What an end to the snowboard season!!

Kodiak and La Diva went out for the last day of boarding at the local hill yesterday. Kodiak was cut off by a new boarder and took a tumble. He ended up with a fractured right wrist which means that he will start the pre-season of soccer training in a cast. He is not impressed. Soccer is his sport and he has been desperate for the snow to melt so the season would start. It is spring break so he will have a week to adjust to it before he's back at school.

Kodiak pre wipeout.

La Diva biting it.

Happy Birthday!

Just before heading to her Jam Camp at the Apple store with Dad. How they spent the day!

Today you are 12 years old, on the brink of becoming a teenager. You are such a lovely young lady. We are so very proud of you in so many ways. Your hard work and enthusiasm in school, your helpfulness at home, your natural caring ways with your little brothers, your big heart, your clutzy ways, your wonderful talents in so many things are just a few of the things that make you so very special. We know that this past year has been difficult for you at school but you have not lost yourself as a result of those trials. You hold your head high and stick to what you believe is right no matter how difficult that may be at times. That makes us so very proud. We hope that you will always be able to look within yourself to find the strength to push through the challenges that life may throw your way. You are braver and stronger than you think you are. I hope you know that your family is behind you. We will always be there to love and support you through the joys and challenges of life. This next year will bring many more changes for you but we have confidence that you will navigate through them with the grace and wisdom that is you. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Oh no! 2 Boyfriends!

Clear Skin

Kodiak and La Diva really don't have a fighting chance in the hereditary department when it comes to clear skin. Their parents have battled awful acne in their teen years to the point that I was on Accutane for a brief time (ugh, what a mistake but I was heading to college and desperate) and the Hero has some scars to show for his awful skin. Seeing as kids are just downright vicious these days I've been trying to do whatever I can to help them through this process. La Diva is really just starting the zits and she has mostly a blackhead problem with the odd awful under skin eruptor that leaves an oozing mess on her sweet face. Kodiak is blessed with the T zone nightmare which was starting to look like a permanent affliction of red dots.

They use a skin care line from Melaleuca which work well enough. We decided to try an additional route with Kodiak which was to add the multi plus daily glow vitamin and take him off milk for a 2 week period. I have heard rumblings that dairy is a major culprit with acne issues but the larger reason we cut out the milk was because he seems to have a *warning disgusting* build up of mucous which caused his ears to feel plugged and an urge to hork constantly. When he was a small boy and required a 2nd round of ear tubes we researched other options and decided on chiropractic care. The Chiropractor suggested that we switch him to goat's milk for a time because it has less mucous than cow's milk and could help his ears to drain, along with the chiro adjustments. It worked wonders and he never needed tubes. So when he was saying it felt like his ears were plugged alot this came back to mind. We had decided we would do this milk free trial and then schedule a hearing test if necessary. While the milk free trial worked on all counts- his hearing has improved, he isn't constantly horking and his skin is really clearing up. We also discovered that he was drinking upwards of 4 litres (a gallon) of milk every day. He is a cheese lover and would rather cut out all that milk and still have his cheese. He has tried soy, goats milk and rice milk during the experiment and finds goats milk to be the closet to cows. So for his cereal we will have goats milk on hand. He is drinking more water which is good for him. All the way around it has been a win-win situation for him.

As far as La Diva goes we have issues with her ability to swallow pills so this vitamin will be near impossible for her to take. She is so slim that I really don't want to take the diary away from her at the moment. So we will just keep going with the skin care routine and play it by ear.

Know it all "fans" ??

