Looks easier than it is

I've managed to get my hands on the Hoopnotica instructional videos and have gotten back into hooping.  I try to get in a little bit of practice every day, though it is hard at home with my limited space.  When I can, I go to the Y where there is more space to practice some of the stuff I can't do at home.  But I find it hard to practice at the Y as well, where everyone is able to see me and I'm not able to just let go as much as I can at home.  So I make my best progress in the comfort of home.

 

These videos have been so helpful!  I was feeling a little bit in a rut as far as hooping was concerned, because I had learned a lot of new tricks and then hit a wall, and had no one around to teach me more tricks to work on.  Hoopnotica has not only brought some more new stuff for me to learn, it's also helped me refine all the stuff I already know. 

 

I tend to learn things really quickly, but breeze through them and don't always practice the individual moves until perfection.  I realized I had done this with a lot of hoop tricks, I had learned them yes but was too eager to just hoop that I didn't spend time practicing all of them properly.  After watching the Hoopnotica videos, I was really able to fix some small problems I had noticed. 

 

And I've learned so much new stuff!  I can hoop on my waist, hips, chest, shoulders, neck, and have finally got the hang of leg hooping (remember this post?).  I can do corkscrews with both hands, up and down and I can do hand off corkscrews which make it look like the hoop is a cyclone around me.  Most recently I have figured out angle hooping both forwards and backwards, and now I'm trying to figure out how to do a 180 turn with it.  I'm also working on ways to move through the hoop.

 

When I watch the videos on how to do all these cool moves, it looks so easy.  My brain watches and all the while it's saying, "I can totally do this!".  And then I go to try it and it's a whole different story.  I used to feel the same when I'd watch bellydance videos.  I'm trying not to get discouraged that I don't look like the girls in the videos (who have obviously been hooping for years).....yet.  Actually I should be impressed with myself for practicing so much, and I am mastering new tricks very quickly.  At this rate, I'll be a great hooper in no time.

 

Getting the Hoopnotica videos has given me lots to work on for now, but once I've gone through those and learned all I can I'd like to start purchasing the tutorials on Hoop City.  There are tons of classes there and the great thing is that you can post videos of yourself hooping plus questions and get them personally answered by the instructor.

 

I need to get a new hoop though.  I have two, and one is too big (great for learning new tricks, but too big for me to do angle hooping because I'm short and the hoop hits the floor) and the other is too small (good for high cardio hoop dancing, but not so good for practicing tricks).  Maybe after Christmas I'll buy a new hoop from my friend in town who makes them.  Though what I'd really like is a travel hoop.  Maybe in the new year!

 

I love hooping!

I Have a Problem

So I don't bother posting in ages and then when I do it's about my obsession with baby things.  Yup.

I have a wee bit of an addiction....

And these are just the clips, never mind the hairbands!  Thank goodness my girl has enough hair to wear them all.  But really, does she wear them all?  Not even close.  I just like buying them.  And everytime I go to buy one more thing, I come away with a bunch.  I can't help myself.  Especially when my 'baby hair accessory' dealer is also a friend of mine and lives around the corner.  It makes it all too easy to keep buying more from her when I can just pop round her place instead of going to a store or ordering them online.

 

See anything you like?  Sharon at Luv Maizie Bow-tique handmade almost every item in Lily's collection.  She makes fabulous stuff, and as long as she keeps making them, we'll keep buying them!  I don't know which are my favourites, they're all just so cute.  But I think I'm leaning towards these bows with the tractors.  They're just so appropriate.

I'm also still obsessed with cloth diapers.  I have a pretty good stash going, but that doesn't stop me from spending way too much time 'window' shopping for more online.  There are just so many amazing kinds to choose from, and I'm really wishing I had spent the money on getting some nicer brands than the cheapie pockets I did buy (which are ok, but there are nicer ones!).  Bum Genius, Thirsties, Grovia, Rumparooz, AMP, Motherease.  Pockets, AIOs, fitteds, wool covers.  My mind is just spinning.  But right now I've got my sights set on some more AppleCheeks and some of these really cool looking earthLINGZ diapers.  I got one Apple Cheeks diaper from a friend to try out and review for her, and it's much nicer than my cheap pockets.  I'm thinking of getting more for overnight since my cheapies leak if Lily is up to eat more than twice a night, and I don't like having to change her if I can avoid it.  The earthLINGZ diapers just look so incredibly cute and I have been hearing good things about them, so I'd like to try those too. 

