these are the days

i am being reminded daily in little ways that God takes care of us. even the little things He cares about! even those little things that we initially thought were problems have turned into blessings. who'da thunk it?!

i spent nearly an entire morning trying to figure out a school for Aidan for ONE YEAR....until the brand new one opens. closed doors. or should i say closed enrollment? reluctantly i went to visit the designated school. and was happily impressed! he should be attending with several of his new neighbors. the school environment is well planned and positive. and his teacher-to-be? i could not be happier. the two years before we had Aidan, i actually had a short-term subbing position for her. so i am fully aware of what his daily schedule and expectations will be like. in fact, if i were to be in a kindergarten teaching position myself....i would have organized the classroom very much how she does it. hmmmm....maybe i will end up being his sub one day?! anyways, she was one of my favourite teachers to sub for back in those days.

blessing.

in so many ways.

and the moving details. wow!

some things just can't be planned better.

for now.....we are enjoying being here. still sad about leaving. but excited and anxious to get to know our new digs! i am very grateful for that. i know it would be miserable if we were going somewhere that didn't "feel right". we love the fact that our new community doesn't "feel like" a brand new, sterile community. we have lots of mature trees that have not been bulldozed. safe paths for little feet. we will miss our lovely neighbors and our park-size backyard. (we won't miss taking care of it! but we will miss the space and privacy.)

little K has enjoyed finding "ladybuggies". she also picks every dandilion flower in her path. a few days ago we were on a bike ride. her first. she immediately stopped to pick dandilions and poke them into her handlebars. too funny. i remembered doing the same thing when i was little.

here she is showing her faves to her big bro:

he does well. i think he is interested just because he knows she likes it. he's totally a boy! loves the space to run. throw balls. and he has discovered how to high center his bike training wheels so that he can ride stationary and FAST!

blessed.

it is so fun to discover these little parts about their personalities as they are growing. it seems like something new pops out each week! they have a zest for life and wake up happy each day. {and they stay happy....just as long as we feed them and protect them from shopping trips!}

i wish that there were more photos of Kristian and i together. i wish that there were more of all of us together. but, when one person is behind the camera, that is just how it is! not every moment calls for the tripod and set up photos. with the reno work done we definitely have more days where we are all together and enjoying the day. these days won't last forever, and we want to make the most of them.



i was so glad the camera was nearby for this shot. about a month ago, we were playing at the playground when the "ice cream truck" drove by. you can hear it coming for blocks. this was also the first year that Aidan knew what it was. that was on purpose. because this is not a kid on a bike carrying a freezer of frozen goodies. it is a van. driven by a grandmother. air conditioned. and it drives by almost every day. for a kid, it is fun to buy a treat. but to get a treat, and have to hear the music taunting you to come buy more 10 more times and not get a treat...well, that is TORTURE for a kid!!

for the last month, Aidan has been hoping for it to drive by again.

finally it did. it was fun to watch him suddenly come to life when he figured out the music was coming from the ice cream truck.

Kiara has been in love with "ladybuggies". the ladybuggies love this tree. Kiara is seen by this tree 90% of the time she is in the backyard. the remainder of the time she is taking the ladybugs for walks, picking dandilions for them to enjoy or throwing them into the air to go back to their mommies.

one ladybuggy survived a walk around our block. when i took Aidan to playschool yesterday she managed to hold THREE ladybugs in her fist. that is a talent!

i hope that she will be able to find more ladybuggies at our new house. we don't have any 60 year old trees in our backyard...but there are plants! surely some of them will find the aphids and come live in the garden. perhaps we'll need to purchase a bug house and move some of them with us....just to be sure! i never dreamed i'd say something like that.....they are a good pest, but mulitply more quickly than rabbits. winter is the only month that i'm not having to shoo them out of the house!

oh how the tide changes.....

playing around

with picnik this morning.

once our move is complete and i'm feeling more settled, i plan to spend time organizing my computer files. maybe keep some online somewhere. i find the photos get so small on blogger. it has been so long since i had fun editing my photos too. i took a SIStv class on photo-editing, but haven't had the time (or energy!) to work through the lessons. but a few photos i took yesterday really inspired me to try some of the techniques.

