adventures in celebrating...

My family has been celebrating since the beginning of the year. I guess that's what happens when the family grows. We've actually eaten so much cake that it is safe to say that the whole family has GROWN. heehee. 

First there was Angela's birthday in the beginning of January (Jan.7). Then Wendi and I had cake for our birthdays.

 Sara ate cake for her birthday even though she was REALLY BIG AND UNCOMFORTABLE. Then we all had some valentine's chocolate and a cake for Nathan's birthday. Grayson was enjoying his birthday cake when Jane arrived on the scene-so we needed to bring on more cake and break out the chocolate pink cigars. 


Through all the partying, Angela and Dylan made plans to come visit in Alberta. With that in mind, we decided to have a family size party to celebrate the three babies (Logan, Kara and Jane) and we opted to make a cake for Dylan's birthday too. (his birthday has been overshadowed two years in a row by babies!! "get used to it, Dude")

When Nana heard that everyone was coming for the party, she decided to come too. 

Add Grandma and Grandpa to the mix and we had a full blown 4 generation celebration on our hands.

Even though it was a celebration for Kara's first birthday, it was impossible to ignore that Logan was also celebrating a full year on the outside (he was released from NICU just 9 days before Kara was born on February 29.) 

Kara and Logan had a grand time!
Jane kinda slept through the whole thing-

And just when we were sure our family couldn't count any more blessings...

We were given no choice but to PARTY ON!

And of course, you're all invited!!

me and the hipsters....

Since Sara gave birth she has sworn off dairy (finally!!!). I guess she's decided that her body can only handle so much trauma and if she can prevent some of the abuse by not ingesting that nasty lactose she had better do it.

The other day as Sara and I were brainstorming about how to make sure she gets all the nutrition (aka CALCIUM) that she needs to be healthy enough to take good care of her new baby, she suggested outloud that perhaps she and Ben should visit that ORGANIC FOOD STORE just down the block from their home.

SARA: Hey Ben, maybe we should go down the street to investigate what the organic food store has available.

BEN: You mean that store? Are you suggesting that we should be like those people?

I laughed out loud as I surveyed the apartment and the people with whom I was sharing my lunch. I hate to break it to you Ben...you are those people!!

And we love you! Enjoy the good, healthy food and that gorgeous, well dressed baby girl.

adventures in homework...

My daughter Angela is somewhat of a math genius. She's always been good at numbers and she's a hard worker too - getting good grades and pursuing higher education.

Over the years she has collected a high school diploma, a bachelor's degree in math, a masters degree and now a PhD! She has done her fair share of homework. She has also helped a variety of students with their homework.

She has also taught classes at the university as part of her career in math. Over the years she has been mistaken for an unaccompanied minor (while travelling home for Christmas with her HUSBAND), the new girl in class,  and the random girlfriend of one of the students. She has struggled to be taken seriously by her "adult learners". And in spite of her youthful appearance, she has soldiered on to teach her students all they need to know about MATH.

Surprisingly, the students who have given her the biggest challenge have been the "adult learners" who actually already have bachelors degrees and are training to be teachers. (Incidentally, the engineers were a very compliant group and generally did their homework.) 

From the future educators she has heard every excuse for homework not being turned in. ("my cat had a hairball and I spent the night in the pet ER", "I've got THREE kids, for crying out loud...and you assign homework?!" "my other grandmother died," and so on and so on.....) I've been thoroughly entertained by her rants regarding these self absorbed, incompetent, inattentive ("how was I supposed to know the exam schedule was on the syllabus?") students. ("I didn't feel like doing the assignment / I forgot to do the assignment.") The homework issue has been an ongoing battle that both Angela and I have found to be simply WEIRD. 

However, last week's assignment did provide Angela (and me) with a bit of levity.

I laughed out loud at the METH lesson plan and then I shed a couple of tears for public education. (or maybe those tears were just because I was laughing so hard...)

with apologies to shabby chic pinners...sort of

I have never quite figured out the "shabby chic" decorating thing. You see I grew up on a farm where most everything was shabby and chic did not ever enter into it. Tools were tools. Junk was junk and stuff in the yard never made it's way into the house unless someone left a door open and a chicken wandered in.

So as I scroll through pinterest, I am often simply dumb-founded by some of the things that are so popular among those crafty, full time mother/bloggers who must just lay around all day dreaming up NEW ways to recycle crap.

Burlap is one of those things I just can't wrap my head around.   sorry?

