What's new?

BOO! Life is zooming right along in the Klassen clan. Just realized that I still have not posted our Halloween photos, AND I have neglected to add that I am now a Great Auntie! Thought I'd suprise you by posting an update before the snow flies -- oops a little late, as we've got TONS of snow already!

This fall brought the Klassen clan our way as we enjoyed a rare visit from the King's Washington Aunt and Uncle. Thanksgiving weekend we headed to KW (for Thanksgiving AND the Oktoberfest parade).

Our the gang all headed out on our traditional Halloween adventures. First we headed to Burnhams to pick apples and visit the pumpkin patch. A few days later, we carved our pumpkins. You know how dogs sometimes look like their owners? Well for some reason this year, our pumpkins are looking a little like our kids. Check them out!

On all Hallows eve, we headed down to our friendly bonecracker's office for a party with our friends. This is the 4th year that all of our families have done Halloween together, and it's become a tradition for those of us who live in areas where there is too much greenspace between driveways!

Doc Woodland is always good to the kids, providing lots of spooky highjinxs while they wait for darkness to fall. Baby Blue Eyes wasn't so sure when Doc put the Grim Reaper mask on, but he didn't let that scare him away from collecting all the loot he could carry!

So . . . Baby Blue Eyes was a firefighter. Froggie Princess . . .yup, a FROG. And Dino Princess . . . you got it, A DINO. Nothing too suprising here! Once again, loads of loot for all.

As we said goodbye to October, we seemed to also say goodbye to the warm weather. Just a month ago it was 15C and we were trick or treating in balmy warm weather. November has meant an arrival of the white stuff. Yes folks, snow! It's funny though how the weather can be so drastically different a stone's throw away. Currently, 10km south of us, Cobourg has ZERO snow. Folks in town don't believe us when we say that our kids built a cool snow fort this afternoon.

November also brought the early arrival of our Great Niece! She came 3.5 weeks early, but healthy and strong. We've decided to nickname her Little Bit, because her birthweight was 5lbs 14oz. Those who are able to recall, will remember that Baby Blue Eyes weighed exactly twice that size at birth, topping the scales at 10lbs 3oz. Hmmmm. . .maybe if he'd been that small I'd have thought of doing it again.

Speaking of doing it again, what is it about the third kid?? I swear that third children were put on this earth to act as birth control. Thankfully I don't need it, but let me put it to you this way! I distinctly recall that with the Dino Princess, I didn't believe people when they talked about the terrible two's. I thought I was the the perfect mother with the perfect child.

I'm telling you that I now understand. With the first-born I had more energy to deal with the trying behaviour. There was more gas in the can to practice the three D's of Diversion, Distraction and Discipline.

Then . . .
- The odds of 1 kid:2 parents were more favorable.
- I could ignore the higher pitch associated with whining.
- Toys weren't buried in every corner like a minefield.
- I only did 3 loads of laundry per week.
- There were no other kids to negatively influence my precious munchkin.

vs Now . . .
- I'm split so many different ways that I'm like a vase that's been broken and reglued so many times that my cracks are turning into wrinkles.
- Where I used to like loud music, the sound of three voices talking all at the same time make me start to vibrate in a sensory overload.
- I'm giggling as my WONDERFUL cleaning lady (who over the past four years has come to understand the chaos and has become a member of our family) and I clear the minefield of toys in preparation for handing down to Little Bit.
- My washing machine doesn't get a day off EVER.
- My own kids influence each other. (Yesterday I told Baby Blue Eyes that it was bedtime. He screamed "no". I said "yes". He said, "I'm telling on you!" -- Hmmm. . . could you please??)

And despite the whining . . . I'm also VERY much enjoying life with them all. Much as a Little Bit tugs at my useless uterus, I am so thrilled to be moving onto the Big Kid stuff. For example . . . last weekend we took a trip to KW to visit with my dad and the rest of my family. On Saturday, we were visiting Uncle Bry's place when the kids decided to go tobogganing. Dino Princess ADORES her cousin Vennie and he was kind enough to allow her to borrow his new snowboard to race down the hill. It didn't suprise me when they came back from the hill and I heard that she made it all the way to the bottom - still standing. What did suprise me was that so did Frog Princess and Baby Blue Eyes! YIKES - guess we ARE going to start Ski lessons this winter.

We also took in the Dino Exhibit at the Children's Museum in Kitchener. How much fun was that! Watching all three of them having fun at the same activity (no diaper bag in tow) is so cool.

I've included a picture of all the kids with the biggest kid of them all - my dad! It was great to spend the weekend with him. He's been battling Lymphoma for the past several months, but has been on a chemo-break for a month and has just started to regain his energy. He was able to have lots of fun with the kids this weekend, and they with him. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers, as he began another round of chemo this week.

And that pretty much brings us up to date. Here we are less than a month away from Daddy's, Jesus' and Dino Princess' birthday's. Lots to celebrate and cherish. I'm looking forward to all the traditions that this season holds. So are the kids. Dino Princess is begging to get our Christmas tree this weekend, but we're hoping that putting up the outside lights, and getting the tarp on the rink will hold them off for one more week.

The light at the end of the tunnel

This morning I had a series of great revelations I thought I'd share with you.

It was so spectacular that I had to think long and hard about how long it's been since I experienced this level of satisfaction, bliss and complete independance. Then it came to me - it's been over 5 years!

So I'll set the scenario. Baby Blue Eyes and Frog Princess started swimming lessons this morning, which we haven't done since last spring. We all piled into the van and headed over to the pool. It's a big day, because today marked Baby Blue Eyes' first "parent-less" lesson. My first revelation came when I realized that I've finally surpassed the milestone where I no longer have to put on a bathingsuit and get wet. Not that I didn't enjoy those days (because I truly loved being with them in the pool) - but I really enjoyed being warm and dry, while sitting up in the "parent room" watching my kids do amazing things in the pool. The second revelation came as I watched all the "baby class" moms after class in the changeroom. They were either trying to juggle a slippery, cold, hungry, peeved baby and their own dry clothes, or they were trying to find a way to stay warm in a wet bathingsuit while they dressed their baby. Revelation . . . I don't have to be wet and freezing while I get them dressed anymore -- Wahoo! An even bigger WAHOO when I realize that even my own "baby" can dress himself now and all I have to do is supervise! Holy smokes - life is grand.

The third revelation came when I realized as we left that I no longer tote a diaper bag. It just hit me as we were walking out -- FREEDOM!

I guess I am so excited because I never really realized just how exhausted I used to be by the end of swimming lesson morning, until today. Don't get me wrong, I loved taking them swimming - but last year I had three dripping kids under five. I was feeling pretty insane most Monday mornings, and this was definately the first Monday morning that I didn't come home feeling like I needed a nap!

Silence is golden

It's been pretty quiet over here on the blog these days, but don't let our silence fool you into thinking that life here has been anything but quiet! Nope, it's been pretty golden (if you could measure busy-ness and fun-factor in gold).

Sigh . . . summer came and went with merely the blink of an eye. I thought at different times that we'd moved to Vancouver, given all the rain that we experienced this year. YIKES - we're still cutting our lawn (which is normally brown and burnt by August). But despite the rain, we still managed to fit lots of stuff in.

Back in May I decided that by the time the kids were back in pants come September, that BabyBlueEyes would be potty trained. Did I mention that I HATE POTTY TRAINING? Honestly, it's the only job I've come across as a mom so far that I can truthfully say, I dread. But, I'm 5 years into diapers now and finally on the last kid. My motivation for finding something else to spend that money on is high. I kept looking for the perfect moment to start this summer. It finally came at the end of August when I realized that I was going to fail at my plan if I never started it.

I've been told that boys are harder, but I'd say that it's just different. Each of our three have had their own hangups, and Baby Blue Eyes is not without his own. The pee thing came fine, but he didn't want to poop on the potty. He'd hold it for days on end, make about 400 trips to the bathroom, sit on the toilet and then immediately get off. "Nope don't have to go". By the third or fourth day, he'd be so desperate that he'll get off and then get right back about 100 times until he would finally go during one of the "on" moments. During that last day, we'd have to go sans undies and pants, or risk a pile of pooh in them.

Well I hate to jinx it, but I think that three days ago he finally GOT it. Hurrah! Bells chiming, angels singing and the poop fairy has arrived! He was so excited two days ago that he had to call his favorite uncle in the world to tell him of his accomplishment. Funny thing is that uncle's got a business in poop -- he's a septic guy! Good thing Uncle John is a great sport and even hangs out under a truck, on gravel, covered in grease while it's raining to hear the news. You're the best poop king uncle!

June brought the Frog Princess's birthday and the end of school for the Klassen clan. I can't believe that my gal is FOUR and that she's in JK already. While a ton of stuff has happened in the past three and a half years, it sometimes seems like just yesterday that the Dino Princess was feeding cheerios to her sister in her walker! Frog Princess is doing amazing at school and was one of the rare jewels in Mrs. Elliott's class that didn't cry and beg to be taken home for the first few weeks. She loves her teacher, her friends and her school. What an amazing kid!

July and August were filled with hmmm. . . lots of stuff? The King and I celebrated our 8th anniversary by heading to Tremblant with Auntie Heather and the infamous Uncle Poop King for a four day golfing hiatus. WOW that was fun. Thanks to Linda and Sydney for moving into the Klassen abode for the duration - making it a fun holiday for the chicklets as well! We totally appreciated a relaxing holiday, while the kids enjoyed the new rules of the house while Linda was the Queen. I think we all had fun.

