Category: Glenn

July arrives with sun and rain

Katrine and I have been enjoying our summer vacation thus far. We have been busy. Katrine finished her Preschool A swimming lessons the second week of July. She passed which surprised us because she was quite dependent on Glenn when they took the Parent-Tot class this past winter. Anyways, she was delighted with her badge and loves to show it off to everyone who comes into our house. We have enrolled her in one more swim class in August. We have also signed her up for Sportball soccer with a friend of hers. She LOVES it!! It is hilarious watching her chase after the ball like a mad-woman only to freeze when a beautiful(usually a dandelion) catches her eye.
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I have also been using my vacation to take her to a variety of playdates and outings. We have been to the ROM to see the dinosaurs, the farm to pick strawberries, the zoo and Science Center. Katrine’s favourite outings have been the playdates, she really is a sociable child, and our visits to the park. Her favourite park is the one with the spider web of rope to climb on, but then again she is a monkey.
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This coming week Glenn is off because we are laying laminate floor upstairs in the last three bedrooms. We are planning to go to the Royal Botanical Gardens next weekend as well as the Shriner’s circus. In honour of our 9th wedding anniversary on Wednesday, Katrine is going up to my parents in Victoria Harbour for two days. She is pretty excited about it.
Well now you are up-to-date with the family in Canada so here is some news on Elspeth in China. Our dossier is now in the review room. That means someone is looking at all of our paperwork to ensure that we meet China’s guidelines. Once they are done we move to the next phase….waiting…again. The backlog of dossiers is still quite extensive which means we still have a long time to wait until we will receive our referral. We are helping to make ourselves feel better by painting Elspeth’s room while we wait. Glenn has chosen a lovely pale, sage green paint. I think that once the floor is down in her room and the walls painted we will feel another step closer to her. Maybe I will even begin to unpack the baby stuff and set some of it up. Our wait? We are not expecting a referral until 2009 at the earliest but this is China and things change all the time.

Wild Toy Animal Hospital Visit

Today we went the the Wild Toy Animal Hospital at the Toronto Zoo. It seems that Monkey has collected a few boo-boos that needed look after, and he is sorely behind on his vaccinations. 296300303 First we needed to go through Triage: 306 Then came our examination by the Veterinarian: 312 Then we needed to get our vaccinations: 315 Next was the X-ray to check out his paw: 318321 After that it was a heart ultrasound: 324 Then he was looked at by the surgons: 327 Finally he was bandaged up and declared “good as new”: 330 As proof, here is Monkey’s health certificate: 333 The rest of the visit did not go as well, as Katrine was somewhat afraid of the Dinosaur exibit. As well we forgot her swimsuit, and despite urging from Mama and Baba, Katrine insisted that she could not under any circumstances go in the splash park. It was probably for the best as we came home for luch and a nap.

At the splashpad


at the splashpad #2

Originally uploaded by grattwood
Well I finally went and got a Digital SLR (a Nikon D200 if you’re wondering)… it’s a reward for all the work I’ve been doing, and will be doing especially on Father’s Day.

So we went for a walk with Katrine to the local splashpad. It was a good way to test the new camera, and a great way for Katrine to get cold 🙂

May in Review

May began with a trip to Niagara Falls for a reunion with Katrine’s orphanage “sisters”. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge; which is absolutely awesome! Katrine had a great time splashing around in the wave pool and playing with her friends. She also like the kiddie water slides once she saw some of her friends going down them. She was really impressed with the falls and just wanted to stay and watch them inspite of shivering. On our way back home we stopped at the Botanical Gardens and Butterfly Conservatory. Katrine loved the butterflies. I was actually able to get one to land on me!! Others got them to land on their hands while I had to settle for my shoulder…oh well. We had a lot of fun wandering through the gardens and looking at the spring flowers. One of the highlights was when Glenn and her found some frogs beside a wee pond.

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Looking at frogs.
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Perched amongst the cherry blossoms.
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At the wave pool.
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By the falls.

Glenn’s birthday was over Mother’s Day weekend and we were lucky enough to have my parents staying with us so we were able to go out with some friends to celebrate. On Sunday morning we went with my parents to visit my nana and enjoy some treats. Nana is doing quite well for 95. In the afternoon, we had Glenn’s family over for a barbeque. It was fun seeing everyone and a special way to combine the festivities of the weekend into one. I got a lovely card from Katrine that she made at daycare (it made me cry) and Glenn got my favourite photo of Katrine and I from last weekend blown up and framed. I have included it below.
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This past weekend, we journeyed down to London to do the Tomlinson family birthday thing. We spent Saturday at Storybook Gardens. The kids had a great time playing together and climbing the various play structures. Katrine’s favourite part was riding the carrousel. On Sunday, we stopped to visit another one of her orphanage “sisters” and her adorable new baby sister. The girls had so much fun playing with Thomas and making necklaces, that Katrine didn’t want to leave and come home. Today, we planted our garden. The soil is excellent and it has us believing that this might acutally be the year that our vegetables grow (we never got much at our last house). We planted beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and cabbage. Katrine got to wear her cute Dora garending gloves and helped to plant the seedlings and then water them in. Hopefully our local wild bunnies won’t eat everything on us.