We went to the Oiler's game last night. The Hero was given tickets as a thank you for a job well done from one of his colleagues. We took La Diva and Iceman as neither of them have been to a game this season. Iceman is a die hard Flames fan and was set to deck out in Flames gear, however they were playing the Predators not the Flames. We convinced him to borrow one of Kodiak's old jerseys, he then chose to go all out with a hat and tatooed his face with Oilers logos. He looked the part of a die hard fan. He was excited to be going and said he'd do his best to cheer on our favorite team. (by the end of the night he decided that Oilers were his second favorite team in the league... his BFF Jarome Iginala ;) will be crushed)

We dropped Turtle off for his sleepover, went to Red Robin for dinner and then headed to the game. We found close parking which was a bonus because I hate that usual 100 mile trek across the tundra to get to Rexall. Iceman was totally enthralled with the pre-game action. He thought it was especially cool that he could see the players that autographed Turtle's hat and one for his Auntie on the ice. He really got caught up in the whole night and it was awesome to see his face and watch him jump up with fists in air when they scored. The only damper on the evening were the 6 people sitting behind us. They obviously were season ticket holders and had gotten to know each other over the season or seasons. They were probably about 10+ years older than us (old enough to know better imho) and spent the entire game (non-stop yapping, even through the national anthem which had me ready to pop them in the nose from the get go) criticizing the Oilers from the coach down to every player that stepped on the ice. The bagged on them constantly and didn't stop even when a player they had been trashing scored mere seconds after the words came out of their mouths. The Oilers broke their losing streak against the Predators and I thought it was a good game, shots on goal were fairly even throughout, not a ton of power plays, even penalties for fighting for the most part, etc. These people were relentless and when they ran out of fodder for their own team they started in on young Tootoo from the Predators, the first ever kid from the NWT (aboriginal too) to ever make it to the NHL. He's a fiesty little guy and obviously fought hard just to play hockey as long as he did, let alone make it to and stay in the NHL without falling into the trap of too much money leading to a reckless lifestyle. The youth of the NWT have lower education levels and employment levels up into the early 20s are also very low. It's a challenge to stay on the straight and narrow and not fall into the trap of substance abuse and despair for many of his peers. When they commented that his playing skills must be due to all the caribou he ate I nearly came completely unglued. Next to me was a good looking young aboriginal man and his girlfriend and I was amazed and saddened when he didn't even flinch at the deragatory comments. I held my tongue because the tickets belonged to a colleague of T's and I had no idea what his relationship with those people may or may not be. Later T said I should have went for it because his friend and his wife are aboriginal as well.

I do not understand why you would chose to have season tickets to watch a team that you have not a single decent thing to say about. Why waste your money if it is so painful to watch them play? Why ruin the experience for those around you? Iceman even said afterwards that the game was awesome except he wanted to pop those people in the nose for being so rude during the whole game. What kind of life must they have when their whole source of entertainment is to ridicule and make fun of these atheletes? Sure they are overpaid for their skills and the whole professional sports industry is way out of control but you have a choice as to how much you chose to participate in furthering that industry. I wonder if they bag on the waitress or the grocery store clerk or anyone else they encounter the same way. I pray that they have never been involved in minor sports or other activities involving children. I cannot imagine the pressure people like that put on kids.

It was a great game and nice to spend some time with half the crew. We are relieved that those are not our season's tickets as I doubt that any of us could tolerate another evening with the jerk squad sitting behind us.

Mean Girls Update

La Diva's teacher had another talk with the girls.  Friday night she was invited to see High School Musical 3 with a group of her classmates.  She also decided to attend the party on Saturday night.  She had a good time both nights.  The BFF was at the Friday night event and was moody and difficult, causing her hostess to cry.  La Diva is starting to see her for who she really is and has learned a hard lesson.  I pray that this is the beginning of less trying times for her.  Thanks for all of your prayers.

Mean Girls

I'm so sad right now.  La Diva is struggling so much with someone who was supposedly her BFF. They had a great summer together and even made a time capsule with a BFF scrapbook to bury and dig up in 5 or 10 years.  Since school started and La Diva was made a patrol captain, along with the supposed BFF and 2 other classmates.  It has been total drama.  BFF is on some power trip and has become bossy, rude, critical and just downright mean.  It's classic social/verbal bullying which seems to start earlier and earlier with girls as the years go by.  I tried talking to BFF's Mom but we don't share the same views so it was a conversation that lead to no resolution.  She thinks they need to be left to work it out but I think she was seeing me as some helicopter parent and not seeing the severity of the situation.  When my DD is coming home in tears nearly every day it's just not right.  I asked her this week if she wanted me to talk to her teacher or if she felt comfortable doing so.  We also did some research and found some tools for her to use to try to deflect this nonsense.  We found a great site which I've passed along to the teacher called It's a Girl's World.  

