I had to post a picture of Anslee "highchair surfing". She sat down on the tray as soon as she realized I had walked into the room.

T

Packing

Keith and I are completely different in the way we get ready for a trip. Keith wants to be packed and ready to go days in advance. He wants everything to be totally organized. I can be organized but not when I'm packing. I want to be, but for some reason I am a pack the night before kinda person. It doesn't help that I detest packing...

So to help make the night before a little less stressful, I've been trying to pack yesterday and today but a certain little one has been making it difficult. If I can't see her she is destroying something or putting herself in imminent danger ~in ways I couldn't even imagine!

The best time to pack is when Anslee is doing this:

Here is a list of a few of Anlsee's recent milestones:
*She can now open the front door (when no one is looking) and run for the street.
*She can pull Buster by his tail the entire length of the kitchen.
*She can reach the light above the kitchen table by putting the booster on top of the table and standing on it.
*She can empty all the drawers in my dresser in less than 2 minutes.
*She can balance on top of the tray of her high chair and push herself to make the highchair roll (kinda like surfing) with a sucker in her mouth.

Oh, and did I mention she did all these things before lunch time today?
sigh...maybe I'll just wait to pack tomorrow night.

Terri

Keith found the cutest little turtle in the backyard. Andrew and his friends played with it for a little while and then took it back near the creek and let it go.

Anslee wanted to give it a kiss but luckily she wasn't able to get that close to it's face.
The "mount tski tsoki" in the background of the second picture has been the most fun sprinkler. It has mist coming out of it's ears and then when the eyes open all the way a huge spray of water comes out of the top. Too bad we have a watering ban now because the kids can't play in it!

Happy Father's Day, and Portraits

Happy Father's Day to the two most wonderful men I know! I love you both!

I had no idea that having pictures made could be such a great workout. On Friday I took Andrew and Anslee to get pictures. Anslee did not want to cooperate at all. Every time we put her somewhere she immediately got up and would run away laughing.
Her favorite face to make was blowing raspberries. Cute, but not the picture I had in mind.
The photographer wanted Andrew to hold Anslee for a picture. The combination of their slippery silk outfits, Anslee being a wiggle worm and Andrew trying to lift all 21 pounds of her made this picture not a great idea.
The photographer took about 105 pictures and amazingly enough got some reallly great shots. The pictures below are two of my favorites. They looked even better once they were cropped, zoomed in and changed to black and white.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Terri

Today at our neighborhood pool, I met the nicest family. All three of the children were visiting our pool to take swim lessons from one of our lifeguards. After the lesson, the mom was letting her children swim for a bit. Every time the mom would speak to her children in Chinese, Anslee would look up and watch her.

We started talking and I found out that she is from North West China near Russia. She's lived here for about 12 years and speaks excellent english. She said her Chinese church offers Chinese language classes and gave me the name of her church and location which is really close by. We also exchanged phone numbers so we can get together some.

She talked to Anslee some in Chinese but Anslee didn't like it. She ran away. I know when Keith and I say her name in Chinese (Fu Bao He) that it doesn't sound like it did from the nannies. We say it "Foo Bow Huh". When the mom said it she said it more like "Feeew Baaow huuuah" and the first part of huu is said in a lower tone and then ah goes up . Anslee seemed like she didn't remember her name ever being said that way.

I'm excited about the prospect of getting Andrew in these classes since they are so much closer to home than where we've been looking. The classes start at kindergarten age so Anslee will have to wait a little while to start taking them.

Terri

Long summer days...

Andrew and his friend Jack could play for 24 hours without stopping. On this day we went to the pool, played in the sprinklers, drew with sidewalk chalk, made crafts inside, played gamecube, jumped on the trampoline, explored down by the creek (where they found deer and rabbit poop and were so excited to show me) and played with Anslee. I didn't have to find them anything to do and not once did either one say they were bored. Summer days like this are the greatest!!

Lunch with Nana

We went to eat lunch with Nana at her office. Andrew loves to eat in the cafeteria in her building. We chose our lunches (Andrew wanted the salad bar and had cottage cheese, black olives, mushrooms and a hard boiled egg!) and went to Nana's office to eat. Her friend Sandy sat with us while we ate and couldn't stop laughing at Anslee. Anslee didn't eat much but she had it all over her.

After we ate, we went outside to feed the turtles. You aren't supposed to feed the geese but they were quick to steal the bread and cheerios. Keith came home the other day with this Braves jersey for Andrew (which he has been wearing every day since) and the cutest Georgia Bulldog dress for Anslee.

