Henderson Happenings

Will's Formal

2011-05-10T21:45:00.001-04:00

It's been over a year since I posted.....yikes time flies. Not that I am trying to"keep up" at this point.....I am too far gone. Anyway, wanted everyone to see how wonderful he looks in his new duds. Can not believe he just had his 18th birthday. We love you Will.....so proud of you.

Random Post

2010-03-30T17:38:00.004-04:00

It has been so very long since I last posted I am not sure I remember how to do this! Having a 12th and 10th grader in High school and then homeschooling Anna has kept me so busy this year! I hope to pick the blogging experience back up again and thought I would just jump right back in. I am posting a picture of Anna as Belle.....I took her to a local production of Beauty and the Beast. She loves all the princesses of course so she had to dress the part as well!

Anna's Favorite Pony

2009-04-26T14:56:00.003-04:00

Anna is still loving her pony Butterscotch. She loves to sit on her pony for a TV and juice break. She also loves to dress Butterscotch in loads of jewelry and bows as she pretends they are in a parade or going to a princess ball. Through the winter, Anna had to make sure her pony had her blanket on just right before she could go to bed. Even read her a story.....about horses of course! This girl is crazy about horses! She loves to gallop around the yard on her stick horse named "Thunder" with the wind blowing through her hair. On more than one occasion she has moved her dolls out of the doll house and moved her "My Little Ponies" back in. Thankfully we only have to walk down the street for her to watch our neighbors horses run around and that is one of her favorite things to do as well.

High Museum/ Chinese New Year

2009-04-23T15:23:00.003-04:00

Earlier in the year we celebrated Chinese New Year with our friends at a very authentic Chinese restaurant. It was a beautiful Dim Sum restaurant as they brought out so many little plates of dumplings filled with surprises! A couple of the kids tried some chicken feet.

The food was so authentic in fact, we were all still quite hungry after we left and ate again when we got home! On a separate outing, our families also enjoyed being together as we viewed the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta. China is so rich with history as the ancient artifacts tell so many stories. It was quite an experience to see the warriors faces up close, each one unlike any other. The families also made their own small terra cotta warrior out of clay, after the exhibit. We enjoyed our little "visit" back to China minus the long plane trip!

Where Have We Been?

2009-04-21T16:23:00.005-04:00

Well, I started Anna's Lifebook in January and what can I say? It took over for several months as I scrapbooked our journey to Anna with heartfelt details of so much of her story....our story. The most amazing story of God bringing her to us and us to her.... as a forever family. Very emotional. Many very late nights and working before the dawn. You all know how hard it is to find extra time for projects as we also keep up with our households and families! My hope and prayer is for this to be a treasure for my precious girl all her days. My desire is for her to see our loving Father's hand in every detail of her life. I am further down the road of this amazing adoption journey, by having done this book for my Anna. As you can see in the picture, my dining room was a disaster off and on, for quite some time. Note how Anna had to work on her "own" scrapbook while I worked. I just gave her some poster board and she then took all of my scraps....cutting and gluing like crazy! For the most part our project is now complete and we are now back to the blogging world again! Also blogging friends, I printed all of my 2008 blog in a book. Hopefully another keepsake of sorts for my children as they can remember back over our family activities during the years. My plan is to backtrack and post some about our year thus far and try to play catch up!

Will's Recovery

2009-01-15T11:36:00.004-05:00

We just wanted to thank everyone for your prayers and concern for Will's recovery from his knee surgery in December. He is now through with physical therapy and should continue to improve with time and use. He is out of commission for this basketball season but hopes to play soccer again in the fall. These are some shots of him playing soccer before the injury that actually took place in one of these games.

Christmas morning

2008-12-28T22:07:00.006-05:00

Wesley and Will are happy with their XBOX and games! They were adamant about getting up before Anna came in to see her gifts from Santa. They wanted to see her expressions as she first came in the room. They ended up having to wait as the princess slept in a bit....we do not awaken the sleeping princess unless we have too! We actually had a thunderstorm Christmas Eve which is unusual for this time of year, therefore she went to bed later than usual. Anna was concerned about Santa and the lightning! We had a great morning as we all got to enjoy the fun of Santa again through Anna, watching her priceless expressions as she opened gifts, and more importantly the gift of being together as a family as we celebrate and cherish the greatest gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; Immanuel--"God with us".

