The Great (Freezing Cold) Outdoors

Here are a few pictures from our camping trip to Kinaskan Lake last weekend. I can honestly and without sarcasm say that it was the most fun I've ever had while freezing my tail off. I love when my kids don't watch TV or movies for three days straight and just play. Do I love it enough to not let them watch TV or movies ever? Be serious.

I came to realize that Kinaskan Lake is not unlike seeing a polar bear on the Discovery Channel. A beautiful testament to God's design? Check. Gets its water mostly from glacial runoff? Check. You could lose a limb if you accidently fell in? Check.

This was the view from the doorway of our impossibly large tent. Xander played at the beach non-stop. Just throwing rocks into the water, then finding more rocks and throwing them, then wading in just to make sure we truly meant no you may not go in the water.

During our "nature walk" we discussed what to do if confronted with a bear. Who takes the kids? Do we offer up the dog as bait? Who can share the scariest bear/cougar attack story from November 1988 Reader's Digest? Whose idea was it that the parameters were that the story had to include either a two- or four-year-old child who miraculously survived the attack?

Yes, this nap was as good as it looks. I followed it up with a s'more made out of a perfectly roasted marshmallow sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies. Seriously.

The reason this picture was taken from the back is not just because David has an awesome bum, but also because I enjoy looking wider than the rest of my little family combined.

Only a four-year-old can live in the wild, go camping in the even wilder wild, and yet deem a tiara that says "Modern Princess" as appropriate headwear.

Home Alone

Except for a few days here or there, I have not been without child/children for the last four and a half years. Every day I have awoken to little voices, been greeted by little smiles, felt little arms around my neck. I am a mother. That is what my life consists of, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. So imagine my distress when I came home on Friday afternoon from work to discover the little voices, little smiles, little arms were gone. I knew they weren't going to be there; I packed their stuff, for heavens sake. So the distress wasn't so much over the fact that they weren't there. It was more because I didn't quite know what to do with myself. David was at work and I wasn't hungry yet so there was no point in making dinner. So I sat down and watched TLC. For three hours. Then my slightly confused husband called wondering when dinner was going to be; it was, after all, eight o'clock. Over dinner we discussed the kids - what were they doing, were they driving his parents nuts, why didn't you put them in their sweatshirts like I told you to. Important stuff. It was then that I realized that not only were my kids on vacation with their grandparents, we were on a vacation from them, which sounds awful and terribly un-motherly. But I know my love for my children, which is why I can say that they are wonderful but exhausting. If a few days apart means we come back to each other rested, more organized, and missing each other, then a few days are not only a good idea, they're necessary.

So Saturday morning, I woke up when I wanted to and looked at my To Do list I'd written almost a week before. Thankfully, "sleep in" was at the top of the list, so I crossed that off and went on to the next task. And for the first time in, well, forever, I got absolutely everything done on that list and I wasn't a sweaty, stressed-out mess by the end of the day.

On Sunday I went to church, then came home and relaxed. ALL DAY. WITHOUT GUILT. And I wasn't a sweaty, stressed-out mess by the end of that day either.

So today is Monday. On Thursday I leave for what promises to be an amazing vacation full of great laughs, great food and a million little voices and smiles and arms. I have an ocean of tasks to cross between here and there, and I can't wait to see my babies again knowing that I used the time without them to make life better for them in ways they'll never even see.

Big Girl

This Thursday was a Very Special Occasion, Felicity's Preschool graduation. The two responses I've gotten from people upon telling them of this Very Special Occasion, or VSO as it shall heretofore be referred, are a bit polarized. Either "OMG THAT'S FANTASTIC WHAT IS SHE GOING TO WEAR?!?" or "her what?". In the days leading up to her VSO whenever I would refer to The Event, she would either give me a blank stare or pointedly remind me that she was not in the mood for Kindergarten today. But I still wanted her to know it was coming so that if there were any histrionics, I would be able to nip it in the bud with a well-timed "I told you so". Because that's what mothers live for.

Felicity has led a bit of a charmed life. Not only does she have golden locks, sea-blue eyes, rose-bud lips, and a fantastic sense of humour, but she has unwittingly chanced upon some very amazing people to help her along the way. First, while she was refusing to exit the womb, was my OBGYN, who according to the nurses (they know everything) was THE BEST ONE. Since then we've had a string of amazing doctors and pastors and friends, and the latest in this parade of wonderful are Miss Kristi and Miss Hazel. This is Kristi:

She is wonderful. She is patient. She is creative. She is everything you wish for in a child's first teacher. And next year, to thank her for all of her amazingness, we are going to reward her with Xander. She can't wait.

This is Nia, Kristi's daughter and Felicity's favourite little buddy. If she could, she would fold Nia into an origami crane, put her in her pocket, and bring her home every day. Then they could bicker at school AND at home, and that is what we call heaven.

This is what Felicity looks like when people are saying wonderful things about her. Confused and wondering when the food's gonna come.

This is Felicity and Tahlea comparing diplomas and talking about their wicked summer plans.

A rare mother/daughter photo. See? She kind of looks like me...please, somebody say she looks like me.

My goodness, I had to threaten everybody with timeouts just so they would take a picture. And I'd like to say Felicity was the worse one, but I would just be covering for the ADULTS.

