Ringing in July

While everyone slept on the eve of July 1st, I quietly pulled out the red table cloth and the Canada box.  Hung the enormous flag where it could NOT be missed and went to bed, ready to welcome the next day!  

We awoke to the majestic strains of Oh Canada and enjoyed breakfast with the table centerpieces of Canadian geese.  We enjoyed a day of Canadaopoly, and putting together our Canada puzzle and our Victoria's inner harbour puzzle.  

I attempted to crochet a maple leaf to make a table runner... but I made it 3 times and pulled it out 3 times.  Just could not manage to have it lay flat.

We completed the day with a delightful and well anticipated day of Poutine.

 

Just as I was getting ready for bed I noticed that my much anticipated lily had bloomed.  It was beautiful!

Similarly on the 4th... we woke and played the national anthem and then since it was a Saturday, worked all day on house projects and had a delicious dinner of T-bone steaks, watermelon and corn on the cob. 

The boys put together a map of the USA puzzle and we ended the evening watching the original first Star Wars movie, A New Hope.  

I umm... well.. uh... I forgot to take any photos... you'll just have to take my word for it that I flew the flag on that barn and had table decorations.

But to make up for it... just before we crawled into bed, Channa sent us some 4th of July photos of Kenzie.

She fell while skateboarding... no helmet.  Her mummy Uva is most concerned for that noggin and grateful that more damage wasn't done!

Oh.. and there was a lovely moon rising that night!

Violently Vomiting in the night and Evil Camp Dr.'s make Cooper a Happy Lad

We began our week without Patrick, Caleb, Sarah and Miles with a bang!  We decided to clean today and play the rest of the week.  We set a timer for 10 minutes and chose a room.  We all worked together until the timer beeped and then chose another room.  For each room they completed they earned 5 minutes of Wii time for the afternoon.  We cleaned 8 rooms this way and they were all busy little helpers.  It was a fun morning.
Things I learned as we cleaned.

*Cooper likes simple errand tasks best so he became official delivery boy of things we found in the wrong rooms.

*Mackenzie is of course helpful with anything she is assigned...  except perhaps keeping Emerson happy... but that might have something to do with him wanting me and I was not taking him.  She did finally just take him to the other room to play.

*Duncan, as we were cleaning the bathroom commented, "I think I like cleaning the toilets the best!"  We discussed what he liked about it.  He wasn't a fan of tidying up things but actually cleaning and scrubbing was fun.  I gave that boy a dust cloth, broom and a wet rag!

*Whittaker likes to do anything Derek is doing.  They became a team.

*Derek is in my opinion the most cheerful worker in the house.  We awarded him the Top Dog Happy Cleaner award when we were finished.  While Derek was working alongside of me we chatted.  I learned a LOT.  He began one of our conversations with,
"You know what Nova.  I like you now.  Sometimes I don't want to come to your house because I didn't know if I liked you but I will remember now that I do like you.  You are nice to me."

Wow!  He didn't know if he liked me? (What is not to like?)  Cleaning my bathroom created a bond between us that caused him to like me!

Once we completed our cleaning for the day we headed to lunch to celebrate!  Of course I already posted how our celebratory lunch went ... SWAT!

We returned home, shaken and dismayed at society.  The boys took advantage of all their earned minutes on the Wii, Kenzie and I began a fun craft project and Emerson so cooperative now, took a 4 hour nap.

I was feeling good that we could survive the week without the older kids.  I will no longer refer to them as my helpers, I have dandy helpers here with me still!

As the afternoon came to an end and we were discussing dinner and evening plans we decided a movie night would be in order!!  We would head to the library and pick out a new movie.  We had plenty of leftovers so dinner wouldn't take long.  I told them we would leave as soon as I had finished walking on the treadmill with my friend.

Plans change very quickly sometimes.  As I began walking on the treadmill, I began to feel light headed, then a little queasy.  I wasn't increasing my speed as I normally do, instead I felt like quitting.  I walked at a slow pace as long as I could stand it and then I made a dash for the bathroom.  I was sick.  It was so sudden.  We had had a fun filled, active day, how could I be so violently ill so suddenly!?  No time to question it... I continued to be ill for the next 2.5 hours.  Amber took all 6 of the kids home with her and sent me to bed.  I went willingly.  I only woke when the phone rang and she was bringing them home again.  I continued to be ill for about 1.5 more hours.  She tucked each of the kids in and was still here when Duncan began his run to the bathroom.  The flu was hitting in full force.

