Christmas Eve dinner at Neiman's

The popovers are HUGE!

Not the best pictures, but these are the plasmacars!

This is the plasmacar. You sit on it and inertia and twisting the steering wheel makes it go.

I think Grace had too much caffeine!

It's hard to catch up!

One of the first things that Darcey asked after they arrived was whether we had celebrated her birthday yet.

I wish that I had done better when we saw them in November, but here is was December 28 and her birthday was December 4. But she knew we had not done our usual celebrating.

Dad surprised us all by taking us out to eat after church to Olive Garden.

What a great break!

Plus I LOVE their salad.

I reminded Dad that this was supposed to be Darcey's birthday celebration, so he ordered a cake, the waitresses sang, and Darcey was shy, but I hope she enjoyed the attention. They both told how the birthday dinner in Round Rock was not quite a "children's" idea of celebrating.

Lisa was intent on getting some pictures of the girls after lunch, so we stopped at Bishop Arts. The girls were more intent on playing and horsing around, so no new professional pictures.

Darcey was having trouble with her Sunday shoes being too small, so she decided that was what she wanted for her birthday. So we headed to Payless. Annabel needed house shoes too, so we got both taken care of!

Where else do you go for a "special" kid's birthday dinner? CiCi's Pizza, of course! Only the one by the shoe store was packed with a line out the door, so we went to the next one! I LOVE the cinnamon dessert pizza! I'm glad they have added chicken noodle soup so Annabel can enjoy 4 bowls each time!

Uncle Ken and Aunt Lisa gave each girl a $50 Visa gift card. WOW!!! They decided they would like to buy a new Nintendo game. We checked out the prices at Gamestop, especially for the used ones. So our best laid plans were to go Monday and buy their games. Unfortunately my plans at taking the day off didn't work out.

I know it was an extremely long day for Mom and Dad with all 4 girls and it is always hard for me to get away from work so I was late getting home. Mom, Dad, and the girls had taken care of Christmas returns, including taking my beautiful TIFFANY necklace back to add a couple of inches to the chain.

This afternoon I took the girls to Barnes and Noble since they got gift cards from Uncle Chip. Darcey had left hers at home, but the other three took their time to find just the right combination of books to get the most for their money. At first Annabel was not interested since all the books are in English. There were copies of The Tale of Desperaux, but it was too advanced for her at this point. I tried showing her some of the activity books, craft kits, stuffed animals, etc. Then she got a great idea - she loves word find books. They had good choices for her focusing on learning words. She also loves dot to dots, so she found several that fit the bill.

When we checked out, she had a balance of $3.77. The chance of finding something for that amount was slim, but the cashier suggested she buy a hot chocolate from Starbucks. That didn't seem quite right since none of the rest would have something. Gillian and Grace picked out books that actually went over their $25!!!

But Annabel wanted chocolate.

One of her new vices she has learned from the Western culture. That and butter!! (seems more like my own flesh and blood every day!)

She decided to buy some chocolate and share with the others.

They had a small box of Godiva chocolate with 4 pieces of candy on sale for $3.50. She LOVED buying that and then sharing! I got to just smell of the box!

We pressed onward and went to Target where Nintendo games were buy one get one free.

It took a LOT of explaining that they could go in together on the buy one get one and split the price of one game.

Aha! They finally understood that they could get a game for $15 instead of $30! They agreed on their choices, and thankfully we found a kind man who checked us out and agreed to split the costs between the different gift cards. He must know little girls, as he also gave each their own sack!

Since they still had a balance on their gift cards we decided to check out Gamestop just in case there was a bargain there. Grace had taken her Gameboy and all her games to check out selling them back. Wow! This was quite the transaction, but she decided to go for it and have even more gift cards!!

Since we were in North Dallas we got to eat at my all time favorite restaurant, Taco Bueno! Now that is some good eats!!! When I was going to school in Abilene I could get a small drink and two menu items for $1!!! OK, now you can't! In fact I had to go back the second time and buy more!!

We came home and all four decided to take showers at our house. So much laughing! I'm really surprised that my bathroom was still in pretty good shape after that many laughs!

Poor Darcey had also mentioned that she was missing a pair of her jeans. I wasn't sure if I had seen them, but she decided that the ones Annabel wore today might be hers. When I saw the brand was DKNY, I knew I hadn't bought them for Annabel! I guess I'm not too observant! We've just been so fortunate to have people supplementing Annabel's wardrobe that I hadn't paid that much attention. I offered to wash them and she agreed, IF I would put her name in them.

Mom came to get the girls and it took an extra 15 minutes for the girls to tell each other good bye! I'm so glad they have each other!!!

These are great days!

This has been a great time for us.

The weather was perfect yesterday, except for a lot of wind. Sunshine started our day but got pretty cold by the afternoon.

But with this kind of weather, it is so nice to be able to come in and out without coats. The sunshine also seemed to raise everyone's spirits.

Yesterday I was being pretty lazy after so much leading up to Christmas.

Annabel went with the dogs in the backyard, but then yelled, "Ollie/Nina"!!!

The call was pretty frantic and Grace and I knew what it meant.

The dogs were loose!!

Annabel can run really fast and had caught Nina before I could find shoes, but Ollie really wants to explore the neighborhood and had taken off! We made it around the block before he finally came with his tail between his legs like it was a lot of fun!!!

We were cleaning out some things, especially boxes from Amazon. Thank goodness for Amazon otherwise Santa would never have made it.

But they waste so much in packing and shipping.

Dad loaded up his car with boxes to take for recycling. But one box would not fit.

I nominated Grace and Annabel to carry it to the recycling bin, which is only a block and a half away. It was too funny seeing them dragging this box down the street and chasing the paper that kept blowing out.

The girls got to play their games, Clue, Life, and Monopoly with their own set of rules. I had planned to help clean up their bedrooms, but they were laughing and playing so well together, I did not want to interrupt it. Grace did a great job of helping Annabel understand the games well enough to play.