My experience with burlap has been limited to potaotes, wheat and occasionally corn-on-the-cob (10 dozen per sack). Burlap is itchy and smelly and it gives the nastiest slivers I've ever had to deal with. Imagine my surprise when I started seeing burlap on pinterest as table runners, place mats, bed skirts and curtains!   seriously?!?

Last weekend my daughter, Angela was shopping in a very trendy uptown Christmas boutique looking for a special gift for a friend. As she was checking out, she couldn't help but notice the burlap christmas stockings hanging by the till. Besides the fact that they were made from old potato sacks, she was a little more than shocked to see the price...a cool 60 bucks per sock!

She paused and then asked the particularly artsy, hipster chick manning the till, "Are these burlap stockings very popular this year? I've seen them all over "pinterest".

"Oh yes!", she replied with enthusiasm. "We can't keep them in stock. Everyone wants one. If you want some you should BUY THEM TODAY. We will definitely not have them after this weekend."

"Well...I've already got my stocking up but I was looking for something to keep my potatoes and onions in," she dead-panned.

Without so much as a grin, the girl packaged up Angela's item and with an unimpressed scowl, the shop gal replied, "Will that be all, Ma'am?"

"...way to go Angie. You're a girl after my own heart!"

Dang you, "find friends"

Wally and I have been planning to go to San Diego for a medical conference for months. It was a pretty simple plan; we blocked off ten days in the office, booked the trip and let everyone know we would be "out of town" for a few days the first week of November. 

We were really looking forward to the break. It's been a hectic year and going away for a few days was the carrot on the end of the proverbial stick. We could manage hectic knowing that we had a little "holiday" to look forward to.

The day of our departure arrived and not any too soon. I was completely burned out and ready for a break. The plan was to stay a couple days in Vancouver, BC for the Canadian ADD meeting and then off to our sunny destination for a few more days.

Everything was working out ust fine. Grayson and Diana assured us they could hold down the fort for a few days and I packed bathing suits and shorts in addition to my boots, jacket and umbrella for the stop in Vancouver. (and it RAINED the whole time we were in Vancouver!)

Sunday afternoon arrived and we repacked and called a cab to drive us to YVR from our lovely seaside downtown Marriot hotel. Sun and fun were just a few hours and one plane ride away.

This is the first thing we saw when we got to YVR! It was a beautiful Hawaiian display in the flower shop and I swear they were pumping the aroma of the islands out of the speaker that was playing sweet Hawaian music. There was nothing else to do....

I was relaxing poolside Monday morning when I got a text message from my son, "How's California?...or should I say, how did your phone get to the HILTON HAWAIIAN VILLAGE?"

"Oh no!" I thought. "I am so busted by the stupid find friends app." But this is what I texted back..."Oh no, my phone's been stolen!"

It was only a matter of time before the entire family of "friends" had discovered my location. Throughout the day I would get incredulous little messages...

"HAWAII???" (from Katie)

"You should turn off your phone if you want to sneak away..." (from Sara)

"I can't believe you went to Hawaii and didn't tell / take me!" (from Diana)

and from my son-in-law, Dylan "You guys went to Hawaii? AWESOME!"

And AWESOME it is. 

the view from my balcony...

"See you next week, Friends!"

...true story

It's been fun having Logan (and his parents) stay at our house. Grayson is working hard to get his new office set up and running. Diana is managing the move and being temporarily  homeless with stellar resiliance. Logan is just a charmer; content and smiling and perfect for me to "show off" to the neighbors.

As we've settled into this little arrangement, the household chores have been completed with everyone pitching in...or so we thought.

The other day as Diana and I were unloading the clean dishes, she noticed one of Logan's little baby spoons in the dishwasher. Now she and I had decided that those spoons should NOT go in the dishwasher, for a variety of good reasons. We thought that rule was understood by everyone in the house.

"Grayson" she scolded, " I told you not to put Logan's little spoons int he dishwasher!"

Grayson smiled and firmly responded, "Diana, I can't get in trouble for that! I have not put ONE ITEM in that dishwasher since we moved in; so there!"

As soon as he said it, in front of all those witnesses, he realized his folly. He jumped up from his chair and promptly started clearing the table; quietly helping Wally load the dinner dishes...while Diana and I tried not to laugh right out loud.

Thanks for the hand, Gray! 

I am not an athlete...revisited

A couple of years ago Wally bought a book called, Younger Next Year. It's a book written by an old dude and his younger doctor on how to age gracefully. Basically, the book says that as we age we MUST keep moving or our bodies simply decline before our time. Thus began Wally's quest for movement.

