First Ice Breaker!

Tarp - ~$150.00

Skates - ~$38.00 (X2)

Helmets - ~$40.00 (X2)

Chiropractor bill - $ yet to be determined

Steve's countless hours building & flooding the rink and finally putting it to use:

PRICELESS

We had our first skate today! YAY! Sooooo much fun! Steve was flooding like a madman all weekend and today was the inaugural skate! All his hard work paid off!

I had to in cure a 5 minute penalty on the bench due to my skepticism about Steve actually being able to pull this off. ha!ha! The picture above shows me serving my time (all 30 seconds lol!) on the bleachers. I borrowed little chairs from my classroom (shh Donna..I'll return them don't worry!) and the kids did so well. By the end they were both standing on their own. When they would get tired we'd sit them down in the chairs and spin them around and have races. They loved that the most really!

Steve and I will both surely be calling a chiropractor soon because this a really a back breaking activity. We take breaks holding Abbey! lol! When you get your stamina back, you have to take Michael ha!ha! They are announcing messy weather for the next few days but next weekend we'll surely be out there again!

Our first family skate was better then I could ever have imagined! An unforgettable moment for sure...and who would have thought this city girl would ever be skating in her OWN backyard! LOVE IT! The Valley Rules!

Hilarious!

Our good friend Mr Taylor, an Ottawa Senators fan and an expert at PhotoShop (you should see what he can do to my chest...can you say double D's! ha!ha!). Anyway...he copied a picture of our rink from one of my blog posts and added T.M.L.'s captain Mats Sundin skating in the middle of it hosting a golf bag and sent it to Steve! Hilarious! Steve and I were both laughing so hard. Steve wrote back "I knew the voices were real...."If you build it, he will come".

Zamboni Rentals?!?

It's -100 degrees out there (and that's NOT a P.E.F.!!!) and Steve is out there flooding the rink...AGAIN!!! He's thinking that we will be skating by next week (weather permitting... and cooperating!) Can you make out the figure in the dark? It's my rink-obsessed husband! ha!ha!

Sweet Dreams!

Abbey snuck into bed with us last night around 3 a.m. and about an hour later I was woken up by her shouting "Non merci!" with her arms straight up in the air beside me. I have no clue what she was dreaming about but it's nice to know she's polite...even in her dreams! :-)

Rainbow Riders Gymnastics!

Saturday mornings are usually gymnastics day but yesterday they had a big competition there so... Sunday was gymnastics day this week! It's such a blast! I had to take a picture of Abbey in her warm-up suit.(sponsored by Paquin & Associates hee!hee!) It's adorable on her!

I swear I'm not being a biased Mom but Abbey is a natural gymnast! I know, I know...you're thinking I've turned into one of "those" Moms ha!ha! but she is so darn good at all the different stations. It's so well set up and Abbey and Michael are both really enjoying it!

I took some pictures today. There's a lot more of Abbey but that's just because Michael is such a wild man running from station to station that it's easier to take pics of Abbey.

On the balance beam and uneven bars...

Check out the big muscles!!! Abbey just LOVES her bodysuit. She wants to sleep in it!

Go Moose Go! lol!

Abbey learned "bum drops" on the trampoline this week! This picture truly captures how much fun gymnastics is! I swear before our 12 weeks of classes are through I'm going to take a turn jumping on the trampoline! Rainbow Riders Gymnastics Club Rules!

Saturday morning!

Three year old's attention span is... not very long. This morning we did SO many activities. First, we made smoothies and had breakfast. Then we painted!!! Always so much fun!

I asked Abbey what she was painting and she said "Maman, Daddy, Abbey, Michael".

Michael was also working on his "masterpiece" as well so I asked him what he was painting. He answered "Un gros mess, Maman!" How true! I laughed so hard!

So that was 20 minutes! hee!hee! Then we made PlayDoh....much fun as well! They get a kick out of measuring the ingredients. When I pulled out the flour from the pantry Michael said "fait des crepes Maman?"...obviously I'm NOT a baker because the only time the flour comes out is when we make pancakes! Busted!!!

