Saigon Restaurant

Ah, my favourite restaurant. I eat there at least 1x a week. I love it and my children really love it. (They choose it over McDonalds any day.)

Last night I met up with a new on-line friend adopting from the same agency as we are. Jacqueline lives in Kingston which is only an hour away and it was so great finally getting together and meeting over some yummy Vietnamese food. We seem to have a lot in common and I 'm excited to have someone close by that will have a similar family to ours. We are both basically DTV at the same time and we are hoping we will travel together, although who knows at this point.

J - it was great meeting you and your friend. Lets do it again soon!

Orphanage life...

I think a lot about the orphanages and where our daughter will live until we receive our referral and travel to bring her home. There are many orphanages in vietnam and they all seem to be a little different than the rest. I really like the website Adoptionbuzz and seeing the photos, to give me a peek into what my girl's life may be like. Truthfully it causes me some anxiety and sadness but all I have heard of the orphanage care tells me that the children are loved. They may be in conditions that are not very desirable, but the care givers in the orphanages seem to geniunely care for the children they take care of.

I gathered some photos (all credited to Adoptionbuzz website) from different orphanages above. The one of the babies that are able to crawl being gently harnessed to the bed is sad to me.

On my side bar you can also see a video of an example of some orphanage care from Vietnam.

It was a success

...our halloween party, that is. I posted a bunch of photos on our family blog for anyone interested in the mayhem we call Halloween kiddie party! There were a ton of children there, they all got a long and were happy. I say that is a success!

(ps: our family blog is listed on the right, it is the top link called "Live it".)

Also, we collected so many beautiful clothing sets for the babies in the orphanages. I looked through them all when we got home and there was a good mix of boy and girl outfits and all of them were really cute! Thank you to all my friends!

A really fun party that reminded me of her and how I hope she can be a part of this annual tradition by next year. Something she will grow to look forward to year after year, just as her brother and sister do.

Scary!

Today is our annual Halloween party. We invite all our children's little friends & all our friends and kids and we are expecting about 60 + this year. We rent a hall. We dress up (well, the kids do - and Shaune and I may be the only adults dressed up) & it is fun. This year we are having a clothing drive for the orphanages in Vietnam.

Us, along with another family that is adopting from Vietnam are collecting new and some gently used clothing (as well as bottles, etc) and will begin to send a big box over in the coming months. When we travel we will take a lot of it over and if anyone reading this in my area (Toronto to Ottawa, Ontario) that would like to help in taking a box over when you travel to adopt, please contact me. My email is llightfoot@frontierwireless.ca

The more we get sent over with families traveling before us, the more we can continue to collect things the orphanages need.

The scary witch in the photo is ME. Cute, aren't I? LOL!

This photo was from last years party. I will star as the same witch again this year - My son said to me today "Mom, how come you always have to be a witch?" I laughed!

Somewhere out there

I have heard this song a million times and yet today was the first day it really struck a cord with me. The song is many moons old but I needed to hear this song today. Truth be told, I've been feeling a bit down about the process and all the uncertainties that come along with it. But somewhere out there... is our daughter. The path to her may be very windy and emotional and uncertain at times, but she is there and she is worth it all.
Sometimes it takes hearing an old sappy song to turn your mood around, and bring back the hope required in this journey called international adoption.

Somewhere Out There by Linda Ronsdadt

Somewhere out there
Beneath the pale moonlight
Someones thinking of me
And loving me tonight

Somewhere out there
Someones saying a prayer
That we'll find one another
In that big somewhere out there

And even though I know
How very far apart we are
It helps to think we might be wishing
On the same bright star

And when the night wind
Starts to sing a lonesome lullaby
It helps to think we're sleeping
Underneath the same big sky

Somewhere out there
If love can see us through
Then we'll be together
Somewhere out there
Out where dreams come true...

