tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43115313943230069112024-03-05T16:51:55.856-07:00Sharing Life with PeggyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger191125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-39294764993788107942011-02-01T14:46:00.000-07:002011-02-01T15:46:37.664-07:00Sara<span style="font-family:verdana;">It's time to blog again. After 15 months, I've missed blogging, and today is the day to break the silence.<br /><br />My title is simple - Sara. My sweet girl, who will be 10 years old in just 3 weeks! About 18 months ago, I shared how much I was concerned about Sara. <a href="http://sharinglifewithpeggy.blogspot.com/2009/06/explaining-ache-in-my-heart-weight-on.html">Concerned</a> about her learning challenges, which seemed to get worse with each passing month. Concerned about her social skills and the odd behaviours that caused her friends to reject her on many occasions. Concerned that maybe she was on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. And desperately wanting answers.<br /><br />If you remember, Sara was given a full psycho-educational assessment during the summer of 2009, by <a href="http://sharinglifewithpeggy.blogspot.com/2009/06/yesterdays-outcome.html">Dr. Susan Peacock</a> in Edmonton. The information gained was helpful in understanding Sara better. Sara was also diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome, by Susan, and received her coloured glasses a few months later. (The website <a href="http://irlen.com/index.php">www.irlen.com</a> explains this syndrome very well.) Shortly after the assessment was completed and Sara finished the process to pick the colours for her Irlen glasses, we experienced another major move. To Kamloops, BC. (November 28, 2009) Wow! It threw all of us for another loop! In the middle of all the fuss, I lost sight of pursuing any sort of autism spectrum diagnosis. We hoped and prayed that the new Irlen glasses would make a significant difference in Sara's ability to learn in school. It did help, but the difference was not significant enough to help her catch up to "grade level." They seem to help with her mood, more than anything, which is a wonderful thing!<br /><br />Fast forward to this past September (2010), the beginning of a new school year. For the first time in 3 years, we were not planning or experiencing a major move! Yay! I will spare details, but things were worse with Sara's learning curve. I felt we were losing ground everywhere I turned. Sara was having meltdowns on an almost daily basis and her new friends were beginning to grow weary of her odd behaviours. I was at my wits end - nothing was going well.<br /><br />This year we decided to enroll our kids with <a href="http://www.onlineschool.ca/">HCOS</a>, in Kelowna, having heard of their excellent service to homeschoolers and special needs department. The contact teacher we were assigned with, Louis, has been a wonderful advocate and help to our family. He listened to my concerns, realized we needed an intervention and got the ball rolling with finding some answers. It all happened so fast, we were nearly breathless! After a particularly emotional phone conversation with Louis, on Tuesday, November 2nd, Louis met with others at the school that same day about our situation. He then arranged to drive up and meet our family on Thursday, the 4th. After observing Sara's schoolwork and behaviour, we discussed what to do. The public school testing would leave us on a waiting list, that could take up to 3 years - just to get the process started! OR...we could circumvent that whole thing and get Sara privately assessed in Vancouver. And HCOS would book the appointments AND pay for them! All we had to do was pay for the trip. That was a no brainer! Louis left with encouraging words and a promise to set up the appointments the next day.<br /><br />The next day was Friday, November 5th. I left the house with the kids early in the morning and we were gone the entire day, coming home at 5 p.m. After I got supper started, I noticed there were phone messages. Louis had been trying to contact me all day with some very exciting news! The specialists in Vancouver that Sara needed to see had a cancellation and could see us much earlier than expected - like Monday, November 8th early!!! Wow! I was overwhelmed. Joshua's boss was very kind and understanding about giving Joshua that Monday off. We packed our bags and the whole family headed to Vancouver on Sunday morning.<br /><br />On Monday, Sara had 2 appointments. In the morning, she was assessed by a speech and language pathologist from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. I could tell Sara was quite nervous about everything, not really understanding what was going on or what was expected of her. It was hard to reassure her because I didn't know what would happen in these sessions either! She held herself together quite well, but was more timid and quiet than usual. The speech and language pathologist was very sweet and worked hard to put Sara at ease. I filled out a lot of paperwork while Joshua and Sky hung out at the HUGE Chapters bookstore down the street. Later, the 3 of us ate lunch at a Vietnamese noodle house (we took back a sandwich for Sara). There wasn't much time before the next appointment at 1 p.m., with Carmen. This was the Autism Spectrum assessment. 3 1/2 hours later, we were all fried. The first 2 hours was question after question for Joshua and I. Just about everything you can imagine was covered. It was hard to remember all the way back to the baby and toddler days. I'm a detail person, so I was O.K., but Joshua was about ready to jump out of his skin! The kids had to entertain themselves in the waiting room under the watchful eye of the receptionist. They did pretty good considering the length of time and what we were all going through! Sara exhibited some of her odd behaviours while she was waiting, which was good, because the receptionist then relayed that to Carmen. Then, it was Sara's turn and she spent an hour alone with Carmen, who put her through a series of tasks to assess her behaviour and conversation. Sara was a little trooper and I was proud of her for all her hard work that entire day. We celebrated with a nice supper and then drove home to Kamloops.<br /><br />Now it was time to wait. We received the speech and language report after just 2 weeks. The results surprised me, although I didn't disagree with anything stated in the report. She scored very low (1%) in just about everything. I guess you just get used to the way your child is. It left me feeling like a bit of a failure and not sure what to do. I still don't understand a lot of it. We do have a friend here who is a speech therapist and he has agreed to meet with us to help us with our questions. Things just got busy over the Christmas season and we've been battling sickness for 2 months now, so the meeting is on hold. Sara will definitely benefit from speech therapy, so that will be part of our near future.<br /><br />We had to wait much longer for the autism report. It finally came through this past Friday, one day after coming home from our recent vacation to Cancun, Mexico. Carmen e-mailed the report for our review and approval. I read through all 15 pages and was surprised at how little emotion I felt. I think most of my strong emotions were happening before this process began, when I felt like there was no hope. Now, I feel hope. The information in the report and the diagnosis don't actually change anything, but it gives us the springboard to go forward. Sara was diagnosed with mild ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). The diagnostic label for that is PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified) Sounds fancy, eh? Actually, it sounds more vague than anything. But, this diagnosis allows us to apply for government funding, which in turn allows us to pay for the therapies Sara will be able to benefit from (speech therapy, behavioural training, special curriculum for school, etc.).<br /><br />So, now we have our answer. I feel remarkably calm and peaceful about everything. It doesn't take the challenge of daily life with Sara away, but it helps us understand it. And hopefully this helps others understand her as well. I don't expect pity or to be able to excuse wrong behaviour, but I do hope that others can be more compassionate. Sara is such a sweetie, but she can also make people feel very uncomfortable at times. Knowing that she is different and that we are working on it, will hopefully help others to extend a bit more grace and be able to relax around her. If you are one of my new friends in Kamloops, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. If you have any questions or concerns, please know you can approach me at any time. It might feel awkward or embarrassing, but don't let that get in the way. You can explain this to your own children in whatever way you think they can understand. Let them know that if they are ever made to feel uncomfortable around Sara, that they can talk to you or even me about it. Our family wants to know what we need to work on! Thank you to everyone who has prayed and supported and listened through this journey. It's far from over, really, in some ways it's just beginning. We would really appreciate your continued prayers!<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-76713421494122623102009-10-27T00:45:00.010-06:002009-10-27T23:57:56.377-06:00Pumpkin Patch AdventureI'm over a week late, but I still wanted to post pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch 2 Saturdays ago! The weather had been cold and nasty the week prior to this now, infamous outing, so it was supposed to be a nice treat to be outside in anything other than heavy jackets, mitts, toques and boots! But, because of the nicer break in the weather, EVERYONE else decided to go to the pumpkin farm on the same day! We could barely move - seriously! And just the day before, the 3-4 inches of snow that was on the ground, had rapidly melted, turning all dirt pathways into muddy pathways... We had to wait in line for about 40 min. for lunch and by then, it was not the kids that were cranky, it was my husband! I think it all started when he had to pay $9.25 cents <span style="font-style: italic;">per person</span> just to get onto the farm. Then, there were numerous crafts, games or activities that were an additional $2 charge each. We avoided those like the plague, but felt guilty at the same time, like we were bad parents and our kids were missing out... This was my first time to any pumpkin patch - ever! I was so excited before we got there, but so disappointed the moment I saw the place. Where were the piles of pumpkins for cute, fall photo sessions with my kids?? Well, because we live in this stupid, freezing country (yes, I really did just say that!), the pumpkins all had to be mass harvested and brought into a green house. Bummer! I wanted to actually pick a pumpkin! So, we manged to have some semblance of "fun" before trudging through the mud, back to our car (parked about 2 miles away because there were so many people there!). I think Sara and Sky had way less expectations than I did, so I was able to snap a few pictures of their happy smiles! They actually enjoyed themselves for the most part!