That's what I said :)

More 4H: Exhibition Part 2

2010-08-28T19:01:00.000-04:00

Exhibition day starts super early for the Dairy people in particular. I was lucky and got to stay home with Annika :):) We slept in a teensy bit which was really good after she spent the night awake with a cough :( we were sleeepy people!

We got to the Ex just before the first Tug of War pull happened (but after the weigh in) Im happy about that...lol perfect timing! LOL

Tug Of War team ready for their first pull...Digging Trenches to get gripHolly didnt get to pull the first time; they make up their team based on weight, closest to max without going over is best for weight (doesnt always get you the best pullers tho...)Despite a hard pull and some maneuvers they did lose the first pull...to the team that eventually won.

After Tug of war they had a big of a break before they had to head over to the Agridome for the Scrapbooking Competition. They had loads of time to do it all BUT the competition before Scrapbooking went late and rather than setting up at the side of the room, they waited and waited and started 45 minutes late which put their Dairy coach into a panic because Junior Showmanship was next and OMG There is nothing quite as important as Dairy projects!

The girls had just enough time to finish their Scrapbook pages before they ran off to change their clothes to whites and get into the Dairy Ring. Their calves had gotten ready before Scrapbooking so they got their in plenty of time.

Dairy Junior Showmanship; Both Taylor and Holly show in Junior Showmanship and it was a bit more competative this time. Holly`s calf has had a few shows behind her now and walks like a kitten. She did a good job training it.Taylor also did a good job training her calf but it did not walk so well this day; and it showed. She was struggling in the ring and that doesnt suit her very well. While Holly`s calf put on a good show and she did a nice job showing it off :) it all worked for her.

And she was pulled in third place behind two older boys. Taylor had a rough time and the first time she was actually placed 12th! She gets flustered when things are not going well and has to learn to take it in stride. But she did keep on showing, the calf settled down and behaved better, and the judge moved her up to 6th place which I thought was a much better place for her; I saw some pretty crappy showmanship between 6th and 12th LOLOLOL She was lucky the judge recognised her perseverance and moved her.The final placings has Holly in third....doesnt she look TINY! OMG!And Taylor brought it up to 6 very well. Im sure although she planned to do better, she was relieved to be where she ended up! And she did understand why.Holly was pretty tickled to be third in showmanship and do not think it was any small part that she had beat Taylor who is a realllllly good showperson. She knows what she did; and she knows that if she had been one more placing up, she would have gone to Pro Show for showmanship. :):)

There was a lunch break and another tug of war; this time Holly got to pull and there was a win for the Clifton team :):)

Calf Conformation Classes were next; Holly`s Calf Royal is a Junior Calf (Born after March) and she showed it first.

She looks really good with her peers and was called into line up first! :) Not unexpected tho; She`s a great calf!

Holly worked really hard to make sure Royal looked her best!

And Royal stayed in First place! That means for Junior Calf Holly will be taking Royal to the Provincial 4H show in October!

Taylor shows a Senior calf...Sparta was born in September of last year. She was looking particularly good this day...

She was called into lineup second behind Alexander`s Calf and the judge looked at them very closely.

And he called her back out to walk in first place! :) She was surprised!

Taylor`s calf remained in first place (it was close tho) and She will be taking her senior calf to Pro Show as well!

Taylor and Holly both got to go back into the ring for Champion Calf :) All of the firsts and seconds go in. Both calves were pulled out of line for the Champion calves...

And Holly`s Calf was picked for Honourable Mention :):):) This made her happy :)

Although hers was not picked, Taylor`s calf was called out so it was also considered to be a good calf by the judge that day :)

A great Dairy day for the kids! :)

One more Tug of War before the day ended; Holly Pulled (and Taylor did not). The pull remained in almost a tie for a very long time with neither team gaining much advantage. It went the full 5 minutes and then into over time.Then they made a serious mistake when the announcer said `time is up and now overtime`and they stopped pulling.....apparently there was an issue with their Anchor choking on the harness or something but either way....because too many of them dropped the rope and could not really pick it up again, they lost their ground and quickly were defeated. With some experience they are going to be a very good team!

Annika did not have a great day; after coughing all night she proceeded to sleep every time we stopped moving, in the stands, in a stall made vacant by showing sheep;) She was not feeling well at all! She slept half the day and woke up later for a bit of lunch with Nanny and Grampy before she fell back asleep. She was better that night.4H Parade (awards) were at the end of the day and our club looked festive in their orange and black Clifton shirts.The awards from our point of view.

It was a super long day with a lot of exhausted children by the end . As much fun as we had, I was not sorry when it was time to go home. And we slept better that night (despite Annika`s continued coughing!)

More 4H: Exhibition

2010-08-28T16:29:00.000-04:00

4H Day at the Ex was just this past week. It has been a super busy week, and more if you count all those days of barn cleanup, working on the new cement floor, endless meetings, decorating and moving animals, and it's no wonder I don't know what my husband looks like anymore.

Oh there he is. 4H Tug of War.

So we helped decorate on Sunday after my long long run and I was bagged and didnt help much lol Scott was running around building stuff and making sure things were where they were supposed to be :)

The displaylooked great when they were done decorating it with the Trend theme :)Holly hard at work ;)I guess Taylor is done!Making those doors hard to open!My cutie After the deocrating and cleaning was done we went over to check on the Lifeskills area if there was some way to help; and to check out results of the judging which went on that day. some NICE results! Holly's Explosion Album won Reserve and is going off to the Provincial 4H Show Next month! Taylor's friends page got a red ribbon as did her 5 page album. Her Other Theme page got a second. Holly's Other Theme page got third.

Holly's Sign for a fourth place! SO glad they all placed!

Taylor also placed well in Judging dairy, being top Junior and Reserve Champ with a 98!

SO the next day we showed up to get the animals there. They had to be in within a small window of time that evening :)

Calves installed in their places, Kids tidy up the areaAnd behave like total social butterflies.

Home early and into bed; super early morning coming up!

Blogging some more: 4H

2010-08-26T20:48:00.000-04:00

Because this is such a huge thing for the kids during the year but more so during the summer and particularly Achievement Day and the Provincial Exhibition 4H Day; It could get a lot of airplay here. I take a LOT of photos :) But I will attempt to shorten it.

Taylor showed Kylie in the Light Horse Project. She and Kylie get along really well; as long as we don't ask too much of Kylie. She is very gentle and kind to work around and makes a good 4H horse.

Little Helper Annika :)The Light Horse Project at Achievement Day

Showing in Showmanship. the ring was too small for Kylie to get a trot going on; Ok she really just didnt do it LOL but there were not a lot of Juniors there

and Taylor did get top Junior.

And the Dairy Classes; Taylor and Holly both took calves this year.Holly's calf is Royal. She is a really awesome calf although Scott would not have predicted she would get quite as good as she is :)

She is such a kitten; absolutely awesome to work with :) all those hours of walking...

Taylor has Sparta; She's a good calf, doesnt always act perfect and doesn't get ready for a class that well either; not eating, drinking too much? lol When she does get it together she is awesome.

Both girlies are in Junior Showmanship; they are not too competative yet, as Holly is just happy to have Taylor in the ring with her. Holly was quite scared to show; she had to be talked into going in the ring this day, and I hear it wasn't pretty.

Taylor is a good showperson and was brought in first. She likes it on top.

Holly was placed third and stayed there; it's really a good position considering she was against older and experienced juniors; she was happy :)

And so they finished first and third and both happy to be there.

Junior calves in conformation; Holly was ok by this time :) Her calf is really awesome and called in first.

Taylor's senior calf apparently was not looking her best this day (I don't see it lol) She was second to Alexander's senior calf.

Catherine's Intermediate calf was Champion with Holly's calf in Reserve and Honourable mention to Jelisa's Jersey :)Very happy to be Reserve :)

The Dairy Project

Being top Junior Horse showman and Junior dairy Showman, Taylor made it to the Champion Showperson Class :) they show every project represented at the Achievement Day. Taylor goes through the lunch break learning to show Waterfowl and Rabbits, Goats, and Sheep :) She can handle Dog, Horse, and Dairy ok. :)

Horse

Dog

Goat

Sheep; She struggled with the sheep, trying to show it with the halter rather than grabbing it's head LOL

Alex's Duck is SO patient LOL

Rabbit; Mr. Munchie is too mellow but Taylor could take this a little more seriously.

Finished off the day with a Tug of War Demo

Against the parents, who won thanks to all of their full grown men.

After an afternoon break the club meets for a Pot Luck and Awards ceremony; Usually a lot of fun and great to see the Lifeskills projects and Record sheets.

Taylor and 3 of her club mates shared the top Judge Trophy for different projects; Taylor got a 98 in Dairy Judging and will have the Trophy for 3 months at some point :)

Holly took home Trophies for Rookie of the Year, and Scrapbooking Project Member.

Taylor enjoyed Top Junior Dairy Showman and Top Light Horse Project was a surprise.

A super good day for the girls, the culmination of a lot of hard work over the winter, spring and summer. Long day for all of us!!!

blogging away: Soccer

2010-08-26T20:04:00.000-04:00

with just so little to say these days! It takes for freaking ever to write posts and add the photos; Id rather just post the photos :)

But I will attempt another update for Summer 2010 which is so quickly coming to an end :(:(:(

Kids soccer...over. Jamboree was awesome, the kids had a totally HOT soccer filled weekend then it was done. And not really a moment too soon; Exhibition was upon us.

Annika's Day - three super hot games. Her team suffered a lot; sick from heat, cranky, tired. Great age. Busy day at the field!

Holly's Games - Over 3 games she had 5 goals and her team tied the first but won both other games.

Taylor's Day: Hot but less busy day because most of the games were the day before. She and Holly had the fields to themselves. Taylor's game played 2 longer games and although they out play the other teams they had trouble scoring and lost both games :( Not for lack of skill or trying; just not scoring the goals.

Running Update

2010-07-12T10:08:00.000-04:00

So as not to bore anyone I will just post links to the running posts I have put up on The Running Blog. Running is going well, Ive done some races and posted some good times (for me - no comparisons) as Im getting a little faster and being able to go longer distances. Planning for a full marathon this fall (questionable choice) and needing to move on the training and race less ;)

http://scrappytbear-runs.blogspot.com/2010/07/celebration-of-greenspace-166-miler.html

http://scrappytbear-runs.blogspot.com/2010/07/cross-border-challenge.html

http://scrappytbear-runs.blogspot.com/2010/06/johnny-miles-35th-anniversary-half_21.html

http://scrappytbear-runs.blogspot.com/2010/06/cabot-trail-relay.html

http://scrappytbear-runs.blogspot.com/2010/05/bluenose-10-k-rr.html

There; read at your leisure ;) or not at all.

Soccer 2010 Update

2010-06-27T08:44:00.001-04:00

As with other summers, our girls are all playing soccer this summer.

Some of them started getting ready at Easter time! They really do love soccer, and it is SO much better when you have a ball that is pink and sparkling. I wonder what pink socks would do?

Soccer started in a bit of confusion since no one calls anyone anymore, and apparently no matter how many times I put in my email, the system was defaulting to an email I have not had in about 4 years. And when the emails are returned no one bothers to check out where those Masters kids are, despite the fact that my cheque was cashed and someone knew 3 kids were signed up for soccer.

So Taylor missed her first game and I did eventually manage to get her information on her team, no big deal. She wasnt thrilled with her team (most of the girls on it, are in the same class at a different school and she was pretty lonesome at first).

Warming up in the garage.

I got an email about Annika's team so SOMEONE Had my correct email address :/ She started on time and in the right place. But I had to email someone about Holly's team. HOURS before her first practice started. And if I had not gotten the email about Annika's soccer, I wouldnt have had a clue it had even started. Holly was not placed on a team. She was apparently signed up for tryouts for the competative team. Tryouts had gone on weeks before. We did not get an email or a phone call asking where she was....but they did take my money. SIGH. Maybe they thought we changed our minds but didnt need the money or another team? We got her signed up for Rec soccer again (omg) and she went out to those practices. We also signed her up for an additional practice during the week. No phone call...I happened to notice an email that went out to the entire CCRiders membership (at the correct email address...hello!) saying the practices were at this time if someone wanted to sign up. 15 minutes after practice had started. (insert big eyes rolling here). So I hustled her out the door and got her there late, but she was there. What a mess.

So everyone is in soccer. Taylor likes her team now. Annika loves hers. She has classmates on the team and even if they are kind of distracting her from the game, at least she is playing which is more than other years. And she is doing really well. She's a good little goalie! Holly is a little less than thrilled; a lot of her team is either not taking it seriously or never played before, and she's frustrated. They dont really do well, a lot of them just watch the game going on so Holly feels she has to work very hard for nothing because there is rarely anyone playing "with" her. But she is making the most of it and scoring a lot of goals. She really is the only one of the three who would care a bit about how others are affecting her game; she's pretty good. I wish I could teach her some aggression ;)

The first night of soccer raining. Rediculously raining. Torrential. LOL But soccer players are tough. they practiced. Both Holly and Annika have Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Annika loves her team!

