Sugar & Spice & A little Rice

Christmas Photo update....lots of photo's!!

2011-12-10T00:42:00.000-04:00

Photo shoot at the old castles.

Look out batman!

The little ones with Old GiGi. My dad's Mom...she's still driving at 90-91!

Cake I made for youth group birthdays.

A visit to a sweet little hobby farm where "Arnie" the goat followed Hunny Bunch everywhere!

Rouldolph!

Hunny Bunch getting his admittance braclet for dental surgery. He had a lot of work done. We figure his pain tollerance is pretty high since the next day he was back to normal! 5 silver caps, about a dozen filings and filed down between each tooth. He was filled with joy when he realized he could eat cold watermelon without his teeth being sensitive!

Miss K can't get enough of Hunny Bunch.

The munchkins.

Local family arriving home with their new little son. Mr. E is a sweety!

Our sprouts!

About a hundred pics and finally got one with Miss K in it!!

Sugar Pie's arm....see the puffy raised ring around it. Happens if she'd out in the cold and her skin is exposed. She had mittons on but snow got caught in her sleeve. Not sure what it is but it fades and goes away everytime.

A not impressed HB about to get first 3 of 8 immunizations. He did great. Cried but once it was over he came around.

HB with his Big Jei Jei.

The holly in my front yard, sooo pretty.

Hicks Yew in my front yard.

HB's ornimant from China.

This one was for HB also. Nanfeng (where he's from) is known world wide for their beautiful seedless mandarines.

Sugar Pie at her Christmas concert today.

So cute!

At this point I think she forgot some of the words...lol

Sugar and her Christmas tree.

Hunny Bunch and his Christmas tree.

A close up without his silly faces. :P

Striking a pose. :O)

Back to being silly. :o) Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Happy Birthday Grandbutton and other fun fall stuff!

2011-10-23T22:07:00.061-03:00

Pumpkin Picking! You have to have the perfect one you know. :o)

I picked these two ;O)

They thought we should bring this 958 pound one home

Chasing Momma up the playset!

I think I'm caught with 2 against one!

Sweet little Miss K turns 3 tomorrow! I just can"t believe where the last 3 years went. She was 11 months old when Sugar Pie came home. She is such a sweet little blessing. Love our snuggles when she comes to church with us every week. Nana LOVES YOU GRANDBUTTON!!!!!

Miss K has taken a liking to Tink lately. It's kinda cute cause Jac and I had a special movie when she was small. Peter Pan. I would use Pixy dust to help her sleep at night and so I was Tink and she was Pan and these were and still are our little pet names for each other. Now Miss K is Tink!

I made this one for a lady whose daughter just turned 16. She wanted all her likes incorporated into the cake. Baseball, ballerina, ipod and her cell phone. She also likes yellow and purple. It was a fun cake but it took me a REALLY long time to do this one. I think every cake I make I say it will be the last cause I stress out that I'll mess up, but once I finish it I breath a breath of relief and then I'm ready for the next one. ;O)

Being her silly self! I love her!

Mr. Charming himself, I love him.

They were being so silly I couldn't get a good picture of them but our mission pastor asked them to come to the front of church to give them a little thank you card and a couple of little toys that he had bought when he was in Africa his last trip and this was suppose to me a picture of them holding up their cute little toys and their card. Anyway, we were very proud of them for their willingness to donate the money in their piggy banks. I love their hearts.

Have a great week everyone! If you think of it say a little prayer for Hunny Bunch tomorrow! He goes for his first of many appointments with the dentist. He has to have quite a bit of work done. Lots of fillings and possible crowns. :o(

Fun Stuff!

2011-10-16T20:58:00.000-03:00

The apples of my eye! We took the gang apple picking. This was a first for Hunny Bunch and he really enjoyed it!

Sugar Pie and Hunny Bunch rolled up the money in their piggy banks to donate to the relief efforts in Somalia threw our church. I love how eager they were to help! I see a couple of short term mission trips on the horizon for these two caring souls one day!! Makes this Momma very proud!!

The cousins on daddies side of the family. I took about 20 shot to get them all smiling at the same time!! :o)

Sugar Pie sporting her new eye patch. She has to wear it for 2 hours a day for the next two months to see if it helps her with her strabismus. She has intermittent exotropia and mild amblyopia mostly of the left eye although it is seen a bit in her right eye also. The Orthoptist hopes this will be enough for her to regain total control of her eye. If not she may have to have surgery and we really don't want to have to o there if possible so say a little prayer for her.

This little man melts my heart every single day.

I made this cake for a little girls 10th birthday last week.

I made this one for a baby shower this past weekend.

Things are going well here. We are waiting on a call from the children's hospital for an appointment for Hunny Bunch to have an MRI done. Once in a while he asks if he will be all better like his sister. He also asked if she cried. :o(. He understands a lot more at 4 than I thought he would. We are also waiting for an appointment to have his four year assessment done. His immunization records are being translated now.

He's only been home for 3 1/2 months but it seems like so much longer! He has completely made this his home, he loves us and every day it shows. He is still sleeping great and speaks 100% perfect English with much more understanding that I ever thought was possible for a child here for this short of time. He talks about his Aya(foster Mom) and his YeYe(foster dad)...he loved her but thought his YeYe was cranky and bossy. He needs to be challenged and is starving for information so I started doing a preschool program with him and he's like a little sponge! He and Sugar get along marvelously. She adores him and likewise. They play so well together. Sugar had greater challenges that she faced when in China and as a result is emotionally younger than her current age. We are working with her and have allowed her to regress to get caught up on the nurturing she so desperately missed while in China. I believe
that's part of the reason they get along so well. Emotionally they are very close in age. We explained Christmas to Hunny Bunch and he is looking forward to it. He also can't wait for snow. He has seen snow in Nanfeng but only a little so he"s in for a real treat!

We had a great weekend. I celebrated my birthday Friday. Hubby wasn't home but my daughter, sister and mom took us out for Chinese food. (No I didn't make myself cake....LOL) Hubby got home Saturday after Chinese school (we went apple picking with them too!) and he took us out for Chinese food again then for supper also!! Mom and my sister got me a backpack for my camera with all the special compartments. My hubby got me an IPad that I'm still trying to figure out. When I woak up that morning I got the kidlings up and rather than singing Happy Birthday to me they sang Jesus Loves Me and it brought me to tears. Here's to another year of being blessed by my 3 children and grandbutton! I love my family so much!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-10-04T23:13:00.000-03:00

Happy Thanksgiving all my Canadian Friends!

She loves her uncle. He thinks she's pretty cute too...ya know long as she isn't trying to kiss him.. :o)
I'm so grateful for the two of them. Miss K is the apple of my eye. She tickles a funny bone in me and makes my heart smile. Hunny Bunch keeps me in giggles with his funny little jokes. He's always teasing me. I love his kisses, they start out like a zurper(raspberry) then it turns into a kiss. God is so good to us.

Monkey see monkey do!

He he....not so scairy faces.

It's nice for Hunny Bunch to have Miss K here once in a while to play with when Sugar Pie is in school. He is rather surrounded by little girls! Took him with me to parent night at Sparks and when the parents went into the other room he was invited to stay and play with all the little girls...the only boy Spark in the crowd! Didn't bother him. He hammed it up! LOL.

Jac.....my very heart beating outside of my own body......my sunshine...turning into a beautiful woman before my eyes. Always ready for a hug from my Pan girl. She melts into my arms and I never want to let her go.

Sugar Pie all cozy on the sofa. She's enjoying school. My sweet little princess. So Thankful for her. She has taught me so much. She is the very definition of gentleness. No one I know gives sweet little kisses like she does. She is such a blessing.

My husband, my rock. I'm so grateful for him. God knew what he was doing when he brought the two of us together. When I'm happy he rejoyces with me, when I'm sad his arms are the arms of Jesus to me as he allows me to pour out my brokenness on him. He is my voice of reason and the love of my life. I love him so much.

Fall is my favorite time of year. I'm so thankful for harvest.

Thankful for everything under the moon that God has blessed us with. Thankful for everything beyond the moon.

And in that day you will say, Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name and by means of His name [in solemn entreaty]; declare and make known His deeds among the peoples of the earth, proclaim that His name is exalted! Isaiah 12: 4
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

End of Summer and Celebrations Pt. 2

2011-09-26T23:44:00.000-03:00

Snowbirds! Hunny Bunch LOVES his airplanes!

Hubby's cake...He likes the buttercream better than fondant.

Hunny Bunch at his first dentist appointment! He was a little apprehensive going in but ended up doing great!

Just a random shot of our little man deep in thought. Such a cutie!!

Sugar Pie finally learned to swing herself!

Cooling off in the pool!

Sandbox fun!

A very happy, confidant, cool and eager little girl on her first day of school!

Kept asking how long before the bus comes.

The poor little dear got cold feet at the bus stop and we had to drive here to school. This was the look I got when I tried to get her to smile for me in the class room....I knew by the look on her face this wasn't going to work in our favor...it was a little overwhelming for her. When I tried to leave she wouldn't have it so I brought her home. The next day she was fine and she finished off the week. The next 2 Mondays were a replay of the first day but she did ok for the rest of the week. Today was her first Monday that she went without a hassle at all. She doesn't deal well with changes...throws her off but she's getting so much better at processing them. Big leap forward!

Made 2 dozen cupcakes for a babyshower. This was a farm animal theme. I used my new cricut cartridge for cupcake wrappers on this one.

Angry Bird cake for a little guys birthday. His request to his mom was that there was lots of fondant on it. I believe I delivered!

Last little swim in the pool.

I can't believe we're at the end of September almost...where is the time going? Hunny Bunch has almost been home for 3 months!

End of Summer Fun and Celebrations Pt. 1!

2011-09-19T14:10:00.002-03:00

I know a lot of time has passed since I last posted but I'm gonna try to get you all caught up on everything over the next little bit. Lots will be pictures that tell the story. Hope to get back on the ball again and stay in touch with all my bloggy friends.

My beautiful big baby girl just turned 24 a couple of weeks ago! My oh my where has the time gone. She never ceases to amaze me. She has budded and bloomed so much over the years but this last little while she seems to have found a right of passage in life and things are changing again as she grabs hold of womanhood/motherhood. She is a wonderful mom to our sweet grandbutton and we couldn't be more proud of her. Happy Birthday Peter Pan!

Our sweet little grandbutton! She'll be 3 in October but it feels like she has always been with us!

I took the munchkins on a picnic one day and Hunny Bunch was in awe of the sounds of the heat beetles in the trees making their humming sound.

We went for a nature walk after our picnic and came across an old storage barn. When I learn to take better pictures with my big girl camera I'll take them back here again.

Being silly!

Sugar Pie putting her second tooth box under her pillow! Very excited little girl she was!

The next morning! Showing her loot! Gone are the days of giving your child a quarter or even 2 bucks for that matter! What's the going rate for a tooth these days anyway? Was 10 over the top? lol.

My darling hubby had a birthday a couple of weeks ago. He just gets more wonderful each and every year. I adore the man he has become. Happy Birthday Black Beauty!

My sweet sister had a birthday a couple of weeks ago too! Actually I had my daughter on her 15th birthday! I don't know of another person in the world I would trust my stuff with than this woman. She has become my best friend and my most faithful prayer warrior! I love you more than words can say little sissy.

I just loved this shot of Hunny Bunch. He has been home now for almost 3 months and has brought a whole new level of joy and happiness to our home. He has an amazing sense of humor, keeps us in stitches! His English is great, and he continues to understand if someone speaks to him in Mandarin. He's very taken with airplanes and rockets, says he wants to be a pilot when he grows up. He's finally put on a couple of pounds and he grew almost an inch already!

Below is just a shot of the windmills I took from my back deck the other day. I thought it was pretty spectacular and had to share!

Today is my nephew's 19th Birthday! Hope your having a wonederful Day Colby Co!

Photo Journaling to Catch Up.

2011-08-18T23:35:00.000-03:00

Sugar Pie had her eye exam this week. We discovered she's a little near sighted and has a bit of a lazy left
eye so we've been trying out some frames. I'm thinking these ones but the ones below are cute too.

She's so cute!

Playing with Play Doe, one of their favorite things to do!

Another favorite hobby! They could do puzzles for hours! We had company over who helped them out with some of these ones. I wish I'd have taken a shot of all f them doing it. Not sure what I was thinking.

This came in the mail this week! Thank you 3D's!! Or better yet 4D's! Hunny Bunch was pretty pumped that they were for him! Seems to him like everything in the house belongs to Sugar Pie so anything he gets
he likes to keep pointing at it then him as if to say "Is it really for me!" Thank you!!! Your sooo sweet!

Sugar Pie was equally excited to see her little treats from the 4D family. She remembered exactly who you were when I told her who it came from! Thank you Doris!!

Sleepover with Miss K!! My grandbutton! Look at how much she's grown! I CAN'T BELIEVE SHE'LL BE 3 IN OCTOBER ALREADY. makes me sad actually. :o(. She is pure sweetness and loves her aunty and uncle VERY much.

YUM! My sissy and I picked these and I made 3-4 batches of Raspberry freezer jam. I wanted lots because it's one of the most requested fillings for my cakes! and ohhhh so delish!

I had a bumper crop of cherries this year! I made 3 pies, and 4 cherry crisps and still gave some cherries away.

Hunny Bunch loves picking seeded dandelions and blowing the seeds off. He's grown almost 1/2 an inch since being home 6 weeks ago already. His English is coming along great. He's learning so fast! There isn't too much he doesn't miss and he can help us understand what he wants by motioning with his hands or taking us to where the item is he wants or just saying a couple of key words. He's saying a few sentences such as "There ya go", "Wo lub you Mommy/Daddy", "Need to Pee", "Drive truck", "I hungry Mommy","Gonna see Jai Jai?", "Go to store?", "My turn?", and he can say grace 100% by himself now too! He knows his alphabet and can count to 10 without a blink! It helps that he has such a bright big sister!

The neighbors kids came over to play? Whew thank goodness they're on that side of the fence. On the other side of our yard we have pony's. They've come threw the fence a couple of times already...ruined my garden. :o(..thankfully my little ones were indoors..I don't know how to shooo a calf or pony off my yard....they sure are cute, but only on their own side of the fence.

Snack time fun....decorating their own cupcakes.

This was Hunny Bunch's first cupcake! He enjoyed decorating it his big boy self! See the scar on the temple of his left eye? It's in the shape of a heart!...Not sure what it's from, I wondered if it was maybe 2 chicken pox that left one scar. He has a nasty scar on his little wrist also. I asked our guide to ask him about it and he told her it was burnt. :o(.

This was made for a lady's little 1 year old daughter. It was to be used in a cake smash photo shoot but the photographer had to cancel on her session and rebook it for a couple of days later. The lady didn't know how to store it. She put it in the fridge and the fondant started to collect condensation. She emailed me and asked if it was the right thing to do and I told her to take it out right away but the damage was already done. :o(. She asked me if I could make another one on short notice and I came to the rescue.

The pastel colors are a bit lighter, the ribbon a little different and this time I put tiny little dots between the flowers. Looking forward to seeing the pictures when she gets them. Nice thing for her was the photographer agreed to cover the cost of the second cake for her.

Sugar and Hunny Coloring. Another favorite past time.

Running at Friendship Park.

I had a Mommy/Daughter date a couple of weeks ago with my big baby girl. It was nice to spend some time with her, seems like forever ago since we had a chance to just hang out.
She's recovering right now from surgery on her leg. few days after our outing a cyst formed on the back of her upper leg that got infected and burst. She went to her family Dr. Monday and he recommended her to the surgeon right away and they took her right in. Praying for a quick recovery!

Our children :o)

Today we were in town and I had to stop at someones house to quickly run in and grab something. I wasn't gone 2 minutes and Sugar Pie pulled her tooth out! No trauma, drama or tears! Yay! She was so excited! So under the pillow it went! The tooth fairy left a trail of pixy dust on her bedroom floor when she put the money under Sugar's pillow!

Now won't she be irresistible with glasses and a missing tooth!

MAKING UP FOR THE YEARS CELEBRATION!

2011-07-26T22:17:00.001-03:00

Making up for the years celebration cakes! Remember when we did THIS for Sugar Pie! We wanted to celebrate all of the birthdays we missed with our son too so we did it this past weekend with family. He and I are really good at playing charades so I told him "Momma (as I point at myself) will fix (he know when something is broke or he needs help that Mama can sometimes fix it) Hunny Bunch (as I point at him) a cake (he knows what cake is cause I showed him a picture) in 3( as I hold up 3 fingers) sleeps(I put my hands together and lay my head sideways). The next day he repeated what I said with 2 fingers to show sleeps. :o) he's so smart!!

He was soooo excited! He couldn't believe all four of them were for him! He is such a grateful little guy. The Chinese writing on the cake blocking his shirt stands for CELEBRATE and we sure did and will continue! The cake to the left stands for HAPPINESS which he is named for and lives up to his name. The middle one stands for HAND which means he is always willing to help and offer a hand. the cake on the right stands for FUN and he is a ton of that! Sweet little Hunny Bunch we will never miss another birthday as long as we are on this side of heaven. We love you can't wait to share many more celebrations of many kinds with you! Your such a blessing and you've changed our lives forever!
HAPPY BELATED 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th BIRTHDAY'S SWEET HUNNY BUNCH!!

Pictures!

2011-07-20T09:54:00.000-03:00

In no certain order here are some updated pictures. This is what we arrived home to! We are home safe and sound, been 2 weeks and Hunny Bunch has made this his home. He is such a happy little guy. Night time is the only time he struggles. He slept with his foster momma so he cried for her a few times but the last few nights he seems content if I just go in with him and sit on his bedside to sing until he falls asleep. Sugar Pie loves her little brother and is quick to help anyway she can! She hasn't retained any of her Mandarin but she is really good at reading his body language and he is really good at trying to make gestures to help you understand what he's saying.

Thank you Cora! I ordered the pants from her and she sent a few other treats for the little ones. Hunny Bunch LOVES to color so he's having tons of fun with Cora's Color Me Home coloring books. Sugar Pie had one from her AZ Auntie and enjoyed it too! The top for Sugar Pie is darling!

Hunny Bunch coloring.

A sweet lady at our church blessed us with this sweet digital painting of Hunny Bunch. We had her do one of our big girl, grandbutton, a wedding one of Shane and I and one of Sugar Pie so she wanted us to have one of him as well. I love this one!

Hunny Bunch at his 1st parade. He loved it! Especially this float with the plane on it. He really enjoyed the firetrucks also and wasn't at all bothered by the sirens.

Hunny smelling a daisey.

Hunny and Sugar at Shining Waters! This was Hunny's first time at the water park. We got a season pass so it won't be his last!

Hunny's 1st trip to the beach. He was fearless!

I don't know why I love this picture so much but I do....they are so cute!

My sweet friend Kim had her momma make this for Hunny Bunch. I adore it! It's perfect for cuddling! There is a ton of work that goes into each one of these blankets. It's definitely a labor of love. Thank you Kim and thank you Kim's Momma!!! It will be treasured forever!

We had a play date last week with a local family who came here for work from China. Their son is 4, same age as Hunny Bunch. They all had a great time. I was able to ask the Mom to ask Hunny a couple of questions and to tell him how Daddy's work schedule works so he wasn't confused. This is such a blessing to be able to communicate with him threw this family. I asked the mom if I could call her and have her translate for me from time to time and she said that would be ok with her. I"m thinking things like Dr's appointments ect. Rather than springing them on him.

