What's up with Glenn, Heather, Katrine, and Elspeth
Our most recent snow fall has cost us a tree beside our front walk way. It bent under the sheer weight of the snow.
On the plus side, it made a rather interesting tunnel, of sorts, that the girls enjoyed playing in and crawling through. (Don’t you just love the hat? My mum knit is and Katrine calls it her mushroom hat.)
They also got busy building a pair of snowmen.
They had fun but my arms are tired from the shovelling and that was with the help of two wonderful neighbours.
Well, it is really battle of the off ice girls. You pick the winner. 🙂 Contestant one is a mere three years old. She is able to travel forward and backwards on ice and can jump. Her dream is to be her big sister. Contestand two IS the big sister. Her dream? To be world champion; well, that and to land her axel.
(This is my view of what happens every afternoon at home after our time at the arena. It usually ends with both girls in giggles.)
1. Sit spin
2. Y Stand
3. Funny leg pulling thing (yes, that is my official term for this particular move!)
4. Spiral
(Had to cheat and use an on ice photo of contestant two, sorry)
You know they are sisters when….
That is not the only fun they get into though. Elspeth has really begun to take off with her imaginative play. It has some interesting manifestations.
Example #1:
Plastic fake coffee from toy kitchen as a bike helmet for her sheep. Good to know that our safety lessons are going in. But not sure how the illusive flat sheep will ever manage to ride a bike or other wheeled vehicle given her length.
Example #2:
Yep, that is two toilet training penguins in underwear sitting on a table in the middle of the arena lobby. Not only do they actually use the invisible potty (can’t you see it? Right there beside them? Complete with invisible toilet paper and real flush action!) but I am also transporting a plastic “baby powder” bottle to be used after each potty visit and an empty baby bottle to be used before each potty visit. I think that we provide some skating parents with entertainment on occassion.
In honour of Katrine’s Forever Family Day, here is an up-to-date family photo.
Eight years ago today we began the day as a family of two waiting for this cutie.
Glenn was the calmer of the two.
I could barely contain myself. As soon as we reached the municipal offices to meet our Ning Fu Hong we were ushered upstairs to an empty room as the sound of children’s crying wafted down the hall.  That is when I lost it. My baby was so very close. It was all about to come true. After 6 and a half years of marriage we were about to become parents for the first time. Glenn still held it together as you can see.
Names were called. Nannies began bringing in babies. Cameras flashing. Videos rolling. Tears both happy (parents) and sad/scared (babies) being shed. Then there she was with her full head of hair and the sweatshirt we had sent over. She didn’t cry, she stared. Looking back she was so very stressed. For much of the day her body was tense, she wouldn’t make eye contact, scanned the room everytime a baby cried, barely touched the bottle. What really broke the ice was when the room service arrived. Then she was totally into us…well, really the food if I am being honest.
Here are a few more glimpses of that first day:
Did I mention that we learned she could crawl on that first day?
Tonight we will look through her photo album or watch video of that day 8 years ago. We will talk about how scared she must have been even though we were so excited and make the connection to her experience with Elspeth’s Gotcha Day. Tomorrow though, we celebrate with dinner out (her choice) and photos. In China, the adoption of a child is not finalized until after a 24 hour “Harmonious” period. As awesome as those first 24 hours were, the next day when all of the forms were finally signed and it was all legal and no one could seperate our family was when it was real. No sadness then, only joy. For Katrine, knowing that there is a day which marks when our family could never be torn apart is a big thing. It gives her security amidst all of her pervious losses. Eight years ago, we celebrated by going for a walk in the nearby People’s Park. (Yes, you can see how scared and stressed Katrine was in the photo with Glenn.)
This is how Katrine views her Gotchaversary and Forever Family Days.
It is a little late but Happy Valentines Day everyone!
Elspeth’s celebration began a day early when she and I sent to cooking class. There she made tomatoe soup, heart shaped grilled cheese and then, her favourite, chocolate dipped strawberries. She enjoyed them at the class but then enjoyed sharing them with her sister and Baba even more.
We started the morning with the girls coming downstairs to a table bearing a valentine and a small gift. They are both into pillows right now so that is what they got – small heart pillows. I would love to say that I made them a special breakfast but my fibro has been flaring lately so I ditched that part of the celebration.
Both girls got to celebrate valentines at school. Elspeth was THRILLEd to bring home a decorated box filled with cards and candy. She kept putting the stuff into and then out of her box while wearing a smile. Katrine’s school marked the day with a ‘red and white’ day. She too was tickled pink with her bag of cards but a bit sad that Elspeth got more candy.
When daddy got home both girls had made him special cards. Katrine had also made a card and gift for me. As you can see, she was proud as punch to share them with us Then he gave the girls big heart cookies which were devoured before bubble baths and bed.
Baba began a new project with the girls preparing his saltwater fishtank for our “library” (really our room full of my school books and the fireplace). As you can see, it is just in its beginning stages but it was a fun thing for them to do over the Family Day weekend.
1. First we tape.
2. Then we paint the edges.
3. Now the fun part! Painting with the roller.
Elspeth has been enjoying her Saturday morning swim class with her Baba. They go and play; it is fun. She is making progress with her floats but is stilling working up the courage to actually jump in.
1. Okay, I am ready to go.
2. Now this I like! Who needs to work on floating, jumping and kicking? Bring on the water toys.
3. Do you think if I water Baba enough that he will grow even taller?
Katrine had fun at club comp (although she did miss Elspeth). It was nice to have her back together with her skating friends and she relished it. Our big girl was all smiles yesterday afternoon. The fact that she brought home some prizes also helped – two 4ths and a 6th for extreme elements, a 1st for individual elements and then a 1st for her solo. Hopefully it will increase her confidence going into the competition in just over a week.
Okay so here’s the scoop. We salted our driveway this morning because it was quite icy. This afternoon heading out to the car for skating little Miss E managed to find a tiny patch of ice without salt. Down she went with a flourish and off we went to the doctors. She has been ordered to rest until at least Wednesday. Sigh! A special thank you to Katrine’s wonderful coaches, particularly Ashley, for keeping her busy and safe while I took care of Elspeth. What a long day!