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Katrine and her cousins
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Helping Baba!

Easter Weekend Fun!

Katrine began gymnastics classes on Thursday. She had a wonderful time. They got her up on the balance beam and trampoline which she thought was fabulous. They also began to teach her how to do a cart-wheel (she has been asking for a while but neither Glenn nor I can do one). Our favourite part? She left the class exhausted and slept like a log that night!!
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On Good Friday, we went up to visit my Nana (she’s 95!). Katrine was excited as we haven’t been able to go and visit in a while as they have been under quarantine. We sat around visited and enjoyed ice cream sundaes. Much to Katrine’s delight, Nana had managed to get Katrine a small egg full of jelly beans which she devoured after polishing off her ice cream.
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Sunday morning began with Katrine searching through her Easter basket to see what the Easter bunny had brought. The fat pencils were among her favourite items. (Yes, our Easter bunny likes to bring non-candy items). Then it was time to run around the living room searching for treats which the fluffy gift-giver had hidden. Then she had to sample some with a sigh before beginning to draw with her new pencils. Next, we went to visit Glenn’s dad and mom. Katrine is feeling some Grandparent withdrawal because she hasn’t been able to see her Attwood grandparents as often due to Glenn’s dad’s surgery. Anyways, visits are a huge hit with her. She insisted on taking her Easter bunny purse and stickers as well as some “homework” as she likes to call her connect-dot-sheets. Well, she entertained everyone with her gymnastics exercises and songs. Plus, she managed to scam some chocolate off of her Grandpa. After consuming some more chocolate, it was time for turkey dinner. We were lucky enough to have Glenn’s mom join us. We were going to have gluten-free rice krispies shaped like carrots but the green gummies that we had set aside for the leaves had mysteriously vanished. Hhmmm, a hungry Easter bunny or a little girl?
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Easter basket booty

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Today, Easter Monday, Glenn had the day off and we drove out to Puck’s Farm in Nobleton for their egg hunt. It was a wee bit cold but we all needed some fresh air. She had fun looking at the baby animals and going on pony rides. However, the highlight of the day was, by far, finding the small plastic egg and then trading them in for more candy.

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Sigh, just think. This coming weekend we are having a Pirate Third Birthday Party complete with candy and a treasure hunt. I think that our family will sail through the rest of this month on a sugar high.

Celebrating the New Year

Let me begin by wishing everyone a happy Shrove Tuesday. We don’t actually do anything for Lent but today gives us the excuse to eat pancakes for dinner. This year we actually managed to enlist Katrine to help mix them up before swim class.

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This past weekend saw my Nana turn 95 and the arrival of the Year of the Golden Pig, which in our house has also become known as “The Year when Elspeth will likely be born…maybe”. We had dinner in Chinatown on New Year’s Eve with two other families from Katrine’s travel group. We had all gone to see the Chinese New Year children’s symphony at Roy Thompson Hall. It was not quite what we expected and Katrine was not that impressed; probably because she was required to sit still AND quietly. The only part that she truly enjoyed was when a piece was presented on traditional Chinese instruments. Then they had her full attention. The girls really enjoyed seeing each other.

Sunday was a quiet day at home full of tobogganing in the backyard, puzzles, crafts and of course Dora’s Around the World DVD (we must watch it everyday). Then we cooked Chinese food for the three of us before Katrine opened her Hong Bao. Much quieter than last year’s family banquet but more in tune with our lives over the past few months.

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Tomorrow is our 2nd Gotchaversary. It is hard to believe that two years ago today we were on the verge of meeting our little fireball. That day was certainly a blessing. Katrine has brought us a lot of laughter and joy. It has been wonderful to see how she has grown and learned these past two years. We will be going out to dinner and skating (weather permitting) to mark the occassion. Then on Saturday, we will be getting together with alot of the families who we traveled with so that the girls can play together and get re-aquainted. We will miss our families out west but we will be thinking about them.

February Fun Begins

We have had some fun mixed in between viruses. Yesterday afternoon we took Katrine out to the backyard and broke out the toboggan. As you can see, we have a MASSIVE hill leading into the yard. The perfect size for a two year old.

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In the evening we headed out to the FCC (Families with Children from China) Chinese New Year banquet. The actual new year’s eve is not until this coming Sunday but we started early. We were joined by a group of families who we traveled with which helped to make it even more special. We ate a full banquet, were entertained by singers & dancers and also a lion dance put on by some of the girls. Katrine was especially impressed by the red envelopes that she received. She told me tonight, “We eat Chinese. My tummy full. I like play my friends and see Aie’s. I get red money and chocolate.”

