Savannah reads her first word

Melissa Post in Everyday Life
Comments Off

You all know that I’m a huge fan of technology and that Melissa and I are big fans of the Leap Pad learning system. Well, awhile back a friend recommended the L-Max (gameboy type system) so we bought it. Later we found some LeapFrog DVD’s at Meijer that also teach phonics and building words. In addition to the LeapPad tools, Melissa created some games using foam alphabet letters that involve jumping and other active things which Savannah loves.

Well, long story short….the foam letters S A T were put together on the floor in the kitchen and when Savannah saw them she said, “hey that spells sat”

Hmmm, her first word is sat and those same letters are the acronym for a college exam test, coincidence…I think not.

The Largest Chinatown in the U.S.

Melissa Post in Places to Visit
Comments Off

New York Chinatown Website

We can’t wait till someday we can visit the Chinatown in New York. It’s the largest in the U.S. and I’m sure has some awesome things to do and see (not to mention wonderful food). A great time to visit would be around one of the Chinese holiday’s like New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, Moon Festival etc. Check out the events at their website.

As an added bonus, if you plan to go to NYC Chinatown, you may want to book a walking tour with Jami Gong.

Awesome Tea!

Melissa Post in Products
Comments Off

tea spring website

TeaSpring.com

This past year after I got back from Yunnan I wanted to order some good tea to send to a Chinese American friend. I ended up ordering the tea from an online tea company who ships their teas directly from China. Well, I ordered the tea for my friend, and also some for our family too, called Cherry Ball or Rising Sun. This turned out to be the coolest tea I’ve ever had. The taste was very subtle and delicious, but the really awesome part was what happened in the tea cup. After I poured the boiling water on the tea the ball of tea leaves began to “bloom”, slowing opening up to look like a beautiful green and red flower. Needless to say I’ve saved the rest of the tea for the soon coming Chinese New Year!

So, for all you tea lovers out there, I can recommend the Cherry Ball tea, but check out all the other cool teas they have too. I’m itching to check out others that bloom as well.

Fifteen to Sixteen Months…

Melissa Post in Our Second Adoption
Comments Off

Well, we just got info from our adoption agency and time frames continue to lengthen out. When we started the process this year the waiting time from Log-in date to Referral was about a year. Now we are looking at fifteen or sixteen months. But times are expected to continue to lengthen. So, needless to say we are now thinking our referral may not come at least until next year in December and more likely not until 2008.

We were pretty bummed when we heard this latest lengthening report, but after talking it through and thinking about it we realize that it is probably for the best. We know at this time we have an enormous tax bill coming up this next April. We will be doing some heavy finagling and selling of things, so we can pay that. We also know that I will need to take on jobs to get some of the money we need to take care of this bill and others we need to take care of before the adoption. So, long story longer, we are just trusting in Gods timing and leaving it in his hands. We know it’s in good hands.

Pending Review

Melissa Post in Our Second Adoption
Comments Off

We got word today that that our file is “pending review.” What does this mean? Hmm, well I guess it means that it’s going to be reviewed and that it’s pending.

Okay, that was a joke, but we are moving through the process.  You might recall that our paperwork began with a LID or “log in date”, then moved to “translation” and now the “pending review” phase.

Still to come…the “review”, followed by “pending referral”, followed by “referral”.

That sort of sounds close, but really it isn’t.  One step closer anyway. ;)