Playing at the park!

Ahhhhhh! Sigh.....my three beautiful babies. I love this picture. Our big baby girl came over and they were playing on the trampoline for the longest time. I actually video taped it cause the laughing was so precious coming from the 3 of them that I had to preserve it!

there you have it, a little update on how our little family is doing. We are enjoying the summer and having lots of fun! Have had lots of visitors and they are still coming. We have a BBQ this weekend coming and hoping to get to the water park too!

Heading home!

2011-06-30T06:48:00.001-03:00

We're at the Beijing Airport, we had to come with the rest of the group but our flight doesn't leave til 6. Been a long day of packing, getting bags to bell boys, haulng carry ons down to the bus, checking out then all the fun line ups for various things during an international flight. PLUS all the proof you have to have to prove your Chinese child is yours! Lol. We're here and waiting. Check in later.

We are finally boarding. Ready for the 12 hour flight. We are spending the night in Toronto then fly out Saturday morning. We arrive in Charlottetown along with another Island couple at 11:45 am. I'm super excited Hunny Bunch is arriving home on Canada Day!! See you on the flip side!!

Looking forward to seeing everyone!!!!......including Tim Horton!!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Hi From China!

2011-06-27T12:01:00.000-03:00

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Free collage customized with Smilebox

Ok I didn’t live up to my promise to try to get caught up on my blog. It just seems we don’t have enough time in the day with the tours, late dinners and the little ones. I have been faithful to my journal though. I want Hunny Bunch to be able to read it someday and know every detail to how this trip was. Ok let me try to recap what we’ve done since I blogged last.

Day 5: Had a good night last night everyone slept well. Hunny Bunch woke up around 10:30 for a pee… ‘twas there I learned that you should always pull little boy’s pants down while they’re facing the toilet not facing you :o|. We met in the lobby and went to the Teng Wan Pavilion today. It was beautiful. I also learned today when we were in the garden beside the pavilion that it’s ok for little children to pee outside anywhere in China…after of course I turned red as a beet when Hunny Bunch peed into the water from the little bridge. Our guide told me right away not to worry. I wish I knew this when we came to China in 09 for Sugar! I think I lost 10 lbs just running for the bathroom every time she said she had to go. Mary brought us all our necessary documents tonight. We realized when Hunny goes to sleep at night he likes to play with his ears. He literally folds them and sticks them inside and they stay there, it’s the funniest thing! Sugar has been a wonderful little role model. She certainly loves her little brother. She hasn’t displayed much jealousy but there are times she needs to be reminded that she’s our big girl and we love that she’s older and can help. It’s important for her to feel significant. We pour the love out equally to the both of them but I always like to stress a little measure more to Sugar so she isn’t feeling like she’s less important or loved. I just love seeing her put her little arm around him. Makes my heart swell.

Day 6 We had breakfast and it worked much better with a high chair this time. Hunny bunch was out of reach for anything to throw on the floor and anything he didn’t want on his plate he put to the side this time. I thing in his foster home he just threw stuff on the floor and it was ok. He just didn’t know but he’s a very quick teach. He loves to repeat English words after you too! He’s going to learn the language fast. Today we went to a village outside the city to see how some of the poorer people of China live. There were very old homes. The villagers followed us around the town for a while. It was hard to see that there are people in the world who live like they do but they are very content. Many don’t know the difference. We left and went to A park called People’s Park which was very beautiful. There was a little area with a bridge and koi in the water. You could buy food and feed them so we bought some and Hunny Bunch and Sugar Pie fed them…then Hunny Bunch wanted to see what all the fuss was about and tried one too. :o)…he’s all little boy folks! I go our guide to tell Hunny we would be going on a big plane in 2 days so he would know what to expect next and he just nodded yes. Then I got her to ask him if he likes his new family and he nodded his head yes with a sweet smile on his face. It brought tears to my eyes to know he so easily accepted us into his life….who adopted who anyway hey!? Sugar keeps asking if we will keep him forever :o) so cute. When we got back to the hotel we took the little ones to the pool for a swim. Our guide dropped off our pictures from the disposable cameras we sent to Hunny Bunch a few months ago. I was glad that they took some. They aren’t great but they are a part of his past and that’s important to us to keep it for him.

Day 7 Today after breakfast we went the August 1st Park. It was a busier park that Peoples was but that may be because the time of day. There was many people taking dance lessons, doing tichi and exercising in one part and in another part there were people singing in groups. We took the little ones on a carousal ride and a little emperor ride.
They really enjoyed themselves. We came up to a little area where they were making necklaces with your name written on a piece of rice. That was pretty neat! I got one for Sugar and one for Hunny. We went to McDonalds then shopping in a 9 story mall. That was an experience! Each floor is some thing different. Went we got back our guide gave us Hunny Bunch's finding add from the newspaper. It was the actual newspaper too not just a photo copy. Up in the room the kids wore off some stored up energy from being in the sit-n-stand stroller all day. They ran around teasing each other then decided for kicks to run up behind me and stick things in my pockets and my belt hoops then take off laughing their little heads off. Then Hunny found a balloon with a string and tied me to the stroller. Lol. We also got Hunny’s Chinese passport today!

Day 8 Today we had to get up early and eat then head to the airport to fly to Beijing. The flight in a smaller domestic flight was rougher than in a big plane. Hunny didn’t want to be stuck in the seatbelt and he got a little upset but he was fine. A bit later they fed us a meal and after a few bites of food I thought Hunny looked funny so I grabbed
A little airsick bag and sure enough just in time. I got him cleaned up and he wanted to eat again but I showed him a little cherry flavored treat and he thought he would try it out and he rather enjoyed it. It was a ¼ of a children’s gravol. He was sound asleep in about 15 minutes. Just enough to finish out the flight. I think on the trip back to Canada I’ll just let him eat a little tiny bit and give him a little piece of a gravol to help with the motion. I think he’ll be fine. We got our luggage and found Vivian right away. We got to the hotel in just enough time to get to the room and get our suitcases then run down stairs to the lobby for our group picture then I had to run up to do citizenship paperwork. I ordered a stamp for Hunny with his name on it. I used Sugars to sign her Valentines! It’s a nice thing for them to have when they are older too. A bit later we got ready and headed to the Beijing Zoo. The kids loved it! I got lots of pics. My laptop for some strange reason won’t let me upload them…my last post I had to put them all in a smilebox album and published it to blogger and it worked so I may try to do that later. For supper we all went to a Steak and Egg restaurant that we went to last time we were here. It’s owned by a guy who is from Cape Breton. He moved to the States then met a Chinese lady and moved here and opened his business. I ate poutine!! It was exactly like home!! Yay! Sugar Pie fell asleep…she’s 2 for 2 now cause the first time we were here in 09 she fell asleep. Comfort food maybe? Lol.

Day 9 Today we went to the Jade factory first. I took some amazing photo’s of some huge jade pieces. We got a few things while we were there. Then went to THE GREAT WALL. This was my favorite part so far. I really wanted Hunny to experience walking it. He did better than all of us! We got him his little medal saying he walked the wall. This was Sugar Pie’s second time! I lost sight of Shane and Hunny Bunch so Sugar Pie and I thought we would catch up with them at the second pier but I didn’t see them then I looked behind me and they we only getting there! Sugar and I raced them to the top!

Shane’s Mom and Dad went a little ways but decided not to go too far. It was hot and humid and the steps were pretty steep. I was proud of them for getting as far as they did. They got a couple of nice tshirts that said I walked the Great Wall. We went back to the bus. Hunny Bunch sat with me, he looked out the window and got a little quiet. He started to whimper a bit then he cried softly for a little while and I just ran my fingers threw his hair and told him in Chinese that it was ok. He fell asleep. I knew he was thinking about his foster family and I was relieved that he was allowing himself to cry. It’s a very good sign to know he loved them so much. He will bond to us if he did to them. We already have much proof of that. He has been a happy little boy right from day 1. He loves to tease and play around, he's super funny and a real charmer too. If he’s all this already I can’t imagine what he’ll be like in just a few short months.

We miss home. I do love it here but you can only take so much. This group is a wonderful group of families I think the world of them all. Looking forward to getting home to my big baby girl and my grandbutton…I get a lump in my throat when I think of them. I miss them. I miss my mom and my sister too. Looking forward to seeing my friends too! So much to tell!

Love and hugz from China!

A few pictures if this works for me!

2011-06-23T12:05:00.000-03:00

Photo album generated with Smilebox

China Days 123 & 4

2011-06-21T11:58:00.001-03:00

EDIT: I tried to upload some pictures but it's taking way to long. I'll try again tomorrow gotta go get some sleep! Hugz from China!!

I'll just give the highlights of the days then try to recap and go into greater detail when I get a chance.

Day 1: We got into Beijing pretty late so we missed most of the day. (Due to the 6 hour delay in TO) We tried to get some sleep but after a 12 hour flight and sitting for that long it was a little hard to go to sleep not to mention the hour change. Flight was great, Sugar Pie is a wonderful traveler. She surprised me! Hard for her to sit long but she managed to keep herself busy.

Day 2: Breakfast was great, love those western breakfasts! Sugar and her new found friend Miss M hit it off right away. We went on a tour of the poorer side of the city today. It was interesting. They are such humble people. We went on a tour to the "Drum Tower". You had to walk up a HUGE flight of steps to get to the tower. Sugar Pie scaled it. Shanes dad aced it, his mom did it bless her heart but was pretty outta wind. Shane and I did it no problem. After that we all took a rickshaw to the road we needed to get to to walk back to the hotel. We got back and relaxed a bit then we all went out for supper. Met a few more families then back to the room to try to get some sleep! At this point Shane and I haven't slept much in the last 36 hours. Running on adreniline I think!

Day 3: Up and to the bus by 5 am to head to our childrens provinces. Flight was good, Smaller plane so it was a little more rough. We arrived to the province got our baggage and found our guide right away. Jumped in the van and headed to the hotel. We knew we would get the children that day but didn't realize until we asked that the chioldren were going to be there waiting for us when we arrived!!!!!!! I didn't have the little bag of toys I wanted to give him! Sugar Pie had a little teddy she was going to give him so that would have to make do. We got there and wern't even 10 feet into the door when I spotted a sweet little boy to the right far off corner sitting there with a couple of nannies and the director. They were talking to him and telling him who we were then they put him in my arms and comforted him. He was as stiff as anything, he wasn't smiling, he looked really blank..we gave him his little teddy and the director took pictures of us then the director told our guide to tell me that Hunny Bunch wanted to go to his pre school to say bye to everyone before he left. He went and he told them he would go to Canada and when he comes back he would bring them all really good treats. :o(...so sweet. Sounds like they really prepared him. The director spoke to him again and then they left. We went up to the room for a short little while then we had to go meert our guide at 1 to start the paper work. (Here in Nanchang they both give you your child and do the formal adoption the same day as opposed to getting the child then having the 24 hour harmonious period then paperwork the next day. So we made it to the government building accross the street which was an adventure in and of itself! We were sent off to a darker style room with dark wood furnature in it and we signed papers, gave this fee then that fee. Had an interview, paid the orphanage donation, got our fingerprints, our sons foot prints then off to another office a few blocks away...unlike in Canada a few blocks only takes a few minutes, this was almost 30 minutes! Sugar Pie was falling asleep on me. Hunny Bunch was fading they were both hungry and tired. I handed a sleeping Sugar to Nanny while Shane and I went in to the passport office to sigh more papers and answer more questions. Then off to the police station to have photo's taken. Our guide Mary said we would have to wait until Friday for his passport so we won't get back to Beijing until Saturday morning. We came back to the hotel and ate at the restaurant. I was beat...that all happened so fast I had to go threw it all in my head and try to make sure everything was done the way it was supposed to be done. And I wondered why we weren't told before hand that there were a couple other extra fees we didn't know about. I hadn't realized we had to pay to have the child brought over to the hotel nor did I know we were required to help pay for the translated money order. I stayed up and wrote out every detail I could remember in my journal. It's moments like this you never want to forget and the smallest detail is vital info! I put some pics on facebook. They took forever to load up so I only put a few.

Day 4: Last night I got up feeling just terrible. I had a bad headache and my tummy was sick. I did end up getting sick, I tried to get back to sleep buy my head was pounding so I waited then when Shane went to bed I figured it would be safe to take a gravol. Got up at 6ish. Sugar Pie was a squirmy worm and it's hard to sleep when someone is kicking you LOL. We went for breakfast and I just had toast. Everyone else ate well and had a good sleep. We went back to the room and took it easy for the morning. At 12 we ventured out to the shopping mart down the road. It was so hot and humid we just got what we needed and got out. We just had supper in our room and the kids played. They get along really well. You would think they have always been together. Hunny Bunch is a sweet sweet little boy. Very bright! And he loves to sing...He sang Twinkle Twinkle to me in Chinese today which was very sweet. The a bit later he gave me a kiss! I'm totally smitten!

Ok that's about all I can catch you up on today so I'll try not to fall behind by 4 days again!

Debbie & Shane Gallant

3 hour delay in TO.

2011-06-17T13:35:00.001-03:00

We just found out there's a 3 hour delay for our flight to Beijing. We've already been here for 6 hours! What's another 3! Lol. Everything happens for a reason. We're all good. Met up with a couple other couples so we're in good company! Sugar Pie has a friend and they're coloring. Can't wait to get there!!!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Heading out Friday morning!!!

2011-06-15T23:34:00.005-03:00

Well 1 1/2 more sleeps and we are on our way! Been fine tuning things that are already done and tweaking this and that..we are more than ready! Today was Sugar Pie's last day of kindergarten so I went to the school to pick her up because she had a load of stuff to cart home with her. She sure is going to miss her teacher. Ms.S is wonderful, I wish she could teach her straight through to grade 12! One of the items she brought home that blessed me the most was this picture below. :o)

We built our house 7 years ago and the vapor barrier went in almost every one of our windows! They were guaranteed for 10 years so we ordered new ones and just got the call they are all at the suppliers now. Have to wait til we get home to get them in. I'll be so glad to finally be able to look outside a clear window!

I got the veggie garden planted!! Wasn't sure this would happen before our trip but I had an energy surge and went to town! The sunflowers are called Kong...they can grow up to 14 ft! When we were at the green house buying the seeds the ladies asked Sugar Pie if she wanted a tree to plant (they had little white pine seedlings for the little ones) then they asked if there were any other little ones at home and I told them there would be in a couple of weeks! They gave another one to Sugar and told her to plant it for her little brother. I started to get teary eyed right there...I really believe when a woman is adopting and your this close your body produces the same hormone a physically pregnant woman does! It doesn't take much to get me going these last 2 weeks!

One of my hubby's best buddy's came over on the weekend with this adorable jacket for Hunny Bunch. It's a team jacket for our local hockey team here. It has our last name embroidered on the back. He'll look so good in red too! Hubby working away at the deck. He can only do it on the weekends so it's taking him longer than he would like but it will get done eventually. He just needs his little boy helper to get her to pass him the nails. ;O). Here he's working on the part where he'll put a gazebo. Can't wait to see it when it's done!

Guess I stuck this picture in the wrong place...any way this is our little veggie garden! Can't wait to see Sugar Pie and Hunny Bunch in there picking out their favorite pumpkin this fall!

Sugar Pie had her spring concert last week. She was singing a song called "Gator Baby" to the tune of "Santa Baby". The Gator is the schools mascot. One of the lines in the songs goes """Look at all the fun I've missed, without a Gator baby brother to kiss""and guess what I did when I heard that line? ...Yup I cried. LOL.

I've set up a mobile email for blogger so I should have no trouble posting. Hopefully!

We would love it if you think of us in your prayers! Coverage is vital, and we would be greatly blessed. Prayer for Hunny Bunch, that he will feel comforted if he grieves right away, comfort for the wonderful foster family who gave so much of themselves to help our little boy. Safety as we travel. Health. That we have all the necessary things we need. Shane's parents are traveling with us so prayer for them as well. That we can switch the 12 hour difference easily. Prayer that Sugar Pie will travel well. Prayer for Shane that he can keep his blood sugars regulated with the change in foods. (He did really well the last trip). Prayer that my back will hold up to carrying a little one around during some of the longer daily excursions! That whatever this skin irritation around my eyes and my neck goes away. (Never had an allergy before so not sure if this is what it could be or not). Prayer for my big girl who's not been feeling very well lately. She's had some blood work done and her iron count was way up. Hoping she's get answers really soon. And last but certainly not least that we would enjoy our trip and have many wonderful memories to talk about for years to come!!

So I think this will be the last post until we're in China, unless I have a chance to post tomorrow night when I can't sleep!!!!!!! Ahhhh! I think this is all starting to sink in! Pinch me! My sister and Mom and coming down to the airport to see us off, I'm finding great comfort in this. They and our friend Gary will be checking on the house, watering the plants, and cutting the grass while we're gone. Our kitty Midgie is off to my friend Dara's for the 2 weeks. They took her today...I miss her already....even though I let on she's a pain in the but. :o)....think she grew on me..I once hated cats.

10 more days and we're in China!!!!

2011-06-09T09:11:00.002-03:00

Whew! 10 more days to go!!!!!!!!

@~We're at day 40 waiting for our TA. (I'm not going to worry..)
@~Received Visa passports yesterday! Thank heavens because the Canadian Postal Workers strike rotation hit our area just this morning! 11:59?
@~Today I'm getting my hair done...I can't wait!
@~Boston or Vancouver??? This is getting good!! I'm torn! I'd love to see Canada win the cup but there are 14 Canadians playing on Boston's team and one of them is from here! Which means the cup will come here!
@~I'm nesting like crazy! Gardens got weeded and new mulch put down yesterday...so far I'm not sore..hopefully I won't be!
@~Been walking 5 Km or more a day, these short legs have to keep up to everyone!
@~I cry at the silliest things.
@~We have 15 families in our group, some are bringing children and family or friends. With the new little ones we'll have a group of 59 people!!!!!
@~Sugar Pie is getting super excited to meet her little brother, seems to really be sinking in. We've talked about it for so long that it must seem to be taking forever to her......(It's taking forever for ME!)
@~I can't wait for my big baby girl to meet him...and my grandbutton too!!
@~Hunny Bunch we are coming sooooonnnnnn!!!!
@~Yup that's what's happening in my head right now....no certain theme or rhythm...I'm kinda all over the place....and it's ok cause I'm EXCITED!!!!
@~ I think I'll go bake a cake for a "Smash the cake" photo of Sugar Pie.
@~Labor pains are closer!
@~Have a great day!!

12 more sleeps!! We are so close!!!

2011-06-06T23:25:00.004-03:00

12 More sleeps!! We are still waiting for our TA and our agency just sent out our Visa passports today. They sent them express post, they didn't seem too concerned with the Canada Post strike effecting it's delivery so we should recieve them soon. I sealed the suitcases shut this morning except for the one we need to put our toiletries in. YAY!

It just occurred to me today that our original log in date was June 16th, 2006. It's amazing that 5 years and one day later we'll be driving to the airport to board a plane heading for China to bring home our second child!

