An Early Birthday Party

 I let my July babies have birthday parties with friends before the end of the school year. This was Lilah's turn for her birthday at Build-A-Bear. First, she thought she wanted a Minion.

 But the Elsa Bear looked pretty good, too.

 And that's what she chose, along with best bud Kylieann.

 Her sisters were into it, too.

 And I think everyone had a good time.

 Jolie was a little late, but all smiles.

 Then it was outside for cupcakes and juice. Lilah likes the icing best.

 Later we went to the beach for a little fun in the sand.

A Very Busy Week

Sweet and sassy.
Ava is a great gardener and really enjoys it. She's also a pretty cool cowgirl, but wanted very much to walk to her classroom without Mommy, but I insisted. She did a great job in her dance performance with her class.

And up next, some very fashionable members of the audience:

Sister Love

Happy Family Day!

Three years! It was a trip that at times moved at light speed and at others dragged by on the back of a tortoise. I had to leave my two girls with Nana and take the trip alone--that was the hardest part of this adoption trip. I had travel whittled down to 10 days, which meant hours after I landed in Guangzhou I was in the Civil Affairs office sneaking peeks of my baby girl who sat on a bench in a side room with no real clue about what was to come. I posted about our first moments here http://crazeenluv.blogspot.com/2012/05/got-her.html

Three years ago, my baby girl was a feisty toddler. And that spunk has gotten her through open heart surgery, spinal surgery, and in less than a month what I hope will be a final surgery.

She is strong, healthy and happy.

She is a daughter, sister, granddaughter and niece. She is a friend and a scholar. She is so many wonderful things. But at heart, she is a warrior.

Weekly Round-Up

Lilah had her last class of gymnastics for a while. She is a very active girl and really loves her gymnastic classes. And they're very good for her sensory-wise as well. But with surgery coming up in less than a month I've decided to keep her out of the gym and in the pool as we continue her swim lessons until we're ready to leave for the hospital. It's been very "May gray" around here, with the sun peeking through every once in a while, but all the girls love to swim and we get to the Y almost daily through the summer and even into the end of September--this will be very hard on Lilah when the older two get to go during her recovery (6-8 weeks). We're trying to come up with a plan that will make my girl a little happier about her restricted activity.

Also this week, Maddie has a friend over to help her celebrate her birthday -- several weeks early. I let the Maddie and Lilah have a "birthday" party before the end of the school year as they have July birthdays and it's a lot harder to get friends together in the summer. I took them to the movies last night--Tomorrowland" and they're having a sleepover. (I woke up at 4:23 this morning and they were still up! Had to insist it was definitely bedtime now:)).

We got Sea World passes and this will be a fun thing to do this summer--Lilah will be able to participate even if she has to spend some time in the stroller. We had to cancel any possibility of a vacation--our week at Mammoth and 5 days at Disneyland (moved DL to the week of Thanksgiving--the girls love pool/resort time at the Disneyland Hotel so I'm hoping the Christmas decorations will be an equalizer). I also ordered the math and language arts common core curriculum that I will use to teach Ava and Lilah this summer. Still working on finding the best plan of study for Maddie this summer. This will be the first summer that we sit down 4-5 days a week for 90 minutes and prep for the coming school year. The girls will also read daily (or close to it) as part of a summer incentive program.

The Arts-Maddie and Ava will take a class in throwing pottery this summer. They'll learn to work the wheel, fire and glaze. We're also looking into starting cello (Ava) and piano (Lilah).

And in an attempt to relax this summer, the kids will not be participating in any sports. Recreational swimming, swim lessons and going to the gym is it. The crazy pace of this last year (4 nights a week and Saturday morning!) has us rethinking how we spend our time.

Friday Night

 And my big girl is off to the MORP (Prom spelled backwards). Isn't she lovely! It's a semi-casual affair for 7th and 8th graders.

Maddie with a friend from school. They drove in together (friend's father did the honors) and I get to pick them up. There are no "dates" for this dance--I get a few more years to prepare myself for that!

May Gray

But the girls are troopers. We started swim lessons early this year and the weather hasn't been cooperative.

 So I bundle them up as soon as they get out. . .

and the smiles return.