The one thing they still wanted to do was have me play with them.

So after showers and beds made again, we started playing Monopoly. It was pretty hysterical to play and try to explain the idea of Monopoly!

Grace kept commenting that Annabel didn't even understand and was doing the best.

When it was 10:00 we had to call it quits with Annabel having a huge wad of cash and Grace and I close to bankruptcy.

Grace couldn't believe that in real life that you would get a bill for taxes that would be the exact same amount of the money you just got from passing go! I don't think I had played it since it really became so REAL!!

Today we spent time trying to do our usual chores and clean up some neglected areas, but all we really wanted to know was what time Lisa, Gillian, and Darcey would be here.

Since we would be opening the last of the presents, I knew I needed to get the rest of mine wrapped.

I bought a plasmacar for each of the girls, only one won't be here until next week. Dad put the other three together and when we got to the last detail, the bolt was missing.

Mom and I dug through my whole recycling bin trying to find it.

Dad took one of the cars apart and took the bolt to Home Depot to find a match.

I could not do this crazy things if I did not have Dad right next door to help me out. When I went out to ask for help, there sat Mom and Dad on their steps with a tablecloth for cover and my mother scooting as close as she could to Dad to get warm. Sweet picture!

When Lisa and the girls finally arrived, presents were tops in everyone's mind. They were very excited about some great gift cards and ready to go shopping again!

Lisa totally surprised me with a BEAUTIFUL necklace from Tiffany's! I have ALWAYS wanted something from Tiffany's. It has two little hearts to represent my two girls.

It has been very difficult to be on the receiving end only this week, without reciprocating. Everyone understands that $ was just not there and surprised me with such wonderful gifts.

The girls got to try out their plasmacars. I can't really explain them and will just have to get a picture.

Then we ended the day with a delicious traditional Christmas dinner. Mom and I have laughed about what we ate on Christmas. For us it was leftovers and them it was a can of soup! But tonight we had the whole meal with all the trimmings. Delicious!!

The girls are so good together and everyone is surprised at how much Annabel has learned in just one month! Annabel calls Darcey "sweet little Darcey". I'm so glad they have each other too.

Happy Birthday Holly!

Maybe it is still her birthday in her time zone!!

I managed to stay awake and get all the presents moved from their hiding places. It was one of the few times that I wished there was someone else here to help! I felt like I made 100 trips, then when I looked to admire my work displaying the packages to the best effect, it looked like such a tiny amount!

I had set my alarm, but the soft setting must be too soft.

Thankfully we have a dog who knows it is time to go out and jumped up and woke me up!

Grace had been awake since 7:00 but Annabel was still snoozing. I was shocked at that and still not sure if she was faking it.

We had to wait for Grandmother and Poppa, but even then, neither girl seemed ready to tear into their packages.

Annabel took a long time playing with the dogs!

Grace always prefers being the follower and kept holding back.

Finally each opened one package. The most lame ones are always on the front. Since it wasn't a computer, neither were very interested.

It took SO LONG to get them to open their gifts.

I've spent most of the day trying to find a meaning behind their reluctance to open their gifts. They were labelled with their names, but Annabel REALLY was not that interested. She was concerned that on the tag it only said To: with their name, but Santa did not write his name on the From: side.

She announced a few times that Santa had not been here. This each time from returning from the back yard. Not sure what was out there to tell her.

She was mostly concerned about having to take care of MORE babies. The new Nintendo game is babysitting 6 babies, she already has Shomba, Yo Yo, Whyo, Ho Ho, just so much pressure and so much work!

She finally did get the Barbie computer, but there were no more puppies, no cell phone, and no real laptop. A major disappointment!

I tried to buy things that would build companionship, but instead, each took a different toy for a while and played with it separately.

But we finally got down to some real play stopping just long enough for breakfast at Mom and Dad's.

The whole Dallas area family got together later at Mom and Dad's for dinner and gifts.

I am rarely surprised by a gift, but they blew me away this year!

I got my own GPS! I used to be able to find my way anywhere I needed to go. Went back to the same Bed and Breakfast in Edinburgh, Scotland, even coming in a different direction.

Now ---- I have trouble finding the street at the end of the block. I was looking at my directions when we had our car wreck the other day. I don't know how I lost that ability, but was thrilled when Dad let me borrow his to go to Houston back in the summer. It was the one and only time I actually found my way around.

Now I just have to find a different car to buy and get that thing mounted!

There are pictures and I will get them posted. Promise!!!

I hope you had a great holiday too. Now we are just waiting on Lisa, Gillian, and Darcey to come. We hope they will be here Saturday.

I must stay awake!

How can Santa come if (s)he falls asleep?

Well my girls are all safely snuggled in bed with visions of sugar plums, or toast dancing in their heads. I still need to wrap a few things, but all I want to do is close my eyes for just a minute! Biggest fear is that Annabel will wake me up in the morning with laptop open, tv on, and no presents.

Annabel is still not sure what all of this means. I hope I can remember always her reaction.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Christmas Eve at our house

Annabel just came in and described "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", only she was saying Grandmommy, and at the end she went splat and no one could find her and that's all.


These short conversations really tickle me.

Having two kids still mastering the English language can make for some funny conversations.

Monday night Annabel was so disappointed that the restaurant had no more corn, because she LOVES that corn for the ice cream. I knew they had corn on the buffet, so it had to be cone! She loves the cone for her ice cream.

Grace then read Annabel's fortune cookie. Annabel was to do something with her uniquequinciness.

We had so much fun spending their gift cards yesterday.

Annabel had never been in a Toys R Us store and I think it was somewhat overwhelming. It was so strange to see the store so empty. The girls decided to pool their cards so they could buy one, get one half price on a new Nintendo game. Yes, Father dear, I know tomorrow is Christmas. But the gift cards were the gifts! I know you understand the logic there.

