Going, going.....gone

A number of things have been removed from our lives in the past month. The first to go were Shae's two front bottom teeth. They both fell out within 5 days of each other - the second one while she was in the pool so the tooth fairy must have gotten wet that night!

Shae's missing teeth

After a very long application process we were finally given permission by our local council to remove a very large white cedar tree from our back yard. This tree was beautiful in the middle of summer, but for the rest of the year a major pain in the butt and a substantial safety hazard due to the copious number of poisonous and very slippery berries it dropped in our garden (and most importantly the kids' play area). It was a great victory and on November 10th we watched the tree surgeons swing through the tree and take it down (in 39 degree heat!). Last week we had the great delight of planting three beautiful ornamental pear trees in it's place - one for each of our gorgeous kidlets.

The kids look on as the guys begin the job of removing the berry tree

Ethan, Asha and Shae claim their trees

Last Friday night Shae and Asha went to their first disco (at school). They were very excited and had a lovely time being out at night with their friends. They looked so grown up and sophisticated and it made my breath catch to see them in the rearview mirror.

The Belles off to the Ball

The girls performed their Nativity play for us today. It was very special. Asha was a talking sheep who delivered her lines with clarity and intonation. Shae was, of course, an angel. It all happened perfectly - there were lovely songs, Joseph picked his nose and there was the obligatory school play feedback through the sound system. The reception teachers had also put together a slide presentation of activities the kids have done throughout the year and played tear jerking music. Then the teachers prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for the year that was and for all the kids as they move on to year one.....and for the families who are leaving St. Johns.

Well, that was about all I could handle. I hadn't brought tissues (though I'd been warned I might need them). And all of a sudden it was real. We are leaving. My girls have not been assigned to Mrs. Cosh or Ms. Sunman's class. We are heading back to Hong Kong again - again. But I will save my reflections on our time here for another post.

In the meantime I think I might need to find a partridge for those pear trees....