JourneytoJadenElise

Back to school!

2012-01-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

We decided to take a long holiday break from Chinese school this year. We hold it at our house twice a month but we have not met since before Thanksgiving. This host needed a break! This past weekend we went back into full swing. We decided to focus on Chinese New Year this week so there were crafts centered around the New Year. The big bonus of this class was that we learned how to make dumplings! Debbie was nice enough to show all the kids how to make dumplings and they each got to make two themselves. They also got to try out some of her dumplings. And Debbie was nice enough to show the parents how she mixed up the dumpling mix! I can't wait to make my first batch. Now I have to figure out how to make hot dog and mac and cheese dumplings since that is the only thing Jaden will eat!!!

Fun with the Fu's!

2012-01-25T12:18:00.000-08:00

Jaden's playgroup met Saturday night. We starting by eating at Pei Wei! Then we went to Graeter's to have ice cream and play! We ended the night by going to Hannah's and having a playdate! Both girls like to stay up late so they partied into the wee hours of the night!

The rest of the week for Jaden has been a little like this...

She is not feeling well. I think it is just a cold and she has been nice enough to share it with the rest of us! We have our second homestudy visit tonight and Jaden has decided she does not want to take a nap. This should make for an interesting visit!

The dentist and a birthday party!

2012-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Today was Jaden's first real dentist appointment. She had gone with me before but they only counted her teeth. Today was the day she actually got her teeth cleaned! She was so excited! I went first so she could watch, she kept telling me to get out of the chair because it was her turn! Finally it was her turn and she jumped right in the chair and opened her mouth. I was suprised she actually let them polish her teeth. Thank goodness she has no cavities and they said her teeth are great!

This weekend Jaden was invited to three birthday parties! One of which was her cousin Chase. We hate we had to miss the other two but family comes first! Jaden had a great time and was so tired on the way home. She told me her "eyes were tired" and one minute later she was out for the whole ride home!

And there are no pictures of this but I want to write it down so one day Jaden can read this. This week while Rusty was out of town and it was snowing I let her look outside in the backyard with the door open. All the sudden a huge deer walked in the backyard. Jaden was so upset and turned to me and said, "Mom, Santa Clause forgot to take him home!" I explained it was a deer and not a reindeer. She was still pretty stressed!

Our little gymnastic star!

2012-01-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

Today was the day Jaden has talked about all week! She got to start her gymnastics class! I have been wanting to put her in a class but kept putting it off. Finally Amy and I decided to put the girls in a class together. The only problem with this is that the class starts at the crack of dawn! For some the crack of dawn would be 6 or 7 AM. But for Jaden the crack of dawn is anything before 9:30! She goes down late and sleeps late! But today that dreaded alarm went off at 8:00!!! I was shocked to see her jump right out of bed and to the bathroom to brush her teeth! She was excited because it was nastics day as she calls it! I was worried it would be cancelled due to snow and cold. I stressed over it all night because this southern girl just doesn't drive in snow! But Jaden wanted to go so I faced my fear and out the door we went in the 15 degree weather! Luckily the snow was not that bad and the trucks had put salt down so there was not much ice! It was all worth it because Jaden loved it and had a great time!!! Maybe she will be a future star!!!

And I just have to add these other pics that I took yesterday!

Our fourth and final Christmas post for 2011!

2012-01-11T12:25:00.000-08:00

I know you are say what?!?!?! We are back to Christmas again. We did have one more Christmas celabration to get too! Amy, Jeff, Charlie and Sophie came over this weekend and we let the kids do their Christmas together! We have both been crazy busy but we finally had time to get together. We had a fun pizza eating, present opening, basketball shooting, video game playing,
shop working night!

The girls had a blast driving their race cars through of all places, China! And Jaden loved cheering on her BFF!

The Zoo in January???

2012-01-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

It has been a pretty crazy winter here in Ohio! By now I am usually so tired of being stuck inside that I want to take that long drive down south to thaw out. This year we have had less snow then my brother in Mississippi! We have had a few 50 degree days even! Friday just happened to be one of those days, so Jaden and I decided to go to the zoo! We called up Amy and Sophie and they met us for some fun and animals! The zoo was almost empty and all the animals were out and about! It was a great day to enjoy the zoo!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-03T15:23:00.000-08:00

Yhea I know I am a few days past the New Year but that would be due to the fact that a lovely virus attacked my computer on New Year's Eve! After alot of cussing on Rusty's part he finally got it fixed in the early hours of the morning. So now I am back in buisness! I was going through some major internet d-t's.
So how did the princess spend New Year's? We decided to keep it low key and stay at home. We did let Jaden stay up to watch the ball drop though. While we were waiting for midnight Jaden got in a little hoop time in the basement!

She also did some posing in her new nightgown she got for Christmas!

Rusty was nice enough to put his drums in the storage room and fixed up a nice little area in his man cave, AKA the basement for Jaden and her soon to be brother! My plan is to paint one of the walls like a chalk board and the other side you cant see like a magnet board.

Will still had a few minutes before the ball dropped so Rusty decided to vacuum the dog. Talk about a wild New years eve!

Finally the ball dropped so I took one last picture of my girl in 2011 and then it was time to toast. Jaden got her own glass that was filled with apple juice. She kept clinking glasses and saying happy new year!

We ended the night by going outside to set off our little steamer poppers! I know its kinda lame but fireworks are illegal here and I have a stict rule that we can't get arrested for anything until after Warren's adoption is over! :-)

Now I am happy the holidays are offer and life can get back to normal. Rusty FINALLY went back to work today so we are back in our old routine. Today was mall day where we met Jaden's pals and the mommies get to talk. We had a pretty snow today but I can't get the pictures off my camera so you will just have to take my word for it.
I am glad that 2011 is gone. While it was a good year it was also a sad one because we lost my grandfather. We are looking forward to 2012. This is the year that our family will be complete when Warren comes home. And yes I said complete there will not be a third adoption. Two is good for me and more then good for Rusty! So I can't wait to see our family with all FOUR of its members!

Jaden goes to the movies!

