Pictures From Grandma

Brock's mom sent us several pictures of the kids yesterday. It looks like they're having fun during their week with Grandma and Grandpa.

A Week at Grandma & Grandpa Reynolds' House

Over the weekend, Preston and Shaling headed home with Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds to spend a week at their Lake Shafer (Monticello, Indiana) home. They will go boating, watch movies, and generally be spoiled rotten. Yesterday's activities included shopping for Legos, tubing, baking chocolate chip cookies, swimming, going down a water slide, and jumping off of a double-decker dock (that last one was Preston only).

Today, they wore their new shirts supporting "Aunt Joanna". Joanna is my cousin I've mentioned in previous blogs that is fighting mouth cancer (for the 4th time in 3 1/2 years). Yesterday, she began 7 weeks of radiation, along with 3 days of chemotherapy.

The day before leaving, Shaling literally begged me to take her to get her haircut. I think she became tired of having to maintain longer hair. I really think it turned out cute. Her she is with our neighbor's dog, Max:

While they've been gone, I've gone shopping for school supplies, organized said supplies, and created an answer key for a Pre-Algebra packet Preston needs to complete before the first day of school. Brock and I went out to eat last night and enjoyed the relaxation of not arguing with the kids over what and how much they had to eat. Later, I enjoyed an evening out with a friend of mine that I don't see often enough, even though she's local. It's shaping up to be a good week for all of us.

Canoe Trip 2012

We spent the past 4 days/3 nights at Ozark Outdoors campground near Leasburg, Missouri. Monday, which was Preston's 12th birthday, we spent canoeing on the Meramec River. We joined our friends Barry & Nikki, their 6 kids, Nikki's parents, some friends of Nikki's parents, Nikki's aunt & uncle, and some of Nikki's cousins. It is always a joyously fun group.

Tent camping is NOT my thing, but I do this because Nikki does such a fabulous job organizing this trip each year, because my kids get a chance to have a vacation with other kids (not just boring old Mom & Dad), because the food is always super, and because the personalities of the attendees are so great. As you'll be able to see by the pictures below, the scenery isn't so bad either!

Brock proudly stands in front of his masterpiece. He put up the tent with NO help from me.

The inside of our humble abode: our bed on the left; the kid's on the right.

Shaling enjoyed some baseball.

Shaling enjoyed some baseball.

Preston chose board games.

We toured Onondaga Cave.

The kids look at "the twins".

Black bear bones were found in the cave, but it is thought that a previous owner may have placed them there.

This was right before the tour guide turned off ALL lights, including his flashlight, so we could experience pitch dark.

Yes, those are bats in the right corner.

The kids stand by a water mark from a 2008 flood.

Shaling is a superstar.

To the left is a small opening above the water. This was the first discovered entrance to the cave. Two men in a boat laid flat and used their hands to push against the ceiling to enter the cave.

We begin our float down the Meramec River.

Preston is enjoying his birthday.

Shaling is in the front.

This egret led the way for us for awhile.

Preston Rope Swings from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo. On his 12th birthday, Preston bravely became the only kid (and one of only three people total) on the float trip to try the rope swing across the Meramec River. The first time took several minutes and a lot of encouragement, but after that he kept going back for more. This was his 3rd time. We discovered that Shaling has a fear of heights, as she climbed up, but after nearly 10 minutes, climbed back down without swinging.

Meramec River - Swim Stop from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo. During our float, we stopped several times to go swimming and cool off.

Shaling & Francine

Back in China, Shaling had an older foster sister at the orphanage. Yu Bei seemed to be very maternal, taking care of Shaling and several of the other younger girls. It was apparent that Shaling cared a lot for Yu Bei, because she safeguarded a letter that Yu Bei gave her to bring to America with her. We were able to meet her on December 31st, 2010, when we were allowed to tour the orphanage and the "foster home" (really just an extension of the orphanage) where several of the school-aged kids lived.

We were able to convey to Shaling that Yu Bei would be coming to America too, but we didn't know when. In November 2011, Yu Bei became Francine and came to the state of Illinois, specifically the town of Mendota. She has three Chinese sisters, one older and two younger. The family came to Springfield yesterday and is staying through tomorrow in order to tour some of the Lincoln sites. Francine's mom, Cathy, let me know they'd be in town so we could arrange a reunion of sorts.

