Lilacs in bloom

What a year it's been

2012-01-14T11:08:00.001-04:00

Gaëlle What a Year It's Been Peter What a Year It's BeenI 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

2012-01-14T10:47:00.001-04:00

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

2012-01-02T20:31:00.001-04:00

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

2012-01-02T20:22:00.001-04:00

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

2012-01-02T11:39:00.001-04:00

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.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T22:10:00.001-04:00

The Baking: I personally didn’t have the desire to do much baking this year and yet we still managed to have lots of baked goodies and we made some great memories in the kitchen.

And let’s just say that Kaylin stepped up to the plate and was so patient with Gaëlle. Because let’s face it, when Gaëlle is in the kitchen the only thing we hear is, “Can I do that?” “Can I help?” Over and over and over again.

She got to help with the legendary “Pink Stuff”. We like to tease Josh about pretty much the only holiday dish he used to eat until he grew up a bit, but the truth is that we all look forward to it.

The final product. Maybe it’s not all that impressive but we have fond memories of the family that first served this to us and we can’t have a holiday meal without it.

Kaylin continued her kitchen magic on Christmas Day and for some strange reason, Gaëlle temporarily lost her interest in “helping”.

The Fun: It was such a joy to have the family together and all in one place. The days leading up to Christmas were busy and we didn’t get to see each other daily, but we did have some laughs when we were together.

Christmas Day Hits: It’s hard to narrow down the day to just a few moments but we had fun with some of our new goodies.

We start off our morning with stockings and this year we had a guest who provided some hilarity. Love the head scratcher. We had a few rough moments earlier this month when Peter realized his expectations for Christmas were not going to line up with our family ways. However, we talked them out and today he did great. I was so proud of him and his enthusiasm and his great attitude. Believe it or not, Josh did not get LEGO for Christmas. This was Peter’s present. However, it seemed just a tad beyond Peter’s abilities and interest and so being the caring loving big brother that he is, Josh sacrificed his time and found himself putting together the big Star Wars LEGO set. Ah, memories.Peter doesn’t spend a lot of time playing video games but he got a couple of new ones and after the LEGO marathon, he just had to settle back for some Mario.

Gaëlle was thrilled with her new craft sets. She obsesses about a few things and one of them is “lip gloss”. She calls it “Lips”, as in “Mom, can I have some lips?” So she was pretty excited to get her own lip gloss making kit.

She also did great today. The excitement was really too much for her at times however she managed to keep it together and also did so well at showing her enthusiasm and pleasure with her gifts. When I put her to bed tonight I praised her for how well she did and she just beamed.

Probably the most loved gift of the day was GUM. Josh gave everybody gum with their presents. Peter was the first one to open a present from Josh. When Gaëlle saw 3 packages of gum she let out a “WOW!” Her face was just stunned. She sat back down and in a few moments she asked for her gift from Josh. Yes, in addition to a hand puppet, there were 3 packages of gum which she promptly opened. By 9:45 she had already eaten 5 pieces. We figure she’ll go through a package a day.

Merry Christmas.

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth

2011-12-17T10:56:00.001-04:00

Probably no need to comment on this. Gaëlle lost another tooth this week and is just pure cuteness.

Here's a flashback from the past when Kaylin was the same age, at the same time of year, and missing the same front teeth. So cute.

Potatoe Love

2011-12-17T10:40:00.000-04:00

Some people are just so efficient when it comes to all things domestic. Now that I am not getting home until 5:00, I need to be that person. I already do my meal list for the week and I try to get it all ready the night before but I'm not always successful. That's where I need some good ideas and this is one of them.I followed a link to the following post and was inspired by the ideas.I took away lots of ideas, but so far our family's favorite is the double stuffed potatoes. I take a 5 lb bag of potatoes and bake them in the oven. Then I cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the cooked potatoes. Add 1 block of cream cheese, entire package of cooked bacon crumbled, and 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese. Mix together and restuff the potatoes.Wrap each potato in place in freezer bag. Instant meal. Add a salad, fish, leftover meat and we're good to go.

A great Christmas link about the best toys

2011-12-04T11:07:00.001-04:00

I read this post and thought it was so true and perfect for this time of year. I have such fond memories of Kaylin as a little girl and all her creative play. Any time we finished a box of cereal or purchased something that came in a box she would ask, "Can I have that box?" And she would take the box and spend hours in her room creating villages. If there was Styrofoam, she hit the jackpot. But after a while the room would be overtaken by boxes and Robin would be known to come in with garbage bags and then tears would ensue. But that didn't stop her. The requests would continue to come, "Can I have that box?" And the village would be created all over again.

Big happenings

2011-12-04T10:27:00.003-04:00

We finally took Peter to have his eyes tested and it turns out, that yes, he needs glasses. So here he is in all his handsomeness. He doesn't seem to mind wearing them and really just needs them for school and TV but he is wearing them all the time. He can tell the difference which I think helps him to wear them.

Gaëlle with a loose tooth is like a girl with a mission saying, "It must come out." She wiggled it so much this week and made her gums bleed several times. Then finally on Friday night she happened to touch it absent mindedly and it just came out. So now she is $1 richer.

And notice the silk cap. She almost never wears a sleep cap altho it would help her hair maintain a style longer. But I don't force it unless she is getting a coconut oil treatment. And Friday night was designated coconut oil night. So I think the cap stayed on the entire night.

We do a few activities for advent. We have an advent wreath with candles and every Sunday we just say a scripture and tell the symbolism of the candle. We also have an advent tree with heart pockets that I fill with candy. Last year we read Jotham's Journey which was a big hit.

This year we are doing a Jesse Tree every night. I downloaded the free resource from Ann Voskamp's blog. It's simple and the kids enjoy it so I'm pleased with this. Every night we read scripture and the kids put one of paper ornaments on the tree. Ann has some great thoughts each day but I tend to summarize those. Simple.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/

Winter cheer

2011-11-26T10:51:00.002-04:00

We had a couple of big events this week. We started things off with the Santa Claus parade. It was just right. It started on time and lasted less than 30 minutes. There wasn't too much candy this year, but that's just fine with me.

It was a nice warm night for the end of November but I still made the kids dress up in snow pants. They didn't see the need for it, but were thankful by the end.

Then on Wednesday we had our first snow storm of the year. The kids spent a bit of time outside playing in the snow while Kaylin and I spent some time outside shoveling.

It's a good thing Kaylin and I started early with the shoveling. The snow became very wet and heavy. But we did it. The first snow always brings out smiles. We'll see if we're still smiling in March.

2011-11-19T09:27:00.002-04:00

We love to go to the waterfront to walk around and play on the nice dangerous sharp anchors. Actually they have torn down the old playground there and are replacing it with a bright shiny orange submarine playset. I thought it would be finished and so Gaëlle and I headed down to see.

It wasn't open to the public yet, so Gaëlle amused herself with all the other fun objects just begging to be climbed on.

Of course there was the huge wave to try and conquer.

She didn't quite make it to the top without the help of her father.

Then there was my camera to play with. So I had my photo taken a few times. Great fun.

Flashback photo

2011-11-12T11:23:00.006-04:00

This summer my sister, her 2 kids, and my parents all came to NS for a visit. I don't think I ever uploaded the photos which is too bad, because we had some great times. Anyway, when I first saw this photo I couldn't believe it. My little niece and my daughter are the same height!!! How did that happen? There is a 5 year difference but you would never know it from this photo.

Another photo from the same day where kids are just being kids and having fun playing at the ocean's edge.

Birthday girl

2011-11-05T11:17:00.002-03:00

Well, I had a birthday this week. All the kids were able to come over for a family meal and celebration. It was a great time with lots of laughs and just fun being together.

Kaylin made the entire meal and cake for me. Spinach quinoa soup with home made bread and chocolate cake. Yum. Love it.

Kids mimic what they see

2011-11-05T11:03:00.002-03:00

I've already mentioned how Gaëlle is consumed with cell phones. We went to the Bell Aliant store and the sales person offered to give her a display phone. It feels and looks real but it doesn't work. This morning she was changing the password to her phone. And she brought her phone over to Robin so he could add her number to his phone.

So he added her cell phone number and her home number. He called her cell phone number and it was "out of order". We told her she must not have been paying her bill or maybe she moved. Then Robin called her home phone and we let her answer. So a conversation ensued.

The other night as Josh was looking something up on his phone, Gaëlle ran to get hers because she had to "check the weather for tomorrow". It's a good reminder to us all that little eyes are watching everything we do.

Cell phones today.

Who knows what tomorrow?

A week late

2011-11-05T10:52:00.003-03:00

Peter and Gaëlle were very excited about Halloween. Peter had huge elaborate plans for his costume but his parents wouldn't cooperate. But he's so easy going, he settled for a pirate and I'm pretty sure he still managed to have a great time.

Checking out their loot at the end of their evening. It was a nice night but still just slightly cold. The kids were bundled up and were only out for about 30 minutes but by the time they came back, Gaëlle's hands were frozen. They poured out their stash and had some hot chocolate. By the time they were warmed up it was time for bed to which Gaëlle said, "We aren't going back out?"

No, the way she obsesses about candy, I think she had more than enough.

Our church had a "Trunk or Treat" event in their parking lot. Emily and Kaylin dressed up and drove over to participate. There was a judge looking at all the cars and a prize for the best decorated car. I only had a few things for them to use on the car, but it sounds like next year they will go all out. They had a great time and think it's a perfect event for the family.

Playing catch up

2011-11-05T10:36:00.002-03:00

The kids were quite anxious to carve the pumpkins and we didn't bring out the carving tools until the weekend before Halloween.

The big event took place in the middle of hair styling but that didn't stop Gaëlle. She is very intently drawing the face she wants to carve out of her pumpkin.

