At the playground

On the first warm day (and it was LOVELY, about 24 degrees!) I decided it was picnic day. That was about 17 April. We went to a park not too far away that has about 4 playground areas, each designed for different aged kids. My kids enjoy all of them! We swung, slid, jumped, and generally had a great time. We took the rollerblades along and they did a bit of skating, but mostly just ran around and had a blast. Finally!!!! As you can see, there was still a lot of snow in piles on the fields, but the playground areas were clear.

Every Sunday is pancake breakfast at our house. In mid-April, I decided Mustang could try her hand at frying the pancakes. She was very proud to be deemed old enough to work at the stove, and took great pains to make the panckaes perfect. She even declared her pancakes were much better then the ones I fry, which are often a bit dark (if not burned). Well, if I were able to give them undivided attention...

It's spring! It's sports!

When spring finally comes, it's time to get outside and get active!!! Once the streets finally cleared of snow (though as you can see there were still huge piles on the lawns and sides of roads...) the kids were keen to get out and try out their bikes. As I noted before, Mustang said she wanted to try to ride by herself on the first day we went out - and she did it!!! Here are a few shots of her riding on her own for the very first time, and of Button on his bike.

On Monday (15 Apr) I went to get the bikes tuned up, which involved pumping up the tires and getting a new back tire for Mustang's bike as it was shot. While waiting for the bikes to be ready, Button and I went to a used sports equipment store and bought some roller blades for both kids. Mustang had been begging for them and I figured it was a good activity so I found some used ones that fit (as well as all the padding to go along!). Mustang had the rhythm from the get-go. For Button, at first hse was just shuffling along in them, as he'd done in his skates on the ice. But after one time seeing how Mustang moved her feet to get the glide, he imitated her and actually got it, too - though not as smooth or fast. But that will come.

Ceramics painting

At the end of March, the grade 1-3 Children's Fellowship Group from our church visited a ceramics painting place and made some nice figurines. (Button attended, too, as a younger sibling.)

My Chinese kids

Here are Mustang and Button (and Laolao and I) in our Chinese outfits. Well, Laolao's isn't Chinese, but the colour fits! She was wearing her silk kimono housecoat earlier, but didn't want to pose for the picture in that! Button's outfit is one given to Mustang a couple of years ago, but it fits Button now.

March break pix

Okay, I know March break was like 6 weeks ago, and I've the pix for a while, but only now am getting around to posting them.

Monday we had a home-day. We did some cooking/baking to prepare a meal for a friend who had purchased it as part of our church youth group fundraising for their Service Trip. Every March break the youth go somewhere to do a week of service. This year it was New York to work with homeless people. It takes money to make these trips happen, so they do fundraising throughout the year, such as hosting chili lunches at church. For a few years they've had an auction of "goods and services" where people in the church donate things they can make or do and others buy them, with the proceeds going towards the youth service trip. My family donated a "take-out meal" for sale, and it was purchased by JH. So on Monday of March break we made some buns, cupcakes, and a pot of tomato curry - then delivered it later in the week, on Thursday. So here are the kids making buns with Laolao - and trying out some out-of-the-ordinary face decorations in the process.

Tuesday we went skiing. A teenage friend (who wasn't on the service trip) joined us and accompanied Mustang on the slope. I paid for an hour of private lessons for Button, but we couldn't get a teacher until about 11:30 so for the first few hours I ran up and down the bunny hill with him as he got used to his skis. When the instructor joined us, he'd gotten the feel of sliding already, though needed work on technique. He had some trouble turning his feet in to make a snowplough shape, so at first she attached a rubber thingie to the front of his skiis so the tips had to stay together, and after a run or two that way he got the idea a bit better. They stayed mostly on the bunny hill, but she did take him down the big hill for one run, and he did okay.

After skiing, we drove up to a friend's house in the Gatineau hills and had supper, then stayed for the night (as I was too tired and stiff to battle the trail down to the road where the cars were parked - his steep driveway was blocked owing to the previous week's snowstorms that dumped 50 cm of snow in the area). Here Mustang and Button are doing some artwork on his living room coffee table.

