Final Febs

It's been forever! Which means I could write about a whole bunch of different things - but I'll start with this past weekend and see how far I get. We had a ton of rain last week, and all of the snow melted and rivers were overrunning and flooding yards and houses, so with warmer (but windy) weather we decided to hit the sugar bush. Our usual go-to is McLachlan's, but we thought we'd try out a new place and were not disappointed by the warm welcome, tour, grounds, and food at Fort Rose. The country drive was beautiful, and we were greeted by a barnyard full of animals upon arrival (Jordan was terrified). We thought he'd like the pigs and be curious about the cows, but with a pointed finger and a scared face he directed everyone right out of the barn - hence no animal pics. There was a wagon ride, a short walk in the maple grove, and then a delicious all-you-can-eat spread of pancakes, ham, sausages, muffins, fruit, coleslaw, orange drink (classic) and coffee. Most of us stuffed ourselves before saying goodbye to the animals and heading home for the afternoon. Some pics!

Not much has changed in the day-to-day of our lives; Jordan still loves his soothers, is big on moving furniture to get what he wants (he's "the chairman"), and loves books and his big bro and sis. Alana (5) is still SUPER reluctant to do any extra-curriculars, so is only doing swimming lessons once a week (she's being forced to). We've signed her up for t-ball with one of her besties, so hopefully that goes over well. Unlike his sister, Hendrik is super into sports; he's doing ball hockey (loves it), swimming (goes), and is signed up for baseball which is now three times per week once it starts (!!!). He got right into watching the Olympics, and there's no denying that we're in withdrawal... we'll tune in again when the Paralympics start next week.

Alana and Jordan crashed (/were invited to stay) a birthday party last weekend at The Junction, an indoor climbing place here in town. Despite initial enthusiasm, Alana barely left my side - and donned a super sour face for the first hour of the party. Thankfully she let loose a bit in the private party room (who wouldn't) and Jordan followed suit. With some help he scaled the wall and he LOVED it. He was giggling and smiling and asking for more. more. more. The biggest big also got a new bike last weekend, and we were out riding tonight (it was 12 degrees). Spring is on its way!

what a face! new wheels.

on his way to pick up his sibs from school... fireman j!

And I don't think I ever blogged about our little getaway to Kincardine... did I? Anyways, here are some pics from a weekend trip up north-a-way; we've been curious about the skating trail in MacGregor Provincial Park, so decided to break up some of the winter blues with a trip to a fan-cay (not really) hotel with a pool and a day-trip to the ice trail. The kids loved the hotel (the pool and the continental breakfast were highlights) and we loved going to bed early; Friday night's sleep was horrible, but Saturday night I was sleeping by 8:30 and Jordan wasn't up until 7:30 (no night wake-ups!!!!!)... it was amazing!

hotel room fun

basement tea party

And that's all for now - hopefully I can get more than two posts in next month! :)

short and sweet!

Life continues to roll on at what seems like a breakneck pace, and I sometimes wonder if it's like this for everyone (and I think the answer is yes). Jordan is getting up early early early (5:30 - sometimes going back to sleep until 6:30) and Hendrik is calling us until 9:30 at night; mornings (and afternoons) are busy and there is always something else to do. There are breaks in the full-speed but there are times when it seems like I missed the break, and then I (really) look forward to the quiet at the end of the day.

What have we been up to lately? We went tubing at Boler Mountain last weekend and had a blast! I took the bigs and despite some frigid temps, everyone had lots of fun.Swimming has started and Hendrik is in floor hockey (and loving it) AND we are in the swing of making summer plans. Work is good (busy) - there's not enough time in the day! But... there's always time to play in the snow (weekends especially) and with all this fresh powder we keep getting, options for creativity abound in our back yard. The kids had fun making a snowman and a snowgirl, and Jordan loves Dad's snowpig. It looks like this weekend is going to be snoooooowy, so hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the fresh snow (fingers crossed it isn't too cold!). Winter is still in full swing!

Hendrik made a hotel room last week and I got to visit and pretend to sleep (!!)

some photos turn out like this...

but most turn out like this!

family update (finally, a post!)

family skating at Victoria Park

Once again, this post is days in the making. I woke up this morning and declared my two commitments (not goals - but commitments) of the day: vacuuming and blogging (what has life come to!)?. I could have added a bunch of other stuff that did get done but didn't really neeeeed doing, like making sugar cookies (heart shapes), coaching, showering, running... is there more? Likely yes. There's likely more to say / add, but I'll go with the flow and finish what I started!

