June RoundUp

June was an interesting month..... it was busy with the end of the school year an all the fun stuff that comes with it.  Although this year was quite different.  This year was the flood. 

There was an enormous amount of rain over a day that the elbow and Bow Rivers really flooded.  Many people had water filling there basement and some lost their homes.  There was also significant damage to our beloved zoo.  There are some incredible stories about water up to the giraffes belly and the hippos getting out of their cages.  We live high on the ridge here so we didn't experience any personal damage and actually saw the spirit of the city come together.  There was a local state of emergency for weeks, so the last 5 days of school were cancelled.  Mostly not a big deal as the last couple of days of school are the fun stuff, but also a big deal as Lucas missed out on a lot of the fun stuff.  He did go back for half a day on Thursday to collect his stuff and say goodbye.  It was a good year for Lucas, he adapted much better then last year and had alot of friends in his class.  He also made lots of new friends which was good for him.  I'm glad that he is slowly coming out of his shell. 


We also did lots of fun stuff this month...

 Like drumming, which we went to with my Mom and Shaun.  It was a really fun experience.  It's cool cause you are all playing the same beat.  It's like a big jam session even though you are not skilled musician. 

We also did some golfing at the driving range, which made me think I could golf and since then I have been going with the girls for the last couple of Tuesdays. 

While part of me wonders what I am doing... I don't golf.... the other part enjoys being out and having a good time with such fun ladies.   Plus I think Darryl and the boys and I will go out in July when kids golf for free this week.  So I must enjoy it...

One day in June the kids and I went to the Lego store after school as Lucas wanted to get Darryl some Lego for Fathers day.  When we got to the store it was very quiet.  Really Tuesday around dinner time, not that busy.  While in the store wandering one of the employees asked if we had some extra time.  Part of me was thinking, no I don't want to do a survey, but the other part of me thought, but what if they give me a deal if I do the survery.  Of course the deal thoughts won out and I said yes we did have some extra time.  The employees asked if the boys would like to build some Lego, they had got some new Lego set that they needed built for the display cases.  The boys were excited, said they'd love to.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  So for any of you going into the Lego store over the summer Lucas and Nathan built some of the Lego in the display cases.  



We also bought a new couch!  Our lovely old green couch was the first couch we bought when we moved out west.  It was a comfy couch that was good for napping, but I have been coveting this couch from Crate and Barrel for about a year now.  Luckily I found it in the as-is section at the store as it had a rip in the back about 3 inches long.  While dispointed the sales lady made me feel better by giving me a great deal.  This couch is great, it's hugs your body.  It's soft but you are still able to get up from it.

 I mentioned in the start of the blog about Lucas and the end of the school year and how things were odd with the flood, but really for Nathan there were a bunch of goodbyes.  He had a great year in preschool.  Finding the preschool was kind of a last minute thing, but I would highly recommend Leap and Learn where he went.  His teachers there Miss Shanon and Miss Jillan were fantastic.  I had the opportunity to volunteer there a couple of times and was really impressed with the way they handled the kids as well as their teaching and interaction with the children.  There graduation was also very cute. 

 Lastly the end of July as signified a big change in our lives.  The end of the Lesley era.  From now on neither of my boys go to Lesleys.  The great friend that I saw regularily 3 times a week will now be different.  It was always a treat to bring the kids there.  She was always so flexible with my schedule as it was never the same.  She also let me pee in her bathroom as I often forgot to do that the whole day of work.  =)  She has so many of the same values we did and the kids spent lots of time outside.  She teaches them so many of the important things in life, life how to treat people.  I don't know how I got so lucky to have found her to help me raise my kids at such an important and developmental time in their lives.  I will be forever grateful.   Luckily we still text and swim together.  So I still get to spend time with her, and I would have it no other way.  =)

Whew this is a long one....  took me days to write, hope it doesn't take you days to read.  If you even get this far.

Time for summer!!

Jenn

October Round Up

I just read over September Roundup to see how this month went and I see October was so much better then September.  My balance of work/home life was better, Lucas got better in school and the weather still stayed beautiful.

