Fun art project (*note* can be messy)

STEP 1: Spray shaving cream into large pan.

STEP 2: Spread the shaving cream evenly with a squeegee.

STEP 3: Use food coloring to make several dots in the shaving cream.

STEP 4: With a plastic knife, make designs by slicing through the dots of food coloring.

STEP 5: Press white printer paper, cardstock, brown paper bags or any other sturdy paper onto the shaving cream design.

STEP 6: Peel paper off and scrape excess shaving cream off of the paper to reveal the beautiful art design you’ve created.

Use your decorative paper for cards, invitations, gift wrap, or colorful art to brighten your walls.

This week. . .

Biggest accomplishment: Ava “swam” with her arm floaties for the first time. She finally let us let go of her and she was extremely proud of herself.

A moment of joy: Ava and Mei Mei rescued a dragon fly that was too water-logged to fly. Ava said something about being one of the Wonder Pets (from a cartoon) who rescues animals. They squealed and jumped with joy when the dragon fly flew away after drying off in the sun.

A moment of sadness: Ava ate a red pepper that I put with her chicken and she told me the dinner I cooked made her sad. Even after chocolate ice cream she was still sad. When I asked what kind of dinner would make her happy, she said, “Chicken legs!” (eewww)

Mommy does something amazing: After getting my car out of a very tight parking space, Ava said, “You are proud now, Mom?”

Most fun: I took Ava to Nathan’s office for awhile so I could go to the dentist. You would have thought she’d been to Disney Land. She was so excited to spend time at Daddy’s office and asked to go back tomorrow while I get my hair cut.

Happiest moment: We took Monster’s, Inc. out of the DVD player and replaced it with Ni Hoa Kai Lan. (I’ve watched bits and pieces of M.I. almost everyday this summer. Ava’s even asked me to draw the characters and I am seriously artistically challenged.)
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Where will Daddy sleep?

Daddy sleeping with Mickey

Ava: Mom, I never slept in your bed.
Me: You’ve slept in my bed many times, Ava.
Ava: Well, how ‘bout I sleep in your bed on the weekends?
Me: Sorry, Daddy has a hard time sleeping with three people in the bed.
Ava: Well, I could just sneak in with you.
Me: And where would Daddy sleep.
Ava: With Mickey Mouse! That a good idea, Mom?

Good friends, good times

Lisa and Clara left tonight after staying with us for six days. I’m not sure who’s more exhausted, the girls or the moms. We started our time together with a trip to Colorado Springs to visit Lisa and Clara’s aunt and cousins. After spending some time with their family, Ava and I headed to our motel in Manitou Springs where we ate a sushi and ice cream dinner from Safeway. Ava declared it was her lucky night- staying in a cheap motel eating bad sushi and more ice cream than we usually allow is apparently all it takes to make her feel lucky.

The next day we came back to Boulder and prepared the girls for two days of Chinese Camp. They went for 6 hours on Sunday and 8 hours on Monday. Monday evening they performed for the parents demonstrating their Kung Fu skills and doing a Chinese hat dance. Lisa and I were pleasantly surprised that we didn’t receive a phone call telling us to come pick up our tired girls from camp. While they were at camp, we took our time shopping on the Pearl St. mall, went for a hike, drank coffee, and bought the girls surprises. We were so proud of our little campers.

On Tuesday, we took Lisa and Clara to our secret mountain stream where we like to wade in the cold, cold water, sail twig boats, and collect rocks. The place has a magical calming effect on me and by the time we got home, we were all ready for happy hour and a movie.

Mixed in between these big events we had plenty of great food, played hard, and thoroughly enjoyed each others’ company. Ava and Clara are a lot like sisters who get along well about 85-90% of the time. There are brief moments of competition for attention from the mommies and an occasional “accident” where one of them ends up with a small owie. Overall, they can’t get enough of each other and they are very sad when it comes time to say good-bye.

Lisa and I could talk for hours (and did) about parenting, spirituality, taking pictures, husbands (how wonderful they are, of course), pets, daily life, food, and the list goes on. Our time together is precious and I am so grateful to have them in our lives. Lisa and I often say that we had no idea adopting a child would include the blessing of such a beautiful friendship. Hopefully Clara and Ava will feel the same as they grow older.

More of the same. . .

Ava’s bike sans pedals

Which makes us very happy. Playing with friends, happy hour, going to the farmers’ market, strolling along the Pearl Street mall, playing in the fountains, hiking, and now. . . learning how to balance on Ava’s bike without pedals.

After seeing many small children who were able to ride a bike, we asked about the secret- take off the pedals and don’t bother with training wheels. They just push themselves along and eventually they start to balance without even realizing it. It’s so fun to go on walks with Ava now rolling along at my side.

This is exactly the summer I’ve always dreamed of- no yard work, no house projects, no school work, just taking life a little bit slower and enjoying each moment.

Before bed tonight. . .

Ava: Mom, are you sixteen?
Me: No, honey, I’m thirty-six.
Ava: Oh, then you are going to die soon?
Me: I don’t think so.
Ava: Well, when will you die?
Me: Probably when I’m very old, but nobody ever knows for sure when they’ll die.
Ava: Oh. Good night, Mom.

(Glad she can go right to sleep after that conversation. I might be up for awhile contemplating mortality.)

Excerpt from Ava’s preschool description. . .

