She Blinded Me With Science

Ok, so now that we have decided to have a birthday party. Our next step was to figure out what to do at the party.

Mary began to carefully note the guest list. Girls and boys, and basically all of her class(19 children).
The next step was to figure out what to do?

I strategically placed suggestions on the table and we settled on the Mad Scientist Party.

Mary has recently discovered Nickelodeon and the thrill of being slimed.

I, of course being the opinionated, eat all of your vegetables mama, thought it should be educational(but thrilling and fun).

I began to wander through the internet searching for brilliant mom's and dad's who came up with this idea, long before me.

I am not very creative, but boy I know how to "glean"ideas from other creative and brilliant parents.

I fell upon this blog. I quickly ran right over to her delightful Etsy shop and found exactly what I was looking for.
So thanks to Ewehooo, my plan, (I mean Mary's plan). is set in motion.

Proud Mary

It is official, Mimi now wants to be referred to as Mary.

Thanks to her Aunt Suzanne, she has even received mail, with her "real" first name on it.
Her actual"real" first name is Mary Margaret. She is named for scores of great women on both sides of the family.

Mary is not ready to make the Mary Margaret jump yet.

I find it amazing how this mere slip of a girl has transitioned to a new name so quickly.

All of her school assignments have Mary Sipes on them. She signs all of her notes and paintings Mary.

On Friday, her class had earned enough good behavior points to have a game day. This special day, the kids can bring in any board or card games they want to play with a partner for an hour.

Mary wanted to bring in Rummikub. I took out a sharpie and promptly labeled the game Mimi Sipes. I then caught my error and put Mimi in parenthesis and carefully positioned Mary above her last name.

Mary, of course, caught my error and asked "Why does my game say Mimi on it" I improvised and said that I put it on the game so that her class and teacher would not be confused.

Mary then reassured me that all of her class and her teacher know that her name is Mary.

Oh well, I guess I have to change the name of the blog.

A Very Merry Unbirthday

Everything was great on this day



This morning Mimi woke up as happy as a lark, it was not her birthday anymore.

My sister Suzanne often says that Mimi is a forty year old lady trapped in a six year old body.
Yesterday was another Mimi episode that cements that theory.

Yesterday was Mimi's birthday, and for all of the sentiment and joy of celebrating the day of her birth, she was absolutely miserable.

I shall begin at the beginning with Mimi's statement months ago, that she didn't want a birthday party. I, of course, love planning and throwing parties. I approached her with ideas of an art party, or a mad scientist party... she shot me down.

Mimi claims that she doesn't like being the center of attention. So I moved on and honored her request.

Over the past weekend Daddy and I took her to get a new bike for her birthday, and then out for dinner.
I ran out and got a bunch of balloons(which will soon be in her balloon cemetery, a future post).
I made paper flowers and festooned the house with happiness and joy.

I picked her up for school and to say she was crabby was the understatement of the century.
She ran into the house, ran past the decor and the cake frosting project, ran up the stairs and proceeded to throw the days outfit down the stairs. I then heard a bundled piece of paper being hurled down. The outside of the note read simply"read this". I dared to open the note to read "I do not like my birthday" I heard her bedroom door slam.

I decided to take out my old parenting guns and completely ignore it. There was a silence, followed by the sound of much of the contents of her bedroom being moved into the hallway.
I continued to pretend to ignore it.

There was a silence and I went up to check on her. The door was barricaded shut with furniture.
I pried the door open and demanded that she clean up.

I ran downstairs to continue my plan of ignoring.
When she realized I was ignoring she descended the stairs like Norma Desmond , her yoi(blanky)
draped over her head, and small flat pillows covering the front and back of her.

I had to hide my laughter as she skulked through the kitchen. I tried to communicate but she only ran back upstairs and shut her door.

The whole evening was a bust. We were going out for a great spaghetti dinner, she refused. Grandma baked her a cake, she was comatose. I then couldn't find my stash of birthday candles so we ended up lighting a major tapered candle and singing the lamest rendition of Happy Birthday.

The high point of the evening was lighting the "Tangled" lanterns and letting them go.

The lesson I learned was no matter how much a child protests, throw them a damn birthday party. Mimi learned not to protest about having a birthday party.

It will be late but Miss Mary Sipes will have her(birth) day in the sun.
By the way, she also announced she wants to now be referred to as Mary. Anyone who is a fan of Seinfeld will remember when George Costanza wanted to be called "Tbone". I think that Mimi will have the same problem.

Happy Birthday

Seven years ago today my precious Mimi was born.

On JieJie's birthday, I have had the tradition of telling her the story of the adventure of giving birth to her. I share with her, moment by moment how she came into the world.

Mimi and I have a different tradition for obvious reasons and because her coming into this world is a mystery and is just as miraculous.

