2 Sweet Children

Today had it's ups and downs, but it was a pretty good day over all. There were two things that my children did that made me glad I am a mom and that they are my children.

1. I was downstairs checking my e-mail while supper was in the oven. Sara came down and said "Mommy (about 3 times before I finally answered), come upstairs. I want to show you something!" I didn't like being interrupted, so I replied, "Well, can it wait or will it go away?" She said it could wait. I finished typing my e-mail and she actually waited very sweetly. Sara's not the most patient child, but this time she was! When I was ready, she eagerly led me upstairs. She had decorated the table with her big, soft flowers, carefully arranged in mugs, along with her little battery powered lantern. It was so pretty and so thoughtful! It was just what I needed to make supper extra special and remind me what an extra sweet daughter I have! I took a picture because I wanted you to see it.

2. As I was making the final supper preparations, Sky was wanting me to play "I Spy" with him. I was absentmindedly trying to oblidge, while still doing what I needed to do. After a few rounds of me not really getting into the spirit, Sky said, "I spy with my little eye something that's cute, and always gives me butterfly kisses, and Eskimo kisses (rubbing noses), and sweet kisses!" I was like, "What?" He repeated it and I said, "Are you talking about ME?" He gleefully confirmed that he was and I said, "Did you just call me cute?" He gave me a big hug and said, "Yes, because you're my mommy and you're cute!" What a little charmer! He always knows how to make me smile!

Joshua update: He got all his luggage, safe and sound, before lunch. He had a good day skiing, with no injuries to report so far!

Science Experiment

I think it has to be stinkin' cold for this to work, so maybe Emily, Karen, or Judith can try this one! Boil some water and fill up a mug. Bundle up and take the mug of water outside. Toss the water into the air and you will be amazed! My kids loved it! I won't tell you yet what happens. If at least 5 people comment with what they think is the result, I'll post the answer! (I know you're smart enough to know the answer, but I will resort to bribery to get people to comment!) Joshua called me from work on Tuesday and told me to take the kids outside and try this. They apparently had nothing better to do at the branch yesterday, than go outside and throw boiling water up in the sky! I guess after the third go around, almost every employee was outside to watch!

In other news, this evening we drove Joshua to the airport and said good-bye for the next 3 days. He flew to B.C. for a ski trip that ends with a race on Saturday morning. His dad and uncle are also there for the big event. His Uncle Peter has been a part of this ski trip/race for a few years now and it's really just a bunch of older, retired guys. They've realized they're getting up in years and wanted to get some new, young blood in the group. So, all of the men who have sons, invited them to be a part of the group this year. I don't know how many guys accepted, but Joshua jumped at the chance! He'll do anything for a chance to ski, especially when Dad and Uncle Peter pitched in to pay his way! I hope he has fun, but I'm kind of worried he'll kill himself this time. The last two times he's been skiing he's taken some very hard falls. The first one actually gave him whiplash (a head-over-heels fall) and the second was a severely sprained tailbone from trying out a snowboard! He's still feeling the tailbone and has decided to stick with skis! I'll let you know how things go! The kids and I got tacos and nachos on the way home for supper. I didn't want taco filling all over the car, so we waited to eat them after we got home. They were pretty soggy, but still tasted good. Joshua called while I was ordering tacos to say that they had over-booked his flight and wasn't sure if he would even get a seat. Then, the flight was delayed an hour, so he had to wait that much longer to find out about his seat! Thankfully, he did make it on the flight and landed safely. A few minutes after I got the "I made it" phone call, he called to say that his luggage did NOT make it on the plane. He was not a happy camper, to say the least. His skiis were part of that luggage, but they gave him a voucher for free ski rentals. Anyway, tomorrow morning may be a little rough, but hopefully his stuff will arrive before he goes too crazy! Now I'm off to bed or I will be cranky mommy tommorrow!

COLD, COLD, COLD!

In the five and a half years that I've lived in Alberta, it's never been this cold! Just so all of you know, this is NOT normal for us! We may have long, cold, snowy winters, but this is WAY below seasonal temps! Around 4 p.m. yesterday, I just had to take a picture of my thermometer. This was the HIGH! (The Fahrenheit temps are on the inside circle for those of you who need it.) I didn't go outside to take the picture, either - I took it through my kitchen window!! There was a wind chill warning of -49 C when Joshua went to work yesterday. Thanks to our great, new garage, his truck had no problems starting in the morning. But, while he was at work, he and everyone else, had to go out about every 3 hours to start their cars to try and keep them somewhat warmed up. He said that one time, his truck barely turned over. Today is just as cold, so it will be the same drill. The kids and I haven't been anywhere since Sunday afternoon. We're enjoying our cozy, warm house along with lots of hot chocolate and tea! Yesterday we didn't do anything terribly exciting. Just normal stuff and probably too much T.V.!

Sara is hard at work preparing for her very first piano recital, which is on Sunday afternoon. Her piano teacher really wasn't thinking when she scheduled the recital right on top of the Super Bowl! Oh well! We enrolled Sara in this music class in September. It's a program called Music For Young Children and we love it so far! Sara is in Sunbeams I and goes every Saturday morning for an hour long lesson. There are about 6 kids in the class and a parent stays with each child and does everything with them. Joshua is the one who goes with Sara and then does about 80% of her practice time with her. The class covers pretty much everything related to music, so it's not just piano. Sara is really good the with rhythm - it's really quite amazing! The kids are even in the midst of learning how to compose their own songs! Now, I'm sure you're wondering why Joshua just doesn't teach Sara, because he certainly is qualified. Basically, Joshua just didn't feel like the battle of wills was worth it! Having an outside teacher and the class experience has been perfect for Sara. The method of teaching is exactly her learning style too. She has loved everything about it and is picking up things really well. For the recital, she is playing one song on the piano by herself. Then, the class, as a group are singing a song together, and also playing instruments to a rhythm beat. It's going to be pretty cute! Sky started in a music class this month as well, and he's so proud to be having lessons just like Sara! The level he's in right now just covers rhythm and singing, so it's pretty simple stuff for him. He was a bit disappointed that he wasn't playing piano, but this is a good start for him. I've done a bit with him on the piano just at home and he likes that. His class is right before Sara's, so I go with Sky and then Joshua comes with Sara right after we're done. It makes for busy Saturday mornings!

