Princess Activia

Fei and I ran out last night to do a bit of shopping.   Lili and Fei have butterfly costumes for Halloween this year and we found little butterfly wings at the dollar store so we bought a pair for Jia so that she can match the girls.  When we got home Jia was delighted with her skirt and wings and while Eric was putting some groceries away she grabbed the Activia wrapper and put it on her head and announced that it was her hat.  Love it.  We were all trying to get a decent picture of her last night.  I took 31 and none of them were that great.  She was having way too much fun flying to stop and get her picture taken!   Getting the wings off for jamma time was a whole other story.  If we want those wings to still be around for one of the Halloween events we'd better hide them for now :)

Sept.

She's got so much stuff in her big girl bed that it's like a little nest.

First day of Jia's music class.  She's showing us the owl on her shirt.

I've got owls decorating my phone, so she loves to point out any other owls.

Just relaxing with Lewis.

We went to a park on Sat.  Weather was fabulous.  Park was great.

I thought this picture was hillarious.  The girls have caught their prey!

Starting with the big news...Jia is sleeping in her big girl bed!!  I've been mumbling for weeks now that it's time, she is starting to climb out of the crib and I didn't want her falling.  I also wasn't so sure that she could behave with that much more freedom.  I had visions of her downstairs putting things in the microwave, or loading the toilets up with books and toys.  Eric took her up for a nap on Friday and realized her crib had been stripped so put her in her big girl bed and she stayed there and napped!  So on Friday I met Eric and Jia at the girls school for the Terry Fox Run and she was pretty darn excited to tell me that she 'nigh nigh in baby Jia's BIG bed'.  She's gone into her bed three nights in a row now and so far it's been great.  She comes straight to me when she wakes up!  We're so proud of her.  She is so proud of her!  The Terry Fox Run was fun, Lili was there with her new little buddy in Kindergarten.  She's a cute little thing, although they are very close in size! Lili is so excited to have her first little buddy.  Jia walked for the whole half hour.  She's even been walking into town with Eric lately.  I think that's a heck of a long way for a 20month old. 

Getting back into our routine has been better this year than usual.  Last weekend we had no plans!  Jia had her music class and it was fabulous.  She was so happy to be back.  She didn't participate much but she paid attention and clapped when the songs ended.  After class we decided to make a trip to Victoria.  Spur of the moment.  We rarely get to Victoria on our own or without meeting friends.  We went to Capital Iron and checked out the antique Chinese furniture then ate dinner at Cafe Mexico, my favorite!  Yum.

This past Sat. the girls took a Home Alone Safety class with Haley and Hanna.  It was three hours and I was quite impressed at how much they covered in three hours.  We're not prepared to actually leave them alone at home.  They told me last night that they think they'd be brave enough for 15mins. but not at night :)  Oh, and they didn't think they could handle Jia on their own quite yet.  So sweet.  Again...no worries we have no plans to leave them on their own!

Our friends Debbie, Chris and Asia are in China right now picking up Emily!  They have her and the photos are wonderful.  She is sooo sweet.  Can't wait for her and Jia to meet.  Emily is four months younger than Jia.  I also have an internet friend who is in China right now picking up her 7 year old daughter Eva.  Very exciting stuff.  I'm stalking both of their sites for updates.  It sooooo makes me want to go back. 

Everyone is doing great right now.  I'm happy all of our shows are back on.  Eric is getting the yard all winterized.  We're getting our first good rains.  It's time to cozy in for winter.

Autumn Moon

Lili and Fei both wanted to wear something traditional to school.

Reading Lin Yi's Lantern, a favorite at our place.

The weekend partying wasn't enough, we had to get out and see the real full moon.  So we met Penny and girls and my Mom and Dad and walked along the water last night.  Perfect night.  Weather was great.  Kids had fun.  Saw the moon in all it's glory.  Drank our tea and ate moon cookies.  Was home by 8.  Penny and I are thinking we'll do that walk again next year it worked out so great. 

The Autum Moon Party

She's very happily picking those gem stones off.

The event we went to in Victoria was great, dinner was awesome and then we went to a little park and played.  There were quite a few families there.  I bought matching outfits for the girls in China thinking they'd be great for Easter, but then forgot we had them and so was quite thrilled to take them out for this event.  Even better that the weather is so great they can wear summer things!  We took the opportunity to get some photos of the girls suitable for our one year post placement that is coming up in a few weeks.  I know, the year went by WAY too fast. 

Dim Sum and the Fair

Lili actually talked Fei into riding the octopus!  Fei said she wanted to go but was too scared and she wanted me to bribe her.  Too funny.  I said I'd buy her rootbeer if she went on.  We ate out with friends after the fair and she did indeed get her rootbeer :)  Lili thought the ride was great, Fei not so much.

Eric and I didn't care for the fair in it's new spot.  We opted to not go this year.  Then Fei's teacher asked each family to consider going because they're studying agriculture.  Drat.  We love Mrs. N. so we changed some plans and decided to go after our Dim Sum lunch with friends in Nanaimo.  We still don't care for the new site.  Way too dirty.  It was hot and the submissions are lame.  Lili liked the rides.  We enjoyed our friends company while we were there and Jia loved the ducks and chickens.  We've all agreed to skip next year.

It was nice to see Mary and Charles and their girls at the lunch and we met some adoptive families with kids from places other than China...imagine that?  I do get caught up in China adoption.  Jia nd May did much better together this time, I think they even liked each other.  Jia isn't normally too interested in other little kids, she prefers playing with the big girls.  The babies sat together, side by side in highchairs and talked and played games for quite a while.  Very sweet and very entertaining.

