Rain, wind, clouds and yes finally some sunshine!!

The first 5 days of our holiday have gone by pretty quick.  It certainly got off to a shaky start.  First of all when we arrived at the airport last Wednesday, I had quite the scare.  Josh was parking the van and me and the kids and all the luggage were trying to get checked in.  I have always done the checking in while Josh parks so this is nothing new and I am always very organized, all the papers, passports, confirmations etc in the right places.  So I got out the confirmation numbers, filled in the customs papers and headed into the check-in line up.  I reached into the front pocket to grab our passports and pulled them out to count them (hey when you are dealing with 6 people, you count ALOT!!  So I counted 1,2,3,4,5......... 1,2,3,4,5.......a little panicky, reach back into the pocket - nothing.  Check the floor around us, nothing.  Check the pocket again - nothing.  So I check them to see who's is missing, it's Josh's we are missing.  Call him, he doesn't have it.  Get out of the check in line up and start to really panic, flight leaves in 2 hours and we still need to check in, clear security, clear customs and make at least 3 or 4 bathroom breaks.  SO I retrace my packing in my mind and then I have a flashback of me telling Josh to sign his passport (we just renewed them a few weeks ago).  So where is it?  Did I leave it at home?  I start to go through the backpack again and Low and behold, there it is, in a different pocket!!!!  Thank goodness.

So we check in, go through security where they kindly throw out my brand new shampoo and conditioner (my fault for putting it in the carryon by accident - when will I learn!!)  Then on to customs and off to the gate.  Yeah we survived the first leg.  Fly to Seattle then go get lunch as we have a 3 hour lay-over.  So about 45 minutes before we are supposed to take off we head to our gate.  If you have ever been to Seattle airport -it's big.  You have to tram to some gates.  So we find the gate we belong at.  Double check the boarding passes and sit down and wait for them boarding calls.  NOTHING.....now it is 20 minutes to take off and nothing.... so I go over to the gate and it says Maui - not Oahu??  I talk to the lady at the desk and she informs me that they moved gates...great we didn't know because our boarding passes were printed in vancouver..... and the gate is back at the other end of the airport.  So we and all our carry ons stroller kids etc go flying back to the tram, and find our new gate, we hopped on with about 12 minutes to spare.  A bit of a stressful start to the 6 hour plane ride!!  But from there the 6 hours were not too bad.  the kids were so good, many people even commented to us after, how well behaved they all were.  Leah was exhausted but she hung in there and she didn't barf all over me like she did last year!!

We got to the hotel a little late, put the kids in bed and settled in.  Then we woke up the next morning to a massive wind storm, like wind like you've never seen.  It was still warm but WOW!!  It was so windy you could not go out on the beach without being pelted with sand.  The next day it poured, and poured and poured.  We went the zoo in the rain - it was actually nice because the zoo was very quiet and because it was raining and not super hot all the animals were out and about.  We actually had a great time.  Got a little wet but still had fun.  The next day the sun arrived and it has kindly stuck around.

The resort is beautiful, the beach we are on is amazing.  the kids can snorkel right inside the bay and they have seen lots of fish and even a big sea turtle!!  I love running on the boardwalk.  It I lived in hawaii I am sure I would be in far better shape.  There is nothing more exhilarating than running in the early morning along the ocean boardwalk with the amazing smells, the warm breeze and the sound of the waves.  It is my favourite way to run!  It is very hard to go home and run on the treadmill after running outside in Hawaii!

Here are a couple of shots, they aren't the best but they give you an idea of what we have seen.
I am not a fan of any pictures of me - this picture is no exception to that, but I am rarely in any pictures so here is proof that I am here in Hawaii with my family on a cloudy day at the beach!

Two of my favourite people in all the world!

This is North beach at the tip of the island, it is where all the surf competitions happen - if you look close you can see a person in that wave, it was a pretty big wave!

The beginning of the sunset - taken from our deck.

Beautiful hawaiin sunset from our deck.

This is Oahu on a VERY windy day!

Zoe creating things in the sand! And a little Birdie in the rain, he didn't seem to mind it!!

I wanted to finish off by saying that I have kept up part of my news years resolution.  The first part of it was to do an act of service for at least one member of my family every day.  I have not gone particularly out of my way to do this because really all day every day, I am serving them, especially my kids.  Its my job and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I still look for ways to serve them, but I have continued to find things to be grateful for every day.  I try and think of things every day because when I do I am happier and have greater appreciation for all I am blessed with.  My thought of gratitude today is for my sense of smell.  I love fresh smells of nature and there are no shortage here in Hawaii.  First thing int he morning it smells amazing outside.  It is a combination of fresh sea air, flowers and wet plants.  It is amazing and I am grateful to be able to enjoy it!

