Weekend Update

Wow, is it Saturday already? The last few nights have been busy, so my usual blogging time has passed without opportunity to write. Here's the highlights:

Thursday

Gym in the morning and home to spend the day with Auntie E and the kids who came into town around lunch time. It was great to see them and catch up on their trip up north last week. Baby R looked bigger, just from not seeing him for a week. Auntie E came with gifts for Bean for his birthday and a package arrived from Auntie V in Cowtown, so there were new toys and games to play with too. All of the big kids fell asleep in the afternoon, so Auntie E and I had a nice long visit on the couch. After quiet time, I took all three kids for a walk with Airlie which was fun to see them running together. Schmoo and Bean took turns holding the leash as we walked along the sidewalk. We had a final installment of the birthday cake, so that cousin I could sing happy birthday to Bean. They decided to stay in town for a dinner and "Lost" watching party. So we christened our new BBQ with steak, potatoes and caesar salad for dinner. Papa spent the evening on the computer and the rest of us watched the latest episode of Lost, which I usually tape for them.

photos - playing the new CARS matching game, the new BBQ

Friday

Since it was a holiday here - Good Friday - the kids were home from daycare. We couldn't even go to the gym as there were no classes or childcare there either. We ended up having a home day instead, which was a nice change. Bean has lots of fun new toys from his birthday so the kids spent most of the morning playing with those. Papa still had lots of work to do, but I managed to go into town to do a big grocery shop for the weekend without the kids. I came home with enough time to eat lunch and then walk back into town for my massage....what a treat. It is so wonderful to be able to walk in and out of town here. I came home to a quiet house. Bean was napping and Schmoo was snuggled up on the couch watching the Bee Movie, so I crawled into bed for 1/2 hour. The kids had their usual sushi dinner and we had them ready for bed when we went to pick up our babysitter for the evening. We decided to let Schmoo stay up to play with the babysitter for a bit, and it sounds like Bean waited patiently in his room for her to come and see all his toys as well before he fell asleep. Papa and I walked into town to meet two other couples for dinner and drinks and ended up staying out until after midnight. It was fun to be out with some new people. The one wife has a prosthetic leg so we got talking about her story. Apparently she had her leg amputated when she was seven because she had cancer. She too went through the same program that Bean is in for children amputees and she was interested to hear Bean's story. We walked home and returned to dog crap on the front door mat. Airlie obviously isn't feeling well so as I took the babysitter home, Papa took the dog and the mat outside.

Saturday

Another beautiful sunny day here. The air is still pretty brisk in the mornings and late afternoons, but it has been wonderful to see and enjoy the sunshine. The kids are doing really well with staying in their room until the "beep" so were up at 7:15am. I headed out for my first trip up the local hiking trail that I did every Friday last summer. It felt wonderful to be out in the fresh air doing some exercise. I came home and quickly got ready to pack up the kids and drive to the next town to see Horton Hears a Who - The Movie. We picked up Schmoo's friend Z, who came along. Of course we also stopped for lunch at McDonalds - a real treat for the kids because they get a toy. The whole experience was an interesting one. Bean ended up being the most engaged for the movie, spending the whole time sat devouring his bag of popcorn. He wouldn't even let me share with him. Schmoo's friend Z decided halfway through the movie that she wanted to go home, so I spent the rest of the time trying to reassure her, including having her sit on my lap. This of course caused Schmoo to want my attention, so there was lots of whispering amongst our little group. We did manage to make it though the movie and headed back home. After dropping off Z at home, I took the kids to get their passport pictures taken. New passports for our big trip in May. Tonight has been our family Easter party (without traditional food) as Auntie E and Uncle R came into town for dinner. The boys have been watching hockey and Auntie E and I have watched a movie. The kids both went to bed excited about Easter tomorrow and I have been busy organizing the plastic eggs for them to hunt in the morning!

photo - at the movies today

Schmoo's Favourite Parts of the Day ~ Saturday Edition

Favourite - going to see Horton Hears a Who

Not Favourite - none