This is my life.

News, bigtime

We moved here, to High Level 5 years ago on October 21st. We said, five years. Five years and then we will go somewhere more.. permanent.

Like I mentioned in the last post, our trip west this summer made us... itchy. To get out. I have one (really, really great) friend here, and Chris doesn't really. There isn't alot to do, yada yada. Chris has been casually applying on jobs here and there over the last six months or so, with only one "close" Oh my God we could move Interview, which didn't pan out. We were pretty disappointed. Then.

So we come back from Holidays, and get back into our routines. The kids went back to school, I started sitting again for the same family, Chris goes back to work, I start another course. Sydney starts Dance (ballet and jazz). Chris comes home one day from work, and shows me a list of postings for his position, scattered throughout the Okanagan and Kooteney area. We laugh. We dream. He throws his resume in. 

I'd likely bore you with the last few months of ups and downs, the Interview process, the hope, the dissapointment etc. But here we are... 5 years after our 5 year plan. Moving. Our house is sold and mostly packed. We leave in 1 week, 5 days. We have a rental house lined up, with room to store all our unpacked boxes until we find our new home. Help coming to for the long drive (20 or so hours) down. Things have been sold and given away, a small pile remains downstairs. Everything is in place, organized (well, in my head anyway) and ready to go.

The kids are half excited, half sad to leave their friends. I am really excited, and starting to get anxious to go, and really, really sad to leave my friend. And my house. I loved this house. Such great memories were made here. Chris, well, what can I say. This is a dream for us. Everything, down to the last detail since day 1 of this process has gone our way. We know that we are doing the right thing. We know what we have to look forward to. Thank God he didn't get the "close" one. 

I could go on and on about how grateful I am, how lucky I feel. I truly, truly do. I am a big believer of everything happens for a reason. I am SO excited to start our new life. I am SO excited to be closer to family. I am SO excited. Can you tell?

Moving here was exciting. We were young and didn't know what to expect. I feel like we have grown so much these last 5 years, and I wouldn't change a thing. This is the way things were meant to be, they were meant to work out. 

I've been thinking alot the last few days about how I am going to feel when we pull out of town. Will I cry so hard I'll have to pull over? How am I going to say goodbye to one of the best friends I've ever had? So long? See you soon? Stay tuned for more emotional incoherent ramblings...

Backtracking

Well hello there Internet peeps! It's been awhile, I know. I've been busy, ok? So... 

We went on a grand West Coast holiday. We really had a great time. I traveled with the kiddies to Calgary, which really wasn't bad at all. Isabella is old enough to dole ot drinks, pick up lost toys, etc. So in other words she is a huge help, my co-pilot. We made it to Calgary in 11 hours, not too shabby all things considered. We had a great time there visiting Auntie Leah. We shopped, we dined, we parked (er, we took the kids to the park lots...), we laughed, it was great times.

Chris met up with us on the motorcycle the next weekend. We hung out for a day, then took off by OURSELVES to the Rockies. There is no better way, none, than traveling through the mountains on the back of a bike. We skipped the main highway for the old back-roads from Banff up to Lake Louise, and it was heavenly. Winding roads, beautiful scenery. Awesome. We spent the night in Banff and had some good food, good drinks, good times. 

Then, we were off to Vancouver. We took it easy, and had lots of rest stops. It was HOT, and Chris was in Heaven on the bike. We stopped In Salmon Arm for a swim at the lake, and some dinner, and then off to Kamloops for the night. The next morning we took off to Vancouver and arrived in time for lunch. We made it! 

We had such a great time this year in Vancouver. The kids are at such a great age. No naps or bottles to worry about, and Jackson was old enough to really enjoy doing some things, instead of being left at home with Nana, or sleeping through. They loved going to Playland this year! We did so much... Took the new Canada Line a few times, went to the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Londsdale Quay on the sea-bus, shopped, ate, played at the park, Steveston, we bought a really cool kite, visited some with the relations, not to mention all the fun Chris and I had having the bike there! We went downtown a few times, walked and walked and walked. We went to White Rock for the very first time (I feel like Nana was holding out on us, it was amazing there!!!), Chris and I took a walking tour of downtown Vancouver and learned some history, went for dinner alone several times. We had such a good time. Thank you Nana.

Then, we were off to the Okanagon to see Mimi, and the progress on the new house they are building just outside of Penticton. Wow. Cannot wait to go back and stay there!! We got a couple visits in with some of Chris's family as well, swam in the pool, had some great dinners, a weenie roast, the beach (oh... the beach..). We stayed with Mimi in a one bedroom apartment for 2 nights, and managed to make it work, haha. Still can't believe that. We had such a great time. 

I am sure I am forgetting something about this trip. It really was the best trip West we've had so far. Even the drive home (which is usually long boring and depressing) was fun. Lots of singing, and laughing with the kids. We stopped in to see Papa in Grande Cache for a night, and then we came home. 

