Saturday afternoon, because we had nothing better to do, (and because I was still sad about not getting to freeze out lake) John loaded us all up in the car and we went for an afternoon drive.
Eagle watching!
The sky was overcast, and we had a fresh blanket of snow on the ground- but the temperature was actually quite nice. It made for an exciting drive.
We started by going out to the cemetery, where we know three eagles reside this time of year. Sure enough- we saw this baldy sitting high up in the tree!
It was quite far away and difficult to see, so John set up the spotting scope and let us all watch it a little more closely. Very Cool!!!
I think it is fun to go on drives with John because he always has the energy to drive a little bit further, or hop out and explore something more closely.
After watching that Eagle for awhile we hopped back in the van and continued on. Throughout the course of our hour long drive we counted all that we saw. Here were the totals:
EAGLES = 13
Coyotes = 13
Cool Unidentified large birds = 4
Cows = 100+ (The kids tried to count)
Gophers = an estimated million
Dinosaurs = 2 I don't know- I think someone was maybe bluffing;)
(After awhile we wisely made the rule that everyone had to see it in order for it to be counted;)
I won't say that it made up for missing the bird migration in Choteau - but it was still a pretty darn nice afternoon just the same;)
It's sad for me to think that at this time last year we were enjoying a weekend with the kids in Choteau Montana of all places, watching the most amazing thing I've ever seen. The bird migration at Freeze out Lake Montana. All year we've been looking forward to our return visit, which was going to be this weekend. We've heard the snow geese count is estimated to be around 50,000+ right now! And we DIDN'T GO!!!!!
We had the hotel booked.
The weekend had been cleared.
The kids were all excited. (But only because I bribed them with lots of candy and promises of endless hours swimming in the hotel pool;)
And my camera was ready.
The weather was so poor last night though that we didn't know if it would be wise to travel today. Then Nate came down with some sort of cold that seemed to hit hard- so we decided to call the whole thing off.
Such a bummer.
To think we could have been enjoying this right now.
Speaking of our time at Freeze out Lake last year- this is sort of a funny story. Last year, I blogged about the trip and I shared this picture of a man that I had noticed who had been standing several yards away from me. We really weren't near each other at all, and we never spoke, but I did snap this photo of him because I was jealous of his swanky camera and lens. haha. (I had a decent lens on my camera myself and so I felt safe photographing this stranger without being noticed;) We were literally the only two people in that area that morning. I really should have chatted with him.
Well a couple of weeks ago, as we began anticipating our trip for down for 2012 (grrr..grumble....complain...) John came across this YouTube video made by a man named Todd Klassy. We sat watching it for awhile enjoying his beautiful footage, when half way through (1:49) a picture of ME appeared! lol. It made me laugh because it could only have been taken by that man I had mentionedabove. I think it is kinda funny that even though we didn't ever talk to each other- we did photograph each other. lol.
The pictures in this video are breathtaking, and watching this makes me wish even more that we'd gone down this year.
Cuz' I'm pretty sure that my buddy Mr. Todd Klassy is there this very moment!
(Just to clarify- this is a slideshow made by an amazing photographer named Todd Klassy. They are not my photos. I could only dream of taking photos like this;)
The whole Star Wars kick is still going strong around here, in fact I'd say there is little chance of the kids losing interest in it any time soon. I figured I'd better just embrace it as well, and I thought I'd share a little bit about YODA that you may not have known.
First of all, Yoda is cute. Like- really cute!
(Oh wait, everybody knows that;)
But what you may not know is that Yoda has a very mischievous streak. He's always looking for some sort of trouble to get into. In fact, trouble is his middle name!
That's right - "Yoda Trouble Hardy!"
Yoda LOVES sliding down the stairs and landing on giant mattresses!
(He likely has his older siblings to thank for that)
Yoda is often observed fleeing the scene of a mess. He's not one for sticking around for the whole "let's clean up" part;)
Sometimes, when he thinks nobody is watching, Yoda likes to get in a few minutes of rigorous exercise.
A good Jedi is always in shape of course!
Yoda loves to run and hide whenever his name is called!
Some people might think he's a scaredy cat, but really- he just loves to be mysterious.
Yoda is learning to say his own prayers at night.
(Yes I did take a picture during the prayer- which John thought was awesome of me. Not really;)
Yoda is the master of "Peek-a boo!" Every time he covers his eyes - he seems to disappear;)
And my favorite thing about Yoda?
