NEMO AND STANLEY

This afternoon mama caught Stanley taking swipes at the fish bowl. Thank goodness mama put a covering on it because Nemo is driving Stanley absolutley NUTS!!!

HEARTBREAKER

This afternoon mama went to pick Mimi up from school. There were several other moms there while the teacher shared this story with me.

The teacher said that Mimi was outside and was found holding her head in her hands. When asked what was wrong Mimi replies that she misses her sister in China. Mama then explained to the ladies there that we are in the process of adopting Mimi's mei mei from China.

Mama also shared with them, that our friends Erika and Miguel are adopting again and we are all in the same group. Mama explained how Naomi is praying to God every night to watch over her little sister until she gets there. Our Mimi always tell us how her mei mei is calling to her saying "Mimi, help come get me!"

When it was time to go home, the moms were saying aaaawww, patting their hands over their hearts and tearing up.

WEATHER UPDATE

The weather gage now says 37 degrees and it is only 4:00. Another mom at Mimi's school says that they (DOT) is putting on the chemicals to keep the streets from icing all around Lake Wilderness which is not far from our home (approximately 5 minute drive). Either way, mama has her camera ready in case it does snow tomorrow.

POSSIBLE SNOW

The weather station said that we may have snow tomorrow. I believe him because it is most definitely colder than usual outside. The temperature gage says 41 degrees but I think it is colder than that.

Good thing mama did the grocery shopping today. The store clerk says that we had a pretty good snow season last winter right here in Maple Valley. Papa seems pretty pleased too because that means the ski resorts will open soon. Some already have. This weekend Mimi's ski's will be ready to be picked up. She will be one busy little chili pepper this season with school, gymnastics and skiing.

GYMNASTIC CLASS

Yesterday Mimi went to her second gymnastic class. Once again she had a blast. This class had one boy and four girls including Mimi.

The Thursday class consisted of a little floor exercises and trampoline. This trampoline exercise consisted of running then taking a jump onto the small jumping board then jump onto the trampoline. There is another "runway" trampoline where the students start off at one end and jump toward the other end spinning around in circles when the instructor tells them too. This is right up Mimi's alley especially if running and jumping are involved.

While one is not allowed to take flash photography of the students, you can take video, which mama did.

RUDOLPH THE RED NOSE REINDEER

Mimi is really getting into the Christmas spirit of things. She loves watching Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer video over and over. She also loves running around the house singing the Rudolph song. This afternoon Erin came to play and they found mama's Christmas decorations and loads of fun playing with them.

Blake is coming over tonight, so we have to hurry and take a bath before he comes otherwise it will never get done.

SOUR PUSS

About one week ago, Mimi received her school pictures (left pic). I called papa at work to tell him about it. I told him that she just had such a sour puss look to her face. He thought that mama was exaggerating until he came home and saw it for himself. We don't know why she was in a foul mood that day. The teacher says that the more they tried to get her smile, the more Mimi would not smile. Her class picture was no better.

The picture to the right, is the one Mimi took earlier this year at Pacifica Montessori. It was taken somewhere around April. Papa is going to count that one as her school picture and not the one with the sour puss face. Teacher says that we could call the photographer to see if he would do it over, but mama said no. Mama says that she wants to keep this one to show Mimi in years to come.

MIMI and FLOWER

Mama always sits in the office next to Mimi's room and plays with the computer while papa reads Mimi bedtime stories. Most of the time mama is laughing to herself because she can hear how Mimi makes her papa use different voices to act out the different parts. It is soooo funny hearing papa talk in a female voice.

Tonight when the stories were over mama heard the two them say their goodnights. Papa says "goodnight Mimi". Mimi says ahem "goodnight Flower". I think she is watching way too much Disney.

NEW ADDITION

There is a new addition to the Putney household. His name is Nemo as in Finding Nemo. For quite some time mama had this big fish bowl with fake glass fish that she used for decoration purpose. Somewhere in our move the glass fish is missing so Mimi decided to buy real fish.

This morning before gymnastic school, we did just that. Mama purchased a Beta fish mainly because they are very low maintenance. Everything Mimi has, her friend Blake has to have only bigger (Mimi has a race car rug, so does Blake, Mimi has a skateboard, so does Blake, Mimi for a long, long time worn shoes with lights, you guessed it, Blake now has them) So now he has decided to get a small octopus but then changed his mind. He wants to get a fish like Mimi only bigger. So of course, mama had to call Keri and give her a "heads up" on the situation.

