One word for you all

FRIPERIE!!!!!

I have discovered Friperies! OMG... what fun I can have in there, for such little money. Every time I mention to someone that I have discovered one, they invariably tell me about another one that I didn't know about! Its turning into a quest for me - I have found pants for the big T for $3, in perfect condition; I have found beautiful winter clothing, I'm talking jacket/pants/mitts/hat/scarf, that looks like it has never been worn for $50 (where the retail price would be $250). I am addicted to this new way of retail therapy. I haven't taken any pics of it yet, but if anyone is interested I'll do it. I just had to share my latest adventures.

We are, by the way, no closer to being ready. The J&K room is still not painted, even though the guys were supposed to come over this afternoon to paint. We canceled last night cause we haven't had time to clean out the room, tape it off, or even buy the paint! I should say that Dh just got back from out west, so its understandable that nothing happened cause it takes two to move furniture around and I couldn't tape off stuff, cause by the time I had time to do it it was like 10 o'clock at night. So maybe next weekend we will find time - its going to be white walls (did you know that there are like 73 different kinds of white?), with multi-colored polka dots (think primary colors). Should be fun with the pink and blue beds from Ikea, and I found a polka dot window dressing too. Oh, but now she has enough clothing for 14 days... I counted them cause DH was teasing me that she had enought to last her a month, to which I responded that no, she ONLY had enough for 14 days and that wasn't nearly enough for a girl. He just grinned and walked away from that argument (do not argue with women about girls clothing, gentlemen, it will get you no where.)

We go to the notary this week (for the power of attorney), which pretty much means that I am going alone without DH. We were hoping for some kind of miracle, but its kind of hard to get a miracle when you don't quite know what to ask for. I wish DH could come with me, but we can't leave the boys alone for 2 whole weeks. We can't afford to bring the boys with us, and I think that would just be plain nuts - 3 very active boys on a plane for over 13 hours... not going to happen.

And on that note, everyone needs a bit of Brad to get the week started off just right! Have a good one.

Everybody needs a bit of sunshine...

No, there is nothing new... just thought it would be nice to see the sun today.

Chocolate factory x2

As promised, here are some more pics from the Z's bday party at Heyez Chocolaterie:

K, this is really interesting, but when can I eat some chocolate!

Mayan Chocolate God!

Don't you just want to put your mouth under
that stream of chocolate and
eat it all up!

Here are all the chocolate molds done!

Everyone walked out with a

beautiful mouse chocolate!

We had a wonderful time - the party started at 3:30 pm, and we got out at 5ish. We then went to our house for some burn-off-the-sugar time, ate some sandwiches and chips and decorated cupcakes and opened presents. We then sent everyone outside to play - we had such a great time that most people only left at 7:30 pm, when we thought it would be done by 6 pm. Parents showed up and stayed to talk and watch their kids play together. Even some neighbourhood kids came out and played with us. It was a whole lot of fun, and I think this goes down as a great success. The kids learned where chocolate comes from and they learned how to make a mold, and they got to eat as much chocolate as they wanted.

I highly, highly recommend Heyez for this type of activity: they are very well organized, the pace was just right for a bunch of 5 year olds, and the chocolate was devine. All the kids got to walk out with a beautiful chocolate mold that they made all on their own. Heyez is booked until December for this type of activity, so if you are planning on a party for next year, better start calling and reserve now (ask for Annie)!

Chocolate factory rocks!

Here are just a couple of pics of the fun we had at the Chocolate factory! More to come later (having trouble with blogger).

Vaccination time

Off to get vaccinated this afternoon - the final boost for Twinrix - and to get a prescription for antibiotics for us, and anything else we may need in China. Let's hope my arm isn't too sore for tomorrow's fun and games (10 kids, at the chocolate factory, learning and making their own chocolate molded animal... who's idea was it anyways?)

2 months today...

So you've all seen the ticker - 2 months today (day 63) of waiting for LOA. Sigh, and nothing in site for this week. We might get lucky next week, who really knows... chances are good though, since CCAA shuts down for a week of holidays the first week in October, so they might send something out just before they go on holidays. Let's hope so, as this week has just dragged on, and on, and on, and on for me....

Arrrivals at Airport

Here are some wonderful pics of Penelope and Taotao with their respective mom's when they arrived in Montreal last Friday:

Look how happy Mary is... can you blame her?

She is such a cutie patoutie...

YUPPIE!

Leanne just glows! And so is Karen... :o)

Nothing...

Nothing came in for us at the agency. I finally broke down and wrote an email, and just got a response back.

