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It's a rare weekend at home.  No company, no plans,  no outings for most of us.  Ahhh. ..

Yesterday Eric did go to his Mom's to work on her car.  Lili went with him.  I have no idea what happened or why but they came back with a trailer load of dirt from his dad's garden and they are happily working together now to create a giant vegetable garden.  Lili did a lot of shoveling, she was sore this morning but was right back out there with Eric this morning.  They took out the raised beds, emptied the dirt into a giant ant hill (according to Jia, even though there are no ants) and have started trying to move big rocks to make a raised wall.  They were also thrilled to be sketching plans for a chicken coop.  Trying to stay out of these plans but still pretty excited at the idea of having hens again.  Eric told all of the kids they are getting chicks.  Fei and Jia showed some  interest, I know once there are baby chick's to hold they will all be thrilled.  I have asked that they resist getting babies until the dog pen has been properly converted. 

While helping Eric, Lili got her first driving lesson in the driveway.  Then today they realized she can reach to drive the lawn tractor, so she is really getting some great guy time in with Dad.

Fei had a cooking lesson with me today and she made baked spaghetti for lunch and chocolate chip cookies for fun.  Yum.  Doesn't sound as exciting as building things but we had a nice time.  Fei also figured out how to make a bow out of hair.  Jia looked adorable but wrecked it almost immediately ;)

It is nice to slow down and take our time getting things done.   We're usually in such a rush all the time.  Easier to do everything ourselves than to take the time to teach.

When Lili and Eric came in for lunch today, Lili thought she should get coffee too.  Uh, no. 

Jia and Luk have been playing hard.  They are finally really finding some common ground. 
Once Luk goes for his nap Jia gravitates to Fei for big girl fun.  Make overs yesterday and crafts today.

CNY

Our little group met for dinner, went bowling and came back to our house.  It was busy and loud ;)  Just the way we like it. 

We all had a good time.  Jia did a bit of clinging but mostly hung with the big girls.  Luk ate the whole time at dinner, played  with Eric at the bowling alley then back to eating once we got back home. 

Jia's class had a party, Eric made chow mein.  She was so excited to share CNY with her friends.

115 red envelopes passed out this year.  Phew.

Not sure if we'll bother with any other events.  Festival goes for 15 days.  Might just focus on Birthdays coming up.

Luk news.  He surprised me by crawling on his hands and knees a couple nights ago!  I love that he is able, that he's not skipping a mile stone, that developmentally he'll get what he needs from that step.  Grin.  He keeps trying it.  He's steady at getting into position and he can move forward a little bit.  I'm not sure who is more proud, him or me.

James and his Dad came to visit.

Great visit.  Whirlwind.  I can not fathom how Eric got the housework all done with two little kids underfoot.  House looks way better than usual.  Lili and Eric picked them up.  We had dinner and visited until bed.  This morning after breakfast the girls showed them around their school.  They are shocked at how big our house is and even more shocked at how small their school is.  They said that the number of kids would be just one grade in a Chinese school.  Jia went to school.  Luk and I picked up groceries for lunch, picked up Jia and came home to cook while Eric, big girls and guests went to look at first nations places and totem poles.  They brought a picture of a totem pole to show us what they wanted to see.  ;)  We smiled and said no problem...we have lots here.  We all had lunch and then they were off.  Eric and the big girls are taking them to see Chinatown,  the Empress, bus station,  Parliament, James Bay and mile zero before leaving them at their hotel.  James starts school on Friday and his Dad goes back to China on Sunday.

What an amazing connection.  Major experience for all of us.  So many different views.  Cultures soooo different. 

They report that Luk speaks lots of Mandarin.  Two and three word sentences.  He speaks considerably more English already.  Luk was wanting to cuddle with James Dad. 

I had thought that perhaps the student exchange was something that happened at the International School but James said no that 2012 was the only year and we were his only exchange opportunity.  He has a friend from his school in Victoria (visiting him tonight) and another friend in Toronto.  His home stay is with a single lady.  He reports the house is nice enough but very small. 

His dad manages a four star hotel in Beijing.  He's offered a reduced rate for us.  I think Fei and I will take him up on that for a couple nights before our camp.  Also occurred to me that I have Mr. Yangs cell number.  We will be able to arrange a day trip with him.  He's worked with us on the last three adoptions.  The plan is falling together easily. 

Heritage camp in Beijing.

Big news...Fei has decided she wants to do a heritage camp.  We got our application all filled out and in the mail today!  We're pretty excited.

At the same time we've been gearing up for Beijing Heritage Camp 2014 we've heard from James, the boy from the student exchange on Lili's 2012 camp.  He called today to let us know he is coming with his Dad to visit tomorrow!  Pretty exciting.  Exactly why these exchanges are so important and special. 

We're busy trying to get the house ready ;)  I've been attempting to rest and we spent the weekend doing CNY events.  We're a little behind on housework.  It's 10 and Eric is in the kitchen trying to put together a crock pot stew.  Not sure yet which ferry we're picking them up from. Explaining how to get here was interesting. 

Yesterday we painted horses for CNY.  Well,  the girls did.  I made a plate with Luk's hand print on it.  Then dinner out and a play here.  Today we went to a CNY show at the music conservatory in Victoria.  The show was great.  Lions were the best ;)  We thought Luk might be scared but he loved them.  We were in the front row, so close that the fur on the mouth of one of the Lions ran across my face.  I turned to Jia and told her the lion bite me.  Wish we'd captured the look on her face.  Then dinner out with friends.   Great weekend.  Glad we had some great down time with friends all the while celebrating the great benign news!

Benign

Benign!!  Is there a more beautiful word?!

Just got a call.  Benign fibroid something something polyp.  Not commonly found where it was.  Some odd cells found so it was sent to a second lab in Victoria for a double check.  Hence the delay.  Nothing to worry about.

What a relief. 

Off to celebrate!  Oh happy, happy day.

Jumping Jimminies

Luk's first visit to the indoor playground.  He loved it.  A lot. 

He did great scooting around on the plasma cars.  Good to know because we still have Lili and Fei's old ones around here somewhere.  Jia climbed and went on the slides while he rode his car.  He did some great rolling around in the padded baby section too.

Happy Birthday Isabel!

Isabel is four!  She has no clue but we're spoiling her today anyways :)

Eric and the girls are walking her today while Luk naps.  It's nice blue sky, just hoping now that it warms up.

This afternoon we're meeting friends to paint ceramic horses.   The beginning of our Chinese New Year celebrations.