The Princesses Plant Flowers

Since both girls have speech issues we've been slowly working our way through the Signing Time video series.  We are on dvd #4 now, and they've learned really quite a few words.  We use a combination of sign language and English, and they seem to understand most of what we are attempting to tell them.

One of their favorite signs is the one for "flower" so they totally got it today when I asked them if they wanted to go SHOPPING (another favorite thing) with me for flowers. (using the sign) 

Jennifer's fear of doctors continues, and we get the series of questions before we leave the house - every time.  Each time we visit a different doctor, that specialty gets a sign that she makes up and is added to the quizzing.  They visit the dentist on Monday and I can hardly wait for another doctor to make his way onto the repertoire.  But I digress.... today's conversation went something like this:

Jen: "DOC?" 
Me:  "No doctors.  We are going shopping for flowers."
Jen:  Uses her sign to ask if she is going to get a shot.
Me: "No doctor, no shot.  We are going shopping for flowers."
Jen:  Uses her sign to ask if she has to go get glasses.
Me: "No doctor, going shopping for flowers."
Jen: Uses her sign to ask if we are going to go to therapy to get her a walker.
Me: "Quit it with the doctors, already.  We are going shopping for flowers!  Do you want to go or stay at home with Ruth?"
Ok, now we are getting somewhere.  She indicates she wants to go. 

So Abigail, Jennifer and I all piled in the van (not a quick process) and headed to the store.  We found impatiens on sale at Meijer, so we purchased a flat of pretty pink ones.  Then we headed across the lot to Home Depot where we bought two bags of mulch.

There was an area below the windows off our back patio that was just begging for some sprucing up.  Rocks to go around the flower beds had been just piled there last summer, then leaves piled up in the fall and it was a mess!  So the first thing we had to do was to move the rocks then bag up the leaves.  Let me tell you these girls are hard workers! 

After planting our flowers and putting mulch around each one the Little Princesses were DIRTY!  (Dirty happens to be another of their favorite signs.)  But we weren't quite done yet.  We still needed to line up the rocks to define the area.  After signing wildly about being dirty they posed for a photo with their completed work.

I was super impressed. They were actually a LOT of help and stayed on task until it was completed.  They were also just plain FUN to work with!  We had a rough time at bedtime last night, so I was very, very thankful for an enjoyable time together today.

What does one do with dirty (water loving) princesses?  Help them clean up, of course!  They squealed with delight when I set the hose loose on them!

 A chilly (but clean and happy) Princess warming in the sun.

 

I'm pretty sure they love gardening!

Glasses!

It was a surprise to me when the eye doctor said that Abigail needed glasses.  She seemed to function very well, and I wasn't expecting it.  The little gasp she let out when her new glasses were placed on her face and the pointing at everything that soon followed convinced me!

We've seen a change in a behavior also.  She has always stood very, very close to the television.  She began sitting in a chair to watch instead of standing right in front of the set after she got her glasses.

Oh, one other thing....she is pretty adorable in them too!

Ordinary Days

Sometimes it is the ordinary days that are the most fun.  Days like when you get a new (second hand) playhouse with people and furniture....

Or when friends visit and you get to water them...

 

Or days when your family roasts marshmallows in the fire pit and makes 'smores.  

Yep.  Ordinary days are often the best ones!

Chinese Tea Party

Since Tikvah had her birthday while we were in China she missed a having a celebration with her friends.  So this week she invited several of her closest friends to a tea party which evolved into a dinner party by the time the plans were finished.

Jen and Abigail lucked out by getting to host a couple of the little sisters of the friends.  Often Abigail is nervous when people she doesn't know well come to our home.  Not this day.  She totally came alive, waving and yelling, "hi ya" to people as they came through the door.  I don't know if it was the Chinese dresses, the familiar food, or the presence of several other Asian children, but she loved it!

The Little Princesses noticed a photo of a friend's daughter (who was adopted at the beginning of this year) on the front of our refrigerator.  They have been asking about her since their first day home.  It was great for them to finally meet her!  This was so much fun that I can see lots of tea parties in our future.

Discovery

Pretty dresses today, just because I can. I cut Jen's bangs so they would stay out of her eyes, and she was so excited to have her hair fixed pretty. I'm still learning about being a Mama to Asian children. One discovery I made today is that when Jen smiles, her eyes disappear! We tried many, many times and I never could get her with her eyes open. The three of us were a giggling mess by the time I gave up.