2011-12-30T15:17:00.000-08:00

Yes I am an awful mother! Jaden is 3 years old and has never been to the movie theater! Mainly because I dont like to go myself. I hate spending all that money to watch the movie when we can either rent it or buy it when it comes out for alot less. But I decided it was time that Jaden experience the big screen for the first time. I wanted to do it this week since Rusty was home and he could go to. Why should I suffer alone? So yesterday we decided to go and check out the new chipmunk movie. It was pretty good. And you know I took my camera!

She loved the movie and set through the whole thing. I feel like there will be many more movies in our future. Yhea!

Christmas Day! (AKA the day Toys R Us puked in my living room!)

2011-12-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

Finally the big day came! Christmas! Jaden woke up and told me she was so excited and said she had seen Santa out the window. After calling down to Rusty to make sure he had the camera rolling we made our decent. This is what my little angel saw!

The first thing Jaden did was check out the cookies and milk! She was suprised to see that Santa had eaten most of the cookie and drank all the milk!

You would think that Jaden would just start ripping into packages but no! I think that she was overwhelmed with all the presents! Santa seems to have gone way overboard this year along with all the gifts she had from Rusty and I. I have decided to let Santa know that next year is going to be a little smaller for both Jaden and her soon to be brother. So this was her last HUGE Christmas! She finally started opening the gifts from Rusty and I. She is very neat and had to take every piece of paper off the gift before we moved onto the next gift!

Finally it was time to move on to Santa's gifts! Santa decided to get Jaden's two favorites Dinosaur Train and Dora!!! By the end Jaden was saying "another Dora!" when she opened her gifts! We had a little bit of Southern and Northern Santa going on. In the south the gifts were unwrapped and in the north they were wrapped. This year if the gifts were in square boxes they were wrapped! If the boxes were not easy to wrap they came from the southern Santa!!! :-)

A couple hours later Jaden was finally done opening gifts and the rest of us got to open a few gifts!

Yep mom is goona kill me but next time she will get dressed before we open gifts!

Then Jaden got to open her gift from Mamaw Gracie! Jaden loves money!

Afterwards it was play time and of course for Rusty, nap time!

Then we realized Jaden had hid her gift from Aunt Betty and of course she had to open that!

Lancie was alittle sad because she got nothing!

We skyped family in Mississippi and carved the turkey!

Jaden chillaxed for awhile playing her new games.

Then lunch was served and the princess got to sit at the head of the table so everyone could watch her eat!

Finally the day ended with all of Jaden's dinosaur singing a chorus of Dinosaur train and Jaden learning how to change her baby's diaper! She was not to impressed with that!

Yhea my Christmas posts are over! But I have to add a few pics from earlier in the week. I used my smaller camera and just downloaded them. Here is JJ in her cute Christmas outfit from her Aunt Bonnie in MS!

And here she is acting crazy before bed. Notice her new t-shirt!!!

Week before Christmas fun and Christmas #2!

2011-12-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

Jaden and I did a little cookie decorating the week before Christmas. We decided not to leave the house since I wasn't feeling all that great and I didn't want Jaden to get sick before Christmas. (Luckily Jaden escaped the stomach flu that her cousin was passing out)

Her new cheesy crooked grin!
Caught her eating the decorations!

The next day it was time to decorate our gingerbread men!

My parents arrived on Thursday so it was time to go to the zoo and check out the lights. Unfortunately we didn't stay long because it started to rain!

Christmas eve we spent doing more cooking and decorating! We also added in a little playtime!

There is that smile again!

I decided to bake my first apple pie! Although it doesn't look that great it tasted pretty good!

We decided to let Jaden open her gifts from my parents and family that afternoon. Something told us that Santa was going to go overboard and if we didn't start opening early we would be there for hours!

Thank goodness Nana and Papaw were there to hold the presents!

After a nice dinner out we came back home and Jaden and I put food out for the reindeer! No one else could brave the wind and cold! Southerners! Jaden decided the perfect place for the food would be by our fake reindeer!

After a while it was time to bid our elf Elmer goodbye until next year and then leave out our cookies and milk for Santa!

Just one more Christmas post!!!

Christmas #1

2011-12-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

I know I am behind in my post but I have an excuse. Its been busy! Now I am playing catch up.
Last weekend We headed down to Cinci to do our Christmas celebration with Rusty's family! We had a nice time and we got a glimpse of what Christmas morning would be like for Jaden opening all the gifts! The kids had a blast ripping open the paper to see what they had gotten. Poor Eliza was sick with the stomach flu but we didn't find that out until everyone got to enjoy it for themselves a few days later! Poor girl didn't get to enjoy her presents!

Rusty doing what he does best!

Just two more Christmas celebrations to go!

Dora the Explorer!

2011-12-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

Friday Amy and I took the girls to Cosi to see their hero, Dora the Explorer! They had a cute little set up with different things from the Dora show! Jaden had a blast! The best thing about it was that there were not many people there! Such an added bonus!

And of course we couldn't leave without a trip to the water table!

Then we were off to discover more fun at Cosi!

The girls decided to show us their mad hula skills!

Finally the girls became stars of their own news program!!!

The horrible, terrible no good three's!

2011-12-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

Ok I am just gonna come right out and say it. Jaden is driving me crazy! Whoever said that the two's were terrible and the three's we nothing obviously had never had a three year old girl! It's like some switch just flipped in her and she has become nothing but sass! She loves to tell me no and is becoming attached to the time out chair. Yesterday I told her to do something and she said "I can't hear you!". Needless to say her bottom got to see the timeout chair! If she is not telling me no she is talking my head off! She is the jabber queen. She was in the basement with Rusty the other night and he had to bring her up because he just couldn't take all the talking! I figure I only have a little over 10 months until she leaves the threes behind and heads into the fours!

She has been busy though! We have done some Christmas projects!

She has "helped" me peel, cook and can applesauce!

She helped me mail Warren a package to China!

She has practiced getting dressed for the snow that has not fallen!

She helped me with the laundry!(this rocked)

And last but not least, she slept in her own bed EVERY night!!!

Freezing Christmas fun!

2011-12-12T11:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend we decided to celebrate our referral and PA in the same way that we had done it for Jaden! We went to our local Chinese restaurant and ate Chinese with the Rogers family! And of course we had to end the meal in the same why we did over 2 years ago, with a picture!

Afterwords we decided to brave the elements and go check out a life size nativity scene downtown! It was in the 20s so we were all bundled up. Jaden got to test out her new snow suit. She also got her first taste of hot chocolate. I cant believe that I have never given it to her but she LOVED it!

