It's PG Day

It's so hard to believe 2 years have passed since Peter and Gaëlle were able to physically join our family. They were in our hearts for so much longer than that, but the reality of family life with 2 little kids is certainly no match for the dreaming and longing for their presence. They have brought so much joy to our lives.

This is just a little of the craziness and joy that they exhibit every single day. Dressing up madness from last week.

And we will keep the day low key to an extent because of their struggle to handle large events, but we did have a special meal complete with a coconut lemon cake. Yum. We love you and thank God for the blessings that you add to our lives.

What a year it's been

Gaëlle What a Year It's Been Peter What a Year It's Been I came across this great printable for the kids at a blog called 30 Handmade Days. Peter and Gaëlle were thrilled to fill it out and to take a look back at the year 2011. As you can see Gaëlle has set herself the huge goal of "BALLET". She may need a little bit of assistance with that but I'm sure if she continues to remind us of her goal, it will become reality. Peter didn't put down his favorite book but since then, he has decided "Captain Underpants" are his favorite. Such a 10 year old boy!

Winter fun

  

We’ve had a crazy winter with some nice cold days followed by some unseasonably warm days. Last Sunday was one of those warm days. I was itching to go out for a run, so Kaylin and Robin took Peter and Gaëlle to the Oval to skate and it was just perfect.

Of course Peter was all pro and it was all about the speed. It’s fun to see him attack the ice and just go. Love it. And we love the Oval. Thanks Halifax.

Christmas Part 2

I’ll just finish off the holiday posts with a couple more pictures of the 2nd Christmas. When the girls and I got back from NJ, we had a couple more presents to share with the kids and a couple of finds from thrift stores. The Fancy Nancy doll and books are treasures found by Grammy. Fancy Nancy was a bit of a theme and Gaëlle loved it all.

  Peter loves art and he was thrilled to receive several art books and activity books. He sat right down and started creating. It’s quite fun to see what he comes up with and he is more than happy to show them off.

But I think the excitement is finally over. School starts tomorrow and things should get back to a routine. I think we all need a bit of structure so it will be good.

Happy New Year

 

This year we ended up with a quiet New Year’s Eve. We briefly talked about something bigger but we opted for quiet and low key. We had an evening of “make your own subs” and even had a couple of big kids join us before they headed out for the evening.

We couldn’t forget the “make your own ice cream sundae” and Gaëlle certainly got into the spirit of it all. Fortunately her mouth was as big as her eyes and she was able to finish her bowl.

  We never have to worry about Peter finishing his bowl. He can put away the food.  Subs and sundaes on New Year’s Eve is a tradition I grew up with. Through the years, we have celebrated both ways; big and small. However, we always manage to fit in the subs and ice cream even if occasionally we have it on January 1.

 

Now that Peter and Gaëlle have joined our family we have started a new tradition; Haitian pumpkin soup. This is our 2nd year to celebrate on New Year’s Day with Soup Joumou. It requires a bit of preparation but is basically a beef stew with a twist. This is a tribute to Haitian independence when newly freed slaves consumed the soup which had previously been forbidden by their French owners.

We spent a little bit of time in the afternoon playing some games; Bananagrams and Fancy Nancy. As you can tell, some of the adults were not very enthusiastic but ironically won the game.  But don’t worry, there will be more chances to play if Gaëlle has anything to say about it.

Road Trip

 

As soon as Christmas was over, the 2 older girls and I drove down to New Jersey to visit my parents and spend some time in New York. It was a much needed and valued break.

When we arrived, my parents had a 2nd Christmas for us complete with stockings.

And fun cozy slippers chosen by my dad. Too cute. 

Kaylin spent some time going through my grandfather’s old records. There are boxes of them, but we only asked Grampy to haul out a few. He had an extensive collection, of which my dad has kept a portion.

Of course, my mom cooked up a storm for us. We hit a few thrift stores but don’t have photographic evidence of that. 

And we broke out the new “Bananagram” game.  Emily is definitely the queen altho the rest of us held our own.

New York was packed full of people, but we managed to make our way over to Rockefeller Center so we could see the skating rink and the huge tree.

The girls started off at the World Trade Center and were impressed by the new building. 

I just thought I would throw this in to prove that I was indeed on this trip. My only photo.

We also made it to a Broadway play. This was completely different from most of the plays we’ve seen as it was operatic. But the talent was amazing as always.

I’ll just end with a picture of the girls in Times Square. Again, completely packed but totally fun.