I've been tagged by Debbie and Lorraine!

Okay, so I've seen this type of thing on many other blogs. Now it's my turn...

Seven answers to seven questions:

7 things I'd like to do before I die:

1. See a NBA basketball game live!
2. Go to a professional women's tennis tournament
3. Build my dream home
4. Win the lottery :)
5. Pay my parents back in cold hard cash for all the help they gave me in university!
6. Teach grade one
7. Go back to China a second time

7 things I cannot do:

1. Throw a ball (sad, I know)
2. run further than the end of my driveway
3. make bread
4. stick out my tongue (tongue tied)
5. be late for ANYTHING
6. stand the sight of blood
7. fall asleep at night....

7 things I CAN do:

1. stepdance
2. take care of people
3. voice my opinion even when I should keep my mouth shut
4. spend endless HOURS on the computer
5. speak some French (more after a few drinks, as my friends will tell you)
6. play the clarinet, although it's been awhile
7. obsess about little things...which is not a good thing when you are in the adoption process

7 things that attracted me to my husband:

1. his hair
2. his sneakers
3. his athleticism
4. his calm, cool manner
5. he was my brother-in-law's best friend
6. the way he spoke to me
7. the many, many things we had in common

7 things I say often:

1. "Boys and Girls..."
2. "Can I have everyone's attention?"
3. "Quiet please"
4. "sit down"
5. "Good boy" (Yazzy :)
6. "Let's go out to eat"
7. "One sec, I have to check my e-mail"

7 books I love:

1. Chicka, Chicka Boom Boom!
2. Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type
3. Robert Munsch series
4. Jillian Jiggs
5. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
6. The Monster at the End of this Book
7. Why a Daughter Needs a Mom

7 movies I love:

1. This one is easy...I rarely watch movies. When I do watch one, I don't remember the actors or the name of the movie. Weird, I know.

My Husband's Creativity

So, you know that feeling when your kids are in the other room and it's way too quiet and you know they're up to something? Well, Marvin was in the kitchen the other day for the longest while and I couldn't hear a sound. So I called out to him and he didn't answer me so I went out to see what he was doing and this is what I found on the fridge. "China bound 4 a girl (The K stands for Kennedy and it is between two ladybug magnets). Then it says "12 (for December) 2006 and the word "JOY" (a good middle name I think although that hasn't been decided yet). Marv still holds out a ton of hope that we travel before Christmas. I, on the other hand, don't see that happening. There's always hope...who knows. I love when he does things like this or says little things about Kennedy. He is just so anxious to get her here. I told him we can only have one neurotic person in the house at a time so it is up to him to stay calm and cool.

Now I Know My ABC's!

Here is Cole reciting his ABC's. I thought this was so cute. I was videotaping him and showing it to him and as you can see, he ends quite abruptly and says "Now I want to hear it!"


Video Hosting - Upload Video - Photo Sharing

Sleeping with my laptop

So I've resorted to sleeping with my laptop. Since Marvin is on night shifts this week, it works out perfectly. I won't be waking him up when I roll over and check the CCAA site in the early hours of the morning. Why not? It's not like I have to get up and go to work or anything. I want to know how many referrals come out as soon as it happens and I expect it to be between now and Friday. For those of you who visit but are not in the adoption process, I'll explain what all this means for us when the referrals come out. For those who are in the adoption process, you'll be hearing from me...
Nighty night.

I can't sleep

This summer is pretty much what I expected. I have a lot of time on my hands (my apologies to my friends whose children are driving them crazy) and I'm spending a ton of time analyzing referrals, thinking about when we may get ours and when we may travel. Too many what if's. Last night I couldn't sleep so I got up to check the CCAA site just incase it was updated. Nope! Tonight I went out with some friends and now it's 12:23 and I know I can't sleep. I know someday I'll look back and say "Why the heck didn't I sleep when I could have?" But right now my mind just starts to race as soon as I lay my head down...
Marvin and I went out for a little retail therapy today. He loves to shop so it's always fun to take a day and visit some stores. Best buy today...brown leather shoes for Kennedy. too cute! Every now and again I just need to buy something to soothe my need to get my girl here. Remember we've been in this process for over a year, so, needless to say, we have our share of stuff.

That's all for now. Just venting really. Time to at least get under the covers. I won't be keeping Marvin up tossing and turning as he's working nights for the next week. I'll get my CNN fix and sleep in I guess. Nighty night.

Past Events

Marvin and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on July 15th. He gave me a beautiful candle and candle holder and ladybug napkins :) We had some family over that night and had a fire on the deck. Sorry, no pics!

