"My Book About Me"

Today was the last program of the year for Will's Preschool(pictures to come later). After the program - the kids did a FANTASTIC job - we went to Will's classroom to collect him and his papers for the week. As Will was gathering his papers and saying his good-byes, his teacher looked at me and said "he had some really interesting answers for his book" Hmmmm, I thought, I wonder what that means!
As Scott and I looked through his book, we couldn't help but smile and than laugh. I think his "book" tells about a pretty AWESOME little boy(of course I am not biased at all!). Book Review:
William Kirby Bing Wine, age 4.
The best thing about me: love my family
The type of animal I would like to be: Lion
My favorite flavor of ice cream: Strawberry
If I could go anywhere in the world, I would go to: the beach
(and Mommy's favorite question/answer of all) When I grow up, I want to be a: husband!

There you have it, all the important facts about Will you never knew! Preschool is great, and almost 5 is a wonderful age! It is hard to believe that Will will be 5 in just three weeks! I can just begin to see high school peaking up over the horizon!!! Lord, please don't ever let me forget to enjoy ever single moment of everyday of his life, for it is flying by way too quickly!

"My Adventures with Jack"

Soon after returning to preschool in January, Will's class was told that they would each be taking a turn bringing home the class bunny! Now this class bunny is the perfect pet, because you see, he is stuffed! Along with Jack comes a book in which each child is to record the adventures they have with Jack.

Will has been very patient in waiting for his turn to bring Jack home, until the last two weeks. Last week, he sadly announced "I'm going to be last to bring Jack home, Mommy". Well, he was right, but his turn did finally come this weekend. We have had Jack the bunny as a house guest all weekend and we have tried our best to provide him with a few adventures along the way! He was read to, fed, cuddled, introduced to the cats, helped feed the cows, taken to church and taught the game of Duck Duck Goose. Not bad for a little bunny I'd say. Sadly Jack returns to preschool tomorrow! Thankfully all in one piece and still stuffed!!!

THE Day has finally arrived!

Yes, Tuesday was an exciting day for Ashley - she passed her learner's driving test and in the eyes of the state of VA is qualified to be behind the wheel of a vehicle - at least with a licensed driver by her side! When she was home on Thursday, she asked if she could drive me to work, and after some serious prayer, I said yes. After all, it was only her third time driving! I bravely strapped Will and myself into the seat belts and tried to convince myself that it wasn't going to be too bad!!!

I am sure, that if I had looked in the mirror, I would have seen my mother's face staring back at me!!! I remember the first times of driving with her and thinking that surely she was going to explode! Just seeing how nervous she was made me even more nervous and of course, I was not allowed to go over 35 miles per hour. So, despite my nervousness, I TRIED (I really did) to put on a relaxed face(I think I even managed to smile a few times!).

Ashley did pretty well, we made it safely and I have to say she remained calm in spite of my nervousness and Will's constant backseat driver instructions!!! I mean, he never stopped telling her what to do, and when and how to do it! I think she was just too excited about driving to let anything bother her(see the smiles below!).

Now comes the Future Chef!

As I said, Will has many diverse interests. One that has been growing for the past couple of years is cooking. He loves to help me bake cookies and cakes (mostly so he can lick the bowl and the spoon!) but more recently he has begun to take a real interest in helping to cook whatever is on the menu. We both watch the Food Network alot and any time he hears someone say "New York City", he always says "that's where Bobby Flay lives, mommmy".

Today was a chilly day and I have not been feeling well, so I thought I would try to make a pot of vegetable soup. Well, my little assistant chef insisted on making his own pot of soup(although he will never even try my vegetable soup). He cut up a carrot, some celery and used the potato skins to complete his veggie soup. Then he used just about every spice in the cabinet to add flavor to his pot of soup. After creating and stirring for quite a while, he decided it was time to taste. I warned him that since he didn't like veggie soup, he might not want to try it, but he assured me it was "just pretend". I believed him until I heard him announce "ooohhh, that's nasty!" Lesson for today- good cooks, NEVER admit their food is "nasty" and NEVER make something they themselves won't eat!!

Introducing the Next Food Network Star!

Future Hiker? Future Chef?

Will is becoming more and more a diversified little boy. While he likes rough housing and romping, he also has a very strong interest in singing, dancing, and cooking. While these talents have been emerging over the last year, imagine my surprise one day about a month ago, when Will announced that he wanted to go "hiking in the mountains". Well, the mountains for me are a challenge as my fear of heights prevents me from venturing too far up windy mountain roads, but as a mother, I want my child to experience all that he has an interest in. So, being the quick thinker that I am, I suggested his cousin Rob Anderson, who is an avid hiker and who also happens to be a good buddy of Will's. Well, every day or two, when we would pass a mountain area Will would point in that direction and ask "Mommy, Can Rob take me hiking in those mountains!"

Finally the day came this weekend when Rob took his buddy Will hiking!!! Rob chose a very "small hike" for Will's first adventure into the wilderness, but to Will it was a mile high mountain. For those of you familiar with this area, the group of rugged outdoorsmen, hiked up to Big Levels, near Stuarts Draft. Scott, Dave Anderson and Mark Anderson joined the hiking duo to complete the group. Rob's dog Mia also went along! Will truly seemed to enjoy the hike and the outdoors and when I asked him if he would like to go again he said "No mommy, Rob can take me to a different mountain next time!" A new hiker has been created!

Rob and Will along the trail

Rob with Mia

Rob, Mia and Will, hiking buddies!

The View from the top!

January Happenings

Wow, it is hard to believe that January is almost over! It seems like it just got started.

We celebrated Scott's birthday on January 1 and the month has moved quickly on from there.
Happy Birthday Scott
We have settled back into the routine of work, school, ballgames and church.


This weekend we did go to a local Chinese restaurant with many families from our International adoption group and we celebrated the Chinese New Year together! It was so wonderful to see all of the kids together and to talk with all of the families. We have known many of them since we started the process to adopt Will and some we just met last night. We were excited to welcome two new little girls home from China. Our group is growing, which means that more children are finding loving homes and families!!





I am sad to say, that the chinese outfit Will wore last night is one that I thought would probably be about right when he is 6 or 7 - when I pulled it out of the box yesterday evening, I almost cried when I realized it was going to quickly be to small. This is the last outfit we purchased for him while we were in China. Time is flying so quickly by, I can't believe he has just about outgrown all of the outfits we bought for him there.