Bits and Pieces

This post was originally posted on Thursday night (Jan. 29), but it got buried under my Aloha Friday post and I didn't want my regular readers to miss it! So, I'm re-posting this again today!

I haven't posted much about daily life around here, so here are a few random snippets of what's been going on lately...

1. Remember my new rule about not turning the T.V. on in the mornings? I really thought it would be an issue, but I heard next to no whining or complaining about it! I've had a couple of requests, but when I say "no" and remind them that we're not doing that anymore, they are quick to go find other amusement - happily! It's almost like they are relieved that they don't have to watch the same old dumb shows on T.V. every morning! Now I have to tear them away from building with Legos or their imaginary play, when it's time for school to begin. I like that so much better!

2. On Saturday morning, Sara and Sky had their second Nation's Cup ski race. It was a brutally cold week, so as the weekend approached and things didn't warm up at all, we kind of assumed that the race would be cancelled. It wasn't. I checked my e-mail every 5 minutes between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Saturday, and there was nothing. Joshua had volunteered to help with the race, so he felt like we should be there. It was -36 when we left our house and -34 at the hill when we arrived at 8:45 a.m. I couldn't believe they were going through with it! I mean, really, what was the dude in charge trying to prove?? As I bundled up the kids for warm-up and course inspection, I was so stressed out I was fighting back angry tears. The two runs were an hour apart, so we kept the kids inside until it was absolutely necessary to go out. We had toe warmers in their boots and hand warmers in their mitts. I am definitely thankful for those little inventions! Sara and Sky both did well. There were a lot of missed gates this time, but we could tell they were doing their best - especially under the circumstances. I still don't think I've completely recovered, but we did survive....

3. Joshua lost his wedding ring (again - this is ring number 3) on Monday morning. He keeps it in a basket by the phone. The problem is, the basket is full of coins, old receipts, spare keys, a few screws, paperclips, etc. Joshua's ring is made out of tungsten carbide (same thing they make chainsaw blades with), so it's able to withstand the abuse, but it also blends in because it's a silver gray colour. As Joshua was getting ready to go to work that morning, we both looked through that basket very thoroughly and came up with nothing. He looked several other places and finally had to leave for work. Later, I emptied the basket onto the floor, went through all the change and couldn't find it. I checked the pockets of everything he wore over the weekend. No ring. Joshua came home at lunchtime. He looked under the couch, we checked in both of our vehicles. Nothing. I even checked inside his gloves to see if it had slipped off in there! We looked through that basket a couple more times, hoping it would magically appear. It didn't. That evening, Joshua took Sara for her music/piano lesson at 5:45 p.m. I looked a few more places after he left and then gave up. I decided it would just have to turn up on it's own. After Sara's lesson, Joshua decided to take Sara out on a date. Sara picked Swiss Chalet to eat. When they were done, they went to the mall. Joshua called when they were on their way home. He said he found a ring on sale and went ahead a bought it. It was a final sale, but that was O.K. - other ring was just nowhere to be found. When they got home, Joshua was missing his old ring, so decided to go through "the basket" one more time. He dumped the entire contents on the kitchen counter and there was THE RING!!! What??!! How did we miss that?? The next day Joshua took the ring back to the store and was able to exchange it for something else.

He said it was an early Valentine's Day present! Isn't he sweet?! (It's times like these I decide it's O.K. to keep him! Just kidding - I'm not that shallow!)

4. Today it's raining! What's up with that? Rain? In January?! The roads are a mess with all the melting snow and rain! There is so much water! It's going to be pretty scary out there when it freezes tonight.

5. School has been going well. We are in week 3 of our new schedule and disciplines. The first two weeks were a fight. It was difficult and exhausting for all of us. But, I didn't give up and we got so much done! This week has seemed a lot easier, so I'm hoping we're getting into a rhythm and learning some good habits.

6. In just 4 days, my wonderful friend, Karen and her husband Bryan, are coming to visit for a whole week! For 3 of those nights we will be at the Gingerbread Cabin in Jasper, AB. Sara and Sky are very excited about having an extended sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa! Mommy and Daddy are just as excited about having an extended sleepover away from the kids and the normal routine! I think I can say the same about Bryan and Karen! The weather forecast is beautiful, so it should be a great week!

