Happy Post Thanksgiving...

4 months have passed and I think this year I will reach my all time blogging low.  I'm just sitting around bored and watching an old movie, so I thought I'd catch up on my posts...Since we last saw each other....

• I'm working more now, almost full time.  Sometimes I'm in Westchester cty NY, which is a long drive.
• Kurt gifted me with a lovely new car, a Honda CRV.  Kelsey and I named her Fancy (as in Fancy Nancy) and yes she is very Fancy.
• We had our annual reunion with our China Travel Group in October at the Lillis' home in CT.  We had such a great time and the girls and guys loved playing together!
• We finished summer and Kelsey began first grade.  She likes school and is beginning to make new friends.  That being said, we are having some challenges with one of her K friends.  Trying to work it out to what's best for the kids. 
• I am looking for a tutor for Kelsey again.  She struggles with reading and math.  We'll get there eventually.
• The family grew again this fall, as my BIL Rich and SIL Liz welcomed new son Marshall Owen at the end of October into their family.  He's a cutie and I think we'll be making a road trip in Jan.  We finally were able to get to MD and meet baby Ellie (who turned one) in August.
• We had some electrical work done on the house and had it painted.  Looks fabulous now and we haven't had to reset the breaker in months!
• We had a hurricane in August that dumped a foot of water into the basement.  and had a freak snowstorm in Oct.  Global warming indeed.
• Kelsey started her 4th year of ballet.  I may be prejudiced, but she is a very graceful dancer.
• In September, we began our first year of Brownies.  Looks like it's going to be fun!
• Kelsey hosted a Halloween party for her K classmates - it was a blast!
• We hosted Thanksgiving here with my Sister's family.  We had a great day.
• Maddie is one now and such a joy to us all.  She is a bit of a chewer, but such a love sponge.
• Kelsey lost her first two teeth this summer.  They were the center bottoms and her adult teeth were growing right behind them.  They filled in nicely.

Joy....

I have to say that summer 2011 is fairly happy. The reason for all this bliss? Kelsey of course :) And having the time and some resources to enjoy her sweetness. Let me delve into Kelsey's personality for a minute. She wakes up happy...wanting to know what she is doing that day. She snuggles with me and then she wants her Daddy...craving the tickles and fun he brings. The minute she wakes up, she wants to "watch her show" (and sometimes I cave ---it's always Nick Jr.)

Kelsey enjoys her life. She skips and dances when she could walk, she says "hello" to everyone she meets and she has a smile on her face while she does it. Yesterday in the middle of walking Maddie (the dog) we stopped to speak with a neighbor. He was pulling weeds in his lawn and Kelsey quickly stepped in to lend a hand. She did a good job and he paid her a hearty thanks and gave her a quarter. She thanked him without me prompting her :) Kelsey is a social child and enjoys making new friends. We began a daycare/camp two weeks ago and when she enters the space, kids yell out "hey, it's KELSEY!" (one child saw me and didn't see her first and asked me if I brought her :) Her Camp Leader says she makes friends easily and adjusts well to new situations. Tomorrow is her last day at Trini Camp (where she'll attend her new school) and she has told me (again smiling) this is HER school now and she likes it! She's attending a cooking class and enjoying making food.

Next week we begin swim lessons at our county pool. We are looking forward to them. Tomorrow, after camp, I am taking her to Pottery Barn Kids for a Doll Tea Party. She's really looking forward to it.

Since I've last blogged, Kelsey graduated from Kindergarden, started camp, started her reading program and turned SIX with a birthday extravaganza. It is my joy and privledge to raise this child....I still can't believe she's really mine to love and cherish...and she's the happiest person I know. If I could bottle her love of life and happiness...well life would be sweeter for us all! Here are a few photos from the last few weeks in the very happy life of the very happy Kelsey Hoppe!

The night before Kelsey graduates Kindergarten

She is blissfully asleep, but is kicking the heck out of me. I'm so excited for Kelsey - she is making such a big step to graduate K and leave the safety and comfort of the Giving Nest. My Baby is growing up and I am delighted in how wonderfully smart and talented she is. I'm also sad that my Baby is growing up...as every Mom most likely is.



