Burt Bear

Puddles + me = enemies

2012-01-31T09:18:00.000-08:00

What is it about boys and mud puddles? There's a magnetic attraction that pulls the two together, and apparently it cant be broken. You can try but it won't work. Instead you stand there and watch helplessly and your sons jump into gross dirty water and you cringe. It's not as bad if they are wearing appropriate boots, but even then, I can't help but cringe. They don't step carefully in either. They slosh through splashing as much as possible. Right now at Adriel's school there are giant deep puddles under each swing. The swings happen to be Sloan's favorite. He wants me to push him on them everyday. If Sloan steps in the puddle, the whole bottom part of his boot is swallowed up by water. *cringe* Then there's the fun straddling of the super wide puddle that I have to do in order to get him on the swing. There's slushy snow surrounding the puddle threatening to take me down, and soak me and humiliate me. I hate having wet feet.

woo hoo

2012-01-21T23:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight Becky showed us a very fun tobogganing hill. Its in Westbank. We packed up and went after dark. It was sooooo fun and exhilarating. I haven't been to a hill that steep ever. Well there were steep parts and not as steep parts and then after you go down the main big one, there were other little ones. It was complex. And totally fun. I was scared to go down the steep one at first. It is SO steep!!! Like straight down. But, Kyle dragged me and away I went, and after that I was hooked. Becky and I kept going over and over. The hike back up was quite exhausting and I had to tote Sloan up a few times which about killed me. Kyle couldn't do much because his knee is still hurt. After a few runs he was done. When we got home, it was way past bedtime and the kids conked out pretty fast. Fun. I'm glad we finally have some snow and it's not too freezing to play in. Adriel was so excited to get to try out his new snowboard he got for Christmas. He spent a good bulk of the time practicing that at a much less steep area. I admired his determination. Falling and getting snow in his face did not seem to discourage him at all.

This week was a busy one, but it was good. At our soccer game on Tuesday, we won 9-5. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I scored 4 times. It's been a really long time since that's happened. I don't get to play forward all the time. It was so fun. I was in my element. I felt the need to mention it on here, because who else can I tell? I'm allowed to be a little proud about that right?

Today was a relief society activity, and a birthday party for Adriel and a dentist appointment for Kyle and I watched Nathan (Becky's son) in the morning...Sometimes I just wish for a day that we don't have anything we have to do. It seems every weekend usually gets busy and it's over too fast. I like being busy and having fun things to do, but I like a down day too.

Bed time for me- this 9am church is taking some getting used to. I like to have time to primp. 9am doesn't allow for that.

2012-01-17T17:11:00.000-08:00

Today I:

-got out of bed
-took Adriel to school
-picked up whole wheat flour to make bread on the way home
-started the bread
-worked on room project (I'll show pics when I'm done)
-dishes
-laundry
-started turkey soup
-put Sloan down for a nap
-read scriptures
-ate lunch while watching the bachelor (judge me if you must)
-read some blogs and checked email
-woke up Sloan to get Adriel
-stopped at Walmart on the way home for supplies for my room project
-baked bread
-supplies didn't really work for room project, grrrr
-vacuumed
-took breaks from vacuuming to deal with fighting children
-mopped
-took breaks from mopping to deal with fighting children (uuuuugh!)

And that brings me to now. Oh wait, I was just asked to go and wipe a bum.

And, that's my life folks. Not all that interesting to write about, unless really fun things happen in which I get too busy to actually write about them...It's a little overwhelming.

On another note, among my new years resolutions is my goal to run the Seattle half marathon in June. I already knew I wanted to do this before the new year, but I waited for the new year to start running. Right now I'm just getting my body used to running, because I haven't really ran in a long time. (other than soccer) This means running outside in the freezing cold. I actually don't mind it though. I just get bundled up. I find it peaceful, a chance to think and get away from it all. What I mean by "it all" is the above mentioned day I've had so far. If I were to finish the list according to the way a typical day goes it would go like this
-make dinner
-feed family
-clean up after dinner
-stories/ tv time for kids
-jammies
-brush teeth
-bed
-go back and forth giving Sloan more hugs and kisses and drinks and putting his blankets back on, answering whether or not the door is locked (something he checks every night, so the kangaroos can't come in) until he finally gives in to sleep.
-watch tv with Kyle
-Bed

But tonight I have a soccer game which means I get to leave before the bed part. Yay.

OY

2011-12-17T07:18:00.000-08:00

I have this letter blocks that spell out JOY that I made last year for my Christmas decorations. Sloan loves to take these blocks down and do different things with them. Often, I am left with out a J, thus it says OY.

These last weeks have been cuhRAZY for Kyle. He has six finals. SIX. The last three of which have been back to back. He gets up early, goes to school. Studies for a bit, writes his exam of the day, (three hours long- ugh) and then goes back to studying for the rest of the day. He comes home at around 6. We eat. Then he's back to studying for the remainder of the evening. I go to bed around 11. He comes to bed sometime in the early morning. He has been working so hard. He's exhausted. I admire him for doing all this. What a hard working man I married.

In the meantime, I have been trying to get ready for Christmas. We leave tomorrow. I admit, I'm feeling a bit anxious about it. It feels like it hasn't been that long since I did the whole living out of a suitcase thing, going from house to house and invading with my children. I don't like being someones guest and it being stressful for them, and that seems to be inevitable with my little hoodlums. However, I hope things will go well, and that we'll have lots of fun, because I'm excited to see family, and family is what it's all about. It really is. And looking back on the last year, I'm so glad that we are closer to family now. Especially at this time of year. So, inspite of my anxiety I know we'll have a good time.

I have really been enjoying playing on a coed soccer team with Kyle. It's something fun for us to look forward to every week that we get to go out with out our kids and do together, and it's exercise. Win-win. Our team is ranked one of the lowest in the league, but we're getting better, and winning more games. I like to win, we all know this, and really, what Clarke doesn't prefer to win?? Don't hold it against me. I don't get really mad at our team or anything if we lose. ha ha.

Happy Saturday, and Merry Christmas!!

Picture a Christmas

2011-12-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

What more can I say?

The goose is getting fat...

2011-12-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

cute hair, right?

Our tree. I really like it. It looks prettier in person. We've never had one like this. The pine needles are really long and soft and they have a bit of a blueish tint. I'm all about the tree at Christmas. Kyle didn't want to get one since we are spending Christmas at home. Since he loves me, he obliged. He has this saying "What the sweetie wants, the sweetie gets." I like it when he says that.

so in love with this kid

Parenting 505

2011-12-02T12:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I got my wish. I have some daycare kids. It's very part time- two days a week. They are two little girls named Alexa and Shayla, ages 4 and 3. They are sweet and cute and very well behaved. They tell me every little thing that Sloan does that could possibly be wrong. I found myself thinking "Is parenting really this easy for some people?" and "What did I do to deserve such challenging children? So unfair!" Then I remembered a few things. Like maybe they are better behaved for me than they are for their own parents. And I remembered the lesson which was given in relief society this last week which was from a general conference talk in April of this last year. I was very grateful for that lesson, seeing as the difficulty I've been having lately has caused a need for this reminder:

"A sweet and obedient child will enroll a father or mother only in Parenting 101. If you are blessed with a child who tests your patience to the nth degree, you will be enrolled in Parenting 505. Rather than wonder what you might have done wrong in the premortal life to be so deserving, you might consider the more challenging child a blessing and opportunity to become more godlike yourself. With which child will your patience, long-suffering, and other Christlike virtues most likely be tested, developed, and refined? Could it be possible that you need this child as much as this child needs you?"

So, parenting 505 it is.

Bannud

2011-11-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

It's about time I tell you that we got a bunny. We named her Bannud Foo foo. We love her!!! This is our first pet, and I have to say I'm liking it. She's low maintenance and soooooo cute and soft. The boys love her too. Especially Sloan. At some point I should post some pictures, especially before she's full grown. Who doesn't love a baby bunny? She's so tame too. Yep, we love her. We got her from Andrea who has baby bunnies regularly at her house.

In other news that should be mentioned. I'm on two indoor soccer teams. One is co-ed with Kyle, the other is an all girls team. It just sort of happened that I ended up on two teams, and I'm not complaining. It's fun to play with Kyle, and it's fun to play with all girls. Last week we made more of a date out of it and went to see Breaking Dawn. SO. GOOD. Ever since we watched it I've been craving to go and watch it again.

Today I started getting Christmas decorations out. What can I say? I embrace this time of year, and Katie, if you're reading this- which is doubtful because I know my blog is on the bottom of your blog list- I say if you have a fake tree, why not put it up a little earlier? Since it's a hassle for you, you may as well go through the hassle to enjoy it for a longer period of time. What's wrong with extending the Christmas enjoyment? In my opinion it all comes and goes too fast.

I've been trying to get some day care work. It would help us out a lot if we had a little extra income, and this is the only way that I've come up with that would let me take care of my own kids. I really only want one or two kids. It's been hard though, because I don't really know anyone, to spread the word, and I haven't had a lot of response to my adds that I've put up. Today at strong start and Adriel's school I got some leads. Apparently it's the thing to do. I see lots of women at Adriel's school that do it. I sort of want to tell them to stop hogging all the kids. One lady has like 6 kids with her when she picks up her kid. Sheesh. Share. Maybe something will come up soon...

I really don't have that interesting of a life, which is why I don't write very often.

I wish I was crafty and had the materials and space to create lots of cute things, especially at this time of year. Trying to come up with gifts can be hard.

Sloanster

2011-11-14T20:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a list of things my monster has done in just the past two weeks:

- Went into the cupboards and got the icing sugar and dumped it all out in the toy box.

- Coloured a nice black border around my mattress with mascara on the day my bedding had been stripped

-Found a wood pen that was left in the house when we got here and used it to color the floor, the wall, the toy box, the toilet seat and my couch

-Got into the bathroom cleaner and found a spray with bleach and sprayed his room, bleached clothes, blankets, you name it

- I put the bathroom cleaner up really high, and he got it down (I still haven't figured out how) and sprayed again. I had to hide it in a really hard place to get at.

-Got into my make up again and spilled my gold powder in his room (getting into my makeup is a new thing. Since he's getting bigger, and I've always kept my makeup in a drawer and it's never been a problem, I wasn't expecting to have to deal with it now)

- Laura came and he got into her lotions and toners and dumped them out and smeared them on her new camp cot.

- We finally got these child proof things for our bathroom drawers. Yet, somehow he still managed to open it enough to stuff his chubby paws in and get Laura's mascara. He did this while he had been in the bathroom to go poop. Instead of calling me to wipe his bum, he sat down on the bathroom floor and colored the floor with the mascara. He also got it allll over his bare legs. You can imagine the clean up. I put him in the bath.

- Laura and I left to replace the mascara, hers and mine, and get hair products. When we came back, the shop vac was in the house. Sloan had dumped a whole bag of flour out in our living room, all over the couch, all over Adriel who was too engrossed in his tv show to notice until it was too late.

Looking like a sweet little angel while sleeping.


Fruits of his labour.

What am I going to do with this kid?? Lock every cupboard in my house??? Here I was thinking that the terrible twos were almost over.

I'll laugh about this one day, right??

-

A picture update...

2011-10-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

I'm still surprised at how fearless Adriel is of the bike park.

This is what he did when he realized the camera was out.

Sloan's my boy.

Rewind a few months to when I was staying with Andrea and we went to see Redfish play.

While we were at Andrea's Sloan got wet and then rolled in dirt. Awesome.

I promised Leah I would take a picture of myself going to my grad reunion by myself, because I'm cool like that.

My big boy on the first day of school.

Isn't he handsome?

Handsome, right?

This is our living room

From another angle

Front entrance and dining area. That white thing on the left is my favourite thing that we got from ikea ever. It's for shoes. No more ugly shoe mess at the front door.

The bathroom

Owen and Sloan watching tv together. I thought it was cute how close Sloan had snuggled up to Owen.


A cute fat urchin of a boy.			And that's about it.

Too Much Fun

2011-10-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well there was a lot of sister fun had, and also a lot of lack of sleep, especially on Bethany's part. There was movie watching, there was shopping, there was toting kids to and from parks, there was laughing and eating good food (of course). There was sharing of clothes. Biffy and I agreed that when our wardrobes are paired together, it makes one cute wardrobe. We even traded a pair of jeans for a while- which I don't regret. When Bethany left I was sad. I went a whole week with companionship and fun. I didn't want to be alone again. I had the blues. In an attempt to cheer up, we went to the bike park and watched and took pictures of Adriel for his poster (he was star of the week at school and we were invited to make a poster about him- on a side note, I went over board and spent three hours making it because I wanted it to be creative and perfect.) While we were at the bike park I heard a familiar growl (she calls it that, but I think of it more as a moany-groan) and I turned and there was Bethany. She threw this particular circle scarf that I had been wanting really badly on my lap and growled again. You see, she got this circle scarf from American Apparel. You can wear it so many ways, it's so neat and while we were there I saw one that I wanted to but couldn't afford. I was coveting hers all week. She just showed up at the park and surprised me with it. I was so surprised and confused. How did she know I was at the park? She just guessed since I wasn't home. That gesture has made me love the scarf even more, because it's a piece of Bethany's love. It helped take the edge of her leaving of a bit. I want to wear it everyday. I love it. Sisters really are the best.

Kyle caught it on film, but it was double exposed.

Kangawoos

2011-10-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm annoyed that there's something dirty on my shirt after I just washed it, as in, whatever it is, it didn't come out. This annoys me.

Sloan thinks deer are kangaroos. One night as we were leaving Chris and Kimme's in Nanaimo, there were a lot of deer hanging around. For some reason this really spooked him. Now his constant fear is that a Kangaroo is going to get him. He hurries from the car to the house for this reason. He also asks me a lot if there are kangaroos outside while we're driving and various times while we're outside. He says "Kangawoos no eat me?" He tells me that they're hiding and sometimes he pretends that a kangaroo is eating me. Silly boy.

Last night we had some company for dinner. Vanessa and Jesse. They're from Calgary. Kyle and Jesse were in the same ward at one point in Kyle's youth. Vanessa befriended me at church. She also saved me from Sloan in nursery. I like her, she's really nice. They have twin girls in between Sloan and Adriel's ages. Their girls are very timid and quiet. Maybe they aren't always like that, but they were while at our house. Sloan and Adriel on the other hand were so loud, rambunctious and kept fighting over toys. Sloan would have these scream-crying out bursts. He must have been tired, because he's not always that bad. I'm sure we made them feel glad that they had girls. I made ribs. There were two different kinds. One was a recipe from Jordan from way back before kids (feels like a long time ago) called "Freakin Good Ribs." It's an old faithful recipe that we enjoy. The other one I tried for the first time that I got online called Sweet and Tangy Carribean Ribs. They had special rub and then an orange/lime juice sauce. They were both good. I tricked our friends into thinking I'm a good cook. We visited for a while and then they had to leave due to bed time. It was a good time. Kyle and Jesse have a lot in common. Jesse is an electrical engineer. They have many similar interests.

Speaking of Kyle, this summer we really got into the new Ron Sexsmith album. We both think he's really talented and this is our favourite album so far. I think you should check it out. You won't regret it (unless your Andrea, and find his style too mellow) It's called Late Bloomer.

The Bethaneezer is coming today for a visit and I'm anxiously awaiting her arrival. It's going to be a week of sister fun I hope.

I love my husband

2011-09-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

I remember when I first got married, how weird it felt to have a husband and to be a wife. It was a good weird. Now it's weird to think of it any other way. If I didn't have a husband, who would fix the computer when it's not working, or lift the heavy things that need lifting, or open jars that I can't, figure it out if there's a problem with our car, or hug me when I need it?

I'm lucky. I have a smart hard working man. He works really hard. At everything. Not just at school but to support us too. And when he comes home he's so exhausted, but he still hangs out with me. He takes care of me. And he thinks I'm pretty. I think he looks pretty good too. We like to do the same things, which usually includes watching something good and eating something yummy (on occasion, and yes food can make us happy). I always look forward to my time with him, and I never get sick of it. I have a good man, and I'm happy he's mine.

Just another day

2011-09-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

I was just looking back on my blog from last September. Some of the entries are identical. Like, how hard it is to move and not have friends, and being lonely, etc. Also, some of the things I read about, I can't believe it's been a year already since they happened because I feel like it just did. That's a sign of getting older isn't it?

I've been writing in my blog a lot. That's how bored I've been. I like to have free time, but I get stuck into ruts and don't know what to do with myself.

Today I took Adriel to school. Then I came home and did a vigorous workout. I didn't feel like working out. I didn't feel like doing much of anything. Kyle was going to be gone aaaaaaallll day. On days like that, sometimes I feel discouraged about doing the regular things. So to get myself out of feeling like that, I did a hard workout. It worked somewhat, but it also exhausted me. I showered, fumfered, and went to Save On to get some ingredients to make cookies (as per Adriel's request). Came home, put Sloan down for a nap and then the RS pres came to visit me. She's a nice lady. She's a mother of triplets. Originally she had quadruplets but one died after birth. Isn't that crazy? I mean you hear of that happening to people, but this is the first person I've met that had experienced that. We visited for a while. She left. I tried to nap (the kids woke up way too early this morning). Sloan woke me up 20 minutes later. Since our first bike ride he's been asking and asking to go on another one. I didn't really feel like it since I had done a vigorous work out that morning, but we went anyway, to pick Adriel up from school. That is a work out. It's almost all up hill to his school. The way home was fun though, and the only way I would have been able to handle it once adding Adriel's weight to the trailer. When we got home Adriel was all gung-ho about making cookies. I cleaned up and snacked on grapes from my yard. As we started making the cookies I started feeling nauseous. To the point of throwing up. I have no idea why. I don't seem to have the flu. I felt fine after. I kept dinner down. Weird huh? No, I'm not pregnant. Then I went to pick Kyle up from school only for him to leave for work 5 mins later. It's kind of like a mean teaser. We had eggs and pancakes for dinner. After getting sick I didn't feel like making my original meal plan. Now I've just been chillin with the kiddos. Very interesting innit?

Katie introduced me to this breakfast that's on her meal plan for her Insanity thing that she's doing. It's 1% cottage cheese, fruit, this crunchy kashi cereal and flax seeds. It's so good! The cereal adds the perfect crunch. Today I put in nectarine that I bought at the farmer's market. Oh my goodness. Divine. Those nectarines are amazing. Hands down my most favorite fruit in the whole world. I can't even tell you. I wish you could know.

Yucky Slug

2011-09-21T17:01:00.000-07:00

As Laura mentioned in her blog we had a lot of issues with the slugs around our tent while we were camping. At one point I was getting out of our tent and Adriel and Sloan were admiring a slug that was right on our front mat. "Aww." Sloan said in his high adoring voice. I said "No, slugs aren't nice."
"They're not?" he asked.
"No, they're yucky" To which he immediately changed his tone and said "Go back to yours home yucky slug!" Kyle and I really got a kick out of it, and I felt it should be documented. It was especially funny in his gravelly voice and his soft 'R's. That kid has such a personality. I don't know what to do with him sometimes.

Today, I explored the farmer's market with Sloan. We came home with a heavy bag full of fruit and vegetables. After some cleaning, we went for a bike ride. I want to do this regularly. It's good exercise pulling Sloan in the trailer and he likes it too. The only hard part is when I'm huffing up a hill and he wants me to talk to him. I love my bike. I love getting back into the biking world. It's been a long time.

Last night we took Adriel to the bike park. It's a part of the big park by our house. He has been dying to go there for a while. He was so excited to try it out. He had some good wipe outs, but he found some parts he could do, and he loved it. I'm surprised by his drive. A lot of kids would have been discouraged and not wanted to try again after one fall. Not Adriel. Teenagers zooming around him doing all kinds of tricks, and he's not intimidated. I don't know why I'm that surprised. I know I was the same way with my bike when I was young too.

He's doing well in school so far. At first he had a hard time with it being all day. But I think it's getting better now. He's already learned a lot of French. Today he told me how to ask to use the bathroom in French. I'm quite happy with his teacher so far too.

We have people living below us. I may have mentioned this before. I think they might hate us. The guy works nights and I'm sure they can hear us in the early morning. Sometimes Adriel and Sloan wake up and almost immediately start fighting. I'm sure we are loud. They have a 2 year old who sleeps in until 9. Also we share the back yard, which is huge. I like to be able to send my kids out into the yard and not supervise them 100% of the time. The people downstairs have a kiddy pool that's just been sitting there unused since we got here. It now has a lot of sand in it and I've found Sloan in twice fully clothed. I would like them to do us all a favor and put it away!! I'm not sure how that aspect of living here is going to work. I hope we can get along. In other words, I hope they don't hate us.

2011-09-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

This last week was a hard week for me. The novelty of the move wore off and the reality set in. Our first Sunday wasn't so great. I was stuck in Nursery (as usual) and didn't really get to meet anyone except for the lady who was filling in the nursery that day. There is no Nursery leader. I fear this will be my calling. Anyway, we found there to be not many young people other than students at UBC and they're basically YSA's. Maybe a few newly weds. There were two kids in nursery other than Sloan. It was shocking to me. So I was feeling like our luck from Winnipeg had run out and this is going to be hard. Kyle's taking six classes and has started working now. I'm grateful that he has found work so easily, but that means I have to get used to him not being around much. So, I was feeling a little lonely.

This week at church was much much better. We were introduced to the ward (we had to stand up- I hate doing that). After a lot of people came and welcomed us. I brought Sloan to nursery and there was a different person filling in. I was thinking "this is going to be a long two hours." Not long after that though someone came in (I think she's in the primary presidency) and she came and introduced herself. She's the mother of twin girls who are almost 4. Her husband is an electrical engineer. We hit it off right away. We talked for a while. It's amazing how much of a difference it can make- to have someone to talk to! After she left I tried to sneak out of nursery. Sure enough I was barely down the hall and I heard Sloan crying. My new friend (her name is Vanessa) was there and she asked if I minded if he cried it out a bit. I said not at all. She said she would keep an eye on things for me and come get me if needed. And that was it. I got to go to the last bit of Sunday School and relief society. He got over it and was fine. A few more weeks and hopefully the battle will finally be over. Don't get me wrong, I know nursery is a very important and special place to be, and if I was asked to do it, I would say yes and I would do my best. But, because ever since Sloan has been in nursery (June of last year) I have been in there too, I really really appreciate going to Relief Society. It makes such a difference on my spiritual well being. Every time I go, I'm always so touched by the spirit and inspired by the lesson. I leave feeling so rejuvinated and uplifted. In RS this week, a lady I had once talked to before sat with me. She works as a substitute teacher at Adriel's school. We talked for a bit before it started. She's really nice. So, I'm not feeling nearly so down about our new ward. Of course, it's hard being the new person and it will take a while before that wears off.