What surprised me was they picked a game where they are taking care of babies. Annabel immediately started fretting that she could not handle 7 babies, the six on the game and her doll, who is named Shomba (?).

They plugged in the games and immediately started playing. Only with this game, if you do not take good care of your baby, then it cries and cries and cries and cries! Annabel couldn't get hers to eat and started talking to it that the rice was so good. Grace questioned feeding the baby rice. Annabel said, ok, green beans then.

We also went to Limited Too as those gift cards were burning a hole in their pocket. The priority was pants or skirts. We could find neither, so they both have cute new tops.

Today we are going back to a tradition I started for us when Jana and the girls first moved to Dallas. Prior to Grace, Annabel, and Jana and her girls, I used to take Mom and Dad to the Fairmount on Christmas Day for brunch. But it is not cheap, so I found Neiman Marcus has their usual "lunch" buffet on Christmas Eve. Somehow we missed it last year, but we are getting ready to go. They have such delicious food and you feel quite festive just being at their store.

Later is church, but then in the morning, the first Christmas ever for Annabel!

I think that Grace was so overwhelmed that first year that she couldn't get past the first package.

I am sorry if you did not get a Christmas card to you. I still plan to mail some, even though they will be late. My way of ensuring the holidays last longer!

I am thankful we are all well and can enjoy these special times together. I am especially grateful we are not in British Columbia where it continues to snow!

More later!

Annabel and Christmas

After Saturday night's gift exchange, I asked Annabel if that was enough.

NO!!! She wanted 500 toys!

OK, maybe she has outguessed the meaning of Christmas. I'm trying to make her understand a much more realistic view of what Christmas is, but not making much headway.

Santa better get a move on!!

Sometimes by the time I sit down at night, emotions have run pretty high and all of us are too tired and not on our best behavior. It makes it difficult to see clearly the journey we are on and instead just finds me exhausted, doubting myself, and wanting a good night's sleep.

So today is my first day of vacation and the first day that I do not have any Christmas parties planned, that I am in charge of, and my girls have had a good night's sleep too! Plus they let me sleep late. I cannot believe how late I can sleep sometimes! I think I go way too hard and fast and finally give up. I am so glad I have stayed well though as usually by this time I would have had bronchitis a few times. I've only minor colds/sinus problems, which with a short break, have easily recovered from.

Last week was a whirlwind of activity along with the good (?) stress of trying to plan what Santa would have in his bag. I think I wrote last Sunday about our Christmas party on Monday for our older adults and then on Thursday we had another and on Friday we had our volunteer party. That is a lot of parties and a lot of people. Rough estimate is close to 500 for all of the fun! Plus, no offense to anyone, but older people are a rough crowd! I recognize for some this is their only "Christmas" party and I want them to have fun!!! In spite of themselves!

Any of my older friends know I am not talking about them :)!

But I have said that I can never get everything quite right for them: the coffee is too hot, too cold, too strong, too weak. The sugar is too sweet, not sweet enough. The room is too hot, too cold, too many people, not enough people. You get the idea and the list can go on and on!

But I feel a strong dedication to serving this group. I recognize the contributions they have made, that their lives have been hard, that they are lonely, they are sick, they are facing the future and the unknown is difficult. I love the heritage they bring and the triumphs, as well as the failures they have experienced. Almost all have lived through circumstances similar to what my girls have had in their early years and seeing their success through such trials gives me great hope of the future for all.

They were so sweet about missing my girls for the party. One year Grace, Gillian, and Darcey got to come to the parties and my newly adopted Grace showed what a ham should could be, grabbing the microphone and singing a solo of "Feliz Navidad"! She was in ESL at the time and that was what they taught her.

It's difficult, to say the least, to separate my personal life from my job. When I went to the grocery store on Saturday (no makeup, lovely outfit, and crazy hair) I ran into so many who wished us all a great holiday and hoping my new daughter, now what is her name again?, a great first Christmas!

So now back to what I was typing last night -

Tonight I was standing there holding a plate full of octopus, while I loaded the second one with crawfish, and thought about what a funny picture it must have been!

Lately by the time I sit down at night I fall asleep before I can get anything written, so I will be playing a bit of catch up.

Today was the first day the girls were out of school for the holidays. It was so cold last night and this morning and somehow neither girl had on their warmest pajamas. Actually they were dressed more for a tropical island! So needless to say they woke up cold. I was trying my best to get out of the house and about that time Annabel announces she does not have any jeans to wear.

I asked if she could please find something else. We have had so many clothes given to her lately, I mean box after box, that is it hard to believe she can't find something to wear. I asked Grace to help also, because I REALLY had to get to work. Instead Annabel just cried. I am SO thankful to have Mom and Dad next door. Mom came over and made everything right. She dried the jeans, let them scramble their eggs, and even had bacon!

The girls came to our bingo game. Yes, that's what I do for a living, bingo games.

Just kidding!

A long time ago we started having bingo trying to get some of the older adults out and socializing and it has been a hit ever since. And it has been a HUGE hit with my girls whenever they have a Monday off!

When I walked in I recognized that Annabel still was wearing her pajama top, but with her jeans. Oh well!! She was cold and decided to just keep that on I guess.

Both girls got great boots from Mom and Dad for Christmas. I am so glad they gave them early. I don't think either girl has taken them off since they got them Saturday. Actually Annabel told me they were her house shoes.

Saturday morning Mom came over to see if a miracle had happened over night. I had written that I cooked, cleaned, wrapped presents, and was just waiting for Christmas. Of course I was still in my pajamas at that point and you had to step over the stuff in the floor, clear off a place on the counter to pour a cup of coffee, and girls were still looking for breakfast!

It is amazing how much you can accomplish in just one day.

I had committed to preparing meals for two families with new babies, had invited our family over for a Christmas party, and needed to clean house badly!

With the great help I got from my girls everything came together!

