Hold your kids a little tighter today...

As I was giving myself a pity party for having 4 kids home with stomach flu all week and no time to myself, I heard the news about a Connecticut Elementary school.  Possibly 18 children killed at the hands of someone who probably had no connection to them at all. And early news indicates it involved a kindergarten class.

Those poor parents.  My heart aches for them. 

Maybe I will stop whining about cleaning up puke and hold my little ones a little longer today.

Time with them is too precious to waste.

Dan as Santa

There was no one available to act the part last night, so the role of Santa went to Dan.  Here are some pics we can use to blackmail him later.  Have a good laugh at the one that makes him look like a demented clown.  What a good sport!

Still Here...

Apparently my parents are concerned that we are still alive.  Maybe some of you blog followers are too?  It's pretty nice to think anyone out there cares that much about us!

Well, we're still here.  And very busy, like everyone else.  Or maybe I haven't written much because not too much has been happening that felt worthy of chronicling.  I still get kids and hubby out the door every morning, volunteer at school, teach piano Tues-Thurs, cajole kids into doing chores and reading and piano practicing, go to church, read, play piano, make too many puzzles in this cold weather, and spend too much time on pinterest.

As for anything new, I have a piano Christmas concert coming up on Friday.  Hopefully all the kids are ready (I think they are!).  Dan's Festival of Trees is this week and Friday can't come soon enough as far as that is concerned.  It has snowed for almost 2 weeks straight, so we are doing LOTS of shovelling.  Thank goodness for a great neighbor with a snow blower!

And I am hooked on Sherlock from the BBC.  Unfortunately, no new seasons til next fall!

So there's a quick update. And hi mom!

The Parable of the Wide Load

We have been looking for learning opportunities with our kids and the Lord pretty much dropped one in my lap today.  We had to get to the dentist and, with the roads being less than ideal, we left a little early.  And found ourselves behind a very wide load (see above pic, sorry for the quality).  Someone was in the process of moving an entire house.  It was wider than the highway, so not only did opposing trafffic have to pull off and let it by, they had to stop whenever there was sign in the way and move it.

Very slooooooow....

Thinking we could possibly beat the house, we turned off and took a detour around the country mile block.  We felt pretty smart and smug.

Until we got to the highway again.

There sat the house completely obstructing our approach, and, to add salt to the wound, they were allowing all the traffic that had been following the chance to go around.

As we sat waiting I asked the kids what we could learn from this.

Patience was the big answer.

But we took it even further.

Sometimes in life you have to make choices regarding which path you are going to take.  Will you stay on the road you're on - the one that looks long and difficult, where the end is unsure?

Or will you take a detour on the road that appears to be faster, easier, the more sure thing.

Chances are it isn't all it's cracked up to be.  And here's the kicker - you generally end up right back where you started having only taken the scenic route.

And that, my friends, is now our family's "Parable of the Wide Load".

Hope it helps someone else more than it helped us today!

Fruit fly fever

 

Ever have one of your kids come to you and let you know that someone put a banana in their bedroom garbage? Oh, and some oranges and apples in the downstairs bathroom garbage?  Which they then forgot to empty?

 

The result?

 

A swarming mass of fruit flies.  I hate these things.  We got some in the summer with some fruit that came to our house.  Fortunately, I came across this solution on the internet and guess what - it works!

 

I can't believe how quickly they get trapped in this.  It is simply a jar with a piece of banana and a little apple cider vinegar.  You then make a paper funnel, shove it inside and tape up the rim of the jar so nothing gets out.  The flies can get into the funnel, but they can't figure out how to fly out.  Once they're trapped, throw it out.  Simple!

 

This is jar no. 3 of this round, and I think that is finally the end.  Note to self - don't just assume they checked if their garbage needed to be emptied...

Mennonite Girls Can Cook: Honey Bran Buns

This is my favorite bun recipe right now.  They have a light, sweet taste and my kids love them warm with, you guessed it, honey!  Really easy and so good.


