of all the mice in the world....

Kris and i just celebrated our 13th anniversary.

just after we started dating he kept asking me to come to his church and meet his group of friends from "Summit". that was about 12 years ago.

it was a large group at that time with a lot of friendly and fun people. we met every friday night for years. some of us met more often for bible studies, movies, sports events, coffee, supper.... ski and camping trips, hiking trips, bike rides... we were in our early twenties and knew everything! we miss those days!

we made some good friends. many of them we still keep in contact will. and a few we still see regularly.

james and gail have an amazing property. complete with horses and dogs. which means straw and a barn. a little mini-farm.

they have a large firepit. i think if the weather had been warmer all of us would have been sitting out here. the air was chilly. but not by the firepit where the crackling logs put out a great deal of heat. i can never tire of hearing the snapping sounds and watching the sparks fly above the fire.

back in those days when it was typical to stay up well after midnight. but then we could usually sleep in until noon too.

it was amazing how many of us were still quite awake at 12:30am when we left....

and i'm sure most of us were wishing we still had that energy when our kids woke us up by 7:30am!!

it was the latest night for our babysitter, Kayla. we usually have her home around 11pm. we thought that would be exciting enough for her.

she greeted us with the words, "i just saw the grossest thing...." we knew that one could go in any direction!

apparently Aidan caught this with his bare hands:

well, not exactly this one. most likely his brother. or sister. {we're just hoping they weren't cousins!}


a few weeks ago Kris heard the dreaded "scampering" sound in the ceiling tiles. and two nights later he caught the culprit. the next night he caught a second. {mice like peanut butter} and we never heard anything after that. a few nights ago he saw a baby mouse scamper across the basement floor. he managed to trap it under a jar.

and we thought we were done.

we've never had a mouse in our house until now. our guess is that the mama and papa mice entered the house during the garage construction. our only source of electricity for tools was inside our house, so the door had been open for long periods of time.

our poor babysitter had to deal with Aidan and the mouse he caught. then she saw another one and had to catch it herself. she's a compassionate girl and shared some of her popcorn with it, then set it out into the wild. apparently mice also like popcorn....

mice trapped: 2 adults and 3 babies.

until today.
in a short space of time 3 more babies made their prescence known.

and we are hoping that is it. 6 babies seems like a decent litter for mice.

we hope.

earlier this week these four unsuspecting children and a mother thought they were the only ones in our house.....

had we only known.





***update: mice trap count is now 2 adults and 7 babies. yick!

so

last Sunday i had to get the kids away from the house. Kris had his brother helping him with the garage. and Aidan feels that he should be helping. then Kiara thinks that she should as well. it ends up being more work for all of us trying to keep them away!

it was the harvest fair at fort edmonton.

there were some new sights for the kids to enjoy.

this was the first one. and i have to add a very slow way to harvest a field...i guess the million dollar price tag on those combines is worth every penny.

then there was the treat. i love feeding my kids lunch at home and having them refusing to eat. but when you are a "safe" distance from home....they suddenly become hungry. i'm sure there is a psychology term somewhere for that phenomenon.

{oh and this was the healthiest snack i could find that was nearby}

they really love these tents.

so many people lived in these tents for two years while they waited for their home to be built...they bought haybales and piled them around the canvas as insulation. and then added some asbestos around the stove pipe to prevent their tent-home from burning down. that was a different world.

the train was busy, busy, busy. they had a couple of extra streetcars out. we tried out a new one. this was the most modern one. the kids were thrilled to get their own little seat. so was i. but the actress in front of them was quite unaware that she was now responsible for them....


although these special days are fun and new, there is a price. tired children. very tired mothers. and tired employees and volunteers. the kids do get a lot more attention and enjoyment on the quieter days we've gone. those days when i don't have the stamina to keep up with them, but some interested staff person thinks they are the most adorable children ever laid eyes on. it helps. we're all happier. i've also learned that the "short" trip to the park needs to have at least two hours set aside for the adventure. it always seems to take that long!


what a crazy, busy and interesting week we've had.