As you can tell, she is quite proud of her achievements.

Peter did a great job and really took his time. He pretty much did the entire thing on his own. Peter and Gaëlle just love all things crafty and they were both eager to be very detailed on their pumpkin. We managed to keep it simple but I see great elaborate jack-o-lanterns in their future.

Pumpkin shopping

2011-10-22T10:32:00.003-03:00

Gaëlle has been excitedly waiting for the day to pick out pumpkins. We finally made a stop and allowed the kids their own choice. As you can see, the large pumpkins were too enticing.

Peter managed to haul the one he wanted out of the bin all by himself.

Gaëlle needed a little help to snag the pumpkin she wanted. Dad was more than willing to go for the big one. You do know who is going to be helping with the carving, don't you? There's going to be a lot of scooping going on.

Thanksgiving thoughts

2011-10-15T11:14:00.001-03:00

It’s so interesting to see how over the top excited Peter and Gaëlle get about Thanksgiving. We really don’t do much to ratchet up the energy level. We are not a family that goes over the top by nature. I haven’t spent hours decorating the house. I haven’t spent days and days preparing food. We don’t have a lot of company. And yet, for the 2nd Thanksgiving in a row, Peter and Gaëlle can barely contain themselves with the joy of Thanksgiving. Gaëlle, Emily, and Snickers just hanging out waiting for the meal. I did get Peter and Gaëlle to help me make little boxed turkeys. I have managed to hang onto a few old Pack-O-Fun Magazines and this was one of the templates in one of them. Right before it was time to eat and not a moment sooner, Gaëlle and Josh filled them with candy. Needless to say, Gaëlle was a bit fixated on that the entire meal.None of us are master carvers, but we do our best. Kaylin took the pictures for me this year and so I don’t have a single one of her. I’m going to have to watch out for that next time. But at least she got us smiling.

Peter and Gaëlle have discovered the game UNO. So after we ate, we all sat around and played a couple of hands. It was a gorgeous day, so we didn’t stay inside too long. But we did have some laughs.

Not quite sure what was going on in Gaëlle’s mind, but I’m sure it was something mischievous.

We had amazing weather all weekend so it was great to be together as a family and also to just celebrate the many blessings in our lives. We just spent a short time going around the table sharing our blessings. Gaëlle had already told us that she was thankful for the sky and the ocean and she stuck with that. On such a beautiful day, it was easy to be thankful for the beauty in God’s creation. It was also easy to be thankful for the blessing of family and being together.

Open house

2011-10-08T11:19:00.001-03:00

After the earthquake Robin was on a LOT of news programs. One of the people who interviewed him was Elizabeth Chiu from CBC news. Last Saturday we went to an open house at CBC and one of the first people we ran into was Elizabeth and she remembered the kids and their names without any introduction from us. So we took a picture and then we moved on.

No offense to anybody in the news department but we were there for the kids programs and activities. We waited in line for the balloon creatures. A ladybug and a parrot. And who should we see but SUPER WHY. CBC has some clever shows for children and this is one we like. But to tell the truth our all time favorite show is ARTZOOKA! Jeremie is the host and every morning for 15 minutes he shows the kids how to make easy and fun crafts. Peter especially loves it and is always making things that he would like to show Jeremie. So at the open house they had several tables of craft supplies. Gaëlle was focused and went right to work on a paper plate. She would finish doing something and she would tap Jeremie on the shoulder, “Artzooka, look at the mouth I cut out.” And he would ooh and aah. It was kind of funny seeing as Peter is the big fan and it was if he had stage fright. He started and threw away 3 different projects before he settled down to something.

Jeremie was right there in amongst the kids watching them put things together. It was a great afternoon and I was so impressed with his energy and enthusiasm.

Cooking fun

2011-10-08T11:00:00.001-03:00

Not only did Gaëlle receive cooking items from her grandmother, she also received some baking fun from her cousins in California. They sent her edible paper to decorate cakes and cupcakes with. Gaëlle couldn’t wait to get started.

There was cutting and ripping and decorating galore with the edible paper.

The final products did not look anything like the pretty package but they still looked pretty and the cupcakes were delicious. YUM.

Gaëlle goes into her box of goodies and finds things to cook. This was an individual cake that we just popped in the microwave. Easy and good. Just Gaëlle’s speed.

Meet your farmer

2011-09-23T14:29:00.001-03:00

Last Sunday afternoon we participated in an event called “Meet Your Farmer”. I think this event is held all across Canada but one Sunday in the fall, farms open their doors to the general public. They give tours, sell their wares, and allow us all to catch a glimpse of what life on a farm is like.

We visited a farm just 30 minutes away from us in Windsor, NS, the Oulton’s Farm. They have a large apple orchard, organic chickens and turkeys, exotic animals, and beef (altho we really didn’t see that aspect).

Little chicks.

Bigger chickens.

A donkey with some llamas.

Deer.

And last but not least, the exotic birds. It was a great day to get out and experience a local farm.

The real birthday

2011-09-23T11:59:00.001-03:00

Gaëlle told us over and over that she wanted a peppermint cake for her birthday. Silly me. I thought she wanted a peppermint tasting cake and so for her party, I thought the kids might not all like the taste of peppermint. I foolishly went to the store and bought a cake for the party. Then I thought I would make the peppermint cake for her actual birthday with the family.

As I’m getting ready to make the cake, it becomes clear that what she really wants is a cake that looks like a peppermint. A green peppermint. So, ta da. Robin worked his green sugar magic and Gaëlle had a peppermint cake.

The birthday girl with the cake decorator. And notice the birthday cup. It comes out for every birthday.

My mom had left a box for Gaëlle’s birthday and she had been waiting an entire month to dig into it.

It was filled with cooking goodies. Mixes and cooking utensils. Pure heaven for Gaëlle.

Keeping with the cooking theme, Kaylin got Gaëlle a play microwave. And as Gaëlle is on a Fancy Nancy kick, she also gave her some fancy accessories.

Her crown is stupendous. That’s fancy for “great”.

Emily gave her a coupon for girl time which she redeemed the very next day. Kaylin drove Gaëlle to Emily’s new apartment where they painted their nails and then they went out to a movie. Ooh la la. Still staying with the Fancy Nancy theme.

We gave her a scooter for her special day. Notice the glamour girl taking it for a spin. I let her go without her helmet just to try it out. Now, she has to take off the crown and wear her helmet.

The big sister also got in on the action. The scooter carves and turns and is actually quite fun.

She couldn’t wait to cook and the first thing she made was yellow jello. Altho, it wasn’t a huge hit with her. She likes red better. But the rest of the family had no problem eating it.

Happy 6th Birthday Gaëlle. We love you so much and we love the joy, laughter, and energy you bring to our family.

Birthday Girl

2011-09-17T12:56:00.001-03:00

Gaëlle is now 6. She has been planning her birthday for a year now. We actually forbid the birthday talk because she was constantly telling us who was coming and who wasn’t going to be invited. So shortly before the big day, we allowed birthday talk and guess what? She could not decide what she wanted to do and who she really wanted to invite. It’s easy to plan. Much tougher to commit.

So, I basically planned it without much input from her. Last year we went old school and just had an old fashioned at home party. It went so well, and with a few logistic issues, I decided to do the same thing thing year.

We started with some easy crafts; door hangers and we put their names on their treat bags. Gaëlle and Peter love love love crafts. So this was good.

Next, onto some party games. 2 teams battling it out over water.

This was break the balloon game which was a huge hit with the boys but not so much with the girls. Emily jumped in to show them what to do.

Pass the multi wrapped present. Notice mom’s hands gently redirecting Gaëlle who was more than ready to help anybody unwrap their present.

Spend a little time outside playing on the zip line. This is a huge hit with all the kids.

Time for pizza, but it was hard to say bye to the zipline.

Big smiles all around. Cause now it’s time for cake and then it’s time for presents.

It’s interesting to see Gaëlle’s reaction to presents. Most people assume the younger kids are going to be ecstatic with gifts and with stuff. I mean, they’re from Haiti and all. They should be so grateful. But they really don’t know how to react to “stuff” and so they can be a little underwhelmed and not quite as excited as one might expect to see.

However, Gaëlle received a couple of craft kits and she really was pleased with them. That afternoon, she and Peter broke out the first one and they made a couple of pom pom critters.

In Memory of Tee

2011-09-15T20:33:00.006-03:00

Last year one of the boys Emily fell in love with from Thailand died unexpectedly. It was heartbreaking for not only her but also everybody else from Rainbow House. When she talks about him, in my mind, I see an energetic and mischievous little boy; full of fun and joy regardless of his circumstances. Emily has a page on the Future for Five website with some of her favorite pictures of Tee.

Emily has been raising money to send to Rainbow House by selling shirts. The shirts currently being sold are going to support the camp where she was paired up with Tee.

But for those who don't want to spend money on a shirt, she has had a special fund going in memory of Tee. So many of the kids who pass through Rainbow House, whether it's kids from the day program or kids from orphanages, don't own any toys. Tee loved teddy bears and so she raised money to take his friends to Build a Bear in his memory.

Emily just received photos of the trip to Build a Bear. I can't even imagine the fun that must have been for the kids. I love this first photo because the kids are sitting there staring at the big bear full of amazement.

It looks like the staff and the volunteers did a great job walking the kids through each stage of making a bear and really helping them build a memory as well.

Each child has his own unstuffed bear.

What would a bear be without a heart?

The stuffing goes in.

Lots of happy children.

DDR Part 2

2011-09-10T09:22:00.002-03:00

We have had Dance Dance Revolution for many years but for the past few years, it's been packed away. We decided to break it out again this summer for Peter and Gaëlle.
They have been having a blast with it.

