Dragon Day Videos

Here are three videos:

1. Zoë eating her Dragon Day cake

2. On the bridge onto "our" new island

3. Bonus coverage of Zoë from just before our move

More Dragon Day

Here we are outside trying out the trike and enjoying one of the last warm days of the year.

Ours is the last house on the left.

Zoë insisting that she can push her trike up onto the bridge all by herself

Don't ask why Jacob is biking with a sword. Let's just chalk it up to Halloween and pretend it never happened

The best thing that Don and Sara left behind at the house - this digger is how Jacob learned to pedal

Zoë knows the snow is coming

Dragon Day

A year ago we were in China, on the most extraordinary trip of our lives and a year ago on Monday was the anniversary of us meeting Zoë. Here are some photos of the celebration, including: a cake "baked" by the twins for Zoë; a new (to us) tricycle so she can join her siblings on bike rides; a Chinese dinner of egg fu yung and beef and broccoli stirfry, both from a beautiful recipe book called Chinese Cooking by Annabel Jackson; and an enthusiastic rendition of She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain as a tip of the cap to Anne Tyler's great adoption novel Digging to America.

There is some discussion/controversy in the adoption community about calling this celebration Gotcha Day, Family Day, Adoption Day, etc. But we went in a different direction. We're calling it Dragon Day, which is a shout-out to her Chinese heritage and to her fiery/spirited disposition. We've been calling her the Zoë dragon for a long time.

It's been quite a year - she's changed all of our lives with her big smile, infectious laugh, outgoing personality, spicy temper, sleep challenges, and everything else. 

Here's a series of Zoë doing battle with her sippy cup.

Cake and presents on the table (tricycle under the big blue tarp), Zoë and Kate waiting for the twins to wake up from their nap.

Unveiling the trike

The big Zoë dragon meets a little dragon

Blowing candles and party favours

Playing in and on the broken-down tree

The kids are loving their new back yard.

The big debate this week is Halloween costumes. Last week Jacob announced that he wanted to be a pancake, while Molly should be a fork and Zoë a bottle of maple syrup. Molly didn't like the idea of playing 2nd fiddle, so she's decided she wants to be a witch. So Jacob responded that he would be a black hat and Zoë could be a black cat. We'll see what Kate comes up with.

Zoë in the New House

Good News Bad News

Here are the kids on day 3 in the new house - most of the house still looks much more chaotic than this photo hints at.


Good news:
1. Painting will all be done as of tomorrow morning. Then we'll have fewer excuses for disorganization.
2. We got the dock out of the water on Wednesday - and it snowed on Thursday and Friday (no accumulation, but still ...)
2. We're picking up a new, very fun, little, commuter car for Kate next week.

Bad news:
1. Dishwasher broken, flooded down into the laundry room, shorting the Rogers phone modem = no phone service again.
2. Credit card has been "cloned", meaning no more spending until they send me a new one in a week (perhaps this is good news?)
3. Kate's on call again this weekend.

In the New House

Thursday was our first night in the new house, but it took me until a few minutes ago to get the computer up and running. The Rogers guy came for the set-up appointment on Friday, but when he asked for the Rogers phone modem from our old house, I gave him a blank stare and then looked helplessly at the mountains of boxes. The modem miraculously showed up in a random box in the garage on Saturday so we now have phone, tv and internet. Hopefully nothing important happened in the world in the past 4 days as I have been off the grid.

I love, love, love the new house, despite the insane chaos. There is stuff everywhere and any attempts to bring order to the madness is quickly undone by one or more of the kids. Will post photos soon!

Thanksgiving

The moving company arrives tomorrow to begin packing up the house. So I thought I'd get in a post before the computer disappears into boxes.

Here's a nice video of Zoë enjoying a little down time while the twins are still napping.

This Thanksgiving saw a visit from the famous big twins - everyone should have a niece and nephew this fun, kind and thoughtful. They were spectacular with the little twins and Zoë, as always.


















Sizing up our gang.





All aboard the Zoë express!



Zoë and Uncle Don checking out the pigs (all these pictures are at Chappell Farm, our annual Thanksgiving pilgrimage - hahaha)



All the kids' cousins all together



Zoë trying to lift a pumpkin



Me and my baby sister



Don with a plump pumpkin in each hand


Thanksgiving dinner, with two tables worth of aunts, uncles and cousins. Last one in the old house.

1st Haircuts!

We took all 3 kids to Barrie on Sunday for their first haircuts. Jacob and Zoë had each had a couple of at-home snip-snips, but this was the 1st official trip to the hairdresser/barber. We went the cheesy route of Melonheads, the ubiquitous kids' chain, complete with ride-on barber chairs, lollipops, certificates and nostalgically saved locks of hair.

- Here's the before photo. You can probably tell that despite being almost 3 1/2 years old, Molly really didn't need a haircut yet.

- Here's Zoë getting started. Not a murmur of dissent.

- Molly about to get started - all aboard Thomas the train

- Loving every minute of it

- Jacob looking to see if the game's on the tv

- Zoë - the finished product. Like I'm ever going to find time to put little bows in her hair

- Molly all done too - complete with sparkly stuff in her hair. Again, that's not going to happen at home

- Molly riding the motorboat

- Jacob's finished product too