Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Busy in the Backyard
The munchkins are really enjoying the backyard on these warm afternoons. Shoes off, rolling on the grass, kid pile, so much fun!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Creating Nightmares, One Child at a Time
On Friday Dinosaurs were flying in the sky near our town. A new theme park is opening a few kilometres northeast of us, Jurassic Forest. There was an article in the local newspaper about it:
"Approximately 40 of these state-of-the-art moving dinosaurs will be part of a brand new educational and entertainment facility known as Jurassic Forest. A helicopter was used to hoist 25 of the creatures, which weight between 2000 and 3200 pounds each, so as to have the least possible impact on the forested area. While these terrible lizards may not be walking the earth, their bodies will tower amongst the trees, their mouths will display rows of razor-sharp teeth and their eyes will blink as if human prey was in their sights. All the dinosaurs are 100 per cent robotic. Using sensors, they will be able to tell when a guest is coming and respond to them. They will roar, wings will move, eyes will blink. It will be a different experience each time you come to the park."
It does sound kind of neat, for the over eight-ish crowd, but I can see my pre-schoolers being terrified. Like, nightmares for months terrified. These things are life size! So, dear friends and family, if you are looking for something to do this summer, (they open July 30), and your kids are terror proof, feel free to drop on by on your way home for a cold lemonade in our back yard.
"Approximately 40 of these state-of-the-art moving dinosaurs will be part of a brand new educational and entertainment facility known as Jurassic Forest. A helicopter was used to hoist 25 of the creatures, which weight between 2000 and 3200 pounds each, so as to have the least possible impact on the forested area. While these terrible lizards may not be walking the earth, their bodies will tower amongst the trees, their mouths will display rows of razor-sharp teeth and their eyes will blink as if human prey was in their sights. All the dinosaurs are 100 per cent robotic. Using sensors, they will be able to tell when a guest is coming and respond to them. They will roar, wings will move, eyes will blink. It will be a different experience each time you come to the park."
It does sound kind of neat, for the over eight-ish crowd, but I can see my pre-schoolers being terrified. Like, nightmares for months terrified. These things are life size! So, dear friends and family, if you are looking for something to do this summer, (they open July 30), and your kids are terror proof, feel free to drop on by on your way home for a cold lemonade in our back yard.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Back to Scrappin
It's been over a month since I've scrapped anything, "that's crazy!" as Jack would say.
Darrel had fun fixing the jeep, and it has been put to good use since it has been operational again. Darrel rocks!
Darrel had fun fixing the jeep, and it has been put to good use since it has been operational again. Darrel rocks!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Musings
Tonight at the dinner table one of the topics of conversation was what Jack and Eric wanted to be when they grew up. I believe it started with Jack saying he wanted to be a construction worker. Then Eric said he was going to be a construction worker too, and an astronaut. And then he said that actually he was going to be something he was not going to say and that he was going to change his name too. It was so fuuny, like he was going to grow up, become something we were not allowed to know and he was going to not let us know his new name. I may just start calling him 007 for fun.
The author believes in using creativity to nurture family connections. Many of her ideas are simple yet profound. I have really enjoyed them and will definitely try them out. And they seem doable, not like gather 300 things, or spend a $1000. Actually simplicity is hallmark of many of these ideas. Lately I have been feeling the importance of being more present in the moment, particularly in how I nurture my children and spend time with them. I want to love and laugh more. I want to connect more and I want to enjoy more. I think I get too caught up in the washing and feeding and clothing of these three little people rather than the nurturing. Next year Jack is off to kindergarten for two full days a week and it is dawning on me that it is my last year that I will have him home with me full time for some days. I know I will cheer in some ways, but I am also profoundly sad at the prospect. I believe that part of these strong feelings to improve in this area of my life are the promptings of the Spirit. I know that God will tell us how we can be better and how we can have our best, most fulfilling lives, if we are willing to listen to His promptings, and I think He is strongly whispering that He would have me do better in this area. So every day I am working at being more in tune, more present and more peaceful in my home.
I love this video done by the Church on Stephanie Nelson. I am so inspired by her desire to be a good mother, despite such opposition and hardship. Surely if she can do it, so can I.
As a side note, every once in a while our computer fonts go wonky, until we reboot the computer. So every time I try to type an apostrophe, this is what happens -È
or question mark is É and a slash is é. So, you will notice I have not written with contractions in this post. So if I sounded utterly weird now you know why. :)
Over the last few days I have been reading this awesome book on how to be creative with children.
The author believes in using creativity to nurture family connections. Many of her ideas are simple yet profound. I have really enjoyed them and will definitely try them out. And they seem doable, not like gather 300 things, or spend a $1000. Actually simplicity is hallmark of many of these ideas. Lately I have been feeling the importance of being more present in the moment, particularly in how I nurture my children and spend time with them. I want to love and laugh more. I want to connect more and I want to enjoy more. I think I get too caught up in the washing and feeding and clothing of these three little people rather than the nurturing. Next year Jack is off to kindergarten for two full days a week and it is dawning on me that it is my last year that I will have him home with me full time for some days. I know I will cheer in some ways, but I am also profoundly sad at the prospect. I believe that part of these strong feelings to improve in this area of my life are the promptings of the Spirit. I know that God will tell us how we can be better and how we can have our best, most fulfilling lives, if we are willing to listen to His promptings, and I think He is strongly whispering that He would have me do better in this area. So every day I am working at being more in tune, more present and more peaceful in my home.
I love this video done by the Church on Stephanie Nelson. I am so inspired by her desire to be a good mother, despite such opposition and hardship. Surely if she can do it, so can I.
As a side note, every once in a while our computer fonts go wonky, until we reboot the computer. So every time I try to type an apostrophe, this is what happens -È
or question mark is É and a slash is é. So, you will notice I have not written with contractions in this post. So if I sounded utterly weird now you know why. :)
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Frittering Away the Night
I'm supposed to be working right now...but I don't want to be, so I'm facebooking, surfing, looking at mls (a favourite time waster), and now blogging. The digital age really does let you avoid work in so many ways.
I have one YW who is disabled and she ran away from youth group tonight, literally took off down the street. This is the second time in a month. So tricky. In the end one of the other youth leaders physically grabbed onto her leg and had to keep pulling her down off of the fence she was trying to scale. Sigh. I'm still working my way down off the adrenaline rush...so that's one of the reasons I don't want to work. Tomorrow I roster pre-school, I'm also taking graduation photos of the kids for their year end scrapbook, so I'm excited to do that. My friend Jolayne is watching Julie for me. What would I do without her, she is fabulous. Only three more pre-school classes left, that is hard to believe. It's been a good year. I think better for Eric than Jack. Jack has been tricky, I think he's been a bit bored at preschool the last 4 months or so, but I don't think he was ready for kindergarten in Sept. I think moving on in September will be exciting for him, lots of growing and learning to happen.
I'm looking for ideas on how to get your kids to organize and keep their room clean. J&E's room is always a disaster, and I don't want to clean it, I want them to learn how to clean it/keep it clean on their own. I think there is too much stuff in there, too much stuff that's too accessible. So one idea is to clear all of it out, organize it all and store it in the basement. I think if it lives down there we will be better at getting one thing out, playing, cleaning it up and then putting it away. Another is to get rid of a whole bunch of crap. (I'm liking both these ideas!) I read in a book about one Mom who made "Bedtime Bags" and hung them on the ends of her kids bed. Basically it was a little cloth tote and they put their pajamas in it if they didn't need to be washed and a special bed time stuffy. This encouraged them to put their pajamas away and made it easy for them to find the right pajamas every evening. (If your house is like my house, my kids are always so tired at bedtime and it turns into a fight. "I can't find my pajamas" cry whine "I need help, I CAAAAAN'T put them on by myself.") I figure if they can find the right pair of pajamas easily (and part of this is to save me work, as they like to put on a new pair every single night) that will solve one step of the struggles. There's part of me that thinks, how is this different than putting them in a dresser drawer or under their pillow. True. But I think it is different, we would make this special place, perhaps they could decorate the bedtime bag with fabric paint, so it would be exciting to use the bedtime bag. (I'm once again reminded that really life is always a matter of perspective...boring drawer vs. exciting, special, self created/decorated bedtime bag.) Anyway, please forward your winner ideas, I need some!