So we wait I guess for another 30 days, which would be normal btw since this 60 business was Leanne's good luck - I was just hoping that we would be lucky too. Day 100 is October 27th, so that is the next milestone I will be mentally preparing myself for.

Day 60, 11 am...

and its killing me... will we get a call today or not? I woke up thinking not, since usually packages arrive at our agency on Friday's after 12 noon (I think someone told me this) and they would have called us on Friday if something had come, I'm sure. If I can make it to 1 pm today without calling the agency (its taking all my self control), and if there is no call, I think its not going to happen today. Which is all fine... just want the day to be over with so that we know one way or another.

One good omen on Friday though: got the Tilley catalogue, entitled "Let the Journey of a Thousand Miles begin" or something like that....

Not much to say

As you can tell, I haven't got much to say these days. Don't know why, because there is still much going on. For instance, went to the airport last night to welcome home Leanne and Mary with their new babies. What a lot of fun that was! I can not get over how wonderful and emotional that experience was for everyone who was there. Leanne was a ball of adrenaline, and Taotao is just a perfect little boy: curious, fun loving and occasionally cranky cause he is hungry. The car seat introduction went just fine, btw, for little Taotao. Penelope is just a beauty, and her mom was just glowing with pride last night.





Tristan's eye is infected. Are we surprised? Not in the least, but its so frustrating when you repeat a million times, "Tristan don't pick your nose" then on the way out he rubs his eye... then scratches at his ezcema that has flared up on his face and on his arms. School is stressful for him, but he isn't speaking much about it. Occasionally he lets out that the other kids are telling him that he is ugly, or he witnesses the older kids being mean to other kids. He didn't eat much on Friday too... not an easy time for a little kid who is so sensitive.

Zach surprised me big time tonight: there is a game called Logix which they use in kinderg where you are supposed to put things on a card in a sequence, and you use some of your logical functions in your brain to figure out where some pieces go. Well, figuring that Zach is such an artsy person, using the right side of the brain almost all the time, there is no way he is going to get this and it will be struggle for me (left brained) to teach a right brained almost 5 yr old how to do it. Surprise, surprise, surprise... was giving Jacob a bath and during that time Zach had polished off 6 or 7 cards by himself. By the time I got downstairs he wanted to show me everyone one that he had done... he got them all right. Boy, was I wrong about this one. Tristan had an impossible time with this, and here is Zach just breezing right through it!



Then comes Jacob... I would like to remind everyone that this boy is 2 1/2 yrs old... he counted to 10 in the bathtub by himself! I figured that I would count out loud, so I started "oooonnnnnnneeeeeee,..." he pipes in "ttttwwwwwoooooo, ttttthhhhhhrrrrreeeee, ffffooouuuurrrrr..." and keeps going till he hits TEN. I was thunderstruck, so I had him do it again and again and again by himself. What the hay is going on? You're two and half, you can't possibly know these numbers yet! After ten, comes 9 according to Jacob, so I kept going to 20 with him repeating after me. We shall see tomorrow if he can count till 20 now. WHAT AM I SAYING? Zach can only count to 8 consistently, and for kindergarten you only need to know to 5 or 6 when they start. MY TWO YEAR OLD IS COUNTING TO TEN ALL READY! Oh man, are we in trouble....

School pictures were taken this week for Tristan and Jacob, Zach is in October. So watch your mailboxes grandparents and uncles and aunts for some gorgeous shots!

You will be happy to know (I know I am) that July people appear to be receiving their LOA's, so we are getting close. Day 60 is tomorrow, so Monday I am going to be a nervous wreck all day until I go to bed. If Karen calls me, I will scream in her ear... so Karen, you are forewarned that if you experience hearing loss, its not my fault! If I don't get a call, it will be all right for me. Greg is worried I will take it hard, but I won't... I will be a bit relieved to be honest because I ain't ready yet! Just kidding... I need to go and get her and bring her to her new home.

Greg is at Rush tonight - told him to give Geddy my regards! ha... its a guy thing I guess, considering that Greg and three guy friends are going. Oh, and we are on the hunt for the child who broke Greg's guitar string - no one has fessed up yet, but he will be found :o) Along with the child who keeps going into the food pantry for gummy worms for breakfast... but I digress. Time to go to bed, considering I am on the ice at 7 am tomorrow morning.