Taylor plays U12 rec. She's not interested in competative. Next year might be a surprise for her.

Her first practice was not rainy. She is a lucky kid ;)

Holly does like her team most days. :)

we are well into soccer season now!

June update

2010-06-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

So need to update; Im doing most of my blogging over at The Running Blog or the Photo A Day blog and Ive not paid much attention to this one. But for anyone not interested in my running (and the little daily blurbs I sometimes write there) or just in viewing photos (that are sometimes rather random) I suppose they want to see something on this blog. But no one really wants to know what Im thinking and what we are doing is sorta boring and everyone starts to say "can't you write anything other than Soccer/horses/swimming" even tho that is all we do. So I cannot write about my thinking because 4 people will tell me I am wrong and then no one wants to see more photos of kid splaying soccer and my flowers get boring.

But nonetheless I am going to update this ;)
Ill start with the yard and gardens which look terrific this year :)

We have fertilized and weeded and pruned and trimmed and things are looking sharp :):) Scott loves his yard work and Im ok with flower beds and stuff.

New Flowering Crabapple Tree :)Holly Bush that some had given up for dead; it is flowering now :)Neat ruffled Daffodils :)French lilacs

Rhododendrons that Scott thought would never survive the many moves we have had it take :)

Looking really good and looked after :)

We moved the fire pit and put some rocks under it; Zoey has been terribly hard on the back lawn therefore there is a lot of fixing to be done. That damned dog cannot seem to resist digging everywhere. Wish she would take it into the woods a little.

Because of where the previous owners of this house had their fire place which was right up on the deck, the back of the house tends to always be dirty. Last year we used the pressure washer to wash this part of the siding and it did not come clean and any dirt that came off came right back because of the soot residue. This year I used a scrub brush and some CLR and I am hoping that next year this will not be an issue. It was SO gross. Unfortunately what I cleaned is so clean now, the rest of the house looks kinda grotty and Im going to have to clean it all lOL.

But we have had an attractive spring here! :):)

Day 9 in Florida - Change of plans :)

2010-04-25T08:14:00.009-04:00

We had one more day's tickets for one of the Disney parks; we had seen all 4 and just had to decide which one to return to for another day; couldn't really agree on which park we wanted to go to and to be honest the kids seemed just a little bit less than enthusiastic about any of them.

SO we chucked the park idea. If it was going to be a chore, why do it? We considered a water park but of course, that meant more people and more lines and more expensive food and cost. Rather than deal with those people again, we chose to go for a drive. To the beach. We looked into lots of beaches but ended up with the inevitable Daytona Beach :)

Even the drive there was fun. There was no line ups and crowds and even the traffic through Orlando was light and flowing. It was kind of a relief to be doing something so free! :) Orlando is a neat city at least seen that way from the highway through it. :)

Eventually we got to Daytona, and passed the Speedway. I wondered if Scott ever had any Nascar interests; apparently not so much. Seeing the race track from the road was kinda neat but enough. I just cant imagine getting excited about watching cars go round and round and round....is it the anticipation of accidents and explosions? to each their own...

It was as easy as pie to find the beach; all things lead there. :) Just keep going straight :)
There was no doubt when we were getting closer to the ocean.
But we were still surprised when we got there and there was opportunity to drive right down onto the beach :)

Parking on the beach was awesome :) instead of someone having to sit with all the stuff we lugged onto the beach from the car, we could just lock it all in and go for walks on the beach all together! :) And we sat right near it when we wanted...and moved down to the water when we wanted......big bonus!

Even our sullen pre teen was unable to hide her smile when we were let loose on that soft white sand. It was warmish and sunny part of the time lol

4 pretty painted feet; we all seem to have the same shaped feet! Funny that. My poor kids...

We went for a walk (which we could do with our stuff all locked in the van :)) up the boardwalk and onto the street. We went to a few stores and Annika almost lost her mind when we found a box full of baby turtles (live ones) for sale. It took a lot to convince her we could not take it on the air plane.

We walked down the street and back up to the beach and through the water back :)

then into bathing suits and for a dip. Because of the waves and currents underneath we didnt let the kids go very far into the water but they had fun going in the surf for ages.

We collected tonnes of shells looking for ones with holes in them ;) For some necklaces we could make. :) Holly offered to wash my handfull of them and came back crying as a wave had washed them all out of her hands ;) so we collected some more and when she washed them this time, they all stayed put :):)

I was amazed (and im not sure why, after seeing all the birds in Florida being so awesome) to see these Pelicans keep flying over. We saw like a dozen at once at one point :) I thought this was pretty cool!

And tonnes of seagulls, every time the kids saw them they chanted Mine, Mine, Mine :) We saw a lot of Nemo this week! lol

After trying for ages we got some lady to take a photo of us all together! It was harder than I would have expected :):)

WE cleaned up a little in these water fountains :) The soft sand was really sticky even when dry and got into every little thing in our car. :) But the girls liked a few minutes in the clean water before we headed back to the van and the house :)

We spotted this Krispy Kreme from across 3 lanes of traffic and went through a lot of turning and butting into traffic to get there. We went around a block through a less attractive area of town and the kids got an eyefull :)
The donuts were totally worth it tho :) Yum. Wish I had been able to take some home LOL

Annika worked hard and on the way home from Daytona Beach she lost her second tooth! :) she wanted to lose it in Florida so bad! That made it a special tooth loss LOL and she did it! The tooth fairy did find her in Florida, thank goodness!

After getting home from being at the beach all day we went to Red Lobster for supper (Taylor's choice) and then the kids had a last swim in the dark with the pool lights. They are going to miss that pool.

Tried for an early night as we were heading off early in the morning for home. Didnt sleep much; hate leaving Florida and ending vacations!

Day 8 in Florida - Finishing Seaworld

2010-04-23T15:26:00.011-04:00

We had 2 days at Seaworld so during the first day we didnt really try to see everything :) We knew we could finish up another day :) Its kind of a repeat of our first day there, without the Dolphins and with the Shamu show instead :)

We visited the Stingrays again and Holly was very brave and fed one. Taylor wouldnt even keep holding onto the fish LOL

I could not get over the birds in Florida...not just hanging around the parks waiting for a free meal, but everywhere! Cranes and herons, big ones, little ones. They were everywhere! And these things called Ibis....everywhere! Really cool!

we went through a few things a little more slowly, like the dolphins underwater viewing area - they were not being fed this time so we were able to see them swimming and playing. Dolphin Cove was nice; wavey and the dolphins were so incredibly playful that at times I was actually wondering if they were hurting each other with their exuberance.

We got over to the Dolphin Nursery where there were mothers with babies and some pregnant dolphins as well :) they were really sweet to watch. It was nice to see them although again we had to shuffle on quite quickly. :)
Can you spot us?

Annika went with Nanny and Grampy to Shamu's Happy Harbour while Taylor and I went on the Kracken again; Holly and Scott watched. And took photos :):)Taylor loves the Kracken; we didnt feel like standing in line for the Manta again.

We walked the long way around to get to Shamu to meet the Grands with Annika for the Shamu show :) We saw the Aquarium at Journey to Atlantis.

We saw the Budweiser horses. At least 2 of them. LOL Nice stable.

We went on the Wild Arctic adventure ; we took the kids on the Helicopter ride to the Arctic while Nanny and Grampy walked the tour. The Helicopter ride was simulated flying very much like the Star Wars one but very rough.

The artic was fun; we saw Belugas and Walruses, a sleeping polar bear.

Then we went to the Believe show; the Shamu show. This is the same show where in February there was a trainer killed :( this certainly has changed the show since last year when the grands saw it.

There were no trainers in the water and no one was diving off noses :( I am sad about the loss from the show and sadder about the loss of the trainer :( that whale...doing what whales do...has a bad rep for whale reasons. Anyway the show was still awesome and amazing those whales were so big!

we spent a little bit of time in the underwater whale viewing area which was really crowded; in here were some playful juvenile whales :) They were fun to watch and loved to zoom by the window :)
Right after the Shamu show Holly wasnt feeling well :( she was quite uncomfortable with a sore belly and head. It passed after awhile but for some time she was quite unwilling to do anything and just cried quietly :( when we were going to take her home, she started to feel better. First Annika then Holly, who next?

After Believe Annika wanted to go on Journey to Atlantis again :) she really loved that ride and mentions it as one of her favs :)

We walked towards the entrance by this time, I got waylayed for a while by the Dolphin Cove watching them playing, hung there for a bit wasting some time LOL

Petted some more stingrays, watched the Very active flamingos for awhile, kind of finishing off where we started :):):)

By far the best park we visited LOL at least for me. The kids may feel different. Or not.

And on the Seventh Day- They rested...

2010-04-22T11:19:00.010-04:00

And we shopped.

we mapped out and I did an AWESOME long 12 km run through some really awesome areas of Davenport :) Such beautiful scenery, awesome birds and nothing bit me! Nice and warm and sunny (off and on) a great morning.

Came back to the house and hopped into the pool for a float then into the hot tub which has to be the best recovery method ever! No ice baths for me ;)

The grands kept the kids at the house, and we shopped! Checked out a Premium Outlets mall and had a great time walking around the stores and checking out...sport stores mostly hahahhhahaha

Finally made some purchases (only Timberland Sandals for Scott and a Nike Livestrong coat for me; it POURED RAIN and I was freezing LOL) We had Starbucks and felt like adults and all :) And picked up some stuff to barbecue and went back to the house for some supper and rest :) it was a good day!

Some photos of our house :)One of the kids bedrooms; typically messy :) There were 2 bedrooms with 2 twin beds in them :)

The kitchen :) Little table in the window where we usually had breakfast :)

Dining Room where we had most suppers and Taylor liked to hang out.

Living room area :)

Door to POOL area :):) my fav place with its lawn chairs and stools :)
The Anole who inhabited our pool area....we never got very close :)

Day 6 - Hollywood Studios

2010-04-22T10:46:00.005-04:00

I was really looking forward to Hollywood Studios :) I thought it would be awesome for the kids and would have stuff for the parents as well. The weather forecast was a little sketchy but it still looked fun. We contemplated a day off (Sunday) but went to this park instead. :)

And it was fun :) We got Fastpasses early for the Toy Story Mania ride and also got some for the Tower of Terror and eventually, a couple for the Rockin Rollercoaster (Aerosmith). Only got 2 of them tho :( Holly didnt get to ride. I really dont think she would have liked it anyway.

We waited and waited for High School Musical 3 to start; it was a show in front of the "hat" but then they announced that due to the weather (sprinkling) it was cancelled. SO we went off to do something else. :) we did the Movie Show ride which was at least, dry lol it kind of went through the history of movies and showed scenes and stuff from some really popular movies of the past. :)

Afterwards we went to "New York" and saw the Muppet-Vision 3D Show. :) It was cute :) The kids liked it. Annika started to complain of a sore belly :(

We rode the Star Wars Flying Simulator and it really seemed as tho we were flying. The kids loved flying rides lol even tho we didnt really leave the ground; it sure seemed as tho we did!

When this was over we sat for a bit while Annika contemplated her sore belly and had a snack, then we hit the next showing of the High School Musical 3 show. Holly LOVED it although she would not try to join in; she watched and danced from the sides :) Annika mentioned her sore belly while we stood and watched. SIGH.

We went to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground for a rest but Annika was feeling sick, Holly was too hesitant to go off alone, and Taylor was too cool for playgrounds then it started to rain again so we just left it.

Then we trotted around the corner to the Toy Story Mania Ride which we had tickets for. Most of the stuff was inside for this park thank goodness! If it had been outside it would have been unpleasant for sure :)

Toy Story Mania was awesome! So worth the (albeit shorter) longish wait. The kids wanted to do it again! It spun around and we shot and stuff and racked up some massive scores! There were some 3D effects and it just went on and on lol it was a great ride!

The Indiana Jones stunt show had a showing and it was covered so we went there next and had a snack. Annika was...bored hahahahah but the show was awesome. Unfortunately due to the rain there were some parts left out :( but what we saw was fun and interesting to see them doing the stunts.

Annika was starting to feel a little bit better so we went to the Tower of Terror and rode that. IT WAS AWESOME :) The ride was very dark and they dropped us and picked us up and dropped us again and again lol I liked the weightless feeling and ALL of the kids loved it; even Holly who still isnt really a "Rides" kinda girl LOL. Annika the Brave said it wasnt even that scary ;)

By this time the rain was in full force and we ran from the Tower to the Roller Coaster where we had quite a wait before our FastPasses could be used. We shopped in the store and rested a bit. I felt bad for the ones not riding the ride but Taylor and I enjoyed it; despite being very wet.

