This week MK made a big statement. She announced that she, sadly enough, will NOT be joining us on our trip to China. Why? She states that the trip will take too, too long and she won't have enough room to do her twirls and her ballet in the hotel! I have told her and told her how she will miss us and how we will miss her. She is relentless. Last night she put her little hand on my face, caressed my cheek and said, "I know Mommy, I will send my purple phone with you to China. You can call me everyday and you won't get sad." Silly, silly girl, she IS going to China, ballet twirling, purple telephone and all!

Last week began with Ryan and I sharing our 13th anniversary together. With travel ahead, we chose to stay in for the evening and create our own celebration at home. We fed the children early and asked the boys to babysit MK upstairs so we could enjoy a quiet meal together. We weren't quite sure how this would work out, 20 minutes, 40 minutes, who knew? Much to our surprise, almost 2 hours later, after a nice quiet dinner and an intense game of Scrabble, we thanked the children for allowing us this time together. They were SO good. We honestly did not even hear a peep from them and they enjoyed their time together.

Tuesday was our first "real" day back to the grime. We had speech, co-op, ballet and two basketball games. BUSY. Fun. Pryce scored his first three point shot of the season so we were all extremely proud.

Wednesday brought on huge crocodile tears from MK as she had to endure 5 shots AND the flu mist. On this day I realized, again, just how far she has come. I remember a day, not too long after we had arrived home from China, that I took her in for a dr. visit. Just being in the office made her scream. LOUD. I called Ryan on this day and basically cried myself as I held this very sad/mad child. He asked, "How many shots did they give her?" I said, "None, she is just crying because she is here!" She was so unsure of everything at that point. Now, almost 3 years later, she is a confident, loving little girl who smiles and talks to the doctor and the nurses. That is, until they come baring 5 needles in their hands! There were tears and hours of not being able to walk but she handled it all well.

Friday we celebrated Ryan's birthday a day early due to our weekend plans. The children loved decorating his cookie cake Clemson style and watching him open the gifts they had all come up with.

And then came Saturday. Saturday we gathered together at my parents home for my father's birthday celebration. My sister, her family, my brother and his family were all present.