Things for Lucas have really improved over the month as well.  He was struggling with getting his work done in class.  We met with the teacher and we both suspected it was more of a confidence issue then a focus issue, as he's never had issues with being distracted before.  We worked at home with him trying to get him to write french words and Nathan and I would distract him or we would put the TV on and he'd still have to write a certain number of words in a certain amount of time.  I would make the time quite long to be sure he was always done in the time frame, again to boost his confidence.   Things at school have been steadily improving for him as well.  We have gotten a couple of notes home from the teacher when he has a really good day or writes quickly.  Even last week he put his hand up and answered questions in french.  Darryl had volunteered in the class the week before and commented on how Lucas didn't really participate.  But it's good to see that is improving as well.  We have also been working on speaking lots of french at home and he is reading to us in french.  He has learned so much and I am so so so so proud of him.  He has done a hard thing and came through it with really positive results. 

We did have Thanksgiving this year, but it was kind of a weird weekend.  I usually LOVE Thanksgiving.  It's my favorite holiday.  It has the good food like Christmas but not the commercialism.  And it reminds you to be thankful for all the wonderful things in life.  Well this year there was no turkey and most people went away.   It was fun to have a weekend alone with my sister and Auntie Karen came to have dinner with us too, but it just wasn't the same as having a house full of people and Darryl making turkey.   Although like I said I do treasure the weekends when my sister is down and I get her all to myself, so that was fun. 

We have been enjoying some fun family time too.  The boys are in a good age that we don't need naps anymore so we can go out and do something for most of the day.  Sometimes it's hiking or swimming.  One weekend this month it was Heritage Park.   Where I got some fun pictures of the boys.  We ate from the bakery.  Rode the train, fed the animals, played with the leaves, ran in the field and went on the rides.  It was fun. 

 Last night was Halloween and that was (as usual) really fun too.  The boys both dressed up as ninja's and I was a lion.  With my hair that's pretty easy to pull off.  The boys got lots of candy and there were quite a few kids here too.

 




Hope everyone else is enjoying fall too. 

Till next time

Jenn

Go Fly A Kite.

We have a fair bit of wind here in Calgary.  I think a lot of it is the wind blowing off the praries, that and there are not as many trees here as there are in Ontario to stop the wind.  It's not as windy as Lethbridge, but we can still get some really windy days.  Yesterday was one of them.   But we took it as a perfect opportunity to use one of Nathan's birthday presents.


It worked really well. And we started a trend with the other neighborhood kids. Once we did it everyone else brought out their kites too.

Till Next Time

Jenn

Weather

Today in Calgary we were the second coldest place on earth, only second two Antartica. That's right it was cold here then Siberia and the Artic and Alaska and all those all places you think of when you think of really cold places. It all started a week ago when the snow and cold hit with a vengeance. Outside we have about 5 feet of snow. When I woke up this morning, with the wind chill it was -40. Luckily on Thursday it will be -4, I can't remember the last time I was excited about -4. It's been at least a year =)

So we have been playing inside a lot. Tonight we were all coloring on the floor, later we did some karate moves (or I watched the boys do there karate moves). We also made more cards and I made a big batch of my favorite soup. We did go outside to go to swimming lessons, but we were well bundled. And spent a lot of time in the hot tub at the pool too.

One of the worst parts of the horrible weather and snow is the driving. I have spent a lot of time in my vanigan over the last week. It sucks because it takes up time for other fun stuff I usually do, like exercising and playing with the kids. Kudos to all of those who job it is to clear the roads. Once the snow finally stopped I noticed a real difference in the ice on the roads.

So that's the big news over here for the last week..... although I wish it wasn't....

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

The Weekend..... So Far

It's so nice to have four days off. Especially when my sister comes for the weekend. We are also dog sitting so Emma is so happy. Both of the dogs have been outside with slobbery ears. It's funny to watch dogs play. Emma is the female smaller dog, but because we are at her house and she is older, she is still the dominant dog. She easily get Tails on his back. The other interesting part about watching them play is that they always try to get each others ears. Must be a sensitive part on dogs.

The other fun part so far is that my sister is here. My sister does come home fairly often, but this time I get her all to myself. Today, by her request, we went to Banff. It was really fun. I haven't been to Banff is quite a while. They have lots of unique shops there. We also went to Old Spagetti Factory for lunch which is delicious and such a good deal. We also went and walked up tunnel mountain.



Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends too!

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

A New Calgary Find

For the last couple of months we have been picking up my dad at the airport, as he is working a lot out of town. Nathan is loving it because his favourite thing lately is airplanes. When we drive there sometimes it is hard to get in the left turn lane so I have to drive through the lights and turn around at the next intersection. I've realized though that the next intersection is a viewing area to watch airplanes land. There is a nice parking lot with picnic tables where we can sit and watch planes land and take off. It's called the Edward H LaBorde Viewing area. I've looked on the internet and there is not a lot of information about it. But here is a map of where it is.




