Author: Heather

Welcome to the Year of the Dragon! xin nian kuai le

This new year feels especially sweet as it is the first that we have shared as a family of four.  We actually started the celebration yesterday at my parents when they gave the girls hong bao.  Grandparents know their grandchildren so well.  Katrine got her money in toonies while Elspeth got her’s in nickels and dimes because she absolutely loves to put money into her piggie bank.  Then when we got home we finished putting up the decorations with 3M squares because the tape was just not cutting it.  Katrine donated her two stuffed dragons/dinosaurs to the cause and they are proudly sitting underneath our flower vase in the livingroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usually on New Year’s day I cook a big meal, even making the dumplings from scratch.  With a new two year old I was not sure how abundant food preparation would go so we simplified things by buying pre-made dumplings (Mama’s still taste better and I have been instructed that I need to make them again next year) and wonton soup.  We also cut out the noodles (horror – guess we might be short on long life this year) and the fish.  Even with the cuts there was still a lot of yummy food and the house smells of chinese food.  I did get creative with dessert.  We had some of the traditional candied vegetables (acquired taste but boy do the girls love the coconut) and cookies arranged to look like a dragon.  We also got dressed up for dinner which thrilled Katrine.  Elspeth could’ve cared less what she was wearing, she just wanted to colour the new year’s pictures.  The celebration ended with more hong bao and piggie bank feeding.  Then Elspeth went to bed and Katrine to the arena.  Our new year’s festivities will not be over until our annual FCC chapter banquet in two weeks.  Katrine can hardly contain her excitement at being able to share a meal with some of her China sisters.

The most creative part of our meal.

Katrine fit into this dress on her first new years...she was not yet 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To all of our family and friends, we wish you prosperity and happiness in the coming year.

Happy Robbie Burns Day!

Actually, it is a bit early as his birthday is not until Wednesday but we celebrated yesterday so I am typing this up tonight.  We did our usual thing and drove up to my parents house so that we could all go the party at the Midland Legion.  Katrine was so excited about going to dance and hear the pipes that she even had me put a bun in her doll Lily’s hair (anyone know how to get bobby pins to stick into fake hair? Mine kept falling out).  Elspeth was a bit over whelmed and spent most of the night in someone’s arms clutching her penguin Meme and her sheep Aleigh.  That said, she looked super cute in tartan, bounced along when the pipes played (vs crying), waved enthusiastically when Katrine and I danced AND not only tried haggis but gobbled up a large serving.  Guess we will make a Scots out of her yet!  She also learned a new word which will come in immensely handy this summer but little else…piper.  Our other girl?  Glowed from all of the praise about her dancing.  I think that she particularly enjoyed hearing from the lady who told her, “I remember the very first time you danced and jumped side to side.  Now look at how big you are and you were wonderful.”  By about 9:00 poor Elspeth was hanging on to wakefullness by sheer will power so we started to pack her up.  Well, Katrine would have none of that because the pipe band had yet to play.  So, I drove Elspeth back to my parents house and ended up with a whole hour to myself…happy sigh.

This morning we enjoyed the snow.  Elspeth got to go sledding for the first time sitting on my lap.  It was only a wee hill but she was clapping at the bottom.  She was also much more willing to actually walk in the snow and touch it.  After tobogganing she pulled the sled around and when she got tired she put Glenn to work pulling her all around the yard until a dog barked, scared her and she insisted on going inside.  Katrine has fun trying to coax Elspeth into walking on the snow but lost interest after tobogganing for a bit.  Then the neighbour kids came out and she was off.  More sledding followed as well as using riding on their ATV.  I thought that she would find it scary but not her, “Awesome” was her description.  Her only disappointment about the visit was that the ice was too thin to go ice fishing with Grandpa and we weren’t staying long enough to go skiing.  Guess we will simply have to head back up soon.

