little lilah grace

a month-in-photos : january

2012-01-31T01:00:00.002-05:00

I really miss Project 365 (taking a picture every single day for one year!). What I miss most is glancing at the mosiacs (I used to make) of each month's pictures and being able to see and remember everything we did that particular month.

Project 365 was fun, very fun, but I don't want to force myself into taking pictures every single day. Recently I saw a month-in-photos on Rebecca's 'simple as that' blog and decided to do something quite similiar. I love Rebecca's blog, she is so creative and artsy and she makes things looks easy enough that I think to myself, "I could do that!". Generally I 'think' more than I actually 'do', but it's the thought that counts, right?!

So basically I took my favourite pictures from January and put them into a mosiac that looks like this...

Yep, it really is as simple as that!

a new sleigh

2012-01-28T18:26:00.008-05:00

We got some crazy weather yesterday, first it was raining, then it moved on to ice rain and finally snow.... that's why Lilah is wearing her rain boots and rain suit in these pictures. It was very mild and she had fleece lined clothing underneath, so she wasn't in the least bit cold! We're having a pretty bizarre winter this year.

Anyway, I picked up this new little sleigh for Lilah last week. I figured she needed something a bit smaller for the little snow hill at the front of our house. This girl LOVES the snow, she loves absolutely everything about it. And this sleigh is fast, oh my, once she got the hang of how to work it, did she ever have fun!

I see many more winter days filled with fun and laughter on this little sleigh!

[ the flickr set is here ]

gung hay fat choy!

2012-01-23T21:53:00.011-05:00

Lilah absolutely loved going around and saying "Gung Hay Fat Choy!" to everyone today.

This morning I went into her kindergarten class and taught the children some facts about Chinese New Year. I read a book, brought in props (including the 5ft inflatable dragon - they were SO taken with the dragon!), we did a craft, made happy new year (of the dragon) cards and had several work station activities on the go, including the use of chopsticks and also making a large dragon mural out of the children's (painted red!) handprints. Lilah had packaged red envelopes for everyone in her class to take home and she wished them all "Gung Hay Fat Choy!", of course!

It was a wonderful morning and I was rather exhausted when the 2.5 hours was up! (I have SO MUCH respect for teachers)

I can't believe the difference in Lilah this year, her understanding for this New Year tradition and the fact that it is Chinese, is much much deeper than before. She seemed to have this unspoken pride that it was a tradition from her country. She was also SUPER excited to receive three red envelopes this year, one from the owner of the Chinese restaurant we went to on Sunday for lunch, one from our neighbours daughter and of course, one from us!

Wishing you a wonderful new year, on this, the first day of the year of the dragon!

Oh, and if you're interested in teaching your child a beautiful little Chinese New Year song, this is a wonderful link! Enjoy.

her chinese silks

2012-01-22T17:33:00.008-05:00

There is something very special about Chinese silks.

Being a Mama to Lilah this last three years, sometimes I tend to forget that she's Chinese, that she was born in China and that China and being Chinese is a huge part of who she is.

To me she's simply, my daughter, my girl, my sweetheart.

But the moment she wears her silks, I can't help but think how exquisite she looks in them. When she's wearing them it makes me think more deeply, because I remember back to shopping for them in China: I remember the sights, the smells, the shops, the people, the incredible history of China. When I look at Lilah wearing her Cheongsam, I feel more deeply for her heritage. And of course, I worry that I'm not keeping her heritage 'alive' enough.

Today, after Church, she told us that she didn't need to say 'Happy Chinese New Year' to Chinese people, just people who aren't Chinese! She said "You just say 'Happy New Year' to Chinese people, because they understand it's Chinese!"

I love her reasoning!

Happy New Year my beautiful girl.
I'm ridiculously in love with you.

[ the flickr set is here ]

year of the dragon

2012-01-21T21:00:00.006-05:00

Are you ready for Chinese New Year? It's on Monday 23rd January this year!

We are so ready, we even have a (5ft!) dragon in the house, that I picked up in Walmart! He has been thrilling Lilah to no end - together, they've been reading stories, playing games, eating cookies, etc. You name it, he's involved! He even had the cold at one stage today, which I realized after half a box of tissues had vanished!

I think it's obvious that they're getting along famously! Especially seeing the photo below of them hugging and wearing matching glasses, Lilah's idea!

dunluce castle

2012-01-20T22:52:00.002-05:00

I have three more posts left, and (finally!) all my Ireland posts and photos will be done! I was so motivated to get them all up the week after we came home, but these last three have been sitting around! They're probably my three favourite ones too, we visited these three (very cool!) tourist attractions on one day...

Dunluce Castle, The Giant's Causeway & The Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge

It was a very busy day!

These pictures are all of the Dunluce Castle. One of my friends on Facebook said that it looked like Lilah was the princess in a fairytale when they saw the picture above. She certainly acted like it was her own castle! She kept finding little nooks and crannies and squeezing herself into them telling us they were her bedrooms, etc!

Here's a little bit of the history behind the ruins of this old 17th century castle...

"Dunluce Castle is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim (between Portballintrae and Portrush), and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland. The castle is surrounded by extremely steep drops on either side, which may have been an important factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an early Irish fort once stood." (Read more about it here.)

[ the flickr set is here ]

my sweet naleigh moon

2012-01-19T20:38:00.004-05:00

I adore this song by Josh Kelly.
The movie is beautiful too, of him, his wife and his sweet Naleigh Moon.

****************

I know the kind of guy I am.
A bit too much to myself,
Not much left for someone else.
I’m sure I caused my share of pain.
But all that changed when you first touched my face.

Halfway around my little world,
You had no idea that you were my girl.
And you found my arms not a moment too soon.
I couldn’t see past me, till I saw you.
My sweet Naleigh Moon.

I love the man you’re making me.
Everyday I wanna prove there’s nothing I won’t do for you.
Just to see you in your mama’s arms
Is more than enough to bring me to my knees.

Halfway around my little world,
You had no idea that you were my girl.
And you found my arms not a moment too soon.
I couldn’t see past me, till I saw you.
My sweet Naleigh Moon.

I can't imagine life without my Naleigh Moon

****************

thank you for everything

2012-01-17T16:10:00.001-05:00

I read this quote today...

Dear God,
I want to take a minute,
not to ask for anything from you.
But simply to say thank you
for all I have.

I couldn't help but bow my head and say "Amen".
Let me never take for granted my many blessings.

catching snowflakes!

2012-01-15T22:08:00.055-05:00

I took these pictures this past Friday. I hadn't planned on posting them, because I'd posted some similiar ones the previous day. Yes, you caught that right! It actually snowed for two days, on and off, but mostly on!

But on second glance, I appreciated Friday's photos in a different way to Thursdays. I think it's got to do with the falling snow!

There's something beautiful about snowflakes falling down.
They're absolutely magical... in the eyes of a 4 year old!

Who knew our Guangdong Girl would enjoy these crazy Canadian winters so much?!

Oh! the snow, the beautiful snow,
Filling the sky and earth below,
Over the housetops, over the street,
Over the heads of the people you meet.
Dancing,
Flirting,
Skimming along.

[ the flickr set is here ]

oh my word!

2012-01-14T18:11:00.007-05:00

A big thank you to the commenter - 'Grammy Carol' - for encouraging me to go ahead and enter my photo of Lilah's sassy face at 'i heart faces' this week - see post below. Out of 742 entries it placed in the top ten - #6 to be exact!

I'm feeling a tad exhilarated!

I entered it through my flickr photo stream - you can see it here.
Also, be sure to check out i heart faces to see all the winners.

she loves the snow!

2012-01-12T21:24:00.003-05:00

Oh yes she does! She loves the snow!

We got our fair share of snow today. There's more to come tonight and tomorrow or so Lilah told me (with GLEE!) after Kindercare today! She said her teacher told her that!

When we got home, we shovelled the drive together. Then she got her sleigh and even though it's twice her size, she is able to manage it up the snowy little hill on our front (postage stamp) lawn and slide down! She was SO happy, her and those sweet rosy cheeks! They were even more rosy when we were sitting inside drinking hot chocolate when it was all over!

Today is also a special day. 12 years ago today we arrived in Ottawa, Canada, all ready to start a new chapter in our lives. We absolutely love it here, crazy weather and all!

[ more pictures here ]

'best face photo of 2011'

2012-01-09T15:28:00.002-05:00

I was about to join in the competition at 'i heart faces' this week. It called for 'the best face photo of 2011'. So I found one that I liked, but then I found another photo and another photo and another photo, and soon I was knee deep in pictures of Lilah's sweet little face. I so couldn't make up my mind!

So I changed my mind on the competition! I just decided to post a collage of my 'favouite face pictures' from the past year!

I absolutely adore your precious face, Lilah Grace.

our 'crafty' girl!

2012-01-07T17:31:00.007-05:00

Lilah loves crafts! Me, not so much! I very much dislike the clean-up job that follows crafts!

So usually we do non messy crafts together and I leave the messy crafts to school! Heh! Anyway, Lilah got this craft for Christmas and has basically been begging me to open it for her since she got it. The craft kindly came from a couple in our Church who Lilah refers to as Nana & Bompie. Their grandchildren call them that, so Lilah has taken to calling them the same.

Lilah absolutely loved doing this sand craft yesterday. She said she was making the princess dress look like a rainbow.

Judging by the success of this craft, there'll be more sand art in our future!

I should also mention that the dress Lilah is wearing in these pictures was handmade by Robin at 'red thread stitches'. She's one of my favourite people, she has an incredible heart for the Lord and for children in China. And her sewing is also incredible. This dress is called 'Caiti Belles Christmas'. Check out her beautiful clothes here and check out a better view of the dress here.

[ the flickr set is here ]

we're home again!

2012-01-04T19:01:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful time in the Emerald Isle with our families. The weather was very pleasant, compared to the past 2 years! We enjoyed a little overnight trip up to the North Coast (lots of old memories there!) and a wedding as well.

We're exhausted from all the fun and crazy late nights, and we sure are glad to be back in our own beds! I'll be back dating posts to the appropriate days and posting about our trip over the next week, all being well. I have so many photos it isn't even funny!

