Let's Catch Up, Shall We?

Ok Ok Ok, I know it's been a loooooooooooooooooong time and I really have no good reasons but a lot of excuses as to why I haven't blogged but have faithfully read all of ya'll blogs and really enjoyed them but also had a bit of a naggeling feeling that I just wasn't doing my part.  Excuse #1 that I just need to throw out there because it is a legit reason is that for some reason my ipad won't let me blog from it (also I don't love typing on the touch screen and am forever harassed by the auto-correct) and it's the device I have around me most and Jonny's computer, if not with him, is waaaaayyy up on the 3rd floor across from Owen's room, and Owen likes to wake up at the slightest noise at the most inconvenient times so I just stay away all together.

Result of this and may other excuses - no blogging.  (sorry Aves......)

Now that that is off my conscience let's catch up.

Ever since we've gotten into the rhythm of Amy being off to Kindergarten 5 days a week and Jonny doing his school-thing the weeks have seemed to just fly by.  Almost every week we look at each other on Thursday or Friday and say, "wow, how can it be Thursday/Friday already?!"  For me it's an exclamation of joy that the weekend is approaching and for Jonny more of a groan because he realizes another school week is coming to an end and he still has so much to do/catch up on.  Graduate school seems really full on.

Saying that, Jonny is really enjoying Regent.  We were just saying tonight that being here at this time of our lives feels right.  We had some hesitations about going back to the school thing - no income thing with 3 kids in tow but it's been good so far.  I like to remind Jonny that there is a lot of really good tradeoffs being a student with a wife and kids at home.  First of all, that while he slogs away in the library with his fellow students, he gets to come home to a hot and delicious home cooked meals, clean laundry and adoring children while they heat up noodles alone and wear their undies inside out just to try to be sanitary.  Granted, those fellow students have more uninterrupted study time in their day but I bet the time spent with us would equal the time those others spend on smoozing around ubc trying to pick up chicks.  Even steven.

I am really enjoying living where we live.  Out our front door looks like this:

The funny thing about having our first fall/winter here in Vancouver is that I am still surprised every morning that even though it's November outside still looks like this - just minus the leaves on the trees.  It's green here all the time.  But as one old guy in a church told me this summer, "there is a reason we're so green!"  It really really rains here.  Really.  Amy has already worn out a pair of rubber boots.
UBC family housing where we are is all blocked off to traffic - we park not too far away and the rest is all walking only.  Its been perfect for the kids.  Ben rides his strider bike all over and it's quiet and good.  Our house has proved to be just what we need and we are all feeling like it's home.  God has once again (why do I worry?) taken care of the details way beyond what we could have hoped for 6 months ago when we sat in Camrose wondering what on earth we were thinking of moving out here for school.

Most of the things I can think of to blog about I've already thrown on to the World Wide Web via facebook but I need to mention that Amy's dance recital was yesterday.  It was 2 1/2 minutes of pure parental joy.   She loves ballet.  And, in my humble, very unbiased mom opinion, was incredible.  :)

Ben has had the hardest time adjusting to things with all this moving around.  He just has been off a bit.  Whiny.  Acting out.  But the last few weeks have been good for him.  I think he's feeling settled.  Having Amy off at school has given me a chance to do more things with him that he gets to pick and enjoy.  Lots of bike riding - puddles are in endless supply here and offer hours of fun on a bike.  He loves to bike over the roots and bumps on the forest paths.  Line up his cars (as long as I can keep Owen from destroying his hardwork).  Football.  Soccer.  Boy stuff.  It's been good for him and for me to get to know him better without a sister running the show.  Don't get me wrong, he is super excited when Amy comes home and raring to play with her.

Owen walks!  And is almost 1!  What?!  He's a fun little guy.  Doesn't sleep great at night still, but we're working on it.  It's been hard to get tough on this little guy.  He's my baby! He had a crazy flu last week.  He threw up a bit at the beginning of the week and then was just completely tired out.  Sapped.  It wore him in the Ergo for 4 days and he would just sleep on and off and nurse a bit.  He ate 4 crackers and a handful of grapes over 4 days.  I was very thankful I am still nursing him and he would do that.  I tried to sit him down a few times and he would just flop over and lay on the floor.  Or flop forward in his highchair. 