Kristian almost got a project at work that would have made him very busy. at the last minute it was cancelled. he was not disappointed.

we had friends over for most of the days this week. Kelley and Christopher are much loved friends of the kids. if they could chose a new family to join, then this would be the one. fortunately her kids feel that way about us too. phew! Kelley enjoys doing crafts with me. she's a very creative girl. Christopher looks forward to checking out the toys and seeing if we had new additions. and our kids adore whatever they suggest. it is very cute. the trade-off is more clean up and having to stay close to home. but the kids actually quite ignore me and want to do their own thing and talk each others' ears off. it's great. the last day they were here they decorated boxes into cars and had their own drive-in movie theatre. they actually sat in the "cars" for most of the movie.


i had a surprise call on Tuesday asking if we could watch Will (15 month boy) because it seemed pretty clear that his little brother Daniel was ready to be born. so four hours after they left Will at our house, he was born. and i got to hold him two days later....so tiny! 7 lbs. 1 oz. that newborn stage is so amazing.


i was so happy to get out twice this week. once to laugh about life in Vi's while we enjoyed chocolate caramel cake. {i'll just say in memory of a certain person who was missed!} then i got to hang out at my favourite scrapbook store. and then laugh with Timmy. love those times...never happen often enough, but so good when it does work!


i thought the week was getting pretty quiet. until today. i got another surprise phone call from Waverly School. they had a .5 (morning) teaching position for a temporary period - until the end of October. i have only ever been offered one other teaching position with the school board.

{a .475 (9:10 am to 11:15am) in February, right after we learned we'd have Aidan in October. i had to pass that one up and it hurt! it would have been great, except it would not have let me take on any long term assignments. which meant that i would have to sacrifice my benefits from EI.}

so i actually surprised myself when i listened to Joanne on the phone and allowed her to describe the situation. then i was shocked that my voice was saying that i would take it if i could arrange childcare. keep in mind that the official first day of school is on Tuesday. they only had a few hours to let me decide. in the past it has taken me weeks to arrange for child care. now it had to be done by lunch time....and i only had drunk one cup of coffee!!

i called Kris first and he was ecstatic. that was a good sign.

i went through my mental list of people that may know someone or be able to help. everyone that i called was not at home. or ignoring me! and you think i didn't know! lol!! i pulled out my cell phone - otherwise known as my other phone directory - and went down my list. almost the last person was Vicky. we go way back. taught together for seven years. and she now - after a series of moves - lives around the corner to the school i'd work at. and she was home. and she was interested!

in a matter of hours, which truly did feel like weeks, i managed to get a schedule with Vicky, their grandma and my friend Gloria {also known as their other mom!}.

by this time Joanne was getting more anxious. she's like me and was not comfortable that it was taking so long to fill this position. it was nice to call her with my decision and have her scream with joy. that is always a nice start to a job!

now normally i would be in a panic. i don't even know what classroom i'll be in! no idea of the students' names or their abilities. i do know who will be working with me and feel very assured that they have the room ready. and i have a sneaking suspicion that - although it stressed them out - they had fun doing it. Erna and Dymphna will be my heros. and i can't wait!

i already went out to look at clothes. but i think i'll have to sort that one out. i'll be working with lots of messy stuff. the last thing i want to do is get something brand new and stain it with blue paint in a month. that has happened before. it's one of those jobs where you want to look nice, but you don't want to wear anything too nice. kind of like what i wear around the house! maybe i need to sew an apron? or buy one!


and i have taken photos. they are being stored safely on my camera. waiting for a spare minute to download and then print.


just need to quiet the excitement and then get down to the tasks that still need to be done!


tomorrow is another busy day. but it will be fun. can't wait!

look

at the transformation...


this post will be short and specific. hmmm....we'll see....


the garage is in its final stages. and we can not wait.


here are some photos from the original garage. yup. it has looked like that the entire time we've owned this house. and the fifty years before that!


{i do miss the Siberian Larch}



then we "toredownourgarage" as Aidan rapidly tells everyone we see.
if you are just tuning in: underneath the very solid concrete pad, at the front and centre, was a steep car part. yes a clunker from sixty years ago. very old.

a pile of dirt and gravel. totally bare.

and then lots of sweat, blood, more sweat, and yes a few tears!

our nearly complete project.

{and the black trim is actually the tar paper, but it sure looks sharp in the photo!}

and here are the views that we look at every day.

so it is coming along.

new job. new garage. no holiday time. i've got my fingers crossed that we can get the yard and fence completed before snow. it would be great to be able to enjoy lawn and a safe place to play (no nails, boards, concrete and steel....)before it is too cold to play in the yard.

reminders

for the past week i've been spending my time reviewing photos i've taken since January. and picking a few that i want developed. so. much. work. i am in the middle of June, so just a few more months to go. then i need to check and see if i finished last year off....

i skipped ahead to a day in August...

we took the kids out for an evening ice cream treat.

and then to a nearby park to play and wear off some of the sugar before bed.

the kids love it when daddy joins us. i think he has as much fun as the kids...

what do you think?!


like father. like son.

love these smiles.


this has been a rough week. seem to be making too much of a habit of these lately.