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Guess how many pounds this pumpkin is, and you get to take it home! Really? No way do I want to cart that thing home! (How do you like Sky's tough guy pose?!)<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSV1pOmTpxEFbuTmfc8DW6vTyREYatMhd32JzQB3D7uI9sYiP09xJ9NHMRk54pXcC1o02NNMKB4oMhjTpEiVRwbkCZ9_urZQC7z6mtLgLb4B1E-uKbSai5laX8stgZUQH_oY7rSDhsNY/s1600-h/IMG_3508.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSV1pOmTpxEFbuTmfc8DW6vTyREYatMhd32JzQB3D7uI9sYiP09xJ9NHMRk54pXcC1o02NNMKB4oMhjTpEiVRwbkCZ9_urZQC7z6mtLgLb4B1E-uKbSai5laX8stgZUQH_oY7rSDhsNY/s320/IMG_3508.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397170335001639186" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Sara being silly and hopping on one leg at the top of a very large pile of hay!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrllMnZd64BlXK4OvOaDCoAqB1YwTCbRxOBfGpXS0Eu0cfI0LtbOiLQVRo1eVXdz8I6V7VHPKLH8xJvga3VUrNcDos0jonHuUlAmufBO0fQhY_zTk8UP26Q_U-YNrZB3B_RHthW0BNhQ/s1600-h/IMG_3518.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvrllMnZd64BlXK4OvOaDCoAqB1YwTCbRxOBfGpXS0Eu0cfI0LtbOiLQVRo1eVXdz8I6V7VHPKLH8xJvga3VUrNcDos0jonHuUlAmufBO0fQhY_zTk8UP26Q_U-YNrZB3B_RHthW0BNhQ/s320/IMG_3518.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397170017796015922" border="0" /></a>Sky, the pumpkin-man! (Get it? Instead of a snowman?!)<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCcjaKSahmxD2h-yWmNR2ASIOIyAf9J6KLKsFq6yd9UrNxQLIyF4b2fSXT77-51cQGEaR-n6qA1nOVICVh_mfKJKp1KPf-Y-L8HC-e4XdJsgRuCb6u6o8wc9nINPLO5x9CoH8_fVtmMs/s1600-h/IMG_3511.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihCcjaKSahmxD2h-yWmNR2ASIOIyAf9J6KLKsFq6yd9UrNxQLIyF4b2fSXT77-51cQGEaR-n6qA1nOVICVh_mfKJKp1KPf-Y-L8HC-e4XdJsgRuCb6u6o8wc9nINPLO5x9CoH8_fVtmMs/s320/IMG_3511.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397176802749992418" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">This was the hay mountain at the center of the hay bale maze! This was definitely their favourite - they could have done that all day long!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicG463EcWVw5N65AFY0UoQHoBYMb3Vr3eR_VNVVmtMjN19SrlBSHMaGrjsymT-EjeJW0ECe7Gb0fMqZY0DpPmzmhMf8n23QUXMOTKwGUS9Jyz8Edi5O2wMtWZirA-8hgVENbSiJ-CJj8/s1600-h/IMG_3514.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicG463EcWVw5N65AFY0UoQHoBYMb3Vr3eR_VNVVmtMjN19SrlBSHMaGrjsymT-EjeJW0ECe7Gb0fMqZY0DpPmzmhMf8n23QUXMOTKwGUS9Jyz8Edi5O2wMtWZirA-8hgVENbSiJ-CJj8/s320/IMG_3514.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397168459539513666" border="0" /></a><br />Petting the bunnies was another big favourite! They were sooo soft!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifctZx7IRqCYsSQ3vJ0BsxvGgMIpQdvWuVYoB0afLY73jQ93ZOZ5-4PRwP2xPb6ooN08ygv9r_y4iFXNvXiHO9PfujCsFqxAlI8hseX-24jKUpcHOaAX-DgsQVzzwiKGmytvzCAPXQm-Y/s1600-h/IMG_3528.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifctZx7IRqCYsSQ3vJ0BsxvGgMIpQdvWuVYoB0afLY73jQ93ZOZ5-4PRwP2xPb6ooN08ygv9r_y4iFXNvXiHO9PfujCsFqxAlI8hseX-24jKUpcHOaAX-DgsQVzzwiKGmytvzCAPXQm-Y/s320/IMG_3528.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397168481589796370" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: left;">I love the expression of surprise on Sara's face! I would love to know what she was thinking!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlkmWL32kLlGPrJPR23yTdPk96zS16YZrm6YcNB_vGH1KL_cguPW0pbgpf7D4acmKjclKrhY7IXhfjZeCQXaTwe946uwRzBsMmqt7r55kGQzFxdkR6cX8XYGnNCh6WQuP_n1zMxmfXrY/s1600-h/IMG_3530.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlkmWL32kLlGPrJPR23yTdPk96zS16YZrm6YcNB_vGH1KL_cguPW0pbgpf7D4acmKjclKrhY7IXhfjZeCQXaTwe946uwRzBsMmqt7r55kGQzFxdkR6cX8XYGnNCh6WQuP_n1zMxmfXrY/s320/IMG_3530.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397168486990590930" border="0" /></a><br />Later that evening, we had fully recovered! :-) The kids each picked a pumpkin at the farm (from the greenhouse...). Sara chose to decorate hers like this... <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN84m2WJBDDZj4KEFDlbWCqoiNPAlea3PvC3acnENhqfgqGkgW5TFGJ1CF3BvXcmJsMkO8MNQ99Fxle5ZzOD6ax17O5kVhaw89givnZXCiwr0S-1R8n2MbAunfhnaPiGrZON96QiPDtYQ/s1600-h/IMG_3546.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN84m2WJBDDZj4KEFDlbWCqoiNPAlea3PvC3acnENhqfgqGkgW5TFGJ1CF3BvXcmJsMkO8MNQ99Fxle5ZzOD6ax17O5kVhaw89givnZXCiwr0S-1R8n2MbAunfhnaPiGrZON96QiPDtYQ/s320/IMG_3546.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397179338838203426" border="0" /></a>And Sky wanted to carve his pumpkin. This was the end result! <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOtDnfSYZ28Fh2jcXGlB_-7SrcwT_sLlLnNacLF0POhvZMjiXB_X3rPrzhjXS5ADzLriUEx_2QeUYrpTzDwASQ-9vXKVOWVmV6n_vGl9UTxz-oSRhyphenhyphen1YL6n0Wu1M_uM0eWxZKxak0xuQ/s1600-h/IMG_3542.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGOtDnfSYZ28Fh2jcXGlB_-7SrcwT_sLlLnNacLF0POhvZMjiXB_X3rPrzhjXS5ADzLriUEx_2QeUYrpTzDwASQ-9vXKVOWVmV6n_vGl9UTxz-oSRhyphenhyphen1YL6n0Wu1M_uM0eWxZKxak0xuQ/s320/IMG_3542.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397179342845462578" border="0" /></a>Joshua had never carved a pumpkin before! I must say I was very impressed! While the carving was going on, I separated, cleaned and roasted the pumpkin seeds! This was my big "first" for the day! They turned out really good, if I say so myself!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YRUu3UhCtrktra9rjiXp7Ovz4Xmf1I1zchSmbIlbVTcGcqt5y3Fkf9JxuUAw1YKQPKZygJPgkNxZ0UOhtQcWAytnnwOdsNw6JbsHwsp2pYC_9IHq77T8ZaNLMknbMff381swNppDVlM/s1600-h/IMG_3552.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1YRUu3UhCtrktra9rjiXp7Ovz4Xmf1I1zchSmbIlbVTcGcqt5y3Fkf9JxuUAw1YKQPKZygJPgkNxZ0UOhtQcWAytnnwOdsNw6JbsHwsp2pYC_9IHq77T8ZaNLMknbMff381swNppDVlM/s320/IMG_3552.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397180035054649602" border="0" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-48119657478261916412009-10-12T00:26:00.002-06:002009-10-15T10:08:52.483-06:00Happy Thanksgiving!<span style="font-family:verdana;">Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada! Today I am most thankful for my family near and far. You are all loved and thought of today! I'm also very thankful for my nice, warm house because there's been snow on the ground since Thursday morning!<br /><br />Last night we had our big dinner with Joshua's parents and sister. The food was more than plentiful and very, very yummy! I baked the ham all afternoon at our house, complete with a brown sugar glaze. When it was ready we wrapped it up and drove through the gently falling snow to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I also brought along two of my other favourite traditions - sparkling juice and pumpkin bread! Mom had spent the day baking apple pie and pumpkin pie as well as all the other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">fixins</span>' to go with the ham. We had a fun evening of eating, playing and laughing. After dinner, Grandpa had a good chance to work off some of the calories he took in! The entertainment included:</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Horsey rides...</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2-d6eFohJocIchiVaII3s0f_jncs_hh1tP10p7yzZDnjksBA2U5anloTQ3GWNuNAYSOHS_JIHqllysG6NGXSL_lOVDtVZuWkvVkxfs2Pim9aY__KnvHBUhIxICfp_inYg0kcBZRzpIA/s1600-h/IMG_3489.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2-d6eFohJocIchiVaII3s0f_jncs_hh1tP10p7yzZDnjksBA2U5anloTQ3GWNuNAYSOHS_JIHqllysG6NGXSL_lOVDtVZuWkvVkxfs2Pim9aY__KnvHBUhIxICfp_inYg0kcBZRzpIA/s320/IMG_3489.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391774790030178002" border="0" /></a><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2-d6eFohJocIchiVaII3s0f_jncs_hh1tP10p7yzZDnjksBA2U5anloTQ3GWNuNAYSOHS_JIHqllysG6NGXSL_lOVDtVZuWkvVkxfs2Pim9aY__KnvHBUhIxICfp_inYg0kcBZRzpIA/s1600-h/IMG_3489.JPG"></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Double Piggy Back rides (this equals about 105 lbs.!)</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOxaI6IiJUFr7fAumx5mEFGcmBHDqLOEK4bHpBlIWqJYuY_Rdjs2gQBqYprjmanwQFjvuduqZ-gWw2mHpfWHZ7MiTeHPCE0D9Mmk2QgFxZVS7ji-te_sYSIXTq-XxCytHrj0GTFnGTuU/s1600-h/IMG_3494.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOxaI6IiJUFr7fAumx5mEFGcmBHDqLOEK4bHpBlIWqJYuY_Rdjs2gQBqYprjmanwQFjvuduqZ-gWw2mHpfWHZ7MiTeHPCE0D9Mmk2QgFxZVS7ji-te_sYSIXTq-XxCytHrj0GTFnGTuU/s320/IMG_3494.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391774803572303666" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">And an attempt at the tallest shoulder stack ever!</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ96laj6sWIKglPHUFJv5N3lid2dLOFqxD_EpCRb0RyiBMeDQ5Va4_S7qd564p_OMMmJo7ZHfW5uC_vBlQslHoEDFRH_4ROXbZV6z_uP6H80nmCJEZn_RTl2TLWMryTc_kiQuKt0zdV9Q/s1600-h/IMG_3495.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ96laj6sWIKglPHUFJv5N3lid2dLOFqxD_EpCRb0RyiBMeDQ5Va4_S7qd564p_OMMmJo7ZHfW5uC_vBlQslHoEDFRH_4ROXbZV6z_uP6H80nmCJEZn_RTl2TLWMryTc_kiQuKt0zdV9Q/s320/IMG_3495.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391774813225870930" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Success! Well, maybe more of disaster waiting to happen, but they were sure having fun!</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijw9xwTbtLcJ6U-W1d4Vs0-VJIe8EyUPDN54topbhMpnUUJKMWqZXJ_4cM2aZ7N_XNPa8uSm3NP_TrSy8ktqa1f1FAz1xbOZVUAVBOTsFKNuWGepfhkMR5WjlxZSFmsGDEJOqnHx0dbkw/s1600-h/IMG_3496.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijw9xwTbtLcJ6U-W1d4Vs0-VJIe8EyUPDN54topbhMpnUUJKMWqZXJ_4cM2aZ7N_XNPa8uSm3NP_TrSy8ktqa1f1FAz1xbOZVUAVBOTsFKNuWGepfhkMR5WjlxZSFmsGDEJOqnHx0dbkw/s320/IMG_3496.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391774825521218562" border="0" /></a></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">The big boys (Daddy and Grandpa) also indulged in a little leg wrestling and arm wrestling, much to the amusement of all of us! I will spare them the embarrassment of pictures. I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful, thankful day, whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving Day today or not!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-25985828825479831282009-07-09T00:24:00.000-06:002009-07-09T12:24:58.739-06:00Rainy Day Activities<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We've had cool and rainy days since Monday. It's tempting to watch too much T.V. or play too many computer games when the weather gets like this. I keep saying to the kids, "Turn off the T.V.!!" But, then I have to get off the comp</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">uter! So, I've had to be intentional about finding alternative things to do! Here a few of our rainy day activities so far:</span><br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Colouring, drawing and painting</span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Setting up play tents in the basement and playing "camping" most of the day on Monday.