A week between posts

I guess I have not been posting as much as I used to. I think it is a combination of not really having much to post about and being really busy. We had quite a busy weekend with our usually kid activities mixed in with Lin and I going to a Mother/Daughter event where we learned some fun dance steps, an adoption play group get together and our local families with children from China bowling get together. The kids had quite a bit of fun bowling, the only unfortunate part was that one of little girls dropped a ball on her hand and broke her finger. That must have really hurt, hopefully she will not be turned off of bowling for life.

Work has been crazy busy these days, I have picked up another client and for the time being they will probably take up any slack that I have. I even turned down a client that would have been a good one for me but I didn't want to over extend my commitments especially with summer coming up quickly.

Ian started riding his bike to school this week so he is quite excited about that. Lin took a nice chunk of skin off of her knee today at school playing hockey outside at lunch time. She is NOT happy about that. Hopefully she will just not play so much sports for the next few days.

A pleasant surprise and trauma at the dentist

This morning when I checked my email I found a wonderful surprise email from our guide in Shenyang. It was really great to hear from her, we think about her and miss her alot. She also sent a couple of pictures with the email. One was of our whole family and our guide at the airport in Shenyang just before we were getting on the plane to go to Beijing. Lin looks so scared in this picture, I can only imagine what was going through her mind at that moment. I remember feeling very sad about leaving our guide, hopefully we can keep in touch and maybe see each other again some day.

After school Ben, Alan and I had our dreaded dentist appointments to get our fillings done. I went first and Ben sat with me and held my hand the entire time. That helped me get through it ok. Then it was Ben's turn, he had two cavities to be filled and while this was happening he bit down and broke one of his previous fillings so the dentist had to take that one out and fill it again. Poor kid cried and cried, I felt pretty bad since it took over an hour to get done. I held his hand like he did for me but it didn't seem to help too much, he seems ok now but I wonder how excited he will be to go to the dentist next time. I can think of better ways to spend the day.

Anyway, while it was Alan's turn Lin read me "Green Eggs and Ham" in the waiting room. She was actually reading it all by herself! Her reading has taken a big jump lately and it is really exciting to see. She is pretty excited about it as well which makes reading time fun.

Sleeping beauty and the yoyo champion

The day was just too much for Ben

Fast week

Wow, did that week go by fast! We had a more or less normal week, spelling tests, music and swimming lessons etc etc. On Friday I did get to go out for dinner with a friend of mine so that was a really nice break. We went to a restaurant that doesn't have plastic cups! Ian missed school on Thursday due to an upset tummy likely caused by eating too much Easter chocolate. He was fine by lunch time of course. This weekend we spent quite a bit outside getting a start on the yard work. There are alot of mature shrubs and trees which are very nice but very overgrown in my opinion. Today we did alot of CHOPPING. I think it looks better now and it will be easier to maintain. There is still a lot to do both inside and out but we are getting to them one at a time. We even ordered some new blinds for the master bedroom window. They are very basic but I think they are nicer than the ugly drapes that are there now. Sometimes you wonder whether people go to the thrift store and put up crap and take the good window coverings with them. Probably not but the thought did cross my mind.

On a work note, I got dumped by two clients this week with a third one in a state of confusion over what she is going to do. I guess it is a sign of the times. The first two are not really ones I am too concerned about as they did not provide any steady monthly income but the third one is one of my better clients so I am hoping I won't loose that one. I am on the hunt for one or two new clients but nothing has come my way yet. On our end we are going to give up the cleaning service that we have come by once every two weeks. This will save some money but I am not looking forward to all the extra work. My house will just not be as clean as before I suppose. It has really bothered lately anyway that the lady i hired rarely comes anymore anyway, she usually sends a couple of different girls each time so i haven't been that happy about things lately anyway. We will see how that works out.

Easter weekend

Ok, I hope T and little T's parents don't mind that I put these pictures on here because I just couldn't resist. Ben and his "girlfriend" are just so cute together. They are NOT quiet together that is for sure but they do have fun.

