5th Annual China Girl Picnic

Road Trip! Once again we traveled to New York (near Syracuse) to reunite with most of the families that we traveled with to China in 2003 when we adopted Lin-Ley. Colleen and Becky and of course their husbands Art and Dean have been kind enough to act as “The Committee” and organize this event each year.

This year Dallas obviously could not make the trip with us so it was just the three of us. The thought of driving for around 8 hours each way with the two kids was a little daunting but we went for it. There were loads of snacks, drinks and toys in the van and we made an early start on Friday morning arriving in Syracuse by 1:30PM. The kids watched and I listened to High School Musical 2 about three times that day. Over all the trip was not half bad. We only made two stops on the way up and I had the snacks and drinks close by and just handed them back as needed.

We finally arrived in New York!

After arriving at the hotel I tried to convince the kids to take a nap. No dice. I guess they had lots of built up energy to expend so they were wired and ready to go. That evening we went to dinner with a few of the families at a local Chinese restaurant. That mini-reunion was short lived. Tru was so full of energy and only wanted to walk around. As he had done that morning during breakfast at Cracker Barrel he walked around from table to table telling everyone “hi” and looking intently at their food. He refused to sit and let everyone else finish eating so we had to make an early exit. By the time we returned to our hotel Jim, Donna and Mackenzie had arrived. They always stay at the hotel with us. Lin-Ley and Mackenzie were anxious to hit the pool as was Tru. He kept saying, “Water, Water!!” A few minutes of swimming and playing around and it was time for baths and bed.

Bed time was interesting. I had called the hotel earlier that week and asked if they could provide a crib for Tru and they said yes. When we arrived they brought in a small pack-n-play which could accommodate an infant. Plan B. Luckily I had brought along our bed side-rail just in case Tru had to sleep in the bed with me. (That’s the great thing about driving instead of flying – you can bring along everything you think you might need. And that’s about the only advantage over flying as far as I am concerned.) Let’s just say Tru is not a real cuddler. I have tried to lay him in the bed with me at home and he has wanted no part of it. Now we had no choice. That night after the long day of driving, dinner and swimming, Tru lay down next to me and within 4 minutes he was snoring. All night, while Lin-Ley slept soundly in the bed next to us, I kept getting punched, kicked and head-butted. Tru spun around and around in the bed like the hands of a clock. I do not know how he gets any rest.

Saturday – Picnic Day – China Girl Reunion.
This picnic means so much to us all. It’s like an annual love fest of sorts. It is amazing how our families are so closely bonded after spending two weeks together in China and having never met previously. Every year we get together and visit and watch the girls run around. There are hugs all around. So much fun!

Unfortunately I did not get as many photos as I would usually but I had two kids to keep up with. In addition I have to try to keep Tru in close proximity so that I can try to catch him in case he falls (usually hitting his head). And this was Tru’s first year to meet the girls so I had to make sure he met all of them. First impressions….

The pavilion where we were picnicing was next to a volleyball area with sand. The girls took full advantage. Tru instantly went over and as a way of introducing himself began trying to take all of their tools. No luck Mister! Find your own toys!

Tru finally came inside and discovered the wiggle riders. Once he got on there was no getting him off.

Group shot. Becky (our resident photographer – see her blog My 2 Cuties), Donna with Mia T., Michael, Laura with her daughters, May and Claire. Mia S. impresses all with her hula hoop action.

The China Dolls – This is a group shot of all of the children in attendance who were adopted from China. Tru and Beth’s big sister Mary decided not to join in for this photo.
Left to Right: Top Row: Beth, May, Lana, Sara, Drew, Lin-Ley, Mackenzie, Maria, and Julia,
Bottom Row: Claire, Hannah, Mia T., Lucy, and Mia S.

2003 Travel Group (Lin-Ley’s China Sisters)
Top Row: Sara, Mia T., Mia S., Lin-Ley, Mackenzie, and Julia
Bottom Row: May, Hannah, Drew and Beth
This is 10 of the 14 girls in our group. We have never managed to get all 14 families together at these picnics. Maybe next year.

Family photo. Tru refused to be in the photo unless I allowed him to bring along the pink ball.

