getting ready

we are finishing the preparations for some cute little girls to come party with Kiara!




tutus and banners are hung.....



tiara's are waiting for their princesses.....



the invitations have gone out!



hopefully the sky stays blue. (and we get some real fall weather....without the wind and frost!)



because we want to celebrate in style.



this has been fun planning it with Kiara. she wanted friends, a craft, balloons, streamers and an ice cream cake. we're off to a good start!

oh, and she requested that all the streamers and tulle get moved to her room after the party. how sweet is that?! :)

ancient

....had to start with a photo of Kris....only because he just celebrated his birthday! wink!




doesn't it look like this dinosaur is about to nibble on Kris' ear?

a brand new dinosaur exhibit just opened north of the city this summer. we finally made it out! maybe one of the last "nice" summer days?

it was worth the trip. the only drawback to the day is that hundreds of other Albertans had the same idea. it definitely became quieter as the afternoon went on.



long necks?



there is no exaggeration when i say that the kids spent HOURS trying to dig up this artifact. they plan to bring shovels next time. ha!



the dinosaurs are attached to motion sensors. with the crowds, it was impossible to know when or where you have to be to start them. however, they are on set cycles. you could visit every day and see different movements each time.



the dinosaurs inspired the kids to act like dinosaurs themselves. complete with roaring and claws.

there was no tricking the kids that the dinosaurs would eat them! they assured us that it was impossible for them to be alive, and that it was just a fun park.



we did find some live creatures. i was too slow, but a little wood mouse ran out from under this bench when the kids took a break. it came out....stopped.....took a look...and ran back to it's hiding place. no chance that it took a second look! not that the roaring and yelling helped either.



baby dinosaurs!



clever. Kiara enjoyed this the most.



this was entertaining for all the ages of kids!



the only moment for a group shot. at least all the faces are visible.


it was a fabulous afternoon. everyone slept well that night! with happy thoughts. love nights like that.


i had read that it was intended to stay open throughout the winter as well. i am very curious as to what their hours will be and what their exhibits will do. i could see us heading back out in the spring for a fun day outside. however i think the summer months will be amazing. it isn't limited to just dinosaurs....they have combined the trail to also include fabulous information about the Boreal Forest. a good surprise.

i had heard good and bad reviews of the park. when it came to the negative comments, i had to wonder what it was being compared to. i simply could not agree. in fact i wonder if they went to the same place. anyone remember what the Tyrrell museum in Drumheller started out like? exactly. besides, this park allows the kids to interact at a level that they are at. we did not do it that day, but there is even a dinosaur the kids could ride! our only complaint...and this may be in the works...it would have been awesome to have a cafe with 'dinosaur bones' or 'terradactyl eggs' or 'long neck fries'.


too bad our city playgrounds and parks could be more creative in including interesting sculptures to climb, i think it would be very inspiring to many kids.

another first day of school

for Kiara.



she started the year with a haircut. this time with braids as the finishing touch. it made her seem so much older.


when she first woke up that morning, it was not a great start to her day. no one was more thankful than myself that she cheered up. she looked so cute.




she is still outgoing and adjusted to her new classroom with total ease. even hugged her new teachers, which pleased them. in the back of my mind....i was thinking...."yup, the really friendly kid on the first day...just means trouble later on." lets hope that will not be the instance this time!

the difference for her this year is that she knows one other child in the class - a neighbour. there are 2 other girls who have known each other and our neighbour for many years...having had older siblings in the same preschool classes. there is a big possibility that 3 of the group will end up as classmates in elementary. i like that.



it was cute to see the 4 of them host a tea party in their new class. no photos of them until i learn if it is okay!



i have a bit of a suspicion that this one may become a teacher. although i think she would also be interested in medicine. then again, she could do very well as a lawyer. ha! this will definitely be the year where we see her grow again from a little girl to a big girl. i am still taken off guard when she surprises me with requests for food or how we will spend time together. in the same breath, i think she is also surprised that we respect her opinions and listen to her ideas. there is a bit of "my voice matters" question behind her requests. no longer the baby.


as for the newest grade one student. just today he told me that he didn't realize grade one would be quite as much work as he had thought. his exact words. too funny! he continued on to explain that he still enjoyed school. i have a suspicion that there may have been a class discussion on the topic. once again he is so fortunate to have a teacher who is a good match for his personality. we enjoyed a 'meet the teacher' and bbq last night. the heaviest enrolment is in the lower grades, and slowly decreases in the upper grades. pretty standard for new schools. did i mention there are 4 full grade one classes? about 20 students per class? a very busy place indeed.


as for the mother...she is still adjusting to the new schedule. no lack of items for me to do. i can't wait until we get into a more stable routine.

happy birthday daddy-o!

he's a little bit older today.





