Madeline's first day of 1st did not start off as we had planned. I did not sleep and Kelly had to get up at 4:15a to catch a flight to Lubbock. When Kelly was leaving he slipped in to kiss Madeline goodbye, as he usually does on these early mornings, and she woke up. Thinking it was time to get up she ran into our room crying becasue daddy was leaving. When I finally got her settled back in bed it was almost 5 o'clock. YOI!!! 6:30 came quickly, and after getting to sleep around 5am I was really dragging my knuckles. Madeline woke up crying, fussy, and in a very disagreeable mood to say the least. It wasn't like she was really getting up any earlier than usual just that she had to get ready for something she had been eagerly waiting for. After about 20 minutes of crying fits she had worked it all out and was good to go. We got to school and she was a big little girl carrying her backpack and lunch.

One year ago today we were leaving on a jet plane heading to China. Our adventure started with 34 hours of travel ~ NOT including the 22 hour layover in Minneapolis. Who know what adventures we were going to have as we left.

~ Our first adventure, Madeline got sick and threw up in an airplane blanket as we were leaving the plane in Tokyo and then proceeded to throw up and cry throughout the layover, security checkpoints, and the flight to Guangzhou.





~ Our second adventure, Madeline came down with a 105 degree temp the day after Gotcha Day that lasted 3 days. She put on a good face but was having a very tough time.


~ Our third adventure, went to several resturants where the waitstaff did not speak any English and our Chinese was less than adequate. Thank Goodness for menu's with pictures of the dishes. We enjoyed our dining outings though. How bout serving this fried food at the Texas State Fair...HUH?

~ Our fourth adventure, Rebekah's 1st flight ~ it went better than expected and Madeline did not get sick.

~ My fifth adventure, Taking a taxi to the Wal*Mart equivalent by myself and shopping with no translator. I made it there and back with flying colors. By the way, this is not the taxi I took but it was a taxi in Chongqing.

~ Our sixth adventure, Talking to a class full of 3rd or 4th graders outside the passport photo place while they practice their English on us. WHAT FUN!!! The students gravitated to Madeline but she was a bit scared and shy.

~ Our seventh adventure, Typhoon Hagupit. Get this we leave Texas right before Hurricaine Ike is to hit the Galvaston Coast and move up into North Texas only to sleep through a Typhoon in Guangzhou. GO FIGURE. It wasn't all that bad becasue Hagupit passed way south of us and we got a lot of rain and storm surge. Shamian Island where our hotel was got effected by flooding from the storm surge, ironically, it was the worst flooding there in several years. Water in some places was waist high and our hotel lobby was flooded. And the beautiful crystal blue swimming pool was river mucky green. This did not, however, stop the locals from going to work and opening their shops. In the picture of Kelly and Beks sitting by the window you can see the water right up to it but what you do not see is the approx. 1O foot walk way between the hotel and river.

~ Our eightth adventure, sitting on the plane to leave Guangzhou for 2 hours while we waited for a work crew to come and change the front nose tire on the plane. The tire was there but no one to change it. Kelly was ready to get off the plane and change it for them but alas they finally came and we were off 2 hours late hoping our connecting flight would be held.

~ Our ninth adventure, getting a migrane on the plane during the delay. It is not fun throwing up in a airplane bathroom while it is taxing to the runway, not easy.

~ Our tenth adventure, running through the Tokyo airport trying to make our connecting flight as we go through 3 more security checkpoints while airport workers point and shout Minneapolis so we do not go in the wrong direction. It was pretty frantic carring 1 child and dragging a 5 year old behind you. We found out that the airline will hold planes 2 hours past their departure time if it is one of their "baby flights" as they call them. It was great for us but not for the other passengers sitting on the plane for 2 hours. We were very lucky becasue our layover in Tokyo was about 2 hours 15 minutes so our flight was held but several families going to Detroit had a hour and a half layover and they missed their flight all together.

Well that is it for our adventures. I am sure there were more but they are not coming to mind right now.

Bek's 1st day of Mother's Day Out

Today was the 1st day of "school" for Bek's, and not a whimper or whine was made. She walked in confident and happy like she knew what she was doing. When we picked her up she squeeled with glee and came running to the door. I was a bit worried about nap time and her sleeping in a room full of other children but they said she was the 1st one asleep. Bek's really loves being with other children her age. Maybe next year we will try more days a week.