<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Making paper airplanes with the babysitter while Mommy went for a massage on Tuesday!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A Tuesday afternoon trip to the <a href="http://www.edmontonscience.com/pages/home/default.aspx">Telus World of Science</a>, where we even got to see a demonstration called, "Fire and Fury." Very cool fire "magic"!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">O.K., I'll admit it - lots of <a href="http://treehousetv.com/">Treehouse</a>, movies and Facebook...</span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Playing card games and laughing together</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> Wednesday afternoon! The kids are getting to the age where they are actually fun to play games with!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Going out for a pizza supper </span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Shannon last night.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Making homemade play dough today and sampling pretend cookies and pies all morning. (See pictures below.)<br /></span></li></ul><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I think we've done a pretty good job of enterta</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ining o</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">urselves, don't you think?! What do you do when the rain keeps coming down?</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMjhMsZYkkh5-yjZYT_kwHWH0zb9KmbrruPrnxHGdHMKMA9sDhVjnRmNYM9FElu4BpB0GZECvw-Ap46cW7rNh6ftU2BcUZn9awO1sU-441lE88IN7tmR16LFRVffpD4EZF4xnVK9VlDM/s1600-h/IMG_3041.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNMjhMsZYkkh5-yjZYT_kwHWH0zb9KmbrruPrnxHGdHMKMA9sDhVjnRmNYM9FElu4BpB0GZECvw-Ap46cW7rNh6ftU2BcUZn9awO1sU-441lE88IN7tmR16LFRVffpD4EZF4xnVK9VlDM/s320/IMG_3041.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356526238930754002" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdwlb9BICUPDZDOdwv5EOAZbCYN01sn0nzI-AGmp94IeUqQQ7RsQvHyCL6XNhqjPfBZypOYo8J0oRzp-Js9kJhuKo8dzJFBYQnoicPHCtJRnJtE1MNWv2bxwfVRL-K_TwI4_5AWdy_rk/s1600-h/IMG_3037.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpdwlb9BICUPDZDOdwv5EOAZbCYN01sn0nzI-AGmp94IeUqQQ7RsQvHyCL6XNhqjPfBZypOYo8J0oRzp-Js9kJhuKo8dzJFBYQnoicPHCtJRnJtE1MNWv2bxwfVRL-K_TwI4_5AWdy_rk/s320/IMG_3037.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356526231645615746" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-39326603875437932262009-07-04T11:02:00.001-06:002009-07-04T16:59:53.094-06:00Camping at Gull Lake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RPzSf2wEx1nCmRJfgUyaOwGQhj-ScQz1thu7YoFgNNnTh1oaQTfvgiH2d6UJvnXoFgGBUDzwtgea5Zd-o-7P1dQBKtGpIDGKlOw_7AmPJOIbuuTpbfLMQOwyS4-xFduRn7R8qIgnKzI/s1600-h/IMG_2989.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5RPzSf2wEx1nCmRJfgUyaOwGQhj-ScQz1thu7YoFgNNnTh1oaQTfvgiH2d6UJvnXoFgGBUDzwtgea5Zd-o-7P1dQBKtGpIDGKlOw_7AmPJOIbuuTpbfLMQOwyS4-xFduRn7R8qIgnKzI/s320/IMG_2989.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354365685596344002" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">Yikes, am I ever behind this week! First, I wanted to post about our camping trip last weekend. A couple people have asked me about it... It was a good trip, with no major mishaps! We only went for one night, as we had another commitment last Friday night. (Usually we head out Friday after Joshua is home from work, and camp for 2 nights.) So, we finished packing up on Saturday morning, picked up breakfast at Tim Horton's and enjoyed the nice drive together. We got to Gull Lake around noon. We quickly set up our tent and inflated the air mattresses. The tent was a little stinky after being packed away for so many months! It was good that it had a few hours to air out before we had to sleep in it!<br /><br />We changed into swimsuits and headed to the beach. Lunch was chicken fingers, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">cheeseburgers</span> and onion rings from the concession stand. It was a nice, sunny day, but there was a pretty good breeze coming off the water. It was quite cool! Joshua and I had no interest in the water, but the kids were crazy enough to get in a few times! I waded in once, and although the water wasn't that cold, any wet part of the body exposed to the breeze was freezing! There's a huge playground right on the edge of the water, so the kids had fun playing there. Sara recently figured out how to do the monkey bars and that's all she wants to do. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Unfortunately</span> for her, she went about 30 times on Saturday and got huge blisters on the palms of both hands! One of them burst open too. Poor kid! That made the rest of the afternoon a little difficult. Even playing in the sand was painful... Sky spent lots of time in the sand, making roads and hills. He's my little creator, always building something! I didn't take any pictures. The only one I took all weekend is the one you see above. (Relaxing by the fire while supper was cooking over the coals.) Bad mommy!<br /><br />Our night was also good. No rain and no wind - it suddenly got very calm around supper time. We enjoyed supper, <a href="http://recipeasy.blogspot.com/2008/08/daddys-yummy-campfire-meal.html">Daddy's Yummy Campfire Meal</a>. Afterwards, we took a walk down to the boat dock to watch people loading their boats back onto their trailers. That's always <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">entertaining</span>! You can tell the novices from the experienced ones right away! Then, it was <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">s'mores</span> over the campfire time, clean up and bedtime! We all slept quite well and neither kid had an accident in their sleeping bag. That's always a fear of mine!<br /><br />Sunday morning we had muffins for breakfast and packed up our stuff. The wind and some clouds blew in again while we were eating, and briefly splattered a few raindrops on us. The clouds blew away, but the wind stayed. We attempted to spend more time at the beach, but it was extremely windy and cold. The kids played on the playground a bit, we played a family game of tag on the sand, and then decided to find somewhere warm to eat lunch! We had breakfast for lunch at our favourite restaurant in Red Deer. After lunch, we drove around exploring the countryside a bit before heading home. Unpacking the car was so easy because everything was dry and could be put away immediately! Last year, we had so much rain on our camping trips that we were always drying things out before we could put away. It was a treat to not have to do that!<br /><br />So, our first camping trip was a success! We're looking forward to the next weekend trip out July 17-19!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-35270742472196471622009-06-26T11:05:00.002-06:002009-06-26T11:13:49.074-06:00Aloha Friday #17 - Summer Camping!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's Aloha Friday! As a reminder, Aloha Friday is a blogging tradition that originally started with Kailani over on </span><a href="http://islandlife808.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">An Island Life</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I ask you a simple question, and you answer! It's a great way to interact with family and friends and to meet new bloggy friends along the way! To participate, just head over to Kailani's blog and follow the instructions.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> But...you do not have to link up to answer the question!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Today's question is:<br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do you go camping as a family? If you so, do you have a tent, tent trailer, or RV/5th wheel trailer?<br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Today, I'm packing up for our first weekend camping trip of the summer! Last year was our first year to camp - ever - so it was a pretty steep learning curve! We have a nice, big, 3 room tent that has worked really well for our family so far. Throughout the summer last year, I worked on making a master packing list, that I keep on the computer. When it's time to go camping, I just print out a fresh list and cross things off as I pack. We pretty much have everything contained to 4 Rubbermaid tubs, plus the coolers for cold food. The tent, sleeping bags, and mattresses go in the car top carrier we have for skis in the winter. I have all the grocery shopping done, so I don't have to run out for that today. Last year, we had to buy EVERYTHING because it was our first year. Last night, when we pulled everything out of the storage room, it was so nice to already have everything we need! Sara and Sky are so excited! We are going to our favourite spot, about an hour and a half away. There's a lake with a really great beach and huge playground right on the edge of the water! The water is shallow for a long way out, so it's great for small children...and quite warm! We're hoping the nice weather we've had lately holds up for the whole weekend. Now I'm off to bake some muffins and pack up our clothing! I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!<br /><br />P.S. You have to check out our favourite camping meal - <a href="http://recipeasy.blogspot.com/2008/08/daddys-yummy-campfire-meal.html">Daddy's Yummy Campfire Meal.</a> I posted this on the recipe blog I participate in, <a href="http://recipeasy.blogspot.com/">Recipeasy,</a> last summer. You'll love it - I guarantee it!<br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-68711277678468278792009-06-24T09:29:00.000-06:002009-06-24T09:31:33.877-06:00Encourage and Inspire Award<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxQjWJKNEjg8Lx6TP0bfObWuCo5UwdqV64GW1pBH-HQYVO821aaiARFe9iAE6Uuvj_NkIT4kp-ADnEGbzB4CHf7wfYkeGoOBr5pMfwXV2WWXL6MH_R2RXBXsfhLUNmj_RlyUj8RWwaBg/s1600-h/encourage.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 286px; height: 192px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvxQjWJKNEjg8Lx6TP0bfObWuCo5UwdqV64GW1pBH-HQYVO821aaiARFe9iAE6Uuvj_NkIT4kp-ADnEGbzB4CHf7wfYkeGoOBr5pMfwXV2WWXL6MH_R2RXBXsfhLUNmj_RlyUj8RWwaBg/s320/encourage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350906275783770258" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">Today I was honoured to receive this beautiful award from my bloggy friend, Kelly, over at <a href="http://myvoicemyview.blogspot.com/">My Voice, My View</a></span>.<span style="font-family: verdana;"> I couldn't believe Kelly would be sharing this award with <span style="font-style: italic;">me,</span> because <span style="font-style: italic;">she</span> is the one with the inspiring, encouraging blog! A few months ago, Kelly found my blog (do you remember how you found me, Kelly?), and started leaving comments - for <span style="font-style: italic;">every</span> post! She definitely has the gift of encouragement! After I realized she was following my blog, I started to follow hers as well. Kelly has one of the most encouraging, and "real" blogs of all the ones I read. I've laughed and cried with this complete stranger! I have truly appreciated our new bloggy friendship. Thanks, Kelly, for sharing this with me.