ABQ Zoo and the Botanical Gardens

This past weekend we went to Albuquerque to visit the Zoo and their Gardens along with Old Town. We needed a weekend of fun. Mike didn't get to go with us to Ft. Worth for Spring Break; so we decided to go and see the sights of ABQ.
We left right after picking Wendy up from school on Friday and arrived around 6:00 pm. We dropped the doggies off at our motel and then off to the Noodle Bar we found last summer. All I can say is YUM!
The next morning we woke up grabbed some breakfast and then asked "Lola", our GPS, the way to the Zoo. Off we went and stayed out all day having fun. It was suppose to rain that day so we had an alternate plan for an indoor museum if it did. Luckily we had a beautiful day to go after all.
There are some first on this trip... Evan got to swim in the pool for the first time and he loved it, but hung close. Sorry no photos of this, and his first cotton candy! Those are the first two photos. Evan had never fed Lorikeet's either and neither had any of the rest of us....I'm sure you can tell by all of the photos. lol His first time to see a Polar Bear and his first time to Sea Lions. Again where was the camera for that? Gee whiz! I will tell you he had the time of his life that day. We all had a wonderful time!!!

Dance Watch Day

It is nearing Recital time and we got to go in and watch. Wendy got her costumes and we tried them on the girls so they could get an idea of what it would feel like with them on.
Evan really wanted to be a part of this as his friend Yuna did.(lol) The last video shows him with Wendy's bun wrap....well just a cute peek. ha If you wonder what I'm laughing about in the last clip....well keep an eye out on Wendy. She had to scratch an itch from the new costume that happened to be on her tiny hiny.

Let me just say that Wendy is really looking more and more like a Ballerina as is her friend Anna. I can never get enough of watching them dance!

FOR MEEEEE?!!!!!!!!

Happy Easter!!

We had a wonderful weekend! Lacy came home Thursday evening late and then on Friday we went up to Wendy's school and hid eggs for the kindergarten group. It was lots of fun. Evan was totally in the dark of why they were running for these colored plastic eggs. Wendy shared with him once we got home with her loot.
Once home we found Holly was here! The kids really were so excited that their big sisters were both home!
Did I mention that on Thursday Evan went to the dentist and we found out he has 12 cavities!? What timing right? Now to plan on getting them fixed. We knew he had cavities, but not this many!
On our way out they let us look at what they had in their back room...baby chicks and baby ducks! We took two home free. They are so dang cute. One is Green, and that is Evan's, his/her name is Chess. The other is Blue, that one is Wendy's, his/her name is Blue Belle. Mike couldn't believe I had allowed ducks, but hey that is me I've always allowed my kids to dabble with different animals. Luckily if they get to be a problem we have 3 parks with ponds we can take them to, but so far that isn't going to happen. The way I look at it they will be wonderful for the garden. lol

Easter....well this is Evan's first one to ever enjoy. He was really confused by it all, but it didn't take long for him to get it.
Here are some photos of our weekend.

Happy Half A Birthday!!

We have a VERY happy boy now. For the past few months Evan has seen several children have their birthday parties. First, there was his sister's belated celebration for her friends since we were in China when her 6th birthday occurred. He had fun with that and afterward would ask "Happy Birthday, Me?". Then he and Wendy were invited to two more birthdays since hers, and he would then ask again, "Happy Birthday, Me??" Well, last week he just couldn't stop asking, and I had a hard time explaining that he still had 6 months to wait until his 4th birthday. He had his 3rd birthday right before we traveled to get him, so he had no memory of one with us, and our parties have presents... His in China did too, but when we got him his Pooh Bear that we had sent for his birthday wasn't with him. I later learned that when he left New Hope Foundation, he had Pooh and several other things to bring home with him. Well, when the Director of the SWI in Shangrao, brought him to us from his Province, she didn't bring his Pooh Bear but brought his photo book and his camera with photos taken at New Hope. I was told that this often happens to the children. Poor Evan had asked where his Pooh Bear was while we were looking at our photos and one of them had the care package we had sent to him for his birthday along with Pooh. Sad that they kept it.

Well, when we heard that the SWI had "kept" his Pooh and with all the begging for a party, I had a thought... His Half Birthday was coming up on the 27th of March and of course he would be 3 1/2. Perfect time to celebrate. Now if he had of had a Toddler Shower when we got him home maybe this wouldn't have been an issue.lol But, with all that occurred once we arrived home with my dad passing and jet lag plus holidays, I can kinda see why this wasn't done. Nevertheless..... We had a small amount of our closest friends to help celebrate his Half-A-Birthday. He was so excited the whole week before this came about!!!! I'm telling you he planned out his cake, favors,balloons, plates, napkins and was so very excited about the whole thing!!
His cake had to have a "Two Train"(choo choo train) on it with Green since this is his favorite color. He wanted Handy Manny plates and napkins...well Mickey was his first choice, but we talked him out of that since we really want this for his 4th birthday themed party. It was all about hearing the Birthday Song sang for HIM!!! He sang too. You couldn't have seen a happier little boy that evening. Evan got some fun things to play with that were boy appropriate. lol Lets just say that we have a lot of pink toys in our house!

