Category: Elspeth

Happy Belated Valentines Day

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.

Adventures with Baba

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.

Swim Time with Baba

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?

What a winter!

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!

 

Welcome to the Year of the Snake

Happy New Year!  Welcome to the Year of the Snake!

We had a fabulous celebration last night with some of Katrine’s China sisters.  It is always a pleasure to watch the girls together playing, laughing and bonding.  The fact that it provides time to chat with friends is an added bonus which we throughly enjoy.  Thank you to our gracious host and hostess, it was a wonderful way to welcome in the new year.

If you have been following our blog, you know that we usually mark the new year by attending a new year’s banquet for adoptive families.  It is enjoyable and when we decided to give something different a try (it seemed too much coming off the whiplash, concussion and illness train) Katrine mentioned that she would particularly miss the lion dance.  With a PA Day and a Snow Day we had a lot of time to craft our very own dragon.  Unfortunately it didn’t last too well (never tape the “body” onto the “head” as it pulls apart too easily) but at least the girls had fun with it before it pulled apart.

And now for some new year’s party photos:

Finally, a snow day

We finally got a sizable snowfall.  🙂 The girls are loving it.  I am glad that I am still off so got to enjoy the snow instead of driving in it.  Glenn felt much the same until he had shoveled the driveway for the third time.  Well, Katrine is totally into it but poor Elspeth is a bit uncertain.  Probably due to the fact that we have gotten so much snow that she is having difficulty walking through it.  Both girls happily played and wore themselves out.  As a result, it is a quiet night in our house.  🙂

Oh ya, they also buried me in the snow.  Apparently that is really funny.  From my point of view it was quite comfy.  That is some really fluffy snow.

We thawed out by painting, making lip gloss (Christmas gift) and getting ready for Valentines Day.  Elspeth got a lot of practise printing her name.  Can’t always read it but she really tried.

 

Winter Glitters: Part 1

Last weekend we took the family to Winter Glitters in Ajax.  It was a long but fun day full of what else but skating.  The big difference was that this time both girls competed.

Katrine has been really eager to get back into training since getting the all clear from the neurologist at the end of December.  That said, three weeks back on the ice is not alot of time to truly prepare for a competition.  She did a really good job on her solo given her circumstances thus far this season and we are really proud of how hard she has been working.  Unfortunately she finished 7th in her flight and was a bit dissapointed in herself.  Her disappointment was tempered by a fifth in team elements and a day spent with friends at the arena (which is why there are no photos of her from the competition because all of the ones from my camera have her and her friends in them so you will just have to wait for Glenn to post photos).

During the lull between Katrine’s two rounds of skating, Elspeth had her turn to compete.  She provided the comic relief.  In the end she went home with a “pink ribbon” for her efforts “just like Katrine”.  I think that having a ribbon and getting a chance to be out on the ice were banner events for her.

This skating is hard work.  Just look at how sweety I am. (Probably due to the knitted hat Grandma made you so that your helmet fits.)

Loving her coach after getting off the ice.

Junior Kindergarten

Can you believe it?  This child is heading to Junior Kindergarten in the fall?  I know this for a fact because I went and registered her this morning.  Standing there filling in all of the forms I felt like turning and walking out.  I mean, how can she be ready for school when I have only held her for a year and a half?  Nevertheless, off to school she will go.

When I walked in to the main office the nice lady behind the counter looked at both girls and asked me what grade I was here to register for.  I replied JK.

“Oh, you know that children need to be born in 2009 in order to start JK this fall.”

“Trust me, I know.”

“Oh, so she was born in 2009?”

“Yep.  She is just dinky.  Probably be the smallest kid in all of JK next year.”

We celebrated Elspeth’s registration with lunch out with Glenn’s mom.  The girls adore spending time with their Grammy and she them.  Then we got stuff for the upstairs fish tank (but that is another post) before coming home to work on our dragon (yet another post).  Then I declared that I was done.  My whiplash is improving overall but as you can see I am struggling with limits.  I seem to just go and then the moment I stop is when I notice the pain.  This past weekend we were at a skating competition (yet another post) and were standing much of the day so Sunday brought quite a bit of pain.  I thought that by taking a break this afternoon I might avoid a similar fate tomorrow.  WELL…Katrine got a new make up kit from her Grammy today and while I was resting she and Elspeth, as you can see, had some fun.

Gotta love big sisters and their creativity and also little sisters and their agreeability!