Time to hit the beach. Shoes and all. Actually Tru has to keep his shoes on at all times for balance so I brought along an extra pair.

Lin-Ley takes a spin in the paddle boat.

For some reason Lin-Ley thoroughly enjoyed playing with the seaweed.

Tru just decided to wear the seaweed. Check out his right leg.

The Roarkes and The Braatens

The girls were working together to build something with the sand. Tru helped by gathering water in his bucket, walking into the center of the girls and then pouring the water onto whatever the girls had managed to build. They fussed at him each time but we went right along with his water duties.

Each time Tru went into the water to fill up his bucket he plopped down into the water, filled up his bucket and then stood up and headed toward the girls. (This photo was provided by Becky Green – Thanks Becky!)

Time for birthday cake.

Each year we celebrate all of the girls' birthdays with a huge cake.

And that wrapped up another great reunion. But we had one more piece of business…

During Tru’s lake side adventures he managed to fill his prosthesis socket (the part his residual limb fits into) with murky water. I had anticipated a need to clean the socket after the picnic and swimming so Dankmeyer (the company that made Tru’s prosthesis) was kind enough to change the permanent rivet to a removable screw just before the trip so that I could clean it as needed. Well… I had never tried to take the socket apart in fear of not being able to get it back together correctly. It was time for more on the job training….

I mentioned that I needed a screwdriver to take apart and clean Tru’s prosthesis. Michael had one and we tried to take out the screw. It was twirling around but not coming out. Dean saw us struggling and came over to take a look. He instantly knew we needed more than a screwdriver. Luckily Dean and family were camping right there at the park and he went to their camper for a supply of tools.

Tru watched anxiously. He kept saying “leg, leg!” and was unsure if Dean was going to take his leg away

Finally Dean managed to remove the screw, we cleaned up the socket (pouring out about 1/4 cup of water) and then Dean put it back together again perfectly. Thanks again Dean!!!!!!!!!!!

Dean jokingly told Tru that when he gets older it might be cool to put some water in his leg again with some goldfish. The girls might really like that he said.

Later that evening the Greens and Wileys met us and the Roarkes back at our hotel for some more visiting, dinner and swimming. When they turned out the lights in the pool at 10PM that was our cue that it was time to call it a night.

I was planning to leave the hotel by 8AM for the drive home but Tru decided that a wake up time of 5:15AM was even better. So we got up, packed the van and headed home. Luckily traffic was great and we got home quickly with another stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch. It is a tradition!

What a wonderful weekend. We are already looking forward to next year!

This is a fantastic photo of everyone in attendance!

This photo was also provided by Becky Green . Becky is located in the center of the photo with the blue blouse. Thanks for sharing Becky!!
As I said before I did not get nearly as many photos this year and therefore have not included everyone here. If you want to see more fantastic photos including individual family photos please visit the Our 2 Cuties blog. You will find the link on the right hand side of this page.

The Latest With Lin-Ley

Lin-Ley has had many questions about Heaven lately. The whole concept of Heaven amazes her and has sparked quite a few questions. So we will start there with her latest observations:

* “Mom, why does it rain all of the time?” My explanation was that God knows that the flowers, tree and grass need water to grow so He sends rain.
Several weeks later we were getting ready to leave for school / work and I told Lin-Ley to wear her tennis shoes rather than her sandals because it was going to rain that day. Later, in the car, Lin-Ley asked, “Mom, how do you know it is going to rain today?” I told her that I had heard the weather man’s report on the radio that morning. Then she put two and two together and said, “Does he live in Heaven with God?”

* Several days before the end of school I picked up Lin-Ley one afternoon and the first thing she said once we reached the van was, “Mom, am I just the perfect kid for you and Daddy?” Of my answer was an enthusiastic Yes! Then she added, “You needed a beautiful, beautiful, beau-ti-ful little girl and here I am!”

* Dallas’ birthday is coming up and Lin-Ley asked him several weeks ago what he wanted for his birthday. He quickly answered, “I want another baby.” (For the record - he was just joking.) Without even having to think about it Lin-Ley answered, “No Daddy! We are NOT having any more babies!!!”