I love cyber days

I am grateful for cyberschool.  Avri who is in grade 6 this year is part of a program her school offers called "cyberschool".  2 days a week she works from home.  She participates in a 1 hour online lesson with her whole class and then spends the rest of the day at home completing her assignments and submitting them on line.  It is so great because it has allowed me to have more time with Avri outside of the regular hussle and bussle of our life.  SHe absolutely loves the program - Avri is very much a home body and she is close to both Josh and I.  She is also quite shy but cyberschool has offered her a different learning environment 2 days a week and it has really helped her to connect better with a few of her peers and she is sort of starting to break out of her shell a little more.  She is loving all the technology and computer programs that she is learning how to use.  She is very good at computers!!  She understands them better then me half the time!  I have noticed such a positive change in her this year.  Her teacher is also wonderful so he deserves some good credit too!  I am very grateful for the public school system that we have available to us.  It is not perfect of course, but it is really good and our experiences with it over the past 7 years, with 3 different kids is good.  This program in particular is so great.  I am not confident enough, organized enough, or motivated enough to homeschool my children but I do find it a little hard to let them go to school 5 days a week for 6 hours a day.  I worry about not having enough influence in their life.  The beauty of this program is that it allows the student to connect to their home just a little bit more, but I don't have to do the work:)

Today's act of service for my family was for Avri.  I helped her proof read and complete a power point story that she created with pictures and words.  She is so creative.  I really enjoyed spending the time with her and getting a little glimpse into her creative mind!

It was a great day - we didn't get much new snow today, we were kind of hoping for some more snow to play in.  Oh well maybe tomorrow!!

piper update and fun in the snow :)

Oh my gosh today was a wild and crazy busy day around here.  IT started out terrible with 3 grumpy kids to get ready for school!  HAPPY MONDAY!!  I have to say it was one of those days when I shut the door behind them I was grateful to have a few hours with just one child!!  I had a million things I wanted to get done in case we got snowed in for a few days, so Leah and I headed out to get groceries, gas and do a few errands.  At Costco we found a super fun sled ( I couldn't resist when I saw it, I knew the girls would be super duper excited!!)  We managed to get all our errands done and beat the snow!  Then we came home and did some laundry and house work and got ready for the girls to come home from school.  I started to pull out snow pants boots, mitts and hats and get us organized to go out and play in the snow.  This is not super easy when we are talking about 4 kids in ever changing sizes!!  I managed to find stuff that would more or less fit but at the very least keep them warm enough!!  They were pretty excited to try out the new sled!!  So this would be my act of service for the day - playing in the snow for an hour with the kids.  To some people that would be just plain fun, but I don't particularly like the snow, I don't like to be cold and I still had a few zillion things to do in the house, but I knew they would love it so I grabbed my camera, the sleds, the dog and out we went!!  It wasn't ideal for sledding because the snow was very fluffy but we managed to make it work!  This was one of Leah's first experiences with snow, she loved it!!  Avri handed her a snowball and she wound up and chucked it at me ;)  Piper was having a hayday out in the snow, jumping and rolling around.  I think she was happy about her test results from the vet!  I got the phone call about 1pm today from our vet and when he told me that it was just a cyst and it was all removed with no further treatment needed, I was so relieved.  I have tried so hard not to dwell on it or think about it too much over the past week but it definitely was on my mind.  This time it was happy tears!!  I swear she had an extra skip in her step too!!  Check out how much fun she was having in the snow with us today!

 Happy to be out in the fresh air and catching snow flakes on her big pink tongue!

 This is Piper making snow angels!!  Even a few stitches can't stop her!!






The girls and I had a ton of fun out side!!  The snowman is actually from Saturday - Josh made it with Zoe and Leah.  It is the cutest thing ever, Leah is constantly talking about "frosty" in the yard and tonight she requested that frosty put her to bed ;)  I tried to explain that he would melt if we brought him inside.  She talked to him today and brought him snow cakes - so sweet!!  My older girls were so good to the younger two - pulling them up and down the hill on the sleds (it just wasn't quite slippery enough to go n your own).  Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure!