Their goal is just to make it through a song without failing and having the song shut down on them. Peter can pretty much make it through a song but Gaëlle rarely makes it through a complete song.

The former DDR champ even graced us with his presence. We used to have a lot of fun watching Josh and Kaylin and Emily compete with each other for dominance. Good times.

Going... going... gone

2011-09-10T09:12:00.002-03:00

Gaëlle has not shown any interest in taking off the training wheels from her bike. In fact we didn't think she was physically ready because she leans on the training wheels whenever she rides her bike. She seems ackward still. She never has asked to have them removed. Strange because she is so athletic and physically powerful.

But on Thursday night Robin just took them off. And guess who was able to ride her bike the very first time he let go? Gaëlle just took off.

No problem.

The only issue she has is starting on her own. But on Friday night when she went to ride her bike again, there was no stopping her. We should have guessed she could do it. There was no teaching involved. She just went. Go Gaëlle!

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-10T08:59:00.003-03:00

School started on Tuesday here and I've got to say I am a major fail at taking pictures on the first day. Our morning wasn't rushed or stressed but I just didn't haul out the camera. But I grabbed this one right before we went inside.

Gaëlle is in her class and completely focused on her stuff.

Peter's class was completely on top of things. They lined up at the door and went right inside and straight to their seats. No chaos there.

Only Peter was excited about the first day of school. Gaëlle didn't end her year on a high socially so she seemed very ambivalent about going back. Hopefully she will be more successful in her academics and her social interactions. Both kids are teacher favorites but Gaëlle has a more difficult time with her peers.

The first week is over and true to form, Peter is just bubbling over with excitement over what they are going to do this year. There's a new boy in his class and Kaylin encouraged him to befriend him. So we get nightly reports about the new kid and what they said to each other.

Gaëlle has hardly said a word about her class. We don't know about any new kids and we don't know anything that they did during the day. We can ask but she just has nothing to say. She never says that she likes this activity or she doesn't like that activity. She just doesn't talk about her day at school. So.... we'll see where this all goes.

Beverly Hillbillies come to town

2011-08-31T22:37:00.003-03:00

Emily has been working so hard and has been so disciplined at saving her money so that she can move out into an apartment this fall. It's happening. She and 2 other girls will be sharing an apartment and all of the joys that go along with that. Emily has done fairly well at scraping together free furniture but a co-worker of Robin's was selling a couple of items and for a good price and so Emily did spend some of her hard earned cash on a couch and chair. However, we had no other way to get it to our house except on top of the car.

We're just missing Granny and the rocking chair.

FAmily Camp 2011 - Day 3

2011-08-31T22:23:00.003-03:00

We had the chance to go swimming on Sunday and the kids loved the water trampoline and slide. So much fun.

Whee....

It was also our family's turn to go on the horses.

Emily and Gaëlle shared a horse.

Kaylin took pictures which I still need to get from her camera.

I'm missing from the family photo because I was at the kitchen making pies. One of the silly but totally fun parts of family camp is the pie auction. Each family gets money based on their standings in the family games. On Sunday there was an Amazing Race challenge (Kaylin has photos) and we were teamed up with another family to complete all of the challenges. Our team won! But not because of our family. We blew the competition away in archery thanks to the dad on the other team (hunts with a bow and arrow) and Gable (Yeah, I was pretty good in archery in school).

At the end of camp, we all get together and bid on pies that have been made by anybody who wants to. Several of the kids joined in the fun this year making pies. The competition there is fierce and quite fun. The men in our family certainly added to the show.

We also had the campfire songs on Sunday night. It was supposed to be Saturday night but it was too wet. This is something my young kids certainly look forward to. Silly camp songs.

Family Camp 2011 - Day 2

2011-08-20T09:28:00.005-03:00

The family games are always so much fun. The first one was a scavenger hunt. Unfortunately our older kids hadn't arrived yet and so we managed to do well thanks to a lenient judge. We dumped out our bag of goodies and one of our wiley creatures escaped but an honest bystander confirmed that he had seen it. So we were able to find almost everything on our list.

Right after the scavenger hunt our entire family was finally together. Then the rain started. But no problem. Emily braved the slip and slide with Peter and Gaëlle. I didn't take pictures of that and I haven't gotten the ones from Kaylin yet, but rest assured, a good time was had by all.

After the rain stopped they started running other activities and all the kids tried the rock wall.

Peter and Gaëlle both did great but only Peter was able to make it all the way to the top. Gaëlle went about 1/3 of the way up and then she was finished.

Next up was a friendly competition between Emily and Gable. Emily started strong but if the truth is told, probably Gable made it to the top first.

6 out of 8 of us.

Peter and Gaëlle also tried their hand at archery. Good times.

We ended the day with chapel and a movie but I didn't get any pictures of that. Gaëlle didn't make it to the end so we 2 girls went to bed early. Which really wasn't early, it was more like 10 PM.

Family Camp 2011 - Day 1

2011-08-13T09:48:00.004-03:00

We went on our 2nd annual trip to Caton's Island Family Camp on the beautiful St. John River in New Brunswick. OUr entire family went. All 7 of us. And this year we had a boyfriend along, so there were 8 of us in a cabin. It was truly a blast. Something for all of us to the oldest to the youngest. Every year there are grandparenents who come with their adult children and grandchildren. There are single moms with their children. It's an eclectic group and it's just fun.

The weekend starts with a bonfire which the kids just love.

We have the obligatory spider dogs.

Gaëlle easily demolishes the huge hotdog.

And of course, a bonfire wouldn't be complete without roasted marshmallows. YUM!

You'll notice the lack of grown children in my photos. The 4 older kids weren't able to come until Saturday morning. Something about a pesky job.

Finishing up

2011-07-27T22:21:00.002-03:00

Just a few last pictures of vacation week at Beulah. Dick has a golf cart which was a lot of fun for kids of all ages.

Taking the garbage to the dumpster. It only takes one child to throw it in, but why just let one child have all the fun? It's a group effort.

Nothing quite like holding onto daddy's neck while swimming around.

Festival time

2011-07-23T11:13:00.002-03:00

Gaëlle hasn't been able to climb up to the top of the wave statue at the waterfront. Last night we went downtown for the African Heritage Festival and the kids spent some time climbing the wave. And she made it to the top for the first time.

Climbing...

Peter can easily make it to the top now. He doesn't have any problem at all and wants the world to know it.

We ate some yummy food at the African Heritage Festival. Altho Peter and Gaëlle's reaction to this is always so interesting. They see all the brown faces and they initially want nothing to do with it. Gaëlle especially is full of ... I hesitate to describe her reaction. Let's just say she is hesitant.

But Robin and I ate and loved the food and the kids eventually did too.

I let Peter take the camera and get some pictures. This is what he came back with. We only saw some groups singing. Once again, I loved it, but initially the kids just sat back and watched. And we only had a few puzzled glances at us. This crowd is mostly immigrants and they are much more likely to look at our family with open and complete curiosity. Whereas local NS blacks just look at us like anybody else.

We missed the African dancing and drumming. This is just a little festival but I"m glad we went and maybe next year we'll be able to take in more.

Biscuit fun

2011-07-13T23:53:00.002-03:00

Ahhh... the beautiful St. John River.

Water, water everywhere

2011-07-12T23:30:00.002-03:00

The kids had the chance to go to Catons for an afternoon and they were thrilled to find the slip and slide operating. It's one of their favorites.

One afternoon, there was a water event in the field by the playground. It was billed as a family afternoon but when they arrived, it was really geared more towards teens. However, they let the younger kids participate.

Our L'il Mountie is soaking wet and loving it.

I'm not quite sure what Peter is doing but it looks like fun.

Rainy Day Fun

2011-07-11T23:10:00.003-03:00

Grandpa Doan bought a clock at a yard sale at the top of the hill Saturday morning. He wanted to use the parts to fix another one in the cottage. He pulled out his tools and Gaelle plopped herself down. "Can I help?" And he managed to find a job for her. He gave her a tool and told her to line up the screws. She worked hard at it and it was too cute.

Playing games and coloring. Great rainy day activities.

Donna had started this bird puzzle and then didn't get a chance to finish it. Peter was determined to put it together and worked on it for several days. Others joined in but he was the primary puzzle person. He finished it today altho it is missing a few pieces. Oh the joy of 50 cent yard sale puzzles.

Vacation snapshots

2011-07-11T22:48:00.003-03:00

On our way... We're all so excited to finally be off to Beulah camp.

I finally have a chance to share some of the photos from our camera instead of Robin's phone.

We drove through Sussex to pick up a few things and we ran into the Canada Day parade. The kids watched it while I was in the store. I don't think I was there 5 minutes and by the time I got out and tried to take a picture, the parade was over. But Peter and Gaelle got candy and so they thought the parade was great.

Just to prove I was actually here for a brief time. Robin managed to take one picture of me.

This is down by the beach. I'm not sure what is so fascinating, but it looks like all of the kids are enthralled.

It's a July 4th party. Grampa Doan had July 4th napkins and plates and a tablecloth. So they invited the neighbor kids and had a party. Whoo Hoo!! Go USA!

Apparently it was one party after another. Uncle Al, Aunt Claud, and a friend also came over for a pizza party.

Gaelle is absolutely loving Danny. When she is at the cottage, Gaelle just wants to be with her.

All together now

2011-07-06T23:07:00.002-03:00

one row
6 kids
3 sets of siblings
all adopted
all various shades of brown

Does it mean anything that they all sit together during VBS?

One of the games. It looks like a really simple yet cool obstacle course.

And, here's Gaëlle.

Gaëlle met another little girl from Haiti today. By all accounts, they are quite the pair. A real match. 2 peas in a pod. Both forces to be reckoned with.