The baby geese were adorable and we couldn't help but to throw them a little food. I think Anslee ate more of the bread than she fed the turtles or geese.
Andrew loves turtles! The last time he visited Nana here the turtles were hibernating, so it was exciting to see so many today. Anslee is excited to see any animal. She thinks they are so funny.

Terri

Chinese Playgroup

Our Chinese playgroup is so much fun! We do lots of different things and go to some really great places although I think the girls enjoy playing at someone's house the most. Andrew really enjoyed getting to meet everyone. Anslee is the youngest right now, but she is able to keep up with everyone. Several families weren't able to attend for this playgroup. Many families have two daughters from China and a couple have their dossiers in for their second child.

Andrew is trying to round up all the girls for a picture.

Everyone is assembled but some aren't happy about it!

Terri

Three Gorges Dam

I have read that the dam is necessary but it makes me so sad... Millions of peoples homes will be underwater and entire cities will be covered. Anslee's home town of Fuling will be mostly underwater. Her orphanage, Yehi Primary School where she was found, and probably her birth parents home where she was born (but we'll never know where that was) will all be gone. We are going to take her back to China one day and it makes me sad that she won't be able to see these places.

Three Gorges Dam opens with bang
Jun. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM
CHRIS HAWKE
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEIJING—Chinese engineers yesterday blew up a temporary barrier used during construction of the Three Gorges Dam, unleashing the full force of the Yangtze River on the world's largest hydroelectric project.
The 2.2-kilometre-long Three Gorges Dam now assumes its role in controlling the deadly floods that have regularly ravaged China's farming heartland.
The 12-second series of blasts sent the 30-metre top section of the cofferdam tumbling into the river, the official Xinhua news agency reported. A cofferdam is a watertight chamber pumped dry to allow building work to be carried out under water.
The blast created 190,000 cubic metres of concrete fragments, said Li Yong'an, general manager of the Three Gorges Project, Xinhua reported.
Officials zapped the water with electric pulses to drive away fish ahead of the blast, it reported. Ultrasonic monitoring showed 90 per cent of the fish fled, it said, citing professor Tan Xichang from the Water Biological Engineering Institute.
The Three Gorges Dam was completed last month, but it will not be fully operational until 2009. It is designed to eventually produce 22.4 million kilowatts of electricity — enough to light up Shanghai on a peak day with power to spare. Some 190 tonnes of dynamite were laid inside the temporary dam, which was 580 metres long and 140 metres high, it reported.
The water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir will rise from the current height of 135 metres to 156 metres after the summer flood season is over, it reported. At its full height, waters are likely to rise to 175 metres.

Summer

I think for the first time since Keith and I have had children, this summer feels so perfect. Andrew's first summer was scary for us because we were so worried about him. The second summer Keith was running T.S. Morrison's in Asheville, N.C., we weren't making much money and our 1930 house needed tons of work. The next summer we were in Knoxville, TN. Keith wasn't loving his job and we didn't love Knoxville. The next few summers we were trying to have another baby and kept having miscarriages. Last summer we were waiting for Anslee.

This summer already has the relaxed feeling of my childhood summers. We've been grilling out a lot, doing lots of things with family and friends, playing outside and going to the pool every day.

For the first time in years I feel settled as a family. The happiness I feel is way more than I ever could have hoped for!
Terri

Fun at the pool

Andrew and Anslee are having a blast going to the pool. Andrew will swim and play with his friends for a while but then he always comes back to check on Anslee. He wants to make sure I'm keeping a close eye on her. Anslee loves getting on Andrew's back. She'll jump on it any time he is laying down. In the pool, he puts her on and "swims" on the stairs. She thinks that's the greatest thing ever.

Andrew is working really hard to pass the swim test. Since he isn't 48" tall he can't go down the curly slide until he passes the test. Fot the test he has to swim across the pool 4 times without taking a break. Then he has to tread water for 2 minutes. So far he has only swam across 1 1/2 times without a break and is having great difficulty treading water. He starts swim lessons next week and I think that will help.

Boy, it's hot!

Anslee gets so hot and sweaty when she's outside yet that is where she always wants to be. Andrew loves to make her hair stick up or give her a mohawk when her head is all sweaty. We've had temperatures in the 90's but starting tomorrow it's supposed to cool down to the low eighty's. YAY!

Andrew and Anslee love the pool. Andrew is swimming great and he will start swim lessons in two weeks. Anslee runs from the baby pool to the big pool. She reminds me of Lemmings hurling themselves off a cliff. She would just continue running over the edge and into the big pool if I didn't catch her!

Terri