May days :)

I spent a little while this afternoon looking back on the blog, and I am SO glad that I have this record of our lives and our many adventures. Jordan is turning two soon, and I wanted to see what Hendrik and Alana were like at the same age, but I'll save what I found for a post closer to Jordan's birthday (this means I have to post again soon). I think I might bullet post this one and get to some photos on the double; otherwise, it might not happen (the posting part). The kids aren't quiet until so late, and I normally don't want to do anything but blob on the couch after squeezing in a few last jobs every day.

• This won't come as a surprise at all, but Jordan wants to be just like his older brother and sister, and has almost given up on his high chair to sit at the table (only sometimes on a stool) in a regular chair with the tabletop at his forehead. This makes for lots of spills... and even more insistence on staying put (after spills). 
• The kids had an art show at school a few weeks ago; all artwork was priced by the artists with proceeds going towards new Chromebooks. Hendrik's was priced at $5 and Alana's was $1... quite affordable! And now we finally have something up above fireplace!
• Activities reboot this week, so life is about to get busy (busier). Alana is doing t-ball and soccer and Hendrik is doing baseball. We'll do lots of backyard sports (last night Hendrik and I played pepper and then we had a family baseball game - team Pink Power lost to the Blue Jays 12-11... it was close!) and we'll buy a membership to the city's outdoor pools again. 
• Work is going well and will soon be a bit less busy as the Forest of Reading program ends this Friday with a field trip to the Festival of Trees event here in London. I'm taking 96 students on two buses - field trip first! Fingers crossed that everything runs smoothly.
• Steve has been busy busy in the backbackyard, building planters, filling planters, planting things, cutting things, pruning things etc. etc. I think most of this work is done while Jordan is asleep in the afternoons, during which time he also manages to get a start on dinner. 
• We are on the house hunt here in London (no imminent moves) but the market is so crazy right now homes list and sell in the same day for a price well over asking... so who knows what will happen. We have to decide where we want to be (if not in the same neighborhood) and then be prepared to pounce. This sounds way too energy consuming.
• The weather has been incredible the last few weeks as it seems as though we went straight from winter to summer. The kids are wearing shorts and summer clothes, and it's been a challenge to get everyone inside and to bed at a decent hour because it's just so lovely out. 

I'm sure there's more to write about - I'll remember something important as soon as I post, but I'll get this up before another day passes. Have a great week!!

box floor fort - not enough real estate for two!

kitchen barbershop!

spring cleaning!

more spring cleaning (and tracing on windows)

last night's family baseball

I've been riding my bike to work - and came home yesterday to this! love...

some favourite books from our last haul (the lunch lady series is great!!)

le art!

🌅

SPRING!

Spring is FINALLY here! And we couldn't be happier.. and by we I mean everyone living in Ontario. Give it a few weeks and I might change my mind just a little bit, but hopefully the allergy sufferers in our house find a way to stay positive because it's not cold anymore! I washed and put away most of the winter stuff this past weekend, but I didn't go so far as to put away the coats just yet - that might entice the coldness to return just because (it's happened before). We were outside ALL weekend, and the kids (and the parents) were t-i-r-e-d after non-stop outdoor activity. We biked and walked and ran and there was SO much time spent on the trampoline... on the BIG trampoline. One of our neighbors moved out west in the winter and we gave their 12 foot trampoline a new home. While Steve was setting it up the kids kept saying, "This is weird. It looks different... What is going on?!" And then we finally let the cat out of the bag. Several hours of jumping followed, as did a bloody nose and a bloody lip... gak! We thought they'd be right tired out but of course the endless font of energy continued to course through their veins and they stayed up late, and then did the same the next day.

I am sure there's much more to write about, but for now this will be short and sweet (I also have no other pictures). Other things I could write about are work (going well), kids (growing fast, tons of energy; Jordan is talking way more - and he's almost 2!), extracurriculars (Hendrik starts baseball soon, I'm hoping Alana gets on a soccer team, Jordan has a music class and loves it), and my husband (I love him, he's AMAZING. He's also so happy the Leafs are winning.). 

Easter weekend amazing-ness

I started this blog on Sunday and here I am getting it done several days later, whoops. But better late than never, right? Things are just a little busy around here. Read on!

After a double batch of waffles this morning (three helpers!) and despite the chilly weather (-7 with wind chill - !) we decided to put on our warm clothes and head outside. After a nice round of Weldon Park we had to drag the kids away from the swings and then again from the half frozen pond (Steve and I were freezing); Jordan walked most of the way, and the older two collected the biggest sticks (branches) they could find for pond ice destruction... fun! And yesterday.... it was good times indeed at the Go Wild Grow Wild expo at Western Fair's Agriplex. This is an event to mark down on your calendars; kids 12 and under are free and adults are $5, and this includes a wide range of activities from holding snakes to rock climbing to making seed bombs (and so much more) - we had a blast! The kids were fearless with the snakes - I had to pass on holding them.

the eyes!