It was dark and inside and did a lot of corkscrews and upside downs. Im sure Holly would have hated it. :)

We figured we had hit all the high points (although I would have loved to have seen more "sights" it was just too wet by now so we got some Rain capes and headed for the cars. It was wet HAHAHAH We went home and got some dry clothes and headed off for supper; Holly picked Applebees and we had a great meal there. :)

Home for more swimming and YAY the hot tub decided to get hot! SO we all got in that and soaked up some awesome warm water :):)

Day 5 - Epcot

2010-04-20T17:15:00.009-04:00

Day 5 we went to Epcot. We weren't really convinced that we wanted to go to Epcot at all; we weren't sure that there would be enough that we were interested in doing there. But we looked at their schedule/map and found that there was, in fact, much to be done there :)

We took the morning "off" and did very little :) maybe a little shopping, may have been in the pool, Im not sure ;) but it was rather relaxing to have a slow morning.
Hit the park around 2 in the afternoon :) it was kinda slow and we wondered where the people were. Well apparently they were all waiting to get on rides because the lines were extremely long :) and the Fast Passes were already gone for the rides we wanted most - Soarin!

So we spent some times on some other things; intending to catch the fireworks and then head for home late.

The first view of that Big ol Ball at Epcot was pretty cool; Ive seen photos of that thing most of my life; now I was actually under it!

We saw the The Seas with Nemo and friends fairly early :) and Annika really loved that! At the end we were at this big Aquarium and Annika took Nanny and Grampy to Turtle Talk with Crush :) The rest of us hung around the Aquarium which was very cool :) there were Manatees and dolphins and tropical fish and some sharks...it was a huge aquarium!

There was a Garden Festival going on and Annika was particularly fond of posing with the shrubs shaped like...stuff. we have loads of photos of shrub stuff and flowers. Pineapples grow in the ground; Annika was amazed.

We went to Imagination with Figment; that was...slow. In fact after most of the other places we've been, Epcot was kinda slow. But it was really cool afterwards playing in the play area.

We saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience 3D show which was cute. It was something when the entire theater was moving around and thumping ;)

We had no intention of going anywhere near those "country" pavillions; but KimPossible took us there anyway; the interactive game where the kids carry around a cell phone type thing getting clues and making things happen; they saved France so we got to know France pretty good. We didnt go into any of the other Pavillions (including Canada) lol but we went up further than I planned.
Enjoying a coffee in France :)

Kimpossible was cool! The kids loved it! And it didnt take very long to complete; if we had not come so late we might have done a second.

Mission:Space was next. It was like being in a rocket taking off for space and landing in Mars, and there were two versions; less intense and more intense . WE all went on the less intense one; then Scott took Holly off for a bit while I took the other two back on the More Intense version which was more intense for sure; Holly isnt really into that sort of thing apparently but she is getting there :)

We had a bit to eat before heading for Spaceship Earth; that's in the big ball! LOL it was neat....a little cheesy but the kids really liked it!

It was then about time to get in line for Soarin'! The wait was an hour! but no more fastpasses so we had to get in line! And it was a long wait. Stressing us out was the fact that about the time we were ending, the fireworks was supposed to start. SIGH. Nanny and Grampy went and watched people while we waited in line. Wish we had known it was a gentle ride; Grampy would have liked it.

Soarin' was awesome too! we chatted with a nice family from England while we waited an hour in line and then when we got seated they were in the same...hang glider? lol

So it felt like we were flying through this big concave screen...the kids lifted their feet over waves and ducked flying golf balls. Funny. It was fun :)

After Soarin' the fireworks were winding down and it was time to head to the cars. We were again pretty tired and didnt take long getting home and into bed:)

Day 4 Of the Florida Trip - Magic Kingdom

2010-04-18T18:39:00.009-04:00

The "Park" was next on Scott's schedule carefully created according to many plans and advice on which parks were busiest on which days :)Weather was nice; this seemed the hottest morning so far.

Drive to the park was uneventful thank goodness :) people around here drive crazy! A few wrong turns righted by Grampy's GPS Girl "recalculating" and we were at the parking lot; we were in Pluto! :) Monorail over to the Kingdom was pretty darned cool...long way to get there tho!

And there we were...the Magic Kingdom! It really was beautiful and just what dreams are about :)

Annika wanted only to see Cinderella's Castle. I was worried she would be disappointed when we could not actually visit Cinderella's living area but she took it well :) When we rounded the corner and she saw the Castle, she was speechless! :)

So we went through the castle and then were on Scott's schedule which did, in fact, work around what the kids wanted; it was just a little strict and I heard "Come on, Hurry" more than I wanted to. SIGH there was just so much to do!

We scooted off to Adventureland where we wanted to see a few things and get Fastpasses for the big rides. We ran through the Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse and then off to Aladin's Carpet Ride.

The Safari boat ride was a little cheesy after the "real" Safari at Animal Kingdom but the kids liked the boat and thought it was funny :)
Also loved the Thunder Mountain Rail Road ride :) Holly managed to make it through the whole thing :)

Then we hustled on to the Pirates of the Carribean ride which was Totally cute and fun (although a little long) lol

Took in the Haunted House which was hokey but some of the effects were kinda cool and Annika came out a little scared so I guess it did what it was supposed to :)

Saw Mickey's Philharmagic which was a 3D show resembling Fantasia a bit and including loads of Disney movies :)

Splash Mountain followed soon afterwards; We really love the Fastpass and learned in long lines to make sure we get them way ahead LOL
Scott and Taylor sat in front of the ride and got Completely soaked. We were in the second seat and didnt get nearly as wet but I say between Annika and Holly and I believe they soaked up the brunt of the water.

We did the Buzz Lightyear game and the kids thought that was...ok :):)

Waited in line for the Speedway and the kids got to drive some race cars around a track :) they really liked that; it was a hot line :)

And we happened by some ears; wanted the girls to have some ears from Disney to take home; Annika knew what she wanted almost right away but Holly had to look around; Taylor still has not picked any :)

We saw Stitch's Great Escape; that "ride" wasnt that great. But really the only Disappointment we have had so far in 4 days!

Whew. Took the train back to the entry and the ferry back to the mainland; and off home for a little swim and bite to eat :) rest time for all.

Because we took the kids back for the evening and for the fireworks. We missed a few rides and wanted to catch a couple of things; didnt really end up being much time and the people were very hard to get around :(

Annika simply LOVED that the castle changed colour. She was SO charmed!

We saw Monster's Inc. LAugh Floor; I had no idea it was so interactive! Taylor got shown on the big Screen but she would not make faces; way too embarassed!

We rode Space Mountain; I was a little concerned that Holly would hate it; no one to sit beside (single file), way fast, and in the pitch dark. But she held it together and claimed tolike it :)

After Space MOuntain we caught the fireworks at the castle; we didnt have a great view (too close) but the kids loved it and they had a great view of Tinkerbell!

We then found good seating for the parade (lights) but the kids were so tired; Annika actually fell asleep on the sidewalk on top of my legs :)

Once the parade finally started they really did love it; It was pretty magical. Although I miss having not seen the one during the day!

Carried tired little girls home before midnight (wouldnt want that coach turning into a pumpkin) and let the kids sleep in the next morning!

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

2010-04-17T09:26:00.004-04:00

Bright and early...ok early, but not bright; this place doesnt get light until almost 7 am! Gads
Anyway Early I was up again and ran in this awesome warm morning...its all quiet and there are birds singing and nothing drops out of the trees to bite me (imagination gone wild) and its really a most awesome way to start the day with sanity.

Ok it's Thursday although time has lost all meaning and Im fighting the urge to be like OMG its Thursday our time here is almost over when we still have like 7 more days to be here and have only been here 2.....Anyway...
We are out the door pretty early at a little after 8 to be at the park for opening and there are mutters of "late late late" although we are on vacation and Im not sure what we are late for but its rush rush rush with the theme lasting all day.

Fun to get to the parking lot and realise that we get on a little TRAM to get from the parking lot to the park :):) The day starts with nothing else but a ride LOL

We get to the gates and of course I am beyond excited because like Seaworld, this is MY kind of day :):) Just seeing the gates makes me all jumpy ;)
And sure I can see the Tree of Life from everywhere in the park and Im just drawn to it ;)
Luckily that is where we were heading because the first thing we need to do (besides saying hi to the turtles along the way) is to go to "It's Tough to be a Bug" show. I snapped photos all along the way of the tree and meant to go back later for a more detailed look but there was never time for that at all :) Im thinking I might have to make a couple of little off on my own walks to actually see what I want :)

I thought the kids handled the Bug show quite well with all the dark and loud and weird :) They loved it :)

We went into Discovery Island and first thing there was a playground where the kids unwound for a little while :)

As we were wandering along to another show we saw that the area where some characters were greeting was almost empty! SO in we popped and the kids got to greet Pooh, Eeyore, and Tigger! HIGH point (Im a little surprised) even Taylor was starting to uncross her arms and be a little excited, because "Little Miss Not Impressed" is pretty impressed, to be honest :)

Next was the Dinosaur ride, which although a little slow was REALLY awesome and even Holly "Im not a roller coaster girl" loved that one. :) It was dark and bumpy and really cool :) Dinosaurs were popping up everywhere...Annika is so taking to these rides! We rode it twice :)

Off to the Finding Nemo: The Musical where we cooled off and rested and saw the most awesome musical show with awesome puppets effects. IT was awesome! I actually felt a little teary at the end :)

We walked through a trail where there were birds and animals and viewing areas :)
We Rode the Rapids and Annika and I and then Nanny and Taylor got totally soaking wet. I DONT LIKE BEING WET. I prefer dry clothes. SIGH. HAHHAHAHA
But the ride was fun. Tame :)

We took the Safari ride and saw lots of live animals; A giraffe stuck its head in the truck and almost touched Taylor; she held it together and took a photo :)
This was an awesome part of the trip! LOVED it!

Nanny and Grampy went for a walk while we went on Mount Everest Ride; Awesome Roller Coaster. Holly got right to the car; then backed out and left in tears with Scott. Taylor and Annika and I rode it; then when we got down to the bottom Scott went on with Annika. It was SO awesome without that line up I would have liked to have gone again :)

Saw the parade from behind a lot of people ;) and then saw the Festival of the Lion King; despite getting there early we didnt get front row seats but we LOVED the show! Was so awesome! Again, teary me loving the finale.

About this time we realised there were these things the kids could do at the park with this card they get stamped...do the activity and get a stamp. But we realised too late and there were not time to do more.

Pretty tired by this time but we had had some lunch so we were not as ravenous as the day before. We went home and barbecued Pork loin for supper and again, lots and lots of swimming. Attempted an early bed time but that never happens ;)

Florida Day 2 - Seaworld!

2010-04-15T21:40:00.013-04:00

So our first day of real vacation was spent at...Seaworld!!!! This was one place I was most anxious to go; someone suggested going there the day after you travel because there were a lot of things to "sit" at? I disagree ;) We walked a LOT! lolThe kids were bouncing off the walls! We parked the car and they danced all the way to the entrance!First views of Seaworld were exciting:) the sun was out, it was warm and there were fish everywhere lol.The kids thought the Flamingos were unreal lol. As in, plastic.It was hilarious when we were walking up the road, a gate opened, and all these flamingos walked out and past us down the street!Sea Turtles; Annika almost lost her mind every time she saw turtles LOL loved them! There were some living with the Alligators and she was beside herself thinking the Alligators might eat them! We had to keep checking on them. This might be our fault; we told her Shelley had to stay in the car because the alligators might think she was food and eat her. Oooops.Saw some wet animals, a few more wet animals, and this awesome Sting Ray Tank :)You could reach right in and pet those things! Some of them were very still gliding by; some were flapping and splashing along!

On the way to the dolphin show the kids were allowed a few minutes with the dolphins in the underwater view area :)

And we scooted into the Manatee exhibit without permission GASP. Taylor was awfully emotional about her visit there. She was thrilled to get to see the Manatees :)You really cannot tell from photos how BIG these things are....they are MASSIVE.

The Dolphin show was amazing :) I loved it when the birds were loose...was that a condor? lol The dolphins were so talented!Waiting...Who knew Dolphins played ball?The Dolphin Spotlight Tour was a christmas gift the girls have waited a long time for :) We met with the tour and were taken back stage at the show where we met some of the dolphins and saw some dolphin play and training. These dolphins were playing fetch with basket balls just like big, wet dogs do. It was really enlightening to see how they interact with their trainers. The dolphins were having a blast and man, they go through a lot of fish for reinforcement! (It IS just like clicker training dogs lol)(Manatees)After seeing behind the show we saw behind the park; where animals are quarentined, rehabilitated, and vacationed. There were manatees being healed, dolphins taking breaks, and loads of other fishy types that were not on display.

