Painted, partied and played

Birthday party went GREAT!!!  Although Hayden is already in planning mode of her "hello kitty Party" that will take place next September.  See she really wanted a Hello Kitty party and well I planned an Art Party.  What's a girl to do when you already have the cute invites and have a perfect place for the party.....and a child who loves ART???  You plan a super cute and easy painting party at your local pottery painting place.  So I have been sworn by a pinkie swear that it will be Hello Kitty next year. 

Party was perfect, the quietest you have seen 9 girls ranging in age from 2-7 for an hour and a half!!!  Everyone concentrated and painted away.  I think they had fun and I can't wait to pick up the finished product next week and deliver the masterpieces to each artist!!! 

Hayden said she had a blast and loved her party....so I would say that is a success!!!

Official PRE-SCHOOLER

Well she turned 4 and now has become an official pre-schooler.  PLEASE stop the hands of time!!  Where we live H misses the cut off for school by a week.  So she will not start kinder until she is 6, so while she has been attending her school and had a curriculum all along(not a mothers day out prgm) she is officially a PRE-SCHOOLER now and in the 3's

She was ready, excited, happy and while I know a smidge nervous that things would be a little different....she walked right in and did GREAT.  Sounds like she had a great day and said she was ready to go back when I picked her up.  She said she made a lot of new friends....she just doesn't remember their names:) 

I think she will have a fantastic year and I think she has a great team of teachers and can't wait to see what they have to teach my sweet baby girl!!!

It was not my tires you heard peeling out of school today....LOL  Yes mommy was ready to be able to get some stuff done, and while I miss her when we are apart....it is good for both of us to have H in school:) Mommy went to the boohoo YAHOO breakfast with 5 other mommies and that was super fun and then I went into full gear mode of running as many errands as I could in a few hours!!  I know you know the feeling.  I already have my list full and ready to roll for our next school day. 

happy to be a pre-schooler

seriously look at that smile

mommy and her best girl

Hi my name is sassy and I am in pre-school

Hayden and Miss Vicki

Overnight she turned 4!!

Well not sure how it happened, but somehow we woke up yesterday to a 4year old and the 3 year old had moved on.  It just has my head spinning that she is 4!!!  HOW, HOW did it happen???  The time is just flying by and as much as I want to stop the hands of time, I have decided I just need to embrace and love and soak it all up as it will continue to fly and she will be grown up before I know it. 

Miss ThANG had a wonderful day that started the moment she woke and looked at me and said "I think it is my birthday mommy"  We ventured downstairs to find that Scout our elf on the shelf had decorated our kitchen in pink streamers and A LOT of balloons.  Scout was found riding the rooster on our kitchen chandelier.  Hayden was THRILLED to see scout and he actually stayed a second night too....that would not be because mommy was SO tired that maybe I forgot to go and get him and hide him away again.  LOL

We made one VERY large pancake for the bday girl and she opened some gifts that she had been VERY patient about looking at each day and waiting for her day to come.  Lot's of lovely and fun stuff arrived including a beautiful dress that her guncles brought her from Paris.  As the day progressed things have arrived all the way from Hawaii to New York.  The kid's cup RUNNETH over!!!  We still have her birthday party that is coming up next weekend. 

She had lunch with her Aunties(my college roommates) they are taking her to see Pinkalicious the musical at the end of the month!!!(oh no she is NOT at all excited about that day:) LOL Amongst the gifts, sprinkles cupcakes and lunch made the mid-day portion AWESOME.  Then she had her Oma and Opa visit with gifts in hand....A LOT of stuff for her American Girl dolls!!!  The list is TOO long to list of the stuff that has arrived since is too long to list!!  But let me just say the LOVE that arrived whether it was gifts, calls, skype, FB msg, emails, calls, texts......Hayden felt the love.  She said it was the "BEST DAY of her WHOLE life"  She was running on HIGH octane fuel and by bedtime she was overstimulated and exhausted. 

We are hosting an Art Party next weekend.  So that should be fun and we are looking forward to Hayden's friends celebrating with her.  So we will post all of those pictures next weekend.  Nothing like the OVERLOAD of PINKNESS like last year.  It will be small and not anything as overwhelming as last year.  It still should be fun.  We have to get back to school next week though before we can celebrate anymore and we have met the teacher and are ready to head back.  So keep an eye out for school and bday pics. 

Thank you everyone for helping make Hayden's 4th bday the very BEST!!!!

The Aunties

more doll stuff!!!  HEAVEN!!!

