Happy Birthday Shaelyn!

It's hard to believe - my youngest child is turning 8 today! Seven years ago we happily welcomed you into our family.
We have a lot of plans for the day. First of all, it is Egyptian Day for her at school today. They have been
studying about Egypt. Today they all get to dress in Egyptian costumes and eat Egyptian snacks. They also will be making mummies with each other out of toilet paper. She was very excited that this fell on her birthday. Then I will be bringing her lunch from McDonalds. We will be decorating her birthday cake when she comes home. She chose a gumball machine birthday cake. There will be a lot of gumballs. For supper, we are going to Chuckie Cheese and will be opening presents. It's a lot to fit into 1 day but we're going to try.
Happy Birthday Shaelyn - We love you and hope you have a great birthday!



Here she is in her Egyptian costume and with her class.



























Standing by the mummy with her friend Grace

It's that Time of Year

Today is the day - Shaelyn goes back to school and starts 3rd grade! Summer
went so quickly. As we prayed together this morning, we talked about all the
things that were going to happen during the summer - my surgery, Chelsea going
to Guatemala, Katelyn leaving for India, vacations, etc... Now they have all happened
and here we are - August 31 - beginning of a new school year.
She's ready - new haircut, new clothes and new lunch box. She's excited
about the teacher she got for this year - she's the same teacher Chelsea
had and loved her. Thursdays will be a fun day every week. Her room has a loft
in it and that will be the day that she can use it for reading time. The other
reason I love Thursdays is because it's her microwave day. Her teacher has a
microwave in her room and there are designated days for the kids to use it.
This makes it so much easier to pack lunches - soup, spaghettio's, ravioli,
pizza - ahh, the luxury of a microwave. I think this should be a great year
for her with lots of fun times. Ready or not, here we come!

She's Off to See the World

Katelyn left this morning to begin her 4 month internship in India. While it was a sad time for me (and a few others), it is also exciting. I can only imagine the things she will see and do. The Taj Mahal, Indian weddings, riding camels and elephants, working with autistic children in the center.....She sure is doing a lot more than I ever did at this age. She gets to do this with her best friend and roommate from college - Kath. I'm so glad they have each other. Geeta is their supervisor while they are there. She has been so helpful and supportive for all of us. We are praying for safety while traveling and while they are there. We also pray that they will be a Christian witness to those they will be working with. I know it's time to let my child spread her wings and fly (although I wish I had clipped them a bit shorter so she couldn't fly quite so far. :)




Here are the sisters one last time together.









Katelyn and Kath - best friends and traveling buddies.












This is Dr. Roels and his wife. He is the former president of Kuyper College. He has been extremely helpful getting the girls prepared. He came to the airport to pray with us all and help send them off.






Katelyn, Kath and Alex. She was another one of their roommates. She is sad to see her friends go. We are planning on adopting her into our family for these next 4 months to make up for losing a daughter!

Look who got a new haircut!

I decided that it was time Shaelyn got a new hairstyle.Neither she or her Dad wanted this to happen but....I'm the one who has to take care of it and brush it if I want it to look good. So... off to the stylist. It still has some length but I think it will be more manageable. She decided to try to grow her bangs out so I bought some clips to pull the bangs back with. I think she looks older - she's ready for 3rd grade now!

China Camp

Every June, Shaelyn attends Heritage Camp (aka - China camp) for a week. This is for kids who are adopted to learn about their heritage. The main groups are China, Korea, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Every day there is a different food for lunch from those countries. They go to music class, language class and spend time in the classroom learning about their heritage. This year, Shaelyn got to paint a parasol, make a cootie catcher from origami paper and learn cats cradle and Chinese jump rope. It is so much fun for her to meet all these other girls who were adopted, just like her. Each year, many of them return to camp and their friendships continue to grow. Some families come from 3 hours away! Typically, I can pick Shaelyn out in a program but not here - the school is packed with so many Chinese girls, I can't always find her. How nice for her to actually be in the majority for once. I would recommend this camp for anyone with internationally adopted kids. She loves it!



Here is Shaelyn with a friend she sees every year at camp.














These are two of Shaelyn's friends. Our families all went to China together.
Here they are in their Chinese clothes, getting ready for the parade of nations.














Learning how to say animal names in Chinese














These girls are practicing the "Lion Dance"














These are the girls in her class, posing with the parasols they painted.

Chelsea's Graduation

I know you're all shocked to see anything here. I decided it was time to post a few pictures. Chelsea graduated May 26. Here's some pictures of the special night! Hopefully, I'll have some pictures of her open house in the near future.


Here is Chelsea and her best friend, Kristin before the ceremony.











Walking down the aisle to "Pomp and Circumstance"










Proud family!

It's finally happened!