Yesterday afternoon, we met them at their hotel and let all of the kids swim for a couple of hours. Then, we took them to Dublin Pub for some local fare. The girls seemed so happy to see each other again that we then invited Francine to spend the night with us, which she did, and Brock took her back to the hotel on his way to work this morning. It was so great to hear them giggling and happy.

Here is a brief video of all of the kids swimming:

Shaling & Yu Bei Reunite from Amy Reynolds on Vimeo.

Eighteen months ago TODAY, we received the sweetest little bundle of joy...a giggling 9-year-old who has blossomed into a beautiful, but sassy, American girl. She listens to current hit songs on her iPod, texts her friends, watches typical television fare, rides her bike, has crushes on boys, plays basketball and softball, dances, sings, complains about homework and chores, bickers with her brother, joins forces with her brother to gang up on Mom and Dad, sweetly hugs us (but still no kisses) each night, and is a social butterfly who loves to laugh and make other people laugh. She has expanded her dietary choices, but still prefers soup. She's ornery and gives us a run for our money, but she is so worth it. God truly blessed us when he made us a family.

Some quick updates:

• Shaling & Preston are now the same height (roughly 56 inches) and weight (73 pounds), despite her having been a full  head shorter than him in January 2011. American dairy does wonders.
• Shaling just wrapped up her softball season last night. She's becoming a decent pitcher and is quite fun to watch behind the plate as well. She nearly threw out a runner at 3rd base last night.
• Both kids just spent the weekend with my parents and they all headed up north to stay with Uncle Scott for a couple of nights. He spoiled them rotten by taking them to play miniature golf, play in an arcade, and spend a day at a large water park. They were both still chatting about it when Brock and I got home from a separate trip two days later. Grandma & Grandpa spoiled them rotten with some shopping.
• Shaling enjoyed 3 different morning camps this month - basketball, softball, and golf.
• We conducted 2 fundraisers this month -- trivia night/silent auction nights (one for a local family in the process of adopting a 3-year-old girl in need of serious cardiac care and one for a local youth battling a brain tumor) and held a garage sale at our house.
• We enjoyed attending a hog roast/wedding reception for Aunt Joanna and Uncle Mike. Speaking of Aunt Joanna, please keep her and her family (Mike, her daughter Maggie, etc.) in your prayers. I won't share all of the gory details here, but her cancer has returned. This is her 4th bout with it (during a time period of about 3 1/2 years) and she's just 37-years-old.
• We recently said goodbye to our minister, Pastor Jack, as he retired and moved to spend more time with his grandkids.
• We've gotten in some family exercise this summer, via biking, 5Ks, and swimming.
• We are looking forward to visiting Grandma and Grandpa Reynolds this weekend.

No pictures today, but hope to share some softball pictures soon!

Lots of Amys, One Mom

I am unsure how many women Shaling has referred to as "Mom" (or in Chinese, "Mama"). As I understand what she tells me, she was in and out of foster care, plus she referred to at least one of the caregivers at the welfare center as Mama. In fact, she'd had so many Mamas in her first 9 years of life that we discovered at some point last year that she didn't fully absorb that we were going to be her last Mama and Baba (Mom and Dad). In her experiences, Moms and Dads were temporary, not permanent.

Here in America, she has interacted with several Amys. Obviously, I am Amy. Plus, one of her Girls on the Run coaches was Coach Amy. One of our next door neighbor's is named Amy. Last night, she met a Chinese Amy. Brock took the kids to a Chinese buffet for supper after the kids' drum lessons (while I grocery shopped and avoided the buffet). A young waitress named Amy spoke with Shaling in Chinese and told Shaling just how much she loved America as compared to China.

I believe Shaling really enjoyed the conversation, because at home, she animatedly chatted with me all about it. She then said, "we need Amy to come here; we need lots of Amys". I pointed out that lots of Amys might be really confusing. She giggled, agreed, and excitedly acted out the scene, ending with "which one's the real Mom? Oh, that would be Amy Reynolds."

She was just a girl acting silly. To her, that comment was no more important than anything else she'd said that day. However, to me, who has been overly sensitized to the words "real mom", it was very touching. Anyone close to us sees how she interacts with the entire family (and how we interact with her), therefore, having little doubt that we are her real family. So, this wasn't exactly turning a corner or any new revelation, but it was a meaningful symbol to me. Her Mom. And Real.