Monday, September 27, 2010
Nothing Exciting Pet peeve: Wind blowing my side swept bangs to the other side of my face. Once the wind stops the bangs flop down right in front of my eyes and all out of place.
It's soooo windy here! It takes windyness to a whole new level. Our bbq cover is constantly blown off. On garbage day people's garbage cans are blown all over the road and down the street. It's crazy.
Do I need to tell you that Adriel loves joy school? Is there anyone who doubted he would? The first day he cried when it was time for him to come home. None of the other kids cried. The other kids like to go home with their moms. I'm not complaining that Adriel is social and likes to be with other kids without me being around, that's good. It's the crying that I could do with out. So we had a talk later when he was calmed down about it and the next time he was fine. I just have to remember to talk to him about that stuff before it happens so as to avoid it all together. Hey, I certainly don't claim to be a perfect parent.
Kyle's drawings were shown as an example to the rest of the class today. Yep, that's my man!
Today, after I put Sloan down for a nap, Adriel and I ate lunch together. That kid can be such a bottomless pit sometimes! I let him play a game on the computer (a sesame street one) and I puttered around for a bit cleaning. Then I settled onto the couch to do my scripture reading. Sometimes when I sit on my couch, my body sinks into it perfectly and it envelops me. This was one of those times. So when I finished reading, I thought I'd just close my eyes for a few minutes. After a while Adriel found me as he always does. He grabbed a pillow, and without saying a word he climbed beside me and cuddled right into me. I pretended I was asleep. He had the hiccups. It wasn't long before his breathing slowed and I watched his long black eyelashes close against his cheeks. Children really are so precious when they sleep. I just lied there and cuddled him and cherished my beautiful four year old boy for a few minutes before getting up. I love moments like those. I don't really like for him to have naps because he doesn't settle at night, and because sometimes he's so much crankier when he wakes up, but sometimes it's hard to resist when your child wants to sleep. I didn't let him sleep long.
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Sarahstottle posted @ 7:23 PM
Monday, September 20, 2010
A Father Who Loves His Daughter. This week was hard for me. I felt like I'd been caught up in this mundane world of staying at home with bored kids who will only play if I play with them alllll day, counting down the hours til Kyle gets home from school only to learn that he has homework (naturally) and feeling sooooo bored and lonely (seriously, having adults to talk to really makes a difference), and then waking up and doing it all again the next day. I've been praying and praying for me to find joy and purpose in my life, and ways to keep my children happy and to use the time that I have with my kids to do things that will uplift them. Let's face it, all mothers know that if their kids aren't happy neither are they. It's almost worst than being unhappy yourself. Not to say that my kids have been miserable, but I've really been feeling like I need to find something for Adriel. I've tried looking into a few recreational things, but most things are full and/or cost a lot of money. By the end of the week I was feeling pretty discouraged and alone. I get discouraged easily. I know we've only been here for three weeks (it feels longer in some ways) and that getting settled takes time. I'm impatient. I've never had to do this before. So anyway, I'd been having a lot of pleading conversations with Heavenly Father about how I can feel more like this is my home, and less lonely.
I will say that just being able to go to the gym has been a huge help. It gets us out of the house. I get a break from the kids. They love it. They have a lot of fun playing there. I feel sooooo much better after I'm done too. So there is that.
Then this happened:
Thursday evening Genevieve called me. She was hoping I could cut her hair the next day because it was her and her husband's anniversary. Of course, I agreed. A friend to play with Adriel, and some adult company is welcome in my home! I didn't get too excited about it though, because I was just giving her a much needed (according to her) haircut, and that was her reason for coming over (this is what I told myself) It's not like she was calling just to hang out. She has a lot going on with her house right now, their kitchen flooded, and now its basically gutted and their dealing with their insurance claim and all the stuff that they need to figure out. It's like her life, plus she has two young kids of her own which is why I haven't bothered her to hang out before.
So she came over. I cut her hair, and styled it. She looked pretty good if I do say so myself, but that's because she's naturally pretty, not me. And we visited. She mentioned off hand about something called joy school for her son Jacob (the one Adriel's age). My ears perked up and I asked what it was. So apparently, her and a few other moms from church in the other ward that we share a building with do it together. It's a preschool program that you teach from your home. The moms all take a turn teaching. So it would be at Genevieve's one week and another mom's the next, etc. She said it was a really good program and that they were actually hoping to find some other mothers who were interested. So she gave me the web link and I looked it up after she left, even though I pretty much knew already that I wanted to do it. Sure, I can have kids over two times a month! Other than paying for the curriculum, which is reasonable, it's free. So I looked it up. The Joy School curriculum is built around joy -- with the philosophy that happy children become strong students and well adjusted adults. Some of the lessons are The joy of the Body, the joy of the earth, the joy of sharing and service...you get the point. I was just so happy that this sort of fell into my lap. I know it wasn't a coincidence, but an answer to my prayers. It'll will give me something to do, and it'll help me get to know other mothers and feel like a part of something. AND I know Adriel will LOVE it. It's all boys too. Good times.