The reason for the red bow around the fish bowl is that we have TWO CATS. Our Ollie could care less about Nemo, but not our Stanley. So therefore mama had to put some type of covering on the fish bowl.

DOCTOR ,POST OFFICE and HONEY DO'S

This afternoon mama cleaned the garage so that Blake and Mimi could play in it. We are now in the winter season so it is way too cold for them to play outside. Mama closes the garage door and opens the door leading to the garage open so that the garage will be warm enough for them to play in. Mama was cooking dinner while the kids played. Next thing she knew, Blake came running in to make his mail to have delivered by Mimi. Mama could hear Blake saying to Mimi "Honey, come here" Honey do it this way". It was honey this and honey that. Mama was laughing so hard that she had to call Keri and tell her all that was going on.

When they finished with playing post office, mama gave them some balloons which they loved. Mimi was pretending that she hurt her leg. She said that she needed to see the doctor. Next thing mama knew, Blake was playing the doctor. Mimi was lying down with the injured leg sticking straight up in the air and Blake was feeling it for injuries. Egads! They're growing up way too fast for me!

GYMNASTICS

After the hula lesson fiasco, mama decided to have Mimi try out for gymnastic. Mama found out about the gymnastic class from another China mom Rhonda. Throughout this week mama had been taking Mimi to observe the classes and get used to the idea that she WILL BE ATTENDING GYMNASTICS. In the beginning, Mimi said that she was "NOT JOINING"! Mama had decided to sign her up for once a week. Today was the first lesson and guess what? Mimi had a BLAST!!! She absolutely loved it!! She had so much fun that she could not wait to sign up for TWICE a week as opposed to once a week. She will now be going to pre-school on M-W-F and gymnastic school on T-Th during the day. The gymnastic class consists of 2-3 girls, Mimi included. So it is almost as if Mimi is getting a private lesson. Since Mimi is only going to pre-k at this time, we are able to do the gymnastic class from 12:30-1:30. Should she continue to do gymanstic in the future, it will have to be in the evening. That is when the majority of students come.

Today's class consisted of running, tumbling, a little bit of floor exercises and bars. Thursday class will consist of tumbling and trampoline.

CHENGDU CHILI PEPPER

Mimi has the ability to be one hot and spicey chick. Since it is freeze your nunnies off cold up here, everyone spends their time going to each other's home for entertainment. Last night Lisa, Keri and their families came to our house for dinner. Mimi had a real good time, so good that she did not want them to leave when the time came (9:30 pm). Boy did she wail like a Banshee!!! She also has a memory like you wouldn't believe. She then remembered the night when her papa came to bring her home from Blake's house. So all last night before going to bed, she kept saying how she is still mad at dad because as she put it so eloquently "He brought me home!!! I wanted to stay at Blake's 15 more minutes and he only gave me 12!!!". Life's rough at times when you're a kid I guess.

THANKSGIVING DAY DINNER

Thanksgivig Day was spent at grandma's and grandpa's. Here in the picture, Mimi decided to use her utensils at antlers. What an imagination this girl has ;-)

MIMI THE MUSICIAN

On Thanksgiving Day, Mimi gave everyone a lovely concert of "Air Guitar".

FEVER

Mimi slept real good through the night. Mama took her temperature again this morning. Happy to say that it is 97.6! Mama again will have Mimi stay inside today (besides it is 34 degrees outside) and mama will continue to take the temp and push the fluids.

THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY

Uncle Jim and his friend David arrived up here in Washington on Wednesday evening. They drove all the way from California. Since Uncle Jim brought his dogs with him, they found a place in Issaquah that is pet friendly. It was really great seeing him again. It was the first time since grandpa's (mama 's daddy) passed away this past June.

Mimi's other grandpa is home from the hospital so we all had dinner over there. Unfortunately Mimi was not feeling well. Although she still had a bundle of energy, her cheeks were pink and she had an "accident" which is something that never ever happens unless she is sick. So therefore mama took her home.

Today Mimi stayed inside all day in her pj's. She slept most of the day in the recliner. In the afternoon mama noticed how warm Mimi felt so she gave her some St. Joseph's aspirin and lots of fluids. By evening she felt good enough to beat mama at the memory card games but got hot again. Mama took her temperature. It 102! Time for another aspirin, fluids and a compress.