Steve (in red) and the Palm Springs crew

Steve

We're doing this post oldest to youngest, so this guy gets to go first. He had a pretty big birthday lately, one that I thought merited something that might rival my 30th birthday present (we were living in Winnipeg and he surprised me by flying my three sisters in for a weekend visit) and soooooo... I surprised him with a trip to Palm Springs. This is how I did it (the surprise part): one of the kids gave him a present in a gift bag - a pair of oven mitts, accompanied by my explanation: "You said you didn't want anything, and we do need new oven mitts. Sorry it's a bit lame." His reaction was tres neutral, so I cued part two immediately and Hendrik handed him a wrapped box, saying, "You'll need these next weekend". He unwraps golf balls, and looks confused. "I'm going golfing?" (Yes.) "In the snow?" (No.) "Where?" The kids and I did 1-2-3 and said, "Palm Springs!" and he continued to look confused, but smiley. "By myself?" (No.) "With who?" And then I listed the names of all of his buddies who were flying down. He was completely totally blown-away surprised, and had a week for everything to sink in before flying south with his best friend(s) to stay in an amazing house (double lot, pool, hot tub) for four nights. Needless to say, they had a great time. And now it's back into the swing of things and I think all is well in Dad-land during the day. He's playing hockey and coaching at Mac once or twice a week, and is whipping up some amazing meals and staying busy with the little.

making granola, yum yum!

Me

Life is busy! Work is super busy these days as I felt sort of obliged to run this reading program (Forest of Reading); the kids kept asking if we were doing it and so I thought fine sure yes let's do it, but instead of running the whole gamut I'm just doing three programs (one for FDK-grade 2, another for grades 3 & 4s, and a grade 5 & 6 program). So getting myself organized and everything sorted for that plus planning and catching up on the PD day stuff and getting new books processed and shelved (not to mention all of the regular day-to-day of checking in, shelving, tidying, weeding etc.) is keep me busy. But it's all good, no stress. Somehow I'm managing to play women's league on Monday nights and coach on Wednesday nights (and some weekends), though I'm not sure how long it'll all last. When the kids' activities start amping up there might be less time for mine. Anyways! Until that day comes I'm going to try to keep these two nights a week to myself. I need to find time to exercise (lunch time) and then actually do it (!) and get to bed earlier. Jordan is finally sleeping better, but then I'm so tempted to stay up a bit later and blob on the couch for a bit after the jobs are sort of done. We're starting to think about summer and planning, but I need mental energy and time for that. Not tonight!

Hendrik

Hendrik's most recent most-amazing moment is the completion of his Turbo Toilet 2000 - ! A few weeks ago he said something like, "I finally have a motorized toilet, this is my dream come true!" It was hilarious. It is currently sitting on the shoe rack right by the front door, ready to greet any visitors. AND... it goes forwards and backwards and has a flusher. We were talking about making a mini toilet paper roll, so stay tuned for more. He's still majorly into reading, and his bed is surrounded by piles of books. After he reads for too long / too late every night, he calls me up to lie with him, and we talk in the dark for a while - this is one of the best parts of my day, even though I'm tired and sometimes thinking of the jobs that need finishing downstairs. He's been asking me lots of questions about work, and I do my best to tell him, though sometimes I don't really know what it was exactly that kept me busy all day long. And then sometimes, he'll voluntarily tell me all about his day, and I love it. He's a good skater and a good swimmer - these are the two programs they're in for the winter. Come Spring he'll start baseball, and maaaaaybe soccer, we'll see.

Alana

This one must be going through some growing pains, and the evidence is: 1. She's grown over an inch in the last month; 2. She's been super whiney and hesitant about going to school (okay, in reality there have been days where she's been kicking-screaming-beside herself about going). I'm not there for dropoff, but I hear about it, and some days it starts while I'm still home - like today. She was down in the dumps whiney and sad and clingy until Jordan started showing off a toy purse full of soothers, and it made everyone laugh. And then I started talking about how everyone was going to school and how I would really really love it if she could make some art for me to hang up at my desk at work. And just like that she was her regular happy self for the remainder of the morning (phew). Her skating skills are also improving, and she's doing well in swimming too. And while she likes books, I wouldn't say she's as hooked as Hendrik is; she loves doing puzzles and pretend play - she'll talk to herself and play with her little lego people and sing to them. And she is such a help with Jordan - she loves him! Sure sometimes she's a little pushy / too hands on with him, but she really does love being a big sister. 

Jordan

Jordan is obsessed with his soothers. Even when we think we've found them all and put them up high somewhere (just for naps and nighttime - that's what we try for), he'll slip away and then show up with another one. Today he brought the purse full of soothers to school, and proudly showed them to Hendrik and Alana's friends (!!!). Adorable. He's been pretty mommy-mommy cling-cling, but let Steve take him out of his crib yesterday morning without a fuss, so maybe that's starting to change a little now that I'm back to work and Steve is back from his trip. He is a super picky eater, but loves cheese, bread, yogurt (this is probably his favouritee), pancakes, fruit and rice krispies. He also loves the water, be it bathwater, poolwater, mudpuddles or ice and snow. He has music class on Monday mornings, and gets to the pool or a playgroup with Dad a few times a week... and the nap! The afternoon nap is key - we make sure we're always home for his big afternoon sleep.

I hope you enjoyed the update!

tea party yesterday mornin

alana drew this for me - a garden "with a bottle cloud"  :)

getting in the flow of 2018...

