Forever family...

Nine years ago today, with my parents and sister by my side, my wonderful Bryanna was placed in my arms. The time has flown by, and yet as I remember back to that hot and crowded hotel room in Hefei it almost seems like yesterday.

Today it is all about celebrating our life together...and what an amazing thing my life has become because of a red thread that was waiting to draw Bryanna and I and our family together on February 28, 2000.

Not allowing her mother to be overly sentimental, my practical daughter has chosen for us to visit Chapters this afternoon to spend a gift card and then to celebrate our Forever Family day at Red Lobster, her favourite restaurant. (Maybe I can squeeze in some cuddle time on the couch later to watch video of that pink-cheeked little baby wrapping us all around her little finger!)

I have to end this post with the words and music from Martina McBride (click to listen) - they capture everything I feel (and completely do me in!) whenever I think about the joy that Brya has brought to our lives.

This miracle God gave to me

Gives me strength when I am weak

I find reason to believe

In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand around my finger

It puts a smile in my heart

Everything becomes a little clearer

I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart has had enough

It's giving more when you feel like giving up

I've seen the light...It's in my daughter's eyes

The Closet Purge

It has been building for some time...closet hysteria.

The three major culprits: my master walk-in closet, Cassidy's closet (oh my, words cannot describe) and the pantry closet in the hall outside the kitchen. It seems that I could never find the time or motivation needed to tackle one of them, let alone all three.

So I finally called in reinforcements...my parents arrived at noon today and after lunch and a bit of quiet time, we all plunged in. Bryanna helped me sort some of the many non-clothes items that had ended up in my closet, my dad bravely tackled the pantry and the fridge, and my patient, patient mother spent over three hours with Cassidy in her room...trying on clothes, sorting clothes into various piles and motivating my 6 year old to deal with the piles of toys and costumes that were piled 3 feet deep on the closet floor.

The results? 5 bags of garbage and recycling, 1 huge suitcase packed with kid clothes going to friends, and 3 bags (so far) going to Goodwill. We all collapsed before dinner with a glass of wine (okay, not the kids...they had cranberry juice), had a huge steak dinner and I was just overjoyed. Still a bit more to do in my closet, but it is so much better that those last couple of shelves don't phase me in the least.

Here's the project in pictures...

The Pantry




In progress...








...and the results...

Cassidy's Closet


In progress (all over her room)...








...and ta-dah, the end product...

Lianne's Closet
(oh my gosh...)

Thanks, Mom and Dad - really, I couldn't have done it without you!

Hearts and Words

This was an unexpectedly lovely day...the morning was a total snooze fest...we all stayed in our pjs till noon and this mom lazed around in bed for most of it - in between watching a Valentines presentation by the dynamic duo and observing the chocolate opening!

We then spent the afternoon at the mall - picking up a few tops and new track pants (Cassidy has gone through the knees of yet TWO more pairs of pants), buying some novels for our upcoming Florida trip, and ending the spending spree with ice cream and cinnamon rolls.

Then home to feed Charlie...

.

..and off again to drop Cassidy at a birthday party. While Cassidy was having a great time with her classmates at ChuckECheese, Bryanna and I opened our new Scrabble game...we set it up on the special revolving tray my grandfather had custom made for just this purpose and had a ball. We ate pizza, argued over words and groaned at our scores.

For those of you word smiths out there, here is where we ended the contest before heading back out to pick up Cassidy...

A great start to the long weekend. We wish a happy Valentines Day to all our wonderful family and friends.

xoxo

Skating Days...

This is Bryanna's third Winter skating, but the first where it is all finally coming together for her...balance, grace, bent legs when needed, straight extensions when appropriate. I love watching her. Unfortunately, I only caught a brief segment where she is working on drills from one side of the ice to the other, but still, you can see the progress...



And this is Cassidy's first Winter skating...she just makes me laugh. She really wants to play hockey so she is throwing herself into learning how to skate...not too smooth yet but she never stops!

The Winter 2010 Olympians don't have anything to fear, but who knows...2018?

hee hee

Photo Experiment

A little sister for Cassidy

No. NO. NO.

Not that kind of little sister,

but THIS kind....

This is Suzy.

She belonged to me when I was very young, so the poor ugly thing (look at that frizzled hair!) has been around for well over 40 years. The doll has been in the corner of Cassidy's room for some time (she rescued it from the basement) but suddenly appeared on her radar this weekend. She delighted in dressing Suzy (in her own clothes!) and carrying her around. When I asked her what was with the "new friend" she said,

"This is my little sister - I wish I had one!"

This mom laughingly (though emphatically) said that that would not be happening. So now Suzy is ensconced in the rocking chair in the family room, wrapped in a blanket and ready to be included in family activities and television watching.

hee hee

Playing catch-up

I'm several weeks behind on posting - I know it.

I'm fine, the girls are fine, Charlie Brown is fine. I am sick of snow shovelling and work is very very busy (maybe a touch stressful) so instead of trying to write something clever or thoughtful each day, I generally follow my inclination to morph into a couch potato after the dynamic duo are in bed.

