Happy Anniversary

So it has been one year (basically). Like most anniversaries I am a day late but I didn't forget I was just busy. (I wish that excuse would work on my husband!)

We arrived in Saskatchewan a year ago. I said it would take me a year to really know what it was like here. Well it is awesome here.

But I have learned a few things in the last 365 days.

1: Don't leave pop cans in the garage at temperatures lower then -20. They explode. Really!
2: People ware watermelons on their heads. Yes, they really do. It is a football thing, but still people, you don't think that is a little weird.
3: Football is king. If you don't watch the Riders play they take away your health card. It is that important.
4: Mosquitoes are not pets. They are demons sent to torment us until we say bad words in front of our kids.
5: Don't worry if you forget to put out your recycling, your neighbour will do it for you. They are really that nice here.
6: The weather can kill you. So respect it. And don't worry everyone, looks just as dorky in a parka but they are warm.
7: Again the weather can kill you. So bring sun screen, bug spay, a hat, sunglasses, and water every where you go. If you can, stay close to an air conditioner. They are a gift from heaven.
8: Even from far away, the people you love will still love you and you them. Praise God for phones, face book and email.

Here's looking forward to another great year on the prairie.

Three days in Mosquito Jaw

We just got back from three days in Mosquito Jaw, oh sorry, Moose Jaw. Despite the bugs, we had a lot of fun. Well I had fun, most of the time. We did not plan on Moose Jaw as our holiday destination, as I am sure many do not. But Ryan had a work thing to do there and they payed for us all to go down. I am not inclined to say no to a free vacation no matter where it is, so off we went.
Now it is only about a two and a half hour drive but somehow I forgot some road trip basics, like bring snacks and travel at nap time. So we started the vacation with hungry, bored and tired children.

Things started to get a lot more fun when we arrived. We went straight to the museum, where we learned about the history of transportation. And began our training as steam train engineers.

  Really the trip went as you would imagine a trip with four kids would go. We had a lot of laughs and fun. Played in the hotel pool, eat a lot of french fires, and found as many interesting tourist things to do that we could. But we had a few bumps in the road. Like realizing that one of the kids only packed PJs, socks and a swim suit. Yes that is it, no other cloths! Then mom getting lost THREE times trying to find the Walmart to fix the first problem. Walmart is Walmart every where and it was as frustrating an experience as I should have expected. But we did eventually find all we needed plus a few things we did not.

Other highlights included the littlest one peeing her pants at the Burring Owl Interpretive Centre, being eaten alive at the park by bugs, explaining organized crime and the mob to the kids before the Al Capone tour, missed naps, and late nights. 

Don't get me wrong, we really did have fun but travailing with kids is an extreme sport and like all extreme sports most of the world think it looks scary and the people involved are nuts.

Married to Super Mensch

Many years ago a Jewish friend of mine described my husband as a mensch. I had never hear this tern before but my lovely man is truly the personification of the word. It is a Yiddish word for "a person of integrity and honour". And this last week I think he stepped it up to super-mensch.

For the last few months I have been very tried and not at all my usual fun loving self. Consequently the house work that I am an never really on top of has literally got on top of me. There have been many days were no one has clean underpants nor can I find a clean blow of the morning cereal. Has my mensch complained, pouted, or made me to feel bad about the situation? No, he has done double duty and cooked dinner many nights after working all day, asked really nicely if there is anything that I could use his help with in the house and done almost all the shopping, focusing on foods that I love.

All this alone should have pushed him into super-mensch qualifications. But just as I was starting to come back to myself I got two bad colds back to back. And not a little runny noise kind but the kind where your head feels like it will fall off and you can't breath or sleep or do anything but moan and grumble. And what does this amazing man do? He puts more time into the house and kids. Takes his first week of summer holidays and cooks me food, lets me nap AND build the kids a play house/swing set! They are out there right now having a blast.

So when he woke up this morning with a swore throat and a head ache I sent him back to bed, took the kids to church and then out to Timmy's for breakfast. OK that does not at all compare to what he has done in the last few weeks and months but hey, for a normal weak and selfish person I had to start somewhere.

I'm Back

For many reasons I have been away from my blog. To tell you the truth I have had lots to say, so much that all the ideas have got stuck all jumbled up together. So instead of trying to get it all stored and tell you everything that has been on my mind for that last two months I am starting again.

Happy summer! This is my house today. By 7 am we were already deep into crafts and fights. Oh what a summer it will be! But just so you don't think that it is always my boys who are the crazy one:

So wish me luck because I am launching into two months of chaos punctuated by "I'm bored " 

Our six year old insisted that we buy lemons the other day. I thought it was a strange request but considering he was not begging for candy I was happy to comply.  Early the next morning before school he set about his project. After asking for a few tools he set about making his lemons into lemonade.  His sisters were his enthusiastic assistances. Yes they make a mess but they also make amazing lemonade.
More then that they worked together to make something wonderful just because he wanted to. How often do I have a great idea that never gets of the ground because it might not work.  Or even more often gets half started and then left in the pile of "do later". (Right now there is a half pair of socks to knit, a quilt to make,  a raised planter with no soil.)
I have alot to learn from this amazing boy.

Skeleton in the closet

I finally did it.  I washed, dried and put away the winter coats. My local friends say I'm save. That summer is basically here. But I am having a hard time trusting.  This is a little silly as it has been plus 20 or more every day this week, the apple trees are in bloom and Ryan had already mowed the lawn three times. It is so hot now in the afternoon that I have turned the air conditioner on. But still I am just not sure this is here to stay. I never knew I had trust issues.

Spring time on the Prairies

Spring is a crazy time here. It takes a very long time to get here, but when it is here it comes with a vengeance. I think it needs to prove that it is really as strong as winter. It does this by speeding thing up beyond any thing I have ever seen. I am not joking. This weekend I went to look at the trees in the back yard to see if we had any leaf buds. I saw some small little green buds of hope. In the afternoon I was outside again with the kids and did a double take on the same trees. The buds had grown at least 3 mm. In three hours!
As my father-in-law said if you want to see spring time on the Prairie you better bring a lawn chair because if you go back inside you will miss it.