You see, planning all these years for another little girl all we had were pink things. We were given baby girl things right and left through all of my Secret Pal exchanges, and monogrammed items with Mylie on them. When we changed over to a boy....well needless to say, we had nothing for a boy. So this party brought Evan a few boy items and that they were his. He has one that he just doesn't want to share much with Wendy yet - His Handy Manny ball!!!(thank you Holly). He will share his Cowboy and Indian set (thank you Anna, and Yuna), and loves to share his T-ball set with his sisters and anyone who will play (thank you Joely and Camry), and we got him some Handy Manny tools and cars. His stand in grandparents (our neighbors Pam and Melvin, along with Angie,Cheyenne, and Court) gave Evan a "Green" Buzz Light Year short set.
Thank you all for helping him feel so special! It meant the world to him!

Many have said well, this will only make him still want another party. LOL
I see why they thought this, and I won't say that it didn't cross my mind. But, Evan hasn't said another word about a party except for reliving the one we threw for him!

Lesa

Have you ever been this embarrassed ??

Try taking your children to the mall play area and see if one of them pull their pants down!!
Yep, you read that correctly. I was sitting while watching Wendy and Evan play on all of the neat things they have there. One moment I lost sight of Evan and asked Wendy where he was and she said he was over by the car. Okay, I saw him...all was fine. Then I was watching Wendy and all of the sudden she came running and saying "Momma momma, Evan just pulled his pants down and I got my stuff and ran over to where he was. Sure enough he was standing there butt naked!!! Firstly I pulled his pants up really quick, but seeing all of the parents laughing/chuckling I said that is a cultural difference, and tried to laugh it off. Talk about embarrassment. I gathered both children up and got their shoes on. A mom said many have been in my shoes, and then told me the closest bathroom was in Sears. TOO LATE!! After pulling his pants up he peed. He was sitting on my leg so I could get his shoes on so guess who else got wet? With kids, and purchase in hand I got us out to the car as quick as I could.

Honestly, Evan has pulled his pants down here while outside a couple of times cause he had to go pretty bad. I would have never dreamed he would do that at a public place. Gee Whiz!!! He was not split pants trained. Evan was in a diaper for the whole 2 years he was at New Hope. For the 4 days he was with Shangrao SWI he must have been in split pants cause that is how they brought him to us. He has been potty training and is now 98% there. This was something else.

Luckily I think I can laugh at it tomorrow. LOL

Guang Hay Fat Choy!!!

A couple of days late.... This year Chinese New Year landed on Valentines Day. We ended up celebrating Valentines Day on the 13th and then enjoyed CNY on the 14th with some of our International Group here. We had fun, but it was so noisy in the Restaurant. Hopefully next year we can get it planned a little bit earlier so we can have a private place to where the kiddos can play and socialize.
It was so much fun seeing our friends and watching how Evan interacted with the other children. By the way... Evan ate quite his fill and made the Buffet suffer.LOL I have a couple of photos, but there are more on a new disk Mike started while there.


Any way.... I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays.

Lesa

Well we wanted SNOW....

but not this much. lol We have been totally snowed in yesterday and today. The kids are so bored and I have been trying so hard to keep them entertained. We have played blocks, Airport, Bristle Blocks, Dress Up, Nintendo Mario Kart, and a movie....oh, and some art work.
Evan even helped sweep and do laundry. Wendy chose to help with the dishes two days in a row. She is pretty good at it to.
The dogs haven't been able to go out to do their jobs at all. We have a huge drift of snow right at our back door and if they even got up on it they would likely sink in. Imagine two Chihuahua's and one Dachshund sinking down in three feet of snow. The drift that was the tallest on the back porch was near and over the BBQ grill and that was 4 1/2 feet.
Mike barely made it home after work yesterday. He was driving my Camry and had to be pushed some of the way. Once he got home he parked on the street curb. This morning he got a coworker to come by and pick him up in their in his four wheel drive truck.

I will post some of the snow photos tomorrow since I have two sleeping children to get off to bed.

Free 8X10 on Canvas !!!

Here is what you do. Click on the link and download a photo of your choice. The 8X10 is free!!!
If you are like us though you will go for a larger one for a small cost due to the fact that you just can't beat it.
I am having one of us in China done. I thought that many of you could benefit from this since many of you have small children like us.
Here it is once more or click on the title above.... http://www.canvaspeople.com/freegift

Today would have been.....

My dad's 79th birthday. I know my mom is missing him today as she is everyday and especially on Sundays. She has told me it is so very hard for her on the weekends but especially on Sundays.

Happy Birthday Dad in Heaven. We sure miss you.

Today is my half a birthday and my dad and I always had a cake together. As I got older and married we celebrated my mom's birthday (Jan.5) and then Mike's (Jan. 22) and my dad's (Jan. 24). We miss doing this, but we have the wonderful memories of it.