July 5th Snapshots

2011-07-05T22:14:00.002-03:00

Robin sent me several emails today at work with pictures of the kids at different moments. Isn't technology great?

He sent this of Gaëlle at VBS because she was just having so much fun. He couldn't get anything but a blurry picture.

Beulah Fun

2011-07-04T23:23:00.003-03:00

This is like a "Where's Waldo" picture. Except it's "Where's Gaëlle?" Well she's the one fully engaged and raising her hands. Today somebody described her as forceful. That is a great one word description of Gaëlle.

And what would my one word description of Peter be? In this photo, he is intent.

Robin, Peter, and Gaëlle are currently at family camp in NB. I was there during the weekend but had to come home last night. So Robin sent me these pictures. I wish I could be there, but I'm thrilled to know they're having so much fun.

Little Caton's

2011-06-27T22:30:00.003-03:00

Peter has been calling the new play fort "Little Caton's" after the ropes course at camp. Maybe just a bit smaller than Caton's; hence the "Little".

The big kid and little kids put the finishing touches on it this weekend. In fact, the 22 year old son had to talk some sense into the 46 year old dad. Robin's motto seems to be "Go big, or go home". But I think the fort is mainly finished.

Gaelle can't do all that Peter can do but she does her best to keep up anyway.

The zip line has been in storage for a few years, but Robin knew right where it was and out it came. He's not completely happy with the location, but the kids love it. Kaylin is a bit disappointed because her knees drag on the ground.

No dragging for Gaelle. It's just right.

Soccer star

2011-06-25T10:02:00.003-03:00

This is Peter's 2nd year of soccer and we can certainly see the difference in his ability from last year even though he hasn't been playing soccer much through the year. Just the fact that he's a year older and has had other athletic opportunities in the past year has made him able to focus more and he's more coordinated.

I could tell the night before his soccer started that he was nervous about something. The inane questions started and the non stop chatter was in full force. (That's not always nerves, sometimes that's just his silly self.) I'm trying to get him to recognize that he's feeling something when this behavior starts without making him feel like he's doing something wrong. Right before he started his practice he admitted to Robin that he was a bit nervous about starting again. Maybe he wasn't going to be any good.

That is excellent for him to start putting into words what he feels. It's not easy for a lot of us and it's especially not easy for him.

We've all been anxious for this day... the day Gaëlle becomes a Tim Bit. We were fairly confident that she would stand out on the field and she certainly does.

She doesn't have much skill yet, and let's face it, not many of the other kids do either. But she certainly has determination. And speed.

She does lack a little bit of focus, again, pretty common with the little ones. But all we have to do is start cheering her name and she pours on the speed and races for the ball. Kids start falling and somehow she ends up with the ball. Then she flashes us a smile and a big wave.

She is loving it!!!!

Playing catch up

2011-06-25T09:44:00.004-03:00

Josh is the grill master in our family and so last Sunday he had the honors of cooking the meat and the fish. Yes, we had 3 options.

I knew all the boys would want the ribs but Gaëlle also turned out to LOVE the ribs. Peter and Gaëlle both love to clean off the bones. And clean them they do.

Robin decided to build a tree fort in the back yard. The kids are over the moon excited about it.

Can I help?

Robin kept the wooden ladder off until the very end but even so I caught Peter out there one day just hanging out on the fort. I really hope this is a good idea and not one of those things that spurs the kids on to dangerous stunts. You know... typical childish behaviour. Robin bought new materials and so it is very strong and as safe as he can make it.

One interesting thing to note. When Gaëlle first came home it seemed she had no fear of anything. She jumped into the water. She climbed on any kind of playground equipment that she could. Heights meant nothing. But Robin noticed that she was initially timid of the metal ladder he was using to build the fort. That's a good thing. Fear doesn't paralyze her but there is such a thing as healthy fear that makes us all act a little more careful.

Last weekend the kids were all outside when they saw a snake. It turns out Gable is the fearless one here. He literally dove to catch the snake. Never one to throw out the important stuff, Robin was able to pull out an aquarium, a warming rock, and chips for the tank. Peter kept the snake in his room for a few days but we have since let it go.

Belated birthday boy

2011-06-18T09:06:00.002-03:00

Robin had a birthday this week and so we all came together for the birthday meal. Believe me, it is great having everybody home but it is hard to get us all together at the same time for a meal. The older kids are always on the go. But we managed on Sunday to finally have our meal.

Robin asked for a new light jacket and so that was the collective gift.

Robin was also showered with candy. We all know how good he is at sharing and so Peter is full of smiles.

Favorite playground toy evah

2011-06-18T09:00:00.002-03:00

This is the elementary school spinner.

Gaëlle waits in line every day to have her turn on the spinner.

Gaëlle has had multiple arguements and fights on the local playground because of the spinner.

But she LOVES LOVES LOVES her spinning.

She also loves the monkey bars and keeps trying to make it across to the end.

School Fair

2011-06-18T08:43:00.002-03:00

Now that Peter and Gaëlle have been here for over a year, we are starting to do repeats... activities they have already done once and so now they know what to expect. It's powerful to see the memories come to the surface and to see their excitement as they anticipate the KNOWN. So much about their lives here is still unknown. There are still so many activities/concepts that most kids their age take for granted and they are just clueless about.

It was also interesting to see the difference in their approach to the school fair. Peter was ready to spend his tickets on all of the activities all at once. He was ready to dive in. Gaëlle wanted to walk around and see everything first before she committed her tickets.

Her first choice was a tattoo.

Peter played a spinner game and the spinner stopped at a nail polish kit. My creative son came home and painted rocks with it.

Gaëlle was all over the bouncy castle. There were some older girls in line who had to wait just for the younger children to be finished. I knew Gaëlle would love to be in with them and could easily hold her own so she bounced with the big girls. Smiles all around.

And of course we ended our morning with the BBQ hot dogs. Yum.

Class field trip

2011-06-09T09:47:00.002-03:00

Gaëlle spotted the turtle sunning itself on a rock and wanted to take a picture. So this is for her.

All of the primary classes went to a local wildlife park for their end of the year field trip. It was my first time going and it was a nice day. Gaëlle had asked me several times to go with her and I'm glad it worked out for me to go. Most of the animals are local to NS.

Today I'm uploading the photos because I'm home sick. Not as much fun. Hopefully it will be short lived.

The peacocks wandered free all over the park. Not the least bit afraid of anything or anybody including a little 2 year old chasing them.

The kids could feed the ducks and the deer.

The big yellow bus ride was a highlight for Gaëlle but I don't think it turned out the way she wanted. Notice she is at the back of the line. Her friends are in the middle of the line. I'm glad I was able to go with her because we had a great time together, but it's obvious that she still has difficulty with social interactions with her peers.

Playground fun

2011-06-09T09:40:00.002-03:00

Just some photos of us out and about over the last week. It's so easy to head to a local park to burn off some energy. That has been much needed lately.

We love this boat playground in Bedford. Here is Gaëlle flexing her muscles.

Peter asked me to get a picture of him jumping down. So here you go.

Can I help?

2011-06-04T09:29:00.002-03:00

This would be something Gaëlle asks every day at least once. "Can I help?" Usually I can find something for her to do. This time she mixed up the corn bread for me. And it was good. Whenever I have stains on clothing I make sure and call her. She loves to rub out stains and she does a great job.

On another note,our week has been a bit interesting. Gaëlle is having a difficult time. We're constantly analyzing the behavior and questioning why she is doing what she is doing.

A minor example: Lately she has been deliberately putting her shoes on the wrong feet. She will start to put them on correctly and then she will look up at us and deliberately change them so they are on the wrong feet. I picked her up yesterday and the first thing she did was draw attention to her feet and the fact that her shoes were on wrong. WHY? Wouldn't you think she would want to be the smart little girl who knows how to do everything well? Is it a simple matter of attention? She'll get attention however she can. She knows it bugs me when she can do something and she chooses not to?

There are a bazillion of these examples ranging from minor annoyance to serious concern. And this has been my week. Stay calm. Don't react. Go over my adoption resources. And breathe. Remember, it's all about safety and trust.

Memories

2011-05-28T10:25:00.003-03:00

I've mentioned it before but the kids love to look at their special photo albums. While they were at GLA we received monthly updates and photos. A lot of the months the updates were fairly generic but still gave us a glimpse of life at Kay B. And sometimes Molly and Joyce had time to send detailed updates about the kids. I took all of the updates and photos and made albums for each of the kids. Actually it turned into 2 albums for each of them. Every once in a while, the kids will ask to look at them and pretty soon we see their smiles and hear their laughter.

We all like to hear stories about our past. I'm so thankful to Molly and Joyce and Chris and Melanie for all of their hard work and diligence in providing stories from Peter and Gaëlle's past. It means so much to all of us.

Bundle up

2011-05-23T10:51:00.004-03:00

It seems as though the past few years we've had some fairly cold May long weekends, which is otherwise known as Victoria Day weekend. Kaylin assures us it was warm last year so I went to look at my photos and sure enough, we were eating outside on the back deck. Well, this year, it's been cool. But that won't stop us from hitting the beach. We called up some friends and invited ourselves over and had a great afternoon complete with hot chocolate and rock throwing. Brrrr...

Craving hot dogs

2011-05-23T10:36:00.003-03:00

Recently, Josh received 2 fake credit cards in the mail and so he gave them to Peter and Gaëlle. They love to pretend that they have debit cards or credit cards and frequently make their own out of paper. So this was well received by them. But Gaëlle had a question.

Gaëlle: I need to know the truth. Is this a real credit card?

Robin: No. It's just pretend.

Gaëlle: Ahhh. I need a real credit card.

Robin: Why? Don't I buy you everything you need?

