Trip to Boston for Chinese New Year

This February is the CAWLI Chinese New Year luncheon.  In previous years, there has always been a large party with a raffle and auction and traditional Chinese performances.  We have never been able to go, so this year, I promised Saiya we would go.  As it turns out, the venue where the party was always held closed down, so they are doing a luncheon in China Town this year.  I conspired with the Winter family (who live in Winsconsin) and we are all meeting up in Boston for a few days with the girls.  Saiya is SO EXCITED!!  She has not seen Matteah (aka Wen Wen) in about two years.  The first december they were both home, was the last time they saw each other.  I would love to try to get them together more often, but lives and schedules always seem to get in the way.  I hope over the summer we can arrange for Matteah and her family to come to Florida for a visit.

I booked our tickets to Boston today.  Saiya is going to be super happy!  :)

Trading

We decided to trade Tae Kwon Do for Kung Fu about a month ago.  The Kung Fu place we chose for Saiya is very traditional.  They are a staple in the chinese community here and perform for Christmas and Chinese new year.  I love that they are very strict and demand lots of discipline and respect from the kids.  It took Saiya a little while to get used to the way they do things, but we just got her first progress report (yes from the Kung Fu place) and she is doing great!  Her confidence level has increased (which was the original reason we wanted her in martial arts to begin with) and her focus and determination have improved.  We are so happy we found the Kung Fu place and that we are able to help her maintain that connection to her chinese culture.

Christmas Already?!

Christmas Tree is up!

We put the tree up a little early this year.  We usually do it the weekend after Thanksgiving, but this year Saiya will be with Chris and his family, so we had her put the tree up this weekend with my mom.

It came out beautiful!  I can't believe it's almost Christmas already!!

Happy Halloween!

Saiya was dressed as the Grim Reaper this halloween.  I tried to paint her face white with black parts for her eyes and mouth to make her look more skeleton-like.  She didnt like it at all, so I took the paint off before we went out, which made her much happier.  My sister had my mom's truck and we pulled a small trailer around the neighborhood and we had about 11 kids with us for the night.  They ran around getting candy and a great time was had by all.  Saiya looked so cute in her black robe, but after the first house, she wouldnt carry her scythe so it was hard to tell what she was.

Roller Skating!

Last night was Family Fun Night for my work.  We went roller skating!  Saiya has been roller skating once with her school, but she was still nervous about going.  She did great!  She loved it!  After awhile, she got brave and stopped hugging the wall.  Next up... ROLLER DERBY!   Hahahaha!

A letter to Matteah (Wen Wen)

Saiya has been asking alot about her friends from China lately.  We think about them often and have tried to meet up with a couple of families here in the US who also adopted children from the same social welfare institute.  So the night before last, Saiya was asking about Wen Wen again.  I told her she should write her a letter.  So we sat down together and Saiya wrote her friend a letter telling her about her day, karate, and the new dog we are going to be bringing home in October.  Her writing and reading are coming along so nicely!  We are very proud of her.

I explained how addresses worked because she was concerned about how the letter would get to her friend.  She put our address on the return section of the envelope herself.  She drew a picture for Wen Wen and I added a few pictures of her from this year for them.  I contacted Wen Wen's mom yesterday and got her address so that I could put the letter in the mail.  Saiya was so excited to hear that her letter was sent and on its way to Winsconsin.  I sincerely hope that we can maintain a good friendship between the girls.  It is so very important for them to keep contact.  And I truly believe that it will enrich their lives as they get older.

Time Flies!

WOW! The summer has flown by! Monday was the first day of school for Saiya. We decided at the end of the school year last year to have her repeat kindergarten because we (and the teacher) felt that she wasnt mature enough for first grade. She understands all the work she was doing, but really wasnt independent enough for advancement into first grade. She wasnt happy about it, but she came home Monday happy to make new friends. She did great on her kindergarten readiness test and her teacher said that she has come leaps and bounds over the summer in reading. She has been working her so hard this summer, we are very proud of her!

We have decided to drop violin in favor of a second day at karate during the week. She loves it and gets so much more out of it than violin at the moment. Perhaps when she is older, we will revisit an instrument.

Let's see.... she went on a road trip to Mobile with my mom and dad. She had a great time! is doing much better at learning to swim. She is coming along with her bike as well.

Her physical appointment for school was about two weeks ago. Not much growth on the last year. Only a couple of inches taller. Currently, she weighs in at 34.5 pounds and is 43 inches tall.  Still too short to ride any of the rides at the theme parks.  Although she has gained 10 pounds and 7 inches since her clinic visit in China in Sept 2010, she is still a foot shorter than all of her classmates. We are so glad that she loves karate. She will need it as she gets older. I dont think she is going to ever be very tall.

left 2010

middle 2011

right 2012