THREE LITTLE MONKEYS

Olivia, Mimi and Halli were singing "Three little monkeys sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G......." then we heard Olivia say "Ewwww, I don't wanna kiss Naomi!!!" Julia and I were LOA's off.

The sun was trying to come out. Whenever the sun is out even for just a bit, us Washingtonians try to take every advantage of it. We eventually worked our way down to the neighborhood park and we moms got a chance to visit while the kids played. The topic of discussion was the latest Tahoma School Bond Measurement that we were trying desperately to get passed and the sad part is........it did not pass. Julia asked if we would be able to put it on the ballot again in the future and Katrina who is on the PTSA board says that most likely it will not as our district payed over $60,000.00 to get it on the ballot this time. They both said that the Snoqualmie District had the same thing happen to them. For my out of state friends.......this means that Elsie and Emma's school (Lake Wilderness) will remain the same. They were to get a whole new school built for them. Shadow Lake, Rock Creek and Mimi's school, Glacier Park will not get the remodeling jobs done that they so badly need. I found out today that there are several classrooms at Mimi's school that doesn't have air conditioning or heat. The air conditioning is not so bad but we really do need the heat especially during our looooong winter months. There were a couple of snow days that were called because of no heat. Then there are the roof repairs. We also lost out on a new high school that was to be built as a result of over crowding. Our district has 4 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 1 junior high school and 1 high school. They were also slated to do improvements on our existing high school. Tahoma High School does not even have a gym for the high school gymnasts to practice so they have been coming to Summit Gym to practice in the early hours of the morning and for a while they were coming after school along the Summit gymnasts. Some of our team members were complaining because they said that the high schoolers were not nice to them. It was a problem for a while. Not sure what is going to happen now. Also what has happened is that there was a ground breaking ceremony for the new Fred Meyer's that is going up on Four Corners. Lots of people not happy about that either cuz we like our small town the way it is. The funny thing is....is that where the new Fred Meyers is going up.....well, it's not part of Maple Valley at all. It's the small part of Kent that is surrounded by Maple Valley. The bigger part of Kent is about 10 miles down the road.

CELEBRATION OF LEARNING

This past Thursday was something else! You know how the girl scouts have their yearly cookie fundraiser. Well Mimi's gym has their yearly plant sell. This is the first time I had done it. I thought I did pretty good selling just a smidgen over $200.00 worth of flowers, hanging baskets, veggies and herbs. Then there was Rhonda who brought the order sheets to her church and it took on a life of its own. She was able to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of $400.00 and another mom did even higher.

The real hard work came when we went to the gym Thursday morning to help and volunteer with filling all of these orders. All the plants were in our gym parking lot and the of course the weather did not help at all either. No snow but there was wind and rain and the temperatures was freeeeeezing!!! By the time my four hours were up, it was time to go home, eat a quick lunch before picking Mimi up from school, getting her ready to go back to school for the "Celebration of Learning/Raffle Basket" fundraiser night. For this past quarter her class had been learning all about South America and the Rainforest. The class has been working hard on doing a class play and Mimi got to play the Toucan. She was really jazzed about that. We also got a chance to see what they all are doing in their classroom. By 8:00 p.m. I was in bed fast asleep. I don't even know what time the girl went to sleep. It was a loooooong exhausting day for me 'n' dad,

SNOW IN APRIL

Believe it or not the weatherman was right. When the shower was over, it was time to pick up Mimi from school, take her to the gym for practice. Then just before we started to head home, IT SNOWED! Enough already!!! Fortunately is didn't stick. However it snowed more up in the passes which kinda stressed Lisa out as they were getting ready to head up to Ellensburg to go to Nathan's deaf camp this morning. They wanted to make it safely through the passes. I do hope that they are having a good time. I will see Lisa again next Tuesday as Butch has a playdate with Sophie and Maggie their dogs. They are so sweet to take care of Butch while we are in China and California. Can you believe it?! In just a little over two weeks we'll be in China?! We have yet to get our TA's. Hopefully Norman will send them out next week. I tried calling his office these past few days to no avail.

