according.to.kim

Daily pic: 02 Sep 14

I took front and back pictures, and the girls voted for back. Plus, it's definitely "back to reality!" :) New backpacks this year.

Daily pic: 01 Sep 14

Annual school shoes photo! I've done this for a few years. Sizes 3 (youth, pink), 6, and 9.5 for grades 3, 6, and 8. It was a Nike sweep this year. They usually get different brands.

The girls are excited for school to start (especially the younger ones). They've been busy checking and labeling their school supplies, and deciding on outfits.

Daily pic: 14 Aug 14

The girls and I went shopping three evenings in a row for school supplies, backpacks, and shoes. Glad we finished tonight! Here are a few of S's supplies; some old and some new.

Another big finish today: Submitted my job evaluation questionnaire! #6monthsofhell

Daily pic: 26 Jun 14

Last day of school! I was delighted to see M's excellent math scores (end of 5th grade evaluation). All three had a good year overall, with some subjects shining above others for the older two. Interesting to see!

Daily pic: 21 May 14

This morning, S and her cousin were excited about going to Camp Monahan for 3 days and 2 nights of outdoor education with their classmates (grades 7 & 8). I'm sure they're going to love it! Their teachers are wonderful and the camp is lovely place. Plus, the weather forecast is fantastic: hot and sunny with a chance of thunderstorm tomorrow. Neil is going there tomorrow afternoon to talk about bison and demonstrate stone tool making (flaking flint).

Where did February go?

• 25 ringette games - S/M
• 2 ringette practices - S/M
• 3 ringette tournaments - S/M/all
• 12 Irish dance classes - S/M/G
• 3 music classes - G/K
• 20 piano practices - G/K (up to 10 minutes each)
• 12 work days - K
• 12 school days - S/M/G
• 12 lunch supervision days - N
• 48 lunches packed - N
• 2 after-school improv meets - S
• 21 days of paper delivery - N/K
• 2 appointments - girls/N
• 1 sick day - K
• 4 weeks of almost-daily coursework - K (online nutrition class)
• 28 replies to OhLife emails - K
• 1 digital Project Life layout - K
• plus... LIFE in general!

...which may explain why this is my only blog post in February. (I just couldn't let a whole calendar month pass by without a single post!)

Here's my one layout. More to come, I hope!

Supplies: Project Life Clementine Edition; Pockets No. 3: The Basics by Valorie Wibbens; Pagekraft Papers by One Little Bird

10 random thoughts & updates

Ringette ended on March 25 for both Sophia and Madeline. Both girls enjoyed the season even though their teams were at the bottom of the standings (in both divisions, Petite and Novice). Now they're looking forward to wind-ups with their teams. Madeline's team is going to make bath products at Bath Goddess, while Sophia's team is going to use the rock-climbing wall at the Science Centre. We parents enjoy ringette, too, so we weren't particularily anxious for the season to end, but will appreciate the free time on our calendar!

Sophia started playing badminton this week. Both Neil and I liked badminton very much when we were young.

The girls brought their report cards home on Tuesday. They're all doing very well. (Sophia just needs to put a little more work into long division. I found this game for her to practice, and she likes it: Snork's Long Division.)

I've been doing some scrapbooking. Hooray! This morning, I completed my ninth layout of 2012 (4 digital and 5 paper). Now I need to produce another one by Saturday night to reach my goal of six layouts in March.

I'm planning to file our income taxes tomorrow, start to finish. I hope I can do it in under 5 hours. I know it's taken longer in the past, but I'm counting on TurboTax to have saved a bunch of my data from last year.

I can't believe we have NO snow left at the end of March. At this time last year -- after a winter of unusually high snowfall -- we still had a huge amount of snow (see a photo from March 29, 2011). I like this year much better!

I registered all three girls for the QCM Mini Marathon in September. Madeline and I have already walked the 3 km route, and we're planning to walk it as a family on a weekly basis over the next five months.