“Our preschool is a contemplative school. The teachers have backgrounds in Waldorf education and in contemplative education. We might do a little meditating and some breathing and yoga exercises on the day your child attends. We want to nourish the spiritual life of your child in a nonreligious manner. So we connect with nature and follow a Waldorf and earth-centered curriculum. Your child might come home talking about “Father Sun” and “Sister Rain”, fairies, gnomes, elves, root children, etc.

Teachers here are more likely to give a response to questions about how something works that grows the imagination and wonder in your child rather than provides a scientific explanation. It’d be great if you would encourage these possibilities for growing the imagination of your child at home as well. If your child asks whether something is true or not, you could simply smile and respond, “I wonder” and leave it at that. We tend to over explain things rather than leave it to the child’s imagination at the preschool age. Let’s put magic and wonder into our children’s lives this summer! There is plenty of time for them to learn the way things actually work but not much time to entrain their brains to view things imaginatively!!!”

(I can’t imagine anything more lovely. That is why I’m paying for her to go a few days this summer when she doesn’t really have to go. She loves it and I would, too!)

Today’s Delights

Hiking. . .
from Ava’s point of view- “I liked the rocks. I climbed way up high and Mommy was scared. Then I played in a stream with my cousins and I could get my feet wet in the super cold water just like they did.”

from Mommy’s point of view- Love getting exercise and, for the second time, Ava made it the entire way. She didn’t even complain about being tired today like she did on Sunday. Watching the kids play in the stream made me smile.

Treats from the bakery (Spruce Confections). . .
from Ava’s point of view- “First I ate all of the frosting off the cake and Mommy didn’t even get any. Then I just let Mommy have some of the cake, well, I think it was a muffin.”

from Mommy’s point of view- Mmmmmm, chocolate and a cappuccino.

Wandering further down the Pearl Street Mall. . .
from Ava’s point of view- “I just wanted to play in the fountains and when I first saw them, I thought they would be too cold. Then my cousins went in and I decided to try. I got soaking wet!”

from Mommy’s point of view- She’s so brave and I love the sound of her squealing with joy. Whenever I wonder about our second child’s adjustment into our family, I imagine him with us at times like this and see him with a smile, too.

Happy Hour at Bimbamboo. . .
from Ava’s point of view- “Well I love the hotstickers (potstickers) with shrimp. And soy sauce is very salty- that’s why I like it.”

from Mommy’s point of view- Mmmm, sweet potato fries and shrimp and leek potstickers make a tasty snack. Ginger ale mixed with lime, mint, and pearl vodka was the perfect accompaniment.

All of this without getting into our car once! We walked out of our front door, went for a hike, got pastries and coffee, played in the fountains, stopped to see Nathan at work, picked up our repaired bike trailer wheel, had happy hour snacks, and walked back home. I don’t think I would ever tire of this lifestyle.

Summer Vacation- week two

Adoption group picnic

Well, week one of summer vacation was spent unpacking and getting settled into the condo that we’re renting until our house is finished. Week two has been much more fun already. We got together with the other 4 families we call our “adoption group” for a picnic on Saturday.

On Monday Ava and I went to Littleton to hang out with my mom and nieces, Lauren and Abigail. Tuesday and Wednesday we’ll meet friends here in Boulder to go to the park, get ice cream, and find a good happy hour deal. Thursday we’ll get the car fixed (it’s 11 years old and the rattling sound it makes is quite embarrassing), and Friday we’ll meet with another friend for Noon Tunes on the Pearl Street Mall.

Life is soooo good living in downtown Boulder. Nathan and I have considered buying the unit that’s for sale next to the one we’re renting. It’s a two bedroom condo with 1200 square feet (and they’re asking $364,000- guess Boulder real estate isn’t suffering too much these days). Then we imagine having two teenagers in that space and know we made the right choice buying something a little bigger in Lafayette (for a more affordable price). Plus, you always want your kids to dream of living somewhere cooler than where they grew up, right?

Summer fun

It’s officially summer break and Ava and I are ready. Poor Nathan still has to go to work each day.

We moved into the temporary rental condo on Monday and have spent a few days unpacking and organizing. The condo is about 2 blocks from the Pearl Street mall (a 10 minute walk with Ava because she likes to take her time). We can walk everywhere- to the grocery store, the farmer’s market, the park, the library, and lots and lots of restaurants and coffee shops. The patio of this condo is surrounded by green trees and plants and it overlooks the Boulder Creek. We feel like we’re on vacation in downtown Boulder.

The inside of the condo is a little outdated, has a funny smell, and is about half the size of our former house. We have a storage unit, but things still feel a little tight with our bikes, strollers, bike trailer, 2 cats, and various other essentials. The residents here are a mixture of college students and older professionals. I haven’t seen any other young children, but the people who live closest to us seem very friendly, especially to Ava. The neighbors have already given her a teddy bear. The people we are renting from plan to move into this condo as soon as their house sells. I feel bad hoping they don’t sell their house in the next 3-4 months because I really don’t want to move again until our house in Lafayette is done.

Ava has transitioned quite well and we are all relieved to be on the downhill slope of moving. We plan to relax and have as much fun as we can this summer. Lisa and Clara will visit in July and we’ll go to Omaha for some time. We hope to go camping a few times and enjoy everything Boulder has to offer. Nathan and I have lived here for 12 years and we’ll miss it when we’re gone. Good thing we’re only moving 10 miles away