i thought i'd do a couple of lessons...but only made it through one of them. it had me check out picnik. i'd heard of it before. however PSE does so much stuff and i'm familiar with it. i know i will always love my PSE....but picnik is the quick and easy way to edit photos. so i have discovered.

seriously.

it's free.

you also have the option to store your photos online.

in my un-researched opinion....i think it does decrease the quality of the photo compared to PSE. i think it will be fine for 4x6 printing, and most likely 5x7. i tend to only print my photos in that size anyway. it is always good to have a copy of your original photo and only save your edited version as a copy! if i am wanting to use a particular photo for a project i often print out the original and then different edited versions. nothing can replace that 'hands-on' decision making. at least for me!


cross-processing....i hope that i will have enough space at our new house to plant these flowers. i know that one tray would have been good enough....but i was having a terrible time deciding which ones to take. worst case scenario: they will make great gifts!!

vintage silhouette...our little girl got her first two wheeler bike this weekend. surprisingly she is more cautious on a bicycle. at least for now.

vintage silhouette and CinemaScope...in his bedtime prayers, Aidan asked Daddy to pray for a sunny and warm day with now rain. he really wanted to ride his bike with Kiara because it was so much fun. {we are in desperate need for some decent weather. Kiara isn't able to wear off enough energy during the day when she is stuck inside.}

literally with a simple click. great time saver. tell me what you think. try some more of the options. you can add text. stickers. frames. just make sure you have your coffee mug filled....you won't want to take the time to get up to do that once you are on the site!

enjoy your weekend!!

excitement

this week the public school board announced the names and principals of the six new schools being built. all of them will be opened in September 2010. we hope!!

the public school district has chosen to name new schools after people who have made an impact on the community. and some beyond.

our school is named after Johnny Bright. the pun being mentioned that all of the students in this school will be "bright". he was an educator and principal in Edmonton. prior to that he also was a football player with the CFL, appointed to the CFL hall of fame in 1970.

my kids were the only kids in attendance. i was disappointed that more communication had not been made within the community. i just happened to be lucky and read about it on the district website as i was looking for a school for this fall. i had hoped to meet other parents and for my kids to meet future classmates. they did get to meet their future principal. and the daughter of the man whom the school is named after. and the minister of education. and the media. they got their minute of fame! pretty easy to do when the competition is eliminated!!

it turns out that their new principal is presently the principal at the very same school that one of Aidans' cousins attends. and two of his very best friends. it is a small world after all. i was impressed that he introduced himself to Aidan first and then to myself. to me it was evidence that he valued the needs of his students as a priority. how nice to have a good first impression.

i am

not lucky.


but i am most certainly very blessed.




grace.

unconditional love.

acceptance.

friendship.

joy.

laughter.

sunshine.

these things are beautiful and i must keep them at the centre of my thoughts. so important to see the good in others and in ourself. all in balance!

it's a good thing. even Martha Stewart would have to agree!!

bloom. and continue to grow.


amen.

here's to hoping you have a most excellent day.....smiles!

today

woke up to snow on the ground and falling. and Kiara up bright and early with the birds. i didn't not love that.


ironic to hear birds chirping and see snow on the ground.



Kristian back at work today. so happy to have him around the entire long weekend. sad kids to not have him at home again today. love that.



everyone is healthy. i think "the cold" has finally left our house.



i love that my little babies are now at the age where they use their imagination in their play.



i love that they are not perfect. i love that they are not what i expected.



everyday Aidan has his list of what he wants to do. and it is ALWAYS more than can be accomplished in a day! i can't help but wonder if he will continue to have these high goals for each day. and then i wonder how that will impact our family. i think he will keep our days interesting and full of zest!



Kiara usually starts her day by being by herself. she may very well be the ONLY morning person in our family. presently she has not really shared what she likes to do. although we know that certain activities are more fun for her than others. she is learning a lot these days. most of it is from her hero, her big brother.

after i had just started dating Kristian i was in my own happy world. love truly is a drug! as i was walking home one afternoon i quickly found myself daydreaming about this neat guy. which really should not be a problem....but i was in such a state that i ended up walking across a street with the little hand blaring red. i did not realize this until halfway across the street. it was just my luck that it was a quiet street and vacant from cars.

reality sometimes sucks! especially when the sidewalk is busy and when you "wake up" you are suddenly aware of other people and their stares. and quite possibly their shouts of warning which i do not recall hearing. maybe they were frozen in silence? no hiding who the dummy was that time!!