<br /><br />There are other blogs that I read regularly that are also an encouragement and inspiration to me, each in their own way. So, I would like to share this award with with these dear friends:<br /><br />1. Emily, at <a href="http://macaronincheeseagain.blogspot.com/">Macaroni and Cheese</a><br />2. Nadine, at <a href="http://passionateforlivinglife.blogspot.com/">Daughter of the King</a><br />3. Mary Kathryn, at <a href="http://mkweindorf.blogspot.com/">Love, Life, Family</a><br />4. Kerry, at <a href="http://shealystories.blogspot.com/?zx=2d03dbd6423b6557">Shealy Stories</a> (this is a private blog)</span><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">5. Sarah, at <a href="http://sarahshortandgaudy.blogspot.com/">Sarah, Short and Gaudy</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">May each of you be inspired or encouraged by someone today!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-23651347256487486972009-06-23T12:23:00.000-06:002009-06-23T12:24:28.817-06:00Yesterday's Outcome<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Yesterday was exhausting, hopeful, stressful, and encouraging all rolled into one big ball of emotions. I'll try to be brief.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">The doctor:</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">- I didn't like the unattractive, poorly lit office. Bad vibes right from the start.</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">- The doctor was rude to Sky right off the bat. She (the doctor) asked Sara what grade she was in. Before Sara could answer, Sky blurted, "Grade 2!" She looked at him, with no smile or teasing in her voice at all, and said, "Are you Sara?"</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">- I was informed on the phone that this appointment was strictly for meeting the doctor and gathering family history. I kind of hoped that we could address the autism issue a little, but after telling myself that probably wouldn't happen, I left my list of concerns and symptoms at home.</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">- I was forced to explain all of Sara's "faults" while she sat right next to me. My heart was breaking and I was stumbling all over my words, trying to say things with as many big words or vague terms so that Sara would be spared as much as possible.</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">- The doctor was obviously not a big fan of homeschooling. I didn't like the tone of her questions, especially the ones about socialization.</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">- I left with a requisition for a urine test at the lab (Sara still has daytime bladder control problems quite frequently) and the referral to a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">neurodevelopmental</span> clinic</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">-I also left wanting to cry, but I found the courage to paste on a smile and stay upbeat for Sara's sake. Poor kid. She didn't say much, but I can only imagine how she was feeling. I know I felt like an idiot.</span><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">- The referral is the one good thing I got out of the visit. I have to fill out a couple of forms, return it to the doctor, who will then send it to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">neurodevelopmental</span> clinic. She said the clinic would probably not give me booking until we had the results from Sara's academic assessment back. I'm getting Shelley's help with the form (my friend who worked with autistic kids).</span><br /><br />Interview with Susan Peacock:<br /><br />- Completely different atmosphere - my nerves were soothed immediately.<br />- When Susan came out to call us into her office, she looked straight into Sara's eyes and kindly said, "And you must be Sara!" That was not lost on me.<br />- Her first question was, "Have you explained to Sara what we're doing?" Her concern for Sara as a little person was very evident.<br />- The conversation with Susan was easy, relaxed and full of hope. She wanted to know the struggles, but she also wanted to know Sara's strengths.<br />- She wrote <span style="font-style: italic;">everything</span> down which showed me that she cared and that she was going to be thorough. She never made us feel stupid for anything we shared. If it was important to Joshua or I, she made it important to her too.<br />- Susan affirmed us as parents and as Sara's teachers. She said something very early on in our conversation that I will never forget. She said, "Because you are homeschooling Sara, you are already 99% ahead of all the other (schooling) options out there." I think Joshua and I both really needed to hear that from an "expert." I was so encouraged with how pro-<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">homeschooling</span> she was.<br />- She assured us that at the end of this assessment, we <span style="font-style: italic;">would </span>have answers and would be equipped with tons of ideas and suggestions to help Sara as we continue to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">homeschool</span>. She was incredibly positive and we so needed that as a family.<br />- Sara's first one-on-one session with Susan is next week on Tuesday, at 10 a.m. She's going to try 2 hours to begin with, and see if Sara can handle that much. If not, she said we can cut the sessions back to 1 1/2 hours or even down to 1 hour if we need to. Our total number of hours with Susan will come to about 11 hours, so we'll just get there at the pace that's right for Sara.<br />- Sara seemed comfortable enough with Susan. A little shy, but that's to be expected! Joshua and I laughed on the way home, because by the end of the hour with Susan, Sara was exhibiting some very <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">ADHD</span> symptoms! Being cooped up in an office for an entire hour with nothing much to do, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">except</span> listen to adults talk, will do that to you! I talked to Sara at bedtime. She said she liked Susan. I told her that if she felt nervous about anything or had questions that she could talk to me about it anytime.<br />- The beauty of this assessment, as Susan explained, is that it really doesn't "matter" what or how Sara does with the activities and testing. She doesn't have to get everything right or meet certain goals. Susan just needs to find out how Sara learns and where the glitches are. Then, Susan shared that there are really two ways to deal with those glitches. You can either find a way to detour around a learning problem and get at it another way, or once you know what the difficulty is, you will know how to fix it altogether in some cases. She said there is rarely something that comes up that you would just throw your hands up and say, "Oh my, there's nothing we can do about this - we're just going to have to live with it!"<br />- Today, I'm so excited to start! Last night, the stress of the day, got the better of all of us. Sara had a meltdown at suppertime. In the midst of trying to resolve that, Joshua and I ended up at each other's throat's (I know this NEVER happens at your house!), so the rest of the evening was rather tense. I woke up feeling terrible. I finally let the tears come - the kind that almost make you throw up... After venting to my dear friend, Karen, on the phone, I feel much better! Thanks Karen, for listening!<br /><br />I want to thank each one of you, again, for the incredible prayer partners and support you have been to me (us). For those of you on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Facebook</span>, who have sent me long messages, thank you! I will reply to each one of you, but it's going to take me awhile to get to all of them. I have been so encouraged and I feel very loved by each one of you who have taken the time to read my epic posts and even care about them!<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-86545431092055665532009-06-22T08:31:00.003-06:002009-06-22T08:50:54.637-06:00Big Day<span style="font-family: verdana;">Today is the big day for our family - especially Sara. I don't really know if she's nervous or not. She doesn't verbalize those kinds of feelings to me very well. She did wake up a bit too early and has been VERY cranky, so that's usually a sign that she's feeling anxious. Please keep her in your prayers today. Our appointment to meet the family doctor is at 1:40 p.m. This should be pretty low key, as this appointment is only to meet our family and gather family history. I'm hoping to cram as much in as possible, but I think the main discussion concerning autism, will have to wait until the next appointment.<br /><br />At 4 p.m. we will have our initial interview with Susan Peacock about the learning assessment. Again, this should be pretty relaxed, but new situations can be stressful and intimidating to Sara. Joshua will be joining us for this appointment, so I'm glad for that! Please pray that we will have to wisdom to share exactly what Susan needs to learn about Sara before continuing with the one-on-one assessment. I tend to get bogged down with too much detail and sharing instead of sticking to what's really necessary! I'm confident this will be a good meeting. The only thing I'm nervous about right now, is finding my way to Susan's office! Edmonton is still a big, new city to me and I get so scared trying to find new places!<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-10361963073364894352009-06-19T07:54:00.002-06:002009-06-19T08:03:26.258-06:00Aloha Friday #16<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's Aloha Friday! As a reminder, Aloha Friday is a blogging tradition that originally started with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Kailani</span> over on </span><a href="http://islandlife808.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">An Island Life</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I ask you a simple question, and you answer! It's a great way to interact with family and friends and to meet new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bloggy</span> friends along the way! To participate, just head over to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Kailani's</span> blog and follow the instructions.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> But...you do not have to link up to answer the question!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This week's question comes from my husband. I was feeling lazy last night and asked him what my Aloha Friday question should be! Here's what he came up with:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">If you were a fruit, which fruit would you be?