Mimi is now sleeping very comfortably with mama very close by. Uncle Jim came by for a last visit. He will be going home early tomorrow morning.

RASBERRIES

After coming home from the school and gymnastics (mama went to go sign her up), mama just knew that Mimi was tired. Mimi starts acting more looney than usual. Her Uncle Jim is driving up to see us this evening (from California) so mama had Mimi go lay down for a while. We had to argue about that one. Mimi says that she is only going to take 10 naps. In her terms it means 10 minutes. Next thing mama hears is jumping noises coming from Mimi's room. "Go lay down!" mama says. Mama no sooner said that when she hears the sounds of rasberries coming from Mimi's mouth. Mimi is now asleep and it is quiet at the Putney household for at least the next hour or so. Tomorrow we will all go to grandma and grandpa for dinner.

ANOTHER THANKSGIVING PARTY

Although Blake and Mimi go to the same pre-school. They go on different days. So yesterday was Blake's day for the Thanksgiving party. Last night, we all went to check out the gymnastic class here in Maple Valley. Lo and behold, who else do we see there? None other than our neighbor Kelly and her daughter Jaden plus Rhonda (China mom) and her two daughters Emma and Elsie.

Actually what happened was this. In the morning, mama took Mimi to the library and we saw Kelly with her kids. Mama and Kelly got to talking and mama found out that Kelly's daughter Jaden goes to the same gym as Rhonda's so therefore Kelly and Rhonda know each other quite well. Small world right here in Maple Valley.

TOOTH BRUSHING

Mimi: Hello toothbrush. Here I come!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Today was Mimi's Thanksgiving Day party at school. Papa came home early to join the festivities.

SEATTLE CHRISTMAS GIFT SHOW

Today started off with Mimi calling her friend Blake on the phone. It was quite interesting watching them having adult conversations. "Hello Blake, what are you doing now? We are getting ready to come over to your house. We'll be there in a few minutes, OK? Are you ready yet? OK, I'm on my way."

This morning, mama and Keri took the kids to the Seattle Convention Center for their annual Christmas shopping and trade show. Since mama is a stay at home mom now, she is trying her best to cook more. She does a pretty good job most of the time. She is always on the look out for good recipes and cook books. So lo and behold, what did she find at the trade show today? A cookbook by Zu Zu. For those of us who don't know who she is, she was the youngest child of George and Mary Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life" Zu Zu was there to sign all of the books too. Mama was quite happy because that movie is one of her favorites especially at Christmas time.

TELLING TIME

This is Mimi's version of telling time.

Papa: OK Mimi, this is the last story. It's getting late and it's time to go to bed.
Mimi: OK. How about thirteen more minutes? OK, how about fifteen more minutes?

Everything that you ask of Mimi is answered with "How about eleven more minutes?"

Sigh.

PICS FROM TONIGHTS DINNER AT TROTTER'S

DINNER AT TROTTER'S

A while back, papa met another China mom while shopping at Fred Meyer's. Tonight we had a get together with other families with children from China. It was also a birthday party for two of the girls.

Rhonda was the China mom papa met at Fred Meyer's. As it turn out, she and her two girls live only 5 minutes away from us. We may end up having more playdates hopefully.

BUSY WEEK AHEAD

Today is the start of a very busy week here at the Putney household. This morning, mama will make the trip to Enumclaw to the Farmers Country Market. She needs to buy several jugs of homemade apple cider to give to friends for the holidays. Also she has to bring some cider to Mimi's school Thanksgiving get together this coming Monday.

Later in the afternoon, we will go to visit with grandpa. The good news is that he will be coming home on Tuesday in time for Thanksgiving. Then tonight, we will be meeting with several other families who have adopted from China. It will be our first meeting with them. Papa had met a China mom a while back at Fred Meyer grocery store and gave her a call. She invited us to a get together tonight somewhere in Auburn.

Tomorrow, mama, Keri, and all of the kids will go to the Seattle Christmas gift show at the Convention Center in downtown Seattle. Our other friend Lisa may come as long as there is food and wine involved. There is, need I say more?

Mama loves the Christmas season. Mimi may let Santa take her picture as long as he is not "Bad Santa". Our last experience with Santa was horrible. This guy really was 'BAD SANTA' (Billy Bob Thorton). He hated kids. Don't know why he was hired. If mama knew who to complain to, she would have and mama rarely complains to anyone.