last night while i was watching the news i listened to this story. isn't it a shame that this kind of story is not more common. so common that to hear it told it really isn't a "news story". HOWEVER, i am glad that this story IS being shared. maybe it will be an inspiration or a motivation for other churches. other people. you.

it makes me ask the question,

"what are you doing to make a difference in the lives of others? in the lives of your family?"

an EXCELLENT reminder.

i still have a list of things to do before the move. they can wait. today we took time to hang out together and enjoy each other. this i love.

finding joy

several weeks ago i posted about buying the kid some art supplies to create a unique picture for their rooms.
i realized that i had never actually shared their art!!

Aidan loves all things robots. his personality shows through in his painting for sure!

and Kiara? well she simply loves all things messy! she's still very new to art. i can guess we'll see a huge difference after a year of playschool. i've noticed that with Aidan. his teachers leave an easel ready for painting every day. the paint colours get changed regularly, and for 75% of the year he made a painting every day. in September his work was very messy and abstract. now he is painting objects or people.

17 more days to go before we move. 17 more days to get organized for the move. i think i am getting more excited as each day passes! i hope that the new owners for this house are feeling the same way. each day i will glance at something and think "i'm NOT going to miss this!" then a few hours later i'll glance at something else and think "this is going to be hard to part with."

we feel like the new house is a gift from God. seriously. it all helps me be more excited than sad.

on Friday, i took the kids on a drive so that they could see their house again. then we stopped at the playground which is a block away from our new home. we'd driven by it but there was nothing really impressive about it. HOWEVER, as we got closer all 3 of us were even more in awe. it is set a good distance from the road, so you can easily see who is coming or going. there is a variety of activities! it even has that new rubberized surface in areas. here's a fact some of you don't know about me: i hate getting sand in my shoes -- unless i'm wearing flip flops. there is a "forest" trail -- kids' words, not mine....but i am not going to correct them.

Aidan admitted another big concern: how will our friends find us? well, we are on a quest to get our friends to move closer to us!!

and a little fun to share too. my new blog friend, Ashley, has a contest going on until May 25. she is celebrating her 100th post! check out her blog here. she and her husband are in the middle of a major renovation. check out her photos, leave a comment and enter for a giveaway!

this made my day!

NEW uses for aluminum foil....

i was browsing the RealSimple website and could not resist clicking on this topic.

you MUST go and check it out for yourself. it will make your day!

or maybe it was just me? it reminded me of a friend who had to field wild and crazy "emergency" calls. one "solution" they came up with was to make an aluminum foil hat to prevent the "voices" from hearing your thoughts. you see, the hat acts as a "blocker". it really does take all kinds to make this world go 'round....

a ripple in the pond of life

today i have been trying to work on some paperwork associated with our upcoming move. i have come to the conclusion that all of the normal and smart people have started their weekend early. at least at the places i'm calling.


really.


time to stop and do something more positive and enjoyable. it seems that waiting another 4 days will be more productive. do i dare say that "procrastination wins"?!


enjoy your long weekend. i know that we plan to.

yes

disbelief. shock. awe.

this part of our moving has happened so quickly that we are still pinching ourselves with the reality.

today we are even happier. a week ago we viewed this house for the first time. we scheduled an inspection for this week and got to spend several hours becoming acquainted with it. we now view this home as a gift. there are so many features that we would have included had it been our choice during building. and there are other features that we would have been too cheap to include....but now can enjoy.

we're still sad to pack up and say goodbye to this house. our first home. our childrens' first home.

BUT we are very excited to make new memories in our new home too. especially when it feels like an incredible gift.

only 24 more days until we are given our "golden key". okay, it won't be gold. but it feels as valuable as gold to us.

sold!

the deal was signed and the cheque delivered on Friday.

the stickers were added to the sign on Saturday.

and we are still celebrating!!