On Sunday July 16 we went to a get together at Natalie and Daniel's. Many of the families on PEI who have adopted from China were there. We also had a few visitors from Ontario and Nova Scotia who vacation here. It's so much fun to get together and chat with people who have been there done that and also those who are waiting just like us. The children had a ball together. Can't wait until Kennedy is here to play with all her friends from China. Special thanks to Daniel and Natalie for hosting us! I think we'll have a few more play dates in the near future:)

A little bit of this and that...

Summer vacation is going well. Seems like I've been off for a really long time. I think it's because every day is long when we're waiting to go to China. We've been enjoying the good weather with friends and family. Marvin is off for a couple of weeks so it's all good. Here are a few pics from the past couple of weeks.

Cole and Yazzy playing at Grammie and Grampie's


Taylor's(our nephew) birthday!


Yazzy all cuddled up.


Chloe (our neice) after a dip in the pool.

Home Improvements

Let me just say Marvin is definitely the handy man around here. I feel a little useless sometimes...I'm good at tearing things apart, but not much good at putting them back together. We are now trying to get many little home improvements done before Kennedy arrives. Since our house has been a "fixer-uper", there have been many projects over the last 7 years. Marvin gets all the credit! Below you will see me "pitching in" and trying to be helpful with staining the deck. Even Yazzy tried to help. You also get to see Marvin in action making some modifications to the deck.

Checking our favorite blogs

So after everyone left today, Yazzy was more than exhausted. He doesn't relax much when people are around. He's too nosey. He went in and out of the house about a million times. Now on a typical day, he goes at a snail's pace, sleeps in as long as possible and pretty much kills the day by napping whenever possible. His FAVORITE days are when Marvin comes home at 7 a.m. from a night shift. He crawls into bed and will stay there (after having slept all night) as long as Marvin stays...usually until noon. Lazy, lazy, lazy! Below are the pictures of him and I checking in on some of our favorite blogs after a fun day by the pool. He was so exhausted he had to lay his head down on the computer!

Fun in the Sun!

Finally we have some good weather. Today, my sisters and their kids came over to have some fun in the pool. The pictures tell the story. By the way, many of you have been asking how Cole is doing...he's doing very well now. Thanks for all the well wishes. The prayers worked!

Yazzy meets Wilbur

This is Yazzy's new friend Wilbur. Actually, Yazzy wasn't quite sure what to think of Wilbur! I think Wilbur is adorable. He belongs to Glenna, Yazzy's groomer/hairstylist. I would love to have another dog, but it's probably not practical with a new baby coming...plus, Yazzy likes all the attention going his way.

40 years ago....

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Happy 40th Anniversary Mom and Dad

My mom and dad's 40th anniversary is Sunday, July 9th. We celebrated with a get together last Friday night. So many people came by to give their best wishes. We also had family come over from Nova Scotia and Ontario to celebrate with us. Here are a few pictures from the party:

Mom and Dad...Eugene and Aldona



This is my two sisters and I with mom and dad. My brother, Doug, is missing. He is working in B.C and couldn't be home for the celebration.

This is the wedding party 40 years later. In the back is my cousin Joanne (flower girl), my cousin Diane(maid of honour) and my uncle Fenton (best man).

This is a picture of us with the four grandchildren in the family. Left to right, Kim holding Paige, moi, Brett, Cody, and Amy holding Cole. Wish Kennedy had been here for that picture.


Mom singing with her "band"...including the husbands of the Arsenault sisters: Tony, Tim and Lloyd.

Vacation begins...waiting continues...

It's a rainy Sunday, July 2. My summer vacation is officially here! Yippee! It's nice to have a break, stay up late, sleep in, etc. I have no big plans for the summer. Just a lot of sitting on the deck, enjoying the sun, swimming, having friends over and enjoying each and every day.

We've officially been waiting for 10 months now (since our LID). I know people are very curious about what is taking so long as I have heard some very interesting questions and comments lately. I guess that's the risk you take when you tell people approximately when you think you'll be going. Someone said to me the other day "I hope that all works out for you" with a lot of skepticism in their voice. I guess maybe some think it is uncertain if this will all work out. It is absolutely certain that Kennedy will come home...we just don't know the timeline yet. But she will be here soon :)

If you are interested in seeing pictures of babies from the most recent referrals, click here. Just scroll down to June 26 and click on the highlighted names. Enjoy!

Mei Lin's pictures

Another couple in our PEI China adoption group, Daniel and Natalie, have received their referral. Their daughter's name will be Mei Lin. Click here to see the beautiful pictures(just scroll down to Wednesday, June 28). We are so excited for them!