SUMMERTIME FUN

I absolutely love our summers up here in Maple Valley. This morning it was a bit cloudy but then by afternoon it was gorgeous. Not too hot and not too cold. Not hot enough for swimming though but the kids still had big time fun.

We had a total of 7 moms and 16 kids. Phew! Plus and a dog and cat. Phew! The kids had fun playing Wii, fuseball, bubbles, tag your it. Then Keri brought over "The Beast" as she calls it, the bouncy house.

Of course we had all kinds of food and drinks for the kids, then there was the Margaritas for us moms.

Today was also a great opportunity for our new neighbor Corry and her kids a chance to meet the other families in our neighborhood. She already knew Keri and her family.

We are all hoping that things work out for Corry and her family. They just moved in just before the fourth of July and just recently found out that the owner of the house has not been making his payments and the house is in foreclosure. In fact while she was over here at our house the mailman came knocking on her door to serve her the papers. How's that for a "howdy do" to the neighborhood?

As it turns out, we have another neighbor Andy, who is getting ready to evict his tennents out of his house and it will soon be available. The downside is that it is a smaller house than the one Corry and her family are already in.

SHE'S MOV'IN ON UP

GOOD THING OR BAD ?????

Not sure which it is. This is a picture of Mimi standing in the
entrance to Freddie's Playland at our local Fred Meyer's grocery store.

Their rules for entry to the playland have changed to the dismay of
some of my mom friends.

When we first moved up here in 2007, the rules were any child up to
the age of 6 could enter. However there are quite a few tall 6 year
olds up here of which Mimi's friend Alex is one of them. He was denied
entry because everyone including the manager would not believe that he
is 5 (at the time in 2008) because he is taller than the archway. This
really made Katrina mad. Management said that the archway is the
proper height for a kindergartner and that if Alex was to sit on any
of the furniture he would break it. Heck, both dad and I have stood on
Mimi's furniture and they're still in great working order.

Management has since changed the rules. They now say that any kid who
can fit under the archway is allowed to enter. This picture was taken
this afternoon. For good or bad, Mi still
Fits under and people still think she's a 5 year old.

WHY??????

This afternoon Mimi and I thought e would have dim sum for lunch. So
we went to the Imperial Garden at Yhe Great Wall Mall. Mimi told the
waitress when she brought the cart to our table that she wanted the
chicken bowl. From where I was sitting I could not tell what Mimi had
chosen to eat till I got a closer look. Chicken feet!!!!!!! Ewwwww!

MORE SELF PORTRAITS

Like I said before, Nathan loves, loves, loves anything electronis so I lent him my camera. And he just went to town with it. These were the best pictures out of the bunch that he took. He is such a sweetie.

EMILY, NATHAN AND MIMI

Tonight was our monthly get together. This month Nathan's family was sponsering. For good or bad, we were the only family to show up.

Little Emily in the background is 19 months and Art and Lisa adopted her from Maoming when she was 4 months old. She is just cute as the dickens but at the same time into everything Lisa says. She really has her hands full that little one.

They received Nathan about four months ago and on his papers Lisa says that they have as a four year old. But when you meet him, he is far from a four year old. He has the thinking more of a 6 or 7 year old. Long story short is that all of the info they received is totally 1000% wrong. Poor little fella has had a lot of hurdles to overcome and he seems to be doing quite nicely in his new environment. One of his issues is that he is deaf.

A couple of months ago when they came to our monthly get together, the other kids did not really know how to play with him. Mimi tried but he in turn did not know how to play with her either so she just gave up. However tonight because they were the only ones close in age, they did swimmingly together. Mimi showed him some of her made up hand signals and he showed her his sign language. Nathan absolutely loves anything electronic. He also loves to figure things out. So Art and Lisa figure that he may be some type of engineer when he grows up.

Nathan just recently was fitted for hearing aids and is getting used to them and even starting to make sounds which is not easy for him at times. Art says that he hears a lot of white noise. Today was the first day he could say Mama and Baba which made Lisa soooooo happy.

Lisa says that when they received his referal picture, he was riding a plasma car. Then when they took him to their local Costco and saw the same exact toy, Nathan just went crazy with so much joy. So they bought him two and both he and Mimi went around and around the house just laughing and squealing with so much joy.

BOUNCE IT UP

This is a new place that just opened up a couple of weeks ago just before going to the Black Diamond Bakery. And because it is new and they don't have the clientele that is needed to be opened more hours, there is a limit to when they are open.

As soon as we were done with the farmers market, Mimi was anxious to try this place as we tried yesterday but they were closed to the public. Both she a Blake had a blast till it was time to go home and play in the pool then play with Shadd and Blake both outside and inside.

She was quite upset when I had to break her away from the boys in order to go and get ready for our monthly get together with our China family. She did not like the fact that the boys were going to have some fun without her. At the time she did not know that there was more fun in store for her at Nathan's home.

