Happy Valentime's Day!

No, that's not a typo...that's the way we say it around our house. Well, Brian and I don't, but we don't count anymore :-) Ella awoke this morning very early to ask if it was Valentime's Day. She has been so excited about taking her cards for her friends to school. They made valentine bags for the cards, and Ella wrote her name on each card. That's quite a feat when you consider there were 18 cards. When she got home, we had to go through each card to see who they were from.

Ella has really fallen in love with the movie Cinderella. She loves to sing the songs and dance around. She's had a pair of slippers for a while, but she just got the dress for Valentine's Day. She wanted to put in on immediately, and of course, we had to wear the shoes, too. She's such a girly girl one minute, and then the next she's kicking her soccer ball around the house trying to score under the chair in our office.

This morning she told me that I was her valentine and that when she was a mommy she wanted to live with me. I hope that all of the above is still true when she grows up. I would love to be her valentine forever, and I would love to grow old with her. What a sweet little Cinder"Ella" she really is...

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Ella had a great day today sharing Chinese New Year treats with her friends at school. She picked out red Chinese take-out boxes to fill with gold wrapped chocolate coins, noise makers, fruit snacks and lots of other goodies. She also took several items we bought while in China to share with her class. Her teacher said that Ella was very prould of the things she showed her friends. That made me smile when I heard that because we want to embrace Ella's Chinese heritage and want her to feel proud of that heritage. It's a part of who she is and, really, it's a part of who we are too. Here are a few pictures of her getting her treat boxes ready:



Happy Chinese New Year to each of you!

The Rat

Being born a Rat is nothing to be ashamed of. In China, the Rat is respected and considered a courageous, enterprising person. It is deemed an honor to be born in the Year of the Rat and it is considered a privilege to be associated with a Rat. Rats know exactly where to find solutions and can take care of themselves and others without problems. They use their instinctive sense of observation to help others in times of need and are among the most fit of all the Animal signs to survive most any situation.

Years of the Rat
First in the cycle, Rat Years begin the sequence and recur every twelfth year. The Chinese New Year does not fall on a specific date, so it is essential to check the calendar to find the exact date on which each Rat year actually begins.

The Sign of the Rat
Being born under this sign determines many talents, as well as other characteristics that may not be so commendable. Rats are very lively and need a lot of mental and physical stimulation. They can be calm and perceptive, but sometimes their brains can cause a mental restlessness, tempting them to take on too much, only to discover they are unable to meet their commitments. Rats are blessed with one of the best intellects going. Add to their intelligence a curiosity and a bright imagination, and they seem as sharp as a needle.

The sign of the Rat is the first sign in the cycle giving Rat people exude great leadership qualities and are good at taking the lead. They don't mind a lot of responsibility and they demonstrate a strong presence that other people respect. For those with the Rat nature, status and monetary satisfaction are the greatest motivation.

CHARACTERISTICS
Smart, Magnetic, Well-liked, Affable, Quick-witted, Surreptitious, Selfish, Protective, Calculating


New Year Sweet Dumplings
2 ½ ounces black sesame paste, red bean paste, or creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp superfine sugar
1 ½ cups glutinous rice flour
1 ounce rock/lump sugar
Combine the sesame paste with the superfine sugar
Sift the rice flour into a bowl and stir in ¾ cup boiling water. Knead carefully (the dough will be very hot) to form a soft, slightly sticky dough. Dust your hands with extra rice flour, roll the dough into a cylinder, then divide it into cherry size pieces. Cover the dough with a tea towel and, using one piece at a time, form each piece of dough into a flat round, then gather it into a cup shape. The dough should be fairly thin.
Fill each cup shape with 1 tsp of paste and fold the top over, smoothing the dough so you have a round ball with no visible joins.
Bring 1 liter of water to a boil, add the rock sugar and stir until dissolved. Return to a boil, add the dumplings in batches and simmer for 5 minutes, or until they rise to the surface. Serve warm with a little of the syrup.

"Gotcha Day!" It's been 3 years...