I registered all three girls for swimming lessons at the university during the last two weeks of July. They'll be in levels 1, 4, and 6.

My current Irish set-dancing class concludes this Saturday, March 31. I was able to attend seven of the eight classes. I really enjoy it and have decided to participate in the next 8-week session -- Thursday evenings beginning April 12 at the Polish Club, I think. Who would like to join me?! (I have also agreed to do some set-dancing on stage at Mosaic!)

I'm fascinated by these genealogy indexing projects. I had no idea that anyone could help index data from old records. Digital images of the 1940 U.S. Census will be released to the public on April 2, 2012. Cool!

PI 39/52: Leaving textures

For last week's prompt, I'm glad I was able to step out and take some pictures while the sun was shining. It makes all the difference in a picture like this.

No posts for 10 days. Yeesh. It just wasn't possible, though. We've been extra busy and I've been sleeping more thanks to a very nasty cold. Here's a brief recap of the non-ordinary happenings over the past week and a half.

• Georgia went to a friend's birthday party at the Science Centre where they watched Cinderella. She wore Madeline's fancy princess dress from Mexico.
• Sophia went to Laser Quest and Boston Pizza with her ringette team. Neil, Madeline, and I also went to BP to visit with other parents (M sat with the team).
• Sophia scored a hat trick in one of her ringette games. She has a great shot and has scored every time she's played forward this year (all but the first two games).
• Sophia enjoyed going to Robin Hood at The Globe Theatre with her school class.
• Madeline's ringette team earned their first win of the season (their 8th game). They were very excited. Madeline and Georgia's teachers came to this game.
• We all went to the CCA Finals Rodeo. Always fun to watch the girls have a new experience. Barrel racing and dogs herding sheep were the highlights for us.
• I took the van to Toyota to get the back door handle fixed. Rather essential for us. And not cheap. Boo.
• Madeline enjoyed spending an entire school day at Agribition with her school class.
• Neil and I attended parent-teacher meetings with all three teachers. (The girls are doing well.)
• We all went to Sophia's ringette tournament in Brandon. We stayed at the brand new Best Western which was nice. The Ice Angelz won 2 of their 3 games (only defeated by Chaos, our niece's team!). In the second game (vs. Winnipeg), Sophia was voted Player of the Game by the opposing team's coaches. She received a nice medal for her efforts. It was very exciting for her and a proud moment for us parents.

Halloween festivities + Nov 1

October 29: This year's Halloween festivities included a party at Madeline's friend Lauren's farm on Saturday night. (The same farm where the girls and I attended a Halloween party last year.) All three girls were invited, so after a bottle drive for Sophia's ringette team, the home Rider game (Neil attended), Sophia's ringette practice, and Madeline's ringette game (Madeline is playing very well!), we all returned to our house briefly so the girls could put on costumes for the party. (I should mention that Georgia and Dash were in Laurel and Bronwyn's care for the whole afternoon.) Sophia dressed as a fashionable shadow (more on that later), Madeline as a gypsy (a costume from my childhood), and Georgia as a cowgirl (pink hat, plaid shirt, jeans, boots, and a rope). Arriving about 7:30, we had missed most of the party, but we stayed for a couple of hours and had a good time.

October 30: Sunday evening, Neil spent a few hours carving pumpkins with some help from the girls. We were lucky to get three big pumpkins for free this year. They were grown by a family friend at Avonlea. Meanwhile, I washed and cut fruit for Madeline's classroom Halloween party, and Sophia (with a little help from me) made cookies for her class: Monster's Toes. The recipe was on the back of the Maynard's candy box. I don't think they're great tasting cookies, but they did look neat and Sophia enjoyed making them and sharing them with her class.

October 31: The girls' school is one of very few that still allow costumes at school, so they had their annual costume parade at 1:00 pm. I'm glad Neil and Georgia were able to go and take some pictures as I wasn't able to go this year. Madeline dressed as a veterinarian. She wore a very old (and much too large) lab coat, her real stethoscope, and carried some stuffed animals that she had bandaged up.