Monday, mama gets to visit the periodontist. YIPEE!!! Mama may have the dentist take a look at Mimi teeth also. The other day when Blake came over to play, they were both running and bonked heads with each other. His forehead met up with Mimi's front teeth. He got a good knot on the noggin. She did not cut her lip anywhere, just a smidgen of blood on the upper gums. Mama has been keeping an eye on it, watching for any discoloration and such. Most of the time Mimi says that it does not hurt. Sometimes it does though. The dentist had told mama that around the age of 5 is when they start losing the baby teeth and Mimi will be 5 come this January 2008. So maybe in a funny sort of way by accident, Blake is helping it along. Ya think?

Thursday morning, Uncle Jim will be arriving to help celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. In the meantime, mama is still unpacking boxes. Gawd I hate that!!! Fortunately there is not a whole lot of boxes left. Moving is such a big pain in the ass.

DORA AND DIEGO CONTINUED

Mama's friend Keri sent this picture last night. Better late than never. Here is Mimi and Blake in front of the Paramount Theater where the Dora and Diego show was playing last Sunday.

WINDSTORM

For the most part of western Washington, the winds have whipped through up to 100 miles per hour in some parts destroying cars and homes. Although we did have quite a bit of strong winds blowing here in Maple Valley, we missed the brunt of the storm. They say that this IS NOT THE MAIN WINDSTORM !!! It is still scheduled to come up but it is not know when. Egads!!!

DORA AND DIEGO

This morning mama and Keri took Mimi and Blake to see the Dora and Diego show at the Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle. Unfortunately mama forgot to put the memory chip back into the camera so there are again NO PICTURES! Arrgghhh! Rats!!! Keri fortunately had her camera so she said that she will e-mail the pictures to us.

It was a pretty good show. There were tons and tons of toddlers there! After the show, we met with papa at the Pike's Place Market and had lunch at Cutter's. Mimi and mama were able to eat their tuna sushi. YUMMY!!!

Again it was super duper cold especially down by the ocean. The weatherman says that we are in for another windstorm tomorrow. It is supposed to hit in the morning sometime going at a rate of 70 miles per hour. They say that it is not the main windstorm. YIKES! As long as we have the generator, we are ready.

NOTHING SPECIAL

No pictures today. This afternoon we all went to see grandpa at the rehab hospital. He was taking his afternoon nap so we didn't stay long. Says that it is possible that he will come home on Friday. We have to look into getting him some help when he does come home.

After coming home, Mimi's friends Elissa and Blake came over to play. All the kids played indoors today since it was around a whopping 48 degrees outside. It supposed to be the same this upcoming week.

This evening, Mimi went over to Blake's house where they all are watching "Evan Almighty". All the dads went next door to Neil's and Lisa's for some "Man Time" together. Mama decided to stay home to have some quiet time for herself.

Tomorrow Keri and mama will take the kids to see the Dora and Diego show in downtown Seattle. It is going to be at the Paramount Theater. Papa says that it is a real nice place.

Last but not least, we found out from grandma, that our nephew Joe is planning to pop the question to his girlfriend Nicole. When that will take place, I do not know. So it is possible we may be going to Virginia when they do get married. Who knows?

CHEF MIMI

For quite some time now, Mimi has been helping mama in the kitchen and she has been wanting an apron. Today while grocery shopping, mama found one and bought it. It really made Mimi's day. Now mama has to go back and get another one for her future little sis. Mama tries to buy two of everything but sometimes suffers from senior moments. Oh well, what can I say?

HOOTERS

Mimi's class has been studying nocturnal animals. So when mama went to pick Mimi up from school today, she walked into a classroom full of hooters.

HIDE AND SEEK

This is Mimi's version of hide and seek.
Mimi: Papa, you count to ten while I hide right here, ok? Then you try to find me. Are you counting?
Papa:Ready or not here I come!(he then of course finds her)
Mimi: Papa, you hide behind the door. I'll count to ten. One, two, three......., ready or not here I come!
Mimi then flings the door open quite hard (she never does anything gently) nearly whacking papa in the family jewels. OUCH!

ANGELS

After being a little turd this morning, her and Blake went to the park for lunch before he had to go to school. Mimi then came home and had a long, long nap. She's back to being our little angel again. Kids, go figure!

Here she is with her papa watching "The Little Mermaid". She practically knows the whole dialoge by heart.

