according.to.kim

For the Rider fans

And for posterity, 'cause I like to document stuff.

This paper has been on our fridge for months. This weekend we discovered that it's not held by the magnet frame alone; no, the paper is actually GLUED to the fridge! Nice. Artwork courtesy of Sophia. Glue courtesy of Georgia.

Neil just before the Western Final on Sunday.

It wasn't easy to convince the girls to watch a few minutes of the game, but they were genuinely excited that the Riders were winning.

SK beat Calgary 27-17 and they're off to the Grey Cup!

Our AC/DC experience

Neil and I went to the AC/DC concert at Mosaic Stadium on Monday, August 24 and it rocked! This was our experience.

I took the bus home from work on Monday, grabbed a bite to eat and quickly got ready for the concert. The girls had gone to Avonlea to stay overnight with their grandparents (thanks again!). Neil and I went to the Southland Mall to take a free charter bus. The line-up was long but moved pretty quickly. Buses were coming every five minutes rather than 15. Happily, we were on the bus at 6:00 p.m. after waiting just 15 or 20 minutes and we were even lucky enough to have a seat.

The line-up to enter the west side of the stadium was long but quick, too. It seemed like no time at all. While in line, we saw two stupid people who were already falling down drunk; otherwise, everyone was well-behaved and happy to be there.

In the stadium, we got a couple tokens, a drink for each of us, and two bottles of water. This took no longer than 15 minutes. We made our way to our seats in the bleachers on the SW corner of the stadium. We were informed we would not be able to enter the main stands again. I think we sat down about 7:00 p.m. Our tickets said "restricted view", but upon seeing our proximity to the stage and our view, we were very happy. Our seats were great!

Just before the opening band came out at 7:30 p.m., there was a fly-by of three Snowbird jets. On their first pass, they came right over us and I couldn't believe how close they were to us (and to each other, for that matter)! That was really cool. They flew around a couple more times and I got a good picture of them -- but not nearly as close as that first pass.

The sky was absolutely clear and the weather was beautiful for an outdoor concert. I wore jeans and a t-shirt, fleece sweater, and wind-breaker, and was very comfortable the whole time. I didn't notice any wind. Perfect!

The opening band was The Answer from Northern Ireland. I liked them. I like hard rock and blues-y sound and I thought they were good. However, I didn't care for the banter behind me. "When are these guys gonna be done?" "Why do they even have an opening band?" Blah, blah, blah. Also, one of the men behind us started speculating in a worried tone whether or not the bleachers were strong enough to hold all the people, and I was thinking, shut up!!! I did not want to think about that! (Later on, the bleachers were moving a bit when everyone was rocking out to AC/DC and it was a little unsettling.)

I decided a bathroom run during the opening act would be prudent. I went down to the field and was directed all the way down the field and out the end. I made a rough count and I think there were 50 porta-potties out there, and each one had a line up about 5 to 7 people long. It didn't take too long, but this is where I noticed a lot of people smoking cigarettes. I was pleased to see a couple guys working their way through the potties with big bottles of sanitizing spray. On the way back to the bleachers, I had to show my ticket at three or four security check-points (good thing someone mentioned this on the way to our seats the first time). When I returned, Neil took his turn making a trek to the end of the stadium. Neither of us left our seats after that.

I don't know where the next hour went; it didn't seem long at all before it was show time. We stayed in our seats the whole time and just chatted a bit with people we knew who were sitting near us. We saw the band arrive in golf carts and Brian Johnson waved in the direction of the stands. Moments later, the lights went out and the Rock 'n' Roll Train arrived!

The concert was awesome to say the least. AC/DC put on a fantastic show! They played for a full two hours and we were on our feet the entire time. The sound was excellent. We could see everything very well except the inside back of the stage, and I don't think we missed too much there. Some of it ended up on the big screen anyway. I loved how much Brian and Angus moved around the front of the stage and up and down the catwalk. Watching Angus play was really cool. And his facial expressions! Fascinating! (I have never watched videos of AC/DC, so I had no idea.)

I loved when there was a shot on the big screen of a young boy in the audience who was dressed in school-boy uniform and he did a little air guitar for the camera. Quick thinking! The atmosphere through the whole show was dynamite! (hee hee) Everyone was totally into it and thrilled to be there. Seeing the sea of flashing red devil horns in the audience was a fun part of the concert, too.

For part of the encore, AC/DC played For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) during which real cannons were fired numerous times. I don't know what it was like further back in the stadium, but holy crap was it loud where we were sitting! I couldn't believe how many times those cannons went off. I had to cover my ears for the last few; they were hurting my ears. And then, at the end of the concert there were fireworks set off right near the bleachers. Again, LOUD! And it seemed like they were raining down right over us. All-in-all, very cool, but a little too much for my ears.

When it was all over, we made the slow trek to the other end of the stadium and out among throngs of people. We walked east toward Albert Street along 9th Avenue as we planned to take a bus back to Southland Mall and the pick up was at Albert & 9th in front of Humpty's. On the way, we saw a guy doing some AC/DC air guitar on top of some equipment about 8 or 10 feet high. Of course he fell off. Probably hit the tire fender or something on the way down. We went to see if we could help, but there were plenty of other people trying to help him. I didn't see how injured he was, but I had a strong sense of his level of intelligence.