She decided to talk to her teacher and the teacher was awesome and had a special "health" class for just the girls that very day.  However, mere hours after the class the "BFF" was again critcizing La Diva for her apparent incorrect cutting of something.  La Diva told her to stop talking to her like that, that she couldn't take it anymore and then excused herself to go to the washroom because she was on the verge of tears. She came home after school and dissolved into a puddle of tears.  I was so angry and ready to call the BFF myself and tear a strip off her.  We finally decided that she should call Mrs. BFF and maybe if she heard from La Diva directly she would be more inclined to see that there was a problem.  She ended up crying on the phone, which I told her was fine.  BFF had been telling her Mom that everything was perfect between her and La Diva.  So I don't know if anything will come out of that but she felt better for doing it. She asked if Mrs. BFF could ask her DD to just not speak to her if all that she could do was cut her down and tell her how wrong everything she does is.  She was honest and raw, sobs were genuine.

I also wrote a note to her teacher thanking her for her prompt action and informing her of the continued criticism mere hours later.  Our next stop will be the principal.  I'm heartsick that my tender hearted DD has been singled out to be the object of this girls jealousy, criticism and ridicule.  It's such an obvious case of social bullying and the pain that it causes is so deep.  La Diva is one that always stands up for the underdog but unfortunately no one seems to be standing up for her.

What would you do if this was your DD?  I feel so helpless and my heart hurts so badly for my precious girl.

Hazzard County Days

This weekend was Hazzard County's version of a fair.  It consisted of a pancake breakfast, a parade, a giant junk sale down main street, garage sales around town, ball, beer gardens, a petting zoo, some throw/kick the ball type games for kids, wagon rides, a bench show and fireworks.  It was pretty lame even for this town.  

I had fond memories of the agricultural show growing up so I encourage Kodiak and La Diva to participate in the Bench Show.  Sadly it was a very poor showing of participants but I think it was still a good experience for them.  Kodiak submitted photography in 12 of the teen categories, I believe he was the only entrant but was judged according to the criteria and did not just receive ribbons for every entry because he was the only one.  He placed first with the following pictures: 

He place second with these pictures: (missing an action shot of the Turtle playing soccer which is not on this computer)

and third with these: The first 3 were part of a group of 3 flowers for 1 entry.

La Diva submitted 4 entries and won first for Ruffled Skirt:

 and 3rd for Best Friend:

They were pleased with their winnings and it was a good experience despite the lack of competition.  We hosted a parade watching morning at our home as the parade route had changed to go right past the front of the house this year.  It was a relaxing weekend for the most part and we managed to survive the heat.

La Daredevil

La Diva had camp last week with her class for two days. The Hero went along as chaperone because they were doing all sorts of cool things that he used to do before he became the Hero to the crew. They had a blast and the only complaint was that it wasn't long enough. I tried to post this earlier but the wi-fi decided to have a fight with the Mac and the Hero was away so I had no patience to deal with it. I had orginally thought that I'd lost every thing but just today discovered that these pictures had actually loaded. W00T! Besides the suspension bridge and climbing wall they also did zipline, archery and horse back riding. I cannot believe how brave La Diva was. She tried everything without any of that "I'm scared" drama and loved it. She was one of only 3 people to make it to the top of the climbing wall not once but 3 times. Her BFF was the only other girl to join her in that feat. The Hero says that BFF is a natural born rockhopper and he can see these two taking up this sport if given half the chance. I'm so happy that La Diva had such a great time. It was really nice for the Hero to take a tiny break and go. He's been working way too hard and the boys overrun him at times so the father-daughter time was extra special. You would not believe the span of this suspension bridge. It was quite the stretch.

The climber.

