Charles' Celebration Evening ~ April 25th

Last night was a much anticipated event, as our family attended the boys' high school to hear groups of students present their graduation speeches. (Many thanks to Auntie Darlene for babysitting Nora!) This time was for Charles, not too long after James did this last April. Charles' speech was well done, with a lot of references to childhood memories, and how he used to be a "Mommy's boy". I hope he always will be in some shape or form... :)

Charles' frequent strategy of going first allowed him
to relax after to hear the rest of his classmates. 

He's gathered many friends over the past 13 years at SCS.

Add in a couple of favourite teachers...

...and some great desserts, and you have a lovely evening out.

Long-time friends Myron and Jonathan... we joked that they'd
need to present their speeches for us later at home. :)

Proud grandparents... glad they could make it out. :)

We managed to get some family photos
 with the bribe of car keys afterwards.

Childhood and school days go so quickly, this graduation stuff is a bit overwhelming
at times. Glad Thomas won't be for 3 years after this! 

Love it! They didn't... embarrassing comments from peers but it's a keeper. :)

Charles' graduation photos, taken in February, recently arrived and will eventually make their way onto the wall. Don't want him to think it's a done deal yet ~ Enjoy, and please keep this guy in your prayers as we work through what the next step may be for him. Thank you!

This doesn't seem so long ago...

Taekwondo Testing ~ April 24th

One of the areas I have been very neglectful of since Nora has joined our family has been attending taekwondo classes and testings to watch the younger boys participate. As you can imagine, having Nora sit still there on a tippy, plastic chair is just tortuous. However, with Lewis having a black belt testing it was time to attend. With a bag full of activities and books, I braced myself for Nora and I to get through it...  all 105 minutes. Thankfully, a teen from school sat beside us and helped entertain Nora for a good 40 minutes... I should really send her a gift card or something! :) Lewis and Thomas did well, until the board-breaking. Unable to break his boards after 3 attempts, Lewis did not pass and will need to test another time. It happens to everyone somewhere along the journey. He took it in stride, and we're proud of him just the same. But, I don't know if I can promise to sit through another testing this year! :) (Better find childcare...)

Waiting to spar.... one day I'll get the videos up as they're much more exciting. :)

With Charles' return to taekwondo this year, he's very helpful with the students.

Scott takes on the intimidating role of judge.

 The very large testing group...

 Lewis, still smiling.

 And just before closing comments, Nora broke free to "Daddy!"
and I was able to take a deep breath. :) Now everyone around me
 knows who that restless child belongs to and won't say anything to Master Karpiuk!!

Connecting with friends, Connecting the dots ~ Apr. 18-23rd

There's no denying that I've been working more than I want to. (Case in point, not much to blog about.) But somehow life goes on, and I manage to make it to most field trips and see our friends, just often all at once. This past week was one of those weeks where we just tried to squish it all in. The best part is forgetting the work hours, and having these kinds of memories that stick. Although, Nora's preschool trip to the Honeybee Centre wasn't a yearly highlight unless you enjoy being in a hot, claustrophobic room with too many 3 year olds and their parents, while the employee tries to get the children to repeat the names of the bee's anatomy like "thorax" and "abdomen". (And she couldn't quite understand why the kids weren't really paying attention...) Nora was particularly clingy and "flashing" people by lifting her top up, but eventually she took a turn at extracting honey from the barrel.

Given a honey stick, she finally smiles.

Last in line, Nora eventually tries.

In the insect room, Nora is hesitant about what she might find in the cage.

Next year, we'll be sure to take a rain-check on that visit, and just go buy honey there sometime in the summer when we need an outing on our own. :) A much more relaxing time was visiting with Julie and Anna on Monday, especially with Julie bringing lunch for us... she's awesome! My sister Ann called, so we both enjoyed talking with her about her recent milestone birthday. Nora and I will see her in Winnipeg in late May, and now Julie and a friend will travel there in the summer. Who knew Winnipeg would become such a popular travel destination?! Book your trip now...

Anna loves to play with Nora's kitchen and food. They share pretty well...

...at least most of the time!

Sharing real food together is a much easier concept.

At 28 pounds each, this is no easy feat! 

Nora initiates a hug without warning... almost like a choke hold. :)

Anna does what we all want to ~ try to get Nora's hair out of her eyes.

Our two little sweethearts, our China sisters.

They are bound to have some good times ahead.

Next day, we were off for a visit to Megumi's after preschool for a yummy pizza lunch.The girls played very well together, with painting being a popular activity.

 

With Megumi expecting her next child in the next 2 months, Nora has figured out that babies grow in Mommies' tummies. (Her preschool teacher recently leaving on maternity leave first introduced this concept as well.) We've had a few brief conversations about that, with her conclusion that she grew in my tummy, too. With much trepidation, I've gently had to say that actually she didn't, that she was in her China Mommy's tummy. Along those lines goes the discussion about her brothers growing in my "tummy" while she did not. It's a little heart-breaking to have to introduce these ideas, but I must be honest and teach her story to her, rather than someone else in a possibly unkind way. I may have posted this poem before, but it reminds me that one of my tasks as an adoptive mother is to honourably teach Nora about her birth mother, despite the lack of information, of how her world may have been when she had to possibly make one of the hardest choices of her life.

