Waka Waka

Finally got a copy of Ariel's competition team dance from their last performance at Dream Team. She is the first on stage when then annouce the group, since you can' make out their faces.

Enjoy!

Family of 5!

I have been meaning to write all about our newest family member but I have been enjoying him so much I haven't been online much this week except to post photos on facebook. What can I say, we love our fur baby!! He was worth the wait and we are all madly in love with him.

The adventure started early Monday morning. Ariel was taking the day off school to join Stella, Xander and myself ride the ferry boat to Swartz Bay to meet Joanne the breeder. Its been awhile since we road the boat, and the first time the kids had ever walked on vs being in the car. We parked the car in the lot, got a ticket and headed onto the 9am boat.

Since we left early we ate breakfast on the boat, Ariel and Xander both stuffed themselves with waffles, eggs and bacon, while all Mommy ended up with was toast, ha!

The ride over was nice and smooth. We walked around the boat a bit, the kids each got a small treasure from the gift shop and played in the kids zone. It wasn't long till we arrived at our destination... we were all eager to see Meeko! Xander kept looking out the window, I can't see him!!

We walked through the building to come off the boat and as we came through the doors there was Joanne with a tiny, furry head sticking out!!! I so wish I had gotten a photo, but I was too taken with our new little guy. He was so tiny, smaller than I remember Lucas being. The kids were in love, slowly reaching out their hands for him to sniff. Ariel was a bit more shy than I expected, but Xander was just wanting to get as close as he could, which was a real different reaction than I planned.

Joanne took us over to her van and we got to snuggle Meeko and fill out the paperwork. Such an exciting day, so we quickly texted Daddy at work this photo.

We chatted and asked questions about everything that I still had floating in my head. Joanne was telling us how hard it is to say good bye to the pups, I can't imagine...but I promised lots of photos. We headed home with our new boy on the 1pm ferry, this time going to the 'pet room' on the lower level. It was helpful to have Stella take the kids up and get some lunch and come back while I hung out with Meeko.

We dropped Stella off when we got back on the mainland, and headed home to introduce Meeko to his new surroundings. He had a lovely personality so far. He is very easy going, and likes his nap time and FOOD. As of today he is more comfortable and warming up to us, by coming up and wagging his tail. He was happy to see me in the morning so that was special. He sleeps so well in his crate, not a peep from the time we put him to bed till we get up in the morning. His potty training is going well so far, he was trained to use a potty patch, and for the most part does well with it with us. Makes living in a townhouse manageable with him and his potty needs.

We put on his new name tag on his puppy collar he came home in. The one we picked out for him will fit him in a few months most likely, but we love this one because it has hot dogs and sandwiches haha. His markings are stunning, he will be a gorgeous dog when he is full grown. He has a tiny white spot on the back of his head, haha too cute!

I have been taking Meeko on the porch in the mornings to get him use to our area. He is from a very quiet place on the island so the sounds of traffic I am sure are a change. He likes to stand and listen, then usually starts to shake a bit and wants to be snuggled. Shelties are generally timid dogs so there is much training that comes into getting them comfortable.

In the coming weeks Meeko will get the rest of his shots and then can start puppy classes. Lots to look forward to and we are excited to watch the kids grow up with him. 

Welcome to the family Meeko... we love you!

What a Feeling!

Wow, I looked on here last night to see when I last blogged, oops, its been awhile eh?

Ok, lets catch up on life...

First, dance competitions continued and finished up this week. Ariel danced at both Synergy and DreamTeam and her group did fantastic! I am slowly learning how each competition scores and ranks the kids, and they are all different! Confusing!!! I never get tired watching her open the dance, its so cute!

So at Synergy, they got a 'metal standing' of their skill and then a placement level against the others in the same age group. So they got 2nd place and a High Gold metal which is awesome, the only level higher is diamond. 

