Inspired by This

I created these.....................

I know they are not quite as fancy and could use some extra decorations. Frankly I was scared of screwing them up as they were so darn cute! They are for a surprise 40th birthday party this weeekend..............

I'll be making Valentine Heart cookies for Claire's class party next week.........and I have BIG plans to make them really amazing!

In case you are wondering who to make these delectable treats I suggest you head over to
http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/ to see the amazing creations, recipes and ideas!

Truly inspirational!

Guess Who Came to Visit

Did you guess?

You have to look really close..............

To see..............

The missing tooth!

My baby is growing up..............and the tooth fairy made the visit to our home for the first time in many years.............since Alec was Claire's age.................wow

It was a good year..............

THANKS FOR A GOOD YEAR 2009! HERE'S TO A GREAT 2010!

A Mini-Vacation

The kids were so excited last weekend as we bundled everything into the car and headed to Great Wolf Lodge for a long weekend of water park fun! The resort was all decked out for the holidays, complete with a giant Christmas tree, a visit from Santa and a life-sized gingerbread house in the diningroom (we actually reserved it for breakfast one morning......the cost went to support a local charity so it was all worth it!). The kids had a blast at "storytime" in the Grand Livingroom each night..........there was a Family Dance Party one night and a Family Scavenger Hunt the next. The hotel has their own Children's Spa and Claire enjoyed her first professional manicure and pedicure.
We came home happy, tired...........and a tiny bit sore........oh, that was just me!
Enjoy the pics.............

Eating breakfast in the gingerbread house!

First trip to the Spa

Cozy in their jammies and waiting for storytime to begin

National Ballet

Yesterday Claire and I headed into the city for a production of Sleeping Beauty at the National Ballet of Canada. She's been waiting (and so have I) since last year when we went to see a production of Nutcracker at the Ontario Ballet. This was by far more exciting. Bigger sets, more spectacular costumes, and of course, the best dancers in the country.
I was very clear about my expectations for behaviour (sitting quietly, no talking etc) and Claire did not disappoint. She did great for the 3 hour performance and it made me so proud that we were able to share this special experience together. I just love this little girl to bits!
Enjoy a couple pics from our day together....................

My little "beauty" all set to go

Mommy and daughter day!

Before the ballet! A great venue at the Center for Performing Arts

Ready for Sleeping Beauty to begin...........so much fun!

A Long Overdue Update

I began my blog as an opportunity to capture precious moments of day to day life with our 3 kids.

The other purpose of the blog was to document our adoption from China.......

What began as a 12-14 month wait (as indicated by our agency) has morphed into an almost-24-month wait (Our LID is Jan3). It now seems that there is no end in sight in regards to the slow-down. It makes me sick to have to actually type that we are looking at another 3-4 YEAR wait from now.

We have just renewed our paperwork (at an additional cost, of course) as our approval from the Ontario Ministry of Social Services requires that we update everything every 2 years. It was an expense we were not totally prepared to handle. But we managed......and in 24 more months I imagine we'll somehow manage to scrounge up another $1K to renew again..........and again...........and again if that's what it takes to fulfill this life dream of adoption.

We are not prepared to "give up".............the CCAA (China Centre for Adoption Affairs) can make it as miserable as they want to..............even if I'm a middle-aged old hag (almost there anyways) I'm going to continue to wait............and eventually.................I WILL BRING LAUREN HOME!

In the meantime we continue to focus on our three great kids, our crazy busy life of work and renovation projects. As a family, we don't talk about the adoption that much............I think we all feel pretty numb.........as if the joy and happiness of this adoption has to some extent been sucked from us. That does not mean though that we are not committed and totally "in-love" with the little girl that waits patiently 1/2 a world away.

In our thoughts................

Always................

Because.............

She is already our daughter in our hearts.......................

Gearing up for Halloween

The kids are so excited that Halloween is just right around the corner. I promised Claire a special costume this year. We trolled through the costumes registered on Etsy (wonderful handmade creations). Claire finally settled on the Princess Poodle costume. I think she makes a pretty cute poodle. What do you think?

Pumpkin Patch Official Photo...........

Today we headed off to the local patch to choose gourds and pumpkins (I just can't resist those cute little gourds). The little ones were lookin' cute and were well prepped about the forthcoming photo shoot. It is almost time to put together the yearly Family Calendar that we distribute to grandparents at Christmas. I'm feeling a bit stressed this year............number one: the year went way too quick; number two: I just don't have a tonne of great pics this year.............too busy to pull out the camera I guess...........I'm also finding that getting 3 kids to all smile at the same time is like asking for the moon...........it ain't gonna happen!

So here is the pic that will make it onto this years calendar. Considering it was windy and freezing cold they did a pretty good job............now if I could just get the "big kid" in a few pics...............

Another 1st Day of School!!

Officially ready for the first day of school (actually he was ready at 3 am!)

Lookin' so good!

Three lunches to pack now............

First Day of School........

Claire was sooo excited to head off to school Tuesday morning! Alec was excited but not actually running on-time.......hence the wet hair and the bare feet in the official "photo".
Evan will begin next week. Pics of the exciting day will be coming (of course)!