November Update

Novermber is turning out to be a very busy month for our family. Here are some of the reasons why:

Andrew: is just finishing his fourth year playing volleyball. He is great at spiking and blocking and was one of the key players. They had a game just about every Tues. and Thurs. after school, with practices on the other 3 days of the week. Usually after volleyball, he went to work at McDonalds until close. This does not leave much time for anything else, including homework. Thankfully, he has an easy semester and a spare period. He has finally gotten some regular hours at work, which will mean we get to see him once in awhile : )

Pascaline: our French "daughter" went home on the first Friday of November. We enjoyed having her live with us for the few months she was here. She discovered some things in Canada she really liked: our peanut butter, Tim Horton's Iced Cappachino, EDSS, our church Kioninia, TIFF, Toronto, to name a few. She really liked our school system and all the activities that we get to do while getting an education. There was only one thing that I know of she didn't like: my beef barley soup with cow tongue : )

Hannah: is moving into the boys' old room and is busy getting it re-painted. She was not fond of the race car decor. We are currently painting it two shades of purple. We are also going to tear up the carpet and put in laminate flooring. She did a great job of hosting Pascaline and will now be preparing for her stay in France this winter.

Leah: is busy with her 3 horses. She has been working on different things with each one and trying to ride them each at least twice a week. Since the time has changed, this has become more difficult. It now gets dark at 5pm. I guess we will have to put up that indoor arena! She is contemplating selling or leasing her pony, since she only needs him for the Prince Phillip games in the spring. Then, she can contribute to the bigger trailer we have to buy since her show horse outgrew our other one!

Daniel: is getting busier with homework. Being in the 8th grade, his teachers are trying to prepare him for high school. Next week is his 13th birthday, and Jim is taking him and a friend to an indoor BMX track in Toronto for the day. Jim is also preparing to take him on a father/son weekend together in the near future.

Julia: is playing basketball every Sat. morning this fall/winter. She is very excited about getting the chance to play. (I am too, finally one of the kids wants to play some other sport than soccer or hockey. . .they all have American blood in them, why aren't they interested in football, baseball, or basketball????) This only takes a bit of time away from her pony, who she is now training to jump. (sooooo cute. . .this wee little pony jumping over the big jumps!)

Jim and I were just counting the trips we have made to Toronto since August. . .it will soon be 9! That is more than we usually do in 9 years! He is just wondering if we need to MOVE there. . ? Work has been busy for both of us and we are also doing a small Bible study group in church on parenting teenagers. I did manage to get my Christmas lights up this last week, which is a FIRST! I usually don't get them up until 2 weeks before Christmas. I will not be putting up the indoor decorations until December, though. More pictures to follow in a later post.