Mennonite Girls Can Cook: Honey Bran Buns: Honey bran buns are such a nice light and fluffy textured bun, and a good source of fiber, sweet with a light bran flavor. 2 cups boiling...

And so it ends...

6 years ago we lived in Okotoks and Spencer was on his way to our family. We decided we had reached that fork in the road - to go to school or not.

So we did.

Fast forward to today.

4 moves, 3 schools, 4 home addresses, more than 5 jobs and here we are.

Dan just called from Edmonton to let me know he passed his NCTRC board exam. He is now officially a nationally certified recreation therapist.

School goals - check.

The rest of our life? Here we come!

Our children can't even remember when dad wasn't studying for something. Maybe we'll be like retired people and not know what to do with ourselves...

But who cares. I'm so excited for him I am literally jumping around my house alone like a fool. Wish someone were here to scream with me.

The words every elementary school parent cringes to hear...

..."mom, my heads been really itchy for, like, 5 days..."

Oh great.  Under the lights for a lice check.  Positive confirmation, with him and his little brother who have been sharing a bed. 

 

We just got the letters home from each of the classes last week saying lice had been found in "at least one student".  Looks like we heard too late. 

 

 And why did he not tell me sooner? He wanted to grow his hair out for Halloween in order to be old Obi-Wan, so he thought he'd just ignore it.

Out come the clippers.  All 3 boys shaved just up from bald. Check the sister and mom with hair daily.  Possibly shampoo with Nix just in case.

And now for the fun part - wash absolutely everything in the house and put all pillows through a 20 minute dryer cycle.

This was supposed to be my day home alone...now I get to spend it with some very uninvited guests! 

Hello, is anybody there...?

I know this is the question many of you have been asking about us.  We are still here.  We are still alive.  We are still healthy and fine and happy.

But we are really busy!  In a good way.  I have 13 piano students to keep up with as well as all the usual family back to school things and I just haven't had much time to think about anything else.  Just ask my sisters - take up to a week to play my move on scramble words!

I haven't even taken any new pics to simply post.  How lame! 

I will tell you that Dan has his National Board exam on Friday, so as long as all goes well 6 years of almost perpetual studying will come to an end and the rest of our life may begin.  So everyone pray for him this week.  It would really mean a lot.

So don't worry, more to come...as long as I can keep all these balls in the air!

Boys Weekend

Dan has decided to take one boy at a time on an overnight camping trip this summer.  It does wonders for resetting them in the lazy days of summer, not to mention how great and special they feel.  Last weekend he took Clayton and today he and Malcolm set out.

Isn't it amazing how having one child gone can totally change the energy level of your home?

And I'm referring to both of them...

You say Tomato, I say Tomauto...

Here is how our tomatoes look today, nice and full and ready to burst with fruit.  Tomatoes anyone?  Do you think we have enough?

A couple of weaker tumblers that are now starting to go...

...and our peony starts to explode.

Last weekend we went camping and here are a few snapshots:

Clayton has learned how to use the axe.  It's great to let him do all the work for firewood, and he really does an awesome job!  He thinks it's pretty neat when Dan teases him that he won't be able to split a log, then he manages it in only a couple of hits.

I got this ladder golf set for cheap at a garage sale that morning.  I was thinking family reunion next summer, but the kids played all day.  Best $15 I've spent in a long time!

I cannot get a serious picture of this girl.  What a hoot!

The boys.

The little boys saw these cereals on sale today (otherwise they would not be eating them.  What a rip-off!)  Lots of memories of my own camping trips though.  They wanted to eat them for every meal. 

The Best Father's Day EVER!

Congratulations to my sister and her hubby on becoming parents on just about the best weekend!

Beautiful little Brady Harris. 

Could you ask for a more perfect Father's Day gift?

Celebrating Mediocrity

Has anyone else noticed our society's epidemic of celebrating mediocrity in our children?  This has always been an issue for me, but it was brought back to the forefront of my brain this week when an Edmonton teacher was suspended for giving zeros to his students.  What prompted him to give zeros you wonder?  Well, because they did not turn in their assignments.  Hence, no marks given.  Seems pretty straight forward, wouldn't you agree?

