Dumplings, Three: Home again (for a couple of days)...

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Home again (for a couple of days)...

Well, this morning we are back home and back to normal life...for another two days at least! Then we will be off to Branson for our family vacation. (The band is contracted to play at Silver Dollar City.) .......Darcy drug Rivie into the house for a few minutes this morning. The pup soaked up the TLC...Darcy says Rivie really missed us while we were away.

A little while later, Rayna wes looking at a book I had made for Darcy when Darcy was three years old. The book is full of pictures of Darcy at the age three and younger. Rayna brought the book to me and declared, "Where is THIS dress, Mommy? I want to wear it!" She was pointing a picture of Darcy wearing her all time favorite dress...the one that Yea Yea had bought her to wear in "Aunt" Fenhua's wedding. I got the dress out and Rayna, ever the diva of princess-fashions, exclaimed with awe as she put it on. Darcy looked up from her dreaded math lesson and protested, "But MOM, that is my FAVORITE dress." I pointed out that since the dress was size TWO, I hardly thought she would be able to wear it again at any point in the near future. Rayna, meantime, though that a photo shoot was in order! So...here are a few bazillion photos of Rayna feeling rather elegant!...

Here is a scan of the page in the book that inspired Rayna this morning:
Darcy was about three years old in this picture. This is the most expensive dress she has ever had. When her Grandma bought it for her, she STERNLY admonished me, "That is DARCY'S dress...you let her wear it ANYTIME she wants to and anywhere she wants to. If she wants to put that dress on and go out and play in the mud, you LET her!" Thus, it became the least protected, most loved article of clothing Darcy has ever owned. She never wore it to play in a mud pile, but she did wear it all the time to play in...and when she wore it to a friend's birthday tea party and spilled red kool-aide all over it, I did my best to get the stain out, but, when it didn't come completely out, that just made it that much easier for me to let her use the dress as her grandmother had wished for her to use it. She wore it to church a million times (even after it wound up with a faint pink stain) and she wore it around the house even more times. She wore that little dress for three years before it finally got too small for her to fit into any more. And, now Rayna has discovered this magical dress for herself...

(As always, just click on the photo if you want to see an enlarged version of it!)

3 comments:

Unknown said...: You made me cry! I sit here with happy tears. Such a lovely story to make my heart ache... {{{kisses all a round}}}; 10/19/2006 2:52 PM
Those who serve the little dictatrice. said...: We should all probably have a party dress to wear "for any occasion"! Lovely photos.; 10/20/2006 1:54 PM
Anonymous said...: I have to admit...it WAS good advice that Yea Yea gave me!

(Actually, it wasn't "advice"...she ORDERED me to let Darcy wear that dress whenever she wanted, where-ever she wanted, however she wanted! Something I would have NEVER, EVER done in a million years if my hand had not been forced in the matter.) As it turned out, it was a wise choice Yea Yea made for me! Darcy (and now Rayna) has cherished that dress and derived so much enjoyment from it over the years...making memories that she would have never had, if I had gotten MY way and the dress had been carefully protected and only brought out for extremely special occasions in controlled environments!

~Monica

(Lisa and Oliver, I'm so glad RAYNA still adores being photographed! I'm afraid the elder two view it as a pain!

Frances, I hope you find a truly elegant dress to let your daughter wear anywhere and everywhere! (I get the impression that you are a lot like me...strict and leaning towards very responsible behavior (which does not normally include wearing bridal apparel to the grocery store!)...but, sometimes it isn't too bad to work a little irresponsibility into our children's lives, I guess!))

(Oh, and Frances, 'least you feel too sorry for my youngest ("Little Miss I Have a Virus So Nobody Can't Kiss Me"), let me share a story from a couple of days ago...
Grandma C came over and wanted to give her youngest granddaughter a kiss. As she leaned near my daughter's face, Rayna declared loudly enough for all in the room to hear, "Grandma, you need to BRUSH YOUR TEETH in the morning!" Poor Grandma C (who did NOT have bad breath) was taken aback and Rayna accomplished her purpose...thwarting her grandmother from smothering her with kisses! (Not to mention humiliating her mother with her incredible tactlessness.) So, don't feel TOO sorry for my little moppet...I think she was secretly pleased with her newly acquired "untouchable" status!); 10/20/2006 5:40 PM

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A Little Bit About Our Family
Here in the mid-West
(of the United States):

Grant (age 48) teaches Graphic Design at Southwest Baptist University. He is also an avid Bluegrass musician.

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Monica (age 48) works three days a week as a home health nurse through an agency that covers seven counties in our rural part of the Ozarks.

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Darcy (age 15) is a sophomore. (She was home-schooled through seventh grade, but now attends public school, where she also flourishes!) She is our family member who LIVES on facebook!

She is born leader, quick witted, high spirited, and independent! She has an overly developed sense of mischief, is adventurous and has always had a mind of her own! She is a gifted singer and enjoys playing the mandolin. She was born in JiangXi province of China and came home to us when she was 8 1/2 months old.

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Doug (age 12) is a sixth grade student. Though he is the "middle child" he was the last to join our family. He came home to us when he was six years old. He was born in Taiwan.

He is a happy-go-lucky fellow stuck between two very bossy sisters (one older, one younger)!

Injuries in infancy have left him a legacy of challenges with learning, memory, impulse control and language...throw on top of that that he had to start over with an entirely new language just six years ago and you can see the mountain he has had to climb.

Doug is an easy-going child with a heart of gold. He has an incredibly generous spirit and forgiving nature....and he dearly loves to laugh. All of our children have overly high energy levels and poor volume controls...but he beats his sisters out on both counts.