One word

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.
Answers.
1. Yourself: anticipating
2. Your significant other: romantic
3. Your hair: curly
4. Your mother: ethereal
5. Your Father: passed
6. Your step father/mother: distant
7. Your dream last night: frustrating
8. Your Favorite drink: Bailey's
9. Your Dream Car: volvo
10. The room you are in: office
11. Your Ex: loser
12. Your fears: bankrupt
13. What do you want to be in 10 years: retired
14. Who you hung out with last night: hubby
15. What You're Not: thin
16. Muffins: bite
17: One of Your Wish List Items: volunteer
18: Time: short
19. The Last Thing You Did: typed
20. What You Are Wearing: jeans
21. Your Favorite Weather: cold
22. Your Favorite Book: Potter
23. The last thing you ate: cookies
24. Your Life: exciting
25. Your Mood: happy
26. Your Friends: awesome
27. What are you thinking about right now?: Kaitlynn
29. What are you doing at the moment?: typing
30. Your summer: sucked
31. Your relationship status: awesome
32. What is on your tv?: dvds
33. When is the last time you laughed?: morning
34. Last time you cried?: morning
35. School?: mandarin

OMG, OMG, OMG

Another pic of Kaitlynn from a friend I met on the net!

I just love the fact that she is wearing a little bracelet on her chubby wrists, and look at the way the nanny is holding her so close. I figure this must be about last summer sometime, as it must be warm for her to be wearing shorts, and its before her surgery. That would make her about 14-15 months old.

How the world is small... and I am not going to be able to get anything done today, my heart is up into my neck and I can't stop staring at her.

Let's all have a moment

I would like to do the unconventional and ask people to spend a moment and think about Leanne on her journey to her son. She needs some sleep, IMHO, and I have been hoping that somehow she will find it... but not yet. Don't worry, those of you who aren't reading her blog (I hesitate to put it out there as you require a password), she is doing fine except for the lack of sleep. They are in Beijing and spent the day touring Tienanmen square on a very hot day... and shall we say she is a bit cranky after visiting the "concrete jungle" as she described it. So let's all take a moment and send a request to which ever doG you may believe in and request a nice peaceful night and nice nap time for Leanne...and you may as well include a wish that she doesn't forget her paperwork or passport or any other important thing she may need for the embassy visit tomorrow.

Its been 50 days of waiting

I can't believe its been 50 days since we sent in our LOI. From what I can see from others, late June LOI's just received their LOA's so things appear to continue to be on track for us to receive something either by late September or late October. There is however absolute silence regarding where our file is at, so we can just hope that things are moving along in this black hole that is IA.

I'm backkkkkk!

Dropped off there cause I was on vacation with my two eldest boys.

School started for both last Thursday - T in grade 1 and Z in kindergarten! Z loved it so much that he didn't want to leave after the first day and he threw a big fit. T had a little hard time getting into the groove of doing school, but by day 2 he was all there. The September calendar of school stuff is filling up - every Tuesday night, there is something going on at school. With Mandarin classes for me and DH on Monday's, skating for me on Wednesday's, boys hockey on Saturday's, and boys swimming and my skating on Sunday I have no idea how we will get through this school season!

As some of you may know by now, our eldest decided that son #2 should not be the only one with scars around his eyes. He felt bad for Z I guess... T slipped or fell onto the latch of the security gate that is supposed to protect kids from the stairs and he tore open his eyelid, just above his beautiful blue eye. (No that is not a pic of my boy... just thought I would give you a general idea of what it can look like... at least his scar will go into the crease of his eyelid and he won't have a big Z on his forehead like this poor guy... or like Harry Potter for that matter). For once in my life, I panicked and DH didn't - he screamed so, and there was so much blood, I was sure he had lost his eye. After an ambulance ride and a 5 1/2 hr wait at the hospital (and yes, we were a priority) we finally got to see a doctor who confirmed that his eye was fine but that he would need stitches. It took 4 grown men to hold my baby down while the doctor tried to stitch his eye lid back together (yes, they gave him something). He managed to get 6 or 7 stitches in, in two sessions of absolute terror. There is one stitch he couldn't get and we suspect he will have a bump on his eye lid as a result, but on the whole it appears to be healing well. I suspect that this won't be the last of it with our eldest - the very next day, I caught him trying to climb the banister on the damn stairs. Oh, and the gates have been thrown out and replaced with all plastic gates that don't have a a sharp edge anywhere in sight.

Saturday was the Preemie Picnic at the Royal Vic, and we all went and met up with Grammy Carol who looked like a beautiful baby blue apparition. The boys were soooo happy to see her, but then you know something called a "module" and "swimming pool" sort of won out. It was a bit too much for Jacob, so he ended up just clinging to us most of the time. It was quite a cathartic moment for me going back to that place. I have managed to avoid it for over 2 yrs now, and what better way to go back to that place where my life changed completely than through a picnic and seeing so many preemies and families doing just fine, thank you very much. I also hooked up with a preemie group and will be pursuing that avenue for my MNO after I hear back from the hospitals.