The girl that likes to PARTY!

Well our little Jess has been pretty excited this month.   In fact the past month seems to be a blur consisting of one long Birthday planning session.  Her 8th Birthday!!!!

She would come to me daily, clip board and pen in hand, wanting to sort out every.last.detail:    

*When were we going to go shopping for the food for her friend party?

* When was I going to book the pool?

* When could she hand out her invites?

* When would she make her thank you bags for friends?

* When was she going to get her ears pierced?  (a right of passage when you turn 8 around here.  Well...if you are a girl at least;)

*What kind of food would we serve?

* When would she meet with the Bishop?

* Who would come to her "family" party

* What would her baptism dress look like?

* Who could she invite to each/either/every party?

* When could she start checking things off her list?

Needless to say, it has been a bit of an exercise in deflection for me as I've tried to tackle each party (friend, family, baptism) one happy event at a time!

In our home we tell the kids that every year they get to have a "Family Party" and every other year they can also have a "Friend Party."   This has been a great way for me to enjoy a year every now and then with NO birthday parties to worry about and for the most part - it's worked great!   This year though it happens to be a "Friend Party" year AND she's also getting baptized!  As a result, it has seemed like a never ending birthday celebration for this girl.  

Luckily, she's worth all this celebration!

Perhaps the highlight for me though has been having our stake's missionaries over each week to teach Jess the discussions.   This started back in January, in an effort to help Jessica really understand WHAT it was she was doing.   It ended up being a wonderful experience for our whole family!

Elder Clark is on the left and Elder Palmer is on the right.  Both of them are EXCEPTIONAL young men who our kids have truly come to love.    We've had lot of fun visits with them.

  

One of my favorite moments came one day when the Elders were teaching the kids about the Word of Wisdom.   As they were trying to explain to the kids the idea that we should refrain from drinking and doing drugs they asked, "Who knows what some of the things are that we should NOT put in our body?"    Sam raised his hand and said, "Meth?!"  

Granted he was right, but John, the missionaries and I were so shocked at his answer that we burst out laughing!  Sam went on to explain that his elementary school councillor had just talked with the kids about drugs.   Apparently meth was one that stood out to Sam.   

Sigh...some people's kids!!!

Jess' actual birthday was last Friday and she insisted on having her friend party at the local pool.   A few kids from school joined, as well as my Sister and her kids and it ended up being a great time.  Easiest, most lazy birthday party I've ever put on (we're in the middle of a move right now) but she didn't seem to even notice.  Thanks to her handy dandy clipboard I was able to make sure that all the essentials were there:

cake - check!

presents - check! 

Food - check!

Pool - Check!

Now all that is left is the most important event of all.   I'm super proud of Jess because even with ALL of her planning and scheming about parties this month, when asked about turning 8, Jess has always told others that she's "really just excited to be baptized!"   

This girl is a sparkling, shiny, light of a girl who loves everything about the whole world.   There are days when we will be driving somewhere and she will just say something like, "Every day is the best day ever" or "I always have the best life!"   

I'm convinced this is not a reflection really on anything that John and I are doing for this girl, but rather it is a result of her having the most joyful and loving heart Ive ever known. 

   

I'd throw her three more parties just to celebrate her all over again!

...Just kidding, I'm so done!

When Plan A fails... head to Waterton!

We're wrapping up a week off of school, and let me tell ya, it's been a pretty jam packed week!
We celebrated Jessica's birthday (with two parties already and a baptism still to come), we spent a couple of days cleaning a home we'll be moving in to soon, packed up a little bit here, spent a gazillion hours on the phone changing addresses etc, enjoyed some cousin company, AND John attended Teachers Convention.   

Whew!   I'm not complaining, but I do think I could use a little vacation from this vacation;)

Monday was a delight thought!   With it being Family Day, John and I decided to put everything else on hold and get out of town.   All winter long we've been looking forward to taking the kids down hill skiing, and by golly - this was the day!!!  (Even our little Nate was bursting at the seams, he was so determined to ski on his own;) 

So, we got up at 6:30 am (which doesn't even happen for me on a school day!) packed ourselves a lunch, loaded up the gear and headed out for Castle Mountain.

We got there shortly after 9 only to discover that it was their last operating day, due to the lack of snow.  Yes- that's right, LACK OF SNOW!!!   They were technically still willing to sell us lift tickets for the 1 or 2 runs that were open, but even those had more gravel on them then snow!!  

It was sooo disappointing.   

Of course, this all could have been avoided by simply calling ahead, but who had time for that?  We were all rushing to get out the door!!!

Luckily, even though Plan A didn't work out too well, our Plan B TOTALLY ROCKED!!  

We headed to Waterton, of course;)

John dropped the kids and I off at Cameron Falls while he drove back into town to get our x-country skis and gear.  (Because we'd only planned on renting downhill ski's remember?)   While we waited, we built a snowman by the falls, and then threw him over the edge into the icing rushing river.   We had plenty of time for a snowball fight, and then we walked over to the lodge and warmed up over a couple of giant plates of poutine!    So...great.

John met us at the lodge and from there we headed towards Cameron Lake!

This is us just before we started.

Did I mention that it was a perfect Day?  

Because it was.  

It was PERFECT!

The temp was hovering right around zero, which caused the kids to shed a layer or two before we even reached the lake.   Once there, we enjoyed our picnic lunch, walked over the lake, and watched a Stellar & Grey Jay familiarize themselves with us.   I've skied this road a few times now, and this was by far the warmest and most enjoyable trip yet!

On the way down we were shocked to notice how truly calm and still things were.  It's not often that you find a wintry day in Waterton with NO WIND!   

