Okay Okay.......

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know I AM STILL here, just semi-retired.

I am training for a marathon and gosh running takes up SO MUCH TIME.

FYI..............I have NOT lost an OUNCE, sad but true.

So depressing, however tomorrow I start the SACRED HEART DIET. Lord please give me strength. I am not a dieter and find it extremely difficult but this diet is one week only and you can lose up to 17 pounds!!! I'm aiming for 10. Don't know how this will affect my strength for training but I am willing to sacrifice anything for 10 pounds!!

The regular blog talk including S + A's birthday pictures will be returning soon!!!

Stay tuned!

A New Dawn

I have a feeling that this year is going to be one of the best ever since the girls are now "coming of an age", that I percieve as being one of the most exciting. Their almost 3 short years on this earth have sped bye and I am hoping that the "terrible" 2's weren't really just the "tiring" 2's and the 3's are really the terrible stage!!!! BTDT??? Is this a fallacy? Words of enlightenment?


Nonetheless, we will get through it, and the fascination they have of their world never ceases to amaze me.....


I warn you now, that this is going to be a Momma bragging post, so for the feint of heart you may wish to move on to another blog.


In the New Year I can see Sophia continuing to build amazing structures out of anything and virtually everything and creating wonderful works of art with her crayons. Sophia has been known to work on a card for her Grandma Judy for a week, and when the time came to give it to her she did, but refused to let her take it home. Do you blame her really? She will continue to pursue collecting things in all things collectible (so much for organization). She just loves to reorganize everything in her playroom into little bowls, cups , boxes, bags, you name it.
Sophia has alot of patience and loves her puzzles.


One of Sophia's many creations pictured above in which she meticulously and patiently placed each item.
Alyssa, I am sure will continue delving into the world of fantasy, dress up and creative play....she is my "model of new clothing purchases" and will gladly don a fancy dress (Sophia needs urging..........many times I have dressed Sophia kicking and screaming into her fancy wear). Who would've thunk it???Alyssa has yet to meet a mirror she doesn't like, (DH says she gets it from moi, but I know she really gets it from Nonna).
Mommy's tupperware drawers still continue to be their favourite to raid, and just before bath time they will madly dash to "the drawer" to grab stuff to drag to the tub. Politely asking me "Mommy take this?" over and over. It isn't unusual to have 25+ items of various sizes from Mommy's drawer in the tub at any given time. Need a lid anyone? Makes it tough to stay organized but WTH, a small price with big gains.
Alyssa,directly pictured below, sporting her bathing suit around her neck (a frequent sight in our house).

Alyssa all ready dressed and ready to go, pictured above.
Their creativity and imagination astounds me as well as their articulation of words. They take pride in enunciating words correctly and will practise saying a new word a few times until they have it. No temper tantrums here due to communication barriers, because they have always been excellent communicators. The girls have amazing observation skills, they notice the tiniest of details often overlooked by others. They don't recite their ABC's perfectly not even close to perfect, or for that matter count effortlessly to 20 not even 10. Why? It is my own personal believe that it means nothing to them so I don't value that type of learning right now as much as more relevant type of learning. There are so many things in their life that DO mean something to them and those are the things that I chose to teach them with passion. Things like that red light means Stop and see that green light means go . And yes Alyssa that is a stop sign and that is red, and looky here the banana is yellow like the sun. And when the sun is out the snow melts a little and sometimes the snow freezes. My girls are great at making CONNECTIONS and that is something that is very difficult to teach. For instance, they can pick out the numbers of their address because it means something to them and they can identify the letters in their name and they can tell you that an Octopus would be able to give lots of hugs because they have 8 arms....They can classify and sort their toys and they can tell you what they have in common with each other. They know that when they make jello the powder turns to a liquid when water is added and then after refrigeration the liquid turns into a solid. That's the kind of teaching that I love to do.





I am a mother filled with pride and unconditional love for these 2 lassies. And I still cry alot, more than parents who have not experienced their families through adoption. But mine are tears of happiness, joy and still at times disbelieve and awe that these 2 wonderful beings are calling me Momma, even after 2 years of being a family. I can't wait for all of you Mommies-in-waiting to experience this journey of love and I hope to be able to come along via your blogs with you.