The girls had a great evening of trick or treating. They were out for about 90 minutes and brought home a ridiculous amount of candy, of course. As usual, Neil stayed home to hand out treats (and try to keep Dash calm), while I went out with the girls. Sophia's friend, Meghan, and Madeline's friend, Mattea, joined us. Mattea's dad also supervised with me. The weather was great -- about 4 or 5 C, and best of all, no snow! For trick or treating, Madeline dressed as a skeleton pirate (a great costume I purchased on discount at The Children's Place several years ago). The girls ran from house to house, with the older two and Georgia in the lead (G had no problem keeping up with Sophia and Meghan, even with cowboy boots on!), and Madeline and Mattea trailing by one or two houses.

Madeline only decided to be a pirate about an hour before trick or treating. Mostly, she had wanted to be a zombie ringette player this year, but we weren't in favour of her wearing her ringette equipment for Halloween (and, besides, she IS a ringette player). Georgia had wanted to be a vampire until Saturday when she came up with the cowgirl idea. Sophia, too, had had some costume plan changes. Originally, she wanted to be a glass of water but we didn't do anything about it soon enough. On Tuesday, I asked her to think of a plan B. After some thought and negotiating, she agreed to be Cleopatra using a costume I made years ago. We bought a black wig for her to wear with it. A couple days later, she came up with the idea of a fashionable shadow which I thought was cute and clever. She wore all black clothes, black wig, black cap, and carried a black cat (Webkinz) in a black purse.

November 1: The kids had no school today, and Neil had another four children in his care (Bronwyn, Ainsley, Henry, and Jimmy). After Jimmy went home mid-afternoon, Neil took the remaining kids to the Science Centre to see the Titanic Exhibit. (He can't transport more than 6.) Our girls had already been there but they wanted to see it again. Our family membership for the Science Centre really helps!

This evening, Neil and Madeline took Georgia to her dance class, while I took Sophia to her ringette game. Sophia scored the first goal and had a nice assist for her team, but they lost 10-5 (vs BP White). She was extra happy tonight because I finally broke down and bought her ringette pants on the weekend. She was the only one left on her team wearing hockey pants and socks (which were full of holes), so I couldn't hold out any longer. Immediately after the game, Neil and all three girls went to the Pats game because they received four free tickets today. And I was able to go home alone, which is what made this blog post possible!

PI 29/52: Where I stand

Where I stand, there's no end to the number of things that need to be done. Sunday afternoon I painted the bathroom wall and a piece of trim (MDF) so we could reinstall the towel bar and hooks. The towel bar and one of two hooks had (in separate incidents) become detached from the wall -- taking a bunch of the wall with them. Lovely. About six coats of compound later, we decided we needed a better way to secure the bar and hooks, so we screwed the board to the wall (to three studs) and then attached the towel bar and hooks to that. They aren't going anywhere now!

It looks and feels (in more ways than one) like Fall has arrived. The weather turned chilly this week. We went from six days of 30C+ weather to 18, and then 12. We had to cover our tomatoes overnight for the first time this year.

Our full calendar is another reminder that Fall is here (essentially). We've been super busy this month, and I can't believe it's the 15th already.

Sophia is running in cross country again this year. She's been to a few practices and two of four multi-school meets. She's doing very well, placing 9th last Thursday and 3rd today. Dozens compete (more than 75, I think), so it's quite an accomplishment to place in the top 10!

Sophia and Madeline have been to ringette conditioning camp nine of 12 times already. It ends next week on the 22nd, and then we'll have a week or two break before evaluations begin. (Yay!) Madeline also participated in the Come Try Ringette event last Saturday. Happily, her name was drawn for a new stick so we don't have to buy one for her. Sophia won a stick at the same event last year.