</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br />After he said that, I moaned, "Then I have to answer that question!" He said I was a strawberry. I could agree with that! Small, bright and colourful - but sometimes a bit tart when you bite into it... Yep, that pretty much describes me! Now it's your turn! I can hardly wait to hear these today!<br /></span></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-22007052516512053992009-06-18T10:15:00.001-06:002009-06-18T10:25:50.079-06:00Happy News!<span style="font-family: verdana;">Yesterday morning I called the lady who was recommended to us for Sara's academic assessment. Her name is Susan Peacock, so I will refer to her as Susan, rather than "the lady" from now on! I had learned of Susan last Monday, but fear held me back from calling her right away. I was afraid I would get my hopes up, and then she would tell me that she was all booked up for the summer or that Sara was too young... Then, Joshua asked me a few days ago if I'd called her yet. I said no, but I would. I tried to find Susan in the phonebook and there were too many choices. So, I e-mailed my friend who recommended Susan and asked for her number. She e-mailed back right away. I called Susan yesterday morning and left a message, not really expecting to hear back very soon. I was actually surprised when I answered the phone right after lunch and Susan identified herself as the caller! I knew as soon as we started talking that she was going to be the perfect fit for our family! I felt very comfortable talking to her and she immediately put some of my fears to rest. She didn't tell me I was overly concerned and should "wait it out" some more. She didn't tell me Sara was too young. She <span style="font-style: italic;">did</span> tell me she had appointments available <span style="font-style: italic;">next week!</span> It was all I could do to keep from squealing with excitement! Then, when I got off the phone I cried tears of joy! After working things out with Joshua's schedule at work, we settled on <span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday at 4 p.m.</span> We will all go together as a family. It really couldn't come much sooner than that! I also have the appointment with the family doctor at 1:40 p.m. that afternoon, so it will be a busy day for us. This initial time with Susan is just for Joshua and I to tell her as much about Sara as possible. Then, there will be three or four, 2 hour sessions where Susan will work one on one with Sara. Susan said she keeps it as casual and fun as possible. Just from talking on the phone I think Sara will really like Susan. I even asked how she would recommend that I present this whole thing to Sara. She said to put it all on myself, telling Sara that I need to learn how to teach her the best way. She said to let Sara know that she (Susan) will help us so that school will be much easier from now on. When I told Sara about meeting Susan, she seemed a bit nervous, but she agreed with me that she would like school to be easier. Every day is a struggle around here. So many times, when I tell Sara it's time to read or do Math, I see the panic and fear in her eyes. She never <span style="font-style: italic;">tells</span> me she's afraid - she just acts out by stalling (I'm thirsty, I'm hungry, I have to pee...) or arguing or crying or just outright saying, "No." Then, I have to discipline for the bad attitude, but I think sometimes Sara starts to associate school "performance" with getting disciplined. I try to tell her that I'm not mad at her because she makes mistakes or because something is hard. I just need her to learn that a bad attitude is not acceptable. Some days I can do and say all of that very patiently, but as you can imagine, some days we are just both screaming and crying together. "Oh, Lord, please let Susan be the one to help take away much of this heartache."<br /><br />I want to thank all of you, my dear friends, for your outpouring of love, prayers and support during this time. I have been so blessed by all the words of love and encouragement. I have always found writing to be very therapeutic for me. It helps me to organize and clarify my thoughts. It's one of the easiest ways for me to express myself. I may share more detail than you are sometimes interested in, but it sure helps me to write it all out! </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Thanks for reading and listening.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-24447094433329380642009-06-17T00:02:00.001-06:002009-06-18T11:49:50.729-06:00Explaining the ache in my heart - the weight on my shoulders...<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This post comes with a warning. I am going to be very real and honest about some things going on in my life. If you want a barrel of sunshine, go read someone else's post today...<br /><br />My heart has been overwhelmed lately with some things concerning our little princess...Sara. I've hesitated to share anything because I don't officially "know" anything yet. So, as you read, please know that I am not trying to be overly dramatic or state anything as "fact."<br /><br />I've shared before that Sara has had her struggles with s</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">chool since she started Grade 1. Basically, those struggles seem to have worsened, especially in the area of Math. We had our end-of-the-year visit with our facilitator last Monday (June 8) and it proved to be a very difficult time. Our facilitator informed us that Sara is a full year behind, and maybe more in certain subjects. That was a surprise to me. And an even bigger and more upsetting surprise to Joshua. We knew things didn't come easily to her, but not that she would be considered <span style="font-style: italic;">that</span> behind. Sara should be starting Grade 3 in the fall, but has really only completed Grade 1 material. Now, here's where I know people have many differing opinions. Joshua and I happen to be of two very different opinions. We're talking through a lot of things and researching a lot o</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">f things right now. I know that many of you who are reading this will want to say to me that, "It doesn't matter where Sara is academically - after all, isn't that the beauty of homeshooling?" Or, "Who cares is she's behind? My child is behind too. Sara will eventually catch up. Don't panic." Those things that I just said, are basically MY opinion of everything. I said basically, because there are some more things I will get to later in this post. The issue is, Joshua is of an entirely different mind set. Academic success is very important to him. He will move mountains to "fix" this "problem" with Sara. It is NOT O.K. with him that Sara is not at grade level. While I know that many of you will not agree with this or will even frown upon such ideas, I am the one who has to live in harm</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ony with my husband. I have to listen to his opinions and concerns and do my best to accommodate those things. I still have to honour him and the way he "ticks." I do respect my husband and I'm confident the Lord will show us how to agree together. In the meantime, I am not asking for advice. Just prayer and support, as we work through all of this. This all weighs very heavily on me. It is not fun to be on a different page than your spouse - ever - but, this is a big one. When we chose to homeschool, we took the full weight of responsibility in regards to our children's education. It is a BIG responsibility at any time, but when there are extra challenges, it seems so very heavy. Some people may think or say, "What, are you crazy?! If it's so hard, why don't you send her to scho</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">ol? Why do you do this to yourself?" I am fully committed to homeschooling my children and it would take a very special set of circumstances to make me change my mind. I firmly believe in homeschooling for our children and I will do anything within my power to continue to do so. I will explain what that will look like for this next year at the end of this post.<br /><br />The other biggie that has come up lately is something that may surprise many of you. Again, I am not asking for advice. This is an even harder one to explain...but, we are in the process of figuring out whether or not Sara is somewhere on th</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">e autism spectrum. Yes, I'm serious and no, I'm not crazy! I've been letting people tell me for about 4-5 years now that I'm too paranoid or overly concerned, etc. It was always deny, deny, deny. Push down the feelings, and try to pretend that everything was normal. Well, I'm totally done with that. Can you sense the emotions as I'm typing? I never knew what could possibly be different about Sara, but I knew in my gut that I wasn't crazy. As you all know, this recent move to St. Albert has been very difficult for me. I did NOT want to move here. But, I'm beginning to see why the Lord has us here now. He has placed several wonderful, Christian, homeschooling moms into my life who have given me soooo much insight about Sara. I won't mention names due to the sensitive nature to th</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">eir own situations. One mom, whose daughter has become our new favourite babysitter, has a son who they believe to be somwhere on the autism spectrum. Because we live 5 minutes from each other and her daughter babysits for us often, we've gotten to know each other quite a bit. I gradually began to share some of my struggles with her. As she observed and spent time with our family, she told me that Sara reminded her so much of her son when he was younger. I have gleaned a lot of wisdom from her, asking her so many questions about behaviours, schooling, etc. As our relationship progressed, she encouraged me to Google "autism spectrum" in my search to find help for Sara. I will never forget the day I began to read the articles I found on-line. It was the first time I felt like something made sense. T</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">he puzzle pieces of Sara's life finally seemed to fit together and so many things became easier for Joshua and I to understand. Because I don't know anything officially, I hesitate to share specific things. This whole autism thing is somewhat tied to the academic learning struggles, but is more a separate issue. If you look at a list of autism spectrum symptoms, Sara fits a lot of the social issues to some degree or another. If I were to be specific, it may just be confusing to those who aren't familiar with autism. I have also talked extensively with a friend I have known for years who worked with and diagnosed autistic kids for 10 years. She is home now with her own children, but autisti</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">c children are still very close to her heart. She has been able to give me specific advice to the province of Alberta and the process we need to go through for a diagnosis. She has confirmed that, although Sara is very high functioning, there are some definite red flags and she has encouraged us to pursue some answers. So, the first step is to get in with a family doctor and explain our situation. We have an appointment with a doctor (which was an answer to prayer just for that) on Monday, June 22. Hopefully, she will give me the referral to a pediatrician I'm looking for. The pediatrician is the one who would make the diagnosis and then refer us to any specialists we might need.