Before we left it was time to line up for one more group shot. Of course I could not see through my lens what my sweet little innocent daughter was doing! She is not a fan of having her picture taken and will do anything to get out of it! So while I was taking the picture Jaden's was giving her best impression of a drunk man!

My daughter, always the jester!

Baby brother has a blog and a name!

2011-12-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

While I have gotten used to calling our little guy baby brother I knew he would need an actual name. Unfortunately for me, back in 2005 I made a deal with Rusty. I would name our daughters and he would name our sons. I did this thinking we would adopt again from China and at the time knowing China it would be a girl, so I never thought Rusty would be given the opportunity to name someone. But surprise surprise we have a son which requires Rusty to pull out the baby name book. Ever since we saw him I have been throwing out names like Jackson, Cameron, Wesley and Joshua, you know cute baby names! Rusty on the other hand has been thinking about what he is going to name his business when he gets older! (I am not kidding here) The deadline was quickly creeping up on him because he had till today before I did my Christmas cards. So he FINALLY came to a decision. Our son will be named.....

Warren Anthony!

And while I would like to say he named him that because my grandfather's middle name was Warren and his great grandfather's name was Anthony, I think it is actually because he wants my son to make as much money as Warren Buffet! I am going to tell myself and my dear son that he is named after his great grandfather and his great great grandfather. And when he gets older he can name his business WAP enterprises! Rusty is very happy with his choice and thinks it is a strong name. I think it is a nice name and I will get used to it. I can not make a nickname out of it so I will have to go with his Chinese nickname. We call Jaden JJ but WW just doesn't sound good to me, neither does WA WA.

So now we are done with the name and I am done with Christmas cards. Now I have to get busy with adoption paperwork! Don't you all envy me?

And finally I have made a blog for little Warren. I have decided to keep his and Jaden's seperate so that when all is done I can make a book for him like I did Jaden. I like to point out to my children the paperwork hell I had to go through to bring them home. A little something to hold over there heads! So here is the link to the blog.
http://ourchinesetiger.blogspot.com

You may think it is named this due to extreme love of the LSU tigers. Actually it is because he was born in the year of the tiger like his momma! I have also added a link on the side of JJ's blog that will take you there! But warning it is a work in process!

She is growing up!

2011-12-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

As most of you know I am a Co-sleeping momma. I didn't plan on this but when Jaden came home I followed her cues and this is what she was comfortable and used too so I did it. I am so glad I did it because I really think that it helped her bond to me. She is extremely attached to me and I am very thankful. But I knew the day was coming where she was just going to have to get out of the bed. There have been many attempts but they only lasted a night. But while we were at the Dr. on Monday he told her she needed to sleep in her own bed. She must have really taken it to heart because that night she decided she was going to sleep in her bed!(which is in our room). It took her a while to fall asleep and I had to keep telling her she could do it and finally at midnight she was out!

I even have proof. Sorry for the bad photo but it was with my cellphone.
The next day I talked about how big she was and how great it was to have your own bed. So she slept in it again and woke up at 4 and got in the bed with me. This is ok I don't mind it. The next night she was not as happy about it and told me she did not want to be a big girl anymore but a baby. But I made her stick to her guns and after much drama she fell asleep again in her bed. She also woke up again at 4 and got in the bed. Last night she was still not happy but went to sleep after telling me how mad she was and then did not wake up until 7:45! And only because her daddy was being loud. She climbed in the bed with me and sleep for about two more hours! So it looks like she is growing up and finally is out of our bed except for early morning which is fine with me because I really miss my snuggle time!!!

Somebody is getting a baby brother!!!

2011-12-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

I can finally announce that little miss Jaden is going to be a big sister! Our SON is waiting for us in Henan China! We are so excited and can't wait to hold him in our arms. I will let the pictures speak for how cute he is!

This adoption will be a little different in that we have done NONE of the paperwork before we found him. So now we are back on the paperwork bandwagon full force! The sooner I get it done the sooner he comes home! Because we no longer fit the guidelines we had to wait for our PA from China before we could start the paperwork.
Our little man was born on 7/18/2010 and lives in the Zhoukou SWI. He is SN which is why this adoption will be faster. We hope to have the paperwork done and our little guy home within 12 months!
I will be setting up a separate blog for him so everyone can follow our progress. I am working on it now. Also he has no name yet! For some unknown reason back in 2005 when I picked Jaden's name, we made a deal that Rusty would name the boys and me the girls. Now I am waiting to hear just what that name will be. Soon I promise.
And how is Jaden taking the news. Well as best as her 3 year old mind can take it. She knows that mommy will have 2 babies now. She is not thrilled about the fact that she will have to share toys. She is so excited to fly to China! She actually told me today that she was going to China to see baby brother! I know that once he is home her world will be rocked!

Somebody has a secret!

2011-12-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

Mail, birthday party, Santa and 3 year checkup!

2011-12-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

We have had a busy weekend! It started with mail from Aunt Betty for Jaden. Jaden loves getting mail. She gets so excited and will not let anyone help her get it open. Of course she was thrilled to get a box with puzzles and clothes!

Friday night Jaden and I headed out to celebrate one of our favorite girls, Sophie Su! We had a great time swimming! Yes I said swimming! Luckily it was indoors!

(I had to steal this pic from Amy's blog because my camera died! I know she wont mind! Especially since she put that picture of me up on her's in my swimsuit!!!)

On Saturday morning we had our COFCC Christmas party so I got Jaden fancied up and we headed out to party!

(that's my drama queen after her finger got bent back)

I was so glad that Jaden actually sat with Santa this year! Last year it didn't happen! I was also glad to learn that all that she wants for Christmas is stickers! I sure would have liked to have known that a month ago! Would have made for a very cheap Christmas!

Saturday night I got to do something that I have not done since 8/2/2009! I got to have a girls night out! We went out to celebrate Amy's birthday! Rusty and Jaden got to spend the evening at Amy's house so Charlie could watch the girls while the guys watched football!(once again I am stealing Amy's pic! She owes me!)

And finally today Jaden had her 3 year check-up. And yes I took a picture! You only have one three year check up! Jaden doesn't see the doctor much. So far she has only had one visit while she was sick. She was so excited to go to the dr. today! She did very good with the Dr. and really showed out! She grew two inches in a year and is now 38 1/4 inches. And she has finally reached 30 pounds. She started out in the 95% for height when she came home but is slowing down and is now in the 72%! The doctor said everything is great with her and also told her it was time for her to sleep in her own bed and she quickly told him no! We also discussed the potty issues we have and he said that due to the way she was potty trained in China, Miralax may be a lifelong companion for our little girl. I was not glad to hear that but he said that it will not harm her. I am hoping once she gets a little older we can stop. He was quick to point out that he could tell Jaden rules our house and I guess she does! But that is ok :-)

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas...

2011-11-30T12:34:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year again. You know the time when all the crap comes out of the basement to clutter up your house AKA Christmas! Don't get me wrong I do love Christmas, but I am not a huge fan of decorating. But this year we went all out! There are three small trees in the bedrooms(not ours) and our one big tree in the family room. Garland is everywhere and I even let Rusty put up one stand of colored lights over the mantle! I detest colored lights. I am a strictly white light kinda girl but I do allow one strand for Rusty! (I am nice like that) Jaden was very helpful this year when I was hanging the decorations. I let her do the bottom of the tree. For some reason she decided she wanted all her ornaments on one limb. Needless to say I have fixed that and they are now evenly dispersed! My OCD would not allow them all on one limb!

We have also had a new addition to our little Christmas traditions. We have a new friend named Elmer AKA Elf on the shelf.
I find him a little creepy but Jaden is very into him. She is quick to tell me that I am not supposed to touch him! And she was quick to point out that he had not moved the other morning. I explained to her that he must of overslept and forgotten to go see Santa! She was relieved to see that he had done his job last night and was now watching her from the kitchen!

This year we also went all out on the outside lights. We have to decorate our trees closest to the street so that our street can be all lit up, but this year we added a few more items for the yard. We replaced the deer that were so brutally murdered three years back!

Rusty also put up his Santa airplane this year!

So now we are ready for the jolly ole man to make a visit to our home. I have even done all my shopping for a certain little girl! We have hit the mall a few times to check out Santa but she has not gathered enough courage to sit on his lap yet! We have had fun at the mall though playing with friends!

And just because I think it is funny, here is a picture of Lancie in Kayleigh's bed!

Yes the bed is made for Kayleigh who weighs 5 lbs and Lancie weighs 85 lbs! You try telling her she doesn't fit in that bed! And yes her eyes are glowing, that would be the devil coming out in her!

Gobble Gobble!

2011-11-26T13:44:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving this year we headed down to visit Rusty's parents for the day. His mother just had surgery so myself and my sister in law were in charge of all the food except for the turkey. I decided this was the perfect time to introduce a southern Thanksgiving to my yankee family. I cooked cornbread dressing, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, fruit salad and Mississippi mud pie! Everything turned out great! Of course my dressing was a little late coming to the table because we had to dry it out so we didn't have to eat dressing soup, but it was good for my first try. Everyone ate till they were stuffed and couldn't eat anymore. Jaden had a good time playing with her cousin Eliza. Poor Chase wasn't able to make it because he woke up with a fever so he and his mom had to stay home. We will get to see them soon for our Christmas in a few weeks!

My little kitchen helper!

2011-11-23T18:10:00.000-08:00

I have been cooking all day for our Thanksgiving with Rusty's parents tomorrow. While I was cooking Jaden was happy to be my helper. Of course she was not being very helpful so I decided to give her a little "job" to keep her busy. I realized she had never licked the beaters so that was her job. And I found out she really liked that job! I guess I will let her do it more often!

Chinese fun!

2011-11-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

Today we had our Chinese class again. It was a little bit calmer because a few people weren't able to come. We started it off with a little dancing with our ribbons.

After our vocabulary words it was time for crafts! Today we decorated a person and did our footprints!

Now we are taking alittle break from classes for the Holidays. We look forward to restarting in January!

Now that Jaden has her own camera I have found that she is more willing to pose for pictures. I tell her if I can take a picture of her she can take one of me. So far it has worked!

Jaden was also excited to get a package from LSU today! She got her stuff for being a member of Mike's kids club. She kept saying Go Tigers! We are trying to raise her right!

Through the lense of a 3 year old!

2011-11-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

We got Jaden her very own camera for her birthday. She is always asking to take pictures so I decided she needed her own. This camera is supposed to be able to take falls down the stairs and keep working. I am sure that Jaden will put that to the test very soon. She has taken so many pictures in the last few days, only a few of which I can tell what the subject was. There are alot of the floor and the walls for some reason. The majority are also blurry because she can't be still. The other day I was in the bathroom and she opens the door and told me to say cheese. Needless to say that one has been deleted! Here are some of the pictures she has taken...

And here is my picture of our little photographer!

Happy Birthday Jaden!!!

2011-11-12T13:57:00.001-08:00

So my little baby turned 3 yesterday. I was not happy. Three seems so big to me. I don't feel like she is a baby anymore but as she says "a big gurl". Since there was nothing I could do to stop it I decided we needed to celebrate! So yesterday she got dressed up and put her matching outfit on "brother"(don't ask)and we went to lunch together. Once we got home it was time to open her gift from her BFF Julianna! She was so excited!

Later we headed to get ice cream.(shock! no pictures!)

Today was the real fun! Party day! So what do you ask would my 3 year old daughter pick as her party theme? Dora, Mickey, princess? How about Alligators! Yes my daughter wanted to have an Alligator party! (it goes back to the whole Swamp People fascination a few posts back) So for the past two months I have been searching for alligator party supplies. To my surprise I found out that this was not a popular choice for pre-school parties! But this didn't stop me. I figured since I am half cajun I could figure this out. And after many searches on the good ole internet I came up a few places that had some alligator stuff. And thank goodness I was able to throw it all together and give my girl the Alligator party she wanted. I used my cooking skills to give it a cajun flavor. We had red beans and rice, jambalaya, swamp juice, bar b q alligator sandwiches and alligator nuggets. Unfortunately since there are no gators in Ohio we had to us pork for the sandwiches and chicken for the nuggets but that's my little secret!

I have to give a huge Thank You to Amy and Jeff for helping me! I couldn't have done it without you! (since a certain person named Rusty was out running errands!)