From our home to yours, wishing you a very happy new year. I have a feeling it's going to be a very special one for our family!

gosford forest park

2011-12-31T20:02:00.001-05:00

So while I was in N.Ireland, I of course had to get a little photography session fitted in! Just a casual one of course! Lilah would hardly stand still for 2 seconds to pose, especially not in a park like this, too many interesting things to keep her on her toes! My Mum really appreciates photography too, she definitely has got to be the influence that got me started!

So we went to the local forest park, it's about 5 or 6 miles from where I grew up - Gosford Forest Park. My Mum, my Dad, Lilah and I went along, Colin was only too happy to give this one a miss! Heh!

This is the same little forest park that we had our engagement pictures taken in, all those years ago! It is used frequently by photographers - you'll understand why when you (hopefully) see some of the beauty captured through my pictures.

Also, the Gosford Castle, which is right in this park is currently under renovations. It's being renovated into apartments, so if you ever felt the desire to live in a castle, now you know where to go!

It was such a lovely day and my Dad treated us to lunch afterwards. I adore my parents!

[ the flickr set is here ]

a wee irish wedding

2011-12-29T21:01:00.002-05:00

[ the flickr set is here ]

an old irish blessing

2011-12-28T21:52:00.001-05:00

An Old Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

a wee spot of farming

2011-12-26T11:00:00.042-05:00

I really love this photo of Pa, Baba & Lilah. Three generations.

Colin loves to get a little bit of farming fitted in when he goes back home to his parents farm. He loves the outdoors and the animal marts and if it hadn't been for his heart condition, he may well have been a farmer, rather than an engineer.

I always said I would never marry a farmer, so it worked out well!

Lilah loves the outdoors, she might have a bit of farming in her blood too! She didn't want to take off this rain suit, (which looks very much like a pair of farmer's overalls) and she absolutely loved (helping Baba) drive the big tractor. Although, if the truth be told she was rather disgusted with the farm smells! And after the calf sucked her fingers, she looked at her slobbery fingers in disgust and had the need to run up to the house and get them washed immediately!

"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil,
and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."

[ the flickr set is here ]

christmas day

2011-12-25T08:44:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas, spent with our two families.

Lilah got her two requests, a watch and an electric toothbrush. She was so thrilled and proud of her two items! In fact, I bought her a few other items and when she pulled everything out of her stocking she just took the two item that she had requested and left everything else sitting on her bed. When I asked her about the other items, she said, "Well, I just asked for a toothbrush and a watch!" Heh! Our girl is so practical. It'll teach me a lesson for next year!

One of Lilah favourite parts of Christmas was definitely the crackers. She was simply dying to crack them open and looked adorable wearing her crown!

Then (after dinner) came out the busy bees game! Oh my, it was a hoot. After the kiddies had a turn, the adults decided they'd give it a go too. It certainly made for some good laughs!

******************************************************

[ the flickr set is here ]

'twas the night before christmas...

2011-12-24T16:55:00.002-05:00

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

the north coast - whiterocks beach

2011-12-22T20:14:00.002-05:00

I have so many childhood memories of this beach. I remember biking up to it on my own, not that I ever really swam in the ocean, because it is simply FREEZING and Northern Ireland doesn't get a lot of swimming/beach weather, unfortunately! But I loved to come up here and just sit and relax.

Lilah was ecstatic to get to the beach and start collecting stones and shells as soon as she stepped onto the sand. Well, that was before she saw the white rocks that had many little caves and clefts for her to hide in and make into little homes, in her imagination. Baba wrote her name in the sand and that pleased her to no end. It was a wonderful start of our trip around the coast. All in one day, we visited Whiterocks Beach, Dunluce Castle, The Giant's Causeway and The Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge. It sure made for a busy day and I have far too many pictures to throw into one post, so I will be separating them out over the next few days!

[ the flickr set is here ]

the north coast - portrush

2011-12-21T16:45:00.001-05:00

We decided to take a little time away to explore the North Coast this year. It's been a lot of years since I was here and I have a lot of happy memories vacationing here with my family. I really wanted to show it all to Lilah and let her experience the things I did as a child... even though it's December, rather than July! To be honest, sometimes the weather along the coast could be worse in July. We enjoyed a balmy 12 degrees today!

This afternoon we arrived in Portrush. It is very much a little seaside tourist town, however there wouldn't be a lot of tourists staying at this time of the year. We stayed in a little Ramada hotel on the waterfront, it was really lovely. The shops and restaurants are more run down than I ever remember them; I guess it's just a sign of the times and how things have aged.

[ the flickr set is here ]

shopping in belfast

2011-12-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

Nothing says Christmas like a wee spot of shopping in Belfast!

Tonight was the last night of the annual Christmas Markets, but we missed them this year, we were about an hour late. Unfortunately they had already started packing up.

Not to worry, there are plenty of shops in Belfast, so we weren't stuck! We went to the Disney Store and Lilah had her own purse, she made her first purchase, ever! A rapunzel doll. She was extremely excited about buying it herself. And when she sets her sight on something, she absolutely does not waver!

we're away!

2011-12-15T17:17:00.003-05:00

We're all packed and ready to go!

We were supposed to leave at 3pm today - flying: Ottawa, Newark (USA), Dublin. But our Newark flight was cancelled and we're now leaving at 5pm - flying Ottawa, Frankfurt (Germany), Dublin! This could get interesting...

where's wally? (...aka, the elf...)

2011-12-13T23:54:00.010-05:00

I don't know what made her decide on the name "Wally"... but literally, within a second of me reading the page (in the 'elf on the shelf' book) that said, we needed to name him, she blurted out... "WALLY!"

Oh the exitement and fun of finding where he is and what he's up to every morning, it's almost too much for our little 4 year old! To be honest, her excitement for Christmas, Ireland, chocolate, presents and all the other festivites that are going on right now is just crazy over-the-top! In fact, she can hardly stand on her two feet for any length of time! She's either hoping or jumping or giggling or singing or chattering nineteen to the dozen! Oh 4, what a wonderful age!

Anyway, she has been getting a good laugh out of Wally and his crazy antics! Her best line was when she saw Wally dancing with Barbie, she exclaimed "OH! They must be getting married!" Heh! I can't wait to see her face in the morning when she finds him in a bit of a predicament on the toilet while having a pee, along with helping himself to copious amounts of toilet roll. Oh yes, and I put some blue food colouring into the toilet water too! Heh! Okay okay, I admit, I'm having as much fun as she is!

[ the 'elf on the shelf' flickr set is here ]

forever lilah day

2011-12-12T22:38:00.013-05:00

Three years ago today, in Guangzhou - China, a beautiful little 18 month old girl walked into our lives... And every single day since, we've thanked the Lord for blessing us with this incredible girl.

This evening we went out for Thai food with the couple we travelled to China with and their beautiful girl Amelia. We have a super bond with this wonderful family and we look forward to our yearly tradition of going out together on the day we became forever families. (Unfortunately we missed this tradition last year because we were in Ireland)

Today we told our Lilah girl all about the day we met her, the day we became a family. Her favourite part of the story was when Baba told her how she'd burped and spit up on him! Heh! At bedtime I read her the story book, "I Wished for You" - it is a fabulous book. In fact, if you're looking for an excellent adoption story, this is the one to buy. Afterwards, when she said her prayers, she turned the story around to fit herself and said "I wished for a family, thank you God for sending me Mama & Baba." Of course I choked up, I am choking up again just typing this.

We've been so incredibly blessed. Lilah, you've filled our hearts to overflowing.

[ the flickr set is here ]

*****************************************************************

Amelia's Mom took some pictures with her phone at the Thai restaurant!
Look at the mess of those beautiful faces!

christmas cards

2011-12-11T17:20:00.002-05:00

Our Christmas cards have been mailed by yours truly! One more thing crossed off our list.
Four more sleeps and we'll be "heading home for Christmas"!

a children's carol

2011-12-10T20:35:00.001-05:00

"Jesus, Joy of the Highest Heaven"

I love listening to this song, I could listen to it all day.
I can't wait to buy the CD in Ireland and teach Lilah it.

album: Joy! An Irish Christmas
artist: Keith and Kristyn Getty

elf on the shelf

2011-12-09T02:16:00.000-05:00

A little yet-to-be-named elf arrived into our house in the wee hours of the morning, along with a Christmas present that Santa couldn't carry all the way to Ireland because it was too heavy!

I can't wait to see her reaction to the elf and his responsibilities! Have you ever heard of the elf on the shelf tradition?

little comments and funnies!

2011-12-08T22:24:00.001-05:00

lilah: "How old are you Baba?"
baba: "40"
lilah: "OH! I don't even think I can count up to that number!" (laughs)

After getting a new game one day: "I think I need to read the constructions!"

Helping me unload the dishwasher one day: "I'm always running around after you, putting away my dishes!"

"Eat up your main course, that's what they say in Canada. In Ireland they say, Eat up your food!"

"I would like to put a chair in the tent. Would that make sense?"

"It's a raining day Mama, that's what God sends us. Right?"

baba: "It's time for bed Lilah."
lilah: "Don't interrupt me, I'm playing!"

"The boy stumbled, that's exactly what the book says! I know that."

After spilling something one day: "No deal. Right Mama?" (She always uses the term 'no deal' instead of 'no big deal'!)

"The car will be warm and I will be certainly hot!"

writing her christmas cards

2011-12-07T21:49:00.004-05:00

My girl is way ahead of the game. She's had her friends-at-school Christmas cards written for a couple of weeks now. I finally got mine enveloped, address labeled and stamped tonight, mind you, mine didn't have to be hand written and she totally noticed that difference!

lilah: "You aren't putting any words in your card?"
me: "Nope, they're all written for me."
lilah: "Oh."

I could just see the wheels working in her little mind, trying to figure out how I got off so lightly! Oh well, the exercise was good for her, 25 of her little friends cards later, she knows how to spell 'from' without asking!

I simply adore her 4 year old writing!

reading stories

2011-12-04T22:39:00.005-05:00

I mentioned a few posts back about Lilah love for reading. She makes little books herself, but she also loves reading books that I have previously read her. Like most children, she has a very keen memory and if she doesn't remember a certain part of the story, she just relies heavily on the pictures!

Anyway, I love that my sweet girl now reads *me* the stories, in her own words, of course! Olivia (the pig) has been her favourite book this past while and I must admit, I love hearing her interpretation of the story! I especially love the part in the story when she yells "TIME OUT!" and gives me a digusted look! Heh! She may or may not have seen and heard that happen before, in reality!

