What is an elephant's favourite game to play with ants?

Squash!

(This joke is brought to you by the internet, which I have to search every school day to find jokes for Madeline's snack bag note.  It started out sporadically, but she insists upon it now!)

This will be a quick (ha ha) recap of our activities the past little while.  I hope to do better in the future with providing timely updates, but such is life.  It gets away from me quite often.

Madeline's bed got a little upgrade.  She was a bit leery at first about having such a high bed, but has quickly become used to being the Princess and the Pea.

Madeline's been a busy girl this month.  Some things she's been involved with include:

~She had playdates with friends like Isabella and Hayley

~She attended two musicals with me:  Annie and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (she has a taste for the theatre now!)

~She had a very fun tea party with Janet

~At preschool she presented her "All About Me" bag of precious things, had a teddy bear's picnic, attended a puppet show and had a library fieldtrip.

~She had a few fun dates with Grandma Patterson.

I think Maddie was the only one of us happy to see all the snow begin to fall!

Ryan came up with this interesting way to hold Claire.  She's such a flexible little pretzel girl!

Claire's also been busy with:

~Having school pictures taken and helping mom with Parent Council meetings.

~Attending the Glenrose seating clinic to figure out her new wheelchair.  Hopefully it comes in soon!

~Spending an evening with Grandpa Patterson

~Staying awake at school more regularly and having some really positive experiences there.

Madeline passed Level 3 gymnastics with flying colours and is on to Level 4!

Claire's last day of horseback riding was Achievement Days where her goal was to have a relaxed ride. She did well!

Here is Claire with her faithful helpers, Stewart and Hilary.  Little Bits volunteers are the best!

Auntie Olivia and Cairo surprised us by coming to support Claire.  Here are Madeline and Cairo getting ready for when they start horseback riding lessons someday!

Madeline got her teeth checked by Grandpa Patterson.  She was very brave and had great teeth.  Claire's check ups usually happen at impromptu moments when she's sleeping and grandpa can take a quick look without getting chomped.

Ryan and I got a fun night out to see one of our favourite bands, The Arkells.  We snuck right up to the front and stayed against the stage the whole time.  The opening act included chanting, confetti bombs, serious crowd interaction and a giant parachute.  It was a really fun night!

Ryan and I have also been busy, don't you worry.

I've been working with the Lee Ridge Park Redevelopment Project group and we had our big Silent Auction fundraiser which was a great success.  The Malmo Preschool also had a big Silent Auction fundraiser.  Both were on the same day!  I helped out one night selling programs at the CFR for Little Bits.  Every time I do that I think, "I should buy tickets for the rodeo and actually attend next year!"  I had a fun night out with my sisters and another girl's night with Kathy.   I also, unfortunately, got pretty sick recently, and had to rely on the kindness of friends and family to get through.  Luckily things seem to be back to normal.

Ryan's been busy as usual with work and work.  He was acting admin at his school for a couple of days.  He had a Christmas activity with his Apple co-workers.  He managed to make it through a bout of the flu.  Recently his class did very well at their Christmas concert and he's making his way through report cards and parent/teacher interviews this week.

One morning Madeline woke up early, spread out a picnic blanket and got a fancy breakfast all ready for us.  It was the cutest thing.

And let the Christmas festivities begin!

This year we started things off by attending the Legislature Christmas light-up.  It was a lot of fun and I hope to make this a yearly tradition.

Here's Claire and I before things got started.

We were lucky to have Grandma Patterson and Auntie Steph come along.  

The girls were pretty excited about being there.  Claire really enjoyed feeling all the marble on the walls and bannisters.  Madeline was impressed with all the gold.

The University Mixed Chorus sang some really beautiful songs and we had a great view from the second floor.

The lights were beautiful and it was a lovely warm night.  We couldn't have asked for better conditions!

A very important event of the Christmas season is the Ballerina Dreams recital.  

For 8 weeks the girls practiced with their mentors. 

Here they are, seriously contemplating life at the dress rehearsal.

 

Here's one of our little reindeer before the show began.

 Here's Claire and her helper Mark.  They did a great job!

 It was a lovely evening and we were very proud of the girls.

In between the concert and the Edmonton Cerebral Palsy Association Christmas party, we braved West Ed on a Saturday and Madeline rode a couple of rides, we ate some food and then headed over to the party.  

At the party, for the ECPA, a wonderful group helped with all the crafts and activities.  INspired made it a very wonderful night and it was great to meet new families and interact with old friends.

Here are the girls working on some crafts with a little helper.

We finally managed to get the tree decorated, but it was while I was still sick so Madeline and Ryan took over all the duties.  It turned out wonderfully!

We got to attend a fancy dinner at Beijing Beijing with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday.  Madeline enjoyed spinning the lazy susan around the table and Claire slept through the entire thing, but it was a lot of fun.

I got to attend a special night with Claire where she showed me some things she's learning at school.  She was very excited to show me her beautiful snowman picture!

 This picture is presented without comment.

 Claire and I got to attend a play at the Jubilee with her school.  It was a lot of fun.  She wasn't too impressed with me trying to take photos of her, but here she is in front of one of the beautiful trees at the Jubilee.

We got to break some rules and have her wheelchair near the front of the stage.  I was really disappointed when we first got there because the wheelchair seating was quite far away and since Claire has a visual impairment, I didn't think she'd get much out of the performance from such a distance.  Luckily an usher heard our debate about what to do and suggested that we take a secret passageway down to the front.  It was pretty cool.

