Change is a-coming

This week has been great. A two day week - I could get used to that! The girls have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off of school and other than a few minor things each day we don't have much planned. I was really looking forward to sleeping in today...and made it until 7:30. What? That is not like me at all!

I suppose I have a lot going through my head. I go back to work on Monday and will admit that I'm quite nervous about it. Granted, it's only 12 hours a week, but I have for the first time in ages felt relatively in balance, and 12 hours is likely to upset that balance at least for the first while. Thankfully my mom will help out with watching Mebira one afternoon a week, and the other times I will be working while she's at school.

My job itself is pretty good...the staff at church is awesome and I generally like what I do. Our Senior Pastor is really flexible and supportive and understanding so I've been able to set my hours and times. However, I'm not able to just leave work at work very well, and when things get stressful there I am definitely not good at leaving it there. I feel bad admitting this, but I've definitely noticed that my patience (and tolerance?) for Mebira really goes down as soon as I feel stressed. I think it's probably because she's at home with me each afternoon alone and needs more attention than when G&E come home. But I do wonder how my busy-ness will affect our attachment, and how I'm going to get everything done!

I've been debating this whole work thing a lot in the last while. To work or not to work. Although we have been blessed financially in so many ways, we obviously still have debt and I wonder if I shouldn't help bring that down a bit. Plus, raising three kids is quite expensive! And the kids will all be in school "full-time" in September. It would be different if I was homeschooling, maybe I wouldn't feel as "guilty" for staying home. I've been reading Dr. Kevin Leman's latest book, "It's Your Kid, Not a Gerbil" and it has been challenging me a bit. There are so many things we think our kids NEED, or so many things that we sign them up for that we think will enrich their lives. He challenges many of those viewpoints and it has made me stop and think.

Anyway, on that note, G needs help with piano so I will run. I'm curious as to how other people came to the work decision that is right for your family, if you'd be willing to share.

Last few weeks

We've had a good couple of weeks of getting back into the groove after our awesome DW trip. It is always nice to come home knowing that long weekends are not far away. I always need to have something small to look forward to, and with Family Day weekend last weekend and Teacher's Convention next weekend it has been really fun.

Some highlights of the last few weeks:

• Valentine's Day. We were invited to a $500 a plate fundraiser Valentine's Gala, can you believe it? Thankfully the cost was covered, as well as the tux rental for Arvid. The last time he wore a tux was at our wedding nearly 12 years ago...I wore a little black dress and borrowed some cute little silver sandals (thanks, B!). After some champagne when we arrived, we feasted on sushi and california rolls as an appetizer. The main course was a very moist and delicious beef with mashed potatoes and root vegetables, and dessert was a chocolate cake with green tea ice cream. With every course they brought out a new bottle of wine (because really, how could the white wine paired with the appetizer go with the beef in the main course? haha). The Opera performed a little operetta, and various dignitaries (mayor, premier, etc.) gave some speeches. At one point they broke into a "For they are jolly good fellows..." song. It was nice to see how the other side lives for an evening, but I tend to like things a little bit more low key.
• Valentine's Celebration - A few days before V-day, Arvid and I had a quiet evening at home. We made a killer good from scratch caesar salad, WHITE (a rare treat) french bread with oil and balsamic vinegar, a tomato cream sausage pasta and decadent brownies with raspberries for dessert. YUM! That was just the two of us...later on in the week we had our annual chocolate fondue with the girls. I ended up forgetting about half of the fruit so we had it again the next night and brought out the other half of the fruit. :-)
• Family Day weekend - we had a wonderfully relaxing weekend. I don't know if it's my age or the age of the kids, but we are appreciating simple weekends at home more and more. Arvid and I spent a lot of hours sitting on the couch and talking. The kids did a ton of playing and colouring, and we enjoyed our time catching up with my side of the family. We also played family games, went skating and watched a movie as a family. Pretty much a perfect weekend and our first Family Day as a family of 5!

Before I sign off I'll attach a few pictures...