Santa delivers Butterscotch for Princess Anna

2008-12-28T21:47:00.006-05:00

Anna was thrilled to get her request of "a horse she could keep in her room" and she has named her pony....Butterscotch. Butterscotch makes galloping sounds and neighs when you press on her ears. Anna drags Butterscotch by her reign, through the house as we have hard wood floors so pony can slide! It is so funny to see her treat Butterscotch like a real live pony, dragging her from room to room (she is heavy!) and talking to her, as well as "feeding" her and giving her water. She also loves to dress in her princess outfits and pretend she is riding off to her castle. Anna loved all her presents this year and she was so surprised and excited over each one. After unwrapping a gift she would say, "Thank you, this is what I have always wanted"!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-28T21:13:00.004-05:00

After attending Christmas Eve services at our church, we took the kids' annual picture under their stockings. We always wait until Christmas Eve to hang their stockings. As you can see this activity excites Anna as she realizes Santa will be officially on his way! The boys laugh that Anna's stocking is quite a bit bigger than theirs. Of course there is sentimental value as the boys have had theirs for many years and did not want new ones, therefore when our precious Anna came along there was no way to match hers with theirs. Well, so it goes the princess has the biggest stocking and she is rather proud of that fact!

Visit with Santa

2008-12-20T21:50:00.005-05:00

Our boys never cared much for a visit with Santa and Anna has followed suit! She prefers to mail in her list. Well it was family night at our Chick-fil-a restaurant and Santa was there so we made plans to have dinner and see Santa. Free, that is, which is really nice these days! We figured if she decided not to visit, we would have dinner and just watch him from afar then put Anna's list in the mailbox they had provided. She decided to be brave and visit, however as she was one of the first in line,when they called her up, she latched on to Will and begged him to come with her. He was a good sport and gave her the support she needed. All is well as she let Santa know what she wants for Christmas...... a HORSE! Then she added, "one that can stay in my room"! Note she is holding her beloved Thunder as she talks to Santa. To make double sure Santa didn't forget, Anna dictated to me as I wrote her request then she placed her list in the mailbox! This girl loves horses so tune in after Christmas to see if Santa delivers!

Anna's Newest Ornament

2008-12-20T21:31:00.003-05:00

Every year my mom gets the kids a new ornament and gives it to them on Thanksgiving. They have quite the collection and she gets something that commemorates the year for them in some special way. This year Anna was given a little ballerina as she started dance this year. A ballerina in purple as this is her favorite color. She also got a "My Little Pony" ornament. Will got a GA Bulldog and Wesley got an Irishman. Long story on that one! Here is Anna showing us her ornament. This is one happy girl as she LOVES Christmas and all the activities that go on this special time of year!

I Am Too an Angel! See My Wings!

2008-12-03T17:13:00.002-05:00

Anna has added some new words to our family's vocabulary. Here are just a few!

Tomorning: reference of time, to take place in the morning or sometime in the near future.

Yessernight: another reference of time, last night or sometime in the recent past.

Pessert: something yummy and delicious that gets to be eaten sometime after dinner.

Ms. Pizzazz: term used by Anna's brothers when they want to get our Spicy girl all riled up. They started this endearing term because she loves to be the center of attention and wear fancy costumes. For some reason it makes her absolutely furious and at that point the boys do not think she is quite the ANGEL anymore!

Practicing Ballet

2008-11-25T14:48:00.002-05:00

Anna loves taking Ballet and Tap every Monday morning! She has to practice her tapping in the laundry room or garage. She can practice her ballet most any where. She will tell you she is ready to have us all come and see her show!

Tinkerbell/Halloween

2008-11-13T21:10:00.002-05:00

Anna really got into the whole trick or treating deal this year. She was on the move to fill that bag with candy! She was very good at saying Thank you and Happy Halloween as she felt she had to get both in because we practiced it before hand. That Tinkerbell.....gotta love her! She gets to pick one treat a day and feels the need to dump the whole bucket out every time! Decisions.....decisions!

Hiking and Eating Apple Pie!

2008-10-29T20:44:00.002-04:00

We made a short hike to a beautiful waterfall and then made our way to our favorite apple orchards. We took home lots of apples and fresh cider. As you can see Anna was enjoying her fried apple pie down to the last bite. The boys ate theirs so fast I didn't get the picture in time! Happy Autumn to everyone!