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Doing her own Dragon Dance

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Can you believe that she turns 3 in April?

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Merry Christmas!

We have finished the last of our Christmas celebrations and I thought that it would be nice to take a moment to share some of the holiday highlights.

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Katrine visiting Santa

Our holidays began the first weekend of December with a visit to my parents in Victoria Harbour. My brother and his family were also up there so we had an early Tomlinson Christmas (complete with turkey dinner). On the Saturday night we trecked off to St. Marie among the Huron for their period celebrations. The kids got to stay up late and do crafts while walking around by candle light. One of the highlights of the evening was listening to the Native drummers. We would have stayed longer in the longhouse but it was too smoky. Sunday morning was gift day. It was nice to see all of the kids ripping paper and smiling at their various gifts.

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Sunday, December 17th was our holiday open house. It was really nice to show off our new house while having a chance to chat with friends. It also gave me an excuse to do some gluten-free baking. I am getting much better at transfering family recipes into gluten-free concoctions. Katrine had a blast running around with all of her friends. We only wish that more families had been able to join us.

Christmas Eve was a bit quieter. Glenn, Katrine and I went to visit my Nana at her nursing home and too drop off some presents for her. She surprised us by giving Katrine her stuffed puppy dog that sits by her bed. Katrine usually plays with it when we visit so she was tickled pink. My parents had driven down from the Harbour (my dad is recovering from kidney stones), and my mom joined us at church. Unfortunately, I missed a chunk of the service as I was dealing with a tantruming toddler. Oh well, maybe next year.

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On Christmas morning, Katrine let us sleep in until 8:00 before we journeyed downstairs to see what Santa had brought. She was still pretty calm this year because she still sees Santa as a fat, old guy who gives out candy canes if you ask nicely as opposed to the bringer of your heart’s desire. We managed to get her to eat some breakfast before we dove into the pile of gifts. We tried not to go to crazy but there still seemed to be a lot of stuff at the end of it all. After gifts Glenn and I took Katrine to visit his parents and then it was back up to the nursing home to see her Great-nana again. After the turkey and fixings we enjoyed Baby Jesus’ birthday cake. I have to tell you that Katrine actually helped to make it by pouring the various ingredients into the bowl and sprinkling the stars on top. I also have to give her the credit for thinking this tradition up. She is currently obsessed with birthdays and parties…constant topic of conversation. Well, we were trying to explain that Christmas was when Jesus was born. Then, on went the light bulb and hence the cake.

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On Boxing Day the three of us drove out to the zoo and walked around for a few hours. The fresh air and exercise were great pick-me ups after all the food. In the afternoon, we headed over to Glenn’s parents for the Attwood family Christmas. More food, more family, more gifts. It was a relaxing and fun time.

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Today, the last day of Christmas, we had the Toop family Christmas(Glenn’s mom’s side of the family). It took Katrine about an hour to truly feel comfortable but then she was off and running. She really had a great time with her cousins. It is nice that she has so many cousins close to her own age.

Now we have a few days to rest before we drive back up to Victoria Harbour to celebrate New Years with my folks. We hope that all of you have had an enjoyable December.

Another long time between updates

Well I guess that moving does take a lot out of you.  We have all been feeling under the weather (I have another upper-respiratory infection) and Katrine is feeling just about as well.  We also found out that Heather had a untreated 1st degree sprain of her foot that caused much pain and a locked ankle and calf muscle… yeah we’re really healthy over here.

Things are looking up though.  We are slowly getting unpacked and we are definitely feeling settled in that we now more often call it “The House”, rather than “The New House”.  With Christmas around the corner we should have a few new postings and maybe some pictures.

House update

Well I’ve got quite a bit done, and there is a lot more to do. So far I’ve painted the family room, living/dining room, and the master bedroom (2 coats, but it probably needs a third in the spring). The parquet floor in the family room, living/dining room was sanded, stained a dark oak, and had 4 coats of satin polyurethane applied (by a professional, not me). And the laminate is down in the master bedroom (by same said professional).

Now for the bad news. The bathrooms are in worse shape that we originally thought. There is lots of bubbling plaster and peeling paint that I chipped this evening, so I probably will not be done prep till tomorrow (Tuesday) because of spackling and sanding and washing with T.S.P. Also we talked to our window “guy” who has no news, which is definatly not good news, and is still waiting on the mill to finish production of our windows.

Things are still moving forward, the ducts and furnace will be cleaned this week, and the carpets will be cleaned next Monday. Also it looks like I’ll be getting some help from Tim, Bill, and perhaps Kris & Mark to finish off the painting this weekend (Yeah!).

more updates as they happen!