A snowy Easter in Saskatoon

The kids and I went to Saskatoon for the Easter break.  It was tons of fun- partly because we got to meet the newest member of our family!  A new cousin for the kids and a nephew for me- Natsu Liam- my brother and his wife, Andrea's son.

The kids were all excited to hold him...

and so was I.

Andrea's mom was still here visiting from Germany the first day we arrived.

It was so good to see my brother and sis-in-law as parents.

He's a sweety and much loved already.

Another cousin for the bunch!  Ivan was very pleased that a boy cousin was added.  He thinks he has quite enough girl cousins!  Our Fort Qu'Appelle cousins are mostly girls.

We did our Easter egg hunt there...

... but not outside.

It's been a very COLD winter and it doesn't seem to want to leave either.  I'm typing this May 3rd and there were snow flurries as Emora was at her soccer clinic!  Oh Saskatchewan!!!

life in the fast lane!

Emora is having to do a lot of growing up in the next little while.  She is getting ready to join her first big sport- apart from swim lessons.  She is about to be on a soccer team.  We tried to put her in last year, but she was too young.  She's also excited about going to school in the fall.  One day she wrote her name on her hand and I asked her why.  She explained that when people as her her name, she can just show them what it is!  Smart cookie- makes sense to me and it's good to be prepared.

Our family doesn't move at a very fast pace.  I can get dizzy just listening to all the activities some people are in.  Due to our ability to keep up and our financial abilities, we've limited our kids to one activity each per season.  Meanwhile, we are able to take in a lot of free programs and school activities that we are excited about as it gives our kids opportunities to expand their horizons.  All that being said, we've had a very busy couple of months.

Ivan got special permission to be in a ply by our school's middle schoolers.  So everyone else in the play is in grade 6 and 8.  They have already performed the play 4 times and are going to put it on 2 more times.  It's very good and he's been pretty excited about it.  He doesn't have any lines, but he comes out and ends singing with all the others and is a great support/crowd actor!  We've been pretty pleased with him trying it and giving it his all.  They attended a high school drama festival and are about to go to a middle school festival.  They watched 14 plays so far with the high school festival.  Ivan's favorite part has been missing school!

He was hiding his face here- embarrassed that mom was taking his picture.

Of course- his play and these festivals and getting his hair spiked (about a 20-30 min job) all coincides with Dominique's grand dance competitions in different towns and the finale recital!  So FOR US- it seems busy, but really it's nothing compared to what all some parents do!

Our school had a rock star day.  When Dominique asked who my favorite rock star is, I told her daddy and she decided to go as him!

Ivan was a generic cool dude rock star.

Emora wanted to get in the act too and face paint herself.

I dressed up too- I had a sub day and reassured Dominique not to worry if she was teased for being a guy for the fact that I'd be worse!

starting off a long weekend and welcomed break!

I love breaks with my kids!  The kids love breaks with their friends.  We are at the start of the Easter break and we are looking forward to going to Stoon and seeing cousins and meeting my new nephew, of going swimming and not having to do SCHOOL!  Ivan was hanging out with his buds after drama (this his spiked hair).

We are coming off a very busy season that is not quite over so it's nice to have a reprieve.  Ivan had tons of drama sessions to attend and participate in and that same weekend, Dominique had a dance competition 1.5 hours away.  Emora was dragged to much of their stuff.  Some of it she loved (the dance), some of it was a bit much for her (hours of plays).

We are so ready for winter to leave.  We have pulled out the bikes, I'm anxious to get the kayak out and soccer is around the corner, but in the meantime, there may be one or two snowstorms left to this winter that doesn't know well enough to leave us be!

But I know the snow will leave and the cold will go.  We started some seeds and are looking forward to garden time.  The kids have already started playing on the backyard swing set, playing soccer, getting on the tire swing- which makes me so happy, carrying on it the memories of Abilene and even back to my childhood of a tire on a chain and turning in the sun.

Looking forward to holding my new nephew--- yeah!!!

First bike ride!!

How exciting- we pulled a few bikes out, aired up a tire and got out in the sun for our first ride of the season.  We went to the beach (my secret reason was to see if the water is starting to break up to see if I should try to get my kayak out.  The good news there is that while the lake is still frozen, the river is flowing- so there is a short run a few blocks from our house.