By morning, both Duncan and I are well again.  A little tired and sluggish but no longer living by the porcelain pot.  Whittaker and Emerson appear to have escaped the bug.  A phone call mid morning notified us that both Caleb and Miles had begun a trek of their own into the woods around 3am.  They were feeling better but Miles it would seem was showing signs that he had bells palsy now.  The Dr. at the clinic at camp was a little surprised that my response to such a diagnosis was... "I guess it's his turn.  He'll be fine.  Let him rest."  I explained that we are no strangers to Bells Palsy and I knew there was nothing he could do for him and that Miles wouldn't be contagious to anyone from the palsy and would be so sad to miss his merit badge classes. I suggested that he find his brother Caleb at the camp who has had the palsy twice and have him hang around with Miles for the day.  The Dr. suggested that I come and pick him up so the rest of the camp doesn't become ill as well.  We are at an impass....  I felt like the exposure to camp has already occurred and sending him home won't change that.  I am waiting to hear back on the decision.  I may be going for a long drive today.

Now I wonder if I should call and warn Sarah's camp.

Our fun plans for today are shot.  I assured the boys we would not cancel all our activities, just postpone them until we could enjoy them more.

On the 24th Day of December

 Ahh... a Noble Family Christmas Eve day.

Sarah made tasty treats for neighbours and friends.

She also sliced her finger on the sharp blades of the blender. 

Caleb made bread by himself for the first time....  he will remember to check on the rising dough sooner next time.

It snowed and snowed and blowed and snowed...  We stayed inside and put together MOST of our Christmas Nativity puzzle.  Every year we get further.  It's the toughest puzzle EVER!

Mackenzie almost stayed for Christmas due to all the blowing snow. 

Thankfully elves came to help prepare for Christmas since I was still sick.... and so was Emerson, Whittaker, Miles, and Mackenzie.  We had hoped to make the fastest, same day, turn around trip to the Ranch for the annual Nativity, but sickness and weather were against our plan.  A quiet day before Christmas was much preferred.

We opened a Christmas eve gift to every one's delight.   Thanks Jill...  Enjoy this little clip from Whittaker.


Every gift he opened all Christmas long had the anticipatory, "I got, I got, I got..." excitement.  We all began saying it as we unwrapped gifts. 

We ended our evening watching the nativity story, then tucked everyone into bed... except Kenzie who was still hopeful that her mother would make it across town for her. (She did eventually)

It took quite some doing to convince Whittaker to go to sleep.
(A little conversation we had as we attempted to convince him to sleep,
W- "Please, I hold your hair?"
N- 'Since it's Christmas, if it will help you sleep and since you're sick and I'm sick and don't have the energy to fight you.'
W- "I love your hair.  I miss you Mummy"
After 10 minutes of hair mauling.  
S- (climbing in next to him), 'Here Whittaker you can hold my hair, Mummy is busy tonight.'
N- 'Thank you!'
W-"Sarah, your hair too short."  
N-"That's IT!  I'm chopping off my hair!"
W- suddenly sitting up with a huge smile on his face, "You give it to ME?"
I should have got him a wig for Christmas!!!!

Once the children were nestled all snug in their beds.....  the cat read to them from the scriptures while 'Santa' filled their stockings and then Emerson woke, which he NEVER does, for a midnight bottle and much coughing and fussing.  Then all was well until 4am when Whittaker woke to be sick.

Merry Sickmas.......  Sick Christmas to all, but to no one a good nights sleep!

Water Play Jr.

We planned a day at Liberty Park, one of my favourite summer water park getaways in town.  It's a relaxing atmosphere with plenty of exciting and simple fun for kids of many ages.  We determined that for our purposes the under 12 crowd would have a water play jr. day at Liberty Park and I think they had an enjoyable time.  Here they were taking a break from running through the splash pad to make music with water bottles with varying amounts of water in them.

Paddle boats was the surprise water activity of the day for the jr. crowd.  We have been to this park a few times and never mentioned that paddle boats were available.  Our group size meant we needed three paddle boats.  We all compared tired leg and difficult steering mechanism stories when we docked.   The boats weren't exactly kid friendly.  The seats were adjustable but not enough so that the kids could reach the peddles.  We managed to switch driver mid ride without anyone falling in thankfully.