It was so nice to have everyone at our house for a family get together. Thanks to Marcie for posting pictures of our party.

Annabel was the belle of the ball for our party. She was so wound up and dancing and working her neck, and giggling and laughing. She had asked me if "the boys" were coming to the party. I asked if she meant Marcie's boy, Drew (her husband) and Emily's boyfriend, Alex. Yep, that would be the boys!!

I had bought enough little gifts to do the white elephant gift exchange, or as my office calls it, the mean Santa game.

Some of the presents came wrapped and Annabel had helped make the bows. Two of the gifts were little bears that Grace and Annabel begged for earlier in the week at the grocery store.

When the game started, Annabel went for one of the wrapped packages and ended up with a mini radio. I wanted her to have the bear, so on my turn I took her radio. But she enjoyed unwrapping so she took another one of those wrapped gifts. This time it was a head light thingie. Dad took it so she got to choose another. This time the game was almost over, so she ended up with a travel alarm clock. She never would take the gift bag with the bear!! And believe it or not, an 11 year old does not want a travel alarm clock for a gift! Finally she convinced Drew to switch her clock for his puzzle. He generously traded with her.

Marcie, Martha, and Mom all had presents for everyone.

It wasn't until that moment did I realize I had not bought presents!! I cannot believe how buying gifts for my family slipped my mind! I was so embarrassed. I also have very little for Mom and Dad. I used to always buy them something fairly nice. This time I think Mom got new house shoes and Dad didn't get much more than that! Plus when I look at the Santa gifts I am concerned I don't have enough.

My first Christmas as a Mom, I thought I should set a limit and only spend that much. That's the way Mom and Dad always did it. That limit wasn't nearly high enough to Jana. She supplemented what I had bought, with gifts she had bought for her girls, despite the fact she did not have any money to even buy gifts with!

This year though Christmas will get dragged out quite a bit waiting on Gillian and Darcey to come, so I hope by the time it is all over the girls will have plenty. It is a LOT less than Grace has gotten the year's before, but I tried to find things that the 2 could play with together.

Back to the plates of crawfish and octopus, I have subscribed to a program that notifies you of leftover tickets that you can buy cheaply. They had tickets for the Christmas light show in Grand Prairie. I had taken my older adults to see it one year and thought the girls would be awed and amazed by it.

I think the crawfish and octopus were more appreciated than the lights! It seemed like it took a long time to see them and both fell asleep!

Oh well!

The girls have gift cards from Limited Too and Toys R Us that are burning a hole in their pocket. I think we are about to brave the mall! Wish us luck!!

Some funny photos...

Tonight, we had a Christmas Party slash White Elephant Party at Jerri's. It was such a blast! Here are some photos of the event.This is Annabel and I. Since she is giving me "bunny ears", Drew is giving her antlers.

Meme!

Emily and Alex. Alex drew #1 for the White elephant. After having his first prize stolen, he chose to open another present, and got this bear. Such a good sport - at least that one was taken too!

Emily was doing something goofy, and from that, Grace got the idea that they could become a 2-headed elf using these inserts that were in some boots they got. I have no idea how they come up with this, but it cracks me up none the less.

By far my favorite photo - Annabel gets a new scarf, gloves and socks for a Christmas present - we started putting them all on her, and this is how it ended up. 2 out of 3 isn't bad I guess, haha. She is a never ending laugh.

Thanks Jer for your hospitality! We all had a really great time!
-Marcie

Celebrate with us on this fantastic news!

Although it is being accepted with MIXED emotion around our house, this is a cause to celebrate! The girls were accepted at North Hills School. This is a FREE charter school and the details are as follows. Oh my goodness! I cannot thank God enough for this wonderful blessing. The student body is so diverse! Just an incredible campus and opportunities. They will be able to attend through 12th grade!!!!
North Hills ranks only behind Highland Park Schools on SAT scores.
It is mixed emotion because Annabel does not want to leave Rosemont and Grace doesn't think she wants to go there. Sometimes Mom has to know best, I guess!
Here is info from their website.
Ranked the 18th best public high school in
the nation by Newsweek magazine in 2008.
• One of the highest-ranking schools in
Dallas (public or private).
• Received all 14 possible Gold Performance
Acknowledgments from the Texas Education
Agency in its 11 years of operation.
• 100% of 2007 graduates attended college.
• Established in 1996, offering both
International Baccalaureate (IB) and
Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum.
Grades Served K-12
% Minority 61%
Demographics Asian, Caucasian,
Hispanic, and African
American
# Students 1280
# Waiting List 1326
North Hills Preparatory is an Uplift Education public
charter school. Uplift Education is a 501(c) (3) charter
management organization dedicated to operating schools
that provide a quality, college preparatory education to
students in underserved communities. Uplift operates
schools on 5 campuses throughout the Dallas/ Fort Worth
area: Hampton (Southwest Dallas), North Hills (Irving),
Peak (East Dallas) Summit International (North
Arlington), and Williams (Southwest Dallas).

Count down to Christmas

Wow! In less than one week, Christmas will be over! That is so hard to believe. I keep thinking it is time to get ready for Halloween. I guess time is just flying by so quickly I can't get ready for the holidays fast enough.

At least for Christmas I have all of my shopping done, everything is wrapped, the food is cooked, and the house is sparkling!

Yeah, right!

I took time tonight to go through all the gifts stuck away in my closet, sort through them, and make sure of what I did have! I also started wrapping. Someone reminded me that sometimes kids will even count the number of gifts each child gets and if the number is off, it can cause problems. I think I am within 1 or 2 presents of everything being equal.

My first year as a mom, Jana looked at what I had bought and decided it was not nearly enough. She started organizing and reorganizing what she had for her daughters until she could fill in the empty spots for my daughter. She also made me buy special wrapping paper that would be Santa's paper.

I tried to explain what all was coming up to Annabel.

This will be her first Christmas, of course, and I felt like she did not really understand.