Kelsey's first Teacher at the Giving Nest caught me this AM and asked me if I was going to cry...silly Kelly...OF course I'm going to cry tomorrow....my Baby is literally leaving the NEST! :)



I've said this for the last two years, I can't believe how wonderful her class is this year. Every child is great and she's made some Fantastic Friends this year. Adult Kelsey reading this, please smile at the memory of Emily, Alyssa, Catherine, Jasmine, Lily, Cadence, Ben, Ameer, Adian, Liam, Paul, and Joe. What a great group of friends you've made this year!

I spent about 4 months planning her Summer this year. We have joined our county pool (which looks like a country club!) and I signed her up for swimming lessons. She's going to Trini-Camp in July and at the end of June will start a 6 week program at Rutger's Continuing Education. Kelsey is close to reading....she knows all her letters and sounds, she needs to make the leap to putting them together and sounding them out. We have a tutor until August and also she'll spend 2 days each week at GMB's "camp" which focuses on education. She should have a fabulous summer and go into first grade happy and prepped for learning.

I'm excited about this next step of her education. Holy Trinity is an excellent school (poised for blue ribbon next year) and with the small class sizes (only 2 classes per grade and about 15 children in each class) it's a comfortable next step in her independence. I don't think I would ever have a comfort level in throwing her into a large public school where there are 5 classes in each grade of 25 students.

On the horizon for next week, Kelsey has a flying up to Brownies ceremony after spending a fun year as a Daisy Scout. Next Friday night is her dance recital and on July 9th she'll have a double birthday party (afternoon for her friends and evening for her family). We also have a lot of friends' parties coming up too....we are busy busy!!!!

Speaking of Family....this time of year I am missing my Mom dreadfully. She should be here front and center for all the fun things going on in her Granddaughter's life. I am so sad and missing her...especially when I will see all her friends' Grandmother's watching their little darlings Graduate, Fly up, and Dance.

Thank Goodness Kurt has been able to take the time for tomorrow and will be attending Kelsey's graduation. He had to miss her Pre-K one last year, so we were hoping things would be different and they are! :)

I'm leaving you with some photos of my baby as she started her school career and now :)



Kelsey's first day of Pre-School as a Ducking in 2009

Kelsey was a Cardinal in Sept 2010

Kelsey graduated from Pre-K (only a year ago!)

Her first day in Kindergarten (she was a Senior in her school!)


Just taken last week.....

Peace out!

A Playroom fit for a Princess!

named who had so many toys, they were taking over her family's living spaces. Her Mommy, the Queen thought she might be able to make a playroom in the basement, but it looked like this:

which, as you can see, was a pretty dreary, dirty and sad place...no place for a beautiful Princess to play with all her pretty toys!

But the Queen was determined...and worked every week in the basement for months...throwing out stuff, organizing and cleaning the room up...until it was finally ready for some paint. So she painted the walls a cheery yellow and blue. And epoxied the floor so it looked like a sandy beach...the Queen also had some furniture from her Mom's house and wanted the room to look like a whimsical beach house plus toy storage.

Finally the room was ready for the little Princess....and here is what she saw:

This is the dress-up corner, where the Princess and all her Princess friends get to change into their costumes, wear tiaras and pretty sparkly Tiaras and jewelry and pose in from of the mirrors.

This is where the Princess plays with her doll houses and stores the Royal Barbies, Polly Pocket and My Little Pony Paraphanalia This is the main game/storage wall where the Princess can see everything she can play with all at once. We never realized how many games we had until we put them all on display.

This is the Royal Papasan Chair that the Queen found on Craiglist. The Princess adores this chair and has dubbed it the "hot tub" at her Beach House. You can see the Princess adores her new playroom and is having lots of fun rediscovering all the toys we organized.

This was my Mom's couch and table and chairs, which set the beachy theme for this room. The blue/white curtains are shower curtains which I hung from eye screws and rope from the ceiling joists. I chose shower curtains because this is a basement that we have lots of storage hiding behind. I can slide the curtains back and grab what I need.

Even Ariel likes to hang out in the new playroom now.

And the Queen is thrilled that all the Royal toys are no longer hanging out in the Royal living room!

The End (or really, the beginning of lots of new playdates in the new playroom!)

Every Three Months?

Wow, JoAnn...you are not performing up to expectations on your blogging assignments!

Here is the low down on life at Casa de Hoppe as of today:

1) I'm working as an Independent Consultant in the non profit world. I like it (wish I made a bit more $$$) but right now, it's working well. It's a part time gig which gives me great flexibility to care for our sweet girl.

2) Maddie is the most amazing puppy ever. I completely love her and adore spending time snuggling with her. She's slowly potty training and I'm patient with it for the most part.

3) Kurt started an amazing job a few weeks ago....I'm so proud of him! He's doing so well professionally!

4) Kelsey has been attending lots of birthday parties lately. We love her friends :)

5) I just finished volunteering at the Giving Nest's Annual Tricky Tray. It was exhausting and fun.

6) Summer plans are shaping up for our Princess. On the agenda are:

A summer reading program at Rutgers
Summer camp sessions at Holy Trinity Summer Camp
A stint at another camp in town (Ginny's)
Summer tutoring

I'm putting Kelsey in some academic programs this summer because she's resisting reading. Most of her class are good readers and she may be lagging because she's younger than most of her classmates and due to the adoption hit most of her milestones later than normal. She's a perfectly normal, lovely child, but she needs to get her reading butt in gear and begin. Todays' Kindergartners are expected to finish their K year reading and I don't want her to lag behind in first grade.

7) Speaking of first grade, I agnonized over where to send her to school. Ultimately I chose a Catholic School in a town a few towns over from ours. This is a good school (about to be Blue Ribbon selected) and her two dearest classfriends are also registered there for fall. The deciding factor for me was that I went to the Superintendent's office to discuss our options...we had none. either I put her in a school that wasn't right for her academically or diversity-wise or send her to Private School. We can't really afford this, but when I told Kurt that there are zero Asian students in the school they'd force upon us and the Assis't Superintendent herself told me that she wouldn't send her own children to that school...well, what does that say to you? Anyway, we went to an open house before we applied and both Kurt and Kelsey are really excited about this school. I think it will be both nuturing, supportive and will provide our little Diva (yes Kelsey, YOU!) with the kick in the pants she needs to jumpstart academically. (yes, we want to move, but right now that's not in the cards for 2011 -we'll see for 2012)

8) We splurged and decided to take a short vacation. Kelsey had been asking to go to Disney for, well forever! So we decided to suprise her and go! We left on March 1 (right after her big school musical show) and came home on 3/5. We had 5 days to explore the Magic Kingdon, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. She loved every single second of her adventure. I think I want to do some more posting on Disney...stay tuned (promise it won't be 3 months later)

9) I'm finally (FINALLY!!!!!) almost done with the basement refinishing. Taking it from its digusting roots to a place where you can walk barefoot has taken me months (sometimes I just left in disgust) but tomorrow I paint the final part of the floor and then I can move the furniture and cute decorative stuff in....AND all the toys! (did I mention ALL THE FREAKIN' toys?)

Leaving you with some photos of my girl's trip to "The World"

Do this...For Susan and for all the other Warrior Princesses out there...

Please visit Susan's blog and read about the challenges she is facing. then please post this badge to your own blog and let the battle rage.

Susan, I am proud to do this small thing for you. Go you Warrior Princess!

Love,
Another Mom.

Top 10 positive things about 2010....

Hi All,

It's been a while and I'm trying to make some peace about 2010...argueably the worst year of my life...I'm going to take a positive view on this and find the good in the year...

10. Kelsey had a wonderful 5th year birthday at a horse farm. Many of her good friends attended and had a lot of fun. We enjoyed not running the party at home.

9. Kelsey's dance recital was amazing to see. We had a spectacular time!

8. I am no longer a camping virgin and loved it! and we had a lovely short trip to Dutch Wonderland. Kelsey adored riding on all the rides!

7. Our niece Ellie was born in August....she is adorable!

6. My siblings and I are tight...I got to spend a lot of time with my brother this year. In fact I think we saw Jim more in 2010 than in the past 10 years! And I speak to my sister often...many times daily. We'd see Janet and family more, but three kids' activties plus all the working Moms and Dads, mean it's challenging to get together.

5. I treated myself to an early birthday present - a digital SLR camera. Love it!

4. I did earn money in 2010....it wasn't fun but for most of the year, I earned a living.

3. Kelsey is enjoying Kindergarten and I am enjoying taking her to the park, enrolling her in Daisy Scouts and taking her for playdates. She so deserves this because her 2009/2010 was as awful as mine!

