August 18, 2006

Pat and Matthew took a fly fishing trip to Colorado last weekend and had a great time.  There are a few pictures below.  I know fish pictures aren’t real exciting, but the men seemed to enjoy them (and I'm sure they'd love to tell you the names of each of the fish and the story behind them if you ask...and even if you don't).

Don't you love this new slide show feature?  I've seen it on other websites and decided to give it a try and I really like it!  It's free and can be accessed by clicking on the little "Rock You" icon or by going to http://www86.rockyou.com/.  I think you can even use it in an email!  Kind of fun!

Miyah didn’t love the fountains, but she did love the little ankle-deep “river”.  There’s another photo of her and Levi and her baby doll which she calls “big baby”…I don’t know why she calls her that because she isn’t big.  She’s become very attached to her doll, pretty much ever since we came back from meeting her little cousin in TX.  Her “baby” is almost always wrapped up in Miyah’s blankie.  It is so cute to hear her talk about her baby all day long.  Besides a little rough play every now and again, she treats her just like a real baby.  I hope those big sister skills are kicking in!

And Levi...well, she loves Levi and will often be caught giving him kisses on the mouth (even though she's told not to) and telling us, "Levi just wants some love".  She also steps on him and orders him around...it must feel good to have someone to order around, but she really does like him.  And he is the best, most gentle dog.

Miyah’s fascination with letters continues.  During the past week she’s been asking us what letter something begins with and without answering her we ask her if she knows and most of the time she does know!  She even knows the “ch” blend sound.  She has those little foam letters for the bath, and without my asking her to, tonight she took out the letters C and H and told me what sound it makes and what words start with “ch”.  Hmm…it looks like I may need to dig through my curriculum for some fun letter/reading games.  Who knows, maybe this is just a stage she’s going through.  Right now she's amazing me!

July 18, 2006

It’s only July?  I know!  I’m posting after only a little more than a month.  There’s really nothing too exciting going on with us, but I do have some fun pictures to share from visits with family.

First, I wanted to share something that was passed on to me….Love Without Boundaries has made an urgent request to raise money for a desperately needed heart surgery for a little six month orphan girl  in China.  Hopefully she will find a home once she is well.  As of now they only need a little more than $4,000 for the surgery.  If you are able to donate even a little, please do so.   http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/SponsorChildDetailMedical.php?ID=97

She happens to be a Guangdong girl like our Miyah.

Well, June ended with Megan completing her dance intensive and Matt going to our church’s National Youth Conference.  We also went to a free Barlow Girl/Stellar Kart concert.      

The last week of June, the kids and I (Cindy) headed to my parents’ house for a few days.  We enjoyed seeing my parents and visited the Knoxville Zoo and Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area.  

On the 4^th of July Pat took Miyah to the neighborhood kiddie parade which commenced with a popsicle, fire truck photo op, and a dip in the neighborhood pool...in her 4th outfit.  Considering we were decorating Miyah's stroller ten minutes before the parade, we weren't surprised that Miyah didn't win any prizes that day.  But, oh does Pat have big plans for next year.  During our discussion of next year's "strategy" for the kiddie parade, Matt and Megan began a series of scenarios which included everything from audio/visuals to pyrotechnics to sabotaging the competition.  Apparently the neighborhood takes this rather seriously...and now so does Pat.  Streamers and flags just don't cut it anymore ladies and gentlemen. 

Matt and Megan bought some great fireworks (the kind that make us moms nervous) and we spent a half an hour or so with the neighbors watching their fireworks display and then we watched the city’s fireworks from our neighborhood.  I headed inside early to finish up our packing, because we were bound for the Badger State the next day...and besides, not all fireworks are the same and this year's weren't the greatest. 

The next day we left for Pat’s parents’ in WI.  Our visit was very low-key and relaxing.  We enjoyed visiting all the little locally-owned burger and pizza places we grew up with and miss.  The kids were introduced to the pleasures of Mickey Lu's hamburgers and Brother's Three Pizza.  Nothing much changes up there and every visit is a little nostalgic.  We also had a little family reunion of sorts with Pat’s brother and sister and their families at Bay Beach in Green Bay.  The kids had a great time visiting with their cousins.  We love to see all the nieces and nephews and they're all growing up so quickly.

