DynoMITE!!!!

Definite low light of the day: Sitting with a very sad Elliot during "Annie" at the community theatre....he wanted to go home...he wants to be home schooled....sigh.

Definite highlight of the day: Sitting with Susan and Mike and their friends having a spontaneous lunch at my favorite restaurant.

love this girl....

Little Elliot...

Dear Elliot.....

You are such a sweet little soul....and so much of me wants to hold your hand through all your days....every moment.....but my heart tells me that you need to figure out your strengths and weaknesses....knowing that you have all the love and support in your family...always.  You cry so much lately, for so many different reasons....you are still working on gaining the skills you need to negotiate the twists and turns of life.....its hard to watch....its tough for me not to just scoop you up and run away.

Its really hard to know whether i should be running towards you when you are upset and want to stay with your dad and I, or whether i need to be giving you space to learn that you ARE strong enough to face your challenges.  I don't know what goes on in your head these days....are you sad? is something happening at school that is bothering you and you don't want to tell us?  Because you have to go to school....its not negotiable.  For this school year, you have 6 weeks left and then we have all summer to grow and learn and be together.

You are smart and sweet.....and i want so much for you.  Parenting really sucks sometimes....where IS that manual anyways??!

Traveling Home.....

We left early.....we dropped off chris in victoria to get back to work and meetings and the like....he was happy!!!

It was an uneventful ride home......

 Home.....and so happy to be here.

 but i miss these girls......

She is coming to vancouver this weekend...think i can talk her into a little, tiny, ferry trip?

My Dad turned 60!!

It was tough to make a blog for such a special weekend, so i put it to video with one of my favorite songs.....i know its not dads type of music, but i am waiting for him to pick one that he loves and i will make him a new one....but here is my version!!! 

Happy Birthday Dad....there is so much more good stuff ahead!!!!  Love you!!

Here is the video!!

WOA 2012

I wasn't going to write much about the womens retreat that i just directed....mainly because it was a special weekend and i knew i wouldn't be able to do justice here.  But, here we go, a few of my thoughts.

This idea stemmed from the opportunity to start a retreat that someone like ME would like to attend.....what i had in my mind of a 'christian womens retreat' never ever resonated with me....perhaps its selfish, or egotistical, but i always felt as though i were more 'alive' than what the typical womens retreat could offer me.  I feel closest to Him when i am outside....so lets get a bunch of my friends and a bunch of their friends...and lets get outside and see what happens!!!

And this is what happened:

My lovely mom came to watch the boys......

My awesome dad taught some happy ladies how to back up a truck and trailer.....

My sweet sister came with Jack and Ellie....and was able to spend a little bit of time with her BFF.

My friend Ashley picked up the decorating......SUCH a fantastic job she did....and on such a small budget.....i had/have no interest in this kind of department, so having her on board and fired up was so great.....

 

These crazies pulled up the slack with cleaning and dishes and decorating.....

And this girl worked with her sweet hubby doing the cappucino bar and rappelling and whatever else needed doing....

Shaleah was lead to speak and Mandy was lead to sing.....both were nervous but did a really good job...both were so down to earth and approachable and easy for the women to relate to.....

Oh my goodness, i haven't even yet spoken of the retreat itself yet!!  It really took a pile of people to pull this off....i haven't even mentioned Evie and her crew and the amazing food.

But women went shooting, falconry, bmxing, archery, rappelling, caving, geocaching, outdoor cooking with Lindsay and so many more!!  {there you go E!! ;-}

Here are a few shots from the rest of the weekend....

 Straight shooter Jinny.....

 Paul rocked the birdhouses......

And this is what i did.....

See you in 2013!!! 

No shots of many of the men, but Chris, Andy, Eric, Jon, Devon, Jim, Paul {paul, you made the blog thanks to your wifes iphone...well played}....you boys were all such a great part of the weekend.

Thank you.....it was fun, wasn't it?

Casual pants, to lulu's....to pj's....

