Whew!

It got really hot for a couple days! The mid-80's are hot, even for Atlanta, in April. Olivia was very disappointed the neighborhood pool wasn't open. So, she INSISTED we get out the sprinkler. She introduced Brooke to some new fun. Brooke got all giggly and loved watching Olivia run thru the water, but she stayed on the sidelines. I'm sure her sister will get her in there soon.

Aunt Lori struck again! She brought new spring dresses for the girls! They're all ready for the 4th of July, too! (Last year, on the 4th of July, we were in the Guangzhou medical clinic with about 100 other kids and Brooke received 6 (SIX!) immunizations AND a TB skin test. I thought she'd hate me forever for holding her down for those stupid, stupid shots. Sheeze. Not a good day.) Doesn't Aunt Lori have the best taste??? She'll keep my girls looking good!

Hoppy Easter!

The night before Easter, we made the traditional egg-dying mess. Brooke had no idea what we were up to, but had a good time. (trees in the house? fat men in the fireplace? green midgets running lose? rabbits with eggs? what's next? this is one crazy country!)



Mark made his very own creation with polka dots!

The finished products. Now I can't eat them - it's like they're alive!

Easter morning, Olivia was TOTALLY psyched to go egg (candy) hunting. She lead the charge to find the eggs!

Brooke was perfectly happy to just go thru her Easter basket.

Brooke got ahold of the camera yet again...

Dressed up for Easter!

The guests arrived and Brooke got comfy with Uncle Dave,

and Grandma Sally and Grandpa Howard,

and Aunt Carol,

while cousin Ivey tried out the new air hockey table with Olivia. (Garrett was spending the day with his girlfriend.)

Snuggles and giggles with Daddy!

At the restaurant in front of the little wall-fountain.

Our tummies were full of delicious things!! No slaving in the kitchen today! And what beautiful weather!!!!!

Dave and Carol...

Later, Uncle Chuck stopped by with a cake from Aunt Lori!! Beautiful and delicious!!!!

We hope your Easter was as nice as ours!

Spring Has Sprung!

Olivia's reading and math skills have been growing at a great rate these days. She really enjoys reading to Brooke now. It makes her feel much older and very superior to her little sister. Brooke enjoys it anyway.

We put out new pine straw the other week and my helpers made the work go quickly!

Brooke on her teeny-tiny bicycle. She has a bigger one waiting, but she hasn't quite mastered this one yet. She gets tired of pedaling fairly quickly and just wants me to push her.

The weather has been so crazy lately. We've gotten everything from flurries to sweaty hot days in just the last couple weeks. Here was a nice day. The daffodils were blooming and the girls actually sat still for a few seconds.

Brooke taking her baby for a walk. She takes this very seriously, taking very good care of her babydoll. She LOVES to go for walks. The cherry blossoms were falling.

We rescued this car from the neighbor's trash! It just took a little elbow grease to get it cleaned up again. Brooke loves it. When she gets tired of it, we'll donate it. I can't stand to see stuff like this get wasted. Brooke is quite the backseat driver - "go! go! go!" She has no patience for red lights or stopped traffic.

Bathtime in mom and dad's big garden tub. We only use it now and then. It takes so much water, it makes us feel guilty. But, I was also thinking that it would be an excellent doggy bathtub because the sides are so high, they couldn't get out of it with wet slippery paws...

Last weekend, Olivia got to attend 2 birthday parties! The first was a bowling party for a little boy adopted at the same time as Brooke. We were all travel companions. The guests could dress as super-heros or princesses. We had one of each. Special thanks to our neighbors who leant us the Batgirl costume!

Here are Olivia, Lilly and Levi. Levi was the birthday boy. Lilly's family also traveled to China with us to get her little brother. These 3 kids were like the Three Musketeers during the trip. Olivia and Lilly got especially attached. Every time they saw each other it was high drama, like they'd been apart for ages and were so happy to see each other again. Lilly has a great, new, grown up haircut!

Here they were in China, on "Red Couch Day", towards the end of the trip.

Here is Levi and his Batman birthday cake. He is 5 years old now! Yeah! He was hilarious in China. He is fluent in both Chinese and English and was our "group translator". He has a wicked sense of humor!

The drive, bowling, and birthday cake wore out our girls...

Brooke had to try on the Batgirl costume, too! I think it really suits her!

Olivia had another birthday party at a bouce-house the next day while Brooke got to attend the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

Lately it has been very nice and spring-like in the afternoons, so we've been eating lunch on the deck. Mark is working the midnight shift this month, so he's home for lunch. Here's what he does after he eats lunch... z-z-z-z-z-z-z

Grandma Sally made Easter baskets for the girls! They were tickled!

Whiloe vositing Grandma and Grandpa, Brooke got ahold of the camera. She was convinced she was taking pics of Grandpa. But here's what she really got:

Grandpa Howard with his grand-girls.

And Grandma Sally with her grand-girls.

Outside Gramp's and Grand's house... nice green fescue... our bermuda is just sickly yellow...

And lastly - today we added a new toy for the girls (Mark)! An air hockey table! Mark has been scanning Craig's List for months to find just the right one. The table flips over and you can also play pool! The girls love it! Olivia was so excited! Brooke is better than we ever expected!

Mark TRIED to show Olivia how to play pool. But as usual - she would not listen. She is convinced she knows everything already. It was a struggle, but I think he got some information into her hard head. I've thought about home schooling her before, but... times like this reinforce the knowledge that it would never work for us.