BOO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The better of two evils!

Brian's recent midlife crisis resulted in the purchase of a 2005 Yamaha Vmax. The boys were stoked! I was choked. I feared for their lives every time he took one of them for a ride. Turns out he was not happy with the bike and so traded it for a Honda CR250R for himself and a Honda CRF70F for Jamie. I always thought that the last thing I wanted to do was go ripping through the woods on a noisy, fossil fuel burning machine, but I have to admit that it is actually a lot of fun. So much so that I now have my very own Honda CFR230F with electric start (sweet!). We are going out again this weekend, so more pictures to follow. Below are some pictures of the first ride and a video of Jamie the very first time he rode his bike. He is really quite a natural, although he has managed to dump it every time he has been out...ouch, the learning process is painful.


Jamie in his street riding gear gettin' dirty!
Yes, we now have a proper dirt bike helmet for Robert. But check out the grin!

Is it PMS, or is it my life?

I thought I would pop in to (finally) change the link for "big and little" blog and caught myself reading the poem I placed at the top of my blog. It suddenly dawned on me that lately I am feeling like I barely have time to breathe, let alone stand and stare! Let's see, I am a mom of two young boys....that alone should be enough. One is home schooled (or is that nagged) while the other mostly gets ignored throughout the day. I am chief cook and cleaner and laundry washer. I have a casual position at the hospital which could be close to part time hours if I didn't refuse as much as I do. Aaand!, I am trying to complete two online courses in preparation for my re certification exam. In between all that I am also trying to maintain somewhat of a social life. Were it not for my weekly tea times and visits with friends, I think I would be a ranting lunatic....or wait, I am!

My babies produced.

O.K. I know it doesn't look like much, but I am incredibly excited. This is my first crop of huckleberries. I can't wait till we have enough for pie!

Cranberry Festival (Sept. 28)

A bright sunny Sunday was spent here. We all got into posing as cranberry farmers.


Jamie got a temporary tatoo of a lizard painted on.
On the farm were some ponds full of frogs. I am sure the boys could have spent the entire morning just trying to catch the frogs. I was a little worried that someone was going to fall in and get soaked, but everyone managed to stay dry.
This picture does not do justice. The view was unbelievable.
We waited in line for 30m for these. There was a lot of pent up energy needing to be released.
I picked up 10lbs of cranberries to try drying again. Last year I had some success. They are not as sweet as the store bought ones, but at least I know what is in them. I worked out a system of lining them up in the groove of the cutting board and slicing a row of them at a time. They need to be sliced because they are so big. Thirty minutes later and this is what I had........
This is 5lbs sliced and ready for syrup. Then they go into the deep freezer for three months (to sweeten up) before they are ready to dry in the dehydrator. Now, what am I going to do with the other 5lbs? Any suggestions?

Return to School.

As mentioned in yesterday's post several people in this house are returning to school. No, Jamie is not attending public school. Not really, although we are switching to a more structured program this year. I am hoping it will take some of the pressure off me, and prevent me from constantly worrying if I am creating an enriching enough environment for him. I will no longer need to feel guilty if I am doing housework rather than read-alouds or field trips. The only thing I am worried about is that it will be too structured and I have nightmares of me hovering over him at the kitchen table while he is in tears and we are surrounded by incomplete workbook exercises. Not good.

I will also be going back to school. I am enrolled in two online courses through BCIT in order to bring me up to speed so I can write a recertification exam for Cardiology Technology in April. I have gotten a casual position at the hospital in the Electrodiagnostics lab doing ECG's and stress tests. Once I get my certification again my pay will increase.

Brian may be going to school in October for a math course which will take him one step closer to getting his second class ticket.

The only one who will not be going to school of any kind yet is Robert. He only just turned 4 the end of April so he still has plenty of time to just be a kid!

So there is the scoop on what is happening here.

Our Summer Vacation

We didn't get off to a good start. We decided on the spur of the moment to try and catch the Friday afternoon ferry off the island....bad idea! Waiting for the next sailing I went to buy something for the boys to drink and a coffee for me. You would think that when I asked the people at Starbuck's what was in a specific drink and told them that Robert is allergic to dairy somebody would clue in and let me know that there was in fact dairy in the beverage, but nooooo. Fifteen minutes later he is in full blown allergic reaction and I have no Benadryl on hand (you would think that I would know better!). Fortunately for us there was an ambulance waiting in line and they were kind enough to check him out and give us some Benadryl. He spent the next 2 hours vomiting and finally fell asleep. We made it as far as Hope that night and slept in a truck stop - not recommended for a good nights sleep. The next day we travelled to Christina Lake and stayed here. One night at Brian's mom and dad's in Trail and then off to Kaslo.

Here is our "Ugly Van". It has worked well for us for the last few years, but I think maybe we need something with a bit more space now that the boys are growing longer.
This was the view from our "Ugly Van".

