April Happenigs

I usually feel the urge to blog when I've finally down/uploaded photos (I forget if it's downloading or uploading). Here's some from April.

Konrad's Fifth Birthday

Konrad turned 5. We had a lovely birthday party with some boys. They made some crafty fish, played a couple fishing games and ate a fish cake (or a cake decorated like a fish). It was a fun day.





THE RACE

And then... what do most families do with their children on a Friday night? Hmm.... rent a movie, perhaps a bike ride, play a game, have a BBQ. We introduced our children to horse racing. Our horse -Noble Robin, won!!!




This was actually my first time at the horsetrack, too. My co-worker, Susan (in the pink sweater) owns Noble Robin and her boyfriend, Guy Gravelle, trains harness racers. In the spirit of 'pink', I wore a pink shirt, too. The horse was pretty wired after the race and the kids were afraid to get too close for a picture. We also had a picture taken with the professional photographer and there was fear in the children's faces. It was fun... and she won!

THE TREE

I love our pine tree. It is beautiful but it is also half dead. So, Eric decided to have some treeclimbers come and take it down. Sad, but it had to be done. Konrad was in the mix of course, helping Daddy stack the wood and clean up.


His sunglasses are a nice touch.



The End of the Day

The Boys are are Good

I might start blogging again - we'll see. I took the boys to their annual check-up two weeks ago. We missed last year's check-up so it had been a LONG time since they've seen a doctor.

Konrad is 44.5 inches tall and 44 lbs.

Anders is 39 inches tall and 36 lbs.

In every way, they are normal and developing well. Anders has continued along his growth curve consistently - big.

They each had immunization shots. Since I am soooo far behind in those, they each had two shots. They were amazing!!! Konrad scrunched up his face after the second one because it stings once it gets in and Anders didn't do much of anything. The nurse praised them and they each got 5 stickers.

My boys are brave!

I Think Winter Might be Ending...

This has been the longest winter ever. I remember getting my winter tires on in November after we'd already had 2 or 3 snowstorms. I think my tires need replacing next year from all the wear on snow and ice this year. For those who haven't had the joy of living in Ottawa this year - we have had well over 400cm of snow this winter. I think we're 12 cm from the all-time record. That sounds impressive and I can report that I drove to work every day - even the days when I had to check the traffic on the road at the end of our street, back up 20 metres and 'giv-ur' (Canadian slang for accelerating as quickly as possible so I don't get stuck). I took it all in stride but there were some moments. We were lucky. We live outside the city so we had a big yard to dump our snow. The streets throughout the city was a whole different story. The streets were barely wide enough for one car, let alone 2 cars and pedestrians (since clearing the sidewalks was abandoned long ago). The city of Gatineau publicly stated that they wouldn't clear sidewalks and would instead focus on clearing lanes of major streets that had been snowbanks. Many 4 lane streets became 2 lane streets. On the night of the BIG snow in March, a friend of ours who is a firefighter was working. Unlucky him. Since the ambulances couldn't go down most streets or roads, the firefighters had to carry people on stretchers through knee-deep snow to meet the ambulance on major roads. That must have been exhausting. I know, because I went out to play with the kids and had to walk through hip-deep snow. It's not an easy thing.

This is Anders in our back yard. Good thing the water in the pool is frozen or I'm afraid it wouldn't meet code. Note how Anders didn't sink into the snow.



This is Konrad playing in the backyard. This is my kitchen window above the sink so that is one big pile of snow he's sitting on.


Eric even got our snowblower stuck. Seriously. He had to dig it out with a shovel.


Eric braving new paths. What fun this winter has been.


And here are my boys in front of the sliding door. Good thing Anders doesn't sink through the snow because I fear he would have been lost forever!


And now I think winter might be ending. We can actually see grass in some places - like over the septic bed. Mind you, I think we will have snow on our back deck well into May. Perhaps it will melt just in time for Eric's birthday BBQ.

'Why Doesn't Jennifer Blog More Often' - Here's Why

In response to Laura's blog entry - I will raise my voice, speaking out for infrequent bloggers everywhere.

Why I haven't blogged for over a month - I've been busy. Lots has happened - believe me - plenty enough but I have been too tired to write about it. AND - work has been terribly depressing. PLUS - we've misplaced our camera again. What's a good blog entry without pictures? Luckily, other people take pictures. So, I might be using some of them.

Christmas was eventful. Ward Christmas Dinners, school concert for Konrad, baking cookies with the kids and visiting others. We particularly visited an elderly couple in a retirement home nearby - the Greenfields. It was fun. She doesn't hear very well so she would speak over her husband while he was speaking to us. Neither would stop talking so Eric and I looked at each other - not knowing which way to look. We tag teamed it - He listened to her and I listened to him. The kids had fun. They ate one of the muffins we brought for the Greenfield's and also managed to score one of their apples.

We also had a dinner party at the Bondarchuk home. They've just moved to Ottawa and wanted to thank those that helped them move into their home. Here's a couple pictures from the evening:


Christmas - there was a Christmas Eve that we hosted for a few friends - food, singing, A Christmas Story, gingerbread houses.



On Christmas Day we drove to Cambridge to enjoy the Jakob Family festivities. Food. Turkey dinner, pies, crepes the next morning, turkey soup, homemade turkey alfredo pizza, french toast. My stomach was in complete shock. I felt so gross lastweek but who can not enjoy the wonderful food? Konrad played the Wii and Anders... pretended to play the Wii.

Then on to the McCartney Family Christmas - more turkey with all the trimmings and fabuous pies. It was nice to see everyone - it's been a long time since we've all been together (except for Laura of course).








Braden was baptized Dec 27th. A very busy and family-filled week.