Addendum

Mary standing out in the crowd... she did sit down, finally, after staring the other little girl down (and hearing my stage direction) for a while.

moments from the lunar new year party

We attended our agency's annual
lunar new year party on 1.27.2008.
I felt that it was much less crowded than the previous year, possibly due to the slowdown in the adoption process and the resulting fewer number of families that brought their daughters home this past year. The newbies (of which we could still be considered) usually attend for the first few years.

Anyway, the children had a great time, and I was surprised that Mary held still for the face painting artist.
I painted her face once, very quickly, just a heart and a flower, nothing this elaborate.

Mary gets her face painted like a glittery pink butterfly