Her wish list, a few months ago, were for a new dog, barbie computer, and some candy. Now she has a better sense of what to ask for and wants a Wii game, cell phone, Wii Fit, two new dogs, barbie computer, and the list goes on and on. I hope she won't be disappointed as the barbie computer is the only thing on this list she is getting!

Grace has reached that age where she is really not sure what to ask for, so she just hopes that Santa will get it right. She wants to sing Christmas songs in the car all the time. She was singing about how "he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake", etc, etc.

All of a sudden, she stopped, and said, that is just what God does too. I think that is why I tried to avoid too much emphasis on Santa. Oh well, have not been successful on that one!

Both girls are very excited about the possibilities that Christmas brings. I hope I can get some of the rest of the items off my list! That would be a great Christmas for me too.

The Mansfield, Texas Christmas parade!

Grace's art show!

Grace by her artwork, "The Lady of Guadalupe". Only a few students were selected to show their work in a professional art exhibit at the Ice House Cultural Center!

The girls and their wonderful art teacher, Ms. Lawson!

Ice, sleet, freezing rain????

Sometimes when Annabel is really excited, she talks so fast and it sounds like she is saying click click clack tick tick tack and you really have to listen to understand what she said!

This morning was a perfect example.

She went out the front door first and started squealing and talking so fast and hollering for Grace!

Ice had covered Dad's car and I don't think she or Grace had ever seen such a thing! Grace couldn't get out the door fast enough!

We were still talking about it tonight and she started telling me about a flea? covered with ice. It was very big and something else and something else. I really think she was talking about a leaf, but it sounded more like flea.

Dad took the girls to school in the car and once his eardrums had recovered from Annabel's squeals he then got to answer a thousand science and weather questions from Grace.

Grace kept trying to make a past tense form of sleet and finally realized it was just that it had sleeted.

But what's the difference between sleet and ice or frozen rain? Especially when it all looks the same on a surface? Glad Dad got to handle those!

Last night we were going through a LOT of great clothes we got from my friend again. The girls had a great time looking at all the choices and then Annabel jumped up excited! She LOVED this!!!

When I turned to see what it was, it was a coat hanger, for skirts, that had little metal clamps on it. I know Lori will love to know that the favorite item was a coat hanger!

I have an appointment for the girls at the international adoption clinic. Tonight I was asking Annabel if she ever remembered being in the hospital in Jiangxi. She didn't remember until I reminded her of when she was two years old. I'm so glad the clinic will have an interpreter. She started telling me about two times she was in the hospital and something about money and her ear. I don't know.

There is a lot of time that these two souls spent without a mom. It can be overwhelming thinking about all that they have been through.

Trying to catch up!

The tooth fairy finally found Annabel and she woke up with $4 under her pillow and hurried to wake me up to show me! I am not sure if she understood, but she certainly understands money!

Thursday the girls helped me wrap what seemed like a hundred gifts. We have two Christmas parties for the older adults at my job and I have learned that they LOVE door prizes. The dollar value doesn't matter nearly as much as winning and the more the better. But it is even more fun if they are wrapped. So I brought in all these little goodies and Grace and Annabel got to work! For Annabel to have never wrapped a present before, she is quite the pro now. They made short work of something that would have taken me hours!

Friday was going to be the only chance to decorate our home. Everyone else around had their trees and lights up, but we had to work it in.

It was another project that Annabel had never done, but once she got into it, quickly became a pro. There seems to be competition on almost every activity, but for some things, I'm not complaining, it ensures the job get done and gets done quickly.

It was great fun going through all my Christmas ornaments that I have collected through the years and see their reaction to each. Grace is still so new to this but it was also the first time in a long time that I had all of my Christmas stash together. The whole process brought back a flood of memories for me. But I loved to have the new appreciation for what is old.

Annabel hammered nails into the mantle to make sure that all the socks (stockings) were hung by the chimney with care. We have 11 stockings up for a total of 5 in our house. Maybe the extras are in case Santa wants to be extra generous!

Saturday was our day to be the social butterflies and we started the day at the mall for a preview showing of The Tale of Despereaux. A friend in the neighborhood offered us her tickets and we were glad to see this great movie. This is one of Grace's favorite books and the movie was just incredible.

From the time we arrived at the mall at 10:00a.m. to the time the movie was out, the mall became packed! I was glad to leave! There was lots of entertainment, decorations, and LOTS Of people shopping. I'm not sure where the economy is hurting, since it seemed to be doing so well there.

From the mall we went to the library, a quick lunch, and on to our friend, Beth's house to make Christmas cookies.

Beth had us over a couple of years ago to help make cookies for her co-workers. This time, she had four different types of cookies to make, from the very tasty peanut butter/peanut butter cup cookie, to stained glass cookies, corn flake Christmas wreaths, and cute chocolate chip cat cookies.

We had quite an assembly line set up and the girls enjoyed the creativity that each cookie brought. The accidents were tasty samples too. But then Beth surprised us with insisting we take the cookies!

During the middle of making the cookies, I remembered I was to prepare a meal for a family in the neighborhood. Beth made a special plate of cookies for that family as well.

We ran home while I quickly prepared a meal before going to our next engagement, The Ice House Cultural Center where Grace was invited to the Artist Reception, as her sculpture was selected to be shown. So she was among a very small group of students, as well as professionals who had their work displayed.

Pictures will be added later!

Our last event was the Holiday Home Tour. I misread the agenda and thought there were children's activities, but we missed those while making cookies. What was left was touring the homes. I was excited about the possibility but Annabel was sure she would be bored. But after the first house, she and Grace were wanting to hurry to see them all. Each was decorated beautifully for Christmas, but more importantly, the love, care, and attention to these fabulous old homes was evident. It made me want to run home and start working on our house!

