When Lily and Ty said they wanted to be Minnie and Mickey for Halloween I thought it was perfect. Minnie and Mickey are quite a pair and so are the littles.
Lily reminded me... MOM...... last year we put our costumes on WAY before trick or treat to take pictures and that is a really good plan for us. So we did the same thing this year and it was a good plan.
Minnie and Mickey were full of poses.... all their own ideas.........
According to Lily this is one of Minnie's poses....
Ty also informing me this was a Mickey look...and for some reason he decided shoes weren't needed...
Sleeping Mickey (his words)
Lily thought it was so funny that she used our pumpkins as little seats and the stems for handles...
The other night I looked out our back window... then quickly grabbed my camera knowing the view was going to change very soon. This is one of those times that my camera didn't quite capture what my eyes were seeing. Seems to be a frequent occurence... of course it is the camera's fault (certainly wouldn't be the user... hee hee). The sky was a deep dark blue (rain was coming), the sunset was shining on the fall leaves and the colors just looked so bright and crisp.....The trees looked like they were twinkling.... And it only lasted a minute.....
To say that Lily likes to dance is an understatement.
She hears music.... she dances. She feels the music. The music moves her.
Her dancing moves us. It moves our hearts. It brings us to tears.
A few years ago we listened to a song titled "Dance Like Children".... the young guy singing it was strumming his guitar (sort of a coffeehouse feel to the room... at our church camp) ......Lily closed her eyes and began to dance... she was so free and happy. While performing vacation bible school songs at church (on stage with other children from bible school).......Lily closed her eyes, lifted her head towards the ceiling, arms and hands raised , and began dancing.
We saw the African Children's Choir recently and Lily danced in our aisle almost the entire hour. She did all the same moves they were doing with the same amount of energy. We thought she might become their first Chinese member. She didn't quite understand why she couldn't be on stage with them. She talked about the choir for days and said, "Mom, those kids are really happy and they smiled a lot". She was right. If you haven't seen the African Children's Choir I highly recommend it. I left there feeling MOVED..... Moved by their stories of loss (most have lost one or both parents)... moved by all that they are achieving....moved by their faith in God... moved by my own children dancing.
She is currently taking ballet.... During her first class she announced to her teacher...... I don't really need classes because I already know how to ballet. She went on to explain that she dances ballet in our dining room every day and so she knows ballet really well.
We celebrated Ty's birthday with a small family party. It was a lot of fun! He must have said about ten times, "MOM, I SO HAPPY". He was running all over the house on his tiptoes (Ty's signature run). He was smiling and laughing like crazy.
He LOVED all of his presents! One of his cards (from Great Grandma Vera) had $4 dollars in it and when he opened it he said, "Two for you Lil, and two for me". That is just how he is... so giving and such a sweetheart.
A few weeks before his party he said, "Mom, I don't want a cake... I want Mickey cupcakes". So that is what Lily and I made him. He was so excited to see the finished cupcakes. Lily and I also found a Mickey birthday banner and his little jaw about hit the floor when he saw it. We took it easy on the decorations......I knew with the decorations we did have along with everyone coming over he would be excited enough.... and he was.
As the day went on I thought to myself so many times how blessed we are to be Ty's parents. I also can't believe that the little 2.5 year old that came home to us is now 4 years old. We are so proud of him!
Lily and Ty go to the same preschool (she is in the older group) and she goes one day more than Ty each week. He isn't overly happy about this... in fact the first day he could hardly function without his Lily.
These pictures are from that day. She is holding her Disney Princess CD player (plays little plastic Princess cd's)... they were running around dancing....they were so happy to be back together. They sat down in the window for a little break and Ty gave her a big hug.... he said, "I NOOOOO like you to go to school without me Lil". She said, "I know Ty baby but you know it is ok" ... then they both started to laugh so hard.
I think back to when Ty first came home and how excited Lily was that first day. Then she thought for a good 2-3 months that sending him back to China might be a good plan (because of course his friends probably missed him). That suggestion ended the day Jeff and Ty went away for a boy's day. She didn't know what to do without him...... and it has been that way since.
They have been such a blessing to each other. Lily wasn't the most social girl before Ty came home. She wasn't the best in large groups or with groups of children. We often wondered how she was going to be in school, etc. Then Ty came along. He was exactly what she needed. She watched him in social settings and picked up what he did. Being the only one to get all of our attention was just fine with her but we could tell she needed a little partner. On the flip side she was a huge part of his transition into life here. He knew all of our faces and names (from a picture book that we sent him) but he especially knew Lily. He was so happy to see her! He even said her name when he saw her that first time. She seemed to be a comfort to him.
She helped and continues to help him with his English.... and Spanish... and Chinese. They help each other now.
They fight as any siblings do but they are a pair... a duo.... partners... friends.... buddies....brother and sister..... When I look at them I am in awe of how God brought them into our lives and to each other.
We adopted our daughter, Lily Feifei from China in July 2006. In March 2008 we adopted our son, Ty Olsen from China.
This blog is about our journey as a family.
