First Hike

We had our first family hike of the year on Sunday afternoon on the lake trail. It turned out to be a beautiful day and we had a lovely time. The Music Man was disturbed by the number of beaver-felled trees there were. Monkey hiked liked a trooper and even The Little One managed most of the outing without being carried. We are looking forward to a season of exploration, although snow and rain in the forecast will likely keep us indoors most of this week (you know, because it's Spring Break...)

(gurg. This post was supposed to have pictures, but blogger uploader is being silly. I'll try to add them tomorrow...)

Spring is Sprung...

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

And all is now (finally) as it should be

Well, after a bizarre-ly warm and snow-less winter, thus far (I'm making up words today) all is now right in the world. We had a snow storm on the weekend (although I would hesitate to use any descriptor such as "whopper") and we now have a proper Manitoba-winter covering of snow.

Phew.

blerg.

Just stopping in to say we have nine (9!) birthdays in our family between now and Ukrainian Christmas. Let's go shopping...

(p.s. If you are part of my family and planning on having another baby ever, do us a favour and have it NOT in November, December or early January. I thank you.)

(p.p.s. by "family" I mean us, our parents, our brothers and sisters and their spouses and kids.)

FIVE

My little Monkey turned five this week. It is hard to believe it has been that long since he made his grand entrance into this world. That means that I have been a Mother, and The Music Man a father, for five years. It also means (because he nursed until a week after The Little One was born) that I have been breastfeeding a child for five years now.

My little man is growing up. He has started school and made friends there. He had some of them over for a party which was great fun. He is, slowly but surely, becoming a caring and helpful big brother. He is looking forward to the day when he can share bunk beds with his little brother. (that day is coming soon. we have bought the paint for their new bedroom, so hopefully it will be painted and ready to move into in the next few weeks.) He even rode in his first bike race today. He is, in his words, a Lego Expert. And it's true, too. This evening he assembled an airplane from a set labeled 6 and up with no help at all. He is such a fun kid, and often very sweet. Of course he has his moments when his claws come out (literally) but I can almost forget about those moments when he says something wonderful like, "Isn't it a lovely day to be outside and spend time with your family."

I love you, Monkey. Have fun being five!

First Day: First Edition

My little big boy started French Immersion Kindergarten this year. We've had almost a month of school now and we're settling into a routine. He goes every day in the afternoon. We had a few tears (okay, lots) along the way, but I think it will be smooth sailing from here.

He started school on Thursday, Sept. 8. They do a staggered entrance, meaning 1/3 of the kids started on Wed, 1/3 on Thurs and 1/3 on Friday. He walked into that classroom with a confident smile on his face and had a great day. On Monday, he was pleased to go again. On Tuesday he was catching on that this was an every day thing, and maybe he didn't like it so much. On Wednesday we had a major problem. He was screaming crying when I tried to leave him, so eventually I went in with him, but that didn't calm him down. Eventually I was able to leave, but he was still not happy about it. The teacher called me at home that night to chat about a plan. It turned out that he was scared of gym class. There are two kindergarten classes in the gym at a time making it very loud, and filled with "kids I don't know." Thursday and Friday of that week were a bit better, but by Monday he was ready to go, without tears.

The reason he was happy to go on Monday is that he had made a friend. Another little boy who was scared of gym spent some time together with Monkey and the teacher and they hit it off. Now he has gone for three whole weeks being mostly happy to go every day. He has also since made a few more friends.

The Little One goes to bed as soon as we get back from dropping Monkey off, so I am able to get a few things done around the house (yay!) before having some one-on-one playing time with The Little One (yay!).

So, now I am officially a school mom. I hope I can do this...We still consider the possibility of homeschooling in the future. The next project to tackle is the politically charged issue of...The Birthday Party.


as usual, this picture will self-destruct...

Today is a good news day.

A couple whom we love very much have just become the legal guardians of a little boy whom we also love very much.

Praise the Lord!


coming soon, Monkey's first day of kindergarten...