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!