I sense a little bit of my old life returning gradually. A friend recently told me at a dinner party that we are now reaping the benefits of our 2 years of hard work raising the girls. The girls are social with our friends and family, they are entertaining, and have a great sense of humour. Who else but Alyssa would put the "crayons" in "time-out" because Sophia tripped over them and cried??? Their imaginative play is so real to them and sometimes causes great dissent when Alyssa takes Sophia's nose and throws it in the garbage. NO amount of reassuring that her nez is still there works, only Alyssa generously fetching the appendage and putting it back.


For me this year I am training for the oldest running race on this continent (Around The Bay). A grueling 30 km race with the hill portion the last 15 km.... would anyone notice if I ran it backwards???I can just picture it now, the starting pistol going off and me turning and running upstream in a crowd of 5,500 people and everyone yelling "NO....". Um...maybe not. I am thrilled to be training for this race since it has been a life goal I have had for at least 5 years. This is the year, and March 30th is the date.


As a side benefit of all this training I hope to lose a few pounds in the process. Hopefully you will be seeing "less" of me in the future. lol.

This post is dedicated to my beautiful twin daughters, may God continue to Bless you and keep you healthy in the New Year.

Girls Just Having Fun

The girls had such a blast over the holidays, (after sickus interruptus was over), and these photos reveal the inner clown in both of them. I posted them in the order I snapped them and if I do say so myself I think they turned out pretty good. Am still using the old camera but I DID get a new camera for Christmas. But looking at these pictures I kinda wonder why.......





Remember this photo? from the summer?? Look carefully and you will notice that the stairs have been recarpeted!!!!! yippeeeeekayyeeee

A week before Christmas, yes, I know christmas shopping, baking, decorating, sewing wouldn't be the same without some home renovations thrown into the mix. But it was SO worth it, before I used to cringe looking at pictures of the girls on the ugly carpeted stairs (which happens to be one of their favourite places to pose for pictures), but now I love it!!!!

Turkey For Sale

It started on the 22nd with Alyssa..........the 24 hour stomach flu, (aka: vomit bug) had hit with a vengeance. The 23rd we had a reprieve just in time to clean house, prepare appetizers, wrap gifts and to finish last minute decorating. Not enough prayers were said (I blame DH) , so consequently Sophia gets hit on the 24th. Poor thing, the difference between the 2 sick girls is that Alyssa listened to her body and refused food and was a champion of hitting the sink with her spewing. Sophia wanted to eat (who could blame her really?) and wasn't so adept at hitting proper dispensers with her "stuff", and alot of stuff did she have!!!! HO HO HO Merry Christmas. Wait!!! Not done yet I get hit on the 25th and so does DADDY!!!! Wooo hooooo. Thus the selling of the BIRD...................................I believe one must eat said bird in a certain amount of time.
Boxing Day everyone seemed well enough to make the trek to Nonna's house. Let me tell ya, I made up for missing my meals all in that one meal at Nonna's. Absolutely delicious! Nonna could open up a restaurant, and she doesn't use ANY recipes...she is phenomenal.
Managed to get a few Boxing Day pictures of the girls just before we headed to Nonna's.

Just what are they doing in this picture below? The girls are self-soothing....If you look carefully you will see that Alyssa (on left) is actually sucking her thumb and fingering her shirt sleeve and Sophia on left sucks on her sleeve. I have NO idea why they would feel the need to self soothe at that moment since they had just gotten up from their nap.

"Come here and give me a big one!"

Just riding the wave to a healthy home..............................

Hope your holidays were healthier!