At DreamTeam its all individual best, so they dance a bunch of groups or solos and then bring them on stage to give them a mini critique and metal standing, very much like an episode of American Idol in my opinion haha. 'That wasn't working for me dog.' Anyhoo, they got a Gold metal, which is second highest, High Gold is the top here. They also got a choreography award which honored their teacher's great work! The girls were super clean at this one, a great performance. I was so giddy watching her. I am so proud of her hard work she put into this. Great work sweetie!

I ordered a few of the stage shots from this last one, because they got a few good ones, but I don't have them yet so I will post them when they arrive. Thus ends our first year of competitions, what a blast!!!

My birthday! I turned 34 this year on May 1st, gack! Almost mid 30's that feels weird to say. Haha. It was an exciting day with handmade cards and lots of eating out. My Dad and Rita took Xander and I out for breakfast at Ricky's, yum! Then Dad took Xander for me and I got to have lunch and girl time with Stella at White Spot, yum yum. It included a birthday brownie with sparkler, whee!

Then for dinner, Ken brought some some grub, since the man isn't a cook, and spared me cooking my own dinner. Haha. The kids presented lovely cards, Ariel made me a flower wreath, so pretty!

Xander drew a caterpillar with a cake on his head.

That afternoon also marked a HUGE event in our home, Ariel lost her FIRST TOOTH!!! Sound the trumpets, this has been a long time coming. Her tooth had been taking its sweet time and finally after school was hanging there barely. With her dance comp the next day I was worried it could pop out when she popped a move and she be crushed to lose it, so I called her over... and quickly pulled it out. She was yelping when she realized what I was doing but it was so quick and when I said 'look!' she stopped and laughed, that didn't hurt at all!

Then I started jumping around all excited because it was on my birthday and how cool that was, Xander started going bananas, 'Ariel lost her tooth, way to go!' He was so proud of her, and it was beyond adorable!

The tooth has yet to be collected by the tooth fairy... Mommy hadn't finished the pillow yet, its almost done. Ariel really wanted to have it for a few days before it went away, so its in a place of honor till we send it off. Stay posted for updates on our first visit from the tooth fairy. 

Finally, the biggest news... our PUPPY!

When last I mentioned him we were waiting on a puppy from the next litter most likely, that was indeed the case until we got a sad call saying the dog had something go wrong and ended up at the vet, with a c-section, and losing all but one puppy. We were crushed, as was the breeder since she knew we had been waiting so long. She called and said she was going to look into some fellow breeders and see if she could help get us on to another list... we were expecting to be waiting at least another few months.

Then a few days later we got a call from her, how soon do you want your puppy and what color? I was stunned, how soon are we talking. Turns out the Daddy dog from her litter, his brother on Vancouver Island had a litter born the same day has them, St Patricks day, and they had 6 puppies, and one available!!! The breeder called us and we chatted, and she emailed us photos. Well we were smitten.

Last night we got word she had picked her puppy to keep and we got first choice of the rest of them!!! Wow, how amazing is that! We emailed some questions, chatted, voted (facebook poll, lol) and then finally made our choice, which was the kid's first choice and ours all along.....

MEEKO!

He reminds me of my first sheltie Lucas, something in the eyes. We all were drawn to he little white blaze on his face, the only puppy in the group who had it like his daddy. I am beyond thrilled, and a tad emotional, haha. I can't wait to pick him up next MONDAY!!!

To mark the happy occasion we picked up his name tag today to take with us next week. So excited to have you join our crazy family Meeko, we love you already!

Coming to the end...

We are nearing the end of our long 3 weeks without Daddy, hence no blog updates. I just happened to have a few minutes while Ariel was at dance class to update on things here with us.

Its been a long haul, in the end I think we did really well, but I can say I am uber tired, and I am looking forward to that second set of hands coming home. Thankful for all the help we got from everyone while he was gone, from meals to babysitting, it really was awesome.

The hardest thing was getting to church with the kids and doing my job as Children's director, I found that probably the hardest. Trying to talk to people while keeping an eye on my own kids proved challenging. Ha! I love that they are so comfortable at church but with so many new people coming its hard to find them in the crowds when they take off with friends.

