Fairies, Sparkle, Dance!

 This year's dance show theme was Peter Pan and it was wonderful! They had so many extra practices, extended classes that made for a great show! I'd say it was the best one yet. They put a lot of work into their story, adding lots of Irish twists and making everything flow well together. The costumes were top notch (especially that purple sparkly custom made one!) and the window prop was awesome! Honey's not too sure about continuing with Irish Dance in the fall so I'm glad she had a really great show to finish on if she doesn't go back.

She got her hair washed early in the morning so we could dry and curl it before dress rehearsal and got all our glitter gear on and headed to the theatre. Since she might not do another, I got all my shooting done during the rehearsal and got a sneak preview of the show. I realized at the actual show, just how much of the story and detail that I missed while running all over the theatre to get shots. Watching something through the lens is not the same as actually sitting and watching! So glad I got to do both!

Grammie & Grandad came for the big day but we had to scoot home quickly afterwards to get the birthday party started! Grammie made all the fairy wings and everyone appreciated her efforts since most of us are not sewing inclined! For my part, I made all the hair ties. And by "made" I totally mean "cut a piece of cloth into strips". Hey, everybody's got to do their part right???

Snow Picnic

To avoid a whole week of sitting and watching tv/playing on iPods, I thought we'd try a snow picnic! We phoned the neighbours, rounded up Miss E and Tulip and packed our grub and headed for the woods! We weren't very far in when they started asking "how much further!?!?!?" and "I'm thirsty" started even before that. I held them off til we got to the beaver dam and then we set out the feast. Of course, that's exactly when the biting wind picked up and gave us all instant frostbite! Ok not quite but it was COLD!

We decided to retreat into the trees and found a sheltered spot and started over. It wasn't long before our fingers chilled and our drinks froze in our glasses so we didn't linger! The way back over the pond was a wide open area and the wind had blown the snow in over Murray's trail. It was harder going since we couldn't use his packed surface so the kids took turns being the trailblazer and forging the new path. It was very organized and I was impressed! 

We took a shortcut once we got closer to the road and came home to find Boo waiting for us! She'd brought her skates again but we needed to get the chill out of our bones so we had a Minecraft break before lacing up and heading back out to the rink. 

Teena and I were able to have a nice visit and get lots of chatting in!

Collisions, Concussions and Contusions!

We got March Break off to a good start and hit the sliding hill on Saturday morning.

Good news/bad news: we haven't had any amount of light, fluffy snow for quite some time. The runs were well packed and no one else was there. Those runs were fast, and bumpy and not well cushioned! My saucer did nothing to soften that jarring ride at all! The hill was pretty much empty and there was no waiting. It was cold but the steep walk uphill kept us warm. We were with Boo and she & Daddy Dale (not to be confused with Uncle Dale) brought an inner tube! You can pile a lot of people on an inner tube and the more you have the better chance of staying on it over the jumps. (guess how we found that out? let's just say Sweetie's solo run made an impact!)

We got off to a rough start when Lovey was on her way back up from one of her first runs and stopped in the middle of the hill to watch Honey come down. She was so enthralled with Honey's descent that she forgot that she was in the middle of the path and just stood there as Honey zoomed straight into and then under her. It was like high speed bowling. Honey was slowed momentarily but had enough momentum to pick up speed and fly the rest of the way down. Lovey was upended and dumped unceremoniously in Honey's wake. Lovey howled and wasn't impressed and Honey felt awful! I explained that it wasn't her fault and Lovey shouldn't have been in the path. I had a hard time persuading Lovey to get off the track as the others were waiting to come down and I didn't want a repeat performance, the first had been painful for me to watch, never mind for Lovey to endure! Her leg was sore and it hurt for awhile but she was missing out on the fun so was soon back on her sled.

