Olympic Fever

Wow! What an amazing 17 days that was! It was one thing getting all excited to host the games, but to actually be right in the middle of it all, was, well....AMAZING! I experienced it from 2 point of views. The first as a woman hanging out in Yaletown (actually we covered Science World, Plaza of Nations, Yaletown and all the way down to Waterfront) enjoying a beer, people watching and taking in the excitement of Canada winning another Gold medal! Truly breathtaking!

The second was as a mommy. I took the boys downtown last Friday. Not the best day weather wise, infact quite crappy in the afternoon, but I thought that time was ticking and I'd better get them down to see this one in a lifetime event. Of course, as soon as we got off the skytrain, Logan was asking when we were going home. Not the child that likes many outings. He's the one who's quite content to stay at home. He definitely doesn't enjoy our rainy B.C Winters. But we did alot of walking and took in a few buildings, had some lunch and headed home. I'm hoping to get them down to Robson Square while the Paralympics are on.

Back to School

Everyone says that it's the most wonderful time of the year, but I don't get it. I love having the kids home all summer. No schedules, do what we want when we want and no stress in general. Jordan wasn't very excited to go back. Surprised me a bit, because it's his last year in elementary school before heading to middle school. But, you know, he is 10 and I can't expect him to keep getting excited about going back to school.

Logan was so excited! This morning I told him that if he stayed home with mommy for one more year, then I would take him to Disneyland. He declinded and told me that he needed to go to school. Fair enough, but you can't knock me for trying.

We got to school and headed into the gym. Logan went up front with the rest of the Kindergarteners and never looked back. When it was time to go to his class, he waved by. I peeked in on him a couple times and he was participating in everything. It was only 45 minutes today, but he confirmed to me that he was totally ready. Yes, I cried like a baby!!

Swim,swim,swim

If they boys did nothing else all day, they would be very happy. They LOVE to swim. And 1 hour is never enough. When they go, it's for hours and hours. It's nice this year, because Logan is also a very strong swimmer and I don't have to go in the water with them anymore.

Summer Time Fun

I love summer. I love having the boys at home. I love the rest from the rat race that we run the other 10 months of the year. It's a nice break. It's great having girlfriends who are home with their kids as well. Just packing up and heading to the waterpark, beach or lake with no notice at all. We are planning on going to Peachland for the August long weekend, and I know the kids are really going to enjoy themselves.

The pictures above are from Crescent Beach. I've mentioned before that this is one of our favorite places to go. Close to home, peaceful, and fun!

10 years!

Happy 10th Birthday Jordan! Wow, I can't believe how fast the last 10 years have gone. School is almost out for the summer and the next school year is going to be a big one for you. Your last year in elementary school, and then it's off to middle school. I have to be honest. I'm scared to death about middle school. I'm not sure why, because I know that you aren't going to give us any trouble. But I think it's the thought that you are going to want and need more "freedom". Yikes, I'm going to try not to be too overprotective but that's going to be really hard. I just hope that you will realize it's only because I love you. Last night we let you ride your bike outside by yourself. Big step for mommy and daddy laughed at mommy the whole time because every 5 minutes I kept saying that you hadn't checked in..lol.

We took you out to buy a new bike yesterday. You picked it out all on your own and you are so proud of it. Then we took your for lunch and then out for a bike ride. This afternoon, I'm hoping to take you golfing. We are going to have your party at Planet Lazer on Thursday after school.

I love you lots bud, and Happy Birthday!
xoxoxo
Mommy

Spring Time Finally?

Today is the second day of sunshine and warm weather. I'm really hoping that this will last. We've had the cold way to long. I'm already planning the things that I can be doing with the boys. And of course, ball hockey after school is top on their priority list. It seems so long since we've gone to the hockey box after school.

Logan had his 5th birthday on March 15. He's so excited to be 5! We had a small birthday party at the house and his best friend Markus was there. He also invited Kyleigh, Kennedi, Sasha, Anastasia and Cat. We played pin the number on the car, musical chairs and freeze dance. The kids had a great time.

Dean and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary on March 22. We didn't do anything exciting because we were busy with the kids, but that's what it's all about, right?

Soccer is over and I'm relieved. I had a great time coaching and will probably do it again next year, but I need the break right now. So now Jordan has started ball hockey season. They haven't put the teams together yet, but I expect by the weekend it should be done. Along with that they boys are both still swimming. Logan's doing Preschool 5 again and Jordan is now in Level 10!! I'm so proud of how well they are both doing.

Ball season has started for Dean and I, however, I won't be playing much because of surgery coming up on April 15th. That will put me out for 6-8 weeks. I'm a little bummed not to be playing much, but the surgery is going to be worth it.

Dean's back on the night shift. When I say nights, I mean he starts at 7:30pm and when I left the house at 5:40am this morning he still wasn't home. They are long nights and I hate it, but work is work. And since there hasn't been much work, you take what you can get.

I'm going to enjoy the next 2 beautiful days as Wednesday is supposed to rain. You know the saying "April Showers bring May Flowers". I'm sure this will be true, but I will also keep my fingers crossed that we don't get alot of the showers.

Love you all,
Kelli

Feeling Better?

Logan seems to be feeling better now. Wednesday night we took him to the ER after a 2 hour coughing fit. They did blood work, urine test and a chest xray. Everything came back normal. I thought that was a good sign. They gave us a Ventolin inhaler to help his cough and it seemed to do the trick. Atleast he wasn't getting the long coughing attacks anymore. But he was still sleeping 18 hours a day and just looked horrible. So Friday I took him to the doctor and he put him on antibiotics. By Sunday he was finally looking somewhat normal and was able to go to soccer practice. Poor guy was exhausted. After a week of doing nothing, it took alot of energy to play. But I think he's finally feeling better now. The best thing that has come of this, is that I think that we are finally out of pull ups. 8 days of being dry in the morning....YAY!!!

This is the last week of Jordan's soccer. So, one more practice, then one more game. Then it will be ball hockey season. Jordan's so excited for that to start. Jordan's Sunday soccer coach gave me the best compliment about Jordan last night. He said that Jordan's got awesome ball control and has really learned to use his size to block his opponent. He's figured out a way to compensate for not having the speed. Wtg Jordan!!

Fevers

Logan's had a fever since Saturday. Poor little guy. I've been giving him Tylenol every 3-4 hours since Saturday morning, but it's just not breaking it. We didn't send him to hockey on Sat morning obviously and he was quite choked about that. This morning when I got up for work he was really shaky so I put him in bed with Ma and she just phoned me to tell me that he now has diarrhea. I really hope he gets over this soon. As you all know it sucks to watch your children get sick.

Jordan had 4 hours of soccer last night. He loved it and crashed as soon as his head hit the pillow. I told Dean to let him sleep in today and if he's late for school, then so be it. He needs his sleep and needless to say that he will be in bed early tonight.

My birthday was last Tuesday. Nothing exciting happened. Skating lessons, swimming, and soccer practice. Hey....it's all about the kids now, right? Mom and Dad took us out for dinner to celebrate it on Monday. Mom got me a gift certificate for Taverna Greka which Dean and I used on Valentines Day. It was a delicious dinner