Kindergarten Drama

It took me a long time to decide which school I wanted to send Micah to for Kindergarten next year. Unlike some other cities/towns, we can choose any school - which, in some ways, is nice but in other ways, is not. It makes for a very difficult decision.

I knew we couldn't base our decision on the area we're living in because the chances are very slim of us staying in one place for too long. So, I had to base my decision on which school I could stick with for the long haul, and which school I would be willing to drive to even if we were living on the opposite end of town. So, in the end we chose a school where more and more of our friends are taking their kids. We've heard nothing but good things about it and I felt confident in our choice. It's a smaller, tight-knit "country-type" school that felt different from a lot of the other city schools and more like the school where I grew up. The principle is from our church as are many of the students. And once we decided that this was the place to send Micah (and the rest of our kids eventually) I became more and more excited.

I registered Micah on Monday, running around town to make sure I got all of his paperwork in so that he would be sure to get a spot. Then 2 days AFTER Kindergarten registration they decided to drop the bomb that the school might be closing! So, now we wait until the end of March to see if the school (Dunach Elementary) can have a strong enough rebuttal to keep itself open.

In the meantime I was able to register at our catchment school (Mountain Elementary) which is a great second option. The only problem is that it's not in a location that I'm willing to drive to if we suddenly end up living on the other side of town. But I'm glad we have a back-up plan at least.

For now I'm praying and holding out hope that Dunach can stay open!

Thankful

On Tuesday we got one of those scary phone calls that everyone dreads. My mom and sister-in-law Laura were in a car accident that morning on their way into Brandon. I was relieved to hear that they were going to be OK, but my mom needed about 20 stitches on her forehead and Laura had possible kidney damage and a fracture in her back. She is still in the hospital but is hoping to go home this week.

My mom was driving and hit some ice which caused their truck to spin into oncoming traffic where they were hit by another car. Both vehicles were totalled and when the first RCMP officer came onto the scene and saw the damage, he expected to be reporting 3 fatalities.

We know, of course, what that worst case scenario feels like and so we are so thankful to see these smiling faces...

December in a Nutshell

Wow. So many pictures from December to post. Here are some highlights of the end of 2009 in no particular order...

I find it funny that my youngest was the easiest to photograph in these shots while the older 2 had trouble obeying the instructions.


We have a new carpet that we have been thoroughly enjoying. Silas finally honed his sitting skills in December and our new carpet created a soft safe place for him to spend his time. He really enjoyed his newfound point of view!


Having a carpet gives our house a much more cozy feel. I love this picture of my boys (Erik is getting a little bit shaggy in the face here!):


But I think Keziah loves the carpet most of all:


10 points if you can guess what's happening in this picture:



Now for a wider shot...


Erik and I left Silas in his exersaucer while we were getting ready for Micah's birthday party. We've discovered that he can move slowly around the room if he jumps long and hard enough in this thing. There have been days when he is suddenly at the Christmas tree pulling down all sorts of ornaments. On this particular day he had discovered the curtains. Thankfully they are quite sheer (and not suffocating)... And of course I had to run and get the camera before I could rescue him :)

We went to Vancouver Island and stayed in the Hamm's new house which is right on the ocean. Here are a few pictures from that weekend:




Micah & Rosanna celebrated their birthdays while we were there:


We took a few family photos:






Keziah's usually pretty willing to pose for the camera:




One part of my December that was stressful was Silas' milk drinking. At the end of November we were having some nursing issues. Silas was becoming disinterested in drinking as he was eating more and more solids. And let's just say his teeth are... um... sharp. At feedings he would alternate between drinking and teething... ouch. I managed to hang onto the late night feedings for a few extra nights as he was sleepy and didn't seem to bite, but after he bit me 2 nights in a row I decided we'd had enough. I was a little disappointed as I had hoped to nurse at least part-time until he was a year. And it made me a little sad when I thought that this could be my last baby, but at the same time I felt thankful that we had made it to 8 months.

