Category: Katrine

A weekend of fun

It has been a nice weekend.  Katrine got her Canskater of the year medal on Saturday along with a nice framed certificate.  Her proud Grammy took her to the RHFSC’s end of the year banquet.  She was just beaming about it.  In fact, when she came home she went right upstairs and hung her medal up on her bulletin board.

On Saturday,Glenn and I got to attend an absolutely lovely wedding.  The weather held so the service was held outside and at the beginning of the service, the clouds parted and the sun shone through.  It was beautiful.  The groom and ushers looked smart in their formal wear as did the bridesmaids.  The bride looked breathtaking.  A delicious dinner and fabulous dancing with friends.  It was a wonderful way to spend an evening.

Today we headed out for a family movie day.  Kung Fu Panda 2!!  It was a really good movie.  I liked how it approached the two families of adoption and how each can love you.  Katrine cried a bit, laughed a lot, had fun.  We had some good discussion tonight about her two families and the similarities and differences btween their stories.

Now for our final piece of news.  Our referral is on a plane from China.  We are hoping to have it in our hot little hands by Wednesday or Thursday.  Katrine is pretty excited.  Glenn and I are like little ducks.  Calm on the outside but paddling furiously underneath.  Keep your eyes open for more news.  We will share as it arrives.

What else? The robins have hatched and are getting bigger.  Unfortunately they are fairly protective so we can’t get any really nice pictures of them.

We have also managed to get our garden planted in amongst all of the rain.  Flowers out front and veges out back.  We have sunflowers (for the seeds…we hope), carrots, watermelon and two types of squash (summer and acorn).  In addition, the strawberry plants that we planted last year are growing like crazy.  I expect that Katrine will soon be picking of the berries while she is playing outside.

Have a great week.

Skate Canada Award Show

Today we are crashing on the couch after a long day yesterday.  How was it?  Awesome!

Katrine had a lot of fun practising for the show with the other CanSkaters.  Three hours in skates followed by another hour and a half in skates for the real show without a complaint.  Think she was happy?  I suppose the second clue was the huge smile on her face the whole time.

Their number was adorable.  She also did really well receiving her award and bursary from the Figure Skating Boutique.  Seemed to take it in stride instead of being overwhelmed.  She was so eager to show off her trophy, certificate and new necklace.  That said, I think that the real highlight of the day was meeting Patrick Chan.  She was glowing afterwards.  Here is some photos for you to enjoy.

Science North

What a day.  Katrine was so busy that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow (which almost never happens).  She thought Science North was fabulous.  “Mom, I just LOVE it.”  I think that she did close to every experiment or activity that they offered.

My favourites three:

1.When she made a contraption to safely carry her egg to the ground when dropped from 5 feet in the air.  Needless to say poo Eggy didn’t make it.  By the end of his crash landing there was yolk everywhere.  I still think that the results would have been more favourable if she had listened to mom and attached a balloon or two.  Maybe they would have slowed it down some.

2.Rock polishing.  She chose a piece of white quartz which turned out pretty shiny in the end.  It actually was a lot of fun sitting there watching as she ground it and polished it.  I also didn’t worry as much as I thought I would about her grinding or polishing her fingers so it turned out to be more relaxing than anticipated.

3.Sodering together a little Easter circuit board.  I have never do that before and I likely never will again.  If Katrine is going to soder anything else together it will have to be with Glenn.  I am just not that technical a person.

We also did the height prediction thing (the same one that was there when we were kids).  Guess what?  Katrine is going to be short.  Big surprise aye?  Lucky for her though, not as short as me.  Five foot 2 vs five foot.  Those two inches might make it easier for her to find pants…then again, she is also unlikely to have my hips which also might make it easier for her to find pants.

Now off to bed so that I will be ready for a day of egg dyeing, egg hunting and chasing around a chocolate filled child.  Gotta love Easter.

Oh, one more thing.  Why do people put pussy willows inside?  They are just fuzzy sacks of pollen designed to make an indoor space icky with air borne allergens.  They don’t even smell so why would a restaurant need to put them inside?  Bluck!  Now I feel icky (in their defence, I didn’t notice them until I started to get itchy and looked around to identify  the cause).

Big skating news!

Yes, it is another skating post.  Before I bring you up to date on Katrine’s skating exploits, I thought that I should tell you where we are in “The Wait”.  Last week they sent out referrals for up to June 15, 2006.  If we are lucky, we will be included in the May referrals but we are not expecting our referral until June.  Of course we will let you know once our referral arrives but now on to skating.

Today was the last skating competition for this season which means we have a bit of a break before the dance competitions begin in June.   Anyways, Katrine skated really well today (it was one of those times where everything you’ve been working on just comes together at exactly the right time) and got first place for her group.  It was also great because all three grandparents were there to help her celebrate.  Katrine was almost as excited about her prize from the contestants draw area…glittery lip gloss and a medal what could be better?

