Nanny Visits, HURRAY!

This blog is coming a week late so I will actually be writing several more on Nanny's visit. On the first full day of Nanny's visit, we did a general tour of the area and wandered around downtown Duncan. Her favorite part of the day was our trip to Maple Bay. The kids immediately ran down to the water and were wading in getting shells. Duncan is known for its totem poles so we enjoyed wandering around downtown looking at them and enjoyed eating ice cream.

A Day at the Lake

Saturday we took the kids back to the lake so that they could swim in actual bathing suits (as opposed to last blog)! The water was still frigid but they had a blast. Some of their friends joined us there which made it even more fun. The lake was so peaceful and beautiful. S and I enjoyed being able to sit on a blanket and listen to their laughter and soak in the beautiful scenery. We feel so blessed and are so thankful for the lifestyle overhaul! It is so good to be together as a family and to get to experience new adventures together.

A Blog About Everything!

Well, this is a blog about all different things. I don't have pictures on these so I decided to combine several Canada happenings. The first is that C scored a touchdown yesterday!!!! We were very excited. Next week they have a week off and then they start the playoffs. The team has really improved and are throwing the ball more. C has become quite the defensive player. The coach puts him in different positions, but I really need to get a video of him when he plays the front line middle position (whatever that is!). The coach yells C straight up the middle. He gets all wound up and just charges the line - head down like a bull! Well, enough brags about that.

Next, we had quite a day on Sunday and quite an awesome experience. Once a year, the church has a baptism in the lake. We all go down to the lake and sing and those being baptized give testimonies. We had ten people scheduled to be baptized and then at the end our pastor gives a salvation/and or baptism call for anyone else. We had two more that came forward. S (after getting over the initial shock of the cold water) got to baptize a young adult in the lake, so that was incredible for him. One of the guys being baptized yelled freedom when he came up from the water. I will never forget the look on his face and you could really see that he was free!

Well, the day didn't stop there! This is Canada you know! After the service everyone hung out and yes C and M went swimming! No they weren't the only ones! This was my first lake experience so I didn't know that there would be swimming! Water is frigid! So, the kids had two friends with them from church. M was the only one that had a bathing suit under her clothes(don't even ask!) - the other three had shorts and t-shirts on. Well, I decided to let them live a little and said - why not it is just water! So, off they go swimming in the lake in May! The boys swam out to a dock and were jumping in (I made the girls stay close - I was not going in after them!). Even a couple of adults got in - not too many -only the insane ones! All in all it was a great day and ended with a praise service that night.

A Day of Exploring

The kids had off on Monday for the Queen's birthday (It feels weird saying that!), so we decided to do some more exploring. We were told that one of the best swimming places is Lake Cowichan. On Saturday it was a really hot day and I was told that people were actually swimming in this lake; however Monday was a rainy day. I don't have pictures of the lake that everyone swims in but we did go further to Honeymoon Bay which is freshwater and beautiful. We also went exploring down to the Cowichan River. We all could not get over how crystal clear the water is around here. You could actually see the bottom of the lake, river and bay. We topped off the day with icecream and french fries!

Student Led Conferences

The kids were very excited today because after school was "student led conferences." This was a new concept to me, and I did not quite understand that I was not going to be sitting down with the teachers- instead I was going to be sitting down with C and M. I first went to M's class. We sat at her desk. She had a portfolio of her work in all different subjects. She took me through each one. She also has a journal that they write in everyday. M was very excited to show me her entries. At this age they do inventive spelling - let's say it was quite inventive! However, her writing and organization of thoughts were terrific! Her best subject is Math. The teacher commented in her portfolio of how great she is doing with this. The kids work at their own pace and M had completed all of the units. We are now working on getting her to do it faster and without fingers. After this I went to C's class. The class was working on a bird unit. His bird was the Red Tail Hawk. He showed me his bird made by him out of clay, and then he took me to the computer lab where he showed me his POWER POINT PRESENTATION of the bird. Do you believe he knows how to do a power point! It was quite impressive! At the end of the presentation he had two screens - one said "You rock my world" and the other "Happy Mother's Day." He did some cute pictures and funky things with the letters. He also read to me from his class novel and did some math facts. I did speak with his teacher, and she told me that she and C have been working on decimals while the class is doing division. I was pleased that she is taking extra time with him because he is bored with math. It was a wonderful time and I was very pleased. Please be praying about next year, because I have yet to get a job. I really do not want to take them from the school. We have had our issues, but I feel very blessed that they have been able to attend a Christian school this year.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day I told my family that all I wanted for Mother's Day was some really nice family pictures. I also added - without complaining! Sunday late afternoon we took a walk down by the creek and friends of ours took pictures. I had a cold that day and almost canceled the pictures. I am so glad that I didn't. There were too many to choose from to put on the blog, but here are some. The kids asked to do some funny ones after being so good, so I said ok.

Happy Tenth Birthday!

I cannot believe that C is ten today! C had a birthday party on Friday after school with his friends. They all brought hockey sticks and roller blades and just had a blast. I was thinking how "old" they all looked and told myself to say goodbye to the "cute" themed parties with all the games. Just when I told myself that, I walked outside to see them all in superhero masks with guns and swords playing some kind of superhero game. I breathed a sigh of relief to see that C was still a "kid". C requested a lacrosse stick and roller blades for his birthday. His Nanny and PopPop got that for him. His Great Nana got him elbow, wrist and knee pads to go with the roller blades (thank goodness!). He also wanted a radio control off road vehicle. He received quite a bit of birthday money (from Nanny and G-Daddy, Great Grandma Franks, and Uncle Scott and Aunt Mara), so we are going to go out shopping for this. His dad took him to see Iron Man on Saturday. They had a lot of fun and C's friend and friend's dad went as well. Thank you to everyone for making the day special!