Gaëlle: You don't buy me hot dogs. I need a credit card to buy hot dogs.

So, we've been having a lot of fun with the hot dog talk lately and how poor Gaëlle has everything she needs in life except hot dogs.

Fast forward to Saturday night. Robin and Joshua went grocery shopping for me and came home laughing about how I would never send them out for groceries again. Then they pulled out this.

Who in their right mind would think a "hot dog" cake would be a big seller? And who in their right mind would buy one? Why my family, of course. I love the website cakewrecks and I think this certainly qualifies.

I mean, the hot dog looks fairly realistic, but the bun... is clearly a slab of pound cake with some icing on it.

We presented it to Gaëlle and Peter on Sunday at lunch. A fun moment.

Graduation

2011-05-18T22:08:00.005-03:00

We all set off for the states and Joshua's graduation even though we didn't have the official paper work for Peter and Gaëlle and believe me we tried. But we finally received official permission to allow the kids to enter the US. It didn't quite work out as we had hoped at the border and we had to wait 2 hours for the paperwork to catch up to our official permission, but finally we were in and well on our way.

It was so good to see Josh and take in some of the grad festivities. This would be the official "dessert after the Baccalaureate" event. Yum.

In Nova Scotia we have endured weeks of rainy foggy dreary weather and wouldn't you know it, we were greeted to Virginia's version of rainy foggy dreary weather. It managed to just stay overcast and at times misty during the commencement events which was a blessing as it was all outside.

Over 5000 grads walked in and received their diploma. It really was quite the sight.

It's official. Joshua has graduated. If you look closely you can see Joshua as he receives his diploma.

Then the mad dash as we packed up his belongings from the past 4 years and headed home.

We stopped off in New Jersey for the party house. AKA Grammy and Grampy's house. Peter and Gaëlle actually stayed with my parents instead of driving down the rest of the way to VA. We thought it might be a bit much for them. And they had a great time preparing for the party for Josh.

Peter managed to find the perfect gift for Josh at one of Grammy's hang outs.

Gaëlle was not to be outdone and decided a giant yo-yo would be the best gift a new grad could ever want.

Grammy and Grampy with 5 of their grandchildren.

We also had the chance to stop off at my brother's house on our way home and Peter and Gaëlle met another cousin. The 3 of them had a great time together and Josh managed another family party. Wahoo.

Gaëlle wasn't sure what a hotel was but she was very excited to find out. Big smiles all around.

We knew Peter was excited about staying in a hotel by his incessant questions. It was a big hit even though it was a short stay and no swim in the pool.

We took a brief detour to LLBean and the girls snagged a photo op with the giant boot.

Josh and Peter are really 2 peas in a pod when it comes to food. They love their meat and they love their fast food. Needless to say I think they had more than enough of both on this trip.

Ringlets

2011-05-09T22:11:00.002-03:00

Saturday evening was hair night. I took out the old style and loaded it with conditioner and then let it sit until after supper. The water and conditioner just bring out the ringlets in Gaëlle's hair which I think is so adorable. I would love to try this type of style on her but she's just too young and full of activity right now. Her hair would knot up too badly. But every time her hair is loose and free, we all oohhh and aaahhh. At first Peter was horrified and was quite vocal that he didn't like it. I think we're bringing him over to the dark side because even he admits that it's cute.

Mother's Day Recap

2011-05-09T21:53:00.005-03:00

Kaylin's creativity at work making a yummy cake with my favorite Snickers candy bar for Mother's Day.

Blessed to be surrounded by my thoughtful and loving kids.

Blessed to have such a supportive caring and generous spouse.

Sunday afternoon spent outside with Robin and the young ones just enjoying a little bit of water and nature.

Gaëlle found this stone several weeks ago and has been saving it for the next time we could go skipping rocks.

Sunday was the day and as she wound up her arm, I thought there was no way it was going to skip. But it's not the perfect rock for nothing. Success. It skipped.

A little tree climbing.

Both kids have completely worn out their sneakers and just got new ones. There's nothing quite like a brand new pair of sneakers to bring a bounce to your step.

I'm not quite sure what Gaëlle was up to with Kaylin but it sure brought lots of laughter. A fun way to end a wonderful day.

Cheese

2011-05-07T10:15:00.002-03:00

I haven't taken any pictures lately but I thought I would show my 3 girls with big cheesy smiles. Love them.

Reading corner

2011-05-02T23:32:00.002-03:00

Robin is away for work all week. We dropped him off at the airport on Saturday and we talked about how much we would miss Daddy. The kids did great and we had a good day with some fun moments.

However, Sunday morning dawned and the tunes changed. Peter became oh so slightly annoying with behaviour indicating, "I'm here!!!! Notice me!!!" I get it and I do feel for him but it doesn't make it any less annoying.

Gaëlle became oh so defiant. Very determined and very defiant. It continued through today. So I tried to employ a logical consequence. I took all of her toys out of her room; the result of not playing with her toys with respect. She honestly didn't seem to mind the lack of toys, which is ok.

And tonight when we went up to her room I found this; the reading corner. Of course I complimented her on it and said how much I loved it, which of course I do. I also held her like a baby and we rocked and talked and sang. Then she went to bed without a bit of fuss. I rocked and talked and sang with Peter also. He too went to bed without a fuss.

I don't write the above to shame the kids or to show how pathetic I am, but just for a glimpse of some of the struggles the kids go through. They both miss Robin and maybe even feel a bit abandoned or lost. Instead of just saying it, they have to show it.

Message received!

Easter weekend 2011

2011-04-27T22:10:00.003-03:00

Saturday brought our traditional Bunny Day candy hunt. Both kids remembered this from last year and were eager to get out there and hunt.

Peter raced through the whole thing and could definitely use a bit more of a challenge hiding the candy. When they were finished, Robin told the kids they had 1 hour to eat as much as they wanted before we rationed the candy. Both kids sat at the table and went to work. It didn't take too long and Peter said he was finished. Gaelle in all seriousness said, "Peter... just do it. You have to just keep trying."

The older girls requested no candy but I didn't listen to them. Just a small bag tho.

In the afternoon Robin brought home a new BBQ and so there was a bit of fun putting that together with a couple of kids who really wanted to help. Our old BBQ lasted 7 years. We're hoping for another 7 years with this one.

I only boiled 8 eggs for the kids to dye. It was enough and they had fun. However, on Sunday night we ate all 8 eggs for supper. So maybe next year I'll boil more up. They were a big hit.

4 of the 5 kids out on the deck on Easter afternoon. A beautiful day and maybe next year there will be 5 kids out on the deck for an Easter picture.

Saturday Snapshot

2011-04-16T09:57:00.002-03:00

2 weeks ago Kaylin came home with a single red gerbera daisy for me "just because". And it is still as fresh as the day she brought it home. Love it. And I love her thoughtfulness.

I know I give Gaëlle a lot of space on the blog because of her love of all jobs domestic. But there is one area that Peter takes the cake; his room. He loves to clean his room and most Saturday mornings as we are doing all those little things that need to be done (or if truth be told, just lounging around with our coffee) he can be found in his room straightening up. Then he calls us to make sure we all see how great his room looks.

Peter's birthday card came this week from his grandparents. It was postmarked February 28. For those who don't know, we are now into April. I don't know if the blame lies on the US or Canada side. Either way, that is truly snail mail.

And Peter has been having a blast listening to the song in the card... over... and over!

Emily is into full study mode and is currently taking her 3rd exam. Her first year of university has gone well for her. She is focused and really working hard.

So just a few snapshots of our life on this Saturday morning.

New hair do

2011-04-11T22:45:00.002-03:00

It's hard to tell from this photo but I am trying a new style on Gaelle. She has asked for one large pony tail and her hair isn't long enough for that yet. But it's finally long enough for 2 puffs. I normally keep her hair in braids and twists to protect it; keeps the hair moist and free from dirt. But we are giving this a try.

So far, so good. Her hair normally gets a little fuzzy and I try not to pull it so tight anyway so the fuzz normally appears. But this is so cute and even with a little fuzz, such a little girls' hair style. We just have to be extra careful every morning and night, to work some oil or conditioner into her hair to keep it from drying out.

Food adventures

2011-04-11T22:40:00.002-03:00

Emily has started her first waitressing job at a Thai restaurant. She loves the chance to practice her Thai with the staff and enjoy all of the food she grew to love while she was in Thailand.

This weekend we headed out to try it ourselves. Gaelle and Peter were determined to try chopsticks even though they aren't used in Thailand.

Peter actually had some success with his chopsticks. And the food was a hit all the way around. I am so amazed at all the different types of food the kids will try. But we all liked this.

Gymnastic tricks

2011-04-11T22:33:00.003-03:00

Sunday was one of those gorgeous days so we headed out to a local playground. The kids had fun on the equipment and off.

They have been having fun trying handstands and cartwheels.

Lots of laughs and lots of falls.

But they are flexible and small enough so their landings don't hurt.

We have been trying to encourage Gaelle to try gymnastics next fall. She is determined to do ballet, but I really think her athletic soul is better geared towards the tumbling of a gym. But we shall see.

Brown vs Black

2011-04-02T11:41:00.004-03:00

Interesting scenario this week where race collided with assumptions and a bit of Haitian youthful culture.

Gaelle was told by a class mate that she didn't want to sit next to her because she was black. The little girl who told her this is biracial... white mom, black dad. Lots of extended family involvement on both sides of her family. And this little girl and Gaelle get into it ALL the time because they both have STRONG personalities. They are good friends except when they are not. We parents and teachers have discussed their friendship and have approved of an attempt on the part of the school to limit their interaction during school hours.

So... the teacher informed the office of this statement and the vice principal who is also biracial, decided to come into the class and have a discussion. She brought books that talked about skin color and some of the different words used to describe skin color.