Things really change when you have a child in school. Suddenly you can't be lazy in the morning. You have to get your children dressed, fed, and yourself dressed and out the door by 8:15. Lunches and snacks need to be prepared, bed heads need to be corrected and teeth need to be brushed. Socks and shoes on. You get the picture. Then I get home and it's quiet. It's just Sloan and I. What is this? This is what it was like to only have one again? My little Sloanie is a monkey though. He still loves to get into trouble. But we have some appreciated one on one time and that's nice for the both of us too.

Kelowna

2011-09-11T08:04:00.000-07:00

I know it's about time I write a post. So much has been going on that the thought of writing about it is overwhelming. It has been such a busy summer. I feel like I've been everywhere and back again. There wasn't much time for internet, and as much fun as was had, it feels good to have our own space again, to not be living out of suitcases and to get back into a routine.

I feel as if I should mention something about our move. In the middle of August, I flew back to Winnipeg. After being gone for over a month it felt so good to be home. I had left the house mostly packed and Kyle had pretty much done everything else. The next day we picked up the truck loaded it with some help and cleaned from early morning until late night. And we were out. Things went so much smoother for us this time around. Having a big enough truck for our stuff, for example, makes a difference. When we arrived in Kelowna, there were people from our ward ready to help us unload. Our new place is smaller than our last, so at first it was really overwhelming trying to figure out where everything was going to go. We took it one box at a time, and we also came up with some storage solutions (like my handy husband making big boxes that slide under the kid's bunk bed.) Things are working themselves out and it's beginning to look like a home around here.

I like our neighbourhood. It's quiet, there's a big nice park around the corner and we are minutes away from Walmart, Costco, Superstore, restaurants, the mall, etc. It has been sunny and hot since we got here, so it really doesn't feel like summer is over.

And of course there is my big five year old starting school. Since he's in kindergarten he doesn't start until tomorrow, but that has been perfect, since I've needed the first week to get our situation under control. I was feeling a little anxious because I wasn't able to register him until we got here. I wasn't sure about which schools were good or anything, but I knew I wanted to put him in French Immersion. So I went to the school and registered him on the first day. They had already told me the French was full and I knew registering so late I had little chance of getting him in. So I put him on the wait list and was feeling a little discouraged about it. They made it sound like they might not even have room for him on the English side. So I went home and waited for their call and wondered where else to register him if he didn't get in. But, when they called they told me there was room for him in the French. Exciting! So we went to meet his teacher, Madame Dack. She's very nice and I can tell she loves kids, which is important for a kindergarten teacher. He starts tomorrow. I can't believe it. My life is about to change forever. Sloan and I are going to miss him!!

Since being here, Andrea is helping me get set up in the Okanagan ways. She hooked me up with her peach lady. Fresh, organic peaches. So good. Yesterday I spent the day at her house and had my first canning experience. The first of many. We plan to get together once a week to can, while things are in season. We're making salsa next week. I'm excited about this. I think this is a lifestyle I can get used to. We went out to an orchard market and got more fresh fruit and vegetables. The kids played for a while. Andrea and I relaxed and visited. It was fun.

Winnipeg will always have a special place it my heart. I will miss it- more the people really. As we go to our ward for the first time as a family, I can't help but think of last year and attending the winnipeg ward. I remember feeling like crying as I sat in sacrament meeting, so far from home, thinking about Nanaimo and how that felt nothing like it. But they were so nice to us, we couldn't have asked for nicer, friendlier people, and it quickly felt like home to me. And here we are again. I feel braver this time, or maybe it's because this move wasn't as dramatic for us. We're closer to family, we're back in our home province so it doesn't feel as foreign. That doesn't mean I'm not nervous about it though. I hope we like our new ward.

Our neighbours beside us are really friendly and nice. When they saw me struggling with all my boxes they introduced themselves and took them for me. Turns out they are from winnipeg. Also Adriel's teacher is originally from a city about an hour outside of Winnipeg. Go figures. They don't call it friendly Manitoba for nothing. When things are done in our house, I'll post some pictures.

A busy week.

2011-07-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

After meandering through Alberta I made my way to Andrea's. I'm not going to talk a lot about my driving trip, just know that it was really hard. And I have no desire to do it again. I'm here and that's what matters.

I've spent the week looking at different places to live in Kelowna and in Vernon. Between travelling back and forth and the errands we've been running, almost every minute has been accounted for. That's what happens when you visit Andrea, because she's busy and there's always lots to do. The good news is: We found a place!! It's the top floor of a yellow house, it has a large covered deck and huge fenced in back yard. The house itself isn't the hugest, but everything is nice and in new condition. The landlords are nice which is also important, although I don't think we'll ever have anyone as nice as the ones we have now in Winnipeg, who also gave us a great reference. Now that that's done, we can relax and enjoy ourselves more. Hopefully the weather will comply because it has been a lot colder than I had anticipated and I want to spend hours at the beach being lazy. Andrea has been a huge help- watching the kids for me while I look at places or else convincing one of her children to do it so that she could come with me. It would have been a lot harder if I had had to bring them.

Last night we went up to the ski resort at Silver Star where Redfish played. I got in free being the date of one of Dean's bandmates. We got special treatment. We got to hang out in the green room where there was food (not that great, but that's ok) and we got food vouchers to get something from the vendors. Apparently this is usual treatment for Andrea and Dean, but when Kyle was in a band, I was no so lucky. It was a music festival. Andrea and I got donairs. They were good, it was no Laura donair, but still good. Andrew baby sat for me. It was nice to get away from the kids for some adult time. The band was really good too, although it did get freezing cold up there and I was wearing flip flops and had to cover up my outfit with a hoodie.

Today Adriel and I are going to check out our new ward. Sloan's going to stay home and have a nap. Darn ward starts a one. Worst time ever, if you have napping children. I'm nervous about it. I usually at least have Kyle when attending a new ward, this time I just have Adriel. yikes.

Oooogolies

2011-07-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow I leave. It has been a crazy week, packed with fun, sad good byes and a lot of packing and organizing. Yesterday the boys and I went to tinkertown with some friends. Its a little family fun park, centered all around kids. Tones of rides and fun things to do. They had an absolute blast! We pretty much spent the whole day there. They we were wiped out when we left. Then we ate and we picked up the babysitter and I got to go out to my girls night with my friends.

We basically visited, snacked and created things. It was a perfect night. I have been so blessed with friends here and I will miss them a lot.

Now today I have a bazilllion things to do to get ready. Packing my house, packing for my trip, organizing things and a soccer game tonight. Some people might miss the game considering all the other things going on right now, but I love it too much, I want one last game. I gotta go out with a bang, right? So now Im going to get started on my crazy day.

I'm going to miss this place. Who woulda known?

It didn't Rain!!

2011-07-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Eryn, your good luck must have worked, because not only did it not rain, but it was sunny. The party turned out pretty good. There were a lot of kids, so it was pretty chaotic and hard to do anything organized. I was happy to just let them play. Adriel had a blast, and that's what mattered. It was hard for me to cut up the cake after all that hard work though. Some parents hung around and that helped too.

Well truth be told, I started writing this post a while ago now. Ive been really busy trying to get ready for my trip, by packing up and organizing what I can and also trying to have fun in Winnipeg with the kids and our friends. Its hard to balance. A lot has been going on.

But since my first born son just turned 5, I thought Id write about him. I cant believe how fast he's growing up. I know that's a typical parent thing to say but it's true! Whenever its his birthday I reflect on things like becoming a mother, and I remember what that felt like. I remember after his long and very very hard birth, we went home from the hospital that night. What was I thinking?? We left about two hours after he was born! I had no idea what I was doing. We had sort of tried nursing but he wasn't really that into it. I remember the feelings Kyle and I had. It was like we brought home this tiny adorable treasure and he was ours. Those feelings of first becoming a parent are magical. I'm forever changed because Adriel came into this world. Of course, our joy was just as full when Sloan came too, but the first one is different, I think. We came home from the hospital and collapsed into bed with him sleeping in the bassinet beside me. Through out the night he would make little wimpers and peeps and I would sit bolt upright (despite having been up the whole day and night beforehand in labor) worried that something wasn't ok, or that I would have to nurse him. And then we woke up at 8:30, despite our exhaustion and got him out of bed, even though he was still sleeping, so we could take him upstairs and show him off to Jordan and Tracy. I remember Maria saying "I think he likes me." And now my baby is five. He's tall and brown skinned from the sun. When he looks at me, I'm still in awe at his beauty. The curve of his cheek, the way he holds his mouth when he talks and makes expressions, and my personal fave- his eyes. They are the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen! They glow a unique bright blue with yellow greeny touches and are enhanced by long thick straight black eye lashes. Ok, so now I'm bragging a bit, but I'm his mom and I should be allowed to do that every now and then right? Oh yeah and I cant forget his ears. Yes, hes known for his big ears, but I think they're adorable. I just think he's so handsome. And he's so friendly and likable. Hes made friends with all the kids in the neighbourhood and they are always knocking on the door asking if he can come out. I hardly see him some days. He's kind and sweet and he still likes to cuddle with me. Yes, he drives me nuts sometimes, but I am just so in love with being his mother. So, here's to my boy who made me a mother and has brought me 5 years of learning, loving and happiness.

And here he is looking goofy but handsome in his new suit.

This one reminds me a bit of his cousin Ben.

To bring you up to date

2011-06-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

So it turns out on the very day of Eryn's wedding, I was sick. I caught a cold from Sloan and was feeling pretty yucky. I had noticed the day before that I was feeling really tired, and didn't have my usual energy to make meals, etc. I took the kids to the ward picnic and survived most of the day with out Kyle. He worked his dumb 12-8 shift on Saturday- which I hate. I was sneezing all the time and having to blow my nose every couple of minutes and I was wondering how I was ever going to give a talk in that condition. When Kyle got home from work, he went out and got me some drugs. I finished my talk preparations and went to bed. I thought of cancelling because I was sick, but I didn't think that would be very nice to do to the bishopric the day before. When I woke up, I was feeling really groggy from the drugs and still pretty gross. I forced myself to shower. I just really felt like I had something to share, and so we went to church. Although on the way to church, I had a little panic attack and thought "what if I don't have anything good to say..."

Luckily there was no recording that day, because I did not look spicy. I got up, I spoke. I was nervous. But while I was speaking the nervousness left, and I did my part. I feel I have been conquering some of my nervousness lately. (Kyle and I sang the week before) or maybe it's just the ward we're in. They don't make me feel as scared or something. After sacrament meeting, I was thanked by several people for my talk. The bishopric said different things to me separately about how great of a speaker I am and how those were the things that really needed to be said. I was sort of shocked because I didn't think I did anything special at all. Really- there wasn't any lovely anecdotes or funny jokes or really deep thoughts. I just shared some experiences and some quotes, and tied fathers into it by talking about Dad and Kyle. Then Sloan and I went home because we were both sick and I wasn't about to go into nursery like that. And that was that.

So tomorrow is Adriel's birthday party. He's invited his whole neighbourhood of friends and we're supposed to have it at the park. There's supposed to be water balloon fights and soccer and a treasure hunt, cake, hot dogs and playing. One problem and it's the SAME darn problem I have EVERY year!!!!!! The weather is so unreliable! It may or may not rain. The weather report is saying periods of rain. Of course at the beginning of the week it didn't say that, but now it does. How can I plan for this? What am I supposed to do for back up? My house is way too small to host so many kids, not to mention there aren't any fun activities to do at my house.

And then there's the cake. So really, I'm not exaggerating, that every year I have a cake disaster. Oh no, not this year, please not this year! Adriel has chosen a spider man theme. So I decided to be ambitious and make a spiderman cake. So I went to a store and rented a spiderman cake pan and decorated it and everything myself. Nothing went wrong with the recipe, the baking, the decorating. It's done and sitting covered in my fridge and I'm feeling quite proud of myself. I've never done anything like that before. However, it's not over yet. The party isn't until tomorrow and it can still get wrecked...Keeping my fingers crossed. I took pictures of it. And here are some others too.

my babies having a snuggle in my bed. So cute.

Adrie'ls Joy School gradutation

My big 5 year old (tomorrow).

Here it is! Aren't you impressed?

You have no idea how long this took me to do.

What to do on the day that I know the rest of my family is in Kelowna enjoying waterslides...

2011-06-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful Thursday morning. The sun is out. It's going to be hot today. Until the afternoon, I don't really have any plans. What should we do? Go for a bike ride? We have been enjoying a lot of those lately. Although I must say that pulling a trailer is much harder than I realized. Especially when I have both boys in it. I had no idea. Thank goodness it's flat here. I don't have a car, because the truck broke down (some problem with the clutch which happened right before we moved last year- sensing a pattern?) and so Kyle has been using the car for work. Who needs a car when you have a bike, right?

Yesterday it was rainy and gloomy out. My friends Laura and Genevieve and I had a bread day. Laura claimed that she needed to learn from the master. I was flattered that they actually think I know a lot about making bread. I don't know everything, but as we made it, I realized that those seminary years of making giant batches of bread as my chore have paid off. I was surprised. But really, they think this about me because they have tried my buns- which is actually a recipe from Tracy, and my whole wheat bread, which is a recipe that Bethany gave me. So I can't really take all the credit. The morning flew by as we juggled all the kids, passing around a fussy baby and kneading bowls of dough in a big floury mess. It was fun though. I didn't make any buns for myself, I just made the bread. Kyle came to get us, before I really wanted to go. We came home and I got some lunch made and took Adriel to his kindergarten readiness class. The bread smelled soooo good while it was baking. What is it about freshly baked bread that is so irresistible?

Oh, I was phoned last night and asked to give a talk this sunday. It's high council Sunday and for some reason there is no companion speaker, so it's going to be me. Here's the thing. On high council Sundays our sacrament meetings are recorded live for one of the wards that lives way the heck far away from here, so that the high councilmen don't have to travel that far. So I'll be recorded. Did I mention that I hate giving talks and fear them more than most things? And now I only have a few days to prepare...Oh well. I guess I was due.

I hope everyone has fun at the waterslides today!

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-06-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

I know it's not my birthday for two more months, but Ann and Kyle decided to go together and get me a bike for my birthday this year. I already knew they were talking about it (since they talked about it in front of me), but I thought it would be a ways off since my birthday isn't for a while. We had to go to a bike store to get a certain sized nut for Adriel's bike. Just as we were walking in Kyle said "we can look at bikes for you too." So I thought we'd sort of browse and sort of have an idea in the back of our minds what there was and how much, etc. I should have known that Kyle doesn't browse and think about things. That's not him. He goes into a store to buy. When the bike guy came to ask us if we needed help Kyle said "Yes, we need a nut for this, but we're really here to look at a bike for her." I was surprised. I felt a little put on the spot, since it's been forever since I owned my own bike and I had no idea what I wanted. I'm bad in that I care about what it looks like too. I like fun colors and apparently those aren't all that popular. We found one that I liked the feel of, that was in our price range, but I just didn't love the way it looked, so I suggested we think about it and we left.Can I mention that shopping for bikes (or anything, really) with two little kids is so not fun and chaotic and stressful???

I mentioned it to my friend Jill that evening and she suggested another bike store. So while Adriel was at joy school we went and checked it out. I found another bike that I liked the look of better that was also in our price range (on sale because it was last year's model). So we went today and picked it up, along with new helmets for Kyle and I. So exciting! We're getting a little trailer for the boys to ride in the back (mostly Sloan, but Adriel thinks it looks like fun, so he can too sometimes) and wa-laa - we are now a biking family! I don't usually like early birthday presents because I like being surprised on the real day to make it more special, but I'm too giddy with excitement to care right now. Here she is:

It actually looks better in person than these pictures show. I know it's nothing flashy, but I like the red and white detailing, and if you look closely, there's some feminine touches too.

I'm sorry, but I'm in love with my helmet. You can't really tell in the picture, but the silver part is a bit sparkly too.

Help!

2011-05-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

It has happened. Sloan has started to rebel against bedtime. With Adriel it started when he learned how to climb out of his crib, and with his new found freedom came my new found slavery. Eventually with a lot of tears on both our parts, we over came it, but I vowed that I never wanted to go through it that way again.

So here's how it all started with Sloan. Sloan had been a little obedient angel when it came to bedtime. He'd go down with out a fuss for naps and bedtime. I worried once he learned how to climb out of his crib, he would be the same as Adriel. After he figured out how to climb out (which was almost a good six months later than Adriel, fewf!) he still didn't rebel. He stayed in bed til I got him out, and if I ever felt it was too early for him to get up I'd tell him to lay down, and more often than not, he'd go back to sleep or at least leave me alone for a while. But then everything changed. The weather got pretty warm here (it's not now though, and can I just say how frustrating I find the fluctuation?!!! Do I need summer clothes or winter clothes? I had enough of it by the winter's end, which I felt I endured quite patiently, given the mild type of winter I'm used to. Now my patience is up. It's almost June, start acting like it- ALL the time, not sometimes!!! argh- sorry, needed to vent about that apparently) so back to the weather. It got warm. And when it's warm, the upstairs bakes like an oven. I can't open the windows in the poor kids rooms because there are no screens on them, so I let them have the fans. Even with the window open it was hot in our room, so Kyle put the air conditioner up. Sloan woke up in the middle of the night, crying, which is usually pretty easy to fix, I just go in and tell him to lie down and go back to bed. But this night, his crying wasn't heard right away because of the noise from our air conditioner. When I did finally hear him, he was really worked up. I went into his room and he had climbed out of his crib. We have black out curtains on, so his room was pitch black and he was disoriented from that I think, which added to his fear. When I picked him up, he clung to me. It took me a good hour to get him settled and back to sleep. He kept calling me for things and crying, and in order for me to hear him, I had to stay out in the hallway. That was it. Things never went back to normal after that.

The next day, when I put him down for a nap, he wouldn't let me. He cried and cried whenever I tried to lay him down in his bed. I would leave the room and he would immediately climb out and try to open the door. I had to stand outside his door and hold it closed so he wouldn't come out. I hoped he would give up, but I have stubborn children! He lied down in front of the door and cried and cried. I let it go on for a while, but like I just said my kids are stubborn. I prayed, panicking to Heavenly Father- please don't make me go through this again, please help me know what to do! With Adriel I learned that you don't give into things that you don't want to have to repeat every time you put them to bed. So after thinking about it for a while, I got down on the floor and talked to him through the door. I told him that it was nap time and that he needed to go to sleep in his bed. He said no. He said he wanted to sleep in my bed. At first I was against the idea, but after a few times going back and forth with him, I said, "if you want to sleep in my bed, you have to say in my bed and be quiet and go to sleep by yourself." He agreed. And he did. He was sound asleep with in five minutes.

I don't want to bore you with all the details, but he's been going to sleep in my room ever since. I tell him at bed time that we are going to move him when Mommy and Daddy go to bed and he says "OK" but he's not always OK with it. I've since been trying to get him to sleep in Adriel's room, because we've had that goal in mind for the future anyway. He wakes up crying in the night, saying he wants to sleep in my bed- I know some Moms can handle that, I can't so I don't let him. They wake each other up super early, Adriel doesn't always want to share his bed (even though its a bunk bed, Sloan sometimes wants to sleep in the same bed with Adriel, which seems fine, because there's tons of room) which results in cranky whiney boys and a crabby Mother who has no tolerance. Today I started the "You aren't allowed out of your room til 7." I realize that getting them to follow this rule will take some time and in the meantime, it really doesn't mean extra sleep for me though because I kept having to get up and reinforce it. I don't know if there's any hope for that or if I'm just wasting my time.

What am I supposed to do??? I know there are people out there who have the transition from crib to bed go smoothly. What am I doing wrong??? I need the super nanny to come to my house. I need someone else to get up with the kids in the morning. Kyle gives me one day off a week, and I feel bad, because he's working two jobs and is so tired all the time. If my kids slept til 7- 7:30 every I'd be good.

I'm feeling pretty grouchy today. It's Monday, it's raining boooooooooo.

Why do my kids have to confuse moles for nipples?

2011-05-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm missing a Relief Society activity about having a healthy body image. They had a guest speaker coming and I was interested. Too bad my husband works in the evenings.

So instead, I made an easy dinner (pot stickers) and cleaned up and the kids and I went to the park. Adriel mostly rode his bike around and around. Every now and again he'd stop and watch the big kids with curiosity and then he'd get back at it. Sloan is a fearless climbing machine. After a good play we came home and I threw them in the bath. It bakes in the upstairs of our house. Adriel has been going to bed in his underwear and an undershirt. They both have fans in their rooms. Their windows don't have screens on them so I don't really want to open them. Luckily mine and Kyle's does, however the noises outside are so loud. While the kids were bathing, I finished cleaning the kitchen and then put my clean children to bed and here I am. There's some satisfaction to be had about bathing your kids after a long day of play and putting them to bed scrubbed clean.

I taught my last joy school lesson today. Adriel will graduate at the end of the month. I can't believe how fast the year has flown by. I'm feeling sad to have to say goodbye to Winnipeg soon. Adriel has so many friends he's made in our neighbourhood. He plays and plays outside with them all day long. Every so often I go out and check on him, but that's all I really have to do. It's a safe kid friendly neighbourhood and they just take turns playing in eachother's yards. He's really going to miss that. I think I am too.

A Little Free Time

2011-05-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Adriel has started this program offered by the school in our neighbourhood called Kindergarten Readiness. It's on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. It sort of works out perfectly, because I take him, and then I put Sloan down for a nap and I get two hours of freedom!! Most of you mothers would probably spend that time catching up on laundry, or other house work that may be lagging, but I'm sorry, I'm not as good as you. I read, or have a little sleep, blog and do things that I feel like doing. Sure, if I feel like cleaning, I will. It does happen, you know. There's something to be said about playing good tunes and getting into the nitty gritty, and making everything sparkle. But while Adriel is gone and Sloan is asleep I take some time for myself. And it's nice. Especially since Kyle isn't around much to relieve me of my motherly duties. But that's not anything new. When you're a student all your free time is spent studying and working, and then when school's done for the year, all your free time is spent working as much as you can to save up enough money to hopefully not have to work as much the next year....oh and to move. What a lovely expense that is.

I like Sundays because Kyle doesn't have to work at either one of his jobs. Church starts at 10 (which I think is the perfect time) and we come home, put Sloan to bed and eat and relax. Yesterday was "family dinner" at Marla's. She lives out in the country. The kids spent the whole time outside. Kyle and I ate our dinner out on her deck. "Papa Joe" her husband gave the kids a tractor ride which they were thrilled about. Adriel got filthy climbing on and off the tractor while it was parked. The weather has suddenly gotten so nice. Tons of sunshine and this week it's ranging between 20-25. So nice! I like this kind of spring. I don't want it to get a whole lot hotter though, because it's already sort of sweltering in my house.

The outdoor soccer season started. That was my mother's day gift. My first game was last week. It was a doozy. We started with only 8 players, and by half time another person showed up. If you are unfamiliar with soccer, it's 11 players on the field at once. So not only were we short, but no subs on top of it. I was exhausted by the end of the game! It's a big change from indoor because the field size is basically double and each half was 45 mins long (indoor was 25 minute halves). It took me a good four days for my body to recover. It was a different kind of sore. Of course it doesn't help that I'm not in the best of shape. We didn't do too badly considering though. We only lost one nothing. My next game is tomorrow. So looking forward to it. I love soccer. I know I've expressed that several times, but I really do, alright?