I've said it so many times, and really still mean it. It's always nice to get home, no matter where home is. We got in, unpacked, and then headed over to our neighbors for a few drinks and a fire. It was nice. That being said...

Home. To me, home is where my family is. As long as I have my husband, my children, and of course the dog, I am happy. Truly. But.. something really stuck with us this trip West. Driving through the Okanagan, Chris on his bike in the heat, the lakes, the mountains, the beauty. Although we were happy to get "home" to our house, and our things, it was different this time.

We are starting to see all the things we are missing out on. All the things the children are missing out on. After being happy to get home to our house, and our handful of friends, it was slightly... depressing. We want to be closer to our family. We want our children to experience more beauty, warmer weather, more opportunity. We've always talked about "when we retire", where we want to be. 

If you think this is a cliffhanger, then you'd be right. Stay tuned for my next update... Whahahaha. 

Summer so far...

It has been an... interesting summer. Between our grasshopper infestation (omg. they are HUGE and UGLY, and EVERYWHERE) and popping my back out for the second time in my life 2 weeks ago (wow, that's what I call pain!!!!), things definitely have not turned out as planned. But. Pain medication has helped, and the grasshoppers have semi disappeared enough for us to at least get outside and enjoy the gorgeous hot weather.

I know the kids are bored sometimes, friends have been away, I could barely move for the first week after my "incident" etc., but I know the next month will be filled with so much activity that I am trying to get them to enjoy being bored alittle right now. Not working. Sydney finished her second round of swimming lessons, and sadly (for her) she didn't pass this level. She was super disappointed, but I reassured her that she just needs to work on her endurance alittle bit and she will do fine redoing it in the fall. Poor girl.

We leave for Calgary in a few days, and then move on to Vancouver once Chris meets up with us on his motorcycle. I will be driving solo this summer with the 3 kids. Wish me luck. We are all super excited! Chris and I will be taking off for 2 whole days by ourselves in the Rockies on the Harley, let's hope Auntie Leah survives, hahaha hohoho.

So ya. A few days to go, and that's it for our summer at home. When we return, we will only have a week and a bit before school resumes, so I keep reminding everyone to go and play outside and enjoy the heat now...

We brought Maggie to the vet the other day to get some doggie "nerve" pills. She will be at the Kennel this year for almost an entire month, and we don't want to run into any frantic calls that our dog is sick, or worse this year. We think she misses us so much that she gets herself worked up and gets really ill. Hopefully our $58 pills will do the trick.

Yesterday was my Birthday, and Isabella suprised me with cupcakes, bought, made and decorated all by herself. She did an awesome job. She has really grown up this summer, being an enormous help to me with the little ones, taking care of a friends flowers and bunnies when they were away, generally just starting to show some great maturity.

So ya. Pretty boring summer so far. Pretty boring post too I suppose. I don't even have any new pictures to put on. Hopefully our adventures over the next while will make for some better blog fodder in a month or so. See you then!!

All about Ramona

I've been calling Sydney "Ramona Quimby" the last few weeks. For those of you that live "sans children", or perhaps live under a rock, Ramona Quimby is a popular children's series from years and years ago (aka, when I was a kid), which Hollywood has recently transformed into their latest kids must see movie.. We've watched it, a few dozen or so times, and it's cute, and funny, and full of all the good things about watching a movie with your kids should be.

 
So. I have this theory. Stay with me on this one. Ever since my little peanut was born, she had these "problems". She didn't grow very well, or very fast, she didn't breath very well, coughed a lot, etc. She was also shy, quiet, sweet and dainty. Don't think they are related? Hang on a sec.

It took us a few good years of figuring things out for her. Different meds, steroids, etc. Finally, (I think I wrote about this already but am too busy lazy to check) we got the right combination about a year and a half ago. She was put on a new Med called Singulair, and with the proper dosage of pill and inhalers, seemed to almost instantly improve, almost overnight it seemed. No more coughing spells, throwing up at night, her weight and height put her back on the growth chart since she was little, little. When she got a cold, it was simply a cold. No more panic attacks for Mommy about possible late night visits to the ER for breathing treatments.

 
A few months ago, I started reading some of the side effects of this wonder drug she was on. It is a relatively new drug for kids, so they really don't know all the long term side effects yet, especially for kids under 5. Let me express now, my sincere gratitude that this drug even exists and what it has done for my little girl. But, after reading some of the things other parents have started to encounter, I made the decision to wean her off of it to see how she would do. She still had her twice daily dose of inhaler, and a "rescue" inhaler in case of any shortness of breath etc. So, over a period of over a month or so, she weaned.

 
Once she had safely been off the drug for about another month, I started weaning her off the inhaler as well. Today, she is completely free of any and all drugs in her system. She is not coughing, short of breath, or throwing up, and her appetite has maintained as it was months ago.

