We've had fairly lazy times at home lately. Interspersed with lots of meal-time visitors and other arrangements. We've enjoyed early morning walks- we found a field of wild flowers and crickets nearby to explore! - and the park, but also lots of home time:


Jasmin enjoying a soak in her "tub". Not exactly what we bought it for- but it kept her happily occupied for a good long time!

We've also begun having some Fallish weather.... One evening walk even required their new raincoats, which Grace was extraordinarily pleased with,hence the odd smile. And Jasmin! Such a little girl now!

Here's a try at something new... a video clip of Grace and Jasmin enjoying their reading corner. Grace is "reading " a book to herself - and doing a very accurate job, too! - and Jasmin is imitating her.

Yesterday we had a huge thunderstorm. Unfortunately, we had to go out just as it was approaching. Fortunately, we had shut the windows before we left home (not because we saw the storm coming but because it was so muggy we wanted to use the aircon for awhile to make our house bearable). It was kind of neat though. We got to see it coming, a dark threatening sheet slowly being pulled across the sky as we drove into it. it got so dark! Saw some awesomely clear lightening strikes too! I ran in to get my blood test done, and before I came back out the storm broke. From inside a 2 story building, on the first floor in the middle of the building I could hear the rain! When I came out it was sheeting down rain and as dark as late evening. I had to take three uncovered steps to the car and was soaked through before I got the door shut. Grace was awed, and Jasmin slept through it. Even the hail we drove though on our way home! We had fun juggling umbrella, bags, babies, and keys to get into the house relatively dry :o) It has to be one of the first storms that I have really enjoyed and not feared.

Today it is like Fall. The sun is shining brightly in a blue sky, but the air is cold enough to redden cheeks and make Mommy thankful we bought Grace sneakers yesterday - and she wore them when we went to the park this morning. A few more days of this and I'll have to dig out the girls long sleeves and socks. I love weather like this - it makes me feel so alive. I just wish I could be doing all the things being outside in this weather makes me want to do: dig over gardens, go for hikes, have a bonfire... We did spend the morning learning about apple trees as we found on with baby apples on it on our walk this morning. Almost as good :o)

This weekend was the Cambodian Fellowship Annual Conference. The youth and young adults went to Providence Point, and the adults had theirs at our church. Five or six churches participated from St Thomas, Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa. Michael was the main speaker for the youth, but because there was no childcare there, I stayed at home and attended the adult conference. It wasn't hard for me being on my own, because I wasn't! I was so very well taken care of that I only had to look after the girls on my own for about 1/2 hour in the morning and again at night!! The days were long: 8am - 9:30pm, but good. I enjoyed the weekend of Khmer talk, food, and family, and the girls enjoyed all the kids and the new/old activities:


Canadian-Khmer style cooking. Still outdoors and in huge woks and pots, but on nifty propane burners instead of charcoal pots. Here they are frying battered banana for snack. The cooks worked full tilt all weekend, cooking three meals a day for 60 odd people... they did a fantastic job!
Playing in the dirt is always good fun!!
So is dressing up:


Another very Khmer thing: informal sing-a-long/karaoke-type sessions breaking out during free time in between formal teaching sessions: