Christmas Preparations 2015

The story of Christmas 2015 will have to span over a few posts, it was so busy!!!!  Grace had a great time getting into the Christmas spirit, and as much as I thought 3 year olds experiencing Christmas was the best thing in life, 4 year olds are even better!!! 
Here are a few highlights of the early preparations.

Our first attempt at a Santa visit this year.  Here we are at the fundraising fair at the hospital.  I was excited thinking we might have success.  Santa was in a room all by himself, no loud noises, no lights, no other people.  No line up and only $2 to take your picture with the big guy.  Mrs. Clause met us at the doorway and that was it.  She was just so unhappy to be anywhere near him!  Thankfully it got better as the weeks went on!

 

 

 

Santa Claus parade #1. 

Santa Claus parade #2 and 3.  As much as I like our town's night time parade, I like to see one in the daytime as well.  I figure it's free entertainment and Grace will only be totally into it for another 4-5 years max so we went to three!  The third one was actually by accident but enjoyed just the same, especially since my sister in law and nephew were in one of the bands!

Grace and I went to a Christmas festival in a small town.  It was a very mild evening which made it so enjoyable.  Grace's favourite part of course was the music.  She danced the night away on the street!



Funny enough, after all the screaming about Santa a few weeks back, that night at the festival, she walked in and climbed right up on Santa's knee, happy as anyone!  I will never figure this girl out!!lol

Getting the Christmas tree from Grandpa's back field and driving the Gator!



Santa Train fun.  Still not too sure about the big guy!

Writing her letter to Santa.  She asked for high heels (lol!!) a guitar and a yo-yo.  Well rounded wish list I think!

More photos and stories to come!

 

 

Christmas concert 2015

So, I feel like I've waited my whole life for this moment.  My daughter's first Christmas concert at school, a rite of passage for any mom.  It was so worth the wait! 

For weeks Grace has told me about the upcoming concert, where I was to sit, who should come, how it would all go down behind the curtain before the show started.  One thing she was a little confused about however was when her opportunity would come to talk with the microphone.  She repeatedly informed me that she would be talking with the microphone, demonstrating what she would say to the audience.  Naturally as you can imagine I was a little nervous as the curtain opened but thankfully Grace was no where near a microphone!!!lol

You may notice a few things throughout the video - she knew exactly where my mom and I were sitting and looks right at us, especially when she felt she needed to point out our friends sitting in another part of the gym.  So funny to see her trying to talk to me while on stage, pointing.  Eventually she joined in the singing of the Hippopotamus song!

We ended the evening with a trip to "Old McDonald's" for a coffee and treat.  Grace was exhausted falling into bed late, but still had a hard time getting to sleep as she was so excited about her stage debut! 

50 Years - So Much to be Thankful For

 

Thanksgiving weekend.  So much to be thankful for, beautiful weather, good food, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and of course all the blessings that have passed through my life in the past year.

On the Saturday, my parents celebrated 50 years of marriage with a get together and dinner for the original wedding party and our family.  Almost everyone made it and it was funny to think of the ring bearer and flower girl, now in their fifties!!!  Reflecting on 50 years of marriage is a little mind boggling in this modern world.  Walking down the aisle is the easy part.  It's the walk through life, with its ups and downs that makes 50 years of marriage such an awesome adventure.  Thinking of the joys and struggles they have surely faced together, those we may know about and those that are private to only them, and they have stayed strong through it all.  It is a testament of their love and their commitment to each other and our family.  

Everyone had a great dinner and great visit.  We had a family photo done down by the pond that will hopefully be a nice memory of the day.

 

Sunday, we got back together again to celebrate Thanksgiving.  The weather was fantastic and we were able to spend time outside hiking and taking photos and just enjoying our beautiful Autumn. 

Like usual, Grace was up to her typical antics, climbing and refusing to actually pose for any of what in my head were going to be great shots.  She certainly makes me work for my photos!!!lol  Here's a snapshot of the weekend below minus the family photo because of course we were all in it!  Hopefully I will figure out how to scan it wirelessly and post it sometime soon.

 



Love this photo!!!!

"Shhhh!"

She is such a daredevil but like her mom, Grace is not one for heights.  It took a lot of courage for her to climb this fence like this!

This is the first climb, a little shaky!

Trying!

