Family Update

Hi all!
I thought I'd give just a regular, drama-free update today. Life has been in such a turmoil for me lately that I thought it would do me good to write something light and share some sweet pictures of our kiddos.

I haven't updated on Evan lately so I thought I'd give a report. He is doing amazingly well. We have been home for 3 months and 3 days. It doesn't seem possible that 3 months has already gone by. Evan's speech and English is incredible. He speaks in full english sentences and is starting to catch on to Canadian slang. The other day I wasn't feeling well and I kept saying "oh my nose won't stop running" and everytime he would crack up laughing while he used his fingers to imitate "running". Of course mommy's nose wasn't "running" anywhere - I tried to explain it meant yucky stuff kept dripping out - love the image! Hee hee! He laughs everytime I say "mommy's going to jump in the shower..." and then he starts jumping up and down.

His speech is getting better all the time...he can still be hard to understand because he talks SUPER fast! When we get him to slow down and think about pronouncing the words, he does really well. He cannot say the "k" or "g" sound. The speech therapist is very optimistic but says he really needs his palate closed before we can get the best results. TODAY we finally heard Evan will have his surgery on November 14th. We are so thrilled as it will really help his speech. He is also having dental surgery at the same time so Chris and I will be heading over to the IWK (children's hospital) for several days.

Evan and Alyssa started Kindergarten and they love it! We have seen an incredible change in Alyssa as she seeks Evan out to play with and they interact much better! There is the usual bickering between siblings but not that "I hate him" venom that she displayed all summer. They play together alot more at the house now and I even hear them laughing together which makes my heart feel good.

Evan is still grieving but not as painful as before. He still talks about China and we talk about his mama every day. He'll tell me things she did or said and he'll talk about how things are different in Canada compared to China. I love hearing all about it!

Evan and Alyssa started Chinese school and it's awesome. Evan has gone in the older class as they are practicing writing chinese characters, reading and learning conversational chinese. Last week I learned Evan can read mandarin and he was listening, understanding and speaking mandarin the whole class! It was so great! Alyssa is with the younger class and they do alot of singing, crafts, basic mandarin learning and just a lot of fun interaction with the other children and leaders.

Caleb and Dylan are doing well..settling in school without any problems. Dylan has already started hockey and is in full "try out" mode! He is so fun to watch!

We still haven't decided on how to arrange activities for all the kids - Alyssa wants to take dance again this year as well as violin, Evan wants to play hockey, Caleb will be in basketball and also wants to continue with his guitar lessons and Dylan is in cross-country and hockey. So far, we've got Dylan arranged and Caleb ready for b'ball but I can't get enough evenings free to squeeze in Alyssa and Evan's activities and Caleb's guitar lessons. Whew!!! That in itself is my full time job!

Anyhoo...I really should be so thankful for the 4 little blessings (and one big blessing - Chris :-)) and not dwell on some of the sad things in my life right now. I am really trying to do that...I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm in the middle of a full blown sibling argument with angry words, tears, fists and the need to pull my hair out! :-)

Pics will be posted in a bit.