Wanted: a friend for Jack-Jack

Strike three! Let me explain. Over the last several weeks, we have been trying to find a friend for Jack-Jack. I think I have mentioned before that ever since Domino passed away, he has been really lonely.

Strike One:
The adorable puppies from a coworker were both sold while we were on vacation.

Strike Two:
Lady who we found on kijiji.com never returned my call. We scheduled a meeting time and place and when I called to confirm and get directions to her home... nada.

Strike Three:
Another kijiji person. Again we had a very nice conversation (during which she never mentioned that other people were interested), scheduled to meet this Wednesday and tonight I got an email from her telling me that she met someone today and has decided to give her dog to them. Well at least she let us know. But I am still really bummed.

I am starting to get really disappointed in people. I feel like I keep going through a breakup when I have never met the person I am breaking up with in the first place. I didn't think finding a dog would be this hard. Any suggestions?
:-)

The Rock that Blows

Chris took Hannah and I to Blowing Rock for my birthday. We had a lovely weekend of fresh air, blue skies and delicious food. It was really nice to get away.

Hannah loves the "Statue of Liberee", and she strikes the pose whenever the mood strikes her. I have been looking for a picture book about the Statue of Liberty for her.



I snapped this picture of Hannah looking up at her Daddy. She just adores him.


This was taken in front of the library in Blowing Rock, we kept asking her to lean over the statue to see what the girl is reading. Maybe she's got a thing for statues in general. Too cute.
;-)

The answer is...

P!nk.
Hannah and I watched VH1 "Behind the Music" on P!nk last week and ever since then she wants pink hair. She also really likes her songs and got up danced everytime one of her songs came up during the documentary. Since I have already planned her costume, I have figure out how to integrate pink hair. More on that to come.
:-)

Care to guess what Hannah wants to be for Halloween?

Maybe this one will give you a hint.


:-)

"Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

May you rest in peace Mr Swayze.

Sick Day Cupcakes

Last week Hannah had her four year old checkup and was the unhappy recipient of three different shots. Hannah calls them "pokes" because the nurse said right before administering the first shot "Now, you are going to feel a poke..."

Unfortunately, the "pokes" gave Hannah some trouble. She was feverish and overall achy for a few days. Since daycare has its fever policy, we decided to keep Hannah home one day to let her rest and hopefully get over her discomfort. In the afternoon, we decided to make cupcakes since Hannah was feeling better.

Here's how cupcake making goes down in our household:


Step One: Mix batter.


Step Two: Lick.


Step Three: Pour batter into cupcake pan.


Step Four: Bake.


Step Five: After cupcakes are cool, ice the cupcakes.


Step Six: Enjoy.

:-)

Happy Birthday to Me-atball!

Today is my birthday and I usually try not to make a big deal about it... I wasn't planning on mentioning it on the blog. But I just had to share these cupcakes that a coworker made for me today. Aren't they cool?
;-)

Happy Birthday Connor!

Last weekend was Connor's fourth birthday. His party included a train ride, carousel ride and gem mining. The kids also got play on an awesome playground and mini water park. There were a lot of kids from Hannah's class, so Hannah and Cole had a great time.








When it came to the water play, Hannah was by far the least wet kid at the party.
:-)

Happy 4th Birthday Sierra!

Hannah's best friend, Sierra, celebrated her fourth birthday last week at Monkey Joe's. The girls have such a great time together and you can't go wrong with a Monkey Joe's party (although Hannah wanted to see more of Monkey Jane instead of Monkey Joe). She is equal opportunity.
:-)

Gym-nash-tics Class

Through our local Families with Children from China (FCC) chapter's website, I was lucky enough to find a gymnastics class that is run by two native Chinese people and they teach using some Chinese words (like counting, "up" and "down", "balance", etc.). A lot of girls from the FCC are in the class, so Hannah gets to interact with children that look like her. So far she seems to enjoy it very much.
:-)

Dear Lauren Barksdale,

I think your paintings are really neat. I saw your work while on vacation in Alabama and have regretted not buying this painting ever since. If you ever decide to show your work closer to the North Carolina area, please let me know. In the meantime, I will be saving up/fundraising/stealing money to buy one of your beautiful paintings. Hmmm, I wonder how much money Hannah has in her piggy bank?

Love,
:-)

Do I look stupid to you?

If you're anything like me, I usually ignore ads like this that pop up in various places on the internet. Usually. But today while logging into my home email account, this gem pops up and catches my eye. Seriously? Do you think because both of these woman are wearing the same color lip stick (which was probably photoshopped) that I am to believe this is the same woman "before" and "after". Are you kidding me? Their noses are not even the same! I must be tired, because usually things like this pass me by. But not today. Today these ladies' lips really bothered me. Okay, I'm done. I feel better now.
:-)

A very fond farewell

Our lovely vacation was coming to an end, so it was time to pack up all the kids and stuff and hit the road. We tried to get one last picture (poor Addison) before we left L.A. (Ashley, I did not realize what L.A. stood for until we left. Duh.)




We planned to stop in Atlanta on our way back to see the aquarium. We had heard such cool things about it and never seem to have time to go to Atlanta and we have a real soft spot in our hearts for aquariums. We stayed near the Olympic park and were able to walk around a little bit right after we checked into the hotel.


Hannah took this picture of Chris. Didn't she do a good job?


This slide was a series of conveyor belt rollers. A little bumpy, but the kids seemed to love it.




I sincerely hope that I NEVER SEE THIS WHILE I AM IN THE WATER. When I took this picture, I was totally protected within the tube and that shark STILL freaked me out. I'm such a sissy.



Did I mention we love turtles? Correction: Hannah loves turtles. Thus as soon as we arrived, we were on a mission. This place is HUGE and they only have ONE stinking turtle. Thank goodness we found him.

;-)

Won't you let me take you on a sea cruise?

We thought it would be a good idea to take the kids on a Dolphin Cruise. There were many to choose from, but in this cruises's ad they offered "GUARANTEED" Dolphin Sightings, so we figured we had a good shot. The cruise was only supposed to take one and a half hours, but the dolphins were a little shy that day and our captain was determined to find some dolphins.


It was a beautiful day to cruise around - we got see some of the beaches and inlets. There were some gorgeous houses in the coves. Ahhhhh, to dream.



About two hours in, we saw about five dolphins following a crab fisherman. We stalked them for about fifteen minutes (apparently you have to leave them to the next group) and then headed back to the dock. You could tell the captain was very relieved.




Each of kids mugged for the camera in their little "sea cruise" outfits.




The last picture was taken at the restaurant after the cruise. Chris was jiggling Hannah (that's why his hand is blurry) and she was making the "Ahhhhhhhh" sound. What joy she takes in simple things.
:-)