As the Year of the Rabbit draws to a close, I will finish off with one of Burns’ graces (kindof symbollic of the melding of cultures in our family – Burns one day, New Years the next):

SOME hae meat, and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it ;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit. 

 

Bringin in the haggis
Not a bad job on the buns aye?
"Haggi(s). Mo(re)"

Gonna use this in our 6 month update for China

"Must not fall asleep. Might miss something."

Elspeth hits the ice

We have shared a lot of video of Katrine skating and thought that it was about time for you to see our Elspeth in action.  Here she is, making her single blade skating debut…..Little Sister!!

Cute photos

I had a great birthday this year.  I usually hate having to bake my own “free of everything” cake but this year was different.  With two helpers the work gets done slower but is more fun.  Didn’t look half bad and tasted awesome.  As you can see, I also had plenty of help blowing out the candles.  Elspeth’s wish for me was a ” Ha B D Mama”.  Happy sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, I had to paint my nails in honour of the occasion.  Any suggestions for Robbie Burns or Chinese New Year?  I was thinking that maybe I should do the right hand for one holiday and the left for the other.  Maybe red nails for the new year and then spell out haggis or Burns on the other hand.   I have a few weeks to reach a decision on that one.  After that they will need to go pink or hearty for Valentines before turning purple, or gold for Mardis Gras.  Don’t you just love holidays?  They give us something to look forward to and help to break up the daily grind.  Plus, they give me an excuse to decorate the house.

Maybe should have used black instead of silver for the numbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These last photos just begged to be shared.  The first is from Elspeth’s doctors appointment on Monday.  She has gone up another pound and centimeter since her last visit.  After her weigh in she decided that enough was enough and after failing to put on her pants she thought that this look might still be effective in sending the message that she was done and wanted no more of what was to come (she has been getting shots regularly at the doctor since we got home in order for her to catch up with Canadian born peers).  The other is from tonight.  She thought the bows were hats but then decided that they could be stuck elsewhere…silly little bunny.

Katrine’s Ice Show

As you may guess, much of this school vacation (aside from actual Christmas festivities) was spent on the ice.  Partially that was because we went skating as a family on the local trail (good way to work off all of those goodies); and partly because Katrine was preparing for an ice show at the center where she skates mornings.  The first week wasn’t so bad as Glenn was off as well so we were able to divide and conquer.  Plus, who ever got the privelege of sitting in the cold also got the precious gift of an hour to themself!! This week was a different story.  Try keeping a two year old entertained for an hour and a half, at an arena for four days running.  At times it was good and at times…painful.  No matter though as all of Katrine’s hard work, Elspeth’s ability to find interesting things in the mundane and my willingness to go crazy pointing out the mundane resulted in a wonderful evening spent with the grandparents.

The show itself was really well put together and ran almost exactly according to plan.  All of the skaters knew what they were doing and ended up looking great on the ice (not surprising really as only dedicated skaters are on the ice five mornings a week before school and over their holidays).  The parent volunteers (sadly, to my shame, I was not one of them as I figured I had already put in my time keeping the wee one from tearing everything apart all week) put together a lovely gallery with bios of each skater, a professional looking program and great costumes.  The older skaters did the younger girls hair and make up.  As a parent, you got to see all of these great up and coming skaters looking their best and skating their hearts out and there is your child, among them.  It made us proud.

Elspeth lasted until just after Katrine skated her first time before she was done with seats, floors, candy, activities and grandparents (which is saying a lot as they are among her favourite people).  She was also suffering from mommy-itis (yeah attachment) so I had to miss the end of the show to bring her home to bed.  When he got home, Glenn told me that all of the kids in the dressing room were laughing and smiling when he went down to pick up Katrine at the end of the show.  They were all so excited at having been part of it all.  This morning Katrine told me that she loved doing the show with all of the stars (decorations), lights and clapping.  “It was so awesome.  I love, love, loved it.”  Guess that says it all.