7 years ago I would have never imagined my world would have folded out into this. I still marvel at the way God turns ashes into beauty. I was feeling hopeless 6 years ago after trying to get pregnant for the previous 3 years and not being successful. I thought God had deserted me.....left me dry and barren in a grey world. Little did I know what He was working on behind the scenes. My husband was being prepared to open his heart to the love of the Lord and shed his Iron armour...I didn't see that coming.....He was wearing down my I-AM-Woman-Hear-ME-Roar attitude and tenderizing my heart..I didn't see that coming.....He was teaching me grace with a teenage child.....I didn't see that coming.....He was positioning my sister to receive Him into her heart...and He used a stubborn woman who tried hard to understand what was happening in her own life to be His instrument...I didn't deserve that honor.....I didn't see it coming.

He put people in my path who spoke into my life at the exact right moments.....and I made my journey back to Him. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was walking down the road I was crying and ready to surrender. I raised my arms and I layed my agenda down....and told Him to take over. I had no idea He was about to open the avenue to adoption....I came home from my walk and not long after there was a tug at my heart to search online China adoption...there was never even a thought of another country or even domestic...for a few weeks I searched and investigated. Then one day I sat my husband down and asked him to think about adoption....(ultimately we had the choice to make between invetro or adoption)..I didn't want him to be swayed by anything I said. I wanted him to search his heart and take as much time as he needed. He didn't take long to make a decision. He believed it was what we were meant to do. An ocean of relief swept over me for I had already started to fall in love with a little girl from China...this took place spring of 2005....Sugar Pie was born May 13th 2005....I don't remember the exact date I walked down the road and surrendered all to the Lord but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it was May 12.

While we were waiting and waiting....I just couldn't understand what was taking so long....the end of April 2007 I got a call from a cousin of mine who lives in another city...she knew we were anxiously waiting to adopt a child and she learned of a family who had a daughter who was unable to keep her child...a little boy...she asked if we would consider. She gave me the family's phone number and old them if I was interested I may call them. They were waiting for me to call. I did and I asked for only facts and nothing personal about this 4 month old baby boy..(I didn't want to get my hopes up). It was a Friday and it was after 5 so I couldn't call the provincial adoption office to inquire about concurrent adoptions. We met with our pastor and wife and we talked and prayed. Monday came and I called the province and she said we were not allowed to do a concurrent adoption. We would have to stop our China process if we decided to say yes to this little boy....In one hand we had a baby boy who potentially could have been in our lives within a couple of weeks or so and in our other hand we had faith that there was a little girl in China waiting for us but may wait for another 2 or more years....we couldn't turn our back on China....we just felt too strongly that she was there already...this would be a test in faith for both of us.

I felt bad for the little guy but I felt that if anything I would be his prayer Momma...I still pray for him when I think of him....we got that phone call about the little boy the end of April 2007.......our sweet boy who is waiting for us in China....his birthday is April 28, 2007....ironic? Ashes to beauty.

I didn't see it coming...and I'm glad I didn't. God is always good...even when we don't understand...and the wait.....was totally worth it.....after all how many times did He wait...thank you Jesus for waiting for me. Thank you for the work you did in my life and my loved ones lives while we waited. Your timing was perfect. Glory is Yours and I will continue to share Your love in our story every chance I get. Praise You Jesus!!!

“Instead of shame my people will receive a double portion [of blessing], and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance. In my faithfulness I will reward them…. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”
Isaiah 61.

We'll be traveling with the group we were assigned to travel with back in 2006 with our original LID. So I already knew who many of them were...ironic? Ashes to Beauty baby...and only Jesus can bring life where there was a dry, barren, grey world....will you let Him do that for you....He's waiting....patiently......for you to say yes. May God bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you.

Check out my little brag book I made below. It's super easy and fun to make.

Here's a fun, easy and sweet craft! The little ones at sparks made them! It's just 4 lunch bags cut at 5inches stapled together bound with a 1 1/2 inch piece of card stock and then you cut out 12 4x4 pieces of card stock or scrap paper for each page. The 4 sheets you put inside the paper bags have a little piece of ribbon stapled to them to make it easy to pull out.

Use an acid free glue to piece all of it together with 10 of your favorite pictures and decorate to suit your style!
These would be a really sweet greeting card for someone. LOVE IT!

Midgie: Hummmm, can we negotiate where I'll be staying while you leave for China......You know I hate change.

Can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp! She's getting very excited to meet her little brother Hunny Bunch!

18 more sleeps!

2011-05-31T22:17:00.007-03:00

~@ Happy June!!!! Sugar Pie is soooo ready to bring her little brother home this month!!! She can't wait to share the sandbox with him! We just added 7 bags of the colored Crayola to it! It's so pretty! We also bought an outdoor tampoline and a season pass to the water park so we are ready for the summer to begin!!! We just need little brother Hunny Bunch!!

~@ 18 more sleeps!....if only I could sleep as well as this little guy above! One of the couples at our church gave this to Sugar Pie for her birthday. The husband is a wonderful photgrapher.

~@ He took this picture as well. This snowy owl made frequent apperances last winder but this year we only seen him the once. I told them about it and the hubby spent hours out in the area tryig to get a good shot of him. I'm tickled pink to have this rare shot of him.

~@ I made this cake for a lady who's hubby loves his '68 Dodge Dart. This was an actual photo of his car scanned onto an icing sheet.

~@ Here is the lap quilt I made for the end of Hunny Bunch's bed. Sugar Pie has one and drags it around with her on cool nights. It's a great blanket for taking outside to sit one and snuggle in on a chair with...looking forward to lots of nights by the fire pit staring up at the stars!

~@ If anyone is interested in swaping fabric or just wants to add one to Hunny Bunch's 100 good wishes quilt let me know! I think I'm up to 65 so I need 35 more and I can get started on his.

~@ If your not sure what a 100 Good Wishes Quilt is click HERE and you can read about it.

Have a great week!!

Hunny Bunch's Birthday Party in China!! and a few updates!

2011-05-24T23:00:00.003-03:00

Hunny Bunch's 4th Birthday! - free slideshow maker with music

Ann from Red Thread China sent us a HUGE surprise! She said she would ask if they could take a couple pictures but also said there were no guarantees. When she sent us 23 pictures I couldn't believe my eyes! I know this is a little late but I had to do Sugar Pie's birthday post first.

Lets try to catch up on a few things while I'm here:

*26 more sleeps!

*Flights are booked! We leave Friday June 17th and arrive back home here on July 1st! Our son will be granted citizenship as soon as his feet hit Canadian soil! How fitting that it's on Canada Day!

*We get him the day after Father's day! What a perfect gift for Shane!

*I'm packed...well with the exception of Shane's clothes....I'm at him about it...I'm slowly sneaking clothes and packing them..so far he hasn't missed any. Shhhh!

*We are 24 days waiting for our Travel Approval.

*Waiting for our China travel Visa's to come back.

*We have 15 families coming on this trip! Lots are bringing their children along and many are Sugar's age so it will be wonderful for her.

*Sugar is super excited to bring her Didi home, she has a little countdown in his bedroom. She goes in each day and puts a sticker on the chart and says a little prayer for him! Melts my heart!

*I've been walking 10-12 km a day and trying to eat well. Feeling great!

*Hubby's doing lots of renos around the house, hopefully he'll accomplish of all the things he wants done before we go.

*I hope our weather takes a shift soon! It's still under 10 degrees here most days! BRRR!

*Lots of things changing in my friends lives....funny how the seasons of life change hey...I usually need time for changes...hope I find a new normal again soon.

*I am looking so forward to this summer, enjoying the weekends with my husband and children. Hopefully we'll have good weather on the weekends so we can BBQ lots!

Have a wonderful week friends!
God Bless you!

Slide Show from Sugar Pie's Birthday Party

2011-05-16T17:11:00.009-03:00

Sugar Pie Turns 6 - Free Slideshow Maker

As promised here are the pictures from Sugar Pie's birthday Party. We had it at the SuperStore grocery store in their cooking room. The kids got to make their own little pizza, they chopped up all the toppings and spread it over their crust. Then they were each given a 8 inch chocolate cake and a TON of icing and WAY too much candy! Our daughter isn't used to all that sugar at all. She had one cupcake and we knew it wouldn't take her long before a sugar crash kicked in. She opened her gifts and blew out her candles on her little cupcake cake and as I suspected she turned flush in the face and her eyes started to droop. By the time we got home she was pretty much asleep in my arms going up the house steps. She had a great day and was very blessed by everyone who shared her special day. The best part about having it at the community cooking school is I didn't have to clean up and run around like crazy....wait!...why did I then? LOL....must be the mom in me. :o)...can't wait until our son is home so he will have fun parties like this! Our Little grandbutton is at a fun age for birthday parties too!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUGAR PIE!

Happy 6th Birthday Sugar Pie!!

2011-05-13T14:56:00.004-03:00

Look Who's 6!!

I love this one, she has the cutest smile when she's laughing over mommy tripping out of the photographers way. :o)

Such a blessing to our lives. We love you Sugar Pie! Her party is tomorrow so there will be party pictures to follow this post. Last night I was up until 1:30 making her a special surprise cake for her kindergarten class. At lunch time today it was delivered and it totally caught her off guard but she was sooooo excited! She loved it and she felt extra special!

The kids went nuts trying to catch and burst the bubbles!!! This was such a fun cake to make!!!!!!! Tomorrow at her birthday party they are all making their own cake and I just ordered a cupcake cake for everyone to share...it's The Little Mermaid too!!

It's my child's birthday
Shee just went dashing by
Her eyes are sparkling with the excitement meant only for today.
Presents, kisses, hugs, cake, ice cream
It all seems so natural.
It's a day of looking back and looking forward.

It's my child's birthday
But there is something different happening inside me.
This should be a day of complete joy
A day for Thanksgiving
But in the midst of all this excitement
I pause, because my thoughts are about someone else for a time.

It's my child's birthday
I have no memories of her life growing inside me and fighting to be
released.
Another someone was there
Another someone suffered for my joy.

It's my child's birthday
But someone, somewhere, is feeling emptiness inside.
I'm sure she is wondering
Who she looks like
If she is big or small.
Wondering if she laughs much.

It's my child's birthday
And in the midst of this blessed day that was given to me
I have a prayer.

Oh God, that I may never forget that someone suffered so much to give life
to my child.
That someone loved my child so very much that she gave her the right to
live. May I never
forget for a moment and especially now, today, to offer a prayer of thanks
for that someone
and that you, dear God, will always be there for that someone to help her
through the hurts
she will have when she stops to think that today is "my child's birthday."

Travel Group Set For June 18th!! Happy Mother's Day to Me!

2011-05-05T23:44:00.004-03:00

Whoo! Hooo! I emailed our agency today and asked if they could confirm or deny we would be in the July 9th group. The flights prices are getting more and more expensive and we were egar to book something before they are through the roof (with cancellation insurance in case we had to switch it to another date). They called us and said they have a group leaving June 18th and that our TA would be here in plenty of time!!!! I'm so excited! I had my countdown on facebook at 65 this morning and tonight it's at 45!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's like 6 weeks! I'll be kissing those cheeks 20 days earlier! Couldn't ask for a better Mother's Day present!!!!! Praise God! He is sooo good!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Test

2011-05-04T22:07:00.000-03:00

Just testing to see if I can post on blogger from my phone and email! Thought I'd post the pic of Sugar Pie's birthday invitations! Aren't they cute! Big party in 9 days!!
Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

EXCITING!!

2011-04-29T11:04:00.005-03:00

EDIT!!!! Just got the call! 60 day wait is over! Our Provincial Adoption Coordinator just called and our LOA/LSC is here! Signing Monday morning!
My sweet sister surprised me with a treat at my door the other day when I got home. She presented it to me as an award. She calls it my "Big Girl of the year award" for the way I handled the news about when the next travel date would be. (perhaps it looked more graceful than it really was...it was a choice to know it's all in God's hands although my flesh was still crying out in self pity..) It's a chocolate countdown! Each box has two of my favorite chocolates in them, mint and cherry!

We are assuming (prayerfully) our LOA/LSC and TA will be here in time to travel in the July 9th group which leaves us with 71 days to go. We have been waiting for 60 days for our LOA/LSC. Our agency's last group just arrived back to Canada yesterday. Welcome home families! We are hoping that they have out LOA with them...I'm too afraid to ask...been pestering too much lately so I'll wait a couple weeks and see what they can tell me if they don't contact me before hand.

Sugar Pie and I had a little celebration for Little Boy Blue yesterday, we bought him a few things and had cake. The two outfits shown are from his Nanny June and Aunt Dorly from Easter. I was a little sad that I couldn't get ahold of our agency in sufficient time to have something sent to him. I was on a yahoo group for families who have adopted from the same place and they gave me the info below which has made my day today!! I LOVE our adoption yahoo groups!

Thank you Anne at Red Thread for making it possible for our son to have a birthday celebration. She will send him a cake, a card, with a translated letter to him inside!!! As well as a camera so they can capture this special occasion! I wish I would have found her a couple of days earlier so that he could have had it yesterday but I'm sure he won't mind! I'm so excited and happy!

Dear Ke Xin,
Hi sweet boy, we are hoping you had a nice birthday with your foster Mama and Baba. We can't wait to see you. We have pictures of you in almost every room and see them everyday but it will be so much better when you are here in person to fill our home with happiness. I love that KeXin means Happiness cause you have brought our home that for sure and your not even home yet! We have your room all ready for you and we can't wait to wake up every morning and see your handsome little face! We love you so much already that our hearts are bursting with joy! Sometimes when Mama thinks about you she cries happy tears. Mama and Baba talk and think about you every day. We're looking forward to reading you stories and playing with you. Mama loves to cook and play. Daddy loves to build things and he's looking forward to having a little helper! We have swings, a slide and a sandbox with a playhouse in the back yard and we're looking forward to spending lots of time playing out there with you and your sister.
We are waiting for China to send us a couple more papers then we will be able to come and bring you home! Mama and your sister decorated the house yesterday (you birthday) with balloons and we had some cake to celebrate you. We found a way to send you and your foster family a little treat to celebrate with you. We're so grateful to your foster parents for taking care of you and loving you. We could never express that enough. We will send them pictures and update them on how you are doing as often as you wish. Enjoy your cake and have someone take some pictures of you with your foster family and all the things that you like so that when you want to remember them we will always have those pictures in your room for you to look at anytime you like. I'm so excited to finally meet you when we go to China! We will see so many wonderful things there before we come home to Canada. A Zoo, the Great Wall, Summer Palace, Tiamien Square, where they held the 2008 Olympics and so much more! So until we get there, sleep well and have sweet dreams my sweet boy, and know in your heart that your family is coming for you soon. There is a whole new adventure here awaiting you and we have so much love to share.

We love you! Mama, Baba, Jaclyn and Chun Yang!

Happy 4th Birthday Little Boy Blue!

2011-04-28T06:00:00.001-03:00

Today is a little bittersweet. Our son turns 4 today and I'm both happy and sad. Happy for him cause who doesn't like having a birthday when they are a child!...... and sad cause I'm selfish and want to spend it with him...I wanted to make his cake, I wanted to be the one to wake up up this morning by singing him Happy Birthday, I wanted to plan his first birthday party with his forever family, I wanted to watch him open his gifts, I wanted to see his eyes light up, I wanted to give him birthday hugz and kisses....I will make it up to him......to all of us.

We'll celebrate his birthday by going out for supper and decorating the house with blue balloons.

We tried to get a hold of our agency before they left on the last trip to send something to him but we were unsuccessful. I hope today he is treated extra special. I so hope that they take pictures today with the disposible cameras I sent a couple of months ago.

Happy Birthday Sweet Little Boy...We can't wait to meet you! We pray for you everyday! I hope your day is filled with happiness and joy! Please know we are coming for you as soon as we can!
We love you so much!

Half A World Away
By Jill Marshall-Work

Half a world away
Sometimes it seems we're so far apart
But a half a world away
Is not too far for a journey of the heart
My little one, my precious joy
I'm waiting for you
My precious son, my little boy
I know you're waiting too

Half a world away
A child waits for a family of his own
While a half a world away
A family waits to come bring him home

My little one, my precious joy
I'm whispering a prayer
My precious son, my baby boy
I hope to soon be there

Half a world away
So many miles to bring you home at last
And half a world away
So many months of waiting are past.

My little one, my precious joy
You're fin'ly home to stay
My precious son, my little boy
We celebrate this day...

Knowing we will no longer be
half a world away.

Copyright words and music 1999 Jill Marshall-Work

Easter Recap

2011-04-25T22:20:00.005-03:00

~@ We were at the mall.....I remembered they used to have a booth set up at Easter time in the past to have your picture taken with the Easter Bunny...we went looking....we found him...Sugar Pie was super dooper excited.....we waited in a huge line up....forEVAH....she kept asking if we were almost there...I thought she would burst with excitement...then it was finally our turn and as she went up on the little platform I felt her put her breaks on...she turn around and tears were pouring down here face...she wouldn't go near him! She wanted me to sit with her..so we let a couple of people go ahead of us then we tried it again...she was all geared up to strut right over and sit beside him...then she froze again! I asked the photographer if he could zoom in and crop me out if I sat with her and he said yes.....he didn't...he just moved the camera over a little to the right...see there's my hands on her leg trying to push her over toward him. I did manage to get a little smile out of her before she started again. Sheesh, she wasn't afraid of Santa at all! Poor child, she'll never forgive me for this...but this picture will certainly come in handy on a future wedding day! (of course that is if there are any single 40 year olds left out there when she's allowed to date....at 40..) :o)

~@ Our children....makes me smile. Jac and Sugar Pie are coming down the slide and Ty and Miss K are waiting to catch Sugar Pie. She loves her big sister and niece. She loves her brother in law Tyler too. He was playing with her in the living room at dinner...made my heart swell. He's got such a big and tender heart..you can see it in his eyes.

~@ Sugar Pie on the hunt! I was so glad the rain held off! This is my favorite part for the little ones!

~@ Miss K enjoyed it much more this year! It will be so much fun with the 3 of them next year!!!!

~@ We had my family over for a meal. I made seafood chowder. We had biscuits and sourdough bread with spinach dip and a yummy punch. My Mom made a nice raspberry shortcake.

~@ The little ones opened all their little gifts. My Mom and sister each bought a gift for Little Boy Blue too!

~@ Jac and Miss K came to church with us. The service was really nice. I always want my children to remember the true reason as to why we celebrate it. It's not about the chocolate or the eggs. It's about the sacrifice God made when He gave His ONLY begotten son...so that we could have an eternal life if we believe in Him and accept Him into our hearts. I'm so very grateful for His grace and favor on us. I pray that what we offer to Him will leave a lasting legacy to our children and their children and that we would model a close walk with the Father in a way that will not seam complicated but rather second nature to our children.

~@ Thank you Lord for your new mercy's and grace each day.

Happy Easter

2011-04-23T21:58:00.004-03:00

The greatest man in history, named Jesus, had no servants, yet they called him Master. Had no degree, yet they called him Teacher. Had no medicines, yet they called him Healer. He had no army, yet kings feared Him. He won no military battles, yet he conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him... He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today!!!!