We stood at the corner of Albert & 9th for about 10 minutes before a bus arrived. As soon as it stopped at the light, before pulling over to the bus stop, dozens of people rushed the bus and the driver had no choice but to let them on. We quickly decided that waiting for the bus could be a long and frustrating experience, and it would be quicker to walk home. I knew it would only take about 45 minutes. Fortunately, we were both wearing comfortable shoes -- and it was a beautiful night. So we headed south on Albert St. It was 11:35 p.m.

We stopped at the Mac's on Albert and 13th to use the bathroom and get a snack. This took about 10 minutes as there was a line-up for the bathroom. I hadn't eaten much supper, so we got a bag of Black Pepper & Balsamic Vinegar chips (soooo good!) and headed west on 13th. I thought if we walked my regular bus route, we might get lucky and be able to catch a regular bus to the south end. Well, we walked down 13th, turned south on Elphinstone/Montague and walked almost all the way home before seeing a bus. It wasn't bad, though. It was actually fun to walk together, eating chips and talking about the concert on such a lovely night!

We finally saw the bus a mere two blocks from our house, and we decided to take it rather than get another vehicle from our place and drive to Southland. I was prepared to pay, but the nice driver let us ride for free because we were at the concert. Also, he was heading to the garage, so he dropped us off on Albert St. just south of Gordon Road which is not a bus stop. We got our vehicle and arrived home at 12:45 a.m. In hindsight, we would have been far better off to simply walk to and from the concert from our house. It is probably just a 30-minute walk! Oh well. Next time.

Day 7 - Carolyn & Eric's Wedding

Saturday, August 8, we:

• went to the breakfast room for the complimentary continental breakfast. It was nice that my relatives happened to get there about the same time.
• took the girls swimming right after breakfast, as it was our only opportunity.
• went out to explore Beausejour for a bit (driving). We stopped at Prairie Scrapbooking and all four of us girls enjoyed picking out a couple things to take home. We all picked stickers and rub-ons, except Georgia; she chose an American Crafts mini-album and some metal arrow-shaped photo turns that she calls "keys" (of course she has no idea what they really are). She is so excited about these things, it's pretty funny --and cute!
• looked for lunch and found ourselves in The Copper Pot, which, frankly, did not look great outside or in, but the food was pretty good. I had a bowl of corn and ham chowder that was quite a bit like the corn chowder my mom made when I was growing up.
• rushed back to our hotel and got ready for my cousin's wedding which started at 2:30 p.m.
• attended Carolyn and Eric's wedding ceremony which was held in a small country church at Lydiatt, 1/2 mile from their acreage. We sat upstairs on the balcony so the kids could move around a bit and that worked well. They were able to stand where they had a good view. The ceremony was very nice and I loved seeing and hearing my cousin, Jayne, sing again (she also sang out our wedding 10 years ago!).
• met up with my brother and his family at the Beausejour Dairy Bar; a nice place with a big front veranda and lots of flowers. It was fun to visit with them there as we hadn't seen them for quite awhile.
• attended the cocktail hour and wedding reception in a tent on the bride and groom's acreage. They have a beautiful property and the kids really enjoyed looking around and playing outside for a large part of the evening. There were quite a few children there.
• enjoyed the supper very much which was catered by Smokin Jim's BBQ. So good! And for dessert, there were homemade apple, strawberry, and peach pies made by the groom's mother. I had peach; a favourite of mine! I would have loved to try them all.
• enjoyed the rest of the reception, too. The speakers were entertaining, and there were many wonderful details such as wooden boxes (that held potted flowers on each table) and anise cookies made by the bride's father and mother, respectively. I love that we were able to take one of the boxes home. Lovely wedding! I'm glad we could be there.
• headed back to our hotel in Beausejour about 10:45 p.m. after some dancing and wedding cake (the kids were very eager for the cake to be cut) so we all could get enough sleep before our drive home the next day.

The tent where the wedding reception was held.

Madeline was very interested in the wedding cake!

Happy Easter!

These are the eggs we decorated today using regular egg dye, elastic bands, and a "Spin an Egg" decorating kit (which is similar to a salad spinner) purchased at Walmart.

Close to my heart

In support of my friend, Cheryl, and her two young children...

Come out to a fundraising dinner and silent auction on April 26, 2009 at the Italian Club in Regina. For $25 per person, you'll receive a delicious Italian meal and the opportunity to bid on fantastic items in the silent auction. (I've seen the list; lots of great stuff!) Doors open at 5:00 pm; dinner at 6:00 pm. Let me know if you'd like tickets and I'll arrange it.

If you can't make it to the dinner, please consider making a donation to the trust fund. See Bechard Trust Fund for information on how to donate, including a PayPal option.

Thanks!

Giving myself a break

After the mother-daughter Spark Sleepover this weekend, and Sophia and Madeline dancing at 6:00 p.m. today (both of which are ten times more work for the parents than for the participant/performers!), plus doing housework whenever I had a chance this weekend, I'm far too tired to write up my highlights of the week. Hopefully tomorrow night.

