shoes

My sister and her daughter spent the night with us Wednesday night.
We had a full evening of fun including shopping at Target for my niece, going to Whole Foods for shopping and dinner and then going swimming.
When we were at Target my niece was looking for shoes. Anslee was right there with her watching and trying them on too. Anslee found a pair of "beautiful sparkly" flip flops in her size. After she tried those on I tried to get her to try on some more practical shoes but she wouldn't take the flip flops off. Before this, I had let Andrew and Anslee both pick out a toy to take out of town with us the next day. Anslee picked out a Little Mermaid Ariel toy. So I told her that she could only get one thing either the toy or the flip flops. Without a second thought she set the toy down and said flip flops. She was very happy with her purchase and has worn them constantly. I think Anslee will take after my niece who ended up buying 5 pairs of shoes!!

Buster

My little old dog:

A heart-beat at my feet.

- - - Edith Wharton

Keith and I got Buster from the Pet Smart dog adoption a year after we were married. He was 1 and now he is over 12 years old. We always made sure we kept his weight low (unlike our weight!!) to make sure he didn't have any unnecessary back issues. His back has "gone out" two times before and muscle relaxers have totally fixed it both times.

About a week ago, he started to have back pain. We took him to the vet and had x-rays done. He has degenerative disc disease. The area between his lowers discs are starting to calcify and cause swelling and pain. This time, we haven't found a medication that is working. He is just pitiful and continues to be in pain. The vet thinks the only way to possibly fix it is to have surgery but even that won't definitely work ~ AND his age is a HUGE issue in surviving surgery. The vet is going to try some morphine type of drug... hopefully this will alleviate the pain he has.

Keith and I are worried sick about him. Poor puppy.

Welcome to the world Colin!

My nephew was born today ~ 5 weeks before his due date!
He weighed 5.11 lbs. (big baby for being so early)
He is doing well but having a little trouble breathing.
Please keep him in your prayers.
Terri

Visiting friends

We went to visit our friends Katie and Dave (and children) who moved out of town. We had a great time and Anslee especially loved Julia who epitomized everything girlie. I took my camera with the greatest intentions and then of course barely took any pictures.

Andrew has always loved Lane and was counting the days until our visit. From the time we walked in the door until we left, I think I only saw Andrew at meals. Oh yeah we also saw them when us grownups kicked them off the PS2 to play some guitar game. It was a blast to play but Katie, Dave and Keith all just tolerated me playing. Andrew wanted to play me so he could beat someone!

We miss you guys!!

Anslee and her friend Olivia have a blast together. Olivia is three months older than Anslee. Like all two year olds they play then argue, play then argue. They both like to be in charge and be the leader. Their personalities are so similar and we think they look alike too even though they are from different provences.

China city turns to air raid shelters to beat heat
Tue Jun 12, 8:20 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - A southwestern Chinese city renowned as a "furnace" during the summer has opened up its warren of old air raid shelters to help people beat the heat, state media said on Tuesday.

Chongqing, China's World War Two capital, would be able to accommodate 10,000 people in the shelters, which are aimed at low-income residents, Xinhua news agency said.
"We spent about 500,000 yuan ($65,400) refurbishing the shelters -- putting in tables and benches, tap water and book stands, so that the needy who cannot afford air conditioning at home can spend the summer more comfortably," it quoted Tang Zhiming, director of the Chongqing Municipal Air Defense Shelters Office, as saying.
"Money-making activities will be banned at the refurbished shelters -- we want ordinary people to be able to go there and cool off free of charge," Tang added.
Last summer, densely populated and heavily industrial Chongqing sweltered in temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), compounding a drought and forcing schools to postpone the start of the new term.
Many Chinese cities have air raid shelters, a legacy of the country's Communist heyday when Beijing feared air raids or even nuclear strikes from the United States or the Soviet Union.

Clean water project

It is amazing how poor the water quality is in China. When we were there we were told we should use bottled water to brush our teeth, make baby bottles and drink. There were hot pots in each room to boil water. We also couldn't eat raw fruit or vegetables that couldn't be peeled.

After we arrived back into the United States, and took our babies to the doctor, many of them had giardia (a parasite) and some of the parents had it too!

There is an organization called a Child's Right who goes into countries and installs a water filtration system that provides the children clean water. They were in China this year and they installed this system in the Fuling Social Welfare Institute. I am so happy Anslee's orphanage will have clean water.

You can see pictures documenting their trip there and to other orphanages in the Chongqing Municipality.

On A Child's Right website, click on News on the bottom left and then on China 2007 and pictures 75 - 97 are from Fuling.

Fun night out

Watching the Georgia Force is so much fun. It is faster paced than regular football and really kept Andrew and Anslee's interest.

Rain, Rain Go away...

Really we don't want it to go away, but that's what Anslee kept singing when we got our little bit of rain this week. The entire time she was splashing and jumping in the puddle she was singing.
I think Anslee thought it was more fun than the snow we had at Easter because it wasn't cold and we get it almost as infrequently.

I'm hoping we'll get more rain soon. I think we are negative 14 inches right now.

Treehouse Update!

Well, here is my current project update. Andrew wanted a treehouse for his bday. TC told me all I had to do was buy one of those kits, but would I listen, of course not. So here I sit weeks later with a project that is going to cost me double that of a kit and is the size of an Imperial Star Destroyer (Star Wars). (It's actually shaped that way, not on purpose). It will Probably be at least another two+ weeks before I finish and cost at least a couple hundred more dollars. Andrew wants to know if it will be done before the end of summer..........I'm hoping so!!!