 
Now. One of the reasons I wanted to wean her of the pill, was one particular side effect that was becoming apparent. Singulair is a steroid, which can cause irritability, mood swings, aggressive behavior, etc. I had started to notice that maybe Sydney was showing some of these symptoms. It was so gradual, and could have easily been attributed to changes such as starting school, meeting new friends, etc., but I thought it was worth trying to get her off the meds to make sure.

 
Now let me bring this looooong explanation full circle. I don't think Sydney was shy, quiet and dainty at all. And I don't think Singulair caused all these changes to occur either. In fact, I think it's just the opposite. My new theory is this... Sydney was.. sickly since birth. Her shy, quiet behavior, combined with her tiny frame, gave us all the impression that she was dainty and sweet. What Singulair has done, in perhaps making her lungs catch up to where they should have been all along, has released her true inner personality. Given her the confidence to do, and be the little person she was meant to be all along.

 
I let go of the theory that taking her off the pill would return her to the sweet little girl I thought she was before, and stopped getting annoyed by her constant crazy little attitude. Instead, I've had to adjust my attitude to match hers. Now I see her as spirited, with a ton of personality and confidence. This does come with a need for a different discipline style which we are still working on, but overall I think my middle child is finally blossoming into the girl she was always meant to be.

 
Her hair is almost always un-brushed, and you are unlikely to catch her with a clean face, she changes her clothes a hundred times a day to suit her mood/weather/need to be fit for public eyes. But she has so much spunk. And a gleam in her eye that I've never seen before. To see her run playing soccer, or get out of the pool after swimming without being short of breath or coughing is nothing short of a miracle to me. She's beautiful, and I am so happy and thankful that she is here to teach me so much about life and being a parent.

Swimming Finale

I guess I haven't mentioned it, as I haven't mentioned much lately, ahem, but Sydney started swimming lessons 5 weeks ago. She went and watched her friend in her lessons, and decided that she wanted to do it too.

I haven't ever considered putting her in before now, as she has always been so tiny (no body fat AT ALL) and would instantly start to shiver, get blue lips, etc. Seeing as she has put on a good 10 pounds this past year and hasn't really grown vertically too much (read, getting a little chub chub, yay!) I figured we'd give it a go.

Her first lesson, my heart hurt for her. Little thing, sitting with her class. The other kids all knew the instructors, the rules, each other. This was all new to her. I was so worried that she would want to drop out. About 10 minutes in, she came over to the viewing area. This is it, I thought. She's done already. Uh no. She had to pee. As I struggled in the stall to get her wet bottoms off, I asked her if she was ok?

I'm FINE! I LOVE IT! And she was. And she does. 5 weeks later,and she can do this. Amazing.

 

She passed her level 1, and is starting level 2 in July. She is already counting down to her first day. Who knew?

Royal Wedding Viewing Partay

Oh yes I did!

 

I wanted to stay up all night and watch the wedding live, I really did. But. I have children. And a husband who wouldn't call in sick so I could sleep the day away. Sheesh.

 

So I improvised. Let's have a princess viewing party instead! PVR's are the greatest invention, aren't they!!!

 
After a few bumps in the plan, We finally got started just after 1pm.

 

We placed crowns on our heads, had dainty and delicious food to eat, some mimosa's for the little people, and some wine for the Mommies.

 

What a perfect way to spend the afternoon. Even Moomoo got dragged into it.

 
 Although it doesn't appear that she is upset about it. She enjoyed it too.

Easter Break

Like I mentioned, we decided to stick around for Easter. I thought about doing some painting, but in the end I was happy to hang out with the kids, do some organizing and cleaning, and we even made it to the water park/pool. It was nice. Hardly any fighting between the kids, in fact they got along pretty well all week.

 

Friday, my father and his (girlfriend? sounds... too young. um.. partner? Dad? you want to help me out here?) came for the weekend. It was wonderful. We drank some wine, had some good laughs, shared a few good meals. Sydney lost another tooth and now officially looks like a hillbilly. No offense to the hillbilly's.

 
The Easter bunny made an appearance, and brought tons of chocolate for the kiddies to share with their parents. Isabella helped me stuff our plastic eggs the night before(so the dog won't eat the chocolate) and she hid them all by herself around the house. The little ones were up super early that morning, and ate TONS of chocolate all day long.

 

That afternoon, after saying goodbye to Dad and Paulette, we took the kids out to an acreage to see a new horse that was a week old. They tromped around and petted the horses, and they came home with visions of horsies dancing in their heads. It was a great way to finish off the weekend.

So spring has apparently sprung, the days are longer and we are no longer feeling cooped up inside. Onwards to bugs, mud and hard work outside! 