{and yes i admit to still having tears in my eyes....it was a tough decision....even though we all know that it was a smart decision}

only a few more days before we can celebrate the purchase of our next house. what a whirlwind!!! we are truly, truly blessed.

days of our lives

Monday.



it's don't sit and stop until it's done day.



so very happy that i could leave the house WITHOUT making the beds and dusting my floor!!



gymnastics.



volunteer for a field trip with Aidan's playschool class. transportation on a yellow bus. to a destination with a million and a half other children. counting to 7 {the number of kids in my group} repeatedly after each step. keep all kids from talking, clapping or otherwise noise-making during an hour of Mozart. listening to the kids compare Mozart to Baby Einstein. THAT was the hilight!! keep the same group of kids moving, with one child slumped fast asleep over my shoulder.



seriously.



the nice thing about preschoolers on a bus is that they have no idea how bad they can be! which is very different from field trips in the days when i taught grade six children. i grew up taking the yellow bus to school. when i mentioned this to Aidan, he looked at me like i was the most amazing mother on the planet.



no kidding.


(i wonder if blogger will allow me to insert separate paragraphs, or if it will cram these words into one huge paragraph?)






our little house used to have a pretty amazing lawn. and yard. until we built the garage. between the bobcat and the lumber, it was quite torn up.



love garage sale deals.

i had to laugh when i realized that they were playing golf for real. yes. for. real.

there is a hole left in the ground from one of the stakes in our garage building process. perfect for a game of golf. bet we won't be so lucky in our new house!!

aren't they great kids?!

HAPPY

MOTHER'S DAY!

i have been given my cards, bunches of tulips {from my own garden....oops!}, tissue paper flowers, bouquets of dandilions.....what could be better?!

thanks for making my day so very special. i LOVE being my kids mom!! {especially when everyone is rested, healthy and happy}

normal

in the midst of the abnormal


there is nothing like living in your house feeling like you are living in a hotel. or living in a hotel when the concierge may visit at a moments' notice. and if the concierge does the white glove test and you fail, then you are not welcome to visit the next time.



the truth is i do not make our beds everyday. sometimes i am not quick to throw out food that has gone bad in my fridge. usually you have to carefully step around the toys. often the floor goes for a week without getting swept. it is common to see traces of spilled milk or other lovely food messes under our table. i am thrilled when the dishwasher is not full of clean dishes and the sink is not full of dirty dishes. no one complains when they have to search a laundry basket looking for clean underwear because i'm behind in putting the clothes away. it is rare to find a clean window or mirror or any shiny surface. dusting gets done when it is obvious that dust is noticeable - like when the kids have drawn pictures in it.


so to get up every morning and get the beds made and looking hotel-like. all of them. and beg the kids not to sit, lay or jump on them!

dust. sweep. mop. clean.

it is nice to live in a spotless house. but it is not living! each mess is like a catastrophe because it means that "getting ready" that morning will be longer.

last Friday our house was officially listed as 'for sale'. i knew there was a strong possibility of showings, so it was done up.

Saturday, we knew we had showings, so it was done up.

Sunday, we thought for sure it would have showings, so it was done up. no one came.

Monday, as a precaution, it was done up. no one came.

Tuesday, same thing. done up and no one came.

Wednesday was a busier day for me, so i did not do it up. we did have a showing scheduled for after supper, and i thought i'd have time just before making supper. BUT, someone wanted to see it that afternoon. can you believe it?! i begged to let them come after 5pm. they came the next morning at 9am.

so Thursday i had to race out of bed. race to clean. and in a major lapse of brain activity i bribed my darling children with waffles. with syrup. if you have kids, you know how this story ends. as i'm cleaning the syrup off the table and floor, i notice that our showing is EARLY. of course.

and this morning we did the same thing. our buyers wanted to look over the place one last time with their home inspector. i am proud of our home, so i did it up! one last time.

the kids and i stayed home and got to meet them. they are such lovely people. and their agent was a hoot! as i went to shake their hand goodbye, i changed my mind and hugged them. and then i cried. they left. and i cried some more.

we have prayed for the "right buyer" for this home. prayer answered.

we have prayed for the "right home" for us. we have confidence it will be answered, and we think it may have happened already.