What We Do

THIS is what we do when we KNOW that taking 2 toddlers to see the great HO HO HO is just going to turn into a debacle. No one enjoys screaming, or rather more like hysterical and highly resistant toddlers in a crowded and HOT mall. The girls just don't buy into the whole Santa brings you presents myth. So, being a practical and weary mom of twins I have chosen for the last 3 years to spare everyone and have done the holiday photo shoot at home at my own leisure. I have to wait for the moon and stars to be aligned in order to get full cooperation for the dressing, hair, and ultimate photo. This year December 19th seemed to be the perfect day.............The first photo is of the meticulously arranged photo shoot area (our family room). And the second picture is of Alyssa and Sophia's unabated reaction to their first 5 second sitting........This third picture you can actually see the physical pain they are enduring as the photo shoot drags on to 6 seconds......This 4th photo reveals the beginning of the conspiring going on between the 2, which possibly goes something like this....
Alyssa: "I think we can work this Sophia."
Sophia: "Yeah, I'm with you Alyssa, what are you thinking?"
Alyssa: "I'm thinking we can milk them for at least a SUCKER."
Sophia: "I'm outta here, I'm getting tired of this seat, and what was Mommy thinking anyway when she put us in white tights on a white bench?"This next photo reveals THEIR chosen location for the photo shoot, and just to convince Mommy that it was better than the perfectly arranged Christmas scene, they sneak in a kiss. Oh what happy, happy girls with their suckers...........back on track where Mommy would prefer them to sit. "Oh what fun it is to give Mommy a hard time......" (sung to the tune of Jingle Bells).
Sophia looking for an escape. A new bribe featured below, a present to open in exchange for their cooperation as Mommy hastily arranges a new Christmas scene. Look how angelic they look as they wait patiently to open their gift. They even took their suckers out of their mouths.
Alyssa: (above) "Can I open it now?"

Diving in, opening their twin Chinese dolls from Magnolia and Friends.


AHHHHHH, and this is why we do what we do. Hopefully, at least one of the photos is worthy to be framed and distributed as their official 2007 Christmas memory........

The dolls are super soft and cuddly, the girls love them!!! They are numbered 124 which reflects our family day (December 4th). At first the girls would tell me that the gift was for Baby Jesus, who was all but forgotten during the above episode.

Happy Days

Happy 2 Year "Family Day" Anniversary!!!
Yes my friends, time doth certainly fly bye. Looking back and reflecting is just as exciting as looking forward at the infinite possibilities to be.
Have a great day everyone, and stay tuned for some family friendly photos soon.

20 Years?????

2 years ago today was my first "official" day off for my parental leave to prepare for our trip to China to get Sophia and Alyssa. With 2o years of teaching, I was probably one of very few moms on a parental leave with that much seniority..........

Checking In

It seems that I have some shopping to do in spite of just getting back from a jaunt at our good 'ol cheap neighbours, USA. Yes, with the girls and of course Daddy-day-care came along. Girls were amazing travellers for the 4 hour drive but upon arriving at our destination the first thing out of Sophia's mouth was, "I wanna go home", (don't forget to add the whine when you say the sentence). Lovely, and yes, I was worried but Daddy-daycare came to the rescue and we had a ball. Our room had a lovely 4 poster king bed with a jacuzzi tub which the girls enjoyed immensely, don't fret, I enjoyed the lumpy pull-out couch in the other room. (ha ha). These sacrifices are necessary if you want 2 happy girls in the morning. I would catch my husband looking longingly at the lovely bed and jacuzzi no doubt with visions of what may have been before kids!!!! (HA HA HA). Poor Daddy. On the way back we had some technical difficulties with the dvd and amazingly the girls survived the trip without the assistance of the zombie-inducing gadget.

I definitely need a camera since my digital has given up on me (just barely 2 years old). I guess all the pictures I take of the girls has exhausted the thing. Nonetheless, a crappy time to be sans camera with our 2 year Family Day coming up next month and Christmas. Also on my shopping list is a new pair of hockey pants. Yes, I do play hockey (I love, love. love, the sport!), but last week I got some "looks" by the folks so I guess it's time. Just for the record though I do love my old hockey pants.

Enjoy your week everyone!

Updates

It's good to be back and posting. I do love reading your blogs and following your journeys but lately, since I have been back to work, I don't have the time or energy to leave a comment. So please forgive me................................................

This is for the animal rights activists type of people ,(ahem, Secret), the fish in the previous post was real, but don't fret, the only thing that was destroyed was the basketball by some kind hearted man. The fish merely suffered an aching jaw. (Mine hurts just looking at the poor guy). I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Before I impart some words of ridiculousness I have to say I raise a glass to all full-time working moms.