today is a typical September day and hectic. we knew it was coming and also couldn't wait to celebrate his birthday. in a unanimous decision by Aidan, Kiara and i, we surprised him yesterday with a decorated house and a present. why not celebrate over two days and make the birthday even more special was our reasoning. who can argue with that?!

then and now

the day before school started, the kids and i took one last summer fling. we met some friends at a corn maze halfway between our homes. the kids are still pretty young for a corn maze...but the other activities kept them interested for the day.


the last time we went, Aidan was Kiara's age. some days i wonder if Kiara will ever get out of her 'trying three's' stage. then it helps when i recall the 'fantastic moments' Aidan gave us at the same age. he had loudly and tearfully protested leaving the car to come and play. neither of us can remember what exactly he had a problem with.

this time, there were no tears. just happy, happy, happy children!


this was then...


Kiara was not even two years old in this photo.


this is now....


she still loves to jump. but i cannot believe how much she has grown!!!


this was then...


it is true that the second child is eager to grow up quickly. at least in our family. we rented a wagon for her, but she was so desperate to walk with the big kids. we allowed her to do this in the kids maze.

this is now....


no problems keeping up at all. in fact, it was amazing to see exactly how independent she has become. a typical parent moment - happy and sad, all at the same time.


i wrote about our trip on this blog post....just over 2 years ago...read it HERE.





why is this ride not in every park? recycling. unique. entertaining. definitely not expensive. the only drawback is that it requires 'human power' to keep it moving. now that i get more than 5 hours of sleep at night, a little physical exertion is necessary! laugh!!



the barrel train!



driven by a man with a corn cob hat. it tours the outside perimeter of the maze. which suddenly seems very small.




i just love this photo! one day, i want a family photo of all of us doing exactly this. how fun!



i am sooooo blessed to have the most amazing friends. Stacey has been an awesome supporter and co-conspirator of mine for several years. it was no coincidence that we both had our first babies only 17 days apart. it was a sad day when she told me that they were moving away. even sadder when they locked their house for the last time. i still remember it raining the day they left. we had their daughter and Kris drove me around looking for the last garage sales of the season. i got some great deals that day, but not enough to cheer me up.

i mentioned to Stacey that the summer just went by so quickly and i was disappointed that we didn't get out and do more things. she quickly reminded me that we were kept busy and did some new holiday travels that we did not do usually. she's right. perhaps it is just that we were having so much fun, that i was disappointed to see it end.


reading the entry from 2 years ago...i shared a bit about scrapbooking. here i am today with a new class being designed and taught each month. more time to scrapbook. less time spent actually shopping, yet spending more time at the store! lots of new products arriving that still make me swoon. i like where i am at right now. the past two months were very slow with lots of the customers busy on holidays and not spending time with paper, photos and glue. but i had a full class last week with some new faces. all at different levels of scrapbooking. my favourite part! i learned that one of the girls has a blog...and came across this post from her. check her out. and leave a comment. bloggers blog for ourselves. but comments are always appreciated!

okay, got to go. my youngest and i have a day to ourselves. lets hope the weather is as nice today as Environment Canada says it will be!!

grade one

where have the years gone?




he was 3 years old in this photo. Kiara's present age. it was his second year of preschool. it was the year he made his first friend, his age. on his own. he made a great choice too. i had forgotten that he made lots of funny faces for this photo shoot and only gave me a few good shots.



then he moved on to kindergarten. it was shortly after this photo that he made his second close friend. which also coincided with the same day he gave me huge mommy-grief-guilt. i don't remember him being nervous for his first day, but i remember being nervous. i couldn't have been more thrilled if his teacher was Jesus himself. but he would be taking the big yellow school bus, and that made me nervous. his bus drivers turned out to be terrific and they never lost him once. ha! the ol' bus turned out to be a sanity saver for me in the end. who could have guessed.





and here we are today. grade one. he's gone for full days now. just a quick trip home for lunch each day, then back he goes. i can tell you how many classes of grade ones there are. but i cannot tell you how many kids are in his class. he ended up in the same class as his best buddy from kindergarten and one of his good friends from down the block. his teacher isn't exactly a stranger either.

we know the walk to the school very well.

finally to be able to enter the doors, not just stare and imagine what it looks like. as we did all last year when we waited for his morning school bus.

it is a fine, fine school. still shiny. smells new.

we have a lot of things to get used to. new routines. even the staff are still figuring things out. it is kind of like a new romance!

one of my girlfriends and i were chatting about how our kids love school...and then about how we loved school. there is nothing like a brand new school year. everything is new. even the erasers have not seen a mistake yet!

i'm sure you'll hear more. but for now, life will continue on. we'll enjoy as many of the nice days we can. there are birthdays to prepare for. other than that, sticking to a school schedule is a nice change of pace. for now.