THE FIRST OF THREE BABY SHOWERS

+

This past Wednesday the ladies of my special neighborhood gave me a baby shower. OMG! We had so much fun! There was so much food and drinks!!!! Great food too and oh so tasty delicious! My friend Julia loves to bake especially when life stresses her out. She is the one who made these beautiful lemon bars. Her husband Andre' is trying to get her to stop baking so much as he is trying out for the marathon that is coming up in a couple of months. Her cookies are to die for. Then there is Robin (the one with the scrunched up face), she was nice enough to pull all the weeds out of my backyard last week. Her son Bryce is just about the nicest kid you could ever meet. He's the kind you want to have your daughter take home to meet the parents. The reason why her face is scrunched is becaused we played this really fun game of "dirty diapers" where you had to guess what the poop was that was in the dirty diaper. Krista told me that her son Xander already said that he was going with Mimi to China. He so adores Mimi. The ladies did not want Mimi to feel left out so they all pitched in to buy Mimi a small inexpensive digital camera to take photos with when we get there. What a great bunch of gals I'm hooked up with! I love them all to pieces.

NUMBER OF FAMILIES GOING

Recieved an e-mail yesterday from another mom in our group....Krista. OMG! I so love her blog and the way she decorated the baby's room and the guest room. Not sure what she does for a living but I do know that she has mentioned the words "work" and "court" in the same sentence. I personally think that she really missed her calling. http://www.miles2mia.blogspot.com . Anyhoo, Krista says that as far as she knows there are seven families total, 4NSN and 3SN. This is still a far cry from when we went to get Mimi back in 2004 and there were 37 families. Then she says that both she and another mom Robin are trying to work it so that we can go to the SWI in Tonggu. We'll have to see how that plays out as it is a 4 hour drive from our hotel in Nanchang. In the meantime I have been keeping myself busy with the packing. Just need a few more things for the baby, then pack for myself and Mimi. Dad is on his own. The man says that he is still nervous about the whole deal. Poor guy.

MORE SHOWER GIFTS

The ladies of my neighborhood really out did themselves. Mei Mei received so many cute girlie clothes. I loved it! These are just a couple of items that she recieved. The one that dad is holding says "I Love Daddy", the bib that Mimi is holding says " I'm here to ANNOY my sister". So funny but yet so true.

WILD WEATHER

http://nwcn.mlnwap.com/Latest%20News/Washington
The article says that the snow level should drop to the 1,000 ft level. We are at the 800 ft. So we may or may not get any. If anything it most likely be jus a dusting of snow. None the less it is really pouring down the rain really hard. Plus it is freezing cold!

Sent from my iPhone

THE GIRL IS A SWINGER!

This is the Caddilac of the baby swings. Oh my word! I so love my neighborhood and the people in it! My usual group of lady friends and their family chipped in to purchase this gorgeous swing. I have to say that the picture does not do this justice. The place where the baby is placed is soooooo soft and comfy. It swings front to back and side to side. The best part about it is that it's a plug in!

w

HOTEL

Still waiting for our TA's but the word out is that we will be staying at the China Hotel in Guanzhou and the Jin Feng Hotel in Nanchang. I am pretty sure that there will be 3 families total in our group as whenever Norman e-mails us anything, there are only 3 family names listed.

THE GIRL IS A TEACHER !!!!

When the kids reach level 10 in math, they get to be the teacher for 2 weeks. Which means they get to correct their classmates papers. They get a huge kick out of it.

Sent from my iPhone

NEW BLOG TITLE

Just realized that as soon as we get home from China, I am going to have to change the name of our blog and the sidebar picture to include Mei Mei.

YESTERDAY'S COMPETITION

Yesterday was the last competition of the regular season. It seems that with each and every passing year Mimi gets better. Yesterday she took 2nd in the trampoline and 1st in the double mini. Elsie did just the opposite. She took 1st in the trampoline and 2nd in the double mini. While Mimi has a bit of trouble with the tramp, Elsie has a bit of trouble with the double mini. However she was able to stick her landing this time. We are so proud of all our girls.

Next month on the 5th of May will be the State Championships here in Renton at the Carco Theater/Community Center. Then in the beginning of June will be the Regionals in Provo, Utah. Mimi will only be able to do the State Championships this year as we will be in China when the Regionals roll around. The National Championship will be in Texas. You have to be a level 5 or above to qualify. Mimi is only at a level 3-4 now. Maybe next year she will jump up. The top video is Elsie and the bottom is Mimi.

