Big News at Chateau Bright Star - Dreams Do Come True!

Almost 3 years ago, Homer and I decided to pursue our dream to expand our family. In March of this year, our dreams were answered. We received news that a pair of sibling girls needed a family and they had been matched to us -- a couple of crazy canucks who needed a family too. We waited for two days to see their faces, and when we did, they took our breathe away. They were gorgeous. I'm not just saying that because I am their mom, they really are gorgeous. Since Homer and I don't consider ourselves to be card carrying members of the beautiful people society, we felt like we had just been dealt a royal flush. But there were more steps to go before everything was official, so we decided to hold our tongues (and blogs) until we knew for certain they would be joining our clan.

On May 29, the court officially decreed that we are parents to these breathtaking girls. We waited 6 days after the decision to find out the news. Our daughters T & M are ages 6 and 4 and are currently living in Ethiopia. We hope to travel by the end of the summer to bring them to their new home.

This journey has been an emotional one and more than once I have questioned whether we were doing the right thing for the children. I had one person this week tell me that our daughters will be so grateful to us. I explained that we are the ones that are grateful. Our daughters are the ones who are losing and have lost so much - their culture, their birth country, their language and so much more. And they have to move to a country where this happens in June. They did not choose for this to happen to them - we have made a selfish decision that we hope that they can accept. We are so grateful to have this opportunity. This person said the same thing to me the very next day. Some people just don't get it.

I had every intention of posting a picture or two today, but upon reflection have decided to not post pictures to the world wide web. Once the pictures are out there, I cannot take them back.

Hold on to your
Bright Star Dreams

Seriously - Is this Mother Natures Idea of a Joke?

Our back yard May 31, 2009

Our backyard today

Global warming huh?


I think our Saskatoon bushes got the worst of it - at least one of them has snapped down the center.

I'm dreaming of moving west...

Wishing you warm

Bright Star Dreams

Happy (Belated) Birthday Homer!

It was Homer's birthday this week. So what does one get for the man who says he does not want anything.

Answer: Something he has wanted, even coveted, but did not really need. New dishes!!

LOL, it was something I wanted and coveted and he went along with me. He just wanted the baking bowls. So this is what he got for his birthday:
I am sure my grandmother had a set like this in cream. They lasted forever.

We have been looking for new dishes for some time now and found a brand we liked while in Hawaii a year ago. Our old dishes were over ten years old and they were starting to look chipped and battered. With all the issues with products from China and with new additions to our family in the future, we were reluctant to purchase anything that was not guaranteed lead free. We were unable to find anything we both liked and was not made in SE Asia. Homer Laughlin is made in America and is one of the last commercial pottery/china companies left in North America.

We both loved the Fiesta Dinnerware from Homer Laughlin, but we could not agree on a colour. Sometimes too much choice can lead to an impasse in our house. So finally, we decided not to have just one colour but two. I chose three colours that I liked and told Homer to choose one colour he liked and hopefully one of the ones I chose would go with it. He ended up vetoing two of the colours I chose and the colour he liked the most won't be available until June. So we purchased the four piece settings and gusto bowls in Peacock and Sunflower for now. We may purchase some more dishes in June when the Lemon Grass colour becomes available. Neither of us liked the bowls in the four piece setting, but it was actually less expensive to buy the set and add the gusto bowls than to buy the pieces separately. Here's the four piece setting (in Peacock). The handles on the mugs are slightly different than shown:

Here are the Gusto Bowls (In Tangerine - wait maybe this is Persimmon a retired colour):

Five huge boxes arrived mid-week and the delivery driver actually rolled one of them off the truck. Homer was certain they would be damaged and we would be sending them back. Amazingly, they arrived unscathed. The dishes were well packed in bubble wrap and expanding foam.

We are happy with our selected colours, but I like almost all of the colours, so I am not sure we could have gone wrong. If you are interested in checking out all of the colours and the large selection of dinnerware, here is the link to their website. I think there is a lifetime of birthday gifts for us to choose from.

http://www.homerlaughlin.com/ffd/home.asp

Enjoy your colourful
Bright Star Dreams

Sunday cuteness...

Hmm, what is this...

Smells pretty good.

Tastes good too.

The bottom is even better.

After all that work, it's time for a nap.

25 Kilos is never enough

Have a great Sunday

Floor, Check

The sub floor is done! I guess I should say mostly done, as we still need to do the floor in the bathroom. We are now calling the plumber to do the plumbing and heating work. We have to move several of the heating ducts to reduce the number of bulk heads we have to build. We were going to put up the walls before the plumber came, but have decided we want to leave everything as open as possible for the plumber to work. We will be putting up the one wall where the bathtub/shower taps, spout, and shower head will be attached. We now have to go find a tub we both like. It is just a basement, so it won't be anything too fancy.

On another note, we still have snow in our back yard, but I can see some greening of the grass. We have had above average temperatures this weekend. Maybe spring has finally decided to grace our presence. The dogs have been enjoying sunning themselves on the deck. We are having a lazy Easter weekend, hence the decision not to build walls just yet.

Hope Easter brings you

Bright Star Dreams

P.S. If anyone is looking for an elliptical trainer, we are planning to sell the one in the picture.

Let Me Eat Cake!

Today is my birthday. For most people that means cake, but for me, being both gluten and lactose intolerant, cake is not part of my diet. This year, I really wanted to have a chocolate cake with icing for my birthday. This is a tall order, but Homer was bound and determined to deliver.

We have found a great bakery in Cochrane that makes the best gluten free baked goods that I have ever had. The GF Patiserserie was started by mother and daughter and it is the only bakery I know of where it is safe for celiacs to enter and smell the freshly baked goods. Without a doubt their products are better than the non-gluten free baked goods at most bakeries. You would have no idea that their products are gluten free. Many of GF's products are also lactose free, but not many of their cakes. They do have a vanilla one, but I wanted chocolate.

GF does sell a gluten free flour mix, so Homer picked some up the last time we were in. He also found gluten free icing sugar, and treated milk and butter with lactaid drops. He picked up fresh vanilla bean and Bernard Callebaut cocoa. Yesterday, he spent the day in the kitchen making mini cakes until he found just the right mixture to make a fat and sugar free vanilla / chocolate double layer cake. He then added a chocolate icing (it contained the butter and the icing sugar, so not fat or sugar free, but it's my birthday so calories don't count today). The result was amazing!

He also made me two incredible vegetarian curries for dinner last night. I am so fortunate to have a husband who wants to ensure, that despite my intolerances, I can still enjoy a fabulous meal for my birthday.

Celebrate your

Bright Star Dreams

Spring?

Nothing says spring in Calgary like a fresh layer of snow.

I actually like it - it adds moisture to the ground for my garden to grow, it covers up the brown we usually have due to the chinooks and because it is spring it doesn't actually last that long.

And it gives me an excuse to curl up on the couch with Homer and the dogs and do absolutely nothing.

Bright Star Dreams