Instead of flying back from WI with us, Megan spent a week with her very best friends, Jami and Jenna, in IL.  We missed having Megan home…she’s the goofy one in the house and it seemed very quiet without her.  Miyah would often tell us she missed Megan.  Last night I picked the girls up from the airport and now Jenna and Jami will be staying with us for the week.  I love that the girls have kept up their long distance friendship.  They really have the best time together. 

The next time I write Matt should have his driver’s license!  We finally signed him up for a driver’s course that trains them in a week…scary, I know.  He’s been driving with us quite a bit already so he does have a bit of experience behind the wheel.  We bought Driver’s Ed in a Box, but just didn’t have time for the program.  I need Matt to drive himself to school this year or Tuesdays and Thursdays were going to be tricky with Megan’s classes being on the other side of town….not that moms can’t be two places at once.   

In case you haven’t seen enough pictures, here are a few of Miyah and her friends at playgroup.

June 14, 2006

Matthew finished school a little over a week ago and is enjoying sleeping in right now.  A few weeks ago he finished and presented his forty hour project.  We realized that we hadn’t taken any pictures of his castle until he was demolishing it.  So, we took some photos of the demolition in action…I’m sure this is the way he’d like to remember it most.  He got more satisfaction this way anyway.  He’s continued to do very well again this semester and was among only a couple of 9^th grade students to make it into the Advanced Composition class next year.  This made me laugh because as Matt’s teacher for many, many years I know how much he hated to write for me.  I often wondered what he was going to do when he had to write papers in school because he acted as though he just couldn’t unless I walked him through it step-by-step.  I’d like to make something clear to all the homeschoolers reading this…we hadn’t done a great deal of structured writing at home.  I have to believe that all the reading of great books helped him develop an “ear” for good writing more than any writing curriculum could have.  I’m very proud of him because he’s worked so hard this first year back at school.  He puts a lot of pressure on himself and instead of us pressuring him to get good grades we have to tell him to relax and enjoy school (ha!).  Matt has also started training with the football team this spring.  I’m glad he’ll have practice throughout the summer to keep him busy and active.  He’s also looking for a job and hoping to get his license before the end of the summer.  It’s hard to believe he’s 16!!  Now if we can just find the time to do some driver’s ed. 

I almost forgot to mention that we had a wonderful visit with my best friend, Michelle, and her girls last month.  I always love it when they come to visit.  We all have such a great time, even if we're doing nothing.  They were here right before we went to San Antonio and we had a nice relaxing week together while Pat was out of town.  The girls did one of their famous plays for us (two actually).  I just love their little plays and am beginning to wonder if this might be the last year they'll be putting on a play for us.  They're getting so grown up.  I remember putting on programs with friends and having such a good time.  They're some of my favorite childhood memories. 

I hope to post again this summer with pictures from our visits with grandparents and cousins and friends.  We'll be doing a little traveling in July to see some family and friends. 

Have a great summer, everyone!!  God bless!

March 29, 2006

Well, we’ve had a wonderfully busy year so far.  As you may have read on the homepage, we finished our paperwork for another China adoption and reached the momentous milestone of receiving a log-in-date (LID) of March 7, 2006, which is the day our papers were officially received in China.  In China, all adoption paperwork is given a LID which puts it in queue (chronologically) for processing.  There are two other families in our area with the same LID with our agency, so we’ll have travel buddies.  One is a single woman waiting for her first child and the other is a couple with a Chinese daughter Miyah’s age.  Miyah and Elizabeth are in playgroup together and are great friends.  I’m so excited that they’ll get to experience a homeland trip to China together.  Below is the photo of our LID celebration at PF Changs on 3/14. 

