Heather

More rain means a better garden

All of our recent rain has meant a lot of weeding but also quite a bit of growth in our garden.Â We have lost two cucumber plants but the third is going strong.Â We also had one brocolli plant go to seed but as you can tell from the photos, another seems to actually be growing a little brocolli for us.Â The local wild rabbits ate our first batch of tender corn sprouts so we had to break down and buy a flat of sprouts.Â This batch is growing nicely as Glenn made small wire fences that enclose them so no more bunny snacks.Â The potatoes are by far the best though.Â They just keep on growing.Â I am seeing a lot of roasted potatoes and potatoe salads in our future.

Katrine gets down

A lot has happened this month, not all of it positive.Â That said, I thought that I would post a video of Katrine dancing at her daycare’s Father’s Day party.Â The girl really gets down.Â I hope that you find it as amusing as we did.

Welcome to May!

Let me begin by telling you that we ended April with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls for a reunion with Katrine’s orphanage “sisters”. It was amazing to see how all of the children have grown. This time they really played with each other and interacted. For us adults it was the perfect time to reconnect with the other families who shared the birth of our family with us. As you can see from the pictures it was also a time for Katrine to get some serious crafting in. She was unimpressed with the water slide but really enjoyed the lazy river and wave pool. My favourite part was stopping in Niagara on the Lake for lunch. They have a store called the Irish Shop that has a little cafe at the back which sells gluten-free lunches AND desserts. This time it was salmon cake, cauliflower soup and lemon pie! I was full to bursting but it was heaven.

Now I must tell you an interesting Katrine story. All of last week Katrine and I played school. The game would still be going on but when I lost my voice I made her tidy up. Anyways, she had taken every Barbie, pony and stuffed animal out of their box and arranged them around a variety of books to form classes.(Check out the first picture below) These classes covered every inch of floor in her playroom. The other photo shows the class who went on a field trip to the professor’s house, a much loved dishwasher box. The professor is the monkey in the lab coat.

April – What a month

April has been an emotional month thus far. As you know, Glenn’s dad passed away at the beginning of the month. It wasn’t completely unexpected but hard nevertheless.
Since then we have been busy with previously made commitments for Katrine. She passed the First Steps level of her Highland Dancing exams (Actually, my mom and dad took her to her exam while Glenn and I went back to work).
This past weekend was her fifth birthday. In spite of everything we decided to go ahead with her party because she had been so looking forward to it. Thank goodness Glenn had convinced me not to have the party at home this year. We went to the local community center and used their gym and party room. Thirteen little kidlets running around in pirate hats and fairy wings. It was a fun day for Katrine. My favourite part was dinner out with my parents and Glenn’s mom. Spending time with family builds the sweetest memories.
Sunday was her actual birthday. We made pizza at Glenn’s mom’s and ate cupcakes while enjoying eachother’s company and her HUGE collection of teddies. Katrine loves arranging them into a school or piling them up to make a store. I prefer using a bunch of them as a pillow. Quite sqoushy and comfy. The morning was spent at her second skating competition. She skated against five other skaters this time and had to do five moves as compared to last competition’s three. I was really nervous as she has been quite up and down coping with her recent loss but she was on. She even managed to get her two footed turn (although she had a pretty nice spill on her first attempt). The best part was watching her do her gliding jump. Man she got some air. She was so proud of herself for trying her best and then she got a medal.
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Katrine’s Skating Competition

Katrine skated at her first competition this past Saturday. She did really well. Followed all of the instructions. Did everything she was asked. She was happy to be out there but thrilled with her new pink costume with the “pretty” skirt. She came in second in her group which was nice. She is already asking if she can do another(little does she know that we have signed her up for one in April at the suggestion of her coach). I hope to have the video soon.

It has been 4 years!

Can you believe it? We met our darling 4 years ago yesterday. Today is our 4th Forever Family Day. Usually we celebrate with Chinese food and lots of family activities but this year we are all a bit under the weather and are cuddling on the couch watching curling. It is precious nonetheless.

Winter update 2009

Okay, we are finally back. Glenn has been working hard on the basement so it has taken him a while to get the video of Katrine skating adjusted so that I could log in again. The basement you ask? Well, it is actually looking quite nice. There is a lot of new insulation put up and the skeleton of a wall dividing the laundry room from the rest of the space. I know that he has done alot more but this is what most excites me. A wamer, more functional basement…which wife wouldn’t be excited.

Katrine got her first two CanSkate badges in January. She continues to enjoy skating and has her first club competition at the end of February. There are 5 in her group(The Grasshoppers) and everyone wins something but we are pretty proud nonetheless. Supposedly she goes out and does about 4 moves and that is it but if she is happy then so are we. She is equally excited about her pink skating outfit (actually just a skirted body suit with heart printed tights that was on sale at Zellers).

She continues to dance and is making some progress in learning the fling but it is not her passion. We are planning to dance in Callander in the summer but after that we will have to wait and see how it goes. She did however enjoy dancing at the Robbie Burns dinner in Victoria Harbour.

Glenn and I? Well, not a heck of a lot. I turned 35 in January and celebrated with a delicious dinner out gluten-free cake. I got some lovely gifts including getting to sleep in!! I made the most delicious Chinese New Year dinner but the dumplings gave Katrine hives…oh well, all the more for my lunches! I think that we have been most excited about our new sheets. This Christmas, my parents gave us a silk duvet because they are suppose to be dust mite resistant. However, they could only get a King sized one so we did not have a duvet cover for it. Well, off we go shopping. We came home with a complete bamboo bedding set. My goodness it is super soft. I LOVE it.

Katrine skating

I just thought that I would share some footage of Katrine skating because I find her fun to watch. So here goes… Continue reading “Katrine skating”

Happy Autumn Take 2

Here is our pre-Christmas update.
Katrine did well on her report card. Great academics and too much fidgeting during circle time. Not bad.
She was scouted for pre-competitive figure skating but we have yet to decide what we are going to do with that one. Honestly though, I never expected to hear the words “natural talent as a skater” in reference to my sub-tropical born daughter. Just goes to show that life is full of surprises.
Our tree is up. The lights are up outside. Christmas cards are being written. The wrapping has begun. Katrine is my official tape riper because that is her newest skill. Maybe by next year she will actually do some of the wrapping…hehe…child labour makes less work for mom during holiday season. We are having a skating party in two weeks just for the fun of it so my next holiday project is to start baking cookies. Yes, gluten-free all around.
Now for this posts photo. During my parent teacher interviews I was talking to one set of parents about helping to develop fine motor skills when the parents mention trainer chopsticks. At the end of the interview I just had to ask them what they were and where to find them because Katrine has no skill with chopsticks yet desperately wants to use them when we go out for Chinese. Well, got some at our local Korean grocer. They work. Katrine loves them. So, here they are!

Author: Heather