Shaelyn has been waiting for this important event in her life - she lost her first tooth! It's been loose for a while. Today I went to wiggle it and then told her I wanted to feel it. It "just happened" to about fall out in my hands. She was quite excited and said it didn't really hurt at all. So after a trip to Grandpa, she's a bit richer. Who knows how much tooth fairies leave now days. I guess we'll find out later!

College Bound

Chelsea received her acceptance letter to the college of her choice. She was a bit worried but extremely happy that she got accepted. She will be studying the vet tech program. It is a 2 year program. Every time we go to the vet, we ask the girls working there where they went to college. They always seem to answer the same - Chelsea's choice! Her first year consists of probably 2 days a week. The 2nd year will be full of trips to the zoo and a lot of lab work. The other amazing feature is that if she keeps her GPA at a 3.5 or higher - tuition is cut in half!! Congrats Chelsea - I know you will love it there!

Katelyn's College Apartment

We moved Katelyn's things into her apartment on Saturday. She's excited to be in an apartment with 4 other girls. She is in a room with 2 others and down their hall is the other bedroom. She came back home Saturday to celebrate my birthday and go to a family picnic today but headed back out tonight- with classes starting tomorrow. Take a look at some of the pictures I got.




Working on her desk area














The Kitchen














Her bed - ready to finish getting put together















Katelyn and Amanda - one of her roommates
















Here is her apartment building. They share with 3 other rooms

1st day of School Conversation

Shaelyn was talking to me last night about her first day of school. Here's how some of it went;
Shaelyn - Mom, I have a boy in my class who said a naughty word
Me - What was the word?
Shaelyn - It started with an "S"
Me - Really, what was it?
Shaelyn - It begins with "SH"
(I'm starting to wonder how this word fit into the conversation at this point)
Me - can you tell me?
Shaelyn - I don't want to say it but it also means "be quiet"
Me - Oh, he said "shut up"?
Shaelyn - Yes, I don't think I should really be around him anymore

Oh, if my child can only stay so innocent as she grows!

Ready or Not - School has started

Well, how frustrating is this.... Chelsea started school yesterday and Shaelyn started today. I took some nice pictures but for some reason, am having major problems uploading them to the computer. We are kind of bummed that we have to start before Labor Day again, but by next week, should be happy about it. Shaelyn had visit day yesterday where she met her teacher and found her classroom. Chelsea is happy that she is a senior this year. She's expecting to have a good year! Hopefully, my pictures will turn up someday and I'll have them to show to you.

Shaelyn - the composer

Chelsea has told Shaelyn to sing a song if she can't sleep. So she decided to write a song to sing. It's about
her cat. I'm thinking she has a real future in song writing. :)

Preeshish (precious) you are the most cat. I always wanted a cat. It was perfect. I love it. Quet (quiet) nice, but not
cuddly. I still liked it. I called it Lillie Mika Mulder! Mikki does. You'll never know how much it cost to see
your sins, you'll never. You don't need to pay. Yip, yip, yippaddie. Like a gift if lillie's friend.

I guess that she realizes that her cat has a few flaws but she loves her in spite of them. It will be fun to look
back in a few years and show her some of her thoughts!

"Gotcha" Day

It seems unbelievable but 6 years ago we adopted Shaelyn! Today is her "Gotcha Day" We've never really celebrated it but I decided that we really need to acknowledge this special day. I took the day off work and she spent the day with friends doing special "China" things and we went to a special Chinese restaurant with the family for supper.
Shaelyn, we are so happy that you are the little girl that God chose to join our family. Hope you had a fun and special Gotcha Day!


Holding the paper lanterns that they all made














Going down the slide at Playworld with her friends

















New chopsticks and a jade bracelet!

An abundance of Zucchini

Do you have an extra abundance of zucchini that you don't know what to do with? I've made the zucchini cupcakes,
bread and frozen it. I came across a recipe for zucchini crisp that tastes like apple crisp. I made some up today
and surprisingly, it does have an apple crisp taste. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try.

8 cups cubed peeled zucchini
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
TOPPING:
1-1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup flour
2/3 cup cold butter or margarine

In a bowl, combine the zucchini, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg: mix well. Pour into a greased 13x9" pan.
For topping, combine brown sugar, oatmeal and flour in a bowl; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the zucchini mixture. Bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes or until bubbly and the zucchini is tender.
I did cut this recipe in 1/2 and put in a 9x9 pan just to make sure the family would like it!

Do You have an Extra Hand for a Stroller Ride?

Here is the newest trick from Shaelyn's cat Lili Meka. She has decided that she likes to go for stroller rides in the doll stroller. So she has figured out out to let us know. I know....she is a spoiled kitty but she sure knows how to make us laugh.