Pumpkin Farm and Hay Ride

2008-10-29T20:30:00.003-04:00

We just love this time of year and in spite of a little rain, we made our trip to Burt's Pumpkin farm in Dawsonville GA. We were the only ones on the hay ride but not the only ones out in the rain. We had a great time and the scenery was beautiful!

Anna The Plumber!

2008-10-19T15:25:00.003-04:00

We had a small leak under our kitchen sink so Scott and Anna took care of it. This girl likes to be in the middle of everything! Of course I made sure it was nice and clean under there before I let her climb in with her dad! That is the good thing about a leak, it makes you clean out all the old cleaning supplies and tidy up under there! Anna loves to fiddle around in Scott's tool bag and ask what things are for and what they do. When she was younger, she liked to use it as a doctor bag and somehow got my Dad's toe in a wrench when he wasn't paying attention, then twisted it! No more playing doctor Anna after that! Her very important job on this project was to hold the flashlight for Dad. Well done Scott and Anna the plumbers.

Pudgy the Panda Comes To Visit

2008-10-07T07:26:00.003-04:00

Anna's class mascot came for a visit a few weekends ago. Pudgy stayed by her side for all of our activities. We made some scrapbook pages and kept a journal of the visit to share with the class upon Pudgy's return. Some highlights include Anna reading all of her library books to Pudgy, and playing in the dollhouse with Anna's own little Panda and little ponies. The dolls actually had to move out for a few days to make room! Of course no visit would be complete without a little shopping!

Swinging (Wanted to get this in with the last post)

2008-09-28T15:48:00.005-04:00

Something Old/Something New!

2008-09-28T14:36:00.005-04:00

Friends were getting rid of their old playground as their kids are in high school now. Yes friends, children do grow that quickly! The sad old playset they were going to throw away, Scott loaded on to a trailor to bring home and then used a tractor to move it to our play-yard. Scott and Will did a total renovation by adding a lot of new lumber, new slide, swings,trapeze bar, ship steering wheel and canopy. Throw on several coats of paint and Anna has a brand new playset! She loves it! Scott and Will did a great job! Here are some photos of the project before and after.

Aunt Peggy

2008-09-12T16:50:00.005-04:00

We wanted to post a Happy Birthday/tribute message to our Aunt Peggy. Aunt Peggy has been the best Aunt to me and then became the best "great aunt" to my children! She has always shared the good times and the bad times with our family and is always one to remember us in special ways. Thanks Great Aunt Peggy and a Be-lated Happy Birthday to you! These photos are of Aunt Peggy baking cookies with Anna. She makes the worlds best cookies by the way. The other is of a special teacup and saucer Aunt Peggy brought from her travels to London and gave to Princess Anna. This china is from the "royal collection" and story goes this gift came straight from the Queen who just so happened to be at Windsor Castle! Anna treasures this gift as do I! We love you Aunt Peggy and you will always hold a special place in our hearts!

Hand On Your Hip and Finger On Your Lip

2008-09-07T21:41:00.004-04:00

So we are walking through the house and Anna turns to me and says, "Mommy, Hand on your hip and finger on your lip! This is how we walk in the hall at school!" I made her freeze that way so I could grab my camera and catch the moment. She was squirming when I got back but I got the shot! I love the way Anna gives me details of her day at school! We love going through her notebook as she shows me all her projects for the day! The other day she talked all the way home and finally said with a big sigh, "Mommy, isn't it good being just me and you, and don't you like all this nice peace and quiet now that the boys are back in school!"

Off to Preschool

2008-08-28T16:24:00.003-04:00

Anna has completed her 2nd week of preschool and she is doing great! We are liking the schedule and she loves her teacher and class. She is in Mrs. Pam's Panda's! How fitting for us! Several days when Scott has worked from his home office, he insisted on taking Anna with me then picking her up also. The church is only 10 minutes from our home so that makes it nice. Scott is as bad as I am at wanting to get there a few minutes early so we can be at the front of the line to pick her up at 12:00! Scott and I got a lunch date in also which we needed! Here are two photos from the very first day. Our girl is growing up so fast!