Dino and Frog Princess both played soccer and continued Tae Kwon Do throughout the summer. Soccer was interesting again this year, with intermittent enthusiasm on the girls part and WILD enthusiasm on Baby Blue Eyes' -- who unfortunately wasn't old enough to play (but will be TWO years older next year (wink wink - if ya know what I mean). In the end, TKD was the biggest thrill and they both were successful in getting their yellow stripes on their white belts. We celebrated by going out for dinner!

The kids did a few camps this summer and Baby Blue Eyes had his first taste of Nursery School camp as well. Much like his sister before him, he's an eager beaver when it comes to "school" and so the transistion went perfectly.

Dino Princess was thrilled to be with her friends at camp over the several weeks she attended, but the highlight of her summer was a trip to the ROM's dino exhibit with just her and mom. It was fun to watch her run from skeleton to skeleton -- debating about which bones were real and which one's were fake, which dino came first, which dino had the biggest crest/teeth/tail/feet/mouth, etc. I learned a lot about Dinosaurs that day, but my favorite moment was in the kid's section where they had a Maiasaura skeleton buried in sand for the kids to excavate. Dino Princess immediately decided to get to work. One of the leaders came over to ask if she had any questions. Dino Princess asked if the bones were real. The leader went into a long explanation about them being casts of a real skeleton. To which Dino Princess responded, "So you're telling me they are fakes". No bones about it - she's a to the point kinda gal! :)


We made a few trips over the summer to Auntie Heather and Uncle Poop King's beautiful home on the lake. Baby Blue Eyes sure loved taking trips on the "slow" (pontoon) boat, and came to really enjoy the "fast" boat too. After about the 10th time around the lake, we (the 'rents) decided to show our kids what boating is really all about and hauled out the canoe. Baby Blue Eyes wasn't so keen (he wanted to go for another spin on the fast boat), but the King and I prevailed. Uncle Poop King is the greatest. He saw the kids kneeling on the bottom of that canoe and thought they should have some padding, so he put three extra life jackets in the boat for them to kneel on. Baby Blue Eyes decided he wanted a paddle, so Uncle PK gave him the mini-paddle to use. Being always aware of safety, Uncle PK also threw in the safety kit with flares, first aid, etc. Then the kids decided that they needed a snack -- so I gave them each an apple. All set with lifejackets, crocs, sunglasses and hats, we were finally off. The King and I began paddling our crew through the still waters of Williams Lake on probably the most memorable boating experience we'll ever have. About 200 feet from the dock, Baby Blue Eyes sees the fast boat and tries to stand up in the canoe to loudly remind us that he really wanted to go on the fast boat. Dino Princess thinks the rocking sensation is cool and starts to giggle. Frog Princess joins in and before we know it -- the canoe is upside down and we are in the water. The King pops up and turns the canoe over. Dino Princess pops up, calmly swims to the canoe and hops back in the semi-submerged boat. Frog Princess panicks at first, but then realizes that life jackets help you float and proceeds to follow Dino Princess. Baby Blue Eyes pops up HOLLERING, "I TOLD YOU I WANTED TO GO IN THE FAST BOAT"! The King and I laugh and begin to collect the crapload of gear that also got dumped (ya know, the extra lifejackets, crocs, paddles & safety kit), except the apples that miraculously never left the hands of the Princesses. Uncle PK of course is calmly standing on the side of the shoreline - noting that everyone is safe and all is under control. UNTIL the semi-submerged canoe starts to sink! Then he dives in (clothes and all) to save it. We are still laughing about our first family canoe trip. Just glad that we didn't have the camera on board to capture the moment! :)

August also brought Dino Princess's 5th GOTCHA day anniversary. We celebrated with a good bunch of her ZZ sisters at our place this year. It was lots of fun to see how much each of the girls is growing up. The gals and their pals swam, ran, jumped, painted and had fun while the adults enjoyed catching up with each other. Happy Gotcha Day Dino Princess! Hard to believe that 5 years ago you were a little toothless goof who was determined to climb and walk. The climbing thing hasn't changed!

September brought about a bundle of changes in our household. Dino Princess started Grade 1, which went amazingly well considering I thought she'd have a tougher time with the every day thing. Frog Princess, as we mentioned before, loves Junior Kindergarten and only wishes it could be every day. Baby Blue Eyes is off to Nursery School on his own now and is relishing the fact that he has his "own" friends.

I started a new contract and went back to the business of selling (legal) drugs to veterinarians. Truthfully, I love my organizing business but was finding it tough to do all the networking and other business stuff that I had to do while managing a party of five at the same time. The new job is only for a year, but it will give me a chance to hang out with a great team of colleagues, catch up on the business and not have to do all the "extra" business activities that I've been juggling (rather poorly). I'm looking forward to this year! The only downside of this new contract is that the King is somewhat disappointed that he's lost his trusty sidekick. Since April I've been working as his assistant during my spare (Ha ha) time.