 I wish I had a photo of Valerie's crew out sailing.  Valerie ended up kneeling in the back and leaning up front to assist with the steering.  Both of her shipmates needed slightly longer legs for peddling to be more effective.  The paddle boats were fun, but definitely could use some maintenance and or some updating. 

I was fairly nervous heading out with Whittaker and Alyssa rear facing and out of arms reach.  It was difficult to maneuver with the life jacket on.   The ride was calm and fun.

By the end I was tired of constantly trying to turn around to check on the two little ones, so Kenzie and I brought them up front and I peddled with one on my lap while Alyssa helped steer.  It made the ride so much more of a work out and less comfortable, enjoyable. 

Three 8 year olds cheering us on! 
You can't tell from the shore, but I told Whittaker and Alyssa to hold hands, then they wouldn't be able to lean over the side of the boat. They were so well behaved and adorable back there holding hands.

The locals couldn't bear to watch the amateurs on the pond trying to steer the boats.

They finally could stand it no longer.  They set out on the water to show us how it should be accomplished gracefully.

Keeping hydrated was important on this 102 degree August day that we chose to spend completly outdoors!

Not every moment was filled with fun and cheerfulness by all.  In fact it took Cooper over an hour at the beginning to decide that he wanted to take part in any of the water day at all.  Then Derek spent some time at the end of our long day impatiently waiting for a turn on the paddle boats.

Of course, there were some who were so unimpressed by the fun and excitement that they slept through it all.

All in all it was a good day for the jr. crowd... the adult chaperones may have taken in a little too much sun and gone nutso though!

A Little Culture

The month of November found us with three invitations to see plays in one week!  First we received tickets through the kids online school to see a local high school presentation of 'Bye Bye Birdie'. 

The kids were thoroughly impressed by the moving orchestra pit, the trap door in the stage and the theater seats with balcony.  The play they were only so so impressed by. 

The second play was Mackenzie's 5th grade presentation of a play entitled, "Frankly Franklin".  A tribute to the life and accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin.  Mackenzie was one of the main storyteller/dancers. Although there weren't any fancy stage props and we had hard plastic chairs or the gymnasium floor as our seating option, we did enjoy the play.  I appreciated that the music was actually played on the piano instead of piped over a load speaker as I've noticed is the norm in elementary school performances around here. 

The third play was our most anticipated event.  Caleb has been missing from our lives from 6am until 10pm almost 5 days a week for many weeks.  From seminary to school to play practice he had long long days.  Finally the long hours were to come to an end with a grand performance of "Joseph and the Amazing, Technicolor Dream Coat".  Again, not a fancy stage, although Patrick and Caleb did assist in the construction of the stage and the ramps.  The orchestra was incredible even without a proper pit.  They were housed in the room adjoining the gymnasium with the double doors opened wide.  The long hours of practice definitely paid off with a fabulous performance, excellent singing and a wonderful evening.  I did not remember my camera and they asked that all cell phones be turned off so they wouldn't interfere with their wireless microphones.  I only snatched one photo of our camel leading Ishmaelite.  He actually played multiple roles and had some great costumes. 

Santa's Lap

This year we made no attempt to locate a Santa to sit upon, but at the cub scout Christmas Party he made an appearance. Those who wanted to, waited in line to make their Santa requests.  Not everyone felt the need.  

Derek had a lengthy and detailed list.  Santa didn't seem to know what he was talking about but Derek was unfazed. 

 Kenzie got to the front of the line and realized she really didn't have any requests.  She simply wanted the M&M's and candy cane he was handing out.  We learned something about this particular Santa.  He liked to tease.   Kenzie caught on and changed her request from, "anything is fine", to "I'd sure like some M&M's". 

Fortunately Kenzie clued Duncan in and he asked for the candy straight away. 

Whittaker didn't even care about sitting on his lap.  Sarah convinced him to stand in the line for some candy.  His pants got all hiked up when he lifted him up and after giving him a tough time about not asking for the candy, he didn't let him get right down, Santa asked him more questions, "What would you like for Christmas?"... I think his facial expressions say it all Santa... "I want off your lap strange man!" 

It wasn't until after Christmas morning that he began to think that the Santa business might be ok. 

Rip Stickin' it.

Christmas this year brought the two boys ripsticks.  A ripstick is like a combination between a skateboard and a roller blade.  Christmas was on a Sunday morning, but as soon as Miles was ready for church, he was strapping on his knee and elbow pads and taking a spin through the house. 