Not so.  Because our government, in all of its infinite wisdom, designates funding to schools based on minimum percentages (25% in this instance) if students don't achieve that mark the money is pulled.  As a result, schools across the province have begun instituting a 'no zeros' policy.  Essentially it means that teachers cannot give zeros unless every other avenue has been exhausted (in other words every other attempt to rescue the child from the natural consequences of their own choices).  Also not very fair to students who get their work done on time.  Talk about lack of incentive!

When I was in school, and that was not all that long ago, if you didn't do the work you simply failed.  But we don't teach our kids about failure anymore.  We don't help them to find and develop the thing they are good at.  Heck, we don't even differentiate between them at all.  Nowadays everyone is good at every thing, and every student will graduate and go on to succeed in life.  Sound a little idyllic to anyone else?

Case in point at an elementary school level.  Remember we used to have actual track and field days?  For weeks before we would practice our hearts out in each of the events in gym class - running, long jump, triple jump, high jump, ball throw.  Teachers taught us proper technique and we tried hard to learn, then on the big day you gave it your all in the hopes of receiving one of those beautiful red ribbons.  I remember the only ribbon I ever won - it was for ball throw in the 5th grade. 

That's right.  The ONLY ribbon I ever won in my elementary school career.  Can you understand my natural talent for sports?  Pretty non-existant.  But I survived.  That's because I was good at other things.  I excelled academically, musically.  But there were kids in my class who lived for track and field day.  Why?  Because they were awesome at it.  They took all the ribbons and we cheered them on.  As we should have - they were great!

Fast forward to now.  The schools we've been in don't even teach the events in gym anymore.  Someone might get hurt maybe?  No, they just don't need to because they don't ever do them.  No, now we have 'Sports Day'.  These generally involve splitting kids into some sort of team and participating in cheesy relay races, like a family picnic.  Everyone is celebrated, everyone is a winner.

Now there's a killer statement if I've ever heard one.  I hate to burst the euphoric bubble, but everyone is NOT a winner in all things, sports or academics included.  Can't we celebrate the hard work and talents of our kids?  Can't we let them experience sadness and failure so they pull their socks up and try harder the next time?  Can't we let them understand the real world of disappointment and the thrill of achievement before they're thrown to the wolves after graduation?  Any psychologist would tell you that too much praise and equalization is as harmful as none.

So why do our schools perpetuate this?  Stop celebrating mediocrity and get on with helping these kids become all they can be - for real.

Teaching Your Own Children (or How to Not Lose Your Sanity or Your Tenmper)

As a second part to my recent post on Piano Method Books, I thought I would write about teaching your own kids.  Hopefully this will help any of you considering this for whatever reason (hello, dear sister).  It may be due to the cost or unavailability of teachers, or you may know a little (or a lot) about music and figure you can start them just as easily.  Here are some things to consider to make this go a little more smoothly.  This is purely from my own experience, but it may give you some things to think about:

1. Set aside a lesson time, just like they would have taking from anyone else.  Stick to it.  Put your other kids somewhere else or have your spouse or a friend around to help you. 

Make sure you explain your expectations to the other kids too.  Mine have finally figured out that when I'm teaching I am unavailable to help them.  Consider bribery.  At our house, piano lesson time means Wii time for anyone not involved.  What would work for yours?

Consider making aspects of the lesson group time if you have kids at the same general stages of music.  Play the games together.  Have older kids quiz younger kids on their alphabet or piano notes and play memory games with them.  Have younger kids listen to the older kids play like a concert and give 'critiques' at the end.

2. Keep it interesting and celebrate the small stuff.  Kids, especially boys, find sitting at the bench torture after about 10 minutes, but there are plenty of games and resources online to help them.  At those young beginning ages I try to do 10 -15 minutes at the bench and 10 minutes or so at the table or moving around in the living room.  If you want ideas for that side of it, let me know.