 

I should just open up a cloth diaper store in town, and that way I can have as many as like.  But by the time I would ever be able to do that I'd be long past the baby stage, so I'll just daydream instead.

 

Why is baby stuff so addicting....I spend so much time looking it at it online, even if I don't need it.  Strollers, baby carriers, I love it all!  I've entered dozens of contests to win free baby stuff.  Surely if I enter enough contests I'm bound to win something right?

 

I better get a job to support my habits.....

Cottage Weekend 2012

Last year we had such a great cottage weekend that we knew we wanted to do it again this year.  My dad had once again offered to rent us a cottage, as a birthday present for both me and Tyler.  This year I figured it would be better to go away as late as we could get away with before the weather turned cold, for one because I wanted Lily to get past the newborn stage, but also because I wanted to see the leaves changing.  Since my birthday is at the end of September I thought that would be a great time to go.  Tyler was a little worried that we would be taking a gamble with the weather and that it might be really cold, but I thought it would be the perfect time.

 

After checking out a few places I decided that Woodland Echoes Resort looked like a lovely place to spend the weekend.  It was in Magnetewan, a town that we had often spent time at as children because my dad had a friend with a cottage there.  It was about a 3 hour drive for us which was a little farther than I would have liked given Lily is still not great in the car, but I wasn't too worried about braving the drive.

 

Actually the drive up wasn't too bad.  The boys were fine, and Lily mostly just complained loudly as opposed to full out screaming.  She did manage to nap a little bit which was encouraging.  Even with a stop for lunch we made good time and managed to get up there by mid afternoon on the Thursday.  That gave us plenty of time to get unpacked and settled, and to wander around and scope the place out.  We had a nice dinner, and afterwards Mike and Renee came up to join us.

 

The cabin was small but cozy, and right on Ahmic Lake with our own private dock.  It was a tight squeeze with all 7 of us, but we didn't mind.  The resort was lovely as well, with cute little cottages, beautiful gardens, a mini putt course, a park area for the kids, a recreation cabin, a beach and swimming area (which obviously we wouldn't be needing!), and a campfire pit. 

 

We had a wonderful weekend.  The weather was actually perfect, cool at night but crisp and sunny during the day.  We got a bit of rain but it wasn't a problem.  The guys rented a boat and went out fishing a few times, catching some stuff but no big prizes.  Tristan still had a great time fishing.  Finn caught his first fish off the dock with Daddy.  For my birthday a lady came to the cabin to give me a massage and reflexology which was amazing, while everyone else went out exploring.  We had good food and lots of fun.  My dad stopped by for a bit on Saturday, and my aunt, uncle and cousin did as well since they have a property in Magnetewan and were nearby anyway. 

 

I had a lovely birthday with my family, except for the part where Finn whacked his head on the bed frame and split his eyebrow open.  Since it looked pretty ugly we decided he should go to the nearest hospital for a look, which unfortunately was about 45 minutes away.  It happened at dinnertime, and Tyler and Mike packed him up and took him.  Turned out he did need some stitches.  The doctor gave the option of stitches or glue, but we decided to go with the stitches to minimize the scarring.  I know it wasn't fun for the little guy, but he took it like a champ.  Tyler and Mike said he was a star and even the doctor commented that he was the youngest child that he's even stitched up who was so good.  A few hours, four stitches, and a popsicle later and they were on their way back.  He was asleep when he got back and went straight to bed no problem.  He's such a tough little guy!