2. Kurt loves his job, has been incredibly loving and supportive through this very rough year and understands that I'm still going through "stuff" I am blessed with a great husband.

1. Look at who joined our family this year! She was an early Christmas present for Kelsey, but I admit that she's also making me (and Kurt very happy too!) We adore her! Meet Maddie a shih-tzu/poodle mix pup we adopted in early December....she's a sweetie!

So, belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope 2011 is good to everyone and better to my everyone in my family than 2010. I wish peace, joy and happiness for all.

Can I Find a Way to Write This?

I'm going to back post this date because I'd like the posting to be historically accurate.
I am sorry to announce that my Mom passed away early this morning...about 2:55am on Sunday 8/29/10.

Kurt, Kelsey and I went camping this weekend with our China Travel Group. We were having a great time in the woods...it was incredible, beautiful 100 foot tall pines, cool nights and mornings and hot afternoons...we had only gone for the weekend...

The kids were having a fabulous time, running from tent to tent...the adults had the best time as well...it was fun catching up with everyone.

I was telling some of the people in our group how sick Mom was and on Friday Janet called me to say that the hospital let her know it would be "soon" but not this weekend. She asked specifically because she knew we were camping and Jimmy had planned to visit next weekend...but the hospital was pretty positive that it wouldn't happen this weekend.

Still I had planned to see her on Friday before we left, but we left late and I rationalized that we could stop on Sunday on the way home. In hindsight I alternately beat myself up over not seeing her that last time and then I say "well when i saw her she spoke a few words to me and called me by my name" which she hadn't done in a few months.. I don't know if I could have stood seeing her so close to the end...

Sat night/Sunday morning I slept fitfully (as I usually do when I am not in my own bed) plus we were in a tent and Kicky Mc Kickenstein (aka Kelsey) was tossing and turning in our little tent. I did dream that one of the members of our travel group knocked on our tent and told me Mom had died...and that I had cried because I didn't get to see her...and then I stopped dreaming this.

About 7am, Kurt woke up and said he was going for coffee (we were "tent camping" not wildnerness camping, btw) and when he came back he asked me if I left my phone in the car...whcih I had...he said my phone was beeping and he looked and the call was from Janet...

Of course I knew at minute he asked me about the phone that my Mom must have died...so I called at 7:30 and my sister cried as she told me. For weeks I had tried to think how that moment would feel...grief or relief? what would my first emotion be? I was a little scared to think that it would be relief...even though the last year was so freakin' bad for everyone.

I am grateful that my first emotion was grief...I sobbed quietly (because my daughter was sleeping inches from me) and then I pulled it together and asked her some specifics...and made sure she was okay (I'm the big sister, that's my job) and I apologized for not being there for her because she went to the hospital to see Mom after she passed.

Kelsey woke a few minutes later and I told her Mema went to heaven...this was a pretty abstract concept for her, so she hugged me and then went to play with her friends...I was glad that she was distracted so I could pull myself together...

We were about 2 hours from my sister's so we packed our campsite fairly quickly, told the families what happened and left to go to her house...we had some decisions to make and the dreadful calls to handle...

So Mom died on 8/29, we waked her on 8/31 and interred her next to our Dad on 9/1, which was my 50th birthday...for the first time in my whole life my Mom wasn't there to wish me happy birthday...it hurt....

Mom, I hope you are happily reunited with Daddy and Nanny (my Grandmother) in Heaven...this brings me a little comfort...but three weeks later (as I am really writing this) I cannot bring myself to go to Church....

Blog Hopper - could there BE a better title for a Hoppe?

Hi Fellow Blog Lovers!
Welcome to The Secret Recipe for a Hoppe Family! I'm JoAnn, Wife, Mom, Non Profit Manager (no, I won't ask you for a donation - today :) and a lover and reader of blogs.

I saw this post on Pensieve Robin's and thought it looked like fun, so I decided to play along.

A bit about me...while I am a working Mom, I am very home centric and am deeply in love with creating a lovely and welcoming home. I love to spend time with friends (mine or my daughter's) and family and enjoy a good party! I also love gardening, cooking and baking.