Two weekends ago, we made our annual visit to the Chinese Lantern Festival with the kids. Despite the Gardiner Expressway being closed and the kids having to pee into containers during our 90 minute detour down the Lakeshore, we arrived to a spectacular show. This event is always a highlight of our summer and we all really enjoy this tradition (that includes chocolate/peanutbutter ice cream from Baskin Robbins). Dino Princess was overjoyed to see a huge animated dino exhibit this year and we had to take pictures of EVERY dino. Since there wasn't a really big panda exhibit this year (our tradition holds that we always take a photo of them infront of the pandas), we decided the dinos would suffice.

Last weekend we took advantage of a PA day on Friday to head to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls. We'd intended to go to Marineland this summer, but every time we planned it there was rain in the forecast. So we decided to head down for a weekend and do the GWL at the same time. Baby Blue Eyes probably suprised us the most that weekend. He's growing up fast and had decided that the bigger slides were on his agenda. Dino Princess was thrilled to discover that she was finally big enough to "legally" ride the tube slides and took off with the King. Frog Princess (who's not so much into the scarey and fast), was thrilled to discover that one of her best friends from school was there and hung out with him on the lazy river. All in all, we had a great time.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Marineland and took in the whale show, the feeding of the Belugas (which the girls were thrilled with) and a few other things. We headed back there on Sunday to finish the park with the rides and dolphin show. Dino Princess was big enough to go on all the family rides herself, but Baby Blue Eyes and Frog Princess were in need of parental accompaniment. Not being so fond of the spinny rides, the King and I were a bit chagrinned - but what the heck! I'm not so sure that Baby Blue Eyes realized what he was in for on some of the rides, but there was only one that he came off of and said "I DO NOT LIKE THAT RIDE". Honestly I was glad that only the King had to accompany him on it because I think the bumblebee ride had already done me in.

SO . . . that was our golden summer. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Cheers,
The Queen

Where did May go?

Whoa are we overdue for a posting. Well folks, don't get your hopes up too high. Between running a WalkAThon and BBQ's for Naomi's school, all the Klassen girls starting soccer, Joel starting baseball, the end of the school year and working for Joel - I'm suckered for time to write these days. But we haven't been lazing around, we've had lots on the go lately. . .

Recently we welcomed a new little cousin (once removed???) as my cousin Kelly gave birth to Carter. On the way up to OwenSound, we decided to stop and meet the little guy. Here are the girls giving him a welcome snuggle.

Naomi and Lilah started soccer last week, both on the same night. However a small wrench has been thrown into the mix due to the fact that Naomi is playing in the under 6 division, while Lilah is a U4 - meaning they play at the same time but on different fields. No big deal in a two parent house, but Joel also has baseball on Monday nights. This could be an interesting season!

Naomi reaquainted herself with the position of "Chief Daisy Picker" quite quickly during her first game. Lilah on the other hand seems to have finally found her niche. Her first play was to steal the ball (from her teammate), run it down the field and score. Then she turned around and did it again! We were a little excited and Lilah got so much attention for a few minutes that a little competitive streak came out in Naomi. Suddenly she demonstrated that she actually does understand the game! I've never seen her try so hard to get a goal in her life. Hmmm . . . note to self . . . parenting strategy . . . competition.

We've also been to the Quemby's a couple of times in the past month as their pond is full of tadpoles and frogs. Between losing boots in the mud that sucks you in and diving for frogs, you'd think I'd have time to capture a few photos - but I forgot the camera. Conveniently though, I found a large toad in our basement window-well this afternoon. Naomi quickly made friends with the little prince Charming, so I did manage to snap a few shots!

Last weekend marked our last Mandarin Group get-together for this year, and we hosted the year end bash. Our teacher Luxia adores the kids and has been very patient with all of us over the past few months, as we try to learn a teensy bit of Mandarin and Chinese culture. Personally I'm going to miss the wonderful cooking that she does! I did manage to snap a group shot of the girls and Luxia on Saturday! I'm not sure if you can tell, but all the girls are giggling and grinning. I think that the best part of this get-together is seeing the bond that has formed with this little group. Not only are they best of friends, but they are a hoot to watch!




Our neighbour's son spends a lot of time here, to the point where the kids all act like he's their brother. When I snapped this photo of him and Myles, I was amazed to notice just how much they even look similar! Anyhow, they are just plain CUTE!

Lil Dragon's

Two weeks ago we coerced the girls to try Tae Kwon Do. At first, they were not all that keen on trying something new (read: stopping whatever fun thing they were doing in favor of organized sport).

Now anyone who knows the Klassen gals, knows that they are dragon/dinosaur loving kids (unlike the rest of the 3-5 yr female crew they hang out with). So when we arrived at TKD, they became quite enthused about the sport. You see . . . the program they are registered in is called "Lil Dragons" and their uniforms come complete with a big bright dragon on the back (as well as a smaller one on the front). Those girls could not wait to get their clothes off and that uniform on!




Next they were informed that their first step to getting a white belt was to memorize the Lil' Dragon's Pledge. "I swear, as a Lil' Dragon, I will never play with matches or a lighter. So help me God".

A week later, (after a long discussion about swearing, lighters and taking God' name in vain) we all know the Lil' Dragon pledge by heart and the girls have their white belts.

Myles is really keen on the pledge and recites it to everyone he encounters (with an emphasized SO HELP ME GOD). After about four rounds of the pledge with a friend of ours yesterday, he informed them, "I want to be a Lil' Dragon, but I just go shopping with my Dad". Since he's the same size as Lilah, I wonder if he could pass for a 3 year old?? Hmm. . .

The holiday from Hell

Many of you already have heard our holiday from hell story, so if you'd like to skip the message and just see the petrefied bangs, head down to the photo section. Otherwise, read on to hear about our family vacation in March.

Our kids had been counting the days to our Florida trip for over a month when we packed them all up in the van and started our journey on my birthday (Thursday March 6th). To me, it was the perfect way to spend my birthday - driving to Florida and escaping the record setting snowfall that we've had this year. Perfect timing actually, because a day later Ontario was dumped with more snow! Our neighbour sent us a few photos of our house (where the snow was 2/3 of the way up our patio doors and the mailbox had disappeared under the snow).

We drove Thursday to Saturday, and had a gloriously smooth ride with kids happy and great to travel with (thanks to two portable DVD players and a GPS that helped us quickly find hotels when the kids were starting to become less tolerant). I was VERY impressed with how well all three of them did on such a long trip (much different than last year's journey).

Saturday, we arrived in Spring Hill to frigid temperatures (58F) and bone-chilling wind. The huge storm that slammed Ontario the two days previous, had hit Florida with cold weather, heavy rains and wind. But it was sunny and there was no snow - so we were still relatively happy. We rented a 5 bedroom house with our friends Darryn, Janet, Leevi and Simon this year. Last year we travelled with them to Joel's parent's timeshare and had a fantastic time.

Sunday we spend day waiting for pool to heat up. All the rain and cold weather had caused the pool at our rental house to overflow, and it was only about 60F when we arrived. However by the end of the afternoon on Sunday, the water had warmed up to "almost" 80F and the kids were in the pool. We enjoyed relaxing, and then Janet and I headed out to TARGET for some of the more serious side of the trip -- shopping. During our little outing, Naomi, Simon, Leevi and Lilah all got ahold of sissors and gave themselves haircuts. Naomi now has "petrified" bangs (after previously having none), Lilah is a little less brave and manages to take a slightly less noticable chunk out of the middle of her head. Simon and Leevi's mom wasn't so happy. We made a notation to never leave kids alone again with scissors when dads are parenting solo.

Monday we enjoyed a day at Tampa Lowrey Park Zoo. This was a fantastic outing and a must see if you are travelling to Florida and not doing Disney. Nicer than Toronto Zoo, it was VERY interactive and the kids really enjoyed being able to walk the entire distance (not huge). We took a skytram through the park near the end and got a bird's eye view of the zoo and the animals. This was fun -- except Myles trips TWICE, tearing most of the skin off his knees.

Tuesday, all hell broke loose. Joel and I decided to take a "couples day" and left the kids in the care of the Shutt's to go golfing. On the way, we got a teensy bit lost (GPS directed us to turn left onto a footpath through the woods). As we drive around trying to find the entrance to the golf course, Joel calmly announces, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I'm having a heart attack (while driving)". I look over at him (thinking this was a sick joke), only to discover that it wasn't and that he is gray, sweating and clutching his chest. "HOLY CRAP, YOUR HAVING A HEART ATTACK! PULL OVER!".

The Klassen side of the family has a few shortcomings in their gene pool when it comes to heart disease in men. He apparently inherited them. Long story short, Joel ends up in hospital for the next 3 days after having angioplasty and a stint. He's now OK, but it was hell as the kids and I struggled to cope.

Friday is Joel's first day of freedom and it's pouring rain. We decide to make the best of it and head to Homossassa springs to check out some manatees. He nearly passes out after having a reaction to meds.

We were supposed to leave Florida on Saturday, but it was apparent that he couldn't travel. Fortunately, Joel's parents were heading to Kissimmee that day for their own holiday in their timeshare. We said goodbye to the Shutts and drove 2 hours to Kissimmee. Fortunately the weather was warmer that week and Joel's parents were quite helpful as we all tried to enjoy some time together. All told, we bunked in with them for 3 days until the side effects become more manageable.

Arrive home Thursday (two weeks after leaving), exhausted and in need of a vacation!

So . . . that was the holiday from hell. On a side note, Florida is an incredible place to have a heart attack! Joel was treated VERY quickly and as a result had minimal damage to his heart. The care was excellent, both in the ambulance and at the hospital. If you're ever going to have a heart attack, get some insurance and head to FL. While Joel has had to put away the superman cape since we have come home, he is definately gaining strength daily and we all are slowly recovering!