Birthday Extravaganza(s)

 Jackson's birthday, I wanted to keep on the simple side. We invited my friend Denise, and her husband and daughter for supper, and the kids I sit for and their parents afterwards for cake. It was perfect. He was SO excited for everything, but so happy to open presents.

 
Denise the master cake. She did an amazing job, always does. Jackson was thrilled with the cake. We didn't want to eat it.

 

 Of all the 3 kids, he is definitely the most.. expressive when opening presents. There was much oohing and aahing with each new unwrapping. He would toss the clothes aside, and want the toys opened immediately. Until he realized there was more to open, and he would move on to the next one. Cute.

I was worried that he would become shy and quiet, and not want to blow out his candles etc., but I was wrong. He loved the attention.

 
Yes, my eyes are closed. I am posting this picture for the sake of my son. Sacrifice people, sacrifice.

We move on to Isabella's birthday. Again, wanted to keep it low key. I've told the kids that each one of them can have a big birthday once every 3 years, so mommy doesn't have a mental breakdown, and Daddy doesn't go broke. This year was Sydney's turn, next year will be Jackson's, etc.

 

Isabella decided to invite 3 friends for a sleepover, and it conveniently fell on a Friday that the new Harry Potter was playing at the school. They arrived, we fed them, I drove them to the movie, picked them up, they went downstairs and we barely heard from them again. Perfect party.

 
Nana was here for the birthdays, they kids were super excited. Once again I left it as a surprise, which makes it so much more fun. And.. doesn't make me crazy with the "when is she coming" questions.

Next up: Easter! 

 

Spring, spring, finally SPRING

It's been a long time coming, but I think (fingers crossed) we are starting to see signs of spring. We've had a few breaks here and there, but overall it has been a looooong time coming.

So, ya. What's new. We just finished our Easter break. We decided not to go anywhere, and just hang out at home. I was going to paint another room, did I mention that I am FINALLY allowed to start painting this house? No? Well, let's start there then.

 
February break, the kids had a week off which meant I had a week off as well. (The bonus of looking after Teacher's children). I decided that Isabella needed her own space, and that she would need to take over Jackson's room (of course I had just finished decorating the room for him, ha). So we moved Sydney up to the top bunk, and moved Jackson into the bottom for a 2 day trial run. Surprisingly, it went perfectly. The are both heavy, heavy sleepers, so Sydney's occasional middle of the night coughing, or Jackson's emergency pee pee breaks were not disruptive.

 

So. The battle began for choosing a paint color. I (and my paranoid husband) were looking for something.. neutral. Isabella was not. We came to a compromise in the land of Yellow. Bright, bright, bright yellow. The look on Chris's face when he walked in the first day of painting.. well let's just say I wished I had it on camera.

 

Now that it is finished, and her furniture is in etc, it looks great. I am proud to say I did it all myself, and Chris has given me the go ahead to continue. We still need to hang some things on the walls, get a new lamp (she wants a lava lamp!) but she is sooo happy now to have her own room.

I want to update/makeover Jackson and Sydney's room next, right now things are just thrown half - assed on the walls etc., but don't think I am quite ready to make that time commitment as of right now. Bigger room, more stuff to move around, etc. Soon.

Will update again with a recap of both Jackson and Isabella's birthdays, Nana's visit, and our Easter week off! Staaaay tuned!

Oh come on now...

Did anybody REALLY expect me to update any sooner than this?

Moving along.

Sydney's birthday party. 8 little girls dressed as princess's, 3 big girls to help. Nail painting, hair doing, make-up applying. Some food, some mini decorate yourself heart cakes. A pinata. And of course some presents for the girl, and some appropriately themed "make-over" goodie bags to go home.

She had a great time, and told me that she had never had or been to a birthday party any better... expect for Portia's. (Her friend Portia had a snowmobile birthday party the weekend before. Nothing is better than snowmobiling and a bonfire, come on now).

Some pictures.

 
The girls getting "made-up" when they first arrived. I meant to snap a picture of them all together once they were all done, but alas, I didn't.

 
Everyone got their own heart shaped cake to decorate. Why yes! That is me standing on my couch reflected in the mirror!

 
The birthday girl and her cake.

 
Her favorite present. Unfortunately, also her brother's favorite present. She agreed to let him have it after a few days of tears and screaming, and that we would replace it with another. I kept trying to get Jackson to play with another "boy" doll that we had bought him, and he retorted that he didn't want the other one, as he didn't sing. Oh boy. Anyhow, goes to show that sometimes, sometimes, his big sister has a huge soft spot for him, and likes to make him happy.

 
Also super impressed with this particular present. MAKEUP. Lots of it. She has actually gotten really skilled at putting it on. Huh.

And that pretty much sums up the afternoon. She had a great time. They all did. It was fun. I've told the kids that one of them is allowed to have a big(ger) party every year. She won't have another for 3 years. It's all I can handle. Seriously.