You know what else I love? Lazy summer evenings of sitting outside in the backyard while the kids play and reading a book. I also love Adriel's very brown chubby hands.

A photo post

2011-05-11T08:58:00.000-07:00

I decided to get dressed up and take the kids out to play. It was a good way to spend the morning- they got to play and I followed them around with the camera, and tried to capture some of their cuteness. I also took a couple of myself. It's not every day that I try to look nice.

Adril shows off his climbing skills at that park at the end of our street.

He's a pro at the monkey bars

Sloan's favorite is the swings.

As always- it was windy.

In the sandbox, Adriel works hard to make sandcastles and then Sloan steps on them. Little monkey.

cool dude.

Adriel tried snapping a few of me.

Sometimes I try to be a model. But, I'm not.

Just like Adriel, Sloan is a fearless climber.

Just so you know, this is how he insists on wearing his hair, even though it's gotten a little long and out of control, he loves it like this.

Me in our tiny back yard.

If Adriel sees you point the camera at him, these are the sorts of poses he instantly strikes.

He's pretty cool.

This is what happened when I told him to stop making funny faces.

Then I reassured him that he would be able to be silly again after.

This is what happens when I try to take a picture of all of us together. Me and my crazy boys.

I love this one. I think he's pretty handsome.

Showing some brotherly affection. ha ha ha.

Gone

2011-05-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

This week on American Idol, Scotty McCreery rocked this song called Gone. He's this year's country singer. He's good, but I'm not that into country. I like the odd song, and he made me like this one. Now it's in my head. I think he may end up in the top two. Just sayin.

So now it's Friday night again. Got no special plans here. It's just me and the boys. The usual. I was lazy about dinner tonight and served my kids a platter of veggies and dip. Could be worse right? At least they like it and it gets some vegetables into them. Sometimes I just feel like what's the point of putting a lot of effort into dinner when it's just me and the kids? Today was one of those times.

And that's it, because I don't have a very interesting life.

Is it bad that I want cheesecake right now?

2011-05-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

So the day off was a hit of course. I relaxed, shopped (although sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I shop by myself, like I need someone there to give me their opinions). I met up with Aya for dessert and visiting. It was fun. I got a shirt and a new wallet. I know it doesn't sound that exciting but it was for me. I love my new wallet.

Easter was fun. Genevieve and Graham invited us over for dinner. I went to her house the day before and we made a whole bunch of perogies. It was fun. Now that I know how to make them, I don't know if I'll ever go back. They're sooooo much better! We spent the whole afternoon making them while the kids played in her backyard. It was also nice to have a few days off with Kyle.

Speaking of Kyle, he has a tiling job now, and it seems to be working out pretty good. They find the work for him and he does it, and they pay him. (well, they haven't actually payed us yet, but they will) So, now he does his tiling job in during the day. He may come home for a few hours in the late afternoon to shower and such and then he's off to Rona. He works there every night until 10 and then Saturdays. That's a lot right? So I told him I really wanted to have a date night with him, and he got Friday night off. We got a male babysitter for the first time, whose name is also Kyle. I was phoning for his older sister to babysit but she was already taken, so his mother phoned me back (they're in the other ward) and said that her son would like to babysit for us. He's 13. He was a super nice kid. When I came home my kitchen was spotless. The kids gave him a hard time though. Adriel, I thought would love having a boy babysitter, just because he loves babysitters period, usually. But this time he decided that he wanted to go to bed early. Sloan wasn't too keen on that. He didn't want to be left with a strange boy by himself. So he bugged Adriel, and tried to prevent him from falling asleep, which he eventually failed at, and then he cried himself to sleep. I felt bad. Our date was fun though. We went out for dinner and then to the cheap theater to watch Red Riding Hood. We liked it but agreed it wasn't anything extra special. When we woke up the next morning, I noticed that Sloan's diaper was on backwards. Made me laugh. Poor clueless 13 year old boy. He was so nice though.

Not much else has been going on here. I've been trying to keep busy with the boys. And they do keep me busy! They both are challenging me in different ways and sometimes I'm at a loss. I just don't know what to do. Being a Mom can be so hard!! And I only have two!!! I must be wimpy.

Schaweetie Certificate

2011-04-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Last night as I was getting into bed after what felt like a very long day, I found this on my pillow:

Schaweetie Certificate

This certificate grants the bearer a day off from everything. (tomorrow... after 12 because I have to look for work) It also gives the bearer access to (a certain amount of money that I'm not disclosing) big ones, bones, dollars- to do with what you will, shopping, spa thingies, whatever. Take as long as you want, dinner will be taken care of and you are welcome to dinner if you come home that early. This is because of all the hard work that you put into our family and for the love that Sloan, Adriel and Kyle have for you. So live it up!

It totally made my day- possibly even week. I could really use a day off. Now, what to spend the money on? How does one decide? There are so many places I could go... Only thing is, I have my activity night tonight, and I teach joy school this week, so I've been running around all morning doing the last minute preparations. It's also my mop day, so that had to be done, and I made bread because we had none.

Kyle really has his redeeming qualities, doesn't he? Thanks sweetie!!

A conversation about lunch

2011-04-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Adriel comes inside from playing with his friends:

Adriel: Is it lunchtime? Can I have lunch?

Me: Yes you can

Adriel: What's for lunch?

Me: Boogies

Adriel: Perogies?! (excitedly)

Me: No, Boogies.

Adriel: What are boogies?

Me: You know- boogies from you nose.

Adriel: BOOGIES ARE NOT FOR EATING!!! (very annoyed)

Me: they're not?

Adriel: No, boogies are for taking out of your nose and putting in the GARBAGE!!

Me: Oh that's what boogies are for...

Ahhh, my kids make me laugh! Adriel takes me so seriously sometimes.

A little of this, a little of that.

2011-04-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Adriel wanted to show you this. That's right, he's lost his first tooth. He feel off the couch and hit his mouth on the floor and his tooth came out. He came running into the kitchen with blood coming out of his mouth and said in a horrified voice "My tooth came out!" I had looked at his teeth a few days earlier and I noticed that that one was a little wiggly, but I thought it was strange because I thought bottom teeth usually come out first. He cried and cried and was traumatized and wanted to put it back. I worried, I wasn't sure if it was ready to come out. After talking to a dental assistant, she assured me that he's probably fine. After he got used to the idea, he got pretty excited about putting it under his pillow for the tooth fairy. Although a few times a day, he tells me his new tooth still isn't here yet. I really hope his teeth come in ok. It's not like that little space left him much room for an adult teeth. He's been saving up his money for a kick stand for his bike, and with the tooth fairy's donation he had enough. My little boy is growing up too fast.

A few weeks ago, my friend had a baby. I offered to take her older son off her hands for the afternoon. While I was picking him up, one of her other friends showed up to meet the new baby. She asked me if I was the hairdresser friend. She told me that she was desperate to get her hair done and that she'd get Laura, my friend, to give her my info. She called me later that week and asked if I could squeeze her in last minute. Her name is Laurie. She's in the other ward. Her husband was recently called as bishop. They moved to winnipeg for him to go to school to become an architect. He graduated two years ago. As we visited, we found that we had a lot in common. We both went to Japan fresh out of highschool, for example. We really got along easily and had lots to talk about. She's a really interesting person. She's a dance teacher, and she teaches at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. She travels around to different cities to judge dancing, too. Then, I felt sad that I made this new friend that I wouldn't get to actually know, or build much of a relationship with because I'm leaving. sheesh,

Then, a few nights later, I was so bored waiting for Kyle to come home from work, I was checking my old hotmail email. I hardly ever do that. While I was checking, my friend Aya that I went to hair school with started talking to me on msn messenger. I had been wondering about her and what was going on with her life, because we had sort of lost touch. It had been about two years since I saw her, and I never had her updated info to tell her that we had moved. I asked her where she was living these days, because I knew she was in Calgary, but last I talked to her, they were thinking of going back to Japan for a while and stuff. She said you'll never believe where I'm living now. I asked where? WINNIPEG!!! Isn't that crazy?! They just moved here in January. They bought a house that's about ten minutes away from us, that they move into next month. I was so ecstatic. One of my old friends living in the same city as me?! She came over a few days ago. It was so great to catch up. Once again, sad though that it will only be for another couple of months, and then we'll go back to living far away from each other.

Those are the main highlights. Kyle has exams this week, so he's been studying every spare minute he has. He's also working almost every evening this week. I will be so glad when it's over.

Maybe I should write a blog?

2011-04-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

What joy has filled his heart, now that he can ride his bike again. He would live outside if he could, I think.

These are the neigh-neighs (As Sloan calls them) that live behind our house. Sloan loves horses. Well, he pretty much loves all animals, but horses and dogs seem to be his favourite.

The field and our back alley

The stream that runs behind the field behind our house. Adriel said "too bad we aren't wearing our bathing suits!" It may have been bearable that day, but still freezing!

I tried to capture the strange way the snow melted. These were taken a few weeks ago. It almost looks like a wave. Or maybe I just miss the west coast.

These are not uncommon. I actually drove through this very puddle when it was combined with slush and sprayed someone on the opposite side of the road by accident. There are huge puddles all over the roads. Drenching a poor pedestrian isn't actually a joke here, it's reality. It makes me think of Jordan and Evan driving the van extra fast through the puddle by the church.

Mr Sloanie got a tricycle from Grandma Stratton for his birthday. We finally went to pick one up. He was thrilled.

Ok, so I'm bad at self portraits. And yes, even though I rarely leave the house, I do try to look nice every now and again.

I'm bored a lot. Lately, Kyle has been working evenings. This throws me off because I'm used to him being gone during the day and having his company at night. Even though he is home during the day most of his time is spent studying for up coming exams. Man, I'll be glad when those are done. He takes breaks to eat lunch with me and to watch something while Sloan is having a nap and Adriel is having "quite time." Adriel has made many neighbourhood friends in our back alley. He rides bikes with them and they play around in the big field out back. It doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl or how old you are, he's ready to be your friend and play with you. I'm so glad that winter is over.

Spring here is so ugly. Lots of muddy wet brown dirty everything. I wonder how it'll ever be dry or even green again. Our whole front lawn is covered in brown sand from plowing the roads and keeping them safe. I took some pictures of the strange way that the snow was melting and of some of our little springtime attempts to go outside, and to document what winnipeg looks like. Oh and I forgot to say EEEW!!!! to the people who didn't clean up their dog poo the whole winter. SO GROSS! I wrote this part before uploading the pics, but now it seems we are at the bottom of the blog. The pictures and the writing don't want to cooperate for me. No one else seems to have a problem with it. Oh well. I have more to write, more to share, if anyone's listening.

Good morning (I started writing this yesterday)

2011-04-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I offered to take the kids to the library. I had requested a book and they called to say it was in. But then I realized that Kyle had to go to work and was taking the car. I knew they would be so disappointed if we didn't go. We haven't gone in a long time. So, I decided to take them on the bus. They love doing that. It's about a 7 minute bus ride from my house. The bus stop is almost right across the street from us. So that's what we did. They looooooved the bus ride. But then, when we got there, I noticed there was only one car in the parking lot. As we approached the building there was a guy at the front doors. He said "You have one minute, if you have a book you're picking up." So I rushed in and as I was grabbing my book, I told Adriel he had to be super fast and quickly go get a book of his own. The lady at the counter said he couldn't, there wasn't enough time. I told her we caught the bus to come there, and could she please let him choose one book. She obliged, but she wouldn't actually let us in we had to look through this bin. There were two books in there for kids. So we took those. They were a little sad that we didn't get to stay and look around. I suppose next time I should double check the hours.

This morning I woke up to Adriel reading the book to himself in the hallway outside my room. He can't actually read yet, but he remembers the jist of the story and sort of tells it in his own words. It's pretty cute to listen to. And he imitates my intonation and the way I read it to him. So I got up and we had a cuddle on the couch and he read it to me. Adriel and I don't get a lot of cuddling time in. Sloan will not allow it. Sloan will not allow anyone to cuddle with me. Sloan has been doing this really cute thing where he tries to eat my face. He comes right up to my cheek with his mouth and gently goes "Um num num num" in a rumbly voice. I love it...but man, what a monster! This week he got his hands on a permanent black marker. I discovered scribbling on the laminate floor, a little inside the bookshelf, and a large section of wall and on the white carpet going up the stairs. I used a combination of cleaning tools and managed to pretty much get it all, but the walls have lost some paint in the process. That's just an example of the little monster he can be. I am happy to report that he is soother free. He asks for it every now and then but I just tell him it's gone now. I do miss our soother snuggles on the couch though.

I have to say something about my hair. There's something weird about the back. I didn't want to be all nit picky so I sort of ignored it for a while. I wanted to respect what the stylist did. What is wrong with me? Why do I always have to have a problem with my hair?? But it couldnt be ignored. Every time I checked out my profile in a mirror, it looked a little off. So yesterday, I looked at it a little more closely and it's sort of hard to explain. The underneath is layered up to be like a graduated bob, and then the top is long and hangs over it, with the ends all texturized so it blends in. It's one of those situations where I wish I could just take my darn head off and fix it. It would take me five minutes. I don't know what to do. I don't feel like going back and asking her to change it. I'd feel like she'd think I was being a know-it-all stylist. I guess I have to wait until I'm back in Nanaimo...

Conference weekend= a lot of good food to Kyle. It's sort of become a tradition to have dough boys. The thing is they make you full for the rest of the day. The boys love them too. Adriel helped me make them. I have a hard time having enough patience to let him help me when I make things. Usually I'm in a hurry and just want it done with out any mess. He was a good little helper though and enjoyed stuffing more than one piece of cheese into the dough. He was so cheerful about it, and while some were cooking he said "Could you excuse me for a minute?" I said "why?" Because he had to go to the bathroom. They way he talks sometimes, just makes me smile. He's always surprising me with his use of words. I'm just glad that I have such a happy boy. He drives me crazy, of course, but man I love him.

Tada!

2011-03-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

I like it, but I just lost a lot of hair. It's going to take some getting used to.

It's time to do the deed.

2011-03-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

No, not that deed. I know you all think I'm too liberal when it comes to talking about things like that, but I wouldn't announce it on my blog okay? Sheesh.

What I mean by deed, is getting my hair cut. I mean like cut-cut. I don't know exactly how I feel about this. I wasn't quite ready to go all the way with the cutting of my hair, because I like it long. But, it seems the decision was made for me, as has been happening with a lot of things lately. (I'll tell you later) I needed a trim real bad. I couldnt ignore it. It's hard when you have hairdressing friends that you know are good and who'll do your hair for free because you do theirs for free, and then you move away. I struggle with having to pay someone else do stuff to my hair that I already know how to do, I just can't do it to myself. It's frustrating. So there was a hair cut gone bad which included Kyle (I don't blame him, it was my own fault, thinking I could just show him what to do and it would be easy) and then I tried to fix it myself, by texturizing it- bad idea. I feel pretty dumb about the whole thing, it reflects badly on me as a stylist. It looks bad. I don't know what to do. I was thinking I'd cut if off soon, but not quite yet. I can't go on like this though. Something must be done. It doesnt have to be crazy drastic, I could probably get away with cutting a few inches off the bottom, and I'd be good. But I've been there done that. I sort of want to do a bob. I decided a long time ago (when the bob craze hit) that when I was done with the long hair, I'd go bob. I've always wanted to try it. It's such a classic cut. I know that it was so three or four years ago, and as a hair dresser I should be with the times, but...I don't know what else to do. Plus I'd rather do it now, than when it was super crazy and everyone had one. I kind of feel like I've been there and done that with everything else. But I'm scared. What if it doesn't look good? What do you think? Can you think of something that'll look better?

We'll see. I made an appointment for Saturday morning at a trendy salon downtown with a stylist recommended by my friend.

I need to remind myself that it's just hair- it grows. It can be long again one day. I knew when I coloured it red, that I'd have to cut a lot of if I wanted to go blonde again anyway...

So we're moving again. Some of you know already. Since Kyle switched into the engineering program, it seems our path has been chosen for us, and we're going to Kelowna where he got accepted into UBC Okanagan. I'm sad to be leaving so soon, as I've made some great friends here, and Adriel has too, and it's been a great adventure, AND I hate moving....but it will be nice to live closer to family again, and be back in our home province, living in a beautiful place that doesn't get nearly as cold. Hopefully it'll be the last move for a while (at least until he's done school)....please??

A series of unfortunate events

2011-03-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Grrr. I just wrote this whole post and pushed publish and it didn't work and it didn't save anything but the pictures.Grrr!! Anyways, this is how my evening went the other night. Kyle had just left for work. I made dinner and ate with the kids. As I was cleaning up and getting started on making a batch of banana muffins. The boys made their way upstairs playing. Then there was a huge crash followed by the kind of crying when you know somethings wrong- from both of them. I was already on my way upstairs. I found Adriel pinned under Kyle's large dresser which had fallen on him. Sloan was standing beside the dresser gushing blood from his head and face. I got the dresser off Adriel (amazing the kind of strength you can muster when you need to) and immediately went to Sloan. It was bad. He had a gash under his lip and his hair was soaked with blood, but he wouldn't let me get a look at that cut. I was freaking out. I'm not one of those mothers who looks back after the fact and can say "I was strangely calm about the whole thing" I knew he probably needed stitches and I had no way to get to the hospital. So I called my friend Genevieve. I could barely talk to her I was so worked up.Thank goodness for friends. I have been so blessed. I knew she had car seats and everything. She dropped everything and came right away. She was a huge help with Adriel too, while I had to deal with nurses and dr's looking at Sloan. He had to get stitches on his head and on the gash under his lip. It was a traumatizing experience for both of us. He screamed for me the whole time begging me to pick him up. It's so hard to watch your children in pain! Adriel, amazingly only had a small scratch on his back, which is pretty lucky considering he was the one it landed on. He was afraid to tell me what happened. After I told him he wasn't going to get into trouble, he admitted that they were trying to climb in the drawers. I think the corner hit Sloan on the way down because the poor guy has scrapes and cuts all the way down his face. I don't think they'll be trying that one again. Crazy kids.

Here he is waiting for the dr to put the stitches in. Note the lovely bloody hair.

Me the frazzled mom. I looked awesome all covered in blood, greasy bangs. I'm sure the hospital workers were impressed.

This is him the morning after. Poor guy.

Adriel Busts a Move

2011-03-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to successfully get a video of Adriel and his wicked moves on here! This is the iron man theme song. He often gets up off the couch to bust a move, whether anyone is around to appreciate or he's in the room by himself. I know I'm his mom and mother's often find things about their own children more interesting than others, but how can this not make you smile??

Cabin Fever

2011-02-27T14:22:00.000-08:00

Ok so I lied about the warming up here part. It's freezing and there' s talk of a major flood when the snow all melts. We'll see. I know I talk a lot about how cold it is here, but I like Winnipeg for other reasons.

On Friday we got a babysitter (honestly where are my nieces and nephews when I need them?! Pay back time!!) and we went out to a couples party that Genevieve and Graham were having. Kyle and I made our infamous caramel cheese popcorn. You may think that sounds gross, but its so not. We visited. Then there was a bunch on delicious Thai food that she made. After that Jill and I had to leave for our soccer game. It kind of cut the party really short for me, but we all know that I love soccer more than most, so it was ok. We won our game too. I went back to the party to get Kyle and then we went home. As a party favor we got this little bulls eye thing with velcro balls and different love things you have to do to eachother. Some of them are really weird, like blow in ear, or rub tummy- no thanks!! The boys like playing with it though. When we got home, our babysitter had our house cleaned spick and span. That's always nice.

Saturday was boring. We stayed home all day. Kyle went to work and took the car. He didn't get home until bed time for the boys. So boring.

Today in nursery I was pretty much the only one there. One of the helpers phoned to let me know she wasn't going to be there, but I was still expecting the actual leader to be there. The thing about nursery is that there are a few kids that cling to me and only me. Sloan is one of them, of course, although he's ok, as long as someone else isn't asking for my attention right in front of him. It was a little crazy. The lesson was ok, and I found some visual aids that Mom gave me to go with it. Actually I have a lot of Mom's old nursery stuff, because I asked for it. Going through it is fun because she has all these hilarious cute mudsy drawings and other handmade mudsy things like a glove with little kitten faces sewn on the finger tips. Unfortunately the last time Mom was in nursery, it was before the new manual, so the lessons are different now, but I can use bits and pieces here and there in different lessons.

Now we're home and I'm bored. Adriel and I fell asleep together on the couch and as soon as we did, Sloan started calling me. Cabin fever is on the brink. Kyle just realized yesterday that the assignment he thought was due next Monday is due tomorrow. So it's just me and the kids. Should be good.

Yellow Bird

2011-02-16T19:15:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I'm like Mudsy on purpose. Like when I sing yellow bird to my kids at bedtime. Or when I make heart shaped pancakes with chocolate chips for my family on Valentines day (I don't even remember if she did that every year, or if it was just one year). Tonight after I sang to Sloan (who sometimes sings a long with a lot of gusto, and is absolutely adorable) Adriel asked if I could sing it to him too. After I was finished he looked thoughtful and then asked me why he said "you are more lucky than me" I remember asking Mom a lot of questions about the songs she would sing to me. I wish I could remember the words to more of them and I would sing them too. Actually I don't even know her story behind Yellow Bird, like how she knows it and why she would sing it to us. Of course it wasn't until the twins came along, and took it to a whole new level of creativity by getting her to sing different things like pink bird in a strawberry tree. The twins always take things to a fun new level of creativity. So there you have it, my confession. There are times when I try to be like Mudsy, and then there are times when the Mudsy in me just surfaces out of no where and surprises me. And, there are times when I'm not like her at all.

We had a low key Valentines. Kyle was at school from first thing in the morning til 7:30 ish. We had a late dinner together, put the kids to bed and watched a love movie with some chocolate. He surprised me with a love note on the mirror. I put it up before he left for school and I didn't find it until after Sloan woke up from his nap. I hadn't been back in my room since then. At the end of the note he told me he made me a playlist on the computer of songs that made him think of me. So I went downstairs and played the playlist while I cleaned and got dinner ready. It was perfect. I didn't need anything crazy or grande. In fact Kyle writes really good love letters, (hence how he kept me hooked his whole mission) and they are one of my favorite things to get from him. You know what's crazy? Is that my first Valentines day with Kyle was 10 years ago. I was in grade 12. There was a back pack dropped off for me at school, and when I opened it in the office, everyone was watching and I was embarrassed. In the backpack there were a dozen red roses and each one had a tag tied to it with a reason he loved me. I think I still have those tags somewhere...

The weather has been really mild in the last week. Snow is starting to melt. I can actually see grass in some places. I don't know if it'll last though. It's nice. And no diss to Vancouver Island, but I am enjoying days upon days of sunshine.