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As far as Sara's learning disabilities and struggles, we are planning to have her assessed this summer. Another homeshcool friend/mom has recommended a lady to us, who was very helpful to their family in the assessment of their son recently. I am currently trying to get into contact with her. We hope to get some answers with this lady by the end of the summer. With that information, we plan to homeschool Sara for at least one more year. After that, we will re-evaluate. While I do not believe my child</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> needs to be the next Math whiz or super reader, there is obviously something that she is not "getting." This is why were are taking steps to have Sara assessed and evaluated. I don't think that she needs to be "fixed." I love her the way she is. But, I do think that I need to be more equipped and informed as I am teaching her everyday. I need to know how to help her learn more effectively. We need to reduce frustrations and stress levels around here. Sara needs to have more confidence and less fear as she learns. I want to do everything possible to make those things happen in our home.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Right now, we are just playing the waiting game. It's so hard to wait when you want answers right away. I guess my thoughts and emotions get the better of me some days. Trying to teach and mother and love a child with learning disabilities and autism all wrapped up into one, is so very hard some days. It just really sucks some days. I am exhausted some days. That's where I am right now. My friend who worked with the autistic kids told me that parents of "spectrum kids" go through a grieving process that has many different stages. I'm kind of dealing with the initial yucky stages of everything right now. It is hard for me to talk about all of this, and yet, a relief at the same time. I tried to make as much sense as possible, but forgive me if I just rambled around. I will keep you posted as we w</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">alk this journey.<br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPStd8lFZT4mEJm3ASzO9LZLQ20X3YGw55QPynm6lN1qI4Ailm4uRoZAo_nQuNXX-N29cPg_Mo-hrNwc4rDSuE1AfWLaUqZZt1_r8dVBYlmSbJx6mRCzrDQJ_KIFgII1HdR_Ac_U77-io/s1600-h/IMG_2600.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPStd8lFZT4mEJm3ASzO9LZLQ20X3YGw55QPynm6lN1qI4Ailm4uRoZAo_nQuNXX-N29cPg_Mo-hrNwc4rDSuE1AfWLaUqZZt1_r8dVBYlmSbJx6mRCzrDQJ_KIFgII1HdR_Ac_U77-io/s320/IMG_2600.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348171545953289794" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">"For you formed my inward parts;<br />You covered me in my mother's womb.<br />I will praise you You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;<br />Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well."<br />Psalm 139:13,14<br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-7341572866714852292009-06-05T10:35:00.004-06:002009-06-05T10:39:44.167-06:00Aloha Friday #15<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's Aloha Friday! I've been rather sporadic lately, but I'm always back for more! As a reminder, Aloha Friday is a blogging tradition that originally started with Kailani over on </span><a href="http://islandlife808.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">An Island Life</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I ask you a simple question, and you answer! It's a great way to interact with family and friends and to meet new bloggy friends along the way! To participate, just head over to Kailani's blog and follow the instructions.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"> But...you do not have to link up to answer the question!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This week's question:<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">What is your favourite flower and/or shrub in your garden</span>?</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span></span>We have moved a lot (8 times in 9 years of marriage), so things are constantly changing in my yard and garden! There are two things t</span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">hat I always like to have blooming in whatever space I may have - pansies and lilacs! I'm excited to have both this year and I'm loving i</span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">t! I didn't think I had a lilac in my new yard, but discovered it a few weeks ago, kind of tu</span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">cked behind our big spruce tree! Here a few pics. It's cloudy today, so they're not the greatest, but the flowers are still b</span></span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">eautiful.</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9b8hyphenhyphenmYka2-XixIcmHoz7DK41CnbcwwM3I1JfSho3cNK8HAxaslzAMQHwX9Dj6RMbA1ucOMcYr2y45ETj7uE2jcl4vr8HlfsljOMk4unN7NqZHaDgmqXsmF2u0Y-U9laYNFJDxOanDE/s1600-h/IMG_2927.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD9b8hyphenhyphenmYka2-XixIcmHoz7DK41CnbcwwM3I1JfSho3cNK8HAxaslzAMQHwX9Dj6RMbA1ucOMcYr2y45ETj7uE2jcl4vr8HlfsljOMk4unN7NqZHaDgmqXsmF2u0Y-U9laYNFJDxOanDE/s200/IMG_2927.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343883348408362098" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4F3k9Qd5uGp5mLUOFLveMO9uh34KL3S7f6Q0i2WxqYKJsz3VTRDKVO81T0_T4eaVsYfB8WiUiGjrXwS0X578hGKOEQHugujFZslQJCt8NaBIJF62EnC9m2hFyoAys-AESFwd4StAkkZE/s1600-h/IMG_2926.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4F3k9Qd5uGp5mLUOFLveMO9uh34KL3S7f6Q0i2WxqYKJsz3VTRDKVO81T0_T4eaVsYfB8WiUiGjrXwS0X578hGKOEQHugujFZslQJCt8NaBIJF62EnC9m2hFyoAys-AESFwd4StAkkZE/s200/IMG_2926.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343883036335876722" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-21204556818148630022009-06-04T14:26:00.007-06:002009-06-04T18:11:10.847-06:00Come one, come all...I'm giving something away!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNT6W68Zry0MkFNbDeF1qVqGEQY_CK-eEUMbSbjibkqM5sFFBeNH3RdE0DueSte1h1O2qgmlT8vBdmpNZNwQwa5vLD_1KzLb_lnhFYK-K-09nuZcCP6ItAzFP4O3Wc5TWR3mc2Kh8-vkI/s1600-h/IMG_2535.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNT6W68Zry0MkFNbDeF1qVqGEQY_CK-eEUMbSbjibkqM5sFFBeNH3RdE0DueSte1h1O2qgmlT8vBdmpNZNwQwa5vLD_1KzLb_lnhFYK-K-09nuZcCP6ItAzFP4O3Wc5TWR3mc2Kh8-vkI/s200/IMG_2535.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343575496084144978" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I wanted to have a giveaway every month this year, but alas, I have fallen behind a few months... Today is the day I'm getting back on track! Maybe I'll do 2 giveaways this month?? We'll see!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Here is my June giveaway. A CD by Jon Bauer titled "Giver of Grace." Jon Bauer is actually a member of the church we attend and makes his home here in St. Albert. He travels all over Canada doing concerts, but when he's home, we are privileged to have Jon lead worship for our church on Sunday morning! This CD is a recording that Jon did with some of the children at our church. When he released the CD, he and the kids did all the songs on a Sunday morning and that was church that week! It was really a special time! We have all of Jon's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">CD's</span>, but this one is the definite favourite around here! It's Sara's top pick, for sure. When she wants to listen to music, this is the first one she puts in the CD player. It was her first choice of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">CD's</span> to be loaded onto her MP3 player that she recently got! Some of the songs are familiar worship songs, and others are ones that Jon Bauer wrote himself. This is one CD that appeals to both kids and adults, so you won't mind listening to this in the car with the whole family! </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">If you want to check o</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">ut Jon Bauer's website, <a href="http://www.jon-bauer.com">click here.</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">If you would like a chance to have this CD, leave me a comment and tell me what your favourite summertime activity is!</span><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span> <span style="font-family:verdana;">I will make the draw on June 14th! Ready, Set, GO!!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-38212152089058087862009-06-03T18:09:00.000-06:002009-06-03T18:34:45.567-06:00It's Only Been 7 Months...<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Yesterday I got a haircut for the first time in 7 months! I've never been one for getting my hair cut on a consistent basis, but I think this is a new record for me! Since it's such a momentous occasion, I thought you might like to see pictures.</span><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Here I am, squinting in the sun. Joshua likes the sexy little flip over my eye, but it's driving <span style="font-style: italic;">me</span> crazy! I think I got about 4 inches off. It feels great!</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tQjbmUrlq7YQXYYU9G9_ckVs-p1hJ3wRPMyKMZ-qpKN6RhzFHNHU8rd_CHTPT5C7KneP2HedcYgfYzRHpEw-tiFIJijl1L_QZH-ZbuogBLzsG1C6Yb1gysjRugnNC7uv0u_WMjRh8LU/s1600-h/IMG_2918.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tQjbmUrlq7YQXYYU9G9_ckVs-p1hJ3wRPMyKMZ-qpKN6RhzFHNHU8rd_CHTPT5C7KneP2HedcYgfYzRHpEw-tiFIJijl1L_QZH-ZbuogBLzsG1C6Yb1gysjRugnNC7uv0u_WMjRh8LU/s320/IMG_2918.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343261489613076322" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">This is the way I'll be wearing it around the house until the little flip grows out a bit!</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oTVT99KjKLvenlFG2lmSRn5s63XOtpBgUksIOr9qmItMPE2_5tVDF44MQ_s4B1wnBxVijw2Qp8mulfzHEcxslN2x3Hk0SYdE2sHd1_1a7BL7An-ILzguaVIOdxGPeOvqnYdqcr1nats/s1600-h/IMG_2922.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3oTVT99KjKLvenlFG2lmSRn5s63XOtpBgUksIOr9qmItMPE2_5tVDF44MQ_s4B1wnBxVijw2Qp8mulfzHEcxslN2x3Hk0SYdE2sHd1_1a7BL7An-ILzguaVIOdxGPeOvqnYdqcr1nats/s320/IMG_2922.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342954995848110578" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: verdana;">This week is official haircut week because the kids got theirs done on Monday! They love going to Beaner's, a kids hair "salon" here. It's a really fun place, complete with T.V.'s playing cartoons at every chair, a ball pit, and free lollipops! Sara got blue "hair" braided into her hair, so she's having fun showing that off. Here's a pic...