Halloween

Not much to talk about.   It's late, I'm tired.  No sleeping in, we have kinder music in the morning.

Here are pics. of the day. 

Costume trial.

We had tickets for a Halloween event in Victoria this past weekend.  We got all ready, loaded the car with tons of rain gear for six, packed drinks and snacks and when we were almost there Jia fell asleep.  Sigh.  Luk had a bit of a cough and we weren't thrilled about an evening in the rain.  So we bailed.  When  Jia woke up I was carrying her into her favorite restaurant, Spaghetti Factory.  Luckily for us she just calmly accepted the new plan.  Then on Sunday we had the littles try on their costumes and trick or treat with all of us for their snacks.  It was a hit.  Makes me think they'd be happy to do that again on Friday.  If it's raining again, we might bail again ;)

Seriously, how cute is Luk as a monkey!!  Queen Elsa was pretty cute too.

Yay for Tuesday

The only day of the work week that we have nothing extra.   Now, if only we could get rid of blasted homework. 

Fei is showing off the costume Gramma bought her today.  Lili is showing off Lacie's new winter coat and Luk is trying on new jeans.  Notice he's dressing himself. 

In my jammies already and happy to be cozied in on this rainy night. 

The newest Canadian Citizen

Yay!!!  Luk is a Canadian!!! 

Cheater pumpkins.

Eric is off dealing with his parents house.  It's been a month and it's still full.  We’re starting to fear how long it's going to take to settle their affairs.  Eric is itching for an empty house so he can clean, repair, paint and hopefully sell.

So here on the home front the kids and I are having a jamma day.  Trying to slip in bits of fun between the chores. The house is tidy, laundry is almost done and it's all getting put away load by load.  I always try to do that but it's so much easier to just load those baskets and put it away later.  Unfortunately I just don't love sorting for six of us and then I have to put away for three of us.  Today though...I'm on it.  By tonight we'll be able to say the laundry is caught up for reals.

We just decorated our cheater monster pumpkins.  Love them.  Love not having to gut four pumpkins!

Kinder music - part two.

Seems like a million years ago that Lili and Fei were in Kindermusic.  Now, we are starting again with Jia and Luk.  Fun times.  We did music class with Jia when she was younger but group classes and controlled expectation was too much for her.  They both really liked the class today and want to go back.  Clearly for Jia it was good to have Luk there.  Then after some grocery shopping I took the littles to see Toppy and Binoo. Luk's first live show.  He was pretty excited.  He was however ready to leave at intermission. 

Came home to find the big girls stacking firewood with Eric.  I brought Eugene out on his leash and sat in the sun watching.  Eugene was up for an adventure but he wasn't really that keen with his feet touching the ground.

Eric has his best ever chilli on the stove, Luk is napping and we're settling in to watch some tv together.

Thanksgiving

Mom and Dad came over Sunday for her Birthday.  We made traditional Beijing dumplings.  Vegan style.  They turned out great and it was fun having help making them.

On Thanksgiving we went to visit Scott.  No change.  He still isn't able to communicate.   So sad.  Then we had a play and Chinese dinner out with Catherine, Anna and Abigail. 

I bought a cool old couch on the weekend too.  Eric picked it up and it's in our garage for now.  It was stored in a barn and it smells like it. Only paid $75.  Can't wait to get it cleaned and move it in.

Luk and Eugene making a card for Gramma.

Have I mentioned the story of the cat that may or may not be Lewis?  Lewis is ferral.  We barely see him.  Since Eugene has been here he's been hanging out a little bit.  He's picked Fei to be his person.  She is delighted.  The weird part is that he looks way different.  Much pointer face and much much darker flames.  He looks more siamese than before.  We understand that this common with Siamese males to get their markings at 4, which Lewis is.  The funny part is that the neighbors are missing their siamese cat and Eric and Lili think Lewis is their cat.  Fei and I know from his mannerisms that it’s our Lewis.  We can't find his tattoo to prove it though.

Eric's Pumpkin Patch

A friend sent me some pictures of her kids at the pumpkin patch.  They were dressed in fall colors, looking so sweet, posing nicely with a field of pumpkins behind them on a perfect sunny day with blue skies.  Sigh.  We used to do that. We used to have time and energy.  This year we packed them up and drove to the red rooster.  Not a patch but a nice heap to pick through and we could get a picture with the pumpkin mountain behind them.  When we got there we turned around to find all four of them were asleep! 

Eric's new plan was for us to buy them from the farmers market and put them into his vege garden so they could pick them from our own patch.  Ya' it rained, it got dark, they weren't dressed.  We put them there Sat morning and didn’t get the kids to them until Mon at noon. 

Jia and Luk were delighted.  They believe whole heartedly that Daddy grew pumpkins.   Lili and Fei as usual were good sports.  Got a few cute pictures.

For My Highland Dancers

Gramma gave this to me, she copied it from dance class a couple weeks ago.

In a six step Highland Fling a dancer will jump vertically 192 times (equivalent of running a mile) on one foot at a time, while performing complicated and intricate foot work and using their muscles head to toe.  Highland Dancing is therefore akin to sprinting, so go run a mile with your arms above your head, on your toes, in soft shoes, while wearing 7 - 10 pounds of wool clothing. Oh and don't forget to smile.

Love it.