I've been wanting to write about last weekend ALL WEEK! I had the best time. It was definitely the most spectacular wedding I've ever been to, and just so so special to be a part of. The long and short of it is that my sister got married last Saturday, close to the Journeyman Lodge, a small backcountry ski place between Squamish and Whistler. I flew in on Thursday and after an ah-mazing lunch with a friend, I joined my family and my sister and her (now) husband's friends at Squamish's The Joinery (a great place for dinner and drinks - and breakfast the next day). Mid-morning on Friday we made our way up to the Alexander Falls Touring Centre where some of us donned cross-country skis and took to the hills for 14km. It was mostly uphill and all groomed - which is a good thing for me, since it's been oh about 25 years since I've been on cross-country skis. The weather was good and the views were absolutely beautiful; the three and a half trek actually went by fairly quickly! I'm so glad I did the ski - it was so nice to be outside and get some exercise. We met my mom and Karin up at the lodge where we got the run down on how things worked; the power is only on between 7am and 10am and between 4pm and 10pm, so if one needs to shower or flush toilets or use power, there's a timeline. Meals are included with the stay, and there are multiple communal gathering and sitting areas. The accommodations were perfect - I had my own little room with two sleeping nooks which, of course, made me think of the kids... they would have loved it! Sarah and Gabriel scouted a wedding ceremony site while the rest of us relaxed, unpacked, and got settled in. 

site prep

On Saturday Karin and I tried out our cross-country skis but ended up on snowshoes to head downhill to the ceremony site to help with set-up. It wasn't until we were back at the lodge that Gabriel pointed out that they'd set up camp right next to Conflict Lake - ! Haaaa! Solitude Peak and Ring Peak were a few of the mountains surrounding the area, so it got us talking about whether it meant anything (no conclusions). The ceremony was just after lunch, and the sun came out and it was actually warm... so Sarah was able to be in her dress (without a sweater) for a good 20 minutes. She arrived on her skis in her dress looking absolutely beautiful and so so so so happy... it was just perfect. Post-ceremony, the bride and groom took some photos and then there was some champagne and toasts/speeches back at the lodge before most of us took to the wood-fired sauna (this also involved some dunking in the frigid creek). Sarah changed into my mom's wedding dress for dinner, and then there was cake, wine, and much merriment around some high-stakes pool. For the most part we were in bed by 10ish every night, and it was so lovely to have some longer sleeps. On Sunday Karin and I took the snowmobile down (I drove - SO fun!) and went for sushi and ran some errands in North Van before I took transit to Steve's cousin's place in Dunbar. (On a side note, transit in Vancouver is now super easy, and almost, dare I say, enjoyable? Or maybe it was just the Seabus that was nice.) I went for a walk with a friend before hunkering down (this is something my mom would say - don't you think mom?) with the cousins for a mutual recap of our and our families' lives, and it was so great to catch up. And then... and then and then 5:00 came pretty early on Monday morning for the long trip home BUT! My lovely family was there to meet me at the airport in London, and there's nothing like saying hi to happy kids after a few days apart. Easter was good to everyone here in Ontario too, and there was much talk of the Easter Bunny, Grandma and Gramps and Pam, and of course there was chocolate. So much love!

Dad and Karin

Bride, baby (someone else's) and Dad

getting ready to ski up - wedding dress in bag in hand! the yellow sled bucket carried all of our stuff.

mid-ski up. taking a break! (not sure if this was before or after we realized the marriage license was still in the car!

sisters :)

Steve made me promise I'd take lots of pictures... so here they are!

The Journeyman Lodge

hair time!

wedding day! snowshoeing out to the site for some last minute touches

family minus one (we missed you Claire!)

bride-arrival

mom and bride - in mom's dress!

this cake!!! it travelled all the way from QC. Amazing!

ready to rip! stoked for the scenic ride down.

family one by one update (lots o pics!)

There's never enough time! No time to exercise no time to blog no time to do all the cleanup laundry cleaning reading emailing planning studying ugh! Deep breath. I know that this is a busy time and there's no expectation or pressure to do all of these things, but I DO want to do many of these things and I do have to do lots of these things. Mrrrrrr... One thing at a time I guess. Like right now! Blog. (And do laundry.)

