Pickles, Hammocks and lazy afternoons...

What a fun weekend. Late last night Jewel and I got together to do 50lbs of pickles. I love how jewel just decided, "Hey, I think I'm going to buy some 50lbs of cucumber today. Wanna pickle them?" Having never done this I was a little bit unsure of how long it would take...but Jewel was a pro!! So fun to look at all those jars and think of the many meals ahead of us where we can enjoy them:) Yummm!

Johns brother and his wife came up to visit this past week. We had such an enjoyable time with them. We went to the beach, played on their giant water slide, went out to waterton, and played some fun games. Before they left, they gave us a hammock as a housewarming gift and I am just in love with it. I can't think of a better thing to do then lay in a hammock with some lemonade and a good book. If you can't find me...good!!! I plan on taking the time to waste a lot of perfect afternoons away right here:)

What a Girl!!

Just wanting to brag about Abby for a moment. She started swimming lessons this past week (level 1) and we just got a mid-program progress report. I was so proud of what her teacher wrote about her. "Abby's Awesome! She's so much fun, she's a fish. During Breathing she starts to swallow the water instead of blowing out but she is just awesome. Thanks for putting her in my class!" I just love it when other people can see how fantastic Abby is. We need to work on the whole breathing thing before she drinks half the pool but, still. She is willing to try anything and she considers everybody her best friend. Characteristics I hope will stay with her always.




This is just a picture of my "little fish" fishin with me. I just love this kid!!

Mr. Sandman

We went with some of Johns siblings to the beach today. Isn't it great to just "play". This sand castle started out as something fun to do with the kids. I think us parents got a little too enthused. Many times there was not a kid in sight but rather 3 or 4 grown-ups discussing "where each pillar should go" and "where should the draw bridge be" etc. Too fun:)))

Man vs Nature

You know that saying, "Give a man a fish..." Johns big joke this week is "give a man a chainsaw..." Here's the latest tree he's been hired to remove.

All work and no play...

Ok there has been some play, but A LOT of WORK! It's so nice to finally be owners of a home but it seems like there is a never ending list of things we need to do. New Flooring...check! Fix the roof...check! New paint... uh not quite. John has been amazing and has worked so hard. This week we focused a little more on the outside.

I've spent a lot of time in the last three days turning this florishing bed of weeds into...



This!
Not bad I guess. However, my Father in-law came over with his rototiller this afternoon and made it even better......





Ta Da!!! A new garden for next spring just for me!!!
I'm so pleased with it and thrilled at the thought of having peas, carrots, corn, pumpkins...all that good stuff!

John has been even busier. A new family has moved into town and they've hired John to re-do their back yard. First thing to do: Cut down 17 giant pine trees that lined the fence. It only took 3 days and a sore back but he did a great job. Unfortunately he's only getting started. The rest of this back yard will basically go and then John gets to show off his real talent of turning it into something beautiful!



As for the kids. That is where the play comes in. We did get to the beach once this week. Abby found a dead minnow and saved it in a bucket and wanted to take it home. Ugghhhh. Luckily Uncle Chad got a pic before I threw it away when her back was turned.



Sam loves getting dirty!






Jewel's sister in Law Johy painted Jessicas toenails yesturday. I can't get over how cute they are. She won't be wearing shoes for the next week, and I plan to match her outfits with her toes. hee hee



I love our little home more and more with every hour we put into it. It is very small for sure, but it makes me think of that old country song by Doug Stone. There is line in it that says, "If we had more room between us, think of all we'd miss. Love grows best in houses just like this." I'm looking forward to making lots of memories while we are here!

Beach Bums

We have found a fun little lake nearby that has become a favorite spot for us. If any of our friends/fam come to visit...we will likely take you there. Here is a sneak preview.




I love this last picture of Abby and Jess. They look like they will be such great friends. It made me think of my own sisters and how despite our childhood fights and quarrels and there constant teasing I actually love and adore them both! I think I have the best sisters (and sister in law:) EVER!!! Hope my girls can say the same one day.

Congrats

Johns degree came in the mail today. We missed his official ceremony so had a breif one of our own. (Luckily we have a very ample dress up box so finding a grad hat was no problem.) I am so proud of him and we are thrilled that this part of our life is finished. On to the next adventure!

A "BEARY" fun time!!!

...Literally. When I was little I used to have vivid dreams of being chased by a bear, and I've admittedly grown up with a bit of a phobia of them. (those who have ever camped with me would know:) Despite that- I've still had the strange desire to encounter a bear in the wild. I've never made a trip to the mountains in all these years without straining to spot something moving in the trees. Never anything...not even a glimpse. Today was the day! On our way up to Cameron Lake we spotted this little guy off to the side of the road.



