Friday, October 31, 2008

Friday Love List

The week has come to and end...again:) And so a list is in order...two times in order I suppose, seeing as how I totally missed last week! But we'll stick to getting through one to begin with:) And then...see if maybe I can get my act in gear to come up with another...soon!

.:1:. Bringing Karys and Avery to a birthday party for a friend! So much fun for both them and myself, seeing as how I got to hang out with a great friend, whom I haven't seen in over a year!!

It was a "bee" theme!


And Karys enjoyed the cake...


Thoroughly!! ...she was the only kid left at the table, savouring the last morsels!


Overall...great time with great people!
.:2:. Spending a whole day (which flew by and still seemed WAY too short) with my best friends from highschool! - minus one who is in South Africa at the moment! We had such a great time and it is always so refreshing to get back together with people who really know you! Thanks gals...I loved it!!

.:3:. Spending time as a family soaking up (literally) life of the Coast! On this particual venture, Karys and I brought Avery and Jim down to the Provincial Park to show them the spawning salmon! This is something I have grown up doing, being that this wonder of nature takes places, virtually, in my back yard - so it was very fun for me to start the tradition with my own family! However, I plan of leaving out the early tradition my family participated in - the making and sharing of fish-head and or fish eye and or fish egg soup!
The forest looks like it's in techni-colour!



Ooops! Someone didn't see a huge root sticking out of the forest floor!


.:4:. The season of traditions - Thanksgiving, Halloween, Rememberance Day, and Christmas! I'm just so glad for this time of year and having kids to share it with! The other night the girls and I went out the the store to pick up our pumpkins! Karys even seemed to vaguely remember us doing this last year in our "white house" - as she refers to our home in 108 Mile! So we got our pumpkins home - Karys designated which one was hers and which was Avery's and we began the carving process! And then, the next day, she was able to bring the toasted seeds to Preschool for their communal snack-time!...yum!

Choosing!

Karys...not seeming to recall how slimey this job really is!




Let's use a spoon instead!


Karys...thinking that her Pumpkin must be a bit hungry!


Avery...not too sure what this thing is doing on her tray!


Although they both look a tad aprehensive, they were actually quite taken with their pumpkin heads!!

.:5:. Committing to another run!! Yay! This time it's a 10k in Fort Langley! I am so glad to have signed up for it as I am hoping it will give me the push I need to get back out running regularily! And...I am hoping to be running it with two of those highschool friends!

.:6:. Hockey! I know I probably had this one on another previous list - but I love hockey...so I'll put it on again! And although the Canucks are recently being compared to the volitile stock market in the way they're performing, Luongo just got a shut-out last night! So...maybe it's a sign of an upward trend!

.:7:. Slowly getting the girls' rooms in order! We now have them moved to the rooms they will be calling "theirs" while we are here! And we are slowly getting the walls prepped for the paint! Now...to choose a paint colour! I wish Sarah Richardson was my friend!

...oh man! I think that's enough for now! But let's just say #'s 8-10 are to be continued! I am obviously looking forward to tonight and will have pics to post of the girls once they get made-up, but if I stay in here any longer I will have no time to get ready! So...stay tuned and have a great night!

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Letting Go...

Yup - I'm letting go! And have been for a while now! As a christian, I find that there are many aspects of life that I could get very caught-up in, fret over, overwhelmed with; but I choose (or try to most of the time) to let go...and let God take control! Because, afterall, He does know more about the outcome than I ever will!!


So, an example of my letting go was played out today as I...



sent Karys...





off to her...




FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL!!!

Yes, I am yelling that! Can you believe that I let my daughter go to preschool?! I can't! Not that I am opposed to preschool by any means - I just never thought I'd get to that point in my motherhood...ever! I am slowly letting go! Very slowly I'd suggest...being that it is Novemeber in 2 days!
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So...for the past 3 days I have gone to preschool with Karys for short visits each day for her to get familiar with the building, staff and children. And each day I would remind that on Thursday we would come back to school, but this time Mummy would leave and Karys would have fun and, after lunch, Gram would come and pick her up! It all sounds find and good, but I have done this several times before in attempts to leave her in a similar setting, but to no avail; thus, my apprehension!! Surprisingly, this morning she told me how the whole day would play out, and said it pretty matter-of-factly!
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So...here's our morning...in a nutshell...
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We packed Karys' lunch...
She ate a good breakfast...
Got all ready...
And ready to go!!!


Then we arrived...
And she made herself right at home!

~Thank the Lord for a loving place for our big girl to meet new friends and learn new things! And...that I was able to wait 30 whole minutes before phoning the school to find out how she was doing!

Just Because She Can...

...and it's not even for Halloween!

As I have mentioned before, when Karys gets an idea in her head...she runs with it! So, if she's liking a colour and wants to wear some clothes that match - then everything has to match!