I captured a few pictures of her on Saturday morning, sitting reading stories. She is such an expressionate reader!

[ the flickr set is here ]

high tea at the château laurier

2011-12-03T23:11:00.007-05:00

I think we just added a new yearly tradition to our Christmas list!

Today, Lilah and I, along with 7 other mothers and daughters met at the (very fancy) Château Laurier for High Tea! The adults had the "Holiday Tea" and the girlies had the "Princess Tea". It was all so very snazzy, complete with scones - devonshire cream and jam, finger sandwiches and delicious desserts like you wouldn't believe.

One of the Mamas decided that the eight little girls would sit at one table and the eight Mamas would sit at another table. Gosh that Mama has her head screwed on well, and of course the girlies loved their independance. One of the funnier moments of the afternoon was when one little girl needed to go to the ladies room and sure enough, all 8 of them paraded off to the washroom together...because you know kiddies, when one has to go, they all have to go! And us Mamas, we barely batted an eye! Well, we may have batted an eye when we saw the fancy schmancy sugar cubes being devoured! Ahem. Can anyone say 'sugar high!'?

It was a wonderful afternoon with wonderful friends.
(regarding the photo above: most of the girls are 6&7 years old, Lilah was the youngest at 4 years old - just in case you're curious about the difference in height!)

*********************************************************************
Here's a few snaps of Lilah "making herself pretty" this morning... her words!

[ the flickr set is here ]

the nutcracker ballet

2011-12-02T23:59:00.003-05:00

One of our yearly Christmas traditions is to see The Nutcracker. This year it was put on by the Pennsylvania Ballet at the National Arts Center. I'm not a biased Canadian, but I definitely have to say that the Alberta Ballet put on a much nicer show last year! The props and costumes weren't nearly as regal and fancy this year... but that's just my two cents!

It was still amazing and the ballet dancing was second to none. I very much love this tradition.

My fancy little ballerina, Lilah Grace, loved twirling around in the beautiful dress that Nono bought (her) many moons ago. In fact, I'm pretty sure Nono bought this dress even before Lilah was born. She picked it up in a Sale! To be honest, Nono always used that reasoning/excuse - "I picked it up in a Sale" - when she was awaiting her grandchild!

[ the flickr set is here ]

four and a half

2011-11-29T18:54:00.000-05:00

Happy HALF birthday to our sweet little Lilah Grace!

Four and a half is a wonderful age! It's a great age for talk talk talking! We can hardly get a word in edgeways around the house and when she isn't talking to us, I know well the teachers and school friends are getting their ears talked off! And then there's always the chattering away to herself while she's playing around the house. I truly enjoy the chatter - it's one of my favourite things about our girl.

When she isn't chattering, she writing writing writing! Making little books - homemade stories of which she is the author and illustrator! I love when she gets on the chair she designated as the "share chair" and reads us her stories. This is being nurtured by her teacher and I adore it. Have I mentioned her teacher is wonderful?

The other thing she loves to do now is play games. This girl is ALL about the RULES!! She has a stack of games now and we basically play one after supper every evening. She got a new one for her half birthday today, called 'Take the Cake" - I picked it up in Chapters/Indigo and it's a lot of fun!

Our girl has always had such a genuine loving heart and being four and a half in no exception. Here's a little snippet of how she is at four and a half:

: If there's anything she has or is wearing and we tell her we really like it, she'll say: "When I'm a teenager I'm going to buy you one of those!"

: When she asks me for something, like on Monday when we were out driving she asked me of she could have a drink when she got home, and I said of course you can have a drink. She replied: "You're SO kind to me Mama!"

: She still tells me that I'm the best Mama at cooking supper in the whole wide world!

: She prays for all her school friends at night now. And one day she said to me: "I love you so much Mama. And I love God too."

I love her so very much too.

[ the flickr set is here ]

santa claus

2011-11-28T22:32:00.002-05:00

Well, the big man in red has been in town for a couple of weeks now and we always take the opportunity to go and see him at the least busy time possible! He is the same Santa she had her first picture taken with 2 years ago! I think he looks a lot more realistic than some of them!

Lilah was pretty thrilled to see him, although you wouldn't know from the fake smile that didn't really reach her eyes! Ha! If the lady hadn't said "BIG smile!", she would have smiled just fine, but there you have it. She told Santa that she wanted three things for Christmas: an electric toothbrush, a watch and a Candyland game!

I have a funny feeling we're all ready for Christmas!

how old?

2011-11-27T17:19:00.001-05:00

I looked at this photo I took of Lilah this morning, and this is probably just me, but she seems to look 14, instead of 4, with her curly hair.

Speaking of age, she turns 4 and a HALF in two days, and she's very excited about it! I just have no idea where the time goes...wasn't it just yesterday that she was a little toddler, trying to keep her balance? Every day is a gift with this girl, today she told me that she's going to love me for fifty million years! I can't think of anything I'd like more.

first snow fall of the season

2011-11-23T21:07:00.005-05:00

Indeed, it's officially winter. Brrr!

Lilah was completely ecstatic to wake up to a white city this morning! She was already out of bed and peering out the window before I left for work at 6:30am. And according to the email from her teacher, her class had a wonderful time playing in the snow this morning: building forts, making snowmen and shoveling snow. Oh to be 4 years old again!

Then when I picked her up from playgroup at 3pm we came home and spent 2.5 hours outside building a snowman, shoveling snow, making snow castles and we also had a funny snowball fight! When we eventually came into the house she was grinning from ear to ear, and said to me: "You know why my cheeks and eyes hurt? Because you make me smile a lot!"

Oh yeah, I adore her.

first parent/teacher interview

2011-11-21T05:12:00.007-05:00

So I had my first parent/teacher interview with Lilah's teacher last Monday evening. Lilah absolutely loves school, she still hasn't come off the 'high' since her first day in September. Her knowledge base, her ability to understand and her memory have grown in a tremendous way this past 3 months and it's getting more and more obvious that this girl is going to go far.

She has an incredible understanding. She sounds out the letters in words now and it is only a matter of time until my little 4 year old is reading. This morning I found her downstairs writing her class friends names down on a page, just by the sound of their names. Unbelievable! She also finds what her teacher calls, 'popcorn words', all over the place, different words that she already knows, like 'it', 'to', 'hello', 'and'...and there's a few more I can't remember right now. She finds them (and points them out to me) in reading books, magazines, her Bible, food packaging, etc. She sits eating her breakfast in the morning, spelling all the letters on the food packaging at the table. She uses bigger words now and different phrases in her sentences and stories, that are sometimes just plain funny!

Like this week I was drawing lines and she said, "Oh, you're making horizontal lines!" Wow. I was amazed that she knew, remembered and completely understood the meaning of that word! Here's a few other things she has said in the past week that have made me grin...

: After accusing Lilah of possibly telling lies one day, her reply was: "I think God is the only one who knows what I'm talking about. He knows that I'm serious!" I found out later (from Baba) that she was indeed telling the truth!

: Telling me about how fast she can eaten one morning: "I eat up my porridge SO fast and it was TOTALLY gone!"

: As I was multi tasking one day and trying to remember what I was going to tell her, she said: "Mmm. Maybe it just popped out of your mind!"

: Talking about her French teacher one day: "She fell a long long long time ago, probably when she was a daughter!"

: Baba was being a bit crazy one night while playing a game with Lilah, she was rather affronted with his behaviour, turned to him and said: "Baba, I think we'll play the game when you're feeling calmer!"

: When I asked Lilah why she was hiding one day, she replied: "I'm hibernating, because I'm an animal...and it isn't Spring time yet."

Anyway, I came away very happy after the parent/teacher interview. Sure there are things that she needs to work on, like sharing and helping out with tidy up time, but other than that things are going great. She is a happy girl, she loves to learn and she absolutely adores her friends. The teacher was telling me how her effort is always 110%. In fact, she told me that Lilah was one of a few children she has ever taught, that can block everything and everyone out and work solo without any interaction. She said it was a sign that she would be a very strong learner. I was glowing when she told me, "You have a very special girl, she is very intelligent!"

I was also told that she adores her reading buddy! All the children from the older grade classes comes to kindergarten class once a week and they read their 'personal buddy' some stories. Lilah's teacher was telling me, out of all the children, Lilah asked for and wanted the little Chinese boy to be her reading buddy. The teacher also told me that they are so so happy together, they sit together laughing and reading stories - she promised me a picture of the two of them together, which I can't wait to see! Speaking of her choice of another Chinese child, we just found out this past week that Lilah seems to be able to tell apart other Chinese children. She was walking to school with Colin one day and they passed by two little girls who were down on the ground playing. Lilah remarked "There's two Chinese girls playing." Colin was taken back a little by her remark and inquired how she knew they were Chinese. Her reply: "Because their faces are Chinese!" One of the things I appreciated during my chat with the teacher is how much the teacher wants to celebrate Lilah's heritage. In fact, her words to me were: "I really want Lilah to lead the class in the Chinese New Year celebrations and I want her to feel well represented in our classroom." I was thrilled to hear her say that. She also went on to tell me she's been on the lookout for a Chinese babydoll for the playhouse - I was only too pleased to be able to help her out in that department!

Lilah is also learning French in school. The French teacher comes into her class for 20 minutes every day and Lilah now has a wide array of French songs at the tip of her tongue! She can also count to 10 in French, say hello, my name is..., how are you?, I'm good, thank you, etc. She told me around Halloween time: "If you hear the word bonbon, it actually means candy!" She is constantly telling Baba that he is a garcon and she and I are filles. There are things that come up in our every day chat that she'll tell me the french word for. Like I called something small one day and she said, "Oh, well, you could just call it petite, that's what it means in French!" She gave me a good laugh one day when I'd bought my new camera and it had two manuals included, French and English. She was peering over my arm with curiosity and I told her one of the manuals was in French and she could throw it in the rubbish because I couldn't read it. She opened the little book, flicked through the first couple of pages and said "Well, I can read this, because I speak French!" Haha! She's had it a while now and I see that she's been higlighting parts of it, which makes me laugh! Good thing she enjoys French, because next year she'll be starting the French Immersion program at school.

montreal

2011-11-19T16:48:00.005-05:00

We just came back from a couple of days in Montreal. We always make a little tour there in the Fall to do some shopping and take time to catch our breath, just before Christmas! We don't normally leave it to this late in the season, it must have had something to do with the amazing Fall weather we've been enjoying this year! Anyway, it just happened to be today, bright and early, the Santa Claus parade was parading downtown!