7. I played Candy Land with the kids before bed tonight. It's always a competition to see who can get the most "candy" cards! They haven't quite grasped the concept that sometimes those cards can knock you backwards on the board and should not always be the most desired!

That's all I can think of for now! Hope you enjoyed the update!

Random Interesting Happenings

Well, hopefully they will be interesting to you, anyway! I realize I haven't been very "informational" in my latest posts, so some people may want to have a few more details.

1. Joshua is just finishing up a cleansing/fat burning program called Isagenix. There is a 30 day program and a 9 day. Joshua did the 30 day one. To date, he's lost 22 pounds and feels great! I'm very proud of him for sticking with it. I don't think I could have done it. Although, I'm entertaining the idea of the 9 day program (don't tell Joshua!) - I could use some more energy! I won't bore you with details - you can read about it on their website if you want more info! Mealtimes have been interesting around here. There are "cleanse days" where Joshua doesn't eat at all, so the kids I have to hurry up and eat supper before Joshua gets home so that the sight and smell of food doesn't drive him crazy! Breakfast and lunch have been really easy, though. I just have to mix up a protein shake for him and it's done!

2. We now have an alarm system in our house. There was already one installed from 15 years ago, but it was inactive. Since it was already there, we looked into getting it activated again. We also found out it would save money on our home insurance! So, we got some of the alarm components updated and added smoke alarms (monitored by the alarm company). So far, there have been no mishaps! If there ever are any, I'm sure it will be great blog material! I've already had a few minor panic attacks when the kids go barging into the house after we've been gone, forgetting that the alarm is set. Fortunately, I'm fast (I have 45 sec.) so I've been able to get it turned off in time!

3. On Tuesday morning (my birthday!), we woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland of snow! It was not forecasted, so we were a bit surprised! Finally, the first snow of the year!! I was so excited when I got up, and was out the door taking pictures within 5 minutes! It was the perfect birthday gift for me! It was one of those fluffy, sticky snowfalls that covered every little branch. After a late breakfast, we all went out to play in the snow. Joshua had the day off because it was Remembrance Day (same as Veteran's Day in the States) and it's a stat holiday. He always gets the day off for my birthday, and I quite like that! We built a little snowman (not enough snow for anything big) and had a snowball fight. The snow made great snowballs! Then we took a walk to admire the neighbourhood before lunch. I took lots of pictures, but you'll have to wait for them. Reason? That brings me to the next thing...

4. We are now the proud owners of a "real" computer! For all of our married lives (almost 9!), we've only had a laptop. It worked great for those years that Joshua needed to tote it back and forth between church and/or seminary classes. After he got the job with the bank, he didn't need to do that anymore. And I finally got to use the computer to my heart's content! That's when I joined Facebook and started my blog. I dare say I got more done before that! Anyway, last week, a new Future Shop opened in our city. Joshua works right by the new store, so he got in line the first morning they opened up. Our new computer was 1 of 25 available that day at an incredible price! Even my brother, the computer geek, said it was a really great deal and a decent computer. (We consulted him first!) So, we have this HUGE monitor now (O.K., it seems huge to me - it's a 20 in.), and I'm seeing lots of little details I've never noticed before! It's been fun, but not without it's hassles. I can't find the software that came with my camera, so I'm a little stuck right now with pictures...

5. Tonight Joshua and I get to go to an NHL hockey game to see our Edmonton Oilers play! Joshua's boss, Jeff, sometimes gets tickets from a lawyer that the bank refers clients to. It's is way of saying "thanks for the business." This time, Jeff offered the tickets to Joshua! So, we got a babysitter and will be heading out tonight! Hopefully they win! Poor Joshua - tonight is one of those nights where he has to drink a shake for supper (because he ate real food for lunch), so he'll have to watch everyone else eat at the game! He can snack on almonds...woohoo! Oh well, it's healthier and saves us money!

That's all I can think of right now that would actually be interesting to you! Hope you enjoyed the update. Now, to go figure out the photo/camera software situation around here....

Oh, I also wanted to make a disclaimer on my excitement about the snow... You WILL hear me complain about snow, winter, cold weather etc., as we go through the season. But, there is something very special about the first snow - even if we eventually get a lot of it! As my friend said the other day, it's the snowfalls between #2 and #100 that we complain about!

Summer's Here - The Fun Begins!