These panoramic pics are not accurate.  It shortens the middle up a lot, but gives you a bit of an idea on how my favorite place in town looks in spring.

Ivan and Emora enjoyed getting out and playing in the snow and trees.  I LOVED watching the geese, hearing their squawking and watching them bathe and take in the sun rays and LOOK a glimpse of the beach beckoning from in between the snow patches.

Guess whose tracks these are and they are not deer!

Aha, the culprits and beautiful singers who added melodic flair to our outing.  The sound of their calls and splashing was refreshing.

However, someone else's squawking was not quite so melodious.  This one had to go pee and the bathroom was not open and she adamantly refused to let me help her go in the trees- she wanted to go home!  So we finally complied-  our sneakered feet were wet and cold too since we had only planned to ride and not tramp through the snow mounds, but once out there could not resist!

I asked the kids what they thought the geese were saying out there.  Ivan interpreted their honking for us "get lost, scram, go away people!!"

I'm thinking he was pretty right on.

Poor geese- we are so happy you are back.  We love your songs and your flights, your gracing the skies over our home and livening up our lakes.  Sorry we can't leave you alone in peace- we are so enamored at your coming back to your summer home!

Highly entertained

Dominique has learned a new trick she is quite proud of!

Ivan and I got to go on a mother/son dinner theater date.  He got special permission to be in a play at his school for grade 6&7s, so we thought we'd better encourage his dramatic bent by letting him see a play by the highschool.

He liked the play, but liked the chocolate malts the best.  The play was set in a dinner, so the foyer was decorate in theme and all the servers and staff on hand dressed up to play the part.  It was pretty spectacular.  After dinner and the play, there was desert and coffee/tea in the library with student art on display and for sale.

I had a fun sub day that week where I got to help paint this on the front doors ;)  Gotta love it when paid a ton of money to have fun painting!

A day after my mother/son date, I got to go on a mom/daughter date to Dominique's first dance competition this year.  She and her modern group, dressed in gold, earned gold for their fabulous performance.  It was also awesome since Victoria and Tyler managed to find me in the dark auditorium and sit with our group and because she had bought Dominique a rose and because the crowd all applauded when Dominique and Natasha were lifted onto the shoulders of a couple of bigger dancers and slowly spun to the music.  That is Dominique's favorite part!  Next weekend we're off for another competition in Moose Jaw and then they will perform in the Fort for the final recital.

Emora has been missing me with all the sub days I've been getting lately, but she's also in the works of her next puppet production.  She and Dominique are painting sets and I dreamed up a puppet stage to replace our beaten up cardboard one.  We got Brian into building more and I of course had to add some creative embellishments.  Emora choose the "rug" pattern for the "stage" and the decor on the front is taken from the design of the doors on Elsa's room from Frozen which Emora is totally enthralled with right now.

Emora was checking out the impromptu puppet performance and giving her approval.

While Emora writes her sweet plays about puppy friends finding each other, Ivan creates his own macabre scenes with lego.  He entitled the top one "awww- poor grandma"  and I'm not sure who one in the next scene, but I bet it wasn't the lego girl.

Ivan and his friend Koh are also writing a series about their karate Sensei and his advice giving which is really fabulous.  We'll see if we can get it together into something they can present to him at the end of the season.

First day of spring???

I saw an add about how Canadians celebrate the first day of spring.  It was hilarious with people getting out to fly kites on frozen lakes or go for a picnic on a beach filled with mounds of snow.  Victoria and Tyler planned a spring celebration for the family.  Tyler got on his snowsuit and grilled burgers outside in minus 25 or so.  The kids jumped on the trampoline.  After a couple of hops, they pulled their liners out of their boots and put them on their feet.  They raced up the hill and back inside as frozen little children.

We warmed up to a crackling fire, some fiddle music and cousin play!

Emora had chosen her wardrobe to flaunt her new hairdo.  It was cute that each of the girls had dressed in dresses/skirts.  It may be a winter-like spring, but fashion prevails!

We celebrated Lily's 1st birthday with our friends at the Outreach center.

I did go check to see if the lake is melting and while there is a lot of ice out there, the river has broken up- so I'm thinking it's kayak time!  We took out our bikes last week for some riding and soccer season is around the corner.  LOVE this season of transitioning to warmer temps. and new beginnings.