I've been lazy on the blogging front lately, but I have to say since school and other activities have begun I have been much busier. What's new?
Lochlan is really enjoying school. He had a day or two witin the first week, but now is enjoying it a lot. I like hearing about what he's done/learned and there are a few activities he brings home to do. I hate to call them homework as he's only four but they're things to work on. It's nice to have an activity for him and I to do on our own.
Miah is turning more into a little girl and less of a toddler every day. She loves to do "colourings", dress up and dance, make "tea". She and I are doing a gymnastics Mom and tots class and Todlins which is a music/dance class that we did last year. She loves both and asks regularly if we're going to "mynastics". Mark has this thing with the kids where he asks "Who loves Miah/Lochlan?" Miah answered today saying Mom, Dad, Walkinin (Lochlan) etc. However, Mark asked her who she loved and she answered "Walkinin, he's my best friend". That made tears come to my eyes. It's so nice that they have each other, especially when we're so far from home and all our other family. OK so I'm sappy Mom but I still thought it was sweet.
Olivia will be 10 mos. on Sunday (Holy crap where did it go?) I'll do my usual update then.
Mark is doing well. He's taking advantage of the surfing, he's even switched to a higher level board and caught a wave further out, bigger, ride the wave before it breaks... he's really enjoyiong it.
I'm keeping up with the kids and life as it were. I've been a lot more social lately (going out with the girls) and plan on joining some activities of my own soon as I'll start weening Olivia soon. If all goes well I'll be going on a Christmas Market Trip in Nov. It's through PSP (Personnel Support Programs). It's from 27th -30th Nov. We'd start from London via coach, ride the Eurotunnel over and then visit Chritmas markets in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. So many people have been interested that they have gone to a lottery. So cross your fingers for me!
Over the last while our activities here have included strawberry picking, cmaping inside, beach and hanging out with some of our friends. The weather has been beautiful (finally) and we've been taking advantage! That's the scoop here.
Cheers Laura
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
A bit of a rant from Marky
Hello,
I have been meaning to blog for awhile... lots has been going on that I have been wanting to write about.
The first bit is about the Green party being excluded from televised national debates. Now here is a subject we can get into. To me, this is dead wrong (hence the link on the right of the blog). There are a lot of folks who watch the debates closely, and television is probably the biggest source of information on political party platforms for a lot of Canadians. Excluding the Greens doesn't make any sense, since they took well over 600,000 votes last election and now have an MP. I encourage you to sign the on-line petition at the link on the right of the blog. I do have this subtle worry that this situation might be a bit more complex. Here is the worry story... On the surface, it looks like Steve Harper is thwarting democracy through his lack of support of the attendance of the Greens at the televised debate. The result is a large number of folks voting Green just because they are feeling bullied. However, if a large number of folks vote Green, they won't be voting Liberal. Result... majority Conservative governement. I hope that folks aren't this devious, but with politics, who knows. A final note on this is that I would encourage you all to at least have a look at the Green party website to see how closely their values are aligned with your own.
Second bit (this blog won't be short...). I am doing my best to get out surfing at least once a week. I honestly had no idea how much I would enjoy it.
I have been out enough now that the locals are embarrased for me, and have been giving me a lot of useful advice to minimize my pain. The last time I was out, I had a fantastic time... didn't even eat any sand. Gwithian is a nice place to surf because there is usually some good swell, there isn't (usually) much of a rip, and most importantly for me, it is lifeguarded all year.
I still have a long way to go... when you look out over the water and see all the surfers strattling their boards and sitting calmly, I will be right beside them flailing around like an epileptic frog directly attached to a 12V car battery. The final bonus is that this is making for a great mid-mid-life crisis solution. PS.. the two photos are of Gwithian (my beach), although I can't take credit for them.
Ok, last bit. It turns out you can take shellfish right out of the ocean, eat them and not die. We went out to St.Ives with some friends over the weekend, and had a great (although somewhat chilly) beach day. We picked a bunch of mussels, and they were honestly some of the best I have ever tasted. I was very nervous, but luckily I am married to a maritime woman who showed me how to pick the right ones. While picking mussels is fun, I am still not convinced on the merits of "crabbing". Here is how that game works... you wait for low tide, then head out to the rock pools (kind of a sand/boulder type thing). You blindly stick your hand under these big rocks, and if something bites your finger... you win! If it really hurts, you know you have an eater... I did catch one, but it was rather embarassing. Our friend's oldest daughter is 5 years old. She was happily sticking her hands under the rocks and pulling out crabs (if you do it right, you can actually avoid being pinched). So she is right in front of me, and I stick my hand under the rock... I feel something move, so I try to pull it out. Bad decision. This tiny crab (about as big as a hockey puck, legs included), squirms and starts to really freak me out. Then it tries to pinch me with one of it's tiny quarter-inch long pinchers, and I believed I screamed in a distinctive high pitch tone, no decibels held back. Needless to say I wasn't impressing any 5 year old girls that day. Ask Laura some time for a similar story about me and a hermit crab :) Moral of the story: Crabbing is not fun unless you have saltwater in your veins (hard to come by in Saskatchewan).
