Red Rover

Red Rover, Red Rover
Let Xan Come Over!

Xan's bestest little friend here in China, Kallie (next to her in white shirt) had her 6th birthday party
and fun games were played along with delicious cupcakes and lots of giggling.  

I loved her expression.  Pure joy!  This one will be cropped and printed for sure!

Girly Stuff

 So I went earlier this week to have a pedi with some friends of mine and I'd like to say it was because one of them had a birthday the day before but really we just like to go get pedis together and the fact that she had a birthday was just gravy.  We could at least "say" it was for her birthday.  Well....anyway, when Xan got home that afternoon and saw my toes she was jealous to say the least.  I stepped way out of my toenail polish comfort zone (Oh come on!  you know you have those colors you don't ever venture far from....don't judge me!) and went with a dark purple and then really let my inner rebel out and asked them to paint a flower on each of my big toes.  I live on the edge here people.

Stan had to go out of town this weekend so I bribed promised Xan that if she was a sweet girl then we would go get hers painted while he was away.  She kept her end of the bargain and so Sunday afternoon we headed over to a nail shop close to our house.  We had a gift card from a friend who had moved back to the states (thanks Ms Lori) and so on top of it being close and a fun treat.....it was free!  I love free!

Here is little Miss Thing being way to comfortable getting pampered.  I can't imagine where she has learned to enjoy such fine things.  

She was loving it!

Seriously......she had the best time!  It was fun.

And for the final results -

She thinks it is so cool that we have matching toes.  I think it is so cool that she wants to have matching toes with her Momma.  


Chat with ya later-

2 Months, Facebook and Mother's Day

So......embarrassed that I just looked at my blog and it's been 2 months since my last post.  I don't know how long it's going to take me to just admit that I'm not good at blogging.  I have lots of "great" ideas that float around in my head about a blog post but somewhere between there and actually sitting down with my computer and making it happen I choke.  Well what do you do after you choke? You are supposed to get up and wipe yourself off and start fresh.  So here I am, freshly brushed off and starting fresh.

I've committed to a 30 day break from facebook and it's been a bit refreshing to not feel that "need" to sit down each day and catch up on things {that until facebook I would have never known and probably never missed not knowing it}.  That being said, I'm not going to lie and say I haven't been curious about my besties and familiy that I keep up with via fb.  I posted on my wall that if anyone needed me they could email me and I haven't gotten one single email so I"m guessing that I'm not missing anything earth shattering.  I'll be back to FB in June unless I decide that this way of life is better for me......I"m guessing my curiosity will win and I'll be back getting my daily fix just like the rest of you information junkies. :-)

Happy Mother's Day!  It's Sunday afternoon here in China and my girl is sleeping soundly so I poured myself a nice big diet coke and decided to get back on this horse.  We've had a good day here and it started with Xan wishing me a Happy Mother's Day about 5 or 6 times between the time we got up and when we left for church.  If she thought about it she would just tell me again......so stinking sweet!  I know I've said it before but I am so blessed to have that girl call me Momma.  After church we had lunch with some friends and then home for a nice Sunday nap.  Stan works on weekends so it's usually just us girls hanging out and today was pretty much that way. It has been nice to reflect some today on being a mom and seriously what a blessing and daunting responsibility it is.  I just can't imagine trying to do it without relying on Christ to guide and lead us in this life long endeavor.  I fail every single day and today was no different but by His grace I'm allowed to continue and hopefully one day see this sweet little one He has entrusted to us come to know Him.

I've also spent some time today reflecting on the life of my Grandma who we lost only 6 short months ago.  I miss her.  I haven't lived near her since 2003 but I miss talking to her.  I miss knowing that she was going to be excited for me and whatever I was doing or experiencing.  I miss her.  It's still surreal that she isn't here or there...and its sad.  I miss her.  She was far from perfect and had no trouble at all sharing her opinions but I still miss her.  I'm sad for my aunts too.....this is their first Mother's Day with no Momma.  They didn't buy a card for her this year......they didn't have her over for lunch.......they didn't call her early this morning to tell her they love her.  Instead, they will probably be sad and melancholy as they remember her or visit the cemetery and place a beautiful arrangement there for her.  They miss her too.

And because I've got some catching up to do on posting pics....here's a picture of me and my girl when we were at an Easter brunch/egg hunt.

Chat with ya later-