I had such a fun fun weekend! 2 girlfriends and I took off Thursday night for Bangor shopping. then Friday we were off to Freeport! We made off like bandits! Such great deals! At one point I started to refuse to buy anything that was over 6.99$ because it was too expensive!! LOL
We headed back to Bangor on Saturday night, and shopped Bangor again for any last minute things.
We got home last night around 9pm.
Of course I didn't come home with much for myself. I didn't see too much in clothing, but I did get myself a nice warm Gap hoodie, and a fitness fleece from LLBean, oh and lots of stuff from Bath and Body.
*** We found out that Bath and Body are opening 2 stores in the Maritimes. One in Halifax for sure and she wasn't sure where the other one was opening, we figured Moncton.

I'll post some pics of my finds and our trip when I get them loaded onto the computer. Lots of things for Lily and Hanlin.

What a wild weekend!!!!

First thing first.... Abigail did great, she placed 7th overall, and each of her 4 events were almost flawless. We are so proud of her!!
Since she was part of "Team NB", the whole team stays together at the hotel, and it is a "Hands off" parenting weekend!! We (their parents...who have raised them, cared for them, wiped their butts and fed them all their lives) now have no parental rights over the course of the weekend.

I am slightly......protective... when it comes to my kids, so when I "heard" that they were having their banquet in the same hotel as us, I decided that I needed to take a walk, maybe hit Starbucks for a coffee.... So as I was nonchalantly walking (aka scouring the place for my daughter) I happened to see great friends of mine, Shelia and XZ and Clarence, who were visiting for the weekend. They totally caught me red handed! LOL

Anyway, we all went back to the hotel where XZ and Lily had a swim! (bathing suits not needed!)
What a wonderful surprise, and after the kiddies were in bed, we all had a glass of wine in the hotel foyer. (where we were told by a 19 year old rent a cop, that "if there is alcohol in those glasses, we need to drink it, or go back to our rooms!") Can you imagine??
So we did the mature thing, and downed our wine!! LOL

The following morning, we picked Abigail up at 9:15am, and when I walked into their hotel, I was informed that she had been puking since 8:30am. Well, the "mothering instinct" came back real quick, my elbows went up and I ran through the halls, knocking kids and chaperons over! LOL
The poor little peanut has the flu, and was sick the whole 2 hours drive home... But.. she did give us a 20min reprieve so we could run into Costco!! LOL Fastest 240.00$ ever spent!

She is feeling much better today. She finally ate and had some water. Her chest is so sore and she says it feels like someone is sitting on it. Must be from the dry heaves~~~ cause boy did she heave!!

I'm off to pick up Lily "the Holy Terror" from preschool. I'll fill you in on the rest of the weekend when I get back.

****ok, I'm back, everyone's been fed, Abigail worked on her science project and is resting before it's time to pick up her sister. *****

So I bet your wondering what else could of made this weekend soo exciting....

WELL........ I know your all waiting for this news................................

Dieppe had the largest wine store in the province and we bought a whack of wine! yum yum
heee....heee.... ok, so here is the story that your really waiting for....

We got an update on Hanlin! (or Linlin as his forster mother calls him)!
Because we were in Moncton all weekend, I wasn't able to get too much information. I did get 2 photos and a little info to hold us over. But last night, I was able to msn with our friend in PEI, whose husband is in Beijing with business.
The visit with Hanlin went really well. He was able to webcam the whole thing, and they sent it to us last night, along with a few more pictures.
He looks the same, just more "mature". LOL He is soo sweet! You can really tell he is well loved and cared for, his skin is clear, he looks healthy, well dressed, active, curious... I sobbed and sobbed when I saw him, and then he spoke.. well.....I SOBBED....... what a beautiful voice!
We've been told that the foster mother loves him dearly, and is sad that he is leaving them, but is very happy that he is being adopted. When ever she thinks about him leaving she starts to cry. She would like to have more information on our family to help him adjust to leaving, and coming with us. She said she would like him to be familiar with us and she would like to work with us to help achieve this.
They said they have lots of stories to tell us about him, and that sometimes he says things that awe them! LOL They said he is very good and they love him dearly. The foster mother wanted to make sure I knew that he loves shrimp and fish! She wanted to know if and at what age he would go to daycare and to preschool. (no daycare for this kid!!) LOL
I'll post the 2 pics we received last night. The others all have the foster mom in them and I don't feel comfortable posting them.
These photos were taken on Saturday!
My glory he is cute!!Yes, his hand is in someone's purse...... He rummaged through that purse throughout the video. LOL

and here he is... checking out her visa card he found in the purse... he is memorizing the #'s !
Yup, Lily and Hanlin will get along great!!

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am in Moncton, on a computer at Crystal Palace... Abigail competes in 1 hour.

I just checked my e-mail...AND....

a wonderful man, living in Beijing, but whose wife and children live in PEI..... went to VISIT HANLIN yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am just waiting for an e-mail with updates etc... He contacted the SWI and they asked him, to ask us to provide more information about us, to help with the transistion. Our ages..personalities.. and the foster mother was very happy to give him little bits of info to gradually help him get ready.
We also sent numerous pictures. In the e-mail I just received, this wonderful fellow, wanted to know if we had a webcam, because he was going to set up his at the orpahnage for us to see him LIVE and IN PERSON!!
Unfortunatley we left for moncton last night and only got the e-mail this morning. But I've sent off an e-mail, saying we do own one, and if the foster mother wanted to use it, or e-mail us, we would be more than happy to correspond with her.
I can't tell you just how excited we are!!!!!!!!!!!
I'll post more AS SOON AS I HEAR MORE.

