Sweet 17

Birthday season is here and in full swing. I just don't know where the last 17 years have gone. My baby is 17.... How did this happen so fast? It seems as though she just grew up overnight. The last time I looked, she was a little girl and yet here she is; a sweet, amazing and beautiful (inside and out) young lady.



She requested her birthday meal but didn't ask for a specific cake, so I chose a cheesecake for her which just happens to be one of her favorites. Yum.



After supper, the girls broke out the Broadway tunes. Peter and Gaelle don't get it just yet, but someday they will. I think this picture shows the girls belting out, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend". We even skyped Josh so he could take part in the Broadway fest.



More silliness.



We ended our evening with a rousing game of dominoes. We all love to play games and it's not easy to find one that all ages can play. But this was a good choice and so like Kaylin to choose an evening of fun that all of us would enjoy. I'm so proud of Kaylin and can't wait to see what this next year brings.

Birthday visit

Robin took the young kids to Yarmouth to visit his mom and celebrate her birthday. They had a great time visiting with family and seeing Grammy again.



Everbody is loving the cake.



Peter was excited to meet the other Peter... his uncle.



Robin also took the kids out to see Aunt Floris. It's always good to spend time in Sandford, even if it's just for a short visit.

Reptile show

Last Saturday Emily took her younger brother to see Little Ray's Reptile Show. It looks like the traveling show was very well done. They listened to the experts as they showed all kinds of reptiles and told interesting facts.



Gable went with them and brought his younger brother.



I didn't get a lot of details from them but I did catch the pride in Peter's voice as he told us he was the only one to hold the tarantula. Way to go.

C'est la vie

CBC radio has an interesting show about the French language. They take common phrases and ask French people on the street how they use it in every day speech. Today the show featured a professor in Quebec who teaches a Haitian Creole course and Haitian history. Robin said he learned quite a bit just in the short time he listened. One thing we've noticed with Gaelle is that she throws in Creole words with her English. Just a few words and today Robin got some insight into that.

One of the words Gaelle has kept is "lee". In Creole it is used for "it" or "he" or "she". So Gaelle might say, "Where lee going?" It just sounds like she's not pronouncing her words correctly. Another one she uses and this is familiar to us because of French, is the word "sul". I'm typing it as she pronounces it. This means "just" or "only", at least that's how it's used in French. So Gaelle might say, "Lee's sul tired." She means, "He's just tired."

Anyway, here's the link to the radio show. Very interesting.

CIC

We were contacted by Citizenship and Immigration to be a part of a small video they were putting together to show the updates of some of the families that brought kids home from Haiti after the earthquake. So we agreed to participate. They sent a photographer to our house and he took about 200 pictures all pretty much the same. Here are just a few.

Snow Days

We've had 2 days with no school. The kids have all spent a bit of time outside playing in the snow.



Kaylin and Emily watched the younger ones and had a bit of fun telling them how much fun they used to have outside playing in the snow.



There's not only sledding but also building snow caves and snow animals. It didn't take much to get them outside enjoying the white fluffy stuff. I did see a giant hole when I got home from work, but no giraffes. Maybe next time.



Needless to say,there's also the joy of eating snow. Yum...