We had so much fun outside.  The girls were supposed to dance tonight but we were beat from being outside all afternoon, and the snow was coming down in buckets so we decided to hang out at home and have a family night!  It was pretty nice not to rush all over the place to three different dance classes.  We finished the night baking cookies (Avri Mika and me) and they were yummy!!  So tonight I am grateful for my girls.  Having girls was a huge dream of mine (I am sure I would not have been disappointed with boys and absolutely adore my 3 nephews) but I always wanted girls to do all those girly girl things with like hair, nails, crafts, baking and all things fun!  I never in my wildest dreams thought I would end up with 4!  How blessed am I to have 4 daughters.  They are by far the best part of my life (ok Josh is pretty great too!!) and although having four kids has some (ok lots) of challenges and many people think we are crazy, I wouldn't change it for anything.  It's nights like tonight when we jump into our jammies and bake cookies together that I realize just how lucky I am.  All four of them are very different, some are more like me, some are more like Josh and all four are their own individual person and I am proud of each one of them.  I am very lucky to me mom to these 4 girls.

let it snow!

I don't know where the weekend went but it has come and gone so fast that it feels like it never really happened!!   It was a fun weekend though.  Friday was a good day - how can't it be a good day when it is hot dog day at school!!  I was grateful for hotdog day, I am not even kidding.  I LOVE hotdog day because it means that I do not have to make a lunch for 3 kids!!  3 kids who all like different things.  A lunch that can not include anything with peanut s(or any nuts for that matter) as it is a peanut free school!  I really dislike making lunched, especially at 7:30 morning.  In fact there is not much that I do like to do at 7:30 in the morning, but lunch making is very low on the list!!  So Friday I was very grateful for hotdog day!!  My act of Service for Friday making hot breakfast for the family.  I even got up earlier than usual to make them all fresh waffles with strawberries and whip cream and orange pineapple smoothies.  Let me tell you, this  makes me very popular!!  I love giving the kids (and Josh) a nice hot breakfast before they leave for the day.  It works out especially well when I don't have to make lunches that day!  Then while the kids were at school I made a cake for sweet niece who was having her 1st birthday party that night.  I love to bake and decorate cakes and cupcakes!

Then I left Josh with the kids to take dinner to an older lady from our church (93 years old!!) who just got released from the hospital.  She really doesn't give a hoot what you bring her for dinner, what she really wants is company.  So I had 30 minutes to visit with her before I carried on to the birthday party for my niece and nephew.  We had a great time at the party!  We didn't get home until around 9:00 and then I had to make some cupcakes for our highland competition on Saturday!!  Again I love to bake so offered to bring 2 dozen baked goods.  They need approx 10 dozen things donated to sell.  I made some really cute rainbow cupcakes :)

Didn't get to bed until 1am!!  And of course the snow was coming down in buckets!!  I had a hard time sleeping because I was so worried about driving in the snow for the competition on Saturday!!  Saturday we were up around 6:30 to start getting ready.  I had to be out the door by 7:45 to go help set up.  thankfully the snow had stopped but on Saturday I was grateful for the snow.  I think the snow is absolutely beautiful!!  It looks amazing when it coats everything, all the branches and fences and ground, especially when you rise at 6:30 on saturday and it is 100% untouched!  that is awesome!  But the real reason that I am grateful for it is that my children LOVE it.  They woke up giddy with excitement because they have been waiting all year for it!  They love to play in it and toboggan in it build snow man and have snowball fights.  I love their enthusiasm for it!!  Saturday's act of service was for Avri and Mika - we stayed extra long after the competition so that they could play with their friends out in the snow.  It is nice that all the girls from their dance school get along so well!  They did great dancing too.  Avri got 3 first places and 1 second place, she won the aggregate for her category.  Mika won a 1st place and a 4th place.  She would have placed in her reel as well but they had a fill in who made a mistake that effected her - too bad but that is just the way it goes! She was happy with how she did and so was I!  Zoe got first place in all 4 of her dances!!  She was pretty thrilled with herself!  Busy day, but a good one too!