They took turns on the inner tube and I gave it a try as well. It was a much nicer ride, that air cushion absorbs a lot of the impact! Sweetie and I went down together and decided to try the jump! Great idea!.... in theory! We went over the first bump and that was ok, but gained a little speed, hit the second bump a little harder and faster and left our seat for a moment but managed to hang on... til the third and biggest bump. We went uuuuuup and the tube just kept shooting down the hill without us and then we came dooooown. It was a hard landing! My elbow is still bruised from landing on it. Sweetie was on top of me so she didn't hit the snow packed trail but it still didn't feel that great for her! Despite this crash, we kept going and had several more runs. Daddy Dale gave us a push on the inner tube once and we didn't stop til we hit the barbed wire fence. I was cringing as I waited for the *POP* but we didn't! whew! and thank goodness for the fence and trees at the bottom because we were nowhere near stopping!

Eventually the dare devils got a little too brave and crashes got more frequent. Finally Honey hit the jump (the one she'd been LOVING for half an hour) at just the wrong angle and tipped and landed face first in the hard snow and that was it for her. Luckily no blood or cuts but she was sore enough that she wanted to go home immediately.  She went to the top to wait for the rest and then Sweetie took a bad tumble and she'd had enough too. Lovey was already cold and still sore from her initial crash and I'd had enough jarring and bumping to last me awhile!

We went back to Boo's house where Teena had made us a yummy homemade macaroni and cheese lunch! Everyone wanted the good times to keep rolling so we packed up Boo and her skates and brought her to our house. They hit the rink for awhile, until Sweetie had to go to gymnastics and then they came in. While she was gone they loomed and Netflixed til supper. We curled up on the couch for movie night and capped off a great day!

Sleeover!

Sweetie has been on a kick lately, to improve her behaviour. Her efforts have been consistent and have yielded great results so far! I can see the wheels turning when she gets frustrated and wants to stomp and scream or argue with hers sisters. Her manners are better, her patience is thicker and when we talked about it she said it was hard at first but after awhile she got used to it. She's been extra sweet and helpful and kind and cuddly. Frankly, it's been kindof awesome! Her biggest goal was to be "good enough" so that we'd let her have a sleepover. She had asked a few times and we just put it off. We haven't let them go anywhere for a sleepover yet so if they start having friends to our house,it's going to lead to being invited to their house at some point. We're not ready to let them go sleep with people we barely know! (insert freakish paranoia level here --->)

Finally we couldn't hold out any longer, she'd worked so hard and was going over the top! One night, while tucking her in, Murray said "oh let her have a sleepover already!" She was thrilled and started thinking about who to ask. In the end Boo was the honoured guest!

They played outside for awhile and then came in for hot chocolate and did some other indoor activities. Sweetie came to complain that her sisters who hadn't worked on any self improvement whatsoever, were hogging her sleepover! I put the other two to work on some chores and Sweetie & Boo went to play in her room instead. It didn't go over well but she had a point!

She says she's going to plan her next sleepover to be when her sisters have a hockey tournament away so she doesn't have to share her friend! Triplethood does have its downside!

Sleepover!

Sweetie had been asking about a sleepover a lot in the last month. When could she go on one? When could she have one? What did she have to do to get one???? What if she was really good? When? When? When??? We remained non committal and didn't promise anything. She decided she'd just do her best to be all round "good" and see where it landed her. She started being more helpful around the house and doing things without being asked. She stopped arguing with her sisters as much (nobody's perfect right?). She compromised when the three of them were in disagreement and looked for ways to settle disputes even if it meant giving up a window seat to keep the peace. She went out of her way to be more agreeable and patient. On the crazy hockey tournament weekend where she got dragged from place to place for most of her weekend, she never once moaned, groaned or complained! We decided THAT in itself deserved a reward and told her she could have a friend over. She was overjoyed and thrilled to invite Boo over to stay with her.

They played iPod games, worked on loom bracelets, watched a movie, stayed up late and then played some more the next day. Her sisters got to enjoy as much of it as she did which wasn't really fair since there had been tonnes of bickering and fighting between them and NO efforts on their part to curb it. Boo just wanted to play with everyone of course and was having fun doing what everybody was doing. Sweetie felt like her sleepover had been hijacked a bit and was disappointed that she didn't have Boo to play with alone. I decided she should have some one on one time with her guest and sent the two out to play and then do their chores while Sweetie and Boo played some Wii and did some other stuff on their own until lunch and Sweetie felt better.