"My new year's resolution is to help shovel" :)

Happy 2018! It's another year and we're doing our best to get back into the swing of things with work, school, and routines. Both bigs missed two days of school this past week (sick), and Jordan has been pretty snotty (Steve was sick too), so I'm hoping everyone feels better for a fun weekend and a solid back-to-usual routine next week. Steve - it's his birthday today! He's 40 years young and I can't believe it (mostly because I'm not that far behind). I surprised him with a trip to Palm Springs, so at this very moment he's chilling out in an expansive house in California with eight of his best friends. Best present ever? Maybe.

We spent the second week of Christmas break here in London, and despite talking about planning things and getting out and about we really didn't do too much - which was fine with everyone! The kids opened bank accounts (which takes FOREVER - way longer than back in the day) and got library cards; now that they (the bigs at least) have wallets, they each have two cards (Alana has an Indigo gift card and her library card - we're keeping her debit card; and Hendrik has his bank card and his library card). We also went swimming and skating, grocery shopping, and play-dating; it was a perfect balance of activity and inactivity, especially because the biggest big (Steve) was sick. Here are a few (not many) photos of the last few weeks, including some Christmas/B-ville shots. More next time...

"Mommy do you know what I've always wanted? A motorized toilet." Captain Underpants inspired turbot-toilet 2000 crafting ... love it.

the cousin crew!

colouring last year's calendar - Jordan was right in the mix!

puzzling in Bville

sibs right into Totoro books! If you haven't seen this movie you should... it tops!

Jordan sandwich :)

the last post of 2-0-1-7!

Jude and Jordan

lego play!

fun in the backyard (it's been so cold!)

the girls!

the oldest (can't you tell?) :)

One of the best things about working in a school (the best thing?) is having school holidays – I am loving spending so much time with the kids! The kids like it too, sometimes too much maybe; in the mornings, Jordan clings to me like a barnacle to a rock, and Alana has her barnacle-y moments too (in temperament and physical proximity). Hendrik and I have spent lots of time reading and playing games, and we’ve had fun on the few outings we’ve had since we arrived in Bowmanville. After several days of Christmas hibernation (more on that in a minute), we made it out of the house twice yesterday (the 28th) for a morning skate and an afternoon swim. Jordan stayed home with Grandma, so we had a bit more freedom to play and dive and waterslide (sorry Jords but this means it was more fun without you). We got out to the library this morning (Jordan hadn’t left the hosue in a few days) where we played with blocks, dabbled on the computers and picked out a few books. The clan left for a skate with the Paw Patrol and I’m left at home to read, write a bit and maybe lie down. Jordan has been up every morning by 6:15, so even though I am very glad and thankful he’s sleeping through the night, I could use a few more hours (even one) of sleep in the morning. Beggars can’t be choosers though, so I think I’d better just take what I can get.

Christmas! It was great. We opened presents at our place last Friday night, and this is what people received: Me a cast iron pot (from the kids), and coffee (from Dave); Steve toque and cap (from Sarah); Hendrik: books, a new beyblade, E.T (movie)(from mom and dad), K'nex (from Denver folk) and a puppet (from Sarah); Alana: Frozen (movie), books, a new beyblade (from mom and dad), clothes (from Denver family) and a puppet (from Sarah); Jordan: bath toys, books (from mom and dad), bath toys (from Denver family) and a puppet (from Sarah). We also gave the kids a National Geographic rocks and crystals discovery kit which they’re pretty excited about, though I think the bey blades are the number one gift of the year. I posted pics of presents the kids opened earlier in the week from my parents, and they also received some books from Sandra and Bruce our neighbours across the street, and some gifts from Liz. And guess what... in Bowmanville there were even more gifts! Some from Santa (he found us!) and some from family. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and settled in a bit before the Calgarians arrived.The next few days are a bit of a blur, but included a Christmas Eve candlelight service (Hendrik was SO well behaved, Alana whined and complained and Jordan ran around), and the traditional Brinkman dinner fare of beef and rice. The kids were up pretty early on Christmas day, and were delighted to see that Santa had filled stockings to the brim… it was a jackpot year for stockings (!) - Santa was on par. I can’t remember everything that was in them, but highlights were candy (tic tacs, gum, ring pops), books (the newest Bad Guys, Plants vs Zombies), a whoopee cushion, silly putty and SOCKS. Just kidding, socks weren’t a highlight for the kids, but they were for me. There were more presents in the afternoon – clothes and books and a toy or two for each of the children (Alana got a Lego set, Hendrik got a motorized Knex toy, and Jordan got a digger and a dump truck which he immediately tried to ride). We headed off to the Tukkers for an incredible Christmas dinner, and were home for an on the late side bedtime for the kids and an early one for the parents. Everyone is gearing up for New Years Eve tonight, and since my computer died and I forgot to bring my charger, I'm finishing things up on Marg's computer - which means there are some pics missing. More to come (soon) next year!