For that past 2 months - which seems like forever - we've been living out of boxes, since moving into my mum's place and her understandably not have 3 spare rooms magically prepared for us! And in the recent days/weeks we've been slwoly putting things in their place! So...one day, when I had dumped all of Avery's cothes on the floor to sort through, Krys got an idea to be "red"! Not that she was just enjoying the colour...she wanted to BE the colour!

So - this is her attempt....


At being the colour RED....


Using all of Avery's clothes! Obviously a challenge-seeker! You wouldn't want to stick to garments even 12 months and up! Nope...

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Oh right! And you can't forget the boots!! She's already got a shoe fetish and when she finds footwear that has been out-of-sight/packed away/hidden for a while, she becomes even more obsessed!
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Told ya! ...obsessed!

And, no...we didn't let her go to bed wearing these! Not that it's a big deal - we may have let her had she asked us! The funniest part of this for us was watching her find her boots and put them on...in the dark!! (We have a TV monitor and the reflective parts of the boots showed up very well through the night-vision camera!!)
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I am sooo behind in my posts! But this could be seen as a good thing becasue I am surely not lacking for ideas! Just some time to share them!! Hope your week is going well! And hope to be back on here sooner than later...but my report cards are looming!!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Stayin' Alive!

Hi Reader:)

I AM still here and hoping to create a much more lovely post than one such as this; however, my feeble attempt at juggling all these different parts that make up life is proving to be failing!

So...stay tuned! I am here! Are YOU out there?? Anyone???

~C

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Explorer and Exposer...

Just because I can! Just because I am wanting to post here more often than on Fridays! And, Just because they're so cute:)

That's about it! Things are going great for us - what else can I say??

~ENJOY~

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Friday, October 17, 2008

Friday Love List

Well - another week, another list:)
No sweet talking...here it goes...

.:1:. Thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for, and I was glad for the time with family to be able to bring that into perspective!! Although it also brings a LOT of other things into perspective as well...but whose family is all together right?!? Being positive, we are blessed! Truly! This year was very different from last year - being up north and having our own place, we were able to invite people over and I made the whole meal:) This year, being at my Mom's, she was in charge of the turkey and I made some delicious Cranberry Sauce...

from scratch!

Some stuffing...

from scratch and tried a new recipe for brussel sprouts - which was a hit!! An oxymoron, I'm sure, to those of you who feel the same way towards brussel sprouts as Jim! But for those of us who enjoy the added vitamin-intake...they were de-lish!

Oh Right...and who could forget my pumpkin pie?! YUM! Overall - a great day! Especially for the fact that I made it to that day!! Being one day after the Half Marathon...it was questionable for a while there:)

.:2:. My Dad...my Hero...my Inspiration to push past the stereotypes and strive for something greater! My teacher...for setting high personal goals and stopping at nothing to achieve them! Yup...I love him! And, on Wednesday, it was 9 years since he died! I can't believe that it's been that long! But in a way, it's encouraging! To know we ARE making it! We can do life without him. And, although we'd never choose to, there was a point in my family's life where we all felt as though life may stop, and we wouldn't be able to go on. But it didn't...and we are! And we are better for it! So, this week (actually, ever day, but this week in particular) I am reminded of the Man he was and how I long to emulate that!


.:3:. Finding out about community programs!! Love it!! I just found out about one put on by our school district that readies kids for Kindergarten - but it goes from birth - 5 years! So it's all about the things you can do in your home that will encourage and support learning so that your child will enter Kindergarten and experience things that are familiar rather than foreign! Anyhow - I just went to my first class for Avery this past week and it was great!! SO many things I can/will be doing with her! Can't wait for next week when I can find out some new things to do with Karys!

.:4:. Blustery, rainy days:) Love them! Not for too many day consecutively, but a few here and there! I love being warm and cozy and having the option of going outside for a walk and getting completely drenched! ....or not:)
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.:5:. Silence! In a house that constantly has any number of people coming and going...Jim, my Mum and I have been trying to figure out ways to keep our down time mellow! So...right now that looks like no TV and dim lighting....with a bit of soft music in the background, sometimes! Nice! I have also been leaving the TV off any time I am home during the days too, which is great!Not that the girls are any less noisy, but that's to be expected, and quite welcome! It's all that other noise pollution we can do without!
`
.:6:. Finally getting to use my 'teacher' clothes! Not that they're anything to write home about, but definitely a step up from my 'mom' clothes! These garments have been packed three different times now in hopes of eventually being pulled out and used and now is the time!
`
.:7:. This short work week! There's something about them that just makes things more manageable!? Even in the attitudes of my kids at school...don't know what it is, but I'll take it!
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.:8:. Finding Karys' birthday present on our teacher's buy and sell! What a surprise...and a good deal too! I wasn't really even looking for anything because we knew we were getting here a duvet set to help with her move from a toddler bed to a twin bed - which I don't see her having any issues with at all! But when I popped into our buy and sell and saw this really cute day-bed for sale, I inquired about it right away! And I got it! Yay! So I guess it's a bedroom themed birthday this year:)
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.:9:. That my coffee mug is done from a pottery party I went to with M! And by her needing to get it for me, it means that we'll just have to have another girly day together! Looking forward to it!
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.:10:. And...just really having it "sink in" that we are here...to stay! I know, we've been here for a month an a half already so you'd think we'd get it by now, but we're slow and we just really didn't see ourselves being here so soon! So...the novelty hasn't worn off because it's still sinking in:) And it's nice!

