Author: Heather

We have arrived safely

Our first day in Paris was wonderful, but a touched cool.  Elspeth liked our hotel room, the houseboats on the Seine and the ice cream(even though it was waaaay to cold for it).  Katrine loved the sights as well as the food.  Her favourite food of the day had to be thchocolate croissant that shehead for breakfast.  In case, you are worrying (mom, dad) I did managed to eat today but I wil post about that when I am home and can add photos.

We toured St Chapelle and Notre Dame today.  The stain glass windows in St Chapelle toke my breath away.  Their beauty struck you upon entering the second floor.  The colors, the details became that much more beautiful when you considered that they were all done by hand.  Talented crafts men.  Notre Dame featured the same level of skill.  Carved stonework, statues, painted walls.  Standing at the back of Notre Dame looking towards the main altar you werestruck by the sheer size and beauty of this place of worship that it is easy to believe that it took three hundred years to constructed.  Oh, Katrine says I need to tel you that there was amodel showing how the cathedral was built in medical times.  Elspeth?  She was too busy falling asleep in her stroller to even look at the inside of the cathedral, but she woke up in time for ice cream so it was all good.

We got a bonus event on our way to Notre Dame …a bread festival.  As we neared the square all you could smell was fresh baking bread.  I stayed outside the tents with Elspeth whilee Glenn and Katrine went in.  They saw bakeries making baguettes’ croissants and pastries.  Katrine was thrilled to get some samples.  While those two were busy doing something educational, I was standing beside a piscine de ble.  Yup, a wheat box.  Imagine a sandbox filled with wheat grains.  Elspeth merrily climbed in and dug in the wheat.  Me? I stayed as far back as possible.  Ugh, but at least it was fun for her.

That is how our day went.  Add in a four hour afternnon nap.  A looong walk for gluten free dinner and desserts before coming home to see the sun setting over the Seine and that is it.  I guess I should draw to a close and get some sleep to be ready for tomorrow.

The girls meet some skaters

The past few weeks the girls have been very excited to be able to spend some time with the members of the chinese national figure skating team.  Granted this time has been made a bit more difficult as a result of our lack of chinese language skills (thank goodness for translation software)…I suppose this offers support for the stay in chinese class arguement but that is another post.  That said, they have said hello, watched them skate, laughed, smiled and interacted in a way which made them feel special.  Elspeth calls them her “friends” while Katrine beams when she was asked to print her name in chinese characters or when one of the coaches thanked her for the good luck card that the girls made.

My take on this?  What a wonderful opportunity for the pair of them to interact with chinese skaters.  Yes, we have chinese skaters in Canada.  Yes, they are wonderfully talented.  No, I do not mean to detract from this talent in any way shape or form.  It is so very important for our girls to have chinese role models – both Canadian born chinese, chines immigrants and mainland chinese.  We have asian friends so I can attest to the fact that they have ample interaction with smart, capable and dare I say wonderful asian women (I am a bit biased because these ladies are my friends) to draw inspiration from when they seek to define what a chinese woman should be.  With my degree in asian studies, they also have access to a sizable collection of texts on chinese history, culture, food, etc.  Then you can add to that various experiences with chineseness provided by culture camp, china town, homeland tours, reunions, kungfu, etc.

Being skaters (Katrine certainly is and it does seem as if Elspeth is leaning in that direction), they also need atheletic role models.  All of their current coaches are fabulous.  They model creativity, passion, dedication and hard work…but they are all caucasian.  With this being such a large part of our family life, we have encouraged Katrine’s love of Patrick Chan as a model because it combines the image of chineseness with the qualities of hard work, dedication and success.  Meeting and spending time with the chinese skaters has expanded the available concept of role models.  Instead of just pointing to Patrick Chan, Katrine has asked to watch videos of other chinese skaters and wherefore goeth her sister, goeth Elspeth.

So, thank you to all of the chinese skaters who have spent time with my girls over the past few weeks.  Thank you for opening their eyes further to the possibilities available for chinese skaters.  Thank you for showing them hard work, focus and dedication.  I am not sure if either of my girls will go as far as you have with their skating but hopefully they will take the qualities you have shown and apply them not only to their skating but their lives.

Good luck to Li Zijun and Zhang Kexin

Good luck to Song Nan and Yan Han.

Good luck to Peng Cheng and her partner Hao Zhang.

We will be watching for all of you at next seasons international competitions.  Of course we want the Canadians to place first but it would be awesome if you came in second.


Elspeth and Cooking Class

When Katrine was in Preschool and Kindergarten she went with her grandmothers to the Little Hands Cooking Classes at Loblaws.  So, once Elspeth was old enough I have been taking her…well at least when the recipes are gluten free.  Just like her sister, Elspeth has been loving the classes.  Another plus, she has begun to try more new foods; like humus and black beans.  Even thought I have not been able to eat the food, I must admit that it has looked quite tasty at times.

 Hummus, spinach, turkey and whole wheat bread = our new favourite lunch.

Fruit kebobs anyone? 

How about a nice apple pie burrito with ice cream?  Doesn’t it look yummy?  I really wished that I could eat it.  Sigh.  Elspeth enjoyed the apples and ice cream but left the tortilla.

 “Really?  I get to press the button?  This is SO cool!  Watch mom.”