Birthday party photos

I have finally posted photos from the girls' birthday parties!
I posted them on a private website because other people's children are in the photos. If you already have access to the website I use to share photos of my children, then you can go there and click on the Birthday Parties link in the left column. If not, and you would like to see the party photos, please leave me a comment or send me an email. Thanks!

I'm impressed!

On Tuesday, I received a phone call from an international supervisor at Oriental Trading Company. She left me a message apologizing at length for the problem with my order failing and then having to re-order -- and I hadn't even complained about my bad experience yet! It was GREAT to hear from them first.

I finally had a chance to call her back this afternoon. She had given me her direct number. Again, she was extremely apologetic and immediately offered to credit me the entire cost of shipping. I was pleased with that, but then I also mentioned that two of the items had inexplicably dropped off my order. She apologized again and gave me a credit for those items as well even though I hadn't paid for them (which she knew). Over $60 back on my credit card! I'm happy with that.

I will likely order from OTC again; however, I will probably place the order by phone -- apparently, they have some problems with international orders placed through the website. I will order further in advance next time too!

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• music
• good customer service
• my blog/record keeping (I'm in the process of gathering what I wrote about Georgia during her first year of life)

Backwards UNslumber party

Invitations:

• homemade cards in the shape of a bear hugging a pillow (made from this colouring page), printed on golden yellow card stock
• Sophia coloured the pillow red on each one
• we asked Sophia's guests to come dressed in pajamas and bring their favourite teddy bear

Decorations:

• white paper on the table
• a banner made by Sophia that said "S O P H I A"

Arrival, goody bags, and group photo:

• as each guest arrived, Sophia greeted her, "Goodbye. Thanks for coming!" and handed her a goody bag (she really enjoyed this part!) -- because it was a backwards party, of course (backwards idea from the internet)
• the goody bags were translucent bags covered with snowflakes, filled with snowflake notepads, various girl/friend-themed tattoos, some retro candy (wax syrup sticks and gum balls), and a Looney Tunes mini tissue pack. Sophia had stamped white labels with a blue snowflake, printed the girls' names on them, and stapled them to the bags
• the children coloured on the table while they waited for more guests to arrive
• once everyone was here, we assembled the girls for a quick group photo session with their teddy bears
• there were 11 children including ours

Cake:

• we had cake right away...
• the cake was a homemade ice cream cake with chocolate cake on the bottom and vanilla ice cream on top (each layer was the about the same thickness), and the sides were covered in vanilla ice cream as well; topped with red and pink heart-shaped sprinkles, and eight very tall rainbow candles (the cake was messy to assemble, but worth it! I would make it again)
• we all sang Happy Birthday to Sophia before eating
• we served the ice cream cake with homemade chocolate sauce (yum!)
• we served the girls ginger ale in little plastic wine glasses after we finished eating cake (only because we forgot to serve it sooner!)

Gift opening:

• we put the girls' names in a hat and Sophia drew a name to determine which gift to open next
• this worked well and (again) gave me a chance to jot down what came from whom

Crafts and games:

• scarf craft: blue fleece snowflake scarfs (from OTC) were ready made with fringes cut at each end; the girls needed to tie each fringe pair together and then tie ribbons around the knots to embellish the fringe; a generous number of various pre-cut ribbons were supplied. Unfortunately, it was going to take much too long to finish, so we decided the girls should finish their scarf at home. I had a bunch of old gift bags ready for our guests to keep track of/take home their scarf, goody bag, bookmark (see below), and their own teddy bear. This worked well to contain all their things (especially the loose ribbons) and made it easier to get going when it was time to leave. (I finished Georgia's scarf tonight during dance class and it's very cute!)
• sleeping bag game: we had one large sleeping bag in the living room; one child would leave the room while another child got into the sleeping bag so she was completely covered; when we called the one who had left back to the living room, she had to guess or figure out who was in the sleeping bag. I wasn't sure how this would go over, but the girls seemed to like it; they were all very eager to have a chance to be the one guessing or the one in the sleeping bag. For the first few turns, we let Sophia pick who would go and who would hide, and then it came down to who hadn't gone out, etc. (game idea from the internet)
• bubble-wrap freeze dance: we had prepared a bubble wrap dance floor before the party -- we cut a 24"x25' roll of bubble wrap into four 6' lengths, then taped them together with packing tape to form a 6'x8' sheet of bubble wrap; we laid the sheet down on the hardwood floor in the living room so the girls could dance on it. Earlier, Sophia and I selected 10 songs from our two Crazy Frog CDs and made a playlist in iTunes. I played about a minute of each song, and each time I stopped the song, the girls had to freeze; after a few seconds, I would start the next song in the playlist. This activity was a big hit! The sound of the bubble wrap popping along with the dance music was great! And if anyone didn't stop moving when the music stopped, you could still hear bubbles popping. Good fun! (bubble wrap idea from the internet; we added the freeze part)
• penguin bookmark craft: we developed this craft ourselves (based on the items we didn't get from OTC -- penguin thermometers and snowflake bookmarks): before the party, we cut light blue card stock into 2.5"x7" strips and punched a hole at one end; cut black satin cord into 15" lengths (5 yards = 12x15"); and selected letter beads (white with black letters) for each of the girls' first names and put them into little zip-top bags. At the party, the girls decorated their bookmark with penguin stickers and then made a tassel with the cord and beads. They turned out well! One child purposely made her name backwards because it was a backwards party. :) Laurel and I checked all the bookmarks to ensure the knot holding the beads was secure and then put them in their bags.

