Pizza makers

Easter Sunday and Birthday

Easter Sunday was a blocked holiday at work and initially unable to get it off, but at the last minute a colleague was able to swap with me so I was happy to have the whole day off to enjoy with the family. A friend had also invited us to dinner which meant a night off cooking Yeeha!. I prepared a chocolate cake to take, but then heard that she had made a birthday cake too, so now I have a chocolate cake in my freezer to enjoy at a later date .

A trail of rocks into the woods for you.

Green, pink, blue, purple and yellow too.

See what exciting things they will lead you too.

Heather and Finlay found the rock with the flower and then had to hunt for the rock that was the same colour as the flower.

From the Easter tree, see what eggs and treats you can see.

Then all my children had fun in the play park

After our Easter egg hunt we enjoyed sitting outside at the summit cafe and a relaxing afternoon. It had been the warmest weekend this year and made me feel soooo happy! Time with the kids and hubby, enjoying lovely sunny weather and no cooking.....a pretty good birthday for me!!

Easter weekend

 Easter weekend was glorious weather and actually tipped us into double figures by the afternoon. On Saturday we enjoyed a cycle ride downtown to an Easter basket and cake decorating morning at the old RCMP barracks. We met our friend and Heather and Felix both cycled all the way down. They then all enjoyed the crafts and then a picnic and play in the gardens.Then the kids cycled more than half the way back home.

Easter baskets.

Easter treats.

Meeting the local wild life.

 

exploring the newly exposed earth.

 

 

8th April.Last weekend of spring break.

 This winter has seemed to be lasting forever and ever... I can remember stating to friends at the beginning of February that I was done with winter and ready for some warmer weather.... and that seems a very long time ago!!!!
I recall a mild October and then a sudden drop into winter around mid November with temperatures of -17 and steadily dropping and dropping and dropping. We were sent to the deep freeze. I have now raced in -19, even succumbed to a run at -28 and taken the kids to school in the sledge at -20. 'Oh Canada".
Usually in this area of Alberta we are blessed with warm winds called chinooks that blow from the Pacific ocean, bringing us warm air that lasts long enough to thaw us out and melt some snow. However this year..the year I have to bundle up 2 kids to school, we never seemed to get that break. We have rarley seen temperatures above - 20 and the snow is still lying on the ground since November!!!. Just last week Heather and Finlay enjoyed watching a snow plough and grader try to even out the road on our back alley, it was getting so bad that you could hardly drive a car down it.That weekend we were blessed with what I thought was the beginning of spring, the weather was warm and sunny, the snow started to melt, bikes came out, Finlay playing in the park and pointing to "Grass",mum's were sitting chatting enjoying the warmth while watching the children play and the snowpants were left in the closet.
The next day, the last week of spring break the snow was back. Looking out my bedroom window, remarks similar to "You gotta be ******* kidding me " we announced!" No biking today kids!!" However it is milder starting off with a fresh -10 in the morning and reaching 7 by lunch. Shoveling in the morning, sledding and snow angels at the park and by the time we have our evening meal the snow has melted to a trickle of water in the back alley and the bikes are still coming out!!

Heather and Finlay are good hands at this now.

Rolly polly rolly polly ,snow, snow ,snow.

perfect snow angels.

During spring break we enjoyed spring skiing, and I mean "enjoyed" by the fact that we can get Heather and Finlay dressed and organised leisurely without feeling that we are about to loose our fingers to frost bite. We enjoyed walks to the sledging hill and sat outside to enjoy snacks and tea and just to sit there outside and take a deep breath to enjoy the warm sun on our faces.

So back at school this week and many families have beautiful tanned faces from spring break holidays in Mexico, Utah, Hawaii and now I am finally realising why!!!. Next year I feel this might be a necessary contingency plan for winter .

This has been the snowiest winter since the sixties however the snow is steadily loosening its grip. Even when it snows it does not last long now. The roads are clear, grass can be seem, birds are singing and spring is definitely breaking through.

Temper tantrum twos

Finlay is certainly testing his boundaries at the moment. He has had various tantrums from not wanting to walk or get in the stroller, kicking his boots off, while I am trying to walk home. Then running all the way back to where he had his melt down in his socks. Another one was in the middle of the dollar store when he thought that a newly bought toy was broken and that he wanted a knew one, he ended up running and screaming down the aisles until I caught him and carried him while again kicking his boots off and screaming and squirming. We ended up walking out the store with customers asking if he was 2!!! Only to get him to the car and have him refuse to get in his car seat. This time I had to stand him on the side walk in his socks, back turned to me and arms folded and we waited and waited until after about 5 mins he was ready to get in the car. The other day we were late for Heather visiting her kindergarten class, when he wanted to go to the park instead, but couldn't handle the fact that we could go later. I forcefully strapped him in as he wriggled about but then he managed to get free and was almost jumping out of the stroller, so again he went running up someones garden in socks to lie down and scream. After waiting for 5 mins he tends to calm down and then we can continue on our journey.
The funny thing is that it is a battle with alot of things from getting diaper changed, to brushing teeth, to getting shoes on. So you can see what fun we have while trying to get everybody out the door. However the 5 mins for him to have that chill time gives him enough space to pull himself together and then he happily calls me to say that he is ready to say sorry or get ready and I am met with a happy smiley boy, ready to face the world again. The curious thing is that all his reports from daycare say what a mellow mannered boy he is and a joy to look after and he seems very popular with the kids in his group. I get great comfort in the fact that he does know how to behave, I get comfort from the fact that when he is ready to join us again it is with a smile and that at the end of the day it is me or James that he wants to lie by him as he falls to sleep.When we are in a group he makes it clear that I am his mommy and becomes quite protective, he loves to give hugs around our legs and will always say " I miss you!!" I guess that he is just testing his boundaries and limits and as parents we have to take the brunt of that. I find that I have to be careful how I deal with this, I have to show patience and acceptance of his frustrations but make it clear that some things cannot be tolerated.