Oh, the transitions we go through.....

I used to put on jeans to drop off my kids.....you know...put a little effort in.

And then, i started to live in my lulu's and you couldn't get me out of them....

Well, this morning, i left in my pajama pants AND my slippers...and i even got out of my car to walk them to the bus door.....and then i saw a fellow mom, who was wearing pj pants too, we laughed at eachother...so i gave her a little 'raise the roof pajama pants whoot whoot!!'

JL....this morning had me giggling and thinking of you....i wondered if you would have been embarressed to come with me if you had to, or if you would have stayed in the car....i sortof think you are to the point where you would have joined me....you will have to tell me later.

Womans Outdoor Adventure.....

Here we go........arrival time.....t minus 2 hours!!!

Bear Mountain with Miss Watt.....

It was a step outside her comfort zone ... but she did it!!!  She invited me to join her on her adventure to Bear Mountain Resort because the food show gave her a room there the night before the big food show on wednesday!!!  She told me later about her short moment of panic after inviting me because she always go to stuff like this alone......laughing, i asked her how she thought it all went.....and she said it was good...(phew...perhaps i will be invited out again??)

Here are a few shots from our night out!!

{It was renton family dinner the night we were gone, they were having a taco night...so we went to taco time to feel closer to them....bleh...wish we had just thought of them.......}

 We went and saw Mirror Mirror after dinner.....such a fun show!!  Definatly a renter.....but very cute. And then we went to the italian restaurant in the lobby at the resort.....we each ordered a drink and shared a basket of bread.....oooh....the bread......

Coffee in the morning...here is kelly going over her plan of attack for the food show!!

 Don't be fooled....it was tea.

 The view from our balcony.....

 The best shower in the whole wide world.....TWO shower heads....wha????!!!!!

 Token shot for Paul.....they are all over the place on the mountain....soon he will have a baby blue one!!!

 Shopping for camp.......

 Needing a break from all the fun!!!  Iced coffee with Milk....best summer drink

EVER and only 1$ at Mcdickies all summer long!!!

 Hahaha....she could barely reach the henna kit....thought it was a good picture.

 Our haul!!   Including a $75 glutton free cheesecake that was amazing!!

Good Times with Miss Watt........good times.

Feed ME please!!!

In a stage of life when i am most happy cooking for other people and feeding them....there sometimes are days when i am just too tired to even take care of myself. That day came yesturday at around 6:30 when the sun was shining, kids were playing all together outside, and i was feeling out of sorts because i guess i was hungry but i didn't want to cook anything and the kids weren't even thinking about food!

I have never done this, it was totally out of my comfort zone to ask for food...but i heard jon had made homemade chilie and he is a fantastic cook.....so i wandered over and stood at the bottom of the stairs and probably looked terribly pathetic, but i was fueled by the refusal to eat annies pasta with the kids.........

This lovely boy gave me 2 bowls of chilie with cheese and corn chips on top....and i think i caught a glimpse of how people must feel when i feed them when they are hungry.......

thank you jon.......best chilie i have ever had....no joke.

Then i walked with Amanda for an hour....and then played pickle ball with the staff....and then i made lunches for the boys and crawled into bed.....

Hardest working woman at Imadene:

Normally held by Miss Jennie Lynn Renton with a baby, a toddler, sleep training and diapers.....this last weekend, Miss Rachel made a mad dash for the title juggling cleaning the new house, packing up one whole house, unpacking, cleaning the old house, while still feeding and taking care of her crew of boys!!

I was able to stop in after bus pick up to give her a hand....but i was tired just watching this girl!!

{did you end up 'going for it' rach? even though i told you not to?  Paul had packed her toilet cleaner and she was debating whether or not to plunge her bare hand into that nasty bowl!!!}

 All done!!! 

It's officially May 1st! 

And i heard her making Whirly Pop at 10:45 last night....

so this girl is ready to party!!

Welcome to the lake Rach.....may it be an incredible summer!!