Free time, food, and home time:

• there was a little time left at the end for the girls to hang out and have a snack
• I forgot to put the food out earlier, so it was late -- just 10 minutes before the end of the party -- but that seemed to work fine anyway. Besides, it was a backwards party so it was appropriate to bring it out at the end, right?! The girls dug in...
• ripple chips
• carrots, cucumber, celery sticks, and dip
• more ginger ale and water
• as each girl was leaving, Sophia said, "Hello!" (carrying the backwards theme right through!)

All in all, it was good. I think all of Sophia's guests enjoyed the party, and Sophia did too, but not all of it. She was having "one of those days" in which she was grumpy from the first minute after getting out of bed, and Madeline did something to upset her in the middle of the party (which may not have been so bad on another day)... Sophia cried... then she made Madeline cry... and then she said one of her classmates was being mean to her (I have no idea what happened; Neil says they don't always get along at school either)... basically, there was some mid-party drama I wish we could have avoided, but what can you do? I hope everyone remembers the fun stuff more than the tears!

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• Cara Cara navel oranges with pink flesh -- my absolute favourite oranges (only available this time of year. get some!)
• ibuprofen (actually, I was most thankful for ibuprofen yesterday after Sophia's birthday party, but when I was writing my list at the end of the day, I was feeling fine and had forgotten all about having a splitting headache earlier in the day!)
• the ritual of chatting with Sophia and Madeline every night before they go to sleep (they always ask me, "what's fun tomorrow?" or "what are we doing tomorrow that's fun?")

Today in a nutshell

1. Housework.
2. Errands, lunch, and shopping.
3. Sophia to a birthday party in White City at 1:30 p.m.
4. Madeline and Georgia to L&B's house.
5. More shopping (mostly to replace the items for Sophia's party that we didn't receive from OTC).
6. Pick up girls.
7. Attend 5 p.m. mass in which Sophia was enrolled in first eucharist (communion) preparation.
8. Bake birthday cake.
9. Supper.
10. Put kids to bed (unfortunately, Sophia wasn't feeling well when she went to bed; hope it's just indigestion.)
<<Write this post.>>
11. More birthday party prep.
12. Go to bed (not too late, I hope).

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• our dishwasher
• our girls' good behaviour in church
• the convenience of cake mixes

Cowgirl birthday party

Invitations:

• homemade pink cards in the shape of cowgirl boots (made from this colouring page)

Decorations:

• brown kraft paper on the table
• sisal rope draped around the room and over the window
• chili pepper lights draped over the window
• Mexican blankets over the couch and chair
• two cowboy hats hanging from the lamp (I tried wearing one and was much too hot, but Neil wore his)
• four plastic barn door panels over the TV and on the wall (from Gale's on Dewdney)
• all the plush horses and dogs from our house placed in clumps around the living room (the girls' idea and actually very cute)

Arrival and group photo:

• as each guest arrived, we gave her a child-sized cowboy hat and tied a pink bandanna around her neck
• once everyone was here and wearing their hat and bandanna, we assembled the girls for a quick group photo session
• there were 11 children including ours

Food:

• we set the food out right away, so the girls could snack on it throughout the party...
• ripple chips
  
• carrots, cucumber, celery sticks, and dip
• Pigs in a Blanket (made with multi-grain crescent dough, cheddar cheese, and mini sausages from Sobey's -- double smoked turkey and bacon & cheese; they turned out great!)

Games:

• the children seemed to enjoy all of the games we planned...
• pin the tail on the donkey (from Bazarre & Novelty)
• find the cowgirl boots (I printed 20 boots (same as invitation) on pink card stock (four to a sheet), cut them out roughly, then hid them all over our main floor using tape to stick them in various places -- not too difficult, but I had to give hints for the last few and we didn't find one... Madeline found it three days later!)
• rodeo roping (idea from Sophia and Madeline; Neil tied a sisal rope lariat and used some wire to reinforce the loop shape; each child sat on Madeline's little horse, Butterscotch, and then tried to toss the loop over Scooby Doo's head (stuffed animal about two feet tall); it wasn't easy, but they liked trying and there were a couple successes!)
• cow, cow, horse (played just like duck, duck, goose)

Gift opening/hot potato:

• we had the girls (still sitting in a circle from the last game) pass the gifts around slowly while The Devil Went Down to Georgia played on the computer, and then Madeline would open whatever gift she was holding when the music stopped (Neil controlled the music)
• this worked pretty well and gave me a chance to jot down what came from whom

Cake and ice cream:

• we had the girls colour on the table (kraft paper) with wax crayons while they waited for their drinks and then cake (it was great having them occupied at this time!)
• beverages were water and caffeine-free root beer served in little plastic wine glasses
• the cake was a rainbow confetti cake baked in a bundt pan, frosted with pink (vanilla) Dream Whip Fluffy Frosting; and topped with six cowgirl candles (two each of white horses, pink cowboy boots, and purple hats)
• we all sang Happy Birthday to Madeline before eating, of course (and the kids coloured on the table again while they waited for their cake and ice cream)

Free time and goody bags:

• the children played for about 20 minutes before parents started arriving
• each guest received a goody bag as they were leaving...
• a plain brown paper lunch bag filled with western-themed notepads, horse stickers, a little plush horse, and a pack of sugar-free Juicy Fruit. The top was folded down and secured with a horse sticker and we used hemp string to attach a white label with the child's name (printed by Madeline)
• everyone got to take their cowboy hat and bandanna home as well

That's it. It was a great party if I may say so myself! I will try to share some pictures soon.

