quick visits

Mom and dad came down for a quick visit last weekend.  The girls decided to comb grandpa's hair with their new combs.  It was fun to watch them because I remember doing dad's hair as a kid.  He'd let us put his hair in a hundred ponytails if I recall correctly.

Speaking of blasts from the past.  I highjacked this jacket of dad's about a decade and a half ago.  I don't use it anymore and thought maybe it was time to return it.  This was his actual jacket when he was in his 20s.  We have old pics of him in it when he was dating mom (or were they just married?).  Some of the leather is worn right off on the collar, but other than that, it's still in good shape.  I wore it for lots of years too.  Dad said he remembers some of his sweaters going missing too, um, yep that would have been me.  My favorite sweaters as a teenager were ones I had "borrowed" from dad.  I wore them forever too.  Not sure if they ever got back though--- sorry dad!

We went for a quick walk down the street to go give a tour to my parent's of aunt Mary and uncle Bill's new house.  If you hadn't noticed, winter has arrived in Fort Qu'Appelle.  Until last weekend, we didn't have snow, but this fell when mom and dad arrived and then when they left, the temperature dropped 20 degrees or so and we've been in a deep freeze ever since.  It is super pretty outside though.

I was hoping to do some of this today since it's so cold, but they didn't have public skate times this weekend!  urgg- but they had some times last weekend and we'd told dad to bring his skates too.  It's amazing to see how good the kids have gotten since last year.

Dominique is thinking of switching out of dance for next year and doing figure skating instead.  Emora wants to follow Dominique.  They were also talking about karate- so we'll see.

Dad was able to show Ivan some stick handling skills, so that was awesome.  One thing we've learned especially with our son is that it takes a village to raise a child.  It's so wonderful to have a great uncle who can introduce him to fishing, an auntie who taught him guitar, an uncle who taught him art, another uncle with a tie to hunting, grandpa who can share hockey knowledge, grandma who can sing of foreign lands, more grandparents who sow love into their lives...

Emora is getting more and more confident where she doesn't always use the bar to skate.  She hasn't gotten the skill of getting back up yet though, so hopefully that will come soon.

She and Ivan actually played nicely together for a bit.  (A rare occurrence).

Brian took most of these pics and mom did some rounds around the rink on the walking track.  We are missing the daddy this week.  He's off to NY to visit his dad who he hasn't seen in a couple of years.  He took on an extra job this summer to fund his trip and surprised him!  Which means we've been Brianless all week.  I'll tell you what, I've got a new admiration and understanding for those single moms out there- and I know mine is not a permanent situation.  It's crazy trying to do it on your own!  And of course, the day Brian left there were a dozen extra scheduled items to take care of- like parent teacher interviews!!  Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill came for half the week to help with the kids some, but even then, it's been exhausting and the list I've had for each day was crazy.  I only subbed 2 days, but it was so hard to get everyone where they needed to be.  Thankfully there was no school Friday and now it's the weekend- so we're about home free!  I'm thankful for the big family we have even though they are stretched all over the continent and so thankful for my kids and Brian to share this fun and crazy life with!