Now for some more skating news.  This is the BIG skating news.  On May 14th Katrine will have the honour of receiving the BMO CanSkater of the Year award for Central Ontario.  She doesn’t know yet, we are going to tell her after her birthday so that she doesn’t get overwhelmed with everything.  We found out two weeks ago and have finally come out of the shock phase as we didn’t know that this award existed until Glenn got the phone call from Skate Canada central Ontario.  If it took us two weeks to process this I am not sure how Little Miss will react.  What is the award?

The BMO Financial CanSkater of the Year Award:  Emphasises talent and skill achievement coupled with the spirit of a champion. These skaters will have the desire to continue and succeed in skating.  Each club in Central Ontario awards one CanSkater of the Year medal to one skater, under the age of 8, at their club.  They then submit this name to Skate Canada Central Ontario officials who chose the top 13 skaters in that section of Skate Canada and from those 13 they chose the top one.  This year Katrine is that top one.  So, on May 14th we are off to an ice show so that she can get her medal in front of a bunch of people.  Her name has also been submited for consideration for the National CanSkater of the Year award but we won’t know more about that until May 14th.

Anyways, I guess this means that we will continue to spend vast amounts of time at a variety of arenas.  It also means that we will likely to continue to provide skating blog posts for many years to come.  Surprise!

Family Day & Food

This weekend marks the 6th anniversary of the three of us becoming a family.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that next year, we will be celebrating yet another anniversary.  Below  is Katrine’s version of the day we became a family.

My brother and the kids were in to visit yesterday.  I am betting that my niece will be as tall as me, if not taller, by her birthday next year.  Yet another person to look down on me.  It is a good thing that I am not balding from the top!  They are all doing well.  My brother brought me my yearly birthday-novel.  I can’t wait to start it.  Don’t know how he does it, but each year he chooses something that I would never select for myself and it is wonderful.

Today we got to visit with one of Katrine’s “Yongning Sisters”.  After some skating, we headed to the pool and then the hot tub.  I can’t sing the praises of the hot tub enough.  It helped me to stop hurting for at least an hour!! (Damn fibro is acting up again, sigh)

Then it was out for dinner at Riz.  And what a dinner….gluten free goodness packaged as delectable thai food.  It was heaven to have both good company and good food.  Yes, I posted pictures of the food because it’s lack of gluten failed to detract from its yumminess.  Especially good were the spring rolls.  I can’t remember the last time that I got to eat good spring rolls (I tried to make them once after my diagnosis and they were a failure).  I also posted a headline that was hanging by the door of the restaurant…Hmm, do you think that message is meant for me?

GF Shanghai Noodles

GF Lemon Chicken

GF Spring Rolls

Happy Year of the Rabbit!!

Happy Lunar New Year! The year of the rabbit began with a lot of celebration.  We went to the FCC New Year’s Banquet at the end of January.  It was throughly enjoyed by all.  The food was yummy and the company even better.  It really is a fun evening because alot of the Toronto area families from Katrine’s travel group go as well.  We have a chance to reconnect.  Plus, whenever the girls get together there is definetely free entertainment.  The icing on the cake for that evening (for Katrine at least) was the lion dance.  Once the real dancers are done, they let the girls use their lions.  This year Katrine got to go around the restaurant in the head.

On New Year’s Eve we had just a family evening.  I made a few chinese dishes at home (as you can see from the photo, many less than most years because I am still smarting from my spectacular fall at skating class).  It was a great family evening nonetheless.  Katrine loved her hongbao.  She stuffed all of her new years money into her piggie bank for use in China.

Normally I don’t have anything exciting to report about our second adoption.  For the past few years, my updates have basically been that we are still waiting.  Yes, we are still waiting BUT they are now into the files registered in China during the month of June 2006.  That is our month!!  We are hoping that the year of the rabbit will bring us our referral and trip back to China.

Happy New Year!

Heather and Katrine Dance Together

Chorus:
Oh! Campbeltown Loch, Ah wish ye were whisky!
Campbeltown Loch, Och Aye!
Campbeltown Loch, I wish ye were whisky!
Ah wid drink ye dry.

Now Campbeltown Loch is a beautiful place,
But the price of the whisky is grim.
How nice it would be if the whisky was free
And the Loch was filled up to the brim.

I’d buy a yacht with the money I’ve got
And I’d anchor it out in the bay.
If I wanted a nip I’d go in for a dip
I’d be swimmin’ by night and by day.

We’d have a gathering of the clans
They’d come from near and far
I can see them grin as they’re wading in
And shouting “Slàinte mhòr!”.

But what if the boat should overturn
And drowned in the Loch was I?
You’d hear me shout, you’d hear me call out
“What a wonderful way to die !”

But what’s this I see, ochone for me
It’s a vision to make your blood freeze.
It’s the police afloat in a dirty big boat
And they’re shouting: “Time, gentlemen, please!”