Sprinkler Fun

2008-08-18T11:58:00.003-04:00

We survived the first week of school! Today was a bit easier to get out of bed as we are getting our days and nights back on school time! Anna missed her brothers last week and we were busy shopping for the last few items on our back to school and soccer lists. Also had meet the teacher day at Anna's preschool. She will be going Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 12:00. We have talked a lot about it all and I keep assuring her she will love learning, crafts, and making friends. This will be new for her and she tells me she is "a little bit nervous" about it but "sort of" ready to go and try it out! Please pray for her as she had a rough go of it last year for the preschool setting, so I pulled her out. This preschool is more structured and Anna likes that sort of thing so I think this will fit her a bit better. Not letting Anna know, but I am feeling "nervous" too! I am glad we will still have our Mondays and Fridays together! Anna is still enjoying the fun of summer as you can tell by these pictures. She actually wants a big swimming pool so she can start diving like on the olympics! She has enjoyed watching some of the events in the evenings as we have the TV on, and talks about all her family coming to watch her swim and dive in the olympics!

Back from the Beach

2008-08-11T14:53:00.007-04:00

I have the back from the beach and back to school BLUES. We had a great summer and the boys were okay with the return of school today...... but it is me. I miss them. They are both going out for the school soccer team so I won't see them until 6:00 or 6:30 most days. I love the freedom of summer..... late nights, taking our time in the mornings, not paying attention to the clock all the time! With school in, it seems we have time for dinner, homework then bedtime. No more late night talks and milkshakes, no more swimming by the light of the moon and waking by our body clock vs. the dreaded alarm! I think too because the talk of college preparations starts this year for (11th grade) Wesley, I am wanting the summer to last forever so I do not have to face the facts of this next phase and letting him go. Here are some photos of our recent trip back to the beach. What a blessing to be able to use my parent's place during the summers! It makes it tempting to pack everyone back up and run away from the world!!! Somebody stop me!

July 4th and Fireworks

2008-07-09T14:19:00.006-04:00

I am a bit late in posting these pics as Anna and I have been down and out with summer colds. Yuck! We have been pretty miserable together, fevers included, but are still trying to get things ready to head back to the salt air/ocean soon. Anna went to the Publix grocery store with me to get the supplies for our cook out at home and later fireworks outing. Note the big flag balloon in the picture. She marched all through the busy store singing "Hooray for the RED, WHITE, and BLUE"! As she sang and floated her flag balloon through the store, she even made the grumpy type people smile! She also picked out the cookie cake we took to help us bide the time for the fireworks to begin later that evening. We will always treasure Anna's Chinese heritage and be forever grateful for all that comes with it for us and for her, but we will also enjoy the fact that this girl is one flag waving, freedom loving, hot dog/apple pie eating American Girl! May God Bless America!

On Blueberry Hill

2008-07-05T09:55:00.008-04:00

On July 1st, Anna and I along with lots of friends (about 13 little girls and 3 little boys from China) from our FCC group, went blueberry picking on top of Blueberry Hill bright and early in the morning. That is the true name of the farm and it is only about 4 miles from our house. This fine old southern gentleman grows his many rows of blueberry bushes with no pesticides so we could eat as we picked. YUM! It was fun to see all of the children in their patriotic clothes picking and eating blueberries up and down Blueberry Hill. The weather was perfect, not too hot which is unusual for July! We all went for a picnic lunch afterwards. As from the photos you can see Anna and I picked our fair share---7 quarts to be exact! We ate a bunch, put some in the fridge to make blueberry pancakes, and Anna helped me put the rest in 20 small freezer bags to use later. This girl is definitely my little worker bee and best helper. She stuck with me the whole time, only stopping for a moment to play with a ladybug!

Will and his skimboard ready to catch some waves!

2008-07-02T15:34:00.003-04:00

Fishing and Swimming

2008-07-02T15:31:00.005-04:00

Scott and the boys along with their friends went deep sea fishing on my Dad's boat "the Hombre" and caught a boatload. We took the Red Snapper, Grouper, and MaihiMaihi to a local restaurant and they cooked it for us. They call it "Hook and Cook". You catch it and they will do the cooking! It was so delicious as we had plates overflowing with some grilled fish and some fried just the way we like it! Good eatin guys.....thanks for the great dinner!

Wesley ready to launch Anna to her Daddy in the pool!

Loving the Summertime!