While at the mall, we finally spent a gift card from Gloria at Limited Too. We didn't take the time to try on the outfits and when Grace got dressed, she realized we didn't buy quite enough. The sweaters, tanks, and leggings didn't leave much to the imagination. I quickly began digging through the boxes of clothes we had packed for next summer trying to find something that would complete the outfit! For some reason Annabel had packed all her skirts away for summer. I think we are going to have to add something better before they wear them next!

Today was the last day of Chinese school for the semester. We had lunch at the new favorite Chinese buffet which allowed the girls the delicacies that include chicken feet, congee, and stewed radish. They love it all!

By the time we were heading home, I knew we had done too much. We had tickets for one more event this evening, but instead, Grace wrapped presents for Grandmother, and Annabel went with Marcie to Target. I got some errands completed and I hope to actually get some cards in the mail!

It's hard to believe that Christmas is so close. Sometime in October I start hoping and planning on all that I will accomplish for the holidays. After tonight, I just hope that Santa shows up!

Why are you doing this Tooth Fairy?

Since the tooth fairy did not stop by last night, she distracted the girls long enough to slip into their bedroom and exchanged the tooth for the cash!

Then as they were going to bed Grace found her money.

Annabel got bummed out pretty quickly that she had lost all of her baby teeth while still in Jiangxi where there is no tooth fairy! So even after the lights were out she was still teary eyed. Someone made a desperate commitment that the tooth fairy will probably be by tonight to make up for all the lost teeth in China.

On Wednesdays Grace stays until 5:00 so Annabel goes home with Poppa. Today she told him a REALLY long story about her teacher, a squirrel, a tree, and fox pee pee.

When I got home, he had her explain it to me.

I've just got to be ready in the future so I can tape these stories.

It was basically that Ms. Lopez had a tree and a squirrel in her tree but Ms. Lopez not like squirrel so she got fox peepee and put into balls and then threw them everywhere, and then when she got home from school, the squirrel was there and was talking to Ms. Lopez.

At this point I was a little confused as to where the story was going if the squirrel could talk.

But the squirrel talked to Ms. Lopez and said, eee, eeee. I don't know how to write squirrel talk, sorry.

But Ms. Lopez told the squirrel, sorry, but my tree, not yours.

Her version was a lot longer and the pronouns got a little mixed up, but there were lots of hand gestures, and most of it was spoken in a Godfather accent.

I believe Ms. Lopez purchased some fox urine to scare away the squirrels. Dad thought there were some other animals involved and was impressed that I understood as quickly as I did.

But tonight she reminded me that I had promised to talk to Poppa about a problem with their light, so we called him. I had her explain the problem to him.

So she was in her room and the thing was up and then she closed the door and the thing was still up but she did something and then when she came back into the room and the thing was still up but the light was not on. So then she put the thing down and it was not on, so she put it back up and then there was no light. It went on for a while.

Dad said he would look into it tomorrow!

Some humor before breakfast and my new math

Annabel came to breakfast wearing an undershirt some kind person gave her.

She said, "Mom, Grace say pops, I say Pretty, Pretty Princess." This accompanied by pointing to her shirt, hands up with shoulders in a shrug, smiling.

Huh? I had not had coffee and wondered if that would help.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. What popped?"

"Mmmmooooommmmm, Grace says I Pops (a name she never calls Dad), but I say Pretty, Pretty Princess."

I have to rely on Grace to translate since she is involved in this story.

Grace told her that Poppa (Dad) wears an undershirt like what she was wearing. I had not heard her refer to anything as Pretty, Pretty Princess, so I guess she was saying she looked good even if she was wearing a shirt like Pops!

She was still waiting on her long sleeve shirt to finish drying while Grace spilled milk on her pants, which also got put in the dryer. So for breakfast I had one in an undershirt and pants and the other in shirt and jacket tied around her waist.

How did my mother do this with 4 kids? And there was no such thing as a dryer then? Everything was dried on the clothes line AND it had to be ironed because permanent press was not invented yet (man I am old!!!!). I remember Mom hanging out diapers in the freezing weather and instead of dry they seemed more frozen. At least they did not have to be ironed.

I've been doing some math this morning.

Financially things have been difficult for us. I am not used to that and when I take an accounting of those bills I see:
$ for Annabel's hospital
$ left from Grace's hospital
$ for Annabel's anesthesiologist
$ for Annabel's surgeon
$ for Annabel's consult
$ for Grace's surgeon

Then of all the stupid things, I had an accident on Saturday. No one in my car was hurt. In fact I don't think the girls even realized something had happened until I put the car in park and jumped out. We were only going about 10 m.p.h. in stop and go traffic, but I thought I was lost and looked at my directions once more. That's all it took, of course and I rear ended a car, whose occupants have decided they were injured and gotten an attorney. Thanks goodness for car insurance!!! Anyway, I still have to pay the deductibles and it has gotten me distracted as I need to trade my lease in while it is being repaired and just bite the bullet and buy a car.

OK, too late to make a long story short.

I have to admit these bills have engrossed me in a pity party of sorts. It is just so foreign to me to owe so many so much.

BUT

Today I sat at the breakfast table across from two of the most unbelievable children I have ever met and it dawned on me how very wealthy I am.

The Lord has blessed me so much to trust me with these two precious beings, how could I ever let something like money distract me?

OK, so I am human and I guess we all do sometimes, but I started adding up all the things I do have -
My two daughters
My parents
My family
A home
A job

The list just goes on and on. I regret the time I have spent worrying. I know that Jesus told us that God will take care of us and I guess I kept looking for it through $ without realizing my blessings.

Thank you for being there and caring as well. Maybe your prayers are what opened my eyes. I appreciate your continued prayers on our behalf.

The Tooth Fairy and no Foooot (spoken with almost an Irish accent)

Why oh why does the Tooth Fairy hate me?

Grace has lost her second tooth in one week.

She reminded me one more time before I turned off the light to remind the tooth fairy. I hope I have some cash on hand!