UP A TREE

This morning before Blake had to go to school, he came over to play with Mimi. I swear to goodness that Blake is the brother that Mimi will never have unless a miracle occurs (mama is not able to have babies). They play, then fight, then play again. Plus they both are sooooo very competitive with each other.

At one point Mimi was being a real turd (as my friend Keri would call it), so as a result, Mimi was put in her "timeout" chair. Boy is she a reeaalll Chengdu Chili Pepper! Hot and spicey!! Egads!! Mimi told mama "You need to go climb up a tree and stay there!!! I'm mad at you!!!" I don't know where she got that one from but at least you know where you stand with her. Maybe I'm going through the "terrible two's" at four years old. When she was 2 and 3 years old, it was a breeze, now at 4 years old, she can be a real angel at times then she turns her head 360 degrees and turns into a real turd. She's probably making up for lost time. Who knows?

HOP, SKIP AND JUMP

Mimi's new thing now is skipping. She's a skip'n everywhere! She still loves runn'in too. That, I don't think will ever stop.

PHONE BOOK

Not long after moving here to Washington, mama received a small phone book from our fair city. It is full of coupons and such. It also has a place for phone numbers. Mama wrote a list of all of our friends names and numbers. She wrote only their first names not their last. Don't know what came over her when she went to write down papa's new phone numbers. She wrote down his FIRST and LAST name.

When papa saw what happened, he let her have it! "What's the matter?! Don't ya know who I am by now?! You wrote everyone else down by their first name, but with me, oh noooooo, you have to write the WHOLE NAME, FIRST AND LAST! Look here, you wrote Greg Putney! You wrote everyone else is like Maggi, Sandra, Allyn, Teri etc...... but me? Noooo, it's Greg Putney!"

Oh well, Que Sera Sera. I must have had a "senior moment". Needless to say, I'm writing a new phone book and having a good laugh as I do it.

Mama will never, ever, be able to live this one down for a long, long time to come.

NOCTURNAL

Upon picking up Mimi from school today she says, "Mama, I'm a bat!" I was informed that the class had been studying nocturnal animals prior to Halloween.

BRIGANCE TEST

Yesterday Mimi received the results of the Brigance test. Out of 100 points, Mimi received 83. Was not able to get a picture of the questions so here are just a few:
1.PERSONAL DATA RESPONSE; Orally gives 1)first name 2)full name 3)age 4)address Mimi received 3 points.
2. COLOR RECOGNITION; Points to 10 different colors that were listed. Mimi got 10 out of 10 points
3.PICTURE VOCABULARY; Points to various pictures listed such as ladder, snake, leaf etc. Mimi got 6 out of 8.
4. ROTE COUNTING; Mimi got 10 out of 10 points for that one.

The questions go on and on. The teacher's comment at the bottom was "Naomi is a sweet girl and is doing great! She's a "go getter" ". I think that is the understatement of the year.

AUTUM IN MAPLE VALLEY

Again today was nice, a bit cloudy though. So everyone was out raking leaves. Mimi and Blake thought it was great fun to jump in the leaves that papa had just raked.

Mama tried to plant her bulbs in the backyard flowerbed. Blake was a good helper but not our Mimi. Dirt went flying everywhere so therefore that ended the planting right then and there.

A DAY AT LAKE WILDERNESS

Today the weather is gorgeous so Keri and mama took the kids Blake, Bailey and Mimi down to Lake Wilderness this morning to feed the ducks and play at the playground. Later we all came home for a lunch of pizza then it was time for Mimi to go on over to school.

Mimi really loves to run. There is no doubt about that and Blake really hates it when she beats him at it. They are definetly like brother and sister. So therefore they fight and play and play and fight with each other all day long.

UPDATE ON GRANDPA

Today grandpa was transfered from the general hospital to the rehabilitation hospital across the street. This evening we all went to see him. His color looks good and he sounds pretty chipper. Papa says it must be the drugs they are giving him.

When mama asked how long he will be there, he said that he was told it will be one month. Grandpa basically said "To hell with that!" "I'm outta here in 3 or 4 days!" "There will be a white streak running down the hall and they'll be wondering who that was."

On top of all this, grandma's number 2 son Dane, suffered a motorcyle accident a day or two ago. He lives down in San Francisco so she is not able to go and visit with him. Apparently he broke his left leg in four different places. When it rains, it pours, I guess.