A few snippets of Alexiss

Alexiss is so dynamic that, while pictures show her adorable smile, they don't show just how much energy she's got or her sense of humor.

Alexiss was pulling her longer hair and putting it in her mouth. As a reprimand I tried to reason that it wasn't healthy to put hair in her mouth and said if she continued, I would bring her for a hair cut. The next day she decided she wanted a hair cut! There goes my idea of discipline. lol.

This month Ali also had her first dentist appointment. All went well and she was a total natural. Thanks to Gramma for the Dora book with Dora's appointment. Ali knew what to expect right from the toys in the waiting room to the bright light and opening her mouth. They were surprised that she hadn't been before. Alexiss does have two cavities requiring a little more attention at the end of the month.

I love how Alexiss runs! I video taped her running with Dad while playing golf.

Canada Day

Little Alexiss isn't so little anymore, in one month she grew approximately a half inch, it was a tough few weeks, bad sleeping, lots of eating and lots of attitude.

I hope we're at the end of that spurt for now, mix the hot weather with that and the Ryderson house became a little cranky and impatient. The last two nights have been bliss as we all try to catch up. Mark is home this week from work and I've managed to have a nap every day.

We had fun on Canada in Strathmore's Kinsmen Park. Daddy was a trooper and waited in the face painting line for just under two hours! Yep, it was a long line, but our little girl just wanted to be a pink kitty!

Patiently waiting....

Finally our turn!

Our little pink kitty!

Trying out drumming! 

We stumbled past a drumming circle and Ali was curious, we all wandered over to drum in time with "I like ap-ple pie" and "and van-il-la ice-cream"

Bribed away from the fun with an ice cream.

I didn't have the heart or the fight to try to get Ali to wash off the makeup before bed

It came off the next day at the splash park

Happy 95th Nana!

In May, Alexiss and I (with the help of Aunt Patricia and Uncle Gerry) made our way for a week long trip to Vancouver to surprise Nana for her 95th birthday!

It was a whirlwind and coming from our quiet life, it was a bit overwhelming for Alexiss. We compensated by lots of playground and down time. Auntie Jacqueline joined us at the aquarium, I thought it was going to sooth and calm Alexiss but she was running from tank to tank wanting to see it all! We had fun, Vancouver is gorgeous as always and we made some special memories.

The first Ryderson veggie garden

It was a long winter, but I think I can safely say we're into spring and summer. With summer comes some super cute new dresses for Alexiss and our very first veggie garden to get those dresses nice and dirty.

The internet is truly an amazing resource. Although I'm in inexperienced gardener, it made me feel like a pro and able to gain years of knowledge that would've taken many conversations and research otherwise. Not only did I plant some vegetables, but I did companion planting! Lettuce loves and is helped by just about everything, but my radishes love their cucumber buddies. Cucumbers also like sunflowers, and you know what? So does corn! Oh, what a little society they make on their own, mingling and hanging out with friends makes them better and keeps the pests away. Not so different from us, I think.

Mark had dug and built the edge in the fall, but decided it needed a little reinforcement before the soil went it. Alexiss was happy to help.

One big yellow bag of soil was gone quick, Mark and Alexiss made short work of it, they were so excited that I could not get them to come in for dinner! As soon as Daddy was home from work, they had shovels in hand before he even stepped out of the car.

Dirty work makes for dirty happy feet!

Finally, with some arguing we got the seedlings and seeds in where Momma wanted them, not where Ali wanted to plunk them in. It was a bit of team work but we managed with only one broken sunflower seedling to show for it.

A week later and the radishes are starting to sprout up through the soil. I anxiously await....

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!