Bring on the Crazy!

So the big second week after school starting was the beginning of activities for the kids. I shared Xander started gymnastics again but Ariel had to wait till the end of the week till her stuff started again. She is dancing in 5 classes, and we started back with ballet. She is now in Grade 1 ballet, and that meant a new uniform for class. She is now in the navy blue with no skirt, and boy does that make them look older!

We just got her character skirt this week so I will post a photo with that next week. She is very excited to use the special shoes in class, haha. Ariel is really enjoying the lyrical class so far, and the production jazz class is going to be amazing!!! What can I say, if its dance, its great!

We had our first Brownie troop meeting. Meet Brown owl... aka me. Yep, I took on a pile of crazy, but its all good. Still finding my footing with everything, but just trying to sort out our numbers at this point. Trying to get all the girls on the waitlist in. So many things to understand paperwork wise... makes my head spin a bit.

This year the kids are able to take AWANAS, something that I always thought would be great if it every worked for us, finally this year it did! Ariel is a Spark and Xander a Cubby, both earned their vests the following week working hard at learning their verses. Ariel is great at memorizing stuff, but this was a first for Xander to really see him work at something. Oh he wanted that vest so badly. When I came to pick him up I watched him glow with pride when his name was called for learning 4 verses and getting that vest and program book, and cute bag to boot! I wish I could have captured that smile, this was so awesome for him. This quick and silly photo coming home sums up his glee.

Happy Spark! Ariel has been working hard this week and is up to 9 verses memorized... a sponge I tell ya! I remember when my brain was that good, haha.

Ariel's school had its open house and meet the teacher night. We got to see her new classroom and meet her lovely teacher. She is settling in well and we will see how things go.

What else to say... um, oh, we have Halloween costumes picked, Mommy has to start sewing soon. Ariel is working hard for her upcoming pageant, lots of practicing and Xander is her faithful audience... and harsh judge too I might add. She has a new routine for Broadway doll that is amazing. Grandpa is building her prop, costume is done, she got her photos done, so we moving in the right direction.

Ok, its time to call it a day. I delivered 2 wedding cakes today, so that was someone exhausting. Sleep now....zzzz

New School Year!

So as of today, both kids are now back at school! We survived, woot! As the rest of this week rolls out so do the start of activities and such, so once that happens we will be groovin'. Yes I really just said that. Haha.

Last week we saw our princess start grade 2! It was a slow week as we didn't get her class and teacher assigned until Thursday morning. Nothing funnier than watching parents stand around outside because they know its FINALLY happening and peaking in windows to see who the kids got. Ariel was going to be in either a 1/2 split or a 2/3. Of course there were pros and cons to both options and when it finally was announced she was in the 1/2. The good things, the class teacher is wonderful, I hear only fantastic things about her. Ariel REALLY wanted her as her teacher last year, so its nice she gets to have her. The hard side of things, she is a small group of her peers again. She was 1 of 8 last year with 11 kindergarten students in the K/1 split, and this year she is 1 of 9 grade 2s with 15 grade 1s. So another year with a small peer group, and she really misses being with a lot of those kids as the other group is primarily a grade 2 class with a few grade 3s. With a small school we totally knew these are things we would deal with, and we totally understand, but its hard to get picked 2 years solid to be in the smaller group.

Ariel is a great kid who generally thrives with whatever situation she is given, however the first few days she was a tad sad, and it was totally transition. She was frustrated with the noise when trying to work, and I kept assuring her the younger ones would settle soon. This week seems to be better and I am sure as things go on it will be a wonderful experience for her. She is such a leader and younger kids just love her. I had parents tonight from the new kindergarten groups telling me how their kids talked about her and the impression she left on them, makes me a proud momma.

She is looking so grown up these days, and that first adult front tooth is finally coming in so her looks are going to change so much this year.

Dance starts this week, so expect photos next time as we start those up, yay!

