The day has come

Its my last night of my extended parental leave tonight. I have so many things to say, but can't find the right words tonight... so pictures are going to have to do for now. I had the most wonderful leave ever, and I am very sad to see it end... but I've done it in style, by going out with a great bunch of ladies last night and re-hashing old memories and seeing bright new faces. When the words come, I will do a recap of this leave and this wonderful adventure with my 4 kids and my wonderful husband.

Kaitlynn striking a pose!

Butterfly clips in my hair... see?

My new birks! Don't they just rock... ok, so they don't... its an acquired taste, trust me.

My four kids getting ready to go on the ice for the first time... and they all skate now!

Tristan and Kaitlynn... doesn't get much more special than that.

It's finally happened!

Kaitlynn finally said "Je n'aime pas ca"!

She was referring to cumen scented zucchini. You see, she has eaten everything I have put in front of her, absolutely everything since we came together way back in November 2007... which, to be honest, is not "normal" for my children. I have children that have a lot of personality and a lot of hpmf in them, and I just couldn't figure out how to get Kaitlynn's character to come out when it came to eating. How could a child of 2 1/2 and 3 yrs old like absolutely everything... its just not right!

Out of the blue tonight, she looks up at me and says quite clearly "Je n'aime pas ca.". I told her it was all right not to like something, but that she needed to eat it anyways cause she was growing and needed her vegetables. She looked at her plate, then looked at me, and with an upturned nose, dug in to the best that she could palate. She ate most of it, but didn't like it at all. YUPPIE! Independent spirit on the way!

Hang on... I will be dreading this in a few months, but for now, I am just so happy that she found the courage to speak up and express her likes and dislikes.

On our way back home

What a busy summer this has been. I have been barely able to sit down and read something, let alone write stuff down. Sorry to all those friends out there that are waiting for a response to emails or return phone calls- I just have not seen the days, and then a month has passed.

A quick recap of what we have been up to:

- Greg and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary by going on a surprise trip to Stratford, Ontario to catch some Shakespeare and some contemporary plays. This was no small undertaking - kids stayed with friends, DH's on call schedule was covered by a colleague, his boss gave leave approval.... all without DH having a clue of what was going on. He was thoroughly surprised when I did not drive the car towards Tristan's hockey game, but towards the airport for our 2 pm flight to Toronto. We had just a lovely adult time, watching wonderful theater, playing my very first 18 hole round of golf, and romantic dinner at The Church restaurant. We couldn't have done this without everyone's help - so thank's a million to everyone!

- I am letting the cat out of the bag, in a general sense. I have had a job interview or two, but haven't heard anything yet. I am trying to keep my head down, as I only have 2 weeks of leave left and I want to enjoy every minute with my kids! They are all home with me next week, while DH may very well have to work late a few nights... should be just fascinating how I maintain my sanity next week.

- Tristan finished his U8 soccer season (phew). His team finished in first place for the regular season, then during the play-offs, they finished in first place! He was invited to play Intercity league, against 9 year olds.... which we politely declined, and said to his coach "maybe next year". While Tristan's nickname may be "The Tank", as nothing gets passed him on the soccer pitch (he plays defense), he is only 7 and we worry that playing against bigger and maturer kids may be just a bit much.

- Zach finished his U6 soccer season (double phew). He had a great time, especially with the very muddy field! Zach also plays defense, but would from time to time surprise everyone and come from the back of the field to score a goal!

- Master Zorro, HIC, is now officially recognized as a herding dog. Grammy Carol, Orlagh, Zorro and I went off to Alfred, Ontario to herd some sheep one fine Saturday. I was so scared that Zorro would just not be into sheep, but boy did he surprise me. He was evaluated as being able to be a working dog, and we are just so proud of him! He demonstrated his herding technique on Zach one night recently, trying to get Zach back to the master herder (me)... it was quite funny, as they kept going around and around and around the couch, until I called off Zorro. He had medium eyes going btw!

- Jacob has grown over 3 1/2 inches since April! I have no idea what he has been eating, but he now looks like a bean pole with a mop of blond curly hair! He continues to be a wonderful mimic, and his vocabulary grows every day: he has now acquired the very important words such as "Stinker", "Stinky", "Poopster", etc. It still eludes him, however, to know when to go potty for number 2... hence the words referenced above.

- Kaitlynn has also grown just short of  2 inches since April! I guess its all that organic milk that I have been buying! Her glasses are working out just fine, but we still worry about her night time eye sight. She is waiting for an appointment with a bunch of PHD's at the Children's to have her retinal rods counted and to see if they are functioning. There seems to be two likely causes for this potential problem, and we are hoping that its the most simple problem which will only affect her night time vision. If its the other problem, then her sight will slowly degenerate. Keep your paws crossed for her! We are still waiting for speech therapy to start, but she continues to try out her "new" mouth: the other day she started making horse noises in the car! Her next visit for her cleft won't be till she is 4, when they will evaluate her orthodontic work requirements and whether teeth need to be pulled to allow room for her secondary teeth to come in.

- Tristan and Zach have both started the regular hockey season this weekend ( oh no! we just finished soccer!). Tristan, following two intense weeks of hockey camp with his brother, just wowed me on the ice with his side stopping and with his puck handling. I guess all those early mornings have paid off (but boy, am I tired!)! I am anxiously waiting to see what level of Novice he will make (A, B, or C)... won't know until late October. Zach continues to do his own thing on the ice, coming alive as defense when his team needs him, in MAGH-2... but he hasn't quite figured out that he won't get a pass if he isn't paying attention to the puck and the other players. I marvel at how his brain works - completely left brained, where I am right brained - and am in awe of my second son!