Irish dance lessons started this week for all three girls. This is Georgia's first year and she's very excited to finally have her turn! She's been waiting her whole life. This is Sophia's 7th year and Madeline's 5th. We'll be heading to the dance studio four times a week this year: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Ack! It's Madeline's first year of hard shoe, and she has separate classes for soft shoe and hard shoe. Sophia's soft shoe and hard shoe lessons are back-to-back.

Sophia is also taking piano lessons which is just once a week, thankfully. It hasn't been easy to get her to practice the past three weeks with the fantastic weather we were having and being so busy with ringette camp. I hope we can get her into an acceptable routine with this. She wanted to continue with piano this year, so she needs to put some effort into it! We've already decided this will be her last year in piano as she can participate in band at school next year.

In summary, Georgia has one activity, Madeline has two, and Sophia has three, plus cross-country in September and track in May. Sophia seems to need more organized activities, so I think this is fine for her, but she also has much more homework than ever before -- which is challenging for all of us! I spent a full hour helping her with homework this evening, and we didn't even finish. She'll have to finish it before her 8:00 am cross-country practice tomorrow.

PI 27/52: In the bag

What a momentous week in our household! I started my new job on Monday (and I happen to have a new backpack to carry my lunch, etc.), Sophia and Madeline started grades 5 and 3 on Monday, and Georgia started kindergarten on Tuesday. The girls' bags were stuffed with school supplies when I took this picture on Monday morning. Also, the older girls started ringette conditioning camp Monday evening and they both have new equipment bags. I had to get a shot of those, too. The timing of this prompt was perfect! :)

I've been at my new job for three and a half days at this point (I'm on my lunch break right now). New location, new people, new job -- it's a major change! So far, there are just three of us in my area at Longman (my manager, her manager, and me). I believe there will be 11 people in total around mid September. We've been setting up shop -- rearranging furniture, cleaning, unpacking, organizing supplies, having new software installed, etc. I'm getting to know my manager much better and we've had several conference calls, but not a whole lot of the real work yet (i.e., the primary work I will be doing). That will happen soon, though, and then I'm going to be VERY busy. I'm looking forward to it!

At the company I work for, I've had five roles in five years (since I came back from my last maternity leave) and none of them felt just right. I kept searching for something better, trying different things by taking temporary assignments. Since January 2007, I have worked as a portfolio writer (my favourite of these jobs, but I was frustrated), dealer rep, project writer, marketing strategy manager (in charge), and customer communications and planning manager (in charge). I learned a great deal about the company in those jobs and I'm glad I had those experiences (I learned a lot about myself, too), but I was never very satisfied or happy.

During a Career Management course in June 2010, I learned my top five work-related values: accuracy, customer service, expertise, fast pace, and help others. That was nice to know, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever get a job in my field with those elements. Well, I think this it! My new role as the knowledge- base editor in Customer Self Serve should encompass all of those things -- plus my favourite types of work, writing and editing! Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day. This was the first time a position came along that I felt would suit me well enough to move from my permanent position in Marketing, and I feel SO lucky to have received this opportunity.

***

The girls have been enjoying their first week of school, too. Sophia (grade 5 in a 4/5 split) has a very experienced teacher who is well-loved by her former students; Madeline (grade 3 in a 2/3 split) has a young teacher who taught in London, England the past couple of years (she's from SK originally); and Georgia (in Kindergarten) has an exchange teacher from Switzerland who is fluent in five languages (French is her first language) and has been teaching for six years. All three girls are in classrooms with some of their closest friends. I think they're going to have a great year!

Please wish me and Neil good luck in looking at all three agendas every night! (Plus the reading log, etc. Eek.)

***

Sophia and Madeline are off to a great start with their ringette conditioning camp as well. It's 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Thankfully, they're both in the same time slot! This morning, Madeline was looking forward to her 3rd session. This camp involves a lot of skating and I was worried that she'd complain of her legs hurting, but she hasn't, and she's excited to practice stopping since she just learned how to stop near the end of the 2nd session. Sophia was already a pretty good skater thanks to being in ringette last season, but this camp will really help both of them be ready for the season which begins in October.