We can't believe it's been 3 years since we held our sweet girl for the first time. What an amazing gift she has been. We have been so blessed and still can't believe that she's in our lives FOREVER! Here are some of the lyrics from Phil Collins' song "You'll be in my Heart". This kind of sums up the day we met Ella. When we hear this song, we always remember the emotions we felt on that day. At the bottom of this page, you can listen to the song and watch the video:

"You'll Be In My Heart"

Come stop your crying
It will be all right
Just take my hand Hold it tight

I will protect you
from all around you
I will be here
Don't you cry

For one so small,
you seem so strong
My arms will hold you,
keep you safe and warm
This bond between us
Can't be broken
I will be here
Don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more

You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be here in my heart, always

Here's a picture of Ella on the day we met her:



Here are some of the pictures from our Gotcha Day celebration:

Happy Holidays

Here are some holiday pictures of the Mast family (there's a video at the end of the post):


It's hard to believe that it's been about 3 months since I last posted. I'm not sure where the time goes, but my time is always filled with good intentions. I usually intend to do lots with my time, but somehow, those intentions slip away with the time. Oh, well, I'm writing now, and that's what matters. Life for the Masts has been full of changes. Before Thanksgiving break, Brian found out that he'd be moved from one school to another, effective the day he returned from the break. He's a principal, so we knew/know this could happen at any time, but we weren't expecting it. After the initial shock of it all wore off, Brian settled in at his new school and has done a great job as usual. He leaves the house at 5:30 and gets home around 6:00; that's rough, but we are managing.

Shortly after Brian was moved, I begin to feel God's call to something different than teaching. This was difficult for me because it was early in the first semester, and I didn't feel like I could just leave. God continued to nudge me and speak to me through His word, so I decided to be obedient and just follow. Not long after that, a new opportunity opened up for me, one that I had wanted for a long time but was afraid to venture into previously. I felt like God opened this door for me, so I decided to apply for the job, and after several interviews was offered the position. I'll be working at our adoption agency as an adoption consultant. I am so thrilled about this and really feel a peace about all of it. SINCE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF ADOPTING A SECOND BABY FROM CHINA (didn't know if you knew that, so I thought I'd get your attention), I'll be a part of the process from the inside and the out. I think that's awesome!!

Well, let's talk about Ella. She continues to make us laugh each day. She's turning into a bossy little thing! She likes to be in charge of her friends at school and TRIES to be in charge at home, but that's not getting her very far. While driving around to look at Christmas lights, she tells us whose turn it is to see the lights. Have you ever? She loves to make words rhyme, especially silly made up words. She likes for us to give her a word ("any word" she says) so that she can tell us the beginning sound. The harder the better! She likes to write her name on anything, including our adoption documents (not a good thing). Her favorite thing, however, is to play board games. The only catch is that she doesn't like to lose. We've been working on this (very unsuccessfully)! She recently asked Jesus to come into her heart, which has been the highlight of the year. She'd been talking about it for a while, so we knew that she was thinking about it. One night she told me that she wanted Jesus to come into her heart, but she wanted me to ask Him. So that night, we knelt by her bed, and I asked Jesus to come into her heart. I'm pretty sure that it was ok with Him that I asked for her, don't you think?? What a precious child she is.

We hope all of you are well and have had a wonderful holiday season!

Way Behind!!

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. Time has just been flying by for us. I started a new job, and Ella is going to school full-time now. She loves it, I'm trying to love it, but we are all surviving it. I am teaching 4th grade ELL (English Language Learners), which has been a HUGE adjustment for me. Ella and I leave the house each morning around 6:55. I drop her off at 7:30, and then I have to be in my classroom at 7:45. That doesn't leave a very big margin for error. So far, we've done pretty well. I think if we'd both sleep in our clothes, it would be even better!
Ella loves school. Here she is on the first day:
She has been writing her name for a while now, so she wants to sign herself in when we get there each day. Of course I'm looking at the clock while she's writing SLOWLY, but I would never discourage her from doing this :-) She likes to be independent, and I'm happy for that. She's learning lots Spanish in her class and has already been the student of the week. Her teacher is a former kindergarten teacher, and Ella adores her. Anything that Ms. June says is just about as reliable as anything the Bible says.
Ella has started gymnastics and seems to really enjoy it, too. She's always very anxious to go each Saturday, and we enjoy watching her try new things. Her coach Miss Tiffany is in second place behind Ms. June. I'm not sure where I fall in the ranking anymore, to tell you the truth. Here she is on her first day of gymnastics::
Ella still likes the Florida Gators and likes to watch them when they play football. Blue is her favorite color, so we think that has something to do with it; however, whenever they are on, she recognizes their uniforms and says, "Go Gators!"
We found out that Ella is a talented artist. She is really into painting and can draw pretty well for her age. Here's a picture she drew for Brian's parents. It's of Brian's mom, his dad and Ella:
What a little survivor she is!! We have been very blessed by her sweet life.

