Meet Polo!

 We had a bit of a surprise before we headed to Saskatoon for our February break.  A puppy showed up on our driveway.  It stayed several days and I was smitten, but I knew that Brian would never let us have 2 dogs and that it was terrible timing, we were leaving town for nearly a week.  But while we were gone, some things happened.  Brian was not so stuck on having only one dog, in fact he declared that Saba was old and a companion for her and a new dog for us may be good.  AND our house sitter Moira- cousin child to us- not only took care of Saba and our house, but she had adopted the little ball of furry fun.

 When we came back to the Fort, she was in Regina- with Moira's sister Victoria.  Moira had put out posters about the found dog and told the pet store owner, but no one called and the extended family were already nominating us to adopt her- which we were only glad to do.  Dominique and Emora came up with the name Polo- for polar bear.  Ivan and I liked Sochi- since she showed up while the olympics were on, but Brian sided with the girls and the vote was cast.

 She is the softest creature ever- and so sweet!!!  She and Saba are about opposites.  Saba likes to bark and this one has barely made a peep.  Saba is a protector and very cautious with strangers, Polo will jump into everyone's lap.  Saba likes to tell the entire town that we are out for a walk and Polo cowers at cars, and dogs barking.

 So after all these years, we are potty training again- it's coming- I think.  We are on a search for our slippers constantly.  We are frequent shoppers at the pet shop for chew sticks- but even still- our furniture legs and the handle of the recliner, the kids toys and pencils and clothes will never be the same.  Thankfully she hasn't figure out how to manage the stairs to the basement yet to wreck havoc there.

The kids are learning to train a dog too and to clean up it's messes.

Ivan- whose allowance job is to clean up the dog poop outside determined that Polo was worth doubling his duty.

It's been a big change for us, but has brought us so much joy-- and I think even for the old grouch Saba, that she is happy for the friend.  It's a good time for us to be training a pup since we have an adult home all the time right now.  Next year, that may not be the case.  With Emora off to kindergarten, we may be doing other things too, than holding down the homefront!

So as we say farewell to winter, we have to remember all the fun, the ice skating with school, the muscles earned from all that shoveling- the sled run in our own backyard and potty training in minus 40 temps- oh yes, the fun we had ;)

Sheep, lamas and butterflies?

 The Muirheads don't only have an awesome slough to skate on and space to roam, they have delightful animals to roam in it!  So fun to get to visit the sheep...

 and lamas.

 The kids had fun climbing up into a barn? or storage building?  I wasn't sure where they'd gotten off to, but giggles are a telltale giveaway that there is cuteness around the corner!

Speaking of cuteness... Emora and her bestie Ayumi like to get facepainted when they come to play and I like to paint them.  They usually choose the same design, but Emora wanted a rainbow butterfly and Ayumi pink and purple.  I haven't uploaded pics of Emora's new bob, but here is her inspiration for it!  She kept saying she wanted her hair like Ayumi's and as soon as her brother saw her, he said' you look like Ayumi- so I must have gotten it close! ;)

Happy first day of SPRING- (yesterday)!

 I don't think I have appreciate spring as much any year as this year!  It has been a very COLD winter and so the melt, the longer daylight, the heat of the midday sun, the sploshing puddles and muddy melt have been delicious!  But as I look through the pics, I see so many beautiful moments too, even if it was achingly cold most the time!

 During the Christmas break, we all went out to the Muirhead farm for a skate on their slough.  Neve is growing up to be such a little beauty and a great little talker- updating us on everything Muirhead ;)

 First a treck through snow banks to get to the spot.  Then some shoveling and SKATE.

 and pose.

 and look who else showed up- some precious family from the Koops clan.  Well, Victoria is now Utman- but she'll always be Koops in our hearts.

 and sister bestfriends...

 snowballs and races...

 and before long a snowman build

 So thankful for family and fun!

And very thankful that the winter rink will one day be a slew again and the ice track during the winter festival will once again become my kayak highway and giant pool- so glad to think of garden planting and hikes in the hills, berry picking, eating outside, lazing in the hammock, biking and flowers and oh oh oh- the geese are back from their winter holiday down south--- soon we'll see a pelican and my heart will soar with them.

Lost and Found

 First off, there is a new member in our family and it's not a lego character!  I am an auntie again- my brother and his wife had a baby boy Natsu Liam March 11th.  We haven't met him yet-- which is a good thing since Dominique just got diagnosed with bronchitis-- but we'll be going down at Easter for our break.

 As the first day of spring comes around the corner, I'm posting Christmas pics!  I thought I had a ton of pics from Christmas, but didn't know where they'd gotten to and the other day when I was filming Dominique at dance, the memory card filled up, so I popped in another one and when we went to download it, voila- Christmas!!  So I had taken a picture of my kids in the movie theater because I'm a total nerd and this was Ivan's  first movie experience since being a baby and Emora's first movie experience ever.  Dominique was an old pro since she'd been for a birthday party with friends.  This was our family outing over Christmas- the Frozen movie.  Since then, Ivan quickly added two more movie outings to his repertoire!

 Not long after that some people arrived to visit.  Nana and Papa from Houston, Andrew and Andrea from Saskatoon and Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill who kind of live here and on the farm in Macoun.  In this pic, Nana is sitting in the chair brought from my grandma's family from Norway.  The chair is carved in one piece from a tree trunk and has a special name I will have to learn!

 Brian did his traditional goofy shirt presentation.

 He gave this one to Sheena- not Mike- he was already spiderman shirted- so Brian's pick was quite a propos.  Another beautiful thing from this pic is under Sheena's arm- one of the few pictures up at aunt Mary and Uncle Bill's town house is my grandmother who I never met, but holds a special place in her home and heart.

 Here are aunty Andrea and aunty Andrea- yeah, not confusing at all for the kids!

 Poor Papa and Nana had been up since the wee hours of the morning, this was the day they flew up and bang- family party!

 We have a picture of Kellen and Ivan with matching missing front teeth- so when it happened to Lanelle and Dominique at the same time, I told them we had to get a picture!  Then Ian said:  "Should I show off my missing front teeth too- I can be a twinsie" or something like that.  He may not have used the word "twinsie". 

 Uncle Bill and his elf Andrea have had a long tradition of getting the grandkids pyjamas for Christmas, and while we are not actually grands, we are adopted in grands, so here is this years' flock!

 Our tree was overladen with gifts.

 Some of the most fun ones are the ones the kids make at school and are SO EXCITED to give to us.

 The boys got what they wanted!

 Lots of people ask me if my girls are twins.  I'm always shocked by the question, but I guess they do look a bit alike!

I'll end this with another bang-- Emora just got a bob!  She told me to cut her hair tonight like her BFF's.  I asked if she was totally sure- because when I did that for Dominique at the same age- she cried!  Emora said "yes" over and over and LOVES it.  So I'm glad.