#11

This morning at 5:45am Vic was picked up by our friend Doris (in the photo with Vic) to line up at our District Education Centre for Kindergarten French Immersion registration.

Actual registration doesn't happen until 7am April 1, but because there are only so many spots for Kindergarten (16 spaces this year), it means that there won't be enough spots for everyone who wants one. We are number 11 out of 16 so we have a spot!

The first person to line up was there at about 2:3am...a little crazy if you ask me. Vic seemed to be in pretty good spirits all day. The parents only had to wait outside until about 9:30am until they opened the building so they could wait inside.

The scene there tonight was one of parents reading, watching movies, eating dinner, chatting, knitting...I visited Vic at 7pm with his dinner and he was hoping that he would get a somewhat decent night's sleep (on his air mattress). At least the parents didn't have to camp outside as in previous years.

Registration happens first thing tomorrow and then we are done. Definitely a team effort.

Looking for a new tablescape / centre piece

I'm ready for a change in our table centre piece. If you have any suggestions, please send me a link!

On the food side of life, I cooked tonight (a rare event since Vic does most of our dinners). He requested my meatloaf. You know you are doing something right when he asks for a certain dish. I use beef instead of turkey.

in search of...

new lamps!

today we started our search for a new floor lamp and at least one new table lamp for our living room.

i really want a crisp white drum shade. like this.

of course these sorts of things are always easier to find on-line than in real life. so the search continues...

i was a really good mom until i had kids...

I've mentioned how I enjoyed reading this book before.

It gets at all of the guilt, myths and unreasonable expectations we put on ourselves as mothers.

This morning, for instance, was a morning straight out of HELL.
Sophie and Fynn pushed every button I had and made up a few new ones in the process.

1. Fynn pooped and I ran out of wipes (my problem, I know).
2. Sophie freaked out when I did her hair in a ponytail that she didn't approve of.
3. Sophie freaked out when Fynn turned over her Polly Pockets car and all these little "Polly-bits" spilled everywhere.
4. Fynn cried and cried for no apparent reason.
5. He showed little interest in breakfast.
6. Fynn decided he wanted to play "plumber" and pull out our plunger, toilet scrubber and whatever else he could get his hands on while I was putting on my makeup.

Oh, and yes, I was trying to get myself out the door to take them to daycare and get myself to work at a reasonable hour. Thursdays Vic has a Rotary meeting and I do the morning rush by myself (he did come home and tidy up the house later -- thank you, dear).


I love them, but on mornings like this, they drive me wild!!
Here they are this evening, happily in the bath.

celebrating a life...

Vic's dad's service was on Saturday at St. Savior's Anglican Church in Penticton. It was a really nice, yet modest service - something he would have wanted. We had a tea in the church hall followed by a gathering of close family at his mom's house after. Today we had the interment at the cemetary.

Here are a few photos of the family gathering. Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, and siblings.

Rockin the '80s

Tonight was my work's annual staff awards dinner.

It is always a fun costume related theme. This year it was the '80s.

Since that was "my" era (I graduated from high school smack in the middle of that decade), it was easy to come up with an outfit (thank you Value Village, Claire's and Ardenes).

Those were my vintage '80s glasses (luckily I didn't get a headache from wearing them for a few hours). Nice big frames.

what do you need to keep you happy in a recession?

I don't think I need much really.

I've been thinking about this and have come up with this list:

1. My morning cup of work coffee (it's actually not to bad for office java).
2. Sophie getting herself dressed in the morning.
3. Diet Coke
4. No surprise crisis at work.
5. Dessert with Vic after the kids are in bed.
6. Clean clothes.
7. Pants that fit.
8. My psorasis not flaring up (directly related to #4).
9. A good book from the library.
10. A decent pillow.

William Hamilton

Vic's dad passed away tonight after a battle with Alzheimer's disease and then complications from pneumonia. He was 83.

This is one of the last photos I have of him taken last summer when we all went out to the White Spot restaurant. He was a very special man.

5 pin Sophie

Sophie went to her friend Alicia's 6th birthday party today.

This was the first time we went to a party at a bowling alley. It was a lot of fun and gave Sophie the chance to try something new. She was on team "Hannah Montana" of course.

little girls in pink tutus...

It was parent observation day today at Sophie's ballet.

She did really well - listened to her teacher, smiled and seemed to have fun!

brown bagging it

Remember when lunch bags were brown bags?

I pack Sophie and Fynn their lunch (Fynn's is the blue bag, Sophie's the pink, mine is the yellow one) every day. Lunch is usually leftovers or a sandwich, fruit and yogurt. And a juice box for Sophie. Their daycare provides them with two snacks per day, so they certainly don't go hungry.

Two or three days a week, I pack my own, too. I figure I save about $7.00 a day by bringing my own lunch to work.

I wish I could say that Sophie and Fynn go off to daycare with bento style lunches, but these will have to do for now.

becoming a soccer mom

I'm entering the realm of the soccer mom.

Tomorrow I'm registering Sophie in spring soccer. Her little buddy Abbie is in, and her older friend Kierra is also in a league. Abbie's mom and I have requested that the two girls get on the same team, so hopefully they can accommodate us.

Ballet is winding down in another month or so, so it will be just about time for another little activity. I think the team aspect is good for Sophie, plus having a few basic ball skills under belt is likely good as she gets closer to school.

sun

oh, beautiful sun.
we went out for a walk today...the first time in weeks and weeks. the sun felt so good on our backs. we saw a very tame racoon, too.

later, sophie watched a little Hannah Montana and then we played "school."
colouring is very therapeutic....for me too.

fynn is such a little man. looking like he needs another haircut.

a new purse

Today I took Sophie and Fynn to a birthday party in the morning while Vic rode his bike. I told him that I NEEDED some retail therapy after another Saturday birthday (this is weekend #2 of a three weekend marathon of b'day parties for little girls).

We hit Kelowna in the afternoon. I had 2 items to buy:

1. A new pair of Gap jeans. I have not purchased jeans since before Sophie was born. It was TIME. Gap came through for me. I wear them to death, so they are well worth it. I am not someone who has 6 pairs of jeans to rotate through. I usually have 2-3.

2. And, a purse. In all of my work years, I've never had good handbag. One that looked good, yet had some quality behind it and could keep my stuff organized. A friend likes Coach, but I'm not quite ready to spend those kinds of $$$$ yet on a purse. I did take a step over to the quality side when I found this at the Bay.

en Francais

Last night, Sophie, Fynn, Vic and I went to a French Immersion meeting for Kindergarten. We are strongly considering this for Sophie.

We were impressed with the enthusiasm of the French teachers and how well the children who did a little presentation could speak en Francais.

Our next steps in this process are to register Sophie on April 1. Because there are 21 spots, and at least 23 parents who attended last night, that means some will not get a spot. Our plan is to wait (as parents have done in previous years) the night before at the District Education Centre. Likely that will mean getting there at around 12 noon on March 31. Vic and I will then take turns holding our spot (we get numbers like in a deli).

A good chance to meet the other parents, and maybe even a little bit of fun in the all night wait session.

a birthday party...

Today Sophie went to her friend Mikayla's 4th birthday party.

It had quite the Hannah Montana theme (of course).