Then we went to the dolphin area up front and had one on one time with the dolphins; we had a trainer and a set of dolphins for our group and we were able to touch, and take part in their training. :)
They got us fairly wet :):)
They did tricks for us. It was awesome to see how they were with the trainers; playful, affectionate, attention seeking. They really were like big wet dogs. And their training; is all positive reinforcement. they kind of ignore the dolphins if they arent doing what is asked; there isnt any "you have to do this or else you dont get fish" and the dolphins really seem to be doing what they do for fun. And when we stepped back and ignored them...they all came over to the edges of the pool to see why we stopped watching and clapping heheheGreat time there for all of the kids who get it a little more now.Then we saw: the penguin exhibit. Cute but short.The Shark exhibit; very cool....short. Ya get on a conveyor belt so no one stops and blocks traffic. You go through a thick tube where the sharks are swimming all around. was awesome.Seal and Otter show...cheesy and hilarious with these funny animals again being amazing to watch...they love their trainers (or the fish...whichever) and seemed to be laughing all the time :):)Then it was kinda ride time. We went on the Journey to Atlantis; The kids could all go and they loved it...til it was the Roller Coaster part. Holly is NOT a roller coaster girl. 2 times on it and she was done.NAnny and Grampy took the littles to the Shamus' Happy Harbour playground spot while Scott and Taylor and I went on some bigger rides. The Kraken was this roller coaster that went up and down and around and upside down and was awesome. The Manta is a new ride that strapped us up on our stomachs and flew us through the air like a manta goes through the sea; kind of their point of view. It was very fast and we kinda liked the Kracken better; but I was so loving going on them both!Then like that it was time to go home. We had dinner at the Olive Garden and THAT was awesome. Ive missed that bread and salad :):):)Thought the kids would go to sleep fast; They didnt so much. Im sure they are exhausted.Update tomorrow. Add photos.

Florida in 5, 4, 3...oops we are here!

2010-04-14T05:41:00.003-04:00

So after waiting an entire YEAR thinking about our Florida trip and Disney, we are now here. Its a little surreal as I am sitting here at 547 am Florida time; partly a time change victim and mostly the victim of Scott's faulty time setting on his phone which is our clock; told me it was an hour later ie home time which we thought was here time...so Im up way early. Going to steal a little run in a few minutes before the bustle of the day starts.

Got to the airport WAY early yesterday morning for our flights here. The kids were good all through customs etc. then were bored with the waiting. I hope this isnt a sign of things to come for the week. I KNOW Disney is not known for its line ups, is it?

Finally getting on the first plane to Newark...omg propellers. It was hilarious winding Holly up on the plane....I told her they had to push them to get them going and she was scared it was going to stop in mid air and someone was going to have to push it again....her propeller didnt start at the same time as ours and she was concerned it wasnt going to at alll and we would fly in circles....she was scared to fly.

She soon relaxed and enjoyed the ride. Annika is a seasoned traveller now and slept part of the second flight; no propellers!

I think I was more excited about palm trees than the others hehehe
And the shuttle ride to the baggage pickup? BONUS!!! LOVED THAT hehehe. Us country bums dont see those much!

Ooopps gotta run; there's the house, the street, the pool, etc etc...more to come later!

January Running Total

2010-02-05T12:52:00.002-04:00

One of my resolutions was to run 1500 km this year. Without a goal, I wander off track; Ive not picked my first race yet so Im going for km instead for now lol.
January weather was amazing and I got loads of km in; 113.8 km which is only 3 off my best month when training for a half marathon. So Im pretty pleased with that; not so much with the continueing sore foot. Had that adjusted this morning lol.

Only 10.6 km so far for February. Need to pick it up a little! Doing the Bike trainer and Wii a teensy bit tho to make up for the lack of run!

Weather cant stay cold too much longer, no matter what the Feb Rodent said.

A funny

2010-01-25T19:39:00.004-04:00

Ever since we moved into this house Holly has insisted that we need to keep her curtain closed at night so she can sleep. Reason? She doesnt want the deer looking at her while she is sleeping. Silly goose.

The windows are pretty low to the ground.

There are a lot of deer in our neighborhood. Tonnes.

And they arent exactly shy; Although I cant find the photos, we have photos of them almost on the back deck. Almost. Scott can be outside and they will actually come around to see what he has; he goes and gets them apples and I swear they come looking for them.

This photo was actually taken from Holly's bedroom window ;)

So Holly has this fear of red-eyed deer peeking in her window. She thinks they will move back and then charge in and through her window to get her.

Im not sure what she thinks they are going to DO to her but they are going to get her. lol

SO Saturday night we put the kids to bed and Taylor was in Holly's room trying to coax two little friends into sleeping; when Holly came SCREAMING and crying out...the deer were looking in her window.

We went to her bedroom, and sure enough, there were deer looking in her bedroom window. If the window had been open I could have touched them.

There were two looking in her window; and one looking in Annika's bedroom.

They hung around long enough for us all to have a peek then they went across the street and looked in their windows over there.

Holly was freaking! She didnt want to sleep. They were going to get her.

It took ages to get her to go to sleep.

Darned deer.

Im not a good blogger

2010-01-06T09:57:00.001-04:00

I get reminded often; Im not being a good blogger. I dont update often. And I was thinking about it the other day and really, I just didnt feel like fighting with the website.
Yeah, the website. Its not that I have nothing to say; nothing to show; every time I make a post, particularly my rather photo-heavy posts, Blogger argues with me. It says cant find this, cant do that, come back later. It eats my posts to the point that I now write them elsewhere then copy and paste. and adding photos. Forget it. HAHAAHA Im sure its just a glitch but at this time when I am really busy, its just not worth the trouble to take an hour to post short posts (which so far this one has taken; cant contact server this morning.) SIGH.

SO 2009. Its gone. Im not sad to see it go and really, nothing bad happened to me in 2009. Im not sure why Im glad to see that year go away.
What do I have to complain about?

My kids are all healthy and active little people. Maybe Im not so much but they are good. No major illness, no problems for them.

Taylor had a great year at swimming; she is somewhat less into it at the moment; they want her to move up a level which would mean swimming 5 days a week and Im not against that, really IM not. But she actually came home crying; all the things she wants to do, like riding the pony, and trying out for the school play; they all get so much harder when she would be swimming 5 days a week. Plus weekend swim meets. Which she has one this weekend; we only entered her in 1 day tho. SMART thinking on our part hahahaha

Leading us to the Pony; this was a year for riding I guess. Maybe 2010 it will get easier. This pony isnt far from our house, we should be able to get there but there is always either something to do or something stopping me. Today I have kids after school - 5 of them. Fine for the one who is riding but the ones who are not - they get cold. ANd bored. They cannot amuse themselves at all. So we wont get to the pony after school; my plan is to take Taylor this evening. Maybe? no that wont happen; Scott just informed me he has hockey tonight. Maybe I can take Holly or Annika after their friends go home? SEE? ITs hard! BUt I am going to make more effort; I see Taylor really wants to do it, and honestly that money Im spending to house the beast keeps me awake at night. Really.

Hockey for Holly; Still going awesome. They just completed a tournament over Christmas which resulted in a gold medal for them; they played very well! SHE played extra very well. Her coach may have moved her up to forward; she has been in Defence up to now but played a couple of games as a forward and did very well. SO close to scoring. Holly is a smart player and is always in the right place for her position; problem is she lacks some strength and agression. She would give the puck away if someone said boo to her hahahaha and when she tries to fire the puck down the ice she gets little more than a spark. We need to work on this with her. Still loves hockey. Eats sleeps and breaths.

Annika; started hockey in the fall. CUTENESS. LOL she isnt Holly; doesnt have any passion. But she sure enjoys her practices and skating. No idea how far she can go hahaha She has already learned so much and is doing great and wants to keep going which is of course half the battle with her; attention span of a goldfish.

Taylor did a drama play with the church group again this fall; it was super and presented at Christmas time. Scott may have Holly talked into doing the next one; practices are on Sunday mornings and Taylor goes anyway while Holly does nothing. Maybe Annika will go.

4H is getting into gear; that means I will start to have meetings for my 2 yes 2 projects. Vet Science and Scrapbooking. Ive put it off long enough.

Scott's same old.

Im same old. Resolved to run more this year because its working for me; Ive dropped some unwanted pounds and am feeling pretty fit and pleased with myself for completing 2 half marathons last year! Not sure if Im heading for a full marathon or not, but Im aiming for more halfs and some faster times this year coming. So Im going to keep running into the winter and through spring. No breaks hahaha

That's not exactly true; I took most of December off. That was my rest. But Ive this theory I read somewhere that burning 500 extra calories a day will have you lose a pound a week (if you eat wisely) so Im looking at those 500 calories all the time and in everything I eat and every activity I take part in. DO I need this donut? If I dont (and I dont totally ban them) then I just dont eat them. Sometimes for mental reasons I really DO need that donut hahahahaha
On that note Im working on aquiring a stylish wardrobe that FITS me and getting rid of stuff I dont wear anymore.

And going to declutter more of the house. I feel sometimes like we are drowning under STUFF.

All pets are doing fine. We ended the year with 3 dogs, 2 cats, a snake, gerbil, and Gecko, and a collection of fish. Maggie Moose is growing awfully fast towards the monster she is going to be. She learned the fine art of Counter-Surfing and I constantly work at getting people to put food away. She keeps getting rewarded.

Satan isnt quite himself. Im making moves to get some tests run on him and maybe I can figure out a way to help him. His allergies are very bad right now. and He has lost weight.

Rest are same old.

Working on the Rec Room next in the house-makeover. Slowly making that house "ours". Going to paint the walls and remove that "mistake" the other people started on the walls. WIsh we could do flooring. lol. And have a couch coming to go with that big ol TV that is on the wall now. Surround Sound is up and running, Ipod Dock set up, Blueray working fine; now we need to make the room a place we want to spend time. A comfy chair is next. Damn those cats better leave the leather alone!

There a post with no photos; I better add one just for fun.

New Maggie

2009-11-08T22:25:00.005-04:00

We needed another dog. Like we needed a new hole in our heads. Why do we go make things so much more complicated every time things seem to get easier? I think we finally have the dogs sorted out, so obviously we should get another one. A BIG ONE.

Magda was sold from a pet store. The new owners had concerns about her front legs being crooked or lame or something (im not sure) and returned her to the store. We looked over her vet records and decided to take her home.

The kids werent taken with her at all, you can tell. I was kinda led to believe Magda was 3 month old mostly boxer with 1/4 mastiff. One look at her says she certainly is a lot mastiff lol. Her body shape, size...

a whole lot of mastiff. ive since gotten her original vet records along with a photo of her father (a whole lot of mastiff is he; she looks just like him, colour included). And she is more like 4.5 months old and has not been vaccinated since she left the pet store. Great.

the other 2 dogs didnt really pay much attention to Maggie for the first while; in fact Dylan almost seemed to turn his back and deny her very existence. But i was relieved they didnt bother her either.
Zoey was actually first to warm up to Maggie, shaking her toys in her face to get her to play. Maggie didnt really get it at first but liked the chase game.

But she spent a lot of time trying to sort out what those two are doing.

She has come a long way since she came; she's not really house trained at all...and can be a little sneak about it too. Coming along. If we can train Zoey we can train anything! She Doesnt like to be wet and she doesnt love snow although after a bit I did coax her out into it. She's fairly timid and doesnt like raised voices; maybe a result of little patience with the house training? Hard to say.

She did learn pretty fast about her cushy bed and when she sleeps, she really sleeps :) Cute :) Zoey sleeps with her alot. I think she is nice and warm but she also kicks a lot.

When she plays she is all feet. She puts her paws on top of the heads of the other dogs lol Dylan plays with her nicest tho; he like to wrestle and play bite games and Maggie rolls him over and stomps him.
I love her wrinkly little forehead. Much.

cuties together :)
there is that wrinkled forehead :)
the playing goes on :)

So Maggie is improving and fitting in here really well. She is big and clumsy but when she wags her tail her whole body wriggles it is really cute :) She's affectionate and happy to see us. Oh and kennel training is going well although the dogs spend most of the night on their beds now. She does chew things but we give her a lot of toys. And carpets can be cleaned SIGH. We always wanted a boxer and now we have half of one. Im not so sure about the mastiff side. BUt I want a dog to run with and once she grows into those legs she could be it. No one would mess with me :) lol As long as the elbow/leg issues straightn out; no abnormalities on radiographs so chances are good she will grow out of it. In a couple of years. LOL.