Rockhoppers - La Diva (L) and her BFF (R)

La Diva plays Clymont Hall

La Diva has been taking piano for a few years now.  It's not always been a full year as piano teachers are hard to come by and our gypsy tendencies have thrown a wrench in that quest from time to time.  Last year we tried a group situation and it was a disaster.  We were so discouraged.  This year she had the most phenomenal teacher and grew so much.  She made her way completely through one book and half way into another which is unheard of in her musical pursuits thus far.  She lives up to her name and has natural ability which makes me so happy.  I come from a very musical family, on my Dad's side. Sadly that talent has eluded me (despite years of lessons) I'm thrilled that La Diva has the gift and the desire to pursue it.  She aspires to be a music teacher at the moment.

On Monday night she played The Mermaid and The Bubble.  Here she is:

She had a great audience with her BFF, us (sans the soccer star, Kodiak), Grandma and Poppa, Auntie, cousin and her BF there to support her.  Grandma and Poppa surprised her with a bouquet of roses.  She felt very much the concert pianist that night.

Catching my breath

This has been a crazy busy week and I feel like I've finally caught my breath.

The Hero had a big day on Tuesday with a spot on the local breakfast show promoting the Fire Within project that he has been involved in since the summer. Following that he had to rush to pick a up a colleague from the airport, meet me and then we all headed back to the city to attend the press conference. It was a great success with representatives from several fire departments, politicians, corporate sponsors and the all important media. They got a few moments on the 6 o'clock news which was no small feat considering we are in the midst of an election and that is the top story these days. It was awesome to see the organization get some recognition and see more people jump on board with such a worthwhile effort. Hopefully the exposure will parlay into more departments getting better equipment and PPE. I was very proud watching the Hero in his element and it was awesome to hear people sing his praises. He could care a less about the glory but I was glad to see him get some pats on the back after the months of hard work and juggling of all the hats he was wearing in this endeavour - as a corporate sponsor, as a volunteer with a VFD and assisting the organizers of the Fire Within.

Wednesday was Kodiak's day as Torch Bearer for the Winter Games. We cheered him on as he did his part in the run. He was so proud and excited about this once in a lifetime opportunity. He's such a great kid!! After the run the Hero was approached by a team doing a documentary on the games and they interviewed him as parent of a torch runner, as well as a volunteer doing medical with the VFD for one of the events. Later in the day the crew came on the bus and asked whose Dad was a firefighter and then interviewed Kodiak to tie the story together. The documentary will air this coming weekend. Kodiak is very excited about it.

Thursday night was the Opening Ceremonies for the games and Kodiak was involved with the rest of the torch bearers in the procession that led to the lighting of the flame and the official opening of the games. It was a long event but thankfully it wasn't too cold that night so we survived without frostbite.

La Diva kind of got the short end of things this week. Her birthday is Valentine's Day which usually means a party at school because it is her birthday but this year they were out of school due to the games. Add her big bro stealing her thunder by being a torch bearer for the games, the opening ceremonies having the nerve of being scheduled for Valentine's Day and you a Diva who was feeling a bit less than special on her national holiday. We did our best to make her day special and had a breakfast of chocolate waffles, pink whipped cream and berries. She opened presents after breakfast and was pleased with her loot. My 'rents came down in the afternoon for the ceremonies so she was showered with more gifts and we had Chocolate Wafer Cake. I lined a heart shaped cake pan with parchment, layered chocolate wafers, topped with pink whipped cream and repeated the layers until it was full. The next day I loosened the sides, warmed the bottom of the pan with a hot cloth and it came out onto the plate seamlessly. It has been ages since we had this cake. My Mom used to make in the style of a log per the recipe on the side of the Nabisco Chocolate Wafer Box. It was as delicious as I remembered and my Mom was impressed with my use of the heart pan. (no small feat to impress her).

La Diva and Iceman headed home with my 'rents after the ceremonies. They spent the rest of their holidays with them. They will be back tomorrow. Kodiak and Turtle had a good weekend together learning how to play the Wii. Yes we finally found one!! It was almost an act of God as the Hero and I crossed wires in our communication that morning. If that did not occur he would not have been at Wally world at that precise moment and snagged the last of the shipment that had came in that day. It was their first shipment since Christmas.

