A catch-up, ketchup, catsup post

Gob: I believe I told you I was going to be off for the holidays. It's Spring Break.

From one of my favourite shows.

Ah Spring Break. You are almost over. Although I'm grateful for Ryan's holiday schedule as a teacher, it often feels like you're just settling into holiday mode and then you are thrust back into your regular schedule. I know you're probably thinking "Stop whining." So I will.

Here's what we've been up to lately:

We had a lovely visit from my cousin (technically my dad's cousin, so I don't know what that makes us officially) Dave and his wife Marla and their great kids. They stayed the night before Grandpa's funeral and although it was for a sad occasion, it was great to get to know them better. The funny thing is, growing up and attending family reunions, I always imagined that Dave was much older than me. Now that gap in age, whatever it may actually be, seems smaller. It's funny how that changes as you grow. It was nice to watch the kids play together and Ryan even gave rides on his motorbike for those who were willing and big enough to wear the helmet.

This was the best we could do for a group photo of the kids at the funeral. At least all of their bodies are in the same picture. You can't really ask for more with a group like that!


The funeral service for Grandpa was as good as a funeral can be. There were lots of touching, funny and poignant stories shared about his life and it gave us all a chance to say goodbye and to be with friends and family. I was fortunate to be able to accompany Reed's musical number and was glad to offer that as a way to honour Grandpa. I appreciate the tenor of LDS funerals. The focus on the eternities doesn't belittle the grief and pain of separation, but they are not overly despondent.

Moving on to the regular spin of our lives...

Ryan and I got out for two big events at Rexall - a hockey game and a Muse/Silversun Pickups concert. First, the hockey game we were able to attend because a parent of one of Ryan's students couldn't use his tickets and offered them to us. Thanks to ever-ready babysitters (Aunt Nat & Uncle Trav), we were able to go and had a blast. Neither of us had sat that close before and although the Oilers lost, it was an exciting and pretty close game with the Ducks. The best part of the night? Us on the Jumbotron! Yeah that's right. We cheered and smiled and waved like all the other crazy people on there.



Then the Muse concert with Rob. We got him tickets (and used it as an excuse for us to go too) for his birthday. The opening band was so-so, but Muse was great. Of course they put on a huge light/laser show, but they played all our favourite songs and sounded great. Despite 8 drunk men in front of us who all took turns going to the bathroom every 2 minutes, a crazy dancing lady in the aisle and a Nazi usher, the night was super fun. Even being crowded into a stuffed LRT car on the way home was fun.

Here are links to two of my favourite Muse songs in case you don't know them:

Supermassive Black Hole

Starlight


Rob and I waiting for Muse to start.


Ryan and I doing our classic self-portrait with the stage in the background.


Frickin laser beams.


I think I'm addicted to group fitness classes at Spa Lady. It's good to get that off my chest. Well, to be more specific, step classes and more recently, free weights/barbell classes. Ryan now teases me that I'm a bodybuilder in training. Yeah - I think I lifted 30 pounds at the heaviest so don't get the wrong idea. I also had a great brunch/shopping trip with Kathy, spoke in Church, did our taxes and have gotten to know a great lady that's working with the missionaries in our ward.

The girls have loved having Dad home everyday and he's taken them out to the park, to play in the backyard, invited their friends over to play, conducted dance parties and is probably ready to get back to work now. :)

Madeline got a fun present from Aunt Nat & Uncle Travis. Magic powder to have a princess gelly bath. If you click on the picture you can see the texture of the water after we added the powder. She stayed in there for such a long time. It was definitely a hit.


We had a lovely afternoon at Aunt Sheila's house today for her annual Easter party. Pictures were taken by others so I don't have any to share but both girls have a pile of Easter loot to show for their efforts and it is always good to spend time with family.

Madeline taking after her dad. It's finally biking weather again!

Voila!

Voila: "Lo! There it is", ta-da, presto

That title really has nothing to do with my post. I just like that word.

It's taken us a while to get back into the swing of things after the holidays. It was too easy to slip into the sleeping in and lounging around schedule of the Christmas break.

Ryan's back at school, having a great time with the kids. He's been out with the missionaries a few times and got to help baptize a new family in our ward. They are great! He's had some fun activities with his young men, going to basketball games and skating.

Ryan, the missionaries and the Germann's


We had two fun "firsts" when we went tobogganing at Millwoods Hill and went swimming at Millennium Place. I recommend both places for great family fun.

Ryan and the girls before descending the hill. It was a beautiful day!


We met some friends on the hill who took our family picture. Yes Rob, that is your toque I'm wearing. You left it at our house.


We had a family get-together to celebrate Greg's birthday. It was fun to see everyone again. We certainly have a lot of family conclaves over the holidays.

Greg getting a lot of help blowing out his candles.


We saw Rob play basketball at a school around the corner from our house and he did great!