Anyway, it was a full weekend of chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate. Easter egg hunts and treasure hunts. We spent quite a bit of time playing outside either playing basketball or hockey in the driveway or riding bikes on the street. Some of the other kids on the street were playing out on the road too so it was fun to see everyone outside. We had all the family over for a big Easter dinner on Saturday and it was nice that everyone could sit at the table and eat together. I am quite happy with my new table (new to me anyway). We also managed to buy a new TV, well a new 3 year old TV and we got a stand for it for free. A new coat of paint and it looks just like new, on the stand not the TV. The TV is a 32" so much bigger than the other two TVs we have and it works great so we are all pleased with that purchase. It works out quite nicely that everyone is buying these new big plasma TVs and selling there old ones cheap.

And more appointments

On Tuesday I had a meeting with the principal to speak to her about my requests for all three kids for next year. After the first five minutes she was called away and didn't return for about 10 minutes by then I had to go out and wait in the usual spot for the kids to come out of school so, as I expected, not much came out of the meeting. At the beginning she told me that I had to put everything in writing anyway so that is what I intend on doing. She left me a message today and apologized for leaving the meeting and asked if I wanted to meet again. I think I will just put everything in writing and in the letter request another meeting. On the positive side of this, when I met up with the kids we went to watch Lin's last basketball game and I bumped into her teachers and we had a good little discussion about her behaviors. Similar things have been happening at school as were happening at home. Of course I didn't know about this because they never communicate anything. I asked them to please let me know about this stuff because otherwise I can't deal with it. What a struggle.

When Lin first came home I got her referral to see a dermatologist to see what we could do about her scarring. We did get an appointment for July which was about 9 months away. Yesterday I received a call from the dermatologists office saying that they were cancelling the July appointment but they had a cancellation today/Wednesday and did I want it. Well, I guess so what other option do I have on such short notice! So I emailed my client that I was supposed to go to today and put him off until Thursday. I changed Ben's appointment from this morning to this afternoon and then I called our friend in a panic to explain to Lin in Chinese what this appointment was all about. She seemed to understand and wasn't nearly as panic stricken as I had feared. So this morning off we went to the appointment.

The doctor was quite nice and explained that there really weren't many options. She prescribed some steroid cream that we can apply and other than that the only other option is painful steroid injections. We aren't going to go there at this point. When she is older and can make that decision for herself she can decide to do it but we will not be pursuing that option at this point in time. We made a follow up appointment for November to see how the cream is working.

I haven't got any actual work done now in the last two days but I am hopeful for at least Tues to Thurs of next week. I spent most of the time between appointments today struggling to get these CMA events going and getting the board to agree on a meeting date, actually that is impossible. I had to settle for MOST of the board to agree on a meeting date. My second year as Chair is finished as of July 1....YIPPPPEEEE!

The roofers finally did show up on Tuesday, they worked all day Tuesday but today there was some communication problems that I had to sort out and then they were back it. They are not yet finished and the forecast is for rain tomorrow so we will have to see what happens with that.

So, I have the hard boiled eggs ready for the kids to take to school. Ian's platter almost ready for his school party tomorrow and I am absolutely ready to collapse.

The start of a new week

I took this picture from the deck this morning, it was another nice sunny today and I couldn't resist taking a 10 minute lunch break today. I sat out on the deck and enjoyed the warm sun, I think I need to get me a laptop and wireless internet, oh right the money thing again.

The day didn't start off that great as Ian fell yesterday somewhere in our yard where there was a bush with thorns. He managed to get one stuck in his knee and this morning he was complaining that it hurt alot. I didn't realize that the thorn was still in his leg until today so the day started off with a trip to the doctor but he wouldn't take it out so hopefully it comes out on its own over the next few days.

This afternoon Lin and I had our dentist appointments. The good news is that she survived at least a little cleaning and they even got to take x-rays. We will have to wait to find out if he sees any cavities in the pictures. The bad news is that I have a new cavity so more appointments are in our near future.

This evening Ben had swimming lessons while Ian, Lin and I went to the little park nearby and played basketball with two kids that live next to the little park.

