Laura, Carrie, & Bargain Basement Halloween Costumes

After Halloween
I hit the clearance sales to buy "period" costumes for days like these.

The girls are on a "Little House on the Prairie" kick and they want to dress up.



Today
they informed me that they needed" to go and gather eggs".



They "need money to buy fabric to make new dresses".



Carrie has a bucket and "Laura carries the basket because she is older".





Carrie doesn't mind because "me has eggs ,too".



They decided that they needed to "pick some flowers for Ma ".



A few little violets here and there , some dandelions and
maybe a wild onion or two.



As many as you can fetch.



Then it's off to "Olsen's Mercantile to trade the eggs for
fabric and white sugar".

I think that was well worth the $8 I spent for each of these costumes....

Kids are fun.

First Piano Lessons!

We have a very talented young friend who comes and teaches music to the kids.



Today was Ben and Rachel's first lesson.

Mary tried to get in on the act,too.



They had a lot of fun and are really looking forward to next week.

YAY!

Cambiata Spring Concert

Today
the Cambiata Choir held their Spring Concert.




There were tons of people there and the kids looked soooo precious.

I think they love dressing up as much as we all love to see them dressed up.



One more performance in May and they are finished until next fall.

Look at those sweet smiles!


This was the "007" shot that the boys had me take.

I swear they would wear the tux EVERYDAY if they could.

Don't ya just love it?



They had a huge turn out and a great time.

Fun Stuff.

Peace.

Re~vamping the Hippy!

Trying to get the "Hippy" Revamped, Simplified, and Streamlined
so that I can devote its space to the Non Prof's we support , Breaking News on the Adoption Front and Parent Support & Education.
If anyone would like to suggest a cause that you would like to see featured or no of an organizations that you would like to see listed..let me know.

Our family blog will still be private. There will be a family blog button on the HIPPY..but you will still have to log in..SORRY.
You'd think Blogger could add a fingerprint scanner or something...I mean GZEEEEEESH!

Glad you guys have joined in on the craziness.

Love you,

Andrea

http://thehappyhippychronicles.blogspot.com

Hop over and hit the follow button

June Who?

Trying to get my house ready for our adoption travel has made me painfully aware of 3 things:

1. I am not DOMESTIC.

2. We have too much stuff.

3. I am NOT domestic.



I vaguely remember going through this when we traveled to adopt Mary Elizabeth in 2006.

I remember seeing the dust on the ceiling fans and the dust bunnies behind the doors and thinking, "How in the world does this place get so filthy?!"

I also remember going through closets and dresser drawers, toy boxes and game closets~
trying to make things easier for the caregivers while we were away.

Aweful. Stuff everywhere. Took me WEEKS to get things in order.

I vowed that it would never get to that point, again...yet here I am ....3 years later... doing the same thing.




It is my own fault.

It is not that I hate housework.
I don't love it , but I know that it is a necessary evil..so I do it.

I will tell you that I do not do it as often as I need to .

I do not clean out toy boxes and closets like I should and after 36 months of that...things start to stack up.

Stacy and I have decided to donate allot of what we aren't using and that we are going to have to make a few improvements to our home(when we return ) to make it a little more efficient for family of 8.

I had to go through the house and find all of my trouble spots and list them and we have to figure out ways to make things better. Better meaning Easier for me .

So far I have listed laundry room expansion, the need for an additional dishwasher,new playground equipment(no wood) , carpet in the kids rooms replaced with eco-wood flooring....a few more things.. you get the point....things that will have to be done over time.

I could sit and make lists all day but that is still not getting my house ready for someone to come in and take over for 2 weeks..so I have to start tomorrow.

Let's see-

Get rid of everyone's clutter and take what we are donating to the proper drop offs= which will probably take me a week.

Get all of the floors, baseboards, and moldings scrubbed down =which will probably take me a week.

Get the carpets steamed and the bedrooms closets cleaned out=about a week.

Get the classroom cleaned and organized and get all of the unused school materials put away=about a week.

Move furniture around and make things a little more baby friendly=about a week.



By the time I finish, Fed-Ex should be delivering our Travel Approval and we should have just enough time left to pack and get on the plane.

Now I remember why I slept from LA to Beijing.....I was exhausted.

So once again I am declaring that I will embrace my Domestic Goddess, whip this house into shape, and try to be a little more like June Cleaver....ya know..without the high heels and pearls.

If anyone else is interested ~I have found a precious little blog I think might help-

50's Housewife



Peace.

Long Time Coming

Today as I was walking through my living room I saw Ben
reading a book.


Huge for Ben.

He doesn't like to read.

He would much rather you read it to him....Or just see if the book has been made into a movie
then he could just watch it instead.


We usually have to bribe him to read aloud
and even then ..he's not real happy about it.


When I turned the corner and asked "what are you doing?"
he said, "uuuuhhhhh reading......"

ME- " Reading or Looking at the pictures???"

BEN- "Reading....I CAN read , you know?!"

Happy Happy Mommy!

PEACE.

Riding Day

Parents of home educated children tend to worry alot about spending
time wisely.