Up/down date......:o\

2011-04-17T22:37:00.005-03:00

Well it's been an emotional couple of days. I had been hearing we may be traveling early June then there was a confirming call made to our agency that said early July would be the earliest we would travel. I just started a countdown at 55 days to go and had to switch to 85. It was like someone covered me in a cold wet blanket. This part of the process is hard, when you have an image of a little boy's sweet face on your fridge, on your wall, in a frame in your living room, ok you get the picture....there are photo's of him everywhere....but I can't pick him up, hug him, sing to him, tuck him into bed, kiss his boo boo's or tell him how much I love him....I miss him....I know your wondering how I can possibly miss a little guy who I haven't formally even met yet but I do. Can you imagine a pregnant mother giving birth, seeing a photo of her new born baby but not being able to hold her/him for 7 months? We have 4 years to try to catch up on here! I know I sound upset and I am that is true but I'm praying that God is on this and He will remove whatever stands in the way of us getting to our son in His perfect time. I am choosing to put my trust in Him that He will sustain us through this part of the wait. I also can't help but wonder how our son feels knowing he has a family but that it is taking so long for us to get to him. I pray the God of all comfort gives him the peace he needs. 7 months to a 4 year old is a very long time!

Sugar Pie has been a real trooper. She looks forward to going into his room each day and putting a sticker on his count down calendar. Then we say a little prayer for him. 83 more days today.

I still can't help but wonder if they are just telling us July so we don't get our hopes up again with an earlier travel only to have it delayed again.....I want to believe it because it would be such a relief, blessing and pleasant surprise if it were earlier. It gives me hope. I know our agency will do the best they can....after all although they are wonderful advocates for these sweet children it is also a lively hood for them, and it's probably been quieter for them since things have slowed down. I'm holding onto the hope of it being changed to mid June. (I had a message on my answering machine a couple of weeks ago from agency saying middle June possibly....that was before the latest info but from two different people in the agency..) This little photo is a pic of Hunny Bunch's orphanage.

I'm not meaning to rant.... just typing my feelings(on my own blog so I can look back on the chronicles of adoption#2 one day)....I feel the pain but I can't do a thing to change it myself so I rely on the one thing I know is true and that's my faith in the Lord. He knows where our LOA/LSC is and how soon it will come. He also knows when our TA will be here. So the best thing I can do right now is pray...... .....in childlike faith with a smile on my face....just like my daughter does. Wednesday night she prayed and asked Jesus into her heart......my heart swelled as I listened to that sweet little voice talking to her heavenly Father. She has been a little prayer warrior right from day one when she started saying grace but only recently started to fully understand the gospel. There wasn't a hint of hesitation when daddy and I asked her if she would like to pray a prayer to ask Jesus to be her saviour. Truly the little ones "get it" better than some older people who try to complicate and excuse the invitation. I wanna grow up to be just like my daughter and have that kinda childlike faith.....in all God puts in our path.

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

(starting to feel a little refined.) :o).

Spring is in the air!

2011-04-11T20:12:00.004-03:00

Last Sunday we had our grandbutton for the day. She's 2 1/2 and full of laughs and giggles. She's so brave and willing to try anything once. Last year she was too small for the play set but this year she's loving it! She loves her baby swing. It was funny watching her trying to walk when she got off it though, she had sea legs and fell a couple of times.

Sugar Pie wanted to be everywhere at once, she just couldn't decide between the swing, monkey bars, slide, ladder, sandbox or wagon! She just went from one to the other to the other....I had to ask her for a break! So we blew bubbles and they chased them for a while. :o)

Sugar Pie loving her new jean jacket. I love that cheesy grin. You can't really see in this picture but she has the multi colored hair tinsel in her hair. Pretty hip!

I just had to post the inside of the cake that was in my last post. Isn't it pretty!

Ok so while we were waiting for her sticky snow prayer to come to fruition I thought it would make sense to use the little bit of snow that was in the back yard to make a little snow man....I was thinking that perhaps God made me step in the snow that was melting to show me it was sticky...He would have been delivering in the prayer request from Sugar Pie just not the way we thought...which is typical of God right??......just trying to help Him out......and build not only a snowman bit a little girls faith....apparently He didn't need my help...she did get her sticky snow...which fell from the heavens...just like she had expected......who needs their faith built hey? :o/

Here is the material I'm using to make "Hunny Bunch" a little quilt for the end of his bed. I made a quilt for my big girl and Sugar Pie now I'm making one for him. I love the lighter prints with the Chinese writing all over it. I have it almost finished. I wanted it good, strong and warm so I used an old vullex blanket to fill it rather than a cotton fill.

We heard from our agency that the next group to leave for China will likely be June 9th so we started a countdown in Hunny Bunches room. Each day we'll but a sticker on the calender and pray for him in his room. Still waiting on that LSC! 55 more days to June 9th!

Little boy blue come to your home, your mama is waiting, no more shall you roam, your daddy he loves you, your sisters do to, God is your Shepard, He will look after you, so stay safe in China until it's your turn, so much to look forward to, so much to learn, we love you already, you have so much support, be a good boy a whole new life is waiting to start. -Crystal G (my friend after she seen my status on facebook counting down to "Little Boy Blue".

HiYa!

2011-04-02T18:38:00.004-03:00

Sugar Pie prayed for one more snow fall of sticky snow so she could make one last snowman. I did my best to find some summer things to put on her. LOL. Now we pray for the snow to go away and for the sun to come out and warm us up! Bring on the sandcastles!!

I made this one for us. It's rainbow cake inside. I used 6 different colors. It's really pretty and tastes yummy!

Thanks Kim for the Chinese zodiac stamps, the sweet card, the pics of the boys (my honorary nephews <3 ) and the military Bible. I love the inscription inside from *N*.

This face makes me smile, she's sporting another hat my mom made for her. She loves getting her picture taken. I gotta learn more about my camera so I can get some really nice shots.

Was a nice weekend. I went to the Pricilla Shirer simulcast on Saturday. She is a wonderful author and women's conference speaker. She did a teach on how God interrupts our lives and how it's an invitation to do His will in our lives rather than our own plan and how it can be inconvenient but it's always better in the end than our own agenda. How to let Him be in control. She also gave us wonderful study tips.

Finished reading "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman. I actually read it in 5 days. Every chance I had it was in my hands. If you ever get a chance to read it please do!

Congrats to all the families who have finally received referrals! We started out with a June 16th LID and switched 2 years ago. If we were still in the regular program we would have missed the cut off by one day! I'm thrilled for my sweet friends. Some are still waiting for pictures and others waiting for the phone to ring! Such an exciting time!

Sugar Pie and I put together Hunny Bunch's toy box today. We put it in his room and put some of his toys in it. Our suitcases are in his room waiting to be filled. I hope we hear soon when we will travel. I'm sooooo glad we are where we are in the process. If we didn't (I'm sure we will LORD WILLING) get our TA before August 1st some of the new changes that the CC@@ has placed into effect would have effected us.

I think I need to start a countdown calender for Sugar Pie. That way she can actually see how far or near we are to bringing him home. (ok maybe me too)lol!

Brought our grandbutton to church today. She is getting so big. She is such a little sweety. She didn't want me to leave her in Sunday school at first so I stayed and made a craft with her and listened to the story then she was ok with me going to sit with Papa for a bit. I have to get a recent picture of her, you wouldn't believe how much she's grown! She is 2 1/2 and wearing the clothes we had Sugar Pie in when she was first home with us!

Gosh can you believe it's April! SPRING is in the air! Easter is a commin!!!

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert!!

2011-03-24T22:04:00.006-03:00

My husband and I went to see Steven Curtis Chapman last night and I'm so blessed that we did. He is such an inspiration. Shane and I many times had tears in our eyes as he shared his family's story of the loss of their sweet little Maria. It's amazing how God is using their story to touch the hearts of so many. Steven's 2 sons and one of their friends have a band named "Caleb" who opened up for him.

Geoff Moore is on tour with Steven. I didn't realize until last night that Geoff and his wife have also adopted from China. They have two girls. It's so beautiful to see both these men on stage talking about adoption and how much they love their family and their wife's. I'm pretty sure a lot of men left there vowing to be better fathers and husbands after these two poured out their hearts about how God weaved their families together. The tour is partnered up with Compassion Canada and after Geoff spoke about his experience in Haiti the Compassion team handed out packets of sponsor children to those who wanted one. I was overwhelmed with how many people put their hands up to receive them! We've had our sponsor child from Compassion Canada for 4 years now and it's been such a joy to see and hear how well he is doing!

While I'm writing I'm trying to download the Cinderella song video that I took last night but I'm not convinced it's going to work. I'm just trying to use the Blogger video up loader. If it doesn't work no biggy. Shane was in tears listening to that one. My darling husband has such a sweet spirit ;O).

Went shopping before the concert and found this little treasure!! I needed a new belt buckle and I thought I would see if they had the China flag. I was so excited they had one!!! If they didn't I would have got the Calgary Flames one (hockey). I did a little Easter shopping for Sugar Pie, Hunny Bunch and Miss K as well.

I don't know what happened to me but at one time I hated purple! Sugar Pie looks so beautiful in purple I think it's wearing off on me! I now have a purple, Bible, phone, Kindle case, laptop case and now this! I couldn't resist getting a Steven Curtis Chapman t-shirt. I also picked up his wife's (Mary Beth Chapman) book "Choosing to See". Looking forward to reading how God is still helping them through their loss. Steven thanked the audience multiple times for our prayer coverage. I remember doing a blog post of them after their tragedy struck. Hard to believe it happened 3 years ago...the pain still feels so raw.

Sugar Pie got along great at her grandparents for the night. It was her very first sleep over! Nanny said she did wake up crying but she was able to comfort her. It was nice to have a little get away with my husband, we needed that time together without the worry of a curfew. :o)

Well I've been trying to upload my little video for almost an hour now and it's still trying so I don't think it's going to work.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Oh! Got an email from our agency again! I asked when our LID was and she said March 1st! I know it really doesn't matter since we already have our referral for our son but I like to document all these little milestones. ;O)

Update :o( and Cutness :o)

2011-03-21T21:36:00.008-03:00

EDIT!:LSC on it's way! Now wait for Travel Approval. Agent called orphanage director, Hunny Bunch knows he has a family and he's very excited!!!! He has a foster sibling who will be adopted soon. Agency say's possible travel mid June. (every changing..sooner the better!) Did you read the part where I said " he knows he has a family and he's very excited!!!!" It's a great day!

Well, I didn't want to do a post and just have it be bad news so I'm adding some cuteness to buffer the blow.
We sent an email to our agency and they confirmed that we would indeed NOT be traveling to bring our "Hunny Bunch" home for his 4th birthday. (April 28th). They guestimate the next group will be the end of May. I was bummed to hear but at the same time part of me was relieved to just have an answer and not be uncertain. (To be blatently honest and transparent my monthly was two weeks late and an hour after the email came with our answer it started :o/.... ) We will still celebrate him on his birthday. We'll do something special and document it for him to see.
Now on to some cuteness. Sugar Pie is off school for March break. We went to visit Nanny June and look what Nanny made for her! It's adorable! It matches her petty coat she wears to church.

Me playing with my 28-70 lens.

Went out and picked up a couple of new luggage pieces. The bottom of my closet was beginning to collect travel items so I thought I'd better clean it up. It was a little exciting packing up those few items actually!

Lovin' Nanny June. My mom is so sweet. I don't think she'll ever truly understand how much I adore and respect her. She has taught me so much in life. I don't think she gives herself the credit she rightly deserves as a mom who raised 3 children on her own. I know she is proud of us all in different ways....wonder how she thinks we got here though... :o) I love my mommy.

My Momma, Sugar Pie's name sake. Love those smiles...love my mommy's dimples...how come I didn't get them!

Another first for Sugar Pie. Yesterday was her first time at a theatre. We went to see Yogi Bear. She loved the popcorn! She was fine for the first 30 minutes then started to wiggle. That's a long time for a 5 year old to sit in one place....expecially when it was her first time. She managed to make it to the end though!

I'm a little pumped for tomorrow! We are going shopping then............... to see Steven Curtis Chapman!!!!! I'll blog about it when we get back. This will be Sugar Pie's first time having a sleep over with Nanny. (or anywhere for that matter) The concert is in New Brunswick (about 1 1/2 hrs away) in the next province so we booked a room for the night. We'll be going out for a nice meal before going to the concert too. Yup a real date! Imagine that! Did I mention shopping?......Sugar doesn't do this well.....so while the mice play....this cat's gonna go shoppy!!!!

And yes Steven Curtis Chapman is the highlight of the trip...well the date is too....ok I think I'm going to like it all. Te He!

End Of Winter Fun.

2011-03-15T10:51:00.004-03:00

I made this cake for a family who are having a baby shower for their new son. I really enjoyed putting this one together. It turned out cute. It's a chocolate cake with mocha butter cream filling. I nibbled on the scraps I cut off and I have to say I was a little iffy about the mocha butter cream but it was really quite yummy with chocolate cake!

We went to work with Daddy on Friday in Halifax. Sugar found the 3 hour drive to be long but she was well occupied with watching movies on her DVD player. While we were there we went shopping. I found a child's "Message" bible translated by Eugene Peterson for "Hunny Bunch". We picked up a few other things for him too. Daddy found the "Wok and Roll" game which is way cute. It's a motorized bowl with shapes inside that you have to take out and put into smaller bowls with chop sticks. Whoever gets the most out wins. We thought it would be a lot of fun to play as a family. "Sugar Pie" has 7 Zhu Zhu pets so we thought we would get "Hunny Bunch" one also.

We all went down to have out travel needles done for when we go to China. (Still no word :o(....). After the evaluation they decided Daddy had his all up to date. Sugar Pie had to get 2 needles and I had to get one. I went first to show her how brave I was then she went. She cried but was still very brave. They couldn't do the 2 needles at once so one went into each arm. She was pretty sore. When we got home my poor little babe had a little nap.

At Sparks last week they had a Hawaiian Luau. They all had grass skirts and flowers in their hair. They learned to sing and dance and make fruit kabobs. Sugar loved it.

We went on a horse and sleigh ride on Sunday. It was soooo beautiful outside. I've been on horse and carriage rides before but this was the first time on a sleigh ride. It was beautiful. Afterwards we went to the cabin and had Tim Bit donuts with a couple of other families we went with and some hot chocolate.

Such a daddy's girl. I love this picture. I wish so much Jac and Miss K could have been with us for this. I would have loved to get a picture of all of us together enjoying this!

Lastly, outside the cabin there were maple trees tapped in to receive the slow drip of liquid that comes from them. Those pail will probably take a good month to fill then it will be transformed into a beautiful reddish brown syrup which is so popular here in Canada for putting on our pancakes and baking with our beans. It is used for making Maple candy, tea, and ice cream also. If you have never had true Canadian maple syrup you don't know what your missing!.....hey, I wonder what a Maple butter cream icing would taste like!? Might have to try that!

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

2011-03-14T09:13:00.004-03:00

Wonderful news! As of last night, The CCAA has made the announcement that beginning March 15th, single women will once again be able to adopt from China threw the Special Focas Children Program. It shocks me that they made this decision and it takes effect tomorrow!!!! This is GREAT news! What this will mean for special focas children is unimaginably wonderful. I'm sooooo happy for the wonderful single women who have been hoping and praying for the opportunity to parent one of China's waiting children.

Read HERE to learn more! I'm so excited for the ladies who I have personally spoken with who were hoping to adopt again or for the first time!!

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).

Bullets

2011-03-11T12:00:00.005-04:00

*First thing I want to say is a BIG Happy 40Th to my sweet forever friend Kim! I so wished I could have been with her for her special day. I hope you have a SUPER WONDERFUL day tomorrow!!!!! You have no idea how much I miss you. Hop over and wish her a Happy Birthday here! LIVE, Love And Laugh Sweet Kim!!

*Tomorrow the time springs ahead an hour. This makes me very happy. Our winter hit only days after Christmas and we have had snow every week since! We usually have a week or so during the winter when things thaw out and melt but we didn't have that this winter which made it for a LONG cold one. 9 More days and 7 hours and it's spring!!!!

*I was in the kitchen a couple of days ago and Sugar Pie said she wished we could make one last snowman before the winter is over. I told her we would need sticky snow so she came over to me held my hands, bowed her head and said "Dear Jesus, please send sticky snow, Amen"....so as much as I hate to see anymore of the white sticky or otherwise stuff I will continue to pray with her for at least one more fall...even if it's only in our yard...and no local donations please!!! LOL.

*Sugar Pie got her report card this week and I had her parent teacher interview. I am forever amazed at how this child who's first 4 years of life were spent in China has adapted and caught up to the other children in her class. There are very few things that she struggles with in the class room. Most of them have nothing to do with the work itself.

*Below are a couple of other cakes I did this week. Not sure if I explained what I do with the money from my cakes but I've been donating the product, my time and all the money to the Chinese orphanage donation. My goal is to hit at least 3000.00 with my cakes, Uganda necklaces and my scented wax tarts. These last 2 cakes I made helped me hit 1000.00!! Ps. If your interested in one of the necklaces I have them on my side bar!!? Let me know!

* My sweet little sister just got back a week ago from a mission trip to Haiti. She experienced many things that she hasn't before, including a lot of her own emotions that she wasn't expecting to have. They stayed at an orphanage and I think the anticipation was sweeter than the actualization....to hold a child who is absorbing the comfort of you warm loving arms holding them while their dear little chests wheeze filled with infection caused by the smoke and soot the open coal pits that they use to cook meals with is heartbreaking. She is forever changed and has a new perspective in life....mind you she is still sorting out everything that she is feeling inside. I asked her if she would do a guest post about the things she seen and experianced while staying at the orphanage. I'll put together a post soon.

*Haven't heard from our agency yet. From what I've heard there is only one group traveling in April and possibly not another group until June. I have heard of people getting 2 weeks notice so If that's the way it happens with us we have about another week and couple of days to go before I loose hope of bringing "Hunny Bunch" home this spring. Praying!

*Looking forward to our local China adoption group getting together this Sunday, if the snow doesn't totally melt away we are going for a horse and sleigh ride!!! Been looking forward to this for weeks!!

* Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Steven Curtis Chapman Concert, Travel Needles and more Cake Pictures

2011-03-06T21:22:00.003-04:00

I'm a little ecstatic! We just got our tickets in the mail for the Steven Curtis Chapman concert. It's in New Brunswick (next province over) so Sugar Pie will be having her first sleep over at Nanny's and Grampy's. Hubby and I will go out for dinner then the concert and back home the next day. I LOVE SCC's music and everything he stands for. We have one of the children's books he wrote, "Shoey". I still can't read the whole book without getting a lump in my throat.

Still waiting for LCS, haven't hear a peep from our agency yet....praying we hear soon.
Tomorrow morning the three of us go for our travel needles. Sugar Pie doesn't like needles so wish us luck! We'll bribe her with a special treat ;O). Daddy said if Mommy was brave he would buy her a coffee!! I'll make him go out of his way for the dijon variety...Starbucks! (We are getting our needles in the next city..they have a Starbucks...we don't :o(...)

Here are a few more cakes I made! Been busy!

Momma's New Toy and Reno's

2011-03-01T15:15:00.004-04:00

I'm hoping this will make our trip a little easier on Daddy's shoulders and my arms this time around!

I converted "Sugar Pie's" old room into "Hunny Bunch's" room. So I didn't bother with a before picture.