Xander started today his last year of preschool. He had one new teacher in his class as one of his teachers last year isn't working full time this year. He handled it beautifully and I know her as a fellow dance mom from our studio. Small world!

This year was so different for Xander, he walked into class and didn't look back. No tears, stress and he was ready. Amazing how much they grow in a few months. I will admit he was a bit bummed not to be at Ariel's school this year.... one more year, soon... which I do look forward to just for drop off sake and not having to rush to another place within minutes. He had a great class and was excited about show and tell starting soon. I am so proud of my little man.

Today was also Xander's first day back at gymnastics and boy did he have a great time. Colin is in his class again and they are having lots of fun. He loved his new shirt they gave him... can you tell?

We are thankful for our children's amazing teachers and feel blessed they get to be in wonderful schools. As parents we are praying for a good year for both of them.

Xander's 4th Birthday

We FINALLY had Xander's party with his friends this past weekend. It was a simple party, Xander just wanted kids to come over and play in his room, have cake, read his birthday book and have a good time. The boy has had in his head that he was having an Angry Bird party for over a year. In fact I think after his last birthday he announced it, well he got it and it was perfect for him.

Eagerly awaiting his guests to arrive!

The Angry Bird cake, this was fun to make. Xander watched me the WHOLE time I made it. He even drew a picture of what he wanted it to look like. Haha. 

This photo makes me realize how much he has grown up this summer. Wow, seems so big here!

We read his new book we wrote for him called 'Xander Man' - as he is into superheros these days. Then we watched his photo video... he picked out Beatles music for it. He sang along while the video played, super cute!

Our present to him was a second hand bike, its perfect and just a tad big so he will be able to grow well into it. He also got some Angry Bird stuff, books and money.

Our guests left and Dad and Rita stuck around for dinner with us, so we made up an Angry Bird pizza. Well that rocked his world! I saw it on pinterest and it was so easy but his face was priceless. 

Happy Birthday little man, I can't believe how fast you are growing up. Slow down a bit... for Mommy. Hehe.

The Countdown is on...

Its September!!! Wow, it came fast after several weeks of craziness work, fun times with the family and a few birthdays. So going to do a quick catch up and then on to what is happening in the next few weeks!

First off we celebrated Ariel's official 7th birthday on the 14th. Its amazing that our first born is already 7... that seemed to happen so fast. She has had an amazing year and we are eager to see what this one brings our little social butterfly. She is so excited for school to start that she is driving us all a bit crazy. I guess its a good problem to have. I did a little look back at her over the past 7 years, such a cutie!

The weekend of her birthday we decided to take a trip down to Seattle for some outlet shopping as Ken needed some new work clothes and Ariel had money to spend at American Girl from her birthday. Ariel and I had a fun time having lunch in the bistro, getting her doll a new hair do (including a tiara which she was most excited about so the doll can be royalty like her)

During our flower pot pudding desserts, they sang happy birthday and gave her a candle. 

Following our AG time we met up with the boys and got clothes for Ken. This was also our first trip down using our our Nexus cards. Can I say how much I enjoyed driving across both times at the border in minutes vs sitting in our car for over an hour. Worth every penny!!!

We had a chance to see Ken's cousin Bobby and his wife Kate when they came up briefly for a visit while on a vacation. All of us went to dinner in Vancouver and had a great visit. We don't get many of Ken's family in our neck of the woods so it was very special. Then a few days later Ken's Aunt Nancy, Uncle Bill and cousin Trevor were in town briefly as they boarded a cruise ship, due to schedules I couldn't get the kids downtown early for breakfast so Ken went and had a lovely visit. 

Some other exciting things to share. We found a second hand bike for Ariel on the Ladner Swap page. Brand new, used twice for $50. Ariel was so excited, as her old bike was too small for her now. Every night Ken would take her to the park to practice riding it and she is now a pro... but had one minor setback one evening when she wore her flip flops and caught her toe. This resulted in lots of blood under the nail bed, and there was no way she was going to let me do the make a hole and drain it. So it looks like she may lose the nail and need to grow a new one, it feels loose, but we will find out soon enough what happens. Upon telling her what would happen she actually took it really well. Live and learn.