Lilah was completely mesmerized by the whole scene!

Sorry for the lack of photo quality, there were many heads and shoulders in front of me, I should have given the camera to Lilah, she had the best seat in the house...on her Baba's shoulders!

[ the flickr set is here ]

it's beginning to look...

2011-11-16T16:50:00.005-05:00

...a lot like Christmas!

We're heading to N.Ireland on the 15th December, for Christmas. So in light of that, we decorated nice and early this year! Lilah is mostly excited about the Lindt chocolate advent calendar I purchased at Costco. She calls it her "Counting down to Christmas!" and can't wait for December 1st!

She also really enjoys playing with Mr Nutcracker, and I enjoy listening to her imagination, out loud. Lilah got this nutcracker last year after watching The Nutcracker being performed by the Alberta Ballet. We have our tickets booked for The Nutcracker this year as well! This year the performance will be put on by the Pennsylvania Ballet, so I'm hoping they'll be selling their own special Mr Nutcracker too. It's becoming a very special yearly tradition for us.

i heart faces - 'autumn splendor'

2011-11-14T21:43:00.002-05:00

One of my favourite pictures of my girl from this past Fall.

[ check out more 'autumn splendor' photographs over at i heart faces this week ]

lest we forget

2011-11-11T20:05:00.000-05:00

To live in safety, a price has been paid.
To live eternally, a price has been paid.
Thank you.

[ more pictures here ]

approved by the ministry!

2011-11-10T19:43:00.002-05:00

We just got our approval today (for our second adoption) from the Ontario Ministry!

We're so so SO excited! Can't believe they took the full 10 weeks, minus 1 day, to get it all sorted. But that's okay. I'm feeling very at peace with this adoption. I know the Lord did great things when He gave us Lilah, she was so meant to be part of our family. And I know if things had finished a week earlier or a day earlier, we might never have seen her beautiful face. So I know the Lord is in control and I have faith that He will lead us to the child that is meant for our family.

So now our documents for the dossier have to be translated and notarized before they are sent to China. Our agency already has them all in their hands, so we are just waiting - the timeframe is approximately one month. Then the dossier will be sent to China and we'll get a LID (log in date). At that stage we're ready to be matched with a referral! The lady in charge of the waiting children program has said the matching can take anywhere from 1-5 months.

We are beyond excited!

feeding the chickadees

2011-11-07T22:44:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to do this for years now! Today was 17°C, so it wasn't even a question that we had to get out and about!

After I picked up Lilah from school, we headed to one of the forested trails here in Ottawa and brought along some birdseed to feed the chickadees. I'd been told by a co-worker, many moons ago, that there are certain trails in the city that they will come and sit on your hand while you feed them. What an experience! I've never seen anything like it before, being so close to nature is incredible!

It took a little bit of patience for them to come, but it totally paid off. And Lilah has more patience than anyone else I know, seriously. I think there were about 16 of these little chickadees by the end count, jumping on and off her hand. And she absolutely loved it. I kept refilling her hand with seed and she kept on feeding. I loved how she started singing to them too - such a sweet funny girl.

When I told her what a great job she'd done feeding the little chickadees, she said "I know Mama. It's because I'm a grown up girl now!" Another funny thing she said; when I was explaining something about the trees being bare in winter and that they have no leaves. She nodded her head, turned to me and said "You could just say zero leaves!"

Another thing I should point out, is Lilah's hairband. It seems to be the new trendy thing nowadays. When I bought her the first one, she excitedly exclaimed "OHHHHHH!! Maisie has one like this, I want to wear mine like her!" Now she won't take it off, and yes, she wears it just like Maisie! She is too cool for school! (Oh, and Maisie is a special friend in her kindergarten class.)

[ the flickr set is here ]

lilahisms galore!

2011-11-06T22:01:00.009-05:00

Baba was feeling sick one day and asked who would look after him, Lilah's response was: "Well, I think you're big enough!"

I was trying to squeeze Lilah's foot into her ice skate one day, which requires some extra muscle! While I was huffing and puffing, I felt Lilah patting my head as she said to me: "It's okay Mama, just try your best."

Wearing her pretend glasses and pretending to read a book one day, she looked up and said to me, very matter of factly: "I only need to wear these glasses when I'm reading!" (see picture above)

I had the flu for a few days, my sweet girl would squeeze into bed beside me, rub my arm and say: "I wish I could take it away, Mama. I wish I could make you feel better."

While playing nurse and sticking the thermometer in my mouth one day (she has a real one), it beeped, she took it out, looked at the screen and said: "Oh! It says, dear Jill, feel well soon!"

I was planning on joining Lilah's class as a volunteer one day and happened to be explaining to Lilah (maybe for the second or third time!) that I'd see her later and to tell her teacher that I'd be joining them. In an exasperated voice she said: "Okay! Okay! You don't need to yak on and on about it!"

In Lilah's class there is a little girl named Ila. I overheard her one day saying this: "ila lilah ila lilah ila lilah - they sound the same, but they're not identical!"

Baba is always teasing Lilah that she's his girl and kisses her and then loudly whispers, "Don't tell Mama!" Her reponse to him is usually: "No Baba! I'm not sucking 'round you!"

When I asked if I could help her with her zip one day, her response was: "No thanks. I'm the zipper expert!"

boo! some halloween fun!

2011-11-01T20:17:00.014-04:00

I must admit, halloween certainly isn't one of my favourite holidays and in many ways I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I think of it. Actually, I read this article within recent days and it really made me stop and evaluate what I'm teaching my daughter. The part that stings the most is that I am exactly that person that knows something is very wrong with people mocking death, yet I'm also the same person that says halloween is just a little bit of fun for the kids. Like I said, I'm still fumbling through this, trying to keep things in perspective, and like any other parent, I want to do the right thing. Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, this post is already going to be long enough!

All that being said, there were certainly a few memorable moments over the last week that made me grin!

Last Wednesday the little after school care (that Lilah attends) put on an afternoon of fun, for the seniors, at the local Retirement Residence. There were halloween songs and poems and lots of kiddie cuteness all around! Lilah wore her pumpkin dress (she would totally correct me here and tell me it's a jack o' dress!) for the occasion. It's the third year she has worn this dress.

Later on that evening, at home, I caught her marching around the house in her dress AND my boots! And I, of course, had to get a few shots of her! She was pretending to be the teacher in a few of these pictures - yeah, she totally rolled her eyes at me! I have some movies of the children singing halloween songs at the seniors home, but I won't be posting them, because all her little class friends are in them. So instead, I got her to quote one of the rhymes she memorized for the seniors. I think she has a pretty amazing memory, or maybe it's just my rapidly fading memory that thinks she has a pretty fabulous memory!

This is Jack O’ Happy. This is Jack O’ Sad.
This is Jack O’ Sleepy. And this is Jack O’ Mad.
This is Jack O' broken into pieces small.
Baked into a pumpkin pie, that's the best of all!

[ the flickr set is here ]

Then on Saturday the children were invited to wear their costumes to their skating lesson.

Lilah certainly wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity to wear her "good" witch's dress. She chose this dress out a few months ago at The Children's Place and told me she wanted to be 'a good witch, with a baby'. I'm not sure where or how the idea of the baby came about, but it was certainly something she got stuck in her little head!

The children are all so cute and funny in her class, I get some of the best laughs while watching them each Saturday! This week they were all lined up nice and tight behind each other and someone at the back fell down. Well you can just imagine what happened next, I likened it to a row of dominoes, one fell down and they all fell in rapid succession! It was pretty hilarious to say the least! I love how she's bending over in the photo below, to see (past her dress) if she had reached the line perfectly!

[ the flickr set is here ]

Then on Friday there was a halloween parade at school. The children all went to school dressed up and joined in with all the other kindergarten classes. Judging by the photos the teacher emailed me, Lilah had a fabulous time! Again, I'm not posting those pictures because her little class friends are in them.

And then on Friday evening we met up with Lilah's good friend, Aiden, and her Mom and we took our girls out trick or treating together! Aiden was Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. and Lilah was, of course, the good witch! The girls had so much fun together, they rarely let go of each others hand, helping each other up and down the steps! So sweet. It was such a lovely mild evening, one of the best (halloween) evenings I ever remember, as far as weather is concerned.

Hope your halloween was happy and safe too.

[ the flickr set is here ]

"boss" - noun : a person who is a leader

2011-10-28T02:21:00.010-04:00

A while back, a little something came up about school and we decided we should explain to Lilah the reason for a boss and what 'being a boss' means. We referred to each of our work places and told her that Baba and Mama each have a boss: a person who's in charge and who is to be obeyed. We told her when she's at school and kindercare, her teacher is the boss. I don't think she needed any explaining as to who the bosses at home are, when she came out with this...

"You and Baba are the bosses, but God's the big boss!" ~Lilah

As a side note, we also explained that sometimes adults don't do or say the right things, even when they are the boss. And that she should always talk to us about anything that happens that she doesn't feel is right, even if that person is the boss and says it's right. The only person that can be fully trusted, is God.

I felt a little sad that I had to have that conversation with my 4 year old, but unfortunately you never know nowadays.

i heart faces - 'let them be little'

2011-10-24T14:19:00.011-04:00

One of my favourite things is to watch Lilah jump on the bed, with complete abandon... hair flying and her beautiful giggle.

Childhood is so precious. Let them be little!

So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little ~lonestar

[ check out more 'let them be little' photographs over at i heart faces this week ]

shopping saturday : character play dresses

2011-10-22T21:33:00.004-04:00

With Halloween just around the corner, I've been doing a bit of "window shopping" on Etsy.

Lilah has had her costume for about two months now and she enjoys parading around the house in it. It's a very traditional halloween costume - she fell in love as we were walking through The Children's Place one day and practically begged me to buy it for her. I, of course, would rather have waited until the sale, but I must have been feeling guilty over something on that particular day and ended up buying it for her! Can you tell she has me wrapped around her little finger? Anyway, we're all set in that department.