Today was pretty quiet in comparison to the rest of the weekend.  Church in the morning, then the kids played outside in the snow for a long time in the afternoon.  They had their friend Emma over and they played great together all of them!  Today I am grateful for my warm house.  I love my house.  It is not always as clean and organized as I would like it, there are usually toys on the floor, dishes in the sink and laundry piling up but I am so grateful for it.  When the weather gets so cold like this I shudder to think that are people who have no where to go, no where warm to sleep.  I am so grateful that that is not a worry for me. My act of service was for Mika this evening.  I may sort of  favor her sometimes.  My sweet Mika, she is your classic middle child who struggles to find her place in the family.  She needs a little extra love, a little extra reassurance, and a little extra attention.  She is a gift to me. SHe loves to help me and do things for me.  So tonight she wanted me to put her hair in a bunch of braids so it would be all wavy in the morning.  I'll try to snap a picture before she leaves for school.  Although a small part of me hopes it is a snow day so they can stay home and play in the snow all day :)

Peacocks and Music.

Well I sort of failed at the new years resolution today - kind of half failed I guess.  It was a very busy day and it really just zipped by and it wasn't until I walked out the door for a baby shower at 6:00pm that I realized I hadn't really done my act of service for someone in my immediate family today.  I don't even know where the day went.  While I was flying into Costco at top speed this afternoon to get some much needed groceries I saw something kind of catch my eye in the frozen dirt in the garden bed where we parked.  I bent over to get a closer look and I noticed that it was a feather - a peacock feather!  It had the peacock eye on the end of it and it was quite pretty, so I picked it up and as I did I was thinking how much Zoe would love to take this to school for kindergarden show and tell!  That was what one part of me was the thinking, the other part was thinking ewwwwwww, who knows how many weird and nasty germs are festering on this feather, don't even think about picking it up (never mind bringing it home for your daughter to tote around and take to school with her.)  But the soft side of me took over when I thought of the delight it would bring to Zoe, who every week looks for something unique and fun to bring for show and tell.  I was right - she was beyond excited when I showed it to her.  Her brown eyes got big as saucers when she saw it and I told her should could have it.  Then she reminded me of the time we had a peacock in our yard!!  Really we did!  A few years ago we were out front and the kids were riding around on bikes and what do you know this peacock comes sauntering up our driveway.  It stayed in our back yard for 2 days!!  The cat was horrified  by it and the dog was intrigued!   Then it got scared for whatever reason and let out this HONKING noise that was so loud it scared us all half to death!!  We ever have video of it that the kids love to watch!  So after reminiscing about the peacock Zoe says "I am pretty sure this feather is from that peacock that was in your yard mom!"  What a sweetheart, I am glad I went against my first eww gross instincts and kept the feather for her!!

My gratitude thought for the day is for music.  Music is a huge part of my life as well as my families life.  We enjoy all types of music in this house!  I like the way music can cheer me up - I love to listen to it loud when I am driving by myself in the van.  I love to listen to quiet music when I am feeling a little mellow. I love the way it makes we push harder when I am running, and I love how much my kids love it - Leah loves to be sung too before nap or bedtime (everyone of our kids loved to be sung to before bedtime).  In fact Leah loves to sing too - sometimes I am out in a different room and I can here her singing the same songs to her dolls that I sing to her.  Every morning when she wakes up she sings to herself in her crib.  It instantly puts me in a good mood (no easy feat when you are not a morning person!).  I love country music, I love pop music, I love kids music, I love jazz, I love classical, I love christmas, I love church music - I love it all!  I also love to sing.  I am not the best singer, and I am certainly not the most confident singer but I love to sing.  I think music is such a great way to express yourself!  I wish I had of taken the piano lessons for longer as a child.  I sure hope my girls stick with it too!

Anyhow off to bed, I get up early on Fridays to cook hot breakfast for the family.  Tomorrow we are having home made waffles with strawberries and whip cream :)  YUMMMMM!  And we have a busy weekend ahead of us.  We have a big dance competition on Saturday, a birthday party tomorrow night, a church activity and the list goes on!  Happy Weekend.

Sunshine is like medicine for the soul

Well today was a really good day considering I did not fall asleep until after 3:30am with insomnia and worrying about how the poor dog was feeling. Let me tell you 7AM did not feel very good today! But I was so happy to wake up to sunshine today! That is my gratitude item for the day. I am so grateful for sunshine, especially in the bleak winter months when it can go weeks without showing it's beautiful face! I think I may even be one if those people who suffer from S.A.D. (that seasonal disorder). I usually slip into a bit of a funk after Christmas when we know there are still several months of cold wet weather with no fun holiday like christmas to focus on. So days like todaynwhen the sun shines I am so grateful for it! Even though I was short on sleep I was pretty chipper all day!