"Next time I have a sleepover, can we do it while they have hockey?!???!?!??!"

Happy Birthday Boo!

Boo reached the 9 year mark this fall and had a swimming party at a hotel downtown. There were lots of little girls, lots of giggling and squealing so I think that's a successful celebration! Besides, there were french fries and icecream cake, what more could a girl ask for?!?!?

Fair!

We  hit the fair this year! We missed it last year because it rained on the one day we planned to go. They were pumped to get in there this year and I had Teena to hang out with so I had fun too! Lovey was too nervous to go on most of the rides. She has never liked the sensation in her stomach from all the twirling and whipping around. Everyone else LOVED that of course so most of the rides picked were ones she wasn't willing to try. A couple of times she got on with her friend from school and then bailed just before the ride started. The first time that happened, the friend stayed on but got paired with a random boy who wanted on and she was NOT impressed. The next time Lovey abandoned ship, she got out too!

Lovey picked  a few rides she remembered liking from her last visit but they were too tame for her this year and the other girls were bored to tears (see Sweetie in the swing picture LOL).

Eventually she braved one of the rides by herself while the others were trying a different one and it wasn't as bad as she thought so she started going on the others but it was almost time to go home by then. She never did get on this one below. By the time she was ready, we had finished for the day! Maybe next year!

Camping 2013

Summers go soooooo fast! Every year we say "we should go camping sometime!" and most years we end up pitching the tent at GG's for the golf tournament and that's about the extent of our tenting time. This year we took a weekend and actually went to a real campground, woohoo!

The kids love it and lugged up all the sleeping bags, mattresses and pillows quite excitedly. Then I remembered what I hate about camping: the loading & packing of all the stuff! Gotta make sure to put the tent in last so it's the first thing on top when we get to the site. But the cooler should be packed last so it'll stay colder that way, but it's one of the biggest things so should go into the van first.... it was almost a paralyzing conundrum! Finally I had everything ready to load. Unfortunately it wasn't at 2pm as I'd planned, it was 5:30! I was going to take the girls out and set up the tent ahead of time and come back for Murray so we could eat at the site and have a bonfire. Another plan gone bad but not the end of the world.

We got everything set up and explored a bit and then turned in for the night. Checkers was incredibly restless and preferred to roam around and shake his head every 5 minutes. It was a looooooooooooong night! The kids were oblivious but Murray and I woke up not feeling too refreshed!

Nevertheless, we're camping and we're going to have fun darn it! But what to do? We shall go on a lovely nature hike and find the waterfall! We are certainly not sitting around in a tent to play iPods! I told them if they wanted to play video games in the woods, I could have thrown them over the fence in the backyard and saved myself a LOT of work! I didn't spend 5 hours baking, packing & loading to watch them do what they could do at home! They weren't very moved by my speech but didn't ask for electronics again.

We eventually found the start of the trail and began the hike. They were all excited at first, zooming along, racing around and chasing each other along the path. Then the novelty wore off after an hour and we still couldn't tell if we'd found the waterfall or not. We'd seen some water flowing over a small pile of rocks in a stream but were looking for something a little more impressive. The brochure mentioned it was "small but striking" so we kept looking, and looking and walking and looking. We ran out of trail and started back around the loop we'd taken and saw lots of other stuff in the woods but nothing that we'd consider "striking" !!! The girls weren't impressed either and made sure to let us know by subtly mentioning things like "I'M BORED. DO WE HAVE TO KEEP GOING? WHEN CAN WE STOP? CAN WE TURN BACK YET???" At one point, Murray overheard a grumbled "I feel like complaining my head off!" He lost it and said "we didn't have to come camping you know."  (<---- a="" br="" murray="" s="" that="" tirade="">
We got back to the campsite and had some lunch and shortly after that, Boo got dropped off for a sleepover as Teena & Dale had a party and we won the babysitting lottery :) They were quite excited to have her there and showed her around and got her bedroll set up. They spent the rest of the afternoon at the playground and activity centre while I cleaned up lunch, read my book and then got supper ready.