Summer solstice was June 20th, the longest day of the year. It was also the first day of our first camping trip! And the first day for Sara and Sky to break in the new Slip 'n' Slide! We've been busy since summer officially started - and also blessed with some wonderful, sunny days! Here are some pictures of our summer fun so far.

When I first set up the Slip 'n' Slide, Sky wasn't so sure he wanted anything to do with sliding on that cold, slippery plastic! So, this is how he spent the time while he was getting used to the idea!

Sara, on the other hand, got right on there and was sliding away! She's usually my more cautious child, so I was pleasantly surprised to see her leading the way!
WIPEOUT! Sky finally decided to give it a try - it was more slippery than he thought!!
After coming home from last weekend's camping trip, Joshua had to leave right away for a week long business trip up in Edmonton. He was home for about 3 hours - long enough to help me empty the car, set up the tent in the backyard so it could dry out, mow the lawn and pack a new bag. So, the kids and I spent 5 long days alone. Things went fairly well, but it's never fun to have the man of the house gone for that long. I spent the first couple of days doing laundry and drying out and packing away all the camping equipment. Whew! What a job!

On Wednesday, I took the kids to the zoo with my friend, Trina, and her two kids. Eric is 4, and Katelyn is 2. Here are the four of them, humouring me for a group shot!
I talk about Trina a lot, so I decided to post a picture of her this time!


I thought this was a cute shot of Sara taking a picture with her pink camera! The kids are watching the otters swim.This one's my favourite!

That was out big adventure for the week. Thursday I had to go for an ultrasound on my abdomen/gallbladder. A couple of months ago, I was out for dinner with Trina and another friend, Penny. I was having pain so bad that I couldn't even stand up straight, my face was white as a sheet, and I was shaking and sweating. Penny ended up driving me home that night. (And I had to figure out a way to go get my car the next day!) It was drama, let me tell you! I've had similar episodes, to a lesser degree, for the past few years. So, I decided to ask a doctor about it. After hearing my symptoms that night and my family history, he ordered the ultrasound and some bloodwork. Well, the ultrasound found NO gallstones and everything else looked really healthy and normal! So, who knows... Maybe I was just crazy, like Joshua told me...

Friday I spent the day cleaning and doing MORE laundry. All this summer activity sure produces a lot of dirty laundry! But, it's worth it - we get so little summer around here... Daddy finally came home around 6 p.m. Yay! We grilled hamburgers for supper and just enjoyed being a family of 4 again.

Tidbits and Pictures

Other than surviving and griping about the weather around here, I wanted to share a few things that have happened in the last couple of weeks. We've had some beautiful, warm days since Saturday, by the way! We've been soaking up as much sunshine as we can and even wearing sandals!!

1. About two weeks ago, the kids and I actually did something Spring-like, and we planted some bean seeds! It's been fun to see Sara and Sky's excitement every morning as they see the progress their bean plants have made overnight! Those things grow like crazy! They've already outgrown their yogurt containers and need to be transferred to the ice cream bucket! Only the fanciest plant pots are used in this family! :-)

2. This next picture was too funny to keep to myself! Sky does a really great job of entertaining himself when I'm doing school with Sara. Sometimes I can find ways for him to be included in the activities, but other times, Sara and I just have to buckle down and focus. Last week, Sara was reading a story from her reader to me. I invited Sky to sit and listen in, but after a few s-l-o-w-l-y read pages, he decided to find something a little more exciting to do! I thought he was upstairs watching T.V., when Sara stopped reading and started giggling as she looked up at the stairwell. I looked to see what the distraction was. Sky had tied a rope to a Jonah doll that we have and was lowering him over the banister! Sara and I were both laughing by now! Then, Sky said in a squeaky voice, as he wiggled the doll up and down, "Hi Sara! How are you!" It was too funny and I hardly had the heart to tell him to stop distracting us so Sara could finish reading!

3. This is me and Slyvia. She is very tall and I am very short, which you can tell even when we're sitting down! Sylvia is like a second mother to me, as well as a very dear friend. We had the chance to go out for dinner on Wednesday evening with no husbands or kids! We went to my favourite little place in Calgary - the Diner Deluxe. Syl had never been before and she fell in love with everything about it! We had such a great time talking about everything under the sun and enjoying some wonderful food! Sylvia is always such a breath of fresh air for me. She doesn't necessarily give me advice about stuff, but whenever I'm with her, she always says something that changes my perspective on life a little bit. Thanks Syl, for a wonderful evening! I was refreshed and I hope you were too!

4. Our back deck is finished! I'm so proud of Joshua and all the hard work he put into building everything! He did an awesome job and I LOVE the new look! My favourite part are the benches he built right into the railing. The corner bench was a challenge, but it turned out really nice! The benches eliminate the need for a bunch of chairs on the deck and leaves more room for the kids to play or mingling with friends. Now the backyard finally looks finished and we're ready for summer! I can hardly wait till it's time to plant! That's my favourite part. We normally start planting around the middle to end of May, but we've lost things to frost before, so it's always tricky. Some people here refuse to plant anything until June 1st. That's definitely the safe way to go, but it's always so hard to wait! Here are some before, during, and after pictures of the deck railing.

5. On one of our gray, snowy days, the kids convinced me to get out the finger paints. I hate painting because of the mess. I usually only allow it about twice a year! :-) Since this is such a special and rare occasion, I snapped a few pictures. The clean-up was actually very minimal and didn't stress me out at all! I guess that proves the kids are growing up!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a very special post.... :-) I hope you've enjoyed the pictures and update. Sorry it's been so long. I wanted to report that we are actually getting a lot accomplished in school! Thank you all for your prayers and support. Tomorrow I have my final visit from our homeschool facilitator. She will evaluate Sara's work this year and check to see which goals and requirements we have met. I'm having a bad attitude today because I hardly think it's fair to be giving someone a year end assessment when we still have two months of school left. (The schools here go till the end of June.) I can do a lot in two months! So, please pray as I'm preparing everything tonight and tomorrow. I'm stressing - big time. I'm so proud of Sara's work, but will the facilitator be proud too? That's my biggest fear right now and I really need some peace.

Star Light, Star Bright

I haven't taken many pictures lately, so this evening I snapped a few of the kids doing their cute and silly stuff! (You can enjoy them at the end of this post.) Joshua is away on a business trip for three days. He left this morning and drove 3 1/2 hours south to Medicine Hat. He's helping out at the branch there while one of their employees is away. The evenings are always the most difficult when Daddy is gone, but tonight went quite smoothly and peacefully. We watched the lunar eclipse from our big window in the bonus room, so that helped pass some of the time! I turned off all the lights so we could see the moon really well. Then, while the moon slowly became dark, we had fun wishing upon a star together. We learned a little rhyme that goes like this:

Star light, Star bright

First star I see tonight,

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have this wish, I wish tonight

We wished for a long time, so I'll try my best to remember a few things that each person wished for. Sara wished that her birthday was tomorrow and that she could ride her bike really fast (I thought she was pretty fast already, but apparently she's feeling slow!). Sky was the most vocal, as usual, and he wished that he could be a grown-up so he could drive a car, and that he could have a plate full of donuts, and that he could live in a teapot! Seriously! I wanted to laugh so bad, but he kept saying, "Don't laugh at my wishes!" There was lots more, but I can't remember it all! I wished that it was summer, and that I could play at the beach and that Joshua were home tonight. And then we all wished that we could get hugs and kisses from each other - and those wishes all came true!

And now for the pictures...

Sara was practicing writing - on her own!! - after supper tonight!

Sky loves to make up songs on his recorder for me and I love to listen!

Sara still loves bathtime!

This child ate almost half a bag of carrots before I realized it! At least it was carrots and not chocolate!

Don't miss my earlier post today with all the weekend news!

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!

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words....