I am now teaching the CTR 7A class in Primary and the kids are great. The lessons are well planned but there is often a lot of preparation work for activities and projects. I've been to a couple of Relief Society activities which have helped me to feel more a part of our ward, but also made me realize that there are a lot of food storage gurus in my new circle! I DEFINITELY pale in comparison. I've also been more diligent in my workouts with Jillian and the Wii and occasionally, Spa Lady. :)

We had a fun date night (courtesy of Natalie!) to the Keg and to see Sherlock Holmes, which was fun.

I started a new job to go along with the interview transcription I've been doing. I'm now managing the literature database for the research project and searching for and annotating journal articles. It's a perfect match for me because I like the work and can do it from home in my "spare" time.

We had the Jensens over for lunch this weekend. We'll have to say goodbye to them soon as they move down to Medicine Hat in a couple of months. :( Good thing we all like Skype! That's become Madeline's new favourite thing. "Daddy, can we call Beatrix? Daddy can we call Ben and Brigham?"

Ryan's friend at school who teaches the other grade 5 class has been giving us a bunch of "new" toys lately. Here's Maddie modeling with her new car!


Ryan says this is his new favourite picture of Claire.


The vice principal at Ryan's school got a bunch of new electronics for Christmas and so she gave us her old DS. It's Madeline's new favourite game.


Other than these highlights, we've just been plugging along.

For fun, here are some of the songs I've been listening to a lot lately:

Fools Like Me - Lisa Loeb
Fireflies - Owl City
I Want You To - Weezer
Lisztomania, 1901 - Phoenix
Second Best - Barenaked Ladies


If anyone wants to share, I love to get song recommendations!

This is what you get when you don't blog for 3 weeks

For all those interested, keep reading, but there will be a lot of information and a lot of pictures because I have a lot to cover. Since I'm not even sure who reads this blog, I am viewing it as a way I can keep myself motivated for journaling our lives. So, read on, at your own peril.


I am constantly amazed at what Madeline will do in her room when she has quiet time or nap time. If she isn't tired, she spends most of her time opening every drawer, unpacking every shelf and emptying every container. Lately she has also been moving her bed to the middle of her room. Her newest "thing" is taking off all her clothes. Most mornings we go to get her and she is naked. It's pretty funny.


We had a really good Spring break. We spent some time in Wetaskiwin and went swimming, we went to West Ed with Uncle Greg and took in all the fun rides. We broke out the bikes and the bike trailer. The girls fit so much better in it this year since Maddie is bigger and Claire can hold herself up so much better. We spent a lot of time having fun together and just being at home. It was very nice to catch up on projects and have that time to ourselves. Ryan and I even had a movie date in the middle of the day! We went to see Monsters vs. Aliens IMAX and it was my first 3D movie experience. It was great. Madeline started her Gymboree class and she loves it. It is a perfect fit for her. Ryan also got to spend the day at the Patrick farm playing paintball and quadding. Here are some pictures from the week:

Both the girls just love the Merry-go-round at West Ed

Here is Daddy & Maddie on the train.

Here is Mommy and Claire on the train.
Luckily Uncle Greg came with us so we could all go on a ride together
without fearing that our stuff would be stolen.

It's so much easier with an extra set of hands!
Here is our little vampire baby.
Our first bike ride of the year! They're pretty cozy in there, but it works great.
I caught this moment when none of them knew I had the camera.
Those are some of my favourite kind of pictures.

Ryan was giving Claire raspberries on her cheek and she was laughing up a storm.
I love her laugh - it is so contagious and natural.

I caught this sunset after an early evening rain.

It really made our gloomy alley-way look nice for a change so I had to document it!

Claire started her Little Bits Therapeutic horseback riding class last week. It was a very stressful experience. I was worried that she wouldn't be able to sit up on the horse and I was so focused on that worry, it didn't even cross my mind to be worried about all the gear she had to wear. We tried to put the helmet on her and she freaked out. We couldn't get her to stay still or stop crying so we were trying all different sizes of helmets, adjusting the straps, putting padding in and she kept getting more and more upset.

I was just so crushed because I thought this would be so good for her and I felt like it was going to be over before it had even started. Luckily Janelle was there because she was so patient. Luckily Linda was there because she suggested breaking the rules and sitting Claire up on the horse and then trying the helmet on Claire as the horse walked. It worked better than I had hoped. I was surprised at how the movement of the horse calmed Claire - I thought it might make her even more uncomfortable because it was such a new experience. The helmet still kept sliding down over her eyes, but they walked around the arena about 4 times before Claire was done. It was enough to give me hope. So now we have another week to get her used to wearing a helmet (and a soft-collar neck brace, as recommended by their physical therapist), before the next time we ride. Wish us luck!

The experience reminded me that I overreact too easily. Especially when it comes to my expectations of things. I lose my cool so easily sometimes. I was bawling in that Little Bits room when Claire was crying so hard, when she threw up because she was so upset. I had pinned so many expectations on this experience and it felt like it was all crashing down around me. I was ready to walk out of there and not come back. Often I'm prepared to deal with the big issues, but when sometimes little crops up, it sets me over the edge. Especially when it comes to Claire. Sometimes I feel like we already have so many things to overcome, why do we have to deal with this TOO???