Oh ya, sorry about the photos but with them skating so fast, all I got were some blurs.

Happy New Year!!

My the new year bring good things your way!  Happy Hogmanay!!  Hope that you started the new year off with a bang.

Final Christmas

We had our final Christmas celebration of the year and some more snow fun up at my parents.  We went up a few days before my brother’s family to get in some extra visiting and snow play.  Elspeth did much better in the snow this time.  As you can see, she actually laughed, walked in it, touched it and rode on a sled.  I think that if I take some snow toys out the next time it snows up here (all of our snow melted while we were up north) she will like it even more.  While Elspeth napped one of the afternoons, my dad drove Katrine and I over to the Wye Marsh.  The trails were not ready for cross country but they let us try out some snow shoes.  Now that was fun.  The woods were gorgeous with chunks of icy snow caking the branches.  It was great exercise and just a wonderful mini-date with my Katrine.

Baba pulled them all around the yard.
Apparently, having your sister cover you in snow is funny. Who knew?
Isn't it pretty? Too bad it rained the next day so we couldn't go back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scott, Sarah and the kids showed up on New Years Eve and after some more outside time we dove into the presents.  It is amazing seeing the cousins admiring what each got and asking to play with this or that.  Katrine’s favourite gifts had to do with skating.  Scott et al. got her a skating ensemble for her new dress up doll.  Of course, Lily had to put it on right away and head out for her first skating lesson.  Did you know that dolls can learn to go forward, backward, jump, spin and spiral the first time that they put on skates?  Kind of makes you wonder why we don’t just have them do the routines.  I mean, think of how much you would save in terms of costumes and skates (they never grow) let alone coaching.  She also got  a Barbie skating costume which was immediately housed in her new Zucca skating bag which was nicknamed Zucci.  I bet that she will be the only skater at either arena with a nicknamed Zucca bag.  Elspeth got the most played with toy though.  Scott et al. got her a simple remote control car.  Well didn’t she and all the rest of them have that thing driving around and smashing into things.  Not sure how long it will survive a two year old but it certainly has made her smile thus far.

My Grandma told me that six pence pieces were lucky. My parents had a "lucky" necklace made for each of the girls. Charles got dinosaur stuff.
Katrine with skater Lily and "Zucci" (that is what she is sitting on)

It is done! And…snow…hmmm

Okay, I am so excited that I simply have to share this.  I finally finished the dress for Katrine’s solo.  I had to redo the white parts about three times and then discovered that the sequins looked bad sewn on so picked them off and glued each on individually but I am SOOO proud of it. Now, anyone know where is the best place to get a sparkly red scrunchy?

Blinged out Annie-style

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now onto the snow.  Today we got enough snow for it to be called a snow day and Elspeth’s first real experience with snow in all of her life (aside from the few minor flurries that we have had).  As you can see in the photos, our playsession got off to a slow start.  Basically fear and a strong need to be held up and away from this wierd cold, white stuff.  By the end of our time outside, she had graduated to walking through the snow to see what Katrine was up to and picking up a kiddie snow shovel.  Not a bad start but we definetely have some work to do.

"Mom, you're kidding me right? Fun? Don't believe you."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas: Round 3 (& 4)

Merry Christmas to those celebrating.

Round 3:

Katrine excitedly introduced Elspeth in to the world of stockings this morning.  I think that they were as eager to see what each other received as what they themselves got.  Then breakfast (had to introduce Elspeth to the Tomlinson tradition of Stoc**ng Stuffer lottery tickets and peameal bacon…mmmm…nothing says merry Christmas like fried pig in the morning).  Next our own gifts.  Favourites?  Glenn got me a cute stuffed cow as I was born in the year of the cow yet oddly enough did not count a cow among my stuffy collection and my new Dance connection game (I promise to act silly even more and try to get in better shape, anyone want to join in?).  Glenn got two puzzles which the girls had created/coloured.  Katrine is now the proud owner of an ipod shuffle which Santa had loaded, quite miraculously, with most of her favourite tunes…how did he know?. She also loves her new dress up doll named Lily who is currently tucked into bed with her.  Elspeth’s favourite gift today had to be her water table.  Took her a while to figure out what it was and accept that it was okay to get water on the floor but once we crossed those hurdles she was off and running.

After gifts, the girls put on their Christmas dresses which matched at Katrine’s insistance and headed off to church.  The rest of the day was spent playing with our gifts. Decorating Baby Jesus’ birthday cake (have to try and keep the meaning to the day somehow and which kid doesn’t enjoy a good birthday party). And enjoying turkey with Grammy.

Round 4 will be an afternoon party with Glenn’s extended family.  Then we have a few days to rest up…aside from skating of course; before heading to my parents for Hogmany and our final Christmas.  I think that we all need this little break between festivities.

Hope that all of you had a wonderful day.

Christmas: Rounds 1 & 2

Happy Santa Day!  Have you been good?  The girls (aka Katrine worrying for both of them) are keeping their fingers crossed that they made it onto the nice list.  We also spent the last two days baking cookies to make sure that we had enough sweet stuff to tempt the big guy.  On the plus side, Katrine went to sleep super quickly tonight, or at least pretended to.

The picture of concentration
I think those sprinkles were suppose to go on the cookies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Round 1:

Last night was Elspeth’s first real taste of the Christmas tradition of celebrating family.  Glenn’s side of the family got together at his sister’s house for a nice dinner, awesome cookies provided by the other Heather, gifts and family.  The dinner and drinks were a hit with the grown ups, while Katrine loved her aunt’s white chocolate peppermint bark. Elspeth spent a good portion of the beginning of the evening fretting about their small shitzu.  Now Casey is a sweetie who loves to play.  The worst thing she could possibly do is lick you to death.  Just the same Elspeth could not be far enough away from her.  All through dinner she was checking under the table to make sure that she wasn’t lurking there or climbing into my lap for comfort at the hint of a bark (great for bonding though).  Katrine is not a big fan of dogs as you all know.  When she was younger she was quite scared of them, especially big ones but upon meeting Casey her fear has become managable.  She can now tolerate most dogs and refuses to let them get in the way of her fun.  Elspeth’s reaction to dogs makes young Katrine look like a dog lover.  She loves the concept of dogs when they are wayyyyy down the block or squishy stuffed animals just not when they are alive and within a two house width radius of her.  Then terror hits.  Her eyes get huge, she tenses, scans the area, clings (yeah), uses us as physical barriers (yeah).  We have a lot of family and friends with dogs so this presents a real problem.  It is also quite remarkable given that there were free roaming small dogs at the orphanage.  We have wondered if her little scar on her leg was the result of a burn but perhaps it was a dog bite.  The later would explain her intense fear.  Now the question becomes how to help her reach the place where Katrine is with regards to dogs.  Suggestions?

"I know that dog is here somewhere. Maybe she is after my christmas cracker."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elspeth relaxed once the presents began to be handed out.  Maybe because of the presents and maybe because she didn’t know that Casey was downstairs as she was so quiet.  Both girls had a lot of fun tearing into the paper.  Katrine was also thrilled to be able to hand out some gifts that she had purchased with her own allowance.  This is the first year that she had money to spend on presents and was quite proud of herself.

We also got a cool Scottish drummer nutcracker to add to our Christmas decoration stash.
Elspeth LOVED these shoes sooo much that she wore them right after opening them and again all day to day. Glenn better keep a watch on his credit card, we may have a shoe girl on our hands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Round 2: After a day of last minute jobs, we headed to church for family service.  Katrine was an adorable star in the children’s play.  She walked in, skipped around and then sat prettily until the end of the play.  She told me that she was glad to be a star because she got to wear a yellow headband and do a little dance.  The joys of being 7.

After service