Tonight Annabel told me that she did not have any more foooot or was it fooood for her lunch tomorrow.

I don't think she normally takes a foot and I had just put the rest of the soup in a container for her, so I wasn't sure what she meant.

Fooot, Mom, fooot, like oranges, you know.

Oh, fruit! Got it!

We were out of the little containers of fruit for her lunches and she doesn't think she likes the ones that Grace picked out.

She also has a good friend named Caaarl.

I thought it was odd since I did not remember a boy named Carl in her class. Actually it is Coral, or that is the best I can determine from both Grace and Annabel.

Annabel began telling a story tonight that involved her "family" in China. It was VERY long and involved and ended up with something about poop, but right in the middle of it Grace turned to me and said, "I don't get what she is talking about". I nod and continue listening to Annabel.

I hate to stop her when she wants to talk, but when she gets really excited in one of these stories, she has to begin to rely on hand gestures and pronouns that get mixed up, so it is really hard to guess what she is talking about.

But I did understand that someone got pushed off a swing and skinned their knees and only one elbow. Grace was sure she said that the child died. I'm sure it was just that she had blood on her elbow from scraping it and the whole time Annabel continues to tell this story! Dinner can take a LONG time!

Annabel introduced getting your clothes ready for the next day and putting them under your pillow. (This is just one of the things under her pillow!)

Thankfully Grace has picked up this habit too.

But tonight is the coldest night we have had in Dallas and it has actually been sleeting and snow showers. When they pulled out their uniforms, Annabel only had a short sleeve shirt and Grace had a skort. Something went wrong with our weekly planning this time so I am trying to get some uniforms clean in a hurry!

Dogs and daughters, but not necessarily in that order

Since I had a little time tonight, I decided to give our two dogs a test I had seen to determine if they are trainable. You are supposed to use a favorite toy and place it under one of two buckets and see if the dog can still find it.

I used Ollie's favorite, his kong, and put it under just a piece of cardboard.

To Ollie it had completely disappeared!

Grace quit playing the piano and got down on all fours and tried to show him how to find the toy.

He looked at me, the cardboard, and then at Grace. I just realized as I was typing this how much Grace was doing what Jana would have!

Ollie finally did get the idea, somewhat, but don't think he will ever be tops in his class. He found it only after he had searched the entire house! And came back only because Grace was urging him and showing him what to do!

Nina on the other hand just stood by watching.
I'm not sure if she was just thinking how dumb Ollie is or didn't even have a clue what we were trying to do!

My daughters

In the last week, I have had a couple of people make comments about my choice to adopt. These were not the kind of remarks that make you feel good, rather the kind that stun you.

One told me basically that I had messed up because I would have to work the rest of my life because of my decision to adopt.

The other commented on how I had "rescued" my daughters.

There was also a column in the paper yesterday about "stealing" children from other countries in the name of adoption.

All of these make me pause and think.

We have been back to our church the last couple of Sundays and I realize just how much Annabel has changed in the months since Chinese school changed our schedule.

Which comes back to why I adopted, especially from China.

If you have read from the beginning you know I had brain surgery when I was 23 and found to have a giant aneurysm on my brain. OK, so that made it VERY RISKY to have kids, but as much as anything, I have yet to find THE MAN I want to marry. But when Jana brought home Darcey, I had never seen a child who affected me so much.

Up until then the possibility of having children didn't really exist in my mind. But when I learned there were children who needed a mother and I realized I could be that mother and that I needed kids, it seemed so reasonable. I mean it made so much sense.

So I did not do it so I could "rescue" children, or be a martyr and work all my life to afford college, or "steal" someone's children, I did it so we could be together, to be a family.

I don't know if some children are "stolen". The author of the column did not quote sources. She insisted that the "orphanages" that are set up for Westerners to see are just temporary housing not much more than a sale barn for an auction (my words).

My point, if I actually have one, is that with my daughters, the choice now is not just to survive, but to thrive. I have no doubt that either daughter would have survived in China, as they are very strong spirited children. But as my daughters they have the opportunity to thrive. And I do as well.

Tonight I taught Annabel how to wrap a Christmas gift. And I taught Grace how to tie a bow on a package. I thought I was so tired that I could only drop, but knew I needed to teach them these basic skills. To help them thrive. Not that they are required to know these skills to thrive, but they do come in handy!

Getting in that Christmas spirit!

Quick! I have to get this written down before I run out of energy and become a bad blogger like some people I know named Holly! (Hi Holly! Just kidding!)

I am a bad tooth fairy!

OK, I've said it and all the world can know.

Annabel hasn't lost a tooth, but Grace lost another.

First thing she did this morning was check for her visit from the tooth fairy, only to announce that as usual, she did not show up!

One time I actually just handed her the money at the end of the 5th day of her waiting for her visit. Other times I pretended like she missed it and I found it while straightening up her bed. I've even snuck it under her pillow while waking her up.

The chance I will remember tonight is slim!

Again, no chance of mother of the year for me this year!!!

I think I'll start from the most recent and work backward since so much has happened in the last 48 hours.

Tonight we finished a day of enjoying the Christmas holiday at a party of a co-worker and friend. I'm so glad we took the time to go. It was great to see friends/co-workers away from work, her beautiful family and house, and give the girls a chance to meet new friends.

The whole way home the conversation was on what her daughter did, her pet rats, what time she goes to bed, wondering what time she has to get up to get to school, etc. I really did not know you could be asked so many questions. Earlier in the day I had finally begged off from answering any more questions for a little while.

Earlier we had gone to Mansfield to help with the Christmas parade. We had so much fun walking the parade route and passing out little bears to all the kids. I don't think Annabel had ever seen a parade that was not a funeral, so it was difficult to explain the concept to her. Grace had seen parades so she had plenty of questions including how long was the route, where were we walking, how long would it last? Annabel was just shocked that we would have to walk the whole route!