Welcome Home Maggie :)

Corn Maze

2009-11-08T22:13:00.004-04:00

Annika's class got to go to the Corn Maze and I got to go along :) It was like SO cold. And I personally think it was the beginning of the "class Illness" since the next day 3/4 of the class were not there :( poor little people! It was just SO cold!

First the kids had a fun wagon ride through the deepest nastiest mud Ive ever seen lol SO glad we didnt have to walk it.
Such neat pumpkins in the fields waiting for Halloween. too bad they were rather more expensive than I wanted lol
Cutie; she was so sick that day; the night before she coughed and coughed and it was only the cough syrup that got her through that day.
There's My Deb! Lost in the corn!
After a quick lunch we got to go into the corn :) we went right up to one of the viewing areas :) From there we could see everything and picked a direction to go :)
Us in the corn. COLD.

Little buddies in the corn. They had a lot of fun.
After the maze the kids got to play at the playground and watch a pig race :) then back on the bus. Annika came home with me and stayed home from school for 2 more days :) Croup! Ew.

Holly's Sweater :)

2009-11-08T21:54:00.003-04:00

Crochet is so so much faster than knitting, gotta say. It may leave a lumpier product but its so fast!
I did see this Very cute hoodie on the Ravelry site months ago and decided it would be perfect for Holly :)I got yarn in lime green and went to work on this sweater. It went fast and I took it to the rink to work on alot which kinda made for some interesting conversation; the most interested person was a man who's son was skating with Annika's hockey practice; he asked the smartest questions about it and seemed confused by the concept of sewing it all together when it was finished :)
The pieces crocheted up fast and were crocheted together at the seams :) it went together very nicely :) It is soft and squishy :)

When it was finished Holly was awfully happy and has worn it almost constantly since. Annika is now pestering for her turn for a sweater. If I can straighten out the yarn! :(

Halloween 09

2009-11-03T19:40:00.007-04:00

Just a few Halloween photos to share :)

Paddy Enters Stage Left

2009-10-11T07:29:00.004-04:00

So things didnt last long with Kylie; between logistics, distance, and some very naughty behavior, we have had to move on; nuff said about that.

So through some contacts at AC we were introduced to Paddy; a 5 year old French Canadian gelding. With a sweet temperament and calm way of going, we are hopeful that this relationship will work out.

We met him one afternoon around supper time (= demanding children) and they were smitten. He is what Taylor wanted; black and a boy. LOL

So we went back out on a Saturday and had a test ride. First thing they did was jump on bareback lol Go Kids!

Then the saddle went on, I tried him, then they tried him; it went very well! He isnt going to take off and harm them; they may have some troubles getting him going. LOL

A week later Paddy came to a stable very close to our house and he is starting a month trial with us!

So Paddy is home and settling in well!

Im happy that the saddle fits with a few adjustments and the bridle will fit once I find my bit for it...this makes things easier as I only have to buy things he needs that are extras :)

Im really hopeful that this little cutie will be a good friend to my kids!

Running Catch Up

2009-10-07T08:14:00.002-04:00

If interested lol

Johnny Miles Running weekend

Not Since Moses Run

Cobequid Trail 10 K

CIBC Run for the Cure

New Addition to the Family :)

2009-08-07T14:08:00.001-04:00

At the end of July this year we had an addition to our family :) After many horse free years we have entered a new horsey relationship :)

Kylie belongs to my friend Gill's Motherinlaw, Pam. She has had Kylie since she was 2 years old and she is 11 now. Breed only we can guess at, she is a Bay, big and muscled and really likes to jump :) Pam offered her to Gill and we are half leasing her :)

On a Friday before a show at Salmon River, we went to Sackville to pick her up. Annika made the trip with us.

Kylie was ready to go in her fancy travelling clothes ;)

She quite liked the stock trailer with its openness and brighness, and hopped right on the trailer!

We delivered her without incident to the Central Nova Pony Club.

Nicole has been riding Kylie for Pam. She brought her to this hunter show:)

Kylie really likes to jump! The weather wasnt so great over the past days before and therefore there was a mud soup to go through but the footing was good so the show went on. these little jumps didnt challenge Kylie so much as she can go higher :)

Annika really likes getting to know Kylie :)

And she was very interested when she was delivered to her new home after the show. A total life change for her - pastures, herdmates, and kids!

She is extremely quiet and gentle with the kids. Always looking for a treat and a good scratching! The kids are SMITTEN :)
She has friends in the herd now, despite showing little social interest at first. She raced around the pasture, and had a good roll before getting down to serious business - eating :)

Loving pasture life :)

Time for work! lol I feel so out of riding-shape!

The first rides the kids had was pretty special :) they thought she was wonderful!

Annika poor thing is so small she cant reach the sides of the horse LOL She is comfy with someone holding the lunge line and she even had a trot; It was bouncy for her!
Holly has a nice natural way of sitting. She has a great sitting trot and did very well keeping her heels down!
Cute!

Taylor was very annoyed that I wouldnt let her hold onto the saddle. She had to airplane to keep her hands off! hahaha

A little schooling session. Kylie must bend! She must be round! hahahahha

Holly and Annika had another little ride this day :) With there being many kids, some days a little short ride will have to do ;)

SO we are back in Horse Business!

Soccer Season is ON!

2009-07-13T07:43:00.004-04:00

The kids have been playing soccer for a few weeks now. And for the most part it is going really well. Although there have been a lot of late afternoon headaches lol its not because its been hot. It really hasnt been.
Annika has been difficult in the past as far as taking part in the soccer games and practices. She wants to sign up and so we sign her up; must be fair. And then we have to drag her to practices and games and sit beside the field while she cries and has tantrums (even if we ignore her and just watch the game) and we cant stay because she cries but we cant leave because she cries and it is torture.
Her first practice and game this year went really well! She practiced and likes her coach who is super funny, and had a BLAST playing the first real game.

She is actually quite a good player when she plays; ok well she spends a lot of time dancing and sometimes the ball rolls past her because she is watching a bird or a butterfly but then she realises the game is going on and she gets right in there and covers other players and gets the ball and runs with it. Cute.
So the start was great, can's say every night has been as good but there is potential with bribing that we might get to play more games in the next few weeks. :)

Holly on the other hand has never been a trouble and is always up for a game. Or a practice. Or a ball being kicked into a net in the back yard. Never a trouble :)

Holly's soccer team this year is girls only. Its been interesting but both the boys and girls teams seem to notice a drop in the caliber of soccer being played. The girls biggest trouble seems to be the "power" kick at the net; they run for it and sort of dribble it in and hope it gets past the goalie; there is almost never a big KICK into the net :(

Taylor is really enjoying her soccer this year. She is also coed and their games have been good. They play with proper 10 players on the field and I find it a little confusing. LOL I dont seem to be able to find photos; I will take some tonight.

Shelley

2009-06-24T07:30:00.002-04:00

lol if anyone every doubted how important Shelley is in our house, they wouldnt after they saw the Journal Annika just brought home from school lol. Every second entry is about Shelley or has a drawing of Shelley or has Shelley dressed like Annika....Its a Shelley book! lol

In fact, I was talking to Annika's teachers last week, about the pets we have in the house, and they included Shelley the turtle. I said....You know Shelley isnt real, don't you? And actually, they thought there WAS a real Turtle in our house! lol the way Annika talks about her, they thought she was real! And of course they have met Stuffed Shelley, they just assumed there was a real turtle at home lol!!

random Thought #16

2009-06-18T19:52:00.001-04:00

Ran on a trail the other morning that goes under the highway. So There on the trail was a very dead large raccoon. Gross and smelly. So Im left wondering; did that poor coon get hit on an overpass and thrown over the rail onto the trail below? Did that raccoon get hit on the road and someone threw it on the trail (quite a toss)? OR was it hit and crawled to the center of the path where it rolled over onto ite back and died?

How did it get there?

Second Performance of the week!

2009-06-13T09:27:00.004-04:00

School summer closings come with spring concerts :) Annika's concert was cute and short and adorable!

Annika has a busy week of performances :)

2009-06-13T06:31:00.007-04:00

Annika took a hiphop/jazz dance class this winter and it wrapped up last weekend with a big show! Her little class was...interesting; she did learn some moves and she did have fun but I was really glad at the end of the year to hear her say she didnt want to go back. I did not think it was worth the hundreds of dollars it cost; she didnt really learn that much. I am glad she did have fun, makes it worth something. And she was so cute!

the group is ready!
Words from teacher
Stage makeup!

after Annika performed she was upset that she could not see us (huge crowd) so she cried...and cried when we picked her up...took her a bit to warm up and open those flowers :)

Cute little Fly on the wall!

Last Swim Meet - NS Junior Provincials

2009-06-04T18:54:00.007-04:00

In Wolfville this year; Taylor has progressed enough to move on to Junior Provincials! It was a really good experience for her; she enjoyed it even tho it was 3 long days :)
Just highlighting some photos here :)I dont really remember right now what was what and would have to go back through the program to figure it out ;)

maybe someday I will edit these and add events and times :)

Check Out This Post:

2009-05-18T11:24:00.003-04:00

Rather than redoing the post here, just go check it out at The Running Blog :D

http://scrappytbear-runs.blogspot.com/2009/05/day-49-bluenose-marathon-10-km-run.html

Gardening 09

2009-05-16T08:58:00.006-04:00

Weve been doing a lot of gardening and discovering in our new yard. Its kinda fun to check out what is out there that we didnt really know about last fall when we moved into this house, such as the excellent Magnolia beside the bedroom window, and the bleeding hearts, Daffodils, and lilies that seem to be sprouting all over lol.
The flowerbeds were generally in good shape, and just needed weeding and edging and will need some mulch.
There are things we could not really identify, and we did go to a Plant Store to ID some :)
Others Im still baffled on.

The new Lilac bush from mother's day with the flowerbed behind it. This wasnt so much a flowerbed as a patch of dirt with rocks in it; Scott edged it and shaped it and we weeded it and voila a bed.

This corner is cold and damp. It spent the winter under plastic and a pile of dirt after the window to the right was replaced. The stuff under it was mouldy and black and slimy and just nasty. Lots of moss too. I think a couple of shrubs there died. So we hauled out all the yuck and edged.

Edged this whole thing, cut out the dead, weeded and stirred. It looks like a flowerbed now!

I just cant get enough of this Magnolia. I am really liking the pink ones Ive been seeing :)

The flower bed from the other end :)

Front Flower bed from side of house; We've a tonne of those yellow shrubs - Spirea. Got the name ahhahahahaha

One of the Bleeding hearts - now I have 2 white ones because the one from Lavinia survived the move.

I dunno what this is called but i like it. I hate that its RIGHT in front of a bedroom window and really close to the house.

Boxwood - We have 7. I always wanted one of these! One didnt survive the winter so we bought a replacement; it isnt the same of course lol

This pretty tree is in our front yard; I dont know what it is but its big and it has white flowers. they are all over the place here.

And it sits in the rock garden. I always said I would not put rocks in my garden but these ones here here when moved in so Other than moving them, they are staying. There are now some Hostas in this garden too...We lucked on on Freecycle and found a lady who was giving away 2 big hostas which we naturally made into 4 and brought home plus the curly leafed one from Lavinia which is the only one I took away out of the 16 I had collected SIGH starting over sucks.

The front of the house from the road...

Something I cannot ID - its about 5 inches high now.

Something else Ive no clue about. its a small tree, about as tall as me. There are 2 of them.

Thats the garden to now! Ive a couple more things to get and then we're kinda watching to see what happens :) We have 3 more things at Krista's to bring home from Lavinia Drive...

OH I CAN'T believe what the people who bought our house did - they CUT DOWN THE CLEMATIS!!!!!!
The Clematis grew on a trellis that we built and attached to the house, it was massive, growing up the trellis and back down again! Buddy CANNOT POSSIBLE know what he did when he cut it back to the ground - damned thing flowered on the old wood from the year before so he basically killed it. Cut it right to the ground. SHEEEIT I almost cried, I babied that thing for 3 years! If I had known he was gonna kill it I would have taken it with me!

Some Saturday Photos

2009-05-09T17:41:00.006-04:00

Just a few things I snapped photos of today :)

Holly's 4 H cloverbuds meeting today was at a nursery where she planted some plants.

\
Holly's rain dance worked!

The flowers out back are extremely pretty :)

Hat I just finished; LOVE it.

<
Sweater I just finished; its too big.

Funny Things Kids Say

2009-05-06T16:33:00.002-04:00

Annika and I were weeding the flower gardens the other day and "hanging out" as she likes to call it, when she was telling me about school and asked me if she had any Ant Sisters. Ant sister. What on earth is an ant sister?