It is a great spot to watch airplanes if you and your kids enjoy them.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Voting Day

Today I was a super proud Calgarian. I went to the polling station and the lines were so long. In some polling stations they have run out of ballots. Everyone is voting! It's great, democracy at it's finest.

For those of you not from Calgary, it is election day today. There is a 3 way tie between 3 candidates. One is someone with lots of experience, but that experience is also hindering him, one is a professor who is a great debater but doesn't have a lot of political experience and the last is a lady who was a broadcaster in Calgary for a long time, but also doesn't have the experience to be mayor. So with 3 good candidates everyone is going out to have there say, and I think it's great.

There is a big part of me who wants to stay up and find out, but we may not know until tomorrow. Good job Calgarians. I'm so glad we live in a country where every citizen has a say.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Dr. Faul

Our family Dr. here in Calgary is a very nice man. We were lucky that when I got pregnant with Lucas there was a family Dr. close that was taking maternity patients. He has always been a quiet talker so you have to listen carefully when he talks, but we really like him. He is very concerned not only about your physical health but also about your mental health. Today when I took him for Nathan's 2.5 year appointment, we spent quite a bit of time talking about parenting. He looked him over physically and checked his height and weight and speech. But while he was doing this we had some interesting conversation about parenting. He said "I was doing a great job". He talked about how parents make the world for there kids. Some parents make the world a scary place or a fun place, he thought I made the place a curious one for my kids. A place to learn. Which I do try to do. It's interesting because we had a oral interview with Lucas's teacher and she said something very similar. That Lucas loved to learn and was constantly taking everything in.

Dr. Faul and I also talked about how parents play different roles for their kids. Sometimes they have to be the parent and nurture the kids. Other times they need to be the teacher and put their foot down. Sometimes they need to be a mentor and set good examples for their children. Sometimes I think I wear lots of different hats to satisfy my needs, but I think its satisfies the kids needs too. It sets example for them to be part of the world. Sometimes I feel guilty when I go to work, or go out on a date night or a girls night out, but it's so good to set examples for your kids on how to act and treat other people. It's interesting because all the things he says are so true and things I do all the time, but when someone puts them into words it is so insightful.

It's amazing how a 10 minute conversation can make me think about parenting for days and days to come.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Down By the River...

Emma is doing better and better. The medication has leveled out in her system and now even when we leave and you can tell she is upset, she still won't destroy anything in the house, or howl at the moon. So I do think we have made some progress. I think going back to our regular routine has really helped too.

We have also been more consistent with getting her exercise. She is able to walk on all four legs now and I take her with me when I walk the boys to and from school. I've also been walking her more in the evenings which has been good for both of us. We've also been taking her down by the river and she has been swimming. She loves swimming and it makes her coat so soft and smooth. The river runs through Fish Creek Park.


The first couple of times we did it the boys weren't really sure. Lucas brought his DS and wanted to sit in the car. But its amazing how nature brings out the "exploring" side of kids. The boys now love to go down to the river. They look for bugs and flowers, they throw things in the river and walk the paths. It's such a great feeling that the kids would rather explore nature then play video games.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Fun at the Zoo

We haven't been to the zoo, since last winter. Which for us seems like ages, but as the boys get older I think the visits will be less frequent, but no matter every time we do go I really enjoy myself. "A bit of nothing" has been talking about the zoo this summer and I was itching to go, so with the staggered entry for Lucas's kindergarten he didn't have school today, so off to the zoo we went.

The meerkats. They are usually burrowed in their tunnels, but today they were out.


My favorites the giraffes.


It's amazing how the gorillas are so human. I could watch these animals for hours and hours.


Lucas and Nathan in the kangaroo.


Lucas holding a butterfly
Lucas and Nathan looking for frogs.

In the dinosaur section the roars got too loud.

A cute picture of them in front of the fish.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Stampeding

I love the Calgary Stampede. I love how the city gets into it. My favorite part is the coke stage. There are free acts there every night. And usually quite good, I've seen Chantal Kreviauk, Trews, Mariana's Trench, Len, Amanda Marshall and last night we saw the Barenaked Ladies there.




The foursome
Ed rocking it out.
The acoustic set.