To Bogganese

2011-02-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

It was a miracle. It was plus one outside. Of course, we had to take advantage. As there aren't a lot of hills in this prairie land, they have toboggan slides. They're really fun and a bit easier than dragging your heavy two year old up and down a hill, because he can climb the stairs up, even if it takes him five minutes. You fly for a long time. Kyle is still recovering from tonsillitis so he took up the picture taking role. He got some good ones. I got to play with the kids. It's so nice to be able to go out and play and get some fresh air!! Oh, and Adriel thinks that tobogganing is going to bogganese, like it's a place. Love it.

Peeking down to Daddy

Adriel had a blast. He could have played all day.

I love this one of him. His joy is so contagious.

Sloan took a detour and hung out by some graffiti. Kyle clicked away.

I know I'm biased, but isn't he so precious?! I'm always amazed that he's mine.

I just love him.


They do look pretty funny/cute in their matching toques from Ann In other news, Sloan has started saying now to me, like he'll give me a command and then say now after it. What has happened to my baby??

2011-02-02T17:22:00.000-08:00

Today there was an incident.

My friend Genevieve presented me with a "posture pillow." Her mom made a whole bunch. Her mom died two weeks ago. She died of cancer. They found out she had cancer in the end of November. Genevieve is the only child still living in Winnipeg and she would drive for an hour everyday to visit her mom in the hospital. She watched her get sicker and sicker. She watched her suffer, and eventually die. I can't imagine how hard it is to lose your mom like that at such a young age. I know it doesn't matter what age you are, it would be hard to lose your mom. So, back to the incident. The posture pillow is one of those grain filled tubes that you heat up or freeze and you can wrap them around your neck, or put them on your back, or anything really. I thought it was nice of her and I felt special that I got to have a little piece of her mom. (as a side note, she taught joy school today, and she helped Adriel write his name. It was then that I realized that she thinks it's spelled Adriole. I'm not sure how to tell her that's not how to spell his name. It's kind of funny though.)

That wasn't the incident. Adriel took quite a liking to the neck wrap. He immediately took it out of it's package and asked to put it in the microwave. I let him push the buttons. I told him which ones to push. After that he kept warming it up on his own. He knew to only put it in for a minute. Or so I thought. Later this afternoon, I was upstairs changing our bedding when I noticed a weird smell. I tried to remember if I turned the oven on or left a burner on. I didn't, so I thought maybe it was wafting in from the house next door. Adriel excitedly exclaimed that someone was cooking bacon. Nope didn't smell like bacon. I went back to my bedding. The smell got stronger. I knew something was up. I thought maybe Sloan had pulled a chair up to the stove (he's been moving chairs around to reach things I purposely put out of his reach) and turned a burner on or something. As I came down the stairs, the smell was worse and I knew for sure something was burning. Not on the stove, though. The microwave. Adriel had put the neck wrap in the microwave for who knows how long. It was black with holes burnt through it. Smoke was billowing out of the microwave before I even opened it. It was really bad. Despite the freezingness outside, I had to throw both doors open wide, gasping for air. My microwave is now staine.d a burnt yellowish brown on the inside, and I'm kind of afraid to use it. Everything in my house reeks.

Needless to say, since I had already warned Adriel that if he pushed buttons other than the ones I told him to, it could explode, we had another little chat. I told him not to touch the microwave unless I was there to help him. I don't know if he accidentally pushed the zero one extra time or if he intentionally pushed extra buttons. He was very sorry and sad that it wrecked the posture pillow. I didn't even get to use it.

A Sunday Afternoon

2011-01-23T14:16:00.000-08:00

We got invited to Josh and Jill's for dinner tonight. Kyle and I quite like Josh and Jill. It might be the case that they are my favourite people that we've met in Winnipeg. (shhh...) Jill joined my soccer team. This is how they invited us: We were driving home from church. Their van showed up beside ours (which was a little strange because they don't drive home the same way as us) Jill who was in the passenger's seat, motioned for us to roll down our window. I was sort of hesitant, seeing as it's freezing. Then we were ahead of them. Then they caught up and she held up five fingers and then did the sign for eating, as in "eat at five" It took repeating it a few times before I figured it out and nodded. And that was that. Jill kept Sloan unexpectedly for me when I dropped Adriel off at Benson's (her son) party just because Sloan was saying he wanted to stay too. This gave me a little break. Have I mentioned that I like Jill? Well, I do and it's not just because she's always so willing to do nice things for me, but it helps.

This is what happened Sunday afternoon:

Sloan woke up from his nap with glorious bed head. I sat him down to eat a perogy lunch.

He digs in.

He lets me capture his sour cream-bed head on camera

A sizable bite

He stuffs the rest in with his chubby fingers. "Why are you bugging me, Mom?"

He stands up in his chair turns around and asks for more. Too bad there wasn't any left. My kids loooooove perogies!

I finally got it!! The peacock head band that I've wanted since I found it boxing day of '09. I was kind of hoping it would eventually go down in price. It never did, but thank goodness it was still there over a year later. It waited for me, and i waited for it, making it a joyful union. I wore blue leggings and my brown boots with it to church today.

Isn't it wonderful? You want one too, don't you?

Picture post

2011-01-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

This is what my bedroom window looks like. It was pretty and glittery with the sun shining through it.

This is my street. All the houses look like boxes stuck together.

I tried to capture the fluffiness of the snow.

This is our box house.

I tried to capture a picture of a snowflake for you Laura, and this is unfortunately the best I could come up with. It was freezing, like you don't even know, and I was worried that my camera would break.

I suppose I fit in here, because I'm so white. I camouflage.

I liked my outfit and tried to document it. My view looking down on it.

somewhat of a bird's eye view


Adriel wanted to try. The camera was big and awkward for him and this unflattering picture is the result.

Life Goes On

2011-01-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the last melodramatic post. The overwhelming wave of nothing ever goes right has passed. Sometimes it just feels like I get kicked when I'm down. And it can be lonely. And cold. No surprise about the cold part.

There are some things I like about the snow, and why not focus on that, seeing as I have a few months left to live with it? Sometimes, when I go out at night, it's snowing really lightly and it looks like glitter falling from the snow. I also love the way the snow sparkles when it's dark out. I used to think that was so magical when I was a kid, and really, it is magical. The snow here is so different from snow back home. It's so light and fluffy and one of the neat things about it, is when it accumulates, it's not all packed together so when you look at it, you can see each individual ornate snowflake. And sometimes when you take a step back and look at it, it looks like cotton batting, it's so puffy and air-filled. It's pretty cool.I also enjoy how quiet the world gets when it snows. It's almost like a reverence. Snow has it's place in the world. I really do prefer it to rain sometimes. No offense Nanaimo, I still love you.

I'm in Nursery at church. It was weird the way it happened. Because I'm the activity days leader, the primary pres. told me that I'm automatically a primary teacher (which I'm pretty sure isn't true...) and she asked me if I would serve in the Nursery. That's where the majority of my church was spent anyway because Sloan won't let me leave him, so whatevs. I was already helping out, I just wasn't teaching any lessons. The nice thing about teaching Nursery lessons is that they're short, to the point and simple. You stick to the basics.

Today we went grocer shopping and Sloan was so excited about his new diapers that he asked me to take his diaper off and put a new one on. I obliged, since he was about due for a diaper change anyway. About four minutes later he came up to me and said "Poopy Mommy." Nice. I need to get a potty for that boy.

Kyle got a job at Rona. |It's good but it sucks at the same time. We need the money. But now he's around even less. Hence the loneliness.

Are you really sure money can't buy you even a little bit of happiness? Because if he didn't have to work, I'd be happy. I'd also be happy if I could go shopping for myself once a month. Just sayin...

Life is hard!

2011-01-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

I'm just having one of those days. I'm going through a rough time right now and I'm waiting for it to let up. Let up already!!! I could really use a sister right now.

The Birthday Boy in his birthday suit

2011-01-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

Poor Sloan. He is probably destined to have an over shadowed birthday. I was so determined to not have it that way, to make it just as special as anyone else's birthday. Given he's only had two of them and he doesn't really know any better right now anyway, but still. I feel lame. Three days after Christmas comes so fast. I didn't have any wild and crazy plans for a party, or anything, but I was going to make him a cake and take pictures and things. Leading up to his birthday I was so tired from taking care of him being sick and also not having Kyle's help to run the household because he was also sick, that I woke up the morning of his birthday sick myself. It was bad. I felt crappy. Kyle was still sick. Adriel was the only one who had it all together. Sloan himself was feeling better, but he wasn't completely over it either. The day sort of wasted away until it was almost dinner time and I realized that I should probably make his cake. I just didn't feel like it. As I was dragging myself into the kitchen to do it, Kyle talked me out of it. He insisted that we could just pick up a cake from Dairy Queen. I wasn't all that keen on that just because their cakes are so big and not cheap and I don't like them that much. They're ok. So we sang him happy birthday, and I recorded that on video, but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures!! What was I thinking? Clearly I wasn't. I was sick. So the only recent picture I have of him is him playing naked on the kitchen floor with my cardigan thing after a bath. Sorry if it embarrasses you that he's naked. At least you can't actually see his stuff.

So here's to Sloan:

-I am absolutely so in love with the age that he's at right now. He's learning how to talk so much and he imitates everything. It's so cute.
-When I tuck him in at night he insists that I make his "babies" (which are actually a little frog and a big dog that are kept in his crib) say goodnight to him because I did it this one time.
-Lately I started calling him Sloon to tease him and he corrects me and says "Oan!" which is what he calls himself and he has a husky voice.
-He wakes up early in the morning and we go down stairs and lie down on the couch under a blanket and he snuggles right up to me with his soft cheek next to mine and goes back to sleep. Although I usually can't fall back to sleep I lie there and love the feeling of his little body next to me and the way his chubby warm hands touching my face or arm and I think about how I couldn't possibly feel more love for anyone as I do for in those moments. I'm just overflowing with love for him. I feel so lucky that he loves me too. I really cherish those moments. And then as soon as he hears Adriel coming down the stairs his head pops up and he calls out to him so excitedly.
-He has this naughty face that he gets when he knows he's doing something wrong, where he'll kind of look at me out of the corner of his eye but won't make eye contact. It's hilarious. Makes it hard to be mad at him for whatever it is he's doing.
-He is a huge mamma's boy. More so than Adriel by a long shot, and poor Adriel because Sloan wont let him by a momma's boy. I'm not allowed to go upstairs or downstairs without him. If I do, he cries and is quite upset about it. (to give an example)
-He's very attached to his soother. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that, although I have recently limited it to bed time and in the car. There are times during the day though where he rubs his chest and makes a wimpery noise because it's not clipped on and he wants it.
-When Im busy around the house (which is often) he'll get in a mood where he just wants me to sit with him on the couch. He pushes my legs and asks to sit on the couch. Sometimes I just have to stop and give him some cuddle time. It's really probably more rewarding for me than for him and I need him to make me stop sometimes or I never would.

What can I say? I love him to death. I just want to squeeze him and smell his hair and kiss him over and over and stare at his cute cute face. I know I'm biased but he's so darn cute in his ways. I'm lucky to be his mom. So happy birthday to Sloan and I promise when you actually know what your birthday is, I'll be better at making it fun

Boredom

2011-01-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

I have been booooooored. There hasn't been much to do around here since Christmas. We all got sick. Adriel and I weren't as bad as Kyle and Sloan, but we each had a bad day of lying around or two. Things have been closed due to holidays and there just isn't a lot to do with kids when it's FREEZING outside.

Yesterday I tried. Adriel was asking to go outside and play. I suggested we get bundled up. Kyle was anti. "It's so cold outside!" he said. I was all, we'll bundle up and the exercise of playing in the snow will keep us warm. I was desperate for some exercising endorphins (I really need to hit the gym!) and I thought some fresh air could be good for us who had been cooped up all week. How bad could it be?

It was bad. It was soooo cold. The freezing wind instantly bit at our faces. We lasted five minutes of walking before we turned around to go home. Adriel balled all the way home. Partly because we weren't going to play outside and party because he was so cold. (which reminds me, as a side note the other day he told me that the cold was biting his ears, ha ha).

Even though we have been pretty bored, I'm still not looking forward to Kyle starting school again this week. It has been so nice having him around. He lets me sleep in in the mornings. He let's me take naps if I'm tired (which ironically, I have been exhausted. From what? Doing nothing? I know I was sick and I was taking care of a sick baby this week, but I have been so tired) We hang out and watch things. We hang out and play with the kids, and even if we are bored, it has been relaxing.

But then I live in a barren frozen waste land, and sometimes when we're out I say "I can't believe you moved me to this!" I'm allowed to say things like that, right?

I feel like I should share something that I don't really feel like explaining much of right now. Kyle has switched out of the design program and is going back into engineering. He wants to go somewhere along the lines of structural engineering, which still has design elements in it and things. There are better schooling options and he's realized he's happier doing that sort of thing. Is that an adequate enough explanation?

I realized that I forgot to do Sloan's birthday post. I should get on that.
Any suggestions for the boredom rut I'm stuck in?

A very Lovelay Christmas

2010-12-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas. Well, sort of. Mostly. On Christmas Eve we had a conference call with Katie, Brent, Laura and co, and Doug and Delanie's clan, and Mom and Dad. My favourite part was mom's singing of Mary's Lullaby. Beautiful and touching as always. My kids made it hard to get everything, but at least we got something and were able to share in some Christmas Eve festivities even if we are far away in Winterpeg.

Once that was finished we had a quick dinner and we got the kids in their jammies and let them open one present before bed. Adriel picked a present that we got from our home teachers. They were so nice and got some really nice gifts for the boys. Adriel's was a rescue submarine that came with men that you could dress up in scuba gear and torpedoes that shoot out of it. He was so thrilled. Sloan wasn't feeling so great. He had a bit of a fever and wasn't all that interested in opening his own present, he just wanted to play with Adriel's. So Adriel gladly helped. Sloan got a big plastic drum with a bunch of other music makers that go inside, like a tambourine, maracas etc.

After we got the kids in bed, it was time to finish wrapping their presents and stuff their stockings. We watched Gilmore Girls while we worked. We're at the part where Luke and Lorelei finally get together, so it's quite satisfying.

Kyle and I agreed we weren't getting presents for each other this year because it just wasn't in our budget. I was sad about this because I like to do nice things for my sweetie, and if I had actually been on top of things this Christmas, I may have been able to think of something cool and meaningful to make for him but I hadn't. We did buy a book for him together on our date way back and I told him to forget about it and he'd get it for Christmas. So I stuffed that in his stocking. I also got to pick out his present from Ann. That was fun.

Kyle was sick. He suffered through the night and got up and slept on the couch. Feeling crappy and sick for the rest of Christmas was the result. Him and Sloan. Sloan was miserable until I gave him advil. Then you'd never know. It was sad too, so many yummy things to eat and Kyle had no appetite.

The boys woke up too early. They had never done that on Christmas before. Adriel was the culprit. Yelling "hello?" from his bedroom at 6am. Sheesh. How was i going to hold him off? Ann wanted to watch us open our presents over Skype and it's two hours behind in nanaimo. I held them off in my room until 7 and then we went down stairs to open stockings. Adriel said "ah ha!" after each thing he pulled out as if he knew it was in there. It was funny. Sloan just wanted to eat all the candy in his, of course. Kyle was a sneak and got me a stocking full of yummy chocolate and an array of chapsticks to feed my addiction. I held Adriel off until 8 and then we called Ann. The boys got spoiled between Uncle Adam, Grandma, Kyle and I and Santa Claus. Sloan was content with the first present he opened (which was a three dollar Value Village present that Adriel picked out for him). He followed me around like a puppy dog and every time I sat down again, he'd plunk himself in my lap. Adriel got what he asked Santa for, and was not in the least surprised when he opened it, because he'd asked for it and he was a good boy (in his mind). Him and Sloan both got light sabers and they have been slashing around in our house since. Kyle tricked me. He hid a big box behind all the other presents that I didn't notice and then when all the presents had been opened by the boys, he pulled it out and said "looks like Santa brought you something too" I pulled the lid off the box and was so overwhelmed. It was full of goods. I started to cry. He said "What's wrong?" "You weren't supposed to get me anything!" I said in a broken voice. "I didn't get anything for you," I said. He said "That's ok, we didn't have the money." Then I asked "How did you get all this then?" And he told me he sold his bass guitar. It reminded me of that story where the wife sells her hair to get a chain for her husband pocket watch and he sells his watch to get his wife a pretty hair clip. Except one sided, making me once again a Christmas loser. The box seemed to be never ending of pretty sweaters and yummy smelling bath and lotion stuff and jewelery and cute tights. What a sweet special man I have.

Adriel played. Sloan grew worse in his sickness and wouldn't let me put him down, which I had to do to make buns for dinner. He cried at my feet the whole time. Any time Kyle tried to coax him away, he cried harder. I put him to bed and when he woke up I gave him more medicine.

We went to Jill and Josh's for dinner. It was really good. I love turkey dinner. The stuffing was sooo good to me for some reason. We hung out, the kids played, and Sloan, even though he was feeling better due to advil, still stuck to my side. We played games and all was good until Kyle took a turn for the worse. We came home, put the kids in bed, and were in bed ourselves by 10. I felt the same sadness I always feel when Christmas day is over, and a little lame that we were going to bed by 10. I mean, Kyle was sick and I was exhausted but 10?

Sloan woke up at one and Adriel woke up at 3 and Sloan woke up at quarter to 4 and then at 4:30 at which point Kyle left so I could bring him in bed without disturbing his sleep. He was so restless and moving constantly (kicking legs, flailing arms, chewing on his soother) I didn't really fall back asleep and then Adriel woke up at 6:30. Brutal. But once again, my sweet sick hunk of a man got up with them, because he said he needed to take more medicine anyway, and let me sleep.

And that was our Christmas. In a nutshell. How was yours?

The Christmas Tree Fiasco 2010

2010-12-24T07:08:00.000-08:00

I said I'd write about it, so I had better get it done before Christmas. I'm afraid that I've left you waiting too long, and now it won't be as interesting but here goes.

When I got home from my trip I was anxious to get a tree, since the Christmas season was half over. We had plans to go to a tree farm. There are several in the surrounding Winnipeg area and we were told that they were fun, with sleigh rides and hot chocolate and big bonfires. So I got me and the kids bundled up and ready go. Just as we were leaving Kyle decided to give a couple of the farms a call and much to our dismay, they were all sold out of trees. Who ever heard of such a thing? So, we decided we'd go check out some of the mall parking lots because we had noticed that they were selling trees too. The first one we went to they guy told us the trees under six feet were $35 and the ones bigger ranged from $40-60 depending on how nice they were. I was surprised and I said to Kyle "let's go go some where else. That's too expensive.

Little did I know.

We went to Superstore, thinking we'd just get one from there. My dreams of having a fabulous tree were already deflated somewhat, since I'm used to the fun of going out to a tree farm and paying $25 for the tree of my choice, so I was kind of like "whatever, we'll get a cheaper tree from Superstore." But the trees at Superstore were $40!!! I couldn't believe it! $40 for some tree that was wrapped up and you didn't even know what it looked like?? So we decided to go to another parking lot stand that we knew of. By this time the kids were getting tired of being thrown in and out of the car and trudging through stores. We told them we were getting a tree and they wanted a tree.

At the next lot the prices ranged from $50-60, surprise surprise. We were defeated. Some of the trees were cheaper because of bare spots and things, so we got our tree for $45. Personally I would have gone back to the first place and got a 35 dollar one that was under six ft. I don't need a tall tree. But Kyle was done with me and my tree issues, so we got that one and came home.

We had a HARD time getting it to stand up straight in our tree stand. We thought we got it in good at one point. Then when Sloan was in bed, I got out the lights to put them on. Out of four strings of lights none of them worked!!!! I have no idea why they would all stop working at once. We had already looked around for some lights when we were out and most places were almost sold out and the ones they did have were the really expensive kind. I didn't need the expensive ones! I just wanted some regular lights. Too much to ask?

Kyle bought some lights on his way home from school. I had my achievement activity that night. Kyle had young mens. On the way home Adriel was asking and had been asking all day if we could decorate the tree. I usually do that by myself, but I knew i wouldn't get away with it this year. So I suggested that we put Sloan to bed and I'd let him stay up a little later than usual and we'd have a special time just the two of us, decorating the tree.

But first I had to get the lights on. While I was putting the lights on, the tree started to fall. I tried to fix it and couldn't. All Adriel wanted to do was put his sparkly train decoration on and he was really bugging me about it the whole time. So I let him put the train on and then I put him to bed.

Then the tree and I really got into it. I got down and I tried shoving the screw things hard into the tree while holding the tree up with one arm (which is ideally a two person job) I was struggling and sweating and to no avail. The whole thing just fell over. The water from watering it was all over the floor, there were needles everywhere and I acknowledged that I couldn't do it by myself. Sometimes I wonder how people survive without a man in their house. If I was a single mom, the tree would have never gone up. So I called Kyle and in panic mode asked when he was going to be home. He came home and stuggled with it for a while and we decided that it's just a lop-sided tree and it was throwing our tree stand off balance. So Kyle went outside and dug through the snow to find a heavy rock, brought it back in and covered it in a plastic bag and thunked it on the back side of our tree stand. It worked but the tree is still lopsided and tilted and it bugs me.

I felt like a Christmas loser.

Time flies and then there's too much to write about! It ain't fair.

2010-12-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

Well, where to start? I'm home from my vacation. It was nice to come home, as it always is after a long trip. It hasn't even been that cold... Ok well it's cold but not that cold.

I had a really nice time seeing family and friends. I feel like it's way too overwhelming to give a detailed recap of my whole trip so I'll point out some highlights:

-Laura got me in the rosebud mood, and I continued down that road with Katie.

-Basically, Katie and I spent every moment we could together. We went to strong starts, we went to super saturday, we stayed up late making cookies for super saturday, we stayed up late talking, we stayed up late making hairflowers and watching Gilmore Girls, (there was a lot of staying up late because that's the only time we were free from kids, and would finally be able to do some adult things) we went to ladysmith to see the lights. I spent a little over a weekend at her house and it was full of busyness and fun. There was a lot of sillyness and laughing, as is typical and only appropriate when sisters get together. I got to take Michealah out shopping to get a present for Nieve, and that was fun. Just getting to be with the girls and talk to them about their lives was fun. They have special place in my heart.

-I also got to spend some time with my angel-friend Leah. She rescued me for a day and we just had a nice time visiting while the kids played. She has the cutest chub-a-chunk baby. I also rescued her hair. I like being able to do that for people.

-Ann had a client the whole time, so we were quite limited to the things we could do together, which was really too bad. We did have some nice visiting time too though, and the kids loved being at her house. I'm not sure the feeling was mutual though. It was stressful for her having us there. I told her she was old and set in her ways (only because I was defending some food combination that I thought was yummy and she did not) and she loved repeating it to everyone. "Sarah says I'm old and set in my ways!" she'd say like she couldn't believe it. Most people responses were "Yeah, and?"