Anyway, this post is meant to be a catch-up photo and video log of the last few weeks, but without any scintillating comments. I know you'll forgive me as you spend a few minutes taking a brief journey through the crazy wonderfulness of our daily lives. (Photos run in order of oldest at the top to most recent at the end.)

Brilliant writer to return at a later date.

Third Tooth!

Skating on the Pond with Shauna, MacLean, Clara and Lily (from Korea) and Janet and Kate (just missing the Devine Ladies!)

Friend Kaiya's 8th Birthday

Chinese New Year with Nanny and Papa at the Mandarin

Cassidy at the Grade 1 Presentation of "Mortimer"

(See the little girl in stripes right under the screen? That's her.)

Video clip...

Feeding Charlie Brown

Video clip...

Stress and snow aside, this life is a wonderful thing.

Fun in the snow

Today our friends Galen, Noah and Maddie came to spend the afternoon. After playing with all the toys in the basement, baking sugar cookies, eating sugar cookies, and spending time with Charlie Brown, all five decided to head outside. They spent ages pulling each other around on our little blue sled as yet more snow began to fall.

It was a hoot to watch them...enjoy!

New Developments

(See post below this one for the tale of our outdoor skating fun yesterday.)

Two new things of note with the dynamic duo...

After a 6 month wait to see an allergist, Bryanna was finally tested today! The child who has always had extra senstive skin, is mildly lactose intolerant, and seems to have a really tough time in the Summer with eye and nose irritants now knows why...she reacts strongly to a number of allergens, but the most significant are (and Auntie Kim will be interested in these):

• cats
• horses
• dust
• ragweed
• and to a lesser extent, trees and grasses

Look at her arms some time after the testing...(she thought it was all very interesting and peered interestedly down at her arms as they were pricked and dotted by the technician).

Her reaction to the dust allergens is so significant that we have been recommended to buy special "dust mite proof" mattress and pillow covers for her room so I'll be getting on that. Oh, and no jumping on beds or couches! For the rest, she will mainly be treated with allergy medications and a puffer from August 8 to October 20 each year (who knew that the allergy/pollen season that affects her was so date specific!) We're glad that it's not worse and can be treated on an "as needed" basis.

And Miss Cassidy...well, she has been amazing me lately with how quickly her reading skills are developing. Yesterday morning I walked into her room to wake her for church and found her already wide awake and reading a book! I loved how involved she was in it - she didn't even pay attention when I snuck back in to take this shot.



Lianne

Skating Workout!

Yesterday was a real WORKOUT. Surprisingly it was also a fun day, and not just because I procrastinated further about reorganizing my walk-in closet! (Stay tuned in a few days for an update on that project. hee hee).

Wanting to take all our kids skating yesterday, friends Oliver and Vanessa and I cleared a section of the ice on our neighbourhood pond (the pond is huge...there had to have been at least 6 or 7 different rinks cleared by groups of kids and parents yesterday) in the afternoon. At least, we FINALLY ended up together as a slight misunderstanding on my part resulted in me clearing a small rink at one end of the pond while Oliver and Vanessa were working at the other. As I had forgotten my cell phone, Vanessa finally set out to find me. (As I mentioned, the pond is huge and you cannot see from one end to the other!)

So with Vanessa's help, we carted my two - already in their skates - back up the bank to the car, and loaded all our stuff (including benches, hot chocolate, snow shovel and various other bits and pieces) to head to the other end.

We finished clearing "our" rink and then had another wonderful hour. Should I mention this was my first time in skates in 20 years!!!! Not bad for this old mom.

We kept saying how much fun it was...and despite the extra effort to clear the rink, the kids (and parents) just loved it...we plan to keep it up since we have been blessed with a Winter cold enough to keep the pond frozen.

So my muscles were a little sore today, from climbing up and down snow covered hills, multiple shoveling sessions, and using some muscles that were definitely out of practice but I remembered - THIS is what made Winter so much fun when we were kids. Yahoo!

Cheers!

Together Again

For three years, my Bryanna and Cassidy were lovingly cared for by Sara, our super daycare provider. Sara's daughters, Cassidy and Kaiya, became true friends to my two - Bryanna and "big" Cassidy were in the same class at school for four years and with brief breaks for holidays, all 4 girls were together every single day for three years.

You can imagine our sadness when their family moved away a year and a half ago. However, they are only in a neighbouring town and we try to get the girls together whenever we can.

Today Cassidy and Kaiya arrived for a playdate and sleep-over and the moment they arrived, they were all playing at top volume and energy. Distance and time mean nothing to these four, their enthusiastic friendship triumphs over such minor obstacles. While Bryanna and big Cassidy tended toward slightly older activities for a while (Nintendos, listening to music), they often joined the junior pair for more energetic moments.

Witness the insanity:



Now, they are all quiet watching a movie together (hopefully preparing them for sleep!)...



Simple joys.