Life as it happens with our three beautiful and adopted children, Shayla, Yamira and Manuel: I am so behind here

I have been so gosh darn busy, I have not had a minute to get here. Being a MOT as my friend Stephani calls me, makes it hard to sit down nightly to catch everyone up on the latest. MOT is Mother of Three! So here goes what I can remember.

I left off on Friday the 16th. The next day was Ping's birthday party. It was wonderful. The day was shining and everyone was in a good mood and able to make it. We had it at Hebert's Candy Mansion in Shrewsbury. The kids all made two candy crafts and then they had pizza, ice cream sundaes and cake. They all got an adorable goody bag to take home along with their treats and a picture of most of the kids together in a group shot. I had a wonderful time seeing all of our friends. Ping got some really adorable gifts. Once the party was over, we headed home. Ayi Anita and Ayi Donna came over for a short time. Donna was exhausted from working the night before, so she couldn't stay long. Anita stayed for awhile, but we had plans to go to Waterfires in Providence with Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe that night, so we had to leave here around 6:00 pm.

We got to Waterfire around 7:30 pm or so. We walked around with all the kids and took some photos while we waited for the fires to be lit. Once they were lit, we walked around a little bit more. We left around 9:30 pm or so as we were zonked and the kids were as well. We had a wonderful time. I have wanted to go for a good two years, so I was thrilled to be able to get there finally.

Sunday came too fast. We were exhausted, but needed to get up. We dropped Yamira and Manny off for respite care and Bill, Ping and I went into Boston. I have wanted to take Ping into Boston for awhile. I have wanted to take her on the Swan Boats and also Codzilla which is a speed boat. We had a 1:00 pm reservation for the speed boat. Ping really liked it. Bill and I had a blast, but we got soaked and soaked bad! We then went across the street and Ping went on a carousel. She had a great time doing that and more importantly, she had a great time because she was just with us and not the other two. She needed that time with us. After the carousel, we left an arm and a leg at the parking garage as payment and made our way to the Swan Boats. The wait was nothing. We were able to get right on. That was so nice and relaxing. Ping enjoyed it as well. After walking over to "Make Way for Ducklings" we headed off to the garage. We headed to Millbury for a quick dinner and then we picked up the other cherubs. It was a fabulous weekend, but we were spent!!!!

On Monday, I dropped the three kids off at Vacation Bible School. They actually took Manny for me. I was delighted. They had a blast. The rest of the day was spent here. At 5:30 pm, we headed out for Ping's 5 year old photos in her Chinese outfit. They came out wonderfully. We also had a picture taken of the three of them. They were not at all in matching outfits, which I would normally do, but I just wanted one photo of the three of them.

On Tuesday, I dropped them off at VBS at 9:00 am and had a meeting with our social worker at 9:30 am. I then grabbed them at 11:30 am. Yamira had therapy at 12:00. We were there for two hours because I decided to get Manny some therapy as well and so we had paperwork to do.

On Wednesday, I dropped them off at VBS again. I did a bunch of errands and before I knew it, it was time to pick them up. I dropped the three children off at respite at 4:00 pm because Bill and I had an appointment at 4:30 pm. The kids were only there for 2 hours. They had fun.

On Thursday, I dropped them off at VBS at 9:00 am. After I got them at noon, we headed off to a birthday party for the son of a dear friend of mine. We had a wonderful time. The weather was gorgeous. The kids enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and playing on the swing set and batting the pinata. A great day. I had to laugh at Ping's questions about staying in NY. She wanted to know where we were going to sleep. I said "the hotel silly." She said "there is a hotel, I thought there were only animals at the zoo." Someone has been watching too much Madagascar!!!

On Friday, Ayi Donna came over to watch Yamira and Manny while Bill, Ping and I headed off to Lake George. Donna nicely offered to watch the kids for me here at the house. Thanks so much Ayi D! We got to Lake George around 5:00 pm and met up with our dear friends Mike, Stephani and Alexis. We strolled around and had some dinner. Then the kids went to bed with our husbands and Stephani and I sat outside our rooms gabbing up a storm while looking out at Lake George.

On Saturday, we got up early and headed out to rent a boat. We had the most amazing time. We skipped across the water for 3 hours. We only stopped and anchored once for Ping's sake. She was dying to swim in the lake and so we did that. Everyone jumped in but Mike as he recently had surgery. The water felt amazing. We toured the shoreline looking at the gorgeous houses and then headed back to return the boat. After a brief stop at the store for snacks, we headed to the hotel where Ping and Lexi got into the water and we sat and chatted. Mike and Lexi went to the room to rest and recoup, but Ping stayed in for the rest of the day. Daddy watched her and Stephani and I gabbed some more. Bill and I got really burned. Like really badly burned. Dumb us. We headed back to the room to change and then we drove to the next village to have some dinner. We decided on a lovely Italian restaurant. After the boys and kids stopped at Ben and Jerry's for ice cream, we finally headed home. They all turned in and Stephani and I continued to babble on for a few hours while watching the pouring rain.

This morning, we got up and Ping went for a quick dip in the lake. We showered, packed and checked out all before 11:00 am. We then headed up town for a little shopping. It was hot and we were all tired and some were hungry, so we parted ways and headed to McDonalds and then home.

We had the best time. The water was gorgeous, the weather was great when we needed it to be and it was awesome spending time with good friend. The only downer was that we can't fine Ping's stuffed alligator and they don't have it at the hotel. Something is odd there. If it's not here, it has to be there. It's bothering me and Ping, but there isn't anything we can do about it.

Well I know this is a long post, but I wanted to get caught up the best I could. Now I must head to bed. I didn't sleep last night due to the awful sunburn, so I need to get a little rest. We have a very busy week ahead of us. What else is new????

Mama Out!!!!!!