The Hero has been busy since Friday doing medical for the games. He has put in some long days. Kodiak, Turtle and I took in some of the ringette games on Friday. It is quite the sport. I think it requires more finesse and greater skating ability. Even Kodiak was impressed with the skills of those girls and I think a bit surprised at how vicious they can be. Yesterday we were lazy, catching up on emails, blogs, message boards, playing Wii and Webkinz, doing a bit of laundry but basically vegging. I read the best little book packed full of wisdom and hope to get a post compiled about it very soon. It really impacted me in a huge way. It was a lovely day!!

Tomorrow the whole crew will be back together again. I'm sure they had a great time but it is always nice to have all the bunnies back in the Hutch. Back to school and routine on Tuesday.

The Bucket List and the Green Bowl

Last night the Hero and I went on a date. We rarely go to the movies for our dates because I like to talk to the Hero. However, we both wanted to see The Bucket List and we got a killer deal on passes at Costco. It was a really fun movie with lots of laughs, some tears (from me of course) as well as thought provoking. I started a 100 things list some time ago, I need to find it, I know I had a hard time putting anything to paper and doubt I even made it to 50. I think I wanted it all to be something huge that would make a difference to the world. I need to revisit it and be more honest and less holy in my ambitions.

The evening started off with me sitting on the side of the highway, a place I am familiar with. There were 2 cars part ways into the ditch along the highway but with considerable distance between them. The road was dry and weather clear so it was rather peculiar to see cars in the ditch. There were a couple cars already pulled over but the Hero needed to make sure they were ok and no medical assistance was needed. He always has a reflective coat of some sort in each vehicle and for that I'm thankful. I can spot him easily in the darkness of the road. Turns out that one car was stopping to help the other and as he slowed down the people in the first car started throwing things at him. He then misjudged the shoulder and the soft, slushy snow dragged off the road. The Hero informed the police and called back the little nurse who had also stopped and was headed to the first car. What the heck is wrong with people?? No wonder everyone is getting so hard hearted towards their fellow man when you have lunatics who attack a good samaritin.

Remarkably this ordeal still left time for us to get to the movie with 30 minutes to spare, which it took almost all of for the Hero to get snacks. While he was gone I watched the see of blue and grey heads with their balding partners make their way up the stairs of the theatre. I was enjoying how tenderly they took care of each other as they climbed those dimly lit stairs. I was then alarmed as several of them near collapsed into seats and started taking their pulse. When the Hero finally slipped into his seat I told him to be prepared to spring into action because I feared someone was going to collapse.

After the movie we stopped for Decaf Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Lattes at Starbucks but sadly there was not a table to be had so we headed back to town. We took a little cruise around our little town checking out the for sale signs while finishing off our Lattes. We no sooner pulled in front of the house than the phone started to ring and it was Kodiak informing us that Iceman had just hurled all over himself and his bed in his sleep. Kodiak was so thankful when we came through the door mere seconds later. He was not looking forward to cleaning up his little brother or the mess that he had left. Leftover spaghetti had been Iceman's choice from the offerings of the week. Nasty! So the Hero got Iceman in the shower while Kodiak and I stripped the top bunk. Miraculously he missed all 4 of his stuffed animals! Kodiak ran down to the basement to bring up the big green tupperware bowl a.k.a the puke bowl. Thankfully that was the end of the puke session and he is his normal self this morning. I was worried as he had spent the afternoon at a birthday party in the petri dish known as McDonald's playland. I hope it is nothing that will spread through the entire house. I don't do puke well and the Hero is heading south later this week.

Hero had a call at about 4:00 am so I'm tired. He took Kodiak and La Diva boarding today so I hope to get a nap out of Iceman and Turtle. I have BBQ beef cooking in the crock pot, I used that recipe as a guide and just went my own way with it. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Where are we runnin'?

Today was the annual Terry Fox Run for our schools. Kodiak placed 4th out of over 300 students. The High School students helped with marking the route and such so his "competition" ranged from Grade 1 to Grade 9. He was very proud of his accomplishment. La Diva and Iceman enjoyed their "run" as well. La Diva wore a sign saying who she was running for with pictures of her Great Papa and Zackary. She also had a list of people we know who have survived cancer, those still battling and those who are in our memories her poster. Iceman had made a copy of her sign but decided to leave it at home because he was afraid it would get rained on and ruined. He has it hanging in his room so he can remember to pray for Great Papa and Zackary every night.

