Spanish Banks Beach, Vancouver, BC

Hello all visitors from Kate's Fun Friday post.  This week Kate has asked us to share one of our favourite summer activities.  Mine is being at the beach and I thought I'd share one of our Vancouver beaches, Spanish Banks, with you.  If you ever head up north of the border to Vancouver and have kids it is definitely worth bringing your beach towels, buckets and spades (shovels).   Having loved going to the seaside for holidays (vacations) growing up as a child in England, having the beach 15 minutes from home is a blessing.  I don't know what it is about sand and water but I love it!  On my bucket list is a trip to Hawaii!  I haven't been to the beach at all this summer as I was working in July and do due to loss in the adoption process just wasn't up to going.  I hope to spend days at the beach with my child one summer but that seems more and more like a dream.

The best time to hit Spanish Banks West or East is when the tide is out.  You can walk a LONG, LONG  way out over the sand to the water and kids love it.  I have taken my classes several times as year end field trips and one year when I was at an east-side school one of my little girls in grade two said, "Miss A, this is the best day of my life ever.  I've never been to the beach before!"  It was a cold, gray June day and she was shivering and starting to turn blue around the mouth from being in the water!   On a hot, sunny, summer day with the tide out, there is no prettier place to be.  You sit with a view of the North Shore mountains and downtown Vancouver.  It is picture perfect.

Photos of Spanish Banks - will post some of my pictures when I am home and have access to my photos

http://leslieinvancan.blogspot.ca/2010_07_01_archive.html
Only citing this blog, no connection to it



See photo by Steve Smith  at World of Stock

More photos of Spanish Banks

Like I said growing up in England we would go to the seaside for a holiday.  I have many fond memories of playing in the sand and swimming in the water at  Bournemouth. Unfortunately I can't find any old photos and don't have a scanner to scan them anyway.  My childhood was long before the time of digital cameras! So thanks to FreeFoto.com for allowing their images to be shared.

This was one of my pastimes as a child.  This and being buried!

Please can I ask you to take a minute to look at a previous post called "Angels for Hannah".  A little girl from Victoria is very sick with a very rare form of cancer.  Her case is only the fourth in the world.  She is being treated in Vancouver, a hour and 45 minute ferry ride from home.  Please take a minute to look at the family's webpage and blog and keep them in your prayers.  The blog and webpage are only about a week old so please bear that in mind.  Thank you all!

Angels for Hannah- please pass the message on

In our local newspaper, well really my parents as I'm back in Victoria again, there is an article about a little girl called Hannah who has just been diagnoised with Stage 4  rhabdomyosarcoma.   The article says there are only three known cases in the world and Hannah's is the fourth and the first for British Columbia.  You can read about this family on a website that has been set up for them by friends.   The website is looking for donations, but keeping Hannah in your prayers and passing along the message to your friends is also a very valued and appreciated form of support.  By dedicating a post to Hannah, I am hoping to spread the message.  Please visit her website by Googling "Angels for Hannah"  and keep in mind it is new.

The link below is to the newspaper article that published this story in Victoria and where I first read about Hannah.
http://www.timescolonist.com/health/Burned+last+year+family+battles+cancer/7119170/story.html

At a time when I feel like my journey isn't ever going to be successful and that I should through in the towel,  I feel a bit better by being able to spread the word about Hannah.  On her website there are links for those of you that use Twitter and Facebook.

Childhood Canada Cancer Foundation

I am participating in Kate's, Lucy's mum, Fun Friday blog event.  Lucy is in the process of returning to school and Kate's topic this week is to do with special needs children returning to school.  At the bottom of the right hand side of my blog I have links regarding adoption and schools and teachers, but thought I would look up some info for Kate's topic.  I have been teaching for 21 years and haven't taught a child with cancer or returning to school after cancer yet.  I have had numerous children with special needs.

The Childhood Canada Cancer Foundation has a page devoted to helping teachers and schools deal with this topic.  I know this is a little different twist/view on Kate's topic but perhaps this information might be helpful to Lucy's teachers and any other teachers out there that are reading this.  The first video is a grade one teacher talking about how she helped a child return to school.  The hardest part for me was when she said that saying, "No," to this child so she was treated like the other kids was important.  I know this is best but it just seems so cruel.  Look at sweet, little Lucy and try to say, "No" to that face.    Later down the page they talk about students returning to school.

One of the most important things is to get a letter home to Lucy's class and Ella's class that if classmates have colds, chicken pox, Fifth Disease, anything like that they STAY home.

Kate, I hope this helps a little.

What information is in a child proposal? A call for help

This is a call for help for all those of you who have adopted.  I received a photo yesterday of a young child available for adoption in my country and today received very sketchy information on the child.  The information is not enough on which to make any kind of decision and I am more than frustrated!  

When you receive the proposal on a child what information do you typically receive?  Please leave me a comment so I know what is reasonable to ask for and what is unreasonable.  I have already asked some questions but did not receive terribly helpful answers. The child has just turned six years of age.  If you haven't received a proposal but are in the process, what would you want to know?  What would you want to be included in the package?

I wish I didn't feel like I do, in that information is not forthcoming.   I am curious as to what those of you who adopted from China, Vietnam, Honduras, Russia, Korea and Ethiopia received.

Thank you for your support.  Have a great weekend. 

Very Quiet and Slow on the Western Front

No news what so ever and I have been home for just over two months.  I would love to hear from those of you that had to change countries.  Something I am really considering doing.  At what point did you do it?  Did you wait for your country to close or did you decide to jump ship, so to speak?   Apparently although there is no matching system for my country there is some kind of waiting list kept.  I have asked to know where I am on this list.  I hope the waiting list isn't the register I gave Miss zxcvb my name and info to put in, as I can't say I hold much faith in this big book.  It kind of reminded me of the attendance registers teachers used to have to keep. 

I just posted on my other blog and said I am about ready to give up.  I can't believe how much money I have already spent in agency fees (local and facilitator), medical - shots, postage, citizenship, etc,etc.  At least if things don't work out, I know I tried and put up a good fight which seems to be the story of my life.  Sorry, this sounds like a pity party and with what other people are facing in life, it really shouldn't be!  The $10,000 CAD (airfare, hotel, driver, shots, food, lost wages) the trip cost me I can at least say was a trip and an experience that I would otherwise never had had or never taken.  It allowed me to travel to a country I would not otherwise have visited.  I came back all eager for July, so despite a work contract, I could start making a photo book of myh trip.  Any of you that are teachers now that June, or the last month of school for those in the US, is a write off for getting much else done.  Needless to say July has come and gone and there is no photo book, not even any signs of one starting.  I have to be completely honest and say I have little interest now in putting one together. 

 I have two weeks of holiday left, three offically but I never look at the last week of August as a holiday, when I am in school getting ready for September!    Due to a number of things, I can't say I am excited, but then who really is!   I have bought some books off of Amazon that I can use with books and ideas l I already have for an almost year long writing project.  I plan to do a piece of writing every second week for this project and think the finished project will be a keepsake for families, I hope anyway.  As I am working on making things less stressful at work for me, these pieces of writing will be in a draft form.   The editing and publishing process with young children requires a huge amount of time and effort.   Special pieces, those for holidays, Mother's Day, Father's Day or to go on display will of course be published.   As I have all new students, last year I went from a  grade 1/2 to a grade 2 and kept some students, I can also do the "All About Books" I have done in past.  These too parents love!  Thank you K for sharing this idea years ago.  It is still a great success.

I haven't done much blog following in the last few days so am going to go and get caught up.