I know, I know, it's been forever and I really have no good excuse! Just really busy! And when I finally do get some down time, I don't want to be staring at a computer screen trying to think of clever things to say! So, I've decided to do a little picture update for you to get everyone caught up. The last two weeks have been very full, but fun! Here's a peek into the fun....On November 21st, my little boy turned 4! Joshua was out of town Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, and he got home at 7:45 p.m. on Sky's birthday. We had a special, late supper and gave Sky his gifts from us. On Friday, we had a party with Sky's little friends in the afternoon. I won't go into the details, but it was a pretty crazy day! Special thanks to my friends Trina and Penny for helping me clean up messes and keep my sanity! (I was also babysitting that day!) Sky had fun and that was all that mattered!This is the birthday cake that Sky requested - a baseball cap and glove, complete with ball! Yes, I still make these cakes! Believe it or not, this one was actually quite easy.This past Monday, Joshua had the day off because he worked on Saturday. We spent the morning in a rather frustrating search around town for those clips to put up Christmas lights. After three stores, we finally found them. Of course, the temperature plummeted the night before, and there was my poor husband putting up Christmas lights when it was -15 C! I knew it was cold because my snot was freezing in my nose! It does that when it gets below -10 C!We also put up the Christmas tree later that evening. Here's Sara relaxing in her nightie after a long day of decorating and playing! They were excited to have the Christmas books out again!On Tuesday, we finally got a decent amount of snow! Never mind that it was absolutely freezing outside, every kid in the neighbourhood was out to play! Here is Sara posing with her her friends. The one in the red is Alexa, who lives two doors down. They are like two peas in a pod and are only weeks apart in age! After having fun making snow angels, the kids decided to all form one team and have a snowball fight! Who was on the opposing team? ME! Yes, that's right! They all ganged up on me (about 8 of them!) and thought it was hilarious! I said it was no fair, but they didn't listen! It was really more of a powder fight because the snow wasn't the kind you could pack into a snowball. You should have seen the rosy cheeks!

Sky looks like he's afraid someone's going to step on him! He was excited to be wearing his new ski pants for the first time.And this is what my front entryway looked after five kids came in from playing in the snow! I made them clean it up after I took the picture!

So, now you know what's been going on around here. Tomorrow we're going on our first family ski trip in the mountains. Joshua's taking a day of vacation, so we can avoid the weekend crowds. We'll be dragging the kids out of bed before dawn, loading up the ski's boots, poles, and everything warm we can find! It's going to be a very cold day, but we're going to have FUN! Oh dear, I'm actually quite dreading it, but there's always the coffee shop or the fire in the hotel lobby where I can hide if I need to!

Random Thoughts

I haven't posted in awhile, but even so, not much, other than "regular" busyness, has been happening around here. That's a change for once! Someone asked me where I've been lately.... Just trying to get into a groove with homeschooling mostly. I don't have as much time to play on the computer anymore! Sara is doing well in school. The discipline of sitting down to the books everyday, has been a challenge for her AND for me! I wouldn't say she "loves" school, but she's getting used to it, and her attention span is lengthening bit by bit. She enjoys games and songs most, so I try to find ways to incorporate those two things as much as possible! Sky joins us for about half the activity and the rest of the time he just plays by himself, does puzzles or watches Treehouse (kids' channel) for awhile. Even Rachel joins in the fun when she's here! We generally get started with school around 10 a.m. and go till lunch. Some days we do a bit more after lunch or later in the afternoon. Thursday is our no school day where we go into Calgary to see the chiropractor and do any other errands that need to be done in the city. I'm happy with what we're accomplishing in a four day school week, so we're sticking to that for now. I'll never be a rigid schedule kind of person, but at least we have a framework in place and that is working out great for us.

The kids have made so many new little friends in the neighbourhood. It seems like there's always another child playing over at our house, or my kids are over at someone else's place! Once the rest of the kids have come home from school, I hardly see Sara and Sky until suppertime! There is a playground directly across the street from our house, so I can always see what's going on through the windows at the front of the house. The other day, my kids decided to take Sky's toy doghouse out to play with at the playground. When I looked out to see how things were going, I noticed quite the stir! Every kid on the street who had a stuffed dog, had brought them outside to put into the doghouse and play "pets!" It was so cute! Then one of the little girls got a little bossy and territorial and I had to go do some damage control! One of the sweetest little friends that my kids have made, is Emily. She's a very cheerful, free spirited girl and we all enjoy having her over. She's almost 5 years old, so she makes the perfect friend for Sky and Sara, cause she's right in the middle of their ages. The three of them posed for this picture the other day! Also, here's one of Sara and Rachel, the little girl I babysit.

It snowed last night for the first time this season! We've had absolutely gorgeous fall weather and I couldn't believe the snow held off this long! It's been so warm and sunny for October. The kids have played outside so much and I've just been so thankful for the delay in winter. After a very warm day yesterday (short sleeve temps), the wind blew in with a fury in the evening and the weather changed very quickly. Right after the kids went to bed it started raining a fine mist. I kept seeing it out the window against the street light while we were watching T.V. We kept commenting on how "misty" and strange looking the rain was. When I finally got up to go downstairs for something, I looked out to the playground and everything was covered in white! It was so beautiful! We laughed at ourselves for not recognizing snow after such a nice summer and fall!