Enjoy the photos!

Bad Luck happens in 3's?

I've always been a glass is half full kind of gal, but this past 6 weeks is really trying my patience. Seems like there is one catastrophe after another around here these days.

First it was a washcloth that got jammed into the pump of the washing machine. It took the repair man exactly 27 minutes (that included the time to prepare the bill) to charge me $180.

Then we awoke several mornings to find our house a frigid 59F. Yup - that's cold folks! Called the furnace man only to find out that we've got serious problems and that in all likelyhood, we should replace our furnace and some of the main ductwork to boot. Our house is only 7 years old! YIKES.

Next I had a wiper blade come flying off my van in the middle of a snow storm. Had to go back and search through the snow to find the darn thing in a snowbank. Took that back and got a new one, only to have it fall off three days later in the middle of a rainstorm, while passing a transport on the 401, at 10pm. Needless to say, I didn't go back to retrieve that one and I didn't replace it with the same model. (don't buy Canadian Tire Reflex wipers)

I pulled over to take the wiper blade off the back of the van so that I could at least drive home, and somehow managed to loosen a few wires on the arm. When I put the blade back on, I discovered that the wiper no longer worked, which required another service call and $150.

The next day, Joel removed the remaining wiper blade off my van so that he could return it and inform Canadian Tire of the defect in their wiper blades. He returned with new wipers, but the wrong adaptors to fit them onto the arm. So when the neighbour lady called to ask for a ride to the hospital (she had a "chopping wood" type accident that was gruesome), I had to drive my wiperless van to another neighbours to borrow a car to drive the first neighbour into town. Oh, and by the time we finished at the hospital - a snow storm had started.


Next StarChoice Satellite TV called to ask for our business back (from Bell Expressvu) with a SWEET deal. The deal turned sour when the first installer spent three hours wandering in and out of our house mumbling something about the wiring and needing a $99 multi-switch (which he did not have). A resulting 90 minute call to order said switch results in a discovery that the switch won't even work and the installer was just being lazy (he'd already left). The second installer arrived 10 days later to "fix" the job of the first, drove me insane with complaining about this, that and the other part of his job, and then told me that he intended to drill big holes through drywall and didn't bring a fish with him to feed the wires. I kicked him out. Then I spent 2 hours on the phone with Bell - pleading for my satellite back. Then I spent 2 days on the phone with StarChoice getting them to eliminate the $200 deactivation fee (because I had half of our TV's working, they considered the install as success) and reverse the requirement for 30 days notice. In the end I was successful, but probably at the cost of losing years off my life.

Sigh . . . my internet Satellite dish developed "issues". Four days on the phone with Technical Services and diagnosis was that the dish needed to be repointed. Finally a service guy arrived (who was AMAZING). While he did an amazing job of fixing my satellite dish, he managed to also bring bad news. The less expensive and faster "wireless" internet access which was scheduled to arrive in our area last September is no longer coming - at all. I signed a 2 year contract with this company based on this service arriving. Now I'm stuck.

The rear wiper blade on the back of my van quit again 2 weeks after the "fixing" of the lines. I'm taking it in today.

Babysitter sold her house and will not be available after April (though I am thrilled for them, sucks for me).

I think I'll stop here. On a glass half full note - kids are good, we're doing fine and the whole family is headed to Florida in 2 days. If we are all still speaking to each other after 2.5 days of driving, we are looking forward to some fun in the sun. And I'm hoping that a change in venue will allow us to reverse our bad luck by the time we return home. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket before we leave!

A New Year's Tale from Chenzhou

Hi Folks,
A few days ago I posted about the 100 year storm in China and how profoundly affected Lilah's hometown was. Good news -- relief efforts have arrived from Half the Sky and the children are in a much better situation.

To read a very moving account of the relief effort, follow the link below. It is written by Jenny Bowen's husband Richard (she is the director of Half the Sky)

http://www.halfthesky.org/work/chenzhoustory1.php

Thank you to anyone who made a donation!
Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year)!

Karen

WHAT?? There's a BARBIE getting action in OUR house??

Yesterday Lilah came home from nursery school and I asked her what she did.

"Played with my friend Lachlin", was her reply.

"What did you play?", I asked.

"Well, Lachlin played with the Barbies and I played with Dora", said Lilah.

It was an interesting conversation on two levels. First, Naomi and Lilah profoundly state the fact that they DO NOT LIKE DORA. Secondly, we have a handful of dolls collecting dust around here (some that I painstakingly sought out before we adopted, back when I imagined playing dolls with my daughters).

In fact, each time we went to China, I purchased several Chinese Barbies to put away for later. I was just thinking the other day that they were a colossal waste of money since the girls would rather play with Dinosaurs and Pet Shops than anything else.