Now go turn on your skype so i can get a hold of you!

8AM Burn Madness!!

Burn...like muscle burn....not sun burn!! 

Although more sun round here would be awesome with a capital A!!!!

Here is the deal:

Its may 1st.....new staff are here.....I want to work out..

.....so i will drag any willing and able soul along with me. 

Meeting at 8am, on my deck...ready for outdoor play or indoor burn!

Todays Menu was:

Dance Central!!!

 {lisa and Marika had already left}

 1 quick lap around the property on the BMX's

{felt the burn and the jello for the rest of the morning!!}

This is going to be great......now if we can just get everyone else on board!!

Road Trip!!

Chris and i took a road trip to Nanaimo yesturday....ALONE!!  {still a huge novelty!}.....In the middle of our day, he hit up future shop and came out super excited about a tiny HD camera that straps to your head or helmet to take action shots!  He had been looking for awhile, it was on his wish list for the summer, and yo!! it was on SALE!!! 

When he got in the truck and announced how EXCITED he was....I had to take a picture...THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is my wonderful husband in a self-proclaimed moment of happiness and excitement:

Wait for it.....Wait for it.....here you go!! 

Heading home, was the stop that had ME really happy and excited!!  Picking up THIS GIRL!!!

{here we are with our fav drink from last summer - $1 iced coffee days!!!}

She had been waiting all morning for us to come pick her up and take her to her summer home for the next 4 months!!!!!!  I texted her around 11:30 telling her i was really sorry, but we got all wrapped up in our errands that we forgot her and were in ladysmith.  Here is the conversation from there:

R: "oh, well, can you turn around?"
S: "no...chris has a meeting we have to get to"
R: "well, i can get a ride tonight probably....its ok"
S: "sorry....my bad......"
S: "are you mad?"
S: "hmm...you aren't answering...you are mad, aren't you?"
R: "No, i am not mad, a little sad though...."
S: "Hmmm....well, i would be mad"

At this point chris says to me "you may not want to keep this going much longer, you know how gullible she is".....

S: "See you in 8 minutes Rach....."
R: "ghahaha......you want fruit? orange? pear? apple?"

She recovers quickly, i'll give her that.....I am going to have such fun with her this summer......ooh AND she gave me a huge bag of lulu clothes that she is too skinny for now that she lost 35 pounds!! 

Doing right......

When we were in one of my favorite places in the world 5 months ago....i deliberately went and purchased a mug that i would wrap my cold hands around on the rainy rainy days when i got back home.....the picture in my mind comes to life more often than i would care to admit...but this time, i thought i would take a picture of it......so here you go folks: My minds eye brought to life!

 Friday afternoon, i drove the boys in and helped at the school with their milk program and setting up for their big garage sale.  As i was leaving, i saw Elliot across the playground, running towards me.  Never to say no to any kind of affection from Elliot, i was excited to hold him for a few minutes before we both needed to part ways.  However, letting go was not in HIS itierary.  He got super sad, and didn't want to continue with school that day.....i did what i always do, gave him a squeeze and a hug and told him to catch up to his class {recess was over now....and his class was doing a lap around the field together to play}....i got up and walked away.  When i got out of view, i snuck a peak back and he hadn't moved...now a whole field seperated him from his class.  Sigh.....i put my best 'stern' face on and called him over.  He was just sad....so i let him come with me to the milk room and we sat and had a drink together. 

i am unsure what is bothering him....i hope he is ok.  He doesn't really love school, but he tolerates it...both the boys do.  They have friends, teachers love them, they just don't seem attached to anyone in particular (from a female perspective, that scares me, but chris reminds me that boys are different than girls....so i try not to worry.)  He is just so sweet...and i am thankful that he really likes the zalinko boys, who are our new neighbors and constant live-in friends for the boys now....its nice....

...but you always worry that you aren't doing the right thing by your kids, don't you?

i have just never loved anyone more than these 2 boys.....