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Casting Crowns

 Several months ago I was invited to a Casting Crowns concert by my friend Julie.  It was an awesome concert!  I bought one of their CDs the next week and now I listen to it all the time.   I keep the CD in the car so usually I don't get to the end of the CD.  Somehow I end up listening to the first few songs.  The other day Karla and I were driving home from Ohio and got to the last song of the CD.  I know I've probably heard it before but I never really listened to the words.  I thought Karla was half asleep in the backseat and I was thinking about other things when all of a sudden she said, "Mom, I think this song is about adoption and how much you and Daddy love me."  I started the song from the beginning again and sure enough!  She was right!  After each line she would add her own comment, "See...you were praying.  See...you saw my cute face.  See, you like to hold me."  It was a special moment for me because it demonstrated the she knows how much her Daddy and I love her and that she views her adoption as the wonderful thing that it is!

SO FAR TO FIND YOU by Casting Crowns

You were broken/abandoned
And crying all alone
We were waiting and praying
And longing to bring you home
And then we saw your face
In a moment you were wrapped up in our hearts
We took a step of faith
And now here we are
Will you let me hold you in my arms tonight
I have come so far to find you
So far to find you

Big Weekend

This weekend we had a bridal shower for Kathy!  Karla enjoyed helping unwrap all the gifts.  She even received a gift from the bride-to-be!

Today Karla had her dance recital.  She performed a tap number as well as a ballet number.  She did a great job!!

Preschool Graduate

Last Thursday night Karla graduated from preschool!!!

 Look how happy she is...right in the middle of the picture!

 With her friend Josh.

 With her PROUD parents.

 With her proud grandparents.

 With her proud great-grandparents!

Keeping Busy

Aunt Brenda and Kiera came to visit for about a week at the end of April.  Karla and I got to spend a lot of time with both of them and I think Karla really enjoyed it.  Me too!  Karla enjoyed being the "big kid" and playing a lot with her cousin.

Karla had a Spring Pageant at school.  She was a dove...she was a little put out because she thought her costume looked like a chicken.  :)   It was a cute performance and at the end all the kids came down to their moms and said "Happy Mother's Day" and presented us with some things they had made.  Karla handed her art work to me and then hugged me and said "Thank you so much for sending me to this school!"  I later asked her teacher if she had told them to say that and she said, no, she hadn't.  Karla has just loved preschool and it has been such a great experience for her.  She will be graduating from preschool next week!   She is sad about it right now but I have kept telling her that we will see all of her friends in the summer.

Today Karla and I went to the elementary school that she will be going to for orientation.  I have very mixed feelings about it and I think I was successful in "acting" happy and excited.  Once we got there though we did see some familiar faces and met some new people.  Karla had a good time and "made a new friend."  Afterwards she and I did one of her favorite things - went shoe shopping.  She knows what kind of sandal she wants and after going in at least 4 stores we still haven't found it!  I might try to do some online searching.  I don't really like shopping for shoes!   She is something else though! Wanted to look at accessories and lipstick.  Made me try on very high heeled shoes and told me which ones were fancy and which ones weren't.  Then when I tried on a pair she really liked she said, "You don't look like Mommy anymore!  You look like....like....Aunt Brenda!"   Not sure what to make of that but I'm taking it as a compliment.  :)  When asked if Aunt Brenda would wear these 6 inch heels all day, Karla assured me that yes, Tia, would. 

Karla turned 5 1/2 last week.  I still can't believe it!

We are looking forward to the summer.  The pool opens soon and Karla is going to take her first gymnastics class.

Spring

We celebrated Adoption Day on March 12, celebrating 3 years of Karla's adoption being finalized in the U.S. We had a good day of spoiling her. We ended the day with a cake and a gift. She requested her "5" candle from her birthday be on the cake. And since it was her day - that is what she got.

Also in March, Karla had an art show at her preschool. It was a Sunday afternoon and a nice event for the kids and families. The kids could make any art project they wanted. Karla chose to do a clay project. She made a polar bear named Rose, a heart named Rosey Posey, and a flower named Pink. She said she was inspired by the zoo.

On Palm Sunday Karla sang up front with the other kids at church. She did such a great job and I think she really enjoyed it!

Isn't she adorable?!?

Karla continues to LOVE dance class, especially ballet. She is also making progress with the violin. Since she started violin last September she is always VERY quiet during her lesson, meaning she never really talked unless she answering a question posed by her teacher. She was shy and giggly. Now the past two weeks she talks, sings, hums, and even tries some of her procrastination techniques on the teacher. I guess she finally feels comfortable with him. She never complains about going to lessons and likes to tell people she plays the violin. She doesn't always want to practice but she does it!

Karla also got to go flower girl dress shopping a few weeks ago. She REALLY liked trying on the fancy dresses! This isn't the dress that was chosen but it was a nice picture of Karla with the bride-to-be. It was neat on the trip too to see Karla with Kathy. She even held her hand at one point and hugged her! These are things Karla can be stingy with. Kathy also bought Karla a t-shirt. Kathy knows how to win Karla's affections! :) Karla enjoys taking LOTS of pictures (of herself) with my iphone so here is her self-portrait in her new shirt that she wears proudly.