WILD THING

Today was soooo gorgeous outside. So much so, we let the kids play outside after school. As Mimi was hanging upside down in our front yard tree, she yells "Hey Janet, I was born to be WILD!" The things that comes out of that child's mouth sometimes just crack me up.

CELEBRATION OF LIFE

That is the theme this week for the Tahoma School District.

Last night was the second grade concert at school. Mimi came close to missing it. The other day she tells me that she lost her read at home book and her library book. So I thought to myself hmmmm...........I wonder if it is stuck between her bed and the wall. Nope, but a whole lotta of other crap came out from behind there and plus when I pulled out her trundle bed, there was even more stuff came out. There was dirty clothes, paper, books, markers the whole shabang. Dad says I told you it was messy behind there. Well then......WHY DID YOU NOT HAVE THE GIRL CLEAN IT UP????? Hmmmmm??????? His answer was the usual of "I don't know" ARGH!!!!! I'm pretty sure that my family enjoys driving me nuts sometimes. And her I thought the room was clean. Yeah right. Therefore another WW III broke out in the Putney household Wednesday night.

Then when I told the girl that I would have to tell the teacher about her missing books, that caused the girl to spin her head 180 degrees and spit pea soup. What a night that was. When she calmed down, the two us struck a deal. The deal was that when she comes home from school, she would clean her room and then we would all go to the concert. Did that happen??? Well sort of. She got home from school and instead of cleanning up that horrid mess, she turns her music on, ignores the mess and plays with her legos instead. I was almost at the end of my rope. Till finally a phone call was put into dad to tell him that we may not going to the concert after all. That got the girl's goat. Then the negotiating came into play.

Me: Mimi, you got 15 mintues to get this mess cleanned up (now mind you, she got home at 4, it was now 5 and she had to be at school by 6:30 and still needed to eat dinner and get ready.)

Mimi: 45 minutes

Me: ok 30 minutes

She got it done, ate dinner, got ready, dad came home, then we left for school. Dad came a little later.

We get to school just in time to see the kids come running out of the classroom. It had started to rain lightly so they were all supposed to line up under the eave of the building before heading to the cafeteria/gym. Instead what do they decide to do ??? Run onto the muddy field. Mimi included. For some reason the teacher was still in the classroom. The girl took off before I could stop her. However I did catch her the next go round. Boy did she give me that sour puss look. Phew! Talk about a chili pepper!!! I just know that if I had gone in to get a seat, she would have been out there on the muddy field watching the Lacross team practice. Then with my luck she would have gotten her clothes muddy before the concert. Fortunately that did not happen and the concert was great.

One of the perks of being a shorty is Mimi gets to be in the front row.

Video and picture are forthcoming.

RED THREAD CHINA

I happened to stumble on this website the other day. Later I found out that many adoptive China families use Ann of Red Thread China. This is part of the care package I ordered for Mei Mei. Also part of the package is a fresh cake. As opposed to a rotten cake???? Just joking. Dad says that they probably mean a box cake. Also we sent a letter of appreciation to the foster family. I really wished that I had known about this when we went to get Mimi.

ULTRASOUND

This is definitely what it feels like now. The contractions have started already.

Yesterday we ordered a carepackage to be sent to Tong Min Qi's (Mei-Lin) foster family. I do hope that they receive it soon.

FATHER/DAUGHTER BALL

The theme was Candyland. Can ya tell?

MAP OF CHINA

I have to admit that I copied this map from another blogger but I really like this map. Mainly because of the bright colors and it is easy to see where we have been and where we will be going. Dad says that he is pretty sure that we will be going to Guanzhou then to Nanchang to pick up Mei-Lin then back to Guanzhou for the rest of the paperwork and other stuff that needs to be done. It's only one more month away. The baby's packing is pretty much done. All I have to do is just mine and Mimi's. Dad is on his own.