He was so inspired by the book that he insisted I join him in his quest and bought me the PINK version; Younger Next Year for Women.

It's been all fun and games since then as Wally and I try our hands at different kinds of activities. I've enjoyed my treadmill and even had not bad luck with the bowflex and yoga classes. But I have come to realize that even though my husband is very athletic, and I have given birth to five athletic children who in turn, have married athletes; I simply CANNOT keep up -  or at the very least "UPRIGHT".

You will recall my adventures with winter sports over the last 18 months or so. First the nasty fall on the cross country skis. Then came falling off the trail, and subsequently halfway down the mountainside, while snow shoeing in the pristine wilderness of  Kananaskis country. I lived to laugh and tell the story but it was less funny in the moment.

Two springs ago Wally and I bought kayaks. Of course we bought sturdy, flat bottomed, lake kayaks to enjoy some stress free paddling on Emerald Bay in Wateron Lakes National Park. That went really well until I tipped my boat just below the Prince of Wales Hotel as I was trying to get back in. Cold, wet but undeterred, I commited to continue to TRY to keep up with Wally.

I have done the best I can. I walk on my treadmill regularly and I try to keep active during the day at work; taking the stairs and strolling downtown at lunchtime. 

When Wally wanted to try cross-trail bikes, I joined in. I was sized and set up on a beautiful SPECIALIZED (that's the brand name) cross trail bike designed for light road biking and the occasional rougher trail / terrain. 

I really like riding my bike. It's been fun to go on a bike ride after work and I even use it to go get the mail or buy food at the grocery store up town. I can be seen peddaling around town late at night with my nieces to use up extra energy.

So when Wally suggested we try something a little more challenging, I was up for it! After all, I can ride a bike. I couldn't see any problems with going bike riding.

I'm sure you know where this is going. 

We loaded up the bikes on the back of Patty the Pathfinder and headed to Waterton. It was a beautiful sunny day and the trail we'd decided to try was one I am familiar with. The "Snow Shoe trail" up in the Red Rock Canyon is a trail I've hiked a few times. Everytime I have hiked it, I always stepped aside for those folks riding by on their bikes. It's not steep, it is well used and I knew I could manage the trip. And Wally assured me that we could ride faster than any bear could run. (I'm a little afraid of being eaten by a bear but I manage)

The ride was really great. I was enjoying the wilderness and my skills were complemented by my trail appropriate bike. I thought to myself, "This is fun and I can even keep up with Wally."

I actually sped past him once on a little climb, feeling very athletic indeed.

We stopped for a drink and a granola bar about 5 km in and I reported that I was really enjoying myself. I felt good and I was glad we'd chosen to come out today. Shoud we carry on? or turn back? 

We decided to go all the way in, which is about 8 km. I knew we could and jumped on my bike entusiastically. I was so rocking that whole "younger next year" theory. "I am old, active and strong." I thought to myself as I peddled on with glee.

As we came around the next bend I saw another dry creek bed. We had peddled through three already and each time I had felt a little unstable going over the rocks. I'd made it thus far unscathed but determined that I was getting a little tired and maybe it would be smart to walk my bike through the rocks.

I slowed down and watched Wally peddle through and then decided I really would get off and walk...no point in taking unnecessary risks at my age.

I remember stopping my bike at about the same time I started to call out to Wally, "I'm going to walk through..." Then my whole world simply tipped right upside down!!

I felt my left arm, then my hip and finally my head hit the ground. I actually heard my helmet  "klunk" and then I just laid there.

"What the heck happened?!" was the only thought that came to mind. I hadn't even been  peddling and now I was flat on my back in the middle of a pile of rocks and YES; there was PAIN associated with this.

So I can now add "falling while cycling" to my repertoire of athetic mishaps.

this is the picture i took of wally

after i got my camera out from underneath 

me and my bike. (the camera was in my 

backpack which ended up on the bottom

of the pile) i wanted to make sure it still worked

this is me...upright again and still smiling;

but that is kind of a wincing smile because it 

REALLY hurt to fall in slow motion on a

pile of rocks!

It's a new day. The throbbing pain in my left arm has almost subsided. My hip and back are slowly working back into alignment and the pain in my neck will go away eventualy. The only thing that really bites about the whole story is that I don't bruise all that readily so in spite of the pain and the tenderness, I really don't have much physical eveidence to document my misadventures.

And I will "gear up and carry on". 

If I can't be "younger next year" I can at least provide consistent, predictable entertainment for my family and  friends. Have a happy day!