However, this conversation intrigued me since I've always wondered when Lilah would begin to stand up to her sister's ideals and hedge out her own interests. Perhaps now was the time to plant a seed. So I asked . . . "Why didn't you play with the Barbies too?"

"Well how do you play with a Barbie?".

I don't know - how the heck do you play with a rigid doll that is difficult to dress and has no electronic features?

So this afternoon after 5 years, I broke open the Chinese Barbie box, unwound the million pieces of wire, unsewed the hair from the cardboard and plucked the accessories from underneath a mountain of tape to pass it over to Lilah. Who immediately took the doll and to my amazement started playing with her!

Naomi of course was watching from the sidelines (a little miffed that she wasn't getting a suprise). She saw the Barbie's shawl and commented, "What kind of cape is that, it doesn't even have a "W" on it!" (for those not in the know, the "W" referred to the "WonderPets" attire -- her favorite animals-rescuing-animals-themed TV show these days).

So . . . if you have any "playing with Barbie" activities other than brushing her tremendously long hair -- feel free to forward them to me. Apparently Lilah has broken out!

P.S. The Barbie is now hidden, "so that Myles won't play with it because you know how much he loves the doll stroller." (says Lilah). And that he does!

The situation in China

This holiday season, China is experiencing its worst weather in 50 years. The world has heard about millions of workers struggling to return home to family to welcome the Year of the Mouse. As our family heads of to Toronto today to celebrate the Chinese New Year, I thought I would send out an update on what we are hearing from Naomi and Lilah's first homes.

Our girls are both from Hunan province and we've been receiving daily updates from Half the Sky and CCAI about the conditions of each of their orphanages. Since Hunan is normally a very warm climate, the amount of snow that has fallen is unheard of. When we visited in August 2003, the temperatures were in the 40C range with humidity on top. In April 2005, the temperatures were in the 30C range and considered cool. Right now, blankets of snow cover Hunan and the temperatures are below freezing. This is causing greatest issues with power supply, water and food. We are also hearing that building structures are collapsing due to the weight and volumes of snow.

Lilah's first home (Chenzhou) is suffering the greatest of all the orphanages. The city is more isolated and smaller - so the infrastructure is poor in comparison to larger cities. A few days ago we heard that the entire city of Chenzhou is without power, and since the heating system in the orphanage is electric . . . there is little heat. The orphanage staff are burning coal - but this is very inefficient and getting quite expensive. Thefollowing comes from a Half the Sky report we received today:

"Chenzhou, Hunan – still facing the most difficulties of the orphanages we’ve reached. They’ve had no electricity or running water for 8 days and there is almost no possibility that power will be restored before New Year’s Eve (the 6th of February.) Because of the blackout, the hospital is closed. 20 children are ill and being cared for by institution staff as well as they can. The banks are closed so staff is contributing personal funds to buy food, coal and diapers. Prices are skyrocketing as all roads to Chenzhou remain impassable. UPDATE: The largest hotel in Chenzhou is running on one emergency generator and townsfolk who’ve been without power for days have filled all rooms and lobbies. There are very few places in town with even emergency power now. Hopes are to get some electricity by next weekend. UPDATE: The 20 sick children are being cared for by doctors from the local hospital (which is closed.) They are receiving IV's and medicine. Shi assures us that the children will be fine and that they will recover. They will feed the children and keep them warm no matter what. There is still no power. Families in Chenzhou are now rationed and can only buy 4 packages of noodles per family. The Civil Affairs Bureau delivered 3 sacks of rice to the institution. The are using candles but the cost per candle has gone from 20 cents to 5 yuan per candle. They are using coal to keep warm but the price of coal is skyrocketing. Two old people at the institution died. There are 800,000 migrant workers trapped in town that can't get out to see their families for Spring Festival. They expect another heavy snow tomorrow. We are in daily touch with the orphanage. They know that everyone is thinking of them and determined to get them the help they need."

Naomi's orphanage in Zhuzhou seems to be faring more positively. This is not a suprise to us as it is one of the "model" orphanages in China and structurally is more sound than Chenzhou. The city itself is also larger and closer to the capital city. Here is a report from Zhuzhou:

"We have been in contact with the orphanage. As late as yesterday the Zhuzhou orphanage told me they indeed had power and tap water. Of course this could change at anytime as much of Zhuzhou City is without power and water. Director Zhang reassured me they had stocked up on supplies of diapers, food, formula and blankets before the snow storm. At the moment they are doing well. I asked Director Zhang if she needed our help. She replied the orphanage is unable to receive packages or money now because the post offices and banks are closed. In addition transportation is almost non-existent. Zhang said she can't think out what kind of help the orphanage needed from our families right now. She said when she needed help, she will contact me. She did ask I let everyone know that she greatly appreciated our thoughts and well wishes. "

So, while Naomi's first home seems to be faring well - Lilah's is struggling. In response to this disaster, Half the Sky is setting up the Little Mouse Emergency Fund. Donations to this fund can be channelled to a specific orphanage, and will provide immediate relief to children living in welfare institutions during this difficult time. The needs are diverse and enormous: water, diapers, infant formula, coal, quilts and warm clothing and food. Any excess funds will be used to stock up for future catastrophic needs.