We survived Disney World!

Wow! I am so far behind in my posts, but we've had a wonderfully busy summer, and I just haven't had the time to keep up. We went to Disney and the beach, and what a great time we had. It was incredibly hot the day we went to the park, and to be quite honest, I wasn't sure if we'd make it the whole day. BUT, our little champ hung in there, and we ended up staying until the end of the parade. The entrance into the park was overwhelming for Ella, so you can imagine how excited she was when we actully got into the park. Here's a picture of her face as we drove in:
We parked, got our sunscreen on, loaded up and everything was "magical" the rest of the day. Here we are getting ready to catch the trolly, and here's Ella anxiously awaiting the ride into the park: It was hard to decide what to do first, but we quickly found our way to the rides that we knew Ella would enjoy and pretty much stayed there the whole day. The lines were long and the sun was hot, but Ella never complained. She didn't mind waiting for anything. In fact, she and Brian waited for Dumbo for 60 minutes, and Ella didn't mind a bit. She even wanted to ride it again as soon as it was finished! The racecars were the big hit, and she told us at the end of the day that the cars were her "best."



At the end of a very long day, we settled down to watch the parade. While waiting for it to start, beach balls were thrown out for the kids to play with. Of course, they all enjoyed this more than anything. Here's Ella trying to catch a pass from another little girl she met:
Finally, the parade in all of its amazing splendor started. After Ella caught her breath, she leaned back and whispered, "Is this Disney World?" Now, that may seem like just another question to you, but to hear the awe and wonder in her voice was truly priceless. When everything was over and we were waiting to board the monorail, Ella said, "Mom, that was fun!" Yes, we spent a small fortune to get into the park, but we would have paid double just to hear that. Brian and I have both been to Disney World but to have experienced it through the eyes of a three-year-old was one of the most remarkable and unforgettable moments in our lives. So to sum it all up in the words of a three-year-old..."We had a big time!"
Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts,
the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves,
then listen close to me...
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.”
~Shel Silverstein

Shoes to Fill

I was cleaning in the living room after Ella had been playing in there, and this is what I saw:
It reminded me of how our children truly do walk in our footsteps, so it's important to watch each step we take. It is our prayer as parents that God will guide us as we parent Ella and our hope that she will also follow God's guidance as she grows.

The wedding is over...

It's been forever since I posted, but getting ready for Lance's wedding has been the main event in our lives for several weeks. I was in charge of decorations for the rehearsal dinner, Ella was the flower girl, we all had to get clothes, shoes etc., we had to attend wedding showers and it literally goes on and on. It was all so fun, but I must say that I breathed a sigh of relief when I got up this morning. The wedding was beautiful and so was the bride. My "little" brother is a married man, and I can hardly believe it!!! I must say that I was really proud of him yesterday.

Ella did great as the flower girl. It was really "iffy" for a while, but she came through like a champ. Months ago, when Lance first asked her to be the flower girl, she said that she wasn't going to be in the wedding. Each time that Brian and I talked to her about it, she said that she did NOT want to be the flower girl. So, Brian and I did what any parent would do, we bribed her. Yes, we admit it. We reached an all time low as parents because we told Ella that she could have a new bike if she would walk down the aisle at the wedding. The funny part is that she is way too smart for all of that. When we told her that she could have a bike, her reply was, "I want to see it first." Smart girl, if you ask me. At the rehearsal, we still weren't completely sure that she would actually do the deed as you can see in the picture.
But, as the evening wore on, she became a little more comfortable. She actually seemed to enjoy it a little.