Their skills have improved very quickly and they have created games to play with the other neighbourhood kids.  They play frisbee, soccer and tag on the ripsticks.  Whittaker sat on one and pinched his fingers so he gave up on any ripstick fun, he's sticking to his tricycle.  I also sat on it once.  I fell off instantly and gave up my ripstick career. 

However, Kenzie was excited to give the ripsticks a try.  She stuck with it for hours.  She managed to learn some turns and a few moves before falling to the ground and landing on her wrist with a crack.  Her ripstick career ended unpleasantly.  Although the Dr. said it was fractured, the x-rays revealed nothing.  Her painful wrist didn't care about x-ray results so she wore the wrist brace and iced her wrist for 3 weeks.  At her follow up appt. the pain was still there.  She has been banished from any further ripstick activities. 

Thanks to the extremely mild winter weather, the boys have had plenty of time to perfect the skills and have even learned a few ballroom dance moves 'a la ripstick'.

Horsin' around

A neighbour with horses invited the kids over one evening to ride for a few minutes.

Miles was the first to embark on the horse.  When asked if he wanted to be led or ride solo, he enthusiastically declared, "Solo!".   He hasn't really had much any riding experience so I was surprised he wasn't even a little bit nervous.  He did well.  (I think it was an experienced horse)  He had one problem when he didn't communicate well to the horse that he wanted to turn and the horse went up on the sidewalk and kept circling around the flag pole.  We had to lead him off the sidewalk and back to the parking lot where we were riding.  He definitely enjoyed the ride.

Next up was Duncan.  He opted for a lead rope, thank you very much.  He was too busy saying things like, "yippee", and "yahoo", and "giddyup", to pay enough attention to actually be in charge of anything riding related! 

I wasn't sure what would happen when we arrived at Cooper's turn.  As it turned out I happened to have the three kids for the day.  I wasn't certain when Channa was expected for pick up so I hadn't mentioned the possibility of a horse ride at all.  But as the time got closer and closer and we were walking out of the house, I casually mentioned that we were walking to a neighbours to ride horses.  I should have known better than to spring something like that on Cooper.  The entire walk of about 15 houses, he was letting me know in no uncertain terms that this was not a good idea of mine.

"Riding horses is serious business and he didn't think it was intended for children.  Do I have any idea the dangers that could happen if the horse moved too quickly or an inexperienced rider gave an incorrect command?"  

I assured him the best I could that I was confident that all would be well.

"He persisted that I couldn't possibly know if it would be safe before hand.  He for one wasn't getting on an unpredictable beast." (his words!!) 

Fortunately after watching the other boys successfully ride without incident he acquiesced that he wouldn't mind sitting on the horse.  He didn't agree to riding, only sitting.  Once in the saddle, he admitted that trying a slow walking pace would be alright with him as long as the man would stay with him the entire time.  

He enjoyed his ride and informed me that, 'it would be ok for Derek to ride even.' 

Good thing Cooper gave his seal of approval, because when Cooper was being lowered from the horse, a very excited and expecting Derek was fairly hopping into the saddle.  He didn't have any reservations about riding the horse!

He even took a page out of Duncan's book, and was calling 'yee haw' every few minutes.

Mackenzie surprised me by being a bit nervous.  She opted to be led instead of riding on her own.  She didn't feel the urge to yell anything excited, but instead had a slow walk around the parking lot. 

After she was finished, she said, "Horses are taller than I remember them."

Sarah finished off the evening with a great ride.  She has had equestrian lessons this last summer and was eager to show off her new skills.  The horse wasn't all that cooperative after so many kiddie rides. (another family was also there with us so there had been almost a dozen rides)  She also couldn't show us how well she'd learned to canter and trot since we were in the parking lot. 

She never climbs down from a ride without wishing that she had a horse of her own.  (We'd have to buy the property next door, and the barn across the canal... and win the lottery, and then hire a stable hand.  Sorry sweetie.  Next dream...)  I'm just pleased we have such friendly neighbours with horses.  It makes squashing her dreams less painful. 

Truth or Fantasy?? - The unexpected reaction

The M & M's have reached a milestone in their lives.  Miles and Mackenzie are a decade old.  Their mothers concocted an unusual plan shortly after Christmas and before their birthdays to surprise them with an outing.  An outing with a treat and a plan.  It was to be a coming of age outing.

Such an outing hadn't seemed necessary with previous children for some reason.  Perhaps they had grown up more sheltered or less.  Perhaps as mother's we had not reached our maturity yet but it did seem that for right now this was what was needed.