Turtle did not have school today but was able to go in the fire truck and help Daddy with the traffic control for the big race. The Hero came home rather discouraged at the lack of community support. Everyone is in such a darn hurry that they were trying to sneak around the road blocks when children were crossing the street. The Hero almost had to take on one jerk who was throwing a fit. What an example to the children who are doing a great thing, raising money for a cause that affects nearly every person in our country in one way or another and these pinheads think they are more important than the safety of these children.

On the bright side, one of Kodiak's teachers stopped to talk to the Hero during the run and told him what a fantastic kid he is. That is always great to hear. Kodiak really looks up to Mr. D and thinks he is a fabulous teacher. Kodiak has been really stepping out of his comfort zone and taking Jr. High by storm. He is the class rep in the Student Union for his grade. In years past he would have just let someone else come forward. This year he threw his hat into the ring against 3 girls in his class. I'm really proud of him. One of his goals the beginning of this year was to become more confident in his leadership skills and he is definitely stepping up to achieve that one. I shouldn't be surprised as he achieves or exceeds any goals he sets for himself.

La Diva is involved in the "Pay it Forward Posse" and the Spirit Squad. She is also taking piano and finally has a fabulous teacher. Piano teachers are really hard to come by these days and the group lessons seem to be very popular. We tried that last year and it was a complete gong show. Her teacher recently graduated with her degree in music; she is young, talented and a great teacher. I'm so glad that we found her as La Diva has a natural gift and I was worried last years fiasco would discourage her from growing her talent.

We are crazy busy this coming week. We are moving La Diva to the basement with Kodiak. The Hero is talking over her room as his office. He's been working from home for almost a year and his little perch on the top of the stairs is just not working for any of us. It will be great to be able to shut the door on him. Kodiak has X-Country meet, La Diva has piano, we have hair cuts for Kodiak and Turtle. I need to get the invitations made for Turtle's birthday party which will be in mid-October because our life is just too crazy right now. The Hero is going to be on TV on Wednesday to promote the Heroes in the Sky event this weekend. We have tons of organizing to do for that weekend. Friday I need to take the crew up to Gramma and Poppa's for the weekend. We will pick them up on Thanksgiving. This way I can dedicate my time to all the things the Hero may need as he orchestrates this big fundraiser and media event.

I'll be so happy when next weekend is over and some of the craziness goes with it. It's no wonder that I chose my latest phone ring tone to be Lenny Kravitz's Where are We Runnin'?

We did it!!!

We survived the first week of back to school.

The biggest challenge for us was my body's revolt against waking at a set early time. I'm the first to admit that I am a night owl and hate waking up in the morning.

Kodiak, La Diva and Iceman started on Tuesday. The Hero escorted Kodiak to the secondary school while I took La Diva and Iceman to elementary. As we walked by the secondary we passed several of Kodiak's classmates so he fell into step with them and didn't really need the Hero there afterall. He has embraced this new adventure with so much excitement. He comes home with exciting tales of his teachers and classes. They have options now and while he was disappointed that he did not get into his top pick of digital imagining he is happy with the rest of them so far. They do options with all the jr. highs in that class so he is with 8s and 9s. The prospect of that was a bit daunting, especially in the phys ed ones where everyone is bigger than our little bear. He proved his place though because he outran all of them in cross country (he lost count and did 2 extra laps). His coach was very impressed and asked him who taught him to run and why did he do 2 extra laps. He said his Dad is a great runner. Which made me giggle because he only started running again since his treadmill Father's Day gift. The Hero can run for 30 minutes on it so that impressed his son. In soccer/touch football option they played soccer, the older teens barely gave our little bear a second glance when the class started but by the end of the class he had their respect with his skill and perserverance. He has scientific experiments as his other option. He comes home for lunch but took a lunch the other day so he could attend the meeting for the trip to Greece. He was disappointed to discover it was only for the sr. highs. I told him he can start working towards the senior high trip now. If they still head to Greece I'll glady chaperone. There is a dance this weekend but he has no interest in attending. I assured him that he'd merely be holding up the walls and making his harem happy that he was there. He told me this morning he'd rather watch a movie tonight so I won't push it. His harem will be phoning and disappointed at his no show.