But that didn't stop me looking for some fun ideas on Etsy... and that's when I found Wild Things (funky little dresses) and instantly fell in love with the character dresses. Tell me, are these cute or are these cute? I've definitely added this shop to my favourites for next year! Personally, I love the mouse dress, but I know it wouldn't take much convincing for Lilah to fall in love with the fox dress - she has always been mesmerized with wolves and foxes.

And of course these dresses could be worn all year long, not just for one night!

Wild Things on Etsy
(there's also an owl, a bumblebee and a ladybug dress in the shop - go check them out!)

an adventure

2011-10-18T20:31:00.002-04:00

"when you see someone putting on their big boots,
you can be pretty sure that an adventure is going to happen"
~a.a.milne

[ the flickr set is here ]

first skating lesson - "kinderglider"

2011-10-15T21:29:00.009-04:00

Back in August, when the very idea of ice made me shiver, I signed Lilah up for skating lessons - "Kindergliders". It's only taken me 3 years to realize that if you want to book an activity for your child, you have to do it months in advance, not the day before!

Anyway, today was Lilah's fist skating lesson and to say she was SOOO excited would be a complete understatement! She had her skates and helmet all set out and ready for hours beforehand. She was on top of the world!

Her coach is pretty amazing with the children. If you look closely in some of the pictures you can see where he draws on the ice, with a marker, all sorts of little lines and paths for the children to follow, with certain different pictures along the way for the children to copy, like spreading their legs or arms, turning around in a 360, stopping and lying on their tummy, etc. And Lilah, being the eager child that she is, you can see her hanging onto every word the coach is explaining and making every exact move the coach tells her to. She is always the first in the lineup to participate in a challenge. Baba and I are so SO proud of her.

One of the funny moments during her lesson is when at one stage she fell down, she looked over at us and we, being the (terrible) parents that we are, were busy laughing! (She was grinning too so we knew she was fine.) And what did the rascal do? She got back up and fell down again a number of times for our entertainment! I actually thought I was going to die laughing! She has such a funny personality - she totally cracks us up.

When her lesson was over she was gushing about how much she enjoyed it and said she wished she could go back tomorrow, "But probably not", she said, "Because it's Sunday!" When I told her she would be going back every Saturday until Christmas, she got a massive grin on her adorable face.

Man I love that girly. She makes my heart feel like it's going to burst. I adore that first photo I posted below, looking at her coach with that massive grin on her face, she is always so full of joy and life and love. We continually shake our heads and thank God for this beautiful child, we've been blessed beyond our hopes and prayers.

[ the flickr set is here ]

miller's pumpkin patch

2011-10-12T16:36:00.000-04:00

What better fun activity for a holiday (Thanksgiving) Monday than to head off to the Pumpkin Patch. And that's exactly what we did - on Monday past - we drove a few miles out the road to Miller's Farm. I tell you, there's nothing more exciting in a 4 year old's mind than a trip to the pumpkin patch!

What made the little trip even more amazing, was the temperature! I think it was in the mid 20s. It was so perfectly gorgeous! The sun was shining and I think everyone else in the city had the same idea about going to the pumpkin patch!

There was lots of fun activities for the kids, so much to see and do. We took a tractor ride out to the pumpkin field and Lilah picked out a few pumpkins just about her size! And then us adults found a pumpkin that was half as big as her! We now have a porch full of pumpkins! Lilah had so much fun with the other children, climbing around and jumping off the bales of straw, playing forts inside them, looking at all the pretty coloured Chrysanthemums, checking out all the different types of pumpkins and gourds.

What a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving Monday!

[ more pictures here ]

happy thanksgiving

2011-10-09T16:19:00.003-04:00

Two very cute hand crafted turkeys arrived into our home this week! One from kindercare and one from school.

Lilah teacher at kindercare was telling me that as she went around the circle and asked each child what they were thankful for, each of the children said they were thankful for candy or chocolate, but not our Lilah! Lilah told Sharon that she's thankful when her Baba reads her a story. It just about melted my heart.

Then on Friday, after supper, we were talking about Thanksgiving and what it meant. I went on to tell Lilah the top five things I was most thankful for, she then pitched in her top five too. Here they are...

1. Mama
2. Baba
3. God
4. Lots of money (her words!) ...for our house, car, food, clothes...
5. My books and toys

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert

hiking around pink lake

2011-10-08T22:40:00.002-04:00

We went for a beautiful hike around Pink Lake (@ Gatineau Park) today.

It's only 2kms long, but it's got steps galore and the path is very rough. Lilah walked the whole thing by herself, not that I'm sure we could even carry her anymore! Is it any wonder she was begging to go to bed early and fell asleep at 6:30 tonight?!

The Fall colours are absolutely phenomenol at the moment, they really take my breath away. And the incredible weather we are getting right now is so so perfect, 24°C today and tomorrow is to be 27°C, not at all bad for October!

"How beautifully the leaves grow old. How full of light and color their last days." ~J. Burroughs

[ the flickr set is here ]

favourite photo friday : autumn

2011-10-07T18:26:00.004-04:00

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.
For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.
~Edwin Way Teale

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{ see more 'Favourite Photo Friday' entries at 'The Long Road to China {and back}' }

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[ the flickr set is here ]

she says some funny stuff...

2011-10-06T19:27:00.002-04:00

As we're walking to school one morning: "Mama, when I'm a teenager I'll just walk home by myself. Okay?"

me: "What do you feel like eating today?"
lilah: "Well I'm not sure yet. But I'll have a look at the menu and then I'll let you know!"

During a prayer in Church one day, I (obviously) didn't have my eyes closed, Lilah leaned over and rather sternly said: "Mom. It's closing your eyes time!"

lilah "Mama, do you remember that nice watch I had and the little thing broke off the strap?"
me: "Yes I do remember it. Maybe you'll get a new one for Christmas?"
lilah: "Well, I want you to buy it for me, not santa, because I don't want to wait for Christmas!"
me: *laughing*
lilah: "Plllllease Mum. Please will you spoil me? Pretty please!"

"What do you call that blue stuff in Meeka's hair? Is her hair dying or something?"

"That motorbike is so obviously smelly!"

After she put one of her stuffed dolls under my shirt: "You know Mum, it takes 15 months to get a baby out. I don't know if it's going to come out of your belly or your bum?"

"I'll just set these mandarin oranges up here so you can see them, because I imagine you're not helping me open them."

After pulling her snack bag out of her backpack and realizing it was a bit messy: "What a disaster!!"

me: "Do you want me to put a sticky note on that?"
lilah: "Yes please."
me: "Okay. Will you run downstairs and get one for me?"
lilah: "Well, you can run downstairs and get one and I'll just sit here and wait patiently for you!"

carleton university butterfly show

2011-10-03T22:24:00.004-04:00

After picking Lilah up from school today, we headed to the annual biology butterfly show that is held just down the street from us, at Carleton University. We went to the exhibit last year for the first time, so I searched online to find the dates of when it was coming this year, just so I could slot it into my calendar and make sure we didn't miss it!

We absolutely didn't miss it! In fact, it has become a fun yearly tradition for us.

Miss Lilah really enjoys getting to see all the beautiful butterflies up close and personal!

[ the flickr set is here ]

homework!

2011-10-02T23:51:00.004-04:00

Lilah got her first school homework assignment from her teacher on Friday, and that assignment was to collect a big bag of colourful Fall leaves to bring into school!

So today, after Lilah's nap, we grabbed her last-years-halloween-candy-bucket and went searching for colourful leaves. Thankfully it wasn't too difficult a task, however with Lilah checking every one of them with a microscope to make sure it passed the "It's SO Beautiful" test, it took a bit longer than it probably should have!

Not to worry though, I kinda needed Lilah to take it slow today as I had a bit of homework to do myself! I bought a new camera (and lens) yesterday, it's the Canon 5D Mark ll along with an 85mm F1.8 lens. It's certainly a huge learning curve and I need lots of practice, but so far I'm loving the camera. Hopefully during this beautiful Fall weather I'll get a bit more practice fitted in - it's definitely my favourite time of the year to take pictures!

One of the things I'm noticing already is that I don't seem to need to edit my photos as much, or at all really, with this camera. It's making my job a whole lot easier!

[ more pictures here ]

he loves his girl...

2011-09-30T16:51:00.003-04:00

When his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, "Daddy, I need to ask
you something", he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan. ~Garrison Keillor

[ www.vincentkember.com photography ]

a pony for christmas!

2011-09-26T17:33:00.004-04:00

We went to the Carp Fair on Saturday. Lilah's first request when we walked through the gates was for the big wheel. I don't know what it is about the big wheel that has her so intrigued, but it was her first request at the exact same fair last year.

Of course, we all went on the big wheel! And the bouncy castle and the carousel and the dragon ride!

But the moment I saw her enjoy herself the most, was when she got a little pony ride. Oh my. The grin on her face said it all! I have a funny feeling she'll be asking us for a pony soon, maybe even for Christmas!

It was a very fun day!

(As a side note, just last week we booked our tickets to N.Ireland for Christmas, which means Lilah will get as many rides as she wants from Tyson, Pa's horse. Get ready Pa!)

[ the flickr set is here ]

shopping saturday : the colours of fall

2011-09-24T15:31:00.006-04:00

I don't know what it is about Fall shopping, but I really enjoy it!

In fact, I love anything to do with Fall, whether it be the meals, or the clothing, or the colours, or the warm drinks, or the pumpkins, or the crisp air... everything, I just love everything about Fall.

And well, you know one of my great loves is Etsy! Browsing and shopping on Etsy is definitely one of my favourite things to do! So let me introduce you to a few of the things I've found recently that I adore.

This is one of my favourite finds. Isn't it just faboulous? I know, I'm just dying about it!
The seller is Ellie-Beans.

1.giggles and grins creations 2.sarah rose 3.emerald69
4.sweet pea toad 5.details shop 6.my own threads
7.design with life 8.custom ribbons 9.twirling betty

back to work!

2011-09-23T00:10:00.008-04:00

I started back to work on Tuesday past, and even though I felt a little anxious about adding this new routine into our lives, I really felt 'ready' for it. So far it's really working out beautifully and I'm also remembering (all over again) how much I love my job!

