"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 ]
[ 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 ]
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!
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.
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!
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 ♥
[ www.vincentkember.com photography ]
