Just trying to keep up.

Lately, it feels like we've been living each moment going from one activity to another with little time in between.    It always seems a little crazier as it gets towards the end of school each year, but I'm really trying to soak each moment in, especially this year, since it will be Brannen's last year in elementary school.

Sniff, sniff.  

Last week the 2nd grade classes had a play/musical based on a children's book.  Of course I can't remember the name of the book now, but the book was about a Chinese emperor, so that meant Chinese type music.  

Griffin was so excited for us to come see him AND he even had a speaking part.  It was a one liner, but none the less, a speaking part!  He even got to play the xylophone which he was also thrilled about.....  Oh, to be in 2nd grade again!

Since this was all based on a book about a Chinese emperor, Griff just knew Harper would l-o-v-e  it.
Umm..... not so much.
She spent most of the play laying over Scott's knee and not really paying attention.  I was fine with that since she spent most of the time before the play running around like a crazy person trying to touch all the instruments.

After the play, all she wanted to do was play on the stage..... and get to the microphone.

Later in the week, we met some friends at the park.  This play date has been a long time coming.  Our friends also adopted their daughter from China about a year and a half ago, and have been one of the people we would ask all our many questions throughout our adoption process. Their daughter, Molly, and Harper are about 6 months apart in age.

It's always funny when Harper meets or sees someone that looks like her.  She either does a double take or will stare at that person a little longer.  She seemed to take extra long looks at Molly every so often.  It was so cute to see them together.

One of Molly's big brothers was also there to play, and wanted me to make sure I got him in a couple pics.  So funny!

We had so much fun catching up with them and look forward to more play dates!  

I always catch myself looking at things a little differently now that Harper is here.  Things I don't really give much thought about, she will be so intrigued with.  Maybe because she's seeing them for the first time.   Take for instance, this party favor Griffin got from school.  Griffin blew into it a couple of times and left it on the kitchen table.  Harper was amazed by it, and..... it was no longer Griffin's.

She had that thing unrolling and rolling back so much that it just about disintegrated from all the spit she was also blowing into it.  Yuck.  

The boys each had a game that night, and we tried to pry it out of her little tightly grasped hands before we left.  No such luck.  

Over the weekend my sister Jill came to hang for a little bit.  She was at the airport when we flew home from China, but she hadn't been able to spend much time getting to know Harper.  While she was here, we had a tea party (one of Harper's favorite things).

Not one to be left out, Barney had to get in on the party.  Literally...... IN the tea party.

He knows no shame......

Since Barney pretty much broke up the nice little party we were having, Harper started to throw the cups around, and was starting to get pretty rough with it.  We told her "No" pretty sternly, and she did not like that one bit.  She doesn't like when we tell her no, but she really doesn't like it when we emphasize the word.  So, she went to the closest person next to her to get some sympathy.  Notice he's pretty much laughing at her.  Pitiful all the way around.

This weekend was another first for Harper.  We finally made it to church.  We hadn't been since the weekend before we left for China.  That's a long time for us not to be at church, and we really were anxious to get back.  We just weren't sure how Harper would do in Sunday school.  Scott and I both thought she would be ok, but instead of jumping in full force, we each took a turn helping out in her class.  Like we thought, she did great.    I think we were just trying to make ourselves feel better.  

Her favorite part of Sunday school?

Snack time.

Shocker!

After church, we had our first post adoption meeting with our social worker, Becky.  This is the same social worker who did our home study, so we were really looking forward to having her meet Harper.  She also has two sisters that were adopted from China.   It's really fun to hear her perspective of being a sibling during their adoptions.  Her sisters are also older now, so we've asked many questions like  if they have asked about their birth parents, if they have ever gone back to visit China, etc.

Anyway, Harper was taking a nap when Becky got here, so we got the paperwork stuff out of the way first.  Soon, we heard Harper over the intercom singing.  It sounded like she was singing in Chinese which made us all laugh.  So cute.  Thankfully, Harper woke up in a good mood and was really putting a show on for Becky.  She also showed off her throwing skills by whizzing a tennis ball at Becky.  Luckily, Becky has pretty quick reflexes.

Becky was leaving and Harper was waving her hand and said pretty clearly, "Bye Bye".  She's got the hang of the whole "Bye Bye" thing down and is doing it constantly now.....even when she just walks into the next room.




The weather around here has been pretty crazy in the sense that it's almost 80 degrees one day,  and 35 degrees the next.  Actually, that can be pretty typical early on in spring, but this close to May, it's pretty late for that kind of craziness.

Anyway, since we never know how many warm days we'll have, we try and take advantage of them when they do come around.
We hung outside after the boys got out of school on Monday.  Harper saw her brothers riding their skateboards, and she thought she had to give it a try......

and she tried.......

Until Brannen was sweet enough to give her a 'ride'.  She loved it.  She's definitely our little daredevil and not scared of much.....

Not even Darth Vader.

May the force be with you.......