MIMI AND JOHN SENSEI

For the past couple of summers, Mimi has been taking Karate from her "Sensei" John down at Lake Wilderness and she absolutely loves it. She has always been quite the tomboy from the very beginning. Not sure if it is because she had a foster brother who is about 5-6 years older than her or it is just her personality or both.

Next week John Sensei wants to test her for a Yellow Belt. I have a feeling she will get it but at the same time we'll see.

This morning at our local farmers market John Sensei's classes gave a demonstration and he also passed out fliers for the next upcoming class that is to start week after next. The downfall about that is it goes all the way till September 17 which is not good for us as she has gymnastic practice and school. So I am not sure as to what we will do.

SWINGING IN THE BACKYARD

I purchased this backyard swing again much to dad's dismay a couple of years ago at our local Fred Meyer's grocery store. And again it is one of the best buys I have made. It gets a whole lot of good use especially in the summer. At night when it is warm outside, we all will sit in it and talk about our day or whatever is on our minds at that time.

This afternoon Halliwell had gone out with her family and when she came home she saw the kids playing in the street and wanted to join them but by the time she was ready, they were gone. So she and Mimi played for about a half hour till it was time for her to go home. Of course Mc Callister is her little tag along brother who always wants to do what his big sis is doing.

MORE SUMMERTIME FUN

This weekend the temperature is to be in the 80's. Woo Hoo!!! It's about darn toot'in time! Today it was 70, but with no wind, it felt like 80 so again the kids went swimm'in. This time Blake and Bailey joined them. Keri had to work so the kids hung out with Mimi and I. Mimi was in heaven playing with the boys and Micah and Bailey seemed to get along well together too. This was the first time for all of the boys and girls to meet and play with each other. For the most part, Mimi, Blake and Shadd got along really great. Micah who is the same age as Bailey tried to play with her but Bailey was starting to be kind of a sour puss because she wasn't able to "boss" anyone around especially Mimi, Blake and Shadd who had their own agenda.

First they all played in the pool then when they got tired of that, out came every single riding toy known to man in the street. Blake really took a liking to the motor scooter that belonged to Shadd. I pretty sure he will be able to talk his mom into buying one for him.

LET THE SUMMERTIME FUN BEGIN!

Finally, finally, finally it is warm enough to use our pool that dad put up last week. Shadd and his family moved into the neighborhood just before the fourth of July. Correy who is Shadd's mom says that Mimi has been a true blessing for Shadd as he was feeling a bit friendless when they moved in. They moved to Maple Valley from Spokane and that is where he left his best friend. Micah his little sister is now feeling a bit left out cause Shad has a friend close to his age but she doesn't yet. However both Shad and Mimi try to include Micah in their playtime.

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY BAILEY

Last week was Bailey's 4th birthday and she celebrated with all of her friends at home last Sunday. As it turns out, Mimi and Zoe gave her the same kind of present.........Costco's Disney Princess coloring, sticker and stamp set. It did not seem to bother her though as her best friend Cassie was there. So Bailey says that Cassie could have one and she could have the other.

Fwd: [USAAChina33] For What it's Worth (Predictions)

I do hope that this is true as our LID is June of 2006. I also found out that Yazmine is no longer working for USAA and that the new girl now who is answering the phones will not answer any questions we may have. How about that?

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: "blueheelermix" <blueheelermix@yahoo.com>
Date: July 22, 2010 10:51:02 PM PDT
To: USAAChina33@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [USAAChina33] For What it's Worth (Predictions)
Reply-To: USAAChina33@yahoogroups.com

 

Just posted over at RQ-- like Sheila mentioned, she is usually not too far off with her predictions.

Marlene
__________________________________________________________

Let me try this another way:

They are working on May now, started in July – so May 2006 should be referred in July, August, September, October, and November of 2010 – with some possibly carrying into December.

June of 2006 would be in December of 2010 then January, February, and March of 2011 – with some possibly carrying over into April of 2011.

July of 2006 would be in April, May, and June of 2011 (again, with some likely carrying into July of 2011).

August of 2006 would then be in July, August, and September of 2011, with some carrying into October.

And that would make September of 2006 be in October November December of 2011 and January of 2012.

But, like I said, at some point it's likely we'll need to add a month or two in there – especially since the CCAA has a habit of slowing down towards the end of their fiscal year.

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LUNCH AT THE GOLDEN PHOENIX

For quite some time Mimi has been wanting me to teach her how to use
the chopsticks. She never really cared for the kiddy plastc things
that is attached to the regular chopsticks. She wanted the real deal.
I think also because I told her how I learned just by watching my mom
and practicing. She did great!

INSANITY

While taking a shower tonight (a place where I can do my best thinking cause a 3 ft something leaves me ALONE), I realized that in a moment of insanity yesterday afternoon, I invited all of my neighborhood mom friends over to the house for a get together. Somewhere in my insane thinking, I forgot that I invited all of the kids too!!! The vast majority of them have 3 or more kids. YIKES!!! Hopefully it will be a nice day like today where the kids can play in the pool or slip 'n' slide or both outside. The temperature seems to be rising starting this coming weekend with it being in the low 80's.