Trying to get a little context out of her, I ask her about the ant sisters and where she was talking about them. I mean, she has some ants in her room; she has a plastic ant; she watched an Ant movie.....

So she starts to tell me about how in school they gathered on the 'tapis' to talk about their ant sisters and where they came from and how many they had etc etc

And I got it. Ancestors.

Swim Meet Pictou

2009-05-04T20:21:00.004-04:00

Taylor again had many Personal Bests in her events at the Pictou meet. I cannot remember right at the moment which events they were.
Photos are in no particular order :)

We walked outside in the +20 weather while we had a break :)

Breaststroke I believe. She got a time in it! NO DQ!

Deep Dive.
Waiting.
Water was so still while no one was in it!

Backstroke

Butterfly!

More outside walking.

A great day for swimming :)

Random Thought #15

2009-05-04T20:19:00.001-04:00

Im having too many random thoughts.

Wonder if the arrival of my spring allergies and the appearance of little blisters on my hands again (absent since last year) are related or just coincidentally showing up on my first long day of garden work and warmth!

Just wondering.

Random thought #14

2009-04-29T18:40:00.001-04:00

I know why I dont do the cooking. Its my absent mindedness. And I totally can burn something Im watching because I forget to turn it over. But tonight was why I dont cook. I was making pancakes. PANCAKES. That's like the easiest cop out of meals ever. Easy Peasy right?

Unless you go to grab the handle of the fry pan and miss...grabbing the fry pan instead and burning 3 fingers.

Yup. There are just some things that certain people shouldnt do.

Random Thought #13

2009-04-22T14:37:00.000-04:00

Why.
Why Why Why?
Why on a crappy wet rainy day does my dog have to go to the yard and roll in some other animal's poop?

What on earth is the evolutionary sense in THAT?? SHEESH. Y'all are domesticated, dogs! There's no need to hide your scent with POO!

Random Thought #12

2009-04-20T07:50:00.002-04:00

Any time other than 5 am on a Sunday morning would have been a good time to clean a hotel parking lots. ANY TIME.

Ok so not so much a random thought as a total complaint to top off our weekend in Glace Bay. Yeah we went to Glace Bay so I could play hockey. And the hotel stay SUCKED.

Zoey barked; they complained; had to take her with us everywhere. What a pain. She's a bad bad bad dog.

The room wasnt clean. IMO. Scott says it was fine but I didnt like it. Smelled.

Pool closed for maintenance for a freaking WEEK. Same with fitness room. So no relaxing pool/Saturday workout.

No Conditioner in the bathroom or the hotel in fact. Nothing but soap and shampoo.
Maybe Ive been spoiled by nice hotels.

Towels were not clean. I dumped them all in the bathtub.

And to top it off
5 am on Sunday morning a street sweeper type thing pulled up under our window and proceeded to spend an hour sweeping the parking lot. AN HOUR. Making noise as it swept and then making that terrible Beep Beep Beep back up noise. FOR AN HOUR. By the time it left we were kinda awake but tried very hard to sleep again. Likely managed another few groggy minutes of sleep before we had to get up and get ready for the drive home. Exhausted.

SO much for our relaxing weekend away. We likely slept less than we would have at home.

Not a random thought. A random RANT.

Random Thought #11

2009-04-14T08:29:00.004-04:00

I wonder, it is normal, when you turn your head from side to side, to hear THAT MUCH CRACKING NOISE from your neck over and over and over ie it never goes away. How bizarre.

sounds like Im eating pop rocks in there.

Funny Things Kids Say

2009-04-10T08:09:00.001-04:00

Scott and Annika are blowing out eggs for dying; After breaking 2/3 I said Dont do any more, we can dye them whole!
Annika came in and said "Whatever a technique is, Daddy says he has it down now. And I think that must be a good thing. So can we do some more?"
heh heh

Last Soccer Game - was a tie!

2009-04-08T06:54:00.004-04:00

Our soccer season wasnt what I hoped it would be lol We did tie a few games, but we didnt actually win any. and that surprised me lol I thought we would be a better soccer team but I think some coaching would have helped. It was still a great fun season :)

End of year Hockey Party photos

2009-04-08T06:49:00.001-04:00

Celebrating our victory at the Burger King tournament, we finished the year off with a cozy party. We relived the season and played a funny game (Catchphrase?) and everyone got their jerseys :)

Marley and Me

2009-04-04T18:45:00.001-04:00

I finally saw this movie today. And I was prepared; I was determined not to cry lol! But I SO remember feeling like that; and when those kids were reading their letters...Gads.

Unfortunately I cannot get Owen Wilson's voice outta my head. Why cast him in such a neat movie? Not my favorite actor.

Random Thought #10

2009-04-04T08:08:00.003-04:00

Its really disappointing when blogs I used to go read daily because they are hilarious and so freaking real have become nothing but advertisements for their book deals and interviews with entertainment news, and book tour guides. One was actually saving all her funny stories for her book SO her blog wasnt funny anymore....

time to find something else to do with my time, yeah?

Random Thought #9

2009-04-03T15:44:00.003-04:00

Dear Guy in the Big Black car with the Loud Lacking Mufflers
I am So very sorry that I almost dented your car today with my big ol ass. I didnt realise that I wasnt to be running across that part of a driveway because you would want to drive there and didnt have the time to wait for pedestrians. And that rude gesture you gave me as I darted out of your way was really sweet too...Thanks for letting me know how much of an inconvenience I was. I will watch for your car in the future and be sure to be just as sweet. Asshole.
Signed, Lucky to be Running again tomorrow.

Layout by a Dear friend

2009-04-02T18:14:00.001-04:00

And an awesome new blog header to boot :)
Thanks Erica So much for making layouts for my kiddies! You scrap them more than I do these days! I love the photo effects on this layout!

Random Thought #8

2009-03-29T05:57:00.000-04:00

School days = sleeping in children.
Weekends = getting up early children.

What is wrong with this picture?

Insomnia

2009-03-25T07:50:00.003-04:00

Last night I had one of my infrequent cases of "I Can't Sleep"ness. I really like sleeping so it doesnt happen that often, but usually it follows some sort of dream about doctors and vets and schooling and careers and life choices.

And I lay awake for hours again thinking about the career that I have left behind. And I may have sorted out a few things so Im going to put them into words before I forget what I was thinking at 2 am.

Career left behind; yes more than likely Im never going back to being a Veterinarian. Its not a waste of schooling, just is what it is. But Im not sure I ever should have done it to begin with.

Sometime around when I was 11, someone said I should be a veterinarian. I like animals, I loved horses, I should be a vet. And it did catch on. Everyone said OH yes, she should be a vet. And so without any other plan in place, I was like "yeah, ok, I should be a vet". I mean, if enough people say it to a kid young and undecided enough, it soon makes sense and starts to be all that kid thinks about. Im trying really hard not to make too much of a deal about what my kids want to be.

SO through high school, everyone is all like "Teri's going to be a vet." And therefore it was really all I considered. I went through all the moves, going to AC, taking PreVet. I had almost convinced myself this wasnt my path, I didn't apply for Vet school, I stayed at AC for my entire degree, applied for a Masters as my "back up plan", and started thinking more of a future in genetics. And then someone important talked me into applying to vet school and actually helped me fill out the application. And I applied. And I went for the interview. And I got in. So Im going to Vet School. I mean, with all the people around me thinking I would, and all my classmates wanting exactly what I had gotten, how could I get it, and give it up? So I went through more actions, moving to PEI, going to Vet School. And everyone was so proud.

But I gotta say, my heart was never completely in it. I did ok in classes with minimal work, I didnt apply myself, I wanted more to my life than Vet School and studying and nothing else. Many of my classmates there studied every moment they were awake; I went away on weekends and relaxed at night. I never failed a class but I was never an overachiever there.

And I did get more. I got married and had Taylor while still in school. I was tired of waiting for something to be finished before getting something else.

Finished Vet school, and everyone was so proud. Passed boards and everyone was happy. I was the doctor. I got to put Doctor on my name. DVM followed. I went through more motions of getting a job and moving my family across the country because that was what one did. There isnt a tonne of jobs available in NS, and I didnt go to any of the trouble of sucking up and making all those connections during school that would have helped me get a job afterwards, and besides there is so much more to the world than the Maritimes.

Moved to Manitoba, and ignored the homesickness while starting that new job. And almost right away, I wasnt thrilled. I hated my employer. What a total COW. She was awful. Put on a great face, and then flipped and became someone unbearable. I hated being at work. I stayed away as much as possible.

I also hated being on call. It wasnt that I didnt want to work or didnt want to go out and save lives. But when I was on call I was nauseous the whole time. Dreading the phone call that only came when I was sleeping, and spending hours in the middle of the night rushing out to unexpected and often difficult cases.

And I hated being responsible for lives. I could handle putting sick animals down, I could handle cases that died despite what we did; I hated losing calves and cows unexpectedly or because maybe just maybe did I miss something? What if I were more experienced? Faster? Better? The life and death thing wasnt great for me. Small animal would have been worse; people asking What would I do? And being heartbroken when things didnt go ok. At least dairy and pig farmers were realistic. Ok ship it/put it down whatever. Horse people, now those were a different group. More sad sad people because I couldnt fix things. :(

And I wasnt always that great with body fluids. Hahahahaha I kinda dont have the greatest stomach, feeling woozy with blood if I wasnt the one performing surgery; throwing up with animal vomit, diarrhea, pus, rotting placentas, etc. Just felt sick almost all the time.

But I went through those motions of working and working.

Then my father got sick and died. I went home, and didnt go back to work. Because I was pregnant; because i decided life was too short to go back to work for that woman. SHe made my life hell. She was cruel and heartless when my father died. She was inhuman. And I wouldnt ever look at her again. Lest I might assault her. You just wouldnt believe.

So while waiting for Holly to be born I had loads of time to think. And I came to a conclusion; I was living someone else's life. I wasnt doing what I wanted; I was doing what everyone had expected of me. And Dad dying changed everything. I thought life was too short to be that unhappy. I came a little unhinged and I dont think Ive ever been the same. I had no desire to be doing what I was doing. Of course there are things I miss about it; I was pretty good at surgery and I actually never really got flustered by anything; pretty easy going. And I missed the farmers. But I didnt miss being on call; I didnt miss animals dying on my; I didnt miss the crappy people and crappy cases. I was sad about Dad dying but I was pretty content to spend time with Taylor after so much time spent going for days without seeing her because of being on call.

After Holly was born I did some horse vetting for awhile which was fun but I often felt resentful that i had to leave the kids and go out to do a call spur of the moment. I just didnt really want to do it anymore.

SO what I concluded is that while my past and education led me to where I am, which I like, I wont go back to living that way; someone else's life can be had by someone else.
Then, I could go to sleep.

Random Thought #7

2009-03-24T08:40:00.001-04:00

Wow. Americans must be so proud of those idiots on Fox News. I wonder how many of those people actually really believe that spew?

Hockey End of Year Tournament

2009-03-23T08:14:00.004-04:00

At the end of our hockey season we try to take part in the Burger King 4X4 women's tournament! And it was played last weekend in full. OH my god that is a lot of hockey. Our team was awesome all year and we didnt gather new players for the tournament, with most of our team signing up to play. We called ourselves the No Additives team; a few of the other teams seemed a little "stacked" with some new and advanced players. Funny tho we did pick up one player at the last minute to make up for some absent team members for some games.

We played 3 games on Saturday...starting with a tough 1-1 tie to the black team, then a 2-1 win over Yellow, and a 6-1 win over the Sat night Blades. Made for a very long day but I do think we played the second game better than the first.

We finished first in our division therefore we didnt have to play in the Quarter finals, advancing directly on to the Semifinals.

Sunday I had to get up and drive to the Valley to attend Cullen's Christening and first birthday party so I did miss the Semifinal game which the team had little trouble with; a win over the Red team 5-0.

Rushing home from the Valley, changing in the car between passing large trucks, I made it JUST in time for the game(actually missed the first 2 minutes and our first goal). The Championship game was amazing; ups and downs, we were ahead, they were ahead. Then we went into overtime with a 5-5 tie; overtime is played 3 on 3 rather than 4 on 4, which was a little different and we almost gave that up a few times with our awesome goalie saving us.

Wth 2 minutes to go in the overtime period and just before reducing to 2 on 2, our team scored the winning goal! It was Very exciting. lol One of the hardest and most emotional games ive played.

Our league was so much more competative this year, much more than last. The games were well attended and each one was tough. Our team played together incredibly well and we got very predictable and dependable. I dont think we lost a game after Christmas; We did have a couple of ties tho.
Im going to miss those girls next year!

Some photos! Ill add more as I find them ;)

Random Thought #6

2009-03-13T10:27:00.002-04:00

Tim Horton's Coffee tastes like burnt crap. Im guessing anyway. Why Why Why do I want it so much?