-I had to have my red redone there, because L'oreal is the best. It was such a beautiful shade of red. It still is, but it's changed into more of a natural look.

-I have to mention that I after I did Katie's foils, we were in Costco and an old guy working a sample stand asked us if I put her streaks in. It was just weird that he knew that somehow.

-Being in Nanaimo was weird to me. It was like I never left. It was home. It's what I've known for so long, it was almost like a dream while I was there that I really live in Winnipeg. AND other than the first few days of snow, the weather was SO mild!!

-I got to see my old high school friends Kathy and Tamara. It was nice to catch up and remember the "old days" together. Crazy to think it's almost been ten years since graduation. It had been so long since the three of us had all been together.

- I got to go to the Vancouver temple!! Yay! It was much needed. And thank you Laura, for letting me drag you out first thing in the morning to go.

-The McLean lunch was crazy, but nice. I can't believe that Uncle Duncan and Renee wanted to take on such a wild bunch.

I had a great time staying with Evan and Esther. We had a lot of laughs and it was just nice to be there and spend time with them. Adriel loved playing with Evan of course too and kept calling him his "best cousin."

-The trip ended with the last night at Laura's. Once I got the kids in bed (which they did with out much of a fight considering all the different houses and beds they'd been in at that point) we decided it was an appropriate time for picture stories and tea. I realized that I didn't have the effort I wanted to have to put into it, but we still had some good laughs.

-It was so nice to see my handsome man again (it was the longest we'd been apart) and I was tired of being the only parent to my children. Kyle missed me and it's nice to be missed.

Now to get ready for Christmas...Wait til you hear about my tree fiasco.

Since no one else is updating, I suppose I shall...

2010-11-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my fist activity with the activity day girls. It's not going to anything much. Just some planning ideas and some getting to know you games. Treats. I felt I needed to get an activity in before I leave for my trip. I leave on Tuesday!!! I feel like its so soon, (well it is, it's less than a week) and I feel like there are a lot of things I have to do and should do before I go, yet I feel like it's not coming fast enough. Make sense?

The cold is getting worse and snow is starting to come this week. There's a light dusting on the grass, and the wind blows it around the road. It looks like this white misty powder. It's sort of mesmerizing if you're not used to it. I'm glad to be escaping it all, even if only for rain, at least I wont die. Oh the things I want to do and the people I want to spend time with and the hair I have to do. I hope I can fit it all in without it being too stressful.

Our date on Friday night was SOOO nice! We went to Joey's. It's this classy restaurant that we first met in Calgary and loved. When we got there, Kyle asked to be seated in his friend, Kevin's section. Kevin is his friend from school. Kevin's section was busy and we were told we'd have to wait 35 mins. Kyle said ok before I could object. He said he didn't really care about waiting, but that he just wanted to be layed back and spend time together. So we went for a walk out into the cold. Joeys is located in a strip mall thing. We went to Indigo Books. We admired many a book and even bought a couple for Christmas gifts. Book stores are fun when you don't children with you. We ventured back and waited a while longer. Kevin was nice. He remembered my name and kept calling me Sarah as if we knew each other. He got us free virgin margaritas. Mine was raspberry. Kyle's was strawberry and we agreed that mine was better. Tart vs sweet. We got this delicious warm crab and goat cheese dip to start. So good. I got a prawn curry bowl and kyle got a rotisserie chicken with sundried tomato gravy. Mine came out with a cylindrical tower of rice in the middle and cilantro on top. It did not disappoint. Kyles was good. Nothing that crazy good though. By the time we ate and everything (service took a long time) it was time for us to go and get the kidlets. It was just nice to have a little break and enjoy that time together. How did Jill know?

On another note, I was sort of thinking maybe we could possibly get a puppy. Am I crazy? I know I've been anti getting a dog for a long time. I like dogs but they are stinky, they bark and wake up sleeping children, their hair gets every where and i would have to house train it and worry about it wrecking stuff. I've always felt like I couldn't handle that in my life. "Maybe one day", I'd tell Kyle. Kyle has wanted to get a dog for a long time. So my thoughts have been this- The kids would love it. Sloan's getting older, and we aren't planning on another baby yet, so maybe this would be a good time to get a dog? I don't know. I'm not saying we're going to get one or anything, but now I got Kyle excited and he's already started looking on Kijiji. It would be a fun Christmas present for the boys. What has come over me?

FRIDAYS are the best!!

2010-11-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

I am feeling a little giddy with excitement for a few reasons:

1) I'm coming home to Nanaimo with the two boys for a two week visit. Things that make this possible are:
-Family members and friends willing to pay me to do their hair, thus paying for my ticket (particularly Katie, who helped me organize it)
-Sloan being under two for another month and a half, therefore being free.
-Ann. She really wants to see her grand kids.
I know that I've only been gone for just over two months, but I'm still happy to come home and get a visit in while I can.

2) It's Friday and that means weekend. Even though my weekends aren't always the greatest due to Kyle being busy with his assignments, I always find Friday gives me a reason to feel happy.

3) Jill, my saintly friend (the one with five kids) phoned me up and said that she was already watching someone else's kids tonight (another family from our ward) and wanted to know if I would like her to watch mine too so that Kyle and I can have a chance to go out. You have no idea how much I've been longing to just go out with Kyle. We still haven't had the chance to explore the city as adults, and there are SO many restaurants we want to try. We just haven't had the funds. Jill had mentioned to me previously that we could do trade offs, watch her kids, and they watch ours another night. I realize that her 5 kids and my two aren't exactly an equal trade, but it's ok with me. She has some older ones, and they're good helpers and Benson and Adriel are the same age and play so well together. Honestly, I have yet to meet a child Adriel doesn't play well with. He loves everyone. Adriel just LOVES going to his house. He hates coming home afterwards. He tells me about all the cool toys they have, etc. Bottom line: Kyle and I get to go out!!! Yay!!!

So those are my reasons.

Sloan calls Adriel "dow" (rhymes with low) It's derived from A-dow. It's so cute! He loves his brother so much. Moments when you watch your children genuinely love each other are so precious.

Halloween Creatures

2010-11-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

Introducing Adriel Superman and Skeleton Sloan

Because he was wearing his winter jacket under the suit he could barely move. It was hilarious, although I'm not sure if he liked it that much.

The funny thing about Adriel's costume was although his coat helped him with the muscle look, it also gave him bubble butt. Who knew Superman had a beefy bum?

Although he wasn't too fond of his costume, he thought the candy made it worth it.

Really, there are no words.

Me and my new red 'do.

Nothing, really.

2010-11-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

I remember Mudsy inspecting my chores after I'd finished them to make sure I did everything right. I remember her showing me that when something didn't come off, you could scratch at it with your fingernail to get it off. I remember I detested having to do this. Even to this day, I avoid it at all costs. I bring out special scrubbies, and I scrub with all my might hoping to avoid actually having to touch whatever it is. But, alas, as a last resort, if my efforts aren't successful, the fingernail always pulls through. It still grosses me out though, because the dirt and yuckiness is then lodged uncomfortably under my fingernail even if for a brief second, before I get it out. And I wonder, did other mothers teach their children this method of cleaning??

I suppose I should come forward with the information that I coloured my hair red. Actually, I didn't. Jill did. I was doing her hair and saying how I wanted my hair done too. She offered. She said she had a hairdresser friend back home (lethbridge) who had shown her how to do foils. So I took her up on the offer. She came over one evening after the kids were in bed and I showed her what I wanted on a mannequin. Several hours later, it was done. She did a good job, but I don't know how much I like the colour line I used. Oh, how I miss L'Oreal and all the beautiful reds! No other color lines compare! It was supposed to be a nice deep red with bright copper and a deeper reddy purple peeking out. The copper isn't even really visible. And the red is fading fast. It's been two weeks and I the water still turns red when I wash my hair. Argh.

Today is a boring Saturday. Kyle is at school working on different projects. For some reason, I can handle when Kyle is gone during the week fine. I'm usually fairly busy and then before I know it, he's home. But when he has to be gone on Saturdays I feel like I'm going to die of boredom. I want him to be here. I don't want to take the kids out to do things by myself on Saturday, I want him to be there too. I want his company. That's just how I feel. I know, I better get used to it.

Why does flying back home have to be so expensive???!

What can I do with my kids anyway??

Oh- I got a calling. I'm the activity days leader. Again. well, I wasn't the leader in Nanaimo, but you know what I mean. I'm fine with this calling, I'm just sad that I don't have Katie as my assistant. Should be fun though, right?

A furry brown boot of my very own.

2010-11-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know much about winter boots these days. You know, the ones that actually keep your feet warm and protected from snow, not the cute and fashionable kind- I know about those. We got a flyer in the mail from Sears and in that flyer there was an ad that said on Wednesday only, the winter boots would be 40% off. I don't even know if Sears is a good place to get quality winter boots. But we went. And I got the brown boot that is shown in the middle of this picture. So there it is. It's official. I now have my own brown boot of fur. Still to come: pictures of my house, Halloween, and perhaps a video of Adriel doing a dance off...

A Raw Throat

2010-11-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

Throat's raw, just in case you didn't get that from the title of this blog. Sloan is sick, which usually means I get sick, what with the constant nose wiping and him touching me with snotty hands before I can stop him. Kyle brought me home a frappuccino to soothe my sore throat. He's good like that.

I love the age that Sloan is at. I don't want him to get any older. He's just so incredibly adorable to me. He's talking so much now. Not in full sentences, and half the time I'm the only one who knows what he's saying, but it's so cute! And there's something about snuggling with his little fleece covered body in the morning that makes me feel so happy to be his Mom. The only down side is that he never lets Adriel cuddle with me. And big four year olds still need snuggles too.

Tonight I have soccer. This excites me. All our games are at the U of M (which is nice because it's close) in this huge facility that has many turf fields. My first game was a bit nerve wracking, just because it has been so long since I've played a real game with rules and a ref and half time, and subs. The games aren't actually that long- two twenty-five minute halves. We don't have a real goalie as of yet though, which is troublesome since they sort of want everyone to have a turn in net, and I'm soooo bad, plus I don't like it. There's no coach, we just sub on and off when we want...which is sort of frequent, since there's a LOT of running at full speed in soccer. I get wiped out so fast. Gone are the teenage days of being in shape without ever trying. I used to hate being subbed out of a game. Now I need to be. My team is a wide range of ages from early twenties to 40s. I also feel like I don't have a real position. Originally I liked midfield, but we don't have those. And in the last eight or so years as I've played for fun with brothers and things, I always played defense, and I was good at it. We play six on the field. One in net, two defence and three forwards, with the centre person running back to help on defense. In reality though, you're playing the whole field the whole time. I turn into a beet from the sweating and running.It's all good though. I love it. Absolutely love it. The old gray mare just ain't what she used to be.

Burrrrrrrrr

2010-10-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

It's cold here. Suddenly, it's really cold. I am such a wimp when it comes to cold, as I am realizing. I mean, we haven't really gotten snow yet (although it was falling softly from the sky yesterday) and it's only been minus one or two which to the locals is "nice." To me, though it's cold and I don't know how I'm going to survive minus 50. Seriously, they say it get's that cold for at least a week every winter, and other than that the average is minus 30. It's not as dry as Alberta which makes it feel colder. I'm in shock and awe that this is my lot for the next few years. I really have to endure this????

A busy week

2010-10-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Confession: sometimes when I'm undressing in my room, I walk to the window, with the curtains pulled back and look defiantly onto my street and think to myself "I'm naked and you can't see me!" My window is higher up on the wall so when I'm looking out, it's just my head. I don't know why but there's some sort of satisfaction found from doing that.

This week was a busy one. We had a big thanksgiving dinner with some other out of towners from Alberta. The couple that hosted it was the same couple that had us over for dinner our first Sunday. They're really nice. The husband, Josh, reminds me of Jordan a bit. He's blond and balding and built similarly (he's slimmer than Jordan) and he's a very kind dad to his five children. His wife, Jill is one of these: Finds absolute joy in every minute of being a mother to her five children- and we aren't talking easy kids here- beautiful, slim, manages to do everything for everyone even though she's clearly busy with her own situation and does it all with a "it's no big deal" attitude and a gracious pretty smile. She's just so likable too. Let's just say I'm envious of her in many ways. She makes me want to be a be a better person. That's sounds corny but it's true. The dinner was nice, although my beef with thanksgiving dinner is that there's so many yummy things to eat that you only have room for a little of each thing on your plate and by the time you're done that plate of food, you're too full for anymore of the particular things that you enjoyed the most. Never mind about dessert! We visited and the kids played. Considering it was a thanksgiving away from family, it was as good as it could have been.

It was my turn to teach joy school this week. I had already been preparing since the week before, but I still felt like I wasn't ready. Especially since Monday was pretty much a right off. It was ok. The unit we're doing right now talks about rules and obeying rules and how rules are there so we can be happy. One of my days we focused on the rules of nature. One of the examples given was how if bees obey, they make honey, and they shouldn't sting or they'll die. Luck would have it that later that day, Adriel got stung by a bee on his chubby man paw. I don't know what it is about my kid's hands but I find them so darn cute. Chubby and huge. It really bothered me that he got stung. The protective mother in me was furious at the bee for hurting my little boy. His poor finger swelled to a disproportionate size. He was quite upset that the bee didn't obey the rules and that it died.

Last night was mine and Kyle's first night out. It was the harvest ball. We got a babysitter last minute, a young woman from our ward, Madeline who's 16. She was great with the kids. Adriel was SO excited about having a babysitter to play with him. It was nice to get out. The harvest ball here is different from the one in Nanaimo, in that there's no dinner. It's just a dance with entertainment and stuff. We weren't really sure what to expect. The theme was "a night at the gallery," and it was put together by an architect bishop and his wife. It was amazing, the effort they went into to make it look like an art gallery, complete with studio lighting. It featured art done by people throughout the stake. Kyle and I thought it was a really nice set up. What disappointed us, though, is that hardly anyone came. I'm not sure exactly how big the stake is, but there was hardly anyone there from our ward alone! We had a nice time though. We visited with another couple named Laura and John. Laura explained to me that she has a sister named Sarah. I told her I have a sister named Laura. We instantly knew how cool we were. She's my visiting teaching companion and I quite like her. Actually I have to say, there are many very nice people in our ward. I appreciate that.

Today we had a relief society at the church. Jill, the one I mentioned earlier ran this activity. I thought it was a really good idea. It was called "Are you eight cow certified?" Then there were different things- holy cow, cash cow, cow tipping, etc. I was asked to do the holy cow one. How could I say no to Jill, who has five kids and managed to plan and run the whole operation which was complete with cow decorations and she even made the lunch for it!! Holy cow was about family scripture reading. It wasn't so bad. I only had to fill 10 minutes. Cash cow was for budgeting, cow tipping was fun things to do in the Winnipeg area, there was cow grazing and chewing the cud, which was lunch and socializing. There was a pampering part too. It was fun. I thought it was a really good idea. We started out by watching Johnny Lingo too, and although there are many parts to laugh at, including the acting, I really like the message.

Tonight we went to an elder's quorum activity, which meant we needed a babysitter again. I know, two nights in a row? It was only for two hours though. This time we got Madeline's younger sister, Hillary. She was nice too. I felt bad though because when I got home, Sloan was screaming and she said it had been about a half hour. Adriel had fallen asleep on the couch and somehow slept through it all. The activity was fun. Jill's husband Josh is the elder's quorum president. So they basically busted out two major activities in a day. Show offs. Anyway, dinner was taco salad. For the chips they used nacho cheese doritos. They were in individual bags and you crush the chips a bit and then just add everything to the bag, and eat it out of the bag with a fork. I thought that was an excellent idea, because it minimizes the mess. Then we played a minute to win it. Apparently it's a game from tv. You're given some crazy thing you have to do in 60 seconds. I think on t.v you win some major money if you can do it. Kyle had to tie a bucket to his head and bounce ping pong balls against the wall and try and catch the rebound in the bucket. He was good at it. I had to try and fling ping pong balls off a towel attached to the floor on one side into a laundry basket 15 feet away. I was not very successful. Once again, not a very good turn out considering it was a fun activity. There were seven couples, all young. It was fun though.

I have some very exciting news. I joined a womens' soccer league!!! I can't even tell you how excited I am to be able to play soccer again on a regular basis. It's obviously an indoor league. It goes until April and then I can play outdoor. One of the moms that I do joy school with mentioned how she's on this team, and she hooked me up. I still remember the day I joined my first soccer team. It was in the middle of the season, and after I played my first game I knew that I loved it so much. I was seven or eight. I was so excited that I remember going home and excitedly saying to myself in the mirror in the bathroom that I was a soccer player now. Jordan caught me and he and Evan teased me about it a lot. Understandably so. I feel that same giddy excitement about being able to play now. It's just casual, no pressure which is exactly what I've been wanting for so long. My first game is on Tuesday. Honestly soccer is one of my most favourite things in the whole world.

And that's the update for now folks. So far, Winnipeg has been good to us. That doesn't mean that I don't miss nanaimo, Katie, don't get the wrong idea. I really wish people could come visit me. I would love that. I know it's unrealistic, but I still daydream.

To have bangs or not to have bangs??

2010-10-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

I have a love hate relationship with bangs. I can never make up my mind. I've had side bangs for a long time. I always go through this roller coaster of deciding to grow them out, and then I cut them again. There are times when I think "What took me so long to cut my bangs? I look so much better!" and other times when I hate them and decide with absolute resolution that I'm growing them out. I cut them. I decide a few days later that I'm going to grow them out for sure this time. But then a few days after that there's a part that bugs me, and I fix it, by cutting them shorter. All the while one voice is saying "Who cares if there's a part that is bugging you, you're growing them out, so just let them grow" and the other voice, which usually wins out eventually (hence the fact that I still have bangs) says "But you look dumb like that. Just fix it, and then let it grow out." So I fix it, and it looks way better and I think "Maybe bangs aren't so bad after all. I have long hair, and bangs make it more interesting..." and so they are fine for a while. Then they grow. I don't notice all at once that they're longer, but one day, when it's been the third day in a row that I feel yucky about my hair, I think "Maybe if I just trim this little bit right here..." and so you see, it happens all over again. Bangs. They can make some people look soooo cute, and I'm envious. But then I remember that I don't look like them, that my hair/face wouldn't look like that person's. Ahhhh. I'm still undecided! Aren't you glad that you got to read all I have to say about bangs? I could say more even... You know I have a problem. You know I'm obsessive about hair, and very critical of my own. A part of that is what drove me to be a hairdresser. At least with my bangs, if there's something wrong I can fix it. I can only blame myself. And since I'm so picky about my bangs, I've learned to a certain degree what doesn't look good on me and what does. It's such a touchy thing. If my bangs don't look good, then the rest of my hair is bad. OK. Really I'm done this time.

The weather here has been so nice this week and last week. Sunny and warm. Today it was 25. For a while there I thought the cold was coming on fast and strong. I'm glad it held out a bit. I can already tell you that it's one of the things I like about Winnipeg. I like sun. I know Nanaimo has sun, and that it had lots of sun the last two weeks too, though.

Our license plates are still BC ones, and frankly I don't want to change them. It's sort of like giving in and saying "Okay we live here now and are like the rest of you." I'm not ready. I will not conform. I will always be a BC girl. And right now, I want everyone here to know it. Changing my license plates feels like giving up my BC identity. I know, I'm silly.

I told Kyle the other day that numbers and letters have a gender to me. I subconsciously have always assigned a gender to them since I was a kid, I guess. He thought I was totally bizarre. I thought everyone did that. At least I think I had a conversation with one of my sisters about it once. Bethany maybe? Anyways, A is a girl and B is a boy, (Sorry Bethany) and so on. So, am I the only one?

I spontaneously decided to cut my own hair today. The layers felt too long and like they were dragging down my face, so when I got out of the shower I added my own layers. How hard can that be? Hard when doing to one's self. Especially with long hair. When I pull it out straight above my head, I can't reach the top. And then there's still the whole getting the scissor positioning right when looking in the mirror and not at my actual hand. Long hair and layers are one of those things that doesn't have to be exact and precise otherwise I wouldn't have attempted it in the first place. The jury's still out on how it turned out. I have to actually style it.

Enough about my hair already!

Nothing Exciting

2010-09-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

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.

A Father Who Loves His Daughter.

2010-09-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-09-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

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.

The boy gets a haircut and park picaloos

2010-09-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

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!

Thought you might wonder what Winnipeg looks like. This is a field at a school right by our house.

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.

A chubby meaty hand reaches into the hole.

playing peekaboo

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.

An after shot of my handsome boy's hair cut.

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...

Pointing at the horses. He loves horses, but he calls them neighs.

The move and other such stuff.

2010-09-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

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.

My Birthday among other things

2010-08-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I should post about my birthday. I'm 27 now. Yuck. Kyle had ordered my present online. It came a few weeks before my birthday in a tall slim box. I had no idea what it was. It stood in a corner in our room during that time and every couple of nights Kyle asked if I wanted to open my present early. I'm not that sort of person. I like to get presents on my birthday otherwise there's nothing to look forward to other than getting older.

So on the morn of my birthday Kyle dragged the box out into the living room, got me a knife and I went to it. It was a snowboard and boots! I was so surprised!! No, I'm not good at snowboarding but I've always wanted to be, and last Feb when we went together, I made a lot of progress and I really wished we could keep it up because I didn't want to lose the progress I had made. I never dreamed I'd have my own board and so soon too. It's really pretty. I took some pictures of it before I put it back in the box. Is there snowboarding around Winnipeg, you ask? Kyle looked into it and apparently there is. That's all I know though, I don't know where. My boots are white with pink and gray. It was exciting. I admired the board all day.

I met Ann at the park. The kids played. I followed Sloan around. He has no fear. He climbs things that are really high and pushes past all the big kids to go down slides that they are blocking. Ann offered to take Adriel home with her to give me a "birthday break" while Sloan was sleeping. She suggested that I take the opportunity to pack. I had a nap instead. What? It was my birthday. Adriel had his first swimming lessons that night, which he loved, and then we went out for dinner at Montana's. I was convinced to let them put the crazy hat with horns on and sing to me for the entertainment of my kids. They did think it was pretty cool and luckily it was over fast. I don't like the limelight. The kids were actually well behaved at the restaurant thanks to the things Ann brought for them to play with. Adriel went home with Ann and we came home to our house. Kyle went out and got a cheesecake from a grocery store bakery with fresh fruit on top and a box of "delectables" which were little mini desserts to try. We didn't even get to that box though, I was full after the cheesecake which wasn't that good. No Bethany cheesecake, that's for sure. Mmmm I could go for a maple one. We watched movies and went to bed.

And that about sums up the 27th birthday. It was fun and good and a big step up from last year!!!