For a day that had started out so frustratingly, this was a perfect way to make everything right!   

Year end Tourney!

Basketball began last month for Abby.   She got o play on a Grade 6 league and this gave her her first real opportunity to be on a team.   I am CONVINCED that this is where the real growth starts.  There is something about playing on a team that helps solidify the love for the sport.   Abby, in the past, has been a little wishy washy about all things athletic, and John and I have certainly not wanted to push her.  It was so refreshing to watch her the past couple of months really develop some new skills and as a result - her confidence and interest in basketball has intensified as well!

John was asked to fill in and coach her team during the season end tournament.   It was fun to watch the two of them together.   Abby loved having John around, and he always puts is heart into any team he coaches.    I was a proud momma sitting on the sideline watching!

  

She's definitely got the height going for her, but like I said, John and I haven't really pushed basketball on her in the past, and so she's a little bit behind some of the others her age.  It will be interesting to see how things unfold as Abby gets older.    If she really takes this and goes with it, or not.    John and I both agree though that we'll be happy so long as she just finds something to put her heart and effort into.    Besides watching old episodes of Studio C,  that is! ;)

The boy who cried wolf and other February happenings

February is famous (in my mind) for providing some of the most stunning Sunrise and Sunsets of the year.  I'm not sure if there is a scientific explanation for this phenomenon or if I've just made this up, but I swear it - November and February make the most beautiful skies!!

More than once this month, I've impulsively rushed out the door, camera in hand to get a picture.  (FYI-a beautiful sunrise totally trumps breakfast, doing kids hair, and prepping lunches.  Yes it does!)   On the morning I took this particular photo I was standing on the top of a snowdrift, wearing jogging shorts, John's winter coat, imitation uggs, with residual makeup from the day before still smeared all over my face.   A kind and well intentioned man, headed in for the first session of the day,  approached me and asked if I'd like for him to take a picture with me in it.  

 I tried to give the most emphatic NO I could, while still being polite.   I mean, for all I know he could have had very poor eyesight?

LOVE this building and all that it represents!!!!

On another note, a few weeks back we had a FHE lesson on the 10 commandments.   We took a moment to review each of them and the good news is - most of them are a CINCH!   That dang 4th one about keeping the sabbath day holy is really kicking our butts though.   haha.   So.... in an effort to work on the one thing holding us back from absolute perfection, we compiled a long list of ideas of things the kids can do before or after church.   It's been fun to see how some of them have responded:

One day Jessica started this giant painting of an owl.   Abby soon joined in, and within the week they'd created this masterpiece.    I was super proud of them for sticking with it.   Of course, it's large, and made of cardboard, so after taking a picture of it I managed to find a great place for it in the garage;)    (The garage is where I store all of my favorite treasures.  ...REALLY!!!)

One week later, I came home from a Young Women's meeting to find the kids sitting on a row of chairs, staring at a homemade pulpit in front of them.   That person standing at the pulpit is supposed to be our bishop, Bishop Heggie.   haha.   I got such a kick out of the Kleenex box and the scriptures.    

For the entire day, Jessica made us keep this thing set up.  In fact, at dinner time (because we needed to use the chairs) she agreed to let us push the Bishop over to the table.   

After awhile though it all got a little bit old.  Every time I walked into the room I'd be startled for a second thinking someone was in our kitchen!   Again, it wasn't long before this little gem made it to the garage as well;)

By the third Sunday I'd felt pretty confident that we'd all gotten into a better, more reverent groove.    All of us but Sam, that is.   For a good 10 minutes that Sunday morning I stood at the sink peeling potatoes and listening to him complain about being "bored!"     Over my shoulder I'd respond to him with a distracted suggestion of what I though he should do.  His response was always the same.   "MOM- I'm BORED!!!"  

Finally I turned around, prepared to give him an idea (mingled with a threat;) and found myself staring at this:

Get it?   I'm BOARD! haha    (baddaboom!)

Seriously, I thought he was delightfully clever. 

 Annoying, but clever!

This past weekend was a busy one for us.  On Thursday Abby and I (and 4 other Moms and daughters from town) headed to Calgary so that she could be a part of a Provincial Children's choir.    We got there in time to do a bit of shopping together before I had to drop her off.   From that point on we were pretty much tied to the down town core as she practiced 9-10 hours each day with a group of kids she'd only met once the month prior!   

She practiced each day in the beautiful Knoxx Church!  It was acoustically amazing and the atmosphere was dreamy.   I could have sat there forever and listened!    But alas, the nearby shopping centre called my name a time or two;)   

We were proud Mama's the evening of these kids' performance.   Their beautiful voices echoed through the whole church and it was obvious to me that they had all grown as singers because of the training they'd received over the past few days.   My favorite song of all was "Goin' up a Yonder."   Angelic.

(getting a Standing Ovation at the end)  

While I was in Calgary, John was back at home keeping the other half of our family alive!  ;)  

Every time I phoned home to check on things, one of the kids would answer and give me a long drawn out story of all that was going wrong.  "The house is on fire!"  "Dad just burnt dinner!"  "Nathan's been lost for days!"  ...stuff like that.   All lies, of course, but they all seemed to get a kick out of teasing me.   Saturday morning, Sam phoned me and told me that the night before he'd cracked his head open and needed stitches.  Naturally, I told insisted that he was a liar and refused to believe him.   A few hours later I received an unexpected text (from the Dr. who had attended to him the night before) with these photos:

I pretty much felt like a winner after that.

Let this be a lesson to you all of why you never EVER cry wolf!!!!