I couldn't talk Michael into making any other colour then blue (which we made last time) but Abbey chose green this time. It's so messy and I basically have to soak them in the bath for an hour to get the food colouring off their hands. I should buy some disposable gloves to help the situation?!?

We also went outside for a while to "help" Daddy with the rink, went for a walk, played in the basement, did puzzles, watched Mickey Mouse Club House (a new favourite) and this was all BEFORE lunch!

And people wonder why I love my weekend naps! ha!ha! Hope your weekend was as eventful!

Playing with Daddy!

On Wednesday night I subbed for BUNKO so Steve was home with the kids. The three of them had SO much fun together! They completely transformed the basement into a fort. Here's what I came home to...

all of the furniture moved into the center of the room, all of our comfy basement blankets draped over the furniture...and a really awesome fort in the middle of it all!!!

Can you just picture Michael, Abbey and Steve (6'5)playing in the fort with their flashlights?!? Too funny! Whatcha won't do for your children eh?!?

Movie Night!

We had our first McAlpine Movie Night tonight! We weren't sure how it would go because our kids haven't really watched anything longer then a 20 minute show on Tree House or the Disney Channel but...it was GREAT! The food critic in the movie Ratatouille always has an angry look on his face and Michael kept saying "Pourquoi Monsieur fache maman?" It's funny what stands out to them eh?!?
They had popcorn for the first time and they loved it! (I'm sure I read in a parenting book that you shouldn't give kids under age 3 popcorn...maybe I'm mistaken but I waited nonetheless?!?) They say the word "popcorn" so darn cute with their little French accents! hee!hee! I loved my bonus day home with them! More shoveling, making snow angels, and of course walking through the woods out back. We have so much fun sledding (and Mommy gets a good workout too!) Here's a picture to commemorate the occasion!

Ratatouille got two thumbs up! Sorry grand-papa for the choice of PJ's on Michael! :-(

Built It...

and they will come! ha!ha! Just like the movie Field Of Dreams! Steve has been working on...no not a baseball diamond... but a skating rink for the kids in the backyard. It has been very time consuming but you've got to admire his tenacity lol! Here's how it started...

Abbey and Michael helped out with the electric drill...they loved that!

Surveying the trio's hard work. (check out Abbey wrapped around Steve's leg! Too funny!)

Looking almost ready for the first skate! Looks really great if you ask me! It even has seating!

We've had really mild weather these past weeks and all the ice melted away. When Steve heard that there was a cold front coming, he was back out there again watering and fine tuning ...refusing to let the "dream" die!... and then came the snow day (today) and now the rink looks like this again! (see below) so he will shovel and start anew!

I sure hope we get a few good skates on it this winter (for his sake anyway). Gotta love him! What a great Dad!

T.G.I.F.

What a week! Whew! Thank God it's over! Last week, Abbey and Michael had a bit of the sniffles...well, by Friday night they were full blown sick.
Michael was hacking so bad he was gasping for air (and making Mommy a nervous wreck!) There's NOTHING worse then having a sick child (except having TWO sick children!!!!) After having had no more then 3 hours sleep on Friday night, we were off to out-patients to see a doctor Saturday morning. After chest x-rays, the doctor decided they had croup. Whatever?!? Now I am far from being a doctor but as an elementary school teacher there are a few things I can diagnose pretty quickly....pink eye and chicken pox are two of them and I know what croup sounds like. It's a barking cough...like a seal. Well when your children are puking (down your back I might add) from coughing so hard and the phlegm just being stuck there....that's not croup. But I left happy nonetheless just knowing they didn't have ear infections.
Back home, we went for another 2 days of sleepless nights. On Monday morning, I just couldn't bear leaving my little munchkins in anyone else care so I called my VP who got me a sub. I felt bad for my substitute because it was my "special friends" first day back from suspension but...family is more important. I enjoyed my time with them on Monday, getting lots of hugs, kisses and cuddles.
On Wednesday night, Abbey was up every 4 hours (as long as it takes for the Tylenol to wear off) complaining of an earache. I felt bad taking another day off so Steve did and he took her back into out-patients get double checked.
Times like that, I wish I was a cashier or something so that I wouldn't care about my job so much. This is when I struggle to find balance between career and family. I felt guilty taking another day off but then felt guilty being at work when my little baby was ill. Oye!
So...as you can see I couldn't be happier for Friday to have arrived and the end of an awful week. Next week will be much, much better! Abbey and Michael are still not 100% but they'll be back to full steam in no time!
Thanks for reading my rant. Positive posts to come ha!ha!

