handsful

Abbey and Marley enjoyed cheerleading camp last week.  Here they are on the last day, when all the girls performed for their parents.  They did great :) 

Lots to say, but not many pictures.  We’ve been busy, and most of the time haven’t had the camera with us (gasp).  I’ll add the pictures we do have, and give a quick run-down on what we’ve been up to!  As you can tell, I wasn’t sure what to call this post…

• This weekend, we took our ski boat out on the river.  This was Lainey’s second time on the boat, but first to take a dip in the river…surprisingly, she loved it.  Hee hee.  The big news is that Ethan got up on his wakeboard!!  He’s been trying to do that since last summer, and we were whooping and hollering when he did it on Saturday!  There are no pictures because I knew I couldn’t handle Lainey AND the camera.  Making sure she stays seated while the boat is in motion is a full-time job.  We’ve decided that we need to get a “point and shoot” kind of camera, one that is much more portable than our Nikon, just for times like that.  Take it from me, he looked great and the smile on his face was priceless. 

As a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, I feel it’s my duty to tell you that Lainey did NOT want to wear this.  She allowed me to put it on her, took one look, and started frantically signing “all done”.  It’s true.  But, I convinced her to keep it on for a few pictures.  This is the NC State cheerleading outfit that both Abbey and Marley wore when they were little, and I tried it on Lainey today to see how it fits.  It’s still a little big, so there is room to grow…and, maybe with time, she’ll learn to like it.  ;) 

• About a week ago, Randy and I bought ourselves an early anniversary present.  Bikes!  We decided that we wanted to be able to take bike rides, all 7 of us.  Randy’s old bike is OLD and not usable.  About a year ago, Abbey took mine (and passed hers down to Marley).  So, a trip to the sporting goods store was in order.  We also got one of those cute hook-on toddler seats and an adorable helmet with pink bunnies, so Lainey rides on Randy’s bike.  There are no pictures (yet) because we’ve been going in the early evening and it’s been too dark. 

What IS this thing mama put on me?

• Have we mentioned yet that Lainey is the next Houdini?  Honestly, she’s really good at getting out of something or into something.  For instance, she’s figured out how to unbuckle the latch on the straps of her carseat.  More than once, I’ve looked behind me to see her with both arms out, dangling out the front of her seat.  Not good.  We now have a plastic thingy holding the straps together that Randy found at Home Depot and she’s not figured it out (yet).  And, that’s not all.  She knows how to step on the pedal to open the gate between the kitchen and front room…can unlock all the doors in the house…and, can unbuckle her booster chair at the table.  NONE of our other kids did any of this.  Fun, fun. 

Guess who made dinner tonight?  Abbey decided she wanted to prepare our meal for tonight and spent this weekend looking in my Southern Living Easy Weeknight Favorites cookbook for her plans.  She made Molasses-Grilled pork tenderloin (with help from dad on the grill), Southern Fried potatoes, Sesame knots, and Polka dots for dessert.  I helped some, but Abbey did most of the work and was very proud of herself….and so were we, it was all SO good!  We sorta skipped a veggie tonight, oh well :)  Here’s a shot of dessert…

• Today was our 6 month post-adoption visit from our social worker.  China requires a 6 month and 12 month post-adoption report to make sure that everything is going well.  Our SW will write up the report and send it to our agency who will then forward a copy of it to the CCAA, along with 4 pictures that show Lainey with her new family.  He was very happy with how Lainey is doing, saying she looks very comfortable in her new home.  Our official 6 months home isn’t until next week…you know I’ll do a post about that! 

This is our last full week of summer, with our 8th year of homeschooling beginning 8/21.  A 7th grader, 3, 5th graders, and a very busy toddler trying her best to get into the middle of it.  Should be fun.