- Jacob and Kaitlynn both start activities this year! They will start maternelle figure skating lessons Sept 3 (while their older brothers will be doing power skating lessons on the other half of the rink). Jacob will be wearing Zach's old hockey skates, while Kaitlynn got her very first pair of pink figure skates! They are the cutest thing, and she took to walking in them like an old pro. Its still left to be seen how she will react to ice though! They will also both be taking a creative dance class on Saturday mornings.... that should be interesting to watch!

- Tristan starts Scouts this year too... did I mention that we only have 1 car now, so it will be an interesting challenge to get all this choreographed!

I leave you all with this photo... check out the clowns in the back!

I'm having a baby!

And its name is MBA! Scared you, didn't I?




I can finally let this cat out of the bag. I have applied and been accepted to do an executive MBA program at Athabasca University! We are so excited, its just like finding out we are pregnant again! The late nights, the early mornings, the juggling of responsibilities... well, you get the picture. The gestation period is longer than an elephants (22 months... and yes, I checked) - it will take about 2 1/2 years to complete, and I start this September.... along with my return to full time work, and the older boys at school in grade 1 and 2. We are completely nuts, or rather, I am completely nuts. But I really think this is the right thing to do for me at this time - I need the challenge, the network of interesting people I am going to meet, and the exercise for the brain. There are also other indications that I am on the right path, but I can't go into that right now as its all very hush, hush. Let's just say that when it rains, it pours around here!

Now, before you think that we are moving to Alberta, we aren't. The beauty of this program is its distance learning, and you do your courses and your work according to your schedule. There are lectures that you download, course work that you complete on your own, and then you have your thesis project to do and some final comprehensive exams to do also. No need to drive downtown, park and sit in a lecture hall... I can do it in my jammies if I want! DH finally gets to get his dream computer now that I need it for school - I wonder if that is tax deductible???

So that's my big news for today! WEEEEEEEEE..... look, Mom, no hands!

We're back!

What a crazy, crazy, crazy month this has been. We are just back from our very first family vacation to New Brunswick! We had a great time, staying in a chalet that we rented by the sea, swimming in the ocean, and doing "sorties". I think it might be best to do this with photos, so here we go!



Sunset in Riviere du Loup - this was the view from our balcony at a bity little motel that DH found. It was just lovely and a perfect way to start things off. They had a huge lawn in the back of the hotel for the kids to play on, with stunning views for the adults.


We started at the Acadian Village, in Caraquet. The kids loved it, especially the farms! Tristan was the most enamored with the whole Acadian feel, and would stop and ask as many questions as he could. Jacob loved the music, so we ended up buying a CD of Party Acadian music which was requested numerous times. I personally loved the molasses cookies, and couldn't get enough of them!


We stopped for lunch at a typical Acadian restaurant, in the Acadian Village. Everyone cleaned off their plate, and had dessert consisting of sugar pie and poutine au pain avec sucre brun... mmmmm!


We didn't always run around on sorties, we stopped and played at the chalet site too. Here are Zach and DH playing crocket together.


We also played catch. Check out Kaitlynn's pink glove! (Yes, I know... I am impossible!)


Day at the beach... what does Tristan do? Well, he immediately starts to build an aquaduc system. I think we have a civil engineer on our hands!


Playing on the beach. Oh, and that would be Tristan and Zach bringing water from the ocean to Tristan's aquaduc system.


Another one of our sorties: this one to Miscou Island, where the loneliest lighthouse resides. Its the farthest tip of NB and the lighthouse was built in 1816.


A brief stop at one of the marsh's on Miscou island. Kaitlynn was sleeping in the car with me!


Rainy day (the only one we had) involved a visit to the aquarium in Shappigan. The kids are at the touching part of the exhibit where they can touch any number of things that are found in the local waters, including a blue lobster (very rare).

On another day, we went to an eco park where we got to see the local birds up close. This one is a rare bird now, native to NB (can't remember the name), where they used to be many, many more but with the advent of colonization and man they have dwindled to very few.


The highlight of the eco park for the kids was the fishing. They actually caught a couple of fish!


Tristan proudly showing the fish and passing it around so everyone can hold it.

One of the beautiful sunsets from our chalet!

Our chalet is the orange topped one, second from the left. As you can see, we were almost right on the beach!


A very cold day at the beach does not mean we can't have fun. We went for a long walk and picked up neat-o rocks and shells and all sorts of treasures. The waves were extremely powerful that day, and the wind was so strong that it woke us up at 4 a.m. - I thought it was the ocean coming to swallow us up! It may have been the tail end of a hurricane, we thought.

This shot was done by DH... just lovely!

Hanging around!

It was an adventure, to say the least. I did not get much sleep, so I was extremely, shall we say, cranky and I could only focus on the negatives unfortunately. Thank goodness DH stayed positive. The roughest parts were putting the kids to bed (they didn't want too, especially Jacob) and the mornings, when they would get up at 6ish a.m. after having fallen asleep at 10:30 pm (the kids usually are in bed by 7:30 pm). The driving was surprisingly all right. We made numerous stops to run around, and when we would find a park we would jump out and play for a bit. It took us 9 hour and 40 minutes to get back, the first 5 hours 40 minutes out of NB to Riviere du Loup. Would we do it again? Definitely... but I need some sleep first! Maybe next year we will do mid-NB, around Bouctouche and day trips to PEI. Oh, and we watched the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy... all 12 hours of it, one disk per night (the hobbits are off to Isengard, to Isengard, to Isengard!).

More later on the other fun we have been having, notably work related for me (its all good).