Lin-Ley and her classmates participated in the recent graduation ceremony at her Chinese School. They each recited verses (in Chinese) of a poem about Mother’s Day. Lin-Ley was the second performer.

She walked out on stage, recited the first two sentences, stopped, looked into the audience and smiled, put her hand on her hip and said (in English), “I don’t remember the rest.” The audience loved it and started laughing and clapping. Then she gave a little bow and passed the hand held microphone to the next classmate.

Somehow Lin-Ley had convinced her teacher to give her a headset with a microphone. She thought she was something!










Hope you had a nice 4th of July. It was a quiet holiday for us but we managed to hit a local parade. I did not get many photos because Tru refused to stand or sit still more than about 20 seconds at a time.

Here Tru takes a quick seat and offers me some grass. He spent the entire parade picking blades of grass and bringing them to us to eat. Pretending to eat is one of his favorite activities lately. Apparently our DVD player has some delicious food inside of it because he visits it daily and brings Lin-Ley and me pretend food which we must eat.

Lin-Ley strikes a pose with her friend Jordyn.

Happy Independence Day!

Home Improvements – What A Mess!!

It has been a busy (and have I mentioned messy) couple of weeks around the Herpin household. Our house is now 128 years old and believe it or not has never been insulated. Under our rather new vinyl siding is the original clapboard exterior of the house. No insulation. How can that be we wonder? Regardless – it was time to insulate for two reasons: 1. The amount of money we spend every winter on heating oil is unreal 2. As much money as we spend to heat the house we still freeze!

We have actually put off the insulation because we knew that it would destroy our interior walls. They would need to drill holes throughout the house and blow in the insulation. But then we found out they could insulate from the exterior of the house. Now that’s a whole different ballgame. Let’s do it!

Pa-Pa Bill arrived on Father’s Day to help supervise the home improvements, run errands, and help out with the kids so I could run errands. He arrived on Sunday and the first project (insulation) began on Tuesday. Lin-Ley was home with Pa-Pa that day so she was to help supervise. Somehow she talked Pa-Pa into letting her lay on the couch in front of the TV. But she did call me at work soon after the work began to tell me, “Mom! Come home quick! Those men are pulling the skin off of our house!!”

There was one man who went around the house pulling off strips of siding.

The second man came along and drilled holes along the wall.

The third man blew in the insulation and patched the holes. Then the first man came back behind them and replaced the siding.

Simple right? Well, yes, but here comes the messy part….

I came home for lunch because I wanted to see how things were going and I was curious to see how the process worked. When I walked into the kitchen my contact lenses instantly clouded up. It was very odd and I could not figure out what had happened. Then a ray of sunlight came through the kitchen window and I saw that the whole room was one big dust cloud. Oh… I can’t even tell you!!!

Have you ever watched the television show “Dirty Jobs”? I had my own version of that show at our house that day. I walked into our bedroom which has painted wooden floors and it was coated with dust. Everything in our house was coated. I just stood and looked around and was overwhelmed. The floors were so slippery that once we were home that evening Tru kept slipping. I had to sit him down until I could get a couple of rooms’ floors vacuumed and mopped before he could even walk around. I guess this just shows just how drafty the house really was. I had to keep telling myself that it was all worth it because we would at least be warm next winter. We better be VERY warm!

So the only thing to do (after I got past the mental breakdown) was to play the Glad Game. Have you seen “Pollyana” (classic Disney movie)? If not – rent it! According to Pollyana in every situation you can find something to be glad about. So I’m glad that:
1. The house is finally insulated.
2. Everything in my house has had a good dusting, mopping, and/or thorough cleaning (whether I liked it or not!)
3. It’s over!


Next on the agenda – new windows throughout the house. The house still had the original windows which was part of the appeal when Dallas and I first saw it. They were wooden framed and still had the original and functioning pulleys and weights. Loved them! However they were super drafty (even with storm windows covering them) as well and it would not have made much sense to insulate the house and not replace the windows. Luckily this project did not prove to be very messy. The men sent to perform the work with very experienced and have done a great job. It really put me at ease the first day they were here to see how precise they were and how careful they were. It was very sad to see the old wooden windows go and especially sad to hear the weights fall into the walls when they cut the ropes and pulled out the old pulleys. But I must admit that the new windows look fantastic.

