Luk's first haircut with us.

When we got Luk he had a great haircut.  I've been bugging Eric to take him in for a trim for a couple months.  Finally pushed Eric today on my flex day and we took him in, mostly because Eric wanted his own hair cut.  Jia wanted her hair cut short so we got that done too.  Luk was a dream.  Sat good as gold and smiled through most of it.  He looks adorable.   Jia had a hard time sitting still but she was pretty happy to finally get her short hair.  She wanted hair like Lili and Dora.  ;)  I doubt Lili would be thrilled to think Jia thinks her hair looks like Dora's.  She is also adorable. 

After the hair cuts Jia wanted to show Gramma her new doo so we hung out in their back yard while we waited for the girls to get out of school.  Check out Gramma's hoola hooping moves.

Then home to play in sun.  It's all good here.

Throwing in a picture of Luk's first swim on the weekend.  For a kid who hated water a few months ago he's sure come a long way.  He had fun at the pool.  He was cold and turned blue like Lili used too.  We couldn't stay too long. 

Computers

Our laptop was two months past it's warranty when the motherboard went.  $400 to fix a $650 computer.  Silly.  So, I was sitting at work looking at my old tower and wondered if I could piece a desktop together.  Too funny.  Dug in closets,  storage room, old desks and managed to get a full set.  Eric hauled the ancient computer desk up from the basement and after we had the tower stripped it's all working great.  Jia was really missing her games. 

Luk and Jia's version of the cup song.

Luk and Jia's cup song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4owwZZgOY1c&feature=youtu.be

Little Kid Cuteness

The plan was for Jia to be a couple years younger than Fei, so 9 now and Little guy was supposed to be older than Jia, so 6 now.  It turned out differently of course and we have two littles (4 & 2) along with our two bigs (12 & 11).   Which has been like starting over.  Lili and Fei do so much on their own.  They don't require much from us anymore and they help with the littles.   Life is exhausting these days.  Chaos in the morning,  especially on Jia's school days, chaos at dinner time and again at the littles bedtime, oh, and always chaos when we try to all leave the house. 

Then in amongst all the work,  demands, tasks and chores there are moments of such sweet adorable cuteness that make all of it worthwhile.

BC Museum

Long day.  Luk is super tired of the car.  He's learning how to complain in whine.  Sigh.

We went to the museum first.   Kids all loved it.  We got a family pass.  Jia is asking to go back to see Manny even though she was terrified when she saw him again. 

Then to Playzone to celebrate Dagen's first forever family day.  Luk wasn't too interested in the Playzone, Jia loved it.  Rosey cheeks when we left.  Then pizza at Dagen's house.  Home early for Luk who really needed the day to end.  Watched Once Upon A Time and to bed early.  School night.  Spring Break is officially over.

Long cold day.

Another adventure failure.  Yesterday was so warm with gorgeous blue skies.  Today...not so much.  My brilliant plan, a picnic at the ocean, a hike at the falls and dinner out on the way home.  

It was so cold at Rathtrevor that we all agreed there was no way we could eat there.   We ran into the park far enough to take a couple pics and then scurried back to the cars.   It wasn't as cold at Qualicum Falls and not windy but still not really conducive to a nice relaxing picnic.  Too cold to bother hiking, we all opted to head to the mall instead.

Lili has decided her speech that is coming up at school will be "My Mom thought it would be a good idea to...".  Ya', there are some failures but it's always good for a laugh and most of my plans aren't 'that' bad. 

Gramma and Grampa were with us today.  Gramma came in to shop with us.  Gap and Old Navy.  My Mom and I actually managed six matching things for our family.  T for Eric, Jia and I, collared shirt for Luk, dress for Fei and a hoodie for Lili. Gotta' love Old Navy.  Ready for a proper family photo now.

Mom and Dad then took Jia home for dinner and the rest of us met Penny and girls for a nice peaceful dinner out.

Last night Lili, Fei and James went to see Divergent while Jia and I went to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman.  She was so well behaved.  ?  I praised her like crazy, told her I really enjoyed her company and let her know specifically each thing she did great.   She was so happy to report to Eric and the girls that she was good at the show.   Today when we asked her to tone it down in the car she said 'I was good in the theater'.  Hmm,  so she bought the right to misbehave?!

Eric is watching Thor with the big kids now.  I'm in bed early.  Letting Jia stay up to play her Leapster pet pals game.  Its been missing since our Disneyland trip this past Oct. and Fei found it today.  Exciting times.

They grow up so fast!

Dropped the big girls at the pool on their own today.  Start of a whole new era.  Then Jia was sad that she wasn't going so Eric took her for a swim after dinner.  Luk and I did lots of cuddling while we did laundry and dishes ;)

Tonight Fei brought one of the more friendly chickens in for Luk and Jia to pet and hold.  Such fun.

James is coming to spend the weekend with us tomorrow.