Heather on the other hand is quite intense, also testing her boundaries with emotions and crying and this seems to happen more when she is tired. Recently she has been busy with school and play dates, dance and daycare. By the time bedtime arrives she is exhausted, but reluctant to go to sleep. She has 2-3 stories, then reads to me, then I have to make up a princess story to then finish with 5 lullabies. But most evenings she tries to extend the terms. Resulting in screaming. I find this uncomfortable as we are all weary at that time and I would love bedtime to be a happy and relaxing time. But we don't seem to master this. One night I had to ask her why she was so sad and upset. She said that she didn't like me going to work and wanted me to put her to bed. I explained that this week I didn't have to work and could put her to bed every night. Then she said that she didn't want me to go to work and help people, " I have a good idea for another job you can do....you could just stay at home, clean and put me to bed every night ". That night James was home and took Finlay to bed while Heather and I had a good chat before going to bed, in the princess tent and  this seems to settle her down and she enjoys the one on one quiet time with me. It must be hard for her, but I am wondering if the fact that Finlay goes to sleep in our bed is having its toll on her. Its not ideal, but he seems to need that comfort, whereas she is independent.There have been occasions where she has slept on a mattress at the foot of our bed, but generally she sleeps in her own bed. We have made her bed into a lovely princess tent bed which she loves and Finlay has even expressed interest in sharing Heather's room which we may try at the weekend.

So we continue along this path of parent hood trying to understand the reasons for their troubles and respect their thoughts and things from their prospective, with patience we try to show them the right way but this is very trying and takes a lot of energy to stay calm.Sometimes we do and sometimes we don't. Some days it feels that we move from disaster to disaster, negotiating scenario after scenario, generally we work things out and generally we have great kids.We just pray that we are doing a good job.

Ski Kimberley

Our ski trip to Kimberley was a great success.We had rented a beautiful little condo on the ski hill and by the end of our stay we were all able to ski down from the condo and then ride on the chair lift to ski the whole way down.Skiing from the condo made life so much easier.On arrival the kids soon explored the accommodation and discovered the large fridge with a water and ice dispenser and that supplied moments of fun.

The first few days Heather enjoyed a few more lessons and became more and more confident every time. I enjoyed a couple of lessons and it is amazing what a bit of tuition does to help you remember the confidence and skills that were once there, but forgotten over the years as you just muddle through with moments of taking what you can when you can. Finlay was able to hire some skis and boots and start getting the feel of snow ploughing on the bunny hill. James enjoyed a few hours in the afternoon ripping it up and exploring the whole hill while I relaxed with Heather and Finlay napped.

Checking out the appliances.

Early evening relaxation after skiing

Finlay also did a good job at exploring the local menu and seemed to enjoy chocolate ice cream as a favorite

 

Heather progressed from the bunny hill to the T-Bar to then the chair lift.

 

  

By the end of our stay we all were able to ride the chair lift and enjoy a long ski down. Heather did so we that I decided that she was confident enough and strong enough to follow me down a second time while James took Finlay back for a nap. So off we went for a girls ski. She did so well and enjoyed going fast, so much so that at one point she passed me shouting " Mum I can't stop!!!" So I called to her as I skied down beside her to put a turn in "Put a turn in!!!!......Snow plough Heather!!!.....Heather!!! ....Heather" and in my loudest voice ever " HEATHER!!!!!" To which at that point she turned to me and said calmly "What is is Mummy?". I could tell she had enjoyed going fast and was in control the whole way!!!!



Weekend family fun

A weekend at Mosquito creek Youth Hostel came with a little adventure for Heather and Finlay. The Hostel is set quite a way from the road and there is no vehicle access to the cabin. So we parked up and had to sled our equipment and food down trench pathways as tall as Finlay. Another added adventure was the lack of indoor toilets and we had to use out door toilets into a hole in the ground.. I was already aware of this before our stay and aware of potential temperatures of -20, I had acquired some useful equipment curtsy of Canmore hospital !

Heave ho!!!!

\

Nearly lost the kids!!!!

The entrance to the cabin.

Anyone for marshmallows!!!!!!

The following day after a late night of socialising and excitement we decided to go for a snow shoe in the valley. It has been a few years since James and I have gone snow shoeing, infact I think the last time was with Auntie Helen when Heather was 9 months old .

This time we carried the kids in the back packs and went looking for animal tracks. We found Lynx tracks and hare tracks close together so I wonder if something had a good meal!! WE stopped to have a picnic and enjoyed the sunshine and the scenery in the company of a raven sitting squawking at the top of a tree ready for us to depart to then fly down to peck at the crumbs left behind as we trampled away.