Turns out after all this, that Genevieve happens to be related to Andrea's midwife Marla. And one of the other mothers doing joy school with us, is Marla's daughter in law. Marla has a big "family" dinner at her house every third Sunday. Genevieve thought it would be a good idea to invite us because the other mothers doing joy school were going to be there and she thought it would be good to for me to meet them. When she asked Marla if we could come, Marla was planning on inviting us anyways because she knew that I'm Andrea's sister.
Marla has a big beautiful house out in the country. As soon as she saw me she said "Oh yes, I can see that you're Andrea's sister." Apparently most of her family has moved away, so for these dinners, she invites new young people in her ward, and other young families with kids. There were a lot of people there, but it didn't feel uncomfortable strangely enough. It was just like one of our family potlucks back home. Lots of people, lots of kids. And Marla is one of those types of people you just feel comfortable around. The style of her house reminds me a bit of grandpa and Rene's old house but bigger. It has a really neat lay out. So, we visited with various people and watched our kids play and eat. Then Marla gathered everyone into her living room for a singing time. Adriel sat on her lap. One of her sons (the only one that lives here I think...) can play the guitar and so he played some songs at people's requests and we sang along, or just enjoyed the music. We had such a nice time, and the kids had a blast. I suppose that I should mention that at one point Adriel and Jacob climbed out a window onto the roof and we couldn't find them when it was time to go. That's the kind of child I have...Luckily everything was ok, but scary! It just felt like a little piece of home to me, and I know that was another gift from Heavenly Father, letting me know I'm loved and being taken care of.
So, it turns out I have a lot to be thankful for. I know that these challenges are good for me, and that I need them to grow... I'm so lucky I have the people at church. If it weren't for church, I probably wouldn't have met anyone yet, and I would be in a much more miserable state than I'm in now. I'm learning things about myself. I need people. I love my little family and I like being at home, but not all the time, all day long. I need to have things to do too.
Other highlights of the week include: Adriel got a new bunk bed, which he loves, and I finally have a dresser for Sloan. It's feeling more and more like home around here. I also got to go to Relief Society here for the first time (thanks to Kyle giving me a hand with Sloan in nursery) and it was wonderful. Just what I needed sooo much. One of those things you don't realize how much you need until you get it. Another blessing from Heavenly Father. He must really love me.
7 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 8:22 AM
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Seriously, I'm such a wimp when it comes to change.
Our first Sunday at church I had almost a permanent lump at the back of my throat, thinking about the people I missed. We were welcomed though. Almost immediately after entering the building we were greeted. We sat down in our pew and some missionaries started talking to Kyle. The lady in front must have overheard because she turned around and asked where we moved from. Basically once she found out where we were from, she figured I was a Clarke. It was Darlene Waldee and her husband! For those of you who don't know who she is, she's Mom's high school friend. I thought I wouldn't want people to automatically know me as a Clarke, but it was comforting at that moment. Coincidentally, she and her husband were just visiting that week and we just happened to sit behind them.
Adriel went straight into the primary room with out even looking back. He was so starving for interaction with other children. Of course, I ended up in nursery with Sloan. The nursery was weird. That's all I have to say about that. Not long after I had entered, another girl came in with her enormously chubby and super cute little boy named Jude. She introduced herself. Her name is Genevieve. We talked for a while. She had two little boys, right around Adriel and Sloan's age. She also coincidentally used to live almost right across the street from me.
After church a lot more people introduced themselves. We got an impromtu invite to another family's house for dinner along with Genevieve and her family. They have four boys and a girl. Also extreeeeemely chubby and cute. I know what you're thinking: That's not bad, first Sunday at church and already getting invited and included by other young families. It's true. We had a really nice time too. The kids played and played. We visited. They are a really nice family. Her name is Jill and her husband, Josh helped us move in. She's one of those people who has five kids, and even though her life is crazy, it's no big deal. She's really laid back. I admire her sort.
We had a primary activity last Friday. Adriel was in heaven. Afterwards we came home (Kyle had a late day at school that day) and I put the kids to bed, jumped into my jammies and got settled on the couch with Kyle to watch a movie. He had even surprised me with a blizzard. Then my phone rang. It was Genevieve. She and a bunch of girls were going out to a cheap movie and she invited me. Normally I would have probably said no, seeing as I was in my pajamas and ready to watch a movie with Kyle. But Kyle was like "Go!" because he knows how lonely I'd been feeling, and I knew that if they were making an effort to invite me to things that I should say yes. So I went. We saw eclipse, which I was totally fine with seeing for a second time. It was late when it was over though, and one of the ladies said "I don't want to go home!" We ended up going to a nearby timmies and chatting around a table. Genevieve was my ride so I couldn't go home. I was soooo tired. Sloan had woken up at 5:45 that morning!! I didn't get home until 2am. That may not be late for some of you, but midnight is late for me. It's my max. Still it was nice to get to know the girls in my ward better.
