Picture from May 2006

Anna has some money left over from a valentine gift card.  She of course wants to go shopping and spend it.  Scott suggested that maybe she should just save it for a rainy day.  

Anna's reply:  "Silly Daddy, I don't want to buy any clouds!"

A Belated Happy Birthday Post for Wesley The Conqueror

We are having a hard time swallowing the fact that our first born is now 17 years old!  We are extremely proud of you Wesley as you are making your way in this world!  Your reputation as a responsible leader at school, your determination to see things through and your intelligence and industrious talents are all important but what we are most pleased with is your character and your stance on taking the road that is "less travelled".  Remember to take as many people with you as you can, there are so many who have difficulty finding their way and just need someone to call back to them with encouragement and direction. We love you! What a blessing for us to be your parents!

Moon Sand

So this really nice lady tells me about moon sand and how her daughter loves it!  The best thing being that it is not messy like regular sand and it keeps her daughter busy at the kitchen table as she cooks.  Hmmm, I think, this is new, as I would not think it possible to have any kind of non-messy sand.  But this is 2008, and there is a lot of new stuff out there that was not out when my boys were little, so let's get some!  As Anna played happily on the screened porch where I could see her partially through the window and hear her as the door leading to the porch was open, I could hear her singing and could tell she was busy with her sand.  I got some laundry done, the dishes unloaded and reloaded, and even answered some emails.  I'm thinking, yes, moon sand is great!  Then I go to the porch as Anna wants to show me something.  I asked her, "Do we know how the moon sand got everywhere?" Her reply, "Mommy, I was feeding the birds and the ants. They were very hungry!"  Because this is a screened porch I had to vacuum with a shop vac as the moon sand got all in the Trex flooring crevices and in the crevices of the table edge, she even sprinkled sand (I mean "fed the birds and ants") all along the wood trim ledges of the porch. It took me much longer to clean the porch than it did to get all my other chores done so I lost a good 25 minutes on this deal.  I am just glad Will was my voice of reason at Walmart and I did not buy the big, extra bonus bucket of moon sand.  Thank you Will!  Do click on the photo's to enlarge and see the sand and Anna's expressions! These pics came out a bit dark.

Panda Dress and Pinky Pie

Anna knew exactly what she wanted to wear to the show this morning..... her Panda dress.  She is holding Pinky Pie, one of her favorite ponies!  This was taken after the show.

My Little Pony Live, World's Biggest Tea Party

We had a terrific time this morning!  What a joy to watch our wide-eyed girl so filled with excitement to see the ponies "live"!  Of course she knows all of their names as she watches the videos in the car and has collected a tote bag full of the different ponies. Because of that fact, Wesley and Will know most of the ponies names as well and find that to be very disturbing! Especially as they are very girly/sweet such as Pinky Pie, Rainbow Dash, Wysteria, Minty, Sunny Days, Morning Glory, and Thistle Whistle, to name a few, and then the list goes on forever.  HaHa......our little secret!  No they did not go to the show and they would want that disclaimer posted!  What a blessing to share this with Anna as I am enjoying the girly/sweet stuff right along with her!

North Carolina FTC Champions!

Congratulations to Wesley's Robotics team winning 1st place at the Tournament in NC in which 38 teams competed!  They are looking forward to competing at the GA Dome on  April 17-19 where they will be one of 100 FTC teams from the US,  Canada, South America  and China. This is the national competition of all the winners from other tournaments. Pictured are the team "3 Brothers and Wesley" with all of their awards and trophies for this season including: Connect Award from Tennessee, Inspire Award (highest award given at any tournament) from Atlanta's competition,  The 1st Place Win and Innovation Award from NC.  Way to go guys, you not only build great robots, but also have  great attitudes in your competitions!

Wonderful week

Our "Gotcha" day celebration has turned into a fun filled week of celebrating.  On Monday the actual day, Anna wanted "Mommy's Spaghetti" for dinner or Psssghetti as Anna would say.   Funny she loves Italian Cuisine more so than Chinese. Also cupcakes with pretty sprinkles. Tuesday we hosted our FCC group and had nine mommies and 10  little dark haired girls ( 3 others also from Hunan) over for a morning brunch and playtime.  Scott was the recreation director and supervised them in our playroom, played "red light, green light" in the basement, then ran them silly playing freeze tag outside!  The moms were able to enjoy themselves and said all their girls conked out for a good nap when they got home!   Thanks my dear hubby.....you are the best!!  Yesterday I took Anna for story time/craft at a local bookstore (also with our FCC group) then we went to a park for a picnic and playtime.  Saturday morning we are taking Anna to "My Little Pony Live, The World's Largest Tea Party"!!!  She has been counting the days!  This was the best photo of FCC play group I could get as I could not keep them still long enough or get them to stop playing long enough to look at the camera! 

Happy 3rd "Gotcha" Day

Three years ago today, the most precious of gifts was placed in our arms.  The beauty and miracle of this gift......... we will never get over!  Adored little sister, our princess and daughter forever....... we LOVE you more than words can say!  Happy "Gothcha" day to you our dearest Anna Faith Rui Henderson, and to  all of our Ping Jiang family as we celebrate the Joy each cherished daughter brings to us each day.   James 1:17  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Brothers building bookshelves for Anna

Anna loves her new bookshelves the boys put together for her room.  She also loved "helping" with the project and "supervising" the construction phase!  The boys were good sports even when she ran off with "parts" that had to be retrieved!  What fun to put books and other "favorite" things on them!