Well my birthday came and went just like I like it...without any fuss. Although, my sweet husband did not let my 42nd birthday go by without something special. He took me to the 49er ~ Dallas game in the new Cowboys Stadium. Jerry Jones spared no Arlington taxpayer or fan expense to bring "us" the new stadium. It was amazing though. We sat in the "Cowboy's Club" Section. This section has cushioned seats and its own private dining area, bathrooms, and bars and there were no lines to wait in ~ very nice! The new big jumbo screen is nice but is a bit of a distraction, you want to watch it instead of the game on the field. I proudly wore my new 49er shirt with no trepidation what so ever. All the cowboy fans we met, save one, were nice and jovial. There was one cowboys fan, who I later found out was drunk out of his mind, about 6 rows above us that would let out this loud obnoxious "WHEW," not when the cowboys made a good play like you think he would, but when they showed the cheerleaders on the big screen. Thankfully, they left mid 3rd quarter.

I do not put much importance on pre-season games but it is always good when the 49ers beat the Cowboy's. And in such good timing with 33 seconds left in the game. I was really impressed by the the rookies Nate Davis out of Ball State and Kory Sheets out of Purdue. Oh and to my earlier post in April about being so excited that the 49er's drafted Michael Crabtree well that excitement has faded away and I do not care if they sign the selfish primadonna now. He has worn out his welcome with this 49er fan now and forever. You know at least T.O. was a proven player before he became a selfish yahoo, Crabtree hasn't played 1 down yet and he wants the world. You know I hope he does sit out the whole season, does he really think another team will pick him up and for the money he wants with an attitude like that. All I can say is the 49ers have offered him more than the what a #10 pick is worth and it is still not good enough, well pooh on him. He seems to think that blaming his agent will explain his hold out, but don't you think if he TRULY believed his agent was the problem he would fire him and get a new one...Naw he's not doing that becasue HE is ultimately the problem. Anyhow, enough of me on my soap box.

Kelly and I had a great time at the game and the girls absolutely loved being spoiled by Ye Ye and Nai Nai. Thank you my Sweet Friend Patti for letting me borrow your telephoto lens it was GREAT. Just a note, I left out the picture of Wade Phillips picking his nose.

49er Nation
Kick Off
1st play ~ Romo to Witten
Witten getting the pass ~ It took 2 49ers to TRY and get him down, best they could do was push him out of bounds
Hill to Gore
Barber making a good run
Breathing down Romo's neck
This is what Romo saw before he threw the interception
After Romo's interception
49er incomplete pass
Its TOUCHDOWN 49er's
Its TOUCHDOWN 49er's
Its TOUCHDOWN 49er's
The catch right before the cowboy's defender jumped over the receiver with out downing him
The jump
Yards gained after the jump...big mistake
Good Dallas Tackle
My age
Final Score ~ YEAH!!!
My Coach!

Got to go to Ranger's Ballpark for a P.L.A.Y. event today. Madeline got to go out on the field and learn how the players warm up for a game with pitcher Eddie Guardado, go into the batting cage with Ian Kinsler, and get a "don't use steroids" talk. She thought it was funny when they said

"...they give you the shot in the butt."

She laughed and laughed. The talk was good for the older youth but was wasted on the younger kiddos. Parents could not accompany the kids onto the field or down in the batting cages so I gave my camera to Ranger's employee to take pictures of her with one of her favorite players ~ Ian Kinsler ~ but she was too shy to get in the batting cage with him. Kinsler spent 3 minutes with each child showing them how to bat ~ TOO COOL. So the Rangers employee got a picture of Madeline with Kinsler behind her. That was the closest she was going to get without mommy around. She told me later that if I were there she would have done it. Her one main observtion about the batting cage area was that, "it smelt funny." You gotta love kids.

When the event was almost over Eddie Guardado came over to where I was and struck up a conversation with me. His 2 boys there and enjoying just having the run of the facilities. Guardado appologized for loosing the game last night ~ he did not loose the game, it was Frankie Francisco in the 9th that did, just for the record. He asked me who my daughter was and I told him and he told me in his station she was very enthusiastic. I asked if he would take a picture with her and he told me he would. BUT she was not over near us yet and a crowd of children came over and started getting autographs. Knowing the event was pressed for time I told Guardado thank you for wanting to take a picture with her and we would try it later but he said, "NO, stay right there, I don't care how long it takes I will get that picture with you."

I am very thankful that the Ranger's ball club is filled with players who take the time with the fans. This is not the only time a player has been nice to my daughter and I doubt the last. Madeline is turning into quite the baseball fan. She is almost able to identify all the Ranger's players by their picture and knows the line up. Although this latest change up putting Hamilton batting 7th then 5th has thrown her off. She still want to meet Josh Hamitlon more than anything. Her goal is to become a Ranger's Ball Girl, they sit on the field and get foul balls and warm up the outfielders between inning. Makes a momma proud her daughter likes sports and not cheerleading.