Here's a few more pics from our trip home.
Eric being a dinosaur. His roar is pretty impressive. He scared the pants off a kid at the McDonalds Play Place in Hinton on the way home. sigh.
Jack and Grandpa Ray mowing the lawn. Dad had one boy or the other with him for the entire 4 hours it takes to mow that massive lawn. Little boy heaven, they even got to help turn the steering wheel.
Apparently Eric's little legs were so tired they were shaking, but he didn't want to get off the mower. That's dedication!
I have one YW who is disabled and she ran away from youth group tonight, literally took off down the street. This is the second time in a month. So tricky. In the end one of the other youth leaders physically grabbed onto her leg and had to keep pulling her down off of the fence she was trying to scale. Sigh. I'm still working my way down off the adrenaline rush...so that's one of the reasons I don't want to work. Tomorrow I roster pre-school, I'm also taking graduation photos of the kids for their year end scrapbook, so I'm excited to do that. My friend Jolayne is watching Julie for me. What would I do without her, she is fabulous. Only three more pre-school classes left, that is hard to believe. It's been a good year. I think better for Eric than Jack. Jack has been tricky, I think he's been a bit bored at preschool the last 4 months or so, but I don't think he was ready for kindergarten in Sept. I think moving on in September will be exciting for him, lots of growing and learning to happen.
I'm looking for ideas on how to get your kids to organize and keep their room clean. J&E's room is always a disaster, and I don't want to clean it, I want them to learn how to clean it/keep it clean on their own. I think there is too much stuff in there, too much stuff that's too accessible. So one idea is to clear all of it out, organize it all and store it in the basement. I think if it lives down there we will be better at getting one thing out, playing, cleaning it up and then putting it away. Another is to get rid of a whole bunch of crap. (I'm liking both these ideas!) I read in a book about one Mom who made "Bedtime Bags" and hung them on the ends of her kids bed. Basically it was a little cloth tote and they put their pajamas in it if they didn't need to be washed and a special bed time stuffy. This encouraged them to put their pajamas away and made it easy for them to find the right pajamas every evening. (If your house is like my house, my kids are always so tired at bedtime and it turns into a fight. "I can't find my pajamas" cry whine "I need help, I CAAAAAN'T put them on by myself.") I figure if they can find the right pair of pajamas easily (and part of this is to save me work, as they like to put on a new pair every single night) that will solve one step of the struggles. There's part of me that thinks, how is this different than putting them in a dresser drawer or under their pillow. True. But I think it is different, we would make this special place, perhaps they could decorate the bedtime bag with fabric paint, so it would be exciting to use the bedtime bag. (I'm once again reminded that really life is always a matter of perspective...boring drawer vs. exciting, special, self created/decorated bedtime bag.) Anyway, please forward your winner ideas, I need some!
Here's a few more pics from our trip home.
Eric being a dinosaur. His roar is pretty impressive. He scared the pants off a kid at the McDonalds Play Place in Hinton on the way home. sigh.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Our Trip Home
A few favourite pics from our trip home this past week, we have made it home safe and sound, hooray. By the last couple of hours in the car it was pretty dicey, I was sleepy, the kids were cranky, I finally turned my one hearing aid off, the other to phone and called Karly and chatted for a bit while I drove and ignored the chaos in the back seat. Thanks Karly, for keeping me awake, and sane!
We had a lovely time and while we didn't spend as much time with the cousins as originally planned we did have lots of fun with them. I enjoyed getting to know them better: Madison is such a sweetheart, so sensitive and kind. Allyse is hilarious, so full of personality at two years old. Mason is BUSY. In him I saw the future, what my life will be like in a few short months. 11 months is so different from 15 months...he is always on the move! And Faith is just as sweet as can be, love her already.
Jack and Madison looking for four leaf clovers.
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Ally's kindred spirit, Eric, I see the two of them getting into plenty of mischief in the future.
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