I love Halloween

It is the 'child'ish side in me coming out. I love dressing up, and I love dressing the kids up. This photo I just stumbled across on my old computer... Keaton (our oldest) and his first Halloween, as a Tom Arma Skunk. Man, I loved that costume. He was 10 months old and crawling like crazy by then and he looked so cute crawling around with the skunk tail behind him. Chloe was a sweet pea for her first Halloween but i don't have a photo of her on my computer wearing it... too lazy to scan. Trust me - she was so adorable in it!

If you have kidlets at home, what are they wearing this year for Halloween? Better yet, give me some suggestions for easy and fun adult costumes - since I need to dress up for our party this year but don't have any creative thoughts on what to be.

Countdown to disney

We are so looking forward to this trip. We booked it forever ago and so much has transpired since then, most importantly this adoption. We have been so busy with home studies and paper work that anticipation of our trip has kind of gone by the wayside. But... now we are stoked. The countdown begins...



I need a formal dress (ugh)... Keaton needs some fancy duds, Shaune is set with a suit & Chloe of course has more than her fairshare of pretty dresses to take along. We are doing Walt Disney world for a few days and then off we will head for a 7 day Disney Cruise. Looking forward to seeing some new Caribbean islands (St. Maartens' & St. Thomas/St. John, Disney's Castaway Cay) and just having a fun time with the family. It will be a good distraction from this long wait that lies ahead for us, and a trip to remember.

Happy Thanksgiving Day

to everyone. Yes, here in Canada we get turkey NOW. Yesterday we went to my Uncle Milton and Aunt Judy's up in the county for a great day - we had a 2-3 hr haywagon ride with over 50 people and 2 haywagon-fulls. I think we finally ate supper (and a good one!) at 7:30pm. The kids had a blast.
I kept thinking of all I have to be thankful for. And I kept hoping that next year our little girl will be home for Thanksgiving too.

Today, another feast. Yum.

A Louis Vuitton Bag?

I tape "the VIEW" everyday. I love watching the first segments called "Hot Topics" where the 4 (or 5 when Barbara is there) women debate and comment on all things from fashion, celebrities, diet to politics, war & sex. The girls make me chuckle but today I was watching an episode (I think it was a few days old) and the topic turned from Paris Hilton to International Adoption and comments began about how people used to always want a chinese baby and now the African babies are popular and then out of one of the women's mouth came a comment that likened an adopted child to collecting Louis Vuitton bags.

UMMM, What the hell? Then just a minute ago I read on the internet that Sharon Osborne made a similar comment. Chris Rock has made inappropriate comments on Oprah once too.

Do they really believe or know what they are saying? They are talking about CHILDREN. Children... not fashion accessories. It made me want to vomit and it saddened me to think that some people think that couples/families chose to adopt because it is 'becoming trendy' or 'the thing to do'. Every families story is different as to why they adopt but I don't know of anyone who would go through the trials, waits, uncertainties & emotional highs and lows of adoption because they wanted to be trendy.
I hear dumb stuff almost every day regarding adoption but this one takes the cake.

Why is adoption such a mystery to many? Why can they not see these children and know. Why is loving a child that is not biological linked to you so difficult to understand? Why do we have to label it and judge it and question it? Why can't it just be what it is... a way to form a loving family, to bring a child and a family together? Why?

Vent over.

Dragonfly for Halloween?

Anyone looking for a dragonfly costume for your little one - I found this and can't buy it this year (maybe next?) so I thought I'd pass the link on - it is precious!

http://www.2littlemonkeys.com/dragonfly-costume_2783_p.htm

My children are getting older and want a say in what they are for Halloween now... can you imagine? ;) Chloe is Barbie Island Princess obsessed at the moment so that is her costume, Keaton continues to be in love with all things Star Wars and chose a Boba Fett costume - he wants his Dad to dress up as Han Solo! Ha.

Does anyone know what the symbolism and importance of the dragonfly is for Vietnam (I know it is similar to the ladybug in China, but I don't know more about it)... would love to know - post if you know.