Finally, though, when it was all said and done, she did a great job and even sat quietly during the ceremony. She walked out holding Poppy's hand and pretty much stole the show. I'll post some pics from the wedding later. Oh, and Ella got her bike after the reception. She even got to ride it around a little before we came home, so at the end of the day, everyone was happy!

Getting Older and Making Good Choices

Saturday was my 36th birthday. It was a wonderful day full of all of my favorite things, but I can't get past the ideas of being 36!!!!! How in the world did that happen??? How did I all of a sudden take a huge step toward 40 and what in the world is happening to my body? Ok, so don't answer the second part of that question for me, but, seriously, I can hardly get up off of the floor after playing with Ella. My mind says, "Move already," but my body just won't cooperate. I'd just rather ignore the whole birthday thing all together, but Ella thinks that getting older is the greatest thing ever. It's just another excuse to eat cake, buy presents and eat good food...all of her favorite things, by the way. In fact, about half way through the day, she asked me if my birthday was "still here." She didn't want it to go away. I can't avoid them, so I might as well enjoy them I suppose!

We've been trying to talk to Ella about making good choices. We feel like it's important to use certain situations as teaching tools to prepare her for the future. She seems to understand and process what we tell her, and we can see her "use" some of the knowledge we've given her. Yesterday afternoon Ella and I were talking about random things. She looked at me and said, "I've been making a lot of good choices lately." I just have to laugh when she says things like that because she talks like she's 12 and is so serious and reserved at times. Then there are other times when she is so SILLY and can make us laugh hysterically. Here's a picture that kind of catches both sides of her at the same time. What a mess!!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Wow! I love Mother's Day so much!! I know that all mothers love this day, but I have to admit,it's one that I REALLY look forward to. Yes, I do love getting a special gift, but that's not all there is to it for me. Being a mother to Ella is the MOST wonderful job I've ever had.
I love hearing her say my name each day, and I cherish the smiles and hugs she gives me. I love when she asks for noodles "without any casserole on them," or when she says that she's almost grown into medium. I love when she belly laughs or when we share a private joke together. I love it when she asks me about God and the way she's ALWAYS worried about "where the mama is" whether it's a baby bird, a worm or the last piece of corn on her plate. Mother's Day for me, though, is also a day that I think about Ella's birth mother. I think about the sacrifice that she made so that our family could be complete. I think about how her tragedy was our miracle and about how she must have a hole in her heart. I think about a mother who carried her child to term only to then give her to another mother to raise and to love. I think about how without her I wouldn't be a mother. I'm grateful and thankful for this woman that I don't even know because she gave me the most precious gift, and I hope she knows in her heart how deeply and unconditionally Ella is loved. I love my sweet girl more than words could ever fully express, so, yes, I love the gifts and going out to dinner on Mother's Day, but what I love the most is celebrating the fact that I am Ella's mama forever.

Lawnmower Diva and Diets

Ella is such a funny and interesting little girl. Our pediatrician says she is well-rounded because she likes cars, trains, cooking and dollhouses. She really doesn't prefer one thing over another and isn't into one particular thing. Recently, she got a new doll as a gift and decided that she didn't want it. She decided she wanted a lawnmower instead...yes, a lawnmower. So, we returned the doll for a lawnmower, and now we have a little mowing DIVA. We did convince her to buy a pink mower, so that kind of made it all even, I guess. Check out the picture of her and her #1 man cutting the grass together.


I started a diet on Monday and am already going through carb withdrawl. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I'm really trying. I had planned to start a diet anyway but decided to do it sooner than planned when this happened: Ella climbed on my leg to ride the "horse". I said, "Climb on the horse," and she responded with, "No, mama, you're the cow." So, there you go. The diet started Monday!

I'll end on one little funny thing that Ella said. We were watching an animal show that featured flamingos. I told her that they had strange necks and that it looked funny the way they looped around. She said, "Don't worry, mama, that's just not normal."