</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fQFq71A_HA7087RKL2KIgnnVLQBdGULtGVkHNM1YlrQLp3_onKKGTtqpBcnwQ62Rw9rJvaCDQGG55f-d_bbti3NKFqLMYRzv84yfKb24cndXNl5ZKYcwxk7CuMMcsdCTRdKJXoNsaDk/s1600-h/IMG_2919.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fQFq71A_HA7087RKL2KIgnnVLQBdGULtGVkHNM1YlrQLp3_onKKGTtqpBcnwQ62Rw9rJvaCDQGG55f-d_bbti3NKFqLMYRzv84yfKb24cndXNl5ZKYcwxk7CuMMcsdCTRdKJXoNsaDk/s320/IMG_2919.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343263571014662930" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-87991805517081574102009-05-08T00:00:00.004-06:002009-05-08T16:08:23.048-06:00Aloha Friday #14<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's Aloha Friday! I've missed a few lately (again!), but I will always come back for more! As a reminder, Aloha Friday is a blogging tradition that originally started with Kailani over on </span><a href="http://islandlife808.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">An Island Life</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I ask you a simple question, and you answer! It's a great way to interact with family and friends and to meet new bloggy friends along the way! To participate, just head over to Kailani's blog and follow the instructions.</span> <span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">(But, you do not </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: trebuchet ms;">have</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> to link up! You can just simply answer the question!)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Warm Spring weather is officially here and we're finally breaking out the shorts, capris and sandals around here! We recently took a trip to Texas and I treated my bare toes to a little bit of colour for the first time in a long time! Sara also wanted her toes painted the same as Mommy's, so we have matching toenails!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">So, my question for today is:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);font-family:trebuchet ms;" >What colour are your toenails painted? Do you like to be wild and crazy with your colours or stick with the more conservative shades?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Right now, mine are a pearly mauve colour. The most wild I ever get is my bright, sparkly red nail polish!</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br /></span><strong></strong>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-62241446760371751502009-05-07T23:14:00.002-06:002009-05-07T23:25:03.844-06:00HELP!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRsG-JMl_cLzw30mjJC9QdaCcMEHYYVLvpT1-OKhnwMCSUCttGe5_SFzbDhIk8bg7F8waoTNkXDIwqLt-gElReVyT8gUrancAY5qYoCKtk-9ClyguCCYKtD770wVQ0DaYtjhOXsYmvKE/s1600-h/IMG_2787.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRsG-JMl_cLzw30mjJC9QdaCcMEHYYVLvpT1-OKhnwMCSUCttGe5_SFzbDhIk8bg7F8waoTNkXDIwqLt-gElReVyT8gUrancAY5qYoCKtk-9ClyguCCYKtD770wVQ0DaYtjhOXsYmvKE/s400/IMG_2787.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333319126436067458" border="0" /></a>And this was at 6 o'clock this evening! Joshua and I went to a marriage session thing at church, called "Leading From Your Strengths." It was good, but....the laundry room still looks like this! Tomorrow will be busy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-48294000194589824502009-05-06T19:45:00.000-06:002009-05-06T19:46:02.651-06:00Easter Pictures!<span style="font-family:verdana;">Easter Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day! The kids humoured me for some pictures before we headed to church in the morning. I wanted Sky to tuck his shirt in, but both males in the house out-voted me...</span><br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCdsAA0jgUNEaoZB2lz680FE3YCngIOLJQKcGoMGZdbgA2JbAFmr7GY8b0pirt5JLX0EQegRxCElLHtR0kk6Jle7dbgtQbJ-l_4xMwGyYosC89gt6C8ZiMe5ggtWrFVNlec2r7L_BwFc/s1600-h/IMG_2563.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332579062505644322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCdsAA0jgUNEaoZB2lz680FE3YCngIOLJQKcGoMGZdbgA2JbAFmr7GY8b0pirt5JLX0EQegRxCElLHtR0kk6Jle7dbgtQbJ-l_4xMwGyYosC89gt6C8ZiMe5ggtWrFVNlec2r7L_BwFc/s320/IMG_2563.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-family:verdana;">After Sky kept squinting and complaining about the sun in his eyes, I switched Sara to the other side of him, so she would block the sun! She was more agreeable than he was!</span><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332579045549304274" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1SSNITQWQqaRWwggzPnyboJDAOBv4bPaVW4SdnZwllOsXCrln2U7M14L7mLAp1MFqGuQm9MbbuZ6rj73FVU9DWeQc8c2KSc1vcmBeCNzlWErEblcAUxFPHCpOZJp_mBguYlvmh6hlfY/s320/IMG_2565.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sara posed for a few more pictures after church. She got the lamb from her Auntie Shannon.</span><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332890730966372850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGb2fsIuyNULvNNmLyIZl8tIfZQH_yjpOsUaLvWqONNKtk95pE2MReEjFjj6GmHZaicqxvP6Bv84FsPCKDRmllMC-8zyCZ6l0JIQEf8tBQBDZcKeJElRMsGZApTlYlGHBydNlMMy3vNEU/s320/IMG_2568.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-family:verdana;">For lunch after church, we enjoyed sandwiches and fresh veggies on our back deck! First time to eat outside this year! Also the first time we got to wear shorts and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">capris</span>! After lunch we played in the backyard and just soaked up the sun for awhile. We were invited to a friends' house for the afternoon and dinner. Chris and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Christy</span> have 4 sweet, energetic children. It was so much fun hanging out with them! The kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt for mini chocolate eggs and jelly beans. Here is Sara showing me her eggs! Notice the sunshine and sleeveless dress!!</span><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332579067991554114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQINirf9qGzPz5RgnJDomputp01e_f2PToRPSeEzrM4Nt1BOY2QJp4fFJXKKLYd9l8Q2uVmkyKHQmnT6mtp6ZEFcoJoRZaCAn8disK8vF_YP9x5bOORxDE2CdcwwvQFUJAH0_lMhwZVU/s320/IMG_2574.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sky teamed up with his friend, Johnny, who is also 5. They put their chocolate eggs and jelly beans into this bottle and then shared it all later! It was so cute!</span><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332579055341674642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJpKf2sNGhdoD7nHzrxhUjG2byqWwK_9fO6uyLA5n-myRzdpm9SEwJ16isE1UI4EspSNGklIEj54mUcL0v7RmPxynpi2i5lzfkjafvpKqGX6gS6z1J6FfskXXs5pkTC5KDU7VKXPdWRM/s320/IMG_2579.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We had a wonderful visit! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Christy</span> outdid herself with the meal. Homemade Chicken Cordon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bleu</span> with lots of other yummy things. Then, when you thought it couldn't get any better, dessert was a homemade strawberry shortcake! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Christy</span> and I worked together to make everything all afternoon and we had a lot of fun together in the kitchen! All went smoothly unless we ended up with more than 1 or 2 of the 6 children in the kitchen at the same time! :-) We went home tired, but happy and thankful for good friends! Maybe Edmonton/St. Albert is beginning to feel more like home after all...</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-77599693921593283762009-05-05T12:01:00.003-06:002009-05-05T15:10:09.376-06:00This Is A Test...I'm Still Here...Are You?<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Just wanted to let you know I'm back to the blogging world! It's been too long... I'm going to do my best attempt at bringing you up to date, but I don't want to overwhelm you with one, long post. So, this post is to let you know that you should check in every day this week and I will have a bite-sized post for you to enjoy! First one starts later this afternoon or evening. Leave a comment to let me know you're with me!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-91455082372381547842009-04-07T15:32:00.000-06:002009-04-07T15:44:18.510-06:00It's Melting!!!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We can see grass in our yard!! On Sunday, I excitedly pointed out to the rest of the family that I could see a small section of grass on the edge of the lawn. It's already melted away this much in 2 1/2 days!!</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBxlc6cc8Caqyqkgx0VXOTQ4b_NcMtbw6TED0JTdiHsgeuABjHaRjBaS9DiE4PX1Saz08snoqUIPgDizjSZ-ulVRutzkOocQAYe4TFhg8hGTl_9PyC8Cvh6hRGM2wuSxVJvh3TPZigxA/s1600-h/IMG_2560.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322054690090602802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuBxlc6cc8Caqyqkgx0VXOTQ4b_NcMtbw6TED0JTdiHsgeuABjHaRjBaS9DiE4PX1Saz08snoqUIPgDizjSZ-ulVRutzkOocQAYe4TFhg8hGTl_9PyC8Cvh6hRGM2wuSxVJvh3TPZigxA/s320/IMG_2560.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Some other signs of Spring:</span></div><ul><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">The sun is shining lots and actually feels warm!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Joshua took the kids bikes down from the hooks in the garage ceiling on Friday!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">There are puddles of dirty water everywhere. (But getting smaller all the time!)</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I am washing extra loads of wet, muddy clothes. (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Hmmm</span>, wonder how that happened...)</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">We're going for walks again!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">I went out without a jacket this afternoon!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">The birdies are singing more!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Swimming lessons are starting tomorrow.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Now I'm waiting for the grass to green up and the trees to start budding! It won't be long!</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-85198133823123991002009-04-03T08:57:00.000-06:002009-04-03T08:57:58.422-06:00Aloha Friday #13<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's Aloha Friday! I've missed a few lately, but I'm back for more! As a reminder, Aloha Friday is a blogging tradition that originally started with Kailani over on </span><a href="http://islandlife808.com/"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">An Island Life</span></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">. I ask you a simple question, and you answer! It's a great way to interact with family and friends and to meet new bloggy friends along the way! To participate, just head over to Kailani's blog and follow the instructions.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">My question for today is:</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3333ff;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#3333ff;">During Spring/Summer do you prefer longer hair where you can put it up or pull it back on hot days, or a short haircut that's easy, breezy everyday?