For me really????  YAHOO

Oma and Opa with Hayden

Taiwan ROCks the Windy City

I will finish our China trip soon, but just returned from chicago and Taiwan ROCks reunion.  It was amazing and I am speechless at some of things that happened(good) while together.  I will try and share it all soon, but wanted to share some pics.  I will say that TECO which is the Taiwanese govt agency that we all deal with while we are in the process of adopting.....well they were contacted by one of our moms(thanks Suzy) well they came to have lunch with us and brought goodies for the kid's as well as Taiwanese instructors to teach the kids about some culture.  Going forward they would like to participate by offering a full day of culture camp for the kids at our reunion each year.  So to say we are excited and terribly humbled is an understatement. We were even interviewed by several media sources including the world wide press!!  I have NO idea what I said and now am nervous what came out of my mouth!!  LOL

We also raised $1400 for Ronald McDonald house Chicago and St. Lucy's orphanage in Taiwan

The weekend was truly amazing and magical.  We saw old friends and made some new ones and we can't wait for next year.....2013~ we are going to Cali and we are going to Disney!!!  YIPPEE!!

Hayden holding the tail of the lion.

at check in with two of H's favorite mamas..tiffany and lisa.  She is holding her dog pepper that she picked out at American Girl.  If you wonder what Hayden LOVES right now it is all things AMERICAN girl!!!  Will post pics of our lunch there!!

from left to right Tiffany, Me(Hayden's hand) Lisa C(hostess this year) Lisa R, and one of our other mamas that made a lovely Matilda Jane donation to our raffle.

Our chairs and Director Ger.   Suzy and her sweet girl are right next to the director and because of Suzy we are hoping for a lifetime relationship with TECO!!

foster siblings reunited and their relationship has been sealed at this point....serious love fest between these two!!

look at these two!

two little monkeys jumping on the couch(no one fell off, so that was good) LOL

Sleepover with Tyler!!

Crafts with Paigey and Tyler

Time to get this party started!!!

Hayden loves Tyler, but I think his sister Lauren would lose out in a vote:) 

This is pretty much how H spent her weekend!!!

Between Paige and Hayden....hopefully Lauren got her little sister fix:) LOL

Last day of school.

first day of school Sept 6, 2011

 

                                                                 Last day of school May 17, 2012

okay somehow we just had our last day of school for the year. How on earth did that happen??  Where did the time?  What a difference 9 months makes huh??  In the last 9 months Hayden turned 3(the first day of school) she gave up her "beloved binka" she started sleeping in a big girl bed(well we took her crib down) she has learned to recognize both capital and lower case letters, she can write all of her capital letters.  She knows the sounds all of those letters makes and is sounding out words and telling me what letters she hears in those words.   She can count to 10, she recognizes her numbers.  She can write her name perfectly and recognizes it written and most of her classmates names too.  She has become a professional scissor user and has a huge love for both scissors and glue!!!  She can draw her family perfectly, and a house to go with them.  She has learned to color in the lines and is quite an artist.  She has become completely potty trained(even at night) and has a bladder that I could only wish for at this point.  She can fold the towels out of the dryer, she can make herself a cream sandwich and dry her own hair.  She can buckle her own shoes and easily gets herself dressed.  She can button, zip, and Velcro with the best of them. 

She has moved up a level in gymnastics and is ready to move again(preschool intermed) she is very athletic and pretty agile.  She loves going and is hoping to start dance in the fall.  We will see as her sched is already a bit full.  She has started mandarin lessons and has blown our socks off at how QUICKLY she is learning and her pronunciation.  She has learned 2 songs, and her vocab is probably 40-50 words!!  I can't wait to see how well she is talking after a month in China. 

Hayden has physically grown as you can see.  She is now 38 inches tall and weighs 27.5 lbs, she is wearing between a 7-8 shoe.  She is growing her hair out right now, but we will probably go back to her signature bob after our trip(mommy too) But we think we need ponytails for the month in the furnace(I mean China) LOL

It has been a great year.  Hayden has fostered an amazing relationship with her BFF Ronan at school and we are looking forward to next year and them spending another year together.  Hopefully in the same class.  She really loves her girlfriends and I love the relationships she is building.  She will miss her two teachers this year terribly.  They were a great match for Hayden and I know she will be looking for them next year even though she moves to the big kid side of the school. 

It seems we have had so many firsts this year.  But this is just a quick list mostly so I don't forget the big stuff.  The time is flying by and I wish it would slow down.....I want her to stay little forever. 

We are preparing for our month in China.  I will be posting and asking for your help soon.  David and I will be volunteering in the 3 provinces we will visit.  2 orphanages and 1 foster care facility.  We are wanting to take stuff for the children that they need.  Cleft palate bottles are the biggest thing we want to help provide.  They are so important and can make such a difference for these children and their nutrition.  But we are taking fun stuff too like stickers, nail polish, hair do dads, match box cars etc.   So be thinking if you would be interested in helping out with a donation of $$(even $10 makes a difference) or by sending us something to take for the children.  This is a really important part of our trip and we are both really looking forward to these days of volunteering.  We look forward to Hayden being able to help us when she is older.  We would like to make this a trip we  make often and letting the time of volunteering become bigger spans of time.  But we need to wait until Hayden is older and then we can offer I time more generously.