and let God". But let go, I did. And I was greatly rewarded for it. For the very day that we had put in our adoption application, was the day Miss Scarlett was born in China. And we were greatly blessed!
So God has proved to me over and over again how much He cares for me. And I hold on to that love He has for me, and all of His creations, when the wait becomes hard. Dear friend, I pray that if you are waiting for something, that you know that God has it all under control. He is still on His throne. May you stay the course, let go, and let God.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Blog Topics
Ok, I admit when I first wrote the title out, "Blog Topics", I thought of the advertising jingle for Hot Pockets. Sad, isn't it? I think the hardest part about blogging is allowing myself the freedom to put what I think in print. It is much easier, I think, to just ruminate on things in one's mind and not commit them to anyone else. That is why coming up with titles for these blog topics can be very frustrating. My thoughts are so fluid.
So often, my thoughts go like a dog's must. I will be trotting along happily, when all of the sudden, a stray idea comes to mind, and I find myself following it like a hound follows a rabbit trail...totally leaving the subject at hand to see where it will lead me.
What fun to see where this will lead!
So often, my thoughts go like a dog's must. I will be trotting along happily, when all of the sudden, a stray idea comes to mind, and I find myself following it like a hound follows a rabbit trail...totally leaving the subject at hand to see where it will lead me.
What fun to see where this will lead!
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