If you can find the funds to help out the children in Lilah's first home - please do. The Half the Sky donations are tax deductible in Canada, and you can make a donation using the following instructions.

1)go to www.halfthesky.org
2) go to the donate now button (not the Little mouse fund)
3) click on donate in a different currency
4) it takes you to a page with a link for Canadians to Canadahelps.org
5) click there and then just specify in the instructions box that you
want it to go to the Little Mouse emerg. fund directed to Chenzhou Social Welfare Institute.

Half the Sky is very reputable and I know that they have all the right checks and balances in place to ensure that the funds you donate go directly to the children.

Please keep these folks in your prayers!

A night at the movies

Thanks to my good friend Sara, every once in a while Joel and I get to indulge ourselves in a dinner sans kids. Tonight we had the pleasure of not only dining without whining, but we also got to partake in a movie (trust me it's an infrequent occurance) and decided to see Juno. I was initially a little worried that Joel would think it an uncool "chick flick", but no worries.

If you live on Neptune and aren't familiar with the premise of Juno, I'll not spoil it for you but to say that it has undertones that relate to adoption - which are of course right up my alley. In essence, if you ever want to know exactly how neurotic we were (I mean - I was) as a result of feeling so out of control in the whole adoption process - watch this movie. It's right "on the money" and well worth it too!

It's not often that I find a movie that lives up to it's hype but this one did - even for Joel who gave it two thumbs up.


P.S. Thanks Sara!

Naomi's Heart

Kids say the darndest things. Yesterday afternoon the girls were scrapping and Myles had just gotten up from a nap when I made the announcement that we were going outside to blow off some steam. That didn't go over well considering that it was pretty cold out - but mom's win most of the time so out we went (literally kicking and screaming albeit).

The kids decided to clean all the snow off the trampoline so they had a fun time throwing snow around with their shovels, which lead to a snowball fight -- kids against mom. Which lead to Naomi (accidentally) getting a fistful of soft snow right in the face. Let's just say that I wasn't very popular at that moment.

A couple of hours later, I repeated the kicking and screaming to drag them inside for dinner. Immediately, the girls started scrapping again. Admittedly I had little patience left over from a long day and my voice was "slightly elevated" when I went to deal with them. A few minutes after I returned to the kitchen to make dinner, Naomi came downstairs.

"Mom, my heart is breaking."
"Oh Naomi, why is your heart breaking?", I said.
"Well mom, I just don't feel loved."
"I'm sorry that you feel that way Naomi, because I love you so much."
"Well mom, face it . . . my heart is breaking."
"Naomi, what does a person do to make you feel loved?"
"Gives me hugs and kisses, doesn't get mad at me and gives me money to go to Dollarama."

So I gave her a huge hug and kiss, apologized for my anger and asked her, "Do you feel loved now?".
"Well I think my heart is slowly healing, but if you gave me some money and helped me find my missing cheetahs it would be all better."

The emotional trials and tribulations of a five year old! Can't wait till those teen years!

Sigh.

Wow 2 months!

I can't believe that two months has passed since I last updated the blog, but the weeks leading up to Christmas were incredibly busy and filled with lots of visiting, parties and fun.

Santa was good to all of us, but most especially to the kids. This is the first year that Naomi "got it" and watching her anticipation was fun to say the least. We were most proud of her when she decided to write a story for Christmas about her teacher, Santa and her dinosaurs. The story was full of imagination, and she did 95% of the writing herself aside from a bit of help sounding out a few words. Naomi's most proud to now be an author, and we are just plain proud!

Myles is now talking in 3 word sentences, so the holidays brought on a whole new set of "whas dat mommy?", "who dat mommy?" and "wowie".

A week before Christmas, Lilah got her adenoids out. She has increasingly had a difficult time breathing through her nose. Eating was a marathon, sleeping was noisy and a lisp was beginning to develop. Anyhow, this kid is a real trouper. As a day surgery, she was admitted to the hospital at 7am and discharged at 10am. Since she had a general anesthetic, I anticipated that she would be sleepy (or at least quiet), for the rest of the day. Much to my suprise (and chagrin), the kid kicked it into high gear and didn't miss a beat! I'm not even exaggerating when I tell you that she was more energetic than she had been in weeks.

The end of December brought about Naomi's fifth birthday - which she celebrated with seven of her friends at a Dinosaur themed "Almost Sleepover" party. For almost 364 days, she has been eager to turn five and the waiting is finally over.

So . . . here are some photos of our most recent session with Gerri and a bit later I'll post some other pictures from the past few months. Enjoy!