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• laughter
• smoking bans
• extra strength gel eye drops (my eyes are horribly dry right now)

Too exhausted to write...

...highlights of the week, a recap of the birthday party, or a proper tribute to the birthday girl, so I'll write about those things during the upcoming week.

Today was full. We worked hard this morning getting ready for Madeline's party and our efforts paid off. It went very well! I'm pleased. After the party, we cleaned up, helped Madeline get some of her gifts out of their packages, and then went to a potluck supper -- sort of a kick-off of the joint venture between the Irish Club of Regina and Prairie Gael School of Irish Dance to host an Irish pavilion at Mosaic this year. Neil had made a marinated vegetable salad yesterday for the potluck, so it was no effort today. It was nice to have such an easy and delicious supper after a busy day. When we got home (shortly after 7:00 pm), I made cupcakes for Madeline's classroom birthday celebration tomorrow. I will frost them in the morning before work, so I'd better not stay up too late!

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• Madeline (everyday!)
• Laurel (I'm always grateful for my sister-in-law, but her help at the party today was invaluable!)
• great communities

Party prep in full swing

We've been busy getting ready for Madeline's party tomorrow. It seems hosting a theme party at home is quite a bit of work, but it's also a lot of fun. The kids are very excited and I like working on the details. (At the same time, I remember exactly why we elected to have parties elsewhere the past four years!) We have already put up some decorations and I will bake the cake tonight after the girls are in bed. Tomorrow morning will be filled with party prep as well, but I'm confident it will all be worthwhile!

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• help from my family
• enthusiasm
• coffee

Too close for comfort

December 31: I discover OrientalTrading.com. The girls and I enjoy browsing the website and choosing fabulous things (at great prices too) for Sophia and Madeline's birthday parties. We're all very excited about it. I place an order for 12 things -- practically all of the favours for both parties, cool candles for Madeline's cake, and crafts for Sophia's party. I select expedited shipping (and pay extra) to be sure everything will arrive in time for Madeline's party on the 18th. Upon ordering, I receive in the browser an "Order Confirmation" from Canada Post BorderFree with an itemized list of everything I ordered. I save it as a PDF.

January 3: I receive an email from Oriental Trading that says there are still items in my shopping cart. I don't think so. I click the link in the email to see my shopping cart and there's an error message indicating the account doesn't exist. I call Oriental Trading to confirm that my order is being processed. The rep says yes, my order was received and is being processed. (Note: I was unable to provide a customer number for him to look up because I hadn't received one, but he asked for my name and address.)

January 6: I receive an email from Oriental Trading that says there was an error, the website did not process my order, and I will have to place the order again. (Ack!) I call the toll-free number provided to discuss the situation. The rep assures me several times that if I re-order, it will only take four business days to arrive -- yes, to an address in Canada -- even though the website says 6-10 business for the expedited shipping option. She says the website is wrong. I re-order the items over the phone (using the PDF I had saved on Dec 31, thankfully, to recall what I had ordered). Later, I receive an email confirming my OrientalTrading.com order with an itemized list of everything I ordered.

January 9: I have not yet received the email I'm supposed to receive that says my order has been shipped. I call Oriental Trading to question this. The rep says my order was shipped on January 7. She doesn't know why I didn't get an email about it being shipped. I ask why my credit card hasn't been charged yet (I checked online) and she says it won't show up on my card until the package crosses the border.

January 14: I receive a shipping confirmation email from Oriental Trading that includes an itemized list and a Canada Post tracking number. I eagerly check the package's whereabouts online. An order was "electronically submitted" in Mississauga, ON at 12:20 on January 13.

January 15: I check the package tracking several times. It was processed in Mississauga at 19:38 on January 14, but there is no change throughout the 15th. I try to figure out exactly what "Priority Courier" means. I try not to worry too much.

>>January 1-15: Sophia and Madeline ask almost daily why the stuff for their parties isn't here yet. Fun.<<

January 16: I check the package tracking again. It was processed in Regina at 02:20 January 16. Much relief. I check again a little later. It went out for delivery at 09:46. Yay! I call Neil and tell him to stay home as much as possible. The package arrives at 11:15!!! So relieved to have this stuff in time for Madeline's party, despite the fact that it took eight business days, NOT FOUR. I look through the package when I get home from work, and... two items for Sophia's party are missing. OMG. They are not listed on the packing slip/invoice and I wasn't charged for them. I look back at the shipping confirmation email from Jan 14. Sure enough, they're not there either. (I guess I didn't notice because I was so thrilled to have evidence the package was in Canada.) However, they were on the previous itemized list I received! I call Oriental Trading and explain everything. I'm told these items are not being shipped separately, and they weren't out of stock. The rep has no idea how or why a system that generated an email with an itemized list of 12 items would suddenly drop two items for no reason. She has never seen a problem like this before. Would I like to order them now? No, they would not get here in time for Sophia's party on the 25th. I break the news to Sophia that two of her items (one craft for the party and one for the goody bag) did not come and we cannot get them. She cries her eyes out. She had her heart set on the penguin thermometer craft and had told her friends about it. Wonderful.