 

Aside from that we had a great time.  I was worried it would be stressful for me and that I wouldn't have much fun having such a young baby there, but it was fine.  The boys were amazing, they both napped every day and slept well at night.  Lily did great too.  We brought her swing so she was able to nap there, and she went down for bed each night easily.  She slept fine through the noise in the evening, and although she did wake a lot during the night she went back to sleep easily.  All weekend she was in good spirits.

 

We stayed 3 nights and packed up to leave on Sunday morning.  It was a nice morning, we took our time packing up and enjoying every last minute before heading back.  We were on the road by 12 which gave us plenty of time to get home.  The ride home was a little harder than the ride there simply because Lily slept less and complained more, but it wasn't too bad and again we made it in good time, with plenty of time left in the afternoon to get settled back at home and have dinner and bed at their normal times.

 

I'm loving that we've done this two years in a row now and look forward to many more years of family cottage time to come.  Here are some of my favourite pics from the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

Can't wait for next year!

I need to go to meetings.....

....for addiction to cute baby clothes, accessories and cloth diapers.

I have only bought ONE item for Lily so far (a cute little top from Walmart, I couldn't resist buying SOMETHING), but she already has an entire closet full of adorable clothes that will probably last her a year or more.  Lucky for us pretty much all my friends have little girls so have generously given us boxes and bags full of clothes.  I could just stare at all the pink girly stuff all day.  I've spent time arranging and rearranging her wardrobe.  When I have a spare minute and am walking by, I stop to go look at her clothes.  Yesterday I went through them an organized them all by size.  I can't wait until she can wear everything, though there is so much that she might never wear some things!

It's really a different game having a little girl compared to having little boys.  The boys stuff was definitely cute, but I never wanted to go out and buy lots of it, or dress them up in it.  With them it's always been more about function and comfort rather than looking cute.  With Lily I just want to go out and buy her all the cute dresses I can find.  I love putting her in little dresses.  She already has some really amazing ones waiting for her.  Tyler's aunt in California sent us a box of stunning dresses, I can't wait until they fit her.

A few weeks ago I ordered her first cloth diapers.  I was really excited to get the chance to do cloth from the start, since I didn't do it with Tristan and only started with Finn when he was 10 months old.  For months I have had my diapers picked out, I was just waiting for her to arrive to have the chance to get them.  She looks so cute in her little cloth diaper bum with all the cute prints.  It's fun co-ordinating her diapers with her outfits.  I don't know why anyone wouldn't use cloth!  But unfortunately I couldn't get as many as I need so I'm barely making it day to day with the ones we have before I have to wash them again, which is kind of frustrating.  I need to get some more, hopefully soon.  I already have them picked out!

Another thing I really want to get for her is leg warmers.  I've always thought they were so cute and wanted to get some for my baby, but they always seemed like more of a girl thing (though I know they make them for boys too).  They look so cute and are great for cooler weather to keep baby's legs warm and still make diaper changes easy because you don't have to take off pants or tights.  Plus they are super adorable with cloth diapers!

Lily also needs some more hair accessories.  I finally got two cute hair bands from Tyler's aunt that look so adorable on her.  I would love to get some more hair bands but also some little baby clips for her hair.  I have been looking for them but haven't been able to find any so far.

I wish I had more money to spend on cute stuff for her!  And of course now that I want to buy her all this cute stuff, I want to buy some more for the boys too.  Go figure!

It's funny because I don't consider myself a particularly fashionable person and really couldn't care less about clothes or accessories for myself.  I never buy myself new clothes and when I do they are usually boring and cheap.  But I wish I could go nuts on a shopping spree for my kids.

I need to stop looking a cute baby stuff online or else I really will need to start going to meetings for baby stuff addiction!

Little Dude's Birthday and Party Plans

Happy 2nd Birthday to my very special, very sweet, very funny Little Dude Finn!  I can't believe it's been two years since he was born.  What an amazing day it was.  I reflect on the birth of my children a lot, as expressed in previous posts.  I won't go into massive detail here, since I know I already did that last year for his 1st birthday!