WE ARE STILL SICK

It's been such a long time since I last posted, but we can't seem to get over the FUNK. I finally recovered from the flu/strep stuff that I had going on, and now Brian and Ella are dealing with something, too. This crazy weather of ours isn't helping out much, either. Not a lot has been going on at our house, so there isn't much to say other than the fact that life with a little one continues to be interesting. I won't bore you with all of the details of our life, but I will share with you some of the "Ella comments" from the last few weeks that have made us smile:

"Candy makes my belly happy."
"Do baby cows have the things that the milk comes out of?"
"Why can't we have ice cream for breakfast?"
"Easter was my best."
"That only bothers me 'every now and then'"
"On my 'next' March 8, I'll be 4!"
(to her teacher)"My mommy makes me the best lunches of ever!"

Hopefully, we'll all recover soon and get over this mess!

Bunny Questions...and other things that make you go hmmmm....

So, here I sit on a beautiful Easter Sunday with strep throat, the flu and whatever else you want to add in there. What a terrible weekend it's been for me, but what a wonderful weekend it's been for Brian and Ella. I've been SO sick since Wednesday, and Brian has really stepped up and helped me with Ella. He and she have gotten to spend some much needed quality time together, so I guess it hasn't been all bad. Brian was off on Friday (which was my WORST day), so the two of them spent the whole day together. On Saturday, they went to the church egg hunt together, (yes the famous Woodmont Hills Egg Hunt, and I missed it!!) and they had a great time. On the way home, Ella asked Brian a few questions about the Easter bunny. Here's her part of the conversation: "So, the Easter bunny at the mall is brown and the one at the egg hunt was white...which one will be coming to our house? Brian answered, and she thought for a moment and then asked, "Is he real?" Ella has a sharp mind and questions EVERYTHING. She's already wondering if the Easter bunny is real for goodness sakes! Then, this morning, the "Easter Bunny" put some of the left over candy in a dish by the sofa. Our little detective spotted it and said, "Hey, that's the same candy that's in my basket...how did that get in there???" Remember, she's only three. Seriously, though, today was really hard for me when I had to watch Ella and Brian leave for church without me. First of all, I LOVE our church. Our new preacher is amazing, and I look so forward to hearing him each week. But to miss Easter Sunday with my family was so hard. I'll admit that I cried a little as I waved bye. You know what, though, Christ is ALIVE and the tomb is empty and whether I was at home or at church, that fact remains the same. I hope your day was a good one...He is Risen!!

Cool Slideshows

Go Gators and Career Goals

Brian and I are avid sports fans, so it's only natural that Ella would have some interest in that, too. She likes to talk about sports with us, and it's funny to hear what she comes up with. At the beginning of the NCAA tournament, we all filled out our brackets. Yes, that includes Ella, too. She "wrote" down the teams that she chose, and she likes to highlight the winners when mama and daddy highlight theirs.
When it came to predicting who would win the tournament, we gave Ella 4 choices. She picked the Gators to win and has stuck by that. Daddy wrote her pick for her right in the middle of her bracket. She's really proud of that and keeps asking if the Gators are still on her bracket. We'll see how it all turns out, but we are guessing that she may have the inside scoop. Ella and Brian have been having some serious talks about career goals. He's been talking to her about what she wants to be when she grows up. He's been giving her different professions from which to choose, and strangely, teacher and/or principal is missing from that list...haha! Anyway he asked her if she wanted to be a doctor, and she thought on this for a while. She then responded with, "No, I just want to be a mommy." I laughed at that at first, and then my heart got really warm. It made me realize how closely our children watch us and how important our job is. Even when we think they aren't watching or paying attention...they are.

