Live it!

In less than a week...

we will be in Vietnam... we will be preparing to go and recieve our beautiful daughter Meg. She is 5 months old and we are so anxious to finally be able to hold her in our arms instead of just gazing at her photos on our computer screen.

To say we are excited is a huge understatement. This has been over 2 years in the making and I am so thankful we followed our hearts down this special path to our 3rd child.

In one week's time, I will be momma to 3 - and it can't come soon enough!

Soccer x2

This year both the kids are doing soccer. It makes for 2 hrs at the fields... 2x per week. I was kinda surprised by how much Chloe is liking it. She hasn't complained once (and smiles the whole time she is out playing)... and she isn't the daisy-picker I imagined she'd be. They don't have their team jersey's yet so she improvised with AC/DC one night and a pink ensemble the next night. LOL! I must say, she was absolutely cute out there - all windblown and hot. Shaune commented that this may very well be the first time Chloe has ever broken into a sweat. Great cardio Chloe! After her game Daddy asked her what the best part of soccer was and her answer was (of course) "The popsicles at the end!"

 

 

 

Keaton is in a new age division and I think he will enjoy it. He liked having his Dad as soccer coach this year but that didn't happen this year since we will be away for many of the games. He still runs like the wind and is developing into a great little team player. Chloe's game is after his and he patiently sits on the side lines and even cheers for her once in a while.

 

 

Where did the past month go?

I am sorry I have been so neglectful of our family blog. I see my last entry was a month ago, shame on me. Truthfully, life has been busy and we are preparing to expand our family with the arrival of our sweet Meg... hopefully this month. We are currently awaiting our travel dates that will allow us to book our flights and travel to bring Meg home. She has been sick and that has occupied much of my thoughts this past couple months - but she is getting better and better. Soon, our family will go from four to five. I am so excited for this - it has been such a long journey.

I will try and not forget to post on this blog, but I know until Meg is home and things are 'back to normal' - there is not much time for posting. I do try and keep our adoption blog updated as a way of recording our journey to Meg... so you can always check us out over there. The link is in our side bar.

Personality Plus

My girl is such a character. She does something to make us laugh each and every day without fail. Today it happened long after she fell asleep, when I went into her room to shut her light off and turn her night light on for the evening... this is how I found her sleeping in her top bunk.

 

 

Happy Music

It is a sunny Spring day and I'm enjoying this beautiful free time in the quiet house as the kids sit outside coloring a cardboard box with crayons...  

I'm listening to my tunes and I thought I'd share some of my happy music that I always turn to when I feel like dancing around the house... usually though I have it on when I'm cooking supper in the kitchen.

I'll warn you, it's an eclectic mix!

Happy Tunes:

01 - Hey Stephen - Taylor Swift

02 - Things I'll never say - Avril Lavigne

03 - Already Gone - Sugarland

04 - You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift

05 - Sweet Thing - Keith Urban

06 - My life would suck without you - Kelly Clarkson (I can't say that name without yelling it like in "40 year old virgin"!

07 - Charmed Life - Leigh Nash

08 - Bruises - Chairlift

09 - Hot n' Cold - Katy Perry

10 - Daughter - Loudon Wainwright III

11 - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant - Billy Joel

12 - I always get what I want - Avril Lavigne

13 - Need to be next to you - Leigh Nash

14 - Does your mother know - ABBA (i know... I can't help it!)

15- Sunshine and Summertime - Faith Hill

16 - Let my love open the door - Pete Townsend

17 - Come Dancing - The Kinks

18 - What am I to you - Norah Jones

19 - Follow you Follow me - Genesis

20 - Little Wonders - Rob Thomas

March Break wrap-up

We had a great March break and the week flew by.

Monday the kids started off the 'vacation' with a day at their Nana and Grandpa Lightfoots. This allowed me to finish up some work and they always love to go there. Keaton had a sleepover at his other grandparents that night. On Tuesday Chloe spent some time with her buddy Adison while I met up with Keaton and my mom and Aunt Betty for chinese food. Then the kids and I  met Kerri and kidlets at the park for the first bike riding of the season. We finished the day with a movie night and went to see "Race to Witch Mountain" which was okay but way different than the original "Escape to Witch mountain"- it was a little violent for my light-weight kids - they can't stop talking about the bulging brains alien man. Wednesday we had Erin and Curt over for a play day and the kids had a ball. Thursday I had the day with Chloe while Keaton spent a special day with his Nana Lightfoot.