(The piano key picture above was taken by Sara with the Little Tikes digital camera she got for Christmas!)

Winter Play!

Well, we never got to build that snowman... The snow was too dry and powdery, even if there was a lot of it. We haven't had a sticky snow yet this season - maybe next time! The kids have had a blast playing outside this week even without a snowman. Tomorrow afternoon we're going to be plunged into a deep freeze for awhile, so we've been getting all the fresh air and exercise we can manage these last few days! Joshua is working today, but when he gets home, were going to get all the shopping errands done for the week. It's just literally painful to be out shopping when it's a high of -25 C. When you buy things like lettuce and green onions, they freeze instantly on the way to the car! I learned that the hard way my first year in Alberta! I had to throw away half my produce when I got home because it was ruined. You either don't go grocery shopping when it's that cold, or you bring a blanket along to protect your produce. Anyway, we'll be doing lots of reading, baking and computer games this next week!

This week was fairly uneventful. Tuesday evening, Sara and Sky had swim lessons. I signed them up for a session of 7 weeks and Tuesday was the first lesson. They were full of anxious questions all day, but they loved their classes! Sara is in the Red Cross Level 1 and Sky is in the preschool Salamander level. The best part about the whole thing is that both classes are unparented, which means I don't have to put on a bathing suit and get in the water! I just get to stand and watch and smile! Joshua was able to get to the pool from work, in time to watch as well. It will be good for both kids, but especially Sara. She has more fears and inhibitions in the water then her brother does.

I babysat two days this week - Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather was beautiful, so I was able to send them all outside a lot. On Tuesday, I went out and took a few pictures of Sara, Sky and Rachel. I will leave you with those to enjoy! They were being extra cute! The one above is my absolute favourite!

Look at those happy, rosy cheeks!

Rachel having a contemplative moment.Taking turns on the swings!

Snowing

It's been a pretty brown winter so far. We got one decent snow at the end of November, and one at the beginning of December. There was no Christmas snow, and no New Year's snow. Then it got warm and what little snow we had, has been slowly disappearing. But, on Thursday evening, it finally started to snow! It snowed all night. Joshua shoveled the driveway before bed, and then the kids and I shoveled again the next morning! Sara and Sky each have their own little shovels and I must say, they really do a great job clearing snow! Last night it started snowing again and and I was surprised to see it falling when I got up this morning. It was so pretty. It continued to snow until late afternoon! We're not complaining about brown anymore! I went to the grocery store today with Sky, and I had to use all my strength to push the grocery cart through the slushy snow covering the parking lot! I was just glad I didn't have to ask for help! We didn't play outside because it was very cold today and the snow was falling so heavily. Tomorrow we'll make a snowman!

Welcome 2008!

I'm a bad blogger - there, I said it! I'm sure all of you have said that about me at some point, so I'll just admit it! My problem? I think that I always feel that I have to catch up on every detail, so I feel overwhelmed when I go to post and then I end up not posting anything! And I KNOW that you don't even want to hear every detail, so I guess I'm just enamored with my life and I think you should be too! So, my New Year's resolution is going to be shorter, more frequent blog posts that don't bore you (and me!) to death with cumbersome details! I love how Emily does it, so you're my role model, girl!

Anyway, moving on with news... We had a very lovely, relaxing Christmas, mostly due to the fact that we didn't have to travel anywhere! Joshua was convinced that Christmas with just the 4 of us, would be extremely boring, but after the day was over, he admitted that it was a really fun day! After we opened presents, we had our traditional breakfast of apple turnovers from the Pillsbury doughboy! I always stick candles in the ones for the kids and we sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. After clean-up and some pretty intense toy assembly (Sky got a parking garage with lots of parts and stickers and not very clear instructions!), we bundled up for some good, old-fashioned ice skating. There are lots of little ponds and creeks in Airdrie, which have been cleared off for public skating. It's very picturesque and very free! The kids are doing a great job! (For those of you who are also my friends on Facebook, I have a couple of videos posted from the first time we took the kids skating.) After skating, we headed home for more playing, relaxing, etc. I made a ham for dinner, with scalloped potatoes and all the fixins'. It was very yummy! The next day is Boxing Day in Canada, which just means that you get an extra day off work! It's also the biggest shopping day of the year here. Joshua's parents came down from Edmonton on Boxing Day in the early afternoon. We went skating again, so the kids could show Grandma and Grandpa their stuff. Then, we went out for the best pizza in Airdrie! If you ever come visit, we'll be sure to take you there! The next day we hit the mall and took advantage of the Boxing Week sales. I got some new, very needed jeans, and I was happy! So, our Christmas was pretty relaxing this year, and I can honestly say I actually enjoyed all the festivities! I wasn't even sad or regretful when it was time to put away the Christmas tree and decorations. Usually, I feel like I missed something or that it should have been different or that it was too rushed, etc. But, this year I was happy and satisfied. It was a nice feeling.