for me, my new year has always been September. that is when i tend to make resolutions or new plans. guess that all points back to a lifetime of being a student or a teacher! we are all so ready for September to be a good new start.

i'm finding inspiration in Jody {nitty.gritty.jody} and Angie {bring the rain}. the struggles that i have are so much less than what they have had to experience. there is no comparison. but they are inspiring to look at the bigger picture.

i watched the interview with Larry King and Stephen Curtis Chapman family this week. it was amazing. a story of grief, love, forgiveness.... three months ago, their son ran over their youngest daughter and she was fatally wounded. she had seen him driving up the lane and had run out to meet him...but he did not see her...he was driving cautiously and it still happened. at one point he shared that we need to look at life as a huge mural...it's bigger than we can comprehend or even see. the only parts that we see is a small portion. and we all know that you need to look at an entire mural to understand the full picture....but it's hard to see when you are only allowed to view a small portion.

right now these photos remind me of the amazing gifts i've been given.

i look forward to seeing that huge and genuine smile on each of my kids faces.

i love seeing the relationship between Aidan and Kiara develop.

i'm so glad that Kristian has a job that involves a supportive team, even though it is challenging.

i am happy that we are all together and happy.

even though i wish my babies would sleep until at least 9am each day, i do enjoy their voice when they first awake. i love being kissed and cuddled by them as i get my body to wake up.

i love that we can go to so many places nearby that make them happy. let them run. let them laugh.


definitely good to remind ourselves regularly of those little things that give us joy....

these days

there is so much to do for fun. we love summer in the city!

today the weather is not so wonderful. a good day to hang out at home. but we're hoping to venture out and check out Fort Edmonton. the train is hit. so is the streetcar. and now they have discovered the penny carnival games. although since when does it cost a "loonie" to play a "penny"game? copper has turned to brass....


here is the evidence from fun from Tuesday. {Monday was a record breaking hot one...we spent it at the spray park....without the camera so that i could cool off too....kids can be a convenient excuse at times!}

lots to do at "the little kahuna" fringe festival. one event was face painting. here are the photos:


Aidan chose the sword. i guess the days of puppy dogs and frogs and little red cars are passing....

Kiara is actually happy with anything. there were so many choices for her, so we had to choose for her! here is her flower painting.

there is an imagination craft area. lots of recyclables. they both made medals.

a real source of pride for them!

that night i made this yummy BBQ dish. i could eat this every day.

chicken marinated (for only 20 minutes!) in a chili and lime sauce. then put on skewers.

skewer some mango chunks and red pepper.

add honey to some reserved sauce to make a glaze. and brush it on at the end of the cooking.

the kids love it too!

here is the recipe for Grilled Chicken and Mango Kabobs on the Canadian Living website.

and there is still lots of activity on our block.

the water pipes are in the ground. the garage is up and sealed and protected from rain.

but there is a ditch behind our lot.

we had wanted to get a bin in and get rid of our concrete from the sidewalk. and the extra dirt from the garage excavation. but the alley was blocked and not passable for a large truck.
we were thrilled when the company doing the excavating of the road disposed of our concrete too. the only cost was the inconvenience of having no alley. i've noticed one of our neighbors did the same thing with some concrete that has been around forever....and not a pretty site.

i don't mind the ditch right now. we still don't have a fence. the ditch means no traffic to worry about the kids running into. and it also sort of blocked the kids into the yard.

look what showed up.

the gravel is arriving and filling in part of the ditch.

big machines. more excitement.

Aidan is waiting for is "Rolly".

unfortunately Rolly does not build fences. when that dirt is gone, then the fence can go up. when you hear crazed yelling, then you will know it is complete. and the crazed yelling will be my voice. and if you can listen closely you will hear the 'hallelujah' and 'yes' words called out repeatedly.

further proof that i should not be allowed near building sites:

Kristian installed the two windows in the garage. as he proudly showed off his work, i say, "are they inside out?" i guess he agreed, so they got switched. and we formed a pact to not tell his dad.

the siding went up on this last hot saturday. well, most of it. the odd part were the windows. they stuck out a lot. and were difficult for the siding. of course this was not a problem until he got to the top, the drip cap. he was discussing his dilemna with a friend of his brothers' who is a builder.

wouldn't you know it but the windows are in backwards.

Kris has been really good about it all. i may be enlisted to help in removing some siding. or he may do it while i'm sleeping. just to be on the safe side.

sometimes it is just better to stick with what you know. or at least keep your mouth shut!

i've been sent back to the scrap room. awww....such a shame! ha!!

