Almost there!!!

Yesterday I got the last coat of paint on the last couple of wall and we scraped all the drywall mud off the floor, sanded the trim in the stairwell and gave the stairwell trim the first coat at around 11pm and then I gave it another coat when my alarm clock woke me up at 2:30. (YUCK!)

(first thing the kids did when the carpet guy left was fall all over the floor - it was really cute!)

This morning the carpet guys came and "ta-da" the carpet is installed and we're at the finish line!!! YAY!!! Tonight we will paint the trim and this wknd Braden will trim up the 4 doors and do the baseboards (inbetween a BBQ and a photo shoot that Kaleb and Navia have for the Children's Wish Foundation - yep, we make our kids work for their school clothes - hehehe!) So it's almost over - which is a good thing because my first class is on Tuesday @ 4:15pm and I've been so busy doing the basement with Braden (okay, so painting - B's been doing everything else) that I haven't gotten to any lesson plans yet - oops!

First Day of School for Kaleb

Well - today was the day that Kaleb has been counting down . . . his first day of Senior Kindergarten! We went yesterday to meet his teacher and see his new class - Room 124 with Mrs. Leguard. Because it was just a staggered entry today (only half the class comes so that they can get familiar with the new surroundings before all 20 of the kids are there) he won't go tomorrow, but come Monday morning he'll be going full-time again - or at least full-time mornings!

Out of the 10 kids in his new class, only 1 was from his old Junior Kindergarten class, but the girl from 2 doors down is in his class, which is kinda cool. We're hoping that on Monday we'll find out that a few more kids from his old class are in his new one, but we're not holding our breath. We've registered Kaleb for English SK and it looks like most parents have their kids in the French SK. Oh well - it means that he'll meet even more kids and make even more friends!

So, now it's just going to be Navia and I in the mornings, at least until she starts playschool on Monday mornings (then I'll be all alone!!! YAY!!!)

First Day of School for Emma

Emma woke up early this morning - excited for her first day of school! She still didn't know who her teacher was or even if she was going to be in the same class as Victoria (her friend from church and was in her class last year), but that didn't change her excitement.

She's not on the bus right now - I need to apply on October 1 for her to ride it with Kaleb, so we thought that we'd have enough time just to walk to school this morning. Well - the thought was nice but the reality was that after I had to take the "annual first day of school" pictures, found her runners for school, etc we needed to drive. It was a good thing that I had the van today.

With her new haircut she's a very happy girl doing her hair - even used the straightener to make it curl a bit under this morning and when a choice of shorts or skirt came up my not-so-little girl decided on the skirt. She's growing up way too fast!!!

So here is my 7 year old girl before she went to school this morning. (It would have embarrased her to much to take pictures at the school so they had to be done in the back yard.)

Oh, and the good news is that we found out who her teacher is, Mrs. Morissette-Ly, and she is in the same class as Victoria!!! YAY for both!!!

And so it goes . . .

The basement saga continues. Today I was planning to have a very busy day. I was having our babysitter come over before 10am so that I would be able to prime the entire studio space/hallway/stairwell, and then I planned on doing 2 coats of ceiling paint and 1 coat of wall paint and tomorrow I planned on doing the 2nd coat of wall paint. Then I was just going to start getting things organized so that when the carpet was installed I could finally get my studio together - well - didn't happen!

I've been told that I can't take any more pain killers for my headaches and so the head ache that I've had for the past few days is still with me - a constant companion - but I can't do anything to get rid of it. Maybe stressing over getting so much done today wasn't really what my body needed. So . . . I decided that today I was going to prime. Nothing more, nothing less. Just prime. Amanda (the babysitter) came over as planned and I went downstairs to prime and then realized something pretty important - I hadn't cleaned the drywall dust yet - big oops! So I hooked up the shop vacuum that we were borrowing and starting on my way. About 45 minutes into it I noticed that everything that I was vacuuming was coming out of the vacuum and making a huge cloud of dust in the room! Not good! I tried my best to fix it but couldn't so decided that it was the 'old fashioned' way of cleaning for me, and got out my broom and started sweeping. I got the floor done and then took a break so that the cloud of dust could go away and I could start on the ceiling - not going to be fun!

I went upstairs for a drink and there was a knock on the door. My friend Cynthia came in with pizza, Coke Zero and her painting clothes! We ate dinner, drank our Cokes and headed downstairs to finish dusting the ceilings and walls and then tackled the priming. We finished around 4:30pm - one coat of primer on the entire place!!! I would have been doing this until midnight by myself so I guess my original thots might have been a big optimistic!