This was the before pic of our bedroom. I told hubby I wanted to turn it into a room that he would find relaxing and comfortable when he came home from a long week of work. I didn't take pictures of our dressers because they were well...an embarrassment. ;O). Now the rule is that we are NOT allowed to bring anything from work into this room. This yellow was not a very relaxing color to say the least.
I wouldn't have thought grey when I went to the paint store but after talking to a few of the people who worked there I decided it was the color I NEEDED in our room. Calm, clean and cozy.

This was the silk set we bought when we were in China. I put it away cause I was afraid we would ruin it....then I thought one day I would be old and grey and wishing I would have enjoyed this set while I could....kinda like that candle you have sitting on your shelf over there you think is too pretty to burn....or the perfume you only use for special occasions....I don't want my perfume to go rancid anymore and heck I'm burning those candles too. ;O).

Below is the activity room, I added shelves and Sugar has her trampoline down there and a TON of toys. We spend lots of leisure time down here and the color was getting so dark and dreary that I started to not enjoy going to this dark room. I thought it needed some color to lighten and brighten it so we went with the color below and the room is alive again!

We have another project on the go in the back part of the basement. I've done some deep cleaning in almost every room upstairs. Cleaned out cupboards, drawers, closets ect. I even went to the storage room and cleaned out the storage bins. Getting rid of things that I knew we wouldn't need again. I also have each bin labeled and stacked neatly so when I go into it I know exactly where to go for something. I LOVE FEELING ORGANIZED! I think this nesting thing is wonderful! Not only does my house feel clean and organized but I feel like my head is clear and I am not feeling overwhelmed. Truly good for the soul!

DTC Feb. 18th!

2011-02-24T09:43:00.005-04:00

I emailed the province to see if they received our dossier from our agency yet and they said they sent it abroad on the 18th and CC@@ signed for it on the 21st. Now they will log us in (LID) and send a LSC (Letter Seeking Confirmation) to our province for us to sign and the province sends it back to them. I'm not sure if all this can happen in time for us to travel in April. :o(. We still have to send our passports to our agency a month before we go for our China travel visas and unless our agency requests that in the next week we won't see a travel date until May. I'm still holding on to hope but I know that it's in God's hands and if He wants us to wait then we wait. Funny how everything seemed to happen so fast then slowed to a snail pace! I'm still trying to figure out the whole Special Focus program procedure! It's all new to our agency too so I guess we just play it day by day. If you want to know more about this program here is a great resource HERE.
Momma and Baba are coming soon sweet boy!

In my last post I showed you a photo I found on a site that had photo's of Sugar Pie's orphanage. Well I went on a search again and found another one! I think she is even younger in this one. The first night we had her she packed up her little kit bag that the orphanage gave her and she had a meltdown at the door crying out for "Mamma Na" I wonder if this is Mamma Na who's knee she is on... Finding these pictures means so much to me. We don't know much about her first 4 years of life so treasures like this are like a glimpse of her past. One day they will mean the world to her too!

I was humbled and blessed to hear of other families on the Helongjiang yahoo site that found their little ones after posting the link to this site. One sweet lady told me that she just happened to be cleaning out her trash on her yahoo account and clicked on my blog URL and seen my last post. She emailed me privately and I sent her the link. She and I each found a picture of her sweet daughter. What a blessing! God is good! All the time! I love how God uses us for His glory, especially when we least expect it! Blesses my socks off! Bless you Karen!

Where has this month gone?....not that I'm complaining...;O)

2011-02-22T20:18:00.001-04:00

Look what I found today on the Internet! What are the chances! I found a face book group for Harbin Orphanages and a Spanish lady posted a link of photo's from Sugar Pie's orphanages. I skimmed threw a few pages and something told me to keep going...low and behold in a tiny thumbnail I seen my daughter! I knew it was her, I clicked to enlarge it and sure enough there she was! What a treasure! This is probably the youngest picture we have of her. We do have her finding add but it is very distorted and you can hardly make it out. I'm so happy I found this today! God is always good!

I took this out my front window. We haven't had a winter thaw at all this year, getting so tired of snow, but it sure makes a sunrise stand out...and that's always hopeful. Less than a month til spring!

You all know I love to play with fondant. I'm not out to make a buck, I just enjoy it. So I decided that rather than just donating the profits made from them I'd start donating the supplies to make them too so now all the proceeds will go to a China orphanage. Here are a few I made recently. This one I'm holding was a cherry blossom cake....inspired by my shirt....no joke!

Cakes for a Cause.
All my cakes have a signature Callie Bug ladybug on them....yes even the car one ;O).

Princess' Carriage.
Baby's first.

Sugar Pie making the best of the winter!

I think even her snow man was throwing his arms up in the air with all this snow.

Still waiting for out LCS (letter seeking confirmation). If we receive it by mid March we will be able to travel in April. We got his part 1 citizenship papers yesterday so that's great news! A month earlier than they predicted.
I have a ton of pictures of my two girls playing dress up. Big sister came over one day for a play date and they truly had a blast. I was in hysterics watching them. LOL so cute!

Here is just a little shot of cuteness to throw in for good measure. Sugar Pie was at 2 birthday parties this weekend past. This one had a magic show and the magician needed a helper. ;O).

Last but not least I'd love to ask for prayer for my little sister who just left on Sunday to go on a mission trip to Haiti. This is a big step for her and I know God will use her in amazing ways. I can't wait to hear her stories!!!! Praying for you Sweet Sister!

New Pictures and an update!

2011-02-14T11:00:00.003-04:00

1st of all let me say HAPPY VALENTINE'S Day to you all!

We just received an update on "Hunny Bunch" on Friday, and new pictures! He is doing well, learning how to speak a few English words in preschool (believe it or not) he can say: banana, apple, Mommy, Daddy, pear, orange, cat etc. He sounds very smart. They were able to get us a translated MRI report from his Meningocele so that is wonderful news.
They also gave us his current measurements: Height 97 cm, weight 14 kg, head circumference 49 cm, chest circumference 48 cm, foot: 15 cm, teeth: 28......everything sounds about right except for the amount of teeth! Sugar Pie is almost 6 and only has 20. Is it possible for a 3 1/2 yr old to have 28 teeth? I only have 24! Perhaps they miscounted lol. I was able to go shopping and get some lil' boy clothes finally!!!
I emailed our agency back with a few questions. One of which was is this his foster Momma in the picture or just one of the nanny's at the orphanage preschool. It would be nice to have a photo for him of his foster family.

This is a more recent photo of him. The date on the picture was Jan. 31st. He looks so proud and serious! It's nice to see him leaning his weight over on that one leg. His balance must be good and his Meningocele isn't affecting it.
Now the last picture was encouraging but this one near made me cry, it was so exciting to see that he is running! Aww! You can only imagine that this would be a dream to see him run into my arms like this the day we finally meet him. I know it's unrealistic as I'm sure he will be afraid and timid on Gotcha Day but one can dream.

I know when I introduced him on my blog for the first time I was so excited I didn't edit and realized later I said he was from Nanchang CWI but he is from "Nanfeng" CWI, which is about 3 hours from Nanchang. We'll be staying in Nanchang.

We don't yet have a definite travel date, we are still waiting for our LSC (Letter seeking confirmation) from China. Agency says if we get it by mid March we will probably be in the April group. Which is tres exciting!!!! We can't wait to bring our boy home!!!!

Wednesday is Teacher's Appreciation day at Sugar Pie's school so I volunteered to help set up and I got crafty and made them each a little "Thank You" treat. I converted my Cricut Cake machine over to a scrap booking one by changing the blade and using a paper mat rather than the icing sheet one. Worked great!
Lastly I just wanted to show you my new laptop. My sweet hubby knew my other one was almost maxed out with holding pictures and this puppy has more drive space and more capabilities. Thank you sweet Black Beauty for the unexpected but MUCH appreciated gift! I adore you and you didn't have to spoil me but you know it will be put to good use!

Sugar Pie had her Valentine's Party at school on Friday and was soooo excited. She was bouncing as she came off the bus, could hardly wait to show me all her treats! I should have taken my camera to school and took a picture of her. Shoot!

Update and "Xin Nian Kuei Le" presentation

2011-02-07T08:00:00.002-04:00

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! I'm sorry I haven't posted since the day after Christmas. I'll never get caught up so I'll just mention a few important details and try to bring you up to the present in the next couple of posts. I had the pleasure and honor of doing a presentation of Chinese New Year for Sugar Pie's kindergarten class. Sugar Pie and I taught them how to sing a Happy New Year song in Chinese and we did a dragon parade. Sugar Pie insisted on being the tail of the dragon. She seen Kia Lan's New Year Celebration and Rinto was the tail. The children loved it!

Aww...I love this picture. Sugar..the bearer of the lanterns...she was so excited to share some Chinese words with her class mates. I was beaming with pride at how brave and confidant she was.

I did a repeat at Sugar Pie's sparks class. I had to cut out a few of the things I did in the classroom cause I had 45 min for one and 30 for the other.

I brought a couple of other clothing items for some of the sparks to wear. The little one above is from Korea. She has a qi pao and would have worn it if she knew we were doing a presentation. She takes a beautiful pic! The little one in front (Miss J) is a real cutie too. She's so tiny and cute!!!

We went to the local CNY celebration on Saturday night and the little ones from Chinese school on Sat. mornings were invited to sing "Xin Nian Hao Ya" in front of 700+ people. They did a great job! I was so proud of my little Harbin Ice Princess! They started out wearing these cute little bunny ears for the "Year of the Rabbit" but the headbands were too tight and were hurting their ears. It was cute for a picture though.
There's Sugar Pie on the big screen second in from the right. Here little friend Miss L is to the right of her and was equally as sweet!

The outfits were stunning. I didn't wear mine to the party.. :o(..I bent down to pick something up during one of my presentations on Thursday and felt a little release....when I looked at my top the seam was letting go! I bought mine at a market...next time I'm getting fitted rather than going for the bargain.

Out of my picture window... before the storm! I'm sooo done with snow!

My friend stopped in Friday to say hi and drop off this little gift for CNY. It's a Chinese Jasmine vine. It smells heavenly!

This was a sweet surprise too which blessed me to pieces. Both the kindergarten class and sparks sent me a card with a signature from all the little ones inside. Love them!

I made my presentation pretty easy to understand and didn't put any "Current" info on it so I can use it again in the future. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take to get threw until I did it at the first presentation. It took a good 45 minutes. If anyone ever wants to have a look at it let me know and you are free to copy it. I made it interactive and fun for them. Plus there were crafts that the teacher could have them make ahead of time.

We're still not 100% sure about the date we will travel to bring Hunny Bunch home. I sent an email to our agency asking when they were leaving for the next group so I could send along a care package for our son. They emailed right back and said send it right away. They also said it had to fit into a Kleenex box! I sent 2 disposable camera's, a photo album, a TINY teddy bear, a few chocolate coins with a CNY card. He should get it this week sometime! He will see our faces for the first time! His room is all ready. I'll post pics on another post. Can't wait until he sees it...can't wait til he's home!

Sad news-We had to say good bye to our 12 year old fur baby two weeks ago. It was one of the saddest things I've ever had to deal with. We knew it would happen soon. He had a bad heart, was deaf, going blind and not only his back legs were going but he took a fall off the sofa and really hurt his front shoulders. We thought he was getting a bit better but he wasn't eating then he started to pee and he couldn't get out of his own puddle...that made me cry. He started to cry a bit then shiver and we couldn't bear to see him suffer. The vet said it was the best and kindest thing we could do for him. I miss him sooo much....I still get up in the morning thinking I have to let him out...one day I thought he was scratching at the door. We want to bury him under the tree with our kitty we lost a few years ago but the ground is frozen...the vet gave us a number to call that will keep him until the frost is gone. Gonna be hard to go threw this again in the spring.

So as a tribute to my faithful and beloved fur baby I leave you with my favorite picture of him. Rest in Peace, pain free Bailey Boy..and run free like never have before! We love you!

Little Boy Blue Come Blow Your Horn!!

2010-12-26T19:18:00.006-04:00

On December 20th at 12:40pm the phone rang.......it was the secretary from the Provincial Adoption Coordinator's office. What could she want? Our file was sent to Ottawa to be translated (authenticated) and wouldn't be back to the province for another 2-3 weeks before being sent to China!
She told me there was a little boy 3 1/2 years old from Nanfeng SWI, Jiangxi and that she had the file. She asked if we could go down to see her at 7:00pm to review it. Good thing I knew a little bit about the focused child program or I would have been very confused. (With the Special Focus program you can be matched before you have a Log-In-Date and China will give you 6 months to get your paperwork to them.) I called hubby who was in another province working and asked him if he could be in Charlottetown by 7:00pm. He said he would meet us there so when Sugar Pie got home we had a bite to eat then headed down to meet him.
We went in and she showed us this little guy's file. He is sooooo handsome! He was left at the SWI the day after he was born. His birthday they figure was April 28th, 2007. He's in foster care but we aren't sure how long he's been there. He's in kindergarten at the orphanage so they must live close enough to get him there each day. His need is the same as what Sugar Pie's was only his Meningocele has yet to be repaired. We went home with his file and had 72 hours to make a decision. We spoke with our family Dr., Pediatrician, Children's hospital liaison nurse, the Spina Bifida clinic, the Pediatrician spoke with a neurosurgeon and I asked some questions on the spina bifida yahoo group. The golden nugget we had with this sweet little man's file was a MRI report. The neurosurgeon was able to tell us a few things we would never have known otherwise. (A Dr.'s report even in English might as well be written in Chinese if I'm reading it!) Hubby had to go back to the mainland to work so each time I learned something new I would get ahold of him.
Our 72 hours were winding down and after much prayer and lots of information we felt a total peace about committing to this sweet little boy. We did up our nurturing and rehabilitation plan letter of intent and sent it off via e-mail then went down to the province the next morning to sign it.
I'm soooo glad that we had all our Christmas shopping and plans in order. It made it so much easier to think with a clear head! I got an e-mail the next morning from our agency with a list of 6 things they needed from us to complete the authentication process....even with a clear head, a rain storm surge playing havoc on our little Island and 2 day before Christmas .....how was I going to get all of this before Christmas?! Well lets just say I went into high gear! I hopped out of bed, fixed a couple of errors in our Letter of Request, made 4 photo copies of pages 3-4 of our passports, called the accountant and asked if he could photo copy Hubby's income tax, he said he would do it after lunch....I told him our predicament and he said he had an appointment in town and would be driving by in the half hour and would drop it off! yay! We had to have a chartered accountant verify his financial record. I called a chartered accountant who was happy to help. We went to see him right away and he did up a letter and when I tried to pay him he just said Merry Christmas! We ran out in the rain and wind (140 KM winds at times) when I put Sugar Pie in the SUV the door blew and slammed into my legs...ouch! I got into the car and headed to the provincial courthouse to have our birth certificates and marriage certificate signed and stamped "True Copy" by a notary public. When I went to pay her she also sent me off with a Merry Christmas! I raced with a limp and our medical forms up to our family physician because he forgot to date each one of our blood test reports. His secretary said he wouldn't be in until 1:00pm!!!!......it was 10:20am :o(. So I figured we would carry on with the rest of the things we needed to do and come back after lunch. Our medical center is in our local mall so I went to pick up a couple of groceries and headed to the department store to their little restaurant because both Sugar Pie and I had worked up an appetite with all the running from one end of the city to the other. (and I needed to rest my crushed legs!) When we were almost done eating my cell rang and it was the Dr.s office. Our Dr. just ""happened"" to pop in to work early for a minute and he filled out the forms! So we went all the way back to the other end of the mall to get them. I asked if there was any charge and they said no not to worry about it! (He had to redo the entire form and originally he charged us 40 each form!). We said thank you and headed out to go have my passport photo's taken. I was feeling so blessed by this time I'd completly forgotten my legs were slammed ;O). The agency wanted 2 photo's each of us that were passport size. Once I had them we headed home. Now all I needed was for hubby to sign the LOI and to go get his passport sized photo's taken. He got home about 5pm and went to get them and we sealed the envelope to send it first thing Friday morning (Christmas Eve)......after we went to the airport to the homecoming of our newest and youngest little Islander from China. Miss T is sooo cute and it was the most wonderful and beautiful thing to do on Christmas Eve! We kept our news to ourselves because we hadn't told friends or family yet and also this was a time to celebrate Miss T's coming home. We must have seemed suspicious...I was bursting inside. I tried so very hard to avoid any comments or questions about how our process was going. I have to say it was pretty emotional seeing that sweet little girl come home. This family's LID was May 2005...they waited almost 5 years for this moment.
My mom and sister came over Friday afternoon and we took my mom aside and told her, she was surprised and so happy she started to cry. My sister wasn't the least suspicious with it being Christmas and all so she didn't ask any questions. I had a few pictures of Sugar Pie and the last one was a photo of this little guy who I'll nickname Hunny Bunch for the sake of Facebook and this blog. I asked her if she wanted to see them and she sat down and slowly started to shuffle through them...I was video taping her but she didn't realize it. She came to the last photo and there was a piece of paper on the top of the pic that said "Do you believe in miracles?" and she lifted it us and started to cry...she couldn't believe it. Funny thing was she and I were texting one day not long ago and she told me she was still praying that we would get the call before Christmas....it was truly a beautiful moment. God has been so faithful. We are in awe of Him and His blessings.
I think if I were to give only one word to describe each of my children I would have to say that My 23 year old Jac is my Child Of Joy...if she wasn't such a joy to have and raise we may never have had more......Sugar Pie was our Child Of Hope...we wanted a child for 6 years, we tried for two and waited for another 4 for her and some days all we had was "hope" to hold onto. Our third little one "Hunny Bunch" would have to be our Child Of Faith...we had so much more faith this time because we already seen what God could do when you hold onto to hope.
Christmas was wonderful, despite the fender bender that my poor Miss Jac got into while heading off to do some last minute shopping. She was completely fine, there was no one in the car with her and those were two true blessings. Her vehicle suffered enough damage that it had to be taken off the road but she is ok and that's all that matters. Thanking the Lord!
Sugar Pie and Miss K were so cute Christmas day. Miss K and I danced around the Christmas tree for a good hour. She is so funny. :o). Sugar Pie got a DSI and Mr. Ty was teaching her how to use it. I thought that was pretty sweet.
We are over the moon excited to bring Hunny Bunch home to our family. Looks like we will be traveling somewhere around April or May. It sure would be nice to bring him home for his 4th birthday! It was so much fun telling everyone our news, no one was expecting to hear anything this soon, including us! We were very excited to tell everyone at Church today....that's the thing with an adoption pregnancy eh, no one knows how far along you are unless you tell them....so I guess when you factor in that our paperwork isn't even in China yet we had him early!
So without further adieu here is our sweet son! The only thing that could top this Christmas is next Christmas!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas and Bullets to catch up...

2010-12-19T21:58:00.012-04:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all enjoy your families and remember the reason for the Season is Jesus and that His life is our greatest gift.

On the adoption front our dossier went to Ottawa to be translated on Dec 2nd. When it's done it will be sent back here then to China. Once it's in China our agency will be waiting for a Log-In-Date. We hope to get a referral and travel as soon as possible! ;O)

I've made a few cakes in the last month too. ;O)
My Friend Dara's Birthday

A sweet little man from China just turned 2! It was an honor to make his cake that he would share with his family while they celebrated a birthday with him for the first time.