Shel Silverstein has a poem that goes like this:

If you have to dry the dishes

(Such an awful, boring chore)

If you have to dry the dishes

('Stead of going to the store)

If you have to dry the dishes

And you drop one on the floor--

Maybe they won't let you

Dry the dishes anymore.

hmmmmm.......

so happy

for the summer heat. and for all of us to be healthy to enjoy it!


we went to a local park that has a spray deck, and all of us had a blast. it wasn't too busy until a couple of daycares joined us. and then there was the water balloon fight. Kiara was not as impressed as Aidan. they both love balloons, but i think that Aidan was in awe that balloons could also be filled with water.


it was very cool this morning so we went to check out the fringe festival. we got there shortly after the opening ceremonies...which i think we'll try to attend. Aidan got his face painted for the first time ever. Kiara has had her face airbrushed, so this was old stuff for her. they made their own medals and played games. Aidan had perma-grin. Kiara started to push other kids...thankfully she is apologizing. still deciding if this should make me proud of my little bully....can't wait until this phase comes to an end. for the price of a very nice dinner (for me!) in a respectable restaurant i fed my kids green onion cakes, mini-donuts and a fresh coconut. seriously....am i just cheap to think that $4 for a small bag of mini-donuts is overpriced? or do i just not get out enough to be aware of inflation? i also told them that we will be eating extra vegetables at supper time to make up for our carb-sugar lunch. Roslyn, i can already see your reaction....it's okay to do this as a special occasion, right?!




this was free fun. i got lots of practice with my new camera. of course the best bubbles were before the camera came out of the bag....


another day i thought it would be fun for a river valley walk. of course i brought the camera. i would love to do a photo shoot down there with the kids. try to get them dressed and hair done....and see if luck will be on my side.

i'm happy with this one. need some practice with the manual setting to get a clearer view of my subject.

this one talks a million miles a minute. literally. so far he has been rather quiet in group settings...but getting prepared for those comments from his teachers that he "likes to contribute to group discussions". Kris is quiet. and for the most part Kiara is rather quiet too. Kris thought i was a "talker"....boy he never knew how wrong he could be....

it is amazing how much stuff Kiara learns from Aidan. some days it is cute. we won't get into the "other days".

this was at the end of our walk. notice they are ignoring me? have i mentioned that neither of them is still for long? this faster shutter speed is a godsend!

if you were to ask them what their mother looked like, their description would probably look like this:

yeah. no wonder they run the opposite the direction when they see what i'm wearing.....

okay off to do more stuff. without the camera!

loving

summer!


some days i get really overwhelmed. a garage that has taken the entire summer to work on and is still not complete. (especially tough when i truly thought it would be done in a month of weekends....mmmhmmm....i will not be so naive next time.....) a yard that is a mess...especially tough when our yard was actually quite nice at one time. escaping to our tiny house is not a big help either!


here are some parts of summer that i have still enjoyed. and it was nice to see that after looking at a few photos that i actually don't have photos of everything that makes me happy. sad that i have not taken enough photos {and also very laughable!}.

this apple is on our newest apple tree. it is completely burdened with apples. we're taking this as a good sign!
the unfortunate {yeah i had to add that} part is that we have been pelted with a few hailstorms, so all of our apples are dented on at least one side. this photo is taken from the apples' good side....see even apples have a better side!
{sorry i'm still healing from the corny experience earlier this week...i'm sure it will pass}

and a few of the raspberry plants managed to survive all the garage "experience". the kids enjoy eating these daily.

and even the pear tree is doing very well. especially considering it has been practically abandoned and surrounded by junk for most of the growing season.

and the favourite toy of the season.

they are still perfecting "the slide". i keep encouraging them to lay flat. perhaps my refusal to demonstrate the skill is part of the problem. i remind myself that they are only young children, and they have plenty of time to practice this skill....as i relax on my lawnchair and drink my pina colada.

today Aidan insisted that we have a water fight. i tried to get him to teach Kiara the necessary water fighting skills. that didn't work. she is great for defence, but hopeless in offence. no worries though, i properly soaked the boy. and realized after the war that his aim has improved greatly. my soaked clothing and wet hair proved that rather well. he did try to get me to wear my swimsuit...it is like he knew.....

everyday Aidan tells Kristian that they need to work. poor man has put in a long days work and has to have his son tell him to do more of it! there has got to be a way to get those kids to share their excess energy with us. it just isn't fair. i love that Aidan is starting to mature a little in his social skills. he has caught on that we get great joy in teasing him. i love his line...."you're joking, right mommy?" he has such a sweet way of saying it.

came across some neat entries tonight in the blog world....

go see Kathy Thompson and these baby photos. they will make you melt.

and there is a neat post about photography tutorial and tips for the beginner at Saucy's blog. even if you hate photography, it is fun to read her posts. i also love that she posted photos of her camera....great photos and she uses a point and shoot.

well, off to get rested for another busy day.....

keeping it light

where has the week gone?


why do summer days have to pass so quickly? especially the nice ones?


i think the hilight of the week was a trip to Lacombe. it didn't start out so great. we were definitely a gong show from the moment we woke up until an hour after we got to our destination. thankfully things improved dramatically and the day ended on a much more fabulous note!