MOUNT VERNON COMPETITION

Yesterday's competition was not as good as I hoped it would be. Mimi did great. She won first place for the trampoline and third place for the double mini. But on the whole, the entire event was so unorganized. For those of you who don't know, at these competitions there are more than one event going on at the same time. So you really have to watch out for your particular athlete. At the same time, at every competition there is an announcer. This announcer is supposed to use the mike and they are supposed to announce the medalist after each session. A session is when all of the groups are done competing. However this announcer announced the medalist after each event. Plus the announcer did not even use the mike. So we the parents did not even know when our athlete was on the podium getting their medal. Also being that it is noisy in the gym does not help either. I just happened to look up in time to see Mimi jump off the podium. Then there was a boy on the Summit team who completely forgot his routine. Another boy who looked to be of high school age was jumping on the trampoline and the next thing we knew, he was flying off the trampoline. Then there was Emma who was feeling bad because she did not do as well as she had hope to do. None the less she still received her medals. Then little Elsie went to do her routine on the double mini and just cannot get the pirouet down pat and went flying off the double mini trampoline onto the side and into the arms of Coach Mary who was spotting her.Thank goodness for our coaches who spot the little ones. That got Elsie to start crying. Finally it was over and time to head for home. Thank gawd. The drive to and from Mount Vernon is a 2 hour drive each way. We carpooled with Rhonda and the girls. I took the first shift which was the drive up and dad took the second shift the drive back home. We did make a pit stop to have dinner with both Coach Kelly and Coach Mary. That was the fun part of the day. Didn't get home till 11:00 last night. Soooooooo tired now.

LAUNDRY ROOM REARRANGEMENT

Spent about an hour rearranging the laundry room. I have a sinking feeling that I will be spending quite a bit of time in there for the next several years to come. Dad tells me that the baby dresser is a place where I can change her diapers. That's true, but then again if I am downstairs the laundry room is where that kind of action will take place.

I am pretty sure that I can safely say that it will be me who will be doing all the changing. Dad works long hours and Mimi has resigned to the fact that she WILL NOT do it. However Mimi has made it her goal to teach her baby sis how to be a tomboy. She loves the fact that Mei-Lin sounds like a great match for her.

BTW, I love the Bum Geniuses already. It is sooooo soft. Plus no pins. Plus they are adjustable from newborn to toddler.

MUDDY PANTS + OXYCLEAN = WA-LA

This past Thursday Glacier Park Elementary had a walk-a-thon at school. What was in their minds to have it on the field is beyond me. Due to the past rain we have been having, the field is a swampland. I asked Mimi how she got muddy. Dumb question I know but stil had to ask the girl. Child explained that she was sliding on the mud and slipped. Why am I not surprised by this? Anyhoo the girl went on to explain that she "accidently" slipped 4 x's. Each time she tripped a classmate or two. Now will someone explain to me Why are we getting another chili pepper????

DETOUR

Received a letter from my very good friend Lisa who lives in Japan. She said that now is not a good time to visit. I think I quite agree with her. Although I really would like to see my mom's side of the family again.. I miss them so very much. Because of the Tsunami, there have been many aftershocks. Also because of the Tsunami, Lisa has a lot of work to do and would not be able to visit with us as she would like to. She works for Soka University as a professor and since this tragedy their opening ceremony has been pushed back to April which got everything else pushed back. She is also busy teaching correspondence courses too. Therefore we have decided to make a detour to San Diego or LA. Haven't decided which airport yet. We want to do something fun for Mimi on this trip. Of course we have to visit D-land and also we want to take her to Sea World as she has yet to go there. In the meantime I am still nesting. Doing a little shopping for the baby. Things such as formula, baby food, diapers and such. Oh, I love the bum geniuses that I got from Emily W. They look and feel wonderful. Can't wait to try them out on Mei - Lin. As I was standing in the store, it hit me like a ton of bricks........I can actually buy girly clothes!!! Unfortunately I have yet to find cute girl dresses. So far only pant sets, under garments, shoes. However I found the cute ribbons to put on her head. Will have to make a trip to North Bend for the dresses and shoes for Mimi. Ooooo this is so much fun. Dad is not walking around in a daze anymore although he did say that he is feeling nervous about the whole deal.