This one was for a lady who wanted it for her step Dad. I made a hockey puck before but this one turned out better.
Sugar Pie was in her first Christmas concert! It was so cute to watch her. She was both in the kindergarten part and in the choir. It was so sweet to see her. All the kindergartner's were mice. LOL.

I had the spare room painted and moved Sugar Pie into it. It's a bigger room than the one she was in and I thought it would be nice for her to have the bigger room and give her little brother the smaller room. After Christmas I'll get started on decorating and renovating his room. Sugar graduated from her side rails and with that we lowered her bed. She loves her new room but the first night was a little tough, she wanted her old room back. lol. She's been in her new room for almost a week now and adjusted very well!

Sugar and her pretty pink tree!

GAWW! Yup it's become the catch all room for now. I think we will be doing it all over in the Sears Bobby Jack monkey. They are so cute!

We had a Christmas party at Chinese school on Saturday and later that day Sugar and I went to my Mom's and we made our meat pies. We get together each year to make them. This year Sugar got to help. She made a little pie for herself!

We are almost ready for Christmas, I have to dash out tomorrow to get a few last minute things and some groceries. I have everything wrapped, except for a few things that I'll set out Christmas Eve. House is clean...right now anyway. LOL. Sugar Pie has kindergarten until Wednesday. I may keep her home Wednesday to make cookies or something. My poor sweet husband is working til Thursday, he didn't think they would need him this week and was actually looking forward to a little break. He'll have the week after Christmas anyway, which is good.

On Christmas Eve morning we are going to the airport to welcome home a family that will be coming home a forever family! We are pretty excited, what a perfect way to spend time as a family that to welcome home another family who has just adopted. Can't wait! It will be such a special moment! MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all!!!

All Caught Up To Date.

2010-11-25T12:25:00.002-04:00

Below are the last 2 posts from the private blog so from here on out my posts will be current and up to date.
Praise Report, we got our provincial approval last week. The Adoption Co. is out of province this week but will do up our LOA and send it off to our agency next week!! Next is translation then back here for the province to send it to China! I am praying it gets there before the CC@@ starts taking their breaks and vacations! Praying for a LID before Chinese New Year too!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my sweet American friends, family and BFF'S!!!! Love you Kim! Love you Kristy! I hope your having a WONDERFUL visit!!!

* Post #12 Nov.9th
Whoo Hooo!

It came! It came! Yay!! I took the last document straight to our SW's office. It was still hot from the printer when I left it in her mail box! She called a while ago and said I could pick it up in the morning to sign it then we'll bring it back to her and she'll send it to the province right away.

Sooo now we wait for ministry approval. Not sure what turn around time is for this. The provincial adoption coordinator retired so the lady above her is doing two jobs right now. Praying it won't be long and we can get caught up again. We are 4 weeks off what we were hoping to be.

I started painting the spare room for our little prince! Well primer cause it's over a dark terra cotta color. Not exactly sure what color or theme to go with. I'm really liking the monkeys...so maybe a beige and blue or green. We'll see! It's so hard to decorate a room when the age of our son is such a mystery right now. It's exciting!

It's a good day :o)

* Post #11. Nov. 5th:
Where is that last document!
Well almost a month has past since I updated and we are still waiting for that one document. Our local member of Parliament was to have sent a letter to Ottawa Monday that passed and well....it's Friday and we got nothing....I e-mailed our MP yesterday and he said he would call them today and get back to us. We didn't hear anything yet.....and it's past midnight so scratch that for today...I'll email him tomorrow. He has a Blackberry and his emails go straight to him from it. :o)...I'll keep messaging him till he answers....maybe annoying but hey he's a politician so he should be well acquainted with annoyances. :o).

We are now 3 weeks behind where we had planned on being. Hopefully we'll catch up when the province gets our dossier into their hands. Lord willing. Praying it's so!

Hubby got his passport last week, so that's all good.

Stay tuned and please pray with us that this document comes next week!

Posts 7-10 from other blog...only two more and we're caught up..plus a pic of Sugar Pie when she went to visit Dora!

2010-11-22T18:04:00.004-04:00

Before you catch-up on our old posts from the other blog I thought I'd start you off with some sweetness...this was Sugar Pie last weekend when we went to the mall to see Dora...she was so excited she had tears in her eyes.

*Post #10 from Oct. 12th. Up down UP DOWN up down Up UP UP!
This past week my hubby got a call for the passport office regarding his name. It was different on the application than on the birth certificate and they wanted a copy of his licence faxed to them. I checked the name on his birth certificate and it was worded the same way, middle name then first so we sent off a fax asking them to use the name on his licence. On his last passport they had it reversed as to what was on his licence so hopefully they will accept that and issue him it. It's not necessary for us to have to complete for the dossier so we won't fret over it......however!....Yesterday our SW sent us an e-mail with the draft of our home study and other than spelling a name wrong everything was fine. She just has to wait for Hubby's criminal record check to complete and send it to the province....soooo this morning while saying grace for breakfast I asked that his CRC would show up today and ....well it did. They sent it back incomplete because they wanted the exact name of the agency we are using to adopt. Apparently the lady who helped him fill out the application told him to just put "international". We quickly fixed it and it was on it's way to the post office to be sent as registered mail. Hopefully and prayerfully it will hit the hands of the right person and they will complete it right away and send it back to us. I'm thankful that it didn't take longer for them to send it back but I sure wish they would have just called and asked us what agency we were using. Praying it doesn't go back in the pile with newly received one as it's currently taking up to three weeks to have it sent back. God is good and He knows what's going on. Leaving it in His capable hands and praying.

*Post #9 from Oct. 3rd. Another step!
Took this pic in a park our first trip to China...I love that
it's a Mama teaching her little boy to walk..warms my heart.

Got a call from our Social Worker, she received our Child Protection Check from the province and is just waiting for us to get our last document which will hopefully arrive this week then she will complete our updated study and we will sign it then........OFF FOR PROVINCIAL MINISTRY APPROVAL!!! Then off for translation!

*Post #8 from October 1st. Almost.....there
Yesterday the RCMP called and my criminal record check was ready for pick up. They figure hubby's isn't far behind. Later in the afternoon our Dr. office called and told us the medical forms were completed and ready to go as well. So once we get Hubby's police check we will have all the paperwork we need for our SW and hopefully she will have it prepared by the middle of the month, I told her it would be a perfect birthday gift for me!

*Post #7 from Sept. 28th. Hangin on..
We got a notice from Immigration today stating they are working on our case and it may take up to 27 weeks. (Brings us to March.)
Sent off Hubby's paperwork for a new Passport. We had to have someone at Town Hall put their stamp on it.
Still waiting on some documents to send off to our SW...Criminal record checks, child protection, and medicals.
Have to double check to see if we need to update any travel needles. The Princess will have to have hers done.
.......................................so ya, that's where we are right now.

# 4,5,6 posts other blog..6 more and we'll be all caught up to current posts.

2010-11-20T22:22:00.003-04:00

Sept 19th: Homestudy update

Yesterday morning we had our first home study update meeting, I'd taken our previous study and wrote out all the things that had changed since we did it last so she only really had to ask the usual necessary questions. She was very supportive and pretty much said that other than collecting the necessary paperwork and delivering it to her that we would only need to meet again when we go over the changes. At the end of our session she asked if we had any questions and it has been so long (2005) since we did this end of the paperwork I had to ask how long it would take and where does it go next. She said she would have it ready by mid October (My birthday is mid October! What a perfect gift!) then she would send it to the provincial adoption Co. and they will call to meet with us, then they forward our dossier to our agency to be translated, they will then send it back to the province and then the province sends it to China. We wait for a LID then, with the Waiting Child program our agency will be ready to match us! I called our agency yesterday and they are saying it's possibly to have a referral by Christmas for our little Asian prince! However they said travel is estimated 3-5 months leaning mostly on the 4-5 months. So with that said we can hope at the latest we will travel in May! That makes us VERY happy! Things are looking bright on the horizon!

Sept 14th: (Better day today)

Today I went down to our local courthouse and got a few documents certified and stamped. The JP is a lady who goes to our church so it was nice that we found favor in her today after the last few days. I brought home the documents and sealed them in an envelope and will send them off tomorrow.

Today was 1 year ago from Gotcha day for our princess. While eating supper it started to rain while the sun was shining..it was magnificent....I just knew in my spirit that there would be a rainbow in the front side of the house so she and I ran to the front door and sure enough. I love how God reminds us of His faithfulness....you see we seen her before our Adoption Coordinator even called us....on a website that advocates for waiting children. called "Rainbow" Kids... You just can't call that a coincidence...what are the chances that out of 147 million orphans in the world we would have seen her face before the phone even rang. That was 100% God. I love how He shows up in the most timely ways.

Sept 13th:
More papercuts!! Hubby's passport stuff came back today so we have to refile for a whole new passport for him.

His venerable persons check came back with the same snag mine had, so he has to run fingerprints and have it sent away also.

I filled out the citizenship package and paid for it on-line. I have to have some documents certified tomorrow by the notary public.

My licence isn't due for renewal until October but I wanted all current info photocopied so I got that done today.

Then to top it off I had my physical done and my Dr. will fill out the form when my blood work is done. He gave us a hard time about it last time and this time was no different. He really doesn't understand why they want him to fill it out but not send any laboratory test results as proof. I said I wouldn't argue with China about it, they have their reasons and I won't question them.

AHHHHH! So here we are. The citizenship looks like it will take up to 7 months, (this doesn't have to go with our dossier) the medicals will be ready in a few weeks and the police checks can take up to 3-4 weeks so even if our SW is done we can't send everything for translation until all the paperwork is collected. I'm guessing the earliest would be the end of October to mid November before we can send it to China. That is a bit of a downer but everything is in Gods timing so I will try not to dwell on those particulars. He's on top of the littlest details. I know He is. ;O)

#2 and #3 Post from private blog. Sept 5th and 8th

2010-11-20T08:50:00.001-04:00

#3
The rollercoaster is taking a dip...hang on it's only temporary!

Dear hubby's passport went threw the wash over a year ago, (funny China accepted it last September...) he got a call from the Passport office saying they will not renew it because of the shape it's in......AAAAAAAHHHHHKKKK! So they are sending it back and asking him to reapply from the beginning. Which means a different passport number which means more paper cuts as I thumb threw alllllll the paper I filled out with his passport number on them!!! THANK Heavens I didn't start the citizenship packet yet! So....I'm not sure how long that will take for him to get his new one. Still waiting for mine and daughter's to be sent back to us.

Then....if that wasn't enough I went in to have my venerable persons check done and they called the next day to tell me there is someone else in the system with a similar name as mine and they will want to fingerprint me and send it off. This is a new process they started only a month ago the lady was telling me and she said it may take 3 weeks or more but that it would more than likely be longer....ugggg. Praying everything mysteriously gets expedited.

This Monday coming I go for my physical. So I'll have that for filled out and that will be another piece of the paper castle. Hubby gets his done the following week.

#2
Sending our registration off to our agency today. This is two forms one to be sent and the other to be filled out and e-mailed.
Yesterday we did our Letter of Request, collected letter from Guardian, reference letter from family member, got my letter of proof of employment from accountant. (Need to get hubby's). Birth certificates collected, Marriage certificate, divorce papers(I was married at 18 then separated at 20), and some pictures collected to mount to card stock(this was new this time around, they want you to mount them on card stock with the date of photo and a line describing the picture. ) Today we will hopefully collect the other two reference letters from friends.

August 2010 Post #1

2010-11-17T11:33:00.004-04:00

Over the next little while I'll be gradually moving posts from the private blog I started for our second journey over to this one. I thought I would start a second blog but I still want to continue to post updates about Sugar Pie and I know I can't keep up with 2 blog so I'm combining the two. Here is my first blog post from August.
Well hello there friends! Yesterday was my first "OFFICIAL" paper cut...I got it while printing off our home study that we had for Sugar. I printed it off to make the necessary changes I need to so that we could resubmit it to our social worker. This morning I made some changes and added some important info then off to my social workers tonight to put it in her mailbox!!! So we have officially started to paper chase for our son! We will be requesting a boy up to the age of 4 from the Waiting Child Program. We are soooooo ready!

Sugar is looking forward to having a little brother and it will be so exciting having the two of them growing up together sharing memories. My older daughter will love to have a little brother too! Not to mention our grandbutton! Holidays will certainly be milestones to remember around our kitchen table for years to come.

We knew pretty much right away we would adopt again if the Lord put it on our hearts. I know He did a work in both my husband and I and we are over the moon excited to add to our family. So buckle up and enjoy the paper roller coaster ride. Watch your fingers.,..the paper is sharp!

A "Boy" 100 Good Wishes Quilt!

2010-11-14T17:06:00.006-04:00

Ok I love how perfectly timed I had to make this baby shower cake. It's goes perfectly with my plea for little boy fabric and wishes post!

We collected well over 100 pieces of fabric for Sugar Pie's 100 Good Wishes quilt and I still marvel every time I look at it. The sweet lady that put it together for us has no idea how much of treasure it is to us. I have it on Sugar Pie's bed and every morning that I make her bed I fall in love with it over and over. So much love went into the collecting of those pieces. I kid you not, the wait was terribly long but each and every time I received one quilt piece it truly brightened my day and made that days wait bearable. So as we wait now for our little son I'm setting out on a quest again to collect 100 fabric squares and wishes and looking forward to receiving one from you! Here is some info on the quilt and how it works.

100 good wishes quilt:
To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. It is a custom to invite friends and family to contribute a patch of cloth with a wish/prayer/poem/verse or song for the baby. Part of the patch of cloth goes into the quilt for the baby, and the other part of the cloth can go into a scrapbook with the wish for the child. The quilt contains the prayers,thoughts,and best wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. (Remember to write your name and the date on your wish).
Select a fabric that is meaningful to you, it doesn’t have to be new- a project you started but didn’t finish, a piece of clothing, something you thought was nice at Walmart or your favorite fabric outlet. Just remember this one is for a boy so think boy colors and patterns.
The purpose of the 100 Good wishes quilt is to create a quilt with each of the quilting squares associated with a specific person/wish. This type of quilt is common in China and has become popular in the Chinese adoption community.
The person sending the piece of fabric also sends a wish on a piece of paper for a scrapbook for the person who will eventually receive the quilt. The wish can be for good health, a prayer or wish. The square should be a 8x8 inch piece of fabric (or there about) then we can cut it to the correct size . It is ideal if you place a piece of the fabric on the paper containing the wish so that we can associate the wish with the fabric and the person who sent the fabric.
The Wish: Your wish and the way it is presented can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. The wish might be a prayer, favorite poem, a heart felt random thought, a Bible verse or a quote. You can write it on an index card, white paper, stationary, lined paper, acid free paper, scrap booking sheet- whatever you like. You can hand write or use a computer, make it scrap-booky or stamped - whatever you like- this is your wish/prayer for our son, we want it to reflect your personality.Some of the wishes I have read include- I wish you love ,hope and happiness, I wish for you to find the love of God, I pray that God keep and protect you …… Let your personality shine! E-mail me and I'll send you my address. hitech@eastlink.ca
Thank you soo much for helping us out and if anyone else out there is also building a Bai Jei Bei I will gladly contribute to your project. Just e-mail me.

Great News!!

2010-11-09T21:42:00.005-04:00

Good news! We got the last document! Dossier will be in our hands to sign tomorrow!!! Praise God! When the phone rang this morning I was praying it would be the call we were waiting for!! Prayer answered! \o/ \o/ \o/!!!

I got my new 147 Million Orphans shirt today! I was so excited I put it on right away! I love it! I want more! Hubby and I both have one now.

I mentioned to my hubby that I might like to have an e-reader for Christmas...this showed up this week. I told him he should have waited til Christmas but he just wanted to bless me. He is wonderful. I'm going to love not trying to find new hiding places for my books! ;O)

Thought I'd make a cake for Remembrance Day week. I had some left over butter cream from the Barbie cake below. Sugar Pie and the rest of her Spark friends are marching to the cenotaph to lay poppies at the memorial site on Thursday. Hopefully this rain will stop before then..it's been raining for about 6 days...looking forward to some sunshine.

This was my first buttercream cake and first crack at a Barbie cake. The lady that ordered it loved it.

Sugar Pie has Thurs and Fri off this week. Parent teacher interview Friday. The home and school association is having a bake sale during the Parent Teacher Interview day, I baked Chocolate Chip Banana Bread all day yesterday for it. I'll have to stock up for Christmas! I seen fudge when I dropped off my baked goods today!!!

I had Miss K for the day one day last week. She is so funny. I can't believe how much she's grown and matured in the last little while. I chased her around with the camera video taping her, preserving that little voice in time. I'd download it but blogger is being difficult. We had a great day. Before she went home she had some of my seafood chowder and LOVED it..then she ate the rest of mine! Love it!

Thanks FLISS for the beautiful gifts I received today! She sent me a wonderful smelling handmade bar of Pumpkin scented soap, a magnet from her trip to Colorado, a lime green T-Shirt (my fave color!) and a SWEET pic of Miss S!

Ok maybe I'm rambling but I just wanted to say one more thing. I've started a second blog to journal out second adoption and thought I'd close this one down but I think I'll just change the header and do a continuation of Sugar Pie updates, my own ramblings and also journal this next journey so bear with me as your going to see a few new posts one here in the next little while as I consolidate the two.

Bullets

2010-11-04T21:43:00.014-03:00

Sugar Pie Spark stepped up tonight and got her pins and badges. She was so excited!

It was pretty cute to see her running to receive the honor. The excitement shows a little...don't cha think? ;O)

Halloween night Miss K came over to see Nana, Papa and Sugar Pie. I laughed when I caught this shot...too cute. These tow little ones are such happy little ones.

Bailey Bo Baggins and my sweet Pan girl. Bailey turns 12 this month. He has lost his hearing and his eyes a getting pretty bad. Not to mention his heart is weak. I figured since I had the opportunity I'd better take a pic of Pan with her doggie. Not sure how long he has left but so far he outlived what the vet said by about 1 1/2 years.

Minnie Mouse! So Cute! She got to dress up 3 times this year! Once for our local adoption group, once for Chinese school then Halloween night while she helped hand out treats. We didn't take her out this year...we'll wait until she better understands. We have a pretty good sleeping routine and I will forfeit trick or treating to keep her on track...it's truly an act of kindness. She's not a big treat eater anyway, and she loved handing out treats.

Look Snow White has 2 mommy's! Daddy was a great sport at the Chinese school Halloween party.

A cake I made for a little one's birthday. It was fun. I love the color combo.

I bought this pumpkin muffin pan and the muffins are adorable!

Went to Halifax with Daddy when he had to work last week and I got in touch with a cousin of mine who I've been in touch with on FB but I haven't seen in 10 or more years. It was so nice to spend some time with her. Love you Leena May!

Sugar Pie and I waiting to stuff her little brothers teddy bear for Christmas at Build-a-Bear. She had to do a sweet little heart ceremony before it went into the monkey. At one point the store clerk told her to rub it on her side so her little brother would always know she was at his side and then she kissed the heart...I was cool til about right then...and I got teary eyed. This little boy of ours is going to be so blessed by his big sister! Can't wait to get Honey Bunch home!