Wednesday morning we drove back to town, heading right to the museum and spending the day there. When we finally got back home, I took a few pictures of the snow piles around our house.

Thursday we went to the local huge indoor playground with a school friend of Mustang's. Then on Friday, we visited the Farm in the morning, painted some ceramics in the afternoon, and at supper went to Mustang's favouritet Chinese restaurant to celebrate her third Family Day. Wow! Three years already! Here is a picture of Mustang with a bunny at the Farm.

Mustang and Button

I've been meaning to do this for a while - specifically, since we got home from Ethiopia in January - but the post I was going to attach this announcement to has yet to be completed, so I'm just going to go ahead with the announcement on its own.

No, I'm not adopting again! :-)

But I think a re-naming is in order for both Poppet and Giggles. "Poppet" was just a name concocted because I made a puppet-like stick/photo figure of Poppet when I first got his referral photo and took pictures of "him" in various places in our house to send to the real Poppet in Ethio0pia while we waited for him to come home. Now that he's home and we know a bit more about his personality, it's time for a blog-name that reflects a bit of who he is.

So.... introducing BUTTON!

Because he's totally into pressing buttons and turning dials, figuring out how things work and making them go. He's always asking, "Ma, can I button it?" - meaning press the button for whatever the latest gadget is. Yesterday, Giggles brought home a little toy she'd won at school for something. It's a little hand-held electronic game that you have to press buttons and try to catch dots or some such thing. She didn't know how to get it working and wondered if it needed new batteries. Well, while she was off playing, Button comes along, turns it over, flicks a switch, starts pressing buttons, and voila, it's working. He's very observant about how things work and wants to figure it out.

Obviously, that leaves Mustang as Giggles' new moniker. Why Mustang? Well, as those of you who know her are aware, she LOVES horses. Totally adores them. She's currently taking horsemanship lessons and will start riding in fall/winter, once she knows enough to tack up her own horse and groom it. So of all the horses, why a Mustang? Because the Mustang's characteristics are a good reflection of Giggles's nature: spirited, stubborn, determined, obstinate, active, on the wild side, energetic, a free spirit.

After visiting Alberta last summer, Mustang said she wanted to live in Alberta when she grows up and be a wild girl. (Yesterday she said she wanted to be a veterinarian and a mountaineer. When she scraped her knee badly while playing street hockey with her brother and little neighbour yesterday, she sat for a long while telling me she was trying hard not to cry because if she wanted to be a mountain-climber, she would have to get used to getting scrapes and bumps!!)

Hello out there

Hi everyone, I guess it's been so long since my March post, no one's checking my blog (as frequently) any more! Hope you're still out there!

Joy

- is watching my daughter run across the playground, carefree, and do a little flying spring of happiness for sun, warmth, and freedom.
- is watching my son run down the street with his little hop, skip, jump step, happy to be a kid and to have energy, things to do, and a mommy to be with him.

Giggles the conqueror!

Yesterday, Sunday 13 April, Giggles rode her bicycle all by herself for the very first time!!!!!

Our friend M was here for lunch, and after lunch we took the kids out on their bikes. Poppet has training wheels on his, so he's going strong without assistance. but Giggles' bike has a bar sticking up behind for someone to hold onto while she rides. I've been using it since she turned 6 and started attempting the two-wheeler. The first summer she wasn't ready, but last summer she almost had it and I thought she could do it if she really wanted - but I guess she still wasn't quite ready.

So yesterday, after biking around the neighbourhood and around the circle in the park for about 45 minutes, we came back to our back alley and Giggles said she wanted to try it all by herself. So I removed the bar from behind the bike (for better balance without assistance), M helped her to get started, then let go - and she was off! She went about 10m the first time, then kept trying over and over to start by herself too - and she did. M and I gave her a few tips to help her get going more easily on her own, and she rode up and down the alley (appx 50m) several times, even starting unassisted. After a few minutes I raised the seat on her bike to give her better push power - she could still reach the ground while seated - and that helped.

This was even with very flat tires on both wheels. So I took both bikes in for a tune-up today (I think a new tire might be required on Giggles' back wheel) and once the tires are firm it will be even easier for her to ride.