3.  Choose good books.  I get the best success for learning out of Faber's Piano Adventure books.

4. Don't be too hard on them.  I am way tougher on my own kids than my other students because I know their capabilities and their routine excuses. 

5. Be ready for every excuse in the book.  Your own kids will whine and complain way more than others.  I often remind my kids, "Would you act like this for Ms. Wood?  Then don't do it with me!"

6.  Be prepared.  You have to plan piano lessons must like school lessons.  Look ahead, see what concepts are coming, figure out how you're going to approach it.  If you have to spend time at the lesson figuring it out you will lose their interest and their faith that you know what you're doing.

7. Have fun!  This is time you get to spend one-on-one with your little one.  Enjoy it.  Play games, watch youtube videos, compose and create together and make it something you look forward to as well!

8. Don't give up easily.  It will take a while to get rolling and you will always have weeks when you wonder if it's worth it.  It is when you see the lightbulb go on or when you hear them play that song you've helped them struggle through for weeks on end. 

Just a few thoughts, hope they help someone.  Good luck!

Camping...Blah!

I love camping.  I do.  I'm the first to agree to it.  I love sleeping outdoors, sitting around a fire, eating hot dogs and drinking hot chocolate.  I used to sleep outside pretty much all summer as a kid.

But now I'm an adult - with kids.  Our family has agreed to spend the summer camping as much as possible.  Every weekend at least one night if we can manage it.  It's something we love.

Once we get there.

I find myself not enjoying this as much anymore because now I'm in charge of all the stuff around it.  Gone are the days when we used to grab some hot dogs, a bag of chips, a case of pop, and a sleeping bag and go.  And here's the crappy part of camping for anyone who hasn't figured it out yet:

It does not matter how long you go for, you need just as much junk for one night as you do for seven.

This is where I am running into issues.

We can really only go for one night due to work and needing to be back for church.  So I will spend all of today packing up stuff and loading it into the van (which, by the way, is far too small for this adventure with all 6 of us).

Then tomorrow we will come home and I will get to do it all in reverse.

Blah.

I'm complaining, but only a little.  It'll be fun once we get there, right?

I seriously need a camper to keep everything in if this is gonna continue...

Scale of the Universe

Madison shared this website with me and I thought it was pretty cool, so check it out.  It will make you reconsider your place in the universe again.  And then to think that God knows and loves each of us perfectly in the midst of all that....breathtaking!

http://htwins.net/scale2/

Piano Method Books

I have had a few people ask me recently which method books I would recommend for beginning piano students - what do I like?  what do I use?  what do I teach my own kids out of?  So I've decided to write a little post about it.

I used to be a big Leila Fletcher/John Thompson fan.  I started Madi and Mac in these and they have managed to pick up the foundations well enough. I have never liked the Bastien or Alfred Series very much, and I find kids don't love them either.   But now I have discovered the Faber Piano Adventure Series.

Why did I not know about these before?




If you have a little one from about 4 to 6 years old, I would definitely start them in the My First Piano Adventure series.  Spencer and I have been doing this now for a week and he is so excited he can hardly stand it.  And who wouldn't be?  It comes with a CD so they can listen to all the little rhymes and songs they learn in lessons, a workbook with fun activities to reinforce the theory, and they present basic piano concepts to pre-readers in a colorful, bright, super fun way.  Even I have fun!



If you have an older beginner, go right into the Piano Adventures Series.  There is a primer that they would probably fly through pretty quick, but I just did my first lesson with Madison and Malcolm in Book 1 yesterday and for the first time in recorded history they were both laughing and bursting at the seams with the fun of piano lessons.  These books are great because they don't limit kids to playing 10 basic keys in the middle of the piano for the first year.  They range all over (play the highest/lowest note on the piano, pick any C to play this, etc.) which helps keep them from being stuck in one playing position.  Also, they get to use the pedal right away, which was a big draw for Mac who just couldn't wait to get his foot on it.  Plus, the songs are fresh and fun with funny words and the sound of the pieces fit the title and mood.  No dusty primer songs here!