Going, Going, Going....will we ever slow down?

Life has been an absolute whirlwind of activity since the kids came home last Saturday! As if they weren't over-stimulated and over-tired enough from 4 days with Grandma and Grandpa! I won't be surprised at all if we get sick in the next week or two. I pray not.

Sunday - The kids and I went to church and Joshua went to Dragon Boat practice (more on that later). I brought the kids home for a quick lunch and change of clothes. Then we piled into the car again to take in a Calgary Viper's baseball game. (Joshua got free tickets with online points from his favourite radio station!) Joshua joined us after the first few innings and we had a really fun time. When I was taking Sky for a potty break in the middle of the game, we stopped behind home plate to see everything up close for a minute. The ball boy thought Sky was cute with all his questions and gave him a baseball!! Very exciting! We got it signed after the game too! And both kids got to go onto the field and run the bases after the game. We couldn't have asked for more!

Monday - Sara started Kidz Day Camp at our church. This was a first for all of us. Sara had never been away from home for that long (except for stays with Grandma and Grandpa) or in any kind of school-like environment. I had never had that much alone time with Sky and I was wondering I was ever going to entertain him! Sky had never been without his playmate for that much time! We were all a little nervous, but it turned out to be a great week! I woke the kids up at 7:45 a.m., which is quite early for them, got them dressed, and gave them a portable breakfast to eat in the car! Sara was so excited she barely ate, but the excitement was good, because the night before she went to bed saying she didn't want to go. Sara got dropped off and signed in on time. She was very proud of her lunch box! Sky and I went back home. We did some laundry, weeded the garden and flower beds, and did some watering. Sky actually played by himself for a long time while I worked on the computer! Then we went grocery shopping. On the way there he told me that he was having a fun day with me! It melted my heart! After we dropped off the groceries at home, we went to pick up Sara at 4 p.m. She was tired, but glowing and asking if she was going back for a lot of days! I was happy she liked it so much.

Tuesday - Same schedule for Sara and another fun day for her! Sky and I went to Heritage Park in the morning. We actually made it there early enough for their free pancake and sausage breakfast that they serve every morning. It was a little chaotic cause it's a pretty popular affair, but yummy! It was fun to go and be able to do just what Sky wanted. He's never really experienced that! We got home in time for a late lunch and just relaxed the rest of the afternoon.

Wednesday - We got a new counter top installed in the morning. After I rushed Sara to church, we raced back home and emptied the cupboards just in time for the installer to start his job! He was noisy and messy, but the counter looks really good! I cleaned for two days before it was back to normal - the dust was awful. Sara had another great day and came home singing songs at the top of her lungs! She was really getting to know them by this point!

Thursday - It was rainy and dreary and we got a slow start in the morning. We still made it to church only 7 minutes late! I had planned to get together with another mom that morning, so we set a time and place. I went home to shower and she went home to eat breakfast! We met at this place called Coffee 'N' Scream that serves coffee and ice cream and lunches. They have a separate play area for kids to play while the parents have coffee and talk. It sounds like a great idea except that every time I've been there, it's been a madhouse! There are too many selfish 2 year olds in one place, the coffee shop allows too many kids in at once, and there aren't enough chairs for moms to sit on! After about 45 min., we'd had enough. My friend, Helen, also has a three year old boy and he was freaking out. We bought the boys mini ice cream cones (tiger ice cream!) and moved to the non play area. Everyone calmed down considerably. We decided to go to my house where we could visit and play peacefully! They stayed till 2:30 p.m. and we had a great time! And another good day for Sara even though they were cooped up inside all day because of weather. Later that evening we went back to church for a BBQ they had for all the families of the kids in day camp. The kids sang their songs for us, and showed us all their crafts and projects. Sara was so proud and excited!

