Monday, March 30, 2009

7th Birthday Celebrations

Today, we celebrated Cara-Li's 7th birthday with 14 dear friends from school and 'life'. It was a cooking party. The invitation was printed in the form of a recipe card and all guests had to make their own pizzas, salads and sundaes. Since the party was held at Loblaws, the kids had to go get their own groceries from the store. So upon arrival, each child received an apron and a chef hat. They were then divided into 3 teams. We had an adult assigned to each team and off we were to roam the store armed with a grocery list. My team was responsible for pizza ingredients. Up and down the aisles I went with 5 screaming kids running in all directions. Customers thought it to be the funniest thing to see 15 kids dressed like little chefs running through the store. That's because they were not the adult trying to control them :) Anyway, my team was pretty well-behaved until we approached the sliced olives. The 5 girls spotted them simultaneously and then as I watched in slow motion, there were a pile of olive cans flying in the air with one glass jar crashing to the ground. They all stopped, looked at each other, and one said, 'Guess we'll have to pay for that!' Too funny. Once in the kitchen, the kids had to chop, slice, and dice all the ingredients before actually making their pizzas, salads and sundaes. We also played theme appropriate game such as 'Pin the moustache on the chef' and 'Guess what this kitchen gadget does'. Auntie L made 2 wonderful 'pizza' cakes to help ring in her 7th birthday. The kids loved the fact that they could have pizza for dessert!



Thursday, March 26, 2009

''7''


Today is a very special day. My sweet Cara-Li is 7 years old. Where has the time gone? Where is that frightened little girl that we met in China some years ago? In her place, we have a young lady that is so full of life with so much love to give. Over the years, Cara-Li has gained the confidence needed and freed herself from her fears and inhibitions. In the first few days she was with us, I knew she was special, a child with a heart of gold. I handed her a bowl of Cheerios and after figuring out that it was food, she went around the room and fed all the other babies first before actually eating herself . Till this day, Cara-Li does the very same thing. Cara-Li... my baby, my girl, my everything! Happy Birthday. I love you with all my heart.


Love Mom

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sugar Shack 2009

It is that time of year again when everyone in Quebec flocks to the Sugar Shacks to ingurgitate everything maple syrup. Eggs and maple syrup, ham and maple syrup, pancakes and maple syrup, beans and maple syrup. Well, you get the picture. We attended the Adoptive Families of Quebec Sugar Shack event again this year which was held in St. Eustache. It was lovely and quaint and the girls got to see their friends from China once again. They seem to get closer and closer with every event which what makes these get togethers so important and great!Myself, I had such a sugar high upon leaving as there was no stopping my intake. Diet, what diet?

As a side note, these photos were taken with my old 35mm Canon Rebel as I forgot my digital one at home. Anyway, you should have seen the guy at Costco's face when I brought in a roll to have developed. Priceless! But, these photos have been printed as opposed to the thousands I have stored on my PC from years gone by now. Now there's a project... actually printing them! I am on it.....

Friday, March 20, 2009

Cottage for Sale!

So here we are at the cottage, myself, the girls and my friend L. Gord stayed in town since he is flying to Lake Louise in the morning. All is well, the heat is on, nothing is frozen. Perfect. I prepare for dinner as L unloads the car. No surprises there. L's job is also to start a fire but upon opening the fireplace door, she immediately shut it and scurried into the kitchen stating that we couldn't have a fire. Problem. Squirrel. Dead. Inside. After much contemplation and dinner, it was agreed that I would do the scooping while L would hold the bag. Yuck. After all this, L asks me if I still want a fire. Duh!



Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

My 200th Post!

Today marks my 200th post since I started this blog about 2 years ago. It started off as a blog to keep our family and friends up to date in our adoption journey but has now morphed into a blog about our life with our two daughters from China. I've had a great time trying to keep this blog up to date and many thanks to all of those who read it.

Last weekend, my 2 dear friends, L and C, and I went to Le Spa Scandinave to celebrate both their birthdays. I don't know if any of you have ever been to such a place but what a treat! There are 3 stations: hot, cold, relaxation. By the way, all the cold stations are outdoors as well as some of the hot stations. So basically, you start off by choosing one of the hot spots which could be a hot tub, sauna or steam bath and stay there a max. of 15 minutes. Then you are to jump into a cold spot which could be a pool of 64 degree F (16 C) water, a river shower or the river itself which is at 30 degrees F (1 C)! Cold let me tell you! But strangely enough, once you've jumped into the cold, you can easily stroll outside down the snow-covered paths with nothing but a dripping wet swimsuit and some flipflops. The weather was nice this time (40 F or 5 C) but the last time I went it was a balmy -13 F or -25 C! After the cold which usually lasts but a couple of minutes, you head off to a relaxation spot indoors for whatever time desired. You must remain quiet during the entire visit which can last a good couple of hours. You do hear the odd yelp or two when someone jumps into the cold waters! Too funny! A must do for anyone who has never been to a Nordic spa.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Welcome to moi!

I have finally joined the 21st Century with my new Blackberry Storm!



Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.

Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day on and all!