I'm not really finding the words to describe how I feel on this particular birthday.  It's been a bit of a blur of normal life really.  We woke him up with a song and had a nice day together.  After dropping T off at school we went to Walmart and had a birthday muffin and smoothie at Tim's, then did a little shopping for his upcoming party.  He is such an amazing little man when we're out, so patient while sitting in the cart and hardly asking for anything.  It's really a pleasure to go anywhere with him.

After that we went home to hang out for a bit before picking T up from school, then had a yummy lunch before the boys went down for their naps.  This afternoon we just stayed home and the boys played while I got some housework done.  We were on our own for dinner since Tyler had to go down to the city, but we had a nice meal together and then after bath time I let the boys have some chocolate pudding as a treat for F's birthday.

So not a terribly exciting day I'm afraid, but we're saving all the excitement for his big party coming up this weekend!  I'm very excited!  We expect a lot of people to come out to the farm to celebrate with us, and while part of me feels like I should be overwhelmed this week while planning such a large event, I'm not at all.  Everything seems to be coming together nicely, and I am really looking forward to seeing a lot of our friends and family that we don't get to see too often.

We're doing a bbq style cookout at the farm, with lots of food and fun stuff.  I'm taking care of the dessert and am going to be making about 100 cupcakes, as well as a dirt cake.  Wow!  Now, I do feel a little guilty because I just went and bought cake mixes instead of making them from scratch.  I know I know, I have made such an effort in the past to make healthier varieties of cakes and cupcakes for the kids' birthdays.  I wanted to this time as well, but I just couldn't see how I could make so many from scratch on my budget, since the healthier ingredients required always end up being SO expensive.  So I'm cheaping out a bit, but they will still taste yummy that's for sure!  I might try making some rice crispy squares as well.

Another thing I try to do for birthday parties is avoid giving out treat bags that are filled with candy or crappy plastic toys.  This year for party favours I have sowed a bunch of extra tomato seedlings, and will give one to each child to take home and plant in their garden.  I'm also going to do little snack bags that are made out to look like butterflies and they will be filled with dried fruit instead of really sugary stuff.

I really hope the weather cooperates for this weekend, and I'm really excited to have everyone over to the farm to see it and to celebrate with us!

My littlest (but soon to not be the littlest anymore) guy is already 2.  Wow, just wow.  He is such an amazing little boy.  In fact, sometimes I can't believe he is the same baby that cried all the time and didn't sleep, because how he is now couldn't be further from that fussy baby.  He is so happy, and so social.  Everyone who meets him loves him to bits.  And we do too!

Happy Birthday Finn!!

The Invites Are Out!

Finn's 2nd birthday is fast approaching and I've just finished sending out the invitations for the big day.

Normally planning the boys' birthday parties stresses me out to no end.  I am not a natural hostess, I don't really enjoy throwing parties.  I mean, it always sounds like a great idea but the work involved ends up feeling so daunting.  Last year Finn's birthday party was very stressful for me.  We hadn't lived here that long and didn't really have any friends in the area.  Pretty much all our guests were from out of town and it was hard to know if anyone was even going to bother making the trek out here to see us.  I really hated the whole planning process.  So much so that I didn't even bother throwing a party for Tristan's 3rd birthday last summer, I just wasn't ready to go through the stress again.

This time though I'm actually quite excited for the next party, mainly because we have decided to pair it with sort of a grand opening of the farm and hops yards.  Also, we have so many friends here now as well as some family, so it almost makes more sense to throw a party when you know people nearby might actually come.

We're going to have the party on the farm the first weekend in May (so a little after Finn's actual birthday, but that's fine).  I'm hoping that will be a good time for the weather to be beautiful and not rainy, but the nice thing is that even if it is a rainy day we will still have the hoop houses and barn to stay dry in.  There is plenty of room in there.  And I'm sure that the toddlers would have fun rain or shine!

I've got some great ideas for kids activities so I think all the kids will have a great time.  There may be a lot of them if most of the families I've invited show up!  At first I thought we'd be crazy to have so many kids at the party, but knowing that it will be outside makes it less scary.  There is a playground right beside the farm that the kids can play at, and there's no shortage of things to do and places to explore.  I'm sure the little boys will love sitting on the tractor!