I was off work for two years and nine months, with Lilah, the best (almost) three years of my life, so far. And spending every second with my girl over the last few years has bonded us together more than I ever imagined possible. We've only ever had Lilah looked after once, by our close friends, when we went to hear Steven Curtis-Chapman live. And she was only away from me once when she spent five days at camp in the summertime, which of course she absolutely loved, and even begged me to send her back! Oh yes, and she's been in her little 45 minute Sunday School class every Sunday since September 2009.

I know what you're thinking - that poor child, no wonder she LOVES school so much, it's because she's hardly ever been away from you! Truly though, we've loved hanging out together, Lilah has thrived and grown and she knows without a shadow of a doubt that she is loved to pieces. And really, that's all I ever cared about, first and foremost was that she knew she was loved. And yes, maybe I am an overprotective 'helicopter' mother, but that's what mothers are for. I stand to be corrected, but I think there is probably a little bit of helicopter mothering in every one of us!

Anyway, as it stands my employer has allowed me to come back to work part-time (as opposed to full-time) and for that I feel so blessed. I work Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which means I get 4 day weekends...sigh...and spend more time with my girl than without her. It's the best thing ever, I know it's only been a week, but I feel that I have a very healthy mix of home and work life now. I'm so pleased and extremely happy.

We have our little routine down pat; Baba drops Lilah off at school at 9am, and I work 7am-3pm, which means I get to pick my girl up at 3:15pm on the three days I work. And the other two school days that I'm not working, I get to walk Lilah to school and home. I'll also be volunteering in her classroom the odd Friday - I'm aiming for once or twice a month.

I have an incredible husband who gave me the gift of staying at home with our daughter, and we have a wonderful daughter that has brought us so much joy. I love them both more than words could ever adequately describe.

I can't help thinking how wonderfully blessed I am.

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

apple picking at kilmarnock orchard

2011-09-18T23:04:00.006-04:00

Nothing screams *Autumn* more than going to an orchard and picking apples! In fact, apple picking has been on my list of 'things to do' for more than a couple of years now!

We tried last year, but unfortunately we'd left it too late and the trees were bare! I decided that definitely wasn't happening this year, so we headed out to Kilmarnock Orchard bright and early on Saturday morning. The orchard is just about an hour or so outside Ottawa, very close to the pretty-as-a-postcard village called Merrickville.

It was such a warm beautiful day, perfect for picking apples. Lilah took her apple picking job very seriously and also the girl-in-charge very seriously, who told us exactly how to take the apples off the branch - by gently twisting the stalk around and around. Our Lilah girl even taste tested a few different varieties and ended up finding a couple of teeny tiny little apples, made perfect (in size) for her!

And after all that "hard work", we stopped into Merrickville for a little lunch and relax. After lunch we went into a shop called Country Bumpkins that sells fresh homemade fudge. We fell head over heels with the pumpkin pie flavour fudge with walnuts in it. Oh sooo yummy! If apple picking didn't scream Autumn enough, the pumpkin pie flavour fudge certainly did!

It was the perfect end to a perfect day. In fact, so perfect, I'm hoping it'll become a yearly tradition for our family.

[ the flickr set is here ]

first week of school - listening skills!

2011-09-16T17:54:00.007-04:00

So I had a complete déjà vu moment on Wednesday morning when dropping Lilah off at (her second day of) school. I know I should be a better parent and not have snorted to myself when I overheard the teacher saying this to Lilah:

teacher: "So Lilah, today you're going to focus on listening to me and not talking as much to Fiona!"

Oh my, does that sound familiar... only 30 years ago! Ha! (And yes, I absolutely am talking about myself!)

Anyway, this morning (as we were getting ready to walk up to school) we were chatting and it would now seem like Lilah has definitely started listening to her teacher. Our conversation went like this...

me: "Have you done any physical education yet, like running around?"
lilah: (in a shocked voice) "No! We're not allowed to run in school... or push, or talk about poos or farts, or ANYTHING rude."
me: "Oh. Okay. That's good!" ~~(silent snort)~~

Oh yeah, she's definitely been listening!

Now it's just me that needs to work on my game face! ...you know, the one that desperately wants to grin, but you have to control it, so it doesn't encourage a certain little someone?!

Phew. Parenting. It's pretty awesome!

Doesn't she just look like a bit of an imp?!

sweet little expressions

2011-09-13T22:01:00.001-04:00

lilah "Mom, do you remember what I said?"
me: "No, I don't."
lilah: "Well I said it very quietly, so I don't remember either!"

After she asked me how I got saved: "Well I'm saved too. Because I believe in the Lord Jesus and I love Him so much."

"So, what the setup is, is that this isn't a tall building, it's just a small house."

"Oh look! All the butter on my toast melted. Is that because it's hot? Is that the rules of toast?"

Her water bottle had condensation on it: "This water is foggy, because it was in the fridge!"

lilah: Hmm, we need to recognize this again because it's all messy!"
me: "I think you mean organize?"
lilah: "Oh. Yes, that's it!"

After asking her something she didn't know the answer to, she said to me: "Well, you can figure that one out!"

"So I started to play and then realized, oh, I need you to play with me!"

"Piggy's really complicated this morning. That means he's tired, that's what I call it."

lilah: "Do you have a little sister Mama?"
me: "No, I just have a big sister."
lilah "Oh, so you're the little sister?"
me: "Yes, that's right."

"Mama, when we die and go to heaven, will we still be dead or will we be alive again?"

Piggy squeals a lot now, Lilah says it's because he's a baby...
me: "Piggy's squealing is getting on my nerves!"
lilah: "Oh. What does nerves mean?"
me: "Getting on my nerves means that I'm feeling a bit frustrated with him."
lilah: "Well I'm pretty sure he's getting on my nerves too!"

[ www.vincentkember.com photography ]

zhongqiu jie!

2011-09-12T20:27:00.006-04:00

I know Zhongqiu Jie was today, but we mostly celebrated it yesterday. So yesterday Lilah got dressed in her beautiful Chinese dress for Church and after Church we headed to Chinatown and feasted on some yummy Chinese cuisine. Afterwards, we went for a walk around Chinatown and bought a mooncake in Kowloons, just one, because they are an acquired taste that none of us seems to have acquired yet! Basically we buy mooncakes for the cultural relevance and novelty!

Today we hung our festive lanterns and then went to our local T&T, which is a huge Chinese grocery store, everything was very festive and geared towards Mid-Autumn Festival. We picked up some of Lilah's favourite treats and then headed to the mall.

Since today was our last full day of being home together, before school officially starts again, we decided today would be a treat for Lilah. She's been asking for some clothes and diapers for Piggy, so we went to Build-A-Bear Workshop and also Mrs. Tiggywinks and got her a couple of outfits and diapers for her little Piggy Boy and also a bjorn style carrier for carrying her Piggy Boy around - she was so thrilled. (I will have to post some pictures of that at a later stage because I didn't get any pictures of it today.)

After making our purchases at the mall we then had lunch together and lastly went to visit Baba at work.

It was a pretty fun Zhongqiu Jie and last day of the holidays.

third year of sunday school

2011-09-11T23:13:00.002-04:00

Today marks the first day of Lilah's third year at Sunday School.

She loves Sunday School. She has never ever looked back from that first day, two years ago. And to be honest, we really enjoy listening to her reiterate what her story was about every week, on our drive home from Church. Sometimes the stories can be rather adorable and humorous!

It is a wonderful privledge to absorb so much of the Lord's word at such a young age.

love that girl of mine...

2011-09-10T15:00:00.002-04:00

"True love cannot be measured or evaluated by any standard or conventional methods.
Not by weight, percentage or any other yardstick.
One knows they reached the limit and capacity of their love when they feel their heart overflowing with it."

[ www.vincentkember.com photography ]

first day of junior kindergarten

2011-09-09T16:36:00.008-04:00

[ The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. ~S. Harris ]

My parents used to talk about how time flies when you're older, I would look at them like they were crazy! As a child it seemed the opposite, especially if I was looking forward to something like Christmas or summer holidays or my birthday. Well, I totally get it now...in fact, I've been 'getting it' for a few years now. It seems like time has decided to speed up on me!

Today my beautiful girl started JK - my little 4 year old. She just seems too young and little to be starting JK. It just seems like yesterday that we were in China, rocking her to sleep. On the other hand, this summer seems to have handed her an overdose of independance and maturity, and underneath it all, I know she's SO ready for school. She's been at home with me for almost 3 years now, she's a complete and utter socializer, who can't get enough of being around and playing with her peers.

Yeah, she's ready. But am I? I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready, that's the problem!

So it goes without saying that my favourite part of today was when she came running out of the school doors, (I was kneeling down) and she ran straight into my arms for a big bear hug and kiss. I think it was at that point I teared up, because it just felt so good to have her back in my arms. And also, I could tell how happy she was about school, she couldn't wipe that massive grin off her beautiful face. Seeing her happy makes me the happiest person on earth.

She's been home a few hours now and I've heard many stories about school. She's been role playing 'being the teacher'. She's been drawing and writing. And everything she does, she tells me, "I'm drew this for Diane (her teacher). I'm going to show this to her." It's only her first day, but I can already tell that there is an underlying adoration building for her teacher and that makes me so happy, because I really believe teachers have a huge influence on our children.

One of the funny moments of today was when I asked Lilah what she learned on her first day of school, she immediately said "Bonjour", but it sounded more like bon-joar!! It might be her Northern Irish twang! I asked her what bonjour meant and she said: "It means hello in Quebec!" Haha - priceless! She also started calling me Madame Jill! She told me her French teacher is called Madame Julia. So she's at school for 2.5 hours... and 20 minutes of that time is dedicated to French. They have a French teacher that comes into their class and teaches them French. Our 4 year old will likely know more French than both us parents put together after just one week! I must admit, that part cracks me up!

Another thing she mentioned to me is that she didn't put her cardigan on in class because it was very hot. Her exact words were: "It was 13 DEGREES in the classroom, really exhausting!"

This school talk is very entertaining. I'm pretty sure there'll be many more laughs on the horizon!

The first photo is Lilah with a picture she drew when she got home. She told me it's a picture of herself (with extra long hair to her feet!) skating on the Rideau Canal! On the next page she wrote some letters and told me the teacher said she should write some letters for her Mom. So there they are. Truly, these are the moments I never want to forget.