That night we did have a campfire and s'mores, roasted hotdogs, sparklers and a couple Dragons Eggs that we probably weren't supposed to have. (something about no explosives in the rules I realized after). Grammie and Grandad love campfires so they joined the party and supplied the hotdogs and stayed to enjoy the evening with us, hooray, a party!

By the time our guests left and brush & flush was done, everyone was wiped and settled down without too much furor.

Teena had saved the day and brought some ear cleaning stuff so I was able to get Checkers' ears in better shape and he slept better which meant we slept better. Somewhere towards morning, I felt Murray pushed up against me, so much so that I was barely on the mattress anymore. I looked over to see what was going on and Checkers had confiscated his mattress so he was trying to get off the ground and use mine! (despite the fact that I'd made a very nice dog bed with the removable trunk liner and some towels!!!)  Fussy puppies do not make great tentmates.

Lovey & Boo were awake at 6:30 and fairly chatty so that was the end of my shuteye! We tried to read quietly in the tent but that didn't last long and everyone got up for breakfast. They went for a swim while I dried out the tent and tore it down and reloaded the van. We grabbed a pizza lunch at the canteen and headed home!

Good times!!!

they got the "small" part right!

High Falutin'

While her sisters were out for hockey last night, Sweetie got a last minute invite to a play at the theatre downtown! Boo had an extra ticket and no one to be her date so Sweetie stepped up! We got our supper done and started picking out an outfit. Sweetie called Boo to see if she was wearing regular clothes or dressing up and planned her attire accordingly.

Teena picked her up and they headed to the big city! The show didn't start til 7:30 so it was a late night and she almost fell asleep before it was over and was all curled up in her seat! She dozed all the way home and slipped into bed in record time! I was surprised this morning when she dragged herself out of bed and never had any whining at all!!!

Party On!

We raced around like lunatics yesterday & crashed out the door just barely in time to catch the bus. I was surprised that I couldn't see the headlights coming down the road already! We waited a few minutes. Still nothing. Hmmmm. Murray wondered if the buses were delayed because of the weather. I ran in to check the district website but couldn't remember which district they were in right off the top of my head. I googled one number that came to mind but that obviously wasn't the right one because that page said all schools were closed. And that couldn't be right! Not on the 2nd last day of school, the last FULL day of school that I'd set aside for cleaning, wrapping and getting things finalized without interruptions or distractions. 

Still in denial, I googled the school and unfortunately found out that I'd had the right district number after all. I thought the girls would be excited to have the day off but annoyed that they hadn't gotten to sleep in. When i went out and announced the news, all three groaned and moaned "awwwwwwwww!!!! no!!!!!". Their classes all had special activities, parties, movies, plays etc planned  so it was the one day of the year that they DIDN'T want a day off.

Since my day was messed up beyond repair, I phoned Teena to see if she needed me to watch Boo for her but it turned out to be her one day off. She'd planned a similar day to mine except for shopping and errands.Since I was staying home anyway and not sure what to do with 3 Christmas crazed, at loose ends kids, I thought it would be helpful to bring in more of them and invited Boo over for the day so Teena could get her stuff done. That didn't seem loud or messy enough so then we called Tulip and the girls next door. That seemed to be just the right amount! I baked cookies and got icing ready for them to do some decorating.

While I was doing that, they tried to demolish the downstairs. Apparently, quiet activities like watching tv were not on their agenda!!! I quickly finished bagging the icing and got them to put away their swords and all other warfare.

The cookies were a big hit and they did a great job with minimal mess, surprisingly! There were even sprinkles involved and I didn't hear a single cascade of sugar! Once they'd sampled some of their work, I fired them out into the back yard to burn some of it off. Eventually they got cold and insisted on coming back in but by then it was almost supper. I decided it was in my best interests to send everyone home with all the toes they'd arrived with!

Teena and Boo joined us for supper since Dale was out shopping for the evening and this was like the icing on the, well, cookie I guess! They were super excited and turned it into a pj party supper and were quite confused as to why we'd want to wear our regular clothes to eat in!

Good food, great times, forever memories :)))