Sometimes I worry about our Mondays and Tuesdays.

These two days are totally devoted to horses and Uncle Rick.

We get absolutely ZERO Math & English done and to be honest-
there are days when I think the kids should be learning instead of riding.

I wonder if we are teaching them that an education is important
When we let them have 2 days a week off.....

So sometimes I hang out during the lessons just to ease my troubled mind.



Every now and then I am lucky enough to be able to take a few pictures and today was one of those days.

It was COLD and RAINY and I was MISERABLE
but this is what I saw.



(1)Austin

(2)Susan

(3)Liv

(4)Eden

(5)Caleb

(6)Hannah & Liv

(7)Alec & T

(8)K.K.

No one else was miserable.

No one else was complaining about the cold, or the rain ,or the dust,

or the stinky horses...they all just had big ole' smiles plastered across their faces.....

Kinda like that Cat in Alice In Wonderland...you know the sneaky one.

Yeah, they all know that they probably should be doing Math or English.

After all, that is what every other kid in the county is doing at 10 o'clock

in the morning....but why be like every other kid when you can be a cowboy?

These kids aren't wasting time.

They are working hard to be good at something they enjoy.

They are committed.

Rain,Shine,Hot,Cold..they are out there...working, helping, sharing,talking,laughing,running...all of them...together.

So now I'm not feelin' so guilty about the whole"No Math On Monday or Tuesday"thing.

I'm thinking 20 years from now you couldn't give them a million dollars to tell you what they did on Wednesdays...but I bet you every single one of these kids will be able to tell you what they did on Mondays and Tuesdays....I guess that's how you know if your doing the right thing.

I think we are.

PEACE.

The only thing better than a BEST FRIEND......

Is a best friend who is a PHOTOGRAPHER!

The picture is GORGEOUS, Heather.

Thank you.

PEACE.

The Newest Member of Our Tribe

Bless His Little Heart.
He has no idea.
I hope he is not overwhelmed by the madness.
I think he will be fine.

PEACE.

The only thing better than a BEST FRIEND......

Is a Best Friend who is a PHOTOGRAPHER!

Thank you, Heather!

It is GORGEOUS!

PEACE.

Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy

PEACE.

Father /Daughter Dance 2009

Last night , the MCHE held its annual Father/Daughter dance.
This was Rachel's first year to go .
She was so excited.




This was Hannah's first year to wear a dress that didn't have tulle,
lace, or a big ole' bow on it.

She was excited...........her father and I were not.



Mary Elizabeth was less than thrilled that she wasn't quite old enough
to make the dance scene.
I tried to explain to her that you had to be at least 5 years old to attend
and then I said, "Now how old are you?"
Her reply? "Me 14, Mama! I can go to!"
Hmmmm.....already fibbing about her age to get into dance halls......
This cannot be good.

After the dance - Dad treated the girls to dinner at our favorite
Sushi joint.

A great time was had by all!


PEACE.

LWB CHILDREN IN NEED OF SURGERY

**URGENT**

Name: Hui - Guangxi

Gender: F

Province: Guangxi

Total Amount needed: $4,700.00

Remaining Amount Needed: $4,700.00



Hui is a beautiful 3 year old little girl with ToF. Her lips and fingers are blue, and she needs surgery right away. Would you give to help Hui?

Donate to this child









**URGENT**

Name: Shuang - Zhejiang

Gender: F

Province: Zhejiang

Total Amount needed: $6,000.00

Remaining Amount Needed: $5,850.00



Shuang is an 8 month-old baby girl with a cleft lip and palate and a heart defect called VSD. The doctors say this precious little girl needs surgery as soon as possible to repair her heart. Would you please help Shuang?

Donate to this child






**URGENT**
Name: Gang - Guizhou

Gender: M

Province: Guizhou

Total Amount needed: $7,100.00

Remaining Amount Needed: $7,100.00

Gang is a beautiful 11 month-old little boy living in Guizhou Province. Doesn't he have the most precious smile? Gang has a serious heart condition called Ebstein's Anomaly and is in need of surgery. No donation amount is too small to give Gang a chance at a healthy life and to keep that bright smile on his face!

Donate to this child





PEACE.

I hope you have a good dental plan.........

Cause my Baby is so sweet you might get a cavity!



Stacy and I order cakes to be sent to Little Brother's SWI to celebrate CNY!

We purchased Adele Hall's BLESSED KIDS Chinese New Year Package
and she did not disappoint.

Aren't those cakes gorgeous?!?!




She also sent us 9 digital photos of our little man and his friends.

Look at the sweet little ones and those precious little hats.

Even the big kids were in on the fun!

Little Brother is wearing the sweet little blue jacket that we sent him in
his care package.




We also got updates on his measurements.
I even know how many teeth he has.




Look at the smile on his Ayi's face.

She is so excited for him.

These pictures are priceless.

I am so thankful for Adele( and her family in China) for providing such a
service for families waiting to bring their children home.

What a gift.

If you have a child who is waiting for you -check out Adele's site-
BLESSED KIDS.


PEACE.