Not sure what we're going to do about food yet for all those people but we already have a bbq at the farm so that makes it a little easier.  We can just do hot dogs and burgers with a variety of other snacks on the side.  Nice and fun and simple.  I have some ideas for what I'd like to do for cupcakes and other desserts.

Party planning is still a bit stressful, but I'm really looking forward to the event.  I hope we get some great weather, and that lots of people come out to celebrate.  I can't wait to have a fun day for my boys and especially for Finn, but I also can't wait for people to come see the farm and everything we've accomplished so far. 

It's almost planting season!

A few weeks ago the seeds we had ordered for our vegetable garden arrived and for the past few weeks we've been busy thinking about and planning how we are going to sow and plant them.  We have about 70 varieties of vegetables and some fruits that we will be sowing from seed.  Tyler went out and bought a large binder with plastic sleeves and calendar sheets so that we can organize them all and keep track of the sowing/transplanting/harvesting schedule.  It's taken a lot of thought to organize it all but we're in pretty good shape.

I've been spending lots of time familiarizing myself with all the different seeds and their needs.  I've categorized them and come up with a sowing plan so we know what seeds need to be started and transplanted when.  We'll be starting our first bunch this week.  March will actually be very busy with the majority of seeds needing to be started indoors, but there are plenty that will be started in April, May, and even throughout the summer as well.  We will pretty much constantly be sowing, transplanting or harvesting our fruits and vegetables from March through to September.

This week construction of the hoop houses began and they will be ready to go soon, however we will be starting the seeds in the basement since they will need warmer temperatures than the hoop houses can provide.  Once they are seedlings most of them can be moved into the hoop houses until they are ready to go into the ground in May.  Tyler has build a light table to go in the basement for starting the seeds. 

I am so excited for this adventure.  When I read through my books I do feel a little overwhelmed as it just all seems so complicated on paper, especially since we are ambitious and starting quite big.  But I think we'll just going to jump in and see what works, and I think between the two of us we will have enough knowledge and experience to be successful.

Some of the varieties of plants we will be growing include: onions, beets, celery, broccoli and rapini, artichokes (Tristan's favourite vegetable!), corn, cabbage, beans, peas, many types of lettuces and leafy greens, several varieties of carrot, tomatoes, and cucumber, and of course an extensive selection of herbs.  We're also going to grow melons and strawberries, as well as squash and pumpkins.  Tyler really wants to try and grow a giant pumpkin!  I've also got some sunflower seeds to plant as well just because I thought it would be nice to have some on the property, and maybe we will be able to get some more seeds out of them as well.  We're going to try growing peanuts as well.  I'm sure there are a few more vegetables I missed, we ordered a lot!  All this in addition to the hops.

Ultimately it is my goal to be able to grow almost all of our vegetables and as much fruit as we can as well (we already have apple trees on the property, as well as other berry and currant bushes).  I would like to learn how to successfully preserve our harvest through canning, drying and freezing so that we can eat our own produce year round.  We should be able to grow some stuff year round in the hoop houses as well.  It's a little scary to take all this on knowing that we will be having a new baby in the family right in the middle of the season, but hopefully together we can pull it off.

I know I'm going to be hugely pregnant soon, but it is still my hope to play as active a roll in the creation and maintenance of our vegetable gardens as I can.  Me and my belly will be out there planting and weeding as long as I can still manage it.  I'm also hoping that getting the boys involved from a young age will teach them the value of the land and what it means to grow our own food.  Maybe if I'm really lucky they will start to eat more vegetables too!

Baking With Children

I don't like to do it.  It always seems like a fun activity, but in the end I find it's almost more frustrating than it's worth.  Still, every now and then I attempt it because I know my kids will have fun and we all enjoy the goodies that come out of it.