Also I joined a gym. Well not really joined, my membership from Nanaimo just transfers over. The gym is huge. Its so well organized, it's sort of overwhelming. It doesn't have that homey feel that my last gym had. I knew the owner and he even recognized my voice over the phone. I knew some of the instructors pretty well, and the person that did the childminding. It was comfortable. That being said though, its soooo nice. There's a huge coed side and a huge side just for women, and I can go on either side (although I'm more partial to women, because that's just what I'm comfortable with). There's a rock climbing wall, there's a hot yoga room (I have to pay for those classes though, but I've always wanted to try hot yoga) there's two huuuuge rooms for classes. There are zumba classes which I'm excited about AND there's a hot tub and sauna in the change room! It's nice. The kids seem to like the childminding. Sloan didn't even cry when I left. I'm not sure if that was a fluke but he never does that!!
Other than that though, not much has been happening. Adriel is dying for some friends to play with and I'm having to make up for it, by playing with him quite a bit. I got him into a library kids reading thing that starts in October, but I need to find some other stuff for him and to fill our days with.
I post pics of my house as soon as our landlords come and get their huge piano out of my living room. That won't be until October.
5 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 7:34 PM
Sunday, September 12, 2010
The boy gets a haircut and park picaloos You don't even want to know how much of a headache this post has been for me. From random whole paragraphs deleting themselves over and over again for no reason,to stupid weird things happening to the pictures and where my writing was. I ended up erasing it all and starting over. And frankly, after all that trouble I don't feel like writing about it again. The jist is that Sloan got his first hair cut and there are some before and after pictures randomly dispersed through out this blog because I couldn't get them to go in the right order. See if you can figure it out. The rest were a day at the park and the field with a random sandbox behind our house. Why am I the only one who has problems with the pictures??? Am I that computer illiterate? It makes me angry! There has to be a better way!
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| Thought you might wonder what Winnipeg looks like. This is a field at a school right by our house. |
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| So this is one of his before pics. Note:ear flaps and wingies. Guilty as charged, but I liked them...until they go out of control, and people kept mistaking him for a girl. |
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| A chubby meaty hand reaches into the hole. |
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| playing peekaboo |
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| I could not get Adriel to look at me properly for the life of me, so this is all I got. He's so weirdly awkward when I bring the camera out, plus like he wants to pose forever when he's busy playing. Something about his eyebrows remind me a bit of Layne here. |
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| An after shot of my handsome boy's hair cut. |
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| Another before shot. ( I actually did explain the first time I wrote this blog that Kyle had taken both cameras with him to school that day and I couldn't wait any longer so there are no "official" before and after pics, in case you were wondering... |
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| Pointing at the horses. He loves horses, but he calls them neighs. |
4 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 7:09 PM
Saturday, September 04, 2010
The move and other such stuff. I wrote this email to Laura and she said that I should post it on my blog. I decided to do that just because actually writing about my whole move and everything that's been experienced since we moved here is intimidating. But first for those of you who don't know all the problems we had I give a quick recap:
-After finally getting our u-haul trailer, and carefully jam-packing it I smelled soy sauce. I could tell it was leaking and there was no way to get at it. I had nightmares that it was getting all over my couch and mattress. What was I thinking packing soy sauce!!!!? I said a prayer and begged Heavenly Father for a miracle, and in the end it was a miracle. It only got on the corner of my bookcase.
-Once our u haul was packed and the back of the truck was packed we realized we had not planned for enough room for our stuff after all. We still had tones of stuff left in our house and it was 10 or so at night and we were supposed to leave the next morning. Ann saved us on that one though, thank goodness and payed for another uhaul truck which I ended up driving pulling my car behind it. However before that solution, I was majorly panicked and Katie was by my side helping me go through stuff I really needed and things that I could do with out. She kept reassuring me, and Brent stayed until midnight shampooing my carpets.
-So we spent another full day cleaning and packing the truck. With plans to leave the next morning. That put us day behind.
-Did I mention that through all of this Sloan was sick with hand foot and mouth disease? If you don't know what that is, its fever for the first day or two and then you break out into a rash, sore thing on your hands mouth and feet. He was very irritable about that. I maybe got two hours of sleep the night before we left because he was so uncomfortable and wouldn't settle.
