Two-Wheelin'

Would you believe that all three of our kids have learned to ride on 2 wheels in the same month?

It's true.  

Let's recap:  

- Micah finally let us take off his training wheels for good about a month ago.  

- Silas has completely mastered his 2-wheeled Strider bike since his birthday at the end of March.  

And our newest Toewsie on 2 wheels is little Miss Keziah...

Within a few minutes of her training wheels coming off, she was doing this:

And because Silas is just so darn cute on his little Strider...

So, needless to say, biking has become one of our new favourite things around here!

Elmo Cupcakes & A Birthday Bike

I didn't pull out all the stops for Silas' 3rd birthday party. We had a simple little family get-together that had a very loose "Elmo" theme. I looked online for a good Elmo cupcake idea that didn't involve using that nasty red-dyed icing and, in the end, compiled a few different ideas to come up with these.

They were SO simple. I dipped my frozen cupcakes in warmed-up white icing and then straight into a bowl of red sugar-sprinkles.


I put a bit of the icing into a zip-loc bag with a cut-off corner and squeezed out the eyes.


Then it was chocolate chips for the eyeballs and an orange m&m for the nose.


And voila...


Nice to know I didn't put in hours of labour for a treat that was gone in less than a minute.


And what birthday would be complete without a birthday present?

Hmmm, I wonder what it could be...

It's my very own bike!


Here he is, climbing on his Strider bike for the first time. These pedal-less balance bikes have been gaining popularity as an alternative way for kids to learn to ride a bike. After having such a hard time getting Micah to ride without training wheels, we were keen to try a new method. (Speaking of which, Micah finally let us take his training wheels off for good yesterday while Silas was trying out his new bike. Yay!)


Silas asked where the pedals were at first but soon he was happily walking his bike along. The idea is that eventually he'll start pushing off and then resting his feet on the footrests as he gains a bit of speed. Right now he's just in walking mode, but I'm curious how much time it will take before he gets the confidence to pick up his feet a little.

And in case you're looking really closely at that last picture, I realized the moment after I snapped it that Keziah was in tears after wiping out at the end of the street. Training wheels definitely don't always keep you upright! I'm thinking she might benefit from a bit of time on the Strider bike herself...

Camp

We had another first in our family. Last week Micah went to camp for the first time!

Turtle Mountain Bible Camp had a Pee-Wee camp for 2 nights and my 6-year-old nephew Liam was already registered. We talked to Micah about it a few times but he was unsure, and we decided not to push it. Then, when he saw all of his older cousins heading off to camp the week before, he told us that he would like to try to go to camp too.

Since Micah has always been our anxious child, fearful of new and/or unknown situations, I wasn't sure how it would go. I was a little worried when his older cousin came home early from camp the week before due to homesickness. But it didn't seem to deter him. Then, my other concern was that Micah and Liam don't always see eye-to-eye.

But when camp day came, they were best buddies.

Two short nights later, we drove back to pick them up - mildly surprised that we hadn't received any homesick phone calls.

They were still smiling!

Micah told me that he hurt his arm falling off the swing but didn't seem too upset about it. It helped that the camp directors are sort of related to us (their son married Erik's sister) and they made extra-sure that Micah had a great time at camp. He even got a "Get Well" note with an extra treat from the tuck shop :)

Micah also told me that he felt lonely at night and that it was hard to fall asleep, which doesn't surprise me. I think 2 nights was just the right amount of time for him. Any longer and I'm sure his camp experience would've felt too long and lonely.

And I'm glad these two 6-year-olds were able to put their differences aside and enjoy their first time at camp :)

We've Arrived

The three full days of driving are a bit of a blur, but here's what I do remember:

~ Driving through tunnels. These are always a big highlight for the kids and even warrant the pausing of any DVDs that might be playing.

~ Animal sightings. The most exciting was a black bear and her 2 cubs (which makes 3 years in a row of spotting a bear! ... For anyone who cares.)

~ Tallying up the money spent on gas. (I believe the grand total was close to $500... yikes.)

~ Most frequent phrases from the backseat. "I'm hungry" (most commonly heard about 5 minutes after the last snack was eaten). "Make a bottle... Home!" (heard by the young Mr. Siley-Bear who is sorely in need of intervention for his bottle addiction) and "When are we gonna be there?" (Most commonly answered by "In a little while!!")

But all in all, I can't really complain about the drive. In fact, I read an entire novel on the trip - which seems to indicate that I wasn't doling out snacks, switching DVDs and pacifying Silas the entire time.

We made our customary stop in Revelstoke where we feasted on McDonald's and released some pent-up energy at the park.

It was also the scene of our very first injury. Nothing a band-aid wouldn't fix though.

(I'm really praying that we don't come home with any broken bones or head lacerations this year.)