We ended up missing church this week as Ariel had her first dance competition at Peak Invitational!!! All the hard work has brought us to this point and it was very exciting. Overall they danced well as a group, a few mistakes but got 3rd place in their section. The professional photographer at the event got this great shot of Ariel as she is the first one out on stage before her group joins her. Love it!!!

She loves her little metal and is eager to hang it up some place special. Excuse the bad phone photos.

We have 2 more competitions to attend, but they are the first week of May so a bit of time to practice. Talk of the recital is already starting too, she is a bluebell for her ballet this year and her other jazz class is doing 'You Don't Know Your Beautiful'.

Work has been BUSY. I have had a huge surge in orders this month, nearly triple what I did last year during this month. Its been an adjustment with my time but I am thankful for the work, and so are my taxes, we got the 'lovely' surprise we had to pay in both countries this year. Basically there is a parallel tax system in place, which usually keeps us safe, but since we used some RRSPs for our down payment and those aren't taxable here, they are in the USA. Boo! Wasn't a terrible amount, but it still sucked. Thankful for extra work that is covering what we didn't expect, so God is good!

Xander has been having a rough time with Ken gone. The first few days were lots of 'when is Daddy coming home?' Then he didn't want to sleep in his bed the first few nights either and was very clingy, all very normal but made things a tad tricky when trying to get things done. Thankfully the days have flown by and he is excited to see Daddy on Thursday!

Ariel's long awaited 'report card' gift arrived last week. She had picked out the AG pet bath set, and both kids have had hours of entertainment washing the dogs.

Last Friday I got to go to the Marianas Trench concert with my friend Brenda. I really was sad Ken missed it but it was a wonderful night out and a great break for me! Brenda treated me to dinner since I offered the ticket to her for free. We got to catch up on Imagine That business then went to the concert at the Pacific Coliseum. It was an awesome show, and I taped a bit of Ariel's favorite song for her...



...and got her a shirt...er night gown haha.

Well, its time to get Ariel, so I will wrap this up. Thinking of those in Boston... sad events, we are praying for you.

Endings and Beginnings

Today was the end of Spring Break... I for one am ready for some normalcy and routine and I think the kids do too. Xander has been talking about his teacher and seeing her so we are more than ready. In the past 48 hours my emotions have been all over the place. On Saturday afternoon we got word from Ken's boss that they wanted him to stay longer in Australia due to the Pixar event being bigger than planned (sold out actually) and they were in need of help. So from what we expected was to be one week away turned into almost 3 weeks. So we had to quickly adjust and figure stuff out. Only a tad stressful, ack!

We drove him to the airport Sunday afternoon and late today we got to talk online. He looked really good for someone who was on a plane over 14 hours.

Sadly Ken will miss the concert we had tickets to, Mariana's Trench. I asked my friend Brenda if she wanted to go with me, and she was like, 'Sure! Who are they?' haha. Ah well, we will have fun... I've emailed various links to videos so she can get more familiar with the music but its a night out so I am sure we will enjoy it regardless.

Today was the 13th year since my mom died. I found myself very numb to it this year. I don't know if that is because Ken left yesterday and I am tired from 2 weeks of spring break craziness or what, but I found myself sitting at her grave with not much to say. We brought her some roses and had a quick photo via the phone.

Easter was amazing this year at church, a real celebration. Pastor Lee had some wonderful visual ideas to make it a real party and when you drop over 200 balloons on people it tends to help.

The blooming cross, I loved the bricks at the base that tied into the story that was read for the kids. 

We had Easter baskets at home for the kids. 

Ariel was excited to receive her first Bible! She is busy reading it and was eager to show it off on Sunday morning.

A few shots for our Easter card, the kids are really looking more grown up these days.. a tad shocking.

Xander has just lost all his chub in the past month, looking more like a little boy. His feet also grew, his toes popped out the front of his sneakers, making us go find a new pair quickly, haha.

Here is the little man in his new shoes with his hair cut, thankful we could get him in before Easter. 