The rest of my staycation

I went back to work on Monday after my glorious week off (10 days in total). I loved my vacation time! The weather was fabulous. I loved being at home and doing whatever I felt like doing most of the time. And, of course, I loved crossing a few things off my to-do list. For me, it was a great balance of productivity and play. Here's a recap of some of the things we did after the girls returned from Camp Monahan (aside from regular housework, BSS work, etc.)

Thursday morning, Sophia and I made Dill Pickle Spears. I think they turned out well, but Sophia doesn't care for the taste of the vinegar. She LOVES garlic dill pickles, but these weren't quite right for her (the white wine vinegar, perhaps?). Maybe we'll add more sugar next time or try another recipe; they were very easy to make.

Later on Thursday, all three girls had an annual check-up with our family doctor. They're all doing fine and growing well. (Georgia also began a 24-hour Holter Monitor today so the pediatric cardiologist will have the results at her heart checkup in January.) That evening, we went to Boston Pizza for supper as Neil had a gift card to use (it was a thank you gift for his lunch supervision at school). The girls were excited to eat out as we hadn't eaten out at all in July (making up for some extra eating-out expenses in June).

On Friday afternoon, we all went shopping for school supplies. It was our first time buying supplies for all three. The girls were full of eager anticipation for this event. Before we went out, we "shopped" our house for supplies that could be reused. Georgia is quite happy to use things we already had (for example, she'll use Madeline's scissors and Sophia's backpack from last school year), while Sophia is quite a bit less willing to reuse (which frustrates me!).

We purchased the majority of school supplies at Walmart, Staples, and Costco this year. There were some great deals such as duotangs for 10 cents (we needed 24) and 200-sheet packs of loose leaf for 25 cents. Shoes were purchased at Winners, the Bay, and Payless. Finally, two new t-shirts for each girl from The Children's Place (less than $7/shirt). They all selected a t-shirt that says "Best Sister Ever" with an arrow to their own head. And all three wore it to their first day of K4J Vacation Bible Camp on Monday. :)

After shopping, we picked up the girls' packed bags and drove them to Corinne. Lou met us there and took the girls to Avonlea to spend two nights with their grandparents. We needed a babysitter on Saturday, so this worked very well for us. As always, the girls had a great time out there. They went for a hike in the hills, swimming at Dunnet, and sewed some potholders with their grandma.

On Saturday, Neil went golfing with friends, which is something he hasn't done for years. They golfed at Flowing Springs and had to take a long break while waiting for a severe thunderstorm to roll through. Meanwhile, I was alone for much of the day. So unusual! I listened to scrapbooking podcasts, and worked on July pictures and a series of scrapbook pages I had started in May 2010. (Photos to follow in a separate post.)

I also registered for The Art of Composition this weekend. Pricey, yes, but I see it as an investment in knowledge I'll use for the rest of my life. (I was glad to get a $20 discount as a member of Picture Inspiration, though.) I'm really looking forward to this workshop!

Saturday evening, Neil and I went to the home of our friends, Derek and Lisa, in Pilot Butte. There were about a dozen people there (and no kids, except the host couple's baby). We had a delicious steak supper, and I really enjoyed visiting with Lisa and Karla, whom I hadn't seen for a very long time.

Sunday was painting day. I painted the front door while Neil created and painted a cruise ship to be used in a skit at the K4J VBS this week (Neil is helping with props and stage set-up all week long). They both turned out well! I used the "Exotic Grass" paint that I used to paint one wall of our dining room in 1997. I had wanted to paint this door green for years! So glad I finally did this. What took me so long?

Also on Sunday, Neil picked up the girls at Corinne, and my mom and Buffy (her dog) came over to visit for a little while. The girls and I needed to go to a few stores on the east side, so Mom came with us. Sophia also had captain's training (she's a K4J captain) and a playdate at Meghan's house, before and after our shopping excursion, respectively.