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:33:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween!

Boo at the zoo!

2011-10-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Last night we bundled up and headed out to the zoo for their Halloween party! Before we left I had to bribe Jaden into wearing her costume. She wanted to be a dinosaur but I wanted her to be a witch. I am happy to say that after a kitkat bar and the promise of more she put the witch costume on. And I must say she rocked that costume!

After our small photo session it was off to the zoo to fill up her bucket!

After a while we met up with Jaden's China sister Sophie Su!

Jaden was in heaven when she got to ride with Charlie. She has a little crush on him!

Earlier in the week Jaden and I went to the zoo in the daytime with her friends Leah and Audrey. I am sure it was our last decent day of the year before the cold sets in so we wanted to spend it outside!

The rest of the week was cold and rainey so we stayed indoors painting pumpkins, doing halloween crafts and working on our Abc's!

And the rest of the time Jaden spent on her Leapster! She is obsessed with this thing. My parents bought it for her birthday and she loves it. I have to force her to turn it off at night. Luckily it has educational games so its not too bad for her!

Catch up

2011-10-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy few weeks and I never got time to post our pumpkin picking pictures so here ya go!

We went to a small farm in the area a few weeks ago and met up with Mattie and her family. Their festival did not start until the next day so it wasn't crowded and the pumpkins had not been picked over yet.
The fun started with a run through a maze!

Then it was time to load up onto the wagon and take a long and bumpy ride out to the fields!

Once out in the field we had our choice of any pumpkin we were willing to get in there and pick! We decided to let Rusty do all the heavy lifting!

We also had our second Chinese class this past weekend. Jaden had a great time and met all of her friends at the door and said "Ni Hao friend" it was pretty cute!

She also got her first lesson in cleaning windows. Luckily for me she loves to do this!

Other than that I have been busy with paperwork for a special project and we have stayed indoors. Its been cold and rainy and of course thanks to a crazy man we decided to stay inside due to all the exotic animals that were running loose! (only in Ohio!)
So here are some random pics!

Down on the farm!

2011-10-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

If Jaden had had a say in the matter I am sure she would have chosen parents that lived on a farm. Luckily for us she didn't have a choice and ended up with two citified, suburban living people! Jaden loves all animals and is not scared of any of them. This explains why at the tender age 1 year she had already been bitten by a chicken! She has no problem letting a nasty long tongued animal lick her hand up an down. I on the other hand can not stand that! It takes all the courage I have in me to let a deer eat out of my hand. But my girl on the other hand is a pro! So I take whatever opportunity I can to take her to the farm. The weather was perfect today! Since it was not above 80 degrees I knew that those special patties that the horses make would not be baking too bad in the sun and the lovely aroma would not be too bad. And thank goodness I was right!
Our first thing that we always do is go and feed the animals in the barn...

Afterwards we had to head to the first aid box for a band aid for my little princess and then it was time for a few fall pictures.(Jaden was thrilled)

After lunch and alot of loving from a pack of bees it was on to the big event, horseback riding! So we saddled up on Bailey and headed off into the corral!

Had to take a picture of the fall colors since the leaves are starting to turn! I love this time of year!

Afterwards it was playtime, deer feeding time and hay time!

Now mommy is enjoying the fact that Jaden is passed out on the couch. I guess I like farms too!

I admit I am a slacker...

2011-10-06T18:36:00.001-07:00

Ok I know I have been slacking on my blog post. There are no excuses I just haven't done it! Really there has not been much to post. But here is a catch up post.
I will start with two Saturdays ago I took these pictures.

And that is the last picture I took for over a week! Yes, me who takes hundreds of pictures everyday took none for over a week! Why you ask? Lets just say my daughter was blowing it up in her diapers! Yep she had a virus! And yep she is back in diapers and why you ask? Because she informed me that it is easier to pee in her diaper outside than to wear panties. She is very determined in this so much so that she is crying on the potty. And we are back to having major potty issues so back in pull ups we go. But I will admit last week I was glad to have diapers because I would not have wanted to clean those panties!(yep I am just laying it all out there!) I thought something had crawled inside her and died! Clothespins became my friend during diaper changes! And Jaden was nice enough to pass her little virus onto both myself and Rusty! Due to the week long virus we had to cancel our Chinese class for the week. I am sure the other parents were happy not to get Jaden's little gift!

But this week the camera came back out and Jaden and I returned to the outside world.
While Jaden was sick I took the time to try some of my mad sewing skills on a dress with sleeves and a Halloween dress.

Earlier this week we decided to paint and play games because it was alittle too cold to go outside.

Once it warmed up above 55 we headed outside.

Yesterday we met Sophie Su at the park for some fun and a nature walk!

Today we went to the zoo and met up with more friends to enjoy the good weather!

We are trying to soak in as much sunshine as we can before our wonderful winter sets in. Tomorrow Jaden has a date with a horse and saturday its pumpkin pickin time!

County fair time!

2011-09-20T14:28:00.000-07:00

This week is the county fair here in Delaware Co. Its a big deal here and the kids even get a day off school to go! I don't remember having fairs like this back in Mississippi. I guess agriculture is alot bigger up here so the county fairs are pretty big. They also have horse races where they actually bet money on each race. On Thursday the big race, The Brown Jug is held. Its crazy on that day I have heard. Of course admission on Thursday is $20 and every other day is $5 so we chose today.

We met up with Mattie and Tressa and checked out a couple of the animals.

Then we spent alittle time in the sandbox!

Then we played a game where we were trying to win a fish!
And low and behold we won a fish!!!

Then we headed over to where they keep the "special" horses. The one's that compete in the brown jug. It's crazy, they have these super nice stalls just for these horses!

We also got to take in one of the pre-jug races!

Finally it was time for a few rides!

We made a quick stop at the pet store to get food for our little friend. Somehow we ended up leaving with two other little friends! So now we have three more family members! Things come in three around our house, three family members, three dogs and now three fish! Guess we better think up some names!

Our version of Chinese school!