Here's hoping you have a great weekend - some quality time with quality people!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Marathon Post...

...about my Half Marathon:) (cheesy I know, but it's my attempt at being witty!)

So folks - Sunday was the day! And seeing as how it is now Tuesday, and I'm alive here typing, I must have completed my Half Marathon! Or...my hang-nail bit worked?!
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Nope - I did it!! I completed my first Half Marathon and am alive to tell about it! So, tell about it I will!
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After a cozy, short sleep leading up to the morning of the race - at Chateau Kern - we got ready and prepped our nerves to face the masses!

Here I am with Joel, one Host at Chateau Kern, and YES that is true terror written across our faces! Mine for fear of dying and his because he didn't even train for this race and had never done a Half before, but still wanted to come in under 1:55!! And...he DID! Why don't things like that ever happen to me?!? Anyhow - this is us, pre-race jitters and the breakfast of champions! Of which I could only eat half, because I felt like I would puked should I force-feed myself any more!

And here we are finally at the START line - me and my fan:)
This picture should be good enough no?! I made it this far...now can we go home!!!My Kindred Spirit and crazy friend who inspired me to do this foolish thing in the first place!! I am forever indebted to her for kicking my butt in gear - via long-distance votes of confidence! Thanks so much K - for being you and believing in me! What crazy thing will we conqure next together??
We're in there somewhere!!
Here we go...with a great sense that we should all be saying "MMoooooooo"! Cattle-hearding! Please note: to see any picture larger...simply click on the image:)


This is about 5 or 6 kms into the race, and Jim was looking for me wearing the burgundy long-sleeve shirt! Hence the "back" shot! I had to call his name out for him to look at me!!

And...here I am again! This is around 1/2 way - surely a reason to smile!! But knowing that I had another 11kms to run with my hips grinding in their sockets was not a comforting thought! I have NO idea what went on with me that day!! My usual struggles during training have been blisters, stiff knees and tightening hamstrings! But, this grinding hip pain came out of nowhere - took me by complete surprise and made the run quite painful! Enough of the sob story...I know, but I just felt like I should share! Even music didn't drown out my thoughts of throwing in the towel!And, here we are trudging along the board-walk! Which at any other given time would be a scene of complete, picturesque beauty! But at a time of already completing 20 kms and barely having the energy to lift my feet - trying to NOT trip or twist my ankle on the wobbley, uneven cobblestone boardwalk was not something in which I found particular joy!And...was it just me, or did this boardwalk seem to be another 20 kms long with the finish line in sight the ENTIRE way! Believe me, the "throw-in-the-towel-and-walk" voices in my head were yelling at me right about here!
Calgon...anyone...take me away!!

Sweet victory! 2:15 Baby!! I was aiming for anything under 2:25! Like 2:24:59 is what I was thinking!! 2:15:09...I'll take that any day!! And no...I don't mind that I moaned the entire way down the finish lane! Honestly! It's like child-birth! Those last two minutes are a complete fog! No clue how I got across the finish line! Just glad I got there! So, please excuse the face! I had completely forgotten to put on my "forget-about-your-pain-and-look-happy-crossing-the-finishline" face!!! I didn't even here the man call out my name and say I was from 100 Mile!

Sweet embrace...

Tears of Joy...

Indulgence...

Evidence of my accomplishment! Funny how a metal can make everything feel better!! Kinda like a band-aid!!
Yippeee Girl!! We did it!! Yet one more thing to cross off our list!


Our lovely hosts at Chateau Kern!! We owe you guys...big time!! Such a beautiful place with great company! Thanks again!!

And last, but certainly not least...A surprise present - two of my favorite things!! Surprises and presents!! What could be better?! Jim got me these 2 charms for a necklace to remember this day! A runner and my distance! 21.1KMS!! I love it! And love him for sticking by my side throughout this entire training process! For always believing in me and telling me the whole time that I could do it! What an amazing partner! Now, I have to convince him to do a run WITH me!So...that's it for now! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend! I did! And - being two day since the race, only having tight muscles is a major plus for me! My hips seem to be totally fine now?! Who knows! I made it...that's all that matters!