Happy Holidays!

So, it's all over for another year. I love Christmas, but I must admit it's nice to have a bit of a break from all the last minute shopping and preparations. This year, for the first time ever, we stayed in Ottawa for Christmas. And I even made the big Christmas dinner -- turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, and rolls. And everyone ate, and no one got sick. :-) I searched, and searched, for cranberry sauce in the grocery store -- as much as I love homemade cranberry sauce, I thought that might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back -- but in the end finally gave in and bought a jar of lingonberry sauce, which it turns out tastes just like cranberry sauce. But, according to the label on the jar, is also great on fruit and ice cream.

The girls made out like bandits this year, even though DoT and I only bought them one present each. They have very generous grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, daycare provider and playmates. Our cleaning lady gave us a great gift too -- and really the fact that this lady cleans our total disaster of a house every few weeks is truly gift enough!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of good shots to post. Much of Christmas morning DoT held the camera, and apparently he didn't realize that photos of the kids are not acceptable if they have me in my pjs in the background. But, here are a couple of shots...

Posing on the stairs.

Reading one of the books at grandma and grandpa's house.

Christmas morning breakfast of kinder eggs.

Opening presents Christmas morning.

We are scheduled to leave for China in 13 days! Yikes. So far we have done next to nothing to get ready for the trip. Vaccines? Yup. Everything else. Not so much. I have printed a packing list, but have done nothing to start pulling things on it together. Also, I need to find all of our paperwork, which alone could take days. And, there were lots of other things that I really thought it would be nice to do before we go -- like make and freeze some meals for when we get back, organize the basement, and get some furniture for B's room. Right now the poor kid only has a crib. And if he's like our other two, he's not going to want to sleep in it when he gets back anyhow. We have nothing into which we can put clothes, which really isn't that much of a problem since we have no clothes for him anyhow. But, hey, some day we're going to have to dress him, and you know, a bureau might be a good thing at that point.

Well, the troops are getting restless. Gotta go.

Happy new year everyone!

Updated Photos of B!

Hi all, we just got the final paperwork to sign for the adoption from the Chinese government. It looks like we will travel on January 9 or 16 (or later if travel arrangements can't be made quicker). They included three updated photos but it doesn't look like much else was provided. So we will likely recognize him when we get there, but not have any clothes that fit. If only they made kids' clothes in China...If we get anymore info we will pass it along. Bye for now.

The big update

Hi all,

It's been awhile, again, so lots of events have happened since our last post. So, I'll try to highlight some of them.

#1 -- Annual Proulx Family Farm Visit

How tall this fall?...

This year we had lots of fun with the giant slide, the wagon ride, and of course, the best part, candy floss!!!

Hallowe'en was also a blast this year. I thought I could get away with taking the girls to 6 or 8 houses, but they were having none of that. It was just too much fun for them and I think they'd have happily stayed out for hours going door to door. The only way I got them home was by telling them we could surprise daddy by ringing the door bell and yelling 'trick or treat' at him when he answered. So, after about 20 or 25 houses they finally agreed to go home. Here they are in their costumes this year...

I also have a video of the two of them singing one of the Hallowe'en songs their caregiver taught them. There were a few of them, but although they walked around singing them much of the month of October, when I tried to get them on video they'd clam up. Here's the best one I have ...

(the words, in case you can't make them out, are

I am a pumpkin big and round,

once upon a time I grew on the ground,

now I have two eyes (they say tears.. they think they're funny) a mouth and a nose,

what are they for do you suppose,

with a candle inside, shining bright,

I'll be a jack-o-lantern on Hallowe'en night)

We also had our first snow storm a month or so ago. The snow didn't stay, so we have none right now. But for several days it stuck around and the girls thoroughly enjoyed it. (I enjoyed it less.)

Finally, we've started getting ready for our newest family member. We set up the crib a week or so ago, and of course the girls were only thinking of B when they insisted they test it out to make sure it was safe. If it can stand the two of them bouncing up and down in it, I think it's pretty solid...

Finally, we are trying to put together a care package to send over to B in China. Hopefully we'll have that finished in the next day or so and we can get it in the mail. When we send the care package we're also going to ask to get an update on B's development. We'll let you know if we get any news.

That's it for now. Hope your fall is going well. Only a little more than four weeks until Christmas. My tree is going up this week! (Obviously not a real one.)

K...

How many days until next summer??

Hi again all,

Sorry for the long hiatus between posts. I don't really have any excuse. Normally when I don't post for awhile it's because nothing much has been going on, and I have nothing to tell you. Not so much the case this time. I guess I was just too lazy to post.

So, DoT told you all about our NB travels this summer. We also spent a week at a cottage on Lake Huron, with my family (except brother of sister-in-law, who couldn't make it). It was fabulous. Now that the girls are a bit older, they can entertain themselves somewhat, so it meant more time relaxing for DoT and I. And when the girls did need entertaining, cousins J & M were always ready to help. :-)

Here are a few pics (a couple at the cottage pool, one at the beach, and one of the girls' first exposure to "smores" - they were a hit) ...

In other big news... the girls are toilet trained! Yeah. When they started back at the daycare this August, we decided to give it a try, even though the girls didn't seem to have any interest, and if anything seemed quite against the idea themselves. But they surprised us all, and within a matter of several days had gotten the hang of it, and we really had few accidents. It's nice to not have to be changing so many diapers. They still wear diapers to bed at night, but that's fine with me.

Finally, we've been to a couple of fairs in the last few weeks. A loves most rides, but E is a bit more selective and only wants to ride a couple.

Well, that's it for today. Hope you all had a good summer. And here's hoping for a long, long fall season followed by the shortest winter on record.

K...

Summer travels part 2

Just a few more photos of the girls doing some ironing (hats, purses) and washing the dishes in the clothes washer.

































































Mom, Dad the girls, great-big-grandma and grandma
















Below they are getting gifts of "tubby" bears from great-aunt J...

Summer Travels - Part 1

Hello everyone, yes I know it has been a while since we updated - it has been a busy summer. Here are some of the photos we took while in NB:

DoT and Grandpa M with E...
















Great-Aunt L and Great-Uncle F visit the girls as they eat that nutritional snack - cheesies!

















E peeps out from the doorway...
















The girls model the hats Uncle J bought them (he is in Oklahoma).
















A family shot from Great Grandma's 90th birthday party (or as the girls called her - great big grandma).
















Walking down to the river....
















The traditional NB greeting - leis and ballet skirts

















A walking up the road towards Grandma M's house

















DoT and his brothers walk (swing) the girls down the road
















Uncle P with the girls...
















The girls enjoy KD on their new trays from Great-Aunt D

















Hard at work in Grandma's pool
















E waits for mom
















The girls entertain at the party
















Playing in the tunnel at McDonald's (or Ronald Donald's as they call it).
















E enjoys watching her new friend M play a game
















A hams it up for the camera

















DoT with Great Grandma and A

















The girls present Great Grandma with flowers (notice A's curtsie)
















Cousin J and Great-Aunt K

















Great-Grandma and the girls
















E hams it up for the camera
















The girls get a reprieve from the long van ride back to Ottawa (stopping at Tims of course).

















Uncle J and the girls
















DoT's Mom and Dad