Here are the girls cuddling with Grandma Patterson.  She basically took over their care for a good portion of a week while I had tests done and recovered.  I was so grateful for her help and for everyone else who pitched in.

We're in the midst of Christmas preparations - cards, baking, concerts, presents, activities, etc.  School goes right until December 23rd so we won't have much time to rest before Christmas is upon us!  Luckily that means the holiday extends to January 9th so we'll have some downtime before the schedule kicks in again!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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!)

Sneaking in one last post before MARCH!

Our kitchen window frosts over when it's really cold. Despite the fact that it means the window isn't sealing properly, it does create quite a beautiful sight.

I haven't been very meticulous about blogging this month. I've also been quite remiss at taking photos. But here's a quick run down of our activities:

We had a successful preschool open house for Malmo. There are a couple of spots left and room on the waiting list if anyone is interested!

The girls have been doing very well in ballet, preparing for their recital.

Claire had a couple of bad ear aches that resulted in a few missed days of school and quite a bit of yuckiness.

Both girls had fun Valentine's day parties at school. They were excited to hand out their cards and were thrilled to get some from their classmates!

Ryan had a successful Teacher's Conference and had lots of fun with Jason and his fellow teachers, including Greg, Val and Nelda!

Claire got checked out at the Glenrose Physical Medicine clinic for her yearly appointment and was a wiggly customer during her back x-ray.

We visited a special school program at Hardisty to see if it might be a good fit for Claire next year. We're still in the process of making a choice as to which environment will be best for her.

Madeline had a fun "Hat Day" at school and got to wear her floppy sun hat with a gorgeous flower on the top.

I had the opportunity to accompany a group of singers for GRIT's Hope & Harmony fundraiser at the Museum. It was lots of fun for a good cause!

Ryan's been very busy at school and at work. He and his young men did a couple of fun videos for one of their activities recently:

Here is their video.

Here is what they looked like while making their video.

We attended Noah's blessing and had a good (but quick!) visit with family and friends.

Seeing Madeline organize her Valentine's Day Smarties made me laugh. I do exactly the same thing whenever I eat candies of varied colour - I organize them first!

Ryan was very thoughtful and got us all roses for Valentine's day - white for me, pink for Claire and red for Madeline.

Daddy daughter dance date

Ryan (a.k.a. DJ Samurai) turned out the tunes at his elementary school dance celebrating Carnaval. Here are the girls enjoying the atmosphere and the music.

Of course Ryan wore his velvet suit and of course Madeline was up on the stage with him almost the entire time. He was a great entertainer for the kids.

Oh ring pops - how I hate thee.

This is one activity we often do on snowy days. Good parenting, hey?

Our happy girls :)

And a few Maddie-isms to round things out:

"Boys stand up to go pee and girls sit down to go pee. They both have different talents."

"I'm allergic to pants."

She was playing with playdough, pretending that she was making supper. I asked what she was making and she said, "Butterflies." When I asked what butterflies taste like, she said, "Like chicken and muffins."

Herbal tea is like invisible clothes

Do you ever feel like you're in the story The Emperor's New Clothes and everyone is raving about something that you just don't really appreciate, and you're tempted to go along and agree that it's wonderful? Do we all do that a little bit? For example, grown-ups are supposed to have grown-up palettes, right? I thought I'd try some herbal tea again, years after my first less-than-enjoyable taste of it. In the company of a group of successful and wonderful ladies, while trying to appear sophisticated, I choked down an entire steaming glass of something that tasted like boiled bark. I can't decide yet if I'm proud of myself for trying something new or if I was pretending to be something I'm not. Maybe it's as simple as trying many variations of tea before I find one that I enjoy, but it was an interesting thought about how we want others to perceive us.

Ryan's been busy with school, preparing to have a student teacher in his classroom, dealing with technology issues and marking. We had Jason here for a few days so they could attend Teacher's Conference together and it was fun to have a visit with him.

We were lucky to have a baby shower here for Noah - on a super cold and icy night.

Greg & Steph, the proud parents (with a PhotoBomb from Madeline)

It was fun to hold him - what a cutie!

Claire's been under the weather lately. Here is a tribute to her medication regime today: purple Children's Advil, red Phenobarbitol, PEG 3350 and Vitamin D dissolved in water, orange Tegretol and pink antibiotics for her ear infections. We have so many syringes and medicine cups in our house, it's crazy. All I can say is, thank goodness for her g-tube. She doesn't have to swallow or taste any of this...

Due to the lovely problems associated with double ear infections, Claire has been having a lot of baths lately. On one occasion Madeline decided to join her, clothes and all.

Our little yoga princess. She loves to contort herself like this.

And our dancing princess. She can dance better in those heels than I can.

One thing that makes my heart happy is when the girls laugh and play together.

We spied a little bunny in our front yard on a stormy day. It had hollowed out a little hole in the snow and bunkered down. It was fun to sit there and watch it and we were genuinely sorry when it hopped away.

Hugs on the couch are always fun. It's nice to cuddle with Claire when she's sleepy because she's often very still and happy. Madeline is always asking for "snuggles on the couch." We just have to remember that she won't be asking for that for much longer and we should enjoy it while we can.

That has been our life lately. Here's to an upcoming week of lovely weather!