Budding Diva

A glimpse of Ella-dear's personality (video clip below):

Make sure you watch the very end!

Storytelling

I mentioned previously that I would be posting something on Taylor and Averi's storytelling night at their school. It was quite unfortunate that I forgot to bring a recording device; however, it is just as well since the lighting at the school was ambient at best. I have finally gotten around to having the children re-enact their stories from that night.

Some history:  Bridlewood School had a "resident" storyteller for a month who coached the children on how to tell stories. This is evident in the exclamations and animated gestures! Each grade had different story-difficulty levels, and each student had some choice as to which story they were going to tell. Everyone rehearsed diligently for their big night.

Averi's story, as she indicates in the video clip below, was the Deer's Antlers. Averi does not have difficulty getting up in front of groups of people and did a smashing job of it!



Taylor's story, as he indicates in the video clip below, was Sirco and the Wolf. Taylor is exceedingly timid in front of groups and insisted to me that he would not get up for story night. Taylor's teacher indicated via email, however, that Taylor had been diligently rehearsing at school and had not shown any reticence for the big night. He did fabulously! I was so impressed with his skill and clarity! The re-enactment does not do his original performance justice.

Taylor's Investiture

Taylor has been subtly groomed by Daddy to be enthusiastic in regards to upcoming Cubs. :D Not that he needed much persuasion.

Taylor has been waiting to come of age for Cubs since earlier this year when he was invited to attend a Cubs airport "field trip." He started attending Cubs regularly since September and went through the investiture ceremony last Wednesday.

Mommy was most impressed that the boys stood decently still throughout the ceremony.

I love Taylor's little salute!

Mommy thought she was supposed to "tie" the scarf on--instead, there's a woggle.

Got it right! Now Mommy was told where all the badges go on Taylor's Cub shirt. Wha?! I have to sew?? (Not really--there is special sticky stuff you can get... Phew!)

It won't be too long until Taylor is hunching over me in pictures!

Footage of Taylor stating the Cub _______ (theme?):

Taylor's Baptism

Taylor's 8th birthday fell right on the Labor Day weekend this year. Since this is the best time to coordinate with American residents, Taylor was baptized on the very day he turned 8.

We took pictures of Taylor that morning to use on his baptism program (click here to view):

We didn't use this one but it's so cute!

Pre-baptism photo:

I am disappointed that we didn't get a family pic, including Grandma and Grandpa Harris! :(

Here are some pics from the "after party":

Some footage:

Differences in Parenting

This video is from before our trip to Victoria and demonstrates Shawn's parenting style.



I take a more prophylactic approach. Guess that's why daddies are more fun!

Victoria Day 1: The Ocean, Of Course!

The lovely houses along the cliff:

The fabulous Cook St playground:

Video footage of each of the kids:

For Our Tomorrow

A beautiful video message posted on YouTube regarding the flooding... Damages have been estimated up to $5 billion and home insurance in Alberta does not include flooding...



Donations are being accepted at the Canadian Red Cross. As of Sunday, they had raised $2.6 million!

Alberta Flooding

If you haven't been following the craziness that is Southern Alberta right now, we are experiencing massive flooding after some torrential downpours! Calgary, High River and Canmore have been hit the hardest with evacuations in Calgary totaling more than 100,000 homes!

Schools in all of Calgary have been shut down to decrease traffic. The entire downtown core has been shut down, including power and gas.

Here's a picture of the southeastern corner of downtown (right by the Stampede grounds):

Intersection downtown:

Downtown from the river:

Some footage and more photos:



Here's an aerial shot of High River (about 30 minutes south of Calgary):

A house floating down Bragg Creek (a small town just south and west of Calgary):



There are also warnings/flooding in Okotoks and area, Red Deer, Banff, Medicine Hat...

[Update: The reason for the flooding, as explained by The National's meteorologist, is that we received the amount of rain normally received over 30 days over 30 hours! The cause? A tornado that Denver, Colorado received a week or so ago (not to be confused with the devastating F5 that Oklahoma experienced a few weeks ago)! Amazing!]

You can follow more pictures and updates on Twitter: #abflood and #yycflood.

For more info on the evacuations and so forth, see this article.

For more info on how to help during the flood, including donating to the Canadian Red Cross, see this article.

Popular pictures of a daring escape by man and cat here!

Another unfortunate effect of the flooding, is that the highway we would normally be taking to get to Victoria next week, Highway #1, has been washed out in/near Canmore.

Some footage:

If necessary, our alternate route lies through Crowsnest Pass. We may head down through Spokane, Washington and take the Port Angeles ferry.

Ella's 4th Birthday!

Finally posting pics and footage from Ella's 4th birthday!

We started the day with a trip to Calaway!

Ella has been anxiously awaiting this gift since Christmas!!

Her own LeapPad!

We had some family over for cake and ice cream!

Some footage (no video editing possible at the moment so it's raw!):

Happy Birthday, baby!!!

Christmas Preview

While it will take a bit of time to compile the footage from Christmas morning, here is a preview of one of the gifts.

Taylor is obsessed with K'Nex. Ever since he got his mega box, he's been wanting one of the roller coaster sets. Shawn and I purchased one at Toys R Us for him and then found a better one at a much better price on Kijiji (classifieds).

Daddy and Taylor spent the morning assembling it and here is the finished product!

Canada Day Celebration

It's high time I get these pics posted!

For the last several years, our church has put on a celebration for Canada Day. It involves food, entertainment, kid activities and the flag-raising. In the photo below, Ella can be seen plucking the Canadian flag markers for the flag-raising ceremony. Eek, that child!!

I, with a couple buddies, happened to be part of the entertainment [footage below]...



That horrific part in the first song was my fault, of course. It is quite unfortunate that I was the one holding the mike at that point.  :s  In our defense, we had only 4 days notice in which to find songs and practice! (And in defense of the audience size--determined by the pathetic smatter of applause--we were the first act and, therefore, a crowd had yet to accumulate.)

Ella's 3rd Bday Celebration

For Ella's third birthday, we got a strawberry-rhubarb pie and lemon cream cheese torte at Costco. Nontraditional but Ella's still too young to have a preference.

We celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's home. There were a lot of family visiting because Shawn's cousin had gotten married that weekend.

I've been waiting for Ella to turn three FOR-EV-ER. I have been assuming that she would grow out of some crazy behaviors. Since she has not, and under the advice of 3 people who have children with disabilities (within one week!), we are having Ella assessed for behavioral or developmental issues. She's a very bright girl but extended family (and those who have followed this blog) will allow that she has more than her fair share of bizarre performances. (This comes to mind as well as the 2011 Swan family reunion sacrament table swan dive (@ Bear Lake) that I don't think I've shared on the blog yet.)

Some footage:

A Trip to Heritage Park

This was a quick trip to Heritage Park back in June.

 Ella's finally big enough to go on!

 Conversely, Taylor is now too big to go on!

A video clip: