Mullendore Mumbo Jumbo

China Reunion #2

2008-07-24T22:30:00.001-06:00

Hard to believe, but Kayla has been part of our family for 2 years already! We recently celebrated our 2nd China "sisters" reunion at the Rademacher home in central Illinois. We all had a great time. It was wonderful, and at times amusing, to see the girls together again. They each have their own distinct personalities, but also have many similarities.

I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but here's a glimpse at our weekend...

Summer "busy"ness...

2008-07-15T12:56:00.004-06:00

We went to Andy's sister Julie's house in Oshkosh for the 4th of July once again. They have a prime location for fireworks and Sawdust Days going on only blocks from their home. The kids all had a great time playing together. We took the classic line-up picture that we've been taking for years. Together our kids are currently: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 3 and 1. Yeah, the house was a little loud at moments :) Oh, how they've all grown- but they still aren't overly cooperative for our photo sessions!

We recently had Jen's class reunion and stayed in a cabin at Eagle Cave, near Blue River, WI. Natalie also just returned from a 5-night stay at Girl Scout camp almost 4 hours from home, near Antigo, WI. She had a blast and can't wait to go back next year. She could have done without the 100+ bugs bites she came back with, but I guess that comes with the territory. Not a lick of homesickness, but she sure was missed at home!

Off to the China travel-group reunion in Illinois next weekend. We certainly are buying our share of $4 per gallon gas this summer :( But we're having a lot of fun burning it up!

More spring-summer photos :)

2008-06-26T21:50:00.001-06:00

Spring-Summer 2008: Where does the time go?

2008-06-26T21:18:00.003-06:00

This spring has been fast, fun and furious. We've all turned another year older since our last post. Four birthday parties later, we're all still standing- though the last one was a bit much. Earlier this month Natalie celebrated #10, with a sleepover that was about 10 times too big....just kidding. Last weekend Nate stayed with Grandma Knuth because he had a birthday party he desperately wanted to attend on Sunday, and Kayla stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Mullendore because she's not the happiest traveler. The rest of us put on 1200 miles in a 3 day weekend. We stopped by Amery, WI to visit Andy's brother and family, just long enough for Natalie and Noah to decide we need a Wii. Then we continued our northern trek to Blackduck, MN for Mike and Sarah Zachow's wedding. Mike is one of Andy's friends from college who was in our wedding and still keeps in touch pretty regularly. It was an adventure for sure, but everyone handled the weekend just fine.

As we've rolled into summer, the kids have me running every which way. Currently Natalie is in gymnastics 5 times per week and piano. Nate is in basketball, karate and piano. Noah is doing t-ball and basketball right now. Kayla is not so patiently waiting for swim lessons to start, because she spends her days watching everyone else, since her gymnastics class time was moved to 1:30. Which is right in the middle of her nap, which is NOT to be messed with. So, I promised her that she can try it in the fall and we're also looking into a boogy babies dance class for her age, offered at our local Forte studios in town. Natalie heads to Girl Scout camp right after the 4th of July, and then we move into swimming lessons for all, rec soccer and soccer camp for Noah, a couple short trips around Wisconsin and Illinois and then in mid-August we are attending family bible camp at Sugar Creek for 4 days, near Ferryville, Wisconsin. Before we know it, we'll be turning around and heading right back to school. This summer is surely going to be a quick one!

Just chillin'

2008-03-09T21:32:00.000-06:00

Double trouble!

2008-03-09T21:30:00.000-06:00

Can't lose me in these pants, Mom...

2008-03-09T21:13:00.001-06:00

Busy...busy...busy...

2008-03-09T13:39:00.002-06:00

I just realized I haven't updated the blog since Christmas, even worse I haven't taken very many pictures since then either. We've been on the go, with little down time for the past couple months. We don't have too much share. It seems like work, chores, homework, appointments and snow shoveling dominate most of our time.

Natalie just got a major haircut, is working on a spring musical with youth choir at church and has an upcoming piano recital in April. She's also had lots of birthday parties to attend lately. All 3 of the older kids are doing swimming lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She'll start gymnasics again on Saturdays in April.

Nate just competed in the Pinewood Derby with the Cub Scouts, yesterday. He didn't do quite as well as last year, but still managed to come home with a 3rd place trophy. He continues to enjoy karate 2-3 times per week and will probably be trying for a new belt at the end of the month.

Noah also entered the Pinewood Derby for the 1st time, in the "other" category which is open to people of all ages. On Wednesday nights, Noah sings in the Cherub Choir at church. He is aniticipating the upcoming soccer season, which I still need to get him signed up for. He's starting to eagerly discuss the 1st grade prospects. Nate and Noah are looking forward to their combined birthday party at Pump It Up! in Fitchburg on March 30th.

Kayla has been keeping us busy, as usual. Since Christmas she has been receiving speech and OT each for 1 hour per week. Speech seems to be helping her somewhat, though she still does not use long or grammatically correct senteces. She's been getting rid of her "baby items" 1-by-1. She gave up the sippy cups and rarely wears a bib anymore. Mom threw out the diaper bag, since she's mostly potty trained. Kayla still needs a pull up or diaper when she's sleeping, and occasionally takes advantage of that to avoid #2 in the potty. But she's been wearing underwear all day now for the past couple months, so we're almost done.

Our other excitement is that we've decided to take a trip to Disney World at the end of October. After much contemplation, we've decided to leave Kayla home with my mom. Her spicy nature, extreme need for a nap and small size that limits what she could go on- all added up to it not being wise for her to join us on this adventure. However, it feels like a great excuse to go back whenever she hits about 4 foot.

Hopefully, the next pictures we post will have green grass and tulips. We are entirely ready for the snowbanks and ice to leave, this was about 10 times more winter than I need to be ready for spring....bring it on! :)

The Mullendore Family Photos- 2007

2007-12-25T13:19:00.000-06:00

Andy's mom and dad wanted a new group photo. It's a lot of people to get looking good at the same moment. These are a couple of the better ones caught on our camera. Ironically, in the last photo everyone looks fine except ALL of our children are making a variety of funny facial expressions.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T12:57:00.000-06:00

Though the weather has been less than fabulous this week, we woke to a beautiful and sunny Christmas morning. We enjoyed getting together with Andy's family on Saturday, but Jen's relatives from Reedsburg were unable to make the Sunday celebration- a mere 11 inches of snow got in the way! So, what do you do with potatoes, stuffing, ham, cheesecake and appetizers a plenty when your party gets cancelled? Well, we invited some friends over last minute for Christmas dinner. It wasn't the day we had expected, but it was nice to visit with the Cook and Payne families Sunday afternoon. Overall, it's been a hectic lead up to the big holiday, but we should be able to spend some time playing with the kids and their new toys, while getting some R&R for the rest of the week. We hope you all had a happy and healthy holiday. Best wishes for 2008!

Here come the holidays!

2007-11-27T15:03:00.000-06:00

Time is flying here in Mt. Horeb. I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving has past, and Christmas is right around the corner. We had an enjoyable Thanksgiving, and hope that you did, too. We've been spending our free moments decorating the house for Christmas, getting the Christmas cards ready to go out and starting the holiday shopping. I had my little elves place the address labels and stamps on the envelopes this year....but I don't need to tell you that, it may be obvious when you get your card. Everyone here has been healthy and happy recently, I sure hope that continues.

Kayla was in a good mood today, enjoying herself by repeating some rhyming words over and over and OVER- it started with "turkey, lurkey" after reading the book Henny Penny. Then "cheese, please". To be funny, I was going to really give her some cheese, but instead she said, "No, wait..." and ranoff, leaving me confused. But 2 minutes later she returned with the digital camera with more "cheese, please". So, after changing the rhyming pair to "ham, ma'am" I obliged her by taking a few pictures. This is quite a change from a few months ago, I hope her love of the camera continues. It used to be so much work just to get her to hold still for one picture- what an improvement! She has such a love for taking pictures and seeing them on the camera screen, that I think Santa is looking into one of the little kid digital cameras with a viewing screen. I can only imagine the flattering pictures she'll take :)

Fall fun!

2007-10-21T15:59:00.000-06:00

Below are a few pictures from the last couple weeks. We recently went to Peck's to experience their corn maze, haunted pumpkin, wagon rides, mini-train rides, petting zoo and of course some fall produce. We have an official new favorite family apple. Unfortunately, we've discovered since that not all Honey crisp apples taste equally good- though we'd highly recommend the ones from Peck's.

Today we ventured down to Stewart Lake, just outside of town. We had a picnic lunch and took a short nature hike. It was a nice change of pace from the busy work week and weekend chores. What a beautiful day by any standard, but especially for October in Wisconsin.

2007-10-21T15:47:00.001-06:00

Back to School 2007!

2007-09-11T14:17:00.000-06:00

We're off!
Jen to teach in the 9th grade Resource Room @ the high school, Natalie in 4th grade @ the Intermediate Center, Nate in 2nd grade @ the Primary Center and Noah in Kindergarten at the Early Learning Center- we have nearly all the schools in town covered! Everyone did great last week. It's a little hard to get back into having a tighter schedule with never-ending timelines to meet, but I think we were all feeling ready. Even Nikayla did pretty well adjusting to the new schedule. She still protests at drop-off and naptime at daycare, but it doesn't last long and now she has lots of things to talk about on those evenings.

We love having company!

2007-09-11T13:55:00.000-06:00

We don't have that many overnight guests usually, but August has been the exception!

Jeff, Carlene and Jacob came back to Wisconsin for a couple weeks in August to escape the sweltering heat of North Carolina (& to see some family/friends and attend a wedding). They made their rounds, but were here for an open house and stayed for a couple nights. The kids were very excited to meet Jacob finally, he wasn't the little baby they had expected. He was an easy-going guy walking around, mastering steps and loving to eat almost anything in sight! Hopefully we'll get together again and see them before he's riding a bike or off to school.

Next up, was a big back to school sleepover for Natalie which proved to be a lot of fun for all. The weather wasn't great, but they stayed happy eating pizza, watching Firehouse Dog, making s'mores and playing tag after the wettest weather had cleared.

We rounded out the last weekend in August, with a visit from Kent, Julie & family. The kids all had a blast enjoying the good weather with their cousins. Baby Brianna had changed a ton since we last saw her in June. She'll be all over the place the next time we see her. Busy schedules always make it a challenge to get together with them, but the kids are always glad when we do!

Watch me grow!

2007-07-25T08:39:00.001-06:00

Gotcha Day Anniversary- Look how we've grown!

2007-07-24T22:25:00.000-06:00

Mara

Lucy

Nikayla

Ava

1 year ago today I met our 4th child, a fiesty and cute little toddler named You Fu Kun. On the other side of the world, Nikayla became an official part of our family. She's grown and changed so much this year! We recently had a reunion with her "China sisters" and their families. It was great to see all of the girls thriving with their forever families. The larger pictures above were taken in China a year ago, with the smaller updated picture from last weekend.

This is a day we plan to recognize every year. Although it is a happy day for our family, it does bring to mind the sadness and grief her birthfamily must have experienced when abandoning their newborn child.

She is often a challenge, but definately a blessing to our family. We sure do love our "Spicy Girl"!

Happy 4th of July!

2007-07-05T11:37:00.000-06:00

We stayed in Mount Horeb this year for the 4th of July. We went to the childrens' parade in the morning, did a cookout and swimming at the Hellenbrand's in the P.M. and watched a few fireworks in our neighborhood. At one time, we could see about 10 displays going on in all different directions. It was a calm, relaxing holiday for our family.

The good old summertime...

2007-06-22T16:31:00.000-06:00

It may officially just be the start of summer, but it feels like it's been summer at our house for quite awhile. Our calendar has been packed with parties, parades, gymnastics, basketball and trips to the pool and parks in the past couple weeks. The 3 older kids will have Bible school next week, swimming lessons in July, and Nate will be starting karate. We're hoping karate will be his forte, since he has little interest in competitive ball sports. Natalie is continuing in piano and is taking a Chinese culture class for 1 week on campus at UW-Madison in August. Noah will finish up the summer in soccer. Needless to say, my official summer job is taxi cab driver.

We've found that Nikayla has a much sunnier disposition when she spends a lot of time outdoors. She's loving the summer fun, but needs to work on her patience during sibling activites. Consequently, Mommy's been working on her patience, too! Kayla's grown up so much! She is still often stubborn &/or SASSY, but she's getting a little more easy going and compliant. We're not going to have to worry about this little one getting pushed around- small but mighty! :)

I love this picture of Kayla with her Daddy. They haven't always been such big buddies, but times have certainly changed!

The End of our Birthday Season!

2007-06-22T16:15:00.000-06:00

All 6 family member birthdays in just over 2 months (3/26-6/5)-whew! Natalie's birthday, as always, hit right between Frolic and the end of the school year rush. To continue this year's theme of "birthday-not-cake", Natalie finished with a yummy apple pie- her personal favorite. She also got a tumbling mat w/ balance beam and another Harry Potter book for her big day. She loved spending her birthday money this year, buying mostly clothes and getting a new slip n' slide from Toys'R' Us (thank you Aunt Julie & family). She's looking forward to a very belated birthday celebration, taking her friend Lindsay with us to Riverview Park in Wisconsin Dells on June 29th.

Can we go outside????

2007-05-02T13:45:00.000-06:00

Nikayla seems to be taking quite a liking to the recent temperatures in southern Wisconsin. Her favorite new words are- outside, park and sandals. She definately loves being outside on nice days. I think she's been to every park in town and loves them all! She's quite a talented little monkey on climbing structures- it must have been all the practice climbing up on everything in the house all winter!

A new cousin!

2007-05-02T13:34:00.000-06:00

Our children were excited to go visit their cousins in Oshkosh last weekend. We also had an opportunity to meet the new addition to their family. Brianna is a cute little peanut, who seems to be adored by her older siblings. It's hard to believe the others were once that small

We tried to cram all of the cousins into the bottom picture- it's becoming a bit of a challenge to get a good picture of the whole group at once (7 kids under 9 years-YIKES)!

Noah's 5th Birthday!

2007-04-25T12:20:00.000-06:00

To continue our theme of strange birthday desserts, Noah wanted to try a birthday cake roll. He was most impressed with the candles that had color-matching flames, and the scary sizzling sound that went with them! He had a 3 day long celebration- on April 7th he spent his birthday money that arrived in the mail, April 8th was the "big day" and we celebrated with Grandma Knuth after church, and on April 9th we went to Chuck E. Cheese with a couple of Noah's friends to celebrate. He's already planning his big party for next year...

Nate's 7th birthday!

2007-04-04T12:51:00.000-06:00

All of our older kids have decided on birthday "not-cake" this year. Nate started us off with his request for a birthday cookie. Since we did big parties for everyone last year, this year each child is taking 1 friend to do an activity of their choice. Nate wanted to see "The Last Mimzy" at the theater with Matthew, for his treat. He thought it was great, the rest of us were a little unimpressed. The highlight of his birthday was a shopping trip to Toys 'R' Us to spend his birthday money. He had just enough to purchase a new 20" bike, a foam rocket and another piece for his train set. He was very pleased!

Nikayla's 2nd birthday!

2007-04-04T12:45:00.000-06:00

Nikayla enjoyed her cake all in one huge bite. She also liked the helium balloons and gifts. Natalie gave her a new book that she carried around for hours! Best of all, she enjoyed several days of getting mail- not to mention shopping with what she found inside.

Elmo cake

2007-03-25T18:58:00.000-06:00

Nikayla's response to her Elmo cake was not what I expected. Although she first cheerfully said, "Elmo...Elmo...Elmo..." upon further inspection she became worried about what happen to Elmo's appendages. I'm not sure what she'll think of eating him tomorrow- perhaps a character cake wasn't the best idea for birthday #2!

Nikayla is turning 2!

2007-03-25T18:56:00.000-06:00

Natalie's 1st piano recital

2007-03-23T07:03:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, March 18th Natalie had her first piano recital at a church in Middleton. She played 2 short pieces from her performance book. She did well for someone who just started last fall. Grandma and Grandpa Mullendore made it down for the recital and a short visit. It was good to hear the more experienced students play. Hopefully, Natalie will be motivated to stick with it and get to that level in middle or high school.