Both girls thought that these cupcake pizzas were delicious.  Can you believe that we sat there cutting little “pepperonis” out of fruit leather?  At least Katrine didn’t pick it off of these pizzas.

 

Elspeth’s Final Dance Class

Yesterday was Elspeth’s last Highland class.  Now, will it be her final class ever or simply of the spring?  We will revisit that  in the fall.  That said, Elspeth loves her teacher Miss Nancy and what is not to love about a teacher who gets it and knows that dance class is as much about making friends and having fun as it is about learning to dance….at least when you are starting out.  Elspeth has not yet mastered the art of hopping SOOO the actual dancing is highly amusing.  She has tried hard and looks adorable doing it; smiling the whole time.

:Stretching at the beginning of the class.

“Okay Miss Nancy.  I am ready to go.  Can you see my nice pizza feet (aka first position)?  And how about my nice meatball hands (aka first position)?  You can start the music anytime.”

This was the funniest part of the class.  All of the girls were lined up at the barre so that they would have support while standing on one foot trying to shed.  Elspeth was the only one almost hanging from the barre.

Thank you Miss Nancy for a most excellent introduction to Highland Dance.  Even if the wee one can’t actually dance yet.  She had a blast trying.

 

 

Springtime Fun in the Sun

Official countdown sits at two sleeps!!!!

Okay, now that is out of the way we can move on to this post.  We are so loving this sunny, warm weather.  It brings with it bikes, scooters, time in the backyard and time at the park.  Take a look at what our time at parks tends to look like.

Katrine also managed to teach Elspeth that a child can go down a slide on your belly face first.  Isn’t she a great big sister.

A busy spring day in our house

The day started off with….what else? Skating.  It was Katrine’s last competition of the season.  She skated her solo the best she has thus far this season and she is very proud of herself.  It has been a rough season and I have to say that I am glad it is drawing to a close.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that the high points of a well skated solo and a newly acquired axel are pointing to a better season to come.  That is not to say that this season has not had its positives because it has.  Katrine has landed all of her single jumps, she passed Preliminary Dance and at least the first part of Preliminary Freeskate; it is just to say that a season without some sort of health issue (last year’s scarlet fever and this year’s concussion) would be greatly appreciated.

After a lunch at the local mall, it was back home to plant a tree. On Friday, Katrine brought home a sapling from school as part of the Stewards of the Earth program.  We were asked to plant said sapling and take photos.  Apparently, the class which returns that most photos of saplings being planted will get to meet the mayor.  This was an exciting prospect so plant we did.

And yes, that is a little wall around the sapling which the girls built.  And, being girls, the sapling has a name – ThornyBushTree (or some such thing).

A delicious steak dinner was followed by a family nature walk.  The girls watched frogs and birds…

…and then had the requist “sword” fight.  Gotta love my girls.

16 sleeps and the dentist

1. 16 more sleeps until our trip!!!!!  To celebrate we gave the girls some really adorable hairbows.  Apparently they are not really the thing for a nine year old sooo Elspeth now has two.  Hehe.

2.  The girls and I went to the dentist this afternoon.  They were thrilled with their new toothbrushes and small toys (little ducks whose eyes pop out when you squish them).  Well, we are off to the orthodontist to see about getting Katrine’s teeth straightened.  And little Elspeth has a pre-cavity in the back of her front two teeth.  :(  I suppose that is a small price to pay for not brushing your teeth for the first 22 months of your life.  Thank goodness it doesn’t need anything done to it right now.  Definetely not looking forward to having to get it filled.  Not sure how she would handle that especially as she quite likes our fabulous dentist right now.

The Eldest Is 9!!!!

Yep, we have a nine year old – a tween. 8-O   She has had a great past few days celebrating her birthday.

Friday:

Katrine woke up to a breakfast muffin complete with candle.

After a day of school and skating, she came home for some outdoor time with her Grammy and sister.  There is no one quite like a grandmother to watch you whip up “potions” in your “potion lab” (funny, in our day it was mud pies).  Grandmas, ooh and ahh more appreciately than moms.  After daddy got home it was time for dinner and pie.  Yep, not cake but pie. Lemon meringue to be precise.  Complete with candles!

Then it was time for some gifts.  You know that you have a tween when she gets excited about clothes and tickets to Cats.

Saturday:

A much calmer day.  The cookies for the loot bags arrived this morning.  They look delicious!  (About half the kids left the party eating the cookies so they must have tasted good too!  Iced shortbread which was “melt in your mouth good” according to Katrine.  The fact that they came on sticks simply made them that much cooler).

Then it was time to make up the cupcakes with Baba!  Because they were gluteny, poor guy had to stand outside in the cold wind to begin the mixing process so that no flour got over the kitchen.  What a devouted dad and husband.  Once baked, the cupcakes were cooled and iced which was of course the best part as the birthday girl got to eat the leftover candies.

Sunday aka Party Day:

I got a great deal on a zumba party so Katrine was able to have a large party this year.  It was a nice excuse to see some of her China sisters as well as school and skating friends.  The girls worked hard and made it through 40 minutes of solid cardio before really needing a break and snack.  The one really good thing about having a party outside of the house is that there is more time to stand back and take in the smiles and laughter. (Baba is not in these photos as he assumed younger sibling distraction for the majority of the party.)

Now my 9 year old is all curled up  in bed dreaming of all of the wonderful things which have happened over the course of her birthday celebrations.