Can't believe the kids spring break is almost over.

St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Paddy's Day.

Eric and I have been dragging the kids hither and yon looking at travel trailers for weeks now.  Today we had plans to have friends visit but they cancelled their trip and we ended up with a free day.   We went to Port Alberni to look at a trailer.   Also looked at all the lots along the way.  Our kids are all just so fabulous at road trips.  Seriously, not one complaint from any of them.  Wild. 

Our trailer is a four bunk, so we don't 'have' to upgrade.  There are six specific things that could be better.  Our dinette seats four.  Our queen slide is too short for Eric and he mostly sleeps on the jack knife couch.  There is no door on either sleeping space, curtains don't count as doors.  The kids room is two steps up, so no standing room for adults and I have to crawl to get clothes for the little kids.  Most importantly, there is no room on either side of the toilet, making wiping just a ridiculous acrobatic move.  So we've now looked at quite a few bunk models and none of them fix all of our problems and if it  gets close, there are other things wrong, like no way to put a bike rack on, no light switches the kids can reach, kitchen cabinets too small or too high, no storage and lots of smells.  We end up deciding we're good to stick with ours again and again.  Today we did look at one trailer that was so perfect, met all of our needs,  couldn't find the flaws until we talked to the salesman and it was priced a full ten thousand higher than all the other ones in it's class.   Bummer.  Now all trailers must compare to that one ;)

Eric has been telling me for years that he can move the wall to make more room in the bathroom.  I've been reluctant to let him, worried about how it would look.  I've told him to go ahead and try.  Will have to keep brain storming for solutions on the other issues.  Wouldn't matter if it was just a few nights a year but we do use the trailer a lot. 

We stopped in at Rathtrevor today and there were quite a few people camping already.  We all wanted to be there riding our bikes.  

We had dinner at Boston Pizza in Port Alberni.  They have a cool four can eat for $40.  It fed all of us with leftovers.   Fancy bread, salad, entre,  dessert and a drink.  We'll be looking for an excuse to go there here at home.

Home late, the littles were both happy to get to bed and fell asleep in a couple minutes.

The actual Celebration of Dad.

An amazing turn out.  House was packed.  Could hardly move.  Every door and window was open to cool down the place.  Lots of laughs and catching up.  I didn't get to visit much, chasing Luk, who can zoom through the crowds while I had to look for openings ;)  He was doing a loop non stop for hours and a few times he looped and came up behind me!  Hilarious.

We talked to him about hugging and asking to be up.  Told him who was ok and appropriate.   Figured I was wasting my breath but darned if he didn't change his behaviors all day!  That kid knows more than we credit him with.  He actually shook his head and said no to people about being picked up.  He also did rounds of hugging the people on his ok list.  So cute.

He missed his nap and was more than ready for bed tonight.  Asleep right away. 

Eric went back to his moms to visit.  He came home late, after 11.  Lili and Fei wanted to stay up and wait.  Then we chatted until after one.  Very mature girls we have. 

Overheard a relative dissing my girls for playing on their phones,  not being social.  What ever,  they barely knew anyone there.  We were there for hours and hours they weren't a bother, they were polite, they helped me with the littles and I enjoyed chatting with them. 

I think we're due a jammy day tomorrow.

Vic's Celebration of Life

Eric's Dad passed away this past Oct.  Tomorrow is his celebration of life.  Tonight the family got together.  Luk's first time meeting most of them.  He was hugging everyone.  From the adoption stand point it's so not cool.  It's just not normal for a two and a half year old to take to anyone immediately.   For everyone else he's cute and charming.  Sigh.  Trying to explain proved futile and the few times I tried it was pooh poohed aside.  Sigh again.  It was easier to shield the girls as babies.  Luk is cruising and really expecting to be the center of attention.  Anyways...The 11 cousins (plus Cole - 2nd cousin) were together, Dayton didn't want his picture taken so they all decided to swarm around him but it didn't really work.  Lots of failed photo attempts and one seriously peeved teenager.

We've just discovered this past week that Jia is quite allergic to mangos.  Poor wee thing is covered in hives.  She was having enough fun playing with cousin Gabrielle today to forget about her hives.  Unfortunately she missed a benadryl dose and just woke up scratching frantically. 

Should be another busy day tomorrow. 

I'm NOT ready!

Our little boy was a baby baby in Nov.  He gave up bottles, learned to walk, feeds himself, moved from mush to regular food, he can manage sitting in a little chair, he has figured out how to get up stairs, he talks non stop, can sing Happy Birthday and Itsy Bitsy.  Today he asked for his nap in his own room, in his big boy bed.  Sob.  I'm not ready for him to give up the crib.  It's happening too fast. 

Chickies are all moved outside.