While we are on the topic...we are stuck in wait mode...for one more document to complete our home study. We got our local member of parliament to send a formal letter to the commissioner to put a rush on but haven't heard anything back yet. We are now 3 weeks off our original projection so we hope ministry approval will happen fast then we can send our dossier to have translated then back to our province then to China. Hopeful this can all happen quickly...it would be wonderful to get a referral by Christmas!

I started a blog but I plan on moving it or at least changing it but it will bring you up to date from the beginning of our paper chase in August. This is it HERE.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!!

Lots of great news!

2010-10-24T20:34:00.006-03:00

Miss K turned 2 today! I can't believe where the last 2 years went. Actually I can't believe how much she changed and grew in just one year. She loves to help Nana clean up after making a cake ;O).

She calls Sugar Pie "Ja Ja" and was pointing at her pony tails every five minutes telling me she looks like Ja Ja. She Loves her Auntie Ja Ja.

Loves getting her picture taken.

Love the color combo on Miss K's cake.

I adore this picture. Miss K get a new guitar for her birthday..she called it her Getart...lol.

Ohhh the wonderment in those eyes.

Sugar Pie at the local China Adopt halloween party. She wore her little ladybug costume again. It won't fit next year so we'll enjoy one more year of it. It's super fleece and warm.

Cake I made for a little one's birthday. I love the colors!

Today we finally after a year had Sugar Pie dedicated. We were waiting for the right time and other things got in the way. It was actually perfect timing because it was the perfect time to announce that we would love prayer coverage while we begin the process of adopting our second child!!!!! Yes! WE ARE ADOPTING AGAIN!!!!! We knew all along we would.

We started the paper chase back in August and are just waiting on one more document before sending it off for ministry approval then translation!

I'll blog more about it later. I started a blog but need to do some work on it so perhaps I'll copy and paste the previous posts to get everyone caught up. WE ARE SO EXCITED!

Happy Thanksgiving (in Canada) from Our Home to Yours.

2010-10-09T22:47:00.003-03:00

This is our Thanksgiving cake. I still have to add some leaves and twirly sprigs. Just thought it was a cool picture (took it with my new lens ;O) yay!) for wishing all my Canadian friends a wonderful and thankful day with your families. Blessings!
Hugz Shane, Debz and Sugar Pie.

Catching up post!

2010-10-07T21:52:00.006-03:00

* Sugar Pie was at school last Thursday and while they were on a fundraising walk on the trails the little one who's hand she was holding tripped and Sugar got pulled down with him...unfortunately she took the break of the fall...it was the first time she had an injury away from home. I was pretty shaken when I seen her get off the bus and wondering how the situation was handled. I called the teacher and she explained how it happened and said it was only a 1/2 hour before school was out. I know she did what she thought was best so I hold nothing against her but I sure wish they would have called right away....(she did call but Daddy took the call before I'd known what happened) .I would have been there in 5 minutes. I think if anything now that I look back on it that if a child ingures any where on their face or head a parent should be called right away. I totally understand if it's a knee or elbow or scrape/ little bruise somewhere but if it's a back or face injury a parent should be notified. Again just let me say I hold nothing against Sugars teacher. Ms. S is one of the sweetest and most genuine teachers I've ever met. She truly cares for each of the children in her class and it shows when you see the kids face light up when they walk into her class each day. I just wish I was there to wipe those tears myself.......is that selfish of me?

*Well needless to say pretty much everything and anything Sugar wanted or asked was given to her all weekend..I couldn't say no when I would look at that poor swollen red face. I have to say Polysporn is a miracle cream though. She was drying up and healing in no time. We went to the apple orchard on Sunday afternoon. It was more fun this year since she knew more about what was going on. She loved picking them off the tree.

* The apple of my eye!

* She couldn't get enough! It was a beautiful fall day. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

* My birthday is next Thursday (didn't bother me turning 40 but I'm feeling the sting of 41...especially when one of the ladies at Church who I think is about 35-36 asked where my 23 year old went to school...she wondered if she knew her from there!) Apparently she didn't do well in math!...sheech! Kidding...I love her to peices....just set me back to hear that lol. My darling hubby bought me a new fancy smanchy lens for my camera. It's more lens capability than I know what to do with but it's auto focus and auto aperture is amazing as you'll see in the picture of Sugar Pie below. I need to read up on this puppy and play around with it some more. FUN! Thank you Hunny! Your the best!

* Such a ham she has become! LOL. I guess you either embrace your mothers tendency to snap at any moment or run...I think she gave up running. Finally!

*I'm taking a 15 passenger van over to Halifax for a youth group trip to see the David Crowder Band on Sunday. Should be fun. I always enjoy youth road trips. I'm glad it's not an all nighter though. Thanksgiving weekend and all.

*Sugar Pie had her second night of Sparks tonight, she needed to keep me in close range for security. I moved across the room at one point and she got pretty upset when she didn't see me. I think there is still a little insecurity there that I might leave her somewhere. Makes me sad. Hopefully she will get better as she gets to know some of the girls better. I'm considering volunteering as a leader. She would love that. Which means somethings got to give...why?...because youth group and Sparks are on the same night...I've been with youth for 4 years perhaps it's time to let someone else serve in this area for a change...it really is a great experience. I have to put my family first now.

*Hubby's book worker called and said they were doing a mini audit on a lot of Canadian families who've adopted this year. They needed to photo copy some receipts so I carted those off yesterday. I actually heard on various yahoo groups of others who were contacted also. Apparently our accountant said sometimes Revenue Ca. will pic a line on the return and ask the computer to spit out X amount of names where that certain line was filled in and this year it just happened to be adoptions. He'll validate anything that needs to be validated.

*My Momma is all moved into her new place. It's a darling little apartment. She hasn't stayed there yet as we need to help her put up window treatments first. I have popped in to see her a couple of times but haven't had a chance to help her put them up yet. Tomorrow I have Miss K for the day (YAY!!!! I miss my Grandbutton so much! Need me some snuggles!) so I won't be able to help tomorrow then Hubby comes back from working all week in Edmonton and I have to pick him up at the airport in Moncton. Then Sunday is youth group road trip and Monday is Thanksgiving! Hopefully we'll figure something out :o(. My sister (bless her heart) is pretty consumed with school and trying to get into a new routine with that so her time is limited now too. Perhaps tomorrow night after supper or something...I'll see what happens.

*I thought it would be fun to make a cake for Thanksgiving but I'm not sure when I'll find time for that! LOL, unless it's while Miss K is here. Hummmmm maybe that will work. I was thinking a pumpkin cake with bright orange (food coloring) vanilla cake. I can make the vines and leaves like I did with the Tea Pot I made for my Mom.

*Well that's about it for updates that I can think of right off...I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. Hugz and Lovins' to you all. I'm thankful for all of you!

God Bless you!

Sugar Pie's 1st Real Haircut..

2010-09-29T12:40:00.002-03:00

No more buzz cuts for this little cutie. Last night after bath I was combing her hair and decided her hair has finally filled in enough to give her a little shape. She was as good as gold to sit there, and proud as a peacock I might add.

Before

After
See how thick it looks after just triming off those jagged edges? She couldn't wait to show daddy!

Happy 8th Wedding Anniversary Black Beauty!

2010-09-20T10:32:00.002-03:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HUNNY!

This morning he kissed my lips before my eyes were open, wished me a happy anniversary and I melted all over again. I love this man more that he will ever know. He blesses my very being.

We have a sponsor child in Burkina Faso, we have had him for 4 years. We decided to sponsor another child threw our church. We have a mission team that goes down to Africa ever 2 years and they actually get to hand deliver boxes of gifts to our churches' sponsor children. When we approached our Mission Pastor about a child he said that there was a mother who was about to give birth and that we could sponsor that child. I was so happy to hear this! Well this morning we found out that this mom gave birth to a baby boy! How exciting! Next year we will celebrate our anniversary AND our sponsor child's birthday!!! We couldn't be more blessed!

Tonight we are going to a swanky little restaurant for supper, I can't wait and I'm so happy that hunny didn't have to work off Island today!

Our 1st Gotcha Day Anniversary

2010-09-14T23:45:00.003-03:00

This picture was taken one year ago before we went to China.

She looked Afraid, confused, weak, malnutritioned, concerned, vulnerable, regimented, uncertain, sad, timid, lonely, frail, dim, insecure....but always loved.....she just didn't know by who.

This picture was taken a week ago.

Now she is loved, protected, confidant, aware, strong, well fed, free, brave, assertive, comfortable, certain, happy, sociable, healthy, bright, curious, brilliant, lovable, trusting, secure and full of joy, hugs, kisses and giggles.

Today I was reminded of God goodness when the sun was shining and it was pouring rain out. Sugar Pie and I went to the back door and watched as the sun reflected on every tiny droplet as it danced in the air. It was simply stunning t see. The horses in the back field seemed to even welcome it. I held her and we thanked Jesus for such a beautiful sight. I had a feeling that if we went to the front of the house we would see a rainbow and sure enough there was the most perfect arch with incredible vivid colors. What a perfect day for God to send a rainbow, on the eve of our Gotcha Day anniversary. I don't believe this was a coincidence at all, you can believe in the stars lining up or the roll of a dice or your horoscope or what have you but it only takes the faith of a mustard seed to believe God can and will speak to you in a unique way that He knows you will hear Him if you listen. So back to why the "rainbow" what perfect for our Gotcha Day anniversary...I didn't ever tell you all this story and it's pretty amazing actually. A few days before we got the call from our provincial adoption coordinator I was on the Internet looking at a few different sites, I came across a picture of a little girl and I looked at it, then a little later I went back to it again and showed a friend who was over, then again when my husband came home from work. When we finally got the call we hightailed it down to the provincial coordinators office and when she showed us her file........ our mouths dropped to the floor! IT WAS HER! The little girl's picture that I had seen only a few days before! Over 147 million orphans in the world and we seen her face first! That my friends is God speaking in the special way He speaks to us.

Here is the cherry on top for my story though. The name of the site where we first seen our Sugar Pie's face was *"Rainbow" Kids"*.....the faith of a mustard seed is all it would have taken to hear Him speak in our special language.

So I had to take a picture (couldn't get the entire rainbow in the pic) of Sugar standing under the end of the rainbow. Now that right there is a pot-of-gold!

I can't believe it's been a year, she was very much like a 2 1/2-3 year old when she first came home but now she is definitely a 5 year old. She has come so far in such a short time, I still marvel at how well adapted she has become. She is so much more than we ever could have imagined. She has forever changed us.

We feel so incredibly blessed to have two beautiful and wonderful daughters who couldn't be any more alike than what they are. When Jac was 5 she was very much like Sugar is now....so I guess we must be doing something right. :o)

Happy Forever Family Day Sugar Pie.

Thank you Lord for the special gift of little girls, 5 or 23....they will always be our little girls.

1st day of Kindergarten!

2010-09-12T19:33:00.002-03:00

We got to go to Sugar's classroom the day before kindergarten started and meet her teacher Ms. *S*. I had a chance to talk with her and explain that she has only been with us for 1 tender year and that if she looks sad or gets upset threw the day to let me know right away and we would just ease her into it each day. She was very understanding. We have come so far with her sleeping and nervous bladder that something traumatic could make her regress and I will protect that with every bit of energy in me! But more importantly I didn't want her to feel confused in any way or think we were going to leave her there. After all she is a creature of habit and likes very much to know what will happen next.

She got to go around to a few of the different tables that had different activities, she got a great kick out of the magnifying glasses ;O)

She drew a picture of me...I had three hairs on the top of my head! LOL....and I was REALLY skinny!

The next morning we got up and started our new routine. The night before we set out clothes and made lunch.

Here she is waiting for the bus to come...rehearsing how it would go down..."I go on bus, mommy follow bus, mommy get me at school, take me to class,mommy come back after to see me, ect.

Getting pretty excited!
A little concerned but very bravely she turned and went to her seat. I joined the convoy of Kindergarten mommies who were also following...actually the mom who was first in line graciously let me cut in front of her ;O). At school she was very happy to see me at the bottom of the bus steps waiting for her. She was excited to get to class and had zero problem with me leaving. I drove home and I was gathering stuff out of my SUV with the door open and another mom drove by and stopped in wondering if I was sitting in my car crying LOL. I wasn't but thought it was sweet that she was willing to comfort me. I came in to my uncomfortably quiet house and I swept, and mopped...then as I listened to the clock on the wall tick it occurred to me I hadn't heard that sound in a year...I hate that sound! Then I started to think about all the other moms and how fortunate they were to have spent the first 5 years with their little ones before they went off the K. The flood doors opened and I had me a good little cry...it felt good to get it out. I really feel like I just sent my 1 year old off to school. :o(. She will do just fine...I on the other hand am going to need some time to get used to this. I went back at 11:30 to just let her know I was still around. Then again at 2:00 I stopped to see her and ask her if she wanted to go home on the bus or did she want to come home with me. She decided to take the bus and I told her I would be in the drive way waiting for her. She had a great day and couldn't wait for the next day to come. Our little girl is so brave!

Pictures and Catching Up!

2010-09-01T22:25:00.002-03:00

I love this picture of Sugar Pie! I took her to Grampa's Old Time Photo's yesterday when we were in Cavendish. We planed on going to the Water Park but an hour waiting in the Motor Vehicle Branch put the kibosh to that idea....but at least it was air conditioned! We have been enduring a bit of a heat wave here the last few days. It was 41 C here today which is like about 105 F. with humidity. We are expecting hurricane Earl to hit this weekend. (mind you with a name like Earl!? Now how threatening does that sound... te he). Hope it breaks the humidity.
My sweet Knight in Shining Armour had a birthday on Sunday! Happy Birthday babe! He didn't want me to make a cake. He said he would much rather a pie. So I thought we should at least put a candle in it. He just loves blueberry pie!
Tea Party for my Mom's retirement and Aunt's birthday. I made them a tea pot cake.
This one was a lot of fun!
I made this one for our next door neighbor who is moving to another province this week. He was so wonderful, helping cut the grass and always making time to stop to say hello. We're going to miss him.
My sweet husband got me a cricut cake for our anniversary which is coming up on the 20th. That is what I used to cut the letters out for his parents 47th anniversary cake.
My sweet daughter Jac's birthday was on the 21st. My sister's birthday is the same day. I asked them to describe themselves in 5 items and found a common theme to decorate their cake. Treasures of the sea. The picture on top is a picture I took of them on Jac's 1st birthday. It was a lot of fun to make that one and they both loved it. Happy Birthday to my girl and my sister!!! Hummm....maybe hubby didn't want me to make a cake cause he wanted to give me a break? lol.
A couple of weeks ago we went to the Moncton Zoo and while we were there Sugar seen some ladies face painting so we thought it would be fun to get her face painted. She loves monkeys so it was only fitting for her to get one on her cheek. So cute. :o)
Loving the rabbits.
Oh! Here is another cake I made a bit ago. This was for a bridal shower. The couple are getting married in Vegas mid Sept. EVERYTHING on this cake is edible..except the foil on the chocolate.
Sugar playing hard on the front deck. I still can't believe I'm sending this little girl off to a full day of kindergarten next week. Breaks my heart. :o(
Last Monday we had our 12 month post adoption report done. It will be a year since got-our-arms-around-you-day on the 15th.

Tomorrow is my SIL and BIL's 10th Wedding Anniversary!
It's also my 10th year for not smoking tomorrow....lol how are the two connected you ask?! Well lets just say father in law + a couple beer + helium tank + myself + laughing so hard my throat felt raw= no more cigarettes for me! Now I can't say I didn't want one but I fought it and won. I haven't had even a sniff of one. I never did like to smoke when I was feeling sick or had a sore throat so I said the next time I felt icky I would quit. Not to mention I'm a self proclaimed queen of stubbornness.

So there you have it, a little catch up to the times post. Been enjoying the summer, always up to something with my Sugar Pie.

Loving to hear of all my bloggy friend getting their referrals, keep them coming CC@@!

2nd half of Kim's Trip to our Island

2010-08-26T12:35:00.002-03:00

Continuation of Kim's visit to out beautiful Island.

July 27th This morning we got up and headed to Cackleberry Farms to pick raspberries. We got about 7 lbs in a very short time. This was a first for Kim as well as Sugar. Surprisingly Sugar didn't eat as many as she picked in fact I don't think she ate any at all. She was bored in a hurry though lol.

Once we finished there we took the scenic route back out to the highway and headed to Cavendish to go to Shining Waters Park to meet up with Doris, Dan, and Miss D. We walked around the park, the little ones went on some rides while we chatted. It was nice to spend some time with them. They look GREAT and that little Miss D is cute as a button. We took a trip over to Green Gables House and went threw the house and walked down "Lovers Lane". It was cool for Kim to see what inspired L.M. Montgomery's novels.
After Sugar was bathed, read to and tucked into bed Kim and I pulled up our sleeves and I showed her how to make raspberry freezer jam, Island seafood chowder and then we decorated her fondant cake. She had fun doing it all...well maybe she didn't exactly do back flips over cleaning the clams lol but I think if she had to do it all over she wouldn't change a thing for the experience of it all ;O). Which reminds me I have to get that Seafood Chowder recipe to her soon ;O).

July 28th Today we went to the Green Gables Post Office then off to the Cavendish Boardwalk to meet up with Doris, Dan, Miss D, Deloris, Shawn, Jaclyn, Britney and Miss K. We browsed around a few shops and stopped at lunch time for a bite to eat. It was nice to hang out with everyone again for a little bit. Mind you it was pretty busy. We found a picnic table and sat down to have a piece of Kim's cake then we headed out to Victoria-By-The-Sea.

This place gives peace to my soul every time I go there. I was born there and we stayed until I was 6 then had to move away. There are lots of little shops around the little town. This is where we found a lighthouse for Kim to climb to the top of. She wasn't planing on it until I called her a chicken then she pivoted on one foot and headed up ;O). Peer pressure ;O). LOL. We headed home and had YUMMY Clam Chowder and crackers for supper. It was an awesome day! We had a lot of laughs today...Kim and I have the ability to just look at each other and know what we are thinking then laugh until our tummy hurt. I'll never forget today, it was so nice to share some of my childhood memories with her as we walked threw that little town.

July 29th Today was the day Kim was supposed to go home but we asked her to stay a couple more days and she agreed ;O). I'm so glad she did! We had pancakes with Canadian Maple Syrup for breakfast today. Yummy! Then we got ready and headed out to MacCallums Point to the Indian Head Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1881 several hundred meters off the tip of the point. It has a break way of huge rocks and boulders leading out to it. When the tide is out you can walk to it on sand. The tide was starting to come in by the time we got there but we were determined to get out to it. In some places we were walking in water 3 feet deep. We got there but didn't stay long as the tide was coming in and the waves were becoming fierce as they crashed over the break way. It was really quite a thrill and an adventure not for the faint of heart. I told Kim she would have no excuse for not walking the Great Wall of China after treading water to this lighthouse. When we were heading out we dropped a couple of shirts into some very muddy red mud to stain our shirts. We call them PEI dirt shirts. We bought iron on patches of the "Friendship" flags. It was both the US and Canada flag together. We also went out to the little school house that L.M. Montgomery taught at in Bedeque. We came back to the house and cleaned up a bit then headed out to L.M. Montgomery's birthplace which is a museum today. I found a Mary Englebriet version of Anne Of Green Gables and bought it. Tried my luck at New London Wharf to see if there was an Issabella fishing boat but to no avail. Boo. We then went on a quest to complete some more things off her bucket list.

