Stepping Back into October for a Moment

Just wanting to catch up with a few photos from October 2011, and some activities from then.

Pumpkins made by Evie (L) and Sean (R).

 "I like Butt".  This, Evie solemnly announced one day.  Skyler and I were killing ourselves trying not to laugh as we tried to tease out what she really meant, but all she kept saying was "I like Butt".  Well, it finally hit me one day that "Butt" is really "Burke", a fellow student at the school.  He is a lovely boy, very intent on peeling his carrots here, for the Harvest Soup that the children made.  And Evie sticks close to him, a lot.

Evie doing her part in making the harvest soup.  All the kids took this very seriously and did a great job!

Then the Kitchen Renovation started.  And continues.  First, the removal of plaster and lath, and subsequent dust clean up.  The exposed brick looks nice, but isn't able to remain exposed; it is a heat sink.  Seeing how nice it looks makes me think that later on, we may find a spot to add some reclaimed brick.  (Still have a pile of it from a chimney removal about 10 years ago; talk about a job!)  And now on to some nice autumn views....

Our lovely maple is in full colour in October.  Beautiful as the leaves are, it is nice once they fall too, as our river view improves significantly!

This picture was taken on a little side drive as part of our regular trip to Sean's Autism doctor (who lives out in the middle of nowhere....).  A pretty autumn day.

And another nice weekend, this time away to the Kawarthas with China travel friends.  Here, the two Poyang girls, Maya and Evie, pose for us.  Could the smiles get any bigger? 

These two have a lot in common; they are only 2 days apart in age, were at the same orphanage, share the same finder, and both have older, biological siblings in their adoptive families.  They have a pretty good time together, and us Moms want to keep the connection going all through their childhood, and lives if possible.  It is important for internationally adopted kids to have these connections with others of similar backgrounds.  A number of families I know (even from our travel group, I think) would rather put China behind them and not acknowledge that part of their children's lives, and I think it will catch up at some point.   So we try to keep the connection alive and flourishing now.

But new friends are made also, this pic showing one of them and an outing to a local farm for her birthday.  The two girls are one month apart in age, and had a great time on a very cool morning in late October, checking out the animals.

Not everybody gets to wear a chicken on their head!  Evie was OK with this, for a short time anyways.

She certainly has an affinity for animals....no fear of the large ones!  She spent quite awhile with the horse, and I see $$ $pent in the future as she will probably want to do the riding thing someday.....

And to cap off the morning, a little time with a pet bunny!

A couple more pictures of a pretty little girl, and her doggie.

Bye for now!