Happy Birthday, Kai!

Our little Monster turned the BIG #3 on January 14th. He had a Nonster Bash party; two actually. On Saturday, our families joined us for round one and then Kai's friends and our local friends helped us celebrate on Sunday. Unfortunately, between a boy that never held still for two minutes and a glitch in the camera setting, I got very few non-blurred pictures from either party.

The first photo was taken a day or two before his birthday. Kai decided to make his own cake with play-doh. I couldn't find the extra candles so a cut up straw did the job.









Kai got a big thrill, riding with his Daddy around the yard, on my snowmobile at a veeeeeery slooooow put, put pace last week.

In preparation for the Chinese New Year, Kai helped with making the traditional red decorations. We hung paper lanterns and paper dragons to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. Next weekend, we will join many of our travel group friends at the annual New Year party for families connected with our adoption agency. We are super excited to see everyone again and cannot wait to see the fabulous Lion Dance.

Hey, look at me!! I'm a regular blog poster this week!

It was a bit chilly, but Kai and I headed outdoors to give his new trike a run on the pavement today. Boy does that thing move fast. It is waaaay cooler than the one he had been using with plastic wheels; this thing really grips the road. He hasn't mastered the steering yet, given his increased speed, but we'll get there. Hey,since I'm chasing him, I'm getting a little exercise now, too.




When he isn't riding it in the house, it doubles as his buffet table. :)

When 3 year olds attack...

Our friend, Jessica, and her daughter, Delia, came over for a playdate this week. After we fed the kiddos, they scampered off into the living room to play with Kai's Christmas presents and the mommies to the opportunity to fix up our plates and have a bite to eat. We were listening to their happy play as we sat in the next room savoring our two minutes of uninterrupted conversation. They were out of sight 2-3 minutes tops before I decided to peek my head around the corner and check out what they were doing. Queu the shark attack music....Dah nah, daaaaah nah, dah nah, dah nah, dah nah.....



Yup. Markers. I wish I had gotten close up shots...they were QUITE a sight. Faces, hands, necks, inside of mouths, walls, the mirrors, the window, the art table, stools, and the red end table. We were singing Crayola's praises for having invented washable markers. Everything came clean. The kids helped with clean up and we eventually resumed our eating once the contraband had been collected. And that, folks, is why Kai cannot be entrusted with markers, paint or crayons without direct supervision. My bad; I totally forgot that they were left out.