Gaelle eagerly participated and told the VP that God made her just the way she is. The other girl also participated and the VP sensed that by the end of her discussion, the kids in the class felt comfortable talking about race and they understood what she was saying.

So what did Gaelle learn from all of this? I waited until evening after we had done a bit of reading and Gaelle was relaxed and quiet. And I asked.

"My friend told me I was black and that's wrong!" said with great emphasis.

"So if your friend told you you were brown, would that be ok?" I asked.

"Yes. Because I'm brown... not black!" again stated with great emphasis.

"Is it ok for people to call me white, because I'm not really white," I asked.

"No, you're more peach," said slowly.

"So, is it ok for people to call me white?" I persisted.

........ silence because Gaelle is stumped.

"Did your friend tell you she didn't want to sit next to you because you're black?" I decided to be direct.

"NO. She just called me black."

"And that's wrong?" I asked.

"Yes. Because I'm not black. I'm brown."

By this time Gaelle was getting antsy and a bit out of sorts. So I didn't keep up my questions. I just told her how beautiful her brown skin was and we read another book.

So what were the assumptions?

I don't really know if the little girl meant anything racial by her comment. The VP wasn't willing to state that either, but there was an assumption by the VP that this little girl is trying to figure out who she is because the VP remembers dealing with that. Maybe... or maybe she was just pointing out a difference, like she didn't want to sit next to Gaelle because she was wearing purple pants.

But Gaelle isn't in a place to hear anything racial. All she heard was a basic error in this girl's statement. And now Gaelle believes that it is wrong to call anyone black... period.

Gaelle didn't even hear the end of the statement. We sometimes forget that this time last year Gaelle couldn't even string together a sentence in English. She still misses a fair bit of content becasue of her language skills. We notice it more when she is watching TV. But it is the reality that she isn't able to understand and catch all of our conversation.

Our kids from Haiti don't have any awareness of the term black. We've tried to explain it to Peter but quite honestly, the kids don't get it yet. To them it's simply a matter of color.

And they are brown.

So North American racial awareness collided with Haitian youthful perception.

Now who gets to tell the VP that her lesson was lost on one little girl?

Our favorite things

2011-04-02T10:55:00.002-03:00

Peter spends a lot of time in this spot, the kitchen table, drawing all kinds of pictures. It's so nice to see the enjoyment he gets from this activity.

I know I've posted this kind of picture before, but Gaelle loves loves loves to wash dishes. She can amuse herself for hours in the kitchen sink. It's so good to see.

These pictures were taken last night as Robin and I were cleaning up a bit. Sometimes the kids demand all of our attention, but they are developing more and more interests and activities they can do on their own. Sooooo good to see.

Spring is here

2011-03-30T22:44:00.002-03:00

Ok, so the winter jackets are still on, but a sure sign of spring is chalk talk. Peter and Gaelle spent their afternoon out on the sidewalk drawing pictures and crushing chalk. Oh the joys of spring.

Talking about cars

2011-03-26T10:41:00.002-03:00

As a child I didn't grow up participating in Lent. But I had lots of Catholic friends who obsessed about what they would give up for Lent. That seemed to be about the extent of their conversation and concern with Lent. I've been hearing a lot more about families preparing for Easter by daily Lenten readings and activities. I looked around the internet and found this website which listed a "Road Map to Easter".

It seemed very doable for us and a nice hands on simple project for the kids. So every Sunday of Lent Peter and Gaelle are moving their car through all of the road signs. They each made their own road and they have their own car and signs to color and put on. They love it and would like to do it every day, but for us right now, it's great that it's just once a week.

Speaking of cars, we have another full fledged driver. Kaylin took her road test and passed. She can now drive on her own. Wahoo.....

Birthday Party Continued

2011-03-21T21:39:00.002-03:00

Saturday afternoon Peter had his birthday party. It's easy to say that food would be the most important consideration for Peter. This party involved pizza... easily Peter's favorite meal.

The party also involved water. Peter loves to go swimming and this was also an easy choice for him.

Yes, Peter got 2 cakes. This was just a chocolate cake... store bought... easy.

Smiles all around.

Gaelle wasn't supposed to be a part of the party. But we had to get to the pizza place early to get a table because they don't take reservations on weekends. But it all worked out great and you can see that she is intently observing the antics of the older boys.

Birthday Boy

2011-03-19T09:53:00.003-03:00

On Wednesday Peter had his 10th birthday. We carried on the birthday cup tradition which brings lots of laughter. Peter has been planning and dreaming about his 10th birthday for almost a year now and I think he was not disappointed.

Just an interesting note about birthdays and the kids. They both have quickly caught on to the importance of birthdays and parties here in Canada for little kids. It's become a bit of an obsession talking about their parties and who they want to invite and what they want to do. To the point where we've basically banned Gaelle from birthday talk.

But one day it was just the 3 of us in the car and birthdays came up. Peter observed that if he was in Haiti he wouldn't be celebrating his birthday. So I said that he had birthday parties in Kay B.

And can I just say that Molly still sends birthday greetings to the kids and how much that brightens their day. Can you imagine how she manages to keep up with all of the kids that have passed through the doors of Kay B? She must have amazing organizational skills. Thank you Molly!

Yes, Peter had parties at Kay B but according to him, nobody else in Haiti celebrates their birthdays. But in Canada everbody does. Why is that? So we had a conversation about the differences in countries. We have different traditions and different celebrations, etc. And Peter threw out the concept of poverty, which quite often is not on his radar when it comes to Haiti. But he stated that people in Haiti are too poor to celebrate their birthdays.

Peter and Gaelle rarely exhibit gratitude which can sometimes be difficult to accept and yet we're happy they take so much for granted. After all, this is their life and they accept that. Anyway, Peter verbally stated how thankful he is that in Canada so he can celebrate his birthday. I'm thankful for that too!!

Peter's main gift from us was drawing and painting supplies. Just for him. He is not allowed to share his special supplies with Gaelle. He was thrilled.

Just another note of interest. Most parents encourage their children to share but with our kids we see 2 different dynamics going on; control and lack of ownership. We want the kids to feel that certain items are special and because they are special we need to take good care of them. They're no longer in a setting where easy come, easy go. I know, I know, in our society we hold onto things too tightly so isn't this good? Not always. There is a definite balance and we are trying to help the kids learn how to take care of our belongings.

We also notice that the kids are quick to try and control others with their "things" and with "sharing". This of course is common with all kids, but we really notice it and try to eliminate the opportunities for control.

Peter chose a lemon meringue cake for his birthday cake. All 3 boys in this family love this cake and ask for it on their birthdays. So it warmed my heart on more than one level that Peter asked for this.

Peter recieved drawing instruction books from his 2 older sisters. He really is good at this and he's been having fun with the step by step instructions and seeing how his pictures look just like the original.

Another note of interest. When it comes to birthday talk, presents are almost never mentioned. We've said it before and it continues to be true, that "things" just aren't very important.

Once again, Josh is missing from the birthday shot. We missed him but maybe next year he'll be around during the birthday month of March.

No longer a teen.

2011-03-10T07:01:00.002-04:00

Where does time go? Have I said that before? My little girl is 20!

Her birthday was on Tuesday but she was so busy with a midterm and didn't want to take time out to celebrate her birthday, so we had her family meal on Sunday night.

She requested chocolate chip banana cake with peanut butter icing. Yum. I haven't made it in a while so this was a great treat.

Gaëlle bought her a pack of gum. My girls all like their gum.

Just missing Josh, but otherwise, a great night. Full of fun, talk, and laughter. I love you Emily and I'm so proud of you for your dreams and your motivation and the beautiful kind person you are. And way to go on your physiology midterm!

Weekend fun

2011-03-06T22:11:00.003-04:00

Uncle Al and Aunt Claud stopped in for a visit while they were in Halifax. Aunt Claud got to ooh and aahh over the dog book and guess who doesn't even like dogs? I guess pictures are still cute.

We found an old bag of marshmallows and Robin relived his youth by teaching the kids how to play "Chubby Bunny". See who can stuff the most marshmallows in your mouth and still say the words, "Chubby Bunny".

Concentrate Peter.... you can do it.

Nope, the laughter got the best of him. He only managed 3 marshmallows.

Then there's Gaelle. Put the music video on and she just starts to move. It's so cute.

Sweet 17

2011-02-27T22:28:00.003-04:00

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

2011-02-24T22:17:00.003-04:00

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

2011-02-24T22:08:00.003-04:00

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

2011-02-15T22:53:00.002-04:00

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

2011-02-12T10:27:00.003-04:00

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

2011-02-03T21:55:00.003-04:00

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...

Happy PG Day

2011-01-27T22:19:00.003-04:00

One year ago today, an AirTransat plane landed in Ottawa with all of the kids from GLA headed to Canadian families. It was an intense month and we weren't the ones who lived through an earthquake with all of the aftershocks.

Whenever we talk about going back to Haiti, the only people Peter and Gaelle want to see are Molly and Joyce. It's as tho their life before GLA never happened. They do miss their friends but they are very aware that none of their friends live at Kay B anymore. I look back at these pictures and am just struck by how scared the kids look. I can't even imagine what must have been going through their minds. What an intense time.

We celebrated our day with a snow day from school (more like a freezing slush day) and a fried chicken and potato wedges meal.

Peter requested the chicken and Gaelle requested "shicos". One of the few Creole words that has remained. We call them cheesies or those yellow puffed corn chips. Gaelle also wanted pop, after all, it was a party.

We couldn't agree on a special dessert, so we chose a variety of cakes from the store. Yum...

We finished our day in the typical way. Wii bowling. Bedtime stories. And loving and huggings.