This is our home for the next three days. You can get one here. Interestingly this was the very same boat I was on with my parents several years ago.

The boys each got plenty of turns being Captain (in the open water of course!).
Can you see the enthusiasm?
Here is some local artwork Robert discovered at Pilot's Cove. We are going to try and make some of our own with rocks we collected from the beach and driftwood and bits from home.
This is Pilot's Cove where we stayed the second night.
After one and a half days using just a small and not very clean looking portapotty on the boat this was sheer luxury.
Robert strikes a pose!
Did some fishing......caught nothing.
Robert did a fine job of swabbing the decks and loved every minute of it. Think I can get him to do the floors at home?
Our last day the sun finally shone and the lake was calm enough for us to make a stop at Ainsworth Hot Springs.
Our last night was at Pebble Beach. This is the most amazing place. The beach is entirely made up of small, round, smooth pebbles. A real pain to walk on with sandals and even worse in bare feet, but soooo beautiful.
Here they are. We collected a whole box and I now have them sitting in a glass bowl on my fireplace ledge.
Next a day at Auntie Wanda's and Uncle Scot's. Hanging around the pool. Brian went out with Scot and won the pot at a poker game, $140 - Whoohoo!
Robert practices his swimming.
The boys had a great time playing with Auntie Wanda's new toy.
Now it's back to work and back to school for more than a few people around here. More on that later.

Happy Canada Day!

We left early this morning for Port Alberni where Jamie was to do his very first performance with the Vesna Ukrainian Dancers. It was a lot of hurry up and wait, then finally their turn. There were a few little kinks and slip ups, but all in all, they did really well and put on a great show. I may be biased, but I think they were one of the most entertaining groups there. You just can't help but start tapping to that music.



Here he is in costume.


the harvest dance. Jamie is the one on the right.



there was a little confusion at the end, but it is so very cute, I couldn't resist. There was one more dance, but he would not let me post it because he got mixed on the timing of the clapping. All in all, I think he did great for only about 6mos of once a week practice.

Something in the works.

I have some exciting news, but I don't want to jinx it so I am waiting till everything is in order before I break the news. If you want a hint, check out "what we are reading right now". When everything is in place I will let you know.

The boys.

On Thursday the boys and I went for lunch to a friend's house. Jamie and M have been buddies since preschool. M and D and their mom and little sister will be travelling to Ecuador for the summer then relocating to another part of the province. We will miss them dearly. Thank-you X and P for everything you have done for us. We wish you all the best and hope that we will be able to visit and receive visits in the future. You are true friends!

What's for supper?

This recipe comes from the summer issue of Country Gardens.

My Mother's Tabbouleh

1c bulghur
6 tomatoes, chopped
1 English cucumber, chopped
1 1/4c chopped fresh parsley
1 1/4 c sliced radishes
3/4c sliced green onions
1 pepper
1/4c chopped fresh mint
1/4c chopped fresh basil
2-3 tsp ground cumin
1/4c oil
salt
fresh lemon juice

The tomatoes I used, again were bland Save-On Food's tomatoes. The parsley was fresh from our square foot garden. The radishes, pepper and fresh basil were from Nanoose Edibles. The mint was actually peppermint from my garden. I broiled chicken breasts (again Save-On, but I am working on this... baby steps) to go along with it. I can't think of how I will use the fresh dill I received from my box, so I decided to dry it along with some of my parsley. Then in the winter I can use it on some potatoes with a little margarine and know that it is organic and local and oh so yummy!

What's in the box?

After months of anticipation, it is finally here. Way back in the dreary, dark days of winter I signed up for a weekly box of produce from Nanoose Edibles. It cost around $400 but the deal is I get a box every week until sometime in October. Here is what was in the box this week.



It is a little hard to see from the picture, but I got spinach, salad greens, basil, garlic scapes, beautiful red leaf lettuce, a yellow pepper, radishes, leeks, snow peas, dill and strawberries. For supper I sliced up some tomatoes (unfortunately they were bland Save-On tomatoes) sprinkled them with salt and pepper and layered them onto some basil leaves and drizzled balsamic vinegar and olive oil on top...yummm! I am not sure the boys truly appreciated this as much as I did as they gave me theirs to eat. The strawberries were out of this world flavorful. They did notice this! Kind of makes me feel vindicated for all those times I denied them strawberries in the grocery store with my mini lecture about how I will NOT buy California strawberries, I will wait till strawberries are available locally, blah, blah, blah.

My Little Yellow Belt

Here he is, striking a karate pose.

Yellow Belt

Last week Jamie graded for his yellow belt in karate. This last Wednesday he received his yellow belt. He is so very proud and excited because now he can start learning to use the weapons. Below are videos of his two sparring matches. Unfortunately it was difficult to get a good view from where I was sitting.