But both survived and ran ahead of the rest searching out the kids who had not received their bears yet, coming back, filling up their bags, and going back to the crowd. The parade had horses, clowns, floats, babies in strollers, dogs, marching bands, everything you would expect from a small town parade. The organizer from work let us sit at the beginning of the route so we could watch the beginning of the parade, since we were at the end of the parade right before Santa!

The girls were thrilled with all the candy and goodies they collected. Unfortunately one ended up with 15 candy canes and the other got 16. Yes, we compete on EVERYTHING!!!

Last night we started the weekend off right meeting some of the other families with kids from China for dinner and the Jingle Bell party in the Bishop Arts area. This area has turned around so quickly. When I first moved back to Dallas this area was just getting started. It's an area that had been home to warehouses, auto parts stores, and a long time ago was a bowling alley where Mom learned to bowl while pregnant with one of us!

But now it is full of restaurants and shops, and last night had music and entertainment, and free samples of goodies. The new book store was a hit with the kids. I was glad that Grace and Annabel had some new friends with them while running into old friends.

I am so glad these friends will make the effort to meet us in our neighborhood and let the girls be around others in similar situations. While we are an ethnically diverse neighborhood, we are short on the number of adoptees from China.

A lot of people ask how Annabel is doing.

Well in most situations with a lot of new people and a lot of noise, she is very quiet. She actually withdraws and seems overwhelmed? I'm not sure if it is the lack of comprehension or her hearing is still distorted. We go back in January for the hearing test. Until she gets to be outside playing, she just doesn't seem to know how to fit in. But outside she gets all the other kids to playing the games with her.

She has learned lots of new foods, but can still have trouble finding what she wants sometimes. Chocolate and candy canes are new favorites and sometimes she just can't seem to have enough! It makes me feel guilty to have introduced her to these since fruit is slipping down her list of favorites.

At home she is the prankster, joking and laughing and carrying on. She has learned so much English and the conversation is always lively. She loves playing with the dogs and carries one around most of the time. She would take care of anything Grace needs and will always defer to what Grace wants.

Christmas is coming fast and Annabel is learning the "American" way pretty quickly. At first she was sure that some candy, a barbie, and a Nintendo game were all she wanted. Now the list has grown to a Wii system, Wii games, Barbie computer, Nintendo games, cell phone, camera, and the list goes on and on.

So while she is learning to be an all American girl, Thursday night she made a HUGE step.

We say the usual "now I lay me down to sleep" each night but Thursday night before we could say Amen, she wanted to add that an addendum asking for a good night's sleep and for her teacher, Mr. Soto, to return the next day. I LOVED it!!!

A few ways to save money during Christmas (or any time!)

There is a website called www.slickdeals.net where people post bargains that you probably could not find on your own, unless you sat at a computer all day with nothing else to do! Last year I found dramatic markdowns on so many of the must haves! But you have to check often because once the deal is posted, it can go quickly!

My second favorite music in the world is Christmas music. I have found a way to get new Christmas music downloaded to your computer without it costing a penny. Go to www.amazon.com and check out their MP3 downloads. Type in Christmas as your subject, then click on price to sort the songs by the cost. There are a lot of FREE downloads with great songs.

If you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, subscribe to eventalert@eventalert.org to receive tickets for only $10!

I know everyone is looking for a bargain these days and just thought I would share a few that I had found.

Let me know what you have found! Send me an email at ollienina@gmail.com.

Some days, late in the afternoon, trying to separate work from home in your mind, you begin thinking about what else has to happen before the evening is over. Now a lot of people have their entire week planned by the time they go to bed on Sunday, but I'm not too good at that.

So I made the decision that tonight we would take it easy and begin decorating the house for Christmas. To avoid too much time in the kitchen we would have TV dinners. How much easier could it get? Right?

I picked up the girls and first stop was the dollar store. Does anyone else think that dollar stores have filled the void left by 5 and dimes? OK, I digress.

I forgot that I had stashed some "Santa" presents in the car and as soon as the door opened I made a quick scramble to hide them. The top thing on Annabel's list is a Barbie computer and that was what was in the car. This child has so much trouble reading English but could recognize that! Oh DEAR!!!

I hope by the time it is wrapped and under the tree it will be a surprise again!

We visited the dollar store and bought some things to decorate our mantle. Then back home to start the microwaving of the TV dinners. It just sounds so lazy and will probably keep me from winning "Mom of the Year".

Things were fine after the tough decision on who would eat what was made.

Only I was afraid that the dinner would not be enough, so I also prepared some microwaveable won ton soup.

We got so close to completing the meal with enough time to do something other than kiss the girls, say prayers, and turn off the lights!

Then of course it changed.

Annabel grabbed her bowl of soup from the top and it just poured down her leg.

I start trying to wipe it off of her but knew she had to take off her pants so she would not get burned.

That caused a discovery.

Annabel has been wearing her pajamas under her school uniform because she is so cold in the classroom. It was quite a surprise!

While I was cleaning up that mess, Annabel was patting Nina and announced that Nina had BUGS on her!

I am so ready for the first freeze!

By the time the dogs were de-fleaed, I was sure I had them. A quick shower and washing my clothes made me feel better.

So my extra time tonight got taken away and my posting is pretty limited and the mantle still isn't decorated.

During dinner tonight I also learned that Annabel had a pretty rough day. There was a substitute that was sure she was going to "fix" Annabel. She would not allow her to do what the teacher normally had her do and instead insisted that she write a full page out of a book in English. When Grace tried to explain, she was told that she wasn't asked. Eventually Annabel cried over all the stress. I wish they would let me know these things.

My annual review was to be this afternoon but got changed to Friday. This is one of the most stressful events I go through each year and now I get 2 extra days to worry about it!

Sometimes by the time I sit down at night my brain is so on overdrive that I cannot put my thoughts together to write anything. So I don't!

But during the day I have a constant almost, discussion going on in my head