Dream of You

Today I'm sitting at the spot
I call our secret place
With eyes closed tight I dream of you
The tears stream down my face

I left you here a year ago
It was to my despair
The emptiness within me
Is more than I can bear

Where are you today my darling?
Where are you today my dear?
A part of me is missing
I wish you still were here

Are you perhaps in China
Maybe right down the street
Sometimes I walk right by that place
In hopes our eyes will meet

I left you here my daughter
I left you in this place
Each time I close my eyes at night
My dreams fill with your face

I will always love you
I will always care
Even though I left you here
My dreams are yours to share

Please forgive me little one
There was no other choice
When you close your eyes at night
Your heartbeat is my voice.

Tom Fisher  (c) September 16, 2004 

The finale of finishing! ~ April 6th

I share Nora's enthusiasm here as the third machine-quilted project of 2012 is finally completed... was just a matter of many nights of sitting down, hand-sewing on the binding. This project has been showing up here and there on this blog as it was started in 2006!  When I get time, I will update my quilting blog will all the insider details. :)

 Chinese Culture & Province Quilt

 So a little bit of wishful thinking... wasn't quite done in February!

Having a break from rain, we thought we'd take our quilt show outside... Nora wasn't too impressed when the quilts fell on her a couple of times. :)

Truly happy to have her "China" quilt done.

Working on her Vanna White act.

Never fails, Rosie passively resists "smiling" in her photos.

Our second project of 2012... think it's big enough?

 Purple and red... more appropriate for the Red Hat society? But I love it. 

Now to find time to make a quilt from the other 150 squares! :)

Easter in Parksville ~ Mar. 30-31st

Our weekend continued with even warmer temperatures, with the morning devoted to a beach scavenger hunt. For every item found on the list, we would then be able to enter a draw for 2 free nights at Beach Acres. Here's a sampling of our treasures...

A bunny's favourite food ~ good thing we brought our own carrots!

A bonus find for everyone~ zooming in for a better view.

Our first attempt at a vacated animal home...

Further out, the "vacated" sand dollar seemed more fitting.

Like Thomas noted, everywhere we go we see mountains... welcome to BC, son!

A convenient "part of a boat".

Scott had gone off to Nanaimo to pick up James and Kelsey... we convinced them to join us for the day by walking on the ferry. Our first stop, Coombs, along with everyone else for Easter weekend treats...

Trying to get a photo of the famed "Goats on the Roof",
who were taking a break from the roof at the time.

A sweet little bunny.

Our sweet little ice cream fan.

Charles insisted on sitting this one out. Watch out for that driver!

The rest of our afternoon involved swimming, and a rushed Chinese buffet dinner in Nanaimo prior to dropping off James, Charles and Kelsey back at the ferry. Returning back to Parksville with our downsized group of 3 kids reminded us of our summer vacation. It's great to be all together, but simpler to meet the "fun" requirements of the younger set. :) Nora finally got to bed on time...

At least we didn't experience this...

Easter morning was quite different for us, as we're generally always at home for it unless it is combined with Spring Break, like this year. The resort was having an Easter egg hunt at 9 am, so we headed down for Nora and Lewis to participate. Suddenly Nora was shrieking in terror, pulling at my leg for me to lift her "Up-py, up-py, up-py!!!" Not familiar with this from her, I looked around to see that the object of her fright was the Easter bunny coming out of the forest. It was really quite hilarious, but from a little one's perspective I suppose it was quite scary, so I held my chuckles in check. The rabbit in question saw the stir she had caused and made peace with Nora eventually. :)

Who knew this was such a villain?

All is well now...

Nora's age group could pick up purple and gold eggs
... amassing 19 of them were plenty!

How I looked before clarifying that "yes, that colouring contest entry is my son's,
even if it looks too nice for a boy to have coloured..."

Our first win... a remote control car for Lewis!

 Our second win... 2 nights at Beach Acres! Super exciting...

Before heading off to church, we did our own little hunt in our "yard"... plenty of chocolate for everyone.

It's all about helping Nora, but that's half the fun...

 Happy Easter!

Ready for church...

"And life is worth the living, just because He Lives!"

After a moving service celebrating Christ's resurrection, we headed out. Not before having a picnic lunch at Englishman River Falls nearby, a favourite place to "hike". We took the 5 pm ferry home, in time to watch the conclusion of "The Bible" mini-series on the History channel... very moving. Everything at home was intact... a bonus!

What Nora calls a "Water Fountain"

Every boy always leaves the trail no matter what the signs say.

Our favourite tree...

We hope you had a meaningful and restful Easter, too! XOX Susan