2011-09-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

For the past two years Jaden has been in a music class at our FCC Chinese school but this year we decided to change things up a bit. Alot of us were not happy with where the classes were headed and did not like the fact that they wanted no parents in the class(so not happening!). Plus at the time I decided that we had had enough of the music class and there were no other classes for her age. So a few of us got together and decided we would do alittle something on our own to just expose our kids to the Chinese culture. So I took off with and we now have a curriculum and we will be meeting twice a month at my house! Yes you read that right my house! Now when we started this we thought it would be about 5 kids and their families. But then other people found out about it and if someone asked me if we were doing the usual class I told them what was going on. So after word of mouth and all we are now a happy class of 15 kids! Yep you read that right 15. We actually only had 12 this weekend because some were not able to make it. I will admit I was alittle nervous at first having so many tiny people to control but it went great! They were all so good.

We started with a few words in Chinese and the parents repeated the words and the kids looked at us like we were nuts! Then it was on to our first project which involved glue and little bits of paper and we ended with red paint! Yep paint and 12 kids. I am happy to say that no paint was spilled by the kids but of course as I was cleaning the cookie cutters I dropped one on the chair, no biggie it comes out!

After class it was out in the backyard for some phone and a tasty Chinese snack!

So everything went off without a hitch and we are now meeting twice a month. Jaden loved it and told me later "mommy I had fun with my friends at my house! And mommy, Ni Hao!" So I guess she was listening. I think we will have a good year with our little Chinese school and the more the merrier! I never thought I would be teaching Chinese!

Yee-Haw it's a horse parade!

2011-09-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday we went over to our friend Mattie's house for a horse parade and to celebrate her Gotcha Day! We thought the parade would be rained out but at the last minute the skies cleared and it was a nice afternoon! This annual parade is nothing but horses. Jaden was so excited once it finally got under way! She also kept pointing out every time that one of the horses pooped!

After the parade it was time for food, fun and cake!

It's apple pickin time!

2011-09-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Last year Rusty, Jaden and I picked apples for the first time ever. So this year I was watching the website to see when the good apples would be ready. On Friday night I saw that it was this weekend so I planned a very last minute apple picking adventure with the Roger's family! Last year was fun but unknown to me we had gone to the wrong farm! This year we went to the right farm and there was alot more things to do and see!
We started off our trip with a good ole fashion hay ride with a stop to pick and apple or two!

Then it was on to the real business of the day! Picking our honeycrisp apples!

After we had filled our bags we headed to the corn maze. This was my first experience in a corn maze and probably my last! I didn't think we were ever going to get out ot it. I do have to admit that we cheated. Once we saw the ending we just kinda left the path and went through the corn!

We ended the day with shopping at the little market they had set up and eating in the parking lot!

Now I am making applesauce and my house smells just like fall! I am even going to attempt to can it! I love this time of year!

(I am sure you noticed the absence of a certain person by the name of Rusty. Well he decided to skip our little outing so he could sleep and get a message! Don't worry there is another apple picking adventure in his future in the next few months!)

Trip to Mississippi....

2011-09-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

Jaden and I headed down to Mississippi a little over a week ago to spend some time with family. We had planned the trip for October but moved it up because my grandfather is pretty sick. We had a great flight down there and Jaden made the plane changes like a pro. She even gave me alittle break by taking a nap from Missouri to Houston!
Jaden was so happy to see her Nana and Papaw again even though it had been less than two weeks since we had seen them in Gatlinburgh. She had a great time seeing all of her southern family that she hasn't seen very often!

While we were there Jaden got to wash her Nana and Papaw's cars. I have never let her do this but she loved it so it looks like I have a new carwasher!

After a week it was time to pack up and head back to the airport. Our first flight went ok, there was a little crying going on from my little flyer. When we got to Baltimore our flight was delayed an hour. At 10:05 pm we were able to board the plane and just as we were getting ready to pull away they opened the doors and told us we were grounded! Yes we were hit by tropical storm Lee which we were also hit with earlier in the week while we were in Mississippi! To top it all off poor Jaden started running a fever the minute we got to the airport and by this time it was 102! We set on the airplane for over an hour in the pouring rain and lightening! Finally they decided to take off. Luckily Jaden fell asleep as soon as we took off, I on the other hand was a nervous wreck. It was the worst flight I have ever been on. It was pouring rain and lightening like crazy. I was so thankful when the plane safely landed an hour later in Ohio! Jaden and I were both so happy to see Rusty and we finally got home at 1:30 A.M.! I plan on staying off airplanes for a while after that one! Its good to be home!

Gatlinburg part 2!

2011-08-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

I know this is a late post but thanks to a very dead camera I was unable to get my photos from the camera. I was finally able to put the disk in my printer and move the pics to my laptop! My camera on the other hand is still dead. I guess that it has a max of 1 million pictures and I reached that while we were on vacation! I guess Jaden will finally get a break from all the flashing lights!

So back to Gatlinburg....
On Thursday night we went to The Dixie Stampede. I was worried that Jaden would not be interested in the least but she loved it. They would not let you take pictures while you were in there because they wanted you to buy theirs! I did snap two picks while we were waiting though!

My parents left Friday to head back to Mississippi because my grandfather was in the hospital and not doing well. Jaden was not a happy camper when she woke up and her Nana and Papaw were gone. We decided we would walk around Gatlinburg for the day. We ate at Bubba Gump's which was very good!

After lunch we took the tram to Ober Gatlinburg. We finally got to see some black bears while we were up there!

After a three hour nap we decided to go and fill Jaden's closet for the fall. I love the outlet malls! We also got to eat at my favorite place Zaxby's! Can't believe I didn't take pics!
On our final day Rusty talked me into going to the airplane museum. He just knew Jaden would love it. Yhea right!

After 10 minutes Jaden was bored to death so I decided to let her practice learning how to walk the line. Hopefully she will not need this trade later in life but she was pretty good at it!

After a fun filled hour at the museum it was off to shop for Christmas ornaments and eat lunch!
While we were eating lunch the princess got in trouble for something and me being the paparrazi that I am took pictures of her disbelief at being told no! She is such a drama queen!

While we were shopping Jaden actually asked me to take her picture with a bear statue. I was mighty happy to oblige!

We decided we would go to the waterpark one more time before we left. Once again Jaden loved it!

We finally finished up our vacation by going to dinner and ice cream!

So now we are back home from vacation and back in the real world. We have had a busy fun filled summer and I cant believe that I am already washing Jaden's fall clothes! I guess the snow will be here before I know it! Ughh!

