All Done!

It's over! School is OUT and we survived with minimum tears, all of us. Stay tuned for the status update on tears....the boys are announcing to everyone who asks that they are going to be homeschooled next year and that they will only get ONE week of vacation. Poor kids. Poor mother. The truth is we are starting the first week of June but we are doing that in order to be able to vacation throughout the year without school work to contend with. And we are taking Mondays and Fridays off during the summer. And, because my children get up with the birds, we will be done with schoolwork before their regularly scheduled activities even think to take place. So, we will proceed with school just as planned and we hope that tears will not be involved due to a lack of "vacation".

Now, backing up, Mason-Kate has come so far this year in school. Her first months at MDO were quite traumatic for her and there was no allowing anyone to console her unless mommy appeared. Nine months later, I watched proudly as she marched into the church sanctuary on Thursday holding the hand of her teacher with her classmates toddling along behind. She spotted me, waved and proceeded forward to her designated performance spot. She sang, she smiled, she yelled her sweet little yell "Hi mommy, hi!" and then as quickly as the program had begun, it was over. Short, sweet and to the point. Perfect.

On Friday, C and P had there end of the year celebrations. C's class began the morning with a Luau style celebration. Lots of fun was had by all of the younsters while the teachers sat back and weathered the storm. C awoke this morning and the first sentence I heard him speak was "I really wish I could relive yesterday." Following the Luau, the boys, Ryan, his parents and MK all joined the kindergarten students on the school lawn for a picnic. Then it was time to begin the Kindergaren Graduation ceremony. It could not have been better....the children all filed in, smiles on, sang their little hearts out, shared in some laughter, received their certificates and it was over. Again, short, sweet and to the point. Perfect. Well, almost. MK did not think it was quite short enough. Thankfully, G-Mom was there to escort her out during her more fussy moments. This school year was awesome for both boys. They both had the greatest of teachers and learned so much through experience as well as teaching. I have a lot to live up to next year!

Moments

Yesterday MK and I were driving to our destination. Along the way, there were, of course, stoplights that needed to be obeyed. At one particular stop light, we sat, and sat, and still sat....it wasn't because the light was red, it was because the guy in front of us was on his cell phone, not paying attention....this irked me a tad seeing as I was supposed to be somewhere soon. So, I proceeded to beep the horn, a short beep, a calm beep, the kind that says "Kindly pay attention, please, and GO!" MK immediately asked me, in all of her MK curiousness, if I had beeped the horn. And I agreed with her that I had. So we go to my appt. and then we leave. MK asked for the "hello" aka my cell phone and she wanted to call daddy. Daddy was called, he didn't answer so MK left him this message: "Daddy, daddy, mommy, beep-beep, mommy, beep-beep truck....love you, bye".....she was telling on me!

Most evenings Pryce and I will rock together and read a book. He has gotten so fluent with reading that it amazes me sometimes how well he can do it. Anyway, last night we read. We finished and he asked me if I would rock him....I, of course, agreed. So we rocked, and rocked and rocked. Out of the blue he looked up at me and asked "Do you REALLY want another baby?".....so I went into the "when I was growing up" mode and shared with him that for whatever reason I had always wanted to be a mother to four children, always. (I am a middle child so I always said no to three children - this part I didn't share with him being that he is the middle child and I do not want to put ideas into his head :) Ryan and I agreed when we married that we would do even numbers, 2 or 4. ) I went onto explain that in my perfect little growing up mind I also planned that I would have 2 boys and 2 girls. Pryce's eyes lit up and he asked "so when are we going back to China to get little Theresa?"....."Theresa? Pryce, who is Theresa?" I asked. Pryce, in a very matter of fact way, answered, "Oh, yeah, Theresa...that is the name that I have always wanted for a little sister."

14 Months and Counting....

Mason-Kate lived in an orphanage for the first 5 1/2 months of her life we know for sure. Then, she had surgery to repair her cleft lip and she was supposedly placed in foster care at that time, for an additional 8 1/2 months. And then she was returned to the orphanage just days before she would be united with her forever family on March 17, 2008. Today marks the first day that she has officially been with us, her family, longer than she was without us. Fourteen months she lived without us. Fourteen months and counting that she has been in our arms!