He was a sick little guy.  I took him to the doctor and they said it was just a flu but if he didn't perk up soon to take him back - mostly worried about dehydration.  But he did perk up and is fine now.  It was a tiring week.

And me?  I'm good.  Life is just the right amount of full.  I've met friends.  I like Vancouver.  We are coming back to Alberta for Christmas and it will be great to reconnect with friends and family.  We are happy.

It's been nice to do a quick catch up.

Tag.  You're it.  :)

Settling In

We are starting to feel at least mostly settled in to our new, improved larger digs!  The last few weeks have been cra-azy.  A good crazy, but still a bit frantic and nuts.  So it has felt so good the last bit to be figuring out our new neighbourhood, routines and house.  I think we are going to love it.

We even made a klub supper yesterday and have apple pies in the oven right now.  There is just something about comfort cooking that makes a home homey. And, although Vancouver is still pretty green and lush, the maple trees are turning red and there is a nice chill in the air when I walk Amy to the bus stop in the mornings.  I love autumn.

I can think of a million things to report.  Like how I had to carry Amy onto the school bus kicking and screaming twice the first week of kindergarten but now she does it like a pro.  Just the last few days I haven't cried on my walk home from the bus stop.  There is just something very hard about sending your little one off on a big bus without you.  But now I'm a pro at it too.  (Mostly).

We put up our pictures yesterday which to me marks that we really are staying here awhile.  A nice feeling.

Our new neighbourhood is rad.  Everyone living here has kids and its a no car community.  So all the streets just outside our place are cobbled walking only streets with parks and playground and sandboxes scattered around.  We can park our van close enough, just through a wee tunnel, to be convenient too.  Win win.  And so quiet..

It's very multicultural and Amy is quite taken with the women who wear headscarves.  Auntie Laura showed her via Skype how she too wears one and Amy thought that was just neat.  I have had a secret  wish to talk to one lady in particular who I see at the bus stop every day.  She has the full deal going on.  Dark blue head covering, long dark robes coat and kind eyes.  I just feel like she was plucked straight off the streets of Afghanistan.  Today I got my chance thanks to Owen who was walking around holding my hand and just stopped right in front of her and stared and wouldn't budge.  And no one can handle not gooing and kissing our oh-bo-ee-o including her so we talked mom talk and I was quite satisfied. There is something intriguing and mysterious about head scarves.

We've been getting a good feel for what being regent college people will be like too.  We headed down states side for their autumn student and faculty retreat this past weekend.  I had little to no expectations of doing much more than hanging with my children and wasn't too surprised that we didn't get to take in all the sessions and funtivities but did meet some great other families and students which made the trek worth it.. And the food was out of this world delicious.

My pie is done and Jonny is taking a break from the books to enjoy it with me.  Oh one more thing, squirrels run rampant here and sit in the oak trees and chuck acorns at us down below.  It's soooo funny.

Moved

While I'm waiting for Jonny and a friend to come back for one last load of stuff I just wanted to scratch off a last quick note from our house here on Iona Drive.  We are excited to move.  We're ready to "nest" a bit in the place we will spend the next 3 -ish years.  Even if it has coral colored walls, lots of stairs and has a bit of a weird smell.  I just keep thinking - a grassy backyard area, a dishwasher and 4 bedrooms (one being a guest room!!!) and a eating space not over carpet.  :)

This place we are leaving was an answer to prayer - as is the place we are moving to.  Neither are palaces but both are definiately sufficient and appreciated.

God is good.

See you next time from Acadia Park!

Ready. Set. Go.