WACKY HAIR DAY

REFERAL FOR MEI MEI

Norman mailed the referal on Monday. Only this time he did it by regular mail! ARGH!!! Last time he did it by Fed-Ex, which for some dumb reason I thought that it would be the case this time. Doesn't the man realize that I'm in a very painful labor right now????? It took four days but it finally came today so here goes nothing. Growth Report of Tong Min Qi: Tong Min Qi, Female, was born October 12, 2010. She was found at the gate of the The County Farmer Market and the policeman of Town Police Sub-Station sent her to our institute. Our Children Department named her Tong Min Qi. Because there was no birth date note came with this baby when she was abandoned so the pediatrician evaluated her and gave her this birth date by body check according to the developing of her umbilical cord (which tells me that she was just a newborn when they received her at the institute). When she first entered the institute, Min Qi's weight was 3.2kg. Her height was 48cm. Her had circumference was 33cm and chest circumference was 32cm. After our application was approved by Civil Affairs Bureau, we helped Ton Min Qi to settle down to our institute on October 12, 2010. Tong Min Qi's physical development is normal. We are getting to know her growth status and health status every week. Our nuse is being actively guide to feed her in science way and give her vaccine regularly (not sure what this means). She has dark hair and red skin. She is very cute. When she was one month old, she could cry loud.Her appetite was good. She would sleep when she get full. When she was two months old, her eyes began to reach the light. She likes to sway her hands when she lied in her crib. Should cry when she get wet. When she was three months old, she likes the caretaker communicated with her. Some "yi-ya" sounds came from ehr mouth. Both hands becam active. When she was four months old, she likes to look for acquaintance through eyes, She also likes to put stuff into her mouth. She would get excited when she saw foods. Tong Min Qi's main foods are milk and rice noodle. She has five meals a day and 260 ml each meal. Her urination and defecation are good. She can sleep very well. Tong Min Qi if growing very healthy unr our staff and caretaker's best care.

IT FINALLY HAPPENED

Today at school it was announced that Mimi received a paw print for coming into the classroom quietly and without anyone telling her, she sat down to read. As a prize for receiving the paw print, Mimi got this bracelet and a Glacier Park Elementary School pencil.

They announced her name over the PA system and it finally happened ..,.Mr Thomas the principal mispronounced her name and called Naomi Poot-ney. That caused all the kids in her class to howl with laughter. Dad tells her to get used to it.

ANOTHER CRAZY BUSY WEEKEND

This past Saturday we were planning to go with Nathan and his family to the Point Defiance Zoo. As it turned out the kids had way more fun just hanging around Nathan's house either playing on the playset out in the back or zooming around the house in the little go-carts he has. Can't remember the name of those little buggers. They had the bumper cars thing going for themselves. Then we can't forget about the hide 'n' seek game with Emily.

For dinner, Lisa made some awfully delicious home made pizza. Mimi ate 3 big pieces of it.

By the time 6:30 or 7:00 rolled around Mimi had everyone exhausted including herself. Hard to believe I know. But before konking out in the car, she said that she had a really, really good time at Nathan's house. So did dad and myself.

Then came today. Mimi spent all morning playing Nerf football with her friends Mia, Sara, Shirley and Alex at the Culture Center while dad was in a meeting. Oh how they played and played and played.

By lunchtime, we all were quite famished. On to Sushiland for everyone! Then swimming at Grandma's place.

Meanwhile dad borrowed the van while Mimi and I swam in the pool. We finally broke down and bought a small playset from Walmart and dad went to pick it up. There goes a couple of weekends come this June when he gets the backyard ready to put it up.

Next thing we knew it was dinner time so on to Red Robins. No dinner is complete without a chocolate sundae. Yum Yum!

MONKEYING AROUND

STATS

She's a tiny little thang. Norman is still working on the translation but he did call and gave me the stats. So here goes: Birthday - October 12, 2010 Measurements as of March 1, 2011: Height: 59 cm (just a smidgen under 24") Weight: 6.3 kg (13.86 lbs) Head Circumference : 40.5 cm Chest Circumference : 41 cm

Resides at Tonggu SWI in Jiangxhi province China.

Sent from my iPhone

GROUP 123 GALS

So far these other two babies are a part of our group. Don't know them or their families other than by China 33 website.

MIMI'S NEW BABY SIS

Introducing Ms. Mei Lin :-)

MAIN JAPANESE BUFFET

After reeling from the surprise/shock that we received from Norman Niu this morning, Mimi and I had lunch at the Main Japanese Buffet to celebrate.

This morning started off with a call from the INS stating that our paperwork was approved and they are just waiting for the papers from Mike our homestudy guy. The noteration that was supposed to happen last week, we found out this morning was not done. Damn that man!!!!