We went to my friend Dara's house and we had soft shelled clams and corn. THANK YOU DARA!!! She is such an awesome host. We were at her camper at Twin Shores. We went down to the Atlantic Ocean and Kim had to have a dip in the water. The sand on this side of the Island is white as opposed to the other side which has red. The other difference is that there are jellyfish on this side. That was interesting :op. Ha Ha. Kim wrote a message on the sand to her children. I went to youth group tonight while Kim watched Sugar. When I got back we went to the activity room and made hair bows for Issabella. It was another amazing day that would have never have happened if Kim would have went home this morning.

July 30th I wasn't completely happy with our dirt shirts so I redyed them and hung them on the line then we headed into town so Kim could find some souvenirs to take back home with her. We went to the train station in Kensington then went back out to Cavendish to a few shops for some more last minute trinkets. We were longer than expected to we decided to stop and eat at a restaurant called the Sand Box. It was nice to sit out on the deck. They have a place inside for families with small children where the children can actually play in a sand box before and after they eat. I thought that was pretty cute. They have t-shirts that say "I got sand in my pants at the Sand Box". lol. On the way back home we stopped for an ice cream at the Frosty Treat then came home. It would be the last time this trip that Sugar would see her Arizona Auntie so they said their good-bye's before she went to bed for the night. (I had to turn around in the kitchen away from them at one point to hold it together, Sugar really took to Kim, she will always remember the fun they had together while New Kim was here). When it got dark out I went to the back deck and lit the little fire pit then we each grabbed a blanket and a beverage and headed out. We sat under the stars on the the calm night you could possibly imagine. It was like God Himself planned it to be that way. We talked about life and our hopes and dreams, reminisced about our trip and talked about the future. I will never forget that night. I still marvel at how a red thread connected us together as forever friends and that it was totally meant to be that way. When Kim went to bed I stayed up and made her a special scrapbook page with fabric to add to her 100 GWQ.

July 31st We got up at 5 and I helped Kim zipper her over stuffed suitcase and hid a special treasure in there while doing so. We packed the car and headed down the road. Kim asked me something when we pulled away from the drive way and I tried so hard to answer her with the lump in my throat but as soon as I looked at her I couldn't help myself. Then both of us were a mess. This was not an easy trip to the airport. I didn't want her to go. We got to the airport and I walked with her to her gate we said our goodbye's and had a moment while we embraced and I watched her as she walked threw security and out of sight. On the way home as I was driving I realized the reason I asked Kim to come here was because I thought we had a lot in common and while I was waiting I would have loved it if someone would have offered me a little get away. I thought I was doing her a favor so to speak. I don't think I realized that we would create a bond that would make us grow so fond of one another. She genuinely truly cares for the people she becomes friends with and that is something hard to find in a friend. She will allow you to totally be yourself and I so appreciated that fact about her. Kim made me fall in love with my Island again and she also unknowingly showed me it's ok to take a chance on having your heart broken if you try to make friends with someone that may or may not accept you for who you are. I think I closed my heart to that a few years ago and have struggled with it for many years. How else will you gain forever friend unless you open your heart to it. It's a win win situation, those who don't bond to you are the ones who loose if you are true to them. I love you Kim and I know we will be forever friends. I can't wait until we meet again when you have my niece in your arms. I don't have any pictures of her leaving....honestly I didn't want any...It's really the only regret I have about her trip, she could have stayed with us forever...and a piece of her did. xox

1st part of Kim's visit with us.

2010-08-22T21:01:00.009-03:00

I'm sure many of you have followed Kims blog as she posted about her trip here to PEI, If you haven't please pop over and check it out. Here's a bit of my rendition of her trip here.

July 22nd. Kim arrived late tonight. We were pleasantly surprised to see than there was a couple just arriving home with their little guy from China on the same flight. We got to see him for a few minutes while waiting for Kim to come down the gate. As soon as I laid eyes on her I ran to her and jumped her giving her a big hug. It was so nice to finally meet her in person. She and I clicked right away.

July 23rd, we got up and Sugar met Kim. We puttered around most of the morning before realizing the day was getting away on us, so off we went on the quest to clean some stuff off her bucket list we made for her. We went to Chelton Beach where the red sand is on the southern side of the Island. We wrote in the sand and walked along the beach chatting. I found Kim a hermit crab to play with...it freaked her out a bit when it came out of it's shell. That was really funny watching her hold one for the first time. We left and went up to take pics of the Confederation Bridge. The Confederation Bridge joins the eastern Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, making travel throughout the Maritimes easy and convenient. The curved, 12.9 kilometre (8 mile) long bridge is the longest in the world crossing ice-covered water, and a decade after its construction, it endures as one of Canada’s top engineering achievements of the 20th century. We met up with Shane as he was finishing up from a days work on the other side of the Bridge, made the world seem small to have met up with him at that same moment we were taking pictures of it! We went into the village which is really just a stop for tourists with a bunch of little shops throughout it. We went to the "Anne Of Green Gables Figurines" store then after stopping into a few others we hit "Cow's Ice Cream" which is an Island based creamery that makes not only ice cream but cheese as well. The also have lots of clothing and gift wear. That evening we went to the "Deck House" for supper, Kim ordered Fish and Chips, she really enjoyed the fish (Haddock). Later Kim and I went out to my cherry tree and picked cherries to make pies. We pitted them and put them in the crusts and off to the oven they went. They smelled really yummy cooking! Turned out they tasted just a good as they smelled! YUMMY! We stayed up talking til almost midnight then went to bed.

July 24th, Shane had to go up to my Mom's to fix her water pump today so we decided to go up with him. It's about 45 minutes away. We stopped at a dairy bar on the way and Kim had a dish we call "Fries with the works" and loved it. We went for a walk on the trails beside moms house and took some pictures. In 1989 the trains were taken off the tracks on the Island and they turned them all into walking/biking/skidoo recreation trails. We had a nice walk and shared some childhood memories.

Afterwards we went into the little town close to my moms place called O'Leary, just so happened that the Potato Blossom festival was going on at the same time. Luckily for us the timing was perfect as the parade just finished so we wouldn't have been stuck on a side road unable to get on the main road to take us to the Potato Museum. Kim really liked checking out the old farming equipment and she took some wonderful pictures. We went to the old red school house that my mom used to send us to for a summer program when we were little.

We came home and got ready to go to the Diner Theater called "Eh!". It was awesome, if you have never experienced a diner theater your missing out! The actors/resses do their skit, serve you and continue with their skit, ect until you have had your four course meal. This was where Kim had Mussels for the first time. She was a little taken back by the look of them but soon forgot when she dipped it in warm butter and tasted it. Mussels are soooo yummy!!!

July 25th, We got up and ready for Church. Kim sat with Sugar on the rocking chair and did her morning ritual of taking a picture of them together then Sugar would want to see all her pictures. lol . It was nice to introduce Kim to my church family. They play a VERY large role in my life and have supported me threw thick and thin.

We came home and I made fresh salads out of my garden. Later I taught Kim how to make scented melting tarts. We invited my sister and nephew over cause we had a surprise for my nephew. We got our new Civic a few weeks ago and decided to give him our old Cavalier. It's a 98 so it's 12 years old with a lot of miles on it but a great little starter care for someone. For supper we took everyone to Fisherman's wharf, the buffet was beautiful with anything and everything you could possibly want to eat on it. This was Kim's first time eating a lobster...she was such a great sport...every time she was about to do something new she would have this look on her face that seemed to say"I must be nuts but I'm not gonna back down"...lol...I showed her what to eat and what not to and she was pleasantly surprised. She kept saying the seafood was good but was sooo much work for such little payoff. LOL. (That's why our fishermen are skinny!)

It was a perfect dining experience. Once home and Sugar was tucked into her bed we put the "Anne of Green Gables" DVD in and watched it....well all but about 20 minutes of it that we would save until morning.

July 26th, We got up and after breakfast we finished watching the rest of the movie. We headed in town to run a couple of errands then went out to the beach at the end of the road I live on. There is a huge rock out in the water that I go to often to pray...It's so peaceful and beautiful out there.

I call it prayer rock. I prayed many many times through our 4 year wait for Sugar while sitting on that rock. We got out to the rock and we sat down and I prayed for Kim and her 3 wonderful kids then I said a special prayer for Issabella. I truly can not wait until I see her in her Mommas arms. My heart will explode with joy the day she gets her referral. Afterwards we went to a friends potato field and picked a few potatos. They really weren't ready but we did get a few.

We went to Indian River Church. This Church is one of the oldest on the Island and is something beautiful to see with the naked eye...pictures don't do it justice at all...you almost have to hear your voice echo in it's walls to appreciate this incredible piece of architecture.

We went out to Cabot Park to see if there was a fishing boat out there named Issabella...I'm determined to find one. I'm almost positive I seen one one time. While we were there I went into a fish mart and got some oysters. When we got home Kim pulled up her britches and swallowed one raw. Atta way to go Kim. Another first that will probably not be repeated ;O). She was a great sport!

We got the stuff we needed and headed to the south west shore to go bar clamming. She was a little freaked about the crabs but I think when she realized if she didn't bother them they wouldn't bother her she was ok. My sister showed her how to find them and off they went. I ended up having to entertain Sugar so they did the clamming. We brought home about 35 or more. She enjoyed that adventure. It was so awesome to share my Island with Kim...I miss her terribly and love her so much.

I'll try in the next week or so to get all caught up. Lots of things going on keeping me busy. Bridal shower cake order, Jac and my sister's birthday was yesterday, had a 47th wedding anniversary get together for Shane's parents today. Mom's in the midst of selling the homestead, moving closer to us and retiring, big changes coming for her...all a little overwhelming for her but she will enjoy it when everything settles and she gets used to the new normal. We have an appointment tomorrow with our social worker for our 12 month post adoption. It will actually be a year on Sept 15th but she's coming a couple of weeks early. Plus my husbands birthday is next Sunday and he is on vacation all this week. So ya...it's a little busy. LOL. That's life hey!

A Thank You Post

2010-08-07T21:17:00.003-03:00

THANK YOU KIM! Kim sent this sweet hat and t-shirt set to Sugar. She couldn't wait to put them on. She was as pleased as punch to know they came from Kim.

She looks so sweet in brown and yellow! If you want to order a t-shirt or hat go over HERE and see this talented lady. She has tons of amazifying girly treats! I love this t-shirt! Kim said it was a first of it's kind. Makes even more special cause it was designed by Sugar's Arizona Auntie.

This scrapbook was such a wonderful surprise from Kim. She messaged me and asked me to name things of the alphabet but wouldn't say why, now I know and this will be treasured for ever! Thanks for all the heart you put into this! We love it!

Need to get a pic for K. I have one in mind.

Can't wait to take a picture for V! We need to go on one of these soon!

Sugar posing in her PJ's from Kim. So sweet!

These little treats came from a couple who we met with last weekend who were in our travel group. Sugar said she remembered the little guy they adopted. We went to Shining Waters park and we all had a wonderful time.

Thank you 3D for the wonderful and thoughtful gifts. Sugar filled her piggy bank already. She loved the noise the ladybug made when you added a coin. I'm loving the note pad that say's "Good Ideas". Your right it came in handy! It was so nice to hang out with you guys when you were here. I know it was a busy for everyone. I was just grateful we had you while we did. Hope to spend time with you next time your here.

Auntie Kim spoiled Sugar Pie to pieces! She loves all her special gifts. The coloring book and the fabric rolled out crayon case are a favorite. They can be ordered from THIS lady. She is fundraising for her adoption. The little ladybug garden gloves crack me up..they are sooo itsy bitsy. Too cute!

Thank you Kim for the Pandora Charms, I love them all and will think fondly of you every time I look at them or wear them. The necklace is amazing, I can't believe they were hand made, they are beautiful. They match everything! The purchase of these beaded necklaces goes toward poverty in 3rd world countries. You can order yours HERE. I love the magnet for my fridge and I've been drinking my morning coffee out of my beautiful mug. The Letter beside the mug was tucked inside the mug and when Kim was leaving to go home she messaged me to tell me it was in her room on the dresser. I couldn't wait to read it. I cried like a baby when I got home and found it. I am so blessed to have met her. We connected right away, not just because of knowing each other threw our blog or even because of our red thread of adoption but because we just really enjoyed a lot of the same things and we enjoyed each other. We laughed and cried, joked and had serious talks late into the night, we felt 100% comfortable with each other and there was NEVER that awkward acquaintance moment at all. Sugar and I miss her dearly. We WILL meet again. One day.......when she has a sweet little girl in her arms!!!!

Where to begin.....

2010-08-04T22:57:00.009-03:00

Kim's first day we went to the south side of the Island...the south side has red sand and the water is warm. The north side has silky white sand (beautiful!) but it's much colder.

Kim helped build this cake, we had a lot of laughs making it ;O).

While She was visiting we waisted no time at all...we burned the candle at both ends. I hardly even took the time to update my Facebook although one day I wrote that "at the end of each night we slid into our bedrooms sideways with one eye shut" and that pretty much summed it up...we soooo enjoyed each and every day that we didn't want the day to end.

I can't even begin to tell you how much of a blessing it was to spend time with her. We talked so freely and openly about everything like we had always known each other. We met about 3 years ago on our adoption blogs but I feel like I grew up with her.

Her bucket list had about 65 things on it and there were only two remaining when she left, one was that I'd catch her saying "EH" and the other is that she comes back with her sweet Issabella one day.

I can't remember all the other 63 things but if you pop over to Kim's blog HERE you will get to see her post some things about her trip over the next little while from her perspective.

One thing that I realized when Kim left was that I had a whole new appreciation for our little Island. I fell in love with it all over again. Funny what we take for granted until someone experiences it for the first time and then shares their experience with you.

Kim will always be welcome in our home. She is an amazing lady. An honor to call a part of our family. My life will be forever changed. We miss her so much.

This is one of no doubt a few posts to come of Kim's trip to PEI.

This was her first morning with us. It didn't take long for Sugar Pie to warm up to her Arizona Auntie. Sugar is looking threw a beautiful scrapbook that Kim made for her. It was sooo sweet. Each page had a letter from the alphabet on it with pictures that pertained to Sugar's life. It will be treasured dearly.

Sugar looking for seaweed bubbles to burst.
Holding a hermit crab.....she was a little nervous when it was trying to poke it's face out....it was pretty funny watching her squirm a little. :o) HaHa.
We had supper that first day at the "DeckHouse".

LOL, this pic was fun. She had to stand inside a huge lobster trap to get this taken.

I'll leave you with that for now. More to come!

Miss you Kim!

Summer Bucket list!!!!

2010-07-21T10:53:00.000-03:00

A while back I was sitting here in front of my computer reading a blog remembering how long the wait was and how often I wished I could just be swept away on a little retreat to get away from the everyday and just enjoy life for a while without having to cater to anything/one. I did do little things here and there. I went on a few trips with my wonderful husband which helped make the wait bearable. I met this one sweet gal 3 or so years ago and we have been following each others blog since. She has been a great encouragement to me (and MANY others) and always looks at the brighter side of life. I love that about her. One day out of the blue I asked her if she would ever consider coming to Canada from Arizona for one week to do just that (get away from the everyday). I love that it took her no time to say yes! So here we are 2 days before she arrives! I am really excited for her! It's her first time in Canada, so this will be a good practice run for when she goes to China. We started talking about some of the things we can do when she comes and it looks like there will be a ton of firsts! SOOOOOO!!!! I decided to make a "PEI Summer Bucket List" for her. I don't expect we will get threw them all but we will aim for the ones that tickle her fancy most. I've literally written them all out on little pieces of paper and taped them to the outside of a bucket...if she gets threw at least half of them we'll let her kick her "PEI Summer Bucket" before she goes back home. I thought about listing them here but that will take away the suspense and the fun of it so I'll post every couple of days and tell you what she kicked off her list. Plus it will make an interesting post for her ;O). Stay tuned for lots of fun and laughs! We sure hope this trip blesses her! That's our aim. ;O)

Sorry Kim for not listing everything!!! LOL....don't want to spoil all the fun now do we????.....what you can read from the picture will tease you enough ;O).

Here are a few pics I took outside today. This year was the best year yet for my cherry tree! I think I'm going to try to make a wild cherry pie. Anyone have a good recipe?? I found one online but if you have one that was tested and true I'd love to have it!

Honeysuckle.

Stargazor

Oh and in other news the second car we have that dear hubby uses for work broke down the other day...he got it fixed but I bought that car new off the lot in 1998 and it has served us well for the past 12 years. Dear Hubs needs something he can rely on for long distance driving so we went out yesterday and leased a new Honda Civic sport. Here's a picture of Sugar Pie testing out all the buttons! She wanted to be sure here DVD player would fit on the headrest ;O).

A barrel of fun times!

2010-07-14T17:04:00.003-03:00

I only posted a few pics of the parade...there were tons of floats.

I like this float because...Call me a rebel or what ever you want but I really like graffiti if it's done well and legally...we have a legal graffiti wall in our city and it's amazing what talent these kids have.

Watching the parade with my daddy!

Bud the Spud! PEI is well known for it's potatoes. They are soooo yummy covered in butter , sour cream or mustard pickles!

Sugar Pie sending a special smile out for Kim! We have lots of fun things planned for he when she comes! 1 Week from tomorrow! Yay!!!!!!!!!!

This cake was for one of the youth in our youth group...sweet 16 Shelby!

At youth group this week we are having a water balloon fight/Kraft Dinner/Ice cream Sundays night....I'm so pumped! It's going to be soooo fun! (after I make the dozen boxes of KD that is.) LOL. I hope I can handle being in the kitchen long enough in this heat!

Regis and Kelly are live here on PEI this week. I haven't tuned in to see it yet but I'll catch the next couple of episodes.

Lots of firsts with one on Video!

2010-07-06T06:00:00.000-03:00

This was Sugar's first time in a swimming pool, she loved it! She's showing us a ladybug she found swimming around the pool. It didn't take long for her to gain confinance in her water wings and want to try floating by herself. It will take some time for her to get used to water on her face. We'll practice that in the tub.

Yup first corn feed....loved it!!!

Smelling a handful of fresh picked strawberries, mmmmmmmmmmm!

This was Sugar's first time picking berries.

She was awesome! She didn't even eat any in the field. She waited until I offered her one in the car!

Sugar and Aunt Lori (Dorley).

1st time digging clams. She had more fun playing in the sand.

Here she is with our friend Gary, he was awesome with her. She took to him right away.

Aunt Lori offered all the clams to us since it was Sugar's first time. We got home and steamed them and she LOVED em! Ate almost every one herself!

This was an older one but I just downloaded it from the little I carry in my purse. Thought I'd document it also. It was from info night at kindergarten. They had an introduction for the children to give them an idea of the things they would be doing when they go in the fall. Here she was playing with play doe.

Info night at Kindergarten they allowed them to go for a little bus ride. She was so excited about this first bus ride! She sees the bus go by our house during school and knows that one day she will be able to go on one.

Below is another first...it will speak for itself. It's pretty cute I have to say. ;O)

Happy Canada Day!

2010-07-01T16:35:00.001-03:00

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canuck blogger friends!

And a big resounding Happy 1st Canada Day to our Sugar Pie!!!