Adriel has been at Ann's ever since. I see him during the day as we do different activities, but he never wants to come home with me. Ann's all too happy to have him, she does a lot of fun things with him. They are really going to miss each other. I'm a little sad that he doesn't want to come home and I miss him, but at the same time I figure he may as well get his fill. Poor Sloan misses him too.

I have been spending my spare time packing and sorting. I can't believe how much has to be done in so little time. I have 19 days left. That's not even three weeks!! We don't even have a place to live!! I sure wish I had a Mudsy here to help me! It's a little stressful and I try not to think about what little time I have left here with my friends and with Katie. We've been squeezing in as much fun time together as we can...

This is the new board

New boot

this n that

2010-07-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

Just so you realize, my last post didn't actually end in Kyle. I wrote a few more paragraphs that for some reason didn't save or post. Weird. I don't feel like re writing them though.

We sold our computer and now I'm using the laptop. It's not as nice to type on. It bugs me.

Ann has been keeping Adriel for sleepovers, which he loves so much, and then she spends the day with him- taking him out for lunch and swimming, etc. He is having a blast. It's nice for me too. Sloan has been happily playing and entertaining himself which allows me to get some things done. I sorted through some stuff yesterday and took a lot of things to the recycling place. It was necessary to do, because we can't take everything with us and the things I got rid of were things I really didn't need, but it still made me feel a pang of sadness when I saw my stuff sitting there on top of all the other junk ready to be taken away by someone else. Sloan can be endlessly happy playing with a damp cloth. He uses it to pretend that he's cleaning, and then he tries draping it over different things, and then he puts his head on it all the while making gurgling noises and being very pleased with himself.

He said "pee" and pulled down his pants, so I took his diaper off and let him run around nude for a while with the potty near by. One time he took the lid off the potty and then peed on it. This time he just peed on the floor after being nude for a long time and then he pointed at it and said "uh oh" over and over until I came to see what he was saying "uh oh" about. Little monster. He also got out of the bath and did that again later. In the same spot. Its not like I officially started potty training him or anything. He just said he had to go pee so I thought I'd give it a shot. Pee on the floor was the result. It could have been worse. It could have been the other.

We're still trying to find a place to live in Winnipeg. In case you were wondering. I just want to hurry up and have that taken care of.

Also I'm dreading the drive there. Kyle will be driving his truck and pulling the trailer, which leaves me and the kids by ourselves in the car. That's going to be hard and lonely. Anyone feel like driving out there with me to keep me company and then flying home? It would be a good chance to see Winnipeg and also a good way to say goodbye since I'm moving so far away from everyone....Come on you know you want to. Please???

The Jist

2010-07-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

Ok well I may as well start at the beginning. Kyle got a big envelope in the mail from the u of m. He was so excited to open it, that he didn't want to wait for me to get off the phone. I was talking to Laura at the time. I got off, he ripped it open and the top page said "Certificate of Acceptance." I wasn't all that surprised because, hello- big envelope? That always means yes. Kyle was thrilled because this is the first university to accept him into the environmental design program he does for a few years (sort of unclear on how many) and then his masters in architecture. We were still waiting to hear from Calgary, and I was honestly holding out for Calgary because that's where I wanted to move. Even though I was happy for Kyle to get in to the u of m I didn't accept it as where we were going to go. We still needed to hear from Calgary and then we'd make a decision...

We had to decide pretty quick if we were going to accept Manitoba's acceptance because they needed to know right away or something. That evening we made a pro/con list for each city. I pleaded hard for Calgary's case, suggesting things like Banff- that's a pro! (I still think it is) Kyle was more objective although at the time I accused him of being biased seeing as he'd already been accepted to one of the schools and not the other. Out of all the programs that Kyle applied for across the country, Dalhousie was the most appealing and U of M was second. Calgary was on the bottom of the list. One of the reasons for this was, Kyle would still be taking courses he wasn't all that interested it, and architecture would be his minor (I don't totally get how universities are set up- I'm uneducated.) We went swimming at the lake that evening with just Adriel. We talked about it while treading water and relaxing. Kyle mainly talked about the program at U of M and all the things he would get to do, right off the bat- Like touring around the city and surrounding areas and taking pictures of different buildings and sketching them. I know he would love that. Kyle had mentioned earlier that if we were just picking a city to move to for the heck of it, he'd probably pick Calgary too. We've both already lived there, we know people there and we know we like it there, it's closer to home for us, etc. Then I thought about how were weren't moving for just the heck of it, we were moving for Kyle to get a good education and I know he'll get that at the U of M. Calgary would have been ok for him if no where else had accepted him, but that wasn't the case. I said "I think we need to move to Winnipeg." (in my head I was being very brave) He said "Yes, I think so too." I immediately felt really good about the decision. Winnipeg will be an adventure for us. It'll be new and exciting. I'm actually excited. I look forward to seeing more of the country I live in and experiencing something different. I know as a family this is right for us- for Kyle to get an education, I know we will be blessed for that and that's something I have to hang onto sometimes (because it can be really hard never seeing him because of school and work) and I also know that it's right for him to do it in Winnipeg. Knowing those two things is what makes it ok. There are a LOT of things I'm really going to miss. I know it's going to be hard for me, and there will probably be days where all I want to do is move back. I just have to remember the bigger picture.

Kyle

2010-07-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

KYLE GOT ACCEPTED TO UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA!!!!!!!!!! We had to make a decision much faster than we thought, and Winnipeg, here we come... I'll write more about it later.

Journeyings

2010-06-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

I'm visiting the mainland right now. Basically I came over to visit Bethany. We's originally made plans to meet up over here in July but because of her baby-in-the-belly circumstances, she's here now, and so am I. The original plan was that we would both stay at Jordan and Tracy's but there wasn't enough room. So I am staying with Doug and Delanie and I am thoroughly enjoying myself and so is Adriel. Sloan doesn't care where he is as long as he's with me.

Yesterday Ben watched my boys and his own boy and Bethany and Delanie and I went shopping at Metrotown. It was sort of strange being there with out Laura. That's who I always go with and it's usually at Christmas time. We basically headed for Forever 21 because that's where I really wanted to go. We made a few short stops on the way. Its a huge store. Two floors and looooots of clothes. Laura and I discovered it together at Christmas time. As we approached it we saw hoard of people filing in and we almost skipped it because it looked so busy. It delighted us. We found so many things we liked and wanted for ourselves, and the prices were reasonable...I hadn't been back since. We all bought ourselves stuff there. Bethany was able to find some cute shirts to wear while pregnant. I found some very lovelies and Delanie found some cute shirts to. Basically that's the only store we went to though because as we were leaving the food court I realized that I had missed many calls from Tracy's house and sure enough my kids weren't happy/ were reaking havoc. Poor Ben.

I spent the rest of my day at J&T's. We went for walk and sunk deep into the couches and talked. (mainly bethany and I. Jordan was gone and Tracy took Jane to her baseball thing and Ben was working on Doug's breaks.

Tonight we're having a little birthday thing for Adriel and he'll finally get to see Carmen and Evan. Tomorrow I leave already.

It's fun visiting family. Andrea, you're next!!

My boys and this and that

2010-05-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Adriel discovered taking pictures on the camera, and he had a lot of fun taking pictures of everything in the house. Here's one he took of Sloan.

Meet my Adriel Dog. This is the dog house I made for him, and also this is his post nap look, which I found particularly endearing.

We practiced different emotions. This is mad Adriel dog.

This is his dog 'O' face.

Ha ha. This is his sad dog face. It made me laugh, and maybe you will too.

This is his gorilla impression while being a dog

Isn't he lovable?

I love my Adriel-Dog with ketchup on his face.

And here he is being my baby and my laundry basket is his crib.

And who can resist Sloan in his tight red long-john jammies?? There's just something so cute about a baby in tight jammies.

Sloan poses for Adriel

Adriel wanted to see my sad face

That's my baby who's not so babyish anymore. Something weird happened to the flash in this one. Yes, that's a lime. For some reason my kids like sour citrus fruits.

This is Sloan immediately after he woke up from his nap. He's smiling at me. Adriel took this one.

And that's it for now folks!

Update on the move front

2010-05-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

Thought you would like to know that Dalhousie (Nova Scotia) rejected us. Kyle felt a little sad, and like no one's going to accept him, but obviously that's not true because we're in at Calgary. It would have been a really hard move anyway. So we're still waiting to hear from U of Manitoba...

A whirlwind

2010-05-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, I'm way behind on my life again. My trip to Utah was really lots and lots of fun and was over so fast. Karen showed us a really good time. It was so good to see her and the boys. Those are some very special boys. And Adriel and Seth had a blast together. We were busy making things. Karen's very crafty and we got to make many cute things, including two skirts each and a lot of hair clips with flowers on them. We literally shopped till we dropped on Laura's birthday, in which she found so many cute things for herself that we couldn't even remember it all by the end of the day.Out of all that, I think I bought one thing for myself that day...But no worries, I certainly spent enough money and came home with too much stuff.

Being home has been nice but also has brought me back to the reality of house work and cooking and having a husband who's never home. Oh how I missed my Sloan. I feel like I had to earn the right to be his Mom again. He didn't fully accept me right away. He sat on my lap (after staring at me for a really long time) and kissed me but he didn't cry when I left the room, or any of the usual stuff. He wouldn't go to bed for me and I felt sooo guilty, like I had betrayed his little heart. But we're back to normal, and man I love that baby. I just want him to stay a baby forever. He's so adorable and sweet and I just love him to bits.

Mother's day was sort of not good because I was sick. I stayed home from church and layed on the couch and watched New Moon, while Sloan climbed on and off of me continuously. We had a really long nap in the afternoon which was nice and then Kyle made souvlaki for dinner under my instructions that are actually Layne's instructions and Ann came over. Kyle got me a big frame with lots of different spots for pictures (at my request) and I get to go shopping (only my favourite thing) with a certain sum of money to spend on myself kid free for as long as it takes... I wonder how long I can draw it out for??? :) So that was a good part of mother's day. And Adriel brought me some cute things home from church. All day though I thought a lot about being a mother, and how lucky I am to have such beautiful healthy wonderful boys, and how they are really the ones that bless me, and help me to improve and grow. I'm the lucky one, not them. I just want to always have that gratitude, because it can be easy to forget when a certain almost 4 year old is throwing a tantrum and kicking the walls in his room....grrrr. I don't know what to do with him sometimes.

This week has actually gone by surprisingly fast. It's Thursday already. Tomorrow I get to go on a date. Well, my kids are finally asleep, so I'm going to nap too.

Oh and by the way, I started working again, now that Kyle's out of school, I'm working a part day on Saturdays, which should be fun. It's just for the summer until we move. Apparently I forgot to mention it to anyone...Last Saturday was my first day and it was dreadful because I was sick and my nose was constantly dripping, and it took all of my energy to try and not sneeze on my client (thank goodness I only had one) What could I do? Call in sick on my first day??

a is for anti-non-secretary

2010-04-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

hi. laura here. this is our poster of which we are rightfully proud. please take the time to read it in depth. please take the time give us the appreciation we deserve. thank you.

A you're the Arab in the sky

2010-04-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well as you all know we've been having fun here in Utah. Laura's done a pretty good job keeping you all up to date about the going ons around here.

Today Slavica left. She found out just after we got here that her sister who had been begging for her to come to Calgary bought her a ticket with out telling her beforehand. So, John was gone the whole week on a business trip (he'll get back tomorrow after we leave) and Slavica left too. Nice, huh? Normally we'd head over to Karen's which is our next stop, but she asked us to stay and keep an eye on the kids. You know, make dinner for them, make sure they do their homework, push them down the stairs when they're bad- stuff like that. Auntie stuff. So that's what we've been doing today. We made lime chicken. It's in the oven right now. The recipe seemed good, as butter and brown sugar were a part of it, and so how could it not be good??

Last night we went to Christian's children's choir performance. There were 400 children in his choir and they sounded really good. Their songs were short, they didn't drag on, and they were catchy and it was over in less than an hour. That's my kind of consert. When we got up to leave, the lady behind me asked me if my son's name is Adriel. I said yes and then she told me that was her husband's name and that she'd never heard it anywhere else before. I haven't really heard of anyone else having that name before either, other than a black-ish family that Andrea told me about. So, there! It IS a boy's name to everyone who thinks it's girlie. hmph. Then we went to this frozen yogurt place called Tummy Yummy's. They have these frozen yogurt taps and you can mix and match whatever you want. Then theres a station with toppings and sauces and you put what you want on it and pay by weight. Mine was really good. I got a cheesecake and raspberry kind swirled together and added graham cracker crumbs, raspberries, little bit of oreo, heath bar (which is like skor, and which I thought said health bar and that threw me off) and caramel sauce and sweetened condensed milk. Laura's was really good too. Of course it included peanut butter sauce among other things. When we came home we found a very overwhelmed Alysha who is running for secretary at her school and needed to make some posters for her campain. The night before, Laura took a picture that she haf taken of her and Brenna and cut Brenna out of it and edited it to the best of her ability on an online site and we got it printed off a walmart for her posters. Well, she wasn't happy with it because you could see a few minor blemishes on her face, of which she referred to as "acne". We decided to help her with the posters seeing as it was already 9:30 and we've learned that it takes Alysha forever to do anything.

So, out came all this fun craft stuff and Laura and I set to work creating a masterpiece, in which I convinced Alysha to let us put her picture on it. We had so much fun doing it! There was a bright yellow boa, purple and orange ribbon, shiny silver 3D stars an acronym of her name, sparkles., etc. Creating stuff like that is just so fun for both of us and I think we make a pretty good team. While we worked, Alysha did one, and Slavica helped with one too. The atmosphere changed from stress to enjoyment. We stayed up to the wee hours of the morning working on it and went to bed deliriously tired knowing that we had to get up early to take Slavica to the bus depo and Alysha to school. Laura ended up doing both of those, but I got up because I thought I would have to drive Alysha.

Today was more of a meh day. We checked out the Logan mall and found nothing to our liking. We went to tjmaxx which is supposedly like a winners, which we found to by cheapy in quality and not a lot of cute things. I however, bought a shirt and Laura succumbed yet again to some soft flip-flops. Now we both have two pairs from this trip. We're done with the shoes.

That about brings you up to date. I really miss my Sloanie woan. I can't think about it too much.

I forgot to mention that I've done four haircuts since I've been here and have more to go...

2010-04-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Why not post? Well I can actually think of a few reasons, such as a little munchkin who's climbing all over me and the desk while I write this. Ah well.

Last week I cut bangs. I had been thinking about it for a while, and while I was getting ready in the bathroom and feeling as if my hair was just looking drab, I snatched up my scissors and cut bangs. In my head I was planning on starting out longish and then trimming from there. I did actually already have bangs sort of, they were just grown out because they hadn't been cut since September. So they turned out to already be shortish after I cut them. Of course, I had to touch them up how I wanted them. I'm really picky about my bangs, when I do have them, an I've learned through trial and error how I like them, and I will never ever let anyone else ever cut bangs on me again. Bangs make such a difference. I cut them and then I felt fresh faced. However, just because I'm back on the bang train it doesn't mean I'm fresh faced all the time. I wish.

I can't believe how fast time is going by! Next friday, I leave for my trip to Utah with Laura for a visit with John and Slavica and Karen and the boys and Tanis's wedding. I'm excited. I worry about leaving Sloan though. That's right I'm leaving Sloan. Ann really wants to take him while I'm gone, and to be honest, I think the road trip and other aspects of the trip will be a lot easier with out him. But....he's my baby. I'm going to miss him SO much! I have mixed feelings, as you can see. I talked to Mom and she helped me feel better about it. We'll be moving away from Ann at the end of the summer and I won't have very many more opportunities like this, where someone is willing to look after my child for such a long time.

When I get home, it will be temple dedication time! I haven't written about this on here, but Kyle and I are singing in the temple dedication choir, which means we'll get to be in the temple for the dedication. Yay! I think it will be a really special experience. You know, one of those once in a lifetime experiences.

Kyle and I have been getting excited about moving. Well, Kyle's excited. I have mixed feelings. I'm excited to go and try something new and start fresh somewhere. I'm not excited to leave what I know and love and am comfortable with behind. But trying new things and stepping out of your comfort zone is how you learn, right? Kyle wasn't accepted into UBC, so that's out, which is too bad, because it would have been a small move, and I could still visit the island a lot and I'd be close to lots of family. Apparently that's not what I'm supposed to get. We do know that he was accepted to U of Calgary. I like the idea of Calgary, because I lived there before, I have some very special friends there, it doesn't get too crazy cold (well, who am I kidding- it get's cold) and it's not that far from family. The church is strong there, which will be nice for my kids, and I think Kyle wouldn't have a problem finding work (tiling) while he's in school because things are booming there. I feel good about Calgary. In fact I could almost say, I want it to be Calgary. But we're waiting to hear back from two other schools. Winnipeg, and Dalhousie, which is in Halifax. I've heard lots of great things about Nova Scotia and I don't doubt them. That's the university that Kyle really really wants to get into because they have the best architect program. But...to move all the way across the country??? It means getting rid of everything we have and starting completely over. It would mean probably hardly ever getting to come back to visit, but it would mean a great education for Kyle. And it's on the coast, and beautiful and the people are friendly. Winnipeg though? Or Winterpeg as Laura calls it. I don't know, it just scares me. It's so far away and for some reason I just picture isolation. Obviously we have to wait and see what he gets accepted to, and then decide, but I know it's going to be a difficult decision (unless Calgary is the only one he gets into) There will be a lot of praying and pondering about that decision.

Sigh. I feel like Kyle and I have done things completely backwards so far. We've been married for almost 7 years. At that point in most peoples marriages, university is either almost done or done, and you're moving on to other things like buying a house and adding to your family and stuff. I know it's materialistic of me, but I just dream of having a house big enough for us. One where everything has a place to go and is easier to keep clean and organized. That dream is sooo far down the road for us. Once Kyle is finished school, he has to apprentice for two years, and they don't make much. Its like What?! You go to school and study study study for years while being poor and living off of student loans, and then when it's finally done, you make as much or even less than you were before you started school?? That's not fair. I mean, it won't stay like that but I don't want to give it another TWO years after he finally graduates.... Ok I just needed to vent. I fully support Kyle in going to school and getting an education and learning how to do something he's really interested in. I know it will benefit us in the end, but the end feels so far away... It can be discouraging.

On the other hand, it's friday, and the twins and Owen and Christian all have birthday in a week. Woo hoo! I'm so glad the fwuffs were born. I'm glad I get to be a big sister to them. And it's date night tonight. That's always something to look forward to.

Mt Washington Snowboarding Trip

2010-03-31T07:40:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to write about this trip and now it's been over a month and it sort of feels like old news to me. But here goes:

We dropped of our kidlets at Ann's and headed up to courtenay. On the way up, Dave complained about Kyle's driving. At one point there was a huge bird in the middle of the highway and as we got closer it spread it's wings and flew at our car. It was an eagle. Kyle swerved a little and I may have let out a little scream of fright a long with Kassie. After the fact Dave got on Kyle's case and said that you aren't supposed to swerve around wildlife, just hit them dead on. There was some debate around this, and Dave looked it up on his iphone and it says you're not supposed to swerve around anything smaller than a cow. What?! And just hit the eagle? Possibly damage your car? No thanks. There were about two seconds of driving on the bumpy part on the side of the highway to which Dave responded "COME ON!" rather annoyed. Seriously, two seconds. I was amused. We stopped at the Superstore in courtenay to get food. We had arranged to stay in a friend's condo, which was really nice, so we decided to make our own food. Of course we bought way too much food for one day and breakfast the next morning. That took a while. Then we headed up the mountain. We located our condo and brought all our stuff up. Kassie lent me one of her boards and I had to rent boots. Kyle had to rent everything. So, Dave and Kyle left to go get rentals straightened out and Kassie and I made lunch. Yes, it was already lunch time. I got new snow pants for the trip. They were on sale at winners and I quite like them. They're like real pants. We got all geared up. Dave scared Kyle and I into thinking we would be too cold, so we bundled up big time. Only to sweat and sweat.

The condo was at the bottom of the green hill, so we went out and up the chair lift. I hadnt been snowboarding in 10 years. Kyle never had been. His first time trying was getting off the chair lift. Chair lifts are really intimidating to me. I know most of its in my head, but getting off on a snowboard is tricky and if you fall you have to get out of the way right away to clear room for the people behind you to get off. The actual ride up is pleasant though. I pretty much picked up where I had left off ten years ago, give or take. But, I wasn't good then, so... There was A LOT of falling, and I really really struggled with getting back up again, because my board would start sliding before I had my balance and Id fall all over again. Sometime's I would be stuck in one spot for a long time, putting my whole energy into trying to get up, while everyone was waiting for me. There were some brutal wipe outs. One in particular where I had some good speed going and my board caught some snow in the front and threw me forward and I landed with a heave on my front, knocked all the wind out and my face bounced hard off the snow, causing my neck to be severely sore for a few days. My toque and goggles flew off and I lied there and let some hot tears slide down my face. Kyle came and helped me. We named it my biff-it spot. After that, every time I fell, even if it wasnt that bad, the impact would send throbbing pain to my head.

We started out at the top of the mountain where it was really steep. Kassie said that was best way to learn-start at the top and work your way down. I disagree with that now though because it was too steep to really practice on. Our main focus was to get down. Kyle did really well for his first time, as I knew he would. He's naturally good at everything he tries. We split up from Kassie and Dave for a while and did our own runs. We found a hill we really liked and only got to go down it once before they closed it. They close the mountain at 3:30 or something and then turn lights on and you can go in the evening, but only on the runs that are lit. We went in. My whole body was exhausted and aching. It requires so much effort from all your muscles, especially if your'e falling a lot, but even if you,re not, it feels like you aren't working that hard until you stop and you realize you are out of breath. I got the chills. I had a bath. Kassie and dave made dinner for us. Dave did it begrudgingly insisting that he definitely was'nt going to help clean up. Then the minute Kyle was done eating he was putting all his gear back on and ready to go. I was so tired, I honestly didnt feel like going again. But I had to make the trip worth it, right? Its so expensive to go!!

I won't go into all the details because it'll bore you. Kyle and I made a lot of progress. Dave taught us some basics and then we practiced over and over, mostly on the green hill, which was fun. It felt good to finally feel like we were getting the hang of it. I just wish we could go on a regular basis to keep it up. It's sort of a rich people sport I think. You have to pay for all the gear, and a lift pass, and have the time to do it too and it's not cheap.

I left a little earlier than Kyle and went back to start getting ready for the concert with Kassie. I was soooo tired. I felt like I could happily lounge on the couch and watch olympics for the rest of the evening. I did Kassie's hair for her, and she did my make up. She works for MAC (well she was at that time, but not anymore) Then we headed to the pub where Wide Mouth Mason was playing.