The adoption process in China has become longer and longer by the month.  When we waited for Miyah, it was less than six months from LID to referral…right now the wait is ten months and growing!  There’s never a guarantee that things will remain the same or change drastically, but if they change, I hope it’s for the better.  Hopefully we’ll have a name picked out before we get the referral.  Any “M” name suggestions would be welcome.  As you’ve noticed, we’re stuck on the “M” names (Matthew, Megan, Miyah).  We are thinking about Mei Lin (Pat’s fav), Madelin (Cindy’s pick), or we could stick with the name Matthew so affectionately calls her, Mafavre…as in Brett Favre (it’s a joke, really).  What’s creepy is that the kids have joked about the name Mafavre for so long that we’ve almost (a teeny bit of almost) grown accustom to it…we even have my sister’s family referring to her as Mafavre.  Poor child!  

Speaking of referrals and my sister…My sister, Tracy, and her family received their referral on March 2!!  Brielle Ai Mei is beautiful and we can’t wait to meet her after her homecoming in May!  Her picture is below.  Brielle is from the Anhui province and will be one in July (very young).  We already love her dearly and feel so blessed to have a Chinese niece/cousin.  I’ll post more pictures when she’s home.  We can’t wait!!

If we back up a bit, I’ll post some photos from Chinese New Year this past January.  We had one big party weekend with back-to-back parties…three total for the weekend.  We celebrated with our playgroup, with a Chinese friend who hosted an authentic CNY party, and with our agency at a Chinese restaurant.

 A few days after they Amber and Luke left, Pat’s parents came and we all headed to Orlando for spring break.  The weather in Orlando was beautiful and we enjoyed six days of six different theme parks.  The kids had a lot of fun.  It was our second trip to Orlando as a family, but the first time we’ve visited Disney and Universal.  I have to admit that I was reluctant to go to Disney because I’ve never been into the Disney mania thing…well, I was pleasantly surprised and we had a wonderful week.  Pat and Megan rode every horrifying roller coaster and Matt and I saw the 3D movies that Megan hated.  Miyah loved just being out amongst all the people.  We’d get to a park and she’d shout, “People!”.  She was so excited to see the castle and meet all the characters.  We got pictures with most of the Disney characters and several at Universal.  

My sister, Michele, and her kids Cody and Amber (same Amber) were there to welcome us when we got home from Orlando.  The next day Pat’s parents left and my parents came to go to the Switchfoot concert with us…yes, I did say my sixty-something parents went to a Switchfoot concert…earplugs in hand.  Amber, Michele, Cody, Matthew, and Megan stood in line for 8 hours so they could be up close.  We were as close as it gets!  The concert was great and it was nice to see my sister and nephew again.  Matthew and Cody are frighteningly alike!  Same strange, but very funny sense of humor.  How is it that teenage boys can “converse” for hours reciting movie lines and coming up with random scenarios? 

Whoohoo!!!  Big news at the Konyn house this week!  Miyah is potty trained – well it may be too early to say that definitively!!  As Megan was dressing her on Tuesday, Miyah told her she wanted to wear panties.  And, like most everything else in Miyah’s world, once she sets her mind about something, it’s done (and M&M rewards helped in this case, too).  She had a few accidents (okay, five) within the first few hours, and then completely dry for two days.  About two months ago she started with the “me-self do it” mantra.  So, most everything about pottying (and EVERYTHING else) is done independently.  She’s become so excited about the M&M reward, that she goes potty every five minutes.  We’ll let you know how the pottying goes after we cut her off from the candy J.  She tries to say M&Ms but (appropriately enough) calls them “ummayums”.  She has a whole list of people (and things) that are proud of her for going on the potty..  She says, “Daddy proud of me, mommy proud of me, Matt proud of me, Megan…..”, then continues through grandparents and cousins with a few things like “blankie proud of me” mixed in.  The “proud of you” concept may be difficult…but then again if she can pray for God to bless her blankie, why can’t her blankie be proud of her?

Other big news:  Matt got his learner’s permit, but hasn’t had much practice on the road yet.  He’s taken his page off of the website because he said it was stupid or dumb or something.  I’ll have to get him to make a new page of Matt stuff.  He finished his thesis paper on the impact knights had on medieval society and is now working on his 40 hour project.  He’s chosen to build a replica of a castle. 