So there's my recommendation.  Now remember, every kid is different.  Some don't want flash and fun.  I have one who is in Suzuki and probably will remain there forever because he is very methodical and technical.  But I made him take home the Older Beginner Piano Adventures Popular Book 1 (tings like Harry Potter and Star Wars) and choose a song last week - for fun!  Because it should be fun.  They need to love playing to keep playing.

For more information on this series, complete with videos and lesson ideas, follow this link:

http://pianoadventures.com/

First Fishing Trip of the Year

On the coast we spent our weekends at the beach catching crab.  Now we are back in Alberta so our fishing has reverted back to good ol' fashioned rod and reel fishing.  Dan took the kids out on the long weekend Monday and they all caught one.  I was shocked.  Fishing for me is usually sitting around for a very long time while catching pretty much nothing.  Everyone was so thrilled, but this is the only picture we got before the camera battery died...

Our First Visitors

On the long weekend we had our first visitors to our new place.  My mom and dad and brother came to see what's what here in the exciting town of High Prairie.  I was a little worried what we might find to do all weekend, and the weather was looking pretty iffy, but it turned out to be wonderful.  The sun came out and we spent a lot of time outside just exploring the area.  They don't call it the M.D. of Big Lakes for nothing!

Clayton and Grandpa lounging on the beach in the sun at Lesser Slave Lake

This isn't a very good picture, but I thought it was funny cause it looks like Madi has ears or something?

So it turns out there's lots to see here and a whole lot of places to camp and hang out at lakes.  We also found out our house really is big enough to comfortable have people come visit, just don't expect to sit on any great furniture (hee hee).  We are now officially welcoming any summer visitors who want to come and see what the great Canadian north is all about.  Just give us a call to reserve your room...

Pics Update

Just a few pictures to update what's been happening around here.  Good thing I've got this blog cause my journalling has become non-existant!  So here's what's been happening...

We went out to Winagami Lake a few weeks ago and the lake was still frozen over (in May!). 

Here we are playing on the boat docks (I guess we miss the ocean so we take what we can get!)  But the next picture is what they are fishing out of this lake....

Great big ice chunks that actually looked pretty cool.  Everyone wanted a picture of theirs, but this 'castle' was the winner.  This pic doesn't do it justice.  In the sunlight it sparkled like a real crystal fortress.

On our walk we found a tree that had been hit by lightning and split in two...

Then we watched the ducks and geese through the binoculars.

And, finally, the beginnings of a real piano studio.  Each student is adding their ideas for how they can stay engaged in music outside of piano lessons, then hanging their fish on our fishing lines.

Funny, yet amazing, classical performance

This is a video I embedded on my piano website for my students to listen to this week.  They are assigned to notice how one piece of music can be played in many different forms, thus changing it's mood and sound, but you can just enjoy.  This is a group from Spain called PaGAGnini (a play on Paganini) and not only are they funny but extremely talented.  Take 10 minutes and have a giggle while enjoying a fine rendition of Pachelbel's Canon in D.

Freedom!

No one ever tells you how truly awesome it feels to reach this stage.

Our kids are now all old enough that we can all go for a bike ride together.

No complaining, no tired legs, no one that can't keep up.

Yesterday we rode for almost two hours.

So much fun!

Valuable Lessons Everywhere...

My family and I stay connected playing this little game "Words with Friends" on our various tablets and phones.  I have a game going with each of them and I generally add a word or two, or three, every day.  Dan likes to laugh at me and try to compare it to the time they spend on the Wii.  My addiction he says...

But I would like to point out the educational benefits of this game.  I am learning words and what they mean more than I ever did in school.  The beauty of this game is you can just throw some letters on the board and try your luck with submitting them.  It will let you know if you have a real word.  And sometimes this pays off in a big way.

Take, for instance, the word I played this morning (for 57 points, may I add): 

VATU

Ever hear of it?  Me neither.  It was just a desperate attempt to use a V and a U before the game runs out.  But here comes the learning...