After a stop in Alberta with some old friends and a stop in Saskatchewan to see Erik's grandparents, we arrived at the farm, ready to settle in for another Manitoba summer.

Sunday morning pancakes - in lieu of Saturday morning pancakes.

(This classic Corelle pattern totally brings me back to my childhood... Anyone else??)

Erik is slightly concerned about Silas' shoe and purse fetish.

I happen to think it's pretty cute.

For now.

Yesterday (Sunday), Erik figured it was as good a time as any to finally take Micah's training wheels off.

Micah caught on quite quickly, There were a few scrapes and a few tears but we're trying to keep him positive and excited about this new-found skill.

First Day of School

Yes, it's pretty unusual to talk about the first day of school in February. But, that's exactly what it was... Keziah started preschool today!

Last week - and kind of on a whim - I inquired about a preschool spot for Keziah for this "semester" at Central Heights. To my surprise, they not only had a spot available, but it was for the Mon/Wed/Fri morning class! (*grin*) I'm feeling thankful for the unexpected.

Just as a bit of explanation (for anyone who cares) - Erik and I have had a hard time deciding what to do with Keziah about school. She's old enough to start Kindergarten in the fall, but we were actually planning to hold her back (like we did with Micah) for several reasons, including her late birthday. So, when preschool registration came around this time last year I didn't register her for the 2010-11 year. But now, halfway through this year, I found myself wishing that we had registered her, even if it meant her taking 2 years of preschool instead of 1.

So, when they told me there might be an opening last week, it seemed like it would be the perfect solution. Not only is Keziah ready for something like this, it will also be extremely helpful in either preparing her for Kindergarten or indicating that she's not ready. When I got the phone call that she could have the spot, it was an answer to prayer.

I could tell that emotions were running a bit high this morning as things were making Keziah cry much more than normal. I gave her lots of extra hugs but tried to focus on how exciting and great this day was going to be! I went in with her for a few minutes while she got settled with the other kids during circle time. When I came back later to pick her up, they said she did great!

This feels like a really big change to our regular routine. Imagine how weird it was for me to drop TWO kids off at school and head to Superstore with just Silas in tow??

Piece of cake, folks. Piece of cake ;)

And the aftermath of a first day of school?

Another Milestone

It was August, at my parents' farm, when Micah suddenly freaked out while chewing his pancakes one morning. After some questioning, we figured out that he had his first loose tooth!

I don't remember my teeth taking this long to fall out, but Micah had that loose tooth in his mouth for over 4 months. Erik finally convinced him to let him pull the thing out last night. And it pretty much fell out into his hands.

There are at least 3 more teeth in his mouth that are loose, and I'm thinking -- after his first visit from the tooth fairy -- they might not be too far behind :)

Next comes the awkward stage. Adult teeth coming in to a mouth that is a little too small for them. I feel sorry for any of my children who inherit the buck teeth I had as a child...

(kinda wishing I had a picture handy right now to prove it :)

An Unexpected Gift

Amazing how BIG the small things can be. During a week filled with worry and discouragement and unknowns, we had an unexpected blessing in our house today. It started this afternoon when I glanced out the window and was surprised to see snow falling. I called the kids quickly because I knew this would be a huge deal for them - the poor souls who, last year, went through an entire winter without snow (other than one brief morning, I think).

As they stared at the big flakes with wide eyes, Micah exclaimed to me that he had been praying for snow. In fact, he said, he had prayed just this morning that it would snow. I told him how much God loved him to give him such a special gift today. I felt a bit choked up at the thought of God loving my little boy so much to answer this prayer.

We immediately headed outside to enjoy the brief snowfall:

After I took this video, Erik was outside with Micah and they were talking more about God's answered prayer. Erik asked Micah if he believed that God loved him and whether he would like Jesus to live in his heart. We've asked Micah about this before (never wanting to co-erce him into the decision) and he never wanted to do it before. This was the first time that he eagerly agreed. He ran in the house and told me that this was what he was going to do! So, we all prayed together right then and there. And then we had hot chocolate -- very important!

I think one of my favourite parts was when he left an unscripted message on Grandma's voice mail this afternoon exclaiming that he had asked Jesus into his heart because God had given him a "wonderful gift"! My prayer is that he will grow to fully understand the even greater gift that God has given him in the life of Jesus.

Thank you God for the unexpected.

Kindergarten

After a short parents meeting and a teacher-child interview this week, Micah started his first "official" day at Kindergarten yesterday (Friday), even though it was only a 1/2 morning.

Having the brief glimpses of his classroom earlier in the week was perfect - he was excited to go back, meet his teacher again and sit in his special seat with his name on it. However, I could sense his nerves as we waited on the playground the first morning for school to start - even though he wouldn't admit to it :) I watched his intensity as the buzzer went off and he made a bee-line for the place where he had been instructed to line up, a serious, focused look on his 5-year-old face.