Just to Clarify my work Position

2009-03-12T09:26:00.003-04:00

Which I dont tend to do a lot because whatever; but in the past couple of weeks Ive had an abnormal number of people casually comment that it must be nice that I only 'work' a couple of days a week or that my job isnt stressful or hard because Im not "working" very much. Or that its not equal to a real job because I only "work" a little bit. So Ive felt the need to clarify it a little bit so that I might not have to hear these comments anymore.

One of my classes is an animal breeding lab. Tonnes of statistics. There are over 50 students in the class and every week they do a 2 hour lab. This is broken into 4 sections so there are 8 hours a week spent teaching those labs. Then each student passes in a lab each week so besides those 8 hours in lab there are close to 16 hours of marking. Not like they are easy and short labs. SO 24 hours a week just teaching and marking those labs. Add another hour for preparation for the next week, and we might be getting close to the time spent.
During the time that Ive been sick and including the time Ive been on antibiotics; I only actually missed 1 day of class. Only 1, in now 10 weeks Ive been sick.
The other class I teach is the lectures and labs for a nutrition course. Beyond the hours in class are also the hours of preparation and improving this class over last year :) Its been much better this year. And include the marking of weekly assignments, tests, and term papers and presentations, and again we might start to make a mark on some time. I dont even try to add that one up.
But What I end up with is a pretty much full time job. Just because I am lucky enough to be able to do a lot of that marking and preparation at home shouldnt make it less of a job, and that actually allows me to be able to be the one looking after most of the kids' care and activities; Most days of the week I am able to be picking them up and running them from one fun filled adventure to another. Only 2 days a week this semester someone else has been doing that. other than those 2 days I do much at home so that I can be home when the kids are but that means a lot of evenings and weekends are used for working. At home.

Im not sure why recently people have felt the need to make my job less than it is and in fact ask if I ever intend to Really go back to work; I HAVE.

I love my job right now even tho I work long hours and do some dull stuff like marking for hours on end.

So quit knocking my job!

Random Thought #5

2009-03-06T17:20:00.002-04:00

Just watching a little Oprah and this isnt something I usually do because I dont get her. I dont get her at all. Who is she? And why are so many people so enamoured by her? I dont get it. Self-importance just oozes from her.

Anyway I was kinda feeling bad for her, getting a chunky again, when Im sure it was hard work to lose weight and now everyone gets to watch her get fluffed again, and she did all these shows and wrote all these booked and was so full of it over her healthy lifestyle; donuts anyone?
and it got me thinking about how it sucks whenever someone loses weight; people are just watching and waiting "she's going to gain it all back you know." They take great pleasure in the expected failure of sometimes their friends but just as often people they barely know. Is that because they cant lose their weight? Or they just hate to see someone else succeed? And of course inevitably the weight does come back at least some of it, and everyone who waited for the failure cackles and says Told you so. And they get so much pleasure from it. Sad.

But all sympathy dissolved when she had this puppy on; of course Oprah got a purebred cocker spaniel from the dog pound. Whatever. But she's all like we have ALL these dogs at home, I just have to have this one live in my bed.

And then she has Tyler Perry come on and she's Tyler this and Tyler that and I wanna gag about what great friends with Tyler and he's all this rich mogul and Tyler and I were in a car going somewhere blah blah Dropping names like "Jennifer Aniston's birthday pahty" and "oh did I mention I bought an Island?" Nice recession.
but she introduced him as Her Rich Negro Man. And he calls her his Rich Negro Woman. And then they make a joke about white people in this snotty voice and being really rude.

Is this somehow more acceptable than if someone made a joke about a black person? Or a native? or someone else that isn't their race? And lets remind everyone how rich they are in the midst of another recession.

Whatever.

Flooding March 03/09

2009-03-05T20:36:00.007-04:00

Truro was built on a flood plain and floods a lot. Some floods have been pretty impressive although the past couple of years have been pretty quiet.

The other night while we were sleeping the bridge down the street from our new house grabbed an ice jam and flooded out tonnes of the area. It was clearing up by the time we got up in the morning, but Im sure it was a long night for many, and we were able to view the aftereffects. I gotta admit I get a kick outta this sort of thing and tend to like sight seeing.

Check out some of the news here.

Some photos Taylor and I took today; I thought this would make a nice addition to her 4H photography project!

Birthday Evidence

2009-02-27T21:49:00.009-04:00

#1: The sleepy birthday girl went to sleep a 10 year old, and woke up an 11 year old. Almost. She's become aware of her birth "time" of 11:54 pm. She was listening to the radio to hear her name.

#2: Even tho Daddy wasnt around, the birthday girl had to open a present before school; what is the fun, and we cant wait, and besides she should have something to wear to school :)

#3: and its a shirt and a sweater! Cool ones :) perfect 11 year old girl ones :)

#4: Its supper time and soon that means cake time :) And what follows cake and dinner? Presents! lol

Ok not really birthday evidence but other people do live here. Holly had a little pre-supper nap and woke up thinking it was the next morning. She was really confused for awhile.

#5: Just a very happy 11 year old :)

#6: Some people being a little sneaky over there in the corner....there is something about being sneaky on a birthday....

#7: Nope, nothing going on over here! :)

#8: Balloons. No birthday should happen without balloons :)

Not evidence, just another cutie pie waiting for something to happen.

#9: The Cake. Chocolate and chocolate :) With 11 candles PLUS one for luck apparently Holly thought Taylor needs luck.

#10: Singing Happy Birthday!That is pretty concrete evidence of a birthday occurance.

#11: Cheesy Smiles required at all parties.

#12: Blowing out candles; three kids blowing didnt get all of these candles out! Evidence of boyfriends. Not named.

Just another cute little girlie photo to illustrate participants of the party :)

#12: Eating of Cake. Long standing birthday tradition being exhibited.

#13: Nanny is In Da House. A staple of birthday celebrations.

#14: Continuous cake eating. Indisputable evidence.

#15: Presents. The clincher is the opening of these colourful bags with "Something" inside.

#16: More Presents.

#17: Present Overload going on.

#18: Smiles

#19: Anticipation; one of the gifts was a Wii game :)

#20: Trying out a new gift: Boogie Superstar or something like that.

Singing better = singing louder. Must be the best/loudest singer.

Evidence shows a birthday happened here.

Happy Birthday Taylor!!

2009-02-26T08:53:00.001-04:00

My baby is 11 today! Ive been a mother for 11 years! This time 11 years ago I was waiting in the hospital to be allowed to study for midterms; 12 hours later was almost a momma hahaha

Today

2009-02-25T21:51:00.002-04:00

Was a nice long and busy day. I like busy. But Im beat! I love sleeping and I wish I could do more of it. I wish hours didnt pass while we sleep. I could use a few more.

Ive been on Spring Break this week! ok well really the students of the college have been on Spring Break and Ive been doing most of my work from home. Which I can do a lot of. Ive only gone in to pick things up and drop things off. I like having no classes. Allows me to get caught up HAHAHA

Monday was a snow day for the little kids at school. So I didnt get a whole lot done Monday. I did work on my Scrapbook room in my spare time ;)

Tuesday I finished moving things into the scrap space and cleaned up the rec room. At least the tv end of it. tomorrow I am going to move the tv back down to the rec room along with the Wii. Time to reclaim the living room.

Today I went to Halifax with Scott. I just wanted to get outta town for awhile and pick up some things at Costco. I was looking for yarn to make a gift for little Charley who turned 1 today, and I looked everywhere for it! Finally ended up getting it at Zellers. It is overpriced and not the colour I hoped to find but Im sure it will end up cute. IF her mama will even put it on her.

I got some scrapbook page frames at Michaels to help decorate my scrap space walls. They were half price! I also got a frame for Holly's hockey photo and will look at framing that tomorrow.

I also picked up some sock yarn at Zellers in a neat colour for me. Im not starting them until the socks for Scott are done.

And after Costco we had time to go to a neat little yarn store in Tantallon called Bucket of Yarn. It was a nice store with many different sorts of yarn and equipment and patterns. I did buy a skein of lace weight yarn for socks that Ive not picked a pattern for yet. lol

Came home and went running. Finally feeling well enough to be running and training for that half marathon. The run wasnt long and didnt take a load of effort but getting back into running YET AGAIN is pretty hard and I dont want to overdo it.

Then we went to have cake and ice cream with Charley! A little girl only turns 1 once. ;)

Working away at her birthday present.....

Cheers!

No Longer a Sock Virgin

2009-02-24T09:00:00.003-04:00

I took on a new challenge even while taunting my dear auntie who is well practiced at making socks. I said Never never never never and even continued saying never while I was making my first pair of socks. lol funny eh? haha
So I decided I was going to make a pair of socks. And no it wasnt that hard. Of course I made the world's easiest socks, but still, one has to start somewhere. they werent hard. they were a little "boring" on the long parts but it is entertaining to see these self-patterning yarns make up a neat pattern and a little suspence "what colour is going to come out next? how exciting!" ahaha

And I finished the first sock on Saturday night; the second one Monday night and I have them wearable now! lol

I really actually wanted a dark pair but Scott talked me into these navy;light blue;grey;little bit of black ones. They are pretty but not as dark as I had wanted them ;) Guess that means I am going to have to make another pair lol!

Picked the sock yarn up at Margolians :)

Sock 1

Finished pair!
Now I know what SSK mean and I even grafted the toes :)

Ive already picked up some yarn for Scott's socks.

To set my little mind at ease

2009-02-18T09:30:00.003-04:00

Scott is going away for 2 days; Im sick, 2 of the kids are sick; we are expecting a snow storm so he isnt likely to make it back tomorrow; kids have swim club, hockey, and swimming lessons; Im supposed to run today AND tomorrow.

But everything will be ok, because he chopped me up some extra kindling. THANK GOD.

Random Thought #4

2009-02-17T17:30:00.002-04:00

Softer kleenex really DOES make a difference.

Oh yeah, Im sick again.I had at least 5 days when I felt human, I guess I was due.

Random Thought #3

2009-02-16T14:34:00.002-04:00

How incredibly sad is it, that starting out a new, long week, you can be behind by 730 in the morning? Monday morning, up bright and early, but by 730 am you are already behind. Is this an indication of how the entire week is going to go?
UGH.

Swim Meet at Dalplex

2009-02-15T06:26:00.011-04:00

Taylor had a short, Saturday afternoon Future League Swim Meet at Dalplex yesterday, between the breaks for Eastern Championships. It was hot and crowded and a particularly unorganized affair and Taylor had a really GREAT time :) she wasnt so tired and felt pretty confident and did really well :)

We drove down in a nice little snowstorm that wasnt forecast (ok they said flurries and about a cm of snow but we had about 4 inches before leaving home and it was kinda nasty out). So we had not been able to allow a lot of extra time for driving; Holly had hockey at 730-830; then she had 4H rather far from our house (I actually dont know where she was) at 930; so she had to be taken out and dropped off and we couldnt leave before 1045; Taylor had to be warming up at 1205 so we were really rushed for time. We packed up Annika and picked up Lavinia and off to Halifax we went!

The Dalplex pool was pretty nice, with a good viewing area and nice touch pads and a board showing times so it was nice from a spectator point of view. I need to remember to dress a little more lightly next time; my tshirt and jeans with wool socks was too warm lol.

Photos werent great this time; I found it crowded and Annika was always on my lap so they are a little more blurred.

Taylor's first event was 50 M Butterfly. It amazes me that she even does this stroke; has anyone tried Butterfly? Its super hard!!!

Waiting for the start. Taylor never really seems nervous although sometimes she describes butterflies lol she doesnt show it! She just jumps up where she is supposed to be and gets into position.

Her dives have shown a lot of improvement! She is still kinda dropping off the block but she doesnt go so deep and there is some momentum with them now. She stays under water a little longer now too :) Here she got off to a good start, hitting the water right after the signal!

Swimming the Butterfly; her technique is good although it is hard to tell in these photos ;)

Hitting the wall; a 2 handed simultaneous touch is needed in this stroke and she has been DQ'ed from the IM for not doing a 2 handed touch so she was really slamming the walls this day! lol

And her time; she was 4rth in her heat in Lane 6 and this was her best time. Actually I dont believe she had a best time before lol. Different meets have different lengths and I dont think she had done all these 50 meters before.

The next race was 50M Backstroke. Taylor really likes backstroke. And she is pretty strong at it too.
Her start was great; I think she should be underwater more in her start but look how fast her start was; she's way ahead of some of those other swimmers ;):)

Didnt have a long lens on yet so I didnt get great shots of her backstroke lol

Her touch; any part can touch and I believe a lot of them hit with their heads haha

Her time; she was third in her heat in Lane 5. Another best time for her :)

Waiting for the next event to start; 50 M Breaststroke. They had a little break when they ran the 200M IM for the older kids; Taylor was supposed to do that and loves to do that; but they were running out of time. See what I mean? Disorganized; we came a long way and paid a lot for them to cut races and rush things. OH well.