Butterflies

It has been a butterfly week around here.  As a homeschool mom, I'm always on the prowl for opportunities to add FUN learning into our lives. 

On Sunday I printed several butterfly coloring pages and life cycle worksheets for Tikvah and the Little Princesses.  We talked butterflies, we signed butterflies (we are learning sign language around here since both girls have severe speech issues), we THOUGHT we communicated that we were going to see a BIG butterfly movie.  Everyone seemed so excited about it! 

On our way to the theater Jen started crying (as usual) because she thought we were going to the doctor.  NO IDEA WHY she is terrified of the doctor.  We finally arrived, handed her a brochure with an ad for the butterfly movie and thought she understood.  We purchased our tickets. Everyone was happy again and seemingly excited to see the movie. 

The minute we walked through the door and sat down Abigail started fussing.  Why?  I have no idea.  Ethan took her into the hallway hoping to bring her back in once the movie began. The lights went out and Jen's screaming turned on.  Well ...Tikvah and I enjoyed the butterfly movie by ourselves. Note to self:  When we try a movie again, don't bring them in until it has started so they can SEE what a movie is all about.  I think they would have enjoyed it had they given it a chance.  Forty-five minutes later when the movie was over, we stopped at the conservatory with a picnic dinner.  The girls sat on the butterfly bench and had the opportunity to get a little acquainted with the outside of the place. This was strategic on our part.

Today we took an adult daughter to the airport downtown then went back to the conservatory hoping to go into their live butterfly area in the gardens.  I was a little nervous that the word "butterfly" would send them into another panic.  While the ride over there did set Jen off (someone tell me why she is so terrified of doctors, please?) they both loved seeing the real butterflies!

A butterfly landed on our paper flower so we were able to get a good look at it!

Jen with a friend and a butterfly

Tikvah tried for a long time to coax this brilliant blue butterfly into landing.

Tikvah with friends and butterflies

The name of our game these days seems to be "Flexible".  We continue to expose our Little Princesses to the wide world around them realizing that sometimes it will be too scary or stimulating to succeed.  Today was a success! 

Our First Days at Home

The welcomes didn't end when we left our airport party.  We discovered this great "Welcome Home" sign in our yard as we drove up.  The children of a good friend made it for us!  So fun!  We also discovered that meals were lined up for us for the next couple of weeks.  What a huge blessing that was!

Our of our married daughters and her family brought Chinese take-out and we had a nice lunch with them in our home.  It was a rather bizarre day of not really knowing if it was day or night.  We went to bed about 4pm having been awake for most of the last 45 hours.  The girls got up at four the next morning.  Out of consideration to the rest of our sleeping household, we took them out shopping.  Thank goodness for 24 hour stores in America!

Our stores seemed so huge, and clean, but WHERE were all the people?  It felt like we were on a deserted planet after the thousands of people on the streets in China.  It was also a little strange driving myself after two weeks of having either a van driver or taxi who took us everywhere in China.

I had counted on buying Asian dolls for the girls in China.  It was really sad when I was told by our shopping guide that parents there think toy dolls are too expensive, and we'd not be able to find them.  She advised me to order them when we got back home.  SO....a few days after we arrived home, the UPS man delivered a box containing Asian baby dolls for the girls.  They have had such fun feeding bottles to these little dolls.

They always enjoy playgrounds.

 When we'd been home for a week we made a two hour road trip to a birthday party for our two year old grand daughter.  The trip there was very pleasant, though they had tired of the drive by the trip home. 

Jen enjoyed the party and playing with her nieces and nephews.

Abigail is still unsure with unfamiliar people, so she spent most of the party hiding out on my lap.

A highlight of their time with us was getting this little pool in our backyard.  I am convinced they think they are fish!  They will play for hours in this thing!

Cold, but happy Little Princesses!

Another big love of theirs is blowing bubbles.  This is another thing that they will do for a L-O-N-G time!

We've been having some fun times (and some not-so-fun, like bedtime!)  but are getting closer to finding that "new normal."  We are very happy to have our Little Princesses at home, and thank each of you for your prayers and support, and friendship through this process.