The last of our little chickies moved out to the coop today.  It's such a nice day that we let them outside for the first time today.   They were pretty scared but started to like it right away.  Jia and I stayed with them.   We were able to catch them still and a few were happy to cuddle ;)

We've had chicks in our kitchen for a month.  They can really, REALLY stink.   So although we miss watching them, it will sure be great to have them outside!

Lili turns 12 today.

Happy Happy Birthday Lili!  Just the other day you were a little baby and I got you a Leapster drum for your 1st Birthday. 

She started the day opening presents and was happy with her digital drums.  They are the ones she wanted.  She's at school with a big bag of Kit Kats to share.  It's report card day.  Piano after school.  Then picking up a couple school friends and going to Subway and Menchies for dinner.  Lili's choice. 

Look what Jia made!

Jia was busy in Eric's shop today.  I think it's a shelf.  Love it.

A rare moment.

Something we don't see often.  Lili and Jia cuddled.  I feel a bit like I caught a mystical sighting of the alusive Sasquath. 

Luk laughing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmHDmzR_Vrw

Youtube of Luk laughing.  Ok, he IS easily amused but in his defense he'd only had a tiny nap in the car after a busy day.  It was bed time and he walked a ton yesterday.  He is too funny.  He is laughing so hard that he has a hard time breathing.  We're so lucky.

Scoliosis Clinic day

Long day.  Left at 9 and hit the mall to get Eric, Lili and Fei new phone accessories.  Ended up waiting for the store to open ;)  So cool that their choices are totally their personalities and I could have guessed which ones they would pick. 

Then to Vic General for X rays.   Got there early and got in early too.  Lunch and then onto Queen Alexandra.  Lili had a different Dr.  She has grown 3/4 of an inch in the last year and is now 4' 7".  Her curve was 14 last year, they don't typically intervene until 15.  The great news is that her curve is now 11.25.  I haven't read before about the curves improving on their own before.   Dr. last year said she had one more year of growing,  this Dr. said there was lots of growing room in her spine.  Puberty is key in girls growth and he seemed to forget that in his final words.  Makes me so uncomfortable when Dr's.  have such big differences in opinion.  The advice either way is to go home and grow and they'll call her back next year. 

Then a quick visit with Catherine and girls.  Home now with some tired little kids.  Luk did a lot of walking today.

Pic. of Luk doing some more flexing.  He thinks that is just so funny.

Weekend updates.

Six and a half hours of errands yesterday with the big girls.  Eric was home with the littles.  So grateful we can split up to get things done.  Jia can be even more demanding of our attention when we're out.  Plus she has to be reminded every couple minutes to stop climbing everything in site.  I asked her the other day if she could hear me and she said yes so I followed with 'well, what did I say?' her answer 'I don't know I wasn't listening for real'.   Sigh.

Lili got her hair cut yesterday.  Fei to a party.  Jenny to the vet.  Birthday, Easter and grocery shopping.  Two and a half hours in the Bell store getting Eric, Lili and Fei their upgraded phones.  That was super frustrating for sure.  Sadly we aren't done there, Eric's new phone isn't working yet. 

Lili's hair is spectacular.  I can't stop staring at her.  She has enough to donate again.  She has wanted it done for a while but isn't keen on people looking at her and when she went to short hair when she was six the kids at school told her she looked like a boy.   I don't think that will happen this time.  Jia wants her hair just like Lili's now ;)  It's Jia though, so I'm afraid if we cut it she will change her mind after it is done. 

Fei was at a party that was 1 - 3.  Lili and I were pressed for time and had our errands to the minute.  Then got a call from Fei at 2:35 that the party was over.  We zoomed across town to get her,  the birthday girls Mom was standing outside with Fei, I waved at Fei and the Mom took off at a run.  Seriously. 

As for Jenny, had her diagnosed from Internet research.  Called for the meds she needs.  Had to come in of course.  He pet her and looked at her skin.  Spent 5 minutes repeating that.  Then told me what I already knew.  $167.  Frustrating.  She wasn't pleased with us trying to get pills in her.  Thankfully crushed and in gravy worked.

Snow is still coming down.  Sure hoping the rain is on the way.  Lili has scoliosis clinic at Queen Alexandra tomorrow.  Yanking Fei from school so we can take advantage of a day out together. 

We're dog sitting, cleaning house and having friends over for dinner today.  Jia and Luk were helping me tidy and dust today.  Too cute.  Now that Lili is almost 12 she is going to do her own laundry.   Today is day one ;) 

I haven't seen our big chicks for a week.  They're out in the coop.  Eric is packing them in one by one so I can cuddle them.  They totally remember us and are settling in on my lap for cuddles and naps.  Jia has Goldie all wrapped up in a blankie like a baby.

Luk is doing so fabulously with his walking that I'm going to put his walker upstairs in his closet today.  Also, yesterday he climbed the stairs on his own.  He was a lot steadier than I thought he would be.  Time to put the bottom gate back on.

All is well in Nelsonville.