When I end up with a word it accepts and I don't know, I like to look it up.  (My sis used the word qoph.  Turns out it is the 19th letter in the Hebrew alphabet.  Who knew?)

But I digress.  Vatu is apparently the national currency for the island of Vanuatu.

I thought for a moment that was a made up place from literature or something.  Kinda sounds Fantasy Fiction worthy, right?  Turns out it's in the South Pacific  near Fiji and the Solomon Islands.

Turns out I don't know much geography in my own world.

So here's to those great little time wasters that turn out to be fairly educational after all...

Photography

In honor of my sister who loves to take photos, I though she and others might enjoy checking these out.  A 3 part series of 50 photos that will blow you away.  Some very beautiful things.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1WajtF/www.pxleyes.com/blog/2011/12/these-50-photos-will-blow-you-away/

Ah, stumbleupon.  What a lovely waste of an hour!

New Piano Music

I love when someone unexpectedly points you towards something you really like and turns out to also be useful.  I signed up a new piano student this week.  When I asked him what composers he likes, he immediately said Yurima.  This student is Korean, and I had never heard of his favorite composer.

Thank goodness for the internet.  I looked him up and found this:



Dan and the kids walked through the room at the time and all of them stopped to listen.  It is really beautiful.

Even better, I also found a site where you can download and print the sheet music for his pieces.  (see here: http://yiruma4ever.blogspot.ca/).  Very helpful for me because Dan has asked me to be the background music for his Mother's Day Tea and I was fretting about what I might play.  My library is still on the small side and very classical oriented and there is no music store in town.  Now I have found something that will work!

Thanks, my young student!  I teach you, but you teach me too!

Why Didn't You Vote?

Voter turnout yesterday is estimated at 46%.  Wow, way to go Albertans. 

Remember when we were in school?  46% was a fail.  A big one.

We have failed.

We have failed to value a right that incites civil war in other countries.  People die to get it.

We have failed those who have gone before us fighting to ensure that right to vote would not be taken away from us.

We have failed to educate ourselves on the political platforms of those running, and then taking a stand to show them what we think.

We have failed to send an accurate representation of our vision of the future of our province.

We have failed to tell the government that we, the taxpaying citizens of Alberta, are really the ones who run the show.

So if you didn't vote, why not?

Regardless of how you would have voted (that's not what I care about), why didn't you?

The campaign was 4 weeks long.  It was covered in every newscast, every newspaper, twitter, blogs, etc.  Plenty of time and opportunity to get informed.

Or was it?

I have my theories.

I'm pretty sure if they had a voting app the numbers would change dramatically.

By the way, my turn voting took about as long as it takes to play a couple rounds of Angry Birds.

Food for thought.

Interestingly, the other 54% of voters will still feel entitled to whine when decisions are made that they do not like.  I do not feel sympathy.  If you want an opinion, prove it in four years when your chance comes around again.

I am disappointed today, but I know we can do better....

Snow, a Trip and a Future Missionary

Last week we were riding our bikes, playing outside, spring cleaning the house.  Just when we thought spring had arrived for good, winter realized it had really procrastinated this season and took one final stab at it...

We were going to go to Grande Prairie that weekend.  Not so.  This week it is rainy and misty, so here's hoping that winter has gotten that out of it's system and is ready to go on vacation til November.

We did make it to Grande Prairie this past weekend and had a lot of fun.  We went to the new multiplex swimming pool ("better than Wii!" says Malcolm) and it was one of the best pools we've ever been to.  Clayton has been asking for a suit for a while now and there is a Sears in the city.  He and Dan dashed inside at 6, right as they were trying to lock up, but a really nice lady led them to the right area and set him up.  Doesn't he look so great?  He was so excited to go to church.  Who knew that was all it would take?

Easy Family History Work - FROM HOME!

Madison and I have stumbled across family history work that we can do from home - and it's easy! 

We were trying to complete a family history goal in her Faith in God booklet and I asked Sis. Britton a question about it.  In return, she told us to visit familysearch.org/1940census.