The highlight of our March Break started Friday when we packed up the Pilot and headed to Huntsville in the morning. This was Keaton's first 'full on all weekend in a hotel party like a rockstar' hockey tourney. The drive was about 3 hrs and it was a beautiful day heading to the north country. The kids had 3 games and unfortunately lost them all. The first 2 were great grames though and really closely matched. The first game was against London and they lost 1-0. The second game was against Listowel and they lost 2-1 in overtime sudden death (BOO!)  The 3rd game they were up against Bracebridge who is in a different division I believe and is a great little team. They whipped us 7-0 darn it ...and that was the last game of our season.

The boys were sad that the hockey season was over but got back to celebrating at the hotel with a double birthday party the parents held for 2 of our hockey team members.

We had a great time - I'm not sure who had more fun... the kids or the parents - I will miss the comradie of this team and their terrific team spirit that never let them get too down even though we lost almost every game this year. Keaton (and all his team) has improved and grown so much this year and that really should be the focus at Novice age anyhow. I'm really proud of the whole team! Go Blues Go!

So... now March Break is over and everyone is tuckered out from the weekend away. Thanks to Mom and Dad for taking such great care of Henry the dog and I'm headed to bed early to catch up on some zzz's I missed the past few nights.

Reaching out

I wrote a post on our adoption blog asking for help with donations for Meg's orphanage. Thank you to those that have responded so generously - every little bit makes a difference.

Today I came across some photos of her orphanage and its conditions and it made me want to reach out on my public blog to see if there is anyone that would like to help and donate something. This orphanage is in such poor shape and even though I was aware of its conditions, it is quite another thing to see photos of where she is living and the lack of necessities there. More over, seeing the photos of so many babies and children that must go untreated for such simple conditions as scabies (until they have secondary and harsh skin conditions as a result) makes my heart sink.

Here are the details on my previous post for anyone interested: CLICK HERE

What is most needed is scabies medication, monetary donations for me to buy the orphanage formula and food while we are there in May 2009 (if anyone shows interest I can set up a paypal system), stimulating (non-fabric) toys for the children (must be small for me to fit in my suitcases), art supplies such as crayons, markers, etc, medicines for fever, etc.

The necessities of life, quite honestly. If you want to help and make a real difference in the life of a child just like Meg - please consider it. My email is llightfoot@xplornet.com

Wacky Hair Day

... and as my kids boarded the bus this morning they DEFINETLY looked wacky!

They designed their 'dos... I just put the hair how they wanted it. Keaton was really in the spirit and wanted tinfoil wrapped around each spike. Chloe wanted braids so she had 5 in total - she reminded me of Mike's girlfriend on Monster's Inc.

They were so excited to go to school - it will be a fun friday for them!

 

 

 

 

happy.happy.joy.joy

...we have had a whirlwind past couple days.

...we got our referal. After almost 2 years of waiting and hoping, we have a little girl. She is in Vung Tau, Vietnam and we hope that we will be able to travel to bring her home in May 2009. So... we have 3 months to get this house ready for a baby again. We are so excited and spend most our time staring at her sweet face in her photos.

More details are on our adoption blog that I've been keeping for the past 22 months.

I am so happy to finally be able to announce we have a sweet baby girl in Vietnam and are already counting the days til' she is home with us. I'm hoping the next 3 months fly by because I'm already aching to hold her in my arms.

Family Day

Ontario celebrates this day (technically yesterday I guess since it is 1230am Tuesday now) as Family Day and most people have the day off to spend together with their children or loved ones. We had a wonderful day spent at the arena ice skating, Chloe is learning and Keaton loved whizzing around the rink. We were lucky enough to meet up with many friends and their little ones also.

