Thursday, March 31, 2016

Daddy, Mei Mei, Mini & Mothership




Daddy had a great helper in giving the Mini Mothership (and the Mothership!) a bath the other day.




Washing vehicles is serious work!



Or is it? I think I saw a twinkle in the Captain's eyes....



All is well again.



Working together is so special.

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

March Photos/Lisää kuvia maaliskuulta



One thing that has kept this mama busy this month has been photography classes. I am feeling a tug toward family documentary style photography, and watched Kirsten Lewis' both classes on CreativeLive (links here to class 1 and class 2). Which of course has led into practicing what I am learning (most of these photos in this post) , and taking steps into starting my own photography business in that genre.

Enjoy these little moments from this past month!



And a little story from this last photo... Mei Mei has had this little baby doll she has carried everywhere with her for months. Baby came with us to Atlanta, too. But Baby didn't come back from Atlanta. We somehow, somewhere lost her beloved Baby. On the car ride back when she'd ask for her Baby, I'd tell her I wasn't sure where Baby was, but I'd look in our luggage at home. Mei Mei was ok with that. We get home - no Baby.

I did, however, have a little Bitty Baby waiting in the closet for her birthday, and decided this was the day to give it to her. And while Mei Mei looks sad in this photo, she loves her Bitty Baby, and has not asked for her other doll. Little Miss wants us to go back to the store where we bought that first baby, and get her another one. Which we might still do...


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Muutama kuva maaliskuulta vielä. Kaiken mahdollisen vapaa-aikani (mitä ei kyllä ole kovin paljon tässä vaiheessa perhe-elämäämme) olen käyttänyt valokuvaamiseen, ja valokuvakursseihin. Minua suuresti kiinnostaa dokumentaarityylinen perhekuvaus, ja melkein kaikki tässä postauksessa ovat harjoituskuviani.

Viimeiseen kuvaan liittyy tarina. Mei Meillä on ollut rakas pieni nukke, joka on matkustanut kanssamme kaikkialle viimeiset kuukaudet. Myös Atlantaan tässä kuussa. Mutta kotiin saakka ei nukke päässytkään... Onneksi kotona kaapissa odotti yksi synttärilahja, tämä kuvan Bitty Baby, jonka Mei Mei hyväksyi. Pikkuneiti tosin haluaa hakea kaupasta samanlaisen, kuin alkuperäinen nukke oli, ja ehkäpä sen vielä teemme...?

Monday, March 28, 2016

The Month of March/Maaliskuu




My apologies for the prolonged blow silence! All is well, and at first I felt bad I hadn't blogged for so long. But when I started scrolling through my photos of the month (really! It has been a month!), I realized it has been a packed few weeks. No wonder there hasn't been time for blogging!

Plus really, I have to admit our new normal, having six kids, and especially one two year old, has limited mama's screen time, a lot:) She is a lively one, for sure!!

I thought in this post I'll share some biggies of the month, and if I get a nap time this week (yes, Mei Mei has been dropping her afternoon nap), I'll post some random pictures from March.

 


I call Little Miss one of my littles, but the truth is, she turned double digits this month! We followed her wishes, which was to have a celebration at home with everyone (which means the big kids). We squeezed in a Chinese food, cake and presents during our teens' lunch break from their dual enrollment classes at college.

We also had Grandma's Birthday, and Mumma's (Finnish grandma) Birthday this month, and Mei Mei is singing Happy Birthday every day, and offering cake with candles.




The first half of the month we had sick kids, and as everyone started feeling better, round two started... No fun. We heard a lot of friends from church were sick too, so something was definitely going around. Mei Mei especially seems to be catching a lot of colds (which was the same with Little Miss when we first brought her home from China).

 


Mr T has been involved with debate for a few months, and had a debate tournament in Atlanta during spring break. Our plan was to get in the Mothership (yay!), and make it a family road trip. Until we found out the event was held at a megachurch with a parking garage for a parking lot!!! The Captain can do a lot with the Mothership, but parking in a parking garage is a no-no. So at the last minute we improvised: rented a car, and reserved a hotel room, and made it mini family trip.

Girls were still a bit sniffly, but much better, and thought sitting through debate rounds was boring. Swimming in the hotel pool was a hit, however!




Mr T and his partner did well, and had a great time. We are so proud of you, Mr T!




Our second mini trip this month as a mini family was to St Pete Beach where we got to walk down Memory Lane. We really love going back!



Mei Mei had an evaluation for local speech therapy, or so I thought. It was with Easter Seals, and while they do assess communication, they don't really do speech therapy, or at least they don't really help with pronunciation. We found out once Mei Mei turns three years old, we might qualify for services through our local school.

The evaluation was good to do, though. Mei Mei really is doing great in her development, and it was neat to see that. She will most likely need speech therapy, but she is communicating well. So after a couple hour evaluation we found out she didn't qualify for Easter Seals!

We actually think she is hearing better, too. She is constantly complaining things are "too loud!", which they often are, in a large family.



It didn't even occur to me to get a family photo from Easter, but we did get a few pics. Mei Mei's first Easter! She figured out chocolate eggs, and plastic eggs with treats, and what to do with them. Her favorites are chocolate eggs, for sure!

We joined our church family for a Easter service in the park, and were so thankful it rained before and after, but not during the service. I have decided Easter is one of favorite days of the year - we serve a mighty God - not even death can hold Him!

He is risen indeed!


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Syy blogihiljaisuuteen on ollut hulina ja hälinä. Arki kuuden lapsen kanssa on aikamoista vipinää, etenkin vilkkaan 2-vuotiaan taaperon kanssa. Pikkuneiti täytti 10 vuotta (ja molemmilla isoäideillä on ollut synttärit tässä kuussa myös!). Sairastimme osan kuukautta, ja saimme kaksi pikkureissua mahtumaan kalenteriin myös. Ensin ajoimme Atlantaan, Georgian osavaltioon, muutamaksi päiväksi Mr T:n väittelykisaan, ja sitten teimme pikareissun St Peteen, missä asuimme ennen. Pääsiäisen vietimme hiljaisesti kotosalla, yksi vieras tuli syömään kanssamme, ja aamulla juhlimme seurakuntaperheemme kanssa ylösnoussutta Vapahtajaamme. Hän on ylösnoussut ja kuolemalla kuoleman voittanut!