Leah and I went out to do some running around and it was so sunny that we stopped to play outside. This is my act of service for the day. I am pretty wimpy ( ok actually very wimpy ) when it comes to being cold but Leah is nit bothered by it one bit. In fact she didn't even want to wear the jacket! It was seriously worth the suffering. Leah had such a great time running and jumping and playing. I loved watching her and it felt great to get some fresh air!

Piper seems to be feeling a bit better today. I have given her some extra hugs and pats. Last night I ended up sleeping on the couch because I could hear her banging her cone around downstairs. I wanted to take it off but I had to keep an eye on her so she didn't chew at her stiches. A few years ago she was hit by a truck (long story) and had to have surgery on her foot. A few days later she managed to chew off the big bandaid and chew all the stitches out which meant back into surgery to have it all stitched up again. I don't want to have pay for any more vet care than necessary.

Well off to bed. On an exciting note, I went out to fabricana tonight and picked out fabric to have curtains made for my bedroom! I'm pretty excited!

Bad news is never good...

I'll start with my act of service - I really wanted to do something for Josh today since I have yet to do something for him since this started but today was so busy, dog had surgery, cyber school for Avri, dance class, piano lessons, gutter people coming to give quotes on our overflowing gutter issues and homework, homework, homework!  So it wasn't the biggest thing but I brought in the garbage cans and the recycling bins and set them back up in there spots.  I know kinda sad, he got a little gipped but he did thank me for it!!  And hey the wheels are broken on the darn cans and it is not easy to drag them up the driveway which is a bit of a hill!! And it makes me appreciate the fact that he does this for me every week!!  Or for our family I should say!  I have to say Josh is so wonderful, he never complains about anything, he just gets things done.  Unlike me who probably complains enough for the two of us!!  I am pretty fortunate to married to such a patient guy, he is really my best friend, I just love him!  Ok thats my mushy thought for the day!!

It's actually been a hard day.  Our dear Piper had to have surgery for what we thought was a sebaceous  cyst on her back hip.  I dropped her off at the vet at 8am (no problem at all when you need to get a bunch of kids to school for 8:20am but we managed.  Then I had to pick her up at 4pm and some how get three kids to a dance class at 4:30 on the other side of town!!  It was challenging but we did it!  I am glad I went by myself to pick her up from the vet though.  When I went in to get her the receptionist said - George want to talk to you about having the lump sent off to pathology.  I was surprised because yesterday he said he thought it was just a cyst?  So she went and got him and he said that to him it looked like it could be cancerous.  He said the lump was very unusual along with the tissue around it.  He felt it should be sent off so we could have a better picture of what was going on.  So with a huge lump in my throat I paid the $500 bill and put my poor sweet piper in the van to go home.  As soon as I closed the van door my heart broke.  I just wasn't expecting that.  She is only 7 1/2 and she has been pretty healthy.  Although I do have to say yesterday when he was squeezing it and I got a good look I thought it looked a little worse than the average cyst?  You know I will be ok if she is sick and not got a whole lot longer to be with our family.  What I am not ok with is telling my 4 girls this.  The will be devastated.  I had tears in my eyes several times since, thinking about it and watching Avri sit on the floor in front of her bed for 30 minutes tonight just patting her and loving her.  Avri has had her since she was 4 years old - they have grown up together.  Avri is just like me, she is a total animal lover.  I remember being a child and loosing a pet and how hard that was and I just want her or the other girls to have to go through that.

So this brings me to my gratitude thought for the day.  I am grateful for Piper.  Funny how when something is threatened to be taken away we all of sudden feel more attached.  I love her, she is a great dog.  She is smart and gentle and loyal and protective.  She is the sweetest dog I have ever known.  I feel safe at home when Josh is out and she is here with me and the girls.  I feel safe when I walk or run on the dyke with her.  She keeps me company when I garden outside, or wash the van.  She is a wonderful companion and is she is incredibly good with all children.  All of sudden all the things she has done to drive me crazy like dig a hole or rip flowers out of my garden, get into the garbage or have nasty diarrhea on my brand new $300 cream shag area rug, seem insignificant! I guess we will see what the future holds, it may be ok - although the look on the vets face and what he said didn't make me feel very confident.  We find out next week what the pathology report says.  Til then I will not being saying anything to the kids and I will hope for the best.

Here are a few shots of the recovering Piper.

Feelin a little sleepy after the anesthetic.

OUCH!!  The incision is about 4 inches or so.

You know its bad when you are even getting sympathy from the cat!!

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