2008-07-02T15:07:00.002-04:00

We had great fun at the beach and plan on all of us going back the end of next week. Anna is swimming like a fish, make that a MERMAID, as she would correct me on that one! She will sometimes cross her legs, holding them together to swim with her "mermaid tail"! I am having to watch her like a hawk because she swims under water so much, sometimes holding her breath almost too long and swallowing water! I often pick her up from being face down in the water, then look into her purple goggles to tell her to take a break and breath some air!! As she breathes heavy, she says, "but I swimmin Mommy.........I'm a mermaid"! And oh how she likes to go diving after things! The only trouble with the goggles is if she sees a bug in the pool. She will let you know where it is so you can stay away from it or even better........GET IT OUT! These pics are of Anna on our 11th floor balcony, in her Tinkerbell bathing suit and then later having her snack under the gazebo that overlooks the beach.

Off to the beach

2008-06-06T15:58:00.009-04:00

This Sunday, we are headed to Panama City Beach for our summer fun! We will not have access to a computer so I am going to miss you my blogger friends!!! Anna and I plan to stay through the week of July 4th while our guys Scott, Wesley and Will stay for a little over a week then come back and forth a few times to hopefully get more fun time in. Will loves to skim board, and Wesley loves to deep sea fish. (But they all have some work to do at our subdivision in North GA) Sorry guys! Now that they are older, Scott works/teaches them some in the summer. They will be running some tractors and clearing some paths in the lots. Anna, myself and Nanny (my mom) will hold down her condo while you are away! PaPa will join us some too. Somebody needs to take advantage of the seaside! Wesley is taking an elective history class (he is a history buff ) end of June and Will has a basketball camp so Scott and the boys will be hanging out together some too. I am hoping Scott can get the laptop working so he can bring it back to me. If not I may ask him to check your blogs so I can get updates on everyone! (He has enjoyed keeping up with our Pingjiang family too)! Happy Summer everyone! Anna has been packing everything she sees! Her princess pocket book and backpack are full of "her things" she wants to take. She loves her new, first pair of flip-flops and tried them out in the store to make sure they had that "flip flop" sound when she walks. She actually tried on just about every pair in Kohl's department store and told me I just needed to "be patient" while she was shopping. Scott started her love of shoes when we were in China as he bought her quite a few pairs of squeakie shoes while we were there! And oh how she loves "high heels"! She often takes note of ladies who wear them when we are out and about, saying "look at those high heel shoes"! She is wearing her own "high heels" in her birthday photos. She will definitely want to take several pairs of shoes with us to the beach but for the most part us girls will be barefoot in the sand and sea! Wish we could take you all with us!

Anna's Happy Birthday

2008-06-04T18:28:00.004-04:00

On May 30th, Anna turned 4 years old! Time is going by way too quickly! Our birthday traditions include your choice of cake/dessert and anything you want for dinner. The kids always want a home made dessert and meal. Of course Anna wanted a princess theme this year. Our princess helped pick out the party supplies and she chose pink roses for the cake we made together. Dark chocolate cake with buttercream icing. Oh yeah, and lots of extra butterfly sprinkles! Her favorite spaghetti for dinner. Anna has waited through everyone else's birthday this Spring so we could tell she was going to take full advantage of the day..... in keeping with the princess attitude. She sweetly asked her Daddy if he was taking her out to lunch for her birthday and as the Steven Curtis Chapman, "Cinderella" song plays lovingly in our heads, Scott put a busy morning aside to take his Cinderella to lunch. She picked McDonalds (Mom usually says NO to that request) and they went shopping for her choice of birthday balloons. What a JOY you are to us Princess Anna Faith Rui Henderson! Thank you God for this wonderful surprise of LOVE! We are forever grateful for this precious daughter....... we longed for so many years.

The Artist at Work

2008-06-01T16:57:00.003-04:00

Anna is quite the aspiring artist. She loves to paint on her easel with tempera paints and she also loves to use watercolors. Here she is painting the lovely roses she sees as well as a few other things. Of course I think all of her paintings are great, but on this one I especially love the red rose at the top left of her painting!

Birds In The Spring

2008-05-24T14:57:00.009-04:00

This has been a springtime of bird incidents. We posted on Easter Sunday of Anna holding her little birdie friend. We checked out a bird book from the library and found our friend to be a Chickadee as we compared our picture with the one in the book. Anna and I laughed as the book described them to be very friendly birds who will sometimes eat from your hand. We have had a bird or birds building nests in our grill. You wouldn't believe the smoke the first time the nest burned (no birds or eggs thank goodness) as we did not see it until it was too late. We now are checking carefully before lighting and have removed another nest and a partial nest. A Bluebird got stuck in the pipe of our basketball goal (thank goodness we heard in fluttering in there) so we had to lay the goal down until the poor thing finally came out. And finally a Brown Thrasher keeps building a nest among my recycle bags in the garage. Some days when Anna and I go out into the garage, we have to duck because our birdie friend flies out right over our heads. Anna has always loved birds and ducks. I love these pictures from our last house when she was so little! The boys had bought this big inflatable duckie pool for Anna and we filled it with their old beanie babies. She loved to climb in and play, one of her favorites being the Robin. Gotta love her expression when she saw the duck for the first time. She wasn't talking yet, but you can see the thoughts all over her face. "This is the biggest duck I have ever seen!" Since we are talking birds, I will post a simple poem that I really like and memorized as I so want to be a good listener. Sorry I do not know the author.

A Wise Old Bird Sat On an Oak

The More She Saw, The Less She Spoke

The Less She Spoke, The More She Heard

Lord, Make Me Like That Wise Old Bird

Robotics Results from the Georgia Dome

2008-05-16T09:14:00.004-04:00

The FIRST Robotics World Championship event held at the GA Dome, consisted of seven matches spaced out over a two day period. World wide there are over 800 FIRST Vex teams. "3 Brothers and Wesley" fought hard at tournaments in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina to be one of the 100 winning teams represented at the Dome. They fought hard and won six out of the seven matches played! They ended up as the 3rd place Captain alliance in the Edison Division and triumphed through the quarter finals, but lost in the semi-final match. In the second day of competition, the event was opened by President George W. Bush! While speaking, President Bush commented that this event was the "WWF for smart people." The team had the opportunity to meet and shake hands with Dean Kamen, the founder of the FIRST organization, inventor of the Segway, Auto Syringe (mobile dialysis machine), and the all terrain electric wheelchair (iBOT) among other accomplishments. Congratulations team, we are all so proud of you and we look forward to a great return for next year! ( Dean Kamen is in the group picture. )

A rainbow for anyone with the "Blooey Blues"

2008-05-13T22:25:00.004-04:00

Anna loves to draw rainbows. One day she said, "Mommy, sometimes if you are really sad, and you are so sad you don't even feel like playing....... you just have the Blooey Blues.

I answer her with , "When you have the Blooey Blues, what should you do?"

Anna says, "Well you just go to bed, cover up and go to sleep. Then when you wake up, the Blooey Blues will be all gone."

"Okay".

At this point I am wondering where in the world this information came from so I ask her, "How do you know all this?"

She replies, "Wow Wow Wubbzy ."

So, for anyone out there with the Blooey Blues, don't worry about it, just go back to bed and sleep it off! That should do the trick, but if it doesn't, Anna has colored you a rainbow on her chalkboard! Have a great day!

Sugar and Spice, Make that an extra measure of SPICE

2008-05-04T17:54:00.008-04:00

This photo is of Anna who wanted to stay outside playing, rather than take a shower!

While working on our taxes, Scott and I had piles of paper everywhere. I told Anna to Not Touch any thing as this "paper work" was very important. Her reply, "Mommy don't be adiculous (ridiculous)! Papa lets me do paper work all the time! " (Papa lets her do whatever she wants)!

One of Anna's often used expressions is, "I am so FRUSHERATED!" While at the dentist waiting for Wesley, the appointment took a very long time. Anna who was as pretty as a picture in a girly dress with bows to match, had waited entirely too long for her brother. It was finally time to check out, but by the reception desk and in front of a very crowded room full of patients...... Anna lost it. "Dang It, Dang It, Dang It, Dang It! I am tired of this place and this is taking too long!" Was what came very loudly out of my lovely princess's mouth! One receptionist was on the phone and started laughing so hard she had to put the phone down. The other one whispered she agreed with Anna! The whole place was laughing as my face is turning red because my little princess sounds more like a sailor. A third receptionist offered some encouragement as she stood up to peer over the counter and see who was making such a ruckus. As she noted my lovely three year old and two teenagers, she said "Don't feel too bad, we have heard worse!"

Anna is "FRUSHERATED" as she is not allowed to say "Dang It" anymore!

Not too long ago, Anna had to take a time out for pushing Will. She was very MAD. She sat with arms folded and when her time was up, was told to tell Will she was sorry so everyone could go outside to play. She refused. The ultimatum was given and she would either apologize or go to her room. So with arms folded and nose in the air, she got up and went to her room. Throw in a "HUMPHHH!" as she went by as well. Mind you she loves to go outside with the family but not this time. No Sir! She was not going to lower herself and offer Will an apology. After quite some time she did finally give in, whew....... our girl can be stubborn when she sets her mind to it! Spicy! On some occasions when her time out is over, we tell her she can get up, but she just tells us she is not done yet! And we asked God to Please have Mercy on us in our older age!

