Biking Companion

Ella is our most diligent and hardy biking companion. Shawn recently took her on a ride through Fish Creek park, which has some well known steep hills. Shawn can often make it up these hills on his own but it is more difficult when trailing a child. When he dismounted and asked Ella to do the same, she replied:

You did your best, Daddy!

This actually shows developmental improvement for her!!

Eager Beaver

I heard loud noises coming from the basement stairs, accompanied by grunts and groans.

Me: Averi? What are you doing??
Averi: Bringing up the suitcases so we can pack!

It looks like we'll be leaving earlier than scheduled in order to accommodate our detour route through the US. We'll try to leave Thursday afternoon, spending the night in Coeur d'Alene, ID or Spokane, WA, and catching the 5:20pm ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria on Friday.

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.

Where's Waldo?

See how long it takes you to find Taylor and Averi in their respective class photos! ;)

I didn't know that it was class photo day for either child so I can't necessarily vouch for their attire!

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!!!

Letter to Grandma

Since my grandmother doesn't have a computer, I print my blog posts and send them to her once in awhile. It's been too long but I'm sending her what she's missed. I usually send along a letter and thought I'd include it here since it is a nice little update and I've been remiss in my posting.

Dear Grandma,

I was thinking that it’s been an awfully long time since I printed and sent my blog posts for your perusal! I should make it a New Year’s tradition…

I keep a document that indicates what dates I’ve already sent you and I can’t help thinking that I must have forgotten to record my last printout because the last date recorded was April 2011!! I’m pretty sure I’ve sent you more since then but just in case… Regardless, forgive any duplication!

A brief overview of our current status:

Finals at SAIT ended in April so I have been home for nearly a month! Catching up on some organization and certainly enjoying some free time! I like to make cards and research educational opportunities. I plan on getting a degree someday when the kids are older. If I get permanent employment at SAIT, then they will fund it! I enjoy instruction. It’s fast-paced and keeps me busy; no chance of getting bored!! I enjoy grading assessments and, as I get better, I hope to improve my methods!

I still work at the hospital part-time. Usually just Tuesday and Thursday evenings, as well as Saturdays.

Shawn is finishing up his 3^rd year plumber apprentice hours. He has registered for his 4^th and final term in September. After that, he takes his provincial and national exams. All that will be left to do after that is to complete his 4^th year hours. He is so excited to have this all done!! His income will improve and we’ll start contributing towards retirement again! Shawn really wants to get a better mountain bike (his current hobby) as well as a motorcycle. I hope to get a motorcycle one day, as well.

Taylor is nearing the end of grade 2. He seems to be enjoying school, in general. Averi goes back and forth about liking Kindergarten. Interesting since Kindergarten is really the most fun of all the grades! Taylor has his two big front teeth as you will witness upon our visit. The teeth on either side of his front teeth are coming in quite slowly so he’s had the appearance of a rabbit for some time! Taylor really enjoys building things with intricate pieces/parts that click together (called Knex). He also rides his very own bike since last year. Averi is also riding her very own two-wheeler as of this year. Ella really enjoys riding along behind one of the parents (as you’ll see in one of the blog posts).

Averi is the sweetest child ever! She reminds me of Eva when she was young. Averi’s only flaw is a propensity to whine. She’s slightly less honest than Taylor, but he’s a hard act to follow! Averi loves to sing and dance and doesn’t usually have stage-fright (whereas Taylor cannot tolerate an audience!).

Ella has some behavioral issues. She’s been seen by a pediatrician but that wasn’t helpful in the least except for a referral to the Early Childhood Mental Health Outreach program. Ella has her own case worker but, again, I’m not sure how effective it’s been. We keep considering a private assessment by a family psychologist group to see if Ella wouldn’t qualify for funding for her issues. As it is, I have registered Ella for “preschool” in the Fall at a school for kids with special needs. Her case worker suggests that Ella goes to a school with children that don’t have issues so that she has models of appropriate behavior. I see the logic and have been trying to find a program elsewhere (with little success so far).

Ella still refuses to potty-train. I have tried all sorts of things, though Dad did suggest a star sticker approach that was apparently used on us as kids. The problem is that Ella is not motivated by ANYTHING! She will simply have to decide that it is time. Unfortunately, Ella is far too BUSY to entertain toilet use. I have, of course, attempted to put her on the toilet every half-hour (she simply goes in between half-hours…), have disallowed TV unless the toilet has been used first, used rewards, etc. etc. to no avail. The one bit of progress that she has made is that she has started hiding when she has to go #2. At least she is recognizing the signs of impending defecation! I always catch her too late.

Ella turns 4 in a week and a half. She always seems to lag developmentally by about 6 months to a year behind average children. I have convinced myself that she will make up for this early torture later on in life. I look forward to it!

Look forward to seeing you and Dad and other family in Victoria in a month! Would love to take the kids to see the fireworks on Canada Day.

Love, Dana

Calaway Park

For Christmas, my grandma sent some funds which we put towards Calaway Park passes for the family. Our first trip was on opening weekend--Victoria Day (May 20).

And, of course, no outing is complete without one of Ella's meltdowns.

And the aftermath:

So much fun!

Grandpa Harris

The most popular memory of Grandpa Harris seems to be when he sewed up Taylor's pants on our Victoria trip two years ago!

On the way there, we stopped in Kamloops for a night. Taylor was climbing over a chainlink fence to get to a playground and ripped his pants. Once we reached Victoria, Dad proceeded to "suture" them.

I only bring this up because I've had recurrent reminders of when Grandpa fixed, sewed, or "knitted" Taylor's pants. :)

Cycling Season

Daddy couldn't be happier that cycling season is upon us! He recently took Ella, our most massive outdoors enthusiast, on a trek to the duck ponds. On the way home, they were cycling uphill with quite the face-on gust! Shawn noticed that Ella had stopped pedaling (she rides a "trail-along" that attaches to the back of our bikes).

Shawn: Ella, why did you stop pedaling?
Ella: My batteries are dead!

Easter Pretties

Ready for church:

Averi and Ella actually do have matching yellow dresses but we couldn't find Averi's tights. No biggie. She looks like an Easter egg!

Ella and the Makeup Drawer

Remember the nail polish?

This wasn't as bad but Ella sure is determined to do certain things! My mascara has been enticing Ella for some time. Again, she did manage to get some on her eyelashes!

Even though Mommy was taking pictures, Ella knew she'd been naughty and kept a sober face...

The glasses up on her head also hide her recent self-haircut (Ella also cut a bit of her sister's hair!). Seems to be a popular misdemeanor for little girls.

Heart-Melty

Whenever I happen to have the older two children with me when I drop off Ella at daycare, I offer them the "opportunity" of taking Ella to the door. Taylor always refuses; Averi always accepts.

I had the pleasure of witnessing the sweetest scene this morning. Averi took Ella to the door and then indicated that Ella was allowed to ring the doorbell instead of just doing it herself!

A heart-melty moment...

Get In My Belly!

I was recently assigned new visiting teachers, one of whom is obviously pregnant. Ella couldn't resist touching her belly.

Mommy (by way of explanation): She has a baby in there!
Ella (in shock and wonder to the lady): You ate a baby?!?

Canadian Penny

Wow, it's been awhile since I posted!

Just wanted to drop in and announce that today is that last day of the Canadian penny.



I wonder if the saying "2 cents worth" will also go out the door... Of course, "2 bits" is still around.