There is nothing he loves more then a good snuggle at night while having a bedtime story read to him by his Daddy.
I dare say, Yoda can't fall asleep without it.
But don't be deceived.
Yoda is still very VERY tough.
(in a cute, lovable sort of way;)
PS: Thanks Sarah for the costume. As you can see- it is well loved;)
This past week in town in was all about Basketball!! For two reasons:
1) Our varsity boys AND girls teams were competing in provincials
2) The local High School was HOSTING provincials this year!!!!
Now that's a pretty big deal!
I started to get a sense for just how big of a deal it was going to be earlier in the week, when John came home from work, and over dinner, shared with Max and I all the details and planning that was going into it. The high school staff were definitely gearing up to make it a great event. However, nothing prepared me for how big it really would be until John and I arrived for the championship game, AN HOUR EARLY, and found the gym absolutely completely packed!!!
This is pretty much the closest I got to the game! lol.
Here is what I learned this weekend:
When I arrive at church 3 minutes before it begins- I am still totally early.
However, arriving at a championship basketball game ONE HOUR before it begins - is much MUCH too late;)
Oh, did I mention that the girls team won the consolation game earlier on Saturday, and that the BOYS team actually made it to the FINAL!!!! Hence the crowds eh;) No joke, I think the entire town came out to watch them play.
Despite our tardiness, there was actually a giant screen set up in the gathering area where we could watch the game. John set up a bunch of soft comfy chairs and oi la we had a snazzy dazzy overflow area. We were close enough to the gym that we could still hear every sound live and the energy throughout the entire school was palpable. Peoples faces were painted blue and white, pom poms were for sale, white balloons were being waved everywhere, and every child under the age 7 seemed to have strayed from their parents and were happily running around together um...celebrating?
... or just playing one massive game of tag;)
One of the perks to being too wimpy to fight our way into the gym was that we had backstage access to hang with the school mascot;) haha. I don't know- I think John probably taught this cougar at some point. He did a great job with the crowd, that's for sure! (I personally think it'd be a lot fun to be a mascot;)
Another perk to being in the over flow is that I got to watch these young men wait in the hallway before the game began. They were all sorts of nervous and excited - these boys, and it was sort of moving to watch them sort through their emotions as they prepared to enter the gym.
This was a big night for them!
Here is a shot of the fans, as well as some of the super fantastic cheerleaders! (I'm talking about YOU Abbey;) Perhaps you can see the large projection screens hanging down from the ceiling? That's where they broadcast replays and highlights. Oh and in every corner of the gym high in the rafters there were large flash cameras set up, that occasionally went off during the game, whenever an action photo was being taken. Yeah....we're pretty much as cool as the NBA in these parts;)
After snapping these photos- the game began, so I went back to my soft cushy seat, put my legs up on the empty chair in front of me and leaned back to enjoy the game with the rest of Southern Alberta. Who knew watching a basketball game could be so enjoyable?
Just kidding. I LOVE watching basketball, especially when it is a high energy, intense, close game.
And believe me - this WAS!
Throughout the entire game there really never was much of a gap in points between the two teams and they both fought hard. There were some great plays, a few dumb calls, and super half time show courtesy of the cheerleaders, and lots and lots of screaming! ;)
In the end the Cougars WON and for the first time in (I heard 58) years they got a championship banner in the 4A division. How cool is that? I have to admit, aside from this one game I've not really followed these boys very much (though many of them were John's Volleyball players back in the fall). There was something about watching them reach this milestone though that was incredibly inspiring and emotional, even for someone so far removed from it as me. I'm pretty sure that if my sister in law Rachel had been here- she would have been bawling happy tears;)
Definitely a highlight for these kids, and for the school, and lets face it- pretty much the whole town!!!
(cue cheesy "We are the Champions" music;)
Here is some video footage I took that night, just so you can get a sense for how many people were there, and how EXCITED they all were!!!!
We always love visits from family!!! This week our favorite Montanians came to play for a couple of days, and the kids had no clue until the doorbell rang. The last time we'd seen Sarah, Caleb and Malachi was back in August which was definitely much too long ago.
The kids had so much fun with their older and cooler cousins playing Star Wars on the wii, the game of life, and monopoly. Of course a large chunk of time was devoted to plotting and scheming together about how they would catch the leprechaun this year;) We were glad to have these two creative minds with us while building our annual leprechaun traps.