I used to enjoy baking before I had kids.  Not so much since becoming a mom.  But I do love baked goods!  And I do like to try and make them myself instead of buying store bought stuff.  I figure that even if I make goodies that are full of sugar, they're at least not full of chemicals and preservatives like the stuff you buy at the grocery store.

When Tristan was younger, a little older than two, I could set him up with two bowls, a few cups and spoons, and some flour and he would scoop the flour from one bowl to the next for hours while I baked.  It was messy, but he loved it.  Finn is not quite that age yet and so it doesn't occupy him quite the same way, and Tristan is older now and so he wants to be more involved.

My problem is I'm too much of a control and a clean freak to let him do that much.  I can set him up with stuff to mix and try not to cringe too much when I see it spilling all over the place.  That part is easy.  But the constant sticking his hands in the bowl, trying to eat it when I told him not to because of the raw eggs, and requests for the goodies to be done so he can eat them really starts to get to me.  He's 3.5 now and so patience is a little hard to come by (for both of us!).

Nope, I'm not really cut out to bake with small children.

Nevertheless, we attempted to make some muffins today and it was fun for the boys.  Finn scooped some flour for about 5mins before getting bored and wandering off, and Tristan helped mix the filling for the muffins as well as all the dry ingredients.  And of course, he was VERY proud of himself when they were done and when Daddy got home proudly exclaimed that he had helped make them.  So that in itself does make it worth it.

So what did we make today?  I decided to try this recipe I found on Pinterest for Strawberries and Cream Muffins.  They were a fair bit of work (or maybe they just seemed that way with two little people trying to 'help'), but they were very very yummy.  Of course I opted to use whole wheat flour instead of white flour, and because Tristan wanted 'sprinkle cupcakes' instead of muffins we sprinkled some red sugar sprinkles on top of them before popping them in the oven.

I'm feeling rather ambitious this week so I'm thinking after we've polished off all the strawberries and cream muffins we'll bake some banana ones.  At least those ones are a little easier to make.

Life on the Bay These Days

You know, when I first started this blog I used to write a lot about random things that happened here, which was the point of starting it in the first place.  I still kind of do that, but I realized that there are often a lot of things going on that I would have written about before, but don't bother to anymore.  Which is kind of sad, afterall this is supposed to be about our life here.  Guess I've just gotten lazy.  I've also diverted a lot of that stuff to my other two more specific blogs.  Stuff about the boys gets put on my Dear Children, Love Mommy blog because I just found it easier to record everything about them in one spot, and also to write directly to them.  Stuff about this latest pregnancy gets put on my Doula Ambition blog.  I started that one as a place to keep all my pregnancy and childbirth thoughts, since I am very much into that kind of stuff, but since getting pregnant have also been journalling about my pregnancy there since it seemed appropriate.  So now I often feel like this blog is missing out on a lot of stuff that gets put elsewhere. 

Time for a little update on how Life on the Bay has been treating us.

It's still pretty awesome.

Life

Is good.  We have had a mild winter which has allowed us to stay active and not feel too cooped up in the house.  Tristan goes to school in the mornings and is doing very well there.  Finley enjoys his time with me in the mornings and we busy ourselves with trips to the YMCA or the Early Years Centre.  Rarely are we at home in the mornings and that's how we like it.  The afternoons are sometimes filled with classes for Tristan like skiing (which are now over) and junior chefs, but often we like to just stay in since the mornings are so busy.  I do look forward to the spring and summer though when we can just go play in the backyard or go for walks without having to worry about snowsuits, hats, mitts, and boots.  The boys are good, Tyler is good, I am good, the pregnancy is good.  I feel great and really can't complain about much.

