Halloween and Birthday

My first day back to work was Halloween. What a great (not) day to start back to work in a classroom. I have a senior kindergarten/grade 1 this year. Halloween is big and very loud at this age.

Denis was Woody from Toy Story, he has watched the first 2 movies over and over. I thought he could relate to the image. He kept saying he was a cowboy and pretending to ride a horse all over the place.


After work, Denis and I joined Loretta and Alex for trick-or-treating out in their neighbourhood. Denis LOVED trick-or-treating, he was upset that I wouldn't let him sit down on the steps of each house and eat the candy he'd just received.

2 days later it was Denis' 3rd birthday. I had planned a simple party with Denis, my brother and myself. Unfortunately Un-con was stuck at school writing report cards. I had set up the table with the cake prior to picking Denis up from day care, so it wasn't like I could delay. We celebrated more when his uncle came home.

I had planned a party at a fun house for Denis 2 weeks later. Unfortunately Denis and I came down with the flu 2 days piror to the party and we had to cancel the party. I've actually rebooked with the fun house to have the party in February to celebrate Denis being home for a year. The party in February was Loretta's idea, this way I don't lose my deposit.

The some total of my illnesses since returning to work (less than a month ago) are a cold, 2 solid weeks with pink eye which I caught from a student, and the above mentioned flu. Really what a great year I have ahead, wonder how many more times I'll be sick. Denis gets better SO much faster than I do.

Updates Eaten by the Computer

I had almost finished an update covering the past three very busy weeks when the computer crashed. Gone was my post and gone were all the photos ready to be posted.

So now I'll redo the post but not the entire 3 weeks at once, just one milestone at a time.

First Concert

With less than 2 months of daycare under his belt, Denis was in his first concert yesterday. His daycare had their annual general meeting and to get the parents to attend the meeting all the children perform at the beginning. It was so cute.

Denis` group sang two songs. Denis didn`t sing, no he yelled `Hi Mom` coughed into this elbow and then made sure to tell me that he`d remembered to cough into his elbow and not his hand, complained that the girls on either side of him had held his hands during the chorus, and then he waved at me.

I was SO proud. Actually, his daycare worker and I weren`t sure that he`d even stay up with his group for the song. He did well all things considered.

Denis` daycare is actually the satellite daycare from the main daycare. At his site there are only 20 children from ages two and half to 5. The main site has the over 80 children from two and half to 12. When Denis enters the 1st grade he`ll actually go to the other site for before and after care. They walk from one school to the other at the beginning and end of the day.

I hope he has a good day today as he was one tired puppy this morning. He hasn`t quite developed the stamina for the entire week at daycare just yet. By Wednesday evenings he shows signs of exhaustion and tries harder and harder the next 2 morning to convince me that we should stay home. It has been so hard not to give it to him as I`m still on leave, but come Monday that all stops and I`ll be back at work full time.

Not that I haven`t been going to me school for many days already. I realized yesterday on my drive home from my school that I`ve already put in more than a full week at school. Teaching, the job where you regularly work for days without pay at the beginning of the school year and then spend your own money on things for the classroom. I tried to limit how much I spent this year, but the class is new so there really isn`t any equipment or toys for the senior kindergarten students, so I`ve been to the dollar stores, Costco and IKEA. It only became a SK class at the end of September or I`d have spent the summer going to yard sales.

Canakaz Republic Day

Today was our 5th Annual Day get together. 5 years ago 2 families, one who had already a little boy from Kazakhstan and another family beginning the journey decided that it would be wonderful to bring the families who were a part of an on-line community together for a party.

At first they thought that 5 families would be getting together, on the day I think we were over 50 people. Instead of an intimate house party we had to use a community center. Most families were in the paper chase stage (as I was at the time) or waiting for their LOI. I met both Loretta and Diane that day, never knowing that they would become so important to me.

On that first day there were 3 children at the party who had been born in Kazakhstan. Wow, how the times have changed. Today we were a small group of 11 families with 12 children born in Kazakhstan. Sometimes we are almost 30 families. It is wonderful to get together and see how the children have grown. Each party (we also have a party in March to celebrate Nauryz) there is a new little one or two to meet and marvel over. Today there was a new little one born in Russia not far from her big brother's hometown of Uralsk.

Having a party with a dozen children between the ages of 7 and 18 month it is amazingly relaxed. Oh, don't get me wrong there are lots of squabbles over toys, there are lots of 2 to 4 year olds. Diane found us this old lawn bowling club which is a wonderful location. There is a kitchen so we are able to have a pot luck meal. And the room has great floor to ceiling window looking out onto the bowling greens. The children run around and have a blast while we parents get a chance to talk and catch up.

I have to say though, it is SO MUCH more fun going to these parties now that I have Denis.

I didn't take any photos as Denis had the camera today. I'll have to look at his pictures to see if there are any I can put on the blog.

Thanksgiving and Aunt Kathryn's Birthday

October has so far been a very busy month and we've had Aunt Kathryn home for two visits.

The first visit was for Thanksgiving. Kathryn was home for 2 nights that weekend. The weather here in Toronto was remarkable on Thanksgiving with temperatures in the near 30 C.

We shared a wonderful dinner, if as the cook I do say so myself, on the Saturday evening. Turkey is the usual fare for Thanksgiving, but roast beef and Yorkshire pudding is the favourite in my family.After dinner Denis insisted on doing the dishes. Hmm, I am raising a lovely child. Now, just to figure out how to keep him doing the dishes when he's a teenager.That Sunday I brought Kathryn out to mass and back to her group home. And in the evening Denis and I joined my cousin Donnie and Chantalle at their new house for a wonderful turkey dinner. Denis especially loved running in and out the balcony doors.

This evening we celebrated my sisters 47th birthday. I always find marking her birthday to be so bittersweet as 7 years ago I packed up her belongings and helped her move into her group home. It is hard allowing someone else to care for Kathryn, but she is ever so wonderfully cared for at the home. And I always remind myself that it is because of the group home I was able to adopt Denis, as I could never have considered adopting if I was Kathryn's full time caregiver.

Here is a picture Denis took of his aunt and I. It is a wonderful picture.October 31 is fast approaching and that will be my first day back at work. What a great day to start in a Senior Kindergarten /Grade 1 class. I will have a great day and that evening I will be taking Denis out for his first trick-or-treating. It should be fun.