Fruit Kabobs

Arlene writes a monthly preschool newsletter for her school division and often uses pictures of her friends' children to illustrate articles. The other day she phoned and asked if I had any pictures of the girls making fruit kabobs.

I did not, but told her we would make some and I would take pictures.

My hotmail is not attaching pictures right now for whatever reason, so here you go Arlene - your very own blog post.

Bubbles!

We bought a bubble machine and the joy shown by the girls makes me think that everyone should have one. Pure joy.

The girls were dancing in the sunshine of a beautiful morning.

I'm not sure I've ever felt that way about anything.

Even Daddy got into it. Who wouldn't surrounded by bubbles like that? Like I said, everyone needs a bubble machine.

What a great morning.

Surgery

We have a date for Anna's heart surgery - June 2nd in Vancouver. We leave on the 31st and will be there for around two weeks, depending on how things go. We are so glad to finally have a date and just get it over with.

Our beautiful, thoughtful little girl . . .

. . . who always tries to do peace fingers whenever her picture is taken.

And not to be left out, here's Amy the morning of picture day at school. What a Sweetie.

Soccer

Soccer season is upon us again and, once again, Daddy is c0-coaching. The first two games were cancelled due to rain and soaking fields and the next two games were freezing. At least the game tonight was much warmer. These pictures were not taken tonight. This year, unlike last, has the kids taking turns in goal. Amy tries to be so focused when it is her turn.

She sees the ball coming and tenses.

And then she makes the save!

Then comes the much practiced goal kick.

"Hey Mommy! Did you see that?!?!"

Good Bye Girls - May 5th

Our wonderful girls have left to go back to Malaysia for the summer. They were quite homesick and hungry for some really spicy food, so their parents agreed they could come back this summer, but that was it for the rest of their degrees. When they come back in September, they will be here for three or four years without going back. We miss you already and can hardly wait to have you back. Have a fun summer!

Easter

We had a terrific Easter here. The girls got to try out their new chairs to see if the Easter Bunny would be able to load them up . . . and he did.
The Easter Bunny was actually spotted later in the morning.

And so was his helper.

The Easter Hunt hunt is a fairly new tradition to our family. Arlene introduced us to it and it has now become a staple on Easter morning. I'm not sure why we never did this when I was a kid or why we never did this with Sean and Kristin. Sorry guys. Well do it next time you're home. You'll love it.

There's my little math geek creating sets with her eggs. She takes after Daddy!

Anna had some help finding her eggs. Our Malaysian girls loved helping Arlene the night before hiding all the eggs. They kept on telling her the spots were too obvious, but apparently not for adults; an hour into it and we were still missing some eggs.

My poor little black eyed girl.

The girls loved what the Easter Bunny brought them.

As you can see, everyone enjoys the new furniture.

Amy wanted to dig into her bunny right away.

Once we began to make breakfast, Lin took the girls outside to enjoy the beautiful morning. It's so nice to see that Anna is finally feeling comfortable around the girls. I still think she was apprehensive because there were mainly young woman working in the orphanage and she was always afraid the girls were going to take her back.

The rest of us made a wonderful breakfast.

Then we all ate on the deck, some of us still in our PJ's.

While we enjoyed the sunshine, the girls covered up. In Malaysia, the sun is so hot that it is important to cover up. We tried explaining that at this time of year in Manitoba, it was highly unlikely they would get a sunburn in half an hour. After I took this picture, Robin actually put up the umbrella to keep the sun off the girls.

After relaxing and playing for the day, we decided to have a wiener roast for supper. It was a little windy and the smoke definitely made it difficult at times.

This was much easier than the night before. I think this should be a new tradition for Easter Dinner from now on.

April 23rd - New Furniture

We had Easter Dinner on Saturday, the 23rd and invited friends and family over. My nieces and nephew came bearing gifts for the girls from them and their Mom, Jill. When Scott brought them into the house, I immediately began to laugh. Gee, I wonder what they are?? According to Scott, they were a little heavy and cumbersome to not only carry, but wrap as well. Nice job Scott.

The girls didn't seem to have a clue what they were, and began to unwrap them with gusto.

Ta da! And it's the perfect colour too! I'll never find my children in the house as they now literally blend in with the furniture.

And yes, that's one doozy of a black eye. Mei Mei fell out of bed three nights before and hit her face on the railing of her bed. This is actually a little better than the day before, as the entire side of her face was very swollen.

We've now been able to put the foam Dora couch and chair in the basement (yeah!) and the new furniture is now in the place of honour. The girls put them to good use to hold the Easter baskets that night, that is after Amy labelled them so the EB would know whose was whose.

Thanks Aunty Jill. The girls love them.

April 19th - Donation

The best part Of Amy's birthday party was being able to convince Amy that she had had plenty of presents at the family party and that, perhaps, she should ask the children to donate to the Children's Hospital Foundation instead of bringing more presents for her. When we talked about how that money goes to help supply the play room and all the toys that get delivered to children's rooms to play with, she readily agreed. The memory of the Bingos with prizes for everyone in the afternoon and the seemingly endless supply of colouring books and markers were still fresh in her mind from when she spent time in the hospital last spring. So, two days after the party, we went in person to deliver the envelopes generously given by her friends.

Mommy and Daddy are very proud of you Pal. Thank you for being so generous everyone.

April 17th - Amy's Birthday Party

Amy had her birthday party a little late this year. At first she wanted to have a Beauty and the Beast party at home, but then I realized she wanted to invite her entire class. Given there are 28 children in her class, I quickly came to the conclusion that I liked my house too much, so we contracted a local bowling alley to host for us. The party turned out to be lots of fun, given there were 36+ kids in attendance, most with an accompanying adult.

Aunty Marilyn's daughter Valerie just happened to be in town with her two daughters, so they were able to come as well. Amy loved spending time with her big "cousin" Halle.
We encouraged the children to wear either their royal or superhero attire, and most did. It sure made for easy identification of who the attendees were.

Amy was happy to share Grandma Marilyn with not only Halle, but her friends as well.

The party was a great sucess, mostly in part to the fabulous staff at the bowling alley and the help of a few friends and Carol. We never could have pulled this off by ourselves.

After pizza and cake, everyone went home with a goodie bag and a balloon.

Thanks for coming everyone!