Friends are the best

I'm still hanging out with the same wonderful group of ladies I met over the summer, and we've formed some great friendships.  Some of them have returned to work, and we don't see each other during the week for playdates as often since winter arrived but we make a point of getting together as much as we can otherwise.  We have been meeting for coffee every few weeks, and also planning girls' nights once a month or so as well.  Last time we went glow in the dark bowling which was fun.  This weekend we're having dinner and going dancing afterwards to celebrate one lady's birthday.  Well, not sure how keen I will be to go bar hopping at almost 5mos pregnant, but we'll see.  We also still plan playdates on the weekends, often meeting up for gymnastics, skating, or tobogganing with the kids.  In addition to the great close friends I've made, I'm also making new friends all the time.  When I first moved here and started looking for friends, I was always looking for people to connect with and hoping that it would turn into the kind of friendships where we hung out a lot.  I have been lucky to find that with my group of friends, but am also learning that I can be friends with a lot of different people, and those friendships can all mean different things.  Some women are other moms that I see at the same places every week, and we get a chance to talk there but don't necessarily plan anything outside of that.  Other people I've just become familiar with from running into around town.  It's been a really great feeling to know that I've met and connected with so many different people on so many different levels.

Fitness

This has been a big topic for me over the past year as I have strived to become more active, and I am still keeping up with it and going strong.  I always feel there is room for improvement in this department but then I also have to think about time constraints and that my family comes first, and also the physical restraints of pregnancy.  But there are times where I think I just want to spend hours in the gym working out and getting in shape.  Maybe one day.  I do manage to go to the gym about 5 times a week.  These days all I want to do is hoop and have been doing that as much as possible, but I have been doing spinning once a week still as well as some prenatal fitness and working out on the machines in the gym.  A friend of mine just sent me several great prenatal workout dvds in the mail as well so I am going to start incorporating those into my day as well at home while the boys are napping.  I think my hard work is paying off as I have been feeling great and I think I look fairly fit even for 20wks pregnant.  I do hope that I can stay in better shape for this pregnancy than I did for my last two, and also that I can snap back into shape quickly afterwards.

Down on the Farm

Progress on the hops farm has been great.  The mild winter has really been a blessing in that department because it allowed Tyler and John to get a lot of work done.  When I look back over the past few months I cannot believe how much they have accomplished together.  They have installed all the poles for the front 6 acres to be planted, built a barn, made a road, and built a bridge from the ground up.  Not just any bridge either, a proper bridge that will have to carry vehicles over the river.  A lot of time, planning, and money went into the design and construction of the bridge, and now it is almost complete.  It has been very exciting for Tyler to design and build it, and see it come to life.  I know he is very proud, and he should be.  I have gone through the seed catalogues and placed the order for all of our vegetable seeds, which should be arriving this week.  In the next few weeks our hoop houses will be built, and then we can begin starting our seedlings inside to get a head start on the growing season.  There is no way to describe how amazing everything is going on the farm, and we are excited to see what the next few months have in store as well.

Other Events

What other things have we been up to this year so far?  In January I participated in the Romp to Stomp out breast cancer 5km snowshoe walk with one of my new friends.  The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful day walking and raising money for breast cancer research.  That same weekend Tyler took Tristan on his very first overnight ice fishing adventure.  He had a great time, but it was still too much for him and by the end of it he was very tired and got a little sick.  Still, he loves to talk about the trip and how much fun he had.  In February Tyler's sister Rachael got married to her fiancee Scott.  The whole wedding was just lovely and we were happy to be a part of it.

That pretty much sums up how our winter has been, and it's only been less than 2 months!  Needless to say life is busy, but it's a good busy.  We are always optimistic, always looking forward.  It feels good to be happy and to have a good attitude about life.  Onwards and upwards from here! 

Another Dream

To add to the list of things I'd like to learn how to do......

How amazing is she?

I could seriously see myself enjoying hula hooping as much as I enjoy bellydancing and zumba.  Now, to get myself a hoop and find someone to teach me how....

A Morning With Some Friends

Yesterday morning we met with some friends to stroll the boardwalk and hang out.  4 moms, 3 babies, and 5 toddlers - quite a feat!  But everyone had lots of fun.

Simone, Aiden, Tristan and Zach

Getting them all to smile for the camera at the same time is an impossible task!

Little Miss Austyn

Finn finally gets to walk with the big kids for a bit

Cutie Pie Kiera

Tackle soccer

Rolling down the hill!