Pinewood Derby Time...

2007-03-10T16:05:00.000-06:00

Today all of the boys in our family headed out to the Pinewood Derby. This was the first time Nate had built (with tons o' help from Dad) a car for this competition. He was very excited to see orange #16 race down the ramp. He came in 2nd place among the 1st grade Tiger Cub Scouts. Both boys are making plans for next year's race. Noah was thrilled to learn about the "open class" for non-scout family members. I'm not sure if Andy is so thrilled, he can help with 2 cars next year!

Sisterhood of the traveling overalls?

2007-03-09T12:00:00.000-06:00

When Natalie was a baby, a friend gave me a cute pair of denim Eeyore overalls, that her 2 girls had both worn. Natalie LOVED them and wore them often. (See top picture- Natalie age 19 mo. 1/23/00) Well, over 7 years later, (today) I pulled out some bigger clothes for Nikayla to wear and can you guess which item she grabbed first..."EEE-OOO!" as she jumped up and down. (Bottom picture- Nikayla today, elated with her clothing choice) At least 2 others probably wore these pants since Natalie, meaning Nikayla is at least occupant #6. Evidently clothes from the Disney Store are worth the extra money!

What was she thinking???

2007-03-08T14:21:00.000-06:00

Natalie enjoyed goofing around in the toddler area at Wiley's Woods, in Great Wolf Lodge. The boys were both too busy shooting styrofoam balls at each other, to hang out with us and get their pictures taken.

Getting together with Mara @ Great Wolf

2007-03-08T14:12:00.000-06:00

Last week we had a chance to get together with one of the other families that traveled to China with us. They were going to Great Wolf Lodge in Wisconsin Dells and invited us to join in the fun. We had a fabulous time- great room, wonderful buffet, fun at the waterpark and the dry area, too! The bad news is...I did not get 1 good picture of anybody the whole weekend! Here are a couple of Mara (L) and Nikayla (R) sitting together, but these pictures don't do them justice!

Basement complete- well sort of...

2007-03-08T13:53:00.000-06:00

For those wondering how the basement project is coming...It's essentially done! Our contractor got everything done in 5 weeks, actually finishing a bit sooner than expected. We've been using the space for a few weeks now and love it. Natalie thinks it's great having a new room and her own bathroom. We still need to add some more shelving and decorating, but are glad the project is coming to a close!

Chinese New Year 2007

2007-03-08T13:43:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, February 18th the girls both enjoyed dressing up in their matching Chinese attire to celebrate the first day of Chinese New Year to welcome in the year of the pig. Our family also went to Ming's Garden to enjoy our favorite Chinese meal- General Tsao's chicken and chicken w/broccoli- YUMMY!

1st Valentine's Day celebration :)

2007-02-14T21:00:00.000-06:00

Nikayla's impression of Valentine's Day......"More, please!" As in- more M&M's and treats. She spread her joy today at McDonald's by throwing kisses to every man in sight. She knows when she has them hooked! She still is often shy and slow to warm up, but things seem to be changing. She's attempting to engage more strangers and is becoming a bit of a flirt!

Actress in training!

2007-02-14T20:48:00.000-06:00

Natalie tried out last week for a part in the Prairie Fire Theater production of Peter Pan. She managed to walk away with a small part and was quite pleased. They practiced several hours for just 4 days and then put on a full-blown show. This picture was her (near middle front w/ her cap on backwards) with the rest of the Indian baseball team. It was an entertaining play, but not what I expected.

(Anyone who has heard our t-ball stories would know how much acting would be required for Natalie to be a baseball player!)

Nikayla's been home 6 months on Sunday!

2007-02-02T15:32:00.000-06:00

| View Show | Create Your Own | Playlist

Patience, please...

2007-01-31T14:40:00.000-06:00

Blogger isn't putting my posts up quite like they look in the preview window. Please be patient as I figure out how all of this works. Hopefully, you can figure out the posts, even if the pictures and captions aren't matched up correctly. Sorry!

Progress down under...

2007-01-31T14:21:00.000-06:00

Our basement project is coming along. Hopefully, next week they'll be painting. It should be done by mid-February-Yeah! Needing another bedroom downstairs chopped up the floorplan more than we wanted. However, the extra living space and everyone having their own room will be welcomed.

Obviously, the 3/4 bathroom.

Counter/bar sink area + toy closet on the right & door to bedroom on the left.

Follow Nikayla for 5 minutes...act 4

2007-01-31T14:08:00.000-06:00

Mom needs lots of help in the kitchen.

Aren't I helpful?

Who did that? All 4 acts in under 5 minutes-amazing!

Follow Nikayla for 5 minutes...act 3

2007-01-31T14:03:00.000-06:00

Even if the shoes (slippers) will never fit... Wear 'em!

Follow Nikayla for 5 minutes...act 2

2007-01-31T13:52:00.000-06:00

What to do next.... Let's check out the weather radio and dance! Moving on to the next adventure (quickly)!

Follow Nikayla for 5 minutes...act 1

2007-01-31T13:42:00.000-06:00

Note: Jacket on- going...going...GONE! More came off later, but we can't show that on our "G" rated site.

Preschool love...

2007-01-31T13:36:00.000-06:00

This is Noah with his friend Randi. She comes over to play 3 times every week and is in Noah's pre-school class. They've been friends since age 2. They are quite the pair and often discuss their future marriage. When I take them places, people are always asking me if they're twins!

A genuine smile...

2007-01-31T11:54:00.000-06:00

What gets smiles like this from Nikayla? Getting home from church! Being quiet and sitting still are FAR from her liking. Running free, climbing, jumping and playing with noisy toys never looked so good.

We've avoided using the church nursery with the other 3 kids, but this one is tempting us to give it a try!

Finally, a picture to hang on the wall!

2007-01-18T14:17:00.000-06:00

Nikayla age: 21 months

Most tolerable picture winner!

2007-01-18T14:04:00.000-06:00

We had a contest on Christmas Eve to see which of our 4 children could take the best (or most tolerable) picture of us. When you're always behind the camera you can fill your "family" album without ever appearing. The winner was Nate age:6 1/2 who successfully got us both in the picture with eyes open, sort of centered, the tops of our heads present and smiles on our faces. You should have seen some of the others.... Not too bad considering the subject matter.

Holiday Photos 2006

2007-01-18T13:15:00.000-06:00

Though wise to Santa's ways this year, Natalie provided a fantastic performance for her siblings. Though initially disappointed by her discovery, I do think she's gaining a deeper understanding of the real 'reason for the season' and enjoyed the festivities and break from school.

Nikayla loved the holiday celebrations this year. She made a leap from not really knowing what a present was, to thinking everything in wrapping paper was for her! She loved the holiday music and food (i.e. cookies). Maybe next year we'll venture out to see the fellow in the big red suit, we just weren't ready for that this year. Favorite present= toy MP3 player from someone in Aunt Lori's house. Boy, were the other kids jealous!

Noah had a great holiday season, but this is one of the last pictures of his nice white front baby tooth. Two days after Christmas he took a "bite" out of some concrete at Deer Valley Waterpark and now has a purplish-black front tooth that will stay with him for the next couple years. BUMMER!

Speaking of teeth...Santa didn't deliver those on time for Nate this Christmas. Maybe they'll be in by Valentine's Day. Looks like a 1st grader. Don't you think? Nate loves his new light-up race track and is happy that we finally have some snow, so he can use his snowboard.

A blog at long last!

2007-01-17T09:49:00.000-06:00

After considerable pressure to start a blog last year to document our adoption process, I've finally given in! Now, of course, I wish I had gotten this going months ago- before I went to China. Better late than never! This is one of my mini-resolutions for the new year. Now that we've made it through the busy holiday season, it's time to learn something new. I'll post a few pictures from the 2006 holidays. As we moved into 2007, it felt great to have our entire family together. Nikayla has now been home for 5 months and is growing and changing daily. She's definately our "Spicy Girl" and probably always will be. I thought her temper and disposition were a stage, but now I'm think she's just showing her true colors- small, but mighty!