I'm so grateful for calmer, more rational people around me who are willing to look at things in a different light before they freak out. I always look back on things and think, "Why did I get so upset? It all turned out just fine." I have to remember these feelings in the moment of crisis! I guess this is one thing that kids are teaching me - you can plan and plan and plan, but things can always change in the blink of an eye. Ryan is so much better at this than me, he'll always tell me that everything is going to be alright - maybe I should start believing him more often!

Speaking of crisis....just kidding. Ryan wants to buy...is going to buy...a motorcycle. I blame Trevor for all this because he had so many bikes and Ryan's gone out riding a few times and has caught the bug. I guess I can't put it off any longer. :)

We also had some good news on the home buying front...it is actually going to happen. I had thought that because I wasn't working outside the home that we wouldn't be able to afford much but after talking to a couple of different banks, we are feeling very encouraged. All we need to do is save a little bit longer and then we'll be ready to make the move. It is like a little glimmer of hope off in the distance, but I can see it now!

On a personal note, I need to lose weight. I keep recommitting and then things knock me off my feet like sickness or busyness, etc. I've been at the same weight for awhile now but I need to look better for Kathy's wedding, which is a mere 4 months away. I'm committed now to doing all I can so that I won't be the fat bridesmaid...well I still might be...but I'll try! I am exercising everyday, whether it is Curves or step class at the Kinsmen or bike riding or Jillian's 30 Day Shred at home. I am not going to eat anything after 7pm, no matter what! Instead of drinking juice or other things, I will drink water instead. I've gone to Sparkpeople and figured out a calorie and intake plan and I'm going to do it! (Well, I'm hoping that if I say it out loud and write it on my blog that maybe the shame of not meeting my pronounced goal will push me harder to succeed!) Anyone have any weight loss tips that have worked for them?

Well, after a week + 1 day Spring break, Ryan went back to school for 4 days and then we had a 4 day Easter weekend. I love the Elk Island School District. The people in our ward who teach for Edmonton Public always tease Ryan about how many extra holidays he gets, but I suspect it may be with a hint of jealousy. :)

We had a great Easter weekend. We got lots of stuff done around the house and the apartment building and had a nice visit in Wetaskiwin on Easter Sunday. We spent Easter Monday here - Ryan did so much work and so many errands, I'm sure he'll be glad to be back at school where I can't bug him as much. :)

Here are some pictures from Easter Sunday in Wetaskiwin.

Our Easter bunny comes on Easter Monday so the girls got their goodies this morning.

Maddie did have chocolate for breakfast but we only got her two
Kinder surprise chocolates, so don't judge too harshly.

We decorated Easter eggs after supper. I pre-dyed them because I could
imagine the cups of dye being spilt everywhere and it would be a bad scene.
So we just put stickers on the coloured eggs.
All Madeline wanted to do was smash the eggs because
she was convinced there was chocolate inside.
She was not impressed to find a boring old regular egg inside.

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

A whole month has come and gone!

I've been a very lazy blogger lately. It's been almost a month since my last post. Even now I am doing this entry too late but I couldn't let it go another day!

Since I last posted:
-Ryan has prepared for and begun his new school year (Again, as the only adult male in the whole school and teaching grade 5 French immersion)
-We've prayed and fasted for Grandma and Grandpa and are sending our prayers and love long distance
-Claire has had a week of her PUF programming in the GRIT program and it's been a great start (Cheryl works with Claire 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. We have lots of outings, play groups, library groups, etc. and lots of goals to work on at home. It's going to get Claire whipped into shape for when we do preschool next year!)
-I've had my first adventure at the cannery in Sherwood Park (I love that place! What nice people and a great program.)
-We've had an apartment flood (it happened above Greg and Stephanie's suite! They have been so patient during the repairs. They're almost done!)
-I've kept up my exercising at Curves three times a week (It's a great boost for energy and strength. Next step - nutrition goals. 1. No eating after 7:30pm. 2. Portion control.)
-I've started teaching piano lessons for the first time (It's great! My little student is very energetic and easy to teach.)
-We had a great long weekend at Wetaskiwin and various other day activities while trying to maximize Ryan's last days of freedom before school!
-We had great fun at Christopher Dick's 2nd birthday party!
-We've come a step closer to finding a diagnosis for Claire's disabilities. (Her neurologist at the Glenrose, Dr. Bolduc, discovered a deletion on her 14th chromosome. He has only found 2 papers published on the subject and they were just written this summer. It's a fairly new entity. We meet with him this Tuesday to get more information.)
-We also got some informal family pictures taken by Val Brandham and her awesome camera. Out of about 300 pictures we managed to squeak out a few good ones where we look relatively normal! Here are some of our favourite ones:













Here's the gang enjoying the fall weather at Lion's Park in St. Albert for the birthday party.

Here's one of our Scrabble boards. Ryan and I like to challenge each other and also like to take pictures of each finished board. This round we used everything except the "Z."

Hopefully I will be able to keep up more diligently in order to record the comings and goings of our lives.