Happy Belated birthday post for Will

2008-05-04T17:12:00.007-04:00

Check out those muscles on the last photo! On April 30th our Will turned 15! Where does the time go? What a blessing you are to our family, Will, and to so many who know you. You are the perfect mix of fierce determination and personal drive, yet still possessing a gentle and quiet spirit. You lead quietly, setting the example while others watch. I can not tell you how many people stop and tell me what an inspiration you are to them and their children. We are so proud of you, not just for what you accomplish, but more so for "who" you are. We love you and know God has wonderful plans for you. We are your biggest fans as you "Face the Giants" every day.

Tinkerbell and her favorite toy "Dollhouse with horse stables"

2008-05-04T16:24:00.007-04:00

Will prefers Anna as a princess but here lately she thinks she is TINKERBELL..... with PIXIE DUST and all. My mom gave her a TINKERBELL costume for Christmas. Not too long ago in the van, Will was sitting next to Anna aka TINKERBELL. She was blowing spit rasberries into the sunlight and saying, "Look Will! Pixie dust !" Of course, Will lets her know immediately as she is now spitting his way, "That is not Pixie dust! You are spitting on me!" Her reply, "No Will, it is pixie dust! I am SUPER MAGICAL!!!" Will laughed and asked to move to the back. There was no stopping the pixie dust as long as the sunbeam remained! TINKERBELL also loves to use her pixie dust to turn her brothers into stinky buffalos.

Picture from May 2006

2008-04-28T15:00:00.001-04:00

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

2008-04-27T13:34:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-18T08:54:00.005-04:00

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

2008-04-12T18:44:00.002-04:00

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

2008-04-12T18:16:00.007-04:00

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!

2008-04-11T09:06:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-11T07:41:00.004-04:00

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

2008-04-07T08:16:00.003-04:00

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

2008-04-04T14:59:00.005-04:00

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!

Never too old for an Easter egg hunt!

2008-03-28T11:47:00.002-04:00

Note big brother Will helping Anna as she spilled her basket. Will's pants pockets are also stuffed with Easter eggs!

Our special visitor on Easter

2008-03-28T11:34:00.006-04:00

Scott and Anna made friends with a sweet little birdie. Anna was so gentle with the little bird and he seemed to like her as much as she liked him. The tree in the background was decorated (by Anna..... Mom hanging a few high ones) using foam Easter eggs creatively made by Anna with loads of glitter and foam stickers. We had a windy night and they ended up all around the yard. She thinks the birdie liked them because this is the tree he landed in first!

Easter morning

2008-03-28T11:27:00.002-04:00

Anna was so excited with the goodies in her Easter basket. She couldn't wait to bite the ears off her marshmallow bunny!

Easter Family photo

2008-03-28T11:18:00.003-04:00

Hanging Out At Home This Spring Break

2008-03-22T09:40:00.004-04:00

The boys have been on spring break this week. As last week,Scott and Will had been on a three day trip (Huntsville Space Center, Creation Museum in Kentucky, then to Tenn. Aquarium)with the 8th grade class at school, and next weekend, Wesley and Scott head to North Carolina for a robot competition.......... we have enjoyed some "HOME" time this week. We have done some spring cleaning , grilling out, and rented movies for the evenings. We never go to the theater as we enjoy our own popcorn in our own movie room! Anna loved Charlottes Web and thought the piggy to be so funny. She also got Strawberry Shortcake Adventures on Icecream Island movie which the boys could not handle at all........ didn't even ask them! Will hold that in my back pocket as punishment should they argue! We cleaned our basement which led to the pulling out of very old rollerblades. Anna is wearing Will's old ones from many years ago. Will is wearing Wesley's, and Wesley is wearing Scott's. I would not have let her use them yet, but you know Dad's are way more fun. So cleaning the basement turned into a "skating event" all with Anna still in her favorite purple pajamas! Don't you just love some family time......no clock to watch, no place you have to go, and staying in pajamas if you want! Oh, and we did finish the basement cleaning!

THE FINISHED PROJECT!

2008-03-21T15:46:00.002-04:00

Blessings to you all this Easter!

