Ahoy Mateys!

Well pirate Raeya celebrated her 3rd birthday! The whole day was perfect! Tor did an amazing job with the pirate ship cake and all the wonderful decorations!! Check out those incredible party invitations!! And Raeya's Nana made her pirate costume and sent it.. all the way from Nova Scotia!! That must be where the real pirates are from! lol

Rob, Tor, Lindsey and Jesse were all in fine form as head pirates but the show stoppers were Raeya, Kelly, Jarrod, and Jen! They looked so AWESOME!! Kelly and Jarrod both wore the shirts that my mom made for them when they graduated.. they make great pirate shirts.. not sure the look they were going for in grad.. however, it was almost like Mom was part of Raeya's birthday... Oh how she would have LOVED Raeya.. and if Rob and Tor think I spoil her.. Mom would have spoiled her ten fold!!! Sigh...

What do Pirates eat?? Cucumbers, of course!!

Here comes the Pirates!



And even a Pirate needs a hand, once in a while! And then some fun sliding down the slide! Weeeee!

Is it time for presents.. NOW?!

A Pirate puppet!!

Even Pirates need to take time for a swing!

Kelly.. you are wearing make-up to go along with the costume... right?!?



Charlotte is getting so BIG!!

The cutest Pirate in town!

All in all.. everyone had a swash buckling good time at the Pirate party!

Happy 3rd Birthday Raeya! I love you to the moon!



Betcha didn't know....

When I was a little girl I use to line up all my stuffies and play teacher. Any of my picture books would turn into lesson plans and I had a chalk board I could draw diagrams on or "teach" the alphabet on. If any of the stuffies were naughty, they would have to sit in the corner and no one could talk to them until they rejoined the group. I had one friend when I was around 9 years old and we would play superstar in our apartments rec room. We would climb up on the pool table and dance around and sing as loud as we could. Then we would make "rock people" and sell them to people in the building saying we were raising money for Easter Seals. Yes, I know, I was horrible.. But at least I was earning the money!

My family is huge on make believe and fantasy. I think it stems from my bio dad and his love of play. He use to tell my sisters that if they saw something move out of the corner of their eye, but then when they turned their head, they didn't see anything, it was one of Santa's elves. Santa was busy all year so would send his elves to make sure every little kid was behaving themselves. When I was 8 years old I started to question Santa's existence.... big mistake in my family.. My sisters went to great lengths to "prove" he was real. They knew a guy who had a pilots license and so off Carollyn and I went in a 4 passenger plane to visit Santa's house.... and ya know what? We saw it!! There were two homes, one was Santa's and one was for the elves. It was amazing and I never questioned Jolly Ol' St. Nick again! Seriously, to this day I KNOW he's real!

Spiders freak me out.. Doesn't matter the size.. I do NOT like them. They are one of Gods freaky creations.

I love old movies and musicals. Not the cheesy musicals they make today.. Like High School musical (sorry if you're a fan, i forgive you). Breakfast at Tiffany's, Gentlemen Prefer Blonde's, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady.... I love Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. Gene Kelly and James Stewart. Katherine Hepburn and Rosemary Clooney. I would dream of Jane Russell being my mom and brushing my hair 100 times. I love all the old Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney movies.. So innocent and entertaining. and who doesn't love any James Stewart movie? Okay, so maybe anyone under 50.. But I grew up with adults.. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!

Most embarrassing thing would have to be that I loved Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Don't judge, I'm sure there's someone equally bad that you loved.

My neck is the the most sensitive place on my body and I will squeal like a hyena if you tickle me there.. Seriously ear popping squeal... Ask anyone.

I hate broccoli.

I love to sing. When I was little I would make up songs when I was in the tub and belt them out as loud as I could.. ironically they were usually about God. I sang with the Victoria Orchestra with my elementary school choir.. we sang the songs from The Sound of Music. Then when I started going to church, I sang solo's... now I sing solo alright.. I make sure no one is around either!!

My favorite peaceful place to be is near the water... Cowichan Lake, Goldstream Park or the Ocean.

I became a Christian when I was 18 years old and I have struggled with my faith ever since. I don't have blind faith in most things.. I wish I did. I need to research things until I find the answer that fits best for me.. It probably took me 10 years to fully understand how the Trinity worked. I pray. I pray really hard and I talk to Jesus a lot.. Sometimes out loud and other times in my heart. My relationship with Him is private and I will only openly share with people I feel secure with.

I swear.. Yup.. I'm a Christian and I swear.. I'm not perfect. Never claimed to be.. Ever! I am flawed all over the place and if you don't like it, that's your issue, I won't try to change your mind.

I try not to hold grudges and stay mad for long. Takes up too much energy and that energy doesn't burn calories! So really, what's the point?

I love playing pranks on people. I also laugh twice as hard if someone can manage to prank me. I'm not easily pranked.. Only one has managed to plan and execute a prank that I had no idea about, but that's another blog entry... Along with the revenge I am planning....

So there ya have it.. A little more insight into me that I betcha didn't know...

The Good Ol' Days

So I was having a semi lazy day.. starting flipping channels and lo and behold what to my wandering eyes see.. The Brady Bunch!! It was great! I got to watch when Jan decided to play pranks on the Brady family after she was warned not to let it get out of hand.. of course it did when Greg's science project mouse goes missing.. not the best episode but heck, it was the Brady Bunch!! Then comes Laverne and Shirley..