I came to be a Mom a bit late in the party of life - through adoption (my daughter is from China and we adopted her at 9 months old). She is 5 now and the light of our lives. My DH (aka The Trophy Husband) and I have been married over 13 years now. Life is definately interesting with the cast of characters I've surrounded myself with and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

I invite you to delve into my archives and learn a bit more about me and my family...I love comments that are thoughtful and respectful and I always try hard to be hospitable! Enjoy your stay @ Casa de Hoppe :)

China Memories...

Recently some memories of our travel in China came flooding back and I thought I'd create a series of posts about our experiences/travels so that Kelsey can enjoy them as she grows up.

While we were in ChangSha, we had two guides, Helen, who traveled with us throughout the country, and Leung, who was strictly in ChangSha. Leung is a young, handsome and very sweet man and Kelsey was immediately taken with him...in fact our baby girl flirted shamelessly with him and he with her!

But my memory today is about his voice...Leung loved to sing while we traveled throughout the city/country. We were in ChangSha about 7 days - which was too long for a city that isn't particularly touristy. And it was end March-early April...still a bit cold in ChangSha. I know I longed to go onto Guangzhou and experience that warm tropical air that awaited us and then finally get home and begin our lives as a family, but it was also really cool to be completely and totally out of touch with everything/everyone familiar. But I was a bit homesick and I think others were as well.

I'll never forget Leung singing John Denver's "Take me Home Country Roads" I cannot sing that song even 4 years later without choking up because I remember how powerful his voice was and the feeling of homesickness that overtook me...how I longed to be home and start our lives in NJ as a family! Singing that song with my daughter nestled either in her carried on her Daddy's chest or in my arms is such a sweet memory.

Kelsey probably didn't get a chance to sleep much in the orphanage. As a result, she slept a great deal (I presume longer than a 9 month old would normally) in her carrier, stroller, in the bus...she always took the opportunity to have a long nap...and was a pretty good sleeper for us overnight as well. I'm thankful that she either trusted us enough to fall asleep with us looking out for her.

Another 3 Months Go By....

We have:

A pre-school graduate, a bonified 5 year old and a beautiful dancer who performed in an amazing show in June.

celebrated Kelsey's 5th birthday at a children's museum, down the shore riding on all the rides, at a stable with all her special friends and with cake, cupcakes and chinese food.

more pink and Barbie "stuff" in our living room than you can imagine!

had a load of fun at friends' parties this month with another one next weekend.

had a goodbye party/baby shower for BIL and SIL who have moved to Maryland this month

suffered through a bout of strep and a relapse (Kelsey)

celebrated the graduations of my nieces and nephew - Alyssa who graduated HS and is about to start college, Mikey who has graduated middle school and is about to enter HS and Marina who has graduated elementary school and is about to enter Middle School.

made the sad decision to put Mom in a Hospice Situation. Her doctors said there is no longer anything they can do for her and we are making her as comfortable as possible.

sold her house (closing next week) and will spend this upcoming weekend packing up her life (and my Dad's as well) so thankful I will have my brother and sister (and their spouses plus Kurt and Kelsey) along for this very sad surreal time.

p>I am:

Happy to be able to escape to work, where I can make someone's life better by doing my job

Sad because Kelsey is not happy that I work every day. She misses me and the time we had together last year and tells me so often.

excited to be going on vacation for the first time in 2 years! we are planning to go to Dutch Wonderland for a few days...nothing major but it will be fun

thrilled with my pre-birthday present - a Nikon D3000 with a few lenses. I am really enjoying how much better my photography has become!

grateful and thankful for the people who have stepped up with offers to help out in our times of need (and we have needed a lot this year)

not thrilled to be turning a big bad number shortly...the countdown to 50 has started!

amused to be going camping to the first time at the end of summer with our China Travel Group...should make for some "interesting stories"

enjoying spending my time with Kelsey...she's amazing and the most important person in our lives

having a personal battle with anger and trying to let it go and find forgiveness...so far anger is not in the lead..but other days...

obsessed with making the basement into a casual toy room...gonna take lots of work!

sad about my crispy garden. we have had scorching days and when Kelsey was ill it I couldn't water outside.

already missing my Mom...I have had some major sob fests during what should be happy times I get to share with her and over some scary stuff and some sad stuff where I could use her wisdom. Mom doesn't know us anymore and struggles to put more than 2 words together. I have struggled with every emotion imaginable

Enjoy the photos of my favorite subject taken with my new toy!