Monday, March 16, 2009

Please Don't Laugh!

OK. So here is my Year in Review 2008! I know, I know. Usually this kind of post is seen within a few days of the New Year but it took me this long to do it. What can I say? Enjoy!


Thursday, March 12, 2009

Winners Once Again!

Watch this little video clip that I entered for a radio contest on Virgin Radio and see what won us 2 tickets to the Cirque du Soleil this morning. Cara-Li is my Contest Cash Cow. She last won me $100 at Reno-Depot.


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Welcome to Frozone!

That is what I am calling our cottage these days... FROZONE! We went to the cottage last weekend and once again, surprise surprise, the furnace had stopped during the week. So the girls and I spent over an hour in the car waiting for the cottage to warm up before dropping them into their beds. I was soooo miffed first at the furnace, then at the furnace repair guy who came 2 months and then at Gordie for not doing something about it all. Anyway, long story short, repair guy came the next morning and found the problem so things seem to be working but for some reason, this cottage will be forever known as Frozone to me!

We had a lovely weekend of skiing and visitors. We had some very special guests, M, N and S, join us on Saturday afternoon carting a whole raclette dinner with them. I had never had this before and it was amazing! Nothing low-fat about this meal, let me tell you. We were supposed to have been joined by Mortimer's Mom and her clan for skiing and dinner but due to some rather bad news, they were unable to join us :( We then spent the entire Sunday skiing with our guests with M impressing us with her talents. I need to mention that M is only 2 years old! Quite impressive. Alexia, too, tried skiing for the very first time. She was soooo excited to be going skiing like her Jie Jie. All was great until she started to go down the baby hill. At this point, she was not so impressed. 2 runs and she was back in the daycare. Better luck next year!




And this is how Alexia actually enjoyed skiing... in her Daddy's arms!


And lastly, for my pictures on the week (my final assignment).

WEEK 4: Frame within a frame

WEEK 4: Natural Light

WEEK 4: Action

Monday, March 2, 2009

Togas and Cottages

Phew!! What a weekend! Going to work is much easier, I am sure. Gord is in Arizona until Wednesday so I am alone with the girls. We did not go to the cottage this weekend as our dear friend J had her 10th birthday party, a Greek Mythology theme where all guests had to wear togas. Fine if it is 25 degrees out... not so much if it is -25 out! So we got up early in the AM and pulled out all our white sheets and tablecloths. I have not done this since I was 18! Alexia donned a card table tablecloth as she is little, Cara-Li had a slightly larger one and I wrapped myself in the largest tablecloth I could find. Lots of safety pins later and this is what we came up with.



J's parties are always the best! Her Mom always goes way out to convert their house into whatever the theme may be. So there were lots of columns and lots of flowing fabrics and lots of gold stuff. Of course, lunch was everything Greek from souvlaki to Greek salad to tzatziki... well you get the picture. For dessert, baklava and a chocolate fountain. Oh, of course, there was a birthday cake too! For entertainment, bobbing for olives (really large black grapes), Greek mythology quizzes and wonderwords, pin the eyeball on the the cyclops etc. There was a caricaturist on hand for all little guests to get their portrait done. Cara-Li's and Alexia's turned out so well that I already framed them and are ready for hanging. By the end of the said event, I dragged my 2 poor little tired children home (luckily we live just down the street) and dropped them into their beds. They were spent as I was!









We were supposed to lay low the next day but when I woke up to a wonderful and sunny morning, I convinced Cara-Li to go skiing. So off we were by 9:30 to get to the cottage to pick up our snow suits and then to the slopes 10 minutes from there. Only problem is once we got to the cottage (after we stopped at Ikea to get frames for the portraits), I discovered upon entering that our furnace had broken. Yup, saw my breath again. Twice in one week... I am seeing a pattern here. It was below 0 in the house and everything that is supposed to be in a liquid state was frozen solid. The question was, do I turn around and pretend that I was never there? After all, the damage is done. But the responsible side of me said no, you must assess the situation. So I dragged my 2 tired kids into the friggen igloo while I went into the basement to try to start the furnace. Need I remind you that Gord is sitting in balmy Arizona while my fingertips are falling off looking for the reset button on the furnace. It started at the flick of the switch and well, instead of watching the cottage thaw, we went skiing for a few hours. Once at the hill, I forgot about these recurring cottage troubles and picked up my new skis. Yes, I broke down and bought them. They were waiting for me at the pro shop as I had ordered them by phone. All is good with a new pair of skis. Upon our return to the cottage, all had thawed nicely except for a leak in the basement coming from the bathtub above which I think might have been there prior. Now, I believe that this is the 4th or 5th time the furnace has crapped out on us over the years. The furnace is new so I don't know exactly what causes it to stop. Well, it hasn't crapped out on us, it's always crapped out on ME in particular. Mysteriously, Gord is always out of the country and is usually somewhere very warm when all this happens. So I will be ordering the Freeze Alarm ASAP as I have asked Gord to do so so many times in the past. This little gizmo will alert you by phone when the temperature in the cottage drops below a certain degree. Happy Birthday, Gord! You just got yourself a early birthday present!