Happy 15th Birthday Fei!

I gifted her my birthstone ring from when I was 16.  Since we share a stone.  Also an old promise ring from an old boyfriend.  They look sweet on her.  Eric took them into a jeweler to be cleaned.  And they charged him.  Handsomely.  Does everyone remember taking jewelry into be cleaned for free?  I don't wear anything other than my jade that doesn't/can't come off and occasionally a wedding band when they fit. 

So, Miss Fei has choosen a family dinner at the Malahat Chalet.  So that's fun.  They swapped their piano lesson and did it on family day so that we could do a dinner.  She's also asked for an ice cream cake which Eric is picking up today but I think we'll likely do dessert at the restaurant and get a bonus night tomorrow with the ice cream cake.

Fei doesn't love making choices.  She avoids it as much as possible.  So the Birthday plans weren't made until yesterday.  Then I said she could pick out her cake after school.  She looked concerned so I suggested Eric could pick for her and she agreed to that.  We tell her all the time there is no wrong choice in these moments.  Too funny.

Red white and pink day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Always fun to wake up to treats 😄

Kai came down with his box.  Once he was ready for school he sat quietly with the box over his head.  ?  Why didn't I get a photo of that?!  I'm starting to think the box will be around for a while. 

Was sent this photo from Kai's class.  It's cupcake day.  I'm guessing he shoved it all in at once. Embarrassing and cute all at once.  Our boy sure likes cake.

The Box

I picked up Kai from his play group today and he was very excited to show me his box. A cardboard storage box that he was coloring all over.  He asked if he could bring it home. Then happily marched to the car carrying it.  It's a big load for him.  We carefully got in the trunk and he patted it before I closed it.  Then stood waiting for the trunk to open at home and marched it into the house. Super Super PROUD. He couldn't wait to show Eric.  Then he got his crayons and a pen and went to work on it.  At the end of the evening he had moved his Disneyland ticket into the box and was packing around his flash light so he could peek into the handle holes.  It was funny to watch this love affair all night.  Of course Luk was jealous, letting his green show big time. Which probably made Kai even more pleased with his box. I just came up to bed and had to laugh because Kai is sleeping with his box!!  He doesn't have much room.  Hilarious.

Kai's Metcha Day.

Two years ago we met Kai. He came in like a whirlwind and turned us around a few times, left us sideways and we're still left of normal.  He keeps us on our toes and it's never boring.  We love him like crazy he's possibly the sweetest boy alive. 

He knows it's his day today and he gets to pick dinner.  Guess what we're having?  That's right.  Multi grain cheerios with bananas.  The other kids aren't thrilled but Kai sure is.  Oh, and he had o's for breakfast today too.

Our first glimpse of Kai.  He's 3 in the picture.

The day we met and celebrate.

Kai's first day with us.

He sure has changed! 

CNY Starts

We met the Nanaimo group for lunch yesterday.  Only five families and most of us there with missing family members.  Lili was working and Fei didn't want to be the only teen there.  We didn't love the food but the company was great and Jia was delighted to see May again so soon. 

The kids did a cute dog lantern craft.  Kai was pretty proud.  We're not sure what happened to it, missing when we went to leave. He was pretty sad about that. I got him a left over print out so he can re-create.

Today is family day in BC.  Lili and Fei had piano this morning.  We picked them up for an adventure day.  Started at Jysks.  Kids are switching/moving rooms again.  So Lili and Fei wanted to look at bedding and get ideas.  Not sure how many ideas they got. 

We packed a picnic and headed to the Crofton walk.  Yikes that was cold!  I was the first to quit.  Ate my lunch in the car.  We all opted to skip the walk and get out of there.   I told everyone that my idea was a dismal fail so they needed to come up with an idea. 

Not sure who came up with what but I'm home with the littles and Eric is with Lili and Fei at Home Hardware and Home Depot.  Looking for a window, secondary heat and flooring. 

The girls are moving downstairs!  Luk is moving to the main floor to Lili's wolf room, Jia is moving to Fei's purple room and Kai is staying in the blue monkey room. 

Crazy.

Means a LOT of work for Eric redoing those two basement rooms.  Both girls are thrilled with the plan.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  Lili asked if I thought most kids moved rooms around their houses.  Hahaha.

Uh Oh, Kai's weird way of smiling is back.  Haven't seen this face in a while.

Hide and Seek

Jia and Luk play hide and seek all the time.  Kai ignores them.  Last night they bugged him until he joined them.  They don't usually go out of their way to get him to join in.  Then to our surprise he knew how to play and was decently good at it.  They played beautifully for a good hour and then moved on to drawing contests that Kai did too! And ended their evening building a group duplo dog complete with a hinged jaw and wagging tail.  They were doing so great together that we let the boys stay up another hour.  Excitement levels got too high and Luk ended his night in a crying fit.  Sigh.

This morning they've all had bathes.  Luk and Jia are playing quietly and Kai is back to duplo in front of the tv.  It was good while it lasted. 

After lunch we're off to see Peter Rabbit.  Fingers crossed the boys can keep it quiet!

Kai's Playgroup

For the most part he likes his playgroup.  There is a really high adult to kid ratio. There are some behavioural issues with some of the kids.  I don't love Kai seeing that part although he seems oblivious.  He does odd things himself but not any challenging bad things.  Mostly they stay on site but occasionally they day trip.  Feeding ducks, bowling and nature walks. They do crafts and have things scheduled every week like dancing or building forts.  So, I just got a notice to sign, this week they each get 15 minutes with a therapy dog.  They get to read or talk to the dog.  Kai loves Isabel and talks to her all the time.  Would be fun to be there and watch him this week!  He will be so happy. Wonder if he'll want to read to Isabel when he's home.

Also just found out they are offering summer camps.  We're going to let Kai go.  Wondering if Luk might like it.  Might be our only chance for him to find a day camp that can handle the chair and bathroom care.  He qualifies for the program but the camps are for the kids already involved.  Can't hurt to request.