Pictures will have to wait for the film to be developed.

You go girl!!!!!

Has it really been more than a month?

... since my last post? Doesn't seem possible. I've been meaning to, but other things have taken priority, I guess.

What's happened since March 9th:

• March break - I planned a special activity every day. To the farm, to the Nature museum, an outing skiing with both kids (and a teenage friend to accompany Giggles on the slopes), a trip to the ceramics painting place, and one quiet day at home cooking and doing crafts (that was Monday). March break activity photos to come soon!


• Giggles' third Family Day. Her adoption anniversary usually falls during March break; this year it was the Friday, so after our day's special activities, we all went out for supper at her favourite Chinese restaurant. Her favourite dish there? Congee!!!!! I always order one (big!) bowl for eating there and one for taking home.


• Easter - we dyed eggs three times. The Saturday at the beginning of March break, the Sunday after (Palm Sunday) and once with friends at their house, on Easter Saturday. Giggles is a master egg dyer - I think she needs a dozen eggs to do all on her own! Poppet did good work too. With our friends we used the Ukrainian egg dying technique (though not quite so fancy!) but Poppet didn't use the kiska much, he's still a bit young and not good enough fine motor control. Giggles is getting better at it. Our favourite technique though is to put rubber bands on the eggs (the big ones that come on broccoli are the best) and then dying the eggs. It gives nice, solid patterns. Did you know that this year was almost the earliest Easter will ever come? It's the earliest any of us will ever experience Easter - the next time it will fall on 23 March is some hundreds of years in the future. It can also fall on 22 March but that also won't happen for longer than any of us will live.


• Shaved Poppet's head! His hair had been growing since we got him and was getting a bit long and shaggy. Well, not really shaggy, but longish. With very tight curls. So Laoye got out his shaving kit and went to work. I tried it too, so I can do it myself later. It ended up very unevern and weird-looking. But the next day Laolao got out her scissors and fixed it up so it didn't look too bad. I think I need practice!
  
• Laolao and Laoye head home. They flew back out west on Easter Sunday evening, leaving me on my own with my expanded family. Okay, now comes the real test! So far it's been okay. My friend L is now taking Poppet once aabout every other week for a few hours so I have some more time to accomplish stuff around the home (and to start planning for summer holiday) and also to give me a bit of one-on-one time with Giggles, which she dearly loves and needs. Since Laolao and Laoye left I've had a bit more of the "I hate Poppet! Can't we get rid of him? I wish it were just us again!" When they were here Laolao did take Poppet and do stuff with him from time to time, even just in another room, so I could have some snuggles and story-time with just Giggles, for example. So I think she's missing that a lot. Everyone says it takes a good year for families and siblings to adjust to a new addition, so I expcet it will settle down in time.


• We celebrated Poppet's three month-iversary as part of the family on 31 March. Went to one of the local Ethiopian restaurants with some friends, another soon(?)-to-be Chinese-Ethiopian adoptive family. Justice's daughter is very close to Giggles' age. Her (one or two?) Ethiopian kids are still just a twinkle in the eye, but they will come in due course!


• Met P and F, another single mom and her Ethiopian daughter (who arrived home last November). They live a good distance outside Ottawa, but had to come in for an appointment at the International Adoption clinic, so had supper with us since we live just a skip and a hop from the hospital.

• Got rid of (most of) the snow!!!!!!! There was a huge storm here in early March - actually two in one week - that dumped tons of snow on us. The rest of March was below average temps, and it seemed the snow would never leave. But it's now almost gone - still a few big hills, but they're hills instead of mountains, and in isolated clumps rather than whole ranges. Last Wednesday it actually hit 17 degrees - I was out in my shirtsleeves! Hauled out the bikes and Poppet spent the day riding up and down the alley (with training wheels). Have been throwing a bunch of the snow from the piles onto the street to promot thawing, and by now our front garden is almost bare, and at least half the grass is showing in the back. HURRAY!!!! This weekend is cool again, but they're promising nice weather again on Wednesday. Hope it doesn't change.