[ flickr set is here ]

camping at grand lake, algonquin park

2011-09-08T23:21:00.005-04:00

Exactly one week ago today, we were on our second day of an absolutely amazing three day 'outback camping' trip. We went to Grand Lake in Algonquin Park, with four families from our Church. And when I say 'outback camping', I mean the type of camping you actually have to canoe to get to the campsite!

Here are a few things that come to mind when I think back to our trip... calm lake, morning mist, kids playing together, hot chocolate, canoe trips, stories around the campfire, yummy s'mores, delicious food, nature, tranquility... ahh, there's nothing better.

On the first day we didn't do a whole lot, we set up our tent and canoed over to a little sandy beach area, just while we were waiting for everyone to arrive. On the second day we canoed to High Falls, which has a natural water slide. The whole canoe trip was 10kms long, and yes, my arms were hurting ever so slightly by the end of that! And then on our third day we packed up our stuff and took a hike up the Baron Canyon. I would absolutely love to canoe through the Baron Canyon next year. And we've definitely decided when we come again next year, we'll stay another night or two. Two nights is definitely not enough - considering all that packing and unpacking! I think we all had teary eyed children on the last day, who were very sad to be leaving each other.

My apologies in advance for the number of photos attached to this post. Three days with a camera in hand, yeah, that results in a LOT of photos!

[ day 1 flickr set - day 2 flickr set - day 3 flickr set ]

meeting the teacher!

2011-09-07T10:29:00.002-04:00

Lilah met her teacher this morning - Diane.

She's wonderful and friendly and sends out weekly updates on email. I love her already! So we had our little meet and greet today and then on Friday Lilah has her first day of Junior Kindergarten. One half of the class goes on Friday and the other half of the class goes on Monday. They will all start together on Tuesday next week.

On the walk home from meeting the teacher Lilah said, "I'm SO excited about going to school!" She simply cannot wait. And as anxious as I feel inside, I'm thrilled and excited for her too!

It's a brand new chapter in her life and she's more than ready for it.

a little photoshoot

2011-09-05T01:46:00.000-04:00

Well, as you all probably know the CCCWA (China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption) requires a family photo to be sent with the dossier to China. And to be honest, we figured it was about time we got a formal photo shoot with the three of us together!

So we asked our good friend Vince to take a few pictures of us. Might I add he is a very talented photographer and if you live in the Ottawa area, he's the guy you want to take your picture. His website is www.vincentkember.com. He also attends our Church, so we know him very well and you'll see from these pictures that Lilah is comfortable with him. VERY comfortable. In fact, I think it would be fair to say that he is one of her loves, she still thinks she got married to Vince & Ciela when she was a flowergirl at their wedding last year!

There are many many more pictures, beautiful pictures... I'm sure I'll be posting plenty more over the next few weeks!

ruby wedding anniversary

2011-09-01T01:00:00.000-04:00

My Dad and Mum have been married 40 years today.

Wishing I was home celebrating this special milestone with you both. I love you so much.

♥ Happy Wedding Anniversary ♥

a big hug

2011-08-29T23:29:00.007-04:00

I was thinking today about what a privilege it is to raise a child. We were given an incredible gift and it's our responsibility to tell her about the love the Lord Jesus has for us.

I know I fail at this so often... yet there are moments in time, things she'll say that makes me feel good inside. Like a few days ago, when she asked me what we'll do when we're in heaven, before I got a chance to reply, she said: "Will we give the Lord Jesus a big hug?" I felt my heart could burst, I couldn't think of anything I'd want to do more.

1 John 4 - (v9) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. (v10) Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins. (v19) We love Him, because He first loved us.

question of the day...

2011-08-27T22:06:00.001-04:00

"Mama, were you and Baba adopted before me?"

some gifts from china

2011-08-26T09:46:00.002-04:00

One of the ladies that works in same office as my husband went to China to visit her family this summer. She asked Colin if we wanted anything brought back and of course we couldn't say no to the idea of another Chinese dress!

I googled 'girls cheongsam' and let Lilah view the images and more specifically, the colours. It barely took her two minutes to point out the pale pink dress! Well, the amazing Auntie Lynn picked up exactly the one Lilah wanted with the identical cherry blossom embroidery and all! I'm pretty sure it will be débuted this fall, all being well, when the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival rolls around! Auntie Lynn also got Lilah a little pants and shirt set in pale pink which Lilah absolutely adored and wanted to wear right away - even though it's a size 6 and a wee bit big on the shoulders! And last, but by no means least, she bought Lilah a beautiful pink heart shaped trinket box, with a mirror, which quite literally had Lilah at hello. She is all over it.

I snapped a few pictures of Lilah in all her happiness over her new gifts from China. I was explaining to Lilah how that Auntie Lynn was born in China and lives in Canada now, just like her. Her reply was: "Oh. Does she have tanned skin like me?"

[ the flickr set is here ]

sunflowers

2011-08-25T22:22:00.006-04:00

Each year I have gotten some pictures of Lilah with the field of sunflowers at the Experimental Farm in the city.

However, unfortunately I kinda forgot about the sunflowers this summer. Well that's until I was standing in the local grocery store and noticed the big buckets of fresh Sunflowers on sale - it dawned on me that the sunflowers were probably blooming. Well, blooming there were, probably 2 weeks ago, but this week their heads were saging and I about missed their glory days, other than the odd few that were still hanging in there.

Thankfully I still managed to get a few pictures...even though my moving target wasn't interested in pictures. Like myself, I think she was feeling a bit hot under the blistering hot sun.

one little monkey jumping on the bed...

2011-08-24T23:04:00.000-04:00

While I was washing Lilah's bedlinen this morning, this is what I found my little monkey doing...
She was having the absolute time of her life! I'd be lying if I said I didn't encourage it! Heh!

[ the flickr set is here ]

home study - check!

2011-08-22T23:53:00.004-04:00

After a few months of social worker visits and endless reams of paperwork, we signed our completed homestudy today. It will now be sent for approval to the Ontario Ministry, estimated 10 weeks.

We are thrilled. After proclaiming my joy and excitement, Lilah's words from the backseat (on our drive home from the adoption practitioner's office) were: "I'm so excited too Mama. I'm excited to be a big sister soon!"

I have a huge HUGE smile on my face. There are many wonderful emotions that come along with feeling this blessed. "O give thanks unto the LORD, for He is good: for His mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 107:1"

Thank you Lord.

who you choose to be...

2011-08-21T21:38:00.002-04:00

"Your story may not have such a happy beginning
but that doesn't make you who you are,
it's the rest of your story, who you choose to be."
[ Soothsayer - Kung Fu Panada 2 ]

do these pajamas make me look scary?

2011-08-19T23:37:00.007-04:00

I can safely say that she is the cutest skeleton I've ever seen!

The face above is one of her 'skeleton poses', as she calls it! Ha-ha!

My funny girl saw these pajamas when I was browsing through the pictures of one of my facebook friends. A couple of weeks later, when I was doing some online shopping at Old Navy, I stumbled upon them and Lilah practically begged me to buy them for her! For a child who rarely gets excited over clothes, I (of course), had to buy them.

Today they arrived in the mail.

Heat and all she wanted to try them on and it took about an hour for her to start sweating and finally pull them off! My funny and VERY excited little skeleton! When I was putting her to bed tonight she said, I can't wait to wear my pajamas, they're my favourite in the whole wide world!

Obviously it's still far too warm to wear them, day or night! But guess what? We're going "outback" camping in two weeks! Yes, the kind of camping that you actually have to canoe to get to the campsite and there's a little hut (that you practically have to reverse into) with a VERY deep dark hole for a toilet, I know, gross! I only know this stuff because we did this same trip in July 2005 - it only took us 6 years to pluck up the courage to do it again...ha! No really, it was fabulous! This years trip has been planned and organized by some serious camping folk from our Church, and there are a few families and their kiddies participating. We are very excited, well, you know, as excited as you can get about camping. Ha! But my oh my, it's going to be an unbelievable experience for Lilah!

Anyway, all that to say I thought the glow-in-the-dark skeleton pajamas would be very fun for the whole camping experience!

You can probably tell (from these pictures) that I get a few chuckles out of my funny girl's antics!

[ the flickr set is here ]

baba & mama

2011-08-18T00:26:00.000-04:00

I absolutely adore my husband. Right next to my Dad, he is the most amazing man I know.
[ Lilah captured a photo of us together, on vacation. She loves to take control of the camera! ]

mont tremblant

2011-08-17T22:32:00.004-04:00

We are home again after a wonderful holiday to Mont Tremblant, Quebec. I've always known it as a ski resort, in fact, we went to this resort for the first time in December 2000, it was our first Christmas in Canada and we figured we might be feeling homesick, so we decided to hit the slopes and do some ~~freezing to death~~, ahem, skiing! Ha!

Anyway, it is a safe bet that we love it even more in the summer than we did in the winter. And to be completely honest we've been shaking our heads in disbelief that we haven't made it back here in 10 years, as it's only a 2 hour drive from our home, in Ottawa.

The resort is so very very child friendly and to be honest, you could spend a fortune here on some very fun activites. The restaurants are also fabulous and that is definitely a huge hit for us adults! My oh my, we did have a lot of fun together. Lilah was practically begging us to stay and when she realized it wasn't happening, then started negotating for another trip, SOON! The girl certainly has her head screwed on!

I'll be posting more of the highlights over the next few days, but here are many photos that remind me of all the fun times! The picture above is the view from the hot tub on our hotel roof/balcony, I took it late one evening when we were sitting out there.

lilah's lovely locks

2011-08-13T16:35:00.008-04:00

I absolutely adore Lilah's beautiful hair.

It would seem she always had plenty of beautiful hair, going by her 6 month old pictures! And then there she was the day we became a family, she was so adorbale with her cute little bobby haircut. I honestly couldn't take my eyes off her, I couldn't imagine her any more perfect. And then there was the official photographing of her first ever piggytails, my oh my, I can barely remember her being that small!

And here she is with her beautiful long hair, 2.5 years and 5 trims later.

the cottage

2011-08-12T00:41:00.005-04:00

I met a girl (Sarah) a few months ago when we were registering our daughters for after-school care. Our girls became fast friends and so did us Mums! We've been enjoying playdates and coffee/hot chocolate mornings together. Aiden & Lilah also spent the whole week of summer camp together.