-The next morning we couldn't find the keys to the u-haul. We searched high and low. Finally Kyle went back to look in Chris Russell's truck which we had borrowed and they were smushed in the crack of the seat.
-By the time we said our very tearful and sad goodbyes to Ann and Katie and her girls, we set off in hopes to catch the 12:50 ferry. We got the ferry terminal at 12. We didn't make it on. Kyle and I were the first two cars stopped.
-This put us in Vancouver during rush hour. Sloan screamed for an hour and half straight due to his hfmd irriation. I tried to administer advil to him from my seat while driving. We arrived at Andrea's around midnight. Exhausted.
-The next morning we were up and ready to go around 9:30. But no. the strap around our tire holding our car onto the tow thing came off and Kyle couldn't put it on right because it was latched through wrong and jammed in. We had to wait for someone from uhaul to come and fix it. When we left it was 11:30. So much for an early start!
-Calgary found us at about 9:30. We stayed at Karey's. We pretty much went straight to bed and were ready to go at about 8:30am. Nope. Couldn't find the keys to the uhaul AGAIN!!! Turns out I locked them in the truck. We called BCAA which Kyle smartly bought for our trip and a guy came to break in. Nope. You can't break into the uhaul trucks. They put a special bar across so you can't jimmy in. So then we had to call a locksmith which took three hours. By the time we were on the road it was 1pm....
That's our trip out here. The rest was without any major glitches. Many times before I left I found myself thinking "I need Mom. Why can't Mom be here? Mom would be able to help me handle this problem!!" It wasn't until I left that I looked back on everything and realized that Katie was my mudsy. She showed up and spent days at my house helping- Just doing things that needed to be done and taking initiative without even needing to ask. She just knew what needed to be done and did it. She also brought an army of sweet nieces who were a big help too. Running little errands here and there and just being lovable. She stayed into the late night, and she was back first thing the next morning, even before I was there. She helped me feel calm and reassured me countless times. And when we didn't know how we were going to get our stuff out here, she was even willing to send Brent out here with a load of stuff. Brent was a huge help to Kyle with loading stuff and just doing the things that were man jobs that Kyle didn't get to in time. And they sent us with delicious brent-made brownies peaches and a confetti loaf of bread with cheese and green pepper in it for the road. They must of honestly put their whole lives on hold for the week before we left to help us.You can't imagine what a blessing their help was. You can't imagine how hard it was to say goodbye either.
So that's what you need to know about my move here. I'll get to the rest of my life next post. Now for my email to Laura:
Middle earth Canada is good I suppose. It's really green here and there's lots of trees, but it's still flat. It hasn't been all that warm here either, which makes me think that fall must be here. The day we got here it was really really muggy, and it's been muggy off and on since. We have an air conditioning in our room and we've used it a few nights. It's not hot, but once you start doing something that requires energy exertion you sweat (such as unpacking things) Right now we don't actually have the real internet (we're getting it today between 10 and 12- if you must know) we're just mooching off someone who lives close to us. Today is finally sunny. It's been cloudy and raining off and on with random periods of sunshine since we got here. Hope it stays. I want to see Lake Winnipeg before it gets too cold. I'm sorry, I'm sure the weather report of winnipeg isn't what you wanted. How dull am I? It's hard to believe that I'm actually here, though. That this is my home now. That I'm living in a completely new province. That I don't know anyone. The first few days I woke up feeling sad and alone about it (since Kyle started school right away, I've pretty much been on my own all day everyday) but I think part of that is the overwhelming feeling of unpacking all the chaos on my own. I immediately missed Katie and all her help and company and opinions about where to put things, and Ann for taking the kids so I could focus on getting things done. I had all this wonderful help on the other end of the move and it just seemed to make me feel more alone here. But now that my house is looking more like a home and I have driven a few places, so I know if I needed to I could make it to a store and stuff, I feel better. I knew this would be a hard move and I know I'm going to have days where I really miss Nanaimo and everyone. To top off the week and the move and everything, Kyle and I both got sick. Him with a bad bad cough and me with a yucky cold, so there was a day or two where I just didn't want to do anything but lie on the couch. Then, as I was catching up on your blog and I kept reading about how you hunkered down and tackled your unpacking and how good it felt and stuff, it was like this underlying message to me: Get to work.
That being said, there's so many places I want to go and explore with Kyle. Tons of restaurants and fun shopping places. Being in a big city is intimidating to me, but fun too.
So that's life so far here. Adriel is longing for some friends. There was a boy climbing a fence a few yards down from us and Adriel said hi to him on our way into the car. I don't even think he answered, he just stared at us, but Adriel is convinced that he's his new friend. He said "I just made him up as my friend." He keeps asking to go to his house. I have no idea where he lives and even if I did. I'm not the sort to show up on a stranger's doorstep and ask if my kid can play with their kid.
7 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 6:00 PM