stuff

so Dallas had a 'dance' at school on Friday! did he dance? no. was the music cheesy? yes. did anyone dance? yes. did you like it? sorta. nice to have this conversation w/you Dallas! so funny. if i were to ask him about the latest xbox game though, watch out! he'll talk your ear off! hey mom, what did I like at that age? what did I talk about the most? what a total crack up.

on Saturday, Dallas put together his new desk and shelf system for his study! he did a great job and even looked at, and followed, the instructions! hurray Dallas! looking good buddy! Kim and i worked on Mei Mei's room upstairs and took down the beads that were hanging in the closet entrance. the beads were replaced w/a softer toned curtain. the curtains across the windows were replaced also to start to make her room more Mei Mei friendly. the previous occupant was a highschool girl and she went nuts w/the sponge treatment, including the ceiling. her friends all wrote in big bold black marker in her closet. everywhere. we need to transform that room into a room that is fitting for a toddler! my princess. a room worthy of Catarina!!! Saturday night, we went to a Families w/Children from China meeting here in Green Bay and there were 26 families (I believe) w/probably perhaps 50 children running around amok! I was enthralled, Mei Mei was apalled. poor girl clung to Dallas for a good 20 minutes before warming up to the noise and finally running around w/Dallas too! initially, we didn't know anyone there although i did meet the family that first emailed us about this event. it was nice to finally meet them. we ended up seeing two people that work at our hospital, i had no idea that these two had adopted children or that they were both in the children's center! fabulous start! i love meeting other families w/similar stories and experiences! i want Mei Mei to know her culture and i want to learn Mandarin! eat some good food! what fun!

today was all about working in the barn. we sent Dallas to a friends house for a few hours and Kim and I shoveled for a couple hours until we filled the bed of my truck to the brim. my arms are shaky! since its been raining off and on (our basement is very wet), the truck got stuck as i went to the south side of the barn to dump my load. nice. i picked Dallas up and had him help me shovel the contents of the bed out and try to unstick our vehicle. no luck. we then shoveled tracks behind the tires to be able to get a good run and retreat semi gracefully. no way. how does a four wheel drive truck get stuck in a seemingly flat piece of grassy land? well, this was the low point and the truck was heavily laden w/wet poop. heavy load. wet poop. what fun! anyone interested in some excellent compost? not me. i should sell the stuff. but YOU can come and get it! sheesh. Dallas and i finally extricated the Titan but layed some serious tracks in the process! you should see the ruts! our yard will never be the same. i shoulda taken some pictures. wasn't in the mood though folks. no way.

gonna go out there again but this time it's to feed the critters. our work never ends. Mei Mei is calling from upstairs too. DAAADDY! so heart wrenching. go to sleep my little princess. i love you. we've said our prayers, i'll see you in the morning! buenas noches! wan an!