Snow Kisses!

Don't really feel up to blogging today...both kids are sick. Spent yesterday morning at the Hospital in Middleton Ugh! Not my idea of fun! Thought I'd post a cute picture of Abbey and Michael kissing in the snow...pre-flu bug! It makes me happy! and this sleep deprived Mom needs happy right now ha!ha!

Back to Reality!

Where to begin?!? Let's start with this morning...it started out fine Barb arrived early and we all chatted in the kitchen. The kids didn't even cry when I left (I had expected them to do so since they've had Mommy time for two weeks) and they blew kisses and waived out the front door as I drove away. I had such a wonderful holiday that I wasn't at all bitter about going back. I was actually anxious to hear all the cute Santa stories and have the students tell me all about their favourite gifts, etc.
The morning went pretty well but my little "friend" (those who know him will know exactly who I'm talking about) was on the edge...I was mindful of how hard to push him to complete his work because I knew he could blow at anytime having been out of the school routine for a while. Then morning recess came around, a fore mentioned "special friend" had an incident on the playground, which I had to deal with since I was on duty. While the rest of my class was in music, I took half of my planning time "chatting" with said "friend" regarding behaviour expectations and prompting him to start the school year off right by following our class pledge (which by the was only has one rule: Respect!) Anyway, after what I thought was a good chat I sent him down to music for the last 15 minutes.
Lunch time was nice, sat down with MY Donna and ate a nice sushi and miso soup lunch made by my friend Sara, which was quite a treat! It all went downhill after that! Ugh!
The afternoon went by...blah blah blah....let's get to the juicy part...
At dismissal time my "special friend" had a complete meltdown...and I mean meltdown!!! Throwing his boots in the air trying to break overhead lights, whipping his jacket around trying to hit people, ripping anything and everything off the walls, threatening his teacher with her life (that would be me!!!) as in I quote "I'm going to punch your face in and strangle you half to death you annoying teacher" Oh How nice eh?!? So does anyone want to bitch about how I get two months off during the summer!?!? Not only did I have to deal with that but I was also trying to get the 24 other students in my class off to their proper buses without being assaulted. Oh ya! But wait it gets better.
SO after my little friend hit me with his jacket countless times I had enough...off I went to the principal's office. After a 40 minute ordeal...some of which included restraining him and his trashing of my boss' office my "special friend's" mother picked him up! Good gravy! I was anxious to head home let me tell ya!

Anyway, the day is done! I had a glass a wine, took a jacuzzi, read a few chapters of my book, snuck into Abbey and Michael's room to stare at them while they slept and thanked God they are mine and... all is good in the world again! My "special student" will not be at school tomorrow! So it'll be smooth sailing! Who can give me a pep talk for Monday?!?

Happy 2008 Everyone!

Happy New Year Everyone! I can't believe we are already in 2008! Where does the time go? Tomorrow is back to reality for me. First day of school 2008! I've had such a wonderful holiday that I can't really complain...but I will! ha!ha! Everyone in Ontario is off until January 8th BOO!

Well, the snow is STILL coming down in Nova Scotia. I feel like I'm living inside a snow globe that someone won't stop shaking!!! What a waste of two perfectly good snow days!!! lol!




I had a great last day with my babies today. We always have to much fun in the snow! Our kids LOVE being outside and they are always so cute with their pink little cheeks!

All the best to you all in 2008! Hope it's filled with lots of love, health and happiness! xo