(obviously taken a few months earlier - before the drywall dust turned our hair white!!!)

Cynthia made my day - it went from being a boring day stuck in a basement to being a day of chatting and just hanging out while she helped paint. In the time it took me to do the ceilings and bulk heads she had finished all the walls so that we did the stairwells at the same time (& 2 girls on the stairwell isn't the easiest when the paint is at the bottom - hehehe!)

Anyways - I just thought I'd share how a day can go from a headache-plagued, dreaded day to a day that was actually a good one and a friend made all the difference! Thanks Cynthia!

"I Pee in the Grass..."

This is the new stage that we're in right now . . . Navia has decided that she wants to be a big girl now - but I made a fatal error! You'd thing by the third that I wouldn't do this, but no, that would just be too easy.

I was outside pulling weeds and Navia came running up to me saying that she had to go to the potty. I figured that by the time I got my gloves off and got her into the house I'd be cleaning up an accident somewhere between the door and the bathroom. So . . . I just pulled down her panties and she peed in the yard. No big deal, right? I grew up on the farm and don't know anyone who hasn't peed in the grass - no big deal!!! But how wrong I was! Now when I ask what she'd going to do if she has to go to the bathroom she smiles and says, "I pee in the grass!"

(psst, this is a look-a-like, not her)

Last night we had supper outside (Brade wasn't allowed on the main floor because of how dusty he was so we figured we'd compromise and he could eat with us outside). In the middle of the meal Navia got up and I looked over - and there she was - peeing in the grass! But - minor detail - she forgot to take her panties off!!! Oh well!

When I asked her why she didn't tell me she had to go she just looked up with that smile that only Navia can give and said (again) "but I pee in the grass!?!?"

Oh no! I'm in trouble now! I'm scared that she'd going to be disappearing outside now just to pee in the grass. And Brade - he's hilarious!!! With Kaleb he was sooo proud that Kaleb was peeing outside, but with his little girl - not so proud - more like mortified!!! Double standards I think!!!

The Basement Saga continues . . .

Well - there definitely is something to be said about viewing a house before you have purchased it - but if you can't you can't - and well - we couldn't. That leaves us where we are today...

You gotta love the trimmed wall and spray-painted ceilings/duct work/insulation!!!

We loved our house (the main floor and upstairs), but the basement - well - I'm pretty sure 'like' didn't even get brought up in our conversation when we first saw it (after we moved in!). It was horribly done, spray-painted black ceilings, door trim cut to fit electrical sockets, crooked walls - okay, so it was sold as an unfinished basement, but it would have been easier to finish it if it was a bit more "unfinished" than it truly was.

At first we thought that I'd be teaching Music for Young Children starting in January (2 weeks after we moved in) so we worked like crazy to at least paint the studio area and then buy a remenient piece of carpet that almost covered the entire area, bought a couple Billy bookcases from IKEA and then . . . no classes . . . oops! Well at least it gave the kids a place to play for the winter instead of just upstairs!

Note: the carpet doesn't reach the side wall - oops!!!

So, while I was away in Saskatchewan with the kids Braden now had to fix all the past-owners mistakes and drywall the studio room in, etc so that we could make it into a real studio for my teaching. By himself he pulled off all of the trim around the ceiling and floors (yep - they trimmed the ceiling!), did the electrical and gave me pot-lights in the ceiling now, framed in everything and then drywalled it all. When we got back from Saskatchewan he's now been working on the mudding and sanding of it all (YUCK!!!) I do not envy him at all!!!

So . . . I start teaching September 9th . . . which means . . . the entire basement needs to be finished mudding/sanding, primed, painted, carpeted, trimmed, electrical "details" finished and set up for a studio within 16 days - and that's not really giving me any time to set up. He will be also building me a built-in bookcase for one area, but we're going to wait until next month to even start that project. Emma's desk is before it (and it does feel nice to have a garage that I know I can do my trim painting, etc in - much better than the basement - oh and Brade can keep his saws out there so that the dust doesn't get into the house - YAY!!!) So now everyday after Braden does a full day at Fuel Industries he comes home, changes into his "yucky" clothes, goes downstairs and works until really late. Then on the weekend he gets to spend both his days off doing this - isn't he such a lucky guy!!! We definitely love him for all he does for us!!! Thanks Brade!!!

Doesn't he look impressed!!!