Ariel also got her royalty jacket! She was very excited to finally have it and wear it to events. We have a big pageant in October that she is practicing for. Its a broadway theme and she has an amazing new routine that is going to be so cool, but I can't share until afterwards as its a suprise. 

The quilt and car show came to town again and our friend Tessa's Dad had a car both kids loved... wonder why eh? Xander felt like he was meeting a celebrity. He was totally amazed by it, and it makes up for the fact we won't be going to Disneyland this fall now. We need to wait as Xander is too short for the McQueen ride by 3 inches, so hoping next fall.

Ariel is starting grade one ballet this year, which means new shoes for class. She still uses her regular ballet ones but will start character work this year and needed the character shoes and skirt. We are hoping to get the character skirt at the swap but if not, Mommy will be sewing one. Can you tell how excited she is for heels! So she will be doing 2 ballet classes, in preparation for exams next year. This year she will take part in a 'presentation' which is like an exam but not as strict. Gives the girls a chance to experience what it will be like and what to expect. 

Along with ballet she is doing 2 jazz classes, one is her competition group from last year and the other is a new competition group which is a mix of older girls and younger girls for a production number. Very exciting. Then finally she is adding lyrical this year, which she is most excited about. After getting our copy of the recital dvd from the spring, we really do see how much this is her gift. She shines on stage, and I am thankful we can let her grow in this.

Then it was time to celebrate our little man's birthday. He turned the big 4 and wow has he grown this past summer.

We are having his party with his friends soon but in the meantime we had a mini family celebration at Dad and Rita's. Xander got a new scooter, pretty excited I think.

Xander is also ready to go back to school. He has been doing lots with his letters and numbers this summer. He can now spell his name out loud which is awesome... and in his spare time he likes to try on dog Halloween costumes... yep that is our boy!

Speaking of Halloween costumes, the kids have decided what the theme is this year. I will say its actually easier for me, so that is a plus... so I will be starting those soon.

Yesterday we did a massive clean up in Xander's room, rearranged things and sold a bunch of toys on the swap page. Xander was very excited and loves the changes, which give him more room to play.

We are starting to look for a big boy bed for his room. He has said he doesn't want the car anymore, so I am trying to find something that would work well. Maybe a mates bed with the storage underneath. Either way, it will be fun to start looking. He is really growing up fast too these days.

 So this week Ariel starts school and then next week Xander does, and activities start again. I will be taking some photos, not just phone ones, yep I have been lazy, but I was enjoying my time this summer vs trying to capture everything perfectly. I am excited for fall and cooler days. I have more to say but I need to get going so I will blog soon, bye!

Mini Break!

Well we managed to get away for a few days... I can't recall the last time that happened for awhile! On Sunday morning we left to drive Ariel up to Camp Squeah for her mini camp of 2 nights. Meeko went to spend the weekend with Dad and Rita (thank you!). We loaded up the car and made our way up to Hope. I can't remember the last time I was up that way, its been awhile for sure.

We drove for an hour listening to Adventure in Odyssey cds, so glad the kids enjoy them as much as I do. Ken got his first listen to them and quite liked them too. In Abbotsford we stopped for lunch at Red Robins, so thing we don't have close to us so it was a fun treat. Ariel thought she died and went to heaven with the cheesy macaroni.  Another hour on the road and we made it to Hope and to the camp.

As we drove in we saw a huge painted sign saying 'Fellowship of the King' which of course caught my Lord of the Rings loving husband. Sure enough it was the theme of the camp that summer.