Which makes me chuckle when I remember our trip to Home Depot to get supplies to build this castle, just Matt, Megan, and me.  We were looking to build an authentic-looking castle and came up with a bag of rocks, liquid nails, grout, and a large piece of ply wood to build it on.  If Home Depot has security cameras in the parking lot, you may see us on Funniest Home Videos.  I had driven the car instead of the van and of course no matter which way we turned that plywood, it wouldn’t fit in the car.  A nice employee offered to keep it for us (ew..it’s still there!) until we could pick it up with a larger vehicle.  Then, Matt and I lifted the bag of rocks out of the cart and proceeded towards the trunk…slam…Megan closes the trunk before we get there, as the cart rolls away and Matt and I, holding either end of the heavy bag, attempt to chase the cart just so we have a place to put the darn bag down.  Three stooges…ha ha….I guess you’d have to be there!  We had a good laugh.  Anyway, we’ll post a picture of Matt’s project when/if he’s finished.

We applied for Megan to attend a home school tutorial next year.  It meets one day a week with coursework to complete the other four days and turn in.  We’ll see which classes she gets into.  She’s looking forward to a day away from home, but wasn’t excited about going to school full time yet.  We’re planning to take the kids to China with us, so this kind of schedule will make it easier for her to miss.  We’re praying that it won’t be too difficult for Matt to miss two weeks of classes when we go or he may have to stay home L.  

Well, I’ve said more than enough…must be the coffee I’ve started drinking.  Pat’s mom gave us an awesome coffeemaker that even I can make a good cup of coffee in and I’m like the dad in “Kicking and Screaming”- you’d have to see it..  Caffeine is great!

December 18, 2005

Merry Christmas!  We hope you all are enjoying the holidays.  We had a great time last week when my mother came for Megan's piano recital and baked all kinds of Christmas goodies with us.  We also stayed up until 4 AM one morning stripping wallpaper off of my bathroom walls (not planned!).  Needless to say, we were exhausted for our cookie baking the next day, but the bathroom looks better already. 

Matt has completed his first semester of high school and is doing very well.  Midterms were easier than he expected and he managed all A's in all his classes!  We are very proud of him for all the hard work he's put in this semester.  He's enjoying a break for the next two weeks...we all are actually.  He'll be studying for his driver's permit and hopes to go in and take his test next week and have a temp license!  Scary!  I'm anxious for him to drive to lighten my load a bit.  I feel like a chauffeur most days.

Megan has been busy with her usual activities and has been a great help to me around the house.  She stayed up with my mom and me stripping paper and baked cookies with us or helped watch Miyah.  She's turning into such a wonderful young lady.  She played two pieces at her piano recital and did very well. 

Miyah has stayed in the church nursery for three weeks in a row now!  I can hardly believe it!  I can now take notes and actually listen to a sermon, something that's been difficult this last year.  She actually looks forward to going.  She says, "play", "eat snacks", and "bubbles" when we talk about the nursery.  I wasn't sure the day would come, but it has! Oh my, the other major development is that Miyah has learned ALL her letters!  You can ask her to find a particular  letter or point to a letter and ask her what it is and she knows without hesitation.  She even knows some of the letter sounds!  Okay, so I think she's brilliant, but since I have no genetics involved, it's easier for me to brag.  We also just hosted her playgroup Christmas party this past week.  Nine little Chinese girls came all dressed in their Christmas best.   The girls exchanged gifts, played, and ate lunch.  We had a wonderful time.  This month at Chinese school she learned how to say Merry Christmas in Chinese.  It is "Sheng Dan Kuai Le" which literally means "Happy Holy Birth".  She still loves her Dance and Learn Chinese video and dances right along with the girls, often a step ahead of the dancers.  She is just so sweet and fun!

Last month we spent Thanksgiving with some friends at home.  It was a nice quiet day.  Miyah had fun with the Schimming's little boy, Caleb.  They wore Indian headresses and danced around the house.