Kiara has not proven herself to be a fun travelling companion. we just can't wait until she starts to share what makes driving so annoying...no not really. i discovered on our last car trip that two things make a huge difference to her life while travelling. one is a variety of snacks. who can argue with that? the second is movies. we got ourselves a set of screens and they don't make the trip perfect, but they sure contribute to keeping my sanity. which we all know is worth a great deal these days!


we met up with my friend, Stacey and her daughter Taylor and her mother at the Lacombe Corn Maze. very country. very fun.

recycled tire becomes a horse.
these were all attached to an old horse training wheel, so it also turned manually like a ferris wheel. the older kids were able to touch the ground to make the horses buck and run...

i wish i got a better photo of his face....see how he is holding on? this slide wiggled everything out of you. one poor woman got conned into going down the slide by her daughter. now that would have been a great picture!

we loved the activities in the courtyard. but we came to do the maze...

they had a maze for little kids. very basic. no one got lost.

so then we tried the real maze. they have it divided up into 3 phases. the third phase had only one marker to find. perfect, we thought. and it was. a little tricky. but no one got lost. although it did help to have Kiara in a rental wagon with food.

so far so good, we tried the first phase. found the first marker, and then we kept getting into dead ends. i'm not sure if the two oldest kids knew what they were doing, or even why we were doing it. but they loved running on the paths. at one point they ran like Forrest Gump. Stacey ran after them. i stayed with Kiara and the wagon. Stacey's mom went the other direction determined to find out where we went wrong. for five minutes i heard nothing and began to wonder what plan the farm had to rescue two toddlers and a grandmother from the maze. fortunately the kids found their way out. then were found by Stacey. and slowly the rest of us left the maze.

it was at this point we realized there was a second side to the large sign at the entrances to the mazes. those trails aren't for sissies. we got the kids together and returned to the fun and relaxation and stress-free environment of the courtyard.

we decided that we will come back.....in another four years....with walkie-talkies...or whatever fabulous technology they have at that point!

no pun intended....lots of the areas had some corny themes.

here is the "corn box". i think they spent at least an hour here.

there was the famous jumping pillow.

it is perfect for draining energy from every one. Kiara was not so sure about the concept. but Aidan and Taylor had a blast.

here is another activity we did at the end of the day. rubber duck races. all three of the kids liked the pumps. Kiara wasn't strong enough to work them, but she liked the ducks much better.

Lacombe used to have a hole-in-the-wall ice cream store. cheap and yummy ice cream. the town is becoming modernized now. they old creamery store is gone. the ice cream store has now moved into the brand new theatre across the street. it is still good. and it is still cheap. but the whole experience is not the same. i took the kids through the Tim Horton's drive thru instead. that is also new. it was at this point that i discovered Kiara who hadn't complained for a while, was actually sound asleep.

not a whole lot of stuff to report. our alley is now a ditch. and our concrete sidewalk blocks are now removed and not our problem anymore. soooo nice. the kids are fascinated with this first stage of new alley replacement. these two have seen more construction action in their short lives...we've lived here for ten years and this is the most we have seen in the neighborhood too. we're just so lucky we got our concrete when we did. the garage package also got delivered just before the alley was blocked.

had an awesome evening out with some friends, and ended the evening on the phone to 911. long and weird story...we're fine. a woman we didn't know needed help.....totally strange situation, and scary.

i've been trying to work on a project that is worth teaching. part of that process involves two things for me. one is looking for ideas. the second is just working on layouts or projects. and somewhere in the looking and working, i figure something out! i now have a zillion photos to have to go through. this blog is helpful because i can go back and that helps jog my memory of the fun stuff that is worth focusing a project on or even a layout. right now is a fun time at the store because of all the new products coming in. the girls were so busy tonight. there was a class. lots of shoppers. and a ton of stuff to put on the shelves. i was so shocked with the amount of stuff that came in this week that i didn't have enough time to look at everything. it was also one of those nights when i intended to just look.....maybe it was a good thing i didn't have time on my side? let's just say that Kaiser is kicking it. at least for this week! lol