Classroom Updates:



1. "Miss 4 Year old Screamer" who misguidedly thought mommy-was-the-boss has now seen the light and realizes that I am the Queen and all subjects must obey me including her Mommy. (thank you Nancy for the tip).

2. I don't know what- you -would- call -this but all I know is that it threw me for a loop when Johnny asked me if SHE, (he is pointing to a bookcase) was in his group. I know Johnny thinks I possess super powers but unfortunately I couldn't see through the bookcase. So I ask Johnny again, "Who?" So Johnny repositions himself and points again and says "her". I still can't see who her is, so Johnny says a little frustrated now, "the BLACK girl". Oops, what did he just say? I think fast and say to Johnny that her name is JANE and yes she is allowed to play with you 'cause last time I checked segregation was illegal. What's a teacher/queen to do? We are now working on learning everyone's name....never , ever, take anything for granted and always expect the unexpected.

Things some parents need to know:

1. Bring Johnny to school, drop Johnny off, give Johnny a quick kiss, some reassurances and LEAVE immediately. Lingering around, wishy-washy behaviour DOES NOT HELP your child adjust....news flash: IT MAKES IT 10 TIMES WORSE.

2. Don't bring your child late ON PURPOSE to avoid other parents seeing your child scream and fuss.......they know you are not a MONSTER . But expecting me to leave a class of 19, 3 - 4 and 5 year olds to extract JOHNNY from you is NOT feasible or FAIR to everyone else.

3. Snackables or Lunchmates or whatever the h*ll you want to call them are garbage, and should not be sent to school for lunch. Please seek a nutritionist if you are clueless. Your child needs good, sound nutritional food, not garbage to fill them up and sustain them throughout the day.

4. Rules are imposed for a reason and they are for everyone (need I be more clear, Mommy + Daddy?)......FOLLOW THEM.

5. Please don't send JANE in that button down long sleeved cuffed blouse, 'cause she can't undo the buttons and I have to do it everytime she washes her hands cause the cuffs get drenched, and in our classroom handwashing occurs a minimum of 3 -5 times a day. What? Doesn't she wash her hands at home? Can't you see this would be difficult for her?

6. Fashion has no place in the classroom. Good solid running shoes are the BEST footwear to send your young one to school in. This one hurts me too ya know.

7. Please make those good old fashioned running shoes the kind with VELCRO, NOT laces. No explanation needed. Any good chiropractors out there?

8. Don't be late, ever, picking up your child from school. They pine for you, especially at the end of the day so don't make them agonize any more than necessary.

9. Doesn't hurt to teach them how to do up their coats and put them on. Remember your child's teacher is putting on an entire class of coats so if your child can do it independently then guess what? They get more RECESS time outside and they LOVE their recess and I would love you for it too!!!!

10. Here is a trick to help your child put on their coat properly. Put their coat on the ground directly in front of them with the collar towards them. Now all they have to do is bend over and insert their arms in the armholes and lift their coat up over their heads. Works like a charm and kids love to feel a sense of accomplishment.

Bet you didn't know:

That announcing to a class of youngins that we are going to the Library brings instant cheers and unexpected kisses and hugs for the teacher and exclamations of "I LOVE YOU TEACHER".



That sometimes some students enjoy spitting on the classroom carpet. Lovely isn't it?




Scribbling is a pre-printing skill, so encourage your toddler to use a pencil, crayon, marker to scribble. Showing them how to make circles, squiggly lines, zig zags is a good thing. Oh yes, a good rule to have in your house would be that we only colour, print etc. on PAPER products.



*All names have been changed to protect the innocent.






Daycare Update:



S + A have begudgingly resigned themselves to the fact that they have to go to "school". No more panic stricken tears or clutching at our clothes. Just a few sniffles and they walk off like the troopers they are to their teachers. Then mommy quickly exits, whistling Dixie all the way. Whooo hoooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hallowe'en 2007

Hallowe'en was great this year except that Daddy was in Vegas on a business trip. I took alot of video of the girls trick-or-treating for Daddy to see the event that he missed and snapped only a few photos. The girls were ladybugs , I know a very original costume for asian -girls- adopted -by- North- American -families! (heavy sarcasm here). But I couldn't resist because the costumes were so darn cute and warm!!!!!