Registration was fast and Ariel was assigned to cabin 'Daisy'. We grabbed her gear and made our way over the the cute cabins. This was my first experience to Squeah, as I was always a camper/leader at Camp Tulahead which was up in Princeton. I was going in as blind as Ariel was, but there was something very warm and inviting about this camp. We then saw a familar face standing on the deck of the cabin, Sarah! Ariel smiled and ran up the stairs, as she knew Sarah from our church. She had told Ariel she was at Squeah this summer and I wonder if she got Ariel put into her cabin, but either way it was a fun surprise.

Ariel picked a top bunk, something she always wanted to try.

It was then time to say goodbye. She was fine, a bit reserved and goofy which is her way of being nervous. We drove away and I was misty, it was hitting me how big this was. Thankfully we didn't have far to drive to get to Chilliwack to where we were staying a few days. However it took longer than we thought as we hit a huge line of traffic. Ken checked his phone on twitter and discovered there had been a huge accident, and so we ended up waiting over an hour shuffling along. When we saw the car involved finally it didn't look good for whoever was driving it... very sad, praying they were ok.

I had a free hotel stay from doing work for a tourism fellow. He has said it was old fashioned and under most cases that would have been fun for me, but when traveling with a 3 year old that doesn't always work. Our room was super cute, but it was TINY. 2 small rooms connected but no floor space at all, and no tub but a very small shower, which Xander won't go near at all. It just wasn't going to work for the little guy, so Ken went down to see if we could get a different room. They had another that was better but didn't have any charm like the other room, so it was function over cute. It had 2 beds in the same room and more floor space and a tub. It felt really warm and we discovered over the course of the next 2 days the 'a/c' wasn't so good... it was cooler in the hallway. Sigh... oh well, it was free. We also were in a pretty old part of town, we actually didn't realize until the last night that going over the overpass would take you into the new part with what would have been some better options for us. Again, oh well.

The first night we found a small place for dinner, and it wasn't too bad. We had fun joking about snails as we tried escargot for the first time. If you have seen Steve Martin's the Jerk then you would get our humor. Haha. I got a great photo of Xander and Ken with the snails via my phone. Tee hee!

The next morning was the holiday Monday so most things were closed. I had managed to find online a cute farm not too far away doing a 'brunch' as a holiday special. So we headed down in hopes of some fun and adventure. Well when we arrived we were not disappointed! Simply, IT WAS AMAZING! 

They had cute tables set up under a tent with hay bales to sit on and cut flowers making it pretty and colorful. They had beautiful tea cups set out to pick from, oh had we found something perfect for me! Haha. They had another tent set up and when you walked through it was filled with farm grown goodness. 

This farm's specialty was cheese, and had lots of goats and cows, so they had so many wonderful cheeses, it was so so so good. Then lots of homemade bread, jams, honey, butter, yogurt, salads with feta and goat cheese, quiches, potato salad, ham, water buffalo, smokies, berries, whipping cream and shortcakes, pies and chocolate cupcakes. Everything was made by hand, on this farm. The ham was the most moist thing I have ever had. The cream for my tea was stunning. We ate ourselves silly... seriously we didn't eat again till dinner. Xander had lots too and he was free as he was under age 6, score!

After we finished we got to see the animals and that was probably Xander's favorite part. He cried when it was time to say goodbye to the kitty and the goats. Our little animal lover.

Next up was a trip to Minter Gardens. We hadn't been since Natalie and Peter's wedding so it was a treat to go again before it closes this October. It gave Xander a great opportunity to run, and Mommy to take photos. It was relaxing to shoot flowers and just stroll through the gardens. 

Some of my favs...

Xander found the outhouse for the dwarf... he claimed it his own, haha.

He even let me take a few shots of him, such a cute little man!

We were pretty tired after all our walking and headed back to the hotel and got a blizzard on the way, yum. By the time it was dinner time and we could think about eating again, we found out about other restaurants on the other side of the overpass. We made our way and Xander picked tacos. In typical fashion they handed Ken our order, only it wasn't our order but someone else's, so they gave us ours but told us to keep that order too... so we had a crazy amount of taco stuff now. We bagged most of it up and enjoyed taco treats through out the evening. 