Doug has an in-born sense of direction. Many a time, he has rescued his mother from getting lost! And Doug has an amazing memory for FACES. He never forgets a face and will instantly recognize them even in totally different contexts. He is extremely intuitive. He can read emotions with uncanny ease, no matter how good you are at hiding them. He is an extremely compassionate/empathetic child. Doug has aspirations of becoming a Super Hero...and all superheroes count heavily in importance in his day to day life!

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Rayna (age 8) is in the third grade. She was born in AnHui province of China and came home to us when she was 9 months old. She is our melodramatic child.

Nothing is ever middle of the road with Rayna. This child LIVES the extremes and would never be caught dead in the middle! She broadcasts every nuance of her changing emotions so clearly that you could "read" her from a football field away! Fortunately, for us, her mood the overwhelming majority of the time is pure Joy and Happiness.

Her goal is to be 15 instead of 8, and to that end she strives ceaselessly! She learned to ride her bike at an early age without anyone running alongside to teach her. At three, she independently managed her own horse with confidence as we spent three days trekking through the mountains of Canada.

She is a child overflowing with confidence and the in-born belief that she will excel at whatever she decides to do. She has never been a child to hesitate at anything, and it shows even in her misuse of the English language...as she continually throws words into her conversation that she has no clue as to what they really mean or makes up words that don't really exist, but probably should!

She takes great pride in bossing her older brother around. I remember when he first came to us at the age of six, speaking only Chinese...Rayna (then 2 1/2) quickly latched on to enough Chinese to emphatically scold him! (Fortunately, Doug does not seem to mind too much having two sisters that boss him. He loves them both!)

Rayna is a lover of nature. She is the champion of every bug or furry creature that ever walked the earth. Unfortunately for them, at least when she was younger(!), she was bent on "saving" each and every last one of them. She would pick up crawdad or walking stick or snake or baby bunny and insist she must be allowed to take it home. When Iwould tell her absolutely not, she would genuinely be reduced to pure grief over the fact that she had to ABANDON the creature that so desperately NEEDED her love and care. This child had so many meltdowns into unimaginable depths of sobbing or wails of anguish that I had long ago learned to ignore all auditory cues! If she was pouring blood, I take notice, otherwise I didn't bother! (And, though she could be wailing in utter despondency one moment, she, usually, was overflowing with happiness the next moment. Her storms were memorable, but fleeting!) Nowadays, she is more akin to a 13 year old in an 8 year old body with her mood swings.

Rayna is a total cuddle-bug...and her gift has always been her utter love of people. Even as a baby, she genuinely loved and enthusiastically reached out to each and every soul she met. She has always had a way of making each person feel like they are the most important person around.

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Then we have our four dogs:
Shanachie--former stray--been with us 14 years, came to us already several years old.

She seems to have some lab and shepherd in her. She has always been the brains of the pack and the leader (dogwise!), but nowadays her advanced age is really catching up to her. She is Rayna's favorite and Grant's favorite.

(Shanachie passed away December 22, 2008.)

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Gloria--plucked from the litter of a stray--been with us 11 years. She thinks she is a teacup poodle and does not understand why no one wants a 100 pound dog in their lap!

She is sweet, but dumb as a box of rocks! She once tried to fit in then-4-year-old Rayna's carseat WITH Rayna...positioning her enormous, furry self, right into Rayna's lap. That made Rayna LIVID, and I'm not sure she has forgiven the dog, yet! Gloria looks for all the world like a Newfoundland if you don't count her ears! She is ALL teddy-bear...the most snuggly dog we have ever had. There isn't a disagreeable bone in her body. She is Darcy's favorite...and frustrates me (Monica) more than any of the other dogs ever have (she is just so passively STUBBORN!).

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Rivendell--former stray, dumped as a pup along with a litter-mate--been with us five and a half years (we found another home for the panda-bear marked litter-mate).

She seems to be mostly border collie. She's our stealth dog...moves like lightening, low to the ground! Herding is in her blood! She makes such strong EYE contact that it often unnerves people!

People, upon first meeting her, often remark either that she has "beautiful eyes" or "spooky eyes". Rivie is "my" dog, but her one fault (severe car sickness) prevents her from being my daily side-kick as I run errands.

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Ransom--registered German Shepherd--plucked from the first litter of my best friend's dog--has been with us 2 years now. She was the trouble maker in the litter! My friend, Lisa, still refers to her as "your scroungy ole coyote". (Lisa gave me first pick out of the litter and later she picked the most beautiful, most loving and most eager to please pup from the litter to keep, herself. Lisa has never been able to understand why I wanted Ransom over any of the others. But, maybe it was because of all the pups, Ransom truly was the most wolf-like. She had an independent, self-sufficient, loner streak about her that I couldn't resist.) Super quick to LEARN but not so eager to OBEY! She is a one-family dog...aloof with those outside of the family. She is a very courageous dog and extremely loyal. She is Doug's favorite...because she looks like a police dog and she weathers his inadvertant rough handling with unending patience.

Ransom has become my side-kick when the kids are in school and Grant is at work. She is my furry companion as I run errands here and there.

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Quick disclaimer: Grant thinks ONE dog is quite enough for us to have at any one time. And, though he likes our dogs, he is not the dog person I am and would not want to be inadvertantly mistaken as such!

And, even though I list this dog or that dog as this or that person's favorite, really they are all the favorite. Even though Gloria, the immovable mass, has the ability to stymie me over all the others, I have to admit that when she is not being passively resistant, she is the most well-mannered, wonderful to be around dog ever...and she just grows on me more by the day in her own quiet, unrelentingly calm, slow, placid way. Still, I like to go on about how annoying Gloria is just to rankle Darcy and Lisa, her hard-core defenders!...besides, being labeled as the "most annoying one" spices up her image!

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