 

 

 

 

 

For supper we made yummy homemade pizza - one of our favourite meals. Daddy and Chloe made a delicious dessert of pistacio chocolate cream pie... as you can see from the photos - Chloe was in charge of "clean up".  It was a fun-tastic day that reminded me yet again how lucky I am to have such an amazing family.

 

 

 

My girl loves to bake!

 

 

You missed a spot....

 

What?

Beautiful Baby Ava

I got the chance to meet Baby Ava for the first time a couple weeks ago. My friend Tammy and her husband Paul now have 2 beautiful little girls in the family.

Ava was one wk old when I took these photos of her for Tammy - I didn't manage as many as I would of liked but I got a few I hope Tammy and Paul will enjoy.

It was odd holding Ava at 1 wk old and trying to remember my children ever being THAT SMALL. Time flies!

Click on each horizontal image to see the true photo. Typepad keeps shrinking and sharpening the photos all wonky on me. Grr.

 

  

 

He is growing up

I see Keaton in moments like this and I realize he is not a little baby anymore. Yes, I know he is now 8 years old but a mothers heart can forget the passage of years and be taken quite by surprise when she glances at her child and realizes time keeps marching on.

I love Keaton at this age. Things are not always perfect and he gives me glimpses of what teenager life will be like with him sometimes. He is an emotional and vibrant boy and he puts his all into everything he does. Right now that is hockey and school. He has improved so much in hockey this year and we are so proud of him, he truly loves all things hockey (as is evident in his book he is reading here). He is also loving school and I think his teacher plays a big part in this - she is FANTASTIC and he is so motivated to do his best because of the amazing learning environment he finds himself in this year. He takes his homework seriously and has gotten perfect marks in all his quizzes this year. Again... he makes us really proud - not because of his good marks but because he is trying his best and it really shows in all he does.

This boy can get in trouble at times too. He is quick to argue with me and seems to be in some quarrel with his sister every time I turn around - I know he is not all to blame there though... Chloe knows exactly which buttons to push!

Mostly though, he is just an amazing boy. He is kind and funny (check out the Harry Potter glasses he wears to read) and smart. I love watching him 'become' and wonder about his future and where it will lead him. He is my first born and the one that taught me how to be a mom. I am crazy about this kid!

Great read

I just finished a great book. It was an easy read and I recommend the book. After getting stuck in a reading rut where all the books I read were part of long series and 1000's of pages long - it was nice to pick up this book and just casually read it each night. There are some surprises in the book which I always like and it was surely thought-provoking. LOVED IT... recommend it.

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

#4 gone

Keaton lost another tooth last week. He looks so cute with those 2 top ones missing. His teeth are so tight together - I worry about how crooked they will all be from fighting for space in his mouth. I see braces in his future :)

For now though, it's his toothless grin that sparkles and shines.

Healthy lunch foods

I'm trying to make healthy snacks for around the house and especially to send on the kids lunches. Enough of the chocolate covered granola bars and fruit chews. I've been very successful in changing many recipes and adding in vegetables and fruits. The book "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld is a great book and my family has gobbled up 2 of the recipes so far: Banana loaf and Burgers (with finely chopped mushrooms and  pureed squash hidden inside).

I thought I'd share this recipe that I made today. It is a family favourite and I changed a few things to try and make it even healthier. It isn't a 'diet' loaf... it is just a healthy snack alternative with loads of veggies in it for my non-veggie loving kids.

Pumpkin Bread

4 eggs

1 1/2 c white sugar

1 c brown sugar

3/4 c canola oil

1 large 16 oz (2c) can of pumpkin - pureed

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 c all purpose flour

2 c whole wheat flour (not the ww flour for bread makers)

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 c water

• Beat eggs. Add sugars, oil, pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla. Mix together. Add flour, soda and salt. Pour in water and mix with electric mixer until well combined.

• Divide batter into 2 greased loaf pans. I use metal pans. Since it makes 2 loaves, I make one nut free for school snacks and then for the second loaf I sprinkle chopped pecans and brown sugar on top of the loaf before putting it in the oven.

• Bake 1 hr on 350 or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center of loaf. Cool for 10minutes on wire rack. Then remove from pans.