Speaking of Xander, we visited our new dentist and we FINALLY got him to sit in the chair, and even have a full cleaning. It was amazing, and he happily watched tv while holding his new green toothbrush. The new office is great, and the people there were fantastic with the kids... a far cry from where we were at. Enough said!

So the lunches and snacks are packed for both kids to return to school tomorrow. Looking forward to some quiet time to myself... its been awhile. 

Spring Break 2013

We have been enjoying our break, the weather was a little late on the notice but its improving this week, yay. Last week we were busy with swimming lessons for both kids, at the same time (score!) and a few other fun activities. This was Xander's first time in lessons and so far so good. In fact, I was expecting some resistance, and for the most part there hasn't been much, except him not wanting to blow bubbles. Now I know the kid blows bubbles, he makes a mess in my bathroom nightly from it, so I told him and the teacher that he knows and he is just holding out. So we went to the pool today while Ariel was in gymnastics and did some practice. So we will see how this week goes. He doesn't care if he passes or not, its been a winning experience for the most part, no crying or screaming, haha.

Ariel is holding her own in swim kids 5. The class is 45minutes now and new strokes introduced and overall she is doing great. I think she will need to repeat it again unless she totally nails the whip kick this week. Her teacher said she is doing quite well, and has them doing more endurance drills since he notices she gets sloppy when she gets tired. So she is doing the full length of the pool 3 TIMES! Seriously!!! I think that is amazing in itself, especially when you see how tiny she is compared to her classmates. Part mermaid indeed!

Last week I had some intense orders that kept me busy, Friday was full day of doing 3 really fancy ones, including these, the Tiffany box...

...and The Cat in the Hat. This was pretty exciting to finish, and fun to look at... sometimes its amazing how they come together, I really should do photos making them some time, as they aren't so pretty in the middle stages, haha.

I took the kids to the mall one of the rainy days and we picked up a new swim suit for Ariel who was still squeezing in to size 4s but really needed something a bit more her age. She picked a cute tankini and loves it.

Then we got each kid a spring outfit, hoping to encourage Spring to show up.

We celebrated Palm Sunday and boy was it exciting to have more than 3 kids wave branches this year. The kids were totally pumped and ran around the sanctuary and then led the congregation in a song. Looking forward to Easter and we even invited friends this year who aren't church goers so that is cool!

After the service we got invited to join some of the other young families to a park playdate, and had a fantastic time hanging out for several hours in Steveston. The kids had a ball and got a good workout while we visited. I am so happy to have more people our age at church, its a huge blessing. We have been lonely for a long time, so on the way home we were both content and eager for next time.

Puppy update, 2 new puppies born, but we are second in line and if the family before us decides to pass we will have a BOY puppy! They other dog is due in another 3 weeks so if we don't get this boy we get a puppy for sure from this next group. The breeder has been sending photos and they are so special and make it hard to wait at the same time. Hoping the next time we share we have a photo of our new furry baby!!!'

A few other tidbits. Ariel and I went to the fabric store one day to pick out some material to make Marie Grace a new dress because that poor girl has no clothes. It turned out lovely and I see lots of doll clothes making in my future. Possibly for birthday girls for Ariel's friends who have dolls like hers. How cool would that be!

One rainy night I felt like comfort food, so we did home made macaroni and cheese, yum. I added some wiener octopus, because I can. I remember seeing these at Disneyland and thought it be cute. Xander ate his head and decided that was enough, haha.

We are going to our new dentist tomorrow, so that is exciting. We have several playdates planned and then its EASTER! Woot! Its been nice having the kids around... it will be sad to see them go back to school next week... and yet I look forward to the silence... just a bit. Hee.

Oh and big news for our little girl... she is going to CAMP this summer!!! After her asking lots of questions after reading about camp, and not finding one that fit our schedule, a friend from church mentioned Camp Squeah has a jr camp program which was 2 nights and its in August which works for us! She was so so so excited when we told her and I am excited for her since I LOVED going to camp. It will be so amazing for her and her spiritual life. So we may decide to do a little 2 night trip near by the camp, just to have a little vacation too, since we never get away in the summer, so we will see... but eek!