Getting started on the first window.

Check out Supervisor / Pa-Pa Bill in the background.

No Window

New Window

Before

After

Time for a bubble break!

There’s Pa-Pa Bill supervising again.

And of course our Model/Princess/Barker Beauty had to show off one of the new windows in her room.

I have kept Dallas up to date on these messy adventures. He said that he was awarding me the Good HouseKeeping Seal of Approval.

Well I’m worn out just reliving these events!

Our 6 Year Old 1st Grader

Lin-Ley informed us that on June 11th (her last day of Kindergarten) she was officially a 1st Grader. Today (although we have been celebrating since Friday) she turned 6 years old. How time flies!

The birthday festivities began on Friday at the local dinner theatre for a production of "All Shook Up". It was a musical loosely based on the life of Elvis Presley and his music. It was great and Lin-Ley enjoyed it as well. Aunt Diane and Uncle Ted joined us and luckily they brought along their gift to Lin-Ley (art supplies) so she was well occupied between dinner and the show. There were many people there celebrating birthdays. Lin-Ley's name was the second one called. Before the host could finish her name Lin-Ley had her hand in the air waving it around so that everyone in the theatre would be sure to see her. That gave us all a chuckle and Lin-Ley was just very pleased that all of those people had come there to help celebrate her birthday.

Saturday was party time at Chuck E. Cheese. Lin-Ley had told me over three months ago that she wanted to have her next birthday party there. I assumed she would change her mind a few times but she stuck to it.

The birthday girl and 12 of her preschool, kindergarten, chinese school and church friends ran wild and had a blast.

It was all about Mariposa Barbie this birthday. There was no Mariposa birthday cake so a Ballerina Barbie cake was chosen.

Unfortunately Barbie was supposed to stand and spin on the little purple stage but it did not work. So Barbie had to be stuck right into the cake. To make matters worse... all of the cake top decorations, which Lin-Ley wanted to bring home, were left on the table at the restaurant. Oh the drama!

Chuck E. Cheese came out to sing a birthday song, led a parade around the restaurant and then joined the party for birthday cake.

I could never get all of the kids in one photo but here are most of them.


For the third year Lin-Ley has asked her birthday guests to bring gifts for her chosen charity rather than for herself. This year she collected dog toys, treats, etc. for "Soldier Dogs". These are military dogs serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other military locations. She gets a big kick out of the fact that there are dogs that are soldiers like her Daddy.
If you have any interest in learning more about this program (K-9 Support) look for their link in our "Charitable Organizations To Consider" section at the right hand side of our blog.


Of course every child deserves to open gifts at her birthday party. So Mommy and Daddy delivered. Lin-Ley had only asked for two things:
Mariposa Barbie and her friend Willa. Done!









It was a real party weekend. Saturday was Lin-Ley's party and Sunday was Amilee's party. Lin-Ley and Amilee met at chinese school and have the exact same birthday. Amilee had a gymnastics party and Lin-Ley enjoyed her second party in as many days.


After nap time it was time to head outside to try out the new bubble machine.
Lin-Ley and Tru enjoyed marching through the bubbles although in the beginning Tru was quite hesitant.
Lin-Ley of course was wearing her weekend/playtime uniform. Granny Howard (Diane's mother) gave Lin-Ley this Barbie gown about three years ago. She has consistently worn it as often as possible since then.

Today was Lin-Ley's first day of summer camp. By this afternoon she already had a new best friend name Lilly. They are already planning play dates at each other's homes. Before we could leave the park the two of them had to hug six times. It was so cute!

Since it was officially her birthday we went out for a quick dinner at a local diner. The meal of choice.... spaghetti.

Tru continues to surprise me with his love of lettuce. I have never seen anything like it. Two lettuce leaves were under my sandwich. He reached right over, slid the lettuce off of my plate, and proceed to eat it. Apparently it was better than his spaghetti.

Not to be out done by her brother Lin-Ley strikes her own silly pose.

It was home to more birthday presents, bath and bed.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Miscellaneous:

For the first time I was finally able to get some photos of Tru getting his hair cut. This was his 5th hair cut and the first time he sat alone in the chair. He absolutely hates it but did very well this time.