Back from Saskatchewan

Well - it's been a while since I've posted anything - but there is a very good reason . . . DIAL-UP INTERNET!!! It is next to impossible to upload anything (or download for that matter) when you are on something like dial-up internet. And I bet you all thought that it didn't exist anymore (and it really shouldn't!!!) but it does . . . on the farm in Imperial, Saskatchewan. So now that I'm back in Ottawa I will finally update you all on our goings-on and WARNING . . . this is going to be a long post!!!

On July 8 the kids and I went to Saskatchewan while Daddy stayed at home (poor boy!). There was a Bryson Family Reunion (once every 20 yrs kind) that we went to and it was really cool to see everyone again. The kids had a blast playing with all their "new cousins". Emma was her typical self - while all the girls were off playing whatever they were playing I looked out into the field and there was Emma with two boys playing tackle football. Pretty impressive if I do say myself! The cool thing was that she could take a tackle just as well as give one - yay Emma!!!

We spent a lot of time on the farm in Imperial where Gramma and Grampa found a riding instructor that Emma took lessons from - twice a week. That little girl went from being led around by Grampa to galloping with him chasing cattle! He'd take one side of the herd and she'd take the other - quite impressive! She absolutely LOVES horses and has now decided that she's going to be a rancher and go in horse shows. It was a really cool opportunity for her and we are sooooo thankful that she was able to do this - it wouldn't have happened in Ottawa! She did fall off once - but it is a story that she loves to tell so it didn't change anything for her when it comes to riding. I guess the saddle came loose and it slid off of Taffy, taking Emma with it. She ended up underneath Taffy's feet, but Taffy didn't move and Emma only received a sore arm from it - oh - and a great story! I've always told her that she's not a "real" cowgirl until she falls off a horse - and, well, now she's is REAL cowgirl!

Kaleb loved being on the farm. He actually turned into this boy that I didn't totally recognize. He only asked for the computer one time and barely watched any TV. Instead, the boy that I have to ask and ask to go outside to play decided to play outside pretty much the entire visit! Before breakfast he's be on the trampoline and then during the day I'd find him wandering the farm, looking at everything around, whistling like crazy and then when something caught his eye you'd see him kick his feet as he wandered over to it to explore. It was really neat to see. The flowers especially seemed to catch his eye. One day he was sitting out in the flowers looking intently at each one and then checking the flower book that he held to see if he could find that exact flower - sooo cute! Another day he discovered seed pods and thought that he'd pick a few (or more) of them to plant and help out Gramma. It's a good thing that Gramma didn't mind and next spring she just might have some unexpected flowers coming up - hee hee!
Navia was in her element too - being able to open the door and just wander around the swings and be a VERY adventurous girl on the trampoline! She scared all of us, but wasn't really hurt the entire time. Okay, so there were a few calls from the siblings saying that Navia was hanging onto the trampoline by a leg or an arm or upside down or just did a flip or needed saving - but overall - no real injuries!

For me it was just nice to hang out without any responsibilities or a long list of "to do's". It feels like sometimes when I look back on a week I haven't really done anything really fun or interesting but just kept up the normal everyday laundry, cleaning, housework, yard work, meals, etc. It was really cool not to worry about much of that and just hang out with the kids and my family. My parents watched the kids too, which made it easier to do this - thanks mom and dad! One example of a part of a great day was when my dad was out in the field haying and I think my mom was sleeping after working nights. The kids and I decided to have a picnic lunch and it was hilarious because they thought that the best place for this was on the other side of the playhouse and trees. We were only a short ways from the house, but couldn't see it, and they loved it. And here I thought that we'd be traveling out into the pasture to find the perfect place - hmm - doesn't take much for these kids! When we got back from lunch (that we actually used the cell phone video to take a video and show daddy what we were doing) we made homemade strawberry ice cream - YUMMY!!!

The kids did a lot of things that they haven't done before or haven't done in a long time. They had fireworks two times (once with their cousins at the Burgess farm and once at our farm), went for rides on the quads at Burgess', boating on the "lake", horseback riding, bale-jumping, trampolining, exploring without telling mom where they were going (which is perfectly fine out there!), tree climbing like you haven't seen before, field picnics, semi rides, strawberry picking in the rain and were "dog-owners" for a month (they miss you Kiley!)
The biggest thing that they haven't ever done before, but don't want to repeat, is being without daddy for 3 weeks! They missed him soooo much (and so did I) and when we went to the airport to pick him up their entire bodies seemed to smile. They went from being tired (it was late) grumpy kids to the kids that just got the best present that you could have ever gotten for them! Kaleb looked at me and said "I'm glad that we're a family again" - and well - that pretty much sums it up . . . we're not a family without daddy!