At this point, I'm just glad we have the stuff for Madeline's party on Sunday. The items were pretty essential to the theme of the party. And the things we received for Sophia's party look good. But holy crap, what a brutal experience. Oriental Trading advertises "100% Satisfaction Guarantee" and I hope they mean it. They will hear from me in writing.

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• my ability to crank out Rice Krispie squares in under 10 minutes (for Hot Lunch Day at school today)
• another afternoon off work
• chocolate

Take a look at this!

Grand Opening of Yellow Grass Community Rink. 1948. University of Saskatchewan Library Special Collections, Poster Collection.

I found this awesome poster thanks to something my friend Kim said on her blog, and I think it's a pretty cool because Yellow Grass is my hometown.

Note the speakers: Hon T. C. Douglas, Premier of Sask., Father Athol Murray of Notre Dame College... Amazing! We don't have grand openings like that anymore. I wonder if my grandparents attended this event. (Note to self: Ask grandmothers if they remember it.)

The web page above appears to stem from the Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists website, but I couldn't find the specific page that links to it. Anyway, this site looks interesting, especially the virtual exhibits page.

(I really wanted to display the poster image here, but questioned the copyright.)

***
Today I'm thankful for:

• clean drinking water
• reliable vehicles
• archivists (and the archives they maintain)

Happy New Year!

Sophia wrote this message for us this morning and I had to snap a picture. Perfect for posting today. I wish you all an excellent and joyful 2009!

***
We took it easy this New Year's Eve and spent the evening at home. The older girls and I worked on plans for their birthday parties, while Neil watched a hockey game on TV and Georgia fell asleep on the couch next to him. I let Sophia and Madeline stay up later than usual; they were having fun playing an art game on the computer. By the time they went to sleep, around 10:30 p.m., I was done for the day too. I decided that getting a good night's sleep would be better than staying up until midnight. It was! I was in bed for over 10 hours. Not a bad way to usher in the new year!

We also had a quiet New Year's Day at home. I was able to catch up on some photo-keeping (and sharing) tasks, and I'm very happy to have that done before January activities are in full swing.

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Today I'm thankful for:

• statutory holidays
• a working furnace (we thought ours was broken this morning but the problem was just a plugged hose, thank goodness!)
• digital photography

Holiday/celebration recap

{I wasn't going to take the time to write this, but then I thought, someday I'm going to want to know what we did for Christmas in 2008 and I will be disappointed in myself if I look here and find nothing. To that end, I have written this lengthy recap for me and my family primarily, but of course you're welcome to read it if you're interested!}

Sunday, December 21: My side of the family (my parents and my brother and his family) came to our house for Christmas dinner. Turkey and all the fixings. (My favourite!) It was great to see everyone. We hadn't been all together since September. The girls were very excited to see their cousins and open a few Christmas gifts early. (I like spreading out the gifts too.)

Monday, December 22: As soon as I got home from work, we went to visit (Neil's) Grandma Louise at her suite in The Bentley. We stayed for two hours. The girls filled up on cookies, candy, and juice. They also enjoyed receiving gifts and playing in the hallway. Neil and I enjoyed some Bailey's and looking at old photographs with Grandma. I was happy to get some pictures of the girls with their Great Grandma.

Tuesday, December 23: Neil brought the girls down to the mall that's attached to my office building. During my lunch break, we showed them the big glamorous Christmas tree in the centre of the mall. They admired the chandelier at the top of the tree and took a quick look at Santa. (So glad they didn't insist on sitting on his knee; no time for that.) We shopped at Claire's for a few minutes as Sophia had some money remaining on the gift card she had received in early November. Their Christmas money from Grandma Louise was burning a hole in their pocket too, so they each bought a Webkinz. After sharing a couple of flat-baked pita pizzas in the food court, I took them all up to my office so they could see where I spend so much time. Sophia was delighted to see the Christmas "JOY" wall hanging she made in grade one hanging in my office.

Wednesday, December 24: We all spent the day at home together. It was nice not to have anything pressing to do, other than ensuring the living room was tidy for Christmas morning. Sophia was especially interested in checking Santa's location throughout the day on the NORAD website. Georgia's nose incident added a little unwanted excitement to our afternoon. Otherwise, the girls were all very excited about Christmas being here soon. After an early supper, we went over to (Neil's) Aunt Glenys's for a Christmas party. They had a beautiful spread of foods to munch on. The girls immediately started playing with another little girl (the only other child there). Unfortunately, I started feeling ill and we had to leave sooner than everyone wanted (but not much earlier than we had planned to leave anyway). We were home at 8:30. I felt too sick to do anything but go to bed, so Neil put all the girls to bed. Fortunately, I was able to get up a few hours later and help Neil do some last minute Christmas stuff. I didn't feel well through the night, but it could have been much worse (my stomach was turning and cramping, but that's all). I'm very thankful it wasn't a bad stomach bug.