The house of horror!

It all started innocently enough. A few little water marks on the ceiling of the back room. Hmmm, roof must be leaking, must get that fixed. Roofer comes and investigates. He thinks because of the shape of the roof and ceiling there is not enough air circulation and moisture is rising up and creating condensation so the roof must be raised to allow for more air circulation. This means that the window in Robert's room must be moved up to accommodate the higher roof. Well, that's a lot of work, but then I've been wanting to change these nasty aluminum frame windows to vinyl anyway so let's do it. So we go to remove the old window and that is when things got complicated.



That's not good. But it gets worse!





Then today, Brian takes up the roof and things are looking really ugly!



Yep! That white stuff is mold and the plywood under the window is practically disintegrated. Anyone know a really good, honest and cheap contractor?

Date night

It was my turn to plan and organize a night out for just the two of us. No children. This is something I have always wanted to try and finally I got my chance. I arranged a babysitter for after the children were in bed. I told Brian to wear something comfortable. I was keeping it a surprise for him. He is not much into surprises and I think he was a little worried I was going to take him to a yoga class or ballet lessons or something. That was all part of the fun!


I think I did pretty well for never having climbed before. By the end of the hour my forearms were feeling like jello.



The deal was the first person to be unable to reach the top had to buy the other person a drink. I lost, but that's ok I had a blast!

I'm back.

What a beautiful way to spend the morning. We went with some friendson a walk in Buttertubs Marsh.



The boys fed the ducks and watched a vicious duck fight between two momma ducks.


The lookout tower became a fort to be defended against invading enemies (us moms).



Thanks for the chat Krista. The boys had a blast, I got to chat without a lot of interruption and the weather was beautiful. Just as we got home for lunch, the dark clouds gathered and the rain was coming down in buckets. What great timing.

Karate Shiai

On April 5 Jamie participated in his first shiai. It was very exciting. His team won second place. He sparred twice. The first one he won, unfortunately I accidentally erased the video of it. Below is the video of his second match. He did well, but the girl he was competing against was taller and very good so he didn't have much chance. Still, we are very proud of him and most important he is very proud of himself.

Time to take a break

Recent events in my life have left me with little energy for blogging at this time. I am taking a break for now to sort through some issues in my life and to give support to a friend who has suffered a horrible tragedy. To mom, my brother and his wife, thank you for your love and support, and to Jodi for the book and listening.

Steppin' to the right

Got 20m to spare? This was posted on my home school support group's connect list. I love her wrap up. I am going to make the effort to get to know my right brain a little more.

Blubber mittens.

Here is a little experiment we did this morning as part of the eIditarod. This explains why arctic animals have so much blubber. If you want to try this yourself the instructions are here.
It must have been a cold winter this year as I have put on a little blubber myself.

What I am reading

I was in the library picking out books for the boys. I glanced at the front cover of this one and thought that Jamie might like it. He likes Samurais. When I got home I looked at it a little closer and found I couldn't put it down. The stories are great, each one tells a little lesson. It is a very inspirational little book. I might just have to get a copy for myself.

What to do on a rainy day

Does this count as Physics?

Mush!

Our musher, Paul Gebhardt is currently in first place! Check out the standings here and help us cheer him on.

My greatest challenge!

He can be incredibly charming, cuddly and lovable. He has a wonderful sense of humor and loves to make me laugh. He can also be so shy that he doesn't want strangers to even look at him. He can be violent, especially when his older brother won't let up and leave him alone. He can whine and scream and hit and drive me crazy! Jamie was so compliant and easy. I used to think I knew so much. I was such a smug parent. Then along comes Robert and I am not looking so smart anymore. No wonder I have so many grey hairs now!

Farm School

Every other Tuesday, Jamie spends two hours with a wonderful lady and a few other children learning about taking care of the farm animals, cooking, working with wool, candle making and more. There are chickens, geese, rabbits, sheep, a goat, a pony and cows. One of Jamie's favorite jobs is going into the field and cleaning up cow poop! This day I let Jamie take my camera and take pictures. He took some fabulous shots. I would love to post them all, but that would take up a lot of room. Here a just a few.

Young Naturalists at Neck Point

What a beautiful day for a walk by the beach. The children saw two eagles in a tree and lots of tiny crabs under the rocks at the beach. Jamie also collected some quartz from the rocky cliffs. He met up with some friends from community gardens and they were having such a great time he didn't want to leave. What a great afternoon.

Maple Syrup Festival

Here are some pics of the children enjoying the maple toffee and one of them in a trapper's tent set up by the Metis. Jamie particularly enjoyed being shown how to start a fire with flint, a piece of metal and some hemp rope. We stayed for a bit to listen to the music by Coulee, a Metis performance group from Saint-Laurent, Manitoba. I was really hoping to catch this performance, but the children had had enough by then.