It's pretty simple - go to the site, set up your login (this can simply be the same one you use when you visit any church sites to order materials etc. or familysearch), follow the instructions and start indexing names from the census.  If you can read and copy, you can do this!  We have completed 3 batches and we only joined yesterday.  Easy!

They are listing the 1940 census as priority and are trying to complete it as soon as possible.  So this is for you if...

You want to do family history but don't quite know where to start.

You want to work at it from home.

You don't have access or time to go to the family history library.

You have kids involved in the Faith in God program or YW/YM who have applicable goals.

You have kids who want to be on the computer and you want them doing something useful.

Just because it's really interesting (think about it - who were these people?  Their names and histories are cool.  You can't help but wonder about their life stories...)

Thanks Sis. Britton for showing us this option and passing the Family History bug along!

Where have you been all my life?

I am not usually one to salivate over technology, but the latest love in my life is my Samsung Galaxy Tablet.



It entered my life in a casual way and saw at a glance what I needed...

(Sorry for the blatant plagairism there.  But it's true!)  I received it FREE for signing up with Telus for our TV and internet.  I thought I would like it.  Tablets have always intrigued me.  But little did I know that I would fall in love.

Sorry dear, move over.  Tabby is here to stay.

I used it today to teach piano.  So great!  The little girl was enthralled.  It reached her like no method from my stone age lessons ever could.  All because of a little app called My Piano.  It plays like a piano.  At the table.  What a great way to quiz notes and chords!

I listened to my other guilty pleasure, the Rutherford show, all morning on my Corus radio app.

It beeps when I get mail in my Gmail account.  And then I answered my sister right then and there.  Brilliant!

It already downloaded all my pics from my blog so I don't have to.

We already downloaded too many FREE apps.  (Have you played Where's my Water?  Don't go there unless you have time to kill.  I could hardly turn it off to get ready for lessons today.)

I know, I'm way behind the times.  But I have to say - two thumbs up. 

Tabby, how did I ever live without you?

Weekend Trip

This weekend we were able to go to Edmonton to the temple.  Thanks go out to the Morais family who let us invade their home when we do.  We always have such a good time!  Although the temple was the highlight, we were also able to do some shopping we can't do here in the north, so we ended up using most of our Saturday wandering Ikea and Walmart and my new favorite store the Bulk Barn. 

I hated the Bulk Barn in Lethbridge, but that's because I only really looked at the candy which is ridiculously priced.  Inalee turned me onto the spices there.  I was complaining about cream of tartar costing $8 for a little Tblsp size box and she took me there to show me how cheap it is there ($2 for about a cup.  Playdough here we come!).  We chose some good stuff and it was very affordable and Inalee feels it tastes fresher.  We also got  a few treats that brought back good memories of our family trip to South Dakota - GIANT JAWBREAKERS!  I had to buy one for each of the kids and they had to hear the story again, but it was worth it...

And if you ever find yourself in Fort Assinaboine, Alberta, check out the World's Largest Wagon Wheel and Pick (meaning pick axe, not nose-picking).  Pretty impressive.  You know there is actually a map for all of these giant icons on the Travel Alberta Site.  We have seen the Mushroom, the Egg, the Vulcan Spaceship and I think a couple others.  I'll have to start making a photo journal...

Our only trip regret was we didn't get to spend much time with Em and Trevor and Ty-Ty.  We were too rushed having gotten away 5 hours late due to tire issues.  Next time we have big plans...

Garden Update

An update on the indoor garden -

We transplanted the tomato seedlings into plastic cups - 50 cups to be exact.  That's a lotta tomatoes!  Luckily, Inalee took some off our hands this weekend.  I wish all my family lived closer so I could farm them out to you...

Oh, Emily, I should have asked you!  I will keep them and grow them and bring them next time if you want.  Let me know!   I wasn't sure if you really gardened.

Here are our sunflowers and marigolds...

And the zucchini and cucumbers on the ledge in the boys rooms...

And this is the pic of our tomato plants today, the one above is a couple of weeks ago.  Good thing we love em!