Gotcha Day

Just look at those adorable little toes!
Five years ago on February 21st we welcomed Evan into our family. What a day! We had no idea how much she would enhance our lives. She is such a thoughtful and respectful sweetheart. We watched some of the DVD from Gotcha Day and could not believe how little she was. She gave such funny looks and had a fun personality from day one. Ironically, she thinks the day is 'Forgot'cha Day'. We are so grateful for the opportunity to raise this special little one.

Here Comes the Tooth Fairy!

This past Wednesday Evan lost her first tooth. It has been loose for a few weeks, but I didn't think it was quite ready when she left for school that morning. At 11:30 I got a call from school, only I was working and had my phone on silent. It turned out to be Evan calling me to tell me all about it. I felt so bad I didn't hear it. There is a teacher at school who is well-known for having the right touch for pulling teeth, and everyone goes to her to do the honors. Evan apparently decided long ago that Ms. Quinlan would be the one to pull her tooth. She said it hurt a little but not too bad. She got a necklace to put it in so she would make it home with it. When Mike picked her up from school, she was so excited she wanted to call her grandparents. She was also convinced that $100 was a reasonable amount for the Tooth Fairy to leave her. In the end, she was pleased with the $5 she left her. She was very careful to put her tooth in the perfect spot when she went to bed. Mike covered her up in the middle of the night and stirred her just enough for her to wake up thinking she had caught the Tooth Fairy. She reached under her pillow to make sure her money was there. What she doesn't know is that the Tooth Fairy temporarily lost her tooth. It fell on the floor while she was making the exchange. Luckily, I found it the next day. I can't believe she's a snaggletooth!
This morning she was pulling her sleeve down with her teeth and ended up pulling her other tooth quite a bit. I keep trying to talk her into letting Mike pull it, but I think she is waiting for Ms. Quinlan to pull it on Monday.

Louisiana Day Part 2

Posing with Emily and Amanda

She won her shot at the Football Relay

Rooting for Reed

For the Football Relay the children had to hold a football between their legs and weave in and out of cones. Apparently Evan was the only child who weaved in and out of the cones all day. She did it so effortlessly, too. She seems to be a natural when it comes to sports. She may not be the best, but she has a natural ability. I am so glad since I don't have any ability when it comes to sports!

Louisiana Day

Evan at the 'Limbeaux' Stick

Sitting with her friend Reed

Playing Freeze Dance

The Kindergartners celebrate have a day each year to celebrate all things Louisiana. Louisiana Day is full of activities like the Limbeaux, the Crawfish Toss, Freeze Dance, Face Painting, a 'Who Dat' Football Relay, and a small Mardi Gras parade. Afterwards, they got to taste Louisiana - strawberries, dirty rice, french bread, king cake, Johnny's pizza and Moon Pies. I got to help and had a wonderful time! I love spending time at Evan's school so I can get to know her friends and teachers. We are so lucky to be in a brand new school with great teachers.

Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez

Evan just had to have a mask

Kassi in her awesome sandwich board

Charlotte, Madalyna & Evan - some of her classmates

This past Tuesday was Fat Tuesday. We love Mardi Gras and usually go to one of the parades, but we didn't get a chance to this year. Evan didn't even think about it, but I did. Legacy Elementary made assignments for each grade and then had a parade. Kindergarten made sandwich boards, and they turned out so cute. A king and queen from one of the Krewes were there and supplied throws for everyone. Evan ended up with so many beads that it is hard to believe she usually gets more at the Krewe of Highland Children's parade.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Paige, Kassidy & Evan

We had a Valentine's activity at church yesterday. They did a couple of crafts, decorated cookies and ate pizza. Look who showed up in the same shirt! Paige must shop at Target, too. I love their seasonal shirts!

Once There Was a Snowman...

We made a much better snowman this morning than the one she and Kassi were able to make last night. We had a lot more snow on the ground, so we were actually able to make a white snowman. We had to use grapes for the face. As soon as I took her picture with our snowgirl, it fell over. So we got to make it again!

Look at that SNOW!

It snowed all yesterday and then all night long. It finally stopped around 9 am but left us a few inches of beautiful snow. Too often we get more ice than snow leaving everything a mess. With the huge amount of snow falling on the East coast and seeing pictures of people shoveling their sidewalks, I have a new appreciation for our winter. The concrete is still warm enough to melt it giving us perfectly 'shoveled' paths. I had to wake Evan up around 8:30 this morning because I wanted her to have enough time to enjoy her Winter Wonderland before it started melting. When she looked out the window and saw how peaceful and white everything was, she couldn't wait to get outside.

Ghetto Snowman

Evan and Kassi worked so hard on their snowman. They were so cold and wet but did not want to quit and go in until it was complete. Since there was not much snow, they kept rolling up dirt and grass turning their snowman into the Ghetto Snowman!

Snow in Louisiana!

Evan and her BFF Kassidy

Those snowflakes taste so good!

It started snowing early this morning and continued all day! I let Evan play in it before school in case it stopped while she was at school. She had so much fun, but she and Kassi played in it after school and had even more fun!

An Hour in Vicksburg, MS

Every 15 months we have to make the 3 1/2 hour trek to Jackson, MS to have our fingerprints updated for immigration in case our second adoption ever comes through. We usually have an appointment around noon, so we leave our house early, go to our appointment, and then head to the zoo. The Jackson Zoo is pretty cool. This time our appointment was at 8 am, so we drove over the night before and spent the night. We were finished with our appointment by 8:30 am and then headed to Vicksburg! It was such a cold and windy day, that we just drove through the National Military Park. It was pretty amazing to think that almost 150 years ago part of the Civil War was fought there. We saw the USS Cairo that was sunk by the Confederates. Go boys! Next time we hope to take the time to learn more about the history of the battles at Vicksburg.
After we left the park, we went to the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum. This is the site where the very first Coca-Cola in the world was bottled in the 1860's. I love the rich history of the South!

Chinese New Year Celebration

Evan & Keagan

Maggie & Evan playing pool

Evan & I went to the CNY celebration at the Shreveport First Baptist Church Chinese Mission. We went early to help make traditional dumplings. Evan is such a good little dumpling maker! We finally got to meet the sister and nephew of some good friends of ours. Kaegan came home from China about a year ago. We also got to reconnect with Maggie. Maggie is a little over a month older than Evan, and we used to play together when they were young. Now they are in Girl Scouts together and have become fast friends again. I love that she is getting to know some of the other Chinese adopted children in our area. I still LOVE seeing these beautiful Chinese children speaking with southern accents.