There were only 2 of them in this heat; so pretty easy to watch :)

Breaststroke seems to be Taylor's most difficult stroke to get right. Its the kicks; she was DQed in Antigonish for not kicking right, and although her first lap was good, she wasnt kicking 'wide' enough on the second lap and again she was DQed. So they are working on it still.

Her finish; two handed required. I missed her time on this one as they erased it as soon as it was posted; grr. WIth only 2 people in the heat they didnt need to show a time? lol Lavinia wrote it down and I will get it from her lol.

About to start the last race, 50M Freestyle. This could be any stroke, actually, but most do crawl. This is definitely Taylor's favorite event.

Dive; still pretty good! She's always ready and gets off the block fast!

Crawl!

Hit the wall! Any touch is ok!

and her time; second in her heat in lane 8! Certainly a best time for her.

Checking out her time on the board...

And realising how good it was....she was prettttty happy :):)

Giving me that look "see what I did??"

She can't wait for practice on Monday and the next swim meet! :):)

Random Thought #2

2009-02-13T22:09:00.002-04:00

I wonder how smart one has to be, to be a news anchor or interviewer; does one have to be quick on their feet, able to come up with smart comments and questions on the spot?
Apparently not on CNN, when asking a cameraman/witness to a plane that crashed into a house and was on fire " can you tell me about the fire; was it hot?" When he says "well yes it was hot" she comes back with "I understand in an amazing story, a mother and her daughter escaped from that house; Did you see that?" Im thinking, oh of course, they waited for the cameras and fire departments to arrive before escaping a house that a plane had crashed into, and which was exploding and burning. With some heat I assume. they likely had lots of time to get dressed,and pack, while someone called 911 and the fire departments came.

Random Thought #1

2009-02-11T20:26:00.001-04:00

Where were the police when that ass in the jeep blew past me this morning? They've stopped everyone I know on that stretch, going a few KM over, but this jerk rides my butt all the way to a pass zone then passes 3 of us and flies off and there isnt a cop in sight. Why? Why?

Evolution of a New Room

2009-02-10T08:55:00.013-04:00

I guess since evolution actually takes a really really long time (kinda like this post which is just hell from start to finish!) I should be glad that its only been a month and a half with Taylor's room! Its not been great tho, having her sleeping in the computer room. Limits a lot of time we can use it, and she doesnt have her "stuff" unpacked which means we have boxes and boxes of stuff stored and waiting for her to use it.
This is the storage room at the bottom of the stairs. It is to become most of Taylor's new bedroom. We picked this side because although there was less work to the other side, this room already had a closet boarded in, and entrance was off the bottom of the stairs rather than all the way through the rec room and into the back corner so we thought she might feel more connected if we used this room for hers.

The other side of the wall; this large room wasnt really bedroom material; its too large for a bedroom, it is right off the rec room, and it has a large doorway that would be hard to board in. The wall with the mirrors is the wall that we moved, right to the other side of that window, leaving the light in the now smaller computer room/scrapbook space, and putting a window space in Taylor's new room.
Taking down the ceiling on the old wall before moving it.

Contemplating it all:)

They removed the mirrors all in one chunk to try not to break them up. they are still out beside the garage and Im wondering if they are going to be smashed to bits by spring anyway SIGH

the kids had a great time writing on the wall before it was taken down. they drew pictures of everyone :)

When this wall moved, itmade the "new bedroom" way bigger. You can see where the carpet ends; that is where the wall used to be:)Its doubled this room in size and added the window.

The other side of the moved wall where they boarded up the "hole" in the doorway and gyprocked the wall. Its ready to be painted and this is going to be my scrapbook room :)
Where Taylor's bed remained during the construction period; she didnt really seem to mind although she refused to clean it most of the time because she didnt have a real bedroom! Brat!
The view from the bottom of the stairs looking into the New Room and the rec room.

So while the guys were inside working, this fellow was outside shoveling. It was lovely weather. Good day for it. And He made the mistake of throwing the ball for Zoey; she tormented him endlessly. He thought he could fool her by putting the ball in his pocket...silly man, she started leaping at him in protest lol!
Door from the Window.
Closet from the corner.

Window waiting to go in. Yeah almost a month later it still isnt in. But notice the walls are all primed and just waiting for the paint after that wall under the new window gets finished. Apparently at this time they found a crack in the wall SIGH and waited to see what to do about it.

The window is finally in YAHOO! Now we can actually do some work inside this room and get the child into it! The outside isnt done yet, but it will be!
Flooring we bought for the new room! We looked at a lot of places and Im glad we didnt settle for something less than just what we wanted because when we found this just what we wanted, at just the right price, we were thrilled! Its called Barn Board and it was excellent!

The green we picked out for the 3 walls. Its pretty stinkin bright but it exactly matches the green in the new comforter and sheets we bought for the room :)
Putting down the floor; Scott and his friend started it one night at about 730 and Scott finished the last piece of floor at about 130; he finished the closet the next day. It looks awesome! LOVE the texture.

A few dots on the white wall; gonna match that sheet set :) The colours were hard to match in small amounts; I didnt want to buy a big pot of paint to do a few spots so I finally found a spot that would sell little pots. And matched the other 3 colours for me!

More dots. Lots and lots of dots.

Lots of dots :)

And the final room (yes I know the trim isnt up yet but it will be soon :)) She is moved in and very happy in it now and I am happy that she is out of the computer room (which now needs painting) and into her room with a door and a window and some peace for her. Its a perfect little girl room!
Major renovation done!

25 Random Things about Me

2009-02-05T16:16:00.002-04:00

A Facebook thing that I moved over to here so that those who dont facebook but who's lives would not be complete without knowing 25 random things about me would have complete lives.

25 Random things about MeShare
Friday, January 30, 2009 at 10:24am | Edit Note | Delete
Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

Ugh this could take awhile.

1. I hate used tape of any sort. Feel nauseous when it touches me.
2. I am not a sporty person but Ive taken up hockey and soccer and am addicted.
3. Im a runner. Not a Jogger.
4. I have an addictive personality.
5. I can knit and crochet. And I do it even tho people make fun of me.
6. I hate public speaking but Im teaching.
7. I am a decent driver but I hate driving and any chance I have to get someone else to drive, I jump on.
8. I have way too much clothing. So do my kids.
9. I think chocolate and mint are the best partners ever.
10. I love brown. all of my clothing could be black and brown and I would be happy. All of my walls could be brown. Happy happy.
11. Ive become interested in home decorating lately.
12. I love summer.
13. Im really good at wasting time.
14. I like cleaning. I just dont seem to have time for it and hate having to clean the same things over and over because certain people cannot avoid making messes of it.
15. I think having lots of friends is wonderful; I think having only a few friends leaves you too open to hurt and loneliness.
16. I get offended too easily and tend to be passive aggressive about it.
17. I never wanted kids but now they are all I need.
18. I only wanted a career but now its not as important. Funny how kids change everything.
19. I am rediculously happy in my work now.
20. Ive no patience for ignorance. Actually I dont have much patience period.
21. I am the definition of Road Rage. Maybe that is the reason for #7.
22. I cry almost every time one of the kids is "performing" whether its hockey or choir or dance class or swim meets or soccer games. Sheesh. Im just so emotional!
23. Being sick really gets me down. I swear a lot of my "illness" is mental hahahahah
24. I think my kids are really interesting. I like to listen to them. Especially when they dont know Im listening. I do not, however, find other people's kids nearly as interesting hahahah.
25. I rarely do these "Tag" things anymore. The novelty wore off like 4 years ago. I pick and choose carefully who I will do them for :)

Funny things Kids Say

2009-02-03T08:01:00.002-04:00

My kids really say funny things every day. Wish I could remember to write them down.

Last night Holly says "I wonder who I am going to marry. I havent met him yet." She wondered for a few minutes then asked "Momma are you going to come to my wedding? Cause I would be very lonesome without you there!" lol She asked to wear my wedding dress; apparently Taylor told her she was keeping it all to herself. Poor Holly, the dress is likely more appropriate for Taylor's shape but anyway I said she could wear it. She said "good, there's no use in buying a new dress when I can just wear your Handy-Me-Downs!" lol

Now this morning I saw her in the bathroom mirror with a tween magazine. She was holding it up and looking in the mirror. Im like "whatcha doon??" She points to a photo of Nick Jonas and says "Im seeing if our heads look good together"! lol
So she tells me she is going to marry Nick. Only he doesnt know it yet. But she will tell him tomorrow. I asked her if she had met him yet. She says no, she will meet him on their Marrying Day.

LOL ok Taylor never did anything like this. I guess Holly is lovestruck!

I know I know

2009-01-30T09:11:00.005-04:00

There just isnt a lot to blog about lately. There's nothing going on. At least nothing that Ive not blogged about Over and Over and Over.

lol

New Year's was rung in with good friends at a quiet little house gathering. Kinda like we used to. It was nice. And there was an awesome snow storm that had us unable to get out until January 2. The kids? they were storm stayed in Old Barns and as Much as I missed them, it sure was nice to do almost NOTHING for a whole day. Then we got plowed out and life went on.

I read all 4 Twilight books this month. Talk about addictive!

Holly's hockey is going well :) She played Goalie last week and their team won both games. It didnt have all to do with her Goal Keeping although she did do well :) The team played well too :)

Scott's hockey and My hockey are also going along well. As Is soccer, and Dancing for Annika, and she has started swimming lessons once a week too. Taylor still swims 3 times a week and has choir and is starting a new drama play this weekend with the church.

So we do keep busy with activities. Between work and running around for the kids and a few things for us, we dont spend a lot of time at home lol. Work is going well for all.

We did find a day to paint those awful walls in our dining room and hall way, thanks to some prodding from my friend Karen. It looks awesome! And so much more peaceful.

Work has been going on for a month now on Taylor's new bedroom. The Wall is moved, drywall is up and primed (mostly), the new window is in, and the ceiling is done. We are almost ready to paint it and put down flooring. Then she can move into it. Its going to be awesome. Trim work will have to come afterwards. lol and a closet door I suppose.

Scott and I had birthdays this past week. Fairly anticlimatic. Lots of wind up and then....its just over. SIGH.

And that is it in a nut shell. January is pretty much spent and February starts in 2 days. Winter is dragging on with lots of snow days and OMG kids cant go to school when its cold days....Really looking forward to Spring.

Especially since I got sick right after Boxing Day with a sore throat and cold and havent really felt better since. Still coughing a month later. Thinking with some rest that will change soon? lol

Leaving with some photos of our past month in random order lol

Newly Painted Wall
New Coffee Table and end tables.
Silly girl at the movies - we saw Bedtime STories :)
Storm on New Year's Day

Annika at swimming lessons.
The afghan I made this month.
The kids with Mac at the Moosehead's game
Little Goalie
Warming up for her game :)

Birthday Cake time :)
Calf from a class trip I was on this week. Isnt he cute?
The kiddies skating at Short's Lake. What a cold day it was! They went SO far out it scared the crap outta me!
Hockey Holly playing in Spring Hill.
Hockey Mom playing at Hockeyville :)

Some new bedroom photos...cannot find the rest ;)

Boxing Day 08

2008-12-30T11:20:00.007-04:00

Was spent at Auntie Al's house in Shubie ;) they came all the way from Montreal to visit with family for Christmas and we went to their place for boxing day!
There was loads of family and friends there and the cousins had a wonderful time together. They played games and ran out to feed the horse and Alpacas and enjoyed the sunny weather.
This was also when we were able to see Grammy and celebrate christmas with her. The kids were super happy to see her!

Taylor and Aunt Alison :)
Grammy opening her christmas present from us - a Digital Photo Frame :)

Cullen and his sookie :)

Playing the Wii boxing. they are great fans of it!

Holly and Cullen :)

again :D

Grammy and her friend and the little girls were brve enough to get into the hot tub. They said it felt great; I had the starts of a cold coming on and didnt brave getting chilled.

The older kids had some quiet time with their DS's.

Scott totally overexposed. Wish this had turned out a little nicer.

But our self photo turned out ok; this is the only photo I have of us together over this entire season once again.
kids playing a game. Taylor and Annika ended up spending the night with their cousins in Shubie; Holly came home with Momma and Daddy and we had some time alone together :)

Grammy and her grandkids :)

The day after the party the boys came to play for awhile. The girls loved it! They got a little rambunctious but the boys mostly didnt seem to mind ;)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-27T07:06:00.001-04:00