So helpful!

Said before getting out of the tub after a bath, "Come on bath water, it's not bathtime anymore. I help you down the drain" (splashes ensue)

Spring has not yet sprung!

New to us this past little while:

- Last month Ali learned about the 5 senses at school and I was fortunate to be the volunteer on the day they did a taste test of bitter (cocoa powder), sweet (brown sugar), sour (lemon juice), salty (table salt) and bland (white flour). The teacher put a little on spoons, it wasn't a full teaspoon but when I saw the kids reactions I thought maybe it may have been a bit more than a taste. The cocoa powder was first and three of them spit it out! I was proud of them all as they barrelled along and continued to try stuff out. Alexiss only liked the brown sugar and surprisingly the bland, I mean really, ick... just flour. blech.

- We started Karate a month ago with Alexiss, she enjoys meeting Daddy in town after work, it helps that we bring timbits to share. The class is called Chops through the All Canadian Karate Union ( http://www.acku.org/ ). It's a short half hour but for trying to focus and have control at the end of a day, it works perfectly.

- This week I enrolled Alexiss back into Gymnastics in Calgary. Within the first 5 minutes I knew I made the right decision and the big smile on Ali's face after was worth it. They are a little more professional and structured than the one she had been going to. The Coach complimented her on her strength and stamina after the class.

-Ali has entered the "why" stage of life. I've entered the "ugh" stage of life. lol, the two go hand in hand.

I have a few pictures to put into a slide show of Alexiss modeling her new springish outfit, but I'll give you a preview.

 

Her mad face

Mark is still working hard on the basement, we've got one room floored and walled. We also got a few second hand bookcases so we could unpack some of our books, they had gone into storage when we changed the front office room into my knitting store. There's been lots of moving and removing stuff, but we can't help but stop and look through some of the special boxes. We came across a picture of Mark when he was young.

It's been a super long winter, we had one super nice week a few weeks back and last week was the return of the snow storms. We even had to go out and get new rubba boots and jacket to match. Needless to say it made it that-much-harder to stay inside after enjoying a nice week of bikes, bubbles and exploring. The forecast looks good for next week, let's hope it sticks.

Yule Blessings, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I have a lot of updating to do, you poor people...waiting to see how our Christmas was and not a written word or picture thrown your way!

This is Alexiss having fun with watching herself run around and waving at the iPad today! Excuse the overuse of lip (or rather face) gloss.

It was what I consider Alexiss's first real Christmas where she could participate and take part in the festivities. Living rural has some advantages, like our Fire Fighters playing along and helping Santa come visit kids on Christmas Eve, complete with the fire truck and flashing lights. What a treat! I think Mark was more excited! We weren't quick enough with the camera to catch her running up and hugging him and the picture we did get captured her "What just happened, now I'm freaked out a little" look.

Lexa was spoiled this year, but it was so much fun. She was already overdone before Christmas morning! Matt, Cindi and Malcolm arrived the afternoon of Christmas Eve and the fun and games started almost immediately! Everyone but Lexa stayed up waaaayyy to late and were waaaaay to loud. This Momma tried to finally head to bed at 4AM, only to amble back out around 4:30 because of the noise. I came back out to a surprise Skype visit from Squeezer! Alexiss finally gave into the noise around 5:30AM, she came out of her room, us adults looked at each other with a "now what" look on our faces. Cindi and Matt slinkered off to bed and left Mark and I to figure out what to do. I said I'd take first turn and was victorious in getting her back to bed after an hour or so.

I saw an idea go around Facebook to write on a paper everytime you have a good memory or something to commemorate for the year, then put it in a jar and open it the next New Years. I may take it a bit further and use index cards to save them year to year. A few good things and maybe frustrating moments too, to look back on in the years to come. A physical mini-blog if you like. :D

Oh! Lexa's passed the safe weight for a car seat and has graduated to a booster!

The phrase of the week: "Which one you like?" She does it so she knows what to share with you, whether it be her stuffed toys, puzzle piece or even her boots!

Quote and Thought

Tonight's quote: "Momma, it's my necklace, it's not a boogie."

Translation: "I stuck a bead from my necklace up my nose Momma. What do I do now?" Thank goodness Mark had the wits to just push on the side of her nose, out it popped.

Thought of the day: A child is a child and no matter how strict or soft you are, the child is still a child. They will still hate bedtime (well, not all of them), they will still pick their nose in public, they will still want candy instead of dinner even if you've said no for what feels like a thousand times or if you don't often say no. A parents style has no bearing on how a child behaves.

Preschool Party!

Today was a Preschool Party and all the parents were invited! Lexa was so excited when Daddy said he'd come! She gave him a big hug and said "THAT'S WONDERFUL"

I realized yesterday we were supposed to bring a treat to share with the class. Lexa's not a huge cookie or cake eater, so lucky for me, we had enough oranges and cheese in the fridge to bring a healthy snack!

Getting ready to go!

Mrs. Wiebe worked hard to help Lexa get on her corsage. Only seconds later she came to me and wanted it off so she could hold it.

Lexa and Momma

Lexa held onto her flower!

Dear Santa 2013 - 3 yrs old

Dear Santa

I would like a pink car. I would like to watch this show. How are you please. Thank you for this. See you soon.

Love Alexiss

I typed exactly how it came out of her mouth. I was trying to coach her a bit, but it didn't help much. I told Dale at the post office to send along a message to Santa to not eat or drink while reading it.

Snow Day!

A storm came through on Tuesday. Mark had made it to work but a few hours later our neighbor barely made it home. All day I watched the drift in the back yard get higher and higher and the tree fade in and out of focus. I sent Mark many pictures, hoping and waiting for it to slow, by the end of his working day I told him to find somewhere in Calgary to bunk out for the night. As night drew near I set my alarm at 2 hour intervals to wake me enough to peek and make sure the pilot light on the gas fireplace wasn't puffed out and the lights were still on. Our outside vent for the fireplace has a habit of collecting, melting and refreezing snow effectively blocking off the vent. Thankfully we never lost power. The wind continued to howl all night.

Up in the morning to check and see how snowed in we are. Front door was a no go, but I peeked over the drift to chuckle with our neighbors and grumble about the work ahead. With Mark in Calgary I knew I'd at least have to dig a pathway, I knew there was no getting out of the neighborhood until help arrived. Sweet neighbors played the "you're a single mom right now" card and snow blowed the driveway. KeeKee was quick to help dig out the front porch, I didn't realize why..until I saw them still shoveling at 4:00 and finally realized KeeKee needed something that had a light at the end of the tunnel. They had no where left to put the snow from their driveway, the snow pile beside their house was already one storey high! Needless to say my snow fort is buried.

First sight of the drifts

Lexa having fun while Momma musters the strength to start shoveling

Front Door?

Marv with the snow blower helping out

Laughing..because what else are you going to do?

KeeKee, myself and Lexa with Ashley, Lauren and their mom Racheal walked out to see how bad the drift across the road was. They climbed to the top (I didn't) and laughed at the two vehicles on the other side. Ours was only one of the 8 foot drifts between us and the main road.

Seriously!?

The road is here somewhere

The drift across the road from the other side

Wheee!

Finally a passage! This is a friend and neighbor driving through the newly plowed drift.

I called Mark at 3:00 to let him know the way was kinda cleared, enough for him to make it home at least! Yay. And Lexa played and played...