(Below) Our fancy night out

(Below) Our annual Valentine's Day chocolate fondue

(Below) Just a small sampling...YUM! :-)

Disneyworld - part 2

I'm glad that we have a good life to come home to...but man it's hard to come back from a good vacation!! Here are some more pics...

(Below) By the Canadian pavilion in Epcot.
(Below) Snuggle time with Dad.
(Below) The last few days were really quite warm (26ish) and so we spent the last three days at the pool until the mid afternoon and then went to the parks after that. It was awesome - the adults had time to lie out in the sun and read, and the kids had hours and hours of swimming time.
(Below) He's a good dad and went in the water with them a lot more than I did! :-)
(Below) I wish I would have gotten a better picture of this. This was taken at the kids' favourite restaurant - Chef Mickeys. I think it's because of their dessert bar. This was the fun adult dessert side (they had some adorable Minnie Mouse desserts but I didn't quite get the shot)....
(Below)...and this was the kids' favourite part. CANDY! They got to put this on their ice cream sundaes.
(Below) Who else but Chef Mickey?

(Below) Our beauties in with a bunch of lego people at the Lego store
(Below) OK, I admit it...I LOVE cotton candy. I would have it occasionally as a kid as a treat but stopped as an adult as I was sure it had thousands of calories. Well, it turns out it only has about 150 calories for a whole big bag and that is less than a can of coke!! So for any of you closet cotton candy eaters, indulge every once and awhile! :-)
(Below) I was a bit nervous about how it would work out on some rides now that we are an odd number five. This was the only one that was a bit tricky as each kid wanted to ride. Thankfully, Disneyworld has thought of everything and let them go around twice so that you could switch drivers!
(Below) I thought for sure we would see a ton of African Americans at DW but we were shocked that the majority of people were caucasion. We wanted to be sure to have a special visit with Princess Tiana so that Mebira wouldn't feel that you had to be caucasion to be a princess. :-)
(Below) OK, so we have a ton of pictures with various characters. Our meal plan included character meals and we saw over 20 different characters between the meals. This one was extra special, though, as it was a princess dinner inside the castle.

(Below) G decided she was too big to wear princess dresses, but E and Mebira thought it would be fun to do it for this meal at Akershus.

(Below) This shows a bit of our room. Under the TV you can see the murphy bed that folds down. We also had two queen sized beds, 2 sinks and a separate bathroom with toilet, tub and shower.
(Below) More room pics...
(Below) This is what we saw every day at our hotel. Port Orleans Riverside is huge and spread out so you walk a lot, but with a view like this it's super fun to walk around. There were tons of trees, rivers, trails...it felt like such a break after a day at the parks and the nature really helped you just relax and unwind.
(Below) And what trip to the Magic Kingdom is complete without some fireworks? They had an amazing fireworks display each night at 8. We watched it twice and loved every minute.

Well, that pretty much sums it up. It was a wonderful trip and we are so thankful that we were able to do it and experience it through Mebira's eyes.

One year ago...first meeting

One year ago today we met Mebira for the first time. I have to laugh when I think back on our first impressions. We thought she was shy and reserved and quiet. HA! Maybe she is like that the first little bit when she meets someone new but she is NOTHING like that at home! :-)

She has opened up a bit about that day. She does remember us coming to visit...down to what we brought and who else came with us. She knew all along that the people visiting were going to be her parents, and she knew that the other parents (N&T) were there to visit their son. So as much as the orphanages try to tell us not to single out our kids, or tell us we can't hug them or pick them up it's really a moot point...the older kids are smart enough to figure it out on their own. The only funny thing is that she thought we looked different and said I had long hair and no bangs so she thought we were actually different people when we came to pick her up. Sure enough, I looked back at pictures and my hair was longer back then...and I may just have put my bangs to the side that day.

Anyway, it's hard to believe we only met her a year ago. Back then we couldn't understand anything she said, and we couldn't decipher her expressions or body language. Today it feels like she's been here forever...we can tell the sassy look from the guilty look from the hurt look from the happy look, and her verbal language is coming along so well. She actually continually amazes me. Not only does she know all of her letters, can write them all almost perfectly, but she now knows the sounds and is able to read most 2 and 3 letter words. Yesterday she saw the word "bag clip" and sounded it out until she figured out what it was. What would this brain have been capable of if she had had proper nourishment right from the start? She claims she wants to be a doctor...at this point the sky is the limit for her!