I'll be at the gym from now till at least 2pm, then we have to go to Speedy Glass, because on the way up here, a rock flew into our window and we ended up with a "ding" in the front windsheild. Oh well...

Wish Abigail luck!!!!!!!!

Couscous Salad

Hi everyone!

I had a couple of requests for the recipe for the couscous salad that I cook with the salmon.

The original recipe came from All Recipes.com (Love love love that site)
But I've made it so often now, that it has taken on a mind of its own, and is now no-where near the original recipe!

So I'll give the link to the original "Greek Couscous Salad"... and I'll give you the recipe that I use off the top of my head.

Take 1 box of couscous and cook it following the directions on the box.
(I use 2 cups couscous to 2 cups water)
(for those of you who have never made couscous, it is equal parts of water to couscous with a little oil, salt and pepper)
While that is cooking, I saute, any veggies I happen to have in the fridge. ( I told you it takes on a mind of its own).
So usually portabello mushrooms, red and yellow peppers (peeled and thinly sliced) and onions all sauted in olive oil. This also depends on what veggies I have cooking with the fish.
At the same time, I par-boil some baby carrots, and broccoli. Once the peppers, onions etc.. are done I add the carrots and broccoli, give them a quick fry all together, then add the couscous and fry altogether for about until the fish is done.
I don't have a side of veggies, as there are a ton in the couscous and with the fish.
I serve it with an Asian Sesame dressing from Kraft. YUM!!!
With this meal, I can usually have supper on the table in 30 mins. (40 mins if I open a bottle of wine).

Shelia...this is for you......
I would highly recommend this wine with dinner... *remember... I DON'T do white wine***
Innominato Toscano 2005
This is my new favorite wine!! Second only to it's cousin....

This is what we're having for supper tonight,
I LOVE LOVE this meal!! It is so easy, fast and delicious.


First, pour some olive oil and a big sheet of foil. Lay your fish, skin side down on the olive oil. (I've used Salmon, Trout and Sole and they've all tasted great). In this picture it was trout.
Garnish with whatever you happen to have in your fridge. I usually use, fresh thyme, mushrooms, onions, salt and pepper, and sprinkle with lemon juice, or fresh lemon slices if you have it.

Then put on your veggies that will take a little longer to cook. If your using baby carrots, par-boil them first. I used asparagus and cherry tomatoes. Salt and Pepper again, and drizzle with olive oil.

Wrap it all up nice in a little package and place on a cookie sheet. Cook at 350 till the fish is just cooked.

Serve with a coucous salad and an asian dressing..... YUM!!!!!!!!!!1

I just got my Adobe Video program running, and am trying out how to upload the video using Blogger.

There was a very short video clip of when we told my sister about Hanlin. But she made me take it off, cause she had no make up on, and was crying!! LOL

So instead here is a picture of her, not crying... with makeup..sort of..

I just really needed to see this handsome little man again!!
Isn't he just the most gorgeous little guy ever??

***UPDATE*** It has been 2 month since we first found out about Hanlin. Our file was sent to CCAA and arrived Easter Monday! Now we are waiting for 2 letters from China, that could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months!
We are preparing a care package to send to Hanlin at the first of the week. His birthday is at the end of the month, and I would love for him to have it time for that. Now I have to try to find toys that will fit in a small shoe box. I don't have a small shoe box, does that mean I get to buy myself a new pair of shoes???*********** LOL

To see the original referral announcement, go to the side bar link. First posted on February 27th 2008.
It would be an understatement if we said we are excited..
This was meant to be, in so many ways..

So let me tell you a bit about our handsome boy!!
His name is Zhang, Han Lin
we'll call him Hanlin Maxwell D***.
DOB April 30th 2004
From: Tianjin, (2.5 hours outside of Beijing by train)

He is cuddly and compliant, he is happy with other children and often shows his care and consideration. He is especially good at mimicking and memory.
His weakness is he timid and not sociable. (that will change with 3 girls around him!!)
His special need is a nevus spilus (birth mark) on his forehead. The color faded as he grew. Now it only gets darker when he is impatient or upset. (Frank said he is like a mood ring) Afterwards it will go to light pink which is unnoticeable.
He likes to watch TV!! and likes singing and dancing!! (just like Lily, they'll be fighting for the remote).
He is 4 cm taller than Lily, but 2 lbs lighter and is 6 months older than her.
They'll be in the same grade in school.

We are lucky to be able to bring all 3 girls to China with us to meet their brother. We think it will help with the transition from foster family to forever family to have other children around.

So many coincidences: We were provincially approved December 12th 07, on Abigail's B-day
He was born on April 30th 2004 (my brother in laws b-day).
He is standing in front of a Hibiscus plant, one of mom's favorite!
His favorite foods are the same as the girls!

I know my mom had a hand in this!! She guided us to him and him to us.
We knew a long time ago that we would be returning to China...
it is where our hearts are and it is where our son is, waiting for us.

Come on by if your in the neighborhood!