Gatlinburg Part 1!

2011-08-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

We are in the middle of our little Gatlinburg vacation and boy am I tired! We have had a busy few days and Jaden has been running non-stop. My parents now see what I mean when I say that she never stops! She is running them both ragged!
When we got here the first thing we did was take her to the waterpark in the resort we are staying at. She loved it!

The next day it was shopping, eating, water park, shopping and more eating! Daddy snuck in a race car ride during this time where he dominated the track. We keep hearing about this over and over!

On Tuesday we headed to Cade's cove for some bear sightings. Unfortunatly the only thing we saw were turkeys and horses!

Yesterday we headed to Dollywood for some good ole fun! Once again Jaden had a great time and wore us out. Afterwards we headed to the pool!

And finally this morning we went to the deer farm and exotic petting zoo! Jaden had the best time here and if your kids love animals I HIGHLY recommend it!

Tonight we are heading to the Dixie Stampede for some food and fun!

Tomorrow my parent's are heading back to Mississippi early because my grandfather is in the hospital and not doing well. We pray he gets better soon. I know Jaden is going to go through some major withdrawals when my parents leave. We will have to keep ourselves busy these next few days here!

The queen of drama!

2011-08-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

For some reason or another Jaden has become a major drama queen when it comes to being in a group picture. She does not like having her picture made anyway and turns her head as soon as she sees the camera. That is the reason there are so many shots a the back of JJ's head. But lately to try and put her next to her friends and have her picture made is like torture. She screamed when she had her picture made on the stand in red couch in Nashville and then today we did a group shot of her friends and she wanted no part of it! I don't know what the deal is because I am pretty sure that I am not a drama queen and I know Rusty isn't. Maybe I need to put her in beauty pageants like the T*ddlers and T*aras! I think not!

Fun with the Dino's again!

2011-08-12T15:21:00.001-07:00

Today Jaden and I met up with her buddy Mattie to see the dino's at COSI. We already saw them once but we had to see them one more time before they became extinct! Jaden loves her dinos!!!

Waterpark fun!

2011-08-10T12:47:00.001-07:00

Jaden, Jodus and I went to the water park today. Here are a few pics! Please excuse Jaden's blue lips it was only 72 degrees outside!!! At least there weren't many people there!!!

Fair fun!

2011-08-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

Last week we decided to go to the Ohio state fair before it left town for the year. Its that one time of the year when you can get anything and everything fried and on a stick! We went on a week night thinking it would not be that busy but everyone else must have had the same thought we had. Our first goal was to eat the food since we had not had dinner. So we sat down and ate all kinds of fried food!

After getting our fill os steak, chicken and fish(on a stick) it was off to see the animals! Along the way we got to see the sand sculpture that they made for the fair this year.

Then we had to see the infamous Butter Cow. Everyone in OH knows what the butter cow, except Amy who had no clue. It is made out of nothing but butter. I dont know why they do it but its pretty famous!

After the cow it was time for ice cream!!! Yummy!
We met up with Amy and her clan for some fair fun!

Happy Gotcha Day!!!

2011-08-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Its hard to believe but two years ago today Jaden was FINALLY placed in my arms. After many years and many many tears we finally had her and she was ours. The first 30 minutes was great. She was just interested in all that was going on around her and checking out these two strange people who were in her face that looked crazy and smelled so different. But after that 30 minutes all hell broke loose! I guess she realized we were keeping her and she was not going back to the only person she had ever known that cared for her. She grieved and she grieved hard! She kicked, screamed, puked and past out after she was so exhausted. I will admit that I questioned if we were doing the right thing. It hurt to see her go through so much pain and stress. How would you feel to lose everything you had ever known in an instance? But I am so glad that we did stick it out and I loved on her even when she wanted no part of me. After 2 1/2 days she finally felt comfortable. I guess she decided we weren't so bad after all! Those first days were not easy but it was oh so worth it. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat!
A big shout out to my China family Tara who took this photo on Gotcha day two years ago. I have not seen it till today and it is now my favorite. It shows both of our emotions so well!

Now onto our day today! Rusty was out of town so Jaden and I spent the day just hanging at the house. After nap I let her open her gifts. I no longer buy toys for her, instead I buy things that will keep her occupied for a few minutes so I can have a break. So we got a big coloring book(which she is working on know) and a princess art supply kit! She informed me that they were both her favorites and she had wanted them!

Then it was off to spend Gotcha day with the Rogers family! We had Chinese food, I made a cake and we even had live music from Charlie and Mailie!

Afterwards we headed home and took the yearly photo on the stairs! This is last years picture and her Gotcha day picture. (she is in her gotcha day outfit in both pictures)

Here she is today!
Happy gotcha day to our sweet baby girl! We love you so much!!!

Weekend party fun!

2011-08-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend we headed down to Cincy for a very special party. It was Jaden's cousin Eliza's 1st birthday!!! Jaden practiced singing happy birthday all day the day before we left and carried around Eliza's picture.

Poor JJ has her eyes closed because Uncle Chad's basement looks like a memorial to the buckeyes and she does not like them! Obviously the in gift this year is the Fischer price purse because Eliza got 3 of them! The bad thing is she already had one so now she has 4!!! It doesn't matter what group or occasion it is you can never get that perfect couch picture. Yes there were tears but thank goodness this time it was not Jaden!

On Sunday I finally let Jaden play outside. She has had a crazy rash and eczema flare up every since we got home from Nashville so we stayed cooped up all week!

Today is a special day so stay tuned because tonight we are celabrating a big event with the Roger's family!

China Reunion 2011!

2011-07-25T13:13:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was out annual reunion with our China family. This year it was in Murfreesboro TN.(Sorry to my Nashville peeps that I did not get to see you, trust me there was no free time)
My family went down a day earlier so I could help the Zotti's with last minute stuff. This allowed Jaden to get reacquainted with all the Zotti girls before everyone else got there. We had a great night at hotel Zotti even though I was not able to sleep due to the Poeppelmeier freight train that was asleep next to me, AKA Rusty!

On Thursday after a quick run to the airport to pick up the Spruill family and a trip to get food it was off to the hotel to get ready for the welcome dinner! Madeline's sister did a great job making the cupcakes, they were so cute and very yummy. It took a few minutes for Jaden to warm up to the other kids but once she did it was on. There were several incidences of head bumping going on which led to a little drama from Jaden but all in all she was ok.