Trying so hard to find time for writing here.  Promise I will get to it this weekend!!!  :)

Autumn Moon Festivities 2015

We were so lucky to be invited to a couple of Autumn Moon celebrations this year with friends.  Grace is getting better and better at socializing and while she still needs to know where I am at each moment, she is doing really well.  She plays in the basement with the other kids, comes up to check on me every 10 minutes or so but then goes right back to playing in the basement, a big big step for her.  Not sure how things will play out over the years as Grace gets older but for now I like to keep some of her birth culture in our lives.  Grace and I don't have a huge connection at this point with other Asian or adoptive families.  There are only a handful who live in our town and all have children much older than Grace so I'm so thankful to be included in Julia's get togethers  (plus they are fun for mommy too!  The highlight of the festivities this year?  In the past Grace was terrified of the dragon costume.  The first year, she screamed hysterically, the second we couldn't be in the room or anywhere near the dragon, this year, success!  She actually wanted to be the dragon in the walk around the block!

 

 

 

One Month Down

September is gone!  Wow, that went fast!  I can't believe Grace and I have finished one month of school already.  Looking back at the past month however I can say that there are a few things I've learned as new school parent.

School nights are exactly that, school nights.  The whole night feels like it is spent getting ready for school the next day.

School mornings are a lot easier than I thought they might. be.  I keep waiting for the ball to drop, for us to be scrambling but we're not.  Probably because of the school nights.

The bus will never arrive at the exact time it is supposed to nor at the same time it arrived yesterday.

It is very tiring to be a JK student. 

It is very tiring being the parent of a JK student.

Those cute little songs we sing all day long in kindergarten classes are just as cute at home all night long.

I almost hate homework (almost) at least for a few fleeting moments here and there.  Just practising her name, reading poems, and library books and looking for signs of Fall or S words, it all takes too much of the little bit of time we have together between getting home and bedtime.

Your counter will always have plastic containers on it.  Plastic containers in the sink waiting to be washed, washed, waiting to be dried, dried, waiting to be put away, on the counter waiting to be filled with snacks, you get the picture.

One should never try trimming your daughter's bangs for the first time ever, the night before picture day.  What was I thinking!? 

It is very important to put your shoes in the same place every night when you come home so they are in that place you know when it's time to go.  Same goes for backpacks, lunch bags, keys and sunglasses.  Back to the above statement about school nights.

Overall, September was a success.  Let's hope the road continues uphill!

school

School, what a big step.  It's so hard to think of her in a classroom feeling lost, feeling scared and not to be able to be there to ease her transition. 
It's a huge leap of faith to trust a complete stranger to comfort your child and while I myself have been that exact comforter many many times, I've never been on the other side of this scenario, the parent who has had to let go.  Someone should have warned me it was so hard!
Found this reflection and it fits my thoughts exactly.

School Success!

First day of school!  Grace woke up early and the first thing out of her mouth was "Mommy where are we going today?"  Now this is not an unusual question from Grace.  She asks it daily, however the little smirk on her face told me she knew exactly where we were going today!  And so it started, she hit the ground running and talked and talked and talked and never stopped talking until she was walking up the steps of the bus! 

She had some rough moments but overall I think she did great! 

 

Grace opened her last gift this morning, new indoor shoes, Frozen of course and light up!  Still a hit!

Official traditional first day of school photo at the front door.

Walking to the bus stop with Grandma

There was one moment of panic on the next step but my brave girl got on anyways



Grandma and I met the bus at school.  Here's Grace walking with her friends that she already knows.  So nice of the principal to escort them down the sidewalk.

 

This is where I made my exit.  I knew things might not go well if I stuck around so Grandma stayed with her until the teachers brought them inside the school.  She wasn't exactly happy about it but she survived! 

 
 
 
 

Getting Ready for School!

Grace is starting junior kindergarten tomorrow and we've been a busy pair getting ready for the big day!

Grace is excited "on paper" I like to say.  She tries really hard to be excited and I promote it as much as I can but I know she is anxious so I've been doing what I can to help her, visiting the school yard, meeting the teacher, buying new backpacks and water bottles and lunch containers.  Tonight I baked Kissing Hand cookies, from the book The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.  We've been reading it each day and Grace loves the story of Chester and how he misses his mommy when he goes to school.

Last week we made a Waiting Chain.  Each morning Grace tears off one of the links to represent one less sleep till school starts.  The last link is waiting patiently on the table beside me now.

To add to the fun, I wrapped 7 gifts, one for each morning of this last week before school.  Each day Grace runs downstairs, finds the next number and opens it to see what new item she has for school.  I wrapped up her lunch bag, water bottle, new outfit, running shoes, a couple of school stories.  It was a fun way to wrap up summer vacation!

And now there's nothing left to do but get a good night's sleep and hope for the best tomorrow.  She's come a long way, my girl, these past three years, and I've got my fingers crossed and a prayer in my head that she will do as well tomorrow as I know she can.  I'll let you all know!

You had to know there would be a Barney video in the mix somewhere!

And then there was one.....

Her Kissing Hand cookie, waiting for her at the breakfast table for tomorrow!