This last picture is my absolute fav, fav, fav....it is Sophia running to greet her Nonno. It just melts my heart. I may just have to do something with it for a Christmas gift for Nonno. Any ideas?

Balance

Poor fish, I wonder what it feels like to have taken on too much to swallow???!!!!??
Bwhahahaha.....................
*Halloween pictures of the "Sweet-Sweets" coming soon!

Children's Bridge Foundation Auction

Attention e-bay Shoppers
CB is having on auction on e-bay all this week until 8 pm Friday night. Please stop bye and support this organization. CB was the agency that brought our family together and they have been FANTASTIC in their support.

Grapefest

It's not much put I have managed to upload a few pictures of the "Sweet-Sweets" on an all-day outing to the Niagara Grape Festival where Mommy enjoyed copious amounts of "grapes", good food and good company, plus an eager "Auntie" Marie made the all-day affair a huge success.

Sophia (below): "Do ya think we should trust that camera crazed Momma to take us anywhere? She seems a little high strung."

Alyssa: "Jeez, I don't know Sophia...let's just stand here and pretend we're frozen."

Me: Sighing.....this is so typical , the girls standing "frozen" on the front porch waiting to be escorted rather than use their God given legs which are perfectly coordinated with the rest of their body parts and can somersault, pose, dance, run, skip, hop, and too-many-to-mention other physical feats, but God forbid should they walk down those 5 steps to the van!

Auntie Marie was our angel for the day and entertained the girls. The girls LOVED her and all the attention.

My girls love their stuffed animals, any size or shape doesn't matter. Adversely, they detest dolls. Soft cuddly dolls, hard plastic dolls, Barbie dolls, you name it they dislike them. Dolls usually become projectile objects in our house followed by Sophia or Alyssa exclaiming, "I don't wannit" or "I no likeit". This throws me for a loop because I LOVED dolls, all kinds but I am not exactly sure what age I was when my love affair with dolls began.

I, being the over-analytical sort, wonder if this has anything to do with their orphanage experience and the competition with the other "babies" there for the Nannies attention.

I will always wonder what sort of affect those first 9 months of orphanage life has had on them.

Teacher Training

I knew that teaching 4 -5 -6 year olds was not going to be at all like teaching prepubescent 12-13 year olds, but................... what does one do when a 4 year old is obstinate and flat out refuses to do what you ask? I don't think sitting on the carpet with the rest of the class is too much to ask!?! And what do you do when the 4 year old says her MOMMY is the boss????? And even when you pick her up and put her on the chair she screams and shadows you back to the carpet where the rest of your 20 angels are waiting for some words of wisdom, only they can't hear you because "Miss 4 Year Old" is going to stand there and scream?

This has now become my world.......there are very few discipline options as compared to the good 'ol days of teaching grade 8, she can't write....lines/essays/letters of apology are out....can't send her to the office 'cause she doesn't know where that is and she probably would deter and run out the front door of the school, and then what would happen to my teaching certificate?????

Every day so far I have come home with a pulsing headache from the noise and constant demands of teaching a JK/SK split.

Sophia and Alyssa have trained me for the physical demands of my new role but generally speaking, my girls LISTEN and COOPERATE with me, you know, the BOSS of the household. But these little munchkins at school still have to learn that there's a new boss in town and it's not their Mommy and Daddy when they are at school.

But there are some real cuties, one boy in particular who wants to kiss me all the time, on the LIPS, luckily I have been able to avert the lips and his kisses have landed in the cheek area (whew)....but then , this same boy will throw himself down on the carpet and cry if he can't play with his airplane during circle time. So, so cute! (heavy dose of sarcasm).

Here is some free parental advice: Put your child in an organized "school" like day care BEFORE going to school... their future teacher will be forever grateful.

Make sure your child can SPEAK clearly and articulate words properly....don't encourage the cuteness of "baby talk" at home........

Make sure your child can at LEAST identify the first letter of their name (upper case people), before coming to school. They will be able to find their coat hooks, name on the board etc.. alot easier. If you think they know it, mix it up with a bunch of other letters and have them FIND it.