And what does PG Day stand for? Well, we couldn't agree on a name for our 1 year anniversary, and we had some crazy suggestions. So it just became PeterGaelle Day, or PG Day.

Operation Stork: One Year Later

2011-01-13T22:35:00.001-04:00

Citizenship and Immigration contacted some of the families that adopted children from Haiti for a 1 year update. They sent out a photographer and took some pictures. All 3 of the families at the end of this clip adopted from GLA, including us.

Snow fun

2011-01-13T21:46:00.002-04:00

We've had a couple of snow storms this week and a friend of ours drives a plow in our neighborhood. Sunday night he stopped off and invited Peter to go out for a ride. We basically pushed him out the door.

Feel the power.

I think his smile says it all. It's so funny to see our Haitian son thriving in the Canadian winters. He loves it.

Adoption completed

2011-01-04T21:54:00.002-04:00

This morning all 7 of us trooped into Family Court and with a few simple words, our adoption was official and complete. It was a little anti-climatic because we didn't even say anything. Our lawyer made a point of thanking the NS Department of Justice and NS Community Services for their efforts in completing our adoption. Most people assumed that after the earthquake and the kids left Haiti, everything was done.

Not the case!!!

And yet it's true that the NS authorities have done everything they could to expedite this adoption. But there is a process in place and nothing about our process matched the established process. Every step took time as the authorities decided how to proceed.

But today we have finality. And we're so grateful for the start of 2011 and the "adoption order granted".

So, what's next?

1) apply for NS Birth Certificates (Especially important as the kids don't have their original birth certificates. Maybe some day we can obtain those for them.)

2) Continue the process of obtaining Canadian Citizenship (Especially important because the kids don't have passports from Haiti and can't enter any other country without special permission/VISAs/etc)

3) Apply for Canadian passports (See #2)

4) Apply for American Citizenship (Not looking forward to that process, but we'll give it a shot even with the lack of our original documents.)

5) Submit an application to Citizenship & Immigration to amend Gaelle's Document of Landing to refelct the correct spelling of her name. (Through no fault of ours, her name is incorrect on this document that she needs to hold onto for the rest of her life.)

Whew! But we'll keep plugging away and hopefully we'll be able to cross out all of those items from our list except for #4. Stay tuned.

Soup Joumou and the Canada Games Oval

2011-01-02T22:57:00.003-04:00

Halifax is hosting the Canada Games in February and one of the new attractions is an outdoor skating oval. On New Years Day we decided to give it a try.

With all of the rollar blading Peter has been doing, he's an old pro at skating. This was only his 2nd time on the ice and he is doing great.

Gaelle asked for skates for Christmas which was a bit of a surprise. I wanted skates to be Peter's main present from us, but wasn't sure how Gaelle would like that. But then she went and asked for them. Perfect!!! I tried to prep Gaelle for the difficulties of ice skating. Sure enough, her first time on the ice she said, "This is hard!!!" But with her determination, I know she will catch on very fast.

Wow, look at my 5 handsome kids!!!! I love this picture.

January 1 is also Independence Day for Haiti. It's tradition to celebrate with pumpkin soup. There are so many recipes on the internet so I just chose one and reminded Peter that it probably wouldn't taste like anything he remembered.

Basically the soup is like a beef stew with some rice or noodles and pumpkin thrown in. Several of the sites mention using butternut squash in place of pumpkin so that's what I did. We had some friends over to help us celebrate and fortunately the soup was a hit. Carol brought a meat pie and that was also a hit. The day was a great start to the new year.

Games, food, and friends

2011-01-02T22:44:00.003-04:00

When I was growing up our family had a tradition of making our own subs and making our own ice cream sundaes. We've continued the tradition altho sometimes it has had to wait until New Years Day. Our entertaining has been so low key this past year, but we decided to keep up the tradition and invite a few families to join us.

The games were a bit fierce at times, but that just added to the evening.

Peter just loves to play games and so he was in heaven. He needed a little adult help with Apples to Apples, but he and his partner managed to snag a few cards.

And Gaelle LOVES LOVES LOVES to be a part of the teen girls. She did really well and was able to stay in control of herself. We're already looking forward to next year.

New Years Eve

2011-01-02T22:36:00.002-04:00

On New Years Eve Day Emily took Peter and Gaelle to the Science Discovery Center while mom was working and Robin was cleaning the house. Seems fair. The kids had a blast.

Gaelle especially loves this picture where she is bigger than Peter. This will probably be the only time in her life that she is taller than Peter.

Both kids also had fun putting themselves in a big bubble.

Boys and car tracks... a perfect combination.

Family visits

2011-01-02T22:28:00.002-04:00

Robin took the kids to Yarmouth to visit some of his family. His sister has a bit of a hobby farm that all my kids love to visit. Peter and Gaelle just go on and on about all the animals Aunt Carrie has. And she just loves it all. And every time we go back for a visit she has more animals.

We all miss Robin's mom so much and so it was nice for Peter and Gaelle to see her again. They wanted to take Snickers with them because they knew how much Grammy must miss Snickers, but we talked them out of that.

Christmas Day

2011-01-02T22:03:00.002-04:00

Christmas morning all the stockings were loaded and ready to go.

We always have bubble bread (mini cinnamon rolls) sitting out while we open presents. Gaelle was all over that because she was allowed to eat food in the living room. Notice her tight grip on her stocking. She was not going to let go.

The younger kids did not get candy in their stockings and I think that was a bit of a disappointment to them. But the older kids got their traditional sugar fix. Maybe next year they will remember to keep the chocolate out of reach of the dog. She's small but she's determined when it comes to candy!

Gaelle was the first one to open a present from her stocking. We all watched her pull it out and open it and the look on her face was just hysterical. She looked genuinely disgusted. I have no idea what she was expecting but it clearly wasn't a fairy doll. Emily and Kaylin oohed and ahhed and finally Gaelle gave an obligatory "Thank you". She opened her Tangled Doll with much more enthusiasm and seemed very excited by all that hair. "It sparkles!!!!"

Peter was thrilled with his Siamese Fighting Fish. He has fond memories of the tank they had at GLA. At first he called his fish, "Joyce" but when he was informed that it was male he changed the name to "Arry". His 2 favorite people in Haiti.

Emily and Kaylin sporting their new earmuffs. So cute!!! And warm. A perfect combination.

Just a shot to show the chaos of the morning. It actually went really well but things were a bit more hectic than they've been the past few years. There's nothing like little kids to liven things up.

Robin is always so proud of his ability to guess any present. Needless to say he didn't guess this but he loves his electric knife.

I wish we had taken the time to run up and get the camera stand. Oh well, Josh was here... take my word for it.

December 24, 2010

2010-12-28T20:38:00.005-04:00

Our church has several Christmas Eve services with the first one at 4:00 pm for the children. Robin, Emily and Kaylin did puppets for the service and they did a great job. Peter and Gaelle were so excited to see the puppets and Gaelle made sure to tell the kids sitting next to her that "Those are my sisters!"

Our family all together once again. So nice.

We came home after the service and had a party. Now it was just the 7 of us, but it was a party full of party food. We opted to stay put and it really was a nice time. This is my only picture, but take my word... it was fun.

Emily and Kaylin invited Peter and Gaelle to their room for a sleep-over and they all treated it as a real sleep-over...very exciting. So it was a perfect end to our day.

Flashback - Advent

2010-12-28T19:44:00.003-04:00

We have a few advent traditions that we just can't miss. We have an advent countdown tree that I made several years ago. It has 25 heart pockets that are filled with candy. This year I filled the pockets with numbers and put the candy in a dish every night at supper. All of the kids enjoy this and Gaelle especially took great joy in remembering the candy every night.

We also have an advent wreath and we light the candles every Sunday leading up to Christmas. We read a scripture that goes along with the candle and this year we sang a verse from a carol that went along with the candle.

Several years ago I purchased the book "Jotham's Journey: A Storybook for Advent" by Arnold Ytreeide. Unfortunately my 3 kids were too old for the story and we didn't even finish it. So I pulled it out this year for the youngest 2. It was a big hit and something we looked forward to each night. The story was a little intense for Gaelle so there were nights I heavily edited the story as I read.

At the end of every reading there is a brief reflection section. We usually read this and took a few minutes to discuss it. I was just hit so many times with the very issues Peter and Gaelle deal with as children who have experienced loss.

The first week we hit on the topic of fear. Jotham is in a scary situation and he calls out to God. God answers with "I will help you." A wonderful promise of the hope we find in Jesus and the message is not just for kids from hard places, but for all of us.

Family heritage is important to the Jews of Jesus' day and it's something that Peter and Gaelle will have to deal with their entire lives; their lack of knowledge of their biological heritage. The book repeatedly mentioned heritage and the pride and honour that comes from our family. Christmas is a time when we reflect on the past and all of our memories from the past and it's a time to celebrate family. It was a sharp reminder once again of all that Peter and Gaelle have lost. They are a part of our family, but they can't contribute to our Christmas memories.... not this year.

But "Jotham's Jouney" reminded us that as Christians, we have a rich heritage. We belong to the King of Kings. As Peter and Gaelle struggle to find their place in our family and in their world, I pray they remember the truth in our advent story. I pray that all of my children freely share in the riches of God's kingdom, even though there is an evil one who would like to sell us into slavery, full of doubt and lonliness and isolation.

I could go on and on with the powerful truths in this children's advent book, but I'll end with a verse from Isaiah 55:8-9 that I've been dwelling on during this past month.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

It's all about trust. Do my children trust me? Do I trust God?

This past year has been full of ups and downs.

Full of joy and tears.

I know that God has a perfect plan for our family and my goal this year is to completely trust God with my family even if it's not my way.