God is GOOD!


and in non-house news.....
Aidan and his playschool class had a special tea for the moms today. it was very special. they sang songs and were totally adorable! they made goodies for us to eat and drink. they made gifts and a card. and they even served us!!

i am a lucky mommy!

disbelief

sooo Sunday was kind of blah for us. we thought that we'd be living in someone's basesment and still search for houses.... {thanks Serena!}

then on Monday we got an email of a new listing that totally caught our eye. it was too good to be true!

the housing market has picked up a lot, so today was the earliest our realtor could take us to see it. in the community we are looking at most houses are on the market for a few months, and some have been for sale for over a year. so a few days should not be a big deal all things considered. i felt very anxious about this one for some reason. i had a feeling that it would be an exception.

i could go on and list all the aspects that makes it special to us. i just knew that if this was not the one for us, we were in for a shock when we found the right one. there was a peace if it did not work out, and i knew we'd be thrilled if it did. how can i explain that one well?!

this is the first time i've been EXCITED since we decided to sell. this is great!



on the way home from the negotiations, we noticed a large plume of black smoke in the distance. as we got closer we noticed it was a brand new townhome complex on fire. we couldn't believe how large the flames were. i've never seen anything like it. that community was one area that we were also interested in...it is nearly complete in it's development. very sad.


okay. now to see if i can sleep....

house on the brain

i've always said that i wish we could just blow up our house like a balloon. the shape would still be the same...just bigger.

we have done house hunting all weekend. our brains are swimming with features, pros, cons...etc...of each house and neighborhood. yikers!

none of the houses have that "this is ours" feel about it. but we have definitely come across a lot that we could move into and make ours. a few that i think we would have loved have been taken off the market just before we sold ours. we'll just call it providence. God knows where "our house" is, we just have to keep looking.

there is definitely a bit of pressure to "find something" soon. the closing of the deal should occur this week....and then i think that pressure will increase a bit. i am feeling more confident that we at least know more specifically what we want now. it's great that there is so much choice out there too.

it is kind of like going to the corner store for a chocolate bar. you really want a Carmilk, but would settle for any yummy chocolate. they don't have the Carmilk, but they have KitKat, Arrow, Mars and Snickers....so tough to decide which one to get.

and if you know me....you know that i do have a tough time choosing my chocolate....

yes, making choices is not our forte!

AND, we are thrilled that more than one buyer is interested in our house!!! we like back up plans....a lot!

for now, as we wait, i am enjoying my spotless house. we are all thankful for decent weather that keeps the kids and the big messes outside. it is nice to be able to sit down with my coffee and not feel like i am procrastinating or wasting time. for the first time in months! years!! this part, i LOVE.

cheers!

{you can check out our house here}

say what??!

wow!

the second person through our house -- after being "on the market" for 7 hours -- made us a great offer.

less than 12 hours after the sign was up, lock box was placed on the door, marketing began....we were signing our agreement to the offer.

oh, wow, oh, wow!!

now we have to find ourselves a house.....QUICK!!!

{we're sooooo happy to have this problem!}

it's for real

for several months we knew this day was coming.

we've been packing boxes of items that we don't use everyday.

for the past month we've been working nearly around the clock finishing projects and putting the finishing touch on everything.

i've been shopping for decor to pretty up the place even more. like the shelves that have needed baskets but we never bought. the pillows that i've always wanted, but couldn't justify...got 'em!!

never mind the never ending cleaning. it does feel good to have a clean house. but i detest having to live this way! i like clean....just not "picky clean". {i do agree with Aidan....it is BORING}

for some reason all of those things on the above list never seemed totally real. real was opening up my e-mail and seeing our house listing. real was getting our own keys delivered to our house in a 'lockbox' hanging from our door handle. real became really real when we got the sign added. for real. wow.


this will sound totally obnoxious. and it is! but after the amount of time we've spent "polishing" i think we've earned the right! we had some professional photos taken of our house and they turned out AMAZING! i find myself staring at them and in awe. this place looks good!


my friend, Erin, was asking me how our downstairs bathroom turned out. i can't believe i forgot to take a photo of the finished project! unfortunately i never took any photos of what we started with.

it isn't granite and glass! but it is a far cry from what it looked like when we moved in!!

this house was built in 1949, before basements had much use. apparently. i am guessing the basement was finished in the 70's given the style and such. quite possibly this bathroom was the first project. because it looks like they made all their mistakes in here! thankfully the plumbing and such was done well. with a higher ceiling, additional light, excellent paint job, new taps and hardware....the work of 2 professional carpenters and 1 professional painter....and the taste of a cute couple! hey, it has been MANY late night to get to this point, no regrets about bragging!


now we wait. and try to keep everything still clean and shiny.