(After I reminded him to smile)

I feel totally fine with this new season of Micah going off to school. Maybe the fact that he could've been in Kindergarten last year makes it seem like it's "time"! He's totally ready for this. And I'm glad we waited, because I don't think an every-day Kindergarten entry last year would've been this easy for either of us.

The adjustment for me is going to be the drive. We chose a school that is on the opposite end of the city and I knew that there would be a commute for as long as we remained in our current house, but I also knew I could take the freeway and get there in 15 minutes. Now the freeway is under major construction and is like a parking lot most mornings. I don't plan to risk taking it anytime soon. So, it means driving through the city - trying out different routes to find the best one. It just feels like a LONG drive. My thought yesterday morning as I drove was, "why am I doing this??" But I really do love the school and the teacher and I've already had such a good impression of it in a short time. There are just other factors that have made me wish we would've done things differently this year (factors that I will blog about another day...)

In the meantime, we will embrace this new season with all of its busy-ness, knowing that it won't be like this forever :)

First Haircut

It's haircut day!


Bye-bye baby hair...


Time to don the superman cape and spike up those long locks one last time!


The event was not without some tears (I guess the snipping around his head was a little disconcerting) but here is the new and improved, big-boy-looking Silas acting extra cute for the camera...

Reflections on Thirty

30 years! That's how long I've been on the planet!

I know a lot of my friends are 30 already, but it still feels pretty huge for me. I can still remember turning 20 and thinking - wow, in 10 years I'll be 30! That wasn't that long ago :)


My birthday was wonderful. Erik solicited some help the night before from Kristi & Keith so he could prep a waffle breakfast for my birthday morning (while I was out). Before I came downstairs the next morning Micah whispered to me, "we're having a special breakfast, but it's a surprise!" After lunch, Rosanna came and watched the kids while Erik dropped me off at the Wild Orange Spa for a 45-minute relaxation massage. Aaaahhh. I could've fallen asleep on the table but didn't want to miss a second of it!

That evening Erik and I left the kids in care of Grandpa & Grandma while we went to The Olive Garden - yum! My only disappointment of the day was the fact that my favourite meal (portabello ravioli) wasn't available... but otherwise it was perfect. Erik gave me a bit of shopping money to spend at Old Navy afterwards. I haven't bought anything for myself in AGES. So that was pretty fun for me :) I had to force myself not to spend too much time looking in the kids section but I did come away with a pair of jeans for Micah (and only because he really needed them).

At dinner Erik asked me if I felt like the day had lived up to my expectations. I said that it definitely did. Neither Erik or I are really big "party" people so I was happy to celebrate in this way. I told him that even though we had originally talked about going away for a weekend for my 30th, I understood that finances and logistics (i.e. three kids to find care for - one of which is a nursing baby) made for bad timing at the moment. Then he asked me if I'd like to spend a night at Whistler at the end of the month. Erik always jokes about stuff like this. He might as well have said we were getting on a plane to Maui the next day because I totally didn't believe him. Anyway, it turned out NOT to be a joke. So, more birthday celebrating will come in a couple weeks when we go to the Fairmont Hotel in Whistler. We'll have to see how Silas will be without breastfeeding for those couple of days. He's definitely fine with taking a bottle but I'm hoping we can resume nursing without any problems.

During our dinner together Erik and I talked a lot about the milestone of being 30 (Erik is still in his 20's so I'm the veteran to this new decade - haha!) My current season of life doesn't allow me to spend a lot of time reflecting but turning 30 definitely has made me stop and think. My days are BUSY and I don't really feel like they're my "own". Sometimes I feel a little cut-off from the rest of the world. And yet I feel incredibly blessed to be fulfilling the role that I've always wanted - wife and mother. 10 years ago I would've been so excited to think that I would have a wonderful husband and 3 beautiful kids by the time I was 30. So I don't want to take any of it for granted.


At the same time I think longingly of the days when I had more time for me. I thought back to my time at Bible School, summer camp, missions - it was all so rich and full of learning, maturing and growing in my faith and relationships. Now those areas of my life feel like they're at a bit of a standstill. Last week I started to worry that maybe I'm at the age where I am already "set in my ways"! It sounds funny, I know, but I honestly worry that I'll get stuck in my rut and stop trying to go deeper and be still willing to change and grow. So, that has been my prayer this week.


This stage of life is filled with diapers and baby food, laundry and dishes, potty training and bedtime routines, preschool friends and time-outs, worry and guilt. My thoughts revolve around these things! And yet this life I am living is so rich and I wouldn't trade it for anything else.

So, in the end I write all that to say... Yay for being 30 :)