Last week Sarah invited us up to her parents cottage, which is right beside the beautiful Ottawa River, about a 2-3 hour drive from Ottawa. So we were there together the last three days (Tuesday to Thursday), just us four girls hanging out having a wonderful time. We spent much of our time gorging on delicious food, including picnics on the beach, yum. And on Wednesday we went to The Blueberry Ranch and picked blueberries... definitely a post for another day!

I added some photos below of the two little girls enjoying each others company. They are similiar in so many ways and listening to them copy each other and want to wear exactly what the other was wearing, right down to their hair styles and head scarves, it was so sweet. Every picture makes me smile. I was noticing in one of the pictures that I took, that they even had the same little synchronized dance move going. They are just so adorable together! Oh, and I have to mention this too, both girls have the exact same lovey, the pink pig! Each of the pigs was bought for them for the same reason, because they were born in the (Chinese) year of the pig. Isn't that incredible?! And here's another one, Aiden was born March 29th and Lilah was born May 29th.

Lilah had big tears when we arrived home and pulled into our driveway. When I saw the tears and asked why she was upset, my thought was, she really needs a sister! She definitely enjoyed her time with her wonderful friend Aiden: sleeping with her, eating with her, running around naked with her, playing with her, dressing with her, even going to the bathroom with her, ha-ha! These two are definitely joined at the hip.

In another month they'll both be hanging out in Junior Kindergarten.

the playroom

2011-08-08T22:29:00.002-04:00

Well the playroom has been in action for almost a year now, but we hadn't gotten the trim finished and painted, or put the final touches on it until last week. And I use the term "final touches" very lightly, since I have a few more things ordered for it! I've ordered a bunting for across the window and also some Chinese wall cards which should arrive next week. Also, you can't see this in the pictures, but behind the curtain is a little closet with a clothes rail for hanging the dress-up clothes and also shelves for games, puzzles, etc.

Lilah enjoys her playroom, although I have to admit, she is much more of an outdoor girl! There is no doubt that it comes in more useful during the chilly winter months!

ten more recent questions...

2011-08-05T00:24:00.001-04:00

"An unusual child is one who asks questions the parents can answer."

Why does the water go down the drain?
Does God know that wee girls love their mommies?
Why do we get a bit shorter when we sit down?
How is God going to pull us up to heaven?
How do snotters get in your nose? (snotters is the Northern Irish word for boogers, in case you're wondering!)
How long do people live for?
Where does that dishwasher tablet go when the dishwasher is all done?
Why do I like pink? Was I a born baby that liked pink?
Do all the people in China have tanned skin?
How did the Lord Jesus stay up on the cross?

wordless wednesday

2011-08-03T14:56:00.000-04:00

[ the flickr set is here ]

pedalling around dows lake

2011-08-01T20:04:00.005-04:00

Today was a Civic Holiday in Ontario.

We met our good friends Mike, Julia and their two adorable little men, Zachy & Patrick for breakfast at Cora's. It was a fun morning and a delicious breakfast, yummy! We'll have to do that more often! Unfortunately I have no pictures to prove it, but they do! You can read all about it and enjoy Mike's very entertaining story on their family blog!

After breakfast we headed to Dows Lake. We promised Lilah some fun in the pedal boats this summer, especially since we didn't get around to it last year. It's crqzy where the time goes, but it's been almost two years since we were last out in them together! She was hyped about it, while in the line-up she was jumping up and down, hanging onto my legs singing: "I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so excited...!" We had a really super time, ...ahem, chasing ducks, splashing our feet in the water and banging into buoys! What can I say, we aren't the best drivers in the world! Heh!

We finished off our day with supper in one of the restaurants on the Dows Lake Pavilion and Lilah got a few of her absolute favourite, garlic 'shrimpies'!

[ the flickr set is here ]

paint and furniture

2011-07-30T20:13:00.002-04:00

Well the painter arrived on Tuesday and is still working on the rest of our house, but Lilah's room finally got painted yesterday. The 'winter gray' paint is on the walls and even though it took me a while to get used to it, I think I kinda like it. But really, who cares what I think of it, Lilah has already told me "I love that paint on my walls!"

We went out to IKEA yesterday evening, got the Hemmes double bed, a PAX wardrobe system, the bedside cabinet and the light fixture. I didn't think we could squeeze it all into our vehicle, but we somehow managed it! So you can guess what we spent today doing. Yes, building furniture. My wonderful husband is so patient! He didn't hang the frames or the shelf yet, which is okay, I'll talk him into doing that another day! Heh!

Lilah was beside herself excited to sleep in her new bed. So excited she could hardly sleep!

the many faces of lilah grace...

2011-07-27T18:09:00.002-04:00

winter gray paint

2011-07-26T12:07:00.003-04:00

I may not have chosen the paint for it's 'chilly' name, but I really do like the colour!

Guess who arrived today? Yes, the painter! I think I'm more excited than Lilah!
And our ~~crazy~~ wonderful painter, Luis, told Lilah a while back that she could help him paint!! Ahhhh!
Much to my disappointment, she hasn't forgotten his promise!

the crazy little things she says!

2011-07-25T10:38:00.000-04:00

: After seeing the pig (that had quite recently given birth) at the farm: "I don't want to have a baby from my bum. I want to adopt a baby from China, 'cause I don't like blood."

: "Look at that steam coming out of the plane in the sky!"

: Walking past a house with a massive fir tree growing in their front lawn: "Why did they not take their Christmas tree down yet?"

: Talking about her cat: "He speaks English, because I adopted him from England!"

: "Mum, do you have to do pilates because your bum is chubbier?!"

: As she was fluffing up the pillows one morning: "We have to get the cracks out of these pillows!" (I think she meant creases!)

Me: Lilah, are you licking the butter off your toast?"
Lilah: "No, my face just sticked into it!" (as she starts laughing uncontrollably!)

wedding anniversary

2011-07-23T02:46:00.007-04:00

"As we grow older together,
as we continue to change with age,
there is one thing that will never change...
I will always keep falling in love with you."

12 extraordinary years, of faith, hope and love - God is so good, always.

above: Lorraine, Colin, Jill, Ivan, Jemma Rose & Laura Jane. (two sisters, two brothers, two nieces)

expressions

2011-07-22T10:24:00.000-04:00

We took a little stroll down to the river to feed the ducks earlier this week. Unfortunately we couldn't find any for the first while, they were probably all hiding away from the crazy heat wave we've been experiencing lately! So we just kept on walking.

Then as Lilah was sitting on a bench and smiling for a photo, two ducks flew by (up the river) behind me.

This is how Lilah's expression went...

From this...

to this...

and then this!

"the mean king"

2011-07-18T20:34:00.010-04:00

lilah: Mama, why could my other Mama not keep me?

me: Well sweetie...I really don't know for sure. We don't know your other Mama, so we can't ask her. Only God knows who your other Mama is. But maybe, I'm not too sure, there could be lots of different reasons, but maybe she couldn't keep you because in China there's a policy made by the government, who are kinda like the kings, that says that some Mamas and Babas can only have one baby.

lilah: Ohhhh, like the mean king that put Moses in the water?

me: Well yes, Pharaoh was a mean king and God wouldn't be happy about that rule he made, but unfortunately sometimes that's the way things work. You know, God knew what was going to happen a long long time ago, before you and I were born. He knew your birth parents wouldn't be able to keep you, so He made a plan and He told us to go to China and get you. God always takes care of us.

lilah: Yep. But God wouldn't be happy with that mean king.

me: No, He wouldn't. You're absolutely right sweetie.

more summer bubbles

2011-07-16T19:02:00.001-04:00

"To show a child what once delighted you,
to find the child's delight added to your own
- this is happiness."

chatter! chatter! chatter!

2011-07-15T11:28:00.000-04:00

"Ohhhhh, I need to do a pee pee too. I almost didn't recognize that!"

"Why is it a sunny day? Oh I know, is it because it just felt like it?"

The sunshine went in behind the clouds: "Oh, I think it's God turning the light on and off!"

"There shouldn't be a pig in our family, nooooo, because we're wolfs, we're joking wolfs!"

After Baba jokingly told her he was going to throw her into the swimming pool - "Nooooo Baba. I would be quickly dead!"

After leaving her sitting on the counter top to wash her feet in the sink one evening - (Colin and I were sitting chatting in the next room): "Hellooooooooooo! Can some of yous two get me down from here?"

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save Piggy."

"Mama, is there a chance of showers today?"

She loves putting the topping on our homemade pizza, she always says: "Can I put the decorations on the pizza?"

On a dull cloudy day: "I think the sunshine's all done!"

"She didn't obey her Mommy. That's what the Lord says - Children obey your parents!"

"I saw the horses at the farm today and we petted them. We didn't use our hands though, just our arms, because animals could make you sick!"

giving birth

2011-07-13T20:23:00.010-04:00

Lilah went to the Experimental Farm as part of her 'camp experience' today. She is absolutely loving camp, the instructors are so wonderful with the children and it does my heart good to see her skip up the street each morning, fully anticipating her day. It's been a busy three days so far and I can tell she is getting more tired each afternoon I pick her up. I gave her a bath and put her into bed a bit earlier tonight. Also, she told me a couple of times over the past few days that her cheek was sore and then today (when chewing) she mentioned her gums were sore. Sure enough, after her bath I checked her back gums and about 1/5th of each of her final two molars have broken through the gum - what a brave girl.

Anyway, here's one of the conversations we had this evening about the farm...

Lilah: I saw baby pigs at the farm today, they were just born last night! ...and the Mama pig had blood, her bum was sore.
Me: Aww Lilah. That's so sweet that you got to see little newborn baby pigs.
Lilah: But why was the Mama pig's bum sore?
Me: That's because the piglet came out of her bum when it was born. But don't worry, the sore only lasts a few days or so.
Lilah: Oh. Well, when I came out of my Birth Mama in China, do you think she was sore?
Me: I'm very sure she was sweetie. All Mama's that have babies hurt for a while.
Lilah: Oh. (and then she ran off to get the craft she made at camp)

This conversation just clarifies to me how much she is processing and how much she understands about her birth and that she was born from her Mama in China. Before now, she would basically just repeat what I told her about her adoption, etc., but the fact that she knew she wasn't born from me and how she pieced this together herself, it blew me away.

And I was reminded yet again of this amazing gift I've been given, to mother this beautiful girl.