But after I weaned him, it was a struggle to get him to drink anything. He's always been fine with the bottle, but there were some days when he wouldn't drink more than 4-6 oz all day. The boy would just way rather EAT! A lot! I tried to limit his solids so that we didn't lose out on the milk intake, but it's a tricky balance. I also didn't want to cram a bottle into his mouth every hour because I know that wouldn't help either. So, I just chose to make it a non-issue and now we are on a good routine of 3 bottles a day and he's drinking about 10-12 oz total. The kid is definitely not a lightweight so I think we're doing just fine :)


December held other things like gingerbread-house-making with Granny:


A preschool Christmas concert:


Lots of fun new toys:


Some new craft supplies:


And even a little bit of snow!
(Though Micah wishes for more and keeps asking me when it will snow again...)


One afternoon we told the kids that they were going to have a half-hour of roomtime. We used to do this quite regularly but then got out of the habit. So, here was the reaction when we put them in their room: (make sure to turn your speakers extra loud for this one!!!)




And about 15 minutes later...


:)

PJ Poses

Micah @ 8 months:



Keziah @ 14 months:



Silas @ 9 months:

Birthday Boy

We celebrated another birthday at our house this month. Micah turned 5 this year!! His actual birthday (the 13th) was celebrated on Vancouver Island where we were staying with the Toews family for a Christmas weekend together. Then we had his (first-ever) friends birthday party about a week later.

Micah originally wanted a Wall-E party, but I could hardly find any Wall-E birthday stuff. I convinced him to switch it to a Ratatouille (rat-a-too-ee) party after I found a bunch of cute Ratatouille stuff at the dollar store. It didn't take too much arm-twisting since he loves that movie (even though it's not one of my faves). If you haven't seen it, it's about a rat who loves to cook - so we went with the cooking theme.


Everything ready - just waiting for the guests to arrive!


First the kids decorated little take-out boxes that I found at Michael's. They would later hold extra cupcakes that they could take home after the party:


Cupcake decorating was next on the agenda. Keziah was waiting ever-so-patiently for that segment of the party to begin...


Let the decorating begin! A few of the moms stayed to help with the party which was necessary with all those messy little cupcake hands...


Partway through, Micah reminded me that we needed our chef's hats. I almost forgot!




Can we eat these now???


Max inspecting his masterpiece.


Time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out FIVE candles!


Micah experiences a moment of pure pleasure as chocolate, icing and m&m's hit his taste buds!


Chef Caleb looking very cute!


Dee-licious!


I was pleased with my idea for party favours. I found stuffed rats and kitchen utensils in the toy section of IKEA, so I combined them to create little "Ratatouilles" :)


All our chefs (minus one who is apparently anti-photography these days!)

From Our House to Yours

Loft Beds for Christmas

Erik's been wanting to build bunk beds for the kids for a LONG time. It really came down to finding the time for him to do it. He ended up having some days at home last week and he got right down to business. We changed our original plan of bunk beds and decided to make Micah and Keziah each a loft bed instead so that we could have the full floor space available for toys. I feel so blessed to be married to such a talented and handy husband :)

Micah sporting his new tool belt - ready to help with the construction:


Yay for new beds!


The end product:


We would still like to paint them eventually, but for now I think they look pretty good in their "rough" form. The wood smells so amazing too - it's like a Christmas tree in their room :)

I wasn't sure how Keziah would do with the climbing up and down, but she's already a pro at it. And I love how much space they have to play in their room now!!


Stay tuned for pictures of Micah's Ratatouille birthday party...

I know, I know.

A new post is long overdue!

We have been busy entertaining my parents, celebrating birthdays and early family Christmases and traveling to Vancouver Island... WAY too many pictures to post here! So, I'm going to cheat and direct you all to my facebook page HERE to view my December pictures.

And, I won't make any promises, but I hope to have a new real post here in the near future...