sugar and spice

Our sweet little mouse had a dance recital this weekend.  She loves to dance and was very excited to perform on the big stage. 

Sarah is in the youngest (preschool) dance class.  Here she is with some of her fellow mice.  

Seriously, the high school was flooded with ribbons, sequins, tutus, and lots of cute little girls!  Cuteness overload!  It really was very sweet! :)

I am the first to admit that I am not really good at doing little girl's hair (or my own, for that matter, haha)!  I am learning a little as we go, but it's still something I don't have a lot of confidence in doing.  I can do a ponytail and a few other things that get us by, but the dance director wanted curls that were pulled back for the performance.  

So I called a hair stylist friend and she helped us out! (and I "took notes" so maybe I can fly solo next time!) Miraculously, the curls stayed in (thanks to copious amounts of product and hair spray) all day!  Yay!

Our local Chinese New Year party was on the same night, so after the recital, we jumped in the car and hurried to the next big event!  Stay tuned!  :)

Puzzle Princess

Sarah loves puzzles and legos.   It surprises me how much she likes both of them.  They both hold her attention for quite awhile.

She is very persistent with her puzzles, and almost always refuses help.  :)

Sarah is especially excited about this new line of "girly" Legos.  Have you seen these?  Sweet!   We have lots of legos at our house, but none quite like these.  (And yes, Daddy and Sarah collaborated on this stunning outfit! haha)

Sarah's room (revisited)

Quite awhile ago, I posted about Sarah's transition from a crib to a big girl bed here. The room still needed some updating, but getting the bed in place was the main focus for awhile.  
When Sarah had a crib, a vinyl ladybug hung above it.  I knew once the crib was gone, we would need something different for the wall.  I found these cute flowers at Hobby Lobby this summer.
(I took these pictures in bright sunlight and had a hard time with exposure-- Sarah's room is a light pink color but each picture looks like a different shade of pink to me!)

And... my very favorite find!  I found these beautiful dancers at K*hls.   (l heart Kohls!)

With my 30% off coupon and a gift card (plus they were on sale), I got a great deal.   I told my husband that they "spoke to me."   ;)  And I really do think they are perfect for my little dancer's room.

I found this flower sign on Zulily.  

Still love the vinyl flowers 

Some pieces from the tea set we bought in Jiangxi.

I'm glad her room is put back together again.  It has been a fun project!

top ten (er, twelve!) photos of 2011

These are not necessarily great photos as far as technique and composition (I'm no photographer!), but are more about the moments and events I want to remember as a family!

 Chinese New Year dragons

 Beach bums (Spring break)

 Soccer star (Justin was voted J.V. offensive MVP!)

Sarah's special book (I made a book about Sarah's life in China and our journey to bring her home)

 Jason's new friend

 Evan's championship basketball team (won an area tournament!)

 Sarah's dance recital,  "The Farmer in the Dell"

Sarah's surgery.  Sarah had a lip revision in June. The revision was recommended to fix an area where her lip did not match up.  We sought out many opinions and had several consults before finally deciding on having a pediatric craniofacial specialist do the surgery.  He did an amazing job-- we were very hesitant and worried about the surgery (almost backed out), but now we are so happy we went through with it.   Beautiful before, beautiful now.  :)  This picture was taken just one week after surgery.

Back to school!

 Logan loved playing on his club soccer team and plays all sports with a smile on his face!

 Sarah's foster parents.   So grateful we have this connection!

 Hip Hip Hooray!   The gang's all here!