Why? What's that? and other questions

We finally recovered from all of the birhday "hoopla" only to realize that we have a 3-year-old chatter box on our hands. Ella has always been very verbal. She's always had an amazing vocabulary and has always been able to articulate what she wants. It hasn't been until recently, though, that we realized just HOW MUCH she actually talks. She has questions about EVERYTHING, and then when you give the answer, she wants to know why. When you answer the why question, she then wants to know why the answer to the why is what it is (did that make sense?). Here's an example of a sequence of questions: "Mama, what is that bird doing in the grass?" I told her that the bird was eating. "Why is he eating?" I answered that birds need to eat for energy. "Why do birds need energy?" It literally goes on forever!!! Her questions make me smile because she is so curious about everything and enjoys learning so much. She also has an opinion about everything and changes her mind as often as she changes her clothes. She has wanted to play soccer for quite some time and has talked about it for a while (until recently, that is). Because the weather has turned a little warmer, several people have been utilizing the tennis courts in our neighborhood. Ella really enjoys watching them and is disappointed when there isn't anyone playing. In one of our many conversations, I asked her if she was still going to play soccer in the fall. She answered, "No, I think I'm just going to be a tennis," (not a tennis player, mind you...just a tennis). Life with a child is an adventure for sure!

Finally 3!!

Ella had a great birthday celebration with mama and daddy. She's been anticipating turning 3 for a long time, so it's good (for her) to finally reach her goal. Her birthday started out in typical three-year-old fashion...she didn't want to get up, didn't want to get dressed, didn't want to brush her teeth etc., but when I reminded her about the cookies she would be taking to school for her birthday, she suddenly decided to cooperate. Funny what a little sugar will do, isn't it. She had a great day at school and showed everyone who came into the room her "I'm 3!" shirt. Age is a funny thing, huh? We go from wanting to wear it on our shirts to wanting to hide it from everyone!! Anyway, we went out to dinner for her birthday, and she got to FINALLY eat the birthday cake that she has coveted for the last 4 months from Publix. Be sure to see the picture below (the one with the eyes closed while having the first taste of cake).
I must admit that my eyes closed when I tasted that yummy cake, too!! All in all, it was a wonderfully exciting time. Watching your children grow is one of God's amazing gifts, but we are learning that it goes by much too quickly. Hug your little ones and big ones, too, extra hard today because life slips by so quickly. We have been so blessed with Ella and are so thankful for the joy that she gives us each day. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away." -Unknown

Curious George Birthday "Bash"

We celebrated Ella's birthday on Saturday with all of her best buddies. Her birthday isn't actually until this week, but she says that she turned three "on her birthday party."> Makes sense to think that, I guess. She had the best time and didn't want to leave when it was time to go. Her party was at a party jump place for kids and happens to be the favorite of many adults, too. In fact, I think that some of the moms and dads had as much fun jumping as the kids did. Ella kicked her shoes off before she actually got into the room and went full throttle from there. The first jump or slide is always a bit surprising as you can see on Ella's face in this picture. After a while, she was an old pro and could go down by herself..
The slides were definitely her favorite, and she didn't want any help doing those. By the time the cake was ready to be served, Ella had had enough and was ready to dig into Curious George cupcakes. She actually ate two cupcakes and wanted another one on the way home. It was really a lot of fun for everyone, especially mama and daddy who enjoyed watching all of the smiles and hearing all of the giggles. It's hard to believe another year has gone by, but we are enjoying each minute. Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate. Grammy and Papa came all the way from Ohio to be there and that meant a lot to Ella. Birthday parties are a little stressful (ok, a lot stressful) and there's always a lot of chaos, but when it's all said and done, it's all worth it when you hear your children talk about it like it was the greatest party "of ever." So, thanks for sharing it with Ella!

Funny Stuff

Ella has been watching me list her old clothes on Ebay. We've also been giving some of her things to friends who have little ones of their own. Ella has been a tiny bit concerned that some of her things seem to be leaving our house (remember the dollar story). Tonight, while we were putting her to bed, she noticed that the bear that's usually in her bed wasn't there. She looked up at me with a very troubled look and asked, "Where's my bear? Is it on Ebay or something?" She comes up with some of the funniest stuff. If I don't write it down, I'll never remember all of it. One more before I go to bed...while I was getting ready for church, she came into my bathroom and just kind of stood there. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "Um, just hanging out." What a mess and what a blessing she is all wrapped into one.