Thursday, December 25: Sophia and Madeline went to the bathroom at 5:30 a.m. I called out, "get back to bed!" and, thankfully, they did. They didn't go back to sleep though! At 7:00 a.m. sharp, they ran to the living room. It was great to hear their excitement. Sophia's gift from Santa wasn't wrapped, so she knew what it was right away. He gave her a real electric guitar! Can you believe that?! Madeline was equally delighted with her Chipmunk Webkinz. It was exactly what she wanted. Then Sophia and Madeline ran to get Georgia. Sophia carried her out to the living room. She did not want to be awake yet! She put her forehead on the floor and wrapped her arms around her head while the other two tried to make her open her Santa gift. They started tearing the paper for her and finally Georgia perked up when they announced it was a Dora game.

We all proceeded to open the gifts under our tree. We did open one gift at a time, so we could all watch and see what the others received. The only exceptions were gifts from us to the kids that were identical, so we had them open those at the same time. The stockings were opened last and they revealed many little surprises for the girls. They were all thrilled with their gifts. (I was thrilled with mine too! I received everything I wanted and much more. Highlights included a 50mm camera lens from Neil and girls, a gorgeous ring from Laurel, and a very cute camera strap cover from/made by Shauna.)

I had planned to make this Ham and Egg Brunch recipe the night before, but wasn't able to do that, so Neil made it in the morning after the gifts were opened. It worked out fine. It was baked just in time for Laurel's arrival mid-morning, and was delicious. Everyone in my family loved it (which is pretty rare!). Laurel brought her laptop and set up a video chat with Donna and Lou in Texas. It was nice to see them on Christmas day, and the girls enjoyed showing them some of their gifts.

The middle part of the day was a bit crazy. The girls flitted from one gift to another, spreading the contents of several craft kits and games all over the living and dining room. Much too messy and chaotic for my liking, but what can you do? In hindsight, it would have been nice to scoop up some of those things (before the box was opened) and put them away for another day; however, I doubt that effort would have gone unnoticed (i.e., without a great deal of crying). Anyway, I escaped for an hour and took a much needed nap.

About 4:00 p.m., we went over to Neil's cousin's house for a potluck Christmas dinner. Rhonda, Laurel, G. Louise, and Ali's parents were there too. Dinner (turkey :-)) and dessert were delicious. (I was very happy to be feeling well enough to eat a full meal.) After supper, we had fun playing charades with Sophia's new Kids Charades game. Sophia was pretty good at acting out many things, and it's great that she could read the cards herself; she just needed a little help figuring out what would be effective sometimes. Madeline was so funny; she preferred to act out a whole scenario she had thought of, rather than something from a card. On our way home, we took Grandma Louise back to her place.

Friday, December 26: We stayed home all day, mostly doing things in the kitchen and playing with the girls and their Christmas gifts. I baked a chocolate cake for Neil's birthday, then helped Sophia (in her new chef's jacket) make Blueberry Buckle -- a recipe from the kids recipe box she received from us for Christmas. It was very yummy! (All three girls received a chef's jacket and recipe box from us.) Later Madeline helped me make frosting for the birthday cake. We also played Georgia's Dora ABC game and Sophia's Trouble game with all the girls. I printed and retrieved photos for Madeline to put in her new scrapbook, and worked on a mosaic craft with Sophia. The girls also watched Wall-E and Sleeping Beauty off and on throughout the day.

For his birthday, Neil just wanted to watch the World Junior hockey game at 6:00 p.m., so we ate supper before that -- ribs from Montana's and the rest of the meal (rice and vegetables) from our kitchen. We sang happy birthday, ate cake, and then Neil headed downstairs for the hockey game and we left him alone to enjoy it in peace.

Saturday, December 27: After a lazy morning, we went out to a music store to pick up a strap, case, picks, and tuner for Sophia's guitar, then we headed over to L&B's. Bronwyn had wanted to be present when the girls opened their Christmas gifts from L&B, so today was the day (she returned from Calgary late Friday). The girls were delighted to open more gifts (their sixth batch!) and very excited to play with Bronwyn after not seeing her for a whole week which is a long time in their world! With Bronwyn on drums (from Santa) and Sophia on her new guitar, they finally started the band they'd been planning! And now Madeline is begging for a keyboard! (We went back to the music store later in the afternoon and learned more about keyboards but didn't purchase one yet. We also picked up my Irish dance hard shoes at Ceili Surprise. They had my size in stock -- yay!)

We were scheduled to supervise the heated skating shack at an outdoor rink from 5:30-7:30 p.m. -- as long as the wind chill was not colder than -25C. Well, it was -23 at 5:00 p.m., so we went to fulfill our commitment (part of fund raising for a new play structure at the girls' school). I sure hoped it would be warmer today, but it wasn't unbearably cold and we had fun. We were all dressed appropriately and the shack was plenty warm enough (the only drawback to the shack was it smelled of beer and cigarette smoke -- blech!). Only Georgia's hands got a little too cold, so I let her put her hands inside my coat under my arms and she liked that. We all skated on and off over the two hours, and the girls also enjoyed the nearby slide, swings, and teeter-totter. We took hot chocolate in thermoses and marshmallows which added to the fun. Just a few other skaters used the rink while we were there.