PI 18/52: Exploration

I was delighted to realize I had captured "exploration" on Sunday without thinking about the prompt at the time. My girls -- especially Sophia (in pink) -- are always exploring like this. I love how curious they are!

Yesterday morning, I was listening to the radio and heard about the Loggerhead Shrike, an endangered bird species, being in southern Saskatchewan right now. Anyone who sees one is asked to report the sighting. I thought this bird (also known as the "Butcher Bird") sounded quite interesting, so I mentioned it to the kids. We spent the next few minutes looking up images on the Internet. Later, at school, Sophia was required to write a short story in English. Based on our conversation and brief research, she wrote about the Loggerhead Shrike. :)

Last week, I scribbled down a few things that the girls are "into" right now:

• finding and keeping caterpillars in containers with hole-punched lids (which are not always secure; I have found two caterpillars roaming free in our house. ick!)
• jumping on the trampoline (as always!)
• checking the growth of seedlings in the garden and pots
• Harry Potter books and movies - Sophia
• Fancy Nancy books, every night - Madeline and Georgia
• making circle "spinning art" -- I love how they've taken an art toy that was meant to be used in one way (with dripping paint that sprays unpredictably) and are using it to make art in another way (with a marker touching the paper as it spins).

A library of colour

I've been wanting to do this, and now seemed like the perfect time! (Neil helped and it only took a few minutes.) Inspired by Meg Duerksen and my rainbow board on Pinterest (@kkbyrns).* It's amazing how much neater this looks than random or other placement. These shelves are in Georgia's room and she's delighted with the new arrangement. She asked excitedly, "Can we keep it this way?!" Why, of course! Although I suspect it won't stay this way for long. Also, we need to go through these books and give some away. There are more books below these shelves, and many more in Sophia and Madeline's room. And we *have* given away quite a few children's books in the past. They seem to multiply at our house!

Georgia attended her very last day of preschool today. Originally, they were going to go to the spray pad, but thanks to today's forecast for rain (which didn't materialize, thank goodness), they went on Wednesday instead. Today, they made dirt cups (chocolate pudding, cookie crumbs, and gummy worms) to celebrate the end of the school year.

After Georgia was home from school, she wanted me to pull her tooth which was quite loose (this is her second; she lost the first one in early December 2010). I think this is the first time I've actually pulled a child's tooth out; they've all come out on their own -- but she insisted I do it. And then it bled quite a bit! Oh well. She's over it and is very excited about the tooth fairy coming tonight (fingers crossed!).

The girls' school was supposed to do their annual Walk Around Wascana today but it didn't happen as planned, either. Madeline's class (and a few others) walked to Wascana Centre yesterday. They played in the park for awhile before walking back, but didn't walk around the lake. Sophia's class (and a couple others, including Bronwyn's) walked to the park and back this morning. They didn't spend any time there and were back by the end of first recess. Normally, they spend the whole day on this activity. It turned out to be a very nice day today, so it's too bad everything didn't go ahead as usual. And now, just three days of school remain for the older girls. This month has flown by! I look forward to updating the calendar less frequently over the next two months. :)

*I miss Pinterest! I haven't been there for weeks. Too busy with Picture Color and blogging this month, but I'll be back.

Nothing but blue skies

I took this picture as soon as I received the prompt this morning as I knew I wouldn't have time to get creative today (the prompt was for any blue, not necessarily the sky) and it looked like clouds were moving in. Sure enough, it was completely overcast by 7:15 am. Of the pictures I took, I selected this one for the transition from white to blue.

I'm so tired right now! I had a very full day at work today and then we attended the year-end carnival at the girls' school. I was the cashier for pizza during the first half of the two-hour event, and then when the carnival was over, Neil was on clean-up duty so we were there for another hour. We might have walked home instead of waiting, but it was raining. Of course. (Madeline went home with L&B for a sleepover as the girls don't have school tomorrow.)