The picture won't necessarily show how close we got but take my word for it...I could feel his breath on my FACE! Ok not really...and perhaps I should mention that I was still technically inside our van...but we were VERY close. His name is "GRIZ" so hopefully that big hump on him means he is infact a grizzly. (though he is pretty black) Perhaps the bear expert in my family could correct me on that if needed.

I can't help but feel a sense of awe whenever I encounter a magnificent animal in its natural habitat. I once got to go sailing past an island off the coast of BC where we saw hundreds of Eagles perched on the rocks. Same thrill. It nice to have little moments like that to remind us that despite the concrete world we've built there is still a lot of beautiful nature to enjoy!

To the "DADS" in my life...

Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest inheritance.

Since it is Fathers Day I've spent a good portion of the day reflecting on the Fathers in my life. It has been three and a half months since my Dad passed away and I rarely go a day without noticing a small gap that he used to fill. I miss his hearty laugh and his sense of humor. He was not a wealthy man in any way...but I do feel like my childhood was very "rich". One thing that was always important to him was that his daughters marry well. Point for me!!!! I could not have married a better man. John is such a wonderful Dad to the kids and he has all the qualities I lack. He's patient, hardworking...incredibly good. "Practically perfect in every way!" Now if I could just get him to stop teaching the kids to play with their food...:)))
I love him so much.






So here's to them and all you Dad's on Fathers Day. We think you're GREAT!!!

Just a day at the Park!

Can you think of a better place to be?

For all you Stryker fans out there...

John here...

I am entering the BLOGOSPHERE(sp??) for the first time in the wake of my lovely wife Tanis to post this (you'll need to turn off our onsite music player before you watch this):

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Just appreciate that the excitement you might experience while watching this montage is nothing compared to what you might feel if you were flying this plane. The model featured here is my brother Jordan's F-27C Stryker. I currently am flying the precursor model, the F-27B, and I concur with the online bloggers regarding this plane in that it's durability, agility, and acrobatics ensure that this type of RC plane will be around for a long time. Enjoy!!!

Sincerely,

Wing Commander John W. Hardy, 2nd Airborne Division

First Week

It's been exactly one week since we left Calgary.
On Saturday I took the kids out to Waterton for the day. I wasn't sure how an outing with three kids and no help would go but it was such a nice time. The kids loved the "magic waterfall." It was close to impossible to keep Sam from sliding under the fence to get a little closer, and equally difficult to convince Abby that it wouln't be wise to try to capture the squirrels rummaging nearby. Kids will be kids I guess. We took a nice walk over to the Tuscany and had spaghetti on the patio. It was really relaxing to sit in the shade and watch all of the tourists. A quick stop by the Big Scoop for ice cream and then we topped off the day by playing at the playground. Sam climbed up here all by himself...infact I wasn't even aware of it. (oops) Daring little guy:)) Luckily I managed to snap a picture just before he slipped through one of the rungs and skinned his knee. What we won't do for a picture eh.



Speaking of pictures...I tried to take some photos of my kids laying on our giant parachute. I thought all of the bright colors would be a cute backdrop. Unfortunately nothing really turned out well. Between the kids who would NOT stay still and John who was equally uncooperative...this is all I have to show for that.




Down the street from John's parents is a small pasture with three horses, (minnie, gus and joker.) The kids LOVE feeding them, and I like to pretend that they are ours. I think our walks to the horses will become part of our daily routine:) It is so nice to sit outside each evening and hear the crickets and frogs.


On Tuesday we bought a house! It is small and we will definately outgrow it in a couple of years but we have lots of plans to fix it up and make it our home for awhile. What we love most about it is all the yard space and the large garden on the west side of it.
We are loving it down here and so glad we can stay at John's parents until our home is ready. The kids are really lucky to get to be around their AWESOME Grandma and Grandpa so much, and this small town living is kinda nice.

Well since my Baby left me.....

...I haven't been singing Elvis tunes, that's for sure! It's official. I am a single mom. I woke up this morning determined to make the best of things. When your handed a lemon...right?

Right after breakfast the kids and I got in the van and headed out for slurpies and a bit of shopping. So far so good. By noon though we were hurtin for things to do so we went to Wal Mart and bought a couple of kids sleeping bags and went "camping" with popcorn and a movie, of course. (We really rough it here) By 5:00 pm we were once again wondering how to pass the time. Normally at this time of day, we'd all be at the window waiting anxiously for Daddy to pull into the driveway. Not today. (For some reason knowing that John isn't coming home makes the time go by so much slower) So instead, we headed out to go kite shopping. Yes...our little pocket book took a small hit today, but it is one hour away from the kids bedtime and I actually still feel sane. All in all things went well. This whole "single parent" thing is tough. Lucky for me it's only because John is down south trying to line up a house for us. Pretty brave of me I think to leave the house hunting up to him. In only 36 hours and 45 minutes he'll be back. I know...poor me:) I can hardly wait!!
9:00 am

1:00 pm...