Ok, here we go tomorrow everything starts.  This summer has been a mix of good, challenging, frustrating, rewarding and full of adjustments.  We survived living in this little "hotel", as we like to call it and on thursday move into our new bigger digs.  Jonny survived and conquered suicide Hebrew and never has to Alef Bet ever again if he so chooses.  We explored Vancouver and found it to be quite beautiful.  We can find our way around and feel a bit sorry for all the new and lost looking UBC newbies who are wandering around campus now.

Tomorrow is Regent Orientation and it's supposed to be a family friendly affair so we'll go but I don't have my hopes set too high on sitting in on much, or any of the meetings.

Amy starts school (what?!) on Wednesday.  Because of our move she is going to a different kindergarten then we had first thought but this one seems to be just as fine.  She is excited, but nervous.  Today we were joking with her and said if she was so nervous she could just stay home with me and the boys.  She looked thoughtful and then said, "I'm nervous but am very interested in going."  As is Jonny. 

We get our new place on thursday and have been peeping in windows to see how the painting is going.  It's another new neighborhood and house and neighbors and routine.  We are really hopeful that it will be good.  Regardless, without being million bazillionaires it's the best place we'll get on campus. 

Avey and Corrine and Theo and little Finn are driving out to our part of the world tomorrow.  I can't wait to hang out and catch up.  It's a long long drive with little ones.  I hope that we are worth the trip!  No pressure right? .... :)

My lovely parents are driving out our furniture soon too.  This place we have been in came partially furnished but our new place is bare so we need our stuff.  We are really grateful that they want to make the trip and are looking forward to showing them Vancouver, having the kids have some sweet grandparent time - which I think Ben will especially like.  If only Bumpa could drive his tractor this far, Ben would be in heaven (or the quad...). 

And to top it all off our soon to be God-Son Beck is bringing his family out for his baptism and a good romp of a visit. 

We've been feeling the last 3 weeks to be a sort of calm before the storm.  Or being in an eye of a hurricane.  Or the great dark before the dawn.  Or.... hmmm,  I'm out of analogies.  We are glad we came out here for the summer, despite how hard it was at times.  We like that we are more or less familiar with campus and Vancouver and how life looks here before we get into it all.

Ok, here we go oooooo ooooooooo oooooooo .......

Memories

About every six months or so I have a bit of an emotional breakdown and the thing that sets them off is browsing through pictures.  I just start thinking about how fast time has gone, how quickly and irreversibly my babies are growing up, how much I love so many great people that I don't see near enough of or see ever.  I miss people who have passed on and try really hard to remember exactly what we did and said to each other the last time I saw them and wish I had taken pictures and videos of them.

And then that all snowballs (and quite quickly) into how I can't remember just what Ben's smile looked like when he was a baby, or the last time Amy snuggled her blankie masses, or I can't seem to recall so much of the time between pictures, how Amy acted when she was little, the last time I nursed either her or Ben, or my last real family vacation with my parents and brothers or the last... the last... the last....

And then that snowballs into how tough it must have been and still is maybe for my parents who worked so hard to raise me and all the fun things we did and just everyday life growing up stuff that went by so quickly and then I feel sorry for them and just want to run home to the farm and be 12 again riding my bike and playing make believe in the woods.  

And then that snowballs into how eventually people I love dearly might be gone forever,  orwhat if something ever happened to Jonny or my kids and then I would one day not remember what they sound like or smelled like or smiled or... or ... or....

And that snowballs into me wondering why we every leave places in the first place, or leave people and places we love and why do we meet such great people everywhere that we just need to say goodbye to and have fade a bit in our mind as time passes?

And that all results in Jonny finding me crying in bed grieving for all that has passed so quickly and grieving in advance for what is to eventually come.

It's a rough night all round.

Always the result of such nights is I feel the need to feverishly get my pictures in order and printed out so we can look at them and remember and have that concrete evidence of life lived in my hands.

We have had computers crash in the past and I don't think I have much trust in my memories being on iCloud or cyberspace or on a fallible hard drive.

So, saying all of this, I have made an almost complete family albums for us from when Amy was born till now and am very satisfied with that.