Lacie and Lewis

I thought Lewis would be company for Jenny, but I was wrong.  Turns out Lacie needed a friend.  They spend most of the day together these two.  They touch noses.  Nap together and they both follow us from room to room.  Lewis has already learned to stop hunting Lacie and she's already trained him to stop pouncing on her.  They're very sweet togther.  Not sure what will happen when he is way bigger than her but for now it's nice.  Poor wee Lewis is getting neutered tomorrow.  He's still tricky to catch, but he seems to understand that he's part of our pack and likes to be near us.

Making the lanterns.

Autumn Moon Festival time again.  Time to make our lanterns again.  Miss Jia loved the project and was covered in glue.  It took Fei and I great effort to keep her on task and it took about an hour to get her gems onto her lantern.  I think they turned out quite lovely.  However...Jia then spent the weekend trying to pick the gems off and we were all picking them up.  So, I'm thinking I'll set her to task picking them off at home where we don't have to worry about littering.  Then I'll scrub the glue residue off and put another coat of glitter paint on them and then next year we'll glue a dragon picture on them or wrap asian ribbon on them or something.  The glass jars were great, they glowed beautifully, were easy to carry and didn't get destroyed.  Most of our lanterns so far have been lucky to survive one event and then we have to patch and glue for the second event. 

What a find!

Sue sent me a link yesterday to an ad for this table.  Picked it up last night for $300.  Wahoo.  We just love it.  No clue what to do with it.  Makes ma happy to just gaze upon it.

Last camping and then back to school.

There are bunnies living under these benches, out came the cameras!

They were so sweet together.

Fei found our owl family look alikes.

She's learning about on and off.  She really wanted on then she really wanted off.

Look what Eric found for me!  We've been looking for years but can only ever find them with drying racks on one side.  No idea when we'll get to putting in a new sink, I'm happy to just know it's in the garage for now.

Jia playing Birdland on my phone.

Loving the attention from the big girls.

Seeing how long Oreo is.

This is how one cuddles with a snake.

Shannon reads the funniest stories.

First day back to school.

Grade 3, 8 years old.

Grade 4, 9 years old.

The last trip was fabulous.  Perfect weather.  I stayed home for two nights and took care of critters, the family came home Friday, had showers, did some yard work and picked up Lacie, Lewis and me of course.  We left Jenny at home and the rats too.  Sophie isn't quite as relaxed as the other rats have been and we didn't think she'd appreciate Lewis trying to catch her tail in the trailer. 

Lewis LOVED the RV.  He alternated climbing everything and napping.  He started relaxing a bit more around us and even initiated a cuddle or two.  Last night we gave him the run of the whole house.  That is a lot of house for a small kitten to get lost in!  He found us in the living room and hung out there and even got on my lap for a nap!  I was starting to think that would never happen.  We gave him the run of the house again this morning and he choose to stay around us.  He was however getting on the table and trying to take Jia's food.  He still wants everything we're eating.  Also, this morning he had managed to lock himself in the bathroom, Eric had to break the 101 year old door down, breaking the deadbolt and shattering the moulding.  Yikes.  I know....I know....I wanted a Siamese.  He is my fourth one, but it's been awhile and I forgot about how they use their paws more efficiently than regular cats.  I thought Eric would be upset about the door but he took that in stride.  We're all enjoying most of his antics. 

The beach was awesome, kids had a blast playing with friends.  They were deep in their games for hours one day with James, but Penny, Eric and I wanted to walk with Jia and the dogs so we guilted them into leaving with us.  We told them if they stayed on the beach nothing more would happen, if they came with us it would be an adventure.  I was really hoping something fun would happen when we came across a man with a California King snake named Oreo.  The kids had met him before and they were super excited to see Oreo again.  Oreo sheds four times a year and he was there on a shedding day, oh yay, so the kids spent a half hour picking his skin off for him.  Life is sure interesting some days.  Then Jia had to give up her num numbs (all food is num numbs) so that we could put Oreo's skin in the ziplock!!  Yes, not kidding, the kids insisted on keeping it.  They weren't even bothered that Oreo eats mice and the bigger snakes eat rats. 

The kids were absolutely not ready to stop camping for the year but I am.  Usually I like some fall trips but right now it just feels like a ton of work.  I'm tired of packing and unpacking.  Jia is still a lot of work.  She really likes camping though and she really likes her bunk in the RV.  Next year will be easier when she is 2 1/2.

So, school went back in yesterday for two hours and today is their first whole day.  They weren't unhappy about going but it wasn't a big excited deal like usual.  They clearly would prefer to stay home with Dad.  Jia has been to busy to notice yet but once Eric stays home and she's on her own she is going to really miss her 'sissers'.  They won't know until the end of the week who their teacher is, where their class is or who is in the class with them.  I wish they didn't have to waste this time in school while it gets all sorted out.  I totally get the need to sort it out but it is confusing for some of the kids.  Fei's transition has been better than usual but still has some rough patches. 

Back to dance today but their class time changed to 5:30.  That will be a very disruptive for Wednesdays.  Eric is going to feed the girls dinner early and I'll eat when we get home.  Plus I won't see much of Jia on Wednesday!  Eric and I might have to alternate taking them.  How do families deal with these odd times?   Thankfully piano is still at 4 and the kids are home at 5:15.  Speaking of which...I've been searching for a metronome for months and we found one on the weekend, nice brand, good shape and a smokin' deal at $10.