5:00pm...




As always Jessica is perfectly content though she no doubt misses Dad as much as the rest of us do!!!

Home

So John spent a couple of days in Southern Alberta this past week helping his Dad. While he was there, he managed to line up some work as a substitute teacher in that school division starting on Monday. MONDAY!!! This works out great for him as it will give him a chance to get to know the staff and students at the High School where he will be working full time (physics?) come September. Not only did he make arrangements to start subbing on Monday but he also came home with two keys to our new postal box so that I can start switching our mail over. Ahhh...my head is spinning. This is happening so fast!! It is hard to believe that it is already time to move...again. You'd think I'd be an expert at this by now but I'm a little bit nervous this time around. Why? Not sure. Maybe it is because we have to move in a month and have...no house? Maybe it is the fact that we are now finished with our transient, nomadic student lifestyle. For the first time ever we are moving somewhere knowing that it is most likely where our kids will grow up. I can see myself going to that same post office box when I'm 80 years old. Talking to me about our upcoming move can sound like a good thing or a sad thing depending on what time of day it is, what my mood is like etc. John being hired is SUCH a blessing. We really are so fortunate. But there is a lot that I will miss.

PROS:
-We will be much closer to Johns AMAZING parents. I really want my kids to know their two grandparents well as they are all my kids have.
-I will not have to worry about being pulled over by the flashing red and blue lights of my brothers cop car...for no reason at all:)
-can you say "income". Yeah that will be nice.
-No more long waits in emergency rooms
-Jogging in fresh air
-The sound of the wind. I LOVE to hear that wind blow.
-Waterton will be a very short drive away. Talk about a day at the park. It can't get better than that.
-Close to the temple.
-I love that my older sister and her husband will be moving down south soon as well.
-I love that we won't have to store empty boxes (for future moves) anymore.
-It is awesome that John will be able to go to work everyday in an awesome place and do something that he is terrific at.

CONS:
-I'll miss being pulled over by my brother (sort of), and I'll miss his afternoon visits
-I'll miss living above my younger sister and her family. They have been SOO good to us.
-I'll miss being able to move often and meet lots of people, live in different wards, and cities.
-I have found a lot of comfort in not having to reach out and invest a lot into other friendships because hey...we've never stayed in one place for very long. I'm a little bit nervous to move somewhere permanently. My "friend making" skills are definitely rusty.
-Abby will miss her little friends

I'll keep you "posted" (hee hee). We really are excited about this next opportunity and adventure for our little family. Besides it doesn't really matter where we are as long as we are as happy as we are now. "Home is where the food is." I mean "home is where the heart is....and where you hang your hat."

Jessica seems excited about the move!

Our little Boxer

At this very moment Sam looks like he just got in a fight...with a ten year old...and lost. Not so. Just an ordinary Sunday afternoon at our house:) It seems like there is an hour in our home, always between 5:00 and 6:00pm where chaos rules and bad things can happen. I'm usually preoccupied trying to think up what I'm going to cook for dinner. The kids are all hungry and delirious with low blood sugar and I usually get the bright idea to ease the chaos by letting the kids help. On a normal day their efforts to help in the kitchen would result in a spilled pitcher of juice, or a broken plate. Not today. At 5:15-right on cue...disaster hit. In a split second an innocent childhood fight over who "gets to stir" resulted in the first case of stitches I've ever had to deal with as a Mother. Now it was all an innocent accident. I'm sure Abby didn't mean to push Sam off that chair but she did. In a matter of seconds there was blood just dripping down his face. Abby frantically apologizing and telling him, "you can have the chair Sam...it's ok." Too late for that. Good bye peaceful Sunday afternoon...hello emergency room.

Needless to say, after 6 hours of waiting, and 5 minutes being restrained in a "mummy bag," while a doctor stiched him up, our little boy survived his first real injury. I am doing ok now. uh...I mean Sam is doing alright.

It is so hard to see your kids go through things like this. I kept wishing there was a way I could just take it all away for him. I think every parent feels like that, whether we are wanting to protect them from a bully, or a sickness...or from getting hurt. I think that is the part of parenting I will never be able to get used to. Watching your kids experience difficult things. What a trooper though. Despite my crying- he took it like a real little "man."

Hopefully this marks the one and only visit to the emerge this year! Hope you all have better luck this week:))