Tree Time !

This morning after breakfast we drove out to Grobes Nursery and got our Christmas tree. Yes, we know, almost the 11th hour and yes we thought LAST weekend we would be getting the tree .. HOWEVER such is life. Grobes has great trees so the choosing experience was pretty easy . Chris, using his 'knotting' skills learned in one of the countless classes he had at apprentice school last year ( I always KNEW those knot tying skills would come in handy ), tied it to the roof of the Tribute . And then we sloooowly drove home !!!

Nose Dive - Loose Tooth

So there we were out in the cold, taking a walk to the 'little store' ( aka corner store ) to get some treats. It was cold and snowy of course and Carolina had her arms in her coat - NOT in her sleeves ... and all of a sudden she tripped, fell and had no way of saving that extremely cute little nose. Fortunately this was on our return trip ( we had our treats and were just completing our walk around the block and were almost home). We came back in the house alarming Chris with Carolina's shrieking and yelling ( good drama girl ). He had stayed home, not understanding why anyone would want to go out on a cold and windy night. It was quickly determined that Carolina had really done quite a little number on that sweet little nose. Just in time for all the those great Christmas pictures !!!!

Not to be outdone by her younger sister, Rosalind announced tonight at dinner that she had a very loose tooth ...... attention tooth fairy !!! Rosalind is doing everything she can to help her tooth find its way to the special tooth fairy bag that goes under her pillow as soon as possible !! Hope the tooth fairy hasn't spent all her money on Christmas presents and has a special fund for teeth that she needs to collect at Christmastime............

The Weather Outside is Frightful......

When we woke up this morning the girls went wild at the sight of snow on the ground outside and the promise of more to come. The weather map in the paper is always checked first thing in the morning by Carolina but this morning the proof was on the lawn !!!


Even better it was the sticky stuff ...the ultimate packing snow. Rosalind was in her boots, mitts, coat in a flash and outside cleaning off my car and then rolling huge snowballs around the lawn in preparation for a snowman build !!! HOWEVER ...as the day went on, the snow got mushy and very very wet. The 2 snowballs shrunk a bit but are still ok so we may get that snowman put together sometime soon.

'Tis the Season for ... Parties and Pageants

This past Sunday morning up we got and off we went in our finery to Chris' work's Kids Christmas Party in Toronto. They do a breakfast party. Santa is there , naturally along with balloon people who make great things out of balloons ( that always pop in the car on the way home ), magic acts, popcorn, cotton candy and yes PRESENTS. They do an awesome job and its well organized. The girls were really into the entire event this year. Although Chris tried to convince them we should take the presents home to put under the tree, he did not prevail. Carolina got an awesome Little Ponyville with a roller coaster, merry go round and a ferris wheel. Rosalind loved it. Rosalind got a Moxie Girl makeup and hair kit. Carolina adored it. And guess what, they traded !! We came rolling home with three balloon critters per child , 2 regular balloons each , full tummies and great presents !! A wonderful morning - and the day was bright and sunny, and the roads were empty - can you ask for anything more !!!

Later that day, after dinner, we headed out to Bethany Evangelical Church for their annual outdoor Nativity pageant complete with live animals. They have a camel, horses, a donkey, sheep, and chickens. They do three shows a night for three nights. The little plays just run for 20 minutes and are incredibly popular. People arrive for one show as the previous show is ending !!! This year was their 14th year. They do the plays in their parking lot and have sets for Rome, Bethleham, the stable and the fields where the shepherds watched their flocks by night. The cast of charactors is quite extensive - Roman soldiers on horseback, foot soldiers, townsfolk ( Bethleham ), a great many shepherds, the requisite three kings,Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus as well as an entire heavenly host of course. It was a rather cold night but by the time you are huddled in with the masses of people, you do stay quite warm... the downside was that I could take pictures as people were arriving but once it got crowded there was no room to even get my camera out of my pocket !! Then afterwards we walked home - or mostly home, Chris picked us up when we were almost there . A great day all in all !!!

Thinking Back .......

Carolina pulled out her Life Story Album the other day and was looking at the pictures and talking about 'her' story.

She asked me to read to her the announcement we had sent out on our return home from China and I couldn't do it without crying ... these two darling girls have been an absolute gift, a blessing in our lives.

Anyone who has been a birth parent knows that particular experience. Adopting a child from China is very much a similar experience .... You are exhausted ( from labour, from a 12 hour flight to the other side of the world ) , you have little time to adjust to the actual experience ( labour starts when it starts you mostly don't get to decide, babies are delivered to the hotel whenever it is they get there and usually very shortly after you arrive in their birth province so you are totally jet lagged ), and none of the little bundles come with manuals, so you are essentially on your own .

The highs , the lows, the doubts , the incredible happiness, all are part of both experiences. The wait - 9 months for birth parents , anywhere from that to several years or more for red thread parents seems to last forever. The joyeous hopefullness, the wanting so much to become a family, to welcome that child into your life, to want to do the best for them, wanting to protect them forever is all so much a part of both experiences !!!

However families are created, whatever experience we go through to form that very special relationship and bond, families are forever and we are so very blessed to have those people in our lives!!

Advent Calendars cont'd

No problem getting anyone out of bed these days . Every morning there is a race downstairs to open that days Advent calendar door. Today's surprise was a little ring for a Pet Shoppe critter. The girls are keeping the prizes in little containers with their initials on them as our littlest kitten Mika is a crazy hunter and 'finds' anything little that is left anywhere within her reach .

December 1 - Advent Calendar , Christmas decorations !!

And so it begins..

OK - yesterday was December 1. This year I decided enough of the advent calendars with the chocolate stuff that isn't really chocolate but wax. This year I got the girls Pet Shoppe Advent Calendars. I know I know, NOTHING to do with Christmas really except as buildup to the big day and a chance to talk about what Christmas truly does mean.

The excitement when I pulled out these unexpected calendars was high - I made the girls wait till Monday to even take off the plastic covering on the boxes. Then yesterday - day 1 - we got to see the first little Pet Shoppe surprise behind door no. 1. Today door no. 2 had a cute little knit hat for whatever Pet Shoppe creature emerges at some point this month.

Today the Christmas stuff' all came out of hiding in the basement and the Santa Claus collection and all the door hangy things and wreaths and candles were all set up throughout the house. I even managed to get one of our trees in the front yard covered in lights ( though the vote when Chris and the girls got home was that I needed to put on another string - so obviously NOT covered enough in lights ... guess thats tomorrow's job ).

Carolina of course had her own ideas on where the Christmas decorations should really go so there was some reshuffling of decorations and some changes in Santa collection placements.

This weekend we will get the tree and have our big tree decorating festivities. This will be a busy weekend for us. Friday night we have the Christmas pageant to attend at Bethany Church - they do such an awesome job every year and have live animals ( for real life - as Carolina would say ). Saturday morning I have a Christmas event with our clients at the office and Rosalind has her riding lesson in the afternoon. Sunday we have Chris's office Christmas party first thing in the morning in Toronto ( they do a really nice breakfast event ) and in the afternoon I have an open house to hold for one of my listings.

Yes, so it begins ...somehow in December the pace increases and the time decreases and the month is an absolute race to Christmas !! But it also seems there is time to stop and reflect and enjoy the wonder the kids always have with the first snowfall, the trip to see Santa, getting together with the cousins, and getting out the toboggans and shovels for the first time. I love the chance/ excuse to watch the old Christmas movies - Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th St, Its A Wonderful Life, The Bishops Wife, A Christmas Story, White Christmas, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, A Christmas Story !!!!! S'wonderful !!