Your angels are SPONGES so go ahead and teach them stuff.............................won't hurt them, especially stuff like knowing their colours and LETTER IDENTIFICATION of their NAME in lower case and the first letter in upper case of course. Just like you would normally write it.

While you're busy teaching the letters of their name don't forget to teach them the snake letter (S) and the L. SNACK and LUNCH are 2 very important times of the day and they won't know what to eat when and they may just eat everything at once or their lunch at 10 am. SHOW your monkey where their stuff is in their backpack...don't pack away solo.....get them involved.

Label EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING.................................

I guess that's enough freebies for one post... more will be forthcoming I'm sure of it.

10 Things I Didn't Have to Deal with Teaching Grade 8:

1. Students peeing with the bathroom door left wide open for the world to see.

2. Nose- picking in the middle of circle time. (Very distracting)

3. Students going home wearing other student's clothes.

4. Students fighting over who gets to hold my hand.

5. Debating (with myself) as to whether or not "Johnny" should be allowed to lead "Jake" around the class on all fours with a tie tied around his neck as the pet dog at the house centre.

6. How to walk in a line in the school, without getting lost.

7. Being kissed, hugged and basically showered with affection throughout the day by my adoring students.

8. Cleaning yogurt tube explosions off of clothes.

9. Little boys peeing in the drain on the bathroom floor versus the toilette.

10. Students asking me if it's SNACK time or LUNCH time.

Another note...............Day care for Sophia and Alyssa has been a huge transistion...I had been warned that they would get sick alot but after 4 visits????? Urghhhh I have also borne witness to the dreaded "depersonalizing" of my highly individual twin girls...yes they are being called "the twins" and "twin" by the other munchkins at daycare. I clearly hear them yell out "bye twin" as I take Sophia or "bye twins". My back bristles with disdain as I tartly replied to the ignorant child, "they HAVE names girl-in-pink shirt". There, how do YOU like it????





The girls graduated from "Baby Stars" in their gymnastics class to the "Toddler Stars" this fall and they are proud to wear their new body suits to class, where they may attempt a somersault if they feel so inclined. But they look so darn cute in their matching leotards.



September has been a month for weddings......been busy observing other peoples entrance into wedded bliss. Sigh....

Why do I all of a sudden feel so old???????Could it be because one of the weddings was a friend's son????? I think so............but damn them all we stayed to the very end and danced all night. How's that for old?
A couple of pics from the summer of the girls shopping for their favourite type of toys.

Tiny Tots

They may have their Dora backpacks ready to head off to "school" next week but my tiny loves still fit snugly in the bathroom sink. In our eyes they will always be, "our little girls" no matter how much they grow or how old they get. Alyssa is the top bathing beauty and Sophia is below.

Picture below is some of the gang that we travelled to China with..........

Out of Steam

We are still here, still married and in the same house (mind you it has been improved considerably since the last post), with the same Chicanos, you get my drift..........
I have simply RUN OUT OF STEAM....................SURPRISED????? Probably not, the trip to Ottawa was the beginning of the downward spiral...........exhaustion has set in I need to take a vacay from life in general. Things are piling up and am already getting butterflies in my stomach thinking about going back to work in 2 weeks. When we received S + A on December 4th, 2005 I emerged myself in my new mommy "job" completely and without abandon, and lost a piece of myself in the process. I rationalized that I was okay with everything since I had waited sooooo long for these 2 gifts of life. I was fooling myself and everyone else around me....my life BK was a certain way because I LIKED it that way..........I know I can't change everything back but I am trying to get some of it back. I am re-entering the work force after a 2 year hiatus into a grade I have NEVER taught before and I am nervous yet excited at the same time. I know this may sound strange but I am also feeling sad...............
S + A have their new Dora backpacks ready for "school", please don't call it daycare......(another topic for another day). The girls did swimmingly at their first couple "trial" runs at "school". Mommy and Daddy shed the customary tears.................but the girls thrived and we are thrilled with their progress.
I have so many things that I want to do before I return to my life as it once was...........I don't know where to begin...........I am scared and anxious and nervous and sad.......................
Paralysis of emotions???? Please send me some lovin' this way.....