La Diva was very worked up the week prior to school and that we both survived that week was nothing short of a miracle. She was very stressed out about not having "friends" in her class. I told that was just an opportunity to make new ones and that she is awesome at that. I was shocked she was so full of drama over it as this is the first year in a long while she has not had to adjust to a new school and a new city. She has the same teacher as last year even!! Girls!!! I know the tweens are here, I have to find a way to cope. Nothing a good bottle of vino can't help. So it turns out her friends from last year that are not in her class still play with her and still ring our phone off the hook. She has met at least 1 new friend too. It hasn't been all that horrible afterall.

Iceman was so ready to get back to school. He is such a social being and was getting bored with all of us. As we walked to school we ran into his red headed buddy from last year and discovered they were in the same class. They both had huge grins and then found out their "lockers" (aka cubbies) were next to each other. After I hung all his things in his "locker" and got him organized I asked if he'd like me to stay to which he replied "What for?" which was a much different response than the sobs of the year before. Suck it up Mom and be assured that you made the right choice to keep him in Kindy another year as he is very ready to be in Grade 1. He is a bit disappointed that a "weird" kid is in his class. This kid threatened to kill him and his siblings while walking their dog this summer. He is a bizarre child but we assured Iceman that he would not in fact kill him and that he would probably spend much time out of the class with the resource teachers. When we walk to school in the morning it amazes me how much charisma this child has as he is bumping fists with popular kids in Kodiak's class that are barely friends with him but they all know the Iceman. The girls from Kodiak's harem are always tickling and chasing him in attempts to get a hug. Kodiak said to me the other day that he doesn't know why the girls are all over Ice. Then I enlightened him that it has nothing to do with Ice and everything to do with him. They need to get his attention somehow, his obliviousness to their goo goo eyes makes me laugh.

Turtle had staggered entry day yesterday. I was so worried at how he and I would make out. The Hero had his wisdom teeth removed that morning so he was unable to come with us. I expected tears, clinging on for dear life and physical removal from the classroom. I'm talking about me not the Turtle. He had been anxious the night before and we read The Kissing Hand, by Audrey Penn. I'll admit that I became rather weepy and nostalgic. I grabbed Kodiak's hand and showed Turtle the kiss I had put there so many years ago. Of course Kodiak hammed it right up rubbing his hand on his face saying "Mommy loves me, Mommy loves me." We saw the kiss on the hands of La Diva and Iceman too. Turtle embraced the tradition and was excited to come home and tell me they had that book at school too. He settled into class the next day with little hesitation. I was very happy that I had decided to go a fair bit early so that he could get some face time with the teacher from the start. He happily said goodbye and I was out the door without a tear. The artwork that he brought home proves that all is well, his traced hand with a heart in it and the words "Turtle came to school on the first day and he felt happy." He has sure come a long way from the barnacle that was stuck to my hind end last year.

The house was so quiet yesterday, the dog was depressed as all her kids were gone and the usual noise of the Hero talking or his crackberry ringing constantly and the typing of the computer was missing. I did a bit of laundry, organized Kodiak's closet and then had to get out as the quiet was too much. The next little while will be filled with long overdue appointments - dentist, chiropractor, hair, etc. After that I will have to figure out what to do to fill my days when all my bunnies are out of the Hutch. The irony..... when they are small you long for days of peace and quiet but once they've left the hutch the quiet is too much to bear and you long for those noisy days again.

Happy Birthday La Diva! You are 9 years old. Wow! I can't believe how fast you have grown into a lovely young lady. We are so proud of you!! You had a "star moment" at school the other day for helping others and that did not surprise us in the least. You have a huge heart and are always helping people and caring about how others feel. We had your party on Saturday and you did a great job of making sure that all your guests had a great time which is no easy task when girls don't know each other well or may not like some of the people there. We hope that you will have a wonderful year and continue to be the beautiful girl that you are. We love you so very much Sweetie.