Braden came down at the end of July and only had a morning with the kids before we took off to Moose Jaw for 2 days as he was officiating a friend's wedding and I was singing at it. We stayed at a really cute B& B in Wakamow - which I'd love to do again sometime. It was in an old mansion - wrap around veranda, etc. The wedding was great and I think that I was crying even more than the bride! Congratulations again Pam, Chris and Amarha!!!

We didn't just stay at the farm when we were in Saskatchewan though. I made a trip to Regina (the kids stayed in Imperial) to help Braden's parents do a bit of "purging" of their household stuff before the movers came to pack up all their stuff as they're moving to a new house whenever the builders decide to finish it - hee hee! (it was slated for the end of July and now the mid/end of August - yuck!) I also decided (on a whim) to head up to Melfort for 2 nites to hang out with my sister Coralie and her family. It's always a yummy trip up there as my sister is the most amazing cook - her bread is absolutely amazing, along with her buns, pies, cookies, squares, cakes . . . and the list goes on - AMAZING!!!

I also did a lunch trip to Tisdale to catch up with my cousin Angela and her girls. Wow have they grown - sooo cute! Then I went to Regina again with the kids to see all the Bailey family and then when Braden came down we spend the most of our time in Regina with his family. Being in the middle of a move (they're in a two-bedroom apartment until their house is done as they have already sold their other house) and with Mom (B's mom) still recovering from major surgery, etc it was better going there at the end of our time here. It was incredible actually - the Mom that I first saw when I came down was definitely not the Mom that we stayed at with the kids and Braden! She is making HUGE improvements and is looking soooo good now!

The first time that we were in Regina we all stayed at Grampa and Gramma's apartment - along with Auntie Rhonda who was up visiting for almost a week. I can't believe that we all got ready in time for church on Sunday - 3 kids and 5 adults all sharing 1 bathroom!!! Quite a feat in itself!!! When we were in Regina the second time Braden and I stayed with Navia in Garrett and Laurel's basement while Emma and Kaleb stayed with Grampa and Gramma at their 2-bedroom apartment. We spent a lot of time at the parks (the kids LOVE splash parks) and had a lot of fun just hanging out. Emma spent a lot of time playing frisbee with her uncles and she is actually quite good - probably better than me!!! The uncles got to see an older version of Emma than they've ever seen before - an Emma that chose to sit and 'chat' with the adults at McDonald's instead of playing in the Playland - what's with that!?!?!? It was told to me that when Uncle Jesse told her that sometimes adults just chat about things she replies something to "Well, let's talk about the news. I don't know much about it but I can comment." And when asked what about the news she'd like to talk about she decided "the high price of gas" and went on to say how it is making everything hard for truckers, etc. Oh my goodness!!! My little girl is growing up!

The kids also had lots of fun playing at the 'zoo' at Uncle Garrett and Auntie Laurel's - two cats and two dogs. The little dog didn't much like that the kids were there, and that's pretty much how the cats felt too - but then there was Boomer! Boomer (a yellow lab - i think) couldn't get enough of the kids. Emma and Kaleb would jump all over him as much as he would on them, and Navia would want to play with him and then run away and cry if he actually took her up on it - it was kinda funny watching!

On our last morning there Auntie Jenna, Uncle Jesse, Uncle Garrett and Gramma took the kids to McDonald's for the traditional breakfast without Mom or Dad. The kids know that this is coming sometime in every visit and just LOVE it! It's crazy because Jenna and Jesse have both taken all three by themselves before - very impressed!!! And - it's kinda nice to have a morning to sleep in and not be hounded by the kids!

Coming home to Ottawa was kinda hard for all of us as it meant coming back to city living with not as freedom and way more responsibility, but it is nice to be back and start living our life as a family - all 5 of us - doing our sometimes boring things, but loving each other while we do it. The kids actually can't wait to start doing their chores again - weird!

So, now we're back in Ottawa - holidays are over and school will soon be starting - so we're off to spend the last days of summer doing sleep-overs, splash parks, fishing, finishing the basement (that would be Braden!!!) and all the other fun things of summer until we start the back-to-school shopping and summer is over. But . . . school shopping is happening a bit sooner than we'd like - YIKES!!! Only a couple more weeks and they're off - Kaleb to Sr. Kindergarten (5 mornings/wk), Emma in Grade Two and Navia in Monday morning playschool. It's happening - they're all growing up!!!

Well - that's all for my post to get you up-to-date on what we've been up to for the past month - busy, but fun!

oh - this is just a little shot of how Daddy thought it was fun shooting his kids up in the air!!!