Mebira, we love you so much and are soooo glad you are home with us!

Disneyworld - part 1

OK, I'm slowly getting caught up on life at home again. It was SUCH a nice break to get away...I'll admit it's a bit of a shock getting back to our schedules again. We have cut down on so much, but school alone with three kids can be overwhelming. Between the 3 of them, the girls have six field trips in the next 2 weeks!

Anyway, a few things before I get into the pics.

• Why a trip? Well, there were a number of factors. Mebira was looking at our old family vacation pictures so much (we had been to Disneyworld two times already) and she was so interested in Disneyworld and all of the characters. She loves the princesses, and we thought it would be so fun to take her while she is still young enough to be awed my the "magic". After Arvid's dad passed away in the summer we realized how short life can be, and when we realized that we had enough aeroplan miles for 4 of us to fly free, and that Disneyworld was offering a free dining plan we thought we'd throw caution to the wind and just do it.
• Why Disneyworld over Disneyland? First of all, the weather is better. Also, Disneyland is great if you only have a few days, but if you want to make a big trip of it, Disneyworld is THE BEST! If you haven't yet tried Disneyworld I highly recommend it. With the dining plan, cheap on-site accommodations, included transportation, lush, tropical atmosphere...need I go on?
  
• Isn't it a bit soon? I had no plans of doing this in Mebira's first year home. For many newly adopted children it is way too stimulating of a place and is not recommended at all. Mebira, however, has adjusted to everything super well and just takes everything in stride...she just jumped right into Disneyworld, too and we don't regret it one bit.
  

OK, here are some pics which best describe our trip:
(Below) The disadvantage of going to Disneyworld is that it's so darn far from home. Thank goodness our trip was divided into two flights, and between the in-flight entertainment and ipods everyone was happy.

(Below) We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside - they actually have room for 5, and it was a beautiful place. It was so relaxing there and although it was a Disney hotel it wasn't overdone at all and was actually quite peaceful with lots of beautiful rivers, big trees (notice the leaves), and walking trails.
(Below) This was pretty much the way things were for 10 days. Dad walked by himself or sat by himself and the girls fought over who could sit by Mom or hold Mom's hands. At least this way it was easy to keep track of them. :-)
(Below) My beautiful GEMs. Notice the beautiful flowers - this was our first day at Hollywood Studios.
(Below) A huge highlight for the girls - Mickey Mouse shaped ice cream sandwiches and ice cream bars.
(Below) Another favourite for the girls - the Beauty and the Beast show.

(Below) With the free dining plan we had one table service, one counter service and one snack a day. The amount of food is crazy - and you get a dessert with every meal. Needless to say, I ate way too much but enjoyed every bite. This was one of my favourite restaurants - you eat in little cars in a "drive-in theatre" and it is nearly silent in there (a nice change)!(Below) The girls
(Below) A lot of people have asked how Mebira reacted to everything. This was basically her look - she just took it all in. She is generally quite expressive, but with new things (like the first trip to the grocery store or first time in church) she tends to just be quiet and look around and that's exactly how she was here.

(Below) First day at Magic Kingdom!
(Below) It's a Small World!

(Below) Epcot(Below) Back to Magic Kingdom - Buzz Lightyear, a favourite ride!
(Below) We enjoyed a Japanese feast at Epcot - they cooked right at our tabletop.

(Below) We did A LOT of walking and A LOT of waiting...here we are waiting for the bus. The girls were generally pretty good and we were amazed at their stamina.
OK, that's enough for today...more to come another time!

We're baaaaaack!

We are finally home from a super fun trip to Disneyworld. We left on Jan 25th and returned late last night. 10 days and 9 nights of lots of walking, tons of rides, live shows, 3D films, way too much food, hot weather, sun and swimming! I'll post more in the next few days...I am trying to find my way through the mounds of laundry first. :-)