While we had discussed our plan and decided that we would do it, we didn't solidify our exact time.  The opportunity presented itself on a calm Saturday afternoon in February.  We took our unsuspecting, naive almost ten year olds and offered them the outing of their choice.  They opted for fancy ice cream!  (in hindsight, we all wished we'd opted for something warmer)  As luck would have it, Sarah happened to be with us and was privy to our plan. 

Fantasy has a time and place.  Realism and truth were the order of the day.  It was time to burst the mythological bubbles that we had worked to create for them over the past decade.

I was so pleased that I captured the moment when the reality of what we were discussing dawned on Miles. 

The conversation began lightly, talking of favourite holidays.  We discussed it all... from simple leprechauns and their pots of gold, to fairies, to jolly old men with elves who drive reindeer powered sleighs.  The truth was out and the mood remained light and happy.  In fact, they hadn't seen any of it coming in their young naive minds, but were so very excited to know that they could now be initiated into the mature side of holidays!  More than simply being in the know, we invited them to assist with traditions and merriment in the future.  We also discussed with our now 'oh so mature ten year olds', how to make each holiday more meaningful, less gluttonous and about others rather than ourselves.  They surprised us with their pleasure and their maturity.

Two 7 year olds, one 5 year old and a 1 year old to go!  (shh... I actually already told the 1 year old.  He was cool with it.)

One year...

The difference one year makes....

-between girls who revel in knowing that for almost three entire months they are only one year apart in age.
-each year as they continue to get older and lovelier and wiser.
-to their maturity level... and I don't simply mean that they are both tweens preparing to embark on those awkward teen years... but rather their helpfulness and their hightened awareness and understanding of those around them.
-just a year ago... they were little girls...

but young ladies seem to be taking their place. 

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

We recently had a girls night in!  A variation on a ladies night out.  The younger girls felt a little left out of all the grown up activities so we planned a night without any pesky little brothers.  We watched a more grown up feeling movie and had late night ice cream.  It was fun.  We watched The Man From Snowy River.

Grandma, Bailey, Sarah and Kenzie were all new to the movie.  I, on the other hand, surprised myself by being able to still quote most of the movie!  I was rather obsessed when I was younger.

They enjoyed the film and were excited to learn that there was a sequel!  We added it to the Netflix queue and within a few days we had in in our possession.  Bailey was out of town but we couldn't wait for her to return.  We held another girls night in.

During the sequel there is a little more kissing involved since of course the characters are a little older and wiser now.  It is after all a romantic drama.

The movie was almost over and Sarah asked, "Is that the kind of Irish, or Scottish, or whatever accent they're using, kind of kissing?"

Kenzie replied, "It's Australian kissing."

After a chuckle and a look at Grandma, I replied, "It's just movie kissing.  Real kissing doesn't care what language you speak or accent you may have or even where you live."

Tides Coming in -- Day 3

After a long day at the beach, it's inevitable to avoid that the tide will come in.  It's a message that you've had enough for one day and it's time to move on to another adventure.  As the tide is coming in however, there is always time for just one more adventure.  The kids waded out to a little rock that was still poking above the water level.  It was like an itty bitty island just calling to them.

As they headed back to shore finally though the balancing was more difficult than they anticipated.  Mackenzie offered to carry Duncan's shoes for him so he could just walk back on the slippery rocks without worrying about them.  So much for carrying his shoes for him so they'd stay dry!  She had to fish one out the water. 

Now that the shoes were wet, he was even more nervous.  What if he fell in next?  She offered to help him. The waves didn't look like much but they were coming in ever more increasingly.  

 Together they made it across the rocks that had been so easy to travel out on before they were buried waist deep in water. 

They hadn't thought about how they would once again climb up to where we were.  The other sides were completely under water now.  

Back up on our high ground rock finally.  We had packed up our things and were just waiting for the releasing of today's creatures.  Doug was giving a quick marine biology lesson as they discovered that one of their captured crabs had eaten the sea worm they'd captured.  

A final farewell to the days prisoners friends. 

One by one, they were returned to the sea.

And finally it was time to leave...

 Miles can always find one more thing to do.  I suppose it was just a matter of time before he realized that he had a magnifying glass at his disposal and so he angled it just right with the sun and tried to burn a piece of seaweed.  Too bad we were calling him to the car, he might have had success!