Look at that face!

Lin-Ley's last day of Kindergarten with her bus driver (and pal) Ms. Gibson.

The Countdown

Big news! Dallas has found out that his deployment will be ending about 60 days earlier than expected. So our blog counter has been adjusted. 99 days and counting...

Photo Essay About Tru

Jonathan Hanson is the photo-journalist that has been following Tru’s progress between his amputation and receiving his prosthesis and walking. While he is still working on the story for the newspaper publication he has created a picture package / essay on his website about Tru. These are not necessarily the photos that will be used in the article. Actually Jonathan told me that he has taken over 2,000 photos of Tru.
(Just for the record – the photo of me sitting on top of Tru is my attempt to brush his teeth. Yes, this method is quite necessary!)

To see Jonathan’s photos click on this link:

http://www.jonathanhansonphotography.com/main.php

Then click "porfolios"
Then click "essays/picture packages"
Then click "Tru"

Rethinking The Knee

It is all up in the air now. Is Tru ready for a fully functioning knee or is it too soon? As is obvious from my last two posts Tru's knee has been giving him some problems and as a result some major bumps and bruises.

The knee component in Tru's prosthesis is meant to bend and spring back into place for his next step just like a natural knee. In order for it to work Tru has to walk with his leg under him and hit the ball of his foot just right to trigger the knee component. He does sometimes trigger it by accident which usually results in a tumble.

Well when Tru began walking with his prosthesis the knee component was locked and he had to swing his leg out to the side slightly in order take the next step. He adapted to that method very quickly. To him that method still works so why change things now? All he knows is that from time to time and without reason (to him) his knee now bends and he falls down and hurts himself.

His physical therapist, Lisa, was able to tighten the knee so that it is much more resistant. At the therapy session she loosens the knee is order to help Tru practice. And there lies another problem. In Tru's mind he can walk. Period. Therefore, he does not want Lisa to try to help him. When she tries to hold his leg/knee/hip to help him walk properly (to trigger the knee) he become very agitated and does all he can to get away from her. Perhaps another sign he is not ready for the knee.

Here are the problems:

He does not understand what triggers the knee.

Our explanations and attempts to demonstrate the knee result in frustration.

Not knowing what triggers the knee causes many falls. (Luckily he is getting better at catching himself rather than landing on his noggin!)


Tru has surpassed everyone expectations with his adapting to the prosthesis and walking. Because he adapted so quickly it was decided he was ready for the knee only 1.5 weeks after first receiving the prosthesis which is unheard of. [A side story - Lisa worked at a children's hospital in New York for 11 years. In that time she worked with many amputees. She told me that Tru is the youngest amputee patient she has worked with and by far the quickest to adapt to a prosthesis.]

Tru's physical therapist, orthopedic surgeon and prosthetist are a little stumped on what to do. Actually come to find out this topic (for children Tru's age) is up in the air throughout the medical field. Until recently the standard was to keep children's prosthetic knees locked until around age seven. Just recently they have changed the "rules" to add the knee whenever the child was ready.

Hmmmmm......

I have thought about it and thought about it some more. I do not want to take away any chance Tru has to progress. He is doing better with the falling and has learned when to slow down so that there is less of a chance of triggering the knee. I have also observed that lately there have been a few times when he unknowingly triggered the knee and he was able to right himself without falling. Progress!

We shall see what the medical professionals have to say...

Bye-Bye Big Maple

The biggest event at our house last week was the removal of our giant maple tree. It was scheduled to be removed in the next few weeks but that all changed on Wednesday evening. When we arrived home Wednesday the wind was really blowing and we lost power. I stepped out onto the front porch to check to see if any other branches had fallen out of the tree. As I stood there a branch fell out and landed on our propane tank! Have mercy! I called the “tree guy” and told him that the tree needed to come down ASAP and I agreed to send him a fax first thing the next morning with my approval to start the work.
The following morning as Lin-Ley’s school bus left my cell phone rang. The tree company had a cancellation and could remove my tree that very morning. Wonderful!



BEFORE


AFTER















And a few in between:






They estimated the tree to be 150 years old.

The tap dancing began immediately!


