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!

8 years and counting

February 1, 2003 was the day I married my sweetheart. We don't really use pet names like that, but he really is a sweetheart; except he disobeyed my edict of no gifts this year.

2 dozen beautiful roses

A beautiful necklace

We had a lovely night out, eating yummy food, being horrible bowlers, grabbing some groceries (romantic and necessary!) and enjoying a movie at home. It was fun to spend time together and reflect on our years as a couple.

In other news, we've had so many ups and downs with the weather. It's hard to get accustomed to things when they so suddenly change!

We had a lot of fun playing outside on those beautifully warm days.

Ryan and Madeline had a very fun time out there one afternoon while Claire was napping.

He buried her alive...

...threw her into the snow banks, multiple times...

...and they made a new friend.

Thank goodness for fun Dads. :)

We got to see an Oil Kings game, which is always fun. They go out of their way to make it a fun family experience, and there are usually lots of goals to celebrate.

Madeline was entertaining Claire during the game.

She sings SO loud when she has headphones on. It's hilarious. Note the makeshift microphone.

The girls started Ballerina Dreams again. It's a great class put on by the CPAA. Here they are, all gussied up.

We have great mentors this year. Here's Claire's helper Anthony. He's been wonderful with her.

It's hard to catch Madeline during class because she's always moving and loving every minute of it, so here she is at home, ready to go!

Our little computer guru. She can now get to Treehouse and PBSkids by herself and does a pretty good job of navigating through the games.

For some reason, January felt like a "blah" month. I'm looking forward to the rest of February and getting closer and closer to warmer weather!