The next morning we checked out and made our way to find pancakes, again Xander's choice. Then we got on the road to camp to pick up our girly. We got to watch the closing with some songs, a cute slide show and quick info on what had happened during their time there.  

Ariel then came over to find us and Xander hugged her like crazy. He really had missed her, even to the point where he carried his toy phone those few days in case she would call him. Too sweet! We picked up a t-shirt and started the journey home. Ariel telling us all about her adventures. She was sad, probably a mix of tired and things coming to an end. She is eager for next summer now, its amazing how much they can grow in such a short time... she felt older when we picked her up. Wow.

So that ends our mini vacation, hope you enjoyed getting a small insight to our trip, but now its time for bed, I have lots of cakes to make this week.

Last Month of Summer

Hello August, you came quickly! Before you know it will be September and back to school for the kids. This month is filled with wedding orders, birthdays and a few family visits. Should be a wonderful month of fun!

We survived the 4th summer of the Imagine That Arts Camp, and had a record number of kids come, 135 I believe was the final headcount. Its always tiring but so inspiring to live such an intense week of art. We had both Ariel and Xander take part as well. Xander in the preschool class and Ariel too mixed media and sewing. They loved their time there and it was great to see such a different Xander at camp this time, taking part and making stuff vs not making stuff, haha. We look forward to next year and enjoy our rest... ahh.

(you might have to watch the video via youtube)



The Saturday following the camp was Ariel's birthday party with her friends. Ariel had wanted a ballet themed party, and wanted Auntie Kara to come and teach her friends, so once we compared schedules the only weekend that worked for both of us was that one Saturday after camp. At the time I always forget how tired I am after camp, but we managed to pull it off.... although there were tears about 1130pm the Friday night following the Celebration Night for camp as I was trying to make Ariel's cake last minute. After a short moment of 'ack' things started falling into place and the cake was done and the scene set.

Ariel awoke the next morning and LOVED her cake.

Our theme was snowflake ballerinas, after I had seen a beautiful craft of making a ballerina with a snowflake skirt... it was the whole inspiration for the party theme....but I realized that I forgot to make it, so that stunk as it tied everything together, as its kinda odd to think snow with ballet, oh well. Something to laugh about.

I pulled out some stuff from my Christmas stuff and kept things simple and sweet. The ballerina with the snowflake skirt was to hang from the light... doh... maybe I can photoshop it in, haha.

Ariel was dressed in her favorite ballet dress up outfit and ready for her friends to arrive. 

The girls arrived, dressed in the blue tutus we had gotten for them to wear. I made little head pieces for them to add to the fun. Its amazing how much they have grown since last year. 

Auntie Kara brought her pointe shoes for the girls to try on, Ariel was thrilled!!!

A pretty special party indeed! Kara helped choreograph a cute dance for them to perform and tape, which I emailed to the parents following the party. A big thank you to Kara for making Ariel's 7th birthday so special!

Ariel got her present from us early, Saige, the new American Girl doll she was longing for. The girl loves her dolls.

Then on Sunday morning we had our Art's service. Kara had worked with a group of our church's girls for the past several Wednesday evenings for a dance presentation. Most of the girls don't have much dance background but they did such an amazing job, it was so awesome! Do watch the video, it will make you smile.

(you might have to watch the video via youtube)

This week I was back to my regular cake orders and helping order the Royalty jackets for National girls. Speaking of which, we got the photos from the pageant, these are a few of my favs!

Ariel in formal wear and personal introduction

Personal Fashion, love this outfit on her!

Commercial

Speech Arts  

Crowning! See those directors chairs behind her, that is what she gets one with her name on it next summer when she finishes her service. She is very excited about it!

Royalty shot

Ariel is excited about her jacket, I'll post photos when it arrives. They are super cute! As for now, we are just packing her up for her 2 night mini camp experience. When did she get to be old enough to go to camp?!  

Ok, off to finish the laundry... whee!