WHILE YOU ARE AT IT..........

"Can we get two more kids instead of one??? A girl AND A BOY???" the girl had to ask. I think NOT!

SPEED DEMONS

It was one of the best buys I ever made. I purchased Big Mama a couple
of years ago much to dad's dismay. It has been put to good use ever
since. Usually I would only let Mimi drive it in our backyard however
this year I purchased several yellow warning men to put into the
street and the kids just go to town on Big Mama. Mimi really has a
good te playing with Shad and his little sis Micah. Although she still
likes playing with Blake she says she would rather play with Shad
because
Blake is getting really bossy with the girls.

SPORTS CAMP CARNIVAL

It is called a carnival but there are no rides. Mimi could not contain herself this evening. We saw the air slides go up and that's all it took to get her excited. However I forgot about the food that they were providing and cooked dinner at home. Oh well, I prefer the yakitori chicken and rice over the hot dogs anyways. When we go there Mimi says to me "Mom, you know the best thing about this carnival is that we don't need tickets!" The price was included at the registration. All of $15.00 total. So she had her snowcone and was quite content until she saw Zoe and ditched me ;-(

FLAMING. GEISER

On our way home from Japanese Main Buffet the other day, I thought
that I would stop by Flaming Geiser State Park. On the way we saw a
mama deer and her baby. That was the highlight of Mimi's.
Unfortunately I only had my phone camera so the picture needs to be
blown up.

SPORTS CAMP

Since the girl was 5, she's been going to Hope Fellowship Sport Camp.
It is organized by the Hope Fellowship Church here in Covington.

I swear almost every kid in the Maple Valley/Covington area shows up.
Must be around 1,0000 kids here and that is no joke.

Not bad for $15.00 for the whole week and 2 1/2 hours each day. It is
really, really well organized, non-competitive fun and the kids have a
blast.

Although I had signed Mim up to be on Erin's team, she was put on a
different team. Erin, Zoe and Halliwell are on the same team. Mimi
thought that she would not know anyone until she found out that Tessa
from her gymnastic team is on her sport team. They are the Blue 2's.

I keep meanning to update our blog but ever since coming home it has been one activity after another. When I have the time, I just don't have the energy and vice versa.

Just came home from a whirlwind of a trip to Long Beach, California. We saw friends, family and Disneyland. Will post pictures later. Left on last Thursday and came home this past Monday. My plants did prettty well. Krista only killed off two of my Fuschias. Hopefully I will be able to revive them. Now it is back to work, piano lessons, gymnastics, karate and sports camp for this week only. Phew!!!

Butch and Stanley did pretty good too. However somewhere along the line Butch got a bit of an eye infection so now it is antibiotgic time for him.

Oops! Just noticed the time. Gotta go and pick up Mimi from gymnastics, give her a quick dinner of fried rice and leftovers, then on to sports camp. Later this evening we have a team parent meeting back at the gym. I tell you, the older she gets, the busier.

DILLY BARS

There is no doubt about it, Mimi absolutely loves ice cream. During
karate practice tonight, her Sensei said that next week he will test
her because
he feels that she is ready to move up to a yellow belt. That's our
Karate Kid for ya'!

GOTTA LOVE THESE NUMBERS

MORE FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION

Every year Mimi and Erin have celebrated the fourth of July together. Why should this year be any different? When the celebration was done at the park, we headed for home and met up with Halliwell and her family plus our new neighbors the Crawfords. So pictured with Mimi and Halliwell is Shad (short for Shadow). According to Brandy, Shad may give Mimi a run for her money.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

A couple of days ago Mimi started to not feel well and when she says she doesn't feel well, she's telling the truth. Long story short, she was feeling much better today. Enogh so she was able to participate in our neighborhood celebration. Actually the fireworks have been going on ALL WEEK LONG. Fortunately for us, it did not affect our Butch and Stanley very much. Must be the windows of our house cause if they are closed, we don't get much of the loud noises. This video is just a sample of what has been going on in the whole neighborhood. We can also see the fireworks in our backyard from the neighborhoods across the other side of Glacier Park Elementary School.

THIS IS WHAT WAITING AT URGENT CARE WILL DO TO YOU

UNDER THE WEATHER

For the past couple of days Mimi had been feeling not too hot. Achy
muscles and a fever. No more sore throat though and no appetite. I am
more worried about the fever than the appetite. Pushing lots of fluids.

2007T

I did this just out of pure curiosity. Our good friends the Fratkins started taking monthly pictures of their daughter Samantha. Sadly I did not do the same, however I do have dozens and dozens of pictures of Mimi throughout the years. So I thought that I would take each months pictures and put them together just to see how much she has grown over the years. So bear with me on this one.