Arrested Development

I couldn't think of a title. I'm downstairs working on this blog entry, watching Arrested Development on....

...our "new-to-us" TV! This is what we'd envisioned for the basement and as fortune would have it, a friend was upgrading to a bigger (yes bigger!) tv and gave us a great deal. Movie night at our house!

In other news....Madeline got her first "salon" haircut at Auntie Natalie's!

She also attended a birthday party for a friend at West Ed. I couldn't catch her still for one moment, hence the blurred photo.

She also had a preschool field trip to the Muttart Conservatory. They learned about ladybugs and visited all the pyramids before planting their own flower to take home.

Claire and I tagged along and had fun exploring the different landscapes.

Claire's also been busy with Little Bits horse riding and kindergarten. Her birthday party has been the talk of her class for an entire week. :)

Ryan's taken up early morning swimming to keep in shape - if anyone wants to tag along, he's looking for company! He's also put his motorcycle back together and went out for his first ride today. It's officially Spring!

We had a wonderful Easter long, long weekend. Good Friday was spent with the Laytons at Nelda's school gym. We played variations of hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, bowling, badminton, soccer and basketball and had a great time. We had so much fun that we all forgot to take pictures! However, I was reminded how sporadic I am at sports. I'm either really good or really awful and there's no predicting the outcome from one shot to the next. It's so exciting. We also had a lovely turkey dinner and celebrated Jim's birthday with the traditional ice cream cake.

Sunday was the Easter celebration at my Aunt Sheila's. We were all surprised at how warm it was. Most of us had left the house without any thought to sunscreen or hats and then found ourselves in need of them once we settled down in the back yard.

Madeline is such a little dare devil. She hopped on top of the car as Luke was barrelling down the hill and they ran into the snowbank at the bottom.

We were lucky to have Olivia, Rob and Cairo come with us to share the day.

Claire and I on the hunt for some eggs. I actually found the coveted Golden Egg that came with a grand prize! Madeline took all the credit though.

Hanging out with the horses.

A child's paradise.

Claire's fancy new glasses.

The Easter Bunny came early Monday morning. He must have known that we'd overdone it with the sweets already, since he only brought dresses, socks and toys.

I'm sure Claire is thinking, "Seriously? These ears? Every year you take of picture of me wearing these. It's getting old."

I'm always thrown off by a holiday Monday. I'll wake up tomorrow and it will feel like Monday, but be Tuesday and I'll be behind a day all week. It's a small price to pay for a day off, but it's still a rather strange feeling. I hope everyone had a lovely Easter break!

Claire Bear

Our little baby turned 6 on April 14th. It's been quite an unexpected journey. We've learned a lot and are so glad for her in our family.

We had a pretty cool adventure for her party and she was all smiles in anticipation of it.

We had the fun folks at Zoo 2 U come by our house with a bunch of neat animals. The kids were able to learn a bit about each one and spend time with them. We thought that Claire would enjoy the experience and I think she and her friends had a great time!

If you can believe it, there's an Angora rabbit named Ebony under all that fluff.

Madeline cuddling with a Lop Rabbit.

Claire looks only mildly amused, but she really did enjoy the turtle.

This green iguana was a tricky character. It had sharp claws, but apparently was very fond of climbing onto an adult's shoulder. We could only hold it a minute before it would attempt to climb.

The snake was pretty cool. The presenter mentioned that she trusts her snake more than her bunnies when it comes to being patient with the curious hands of children (and adults).

Claire really liked the snake.

This bearded dragon was a prickly fellow, but rather beautiful.

This was a Uromastyx lizard and it had a really funny, wrinkly back - kind of like what you'd imagine a turtle would look like without it's shell. He also had a really pokey tail. Claire liked having him walk around on her legs.

This panther chameleon had a beautiful colour and awesome eyes. We even got to see it eat a worm using its super long tongue.

This was a red-eyed tree frog. Claire had to get her hand wet first so that it wouldn't stick to her.

Ryan was a bit nervous about having a parrot on his shoulder since the last time it happened (in Mexico) he got pooped on. Luckily he escaped the same fate this time.

I was a bit nervous that the bird would take a snip at my earrings or glasses because apparently she has done that before, but all was well.

After the animals left, we surprised Claire with a little sparkler while we sang Happy Birthday.

We then had a picnic lunch on the floor while she opened her presents.

As you can see, everyone offered a helping hand.

Today was officially dubbed "Party Day" since after Claire's was over, we headed over to Luke and Brooklyn's house to visit with family, eat yummy food and bash in a pinata.

Since I was helping her on her turns, I don't have a picture of Claire hitting the pinata, but she loved the sounds of it all.

It was fun to watch how serious some of the kids were about landing an effective blow. I think Madeline represented our family very well with her efforts!

All in all, it was a busy, lovely day and we're so grateful for our Claire. :)

Spring?

Hello to everyone who reads this blog. Sometimes I do wonder who ends up coming here to read my ramblings. It's interesting to ponder. :)

Since I last blogged we have changed seasons - or at least the hope for change is here! I know the official switchover was back in March but that just didn't feel right. Now that the snow is melting and the piles of gravel will soon be swept away (I hope) I feel like we can move on with our lives and embrace the rebirth of Spring.

Unfortunately, we started our embrace with a bunch of sickness over the break from school. Despite almost everyone taking turns with colds, we had fun spending time together, visited family and friends, had friends over, played games and we also dejunked the house and switched the girls rooms. To make a long story short, we did it to make things more accessible for Claire when she eventually has her wheelchair in the house and in her room.

Ryan and Rob went to the Mother Mother concert here at the EEC and had a great time. They had hoped to line up early to get good spots in the general admission venue, but didn't make it in time. However, they were happy to find a great place to watch, right behind girls who had waited two hours in line. Things like this always seem to work out for Ryan. I believe he has a gift!

I recently joined a committee to revitalize a community playground. It looks like a lot of work, mostly due to the fundraising but I'm hoping to be a representative for families of children with disabilities and advocate for accessibility. It should be exciting to see the plans come to fruition in 2013 - yes, that's how far ahead we have to plan, apparently.

Claire started Little Bits horseback riding again. You know you're a seasoned veteran of a program when you don't even think to take pictures the first day! She did wonderfully, back on her old horse Babe again. There have been some improvements to the riding arena and it looks to be a great session yet again!

Madeline and her class had their Winter Nature walk today...April 7. Welcome to Alberta. It was fun to be the parent helper and watch the children frolic in the snow.

You can't tell from the picture but this is a rather high mountain of slick snow. Of course, being the responsible parent I am, I took a picture before telling them that they should probably get the heck off of it.

The girls also recently had their recital for Ballerina Dreams and it was very cute. A wonderful volunteer made all their little lion costumes and they danced to "I Just Can't Wait to be King" from the Lion King.

After the performance they were showered with gifts and both were very happy about that. Many family members came out to cheer them on.

You know, there are some wonderful people in this world. Volunteers who are patient, kind and enthusiastic renew my faith in the human race.

I don't want this blog to be a platform for social change or calls to action, but meeting great people who donate their time, talents and energy to good causes motivates me to give more of myself. :) The students who volunteered as dance mentors for Ballerina Dreams were some of these people and we're grateful for them.

Just a couple more pictures...

Apparently Madeline is conducting some serious business and Claire is weighing the pros and cons of it all.

Daddy story time is the best.

The end.

(Claire's birthday is in one week. Last year we had her birthday party in the backyard and were all playing on the green grass!)