I never even knew there was a TV channel that showed these old programs.. well, not one that I didn't have to pay for! I checked to see what was coming on next and it was Happy Days, Dick Van Dyck Show, I Love Lucy.. all the shows I loved watching as a youngster!!

It got me reminiscing what I would do on a typical Sunday afternoon when I was young. My mom and I lived in an apartment building that had a pool so often, she, my then soon-to-be dad and I would go swimming. We would come back to our suite and watch Kung Fu or some old western and then the best part of every Sunday.. mom would make dinner and set up the TV trays and we would watch Walt Disney. It was my favorite part of the whole weekend.. probably one of my favorite childhood memory's I have.

I can still remember when I was 5 and living at, what they called back then as the Solarium, now Queen Alexandra Centre for Children, on either Friday or Saturday nights, we would assemble in the Auditorium, (the only place that had a TV), and watch The Donny and Marie Show, The Muppet's and Solid Gold.. I hated Solid Gold but since I was one of the youngest, I had no choice on what we watched. The nurses would push us into the auditorium in our beds after we had gotten into our nighties. It was all very exciting at the time.

What were some of your favorite childhood shows? Do you have any days that stood out more than others?

A Forever Home

Pretty much all of my friends have kids and those who don't have kids, have partners.. I have my dog and parrot. Don't get me wrong.. I love them and they are great company but the balance of conversation is somewhat limited to say the least! When my mom was alive I had seriously looked into adoption. Adoption from China to be exact. I had registered with Family Services of Vancouver to get their news letter and was looking into international adoption criteria. It is not an easy process but then nothing I do is EVER easy! For some reason, I find joy in doing things the hard way. I knew I wanted a girl and I knew I would have to travel to China for approximately two weeks to pick up my "daughter". No problem, my mom would come with me.

Then my mom past away and the thought of adopting went with her. A few weeks ago my supervisor came to me and said that she thought I really need to start re-thinking the idea of giving a child "a forever home". She seems to think that it would not only be good for the child, but for me also. I don't deny that it would take the focus off me and I wouldn't have to worry about addressing any issues I'm currently trying to address. But would that be the right thing to do? Would ignoring the challenges I'm facing today be best for a child? Wouldn't it make more sense to have things in order with myself before trying to deal with a child who will be bound to have their own challenges?

It would solve a lot of things for me.. I would have someone to love. I would have someone who really needed me. I would have that challenge in my life that may just fill that void that seems to have appeared. Then I think of all the cons.. can I afford it right now? Do I really have what it takes to give a child the home they deserve? Do I have the patience and the energy? Do I have the follow thru or skills or maturity? Do I have the emotional strength to support the child's emotional needs? I have the time and the room but then what about my other plans? What about joining sports or traveling? Honestly those are little things that don't really matter but what about the big things like will my family love an adopted child as much as if the child were my own blood? Will an adoption agency even want to adopt to a single person in a wheelchair?

To adopt a child can cost in the neighborhood of $20,000 or more. I do not have that kind of money!! But then I could always adopt from MCFD and there is no cost but likelihood of having a child with special needs increases considerably. Then again, adopting a child internationally also has a high likelihood of a special needs child but in other ways. I could end up with a child with RAD (reactive attachment disorder). I could end up with a child with FASD (fetal alcohol syndrome disorder). I could just end up with a child I fall deeply in love with.

Its such a huge commitment. Such a huge sacrifice. But I keep going back to the questions Am I ready? Do I really want to do this? Am I doing this for the right reasons? Can I really afford this? Is it the right time? What age would fit best with my life and family? and Will I have the support I will need from my friends and family? Bottom line is nothing would happen overnight, what harm can it do to look into it?

Easter weekend

One of my favorite things to do when I'm on the island is to hang out at my sisters house because I can be pretty much guaranteed one of the boys will stop by. This weekend all the boys were there including Geoff. And with the boys came the kids including Jen and Panda. Each of the littles are really growing into their own!

Notice the score behind the pic of Panda and Charlie? It went into overtime where we lost. But never fear, we took them in OT in game 7 thanks to Burrows! Go Canucks Go!

Girls Girls Girls!!!

As most people, I wear different hats.. the sister hat, daughter hat, friend hat, cousin hat, social worker hat but no hat means more to me than the auntie hat. I have 6 wonderful nephews and with each one.. I wished for a niece. Don't get me wrong.. I wouldn't trade a moment with any of them but there were occasions when I would dress up Rob and Jarrod like girls.. could explain a few things....

I am also so lucky to be a surrogate auntie to all of my friends children.. my first "niece" was my girlfriend Sherri-Ann's daughter Tianna.. such a sweetheart!! She's already 14 now and probably not really that into cute little dresses and cute toddler toys.

One of the happiest days of my life was when my nephew Rob had his first child.. a girl! Raeya (a made up name that was influenced by a Mortal Combat video game I think).. so cute and let me tell you.. I went nuts with the cute clothes.. then came two of my best friends who both had girls.. Claire and Ally.. and then my nephew Geoff had Charlotte. I love all my nieces and nephews.. the blood and the surrogate's but I'm telling you..

I am truly loving the girl thing these days!!! Being an auntie is the best job in the world.. love them, spoil them, and give them back to their parents!

Love you all Matthew, Geoff, Rob, Jarrod, Kelly, Luke, Joshua, Raeya, and Charlotte.. and my surrogates Katie, Tianna, Samson, Claire, Adam and Ally!!!