There you have it. I am guessing most won't have made it this far through the blog, but that's OK. Looking forward to seeing Jimmyman in a few weeks. Going surfing tomorrow!
Take care all,
M
I have been meaning to blog for awhile... lots has been going on that I have been wanting to write about.
The first bit is about the Green party being excluded from televised national debates. Now here is a subject we can get into. To me, this is dead wrong (hence the link on the right of the blog). There are a lot of folks who watch the debates closely, and television is probably the biggest source of information on political party platforms for a lot of Canadians. Excluding the Greens doesn't make any sense, since they took well over 600,000 votes last election and now have an MP. I encourage you to sign the on-line petition at the link on the right of the blog. I do have this subtle worry that this situation might be a bit more complex. Here is the worry story... On the surface, it looks like Steve Harper is thwarting democracy through his lack of support of the attendance of the Greens at the televised debate. The result is a large number of folks voting Green just because they are feeling bullied. However, if a large number of folks vote Green, they won't be voting Liberal. Result... majority Conservative governement. I hope that folks aren't this devious, but with politics, who knows. A final note on this is that I would encourage you all to at least have a look at the Green party website to see how closely their values are aligned with your own.
Second bit (this blog won't be short...). I am doing my best to get out surfing at least once a week. I honestly had no idea how much I would enjoy it.
I have been out enough now that the locals are embarrased for me, and have been giving me a lot of useful advice to minimize my pain. The last time I was out, I had a fantastic time... didn't even eat any sand. Gwithian is a nice place to surf because there is usually some good swell, there isn't (usually) much of a rip, and most importantly for me, it is lifeguarded all year. 
I still have a long way to go... when you look out over the water and see all the surfers strattling their boards and sitting calmly, I will be right beside them flailing around like an epileptic frog directly attached to a 12V car battery. The final bonus is that this is making for a great mid-mid-life crisis solution. PS.. the two photos are of Gwithian (my beach), although I can't take credit for them.Ok, last bit. It turns out you can take shellfish right out of the ocean, eat them and not die. We went out to St.Ives with some friends over the weekend, and had a great (although somewhat chilly) beach day. We picked a bunch of mussels, and they were honestly some of the best I have ever tasted. I was very nervous, but luckily I am married to a maritime woman who showed me how to pick the right ones. While picking mussels is fun, I am still not convinced on the merits of "crabbing". Here is how that game works... you wait for low tide, then head out to the rock pools (kind of a sand/boulder type thing). You blindly stick your hand under these big rocks, and if something bites your finger... you win! If it really hurts, you know you have an eater... I did catch one, but it was rather embarassing. Our friend's oldest daughter is 5 years old. She was happily sticking her hands under the rocks and pulling out crabs (if you do it right, you can actually avoid being pinched). So she is right in front of me, and I stick my hand under the rock... I feel something move, so I try to pull it out. Bad decision. This tiny crab (about as big as a hockey puck, legs included), squirms and starts to really freak me out. Then it tries to pinch me with one of it's tiny quarter-inch long pinchers, and I believed I screamed in a distinctive high pitch tone, no decibels held back. Needless to say I wasn't impressing any 5 year old girls that day. Ask Laura some time for a similar story about me and a hermit crab :) Moral of the story: Crabbing is not fun unless you have saltwater in your veins (hard to come by in Saskatchewan).
There you have it. I am guessing most won't have made it this far through the blog, but that's OK. Looking forward to seeing Jimmyman in a few weeks. Going surfing tomorrow!
Take care all,
M
Thursday, September 4, 2008
1st Day of School
Lochlan's 1st day of school was yesterday. He was pretty excited the day before but a bit nervous the day of. In the end he did great. He did so well that Mommy didn't even cry:) Daddy took the morning off work and we all walked to his school, which is actually a decent walk (about a mile). It was a nice day and he said "it was fantastic". What he actually did...I have no idea....it's like trying to figure out the secrets of Egyptians pyramids....cryptic. So all in all a good start. Although he absolutely hates wearing the uniform as you can see from the first couple of pictures. Here's our big "little man" on his big first day.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
9 Mos. Old
My baby turned 9 mos. last Thurs. What's new and shakin'? She is! She's my busy bee and into everything. I measured last week and she is 27.75" long and weighs 16lbs 15oz. She is small for her age but doing great. She's still eating well and I'm trying to get her to drink some from a sippy cup, she mostly makes a mess, but it feels good on her gums. She has 5 teeth now! Maybe she'll have them all by the time she's one. I was thinking the other day how much different at one she'll be than Lochlan and Miah. She'll have lots of hair and lots of teeth. She'll probably be moving more too, guess she has to keep up with her siblings some how! She's not walking yet but she cruises around furniture and can stand on her own. She always stands on her tiptoes, always has, even when she walks. We had to put the baby gates on as we can't keep her off the stairs and her going up is better than her going down. Rather than that she's content and likes to be where the action is. It was hard to get some pictures with Manni but I managed a few . Here's some pictures of our little monkey. L
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