Friday - We dropped Sara off, made a quick trip to Wal-Mart, and then came home for a bit. The highlight of the day for Sky and I was going to have lunch with Daddy at work! Everyone at the branch loves to see the kids come in, so they can have a distraction! We ate at Cora's, a wonderful place that only serves breakfast and is famous for their crepes and omelette's. Very yummy! Sara had a very fun and busy last day of day camp. They had a carnival and one of those big, inflatable jumping things. She came home with lots of loot and all her crafts! She can hardly wait till next year already! We came home, chilled out for an hour, and then headed to the next adventure - Dragon Boat Races! And that will be in the next blog entry!

Where I Have Been :-)

Goodness, I really hadn't realized how long I've been AWOL until Jen said something!! I'm still alive and kicking! Here's the latest news....

We drove up to Edmonton (3 hours north) on Sunday afternoon, to Joshua's parents. We had a good trip thanks to our wonderful, portable DVD! We always feel guilty about using it the whole time, so we periodically make them take a break. But, it doesn't take long before a 3 year old and 6 year old have exhausted any creative ideas we have, and the DVD goes right back on! Oh well, we don't travel very often! We also stopped halfway there at Chapters (same as a Barnes and Noble) for Starbucks drinks. Also, for Daddy to give in and buy the kids something! Sara got a pink princess cape with fluffy trim and a tiara. She looks so sweet! They have such beautiful costumes there and anytime the kids and I go to look at books, they want to try everything on! Sky almost settled on the pirate costume, which he's been wanting for a long time, but then something else won out. They had these medieval times figures, and he fell in love! He got the black knight on a black horse because that's his favourite colour! They were both happy to get to Grandma and Grandpa's house and show off their new treasures!

The reason we went to Edmonton was because Joshua needed to be there on business for Monday and Tuesday. We were able to work it out for those days because we needed to be in Edmonton because of a mistake Joshua made! Let me explain. Josh Groban, my current favourite singer, was coming to Alberta and we wanted to go to the concert here in Calgary. He came 3 years ago, we went to the concert and it was incredible! So, the minute the tickets went on sale, Joshua got online and bought two. When he went to pick up the tickets, the lady said, "Oh, so you decided to go to Edmonton to hear him!" Joshua was like, "What? Really? I did that?" He inadvertently clicked the button for Edmonton and that's the way it was! It's good thing he didn't click Winnipeg or Toronto!! When Joshua found out that head office wanted him to come to Edmonton for a couple of days of training, he asked if it could coincide with the concert day. They said that would be great! So, the bank paid for the trip and meals, we got to see an amazing concert, and even got free babysitting! (More on the concert later - Joshua got some pics with his cell phone!) Then, to top it all off, when Joshua's parents found out about this trip, they offered to keep Sara and Sky for the remainder of the week, so we could come home and have some time alone! Who could resist such an offer?! We drove home Tuesday night after the concert, and the kids will be delivered on Saturday afternoon! Joshua took Wednesday off, so we took advantage of that and got so many errands done. We spent most of the day in the car, but it was fun to do everything together and get it done fast! Yesterday and today, Joshua was/is at work, so I'm enjoying the time to myself! I must admit, I hardly know what to do, so I'm probably not being as efficient as I could be! Yesterday, I went to see a friend and we exchanged some homeschooling stuff. Then, I headed to the homeschooling supply store to browse and get ideas and.....to buy a few things too! I was there for about 2 hours - it was great! I had to kill time anyway because our realtor called and said someone was coming to look at the house between 1:30-2:30. When I got home, I found out that the people ended up not coming because they were running late. Oh well.

So, today, I'm just sitting here in my pajamas and doing stuff on the computer! I think it's time to get dressed and eat breakfast! And then maybe I'll work on school preparation for a bit, and then maybe go shopping or take a nap (or both!)..... And to close, here a couple of pictures of the kids playing at the playground by Grandma and Grandpa's house. I know that blog entries are just way more interesting with pictures!