Long story short everything was done by e-mail today and we received a phone call from Norman stating that we are now the proud parents of a 5 MONTH OLD BABY !!!! YIKES!!!

I was prepared mentally, emotionally and physically for a toddler ! I guess I will be doing some shopping next week when I come out of the clouds.

At this point in writing, I still have yet to see a picture of her. I have seen a couple of other people's babies but not ours. Why you may ask? It's possibly because Norman scanned ALL of the papers and tried to e-mail them but it is too much info. EGADS!!!

In regards to the picture of Mimi, the reason why we went to the Japanese Buffet is because she can eat all the clams she wants for $8.00 and then some. The girl managed to pack away 3 plates of clams, 3 bowls of miso soup and 2 pieces of corn. Lord knows where it all goes.

TELLING DAD THE GOOD NEWS

Check out my SwankoPrint!

Developed in SwankoLab for iPhone using SwankoDev A19 and Grizzle Fix

ROAD BLOCK

We have hit a road block on our way to China. Because our homestudy guy did not do what he was supposed to do way back in December, some of our important paperwork got delay. I am speaking specifically of our 171H !!! So even though Norman is working on our referal, unless we mail him this super important paper, everything is on hold. ARGH!!!!!!!!

THE AFTER EFFECT

It took about a hour and a half but the girl got it done with a bit of coaxing from Butch. It's ok for the girl to leave the blanket hanging as it is her tent for the time being. Now for the rest of the house to get done. UGH!!!

BUTCH THE SUPERVISOR

This is the before look.

MAI, MIMI AND TEE

IT'S BEAUTIFCATION DAY

SELF PORTRAIT

Mimi did this herself with her Nintendo DSi.

WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO

Let's see.......finally the March madness is over! Phew! It was the adoption papers, then the tsunami in Japan and at home with Mimi. We have finally hit calm waters here at the Putney household. Now to clean up the mess that Hurricane Mimi has left behind. I'll deal with that later this afternoon. While our California China family was having fun without us in California adventureland/Disneyland this past weekend, we've been having a bit of fun ourselves with our China family up here. To start off the Spring vacation, Mimi went to a Harry Potter theme birthday party on Saturday. Her and Blake said that it was loads and loads of fun. All the kids were put into houses. There were the Griffindores, Ravenclaws and Huffle Puffs (Mimi). No Slytherines. Then when the fun of the party was over, there was the playdate at our house. Blake, Mimi and Shad. Those three I tell you are something else. They play like brothers and sister. Fight, argue and then make up and play nice. Both boys are the big brother at their own home so they both act like a big brother to Mimi. Even though she is the oldest. Then came the get together with our beloved China family at the round table pizza in Auburn. It was great and a fun time was had by all except I think I can safely say that Art and Emma had an OK time there. For Art, he had a ok time. I'm sure it would have been better had his best buddy Greg been there. Dad was home with a bad head cold. So it was mainly all women with the exception of Ron and the rest were kids. Then there was Emma who is almost a tweenager. Out of our group she feels more comfortable with the older girls and not the young ones like Mimi and Elsie. The older girls did not come that night so Emma was the oldest and she just did not want to play with the young'uns. So I gave her my iphone to play with and she played Angry Birds all night long. Next thing I knew Nathan slid right up next to her and they both played. I think Nathan is another future computer geek. That boy is soooooooo smart and loves almost anything electronic. Yesterday after our Kosen Rufu Gongy meeting at the Seattle Culture Center, Blake called and both he and Mimi went to see "HOP". Asked Mimi how she liked it and she says that it was "Awsome!" Today is the first day of Spring break. The weatherman says rain all week. Tell me something new. However Friday and Saturday we are to get some sunny D's. Unbeknownst to Mimi, she is going to have a playdate with Halli and Erin. Janet is going to have oral surgery that day and asked for our babysitting services. So Brandy will have all 4 boys (2 of her own and 2 of Janet's) and I will take the girls. I really don't mind babysitting the girls for my friends cuz it keeps Mimi occupied too. Then maybe Saturday we will take Mimi to the zoo at Point Defience and pack a lunch. I'll have to call Lisa to see if they would like to join us. Or maybe we could go to Ocean Shores. That really would be fun. Then last but not least, we are in this next batch of babies and should be getting our referals this week! Will post here first.