Today I managed to finish a year end that I have been working on off and on for a quite some time and it is not one of my favourite clients so I am glad that one is pretty much done for another year. I also learned how to use the convection oven feature on my oven so I am interested to try that out. The other neat thing is that I noticed that cool air was coming out of the heating system today for the first time, the heat pump might be old but it seems to be doing what it is supposed to do! Oh, and did I mention that we started parking in the garage yesterday? There is still clean up to be done but things are happening one step at a time.

Tomorrow the roofers are supposed to finally show up

The arrival of spring...finally!

These two pictures are of Ben and my sister doing their yoga poses together

At the park

Pic of the day...at the beach

Lin's second favourite thing to do...throwing rocks into the ocean....only second to eating noodle bowls of course.

I always look forward to this time of year when the ornamental cherry trees start to blossom.

On the way to the beach

Home six months

Today marks the half year mark since we returned from China with Lin. When I pointed this out to her this morning she commented that it has gone "really so fast". It has indeed and she really has learned so much and come so far in that short time. Ben keeps telling me he wants us to go back to China and get another Ben so he can have a twin. I don't know where he came up with this idea but I keep telling him its NOT HAPPENING. He is just trying to scare me I'm sure.

Ben was up to his usual tricks today but the rest of us had another great day. Lin was up really early and when I got up at about 5:45 she was doing laundry! Then while I had a shower she made her breakfast and Ben's as well. At dinner Ben ate green peppers and said in this sort of vibrating gleeful voice, those were so good, lets buy more of those I love them. What the heck is going on??? I think aliens have abducted my children and replaced them with some sort of test models that I just don't recognize. Even Ian was acting weird, I caught him playing snakes and ladders with Ben and the tv wasn't even on.

After school Ian, Ben and Alan had dentist appointments. Of course Ben has two more cavities so that brings his count up to 13. While the boys were all at the dentist I asked Lin if she wanted to walk to the mall with me just for something to do. The sun was shining but its a good 20 minute walk but she was all happy to go and never complained once about how far it was. We looked through the shops and I teased her about looking for a pink top for her but couldn't find anything that she remotely liked. The mall near us is a very small one and there are only two small clothing shops so I really didn't expect to find anything, it was just a bit of fun.

All we ended up buying was some beads and craft string from the dollar store. For three dollars you can keep your kids busy for well probably an entire 10 minutes.

Anyway, I didn't get the pantry set up last night because all the hardware wasn't included in the box so tonight Alan went out and bought the stuff we needed and he was able to finish it up. Now there are no boxes of food sitting on the kitchen floor. I can now go to bed and rest easy.

What a difference a day makes

The last few days have been very trying for everyone especially yesterday. The behavior of all three kids was really quite unbelievable with different things happening with each kid. I was quite at the end of my rope last night so I decided it was time to take action. The TV was turned off and made off limits until further notice and we had some good long hard chats about the reality of things and what things would change if some behaviors didn't change. It was exhausting and emotional to get all the feelings out in the open but it was so needed. I think Lin and Ian GET IT. At least today they were like different kids and we had a great day with only Ben acting out. What a difference when everyone is respectful of each other, that is really what it comes down to, treating each other the way we would like others to treat us and everyone gets along fine. Of course there are going to be blips along the way, I don't expect perfect behavior all the time but somehow things had fallen off the rails. It is only day one and of course Ben doesn't seem to have learned anything from yesterdays discussions BUT as they say...two out of three ain't bad and it feels so much better, like we are now headed in the right direction.

I also went to the hair salon today and got a nice new colour and cut. I had received a gift certificate for Christmas and hadn't used it yet so I decided it was time to take some time for myself. I am glad I did, it was such fun especially the kids reaction to my new do. Ian said I dipped my head in food colouring. Lin said that I looked like a different person but my voice was the same. Who knew that such a simple thing would create such conversation.

Ben also had another doctors appointment this morning, his 50Th treatment for his warts, OK I exaggerate but it sure feels like it. Anyway, between all that I didn't get much work done today but since I got up at 4:30 am I did manage to get a couple of little but ugly things done that I had been somewhat procrastinating on. As always thanks to my MIL for doing all the driving today.

Time to go read a book and get everyone to off to bed so I can fill up my new pantry that finally arrived today and get the last of the boxes out of my kitchen.