It was full. We got a seat way in the back. We still had a while to wait, so were ordered some appys and watched the olympis and visited. That particular day was the day Charles Hamlin won his gold medal and they kept showing his race over and over. Once the band started, we of course, got up and went to the front. Wide Mouth Mason is just soooo good live! They are the sort of band you like way more after hearing them live. Dave and Kassie did their own thing, and Kyle and I were up front and center. It was fun.

By the end of all this, we were so tired and soooo sore. (well Kyle and I were.) I was fully looking forward to a sleep in. It was my first night away from Sloan! Unfortunately my sleep wasn't that great because every time I had to move, there was soreness and pain.

We got up and had a lazy relaxing morning before we came home. It was a really fun trip, and I'm so glad we got to do it with Kassie and Dave. Speaking of them, the just moved back to Edmonton. They left yesterday and I'm feeling sad about it. They were fun friends for us and we'll miss them.

And that was our fun snowboarding/ wide mouth mason experience.

Picture Update

2010-03-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

I thought it was time for a picture update. Here's one of Adriel when he was Sloan's age next to Sloan, both making a mess out of eating time. I just thought you may be interested in the comparison. I think that while their builds are identical (head shape, face shape, hair (more in the way it lays, not colour) their actual faces are different and of course, to me, both are unbearably cute. I'm glad I have pictures and videos to go back to and look at because I think otherwise, Sloan would block my memories of Adriel out a bit. I find myself asking "Was Adriel like this?" and in many situations, he was. Case in point...Well, what 15 month old boy doesn't enjoy playing with his food?

How could I resist taking a picture of this? Adriel is so cuddly now. I love it.

He was just sitting like that, so I had to take a picture. I know it could be better if there weren't any blind marks across his face, but I take them where and when I can, and I'm not Laura and as of right now, I have no photo editing program on my computer so you have to deal with the odd red eye too. I really just point a click and hope for a good result. I'm not a photo artist.

My big boy, growing too fast.

My chubby faced little monster of a boy trying to take the camera from me with his huge chubby man paws.

What can I say? I just love him!

They held this pose for one second, and I sort of got it. My two boys.

This happened when I wasn't home. Kyle said he was busy running his walking thing (beside him) up and down the hall over and over. Then there was quiet and he looked and there he was sound asleep on the floor. Awake and running around one second, asleep the next. I love how kids can do that. It doesn't matter how uncomfortable the spot they're in, or anything. When they're tired, they're tired.

2010-03-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

Alas, the weekends always seem to fly by. Here I sit on Sunday night trying to force myself to not let the Monday blues get me. It's spring break this week. That means I can have fun with Katie and her girls...I hope. Our babies' sleeping schedules are opposite which can make things difficult. Katie said I can invite myself over anytime. We'll see if this holds true.

Right now Kyle doesn't have a lot of work so he's been tiling his mom's kitchen. He went to finish laying the tile Saturday morning and then we were going to do something fun in the afternoon. I went over a little later than him to help him move the oven and the fridge and then I went for a walk with Ann. When we got back to her house it was lunch time and nap time. Sloan was so tired he fell asleep in the car before I even left. Adriel decided he wanted to stay and watch Kyle and Ann was OK with that, so I left. I put Sloan in his bed and made myself a big salad with turkey in it. It didn't disappoint. Then I started putt-putting around cleaning my house from room to room. Eventually Sloan woke up and started to follow me around and he is apt to do. I was determined to mop my kitchen and bathroom floor. This doesn't happen as often as it should, mostly because I get everything clean to the point of being ready to do it and then I have to do something else or go somewhere, etc, and then Adriel will spill something, or track dirt in from outside and I have to get it clean all over again. Since I was without him, I forced myself to follow through. Then Katie called and invited me to the park. So I picked up Adriel and we went to the park. It was really shaded and I wasn't wearing a jacket because I was so hot from all the housework I'd been doing. I regretted that almost immediately. Then Kyle met up with us (because the tiling ended up taking the whole day) and we decided to do burgers at Katie's and Brent's. I was starving by the time they were made, but they were really yummy. We visited for a while and then Kyle left with the kids and I stayed to watch the sisterhood of the traveling pants two. I thought it all worked out quite nicely. There were some emotional parts in that movie.

I just remembered that I haven't written about our Mt Washington trip yet. woops. I guess I'll do that next entry.

Today at church Adriel was tired because he missed his nap the day before and played so hard. Kyle told me that he was so eager to help him with the tiles that when Kyle finally consented and asked him to bring a tile to him he replied with glee "Thank you for letting me help you Daddy!" When I picked him up, he was soooo excited to tell me all about how he helped Kyle using hand gestures and stuff. It was really cute. Anyway, at church he was tired and he started balling in his classroom because there was a misunderstanding about candy. So I had to come and sit with him for a while. When Adriel gets tired he wants me to do everything and no one else. I have to put his shoes on, I have to carry him to and from the car, I have to put his jammies on, and read his story, I have to take him to go pee, you get the jist. I know he's already like that regularly anyway, but when he's tired, he's extreme about it and it's not worth fighting. When we came home he fell asleep right away, even though he slept in till after 7:30 this morning.

Sloan is getting pretty devious. Today while we were eating dinner, once he decided he was done, he started putting his plate on his head upside down, getting rice and things all over his hair and face. I was like "Sloan! Don't do that!" In a somewhat bewildered tone and his reaction was a mischievous grin and a grunty short giggle. When I'm folding the laundry, he'll come and snatch something up and take off in full speed, and giggle with delight at my reaction, and if I chase him, he laughs even harder. Why do babies love to be chased so much? That's his favourite game at church too. He takes off for the the pulpit and loves to be caught. It's not very fun at church. He also climbs onto our kitchen chairs and then onto the table and stands up and taunts me. It's so cute sometimes, the look on his face of triumph and defiance that I just want to squeeze him!

2010-03-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

Today my bangs dried so that they're hanging right in front of my right eye. As for the rest of my hair? I wasn't given the name Poof-among- us at the family reunion in '07 for nothing...

Sloan has impetigo. It's not bad. You can't even really see it, which is good, I guess. I just hope it goes away with the ointment I have so I don't have to get oral antibiotics. This also means I can't do my regular things, like go to the gym, or spend time with my other friends who have children that my kids can play with. It means for the most part we stay at home and are bored. This is my plight.

We've had lots o fun lately, what with going to visit Jordan and Tracy and doing some olympic stuff, and then our mt Washington Valentine's day stint. Adriel had so much fun visiting Jane and Maria's house. They showed him how to make soup outside with rainwater, and they played endlessly inside too. We took him on the skytrain, which he of course loved, but Sloan? Not so much. Sloan was the wet blanket of the trip, thinking it was his right to get down and walk wherever he wanted and climb whatever he wanted, and when he was confined to his stroller or my arms, he was completely unhappy and let the world know about it.

Mom and Dad showed us yet another yummy place to eat called the green lettuce, in Surrey where it's a cross between Chinese food and Indian food. It was very good. We got a bunch of dishes and shared, except for Mom, who didn't want prawns or anything overly spicy. This was after they picked us up from the ferry and we attempted to go to a livecity site downtown where Dad had been working. There were hoards and hoards of people lined WAY up the street and there was a sign that said "Full to Capacity. No Further Entry" All the people were just hanging out, hoping that people would leave and then they could get in. At this point we were hungry, children were tired of traveling and waiting, so we settled for the green lettuce and went home. With Krispy Kremes in tow of course.

The next morning Kyle went with Jordan to do a window washing job and I sat lazily in the kitchen while Tracy slaved away making crepes. After Kyle and Jordan got back there was a lot of sitting around and talking about what we should do. You know how Clarkes can be. We take forever and get off topic so easily. We finally decided to go to Surrey Place where they had an Olympic venue with fun stuff for kids. We had to go to the sky train station first because Dad took the van which had our carseat for Sloan and our stroller in it. Tracy was thinking Dad probably got a good parking spot due to the early time in the morning he had to park there, so she drove close to the station and we found a white van that resembled Mom and Dad's. Mom got out to check and came right back and said it wasn't it. We drove all over the place looking and looking to no avail. Mom finally called Dad who directed us back to the place we looked right at the beginning of our search. We approached the white van that Mom had already rejected. It really did look like their van, but Mom said she saw a green corduroy bag on the front passenger seat, so she knew it wasn't theirs. But just as we were passing I saw my stroller in the back... Turns out mom didn't try the key or anything, just a quick peak inside and she managed to overlook the picture of her and Dad on the dashboard, instead she saw a bag, which was actually her green towel that she had been holding on her lap the night before. We had a laugh about that.

The actual park wasn't that fun for me personally because Sloan just cried in his stroller the whole time. If I let him out, he'd just take off into crowds of people who would trip over him and knock him down. Adriel and Kyle got to have fun though. There was face painting. Maria and Jane both got butterflies on their faces, and Adriel got a dump truck on his hand. The three of them shared some cotton candy. Maria got lost and gave us a scare for a little while. Adriel tried curling with Kyle and they got to go down a fake toboggan hill which he very much enjoyed. There were line ups for all those things though, so by then end of that, given my state with Sloan I was done.

Mom, Tracy, Sloan and I went to the mall where I bought some pants for Adriel that were on sale and Tracy got a gift for a birthday party her girls were going to. That's when Mom discovered that the "sippy cups" she got for Isaiah's birthday party were actually bottles, and therefore Sloan got to have them because I looking to buy a bottle for him as Kyle lost the one we brought. In situations like the one we were just in, with Sloan in the stroller and unhappy, a bottle would have come in handy for sure. By the time we got home and ate, it was 9:30. Kids went to bed. We were going to play games but certain people (Jordan) fell asleep on the couch.

I forgot to mention that the room we were staying in was right above the bedroom of the tenants downstairs and they had their tv on super loud all night. Kyle got up and left and slept on the couch eventually. We had bad sleeps. So we were tired and went to bed. That night Kyle got up to go pee and woke Sloan up therefore banishing him back to the couch since Sloan would only settle in bed with me.

I feel as if I'm droning on and on...

Next day was Sunday and Tracy woke up feeling like she had mastitis so she decided to stay home from church. While in church, Adriel stood up on the pew and said "My penis hurts!" Kyle and I tried desperately to get him to sit down and whisper, but he kept repeating himself in a whiny voice until we got a handle on it. Then Kyle left with Sloan, and I was dealing with just Adriel. He just doesn't get whispering in church. He won't do it, no matter how many times I ask him to. He turned to me and said-very out of the blue- "Mom, why is your bum furry, with fur on it?" I was of course appalled at the question, and a little confused because my bum isn't hairy. I whipsered "It doesn't have fur on it!" "Yes it does" he insisted out loud. Then it dawned on me. Adriel thinks that boys have penises and girls don't have anything, just bums, and so as far as he's concerned, what's in front is a bum too, and according to him, mine is furry. I told him that's what mommies look like...But seriously, where does he get this stuff from? In the middle of church he has questions like that?? Luckily I don't think anyone heard...

After church I was unsuccessful at having a nap. Mom made a really yummy salmon dinner for us and then we headed over to D&D's for Gabriel's birthday. This is when I didn't get to see Laura. I was sitting on a couch with Jordan who decided he wanted to leave after we had barely gotten there. Then I was isolated. All the other women were on the other side of the room talking and because of the children and their wild play in between us, I wasn't able to listen all that well. It got late. We left. We stayed up with Mom and Dad for a while, while Kyle showed them different funny movies on his laptop. Then bed.

The plan was to wake up early and head down town on Monday morning to meet Evan and Esther and get a head start to the line ups. Dad slowed us down saying things don't open that early. We caught the skytrain and met up down town. The line ups were already too long. I wanted to see the torch. Kyle had to take pictures of certain buildings for his portfolio for his applications. Evan was anti seeing the torch. He'd already seen the torch. I ignored his protests as one must do with Evan at times. Between our kids and theirs (we had Maria with us) they were all trading strollers and running around, and it was a challenge to keep track of them all. We didn't lose anyone though. We stopped for kids lunch at McDonalds and then Evan and Kyle left for more picture taking and Esther, Mom, Dad and I perused the busy streets of downtown until we decided to check out a pavilion. The closest one had line ups and Dad said the one he worked at wasn't far from there, but with fast line ups to get in, so we decided to go there. Dad got called into work, so after the long walk to get there, he pretty much had to get to work. Kyle and Evan finally showed up again. We ate. They had tastes of things from different countries. I told Kyle to surprise me. He got Greece and China and both were wonderful. Evan and Esther got in a really long line to get into the Coke pavilion. I don't do long lines with my kids. However, the only stuff there was to do had line ups. So we bit the bullet and got in line to see a 3D showing of olympic highlights. Adriel had some melt downs. He drank so much that he had to pee every 15 minutes or so. The show was neat. Sloan feel asleep on me. And after that, I'd had it. I wanted to make it back to the sky train while he was still asleep so as to not have to deal with him on the train. Kyle wasn't so keen on leaving. Evan gave him a hard time, so I told him to stay. and he did. Sloan didn't stay asleep as I'd hoped. Mom and I got lost a little bit. We bought cheesies and popcorn and water to keep kids happy on the skytrain, and it worked for the bulk of the time. On the way home I asked mom to take me by our old house in Surrey. It took her while to find it due to wrong turns, so when we finally did, it was exciting. We passed Evergreen park, which was smaller than I remember it, and so was the cul de sac that we lived in. I guess because I was smaller in it. Our house hasn't changed much on the outside. The people who bought it from us still live there. It's flat. I'm glad we got to do that. Adriel and Maria conked out with their heads on eachother, it was cute.

For some reason that evening I did four haircuts even though I was exhausted from pushing a very heavy stroller and walking around all day.

The next morning I was having trouble sleeping after Sloan had woken up and joined me in bed. Then Dad came in and said they were opening their mission call. So I weasled my way out from between Sloan and Kyle and got to witness it. It was special, and I'm glad they let me in on it.

We had a nice visit with everyone and I'm glad that we went. I'm done droning for now I guess.

2010-02-12T12:32:00.000-08:00

I have very temperamental feet. They are often too hot or to cold and I find either one unbearable. If they are too cold when I go to bed, I wear my socks to bed, but only until they warm up. Then the socks get ripped off. Then they usually are too hot under the blanket, so I have to poke them out so they're no longer covered. I won't let Kyle touch my feet with his feet. He keeps trying to do it too, like I'll get used to it or something. The other day I was wearing these socks I found that we got from Ann as a Christmas gift. When I discovered them, I thought they looked like a weird sock, sort of large and pillowy in the foot area, and seemless. I couldn't tell if they were for me or Kyle. So, I put them on. But the body of the sock that was pillowy hung loosely around my foot. I don't know why, but I put up with it for too long and then with an aggressive annoyed growl, I ripped them from my feet and threw them across the room. Kyle was like "What's wrong with you?" I explained about the socks and his reply was "you are so weird about your feet." It's true, I am. I'm really touchy. After a conversation about those socks, we discovered they were for Kyle. A loose sock is just so yucky for some reason. I also have a pair of socks that have a really tight thick part that goes around my ankle and leg and I swear it cuts the circulation off of to my foot and the result is ice blocks. Kyle is not allowed to touch me with his feet either. When we're sitting on the couch, he'll often bring up his legs and sometimes his foot will snuggle under my leg. NO! Sometimes I try to endure it, to not hurt his feelings, but the whole time it's nagging me in the back of my mind until I move away. Other times I look over at him, and his feet will be bare and shaking and his toes pulsating up and down. (as if to a silent beat in his head) I can't stand that either. In the winter I pretty much have socks on all day (until bed of course) and if I don't nothing feels right. I can't walk around the house in bare feet. I just can't. There. I think that about sums up my foot issues.

My poor little Sloan has so many goose eggs on his head right now. Some are just red and then there are two the have flesh removed on them as well as being red and protruding. I don't even know how he got them all. He was in Adriel's room with Adriel and they were playing together, I could hear Sloan laughing, and then suddenly he was crying. He emerged with scrapes and goose eggs on his head. As if that wasn't enough to get attention from everyone, this morning, he was on the couch with me and he tried to get off facing forward rather than sliding down backwards and he lost his balance when he landed and fell forward, hitting the laundry basket with his face. I don't even have sharp edges on the laundry basket, and yet he has a cut on his eyelid and under his eye, and bruising all around it!! Like I said- my poor little Sloan. I guess I don't protect him well enough. Shame on me.

2010-02-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

Well I took the house coat back, and that's that. Saturdays are somewhat of a hard day for me to endure. I just want one day with Kyle where we can do fun things, or even just be lazy... It's just like every other day though- he's gone and I'm on my own, blah blah blah blah blah.

Last night was our date night though, and I live for those few hours we get on our own. I also enjoy going out for dinner. Not only do I not have to cook, but I get a break from feeding my kids and eating uninterrupted. It's nice!!! We went to the Saigon Kitchen, one of my favourites. It didn't disappoint. While we were eating, Kyle asked what was going on for Valentine's day. I told him I don't know and that it's on a Sunday. He was like "oh well I have something planned. It's on the 26th." But then he didn't want to hold the surprise in any longer so he told me that we're going snowboarding with Dave and Kassie on Mt Washington for the day, and in the evening there's a Widemouthmason concert. That's his "favourite" band. I put it in quotations because I don't think it's really his favourite. I know he loves them and loves to see them live, but he hardly listens to them. Of course when he revealed the plan, my fist response was "And you arranged for someone to babysit?" He nodded. Wow, all the bases covered even. So I'm looking forward to that. I hope the snowboarding is fun- I haven't been in 10 years and I wasn't good then...so.? But a day on the mt with my shweetie will be fun no matter what, just because it's with him. We came home from our date and put the kids to bed and watched Love Happens with Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Anniston. We made popcorn and got double chocolate chip frappacinos, which totally hit the spot. We both enjoyed the movie, although I didn't really think it had much to do with the title. It was good though, I had a teary eyed moment. Not Kyle. He doesn't cry. I've only seen him cry once in our marriage and that was when he was really sick with acute tonsilitis. I heard him cry on the phone when he was at basic training in the summer, and that was just a cracked voice, it wasn't balling or anything...Just thought you should know the stone cold rock that is my husband.

In other news, Mom and Dad visited this week. They stayed with Katie, and I feel like it was too short of a visit, but who am I to complain? We really enjoyed their company. They came over for dinner one night and after dinner we put kids to bed and then played games, which was fun. Adriel had so much fun with grandpa but he also got over excited whenever grandpa was around, which resulted in poor grandpa getting the brunt of a lot of body jumps and kicks and thwacks. I did my best to keep him at bay but one can only do so much.

Ok I should stop ignoring my kids...

2010-01-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

Today was just an ordinary day. Adriel woke up at 7. I met him at my door way in the dark, where I started to put my housecoat on. My house coat is getting old and ratty. At least that's how I feel in it. When I take the garbage out on garbage day I feel a little embarrassed about being in my housecoat. Anyway, I was putting it on (as I do every morning) and Adriel said "Daddy, pick me up" So I crouched down and picked him up to which he said in an astonished and cheerful tone "Hey, you're not Daddy!" I took him out to the couch where we lay in the dark for a while and cuddled. He's always so cheerful in the morning- unless he wakes up too early. I like our little cuddle times. He tells me things and all the while I get to hold his little body close to mine and smell is hair and kiss the area in between his eyes and nose. For some reason I've always like kissing that spot on my kids. It's a cute spot. Then he starts saying that he's hungry and thirsty and wants something to eat and drink. Almost everyday he says he wants candy or chips when I ask him what he wants.

I got ready and took the boys to the gym. There's a class I usually go to on Tuesday morning, but it had been canceled because the instructors child had pneumonia. That's a good reason to cancel, I think. Plenty valid enough for me. Then it got me thinking to how when Adriel had pneumonia, I still went to work. I called and asked them not to book anymore clients with me than I already had and gave them the reasons why. You'd think they'd say something like "that's ok, you stay home with your very sick son, we can cover your clients today." But they didn't. I don't know why I just didn't go to work, because I think it's a valid reason, like I said. I was just trying to not let anyone down. I hate how sometimes you worry more about letting people down who aren't as important as your family. It's like you put them first, when really it should be about not letting your family down over other people. Anyway, I keep going off on tangents. I did my own thing at the gym, and sweat a lot. While I was doing cardio there were drops of sweat going down my face. For some reason that's sort of satisfying to me.

After the gym we went to liquidation world. Adriel calls it Lick-idation world. ha ha. I love that store. It's fun. I never know what random thing I'm going to find for a good price. I get bread there because it's really cheap. I came across these really delicious feeling housecoats. Molestable-to quote Laura. There were all these colours to choose from. I debated, do I get one? Do I not? It's not as if we can really afford a lot extra these days. I decided that if I were to get one, I'd get a hot pink one. Then I walked away and looked at some other things, and I found myself in that isle with the housecoats again. There was a hot pink one, all packaged up ( a lot of them had been opened) and sitting on the edge of the shelf. I grabbed it.

When I came home and unpacked all I had bought, I took out the housecoat and put it on. I looked in the mirror and discovered that I'm just not meant to look good in housecoats. I'm just not. Let's face it- a thick bulk-adding body covering is not my thing. This one had pockets right at the hips which added frump and unattractiveness. sigh. Why can't the bulk be at the boobs, where I need it? I started to second guess my decision to buy the robe. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to keep it.

Then there were naps and the park. Poor Sloan couldn't walk very well on the little pebbles and every time he stumbled, the pebbles stuck to his hands and he wasn't very happy. All the while Adriel wanted me to do EVERYTHING with him and I couldn't do very many things due to having to either carry Sloan or watch out for him.

I came home starving and made dinner and that's where I'm at now. Kyle just got home. Time for me to go!

blaaaaAAAAHHH!!

2010-01-18T09:20:00.000-08:00

Sloan poops around 3-4 times a day!! They aren't little ones either, and Sloan fights and squirms the whole time I'm changing him. He hates anything to do with getting dressed, and I hate fighting with him about it.

Adriel will ask me the same question over and over and over when I'm busy doing something else, and when he finally breaks me down and I answer him he'll disagree with the answer and saythat's not what it is. Today he was being naughty in his room with his toys and I told him that if I caught him doing it again I'd take the toy away. He replied that he'd shut the door to his room so I couldn't come in and take it. Where does he get this stuff from?

Today has been one of those days where Adriel has really tried my patience. Kyle is gone all day and evening too. It really makes me look inside and wonder if I'm really cut out to be a mom. What have I gotten myself into? I mean, don't get me wrong, I really love my boys, more than anything, but it takes more than love to be a good mother, I'm afraid. I sit here, at 5:30 in the evening, and I look back at my day and I feel like I let my kids down. What does it say about me when I find out Kyle isn't going to be home until 8- 1/2 an hour before the kids go to bed, and I'm filled with dread about my day? I'm supposed to be happy about being a stay at home mother, with no strict schedule, and endless amounts of time to spend with my children. Sometimes I feel so ungrateful, and yet, I know I'm being ungrateful, and silly but the feeling doesn't go away. And then there's the guilt for feeling that way in the first place. Plus, I'm such a wimp, I only have two kids. There are lots of people with more than that and manage a lot more than I do. There are people who are single and have to do it alone. So why do I think I have it so hard? I don't know. I just have these days where I feel like this, and I wonder what's wrong with me.

ok I should get off before I unleash all the negativity that's building up in me.