Mimi and I have talked about her China mom and her strength and bravery. We talk about how Daddy and I had wished and prayed for her for so long and that it is this day that we celebrate her coming into this world.

Of course Mimi has questions about her birth that we can't answer. We do have some details that we talk about, but the most important thing is that we remember her mama in China who brought us our divine Miss Mimi. We talk about her being carried in her tummy, how she ate some of Mimi's favorite foods to keep her strong and healthy. We talk about her China family how they must be intelligent and beautiful and have giant noggins.

Mimi and I talk about the care that was taken right after she was born. Mimi's China mom put her in the safest place to make sure she would be properly cared for. We talk about the process of her adoption.I describe the paper process .I tell her about the wonderful fed ex lady who would deliver our papers to the consulate(we used to call her the stork).
I reminisce about the waiting, the hours I would spend in chat rooms, looking for advice from seasoned parents on anything from what clothes to pack for her and what kind of formula Mimi would use.
We talk about the day when we received our referral and how Aunt Julie was with Daddy when the news arrived.
We talk about the plane ride to China and how JieJie was ready to jump ship about five hours into the journey.

We talk about Daddy and JieJie climbing the Great Wall to a very high place in her honor.

We talk about the day we met and how all was right with the world as soon as I held her teensy body.

We celebrate Mimi's birth and we are so thankful for the sacrifices that her China mom made for her.
Cheers to the Fabulous Miss Mimi, a stunning, witty,intelligent young lady with long gams and a giant noggin.

Spring Spring Spring

Last week, we lifted our spirits by visiting the zoo.

We are so lucky to have this beautiful park a few steps from our house.
The one luxury of living so close, is that we just pop in and maybe visit three or four animals, have a little picnic and then pop back out again.

This visit included the polar bears, chimps/orangutans/gorillas and the reptiles.

We also witnessed a very dashing peacock, trying to court several women with his plumage and as Mimi would say"the booty dance". The girls were not impressed.

'SWonderful

As all of us in the Midwest pray for warmth and light, I begin my search for warm weather clothes for Miss Mimi.

As anyone who knows Mimi, I have spent several years in the joy of decking her out in some great clothes.
She always loved wearing the duds I picked out and all was right with the world.

Now a days, Mimi has rejected my finds and turned her eyes toward more "colorful" and "fancy", somewhat garish clothing. Gone are the darling, mod inspired A line dresses and fitted coats.


Bring in a pair of boots(handed down from her friend Annabel), that combined with leggings and t shirt,(underpants can't be seen this way).

On a typical school night, I will wander through her closet and slyly pick out an amazing frock from The Measure or mette and pair it with leggings. I casually lay it out on her bed the night before, so she can throw it on in a rush to school.

As I prepare breakfast, she descends the stairs in a black pair of leggings, a green t shirt and yes, the black boots.
I pick up Mimi from school and one of her classmates moms approaches me "Mimi used to wear such darling clothes, what's going on?" I laugh and explain Mimi's independent nature and her new found style, a mix between Cher and a Nazi officer.
The mother quickly asked if I would be selling Mimi's rejected clothes anytime soon.

A few days back I received an online update from Ses Petite Mains and my heart began to skip a beat.The clothes are timeless, made in the USA and completely sweet.I am anxious to get on the website and start placing my orders before the tiny company sells out of Mimi's size. I stop, take a deep breath and put down the Visa.

I know we all love our children, no matter what they look like. Mimi is gorgeous inside and out and it doesn't matter what she wears. I guess I wasn't ready to give up the opinion of how she dresses.

I am also thrilled that she does express her own sense of style. There is the winsome side of me that wants to dress her in what she explains as my "style".

So, as the warm weather returns and the new season of darling clothes arrive in stores and on the internet, I reminisce.
I do, draw the line at age inappropriate clothing.
Bottom line, if she is comfortable, and can hang upside down on the monkey bars with her pride intact, life is great.

I just want her to look like a seven year old.

Qing Ming

Last Wednesday we had a teeny Qing Ming celebration.
Qing Ming is a Chinese festival also known as Tomb Sweeping Day.
"Qing Ming" literally means "Clear Brightness", which also heralds in the beginning of Spring.

In ancient times, the day would be celebrated with dancing, singing, picnics and kite flying. Also, there would be the coloring of boiled eggs and planting of trees to celebrate new life.

Today, Chinese visit their family graves to tend to weeds and dirt and set out offerings of food and spirit money to their ancestors. This spirit money is burned at the gravesite in honor of the family and to bring good fortune.

Many of our local Chinese groceries carry the proper Spirit money and now carry replicas of Iphones and Ipads that can be burned as an offering.

Mimi and I colored a few eggs(including quail eggs). We prepared a small shrine to our loved ones and we roasted a duck, and made Chinese pancakes and dumplings.

Mimi was just beginning to come out of her extended funk, so this was a great way to welcome Spring and a healthy beginning.