The only one missing from the pics is Isabelle.  We'll get you next time baby girl!

Great time with friends!


Cottage Weekend

Last weekend we had our first "official" family holiday, even though it was only 3 nights.  We rented a little cottage on Pigeon Lake, just outside of Bobcaygeon.  It was rather last minute, a few weeks ago my dad called us and offered to rent us a cottage for the weekend so we could join him and his friends on a houseboat for a day.  We eagerly accepted and were looking forward to getting away as a family.

After packing up what felt like the entire house, we left on Friday morning.  We got to Bobcaygeon around lunchtime and grabbed lunch before heading over to our cottage.

The place where we were staying was called Trail's End Lodge.  It was nestled in the woods and the cabins were right on the lakefront.  Ours was a cute little two bedroom cottage.  There was a large grassy area with lots of toys and stuff for the kids to play with, including a little treehouse and a slide.  The waterfront had a little sandy area and gazebo, and there was a dock with fishing boats to take out onto the lake.

Mike and Renee came up later Friday afternoon to join us for the weekend. 

We had a fantastic time.  The boys absolutely loved playing and exploring, and of course Tyler got in as much fishing as he could.  He was really excited to get T into fishing, and was thrilled of course when he took to it right away.  T enjoyed fishing on the dock as soon as we arrived, and caught his first little bass.  On Saturday Tyler took him out of the boat and he loved that too, and even caught his first walleye. 

On Saturday afternoon we took our little boat across the lake to meet up with my dad and his friends on a big houseboat.  It was a lot of fun.  There was yummy food, and even an ice cream boat came by!  Everyone had fun swimming in the lake, even the boys got to go in a little bit.  T really liked playing on the giant floating 'lilypad', while F hung out in his inflatable floaty tube, though he didn't enjoy the water as much.  Tyler and I tried tubing once.  I got up enough courage to go, but in all honesty it scared me and so I only went the one time.  I managed to stay on the tube though even though Tyler came off.  It's not so much the actual tubing that scares me, rather swimming in the lake freaks me out, so I was more scared of falling off!

Sunday was rainy on and off so we mostly hung around the cabin, but when it was clear we would go wander around outside.  The boys just wanted to be outside all the time, they were having so much fun.  We wanted to have a campfire but couldn't because of the rain, but we did manage to roast some  marshmallows over the bbq and make some smores.

On Monday it was time to pack up and leave, but Tyler wanted to take T fishing on the boat one last time.  He set his alarm to get up and go early, but when it went off Tyler just wanted to stay in bed where it was warm.  T had other ideas though, and dragged Daddy out of bed to go fishing.  They had so much fun out there, T didn't want to come back in!  He caught his second walleye that day.

I think one of the highlights of the trip was watching as an osprey kept trying to steal the fish Tyler and T had caught!  I watched from the dock as the giant bird kept swooping down to grab the fish, and Tyler had to shoo it away.  At one point he got the fish, but it was already on Tyler's chain and so a great tug of war ensued between man and bird of prey.  It was actually so cool to see.  Tyler said T was laughing the whole time.

We headed back into Bobcaygeon for lunch and ice cream before finally hitting the road to head back home.  What an amazing weekend!

The weekend could not have gone any better.  I think what amazed me the most is that both boys slept so well while we were there.  I figured T would sleep fine at night, but would probably resist taking a nap due to all the excitement.  I fully expected F to resist sleep at both nap and bedtime since we were in an unfamiliar place.  I was totally wrong!  They both went to sleep easily for naps and night, and they both slept all night long each night with the exception of a few brief wakings.  I can't say how shocked I was at this, but pleasantly so!

I'm so glad we got the opportunity to have this weekend, and that we got to share it with Mike and my dad too.  It's so great to know we get to do things like this as a family, and that everything went smoothly and we all had a great time.  Hopefully we will be able to get away for a cottage weekend once or twice a year.

It's nice to be home though, I missed my bed!  Back to routine, and time to get T prepared for school which starts in a few weeks.  Yikes!