We have truly been overwhelmed by the generosity of others in helping us raise the money for this part of Shen's adoption.

In addition to donations via the Chipin "widget", we have received checks from family and friends totaling $1100! This makes the actual donation total (as of this posting): $1841 and puts us at 61% of our goal!

We are really hoping that donations will exceed our stated goal. While our total adoption expenses are significantly more than this amount, we have decided to donate all proceeds raised beyond our goal to Love Without Boundaries Tuan Yuan Adoption Grants. “Tuan Yuan” means “bringing families together.” Every time this fund reaches $3000, Love Without Boundaries offers a grant to pay the orphanage donation for a special needs child. Since it was our hope that others might be with this part of the adoption costs,

Sometimes in the early evening, Kai and Mouse and I walk to a park near our home. On our way, we pass a grassy strip along the street. It's not in anybody's yard, and as it's behind a fence, nobody mows it very often. This time of year the grass grows high and green there, and the dandelions get quite tall. Kai loves picking these beautiful weeds. He has an eye for the most perfect ones - white fluffy spheres perched on long smooth stems. He pulls them up with his right hand, then gently transfers them to his left where he can hold them pinched between his pinky and ring-finger. He doesn't blow them right away. He likes to just have them - whole, round, and perfect. But then his movement, or a sudden breeze knocks loose a few of the seeds; eager to fly away on their mission of propagation.
Kai looks at the now broken dandelion top with a bit of dissatisfaction. He draws a deep breath and starts to blow. "Make a wish!" I tell him, but he doesn't pause to consider it - the little white parachutes fly off into the air, and he starts his search again for the most perfect dandelion.
It's part of the beautiful nature of four-year-olds; they live so totally in the moment. Shooting-stars, Birthday Candles, and the explosion of little fuzzy seeds into the air are not wasted by them on thoughts of distant desires.
I wait for Kai as he kicks through the tall grass on his mission. I watch the breeze carry off the tiny little seeds, like dry starry promises against the fading blue sky, and I try to quiet my mind of my own busy, faraway wishes.

Friday night was the Junior Ski-to-Sea Parade! We have marched in this parade with the co-op preschool almost every year since I can remember, but this was the first year Kai got to march in it. He watched the parade last year and loved it, so he was quite thrilled to be in it this year. If you look closely you can see Stinky Mouse was in the parade too, riding in the hood of Kai's jacket.

The parade is really low-key, and anybody can march in it - they do have some prizes, but we were there just for fun. As we stood around waiting to march a woman came by and asked us some questions about our group. We were carrying fish on sticks the children had decorated for a "theme" of "School of Fish", but weren't in formation or anything, most of the fish were lying on the ground. I thought she must have to talk with every group marching, but it turns out she was a judge and was nominating us for an award. Something about our ragtag bunch of kid-painted fish caught her eye and we ended up getting a Judge's Choice Award!