Sam built one at school. The four leaf clover cut outs are covering holes that he'd hoped the leprechaun would fall into.
Abby decided to build a leprechaun HOTEL and lure him in with all sorts of signs and glitz. But of course! There is a high demand for leprechaun hotels this time of year;)
Malachi helped Jessica build a trap that looked like a bird had flown into it. Underneath all those feathers though is a whole lot of trouble for any unfortunate little green guy.
Caleb spent quite awhile on his trap building levers and snares with netting that would fling up and trap the leprechaun before he even knew what was happening.
Clearly, those little green guys didn't stand a chance around here!!!
Yet-somehow on Saturday morning the kids woke up to a mess of feathers, torn paper, dumped over boxes, and chocolate money thrown all over the place.
Perhaps next year;)
A highlight of the visit for me was when we got to enjoy an impromptu mini cello concert put on by my nephew Caleb. He's been taking Cello lessons for five years now and it is always fun to hear him perform. I love the richness of that instrument, and Sam now wants more then anything to learn how to play the cello. This is probably because he has a)seen the Piano Guys Cello Wars a million times,
and b) because he thinks his cousin Caleb is the Bomb!
Whatever the reasons, I could totally picture Sam playing a Cello.
(....sorta .....if I close my eyes real tight;)
To hear this throughout the house at practice time would be absolutely heavenly!!!
The kids will be working hard on there leprechaun traps over the next couple of days. Last year Abby wrote a letter to the leprechaun that included a list of things she'd like him to bring her. She was pretty devastated the next morning when all she found was a bag of skittles;) It was awesome. I'm pretty sure she is plotting extra hard this year to get back at him;)
Here's a fun little picture Sam drew recently at school.
Oh and if you are perhaps wondering if that Leprechaun under the rainbow is by any chance holding a green light sabre?
Yup. He totally is.
And seeing as Abby doesn't forget easy- may the force be with him this year!!
The good old 3.14, which to John is a pretty noteworthy day.
Now this guy has been known to forget "certain special anniversaries" (tsk tsk) - but forget Pi day?
Oh, no siree, that would never happen!
So, every year, John follows in the footsteps of his former physics teacher/mentor by bringing Pies to school for all his class. Therefore, last night after the kids were fed, I set to work. By 10:00 pm I had finished making coconut cream tarts, lemon tarts, pumpkin pie, and apple crumble pie.
Really, I don't even like making pies. In fact, on my scale of "favorite things to do" - I'd put baking pies right next to going to the dentist, or shoe shopping with my kids. Not necessarily fun at all, but definitely a yearly necessity.
On the bright side though, John always gives me the best most biggest hugs after I've finished baking, and says all kinds of sweet things about how "he doesn't know what he'd ever do without me."
And that there folks, is enough to make it all totally worth it!
I have a love/hate relationship with March. It's a month of transition and for some reason I seem to respond to that in an unsettling way. Is it winter still? Is it spring? And don't even get me started on how much I loathe having to move our clocks ahead. Despite all that though - there is one thing every March that I know I can always look forward to.
EAGLES!
I remember two years ago at the very end of March driving back from Bozeman Montana with my Father in law Max, and baby Nate in the back. Max and I had spent the entire 5 hour trip spotting eagles and counting gophers. (That maybe doesn't sound too fun but it sure helped pass the time) It's then that Max told me to wait a week or two as we'd surely be seeing this number of eagles at home as well. As soon as the gophers are out - the eagles will come!
So, two weeks later I went for a little drive west of town and was shocked at how many eagles I saw! One time I counted TWELVE along one road That began a hobby that I look forward to every March now. I have my favorite country roads that seem to never disappoint. In fact, it seems as though the eagles return to the same spots every year. (duh. They probably do;)
This morning, after the older three kids left for school, Nate and I headed out for our first drive:
About halfway through we saw a couple of bald eagles perched on some fence posts.
Darnit though those birds are cautious, and they never sit still long enough for me to get a good photo.
I love watching them take flight though. Their wings are so huge and powerful and they seem so majestic when they fly.
The mountains were especially crisp and pretty. One of the perks to a cold and windy day I suppose;)
In total, I probably only saw five eagles today, which isn't bad, but definitely not the best its been. At one point though, I spotted an eagle high up in a tree and I was determined to get closer to it without spooking it. Just as I was about to take a picture of it though it had to go and fly away on me. It had been sitting right on that far limb and the picture would have been pretty sweet.