And also just so everyone I have ever met or will meet in the future know: I miss you already and love you to bits.

I am very thankful.

Adeiu

I feel like I should do a quick update on us here.  The people who were going to rent our suite here decided not to take it so it looks like we will still have it in September which means a few things, good and bad.
It means we pay rent on two places in September.  That's the bad news.
It also means we aren't in a rush to move out and won't be sort of homeless for a week.  That's good news.
A lot can change in a week still but this is how its looking.  It's a bit of a relief to have time to breathe as we move.  It's a busy week even with out adding a rush move, storing everything, and bunking in somewhere.

We have been doing lots of exploring around this fine part of the world.  And I hope to tell you of it but right this minute I have kids calling for water and pee breaks from bed, Owen cutting his front teeth and crying from bed and my back hurts and i wish I was in bed.  Also, I'd like to add pictures.
So, till then, adeiu!

Limbo

We are on vacation ~ or a staycation of sorts since we are still enjoying exploring Vancouver and have no money to do anything else.  Ha!  Jonny finishd his suicide Hebrew (aptly named, we discovered) with glowing results and I am so glad to have him with us all the time now.  I don't think I realized how tired I was getting until I've had his extra pair of parenting hands here.  Love it, love him, love staycation.

We are also headed into a bit of limbo.  Things have gone good with our move to bigger living quarters.  Our place here seems to have been rented out as of Aug 31.  This is good news as we were told that if they couldn't find renters for it we would have to keep paying the rent even if we were gone because we were breaking our lease.  Bummer - imagine paying 2 rents in Vancouver!  Sick.  Anyway, it worked out.  God is good.

But.

We don't get our new place until Sept 6 so we have 6 days of homelessness coming up.  We can find places to put roofs over our heads but what we really are trying to figure out is where to store our stuff until we can move it in.  People have been generous already, offering corner and crannies for storage.  And it will work out - but for now we're tired of thinking about it.

We are really looking forward to, say Sept 7, when we can be moved in (well not really as our furniture may not be coming from Alberta for until the 10th or so), ok so we're looking forward to Sept 12 (ish) when we can look back, laugh and say "remember when we lived in that little house and then had no home for a week while starting university and Amy starts school too."  Ha ha ... fun times.

It will all work out.

I'm also looking forward to Sept 14 because I am going to audit a course at Regent on the Life and Works of CS Lewis.  It will be my morning away from home, a chance to meet and talk with adult people and get the old grey matter working again.  Auditing a course sounds like heaven as you get all the information with no assignments or tests.  And it's free.  Couldn't be better.

There is a ton of reading with the course, a Lewis book a week, so I've been starting this summer.  I know I can't get through a book a week and still be present to my kiddos. But the point I want to make is I just finished reading George MacDonalds "Fantastes."  This relates to my Lewis course b/c Jonny told me that Lewis was very much inspired by this George MacDonald book when he wrote fiction, like the Narnia Chronicles which I love, and I was curious as to how.  It was a Fairie Romance and full of imagination and new worlds and talking trees and goblins and heros and swords and such.  I could see the influence it had had on Lewis.

The ending has made me think a bit.  If you ever want to read Fantastes, beware as I am about to ruin the ending.  So the hero has journeyed far and wide and had life changing experiences and then dies.  And by dying he exits fairy land back to England (or Ireland...wherever.)  Then he is struck by how he is to live his normal like again with all these new adventures and experience under his belt that no one he know had any part in.  He came back changed - and now how was he to live as a changed man.

This theme is common among most of my favourite books - Narnia and the Lord of the Rings being the most well known.  Adventures abroad, the road home and then what?

I have no deep deep insight - it just made me look back at all that I've done and experienced in the last years and wonder how each thing has changed me and how I want to hold onto the things I have learned and have them shape me and shape my family.  I'm sure they already have.  But I'd like to be more aware of it.

Boy, I sound like a university scholar already, and I haven't even started the class.  :)

What are your favourite books?