Family Vacation to San Francisco! (part 2)

I don't think I mentioned in my last post that we went to San Francisco because Jason had a conference. He decided to take Karla and me. So he was busy during the day Mon-Fri and then we stayed Saturday and most of Sunday to sight-see together. We also did a few things in the evenings but Karla was pretty tired by about 4pm because of the time change.

Vacation Days 2-7

We would wake up plenty early enough with the time change so it was kind of nice to be lazy in our hotel room each morning before going anywhere. On Day 2 it was too early for places to be open so Karla and I hung out in the hotel room. First we read a chapter book for about a half an hour. Karla sat in my lap and I really enjoyed that time with her. Then she watched an episode of Caillou while I mapped out our day. She was excited that Caillou was on - even in California!

We headed to the trolley stop. Karla seemed a little sad and said she missed her friends. When I pressed her a little bit I think really she just wanted to swim at the hotel and was using “I miss my friends” as an excuse. I promised her we’d go to the pool later that day but we were going to go out and explore while it was daylight. She definitely perked up after that!

We both had our first cable car ride. It was fun! We walked the rest of the way to Fisherman’s Wharf and went to the Aquarium. She was scared of the sharks – and they didn’t even have “big’ ones. So I think we went through the aquarium faster than we may have otherwise. I let her get a stuffed jellyfish in the gift shop. Of all the sea creatures to pick!? (if you don't know...I've been stung more than once by those horrible creatures)

Then we walked around Pier 39 and ate lunch at Sea Lion Café where we could see the sea lions, Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge and a view of the city of San Francisco! It was really nice sitting there with Karla for a while. I could tell she was enjoying her day. She even looked around in the shops with me for quite a while. We got some sweet treats and then headed back to the cable car stop. We went to the cable car museum which I actually thought was neat…didn’t think I’d be that interested in it. Learned a lot in a short amount of time there! We then had to ride a bus the remainder of the way back to our hotel because the cable car “turnaround” (wye) was having trouble and they were trying to fix it.

We got back to the hotel and I laid on the bed…she bounced around and talked nonstop for the 30 minutes until Jason got back. She was happy to see him and show him her jellyfish. My feet were sore and I was tired so I don’t know how she kept going. The 3 of us went to Chevy’s for a Mexican dinner and then I “made” Jason take Karla to the pool for a short swim while I laid on the bed and read.

While we were in one of the stores at the pier the older man working there was watching us look at the pretty sweaters. We got a little closer to where he was sitting and he said “You have a beautiful daughter. She looks so happy.” I thanked him. For some reason I felt like that was one of the best compliments I could receive! That she is happy.

The next day the 3 of us hung out in our room together for a while first thing in the morning. Karla and Jason played a little while I read. Then after Jason was off, Karla and I went to the pool for a while. It was cold! She loves it though and I knew that is what she wanted to do more than anything else. Then we showered and were able to meet Jason for lunch. Karla was pretty tired so we decided to make her take a nap after lunch. It took her a little while to fall asleep but then she slept for an hour and a half while I got to read (are you seeing a theme with me here?). Then we headed to the mall. It was a lot bigger than I was expecting and Karla still seemed a bit tired. Once we found the Vera Bradley purse store, Bath and Body Works and especially “The Icing” store she was happy! She loved all the jewelry. When Jason was done for the day we went to dinner in Chinatown. Karla loved the rice and even liked (and ate) the sweet and sour chicken. She tried – and liked – the tea too!

On Wednesday Karla and I went to the Children's Creativity Museum...only a block from our hotel and really fun!

We made our own dance video, edited a photo of ourselves on a computer, performed our own brief 2- person theater show, made clay figures and made an animated video with them. Karla loved making the video and worked at it for an hour.

We went to a super cool playground really close to our hotel and got to say “hi” to Jason between a few of his sessions. The conference center was next to the playground.

Jason went out and got us a pizza for dinner because Karla was just too tired to go out anywhere.

On Thursday Jason was done a little earlier than the previous days so we headed to Fisherman's Wharf and took a bay tour on a ferry. We went under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz.

On Saturday we rented a car and went to Muir Woods to see the big redwoods. We hiked for about 4-5 miles...some of it pretty steep. We were in the woods for about 4 1/2 hours and Karla did better than I did! I think I was ready to call it a day before the other two. She enjoyed being the "leader" and leading us through the woods and "teaching" us about the things she saw.

It was good to get away for a week but it was also good to come back home!




Karla was extremely excited to get back to preschool! Then of course she only had school 1 day this past week rather than 3. When we went you would have thought she'd been gone for ages the way she was saying "hi" to everyone and even hugging her friends. I love seeing her love preschool.

Other BIG news from this past week...I had my first parent-teacher conference (as a parent) with Karla's preschool teacher AND I REGISTERED KARLA FOR KINDERGARTEN! I can't believe it! It doesn't seem real...in fact I don't really think it is. :) It may have just been a dream this week.

Her conference went very well and I am very proud of her. Then the day we went to the elementary school, which neither of us had ever been in before, she was brave, talkative and did her best on the screening. After about 40 minutes I told her it was time to go and she stopped walking in the hallway and said "That is it??" She was hoping to be there all day!

Here she is after kindergarten registration. She didn't take her stickers or nametag off until the end of the day!


For a Valentine's Day present for Jason, Karla and I got our picture taken in matching outfits. I made the skirts and hats. Maybe it was really a gift for myself but I think Jason enjoyed it too. :)