Our basement is already soggy and we're expecting another 2-3 inches of rain this weekend. We've been getting water in the toy/clothing storage room all spring, and it's getting worse with each rain. The carpet is soaked about 8 feet in from the leak, so Neil hauled most of the toys upstairs yesterday (the rest are on metal shelves and all of the clothes are in plastic bins). We're going to have to clear the room completely this weekend and probably remove all of the carpet underlay (which won't be reusable). Ugggh. "Nothing but blue skies" is what we really need right now.

Creating with colour

A child's hands are the perfect instruments of creation! Captured in the moment as I was the parent helper at my daughter's preschool this morning. Last child and my last time to do that...sigh. The years are short, as Gretchen Rubin says.

It was a fun morning. Madame reviewed a bunch of things with the children today. For example, they recited all of the months of the year in order, in French! Very impressive for preschoolers, I think. They worked on patterns, both in sound and sight. They worked on some complicated cutting -- a series of connected circles, like a string of beads. Georgia is a rock star with scissors! Seriously, I was so amazed by her fussy-cutting skills. After all of that and snack time, we took the kids outside to play on the school play structure.

Okay, I'm now compelled to record (or brag about, perhaps) something else that I haven't mentioned before: Georgia can add single-digit numbers in her head, as well as some double and single digits, such as 12+4. Neil and I were so impressed the other day at Boston Pizza when we learned she could do this! She doesn't have them memorized and she doesn't count out loud or use her fingers, but you can see that she's counting the numbers in her head. This kid is SO ready for kindergarten. I think she's going to wow her teacher. :)

White on white

It seems I don't have many white things around here, so I looked to my scrapbooking supplies. This was a tough shot! I found it very difficult to get the exposure right. After taking a bunch of pictures that were much too dark, I was forced to re-learn how to change the exposure bias on my camera. I hadn't done that for a very long time. Now that I remember how to do this, it might come in handy!

I took this morning as a half-day vacation, and it was awesome! I was so tired last night that I didn't get up again after reading a book to Madeline. As a result, I practically sprang out of bed at 5:30 a.m. which maximized my time at home. I was able to check a bunch of things off my to-do list. One of the things I'm very happy to have finished today is planting the garden. I planted a couple perennials and 10 pepper plants morning, Neil and the kids planted seeds in the garden after school, and when I got home from work, I helped Madeline plant her seeds (12 different seeds from a school project) into pots. Just in time for another inch of rain.

Also, Neil took our broken couch and broken blinds to the dump this afternoon. I'm so glad they're outta here! The kids keep asking what they're going to sit on. I honestly don't know. The ultimate furnishing would be something unbreakable, that dog hair can't stick to, that won't stain or soak up spills, and with no crevices where stuff can get trapped. I have no plans to get another sofa anytime soon. (Laurel suggested bean bag chairs, and I like that idea if I can find the right ones.)

This evening, I attended the kindergarten orientation for parents. The numbers are huge this year. With just a few more registrations, they may have to add a fourth kindergarten class. Also, the school principal delivered the entire orientation because none of the kindergarten teachers are here yet (one is coming from Switzerland). After the girls were in bed and Neil finished watching the hockey game, we watched Top Chef Canada. I can't wait to see it each week!

Track, school, and my staycation

Sophia has continued to do well in track, and she loves it! She's participated in three quad meets and one track meet at her school. These photos are from the third quad meet in which Sophia got 1st place in triple jump. After her school meet (where she won five 2nds, one 6th, and one 8th), she received a silver medal for the Midget Girls category. We're not sure yet if she will be going to the city track meet or not.

The kids haven't had very much school lately! For the Victoria Day weekend, they had no school on Friday or Monday. While I worked until noon on Friday, Neil took six kids to the Science Centre: our three girls, our niece, the boy Neil babysits, and Madeline's friend, Lauren, who was here for a sleepover Thursday night. (Sophia also had a friend, Desirae, over for a sleepover on Saturday night.) Having a family membership for the Science Centre is awesome! They allowed all seven to go in under our membership.