La Diva at Castle
Castle Mountain
Kodiak at Pass Powderkeg.

It's been too long.

With all the excitement of our move I forgot my password and couldn't get in to work on my blog. Now that I finally took the time to sort that out I can post again. I know, I know, I'm far too young for senility to have such a hold on my brain.

We are all settled in PC and so happy to be a family under the same roof again. The Hero is doing amazing in his new position and we are so proud of him. The kids have adjusted to school and keep me hopping.

Iceman has been so crazy lately with his tales. He claims that there is a teacher at school that "hates" all the kids. I've met them all and can assure you they are lovely people who deserve a medal for all they do for the Kindergarten class. He came home Monday asking me to write letters to every parent, except Whyat's mom, to tell them to get their kids to stop following him and Whyat everywhere. I explained that they probably wanted to play because they play such fun games. Iceman said "We only play boring games and we are not cool. They just want to bug us all the time." Seems we need to talk about being friends with everyone some more. He also thinks he is 2nd in command at The Hero's office and called for an ambulance to be present at their skating outing yesterday. He informed his teachers that his Dad would be there in case anyone got hurt. They get a real kick out of him and say he is a little burst of sunshine in their day.

Turtle lives in the land of the terrible threes and everyone there is named Lucas, including the girls. He goes from loving them all to being upset because they are copying his painting of the potty. LOL. Isaac and him have a love/hate relationship which either warms my heart or has me pulling my hair out. Typcial brothers I suppose.

La Diva is gearing up for the annual birthday extravaganza. She is having her party on the 11th and has decided that she can go all out on the Valentine theme again because it hasn't been done in PC. So far 4 of the 11 girls she invited are coming. She has started piano again and is enjoying it. Curling wraps up for her and Kodiak the end of the month. They have loved it. La Diva plays lead and Kodiak is usually 2nd. They are looking forward to watching the Olympics curling and snowboarding.

Kodiak is getting to that preteen age and has some moments that make me long for that sweet baby boy. I'm sure we will get through them alright. He has really liked curling and has been thrilled to be near the mountains so he can snowboard again.

And the Award goes to.....

Excellence in French

Kodiak received an award for Excellence in French with a 92% average. This is a huge deal because this was his least favorite subject and one he really struggled with. His French teacher (not pictured) said that he really has a natural ability for languages. We are really proud of his accomplishments. His report card was also impressive with A's and B+'s. Off to grade 5... gulp...

Citizenship Award

La Diva had an amazing year in Grade 2. Her teacher was fantastic, so much so that I wrote a letter to the principal about her. La Diva really cashed in at the awards ceremony with medals for: Honours, the Citizenship Award and a silver in Music. Her report card was straight A's and she is off to grade 3. Of course we are very proud of her as well.

The Pianist

Ode to Joy by Cadence

June 12, 2005 was our first music recital. La Diva did very well and performed both her songs by memory. She looked so small at the grand piano. We were very impressed as she only started lessons in April. Kodiak opted not to perform at the recital but he did play at school in the Grade 4 music festival. He did a wonderful job. His Star Wars piece actually sounded like Star Wars which is very far from when he first started practicing it.

Rainy Days and Mondays

The weekend always goes by so fast. Monday morning has me dragging and the rain makes me want to hide under the covers with a good book. The crew has decided otherwise.

Today is the last day of soccer and the first time it has rained during the season! La Diva was beside herself this morning because she could ride her bike to school. Not the most ideal day but they are having registration of bikes with the police at noon. Kodiak was less enthused because he has only recently mastered the balance of riding a bike. He had to drag along 2 packs for the day so he opted to walk it to school.

Iceman and Turtle are unusually silly today. They are probably still on a high after having Daddy home for 2 whole days. One nice thing about the rain is that it holds up work for Daddy. They began the day jamming on their guitars to the sounds of U2. After a few wars with hot wheels, complete with bumps on the head they are settling into some quiet time with books.

I'm hoping this will be a better way for us to keep up with all of our friends and family.

Bear with me while I figure it all out.