Jili Updates and Koeppe Happenings

I have been so AWOL on blogging lately that I am not sure if anyone if checks my blog anymore, but I will do it anyways ~ especially for you family and friends that lurk and don't comment. :)
Over the last three months, things have really started to settle down in our household. My work schedule in Ypsilanti was longer than when I worked in Ann Arbor, and my commute a little longer too (45 minutes). During this harsh winter, many commutes to work exceeded 90 minutes. I miss my Ann Arbor coworkers so much!!! The Ypsilanti people are really great too, and have really made me feel welcome.
T.J. also did soccer and swimming this spring, and Jili is eager to do the same.

Scott had an emergency gall bladder removal in early April. He left three hours before the end of his 24 hour shift at the fire department, and drove himself to the Emergency room. He never takes sick time, so everyone knew something was serious!! Nine hours later, he had it removed and he was home for four weeks, much to his dismay. However, the unwanted time off turned out to be a blessing, as it proved to be a much-needed Father-Daughter bonding time.
When Jili first came home from China in February of 2010, she was really attached to me, and did not understand that she had two parents; and didn't have to choose between us. Nonetheless, Scott was really patient with her, and allowed her the space and trust that she needed to understand that he was not going to take her away from her mom. Slowly, over months, she got closer to her Dad, but the time home with him for a month was a really much-needed father-daughter time. Now, when he is gone, she says, "Where's Dad? He's really taking a long time." She is trying to understand the firefighter tour of duty shifts. Now, she begs for shoulder rides, rocks with him in the rocking chair, and plays with him more than ever. She even lets Dad put her to bed - without delay - when I am out. It was really a blessing in disguise.

This spring, I was able to take Jili to see Dora the Explorer (Treasure Island-Pirate Adventure) on stage at The Croswell Opera house in Adrian, MI. She loved it. We were actually scheduled to go the day that my husband had his gall bladder removed. However, they were kind enough to give me tickets to another show, due to the circumstances. We ended up going to see it twice. After the second show, Jili was able to go up on stage with Dora and the other cast members and have her pictures taken. A young cast member was dressed as Issa, and invited her to sit next to him. She liked that.

Memorial Day Weekend was fun. We went to the parade in town and Jili wore her new Hello Kitty flag shirt. Later, we planted our garden in the very hot, hot sun. We also made our tadpole pond. Some of the them already have four legs now. Every year, we do our little frog pond, about 36 inches in diameter. As the tadpoles metamorphis into frogs, they just hop down to our creek. We also did butterflies this spring. We were contemplating raising praying mantises, but after a few surprise youtube videos, we discovered that they might grow up and devour our hummingbirds; plus T.J. was afraid one might escape in the house and eat his hamster, Sun Sun, or eat the crickets in his bug garden. No praying mantises.
We did lose another hamster, Felix, this winter/spring. My kids are really accepting the cycle of life. Sunny is our LAST hamster, and she is blind in one eye, so the kids give her extra pampering and feed her fresh nuts, fruits, and veggies by hand. Jili often asks, "Mom, why our animals don't live a long time?" I try to explain that animals don't live as long before they go to Heaven, so we need to treat them special every day, and my kids do.
That's my motto: Live and appreciate each day to the fullest, especially with those that you love!
Jill