2010-01-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

Just so you know, I started writing this post over a week ago. As of today it's been a whole month since I posted last, and what is to be said other than the fact that I'm lame?

What to write what to write. It's been too long since I last posted and too much has happened in that time. I hate how fast Christmas comes and goes, and I feel sad when life goes back to normal. I loved having Kyle home for a few weeks, and even after all the family left, at least I still had Kyle home with me to hang out with. Seriously, last week went by so fast and this week seems to be going so slowly.

We spent our New Years Eve with Dave and Kassie Russell. Ann kept Adriel and we took Sloan to Dave and Kassie's. There was way too much food, and as a result I was full the whole evening. There was a booty shaking competition. I won, but Kyle didn't participate and we all know he would have won. He was shy, because at that point Emily and Mike (daves sister and hubby) dropped by and he was shy. Then we started watching Invictis which I found sort of a dry and boring way to ring in the new year, so after Emily and Mike left I piped up and suggested we do something else. So we played Settlers of Katan. We were in the middle of that when the countdown came on. We toasted in the new year with Martinellis cider stuff and then finished the game which I won. Then we came home and went to bed. That was that.

Now life is back to normal. Sloan is walking all over the place, acting all big. I still can't believe he's one already. It's crazy how fast he's growing up, and Adriel too. Three and a half?! Kyle's back at school and working after and before school and on the weekend, and to be honest, I get a little lonely around here. It's been rainy all week, and I just don't know what to do with my kids most days. I go to the gym which Adriel loves. He begs me to go the gym, even if we've already been that day and other than going to the store, all the other places to take him to costs money. So there. That's where I'm at.

As for Christmas, well, mine was good. It had family and togetherness and what else matters? Although Kyle did get me a snuggy, for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a blanket with sleeves. ha ha.

2009-12-15T16:15:00.000-08:00

It's been full and busy since Bethany arrived. We spent last week going to the gym, watching things, getting the tree which Mom and Dad came over for, baking for the cookie exchange, working on Christmas projects, attending to babies and well life, you know? The bottom line: we've been having fun.

On Monday we had a snow adventure. Bethany and I had plans to leave the house and go grocery shopping. There was a light dusting of snow once we finally got out the door, but I didn't think much of that because it's been doing that for the last week, on and off. It had taken us a while to get out of the house due to sleeping babies. When one was sleeping, the other was awake and vise versa. So by the time we left it was getting to be late in the day. Adriel, who I had woken up from his nap was being terribly whiney because he didn't want to wake up I guess. Sometimes he just wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. He kept saying "I don't want to go to Superstore!" all the way there, so I stopped at dropped him off at Ann's. That was a mistake I guess, because when we came back out the snow was really coming down, and my car was having troubles. It wasn't terrible but it was not good. I thought of phoning and Ann and saying, "you can keep Adriel" but i didn't because I knew she wouldn't really like that. By the time I got him packed into the car of screaming babies, it was too late. The first way I tried to get out didn't happen, too steep of a hill. I knew the other way was more back-roadish and windy, but we tried it anyway. It was scary. I tried to take the hills as fast as I could go to get the need momentum, but hills combined with windy roads aren't kind to my car. I lost control and my tires slipped and I went into a ditch. It was scary. I yelled. But luckily when my car goes into reverse it's not as bad, so I was able to get out. We inched and inched and scraped and slid and Bethany pushed at one point. I got a little bit further but I just got too scared of losing control of the vehicle again. Kyle was on his way at this point in the truck. He had been studying at school for his exam the next day. He tried to drive the car and also found it was just impossible. So we had to leave it parked on the side of the road and take a few trips to get home. He took Bethany, Owen and groceries the first trip and Adriel, Sloan and I waited in the car. By the time we got home it was after 7:30 and we hadn't even eaten dinner yet. Good times.

Now the snow is almost gone as if it had never been here, and it's pouring rain. I'm not a huge fan of the rain, but at least we can leave the house.

Bethany and I decided to pick out some more decorations for my tree, and we've been slowly improving it. It's looking quite pretty if I do say so myself.

When Bethany is bored she draws in her sketch book. She draws faces and a body and I get to pick out the hair. It's fun. She's good and drawing what I picture in my mind and even when it's not exactly what I had pictured, the people end up looking good. Oh to be able to draw. I'm so bad at that stuff it's painful.

What else? It's been hard for us to get out and get things done, because Kyle has been pretty busy, meaning I always have my two boys, plus Bethany has Owen and it makes for at least a little piece of craziness when we go into public. Mostly because of Adriel and Sloan though. But we usually end up going out somewhere at least once a day because staying home is just a little boring. When is this going to get easier???

Who named them bobby pins, anyway?

2009-12-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

"You're dead to me." This is what I said to my bobby pin as I dropped in onto my bathroom counter. It is not the first. Bobby pins become dead to me when one of the "pillows" as I like to call them (the rounded bulbous part at the end) fall off. If you make the mistake of trying to use one with a pillow missing, the result is scraping of the scalp and, well, pain. I thought you should know the relationship I share with bobby pins. Zero tolerance for the pillowless. It hasn't always been this way. I've raised my standard since becoming a hairdresser. I used to have precious few bobby pins and sometimes use the ones that were pillowless out of desperation. Not no more. I have plenty of bobby pins, and if I run out, I'll get more. They won't get the best of me.

Cribbity Bedding

2009-12-01T12:12:00.000-08:00

Here's my loverly new crib bedding. The bumper pads are reversable, so I can have green on the outside or blue. I'm quite happy with it.

2009-11-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

I can't let Bethany be disheartened. I must write something.

I've been sick. It started on Tuesday. Wednesday was an ugly ugly day. It's just a really bad head cold. After Adriel finished his nap we went over to Aimee's house so he could play with Nolan. I told him before he went to bed that he could go. I didn't know that I was going to feel increasingly worse. I felt I couldn't cancel on him, so we went. Aimee surprised me with my crib bedding! We had been working on it on and off since May or something... a really long time, and I was starting to feel like it would never be done. I was sort of hoping that she'd just finish it. She's really busy though. anyways. I love it. She took making the blanket into her own hands, which I originally wanted to have some say about, but it had been taking so long, that I didn't even care, especially because what she did ended up being really nice. I'm so excited about it. She made the blanket a duvet cover, and the underside is this soft dark brown fleece. She also gave me the duvet to go inside it. I'll take pictures and post the wonderfulness of it. When I got there, she was finishing up on the blanket, so I just sat and visited. It actually helped take my mind of being so sick because Sloan and Adriel were happily playing and not needing much attention from me. Last night once Kyle was finally home, he helped a lot. He cleaned up the whole house and vacuumed and everything, and took care of the boys.I just don't know how single moms do it. If I hadn't had Kyle's help last night I might have cried.

Kyle only has one more week of classes. Yay! Of course, then he has to study study study for finals, so I'm not sure how much things will change as far as there being more free time to spend with me, Adriel and Sloan goes. It's just the fact that his classes are almost done. Doesn't it at least sound good?

I finally got rid of my N. I don't announce this with great excitement because my test didn't go that well. It was really rainy. I was nervous. When I finished the test, the examiner (a spry leathery -neck-and faced man who probably smokes) was like "that wasn't your best drive, was it?" Instantly my heart sunk and my face started burning, and as he was going through all the things I did wrong all that was going through my head was "I failed. I want to cry. I have to take the stupid test again, which costs 50$ each time you take it, and 100$ is a lot to dish out this time of year for something like that. I'm a failure. I've had my N for almost 10 years and I still failed my road test, how embarrassing..." I nodded and agreed at things he was saying, wanting him to just get to the point and say that I failed and get out of my car (which was acutally Ann's car because I didn't want to drive a standard for the test) so that I could feel bad about it by myself. Things I did wrong are: I was too exaggerated in scanning the intersections, because of the weather conditions I didn't leave enough space between me and the car in front of me (normally it's the two second rule. When it's raining, it's the 4 second rule..) my hands were cemented to the 10 and 2 position, which in his opinion was too stiff and not relaxed, but hey, thats what I thought I was supposed to do, it's not like I actually drive like that all the time! He said "do you always hang on to the steering wheel like you're a startled bird hanging on upside down for dear life?" He told me 4 and 6 were a fine place to hold the steering wheel. I felt small and dumb and like I must really suck at driving. Then he said "So, I should fail you, but I'm not going to." I don't even really know why he passed me and handed me my evaluation sheet.
At the time, I just couldn't feel that happy about it. I went back inside to get my new license registered, and when the people at the counter congratulated me, I didn't feel proud of myself. All I could think of was "it's not like I really passed, I should have failed" One girl even leaned over my evaluation paper and was like "look how good you did too!" all I could see were several angry looking black fine-liner scribbles condemning me from the page. I couldn't even look at if for a few days. Now I'm just glad that I passed. I never have to do it again. I have a full license and I'm happy about that. I know I was nervous and just trying to be extra careful and I don't drive like that all the time. Finally, this morning I actually looked over my evaluation sheet, and I didn't really do much wrong. He probably didn't fail me because he didn't have enough reason to. He just really made me feel like he did. He was kind of mean. Anyways, that's what's been going on with me this week.

Sloan will be 11 months old in two days. It's not fair!!

2009-11-20T07:12:00.000-08:00

One time I contorted my face so badly that I pulled muscles in my face and neck.

Sloan has been cranky. He's had a runny nose for a long time. I thought maybe he had an ear infection. I held off going to the dr.s right away. The other day, on a particular morning that he crankily wouldn't let me get anything done, I phoned to make an appointment. My doctor wasn't available until next week so I agreed to see another dr. Well, he was a little condescending. He was like "Babies get fussy for a few reasons: 1) They're hungry 2)They need a diaper change 3) They're colicky 4)They're tired 5)They're teething." Hello, I sort of already know that! It turned out his ears weren't infected and he made me feel dumb for coming in at all. I just wanted to check. I wasn't certain. Then as I was leaving he was all "feel free to come back anytime you think something might be wrong." ha whatever. I hate how doctors can make you feel dumb or irrational or delusional. Bullies.

I feel excited about Christmas and I feel like it's way too early. I used to be able to hold off until dec 1, but this year I'm in a Chrismassy mood. Bring on the peppermint and cinnamon smells, bring on the holiday cheer. I'm all for cheeriness. I mean, November is one of my least favourite months of the year- it's pretty dreary, so why not let a little Christmas in, in November? I want to put lights up on our house this year. Mom gave me some outside lights, and Kyle is going to put them up whether he likes it or not. I always wanted to be one of those families that put lights up, pretty ones, at Christmas. It hasn't worked so well thus far. Mostly because of where we've lived. Aparment?- meh. Huge gigantic house where we mostly lived/saw the side of the house, but would have had to put lights all along the front too?-no thanks. Where we live now? Not so bad. It's not our own house or anything but it could do with some Christmas cheer lights, even if it's only on our half of the duplex.

What's weird to me is that we most likely won't be living here at this time next year. What's weird is that I don't even know where we're going to end up. Kyle says he has the highest chance of getting accepted into Calgary, and my only other choice would be UBC. I don't want to move really really far. I know we may end up having to do that though. It's sort of exciting and sort of sad for me. I love Nanaimo, and I'm not ashamed to say it. It's beautiful here. It's the perfect size city for me, not too huge, no bad traffic, but decent malls. I know my way around and where everything is. I have already built up my hair styling network, and would never have a problem getting a job if need be, and I have a few hair dresser friends that trade doing my hair for me doing theirs. My midwives. I love my midwives. They're really special to me. And of course, hello, all my friends and family. Having a free babysitter, having a sister here. I'm so glad that of all the people left here from our family that it's one of my sisters. Katie is definitely one of my best friends.

Ok well now I've gone and made myself feel sad about leaving. That wasn't what I intended. At least if we move to Vancouver it won't be far from Nanaimo, and I can make frequent visits. It's just the end of an era. If we move, I don't know if we'll ever come back. It'll depend of Kyle's ability to get a good job.

Well I get to wake up my kids and pick up Kyle from school and go straight from there to drop the boys off for our date. yay! I love date night.

Adriel likes to play hide and go boo

2009-11-13T11:40:00.000-08:00

Well here are some Halloween pic-a-loos of my duck and turtle. It was hard for me to get any good ones.

Sloan and Elizabeth played cutely together at the ward trunk or treat party as duck and lamb.

Adriel just kept on giving me goofy poses. It was hard for me to capture the real cuteness on camera.

side view so you can see the shell.

Sloan fell asleep on Kyle while we were doing our mall trick or treating.

It was soooo cute. In fact, before Halloween, I tried the costume on Sloan to make sure it would fit, because Adriel was a lot younger when he wore it. I let him crawl around with the hat on and it was hilarious because his head looked soooo big. He's already top heavy and the added girth the duck hat gave him made his head look ginormous especially in proportion to his body. No one was around to enjoy it but Adriel and I. We had some good laughs though.

Silly goose

After we went trick or treating I took one last shot because of the puffiness his coat added underneath his costume. Taking him trick or treating was so fun. He was so cute, and not shy at all. He helped himself to bowls of candy before the person got a chance to put it in his bag sometimes. He asked one lady about the noise coming from her bushes (she had some motion censored thing in her yard) and she told him someone was hiding in the bushes. He believed her and looked around very carefully. At one house he told the guy that he had a lot of spider webs around his door. And by the end of the night he was getting a little hyper and silly and was saying things like "trick or treat-deet-deet-leet." It was just fun to experience it with him, and I look forward to doing it again next year.

2009-11-04T12:47:00.000-08:00

I have a confession. Until today I thought they were called expressos, even though I've read the word several times, I somehow over looked the non x part of the word. I thought that espressos were a little shot glass of really strong coffee (type of thing), therefore it kicked in faster and was called and express-o. It wasn't until we were going through the Tim Horton's drive through that Kyle started laughing at the way I was saying it. I didn't see what was so funny. I was like "yeah, I said expresso, that's what they are."

My hair is a form of blond, just so you know.

2009-10-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

I am sooo bored. I just am. Kyle is studying for a midterm, and David is here helping him with it. I FINALLY got both kids to bed. Sloan was tired and wanting to sleep but too easily distracted by little things like Adriel yelling Mommy from his bed every couple of minutes.

Now what? Usually Kyle and I watch something. Usually if Kyle isn't around to watch something I watch something by myself. I don't have anything to watch by myself, and it would appear that I'm too reliant on watching tv. It's just that I don't feel like doing other things like cleaning or organizing at this point of the day. Im just not in the mood. My kids are finally in bed and I want a break.

I got the santa fe chicken salad at Earls tonight, and it is still by far my most favourite salad ever. I'm not saying it would be your favourite, but it suites me fine. Things that are in it: spicy cajun chicken, avocado, feta cheese, sweet dates, corn and black beans in a peanut lime vinaigrette with mixed lettuces and crispy tortillas, and it is absolutely wonderful. Plus I feel like I'm being somewhat healthy you know?

Today Bethany called me (upon my request) and she asked me what was going on, and why the high energy. I wasn't sure what she was getting at, I mean we were just talking... She said "you're not getting cabin fever, are you?" It was weird. She detected it long before I knew it was there. I got off the phone with her to put Adriel to bed, which included reading his story in a weird voice some of the time, and other things. I felt the need to release the cabin fever, and I'm afraid Adriel dealt with the brunt of it. He seems to like my silliness though, so it was ok. I just thought that it was interesting that Bethany knew it was coming. She knows me well. As a fwuff having to deal with many a cabin fever outbreaks I guess it's a matter of instincts.

I just need a good massage, you know. I good long uninterrupted massage.

I need a good book to read too. Any suggestions?

Is it nerdy that I get excited about going to the gym? I like pushing my body hard, even though while I'm doing it I don't like it, I like the challenge and the way I feel afterward, having accomplished something. I like feeling the soreness in my muscles so that I know I worked hard, and it's nice to have a little break from the kids. Adriel loves the gym, he's made friends there, and Sloan, now that he's crawling all over the place tries to be a big kid too, and loves watching everyone play. It's good to get out of the house for a bit too.

I suppose I could go to bed. No harm in getting a decent nights sleep.

2009-10-26T12:45:00.000-07:00

This morning while I was feeding my kids, I was thinking about how cute Sloan's chubby little mouth is when he has food stuffed into it, and how his dimple shows while he's eating and how I wish I could keep him as a baby for longer than I get to. I said "I love my little boys, I don't want them to grow up and not like me." Then Adriel said "I like you" and I said "that's because you're not grown up yet." He said "I already growed up." Adriel always talks about how big he is. If someone calls him a little boy, he corrects them. The other day we were talking about growing up and I told him when he grew even bigger, (because he think's he's grown up now) he could be a daddy one day. He was like "No! I want to be a mommy!" I told him boys were daddies. He didn't accept that. But then I told him it was fun to be a Daddy, you got to go to work, and have tools and trucks and fix things. Now he's ok with it. ha ha. It's so fun to talk to him right now.

Another funny story about Adriel: We were all at Doug and Delanie's house on the monday after thanksgiving just hanging out. Adriel will often find little pieces of debri such as a piece of kleenex, or a lint ball and he'll roll it in his fingers until it becomes a compact ball. He then carries it around with him, and will ask me to hold it for him if he needs to do something that requires both hands. So, while we were eating, Kyle and I were sitting on the floor, and for some reason Adriel asked Kyle to hold his "ball" Kyle took it naively. I asked Adriel what his ball was. He said "it's a ball" (obviously, how dumb of me:) ) I asked him where he got it. "From my boogie. I made it" he said matter-of-factly. At this time the ball was sitting the palm of Kyle's hand. Kyle promptly turned his hand over and let the "ball" fall onto the carpet. Adriel was horrified. He couldn't find it. He got quite upset and starting crying, a very loud and upset cry. "my ball, you lost it Daddy, you don't just drop it!!" We frantically searched the floor for his ball but to no avail. It's funny how he get's so attached to stuff like that. Kyle told him to make another one, but Adriel insisted he didn't have any left. ha ha ha!

I know it's kind of boring that all I talk about is my kids. Thanks for putting up with it.
We picked out some pumpkins today. A really huge one, and a little one. I told Adriel it was a mommy one and a baby one. That was a mistake because then he kept insisting we needed a big brother and a daddy one.

Pretty much add anything to cream cheese and it makes it yummy...

2009-10-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

Just so y'all know, Kyle finally wrote in his blog again. If anyone reads it...kylesnewlife.blogspot.com

On Tuesday, while I was taking Adriel to the bathroom in Subway he said "mommy, you're the best mommy ever." It was so sweet and cute. I love hearing things like that. I know it's not actually true, but I'm glad that's what he thinks. We went there after his soccer thing that he goes to. Kyle has a night lab and we don't have time to come home for dinner in between Adriel's soccer and Kyle's class. We went to subway. I tried a flat bread sub. It was delish. Kyle got a salad. He's back on his weight loss kick, where he can hardly eat anything. He tried to get me to do it with him. I just can't completely eliminate foods from my diet like he can. And frankly, I don't want to.

After subway, I went to Value Village where I couldn't resist some really cute shoes for Sloan's future feet, and I bought a cheep "tie-me-over" winter jacket for Adriel. It had been a really long time since I'd been to Value Village. It seems to me, that as far as kids stuff goes, there's way more things for girls. Probably because boys wear their stuff out, so it's not really all that reusable.

Every Saturday Kyle has had to work. It sucks. He doesn't work a full day, but it would be nice to just have a day off to spend together, do something fun with Adriel, you know? He's been so busy and he has several midterms next week, which means study study study.

The other night I was at our achievement activity. (by our, I mean Katie and I, she's the leader, I'm her assistant) We were doing this milk jug skeleton craft with Meriel Dykes. It was taking a really long time. There were all these cut outs that needed to be done. We were going over time, parents were showing up, girls were running wild and not paying attention. I was getting anxious because I told Kyle I'd be home at around 8 and I knew that was when Sloan was getting to his cranky "I need to nurse and go to bed state" Kyle doesn't handle that situation very happily. My phone rang and it was him asking me how much longer. I said I'd still be a while. I could hear Sloan screaming in the background, which is never easy for me to hear. He said "well I need you here now." I felt bad bailing on Katie. There was a lot of mess to clean up and stuff. I had to rush Emily home, because I was her ride, and I came home to find a half asleep Sloan with absolutely nothing on his bottom half in Kyle's arms with blood all over his face, shirt, bare legs...I didn't realize it was blood at first, I thought he'd eaten something messy, so I didn't really flip out. Kyle was just standing there looking at me with these eyes that said "you have no idea what I've been through." Sloan had a huge fat lip. Turns out Adriel had hit him hard with this metal rod thing he'd been playing with. My poor baby. When he saw me, he started crying again, and his voice was so hoarse from crying so long and hard. He wasn't too impressed that I still had to dress him and wipe him off before giving the ol' teat to the cheek. It was a dramatic experience for Kyle.

I'm excited for Halloween. Halloween is fun when you have kids, especially when they get old enough for trick or treating. You should know that Kyle insisted on buying the halloween candy last week, and it's been tempting me in my cupboard ever since. However, I have been strong and resisted. It's chocolate. Cadbury chocolate. Anything else wouldn't be as tempting. I know, we could have gotten something else, like a candy I don't even like so as not to tempt me, but for some reason I feel like I need to give out something good as a matter of pride or something. I never liked the houses that gave out raisins, for example, or peanuts, or those weird taffee candies that only come out in the Halloween season. I want to be a good house to the kids... I don't even know how many trick or treaters we'll get around here, or if we'll even be around for it, but there's also this trunk or treat thing that we're having at the church this Friday.

I'm rambling, and Sloan wants me, and as always, there's housework to be done. WHY does it never end?? It's me against three that's why. It's a losing battle.

2009-10-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

I can't let this new skin go to waste, now can I?

The thing is, I don't really know what to write about.

Right now Adriel is in the kitchen playing with his bouncy balls. Every now and again he comes and asks me where it went because he bounces it and lets it go all crazy and it ends up under something. Then I get to scout out the whole kitchen looking for it. Fun times. He also has this toy from his happy meal. It's a ball and you push a button and wings come out. He calls it his "bad man" and that's the role it plays in his pretend games with his cars. The cars all have to watch out for the bad man. I think it's funny he named a ball that. Sloan just picked it up and he was like "Sloan! You found my bad man!" all excited.

On Saturday Kyle picked out a turtle costume for Adriel. I wasn't sure about it. But when we came home and tried it on it was so cute. It barely fits him so the hood part is all tight around his face and looks hilarious. It's basically a green one piece suit that zips up in the front, with a hood that has eyes on it and a plush turtle shell in the back. So it looks as if I'll have a duck and a turtle for Halloween this year.

ok so now that the duck and turtle are both on my lap I can't really type or think. So that's it for now.