</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;color:#000000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I desperately need a haircut - SOON! It's been 5 months since the last one! Obviously, it's grown a lot in that time frame. I can't decide if I want to chop it off short,or..... just get a trim, so I can do the whole ponytail/up-do thing when I want to. I'm going to call and make my appointment right now!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-26169409353051249052009-03-24T09:47:00.002-06:002009-03-24T10:07:43.663-06:00Look Mom...No Hands!!<span style="font-family:verdana;">This is one thing you can do to amuse yourself when it's too cold to play outside! Click play and tell me if your heart doesn't skip a beat!<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxwSDXieCclgO0bUeS7p1couM2w-X2VWzGilEYHYx-ZBuYCv8yQkG9qb-Vr_ksu_Rs4uhXr62ZWqZeFXoeBjA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-73502407776272876652009-03-23T03:47:00.002-06:002009-03-23T15:48:56.971-06:00The First Weekend of SpringThe first day of Spring, dawned bright and sunny! Still lots of snow everywhere and still cold, but at least it was sunny! We have a unique tradition that my mom started when I was a teenager and my sisters where very small. She struggled with the focus that everyone puts on Easter baskets and chocolate bunnies and Easter egg hunts when Easter is really supposed to be about Jesus and His resurrection. She loved all the Easter basket/chocolate sort of stuff, so she came up with the idea to indulge in all of that on the first day of Spring! With the exception of last year, I have adopted the same tradition with my children. I almost lost my resolve to celebrate Spring Day this year, with all the nasty cold and snow we've been having, but at 11:15 p.m. on Thursday, I decided to go ahead and put together the kids Spring baskets. (I had already bought all the candy and toys.) I loaded the baskets, filled the plastic eggs, and quickly decorated the house with my spring-y decorations!<br /><br />I can't say that Spring Day was completely full of smiles and giggles and fun times. My lovely daughter actually woke up with a terrible attitude, which did not mix well with the fact that I slept horribly the night before and had a really sore neck. I felt sorry for Sky when he woke up! After a spanking a long talk with both kids, we finally were able to come downstairs and enjoy our Spring Day celebration. Here are the kids with their baskets. The smiles are a little forced!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316424062957403746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwzbzzxXBhUOS3FPRMmmZHThin1En7EOxLapbuCOXy1CV5mzIVW0ew2XAhjwRPwKbOkKRovk34oR2jxGZvdE8gSgEENrZQy3gQIVCu2Cla_VQWC-im5HZu-1D7Tn7EsyuMZrzxxKV3cQ/s320/IMG_2527.JPG" border="0" /> There's one more chocolate bunny in there somewhere!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316424074396539666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYs0cn_8tEbqreFPVVorTib22lVpL4uooTv104o43NAGvS1dGVbqF60CF_h6zGT-o8qSWWQRykvcsf-tacdyEF7vF9eJEOnKiHxLup6W8x5QPop75NnqTvXSOwfXDEeN2bsX6eqjHMpgc/s320/IMG_2529.JPG" border="0" />Sky wasted no time in enjoying his chocolate!<br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9Efanqoh9wTdbegXCxOro_UFVJClnLcd9RarFcWmO7vANFsgW263wgYbe1zDm6wvHkYPtXjwxhWceBYsp2EMLwk7SWVjvjOvCyEHOWGAefu54A68pGfUnM5oOJcPj_Zo0U4I2jU49Nw/s1600-h/IMG_2532.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316424081982139602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9Efanqoh9wTdbegXCxOro_UFVJClnLcd9RarFcWmO7vANFsgW263wgYbe1zDm6wvHkYPtXjwxhWceBYsp2EMLwk7SWVjvjOvCyEHOWGAefu54A68pGfUnM5oOJcPj_Zo0U4I2jU49Nw/s320/IMG_2532.JPG" border="0" /></a> Sara putting together the mini puzzle she got in her <a href="http://kindersurprise.com/home.html">Kinder Surprise </a>egg. (They do not allow these to be sold in the States, so look up the website to see what I'm talking about! They're wonderful!)<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316424084628603314" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-TL_dVEhJreaLBrR3vRzKv6AM0bFMXf6ZwZfFXGDuNm-nxWwmQhR6cVJgs_LaIaVoRVnFdMSFF7fSplskmuvwTaC1GtuuGWmtSXsxZ_oGaZiW9LRYWq6OO3BVpCVrRWhmgPFMzLye70U/s320/IMG_2533.JPG" border="0" />I found these little "bunny blasters" at Wal-Mart. They look like baby nose syringe bulbs. You stick a foam "dart" on the nose part and squeeze the bulb part. I was surprised how well it worked! Those little darts can really fly!<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316424097049717762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEAqUpRl_roXggugpxvzTIl0hmwa0VcjqQ7uMN1MH4XdTMJENHuxInTz_rEKfrI1EgrUbDTx9Jlzbf9xHO0xRC1S5Vyi8zRzSlqD_zuR6nY003t-t6DbUSMCMWUgkP9RZc9yUjB0pZms/s320/IMG_2528.JPG" border="0" /></div></div><br /><p>After having fun eating candy and shooting darts, it was time to get busy packing. We headed out just after noon for our final ski trip to Jasper. Daddy wanted to take the kids to the mountains one last time before the end of the season. It's a 4 hour trip, so we were happy to eat supper and relax in our hotel room that evening! That night it snowed about 10 cm at the ski hill, so Joshua was super excited to ski on some fresh powder. Grandpa came along on the trip as well, so the kids enjoyed skiing with him too. We came home Saturday night, just in time to tuck the kids into bed right away. I must say, I'm glad to be done with skiing for the year.</p><p>How was YOUR first weekend of Spring?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-86462257767107842852009-03-13T23:59:00.001-06:002009-03-14T07:34:15.022-06:00It Feels Like Spring Today!<span style="font-family:verdana;">In one week, the calendar says that we will be having the first official day of Spring. We just survived the coldest week of the season yet. On Tuesday morning, the official recorded temperature in Edmonton, was -42.7 degrees Celsius! My thermometer doesn't even go that low! Yikes! Today was a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">different</span> story. It is well above freezing and the snow is melting like crazy! I stood outside this afternoon and could hear the sound of running water all around me! It was a beautiful sound! There is a lot of snow on the ground right now. Over a foot, and even deeper where the drifts are. It will be awhile before it all melts away, but hopefully today is the beginning of a very good thing called Spring! So, even though it doesn't really look like Spring yet, I'm going to pretend! Hence the new blog look! What do you think?! I love it!</span> <div><div><div><div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Every Tuesday, Sky has his music/piano class from 1-2 p.m. Since you can't have other siblings present during the lesson, I have to find someone to watch Sara during that time. Grandma (Joshua's mom) is usually the one who comes to fill that need for me. When she comes, she brings lunch, we eat together, and then Sky and I leave for his class. It's become a fun little tradition <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">every</span> week! (If Grandma can't come for some reason, I take Sara to Patricia's house and she has tons of fun there! Patricia is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">homeschooled</span> teenager and we've become good friends with the whole family.) This Tuesday Grandma came to be with Sara. After lunch was devoured, the kids got a hold of the camera and started taking pictures of everyone! Joshua was home for lunch too, so he got in on the action! Here are some of the shots they got.<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312444129871700978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdmFk8oNG3RwcUOW_LjtHIJ2SbvUF7Mt2l7Y_Ry-MO0hJacbImwt-khZd1BAIpY6HHvExFJSdcC5wghkumE_0rBFAaj-GYH0EEgRS-L9WNGUlhApoY9AW04X-iaDlLcA9zyWzSojRA5QU/s320/IMG_2465.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312444141407784322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuUuL7rH4V30j2kadcA0ewoToZTLotlFQFcY06OZKN8oGDkVIk47x4EEDkuonBXCV01ZyZ-BuX7XWYEfIIhS_3DWzp0ZnpPRxOoO7Xx4mQNrv7b0DMT3SAwRGTYl2dzdSXVIIpUcXNPrg/s320/IMG_2467.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312444149792726866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFb9KVFZ19WF0TrI1ppEFzT_O3BD3VNrhchAUdnp4ppC8DOb_N3RI8TANxciS5aBjnl0ADB8ymAPRD7ySWjE2BkKVOFhYKTIkPKQ-nOZ0NDX-ZIJjqnYlNJ50kl5kAlJ5exYiTtUAVv-Q/s320/IMG_2470.JPG" border="0" /></span></div></div></div></div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312444137687711890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-apLCf8SR1YWxvbHoWSMV7l_oW1eMxz1ciTtpRHnAZR1AjKGB949gptWuyj2ATD-ha-G8u1Qw7MVAGuGcoD1h7cj4aH9R2g8dZduKCZgdP0WaFdhl-GCcfcvk4lZjc17WgdboxdDUgTQ/s320/IMG_2462.JPG" border="0" /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312837804288675730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbuJn-SmHEQAjm4yPQAj85F2yohXW6EqmDjPLFxoRW_TvQbTDD9qanQCk9KgPLl4VlA3eLvODMzY_83VZxZjYwVBHT69k_HxQydupk9jiKa17K0TvBGM-J3P3_7YsVF0Qctiu9Nh56kzA/s320/IMG_2466.JPG" border="0" /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ha! Bet you didn't expect that last picture! (And Joshua didn't expect me to post this last picture, either!) Oh, what Daddy's will do to make their children laugh!</span></p><p><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I will be back with more consistency after this weekend. Sara and Sky have 2 final ski races - one tomorrow morning and one on Sunday morning. And then, ski racing is finally and officially over for the season! You can't even imagine my relief!</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4311531394323006911.post-40926622376497146882009-03-03T09:56:00.004-07:002009-03-03T10:13:14.666-07:00We Have 3 Winners!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I apologize for being so late with the Pay It Forward Giveaway results. The weekend came and went before I suddenly realized I didn't do the draw on February 28th as I promised! I should write these things on my calendar... Anyway, no one entered the giveaway after the 28th anyway, so everything is still fair! Sky and Sara just drew 3 names for me, and the winners are:</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><strong>Jen </strong>at <a href="http://jbwade.blogspot.com/">Wade's World</a> (Laugh <em>with</em> her, not <em>at</em> her!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><strong>Miriam</strong> (Who happens to be on a cruise to Hawaii right now! I'm not jealous AT ALL!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"><strong>Kerry</strong> (With a newborn baby boy - blessing #5! She can use a little extra help in the kitchen right now!)</span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Trebuchet MS;">Congratulations! Since you are all friends on Facebook, please message me your addresses and I will get these scrubbie pads out to you right away! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4