These little calves however weren't shy at all, and couldn't get close enough. Too bad I had little interest in them. They are kinda cute though;)
I took this picture earlier in the week, after a steady snowfall had blanketed the (until then) very brown earth. Jessica and Nate had a blast pretending that they were arctic wolves.
Two days later and we were back to basking in double digit temperatures and staring at the beautiful albeit soggy brown world around us.
I LOVE spring in Southern Alberta!
Other exciting news:
* I'm beginning to see gophers popping up all over the place- which means soon I'll be seeing the eagles! I'm going to be doing a lot of back road driving this week.
* We have family visiting this week, and I haven't told my kids about it because they will be sooo surprised when the doorbell suddenly rings. Yipeeeee!!!!!
* The kids have begun preparations for their leprechaun traps. This never stops being a big deal around here;)
* Earlier in the week our kids were spoiled when our neighbors brought over two of the yummiest pizzas ever. My kids love pizza, and they didn't hesitate to tell me that they wish I could make pizza "gooder like that."
Abby has begun preparing for her piano recital which will be held in a couple of months. She's really made great strides this year, both in her ability to play the piano as well as her ability to procrastinate practicing. She's mastered the latter for sure! It usually takes a good hour just to coax her to the piano, and then another twenty minutes before she begins to practice. I admit, it sometimes gets a bit frustrating, and I may or may not occasionally lose my cool. Why, just tonight as I was sitting by her uttering my billionth threat of the night, she turned to me and said:
"Okay mom! Geesh. You don't have to go all gangsta on me."
I don't really know what that means? But I'm pretty sure she will thank me for it one day.
I love hiking with them, fishing with them, having water fights with them. I love reading to them, coloring with them, and I absolutely adore cuddling with them. However, when it comes to playing those make believe games that kids like to play so much - I find it so difficult to join along. I don't know when my imagination went so flat and stagnant, but it did. And that bothers me.
I had an experience a couple of weeks ago, shortly after my surgery that changed that a little bit for me. Why did I have surgery? Let's just say that I took a major life fear of mine and gave it a good swift kick in the butt! That makes me sound so much tougher then I really am. The truth of it is though, that I really was not tough about that upcoming surgery at all. In fact I was down right scared about it -in a dramatic, panicky, blow it out of proportion kind of a way. ;) I've heard horror stories about surgeries before, and I found myself often playing every possible terrible scenario out in mind, the worst one being that I would see something, you know...like a "tunnel of light" and want to go towards it.
And I'll tell ya, I so did not want to go towards the light;)
So, in a state of absolute panic I said a prayer and made a promise that if I could just make it through the week ok - then I would from that point on always....ALWAYS play with my kids.
(oh dear I can be such a dork sometimes, but that is totally what I said.)
Well... clearly I lived to tell the tale, (duh...of course I did the surgery was minor;) and I came home a few days later, barely remembering that promise I had made. That is, until one day last week when Nate came to me with a pleading look on his face, and staring up at me with those big brown eyes of his, he asked: .
"Mom...Me...Barbies....?"
(Translation: Mom. Will you play barbies with me?"
My heart sank, (again with the drama:) and I felt absolutely certain that this could only be a test from heaven above. Because, the only thing worse then the thought of having to play barbies - was the thought of having to play barbies with a two year old boy! Yet there I was - facing the promise I'd made, knowing that I should probably follow through with it.
So, while Nate played awkwardly with every single barbie throwing in whatever limited vocabulary he had, I tried to play along, filling in the gaps where I could.
It.was.so. tedious.
I think I checked the clock every few minutes just to see if enough time had past. I know that as a Mother, I shouldn't be admitting this, but I spent the entire time desperately trying to think up some reason that I could get out of this mild form of torture without having to feel guilty about it.
And then the phone rang, (oh sweet mercy the phone rang!) and I sprang up from my spot on the floor telling Nate that I'd be back soon. (Though truthfully I had no intention of coming back to that at all;)
As I was headed out of the room though, I turned to look at him, and it really surprised me when I saw on his face a complete and utter look of joy. It was the same look he has when we tell him that he gets to go to his Aunty Jewel's house, or when we finally give in and let him blow out all the candles on the cake even though it isn't even his birthday. He's thrilled! And that's what I saw on his face at that particular moment. Somehow, that 15 minutes that had seemed so difficult for me to give, had been all that little boy needed.