Decorating Easter Eggs

2008-03-21T15:35:00.004-04:00

Anna wanted to color them all over again as she so enjoyed the whole process so much! Our hands are also......... many different colors!

Anna Making Chocolate Delight

2008-03-13T14:44:00.004-04:00

Layers of chocolate pudding, cream cheese/powdered sugar filling/cool whip on a pecan shortbread crust. Yeah, it's good!

Anna Faith's Corner

2008-03-12T17:03:00.007-04:00

Anna thinks she can read. She will often "read" me a book of hers or one we checked out from the library. As long as it has been read to her at least once ......... she can "read" it to you. She is branching out now. Not too long ago she pulled the paper tab out of a little Hershey Kiss and said, "I know what this paper says. It says, I HAVE CHOCOLATE"! Okay, that is close enough!

At a recent FCC gathering we met to have lunch at the food court of our mall. There is a carousel for the kids as well. After lunch, Anna found the only boy in our group (out of 14 girls) and asked him if he would like to ride on the Merry-Go Round with her. He smiled and said yes, then she very politely asked him if he had any CASH! Yes the other moms got a big kick out of that.

I am not sleepy!

2008-03-08T19:30:00.002-05:00

Mommy I am not tired today and I do not need to take a nap. Mommy I want to do crafts and play the lady bug game and read some books...................... then Mommy had to carry little one to her bed!

Dancing with Cinderella

2008-02-29T21:01:00.006-05:00

As we approach our third gotcha day with our princess, we are taken with how quickly the time has passed! The words to this Steven Curtis Chapmen song............. says it all.

Chinese New Year Tradition

2008-02-29T14:17:00.003-05:00

To our Ping Jiang Family: Even though we are a bit late on posting this, Anna Faith and I wanted to share our new Chinese New Year tradition. We decorated our dining room Christmas tree with CNY decorations and enjoyed keeping it lit through the Chinese New Year celebration. So in keeping with you guys and your great idea of favorite photo Friday......... Here we are in front of our CNY tree!

Anna Enjoying Her Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

2008-02-27T14:25:00.002-05:00

First Tech Challenge

2008-02-24T16:47:00.007-05:00

Congratulations to our Wesley as his robotics team competed in the First Tech Challenge Championship Tournament. They beat out over thirty other teams from all over the Southeast. This gave them the great privilege of competing in the World championships at the Georgia Dome in April. They were given the "Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology award" voted on by judges who are engineers from GA Tech, Lockheed Martin and other large corporate companies. This will look great on his college resume! Their robot was something to contend with and Scott jerked in his sleep last night as I am sure he was still watching from the sidelines in his dreams. The competition was grueling and lasted all day long. We go to a smaller school so these 4 guys had to do most everything for themselves, competing with teams who had way more money in their bots than we did! The name of their team is "Three brothers and Wesley"! At the Georgia Dome, there will be teams from all over the world! We will keep you posted and hope with us in this team going all the way to the top......... they are are fine group of young men who even took their robot to a local nursing home to entertain some of the elderly. They loved it!

Accepting the "Most Christlike Award" for Basketball

2008-02-24T16:12:00.004-05:00

We are again very proud of Will and his efforts in making the middle school basketball team at our school. He was voted as a captain this year by his team mates. He also received the "Most Christlike " award, again voted on by his team mates. The coach introduced Will at our sports banquet with this: "This kid is like sunshine to our team. He does whatever you ask him and does it with a big smile on his face! I have had more than one coach from opposing teams that have commented what it would be like if only all their players could have the attitude and determination that Will displays in every game." We are proud of the person our Will has become not only in his determination when playing sports, but most importantly in the game of Life! He has encouraged and inspired those who know him and many who have only watched him play. Go WILL!

2008 Chinese New Year

2008-02-10T20:45:00.002-05:00

We were happy to host our group's annual CNY celebration at our house this year! We celebrated with special friends, all who have adopted from China. There were 23 of us and 6 little girls, all from different regions of China. Above is the video from our celebrations, we catered chinese food from one of our local restaurants. Our evening included crafts, playing outside,and finally our Dragon parade which culminated with our own version of fireworks! (Big bubble wrap rolled out on the floor). It was a terrific celebration as we continue to be so blessed with these precious girls and families! Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Snow Day

2008-02-10T13:29:00.002-05:00

Anna's first snow in Ga. She loved it!