After the party a few families headed to the pool to burn off some of the kids energy!

On Friday we had another fun day. After breakfast the mothers got together to talk. That afternoon the Zotti family was nice(crazy) enough to open their home to the whole group for an evening of food and fun!

The next day we braved the heat and took all the kids to the zoo for about three hours of fun and heat!

After the zoo we headed back to the hotel to cool off in the pool along with about 60 other people!

After a nap it was time for our last group event dinner at a Chinese resteraunt. Before we left of course we had to get all the girls together and relive the red couch photo from China. It all started well enough...

Once it was time to do the pictures Jaden's drama queen side kicked into full gear. She has obviously heard that all red couch pictures were supposed to have at least one screaming baby! This year Jaden decided to be that baby. It started with the picture of Jaden and Sophie. We were trying to relive the moment two years ago when we put the two Fuzhou babies on the red couch. Two years ago it was this...

This year it was this...

At least Sophie looks cute!
After that it was time for the baby group shot. Two years ago it was this...
Jaden was one of the few who did not cry!
This year it went down like this...

Jaden decided to make up for not crying in China! She did put her tears behind her for a few more shots of the group!

I know that it is a sight to see a bunch of White parents taking pictures of a bunch of crying Chinese babies in China but it obviously is a sight you dont see to often in the USA either. While were taking these pictures some people walked up to see what all the fuss was. It seems they thought we were Jon and Kate plus eight with all our little asian kids! We hated to break their hearts but we did!
After this fun we loaded everyone up and had Chinese food. The kids were crazy and I am surprised we didnt get kicked out!

All to soon it was time to say goodbye to our China family! Jaden went around giving hugs to all her friends.

We had a great time and can't wait till we see them all again next year!

Mommy is at it again!

2011-07-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

I sewed two more outfits for Jaden. I have actually been working on them a LONG time but we have had other things going on so it took a while. I loved the fabric so much that I had to make one of each color! Jaden was all to happy to model the first outfit but she was not so happy with the second. It was nap time(hence the pacy in her mouth)and she was ready to lay down! I wanted to finish the outfits before the reunion next week so she could wear them! Can't to see our China family next week!!!

Look what Jaden did!

2011-07-08T12:27:00.001-07:00

Note to self, never give Jaden a marker while she is in her car seat again! She colored more on herself than on the notebook! Lesson learned! And that is her Mad face because she couldn't believe I would dare take a picture of her mess.

A fun craft at Amy's!

2011-07-06T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today Jaden and I headed over to Amy's to finish up the craft we started last week. Amy was so nice(crazy) to let the 8 kids(1 was out sick)make turtle/frog gardens! Last week the kids painted the houses and this week they added the dirt, flowers,rocks and animals! The fun started off with a snack!

Then it was time for a few instructions from Amy.

Then the dirt and flowers started flying!

Before long there were 8 gardens and 1 big mess!

After the craft it was time for some fun! So the kids put on their suits and hit the water. Jaden always puts safety first so she decided that 3 rings were better then 1!

Mommy loves when Jaden goes to Amy's because all the kids wear her out and she takes a nice long nap! When nap was over we went outside to take a picture with her garden! She was so proud of herself!

Thanks Amy for letting us join your crazy crew on craft day!!!

A relaxing birthday/ 4th of July weekend!!!

2011-07-04T18:42:00.000-07:00

We pretty much did nothing this weekend! It was nice not to have to run to this event or that one and just stay at home. We did spend alot of time outside though. Jaden got to play in her pool and her water table which is her favorite thing to do!

Our dogs decided to enjoy some of the down time and have a little bonding time of their own.

Yesterday Jaden and Daddy had some bonding time so Mommy could have some alone time on her birthday! Last night we decided to go out to eat and took some pictures before we left!

Today we once again decided to stay home and enjoyed some more time outside!

Then it was back inside where we decorated cupcakes for America's birthday! Jaden thought she should wear a paint strainer as a birthday hat as she sang happy birthday!

Then it was time to dig in and enjoy her hard work! She loved that part!

And what was Jaden's Daddy doing while we were having all this fun?
We let him enjoy staining about 500 feet of fence!!!

Once we let daddy take a break and after dinner we decided to have our first watermelon of the season. We finally found a fruit that Jaden likes! She dug right in!

We finished off our relaxing weekend by watching fireworks on tv! Jaden had to have her four favorite things puppy, alligator, sippy cup and pacy!

Playing catchup!

2011-06-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

Once again Jaden has kept me busy with her little social life! Whoever said that summer was time for rest was full of it because we never have down time during the summer! Today is the only day we have stayed home and that is because Jaden was running a fever of 102! Still dont know why but at least we got to relax at home today!
This past weekend our town had their festival which was supposed to be great but really turned out to suck. If you are going to start the festival at noon then have everything ready at noon. Dont open the kids section 2 hours later. Jaden did get to see a dinosaur so it was all worth it for her! She also got to get her picture taken and fingerprinted for her safety card!

On Sunday Rusty got the great idea to clean out his boat AKA the place where I put all Jadens outgrown baby stuff! So we decided to get alot of baby stuff together to give to goodwill. Of course I had to take a picture of all Jadens things headed out the door. Another sign my baby girl is growing up!
We only had one major discussion about not giving something away. Rusty kept trying to put the stroller we bought in China for $10 in the pile, I kept taking it out. I was not quite ready to give up that yet! And of course I won and the stroller is still in the garage!

We also decided to put up Jaden's little playset this weekend. I bought it before Jaden came home and it has been in the garage ever since. I finally talked Rusty into putting it together. I am sure we will only enjoy it a few weeks before our HOA says it has to come down because it looks tacky!

Jaden also got to spend some time at her favorite water whole otherwise known as the water table.

It looks like Jaden is praying in this picture but I am pretty sure I just caught her doing the deed in her pants!

On Tuesday we met up with Amy's crew to hit the local spray park. Jaden had a blast!

Yesterday we were invited to Amy's so Jaden could join her crew in making a turtle and frog garden. Yesterday was just part one where they painted the house! Amy is a brave person to let 9 kids paint!