Me
Let's do a family update, one by one - it's been a while! So yeah, this is me at work - no fun at all. Bah! I booked a green screen for the next few weeks and it is so fun! I only have the basic functions down, but teachers are signing up for slots and kids are doing news broadcasts and sending postcards to their parents from Paris and all sorts of fun things. The app is SUPER easy to use, and cheap; I'm thinking we might just buy a green tablecloth and get the app so we can do this kind of thing at home. Work is going well - busy busy busy, but great. I love how much the kids are into reading and the books I'm buying, and I have quite a bit of freedom to do what I want which is nice. I like the French part too, and am studying to recall many of the words and the grammar that lays buried under dust upstairs. I'm trying to fit in a few workouts a week (four hour ski coming up in seven days) but it is hard to find the time. I would like to go at lunch but it has been SO COLD here - windchill -10 kind of cold, and windy. This kind of weather is NOT fun to run in. (Not fun to do anything in.) I'm also one of the leads on a huge fundraiser at the kids' school, so that's taken up a big chunk of time. And I donned my one Gonzaga t-shirt last week to cheer on the men and women in the second round of the NCAA tournament; the women lost and the men won, and which game do you think was on TV? Yup. This time of year always gets me a little annoyed at the lack of women's coverage. Equal air time? Not even close. And I'm sure there's more, but I can't think. Time to move on to....

Jordan

If Jordan were to say his five favourite things I'm sure he'd say baby, ice cream, books, soothers, and his family. Last weekend the kids had some friends over, and while the four of them were playing in Hendrik and Alana's room, Jordan crawled up into Hendrik's bed, grabbed a Battle Bugs book and got down to it. Mini-Hendrik? I think so. He is still a very picky eater, but won't refuse french fries, bacon (really), or yogurt, and he loves bananas and knows where the ice cream is (just tonight he moved a chair and opened the freezer - but couldn't quite reach the tub). I think he's loving time at home with Dad, and the two of them get out to several regular activities each week such as music class, swimming, play group, and the grocery store. He loves doing what his big bro and big sis do, and loves being outside. Like the rest of us, he's ready for Spring. Oh and the baby thing - cutest ever! He loves this little baby that we have, and takes it to bed, to school to pick up the kids, and sometimes on outings. He's definitely saying more words - baby, car, Anna (as in Anna and Elsa) good... and more? I can't think - time to move on!

Alana
The Easter bin is out, and you better believe we've been playing Easter bunny. One person is the bunny and everyone else "sleeps" in the kitchen; when the rooster crows, it's morning time and oh! Did the Easter bunny come? Yes he/she did! And then the hunt begins. (The kids love it.) What's the latest with this one? She hasn't shown any hesitation to go to swimming lessons, so my fingers are crossed that she is out of the I don't want to do anything stage. She still loves being a big sister, and is quite the helper with Jordan (she is teaching him important vocab like Anna, Elsa, Olaf etc.). She is still crazy about monkey bars, loves hanging out with her friends, and is now an independent reader! She's doing such a good job with reading, and has been all over the Elephant and Piggie books (which are great).

Hendrik
You can't really tell from this picture - maybe because there's slime and he's doing a zombie face - but it's quite the challenge getting a nice picture of this one. He'll dart out of the way at soon as he sees that you're trying to snap a pic, or will make a ridiculous face rendering the picture utterly unusable. Bah! Oh well. He just finished floor hockey, is rocking his swimming lessons, and starts baseball pretty soon. He's still a voracious reader, is pretty good at math, and loves watching sports (and making slime and bugging his sister almost as much as she loves bugging him). He loves being literal (sometimes funny and mosttimes not), and has some pretty creative nicknames for us; I'm either "mompeeps" or "fluffa" or "fluffabot" and Steve is "dadpeeps". I wonder what people think when they hear this in public. What else what else... He's been pretty good with his little bro lately which is so so sweet; and .... get ready.... he's been nicer to his sister too. THERE! I said it. Please don't let that jinx things.

Steve
Steve spent the second half of March break in Hamilton, where the McMaster men's volleyball team hosted Nationals. He left Wednesday afternoon and arrived home on Sunday night, spending most of his time in a volleyball bubble at the gym or hotel. The team put up a good fight in the semi-finals but lost to Trinity Western, and had to settle for a masterful 3-0 win against Alberta to earn the bronze medal. And just like everyone else in the family, he's ready for spring; Jordan loves being outside, but it would be more fun for everyone if it were a bit (/a lot) warmer. He's been cooking up some amazing meals and is in the finals of his hockey league woot woot! Hopefully we can get out to watch a game or two, but that'll likely be after Easter.

Enjoy the pho-tos!

a late afternoon stop at the park - the sun was warm but the air was cool!

driving at the park 

Jordan with baby and his soothers - under a blankie! Adorable.

This is what I found in my bed one night last week... thanks A!

Zag for life!

everyone playing nicely... love love love

running around in an empty gym is actually very fun... and it helps accomplish the goal of tiring out our kids. (they won't sleep otherwise....)

VAMPIRE!

ZOMMMMBIE goo blaaaaah