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-27T17:30:00.004-04:00

For the past 4 Christmases, I've wondered and thought about this moment; 1 or 2 more stockings. In October 2007, we found out it would be 2 stockings. Every year I've held off making them wondering if this would be the year.

And 2010 was the year!!! 2 more stockings to add to our stairway. Yeah!!!!

For the past 8 years (I think) we've made gingerbread houses with a mold. Some years, we just decorate our own. Some years, we make kits for friends with kids. And some years, we host gingerbread house decorating parites.

This year I just made 2 houses and Emily and Kaylin helped Peter and Gaelle decorate them.

Of course, they didn't need much help. A little icing, a little candy, and a lot of creativity.

December Recaps

2010-12-27T14:09:00.004-04:00

This past Christmas is the first time I've worked outside the home full time and it's also the first time we've had 5 kids for Christmas. So... some things just didn't get done this year. But here is a quick recap of some of our moments.

Peter was the first one to have his school Christmas concert. We don't always clue in to the stress these things have on the kids. So we were a little surprised at his reaction. He looks terrified up on stage. It didn't look as if he was having fun at all. But to be quite honest, his whole class seemed a little out of it. Nobody looked like they were having fun.

Next up was Gaelle. Needless to say, I was the nervous one this time because I didn't know what she would do up on stage. But she opened her mouth and made an atempt to sing, even though she didn't know half the words. Notice the 3 boys standing next to her. They're holding hands. Gaelle explained, "That's because Cole runs away." Problem solved.

The 3rd and final Christmas concert was our church musical. We kept Gaelle out of it this year, but expect her to be front and center next year. Peter had a speaking part and played Tommy the shopkeeper. We prepped him a little more for his nervous feelings and what that looks like. Good thing, because he was pretty rigid.

But as they always do, the play went off without a hitch and it was really kind of cute.

Only 4 of the kids were here to decorate the Christmas tree. Our tree is totally home made with all kinds of ornaments the kids have made throughout the years. So full of memories. So first thing in December we took Peter and Gaelle out to the store to choose their own ornament. They've been hanging in our living room ever since and they were the first ornaments on the tree.

It really is fun to see all of the old Christmas decorations and remember how they came to be. Like the giant scallop shell that Josh painted in St. Andrews.

Or the pom-poms that Kaylin decorated completely on her own... which always go on the tree. Unfortunately, Peter and Gaelle didn't come home with any school made Christmas tree ornaments. But we have another week off of school to remedy that.

Gaelle has had a pretty good attitude for most of the month. But there have been times when her angry face comes out. Today I asked her why she was talking like that. And she said, "Angry? Because it's fun!"

A new activity this year was community caroling. We met in a community park and just sang Christmas carols and songs to the group gathered. Our 2 oldest children were in a mood... a silly mood... and I thought we were going to get kicked out.

Peter was especially concerned and kept saying, "Guys... stop it. Please!!! What are you singing?"

But would they stop it? No... like all good older brothers and sisters, that just egged them on more. We did have fun tho. A lot of laughter, a lot of hot chocolate, and a lot of close calls with candles. Fun all around.

A new smile

2010-12-06T21:42:00.001-04:00

Carol, here's another picture with a great big smile and TWO missing teeth.

Sledge hockey

2010-12-06T21:31:00.002-04:00

There's a young man in our church who has to be the number 1 hockey fan. And that's saying something in Canada. He knows the local high school players and also has his favorite NHL team. He also has a physical disability but that doesn't stop him from playing his favorite sport. He plays sledge hockey.

Last Sunday we headed out to watch him play. There aren't enough players in our area to have a league with official games, so they just play pick up style games. Emily was interested because it's such great exercise and it really shows how much people with disabilities are capable of doing. It was amazing. A great family outing.

Lost tooth

2010-11-23T21:52:00.002-04:00

Actually the tooth is not lost at all. We know exactly where it is. This is the first tooth Gaelle has "lost". It's been loose for a little while and tonight she could not go to sleep because she kept wiggling it. I didn't think it was close to coming out because it was not hanging by a minute thread... but apparently Gaelle thought it was ready to come out.

She called down the stairs, "Mom... my tooth." I ignored her, so she called out to Emily who has been prepping her with what to do once the tooth comes out. We all headed upstairs and sure enough, the tooth was in her hand and not her mouth.

Short & Sweet

2010-11-23T21:29:00.003-04:00

Sunday night we all bundled up in our winter gear and took the kids to a Christmas parade. It wasn't too cold but it was cold enough. We had our hot chocolate so it was all good. Some things were lost in translation; like greyhound dogs, boy scouts,
little girls twirling batons, and the mini fire engine.

Gaelle was just full of excitement. She kept asking for Santa. She would throw her arms out and say, "Where is Santa?" And Peter wanted to know how we knew that Santa would be at the end. Anyway, the parade was nice and short. Just the way I like a parade.

Santa Talk

2010-11-15T21:41:00.002-04:00

When Josh, Emily, and Kaylin were little, Santa wasn't a part of our Christmas celebrations. When Josh was 3 somebody asked him what Santa was going to bring him for Christmas and he just looked at me... totally confused. What? Santa brings presents?

Fast forward to 2 more little kids in the house and I'm afraid Robin's inner child is coming out. Peter and Gaelle were at the mall this weekend and were thrilled with all of the Christmas decorations including the big chair Santa sits in. So tonight they told Robin they were getting their picture taken with Santa.

Then Peter asked Robin, "Are you going to be Santa? Are you going to drink the milk and eat the cookies?"

Gaelle looked a little concerned. So Robin said to Gaelle, "Where does Santa live?"

Gaelle meekly said, "North Pole?"

Robin said, "Where do I live?"

She said, "Here."

So Robin throws out his arms and said, "Welllll....." as if he couldn't possibly be Santa.

Her whole spirit transformed as if the light suddenly came on. She joyously shouted out, "See Peter!"

Of course Peter wouldn't give up, but Gaelle was satisfied and Robin walked away with a little grin.

No question day!!!!

2010-11-14T09:27:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning and the first thing out of Peter's mouth was,"How come Emily isn't here?"

And I lost it a bit. So I declared today a: NO QUESTION DAY!!!

Robin and Emily are in Yarmouth visiting Robin's mom. For various reasons, the rest of us didn't go. Work...school project...birthday party...etc. And yesterday it was really starting to get to me how much the kids ask and

1) They really don't need to know the answer because it's
a) over their head.
b) just not important.

2) They already know the answer.

3) It's a statement couched in a question.

4) It's a way of engaging the adults around them and distracting the adults around them from another conversation they are currently engaged in.

This mom over at "The Least Complicated" has a great idea using tickets. She gives out so many tickets each day and if the child wants to ask a question, he has to hand over a ticket. When the tickets are gone, no more questions for the day.

"Beth, what's the big deal? Just chill out! How else are they going to learn?"

It is just all so draining and just a way to exert control and to show that they don't trust us to take care of them. And did I mention how draining it is?

So, today is NO QUESTION DAY. Maybe tomorrow I'll break out the tickets.

Nothing better than a big sister

2010-11-13T09:54:00.004-04:00

There are 2 big sisters in this family, and both of them have been AMAZING since Robin has gone back to work. They are both willing to pitch in with Peter and Gaëlle and I don't think we could manage without them. We really haven't noticed a change in behavior with Robin going back to work and I know Emily and Kaylin have a lot to do with that.

This week there was a hockey game betweeen the RCMP team and Sackville High School so Robin took Peter and Kaylin and her friends came along. Peter and Robin did their best not to embarress the teen girls with their hooting and hollering.

Nothing better than a snuggle and popcorn while watching a movie.

Remembrance Day

2010-11-13T09:41:00.002-04:00

I think I come from a fairly patriotic American family but when I moved to Canada I noticed a huge difference between the observation of Veterans Day versus the observation of Remembrance Day. There's just something BIG about the way Atlantic Canadians celebrate Remembrance Day. The veterans distribute poppies and almost everybody makes a donation and wears a poppy. Almost every community we've lived in has also had excellent turnout for their Remembrance Day ceremonies. We make sure we attend and have only missed one that I can remember. Robin often participates in his uniform. This year he chose to go into Halifax and he volunteered to stand at the Nova Scotia Fallen Peace Officers Monument at the Grand Parade.

I warned the kids ahead of time that it would be long and we probably wouldn't be able to see much and we might not hear anything. But this was a sign of respect for all the men and women who serve in the military. It was long for them, but at least we could hear. And when Gaëlle broke out, all by herself, with a rousing song of "Oh Canada", she had our section of crowd in laughter.

Mommy's little helper

2010-11-13T09:31:00.002-04:00

Gaëlle loves loves loves to help out with household chores. She doesn't see them as work at all, but FUN FUN FUN. These are just a few of the pictures from this past week alone. I recently discovered that she can actually peel vegetables. As long as I give her enough time, she's perfectly content to stand at the counter and peel away. And she does a great job!!! We don't need toys when we have a vegetable peeler.

I've mentioned before that Gaëlle loves anything to do with water. Cleaning the bathtub involves water. And a brush. What's not to love? I do the bathrooms on Saturdays and Gaëlle is right there always ready to help. I'm sure I don't need to add this, but she does a great job.

A little snuggle

2010-11-06T10:49:00.002-03:00

Last night we had heavy wind and some rain. At times, the sound was quite intense. When Gaëlle went to bed she was expressing a little fear. So we made a bed out of blankets by the side of our bed and told her that if she woke up, she could come to our room. Sure enough at midnight she dragged her pillow to our room and laid down. At 12:30 she asked if it was time to wake up. Surprisingly we didn't hear another peep from her until 7:30 this morning.

Now she is reading and snuggling with one of her dolls and some stuffed animals. It's great to see her provide comfort and love to her toys. So cute.