~ HAIR & NAILS ~

Last weekend Mia and Mommy went to our first girly-girl party together! It was for Owen's big sister, Ellas' 4th birthday party; and it was at an adorable girly boutique. The girls dressed up and got their hair & nails done ~ I was in heaven :) Mia's 1st manicure!

Can you see the mamma-razzi in the mirror?!

lip gloss!

Cutest manicured fingers EVER!

Mia was thrilled to see her buddy Meggie there!

Holding hands :)

The kids sang songs & played games

Mia & Meg looked soooo tiny :)

love their expressions :)

Happy Birthday Ella!

She is a beauty inside & out!!!

~ CHINESE NEW YEAR PICTURES ~

I should be saying "Xin Nian Kiau Le", which is the Mandarian way to say Happy New Year; this is the dialect Mia had heard- but which ever version - hope all of our friends have a happy & prosperious New Year!

I had so much fun dressing Mia on this morning in her red silk outfit. My breath was taken away by how beautiful she was ~ she was glowing ~ if I don't say so myself, my girl is a beauty!

I must show off my gift from Ken (Michelle's exchange student from China) ~during our Chinese New Year party the previous night, he presented me with some gorgeous gifts from China: table runner, placemats, pillow cases! All gorgeous and so very appreciated ~ just one example of my gifts:

Thank you, Ken!

Ok, back to our day : we are all dressed for our day, and out the door early to meet up with Meaghan Grace, her mommy, brother, Mikey and Ken (their exchange student); and we all met at our boys school to talk about Chinese New Year and do a craft in their class!

Anthony was so proud to show off his little sister and brother!

Mia & Meg check their zodiacs :)

Michelle hands out our dragon craft to the kids.

Ken is one special & sweet guy (Mikey thinks so too!)

Ken did a powerpoint presentation about his country.

He was wonderful with the kids, handing out "prizes"

for answering questions correctly!

Their first chess game!

Anthony, Mia, Eddie, Me, Devin, Michelle, Meg, Ken & Mikey

Anthony & Devins' class were great,

very involved, curious and eager to learn!

Just Perfect!

~ GUNG HAY FAT CHOY ~

Happy Chinese New Year

Last night we hosted our Chinese New Year party! We had a great time, with great friends! We started this tradition last year, and each family made a Chinese dish (to the best of our abilities :) , we ate with chopsticks and tried to honor our daughters birth countries and customs as best we could. We look forward to this each year and switch houses - according to who came home: last year Meaghan's family hosted the party since she came home May '07, Mia came home next in Sept '07, and it looks like Owen will be coming home next month; and then Miss Paige in the spring!

It's beginning to look a lot like Chinese New Year:

~ Daddy with his China Princess ~

Me, Lisa, Ken, Michelle, Melissa

"Let's Eat!"

The menu consisted of chicken lo mein, shrimp stir fry, Peking pork chops, chicken fried rice, soup, dumplings . . . wow! Each family made a delicious dish and afterwards we asked Ken (Michelle's exchange student from China) how we all did - did anything taste like it did back home? Ken, being very politically correct, went down the list of dishes and complimented EVERY one ~ he is one great kid and we all feel so lucky getting to know him !

~ China Sisters ~

~ my favorite photo ~

Brianna & Ella:

they will meet their little brother, Owen

next month!

Ooooo, birthday gifts!

Meggie helps Mia open a present

thank you Meggie I love it!!

Oh, thank you Auntie Lisa!!

Auntie Michelle made this excellent Barney cake!!

Thank you so much Mia just adored it

(as I'm sure you noticed :)

"Happy Birthday to you"

(Mia's birthday is next Monday!!)

"Mmmmm, cake!"

"Lucky Mommies"

Thank you all for the gift of your friendship. The bond we all share is so very special and will only continue to grow from here. We look so forward to meeting our two newest "members"; Owen and Paige - that is when we will be complete. Next year, we will ALL be together ~ what a very special celebration that will be ~

~ WELCOMING OWEN ~

We have been busy little bees in our neighborhood! Our good friends and neighbors over at Wen Love Calls are anxiously awaiting TA for their little boy Owen Alexander! Owen is such a cutie - or "little handsome" as he is affectionately known by the nannies :) You must pop over to see his smile - he is a doll. Owen is also the same age as my Mia and Meaghan Grace ~ we cannot wait to meet him and welcome him to our neighborhood family :)

Anyhow, we had a shower for his mommy yesterday ~ we've been planning and arranging things for a while now and I am happy to say it was a complete surprise to her and a success!I was in charge of favors.

I made these panda cookies &

made tea bag wrappers for the tea bags!

Mommy Melissa was surprised!

Big sister, Ella was a great helper!

Me, Lisa, Melissa & Michelle

Our neighborhood family of moms!

Lisa, Paiges' mommy is next!

She is awaiting a court hearing date for Paige in Taiwan!!

We cannot wait :)

~ WEEKEND HAPPENINGS ~

It's already Wednesday and I really don't want to skip over this past weekend! Sometimes time flies by so quickly and before you realize it ~ it's gone! Anyhow, we started off our weekend with Anthony's chess "ceremony" - after 10 weeks of tornaments and classes, some of the kids were awarded with trophies (and medals). We were so very proud of our boy as he was granted his chess trophy!! Way to go Ant! We are so proud of you ~ you really seem to have a "head" for chess and the strategies involved! You are the best and we love you!

"Hooray for our brother!"

Saturday was a chilly, snowy day and our Chinese class was canceled. We picked up some pizza dough and made our own pizza's! It was fun and the kids loved being involved - we made plain (of course, for our Eddie), peppers and cheese, broccoli and cheese and pepperoni. Afterwards, we took out the popcorn maker (it's getting easier to use each time :) and watched "Journey to the Center of the Earth" - the boys really enjoyed all the action and we thought it was a good family movie (Mia didn't nap this day, so she was fast asleep!).

On Sunday, we had Meaghan's 3rd birthday party at her gymnastics center. Oh what a fun party this was! Mia really enjoyed jumping, climbing, running, bouncing all over. What fun! This "foam block pit" was a hit - the kids jumped in one end and crawled to the other end - all smiles :)

The trampoline was awesome, it was in the floor! When it was Meaghan's turn, she just lit up and boogied and danced all around - she was loving the attention! It was such an adorable moment :)

~ love how Mia is leaning into Meg ~

Mia would not go near the trampoline at first,

she loved watching everyone (I think she was mulling

it over) - then she stepped on and had a ball!

~Of course, that's when my camera battery died!!!! ~

I borrowed a battery from a friend (thanks Trish!)

and snapped this photo!

~ HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, MEGGIE ~

I love you my China sister!