Random November Photos, Part 3

Random November Photos, Part 2

Ellie had her last soccer game of the season in November.  Her goal tally ended up being somewhere close to 8 goals (one of them we're unsure about).  She did great and blossomed sooo much!  Her end of the season trophy was a bronzed bobble head girl soccer player and it now proudly sits on the shelf of her desk in her room. 

Random November Photos, Part 1

We had beautiful (and kind of too hot!) weather all the way through November so we were able to spend most evenings outside playing until much later than we would have typically been able to.   That weather is now long gone....   

Random September Photos

My good friend, Brooke, has finally (!!!) received her referral for her daughter, Nola, from China.  I say finally as she turned her dossier in to China only six months after we did for our first adoption but right after that things changed in the adoption world and the wait-times increased drastically.  She has now been waiting close to 5 years (!) for her daughter.  But the wait is about to be over....soon she will be in China with her baby girl in her arms.  Knowing that the time is soooo close, we cleaned out our "baby-stuff storage" and gave a lot of our favorite items to Brooke for Nola.  One of the things given was the play-station (above) that Quincy used for about three months until she learned how to walk.  When the girls came down stairs one day last week and saw that thing waiting to be placed in my car, they had a great time playing with it in their last hoorah (spell?). 

On a totally different subject, Quincy has turned into an OCD, acorn-collecting nut!  Every single day she comes home from school I pull close to twenty (20!) acorns out of her pockets (and toss them back outside for the squirrels).   On the days that I forget to clean out her pockets, I eventually find them in the washer or dryer after laundry.

Quincy's 4th Birthday!

Quincy wanted a camera for her birthday ---"just like Ellie's".  Did I mention that they have to have everything this same?

And she wanted some dress-up clothes.....

...and she is finally able to wear her "4" shirt...something Ellie has been able to do for the last six months!

Her cake this year was a lady-bug.  Yes, I made it (and I used fondant for this first time---it was actually easier than I thought it would be!).

Opening her gift from Uncle's Mike and Eric.....

.....which could not have been more perfect!   This dress is her favorite gift of all!

After the cake all the girls played dress-up with all the pretty new outfits.

Now that Quincy is 4, she gets a whole vitamin rather than a half.  My baby's growing up....and getting sick again as evidenced by the photo above. 

Pre-Halloween

The night before Halloween we went over to Uncle Dave and Aunt Cathy's for a relaxing evening.  The front of their house was all decked out for Halloween, complete with spider webs and spiders galore....which totally excited the girls!

After dinner we gathered 'round the fire-pit and made smores (a first for the girls!).

Aunt Cathy getting some giggles out of Ellie (which is not really that hard to do....if we could bottle her laughter we'd be set for life!).

Uncle Dave getting some quality Ellie-time.

Halloween, 2010

I was the team mom for Ellie's soccer team the day before Halloween, so I made a Halloween-themed treat:  Rice Crispy treats coated with green chocolate made into monster faces.  They were a hit! 

Unfortunately they turned your lips and teeth black after you ate them.....

Tim carving the pumpkins....

Quincy was a Candy-Corn Witch and Ellie was a "Nice Witch even though I'm wearing Black" (her words).

She does look like a Nice Witch....

Quincy was a difficult witch to photograph.....too excited to sit still!

Our Fall Family Portrait

All tired after a late night of trick-or-treating....they collected quite a lot (which they gladly traded for a chance to go pick out a new Barbie the next day...our dentist would be proud).

School Photos

Quincy Qiu-Fang Maley, age 3 (but almost 4)

Ellie Han-Mei Maley, age 4

Ellie's First Soccer Goal

Ellie loves loves loves playing soccer...and she's actually pretty good (for a four year old, that is).  Her little 4yo co-ed soccer team is undefeated this season (yes, I know it's not about who wins or loses...but her team is undefeated!) and Ellie has actually helped them out by scoring a couple of goals.

The photo above is of Ellie scoring her very first soccer goal...she was sooo happy after it!

Random Photos from September and October