The kids were in school yesterday (Tuesday), and now are off for two days due to the teachers' job action. It's not an all-out strike yet, but I hope they come to an agreement very soon! We're wondering if there will even be a city track meet at this point. Also, the school community council had a big spring carnival/fundraiser planned for tomorrow night, and it had to be postponed. I feel bad for those who have put in the hours to plan this event, so I hope it still happens (but NOT next week -- we have Mosaic).

So, the kids are only in school two days this week, and this is my vacation week! Part of me wishes they were in school for all four days as planned (I have tons of housework to do!), but on the other hand, it's nice not doing the morning rush to get them going to school. Plus, if I had been at work, I would have been jealous that my whole family had these free days without me. Georgia still has preschool, though, and right now she's at the Dino Bouncer place on a field trip. On Friday, we'll attend her preschool graduation!

Regarding my week off -- my staycation -- I am LOVING it! This is the first time in over 16 years, other than being ill or on mat leave, that I've had a whole week off and stayed home the whole time. I'm getting so much done! Not quite as much as I had hoped (my plans were too ambitious, perhaps!), but still a ton, and I'm glad. I'm relieved. So much was long overdue.

Also, I'm finally feeling better. That cold I had, that started on Friday the 13th, turned into a sinus infection and I was totally miserable all of last week. If I had not been taking this week off, I would have stayed in bed a couple of days. But I couldn't; there were too many things I had to do before my vacation. (For my sinuses, I used a neti pot a few times. I think it helped a great deal and may have shortened the infection.)

Time to get back to my spring cleaning! This is just about the half-way point of my nine days off and I intend to accomplish a great deal over the next few days. :)

PI 4/52: How things stack up

This week, Tracey encouraged us to actively create our image (rather than wait to discover something stacked). I had just made a scrapbook layout with a bunch of buttons on it, and I remembered a great photo of stacked buttons from one of the previous Picture classes. Plus, I like rainbows!

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Sophia (grade 4) and Madeline (grade 2) received their second report cards yesterday. They are both doing very well in school. Sophia "excels" in physical education, arts education, mathematics, and science (not every single point within these categories, but most of them). Sophia has always been very physical and active, and her artistic abilities amaze me, so it was nice (and not surprising) to see these things reflected on her report card. It's also great to see the math and science items! Madeline "excels" in almost every area except physical education (she's "meeting outcomes" in that area).

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I found this stack as is; I didn't touch a thing. (My dear husband deals with all of the lunch packing and unpacking. Yes, I'm very grateful!) Normally, I would hesitate to take a photo using the flash, but it was already dark and I wanted to capture this slice of our current life, so I took the photo and I'm glad I did. (The little one on top is used for Georgia's preschool snack.)

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Last night, in the middle of the night, Georgia asked me what day spring starts. I said it started a couple days ago, to which she replied, "Okay, then what day is the snow going to be gone?" Other than being awakened at 4:00 a.m., I thought it was funny that she was thinking about this in the middle of the night. (What's not funny is that winter has returned! It's going to be -27 C with the wind chill tonight. Sheesh.)

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When I put a hair net over Sophia's curly dance wig on the weekend, I was surprised and impressed with how the ringlets appeared. Only when I was looking through my photos on the computer did they strike me as looking like stacks of curls.

Jan 13: Controlled chaos

You can't see the chaos inside these buses, but you *know* it's there! I had the rare opportunity to pick up the girls from school today. Neil isn't allowed to drive until tomorrow morning due to the medication from the colonoscopy -- which I'm happy to report was totally clear! They will call him for another one in 5 years.

P.S. Sophia scored her second goal in ringette tonight! She's been playing defence a lot lately, so she doesn't have that many opportunities. With this one, she had the ring and saw that there were not three players from her team on the net side of the ringette line (thin red line between the blue line and the net), so she took it right in and scored. The Sticks of Fury did not win this game, but it was close: 8-7. Win or lose, it's great to see close games!