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Well, that was a quite a week. Fun, but awfully busy. I'm very happy that Sunday, December 28 is totally free of scheduled activities; however, I will be taking down the tree and putting away all things to do with Christmas. I'm ready to move on!

Merry Christmas!

Just checking in to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and happy holidays!

***
I'm so glad to be off work today! It has been a nice relaxing day for the most part. The girls have been watching Santa travel the world on the NORAD Tracks Santa website. If you haven't seen this before, check it out! It's a lot of fun. They also loved getting special video messages from Santa today through Santa's Portable North-Pole console. Ahhh, the magic of the internet.

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The girls enjoyed making the foam houses shown in the photo above. I have to share a little story that's slightly related... This afternoon, Georgia let out a scream in the living room and then sneezed several times. That was very strange so I thought I'd better take a look up her nose. Sure enough, there was a piece of white foam stuck up her nose. We tried a few times to get it out with tweezers, but she would not stay still enough even with Neil holding her head. The foam shape was quite far up and I didn't want to make it worse, so we decided she had to go to a clinic. By that time, she was very upset and didn't want to go. As we wrestled her into her coat and boots, she was crying pretty hard. Voila! Her crying helped push the foam shape down a little bit, so I was able to grab it with tweezers and she didn't have to go to the doctor after all! (For inquiring minds, the foam shape was a rectangular box, about 1.5 cm long and 0.5x0.5 cm wide.)

34 days until Christmas

Can you believe it's that close already? The weather wasn't very wintery until yesterday, so it seemed a little further away until now! Good thing we've managed to start a few preparations...

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The girls wrote their wish lists a few days ago (Sophia was the scribe for all three). Here's a glimpse:

Sophia asked me to write my approval on the paper so Santa will know it's okay to give this to her, and I actually did. (Have I lost my mind!?) But I did not agree to "a pet that we can take care of are self" [sic]. (She learned from her cousin that Santa can't give some things without a parent's okay. Good idea, Laurel!)

Last evening, we emailed Santa a letter from each child. I did a bit of research and decided to use this site this year: http://www.emailsanta.com/ (We emailed through the Canada Post website last year.)

I must say, this website was pretty cool and entertaining! The letter form was fun to fill out. When asked how good she has been this year, Sophia selected "my halo has been to the repair shop only a few times", which I thought was admirably honest!

We received a reply to each letter immediately and it was very customized with mention of the items they asked for and any additional comments they included in their letter. For example, Georgia asked for Dora stuff and Santa wrote back, "Did you know that Dora and that silly monkey Boots visited me at the North Pole on one of their adventures?" (Well, of course Georgia knew that! She's Dora's #1 fan.) Santa wrote back to Madeline, "By the way, Rudolph came running when I told him that you mentioned him in your email!"

The girls all loved hearing Santa's reply when I read it to them. The website also makes it easy to print a nice copy of the letter we sent to Santa and his reply.

***

Though I haven't acted on this yet, I have the unusual urge to do some Christmas baking (maybe it's because others keep mentioning it on their blogs!). I say unusual because I don't do Christmas baking and I've never felt like I needed to. It seems like an awful lot of work to me (I prefer to bake simple things like muffins, and I don't even do that very often!), and we always end up consuming plenty of Christmas treats without having a ready supply in our own house! But this year... I think I would like to make shortbread. Specifically, my Grandma's / Mom's recipe. It's my favourite cookie, bar none. I don't need anything else. Maybe someday I'll make some of the other Christmas favourites my Mom made when I was growing up, but I don't think I need to make more than one thing this year. That would be crazy -- for me!

Since I'm a little (or a lot) inexperienced, I should read these Better baking tips for shortbreads and butter cookies. I do have our family recipe, so I just need to find some time. (Alone time preferably... I'm sorry to say I'm not eager to do this with three little helpers. Gosh, I admire people who have the patience to bake with children helping!)

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I always enjoy putting up and decorating the tree -- and I even like having the girls help me with this activity! But I won't do it until December. I think the 6th looks like a good day for it. This year, I'm planning to purge the things we don't use anymore from our two big bins of Christmas decorations. Both are completely full and I hope to pare them down a bit.

I just remembered I have already purchased an ornament for each child (I do this every year; here are photos of all the girls' ornaments so far). This year, I bought handmade ornaments at the Rogers Pass Discovery Centre when we drove through the mountains in the summer. This is great because I often don't get that done until after Christmas.

Neil put up our new lights on the house last week (but we won't turn them on until Dec 1). We traded in our old incandescent lights at Home Depot a few weeks ago and got some great discounts on LED lights. I'm so glad they have "warm white" lights available now.

***

Hmmm, what else? We only have a little bit of Christmas shopping done so far. I think I'm usually a bit more organized about gifts by this date. Time to get crackin'!

We don't have official plans for Christmas celebrations yet, but we will get together with my side of the family (most of Neil's side will be out of province/country at Christmas). Unfortunately, I don't have any vacation days left to use at Christmas this year, but I will have a five day stretch from the 24th to the 28th. Looking forward to that!

Halloween photos

Our jack-o-lantern was designed by Sophia this year. Its lovely cracks are the result of the girls messing around and knocking the carved (but not lit) pumpkin off a table in our living room.