This is Hazel, Felicity's other amazing teacher. Hazel is calm, thoughtful, and has a fantastic laugh. She, like Kristi, loves these kids as if they were her own. What more could you ask for?

I hope that just because a teacher of Felicity's - who shall remain unnamed - spelled her name wrong doesn't make it official and for the rest of her life people ask her if she's part Japanese. Or we could just send her to Japan where she'd fit right in.

Where Do I Even Begin?

We've been back from our trip for over a week, and although we're just getting over the virus we brought back with us we are glad to be home and settling back into normal life. I've never had such a great time doing absoutely nothing with the people we love. I loved the shopping - of course I loved the shopping - but missing our friends and family has been the most painful part of living so far away. So now that we're back we feel refreshed and renewed in our purpose to put in our time here, knowing what's waiting for us when we finally come home.

Because what we filled our time with was mostly conversation I don't have any super-amazing stories. Also, the people who read this were the people we were visiting, so I decided to put up some pictures instead. You can tell right away that Xander especially had been missing the sun. As soon as we got to Paul and Em's house he played outside and we had to straightjacket him in order to get his scrawny pale bum back in the house. Paul and Em, we miss you guys and so enjoyed our time at your home. Hopefully we'll be able to return the favour someday.

This is the foot of one Lucas Johansson. He has the biggest brown eyes you'll ever see (two pictures down) and is all boy down to his little toe.

This is Tobias, Lucas' older brother. I always think that we could exchange him and Felicity because he looks so much like Xander and she looks more like Lucas. Plus, then Suzi would have a girl to play with and I would have a boy who would actually sit still and read a book with me for longer than 2.3 seconds.

See? Puppy-dog eyes. Don't say I didn't warn you.






This is Paul and Em's SAM! For some reason in my mind SAM!'s name can be spelled no other way than in all caps. With an exclamation mark on the end to go with those striking blue eyes.




Once we got back to Grammy and Grampy's house Xander spent most of his time as God intended for boys - naked and running.

I just loved this picture. This is the perfect depiction of the stage Felicity's in right now, and actually, stage is even the perfect word, since she is always putting on a show.

Another one of my favourite things about my visit is spending time with my girlfriends again. Growing up, I never had really close, best friends until I was in college. Now, I don't know what I'd do without them. Christina, Tamara, Angela, Suzi, and Em, thank you for listening to me whine and complain about how beautiful it is up here and how much money we're making and how much time I have on my hands with nothing to do except play with my kids, love my amazing husband, and clean my house. I just know you guys understand my pain.

Last but not least, we shopped. A lot. An embarrassing amount, actually, and it felt really really good to be that embarrassed. One of the treasures we picked up besides blackout curtains is this little green fairy dress for Felicity. It was the only one left in her size among a sea of XS and XL, as though it was calling out her name from the moment we entered the mall. I wish I had a better picture of it, but whenever she wears it you hardly see the dress for the big smile and the big blue eyes. Which may have had something to do with us buying the dress in the first place.

Some Things Never Change

This sort of reminds me of his baby hair, except that now he's got a whole lot more of it. However, when I look at this picture I think of all the things I should have been doing instead of using a $200 blowdryer on my two-year-old.

See? Still cute!

Highs and Lows

When we lived in Gibsons, I went to an awesome Moms-and-tots group that I would have insisted on having every single day if I'd known how much I would miss it. Hindsight's twenty-twenty, I KNOW!! Anyway, when we'd finally get our kids settled and our coffees stirred, Susie would say "okay, let's hear everyone's highs and lows for the week". Then we would start and not stop until the kids were begging for nourishment in the form of McNuggets.

So if I were still sitting in that precious circle, this is what I would say.

Highs:

1. Our computer got fixed!! For only $30!!! Seriously, the only guy in town who fixes computers got back from his six months in Palm Springs and had our computer fixed in half an hour. Not only is it back on, we no longer sound like a jet is taking off in our living room. Bonus.

2. The kids are still cute. Phew!

3. I finally lost a pound. Actually, I've lost three, which I attribute to my shiny new iPod. Not hearing myself clunk, clunk, clunk on the treadmill is a big help. I'm trying not to think about how much I would have lost if I'd asked for one for Christmas, but anyway, again about that hindsight...

4. Our vacation is so close I can almost smell that Chilliwack smell. You know what I mean.

Lows:

1. If you'd asked me about our vacation this morning, I would have been sobbing into a protein shake, but thankfully it seems as though it's fallen into place. There were a few days where we were not sure if David would be able to have a vacation at all but THANK GOD it worked out. So far. We'll see.

2. Our sleek new rowing machine that we purchased with our tax return three weeks ago has still not arrived. Grrr. The hardest part is that I'm the one that ordered it along with another piece of machinery for the clinic, and I'm the worst at being hard-nosed with salespeople even when I can feel I'm being screwed. So here's what I would say if I had the cajones: Brad at Rocky Mountain Fitness, I know you screwed up this order somehow and you're not being straight with me, so you're either going to pay for the shipping or drive the thing up here yourself. Yes, I know Prince George is a long way from here, but you're going to make it happen. Oh, and I want a free exercise ball.

So that's pretty much it. As alway the highs outnumber the lows, and God is on His throne.