Savary Island year four

We are deep into week two at our favorite piece of paradise. So far we have had great weather and lots of beach time with very few glitches. As usual an abundance of wildlife has thrilled us; seals, sea lions, snakes, starfish, crabs, eagles, herons, woodpeckers, Sand dollars, and lots of deer.

Sadly, Hunter had a run in with a mama deer who did not like his naughty aggression. She clobbered him in his rear and took out a grand portion of butt. Rob and Mia spent a large part of their day driving him to the vet in Powell River where he will stay overnight and have the tissue connected tomorrow. Pour little guy... But it kind of serves him right for being such a pest.

Well, we're off to get the kids to bed - Mia with a fresh bee sting and us with bellies full of Rangoli and Reisling, yum!!




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Finally Summer

Sickness

Daddy has hockey fever. We are all worried about him, but are assured it will pass soon.

Lucas' class has caught it as well, as you can see.



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Lucas is now writing his own Captain Underpants.
Watch out Dav!



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Music to my Ears

Rob and I are sitting upstairs catching up on the day whilst listening to Lucas read through the vents. We are amazed with his increased ability and grateful to all his teachers who have supported his journey through literacy this grade one year. I myself remember struggling with reading and sobbing tears of frustration when left to my own devices at Duthies in Arbutus Village after being told to find a book I could read before we left! (No offense Mom, I'm sure you were near and as frustrated as I was!) It was such a break-through to me when I realized I could indeed read, and the skill quickly developed into a love for a medium that remains one of my very favorite. Indeed to this day there is little else better than sinking into a good book.

So today I say thank you to Dav Pilkey, author of the Adventures of Captain Underpants series, for although I frown upon any book that uses gimme or wanna, I am thrilled that my son is sitting up reading, and asking to be allowed just a little more before bed!

A Seattle Getaway

Rob and I left town yesterday to spend some quality time together. After a 3.5 hour border wait, we made it to Seattle for a great gastro-pub dinner. In our funky room at the Hotel Max, Rob fell asleep after the movie was running playing for about a minute. A good sleep later, we shared a light breakfast, picked up a big wine order and headed downtown to have a walk around. After parking our car well underground, we got into the elevator where Rob decided to have a little jump. Many springy bounces later, our elevator became stuck, and this is where we remain at this point while the rest of you enjoy the warmest Saturday we've seen in months.


We may not have Internet connection, but at least we have our iPhones. I'm guessing at least an hour, but it's been 40 minutes so far and they just banged on the wall to say the elevator company was on it's way. Not sure this was what we had in mind for quality time!

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Update: Well I guess Carol was just in requesting an update; we are NOT still in the elevator. It took an hour and a lot of patience, but we were released with nary a scrape or a piddle in our pants. (Although the latter was constantly on my mind!) After we got up to level ground we decided we were too hungry and needed to head back in the car and get to our chosen lunch spot. The parking attendant was incredulous that we didn't think we should pay for parking, so we swallowed our pride and paid for our experience. Truly unbelievable! The drive home took twice as long as the drive down... but the border wait was shorter coming back and the Easter bunny arrived Sunday morning without a hitch. Next time we may tale our mini-vacation downtown?

Spring Break Goodtimes

Although I must admit to looking forward to Monday just a little, Spring break has been great so far. I was initially rather disappointed that Rob couldn't get any time off to go anywhere but in the long run I think it has been a blessing. The kids have really slid nicely into the rhythm of slower days with less rushing, and I have loved being able to drink the whole pot of coffee every morning! Miraculously the two monsters have also found a happy place in their relationship and have been caught playing together for longer and longer periods of time. Wonderful! I'm keeping my optimism high for a great spring.


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Things I Love

It has been a hard year for all of us.

But still, there are wonderful things all around us.

Here are some everyday things I love.

Everyone absorbed in their own medium. Mia playing on Starfall, Lucas playing Plants vs. Zombies on the i-phone and Rob working.

My dogs. How I love my dogs and the countless hours we spend in the forest together. They keep me sane on many a day. (Except for when hunter is on a chewing tirade!)

How often Mia is dressed up like a bunny. Often she can be found delivering home made paper Easter eggs to all. I find them in the pockets of all my things.

Lucas reading. And reading. And reading. This makes me blissfully happy and proud.

Food. Good food in particular. Like these llapingachos and fried eggs. Mmmmmm.

How I can actually mark 30 essays a week in these conditions. Honestly, is this not multi-tasking at its best?

Smiles, which make us all happy.

Ample supplies of red pens and mechanical pencils. These were all Christmas gifts. No joke.

And finally, no picture, but the sun. The healing sun reminds me that the spring will soon be here.

It's been a Loooonng Time...

Not up for writing too much yet - there is so much to catch up on and I don't know where to start and what to skip. Here are some photos to get me started and show you that we are still here! lol

First up is my purple hair which the kids love because it smells like Popsicles and I love because it averts viewers gaze from my grey.

Mia choreographed and danced an amazing dance piece with her dance partner and friend for their dance school's Christmas show. They were AMAZING and Rob and I were jumping out of our seats with excitement and surprise!

Lucas has grown and grown and grown. he's having some wonderful success with reading, swimming, riding a bike with gears (and I can barely keep up!) and growing muscles as you can see from the picture!

Christmas was blissfully quiet.

These are totally out of order, but Mia turned 4 years old! Wow!!!

We got a puppy who the kids named Hunter. His Mama was a Coonhound and his rascally Pops left without a trace so we don't know who to send the bill to.... We rescued him from a kill shelter in North Carolina. He doesn't like our rain here much but is enjoying our beaches and forests, so he says. He also wonders how his Mama got replaced by an overly furry black and white senior male. Pillo pretends to dislike Hunter but secretly loves the cuddles and walkies. And hey, what big brother doesn't love a little sibling to boss around?!

Mom turned 70 and the boys came from Toronto (and Boston) to celebrate. We had a blast!

Everybody participated in Movember.

Lucas turned six with an awesome climbing party. Rob took three time-outs from the party and we secretly thanked our lucky stars that we would only ever have to do one sixth birthday for Lucas. Large groups of six year old boys are beyond my wrangling capabilities.

Snails became pets and were finally named, labelled and released bearing permanent tattoos. They have not been seen since but we are eagerly awaiting their spring return.

That's all for now, but I have high hopes to return with more poignant stories and crazy photos for you all.

Until that time, I wish you all a Happy New Year. May it bring much joy. Lap it up. :)

Savary Year Three

Productivity is the product of???

I have had a busy, busy week, and I'm not sure why. After weeks of lethargy and apathy towards all thing domestic, I suppose that the arrival of August brought with it a big slap of reality and wallop of truth that the summer days are growing few and I need to get my house in order! With that in mind, and after taking all my "good" consignment to the store, I set about pillaging and plundering the dark recesses of our home for all stuff unwanted, forgotten, not needed or simply outgrown. I ended up with a basement full of "stuff," a desire to purge, a hunger for cash and the insanity of thinking a yard sale would solve it all. So today, on the rainiest of weekends we've seen since Canada Day, I set about manifesting my dreams in soggy reality. It went well. I came home with only half the stuff I left with and a pocketful of cash that the kids have pretty much pre-spent. How they see the sale of baby items as their return... well I'm not sure, because to me, the sale of things like a breast pump, baby carriers and potties all speaks of endless nights and days of work for meeeeeeee... but hey - who am I to judge?

My week also consisted of beginning a sewing class, making a batch of pickles, and attending a wedding; not to mention marking a class of English essays. Oh yes, and I also read a novel.

Why can't I be like this all the time?!