Close Call

So, after leaving Kelsey's tonight with Grace bandaged up and ice on her head,  I am slowly coming to terms with the fact that my daughter will probably not make it to kindergarten without stitches....Oh how I love my little fireball!

Thanksgiving Festivities

Here are a few photos of last weekend's Thanksgiving festivities! 

Grace likes to help with the chores, especially when it involves a ride on the tractor

Have I mentioned.... I LOVE my parents' forested property!  Spectacular in the Autumn!

Making handprint turkeys

What could possibly go wrong? my father says.  At least she's got ear protection on!!!!LOL

Nothing says Thanksgiving like painting in your bathing suit!!!

Grace, always the comedian!

The boys hard at work....

Taking Baby for a stroll at the Farmer's market.  Grace absolutely loves the guy there that plays a guitar and sings.  She'll stand there all morning listening to him sing old country songs, dancing, twirling and clapping her hands.  In fact, that particular Saturday morning, as I was paying for a Cinnamon loaf to take to my parents, I turned around and she was gone.  Guitar Guy had been on break and had just returned to playing.  Grace heard him start up and took off running!  Left Baby in the stroller and ran full force through all the people to get to him.  I'll attach a video of her dancing to another post, it's absolutely precious!

My Village

Grace and I had a great Thanksgiving weekend with family.  Hiking, eating and card games, and then more hiking and eating and card games, not necessarily in that order, in fact I think we repeated the eating thing a few too many times!!LOL
I truly cherish these family get togethers as one never knows what tomorrow will bring into our lives and I look forward to them for days beforehand.  On Thanksgiving in my family, we take a moment to pray before the main meal and each one of us takes a second to share what we are most thankful for over this past year.  There was so much to be thankful for in our family this year, especially Lynda's marriage to Eddy and all the milestones Grace and baby K have met, but as I pondered this Thanksgiving, my second one with Grace, it occurred to me that what I am most thankful for this year is My Village.  You know the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child,"  well, I'm realizing that that statement is very true.  It does take a village, many of them family, but some of them friends and colleagues, neighbours and facebook friends and other adoptive families and single moms, doctors, nurses and specialists, the Early Years staff, the Child and Family Services staff and many more who have been part of my village this past year.  I am blessed to have all of it and like most people,  I don't think about it or thank people often enough.  I will add more to a post about our actual Thanksgiving festivities later this week, Grace had many cute moments, but I wanted this post to be just about thankfulness because that's how I feel tonight. 

Apple Picking Time

Grace and I spent some time a couple of Sundays back with good friends visiting an apple farm.  Before we got dressed, I read the weather forecast online.  It said sunny but cool.  I'm good with that.  Dress appropriately and we'll have a great time.  So, we dressed appropriately... warm jeans, sweaters and jackets.  I even threw in a hat for Grace.  Our rain boots were already in car from the night before so I left them there and I felt confident we were prepared.  We started out leaving my neighbourhood where the sun was shining.  Not two minutes down the road, it started to drizzle, then rain lightly.  By the time we got to the orchard, it was cold and windy and wet, basically miserable weather.  We sucked it up and did our best to have a good time.  The kids didn't care, they enjoyed themselves regardless, running up and down the aisles of trees and picking apples to fill mommy's bag.  We spent as much time as the mommies could bare looking at the geese and bunnies and playing on the outdoor toys, then we packed it up and headed back to town, made a quick stop at McDonalds for the kids' lunches and then back to Heather's to enjoy a play time.  Grace is getting so confident.  She knows these kids well and is familiar with the house, so it was actually a relaxing time for me.  I got to chat with the ladies while Grace played around the house, a rare treat indeed!!!

Hurry up and take the picture Mommy!!!  This stuff is scratchy!!!

Hey Mom, what about this one??

Look how much I've grown! I can reach the high ones!!!

Apple Karate.... or something like that!

Grace knows... always test things out before you buy

Best face ever!!

All the kids, posing, sort of.

Heading home