My favorite part was the encore where Tyler came out an sang alcohol. He impersonated Steve and did a hilarious job at it. All of Steve's funny moves. Man it was great. My other favorite part was hanging out with Tammy and Alexis. I love those ladies, they make me laugh.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Body Worlds

Last week I had the pleasure of going to the BodyWorlds exhibit here at the Calgary Science Center. It was a really amazing exhibit. If you haven't heard anything about it, it's an anatomy exhibit where they "plastinate" dead people and demonstrate different parts of their anatomy. It's neat because each body is giving a name based on the position it's placed in.

For example this "guy" would be called the skateboarder

And this guy might be called the "gymnast".

I also really liked this one

Then on a board beside it they would show you where all of the muscles that are well demonstrated are.

There are also different body parts demonstrating disease. For example there is a healthy lung, a smokers lung and a lung with coal miners disease.

As well as being impressed with the exhibit I was also really impressed with myself. I know alot about anatomy. It is part of my job, but still I know a lot of anatomy.

If you ever get the chance to see this exhibit and are interested in the body at all I would highly recommend it.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

GO Hitmen GO!

Early this week I entered a contest with Calgary Child's Magazine to win tickets to the Calgary Hitmen. Unlike our NHL team, the Calgary Flames, the Hitmen (which are in the league below them, the WHL) are in the playoffs. I think they are trying to fill the stadium so they were giving away lots of free tickets. So on Friday we got the call that we had won some tickets. So on Saturday, Lucas Darryl and I took the train down to the Saddledome for the game. It the first time both Lucas and I have been to a hockey game at the Saddledome. It was really fun we danced during intermission, had icecream and candy (although I really wanted a hotdog) and cheered very loud when they scored a goal. I did find the ice smaller then on TV and was a little lost sometimes with no commentator. But Lucas had a really fun time and was so good for it. I didn't know if he'd last the whole game but he did and didn't lost interest in the game. It was a fun way to spend a Saturday night.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Trip to the Zoo

WIth all the beautiful weather we headed to the zoo as we haven't been there in ages. Plus there is a new Dinosaur exhibt there, with robotic dinosaurs. It was great. Lucas was a little afraid at the beginning but got use to it. It was a beautiful day and we had such a great time looking at the animals and playing on the playground.


Lucas with the new baby giraffe in the background. This is the zoo's second one in a couple of years.


Lucas is an AMAZING big brother. He helped Nathan down the big boy slide.


Not something you see everyday. Lions in the snow.


Lucas and Nathan watching on the the big dinosaurs.


My two cute boys with a cute gorilla in the background.

It was an awesome day! I love the zoo.

Check out our dinners from the weekend at the Eat at Home Challenge blog.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Chinook

Mom took this picture on Sunday. It's been chinook-ing here. Today it was 15 degrees. What a cook sky eh?



Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Home

Part of my job is to visit x-ray students all over Alberta. As I drive home I see the beautiful mountains. And then our cities skyline. Then all the traffic.



And I feel home. =)

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

Happy Birthday Darryl Weekend!

We had an action packed weekend, that included Darryl's birthday celebration. It also included an amazing theatrical show of the Lion King. Lucas, Darryl and I went on Saturday afternoon to see Lion King. It was amazing. The best musical I've ever seen. The costumes were INCREDIBLE! I would recommend if you ever get a chance to see the show to pounce on it. Even Lucas really enjoyed it. I was kind of worried about how he would react, but he did great, although he sat on my lap the whole time.



Afterwards we had some friends over for steak dinner and cherry cheesecake, Darryl's favorite dessert. I often rant and rave about what a great husband and father Darryl is. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful man to spend my life with. He is funny and kind and caring. He is an amazing Dad to those two kids. Tonight he was teaching Lucas how to throw a basketball and yesterday helping him learn to golf. Today he made us dinner and he even made his birthday dinner. Yep, I did good.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

My Cool Dude

Today is the first day I've been in pants in quite a while. It's been great summer weather here and I have been enjoying it to the fullest. This weekend, Lucas was a cool dude in the hot tub at Grandma and Pop's house.



Then we headed to Canmore to hike up a mountain. I figure since Mackenzie has been here for a month she should be able to go home and say she climbed a mountain. I know it doesn't really matter to her know, but maybe when she's 20 it's something she can be proud of. Maybe when she's 20 she'll remember it as the summer she climbed a mountain and not the summer she sent more the 2000 messages to a boy. =)........ maybe......








Till Tomorrow

Jenn