A Day Out On The Town

Today was a busy day for me and the kids. It started with a trip to the dentist in the morning. Our dentist recommended that Sky get sealants put onto his molars because they have really deep grooves in them. Since Sky did such a good job holding his mouth open and everything when he had his cleaning a few weeks ago, they decided they would go ahead and try the sealants. I could tell he was a little apprehensive, but I told him that they would stop if his mouth got too tired. He felt better about that. I think he mostly just couldn't understand what they were going to do. And it was hard for me to explain! Well, my brave little man came through again and he did an excellent job for the whole procedure! He never even whimpered and he hardly moved a muscle, for that matter! The dental assistants who did everything couldn't believe how well he did! They said they'd never done sealants on a three-year-old before! They were thoroughly impressed and I was a proud Mom! Now he has "skating rinks" on his teeth! After we were done at the dentist we stopped downtown to visit Daddy at his bank. Everyone loves it when I bring the kids in there! We stayed long enough to have some chocolate from the candy jar and draw a few pictures on Daddy's notepad paper. We had to go pretty quick because a client was supposed to be coming for an appointment soon. As it turned out, she never showed up! I was disappointed because we could have stayed to have lunch with him. Oh well! We headed home for lunch and some playtime. After that I dragged the kids out again to finish shopping for Father's Day. I'm sooo excited about what we got him! I'll tell you later since Joshua reads my blog too! It was a fun day, but we were tired. I was thankful to get the kids in bed and finally relax.

Pink Sunglasses and Other Stuff

I don't have much to report as far as family news goes. It's been a fairly normal, quiet week. I thought I'd just post a few cute pictures, because I know that's your favourite part anyway! The picture above is my favourite one of the week! They were playing with these boxes and suddenly I heard Sara yell, "Look mom! Come take a picture!" She's seen my blog and has figured out that I post cute pictures of her and Sky! I guess she thought that pose was blog worthy....and she was right!

If Sara were the one writing this post she would want to tell you that she got new pink sunglasses yesterday. And that they have little brown flowers on them that match her favourite brown purse! This girl goes through sunglasses like you wouldn't believe, by either breaking them or losing them. Somewhere there is a pink sunglasses abyss because they just seem to disappear into thin air! She has a pair of aqua blue sunglasses that we bought her when she was like 3 years old. The lenses are a light bluish colour too, but are still UV protective. Weird, but she loved them at the time. Then one day, she got pink sunglasses from Grandma and that was the end of the blue ones. The problem is, we never lose or break those blue glasses! Oh no, only the pink ones! The blue ones might get lost for a season, but we always find them! It's crazy! So, now Sara has a new pink pair and the blue pair, but....they don't count! (Oh, and not to leave her brother out, she would also tell you that Sky got a new pair of sunglasses too - sliver, with cool looking flames on the stems!)
We've had a lot of rain lately. Tuesday evening of last week, we had this incredible thunder and lightening storm! I've never seen it rain that hard in Calgary and it lasted for hours! Unfortunately, there was some major flash flooding and many homes and cars were damaged. Also, two people were struck by lightening! And several homes had fires caused by the lightening as well. It was a wild night for the emergency services in Calgary! This picture of the kids was taken in between a couple of days of rain. We took advantage of the dry day and visited our neighbourhood playground!

On Saturday we spent the afternoon at Heritage Park and this time we didn't get rained out! Sara got her ice cream cone, but Sky's fell on the ground after only a few licks. He was pretty good about it, though. He had already had candy from the general store, so that helped ease the pain! I even went on the big Ferris wheel with both the kids! Did I mention before that I'm terrified of those things?! Joshua hates them too, but he usually goes, so he said it was my turn. The absolute worst part is the loading and unloading when you end up right at the top and you're just sitting there! Ahhh! I was so scared and my crazy daughter thought it was funny! I was hanging on for dear life, and Sara is sitting beside me having a fit of laughter! Of course, that made the seat rock and I thought I would have a heart attack! Joshua was threatening to disown me if I screamed and they had to stop the ride for me! I managed to hold it together and spare him the embarrassment! Once we got going, it was better, but I still had to hold Sara's hand. Sky started to get a little concerned and wanted the ride to be done, but he was brave. Afterwards he said his tummy was "very, very hurting." Poor little guy! We caught a ride on board the SS Moyie paddlewheel boat. That's Joshua's favourite! All in all, it was a fun day, and we went home tired, but happy!

This week has been just normal stuff like school and laundry and grocery shopping. Tonight Joshua are going on a date, so I'm looking forward to that! I'm also getting a haircut, so that should make me feel beautiful!

Here's one last picture! The kids have these big ducks that Grandma got them for Easter and Sky discovered a very unique use for them - a seat to slide down the stairs on! The "feathers" are kind of slippery, so they actually go pretty fast! It's hilarious! And it's great padding for their tailbones! The ideas kids come up with!