As usual Tru only had one agenda. This new walking thing never gets old for him!

Friday was Family Day at Lin-Ley's school. They sang song, presented gifts, read from their journals, and recreated parts of their school days for us. To Lin-Ley the most important event were the snacks afterward! The powdered doughnuts were a huge hit with her and she kept a close eye on me to make sure I did not eat hers!

Lin-Ley and her teacher.











Lin-Ley’s Kindergarten class.



Time for some rest so we can get this 3-day weekend started.
Yes, the knot is still changing colors daily!












Some of our weekend activities were canceled due to the Memorial Day holiday. So other than gymnastics and swim class on Saturday we were free. What a treat! By the way Tru no longer hates swim class. He actually wants me to put him on the side of the pool so that he can jump (or scoot) in. Progress!

We spoke with Dallas a few times this weekend. He is doing well but said the heat is unreal. I think they had some down time this weekend and took the time to do some shopping and relax.

Lin-Ley did all of the shopping for Dallas’ Father’s Day gifts on Saturday. There were some interesting choices but she was proud of her purchases. Saturday and Sunday afternoon were lazily spent at home. So nice to have some down time with no scheduled activities planned!

For the first time in I can’t remember how long I did not have to set my alarm clock on Sunday night. Ahhhhh! But someone decided that 5:50AM was a good time to get the day started. Tru and I came downstairs for some cheerios and juice. Lin-Ley came down about an hour later. We were out-and-about by 9AM to run some errands. By 11:30 we were done and headed to Olive Garden – what a treat!
I ordered the kids both a bowl of spaghetti (their favorite) and soup and salad for myself. Tru kept pointing to the salad bowl and pulling on my arm. I gave him a crouton – no, tomato – no, olive, no. So finally I offered him a piece of lettuce. That was it. Who knew… Tru loves salad (or lettuce anyway). He literally ate half of the salad. He kept his hand on my wrist for the whole meal squeezing it when he wanted another bite of my salad.

After nap/rest time we went outside. I had been thinking about buying the kids a sand and water table. I knew Tru would love it and although Lin-Ley is almost six years old I thought she would as well. It was a big hit.







It was just a matter of time…

Dallas said this photo looks like Tru is crying. Far from it - he is just super excited!

It’s back to reality tomorrow.
Happy Memorial Day to you all!

New Knee = New Knot

Yes, a new knot on the forehead. And it’s a doozy!

We had a pleasant weekend with no incidents until last night right before bed. Tru was walking around upstairs and while walking out of our bedroom his new knee gave way. Unfortunately most of the transition strips in our house are wide and sometimes elevated. They have been a challenge for Tru but he has gotten the hang of it and is always careful to hold onto the door facings when entering or exiting a room. As he gets faster with his walking he is also getting more confident. I guess last night he was a little too confident.
He only cried for less than 30 seconds afterward. The ice pack that I forced onto his head seemed to be much more traumatic than the fall.

Then this morning within one hour of arriving at school his teacher called to tell me that he had fallen again. This time he scraped his right cheek. Poor little guy!

Other than the falls here and there Tru is doing well. But he still is not using his knee. He was so accustomed to the stiff leg that he has no interest in the knee. It seems to be more of a nuisance to him. There will be more physical therapy this week and hopefully we can introduce the knee. We shall see.

After a quick dinner tonight we went out for a little walk to enjoy the spring weather. Our yard is not what it would be if Dallas were here but we are thankful for what we have. Before he left Dallas requested a quote from a local landscaping company to mow our lawn this summer. To our total surprise the company not only agreed to keep up the lawn but insisted that they would do it for free. How incredibly nice!

Lin-Ley posing in front of our giant Maple tree. We love this tree but it will be gone in about two weeks. It is in bad shape and branches have begun falling to the ground. It is right next to the house and Lin-Ley’s bedroom. It has to go. A branch fell onto the power line a few weeks ago and a large branch fell to the ground last week. That was it. I called the tree contractor and they came out the next day to give me an estimate. My checkbook says, “Ouch!”
Our house was built in 1879 (129 years ago). I would love to know how old this tree is.

I had to include this shot of Airborne. She is still hanging in at 16 years old.

Happy Spring!