Robbie Burns Day

After skating class on Saturday, we headed up to my parents’ house in Victoria Harbour.  Even though my mom had just got home from Scotland on Thursday (more about that in a future post), all five of us were heading to the Midland legion for a Robbie Burns night celebration.  Ever since Katrine began to take dance lessons, she and I have provided the dancing portion of the entertainment for this event.  This year we did two dances together and she wowed the crowd with two solo dances.  She can be quite the show-woman when she sets her mind to it (wish that would translate into her not complaining about having to practise, sigh).  The highlight for me was when we did a dance that was coreographed by our dance teacher back when I was maybe 10 (no old lady jokes needed).  It is just a fun dance; both to watch and do.  Plus, you gotta love the choice of music.

I do have to say that the rest of the party was looking pretty sharp.  Dad had on his Drummond tartan tie which is about as Scottish as he gets (not bad for a Sassenach spouse).  Mom had brought home a Drummond plaid skirt from one of her earlier trips home and the evening gave her the perfect excuse to wear it.  I have to tell you that Glenn was looking good in his new black Stewart kilt.  He doesn’t quite have the full outfit yet but he worked with what he had.

Now that Robbie Burns is over, we have started to put up the Chinese New Year decorations.  Yes, it is almost that time of year again.  The year of the Rabbit dawns on February 3rd.  Guess what we will be having for dinner that night?

Happy January!

I could have started this post in a number or ways:  Happy new year! Happy Birthday to me!  Happy report card season!  Happy snowy weather!  But seeing as how it is the wonderful month of January, I settled on Happy January!  (Those of you who have known me for a long time, know how much I love winter…especially January -snow, cold, dead mold, no smog, skating, my birthday = simply awesome.).

We had a really nice Christmas with the exception that Glenn missed out on a lot of the celebrations as he was home sick.  Katrine and I escaped his germs by heading up to my parents to celebrate Christmas.  It was awesome seeing mom and dad plus my brother’s family.  The kids always have a great time when they are together.  The fact that my parents had an oodle of snow helped as much as their piles of new toys.  After each of our outings, my mom was there plying them with homemade cookies and hot chocolate (in Katrine and Charles’ case lukewarm chocolate).

We took them to the local ice rink one day.  Grandpa, Charles and Scott watched as we took to the ice.  Katrine had an audience cheering her on as she did tricks; which worked out well as it got her practising her salchow and kept her busy as I skated with Virginia.  This was Virginia’s first time out in hockey skates (having just recently out grown her figure skates, these were the only ones in the house which fit).  She was nervous to start with but did really well once she got going.  She was really proud of herself and rightfully so.  Once she had sat down to take a break, Katrine had me skating as part of a pair.  Nothing too fancy, stroking holding hands (not really in time with eachother but we tried), changing sides with a flourish, side by side spirals and then the big finish – one foot spins and a bow.  It was fun.

Then it was off to the sledding hill which is literally next door to the rink.  And what a hill!!  They whizzed down, spinning around on their crazy carpets…until Katrine took Charles out at the knees.  He was walking up the hill and failed to get out of the way, while her sled had spun her around backwards and she had no idea where she was headed.  No one was hurt and Grandma gave them an extra cookie so alls well that ends well.

On our last day there, I took Katrine cross-country skiing at the Wye Marsh.  She did really well for her first time on skis.  Lasted an hour and a quarter.  Plus, became somewhat of an expert at getting up after having fallen.  Most importantly, we had fun and I may finally have someone to go cross country skiing with.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Don’t feel to sorry for Glenn though.   We celebrated with his family before he got sick.  The whole crew of us went out for hot pot.  MMMMMMMM!  Then back to his sister’s house for dessert, gifts and a really great visit.  Plus, we came home bearing him gifts.  The best of which was his very own kilt.  It is the same tartan that he wore to our wedding.  I must say that he will look darn good in it once it is hemmed (Can you believe that it was too long on him?).  I can’t wait to see him in it on Robbie Burns Day later this month.

I will be making my birthday cake tomorrow.  I was suppose to order it but the bakery I bought from last year is closed while they move to a larger facility.  So, this year is self-serve I am afraid.  I am going to take my red velvet cake recipe, leave out the cocoa (allergic-big surprise) and turn it purple instead because purple is a happy colour.  Then  I will plop a nice, big pile of white frosting on top.  It should be delicious as well as pretty.

I wish all of you a fabulous 2011.  May it bring us all what we need and at least some of what we desire.

The snow was so soft.

This is Katrine’s new kilt.  Grandma T made her the socks.  She will be looking good for Robbie Burns this year if she can get past the fact the the socks itch and feel a bit wierd.

This was the present that Katrine made for Santa.  She wanted him to feel appreciated because he works so hard to give others stuff.

Here is the obligatory skating photo.  I had to put it in because she looks so pulled together in it…which is not always the case.

And this she learned from her cousin Dalia.  Yeah for babysitters!  Mommy can’t do this.  Couldn’t even as a child.

Isn’t the scenery beautiful?  I hadn’t been on skis since the winter before Katrine came home.

Katrine’s Song

Katrine decided to write the lyrics to a song tonight dedicated to those fabulous, mythical creatures that all girls love.  I thought that I would share it with you.  It goes like this:

La la la, unicorns are pretty

Ooh yes, they are pretty

La la la, I love unicorns

Sure lovely

Yes, are lovely a lot!