I instantly felt so humbled, and grateful, that this little boy still wanted and needed me, and I began to see the value in playing with my children.
And suddenly, I didn't want to get the phone anymore, but instead wanted to sit down by him again for fifteen more minutes.
Sometimes when we have a quiet Saturday with nothing going on (it's rare but sometimes happens), we make our way down to the high school where John finds all sorts of things for the kids to do.
We usually play in the gym for a bit. We run around, shoot hoops, and if we're extra lucky, John will pull out one of the remote planes and the kids go crazy trying to catch it.
It's a great way to burn off some energy;)
When the kids get tired of playing in the gym, they make their way to Dad's office (aka his classroom) where they find all sorts of sciency type gadgets to play with. Around the time that I start giving five minute warnings that it's time to leave soon- John pulls out the plane simulation game, and Jessica and Abby start "playing school." For some reason I always have to be the teacher that nobody listens to. How typical;)
I'm not gonna lie, I usually get bored when it comes time to play in the physics room, (perhaps reminiscent of my high school years?) but I stick around because it's fun to watch them all enjoy it so much . Plus, they are my ride home, so what else can i do?:)
It's made for some fun winter weekends for these kiddos!
On Saturday afternoon, John scooped up the whole famdamily and took us down to the school for a couple of hours of fun in the gym. The kids kicked around the soccer ball for a bit, then they played basketball, John flew his remote airplane, and I walked laps. At one point, after trying without success to teach Jessica the rules of soccer, Abby gave up on the game and came over to where I was. Her eyes were nearly brimming with tears and I could tell instantly that something was bothering her, but she seem to want to talk about it. After a few minutes, I asked her what had happened to make her not want to play with Jess or Sam anymore.
She pensively looked up at me and said, "Mom, It's just not fun to be so extremely awesome at something, and then have to play with others who are not as good as you."
Oh yes she did!!
I replied by saying something along the lines of: "Yeah....um....I can't really relate to that feeling Abby, but I can imagine how hard that must be for you." And then I encouraged her to try to be a little more patient with her younger siblings, and their apparent lack of skill;)
Truthfully though, (and I say this with all sincerity), Abby really is extremely awesome.
And yesterday - this EXTREMELY AWESOME GIRL turned 9!
As per her birthday request we had a slightly unusual Sunday dinner consisting of perogys (with all the toppings), Italian Sausage, salad, and pistachios. To finish it all off, she got a much anticipated DQ Ice cream cake. (I don't know why we let the kids chose their own "birthday dinners" but after eating that combination of food, I'm feeling the need to go on some sort of 10 day cleanse as a result;)
Jewel and her family came over for dinner as well (poor souls;) and that alone made it Abby's "best birthday EVER!" The fact that she got both a microscope and a telescope was just icing on the cake.
Abby's a special one to me. I have a lot of fond memories of the early years in our marriage when it was just John and I and our one little baby. We were so happy to be parents, and to have such a spunky and inquisitive child. Of course, we were certain that she would excel at everything, and that she would be practically perfect in every way;) It has been fun to see Abby grow and become her own person. Still as inquisitive as ever, artistic, kind hearted, confident and just as we'd always hoped - she's practically perfect in every way!
Our third blog book recently arrived and I love it just as much as the others. It's bigger then the others by a little bit, and contains almost 350 pages consisting of some of my favorite memories over the past two years. I have to admit it is a bit biased, and for the most part, from my perspective entirely. Hmmm.... perhaps that's why I like it so much! ;)
What I love about this little book though, is that when you browse through it, for the most part- you would never know about the few difficult experiences we've had over the past couple of years. Instead, this book is chalk full of the GOOD! And that's exactly how I wanted it to be.
It's full of family photos.
(Because I made my family endure a lot of family photos in the past 24 months)
It's got a few love letters about my husband;)
There are many documented special occasions and celebrations-
-Not to mention lots of treasured time with friends and family.
This book contains probably every.single.one of our favorite summer activities.
(That time with John in the summers is sure precious!)
Of course, it was important to me that a few awkward and embarrassing moments made it into the book.
You know, for posterity's sake;)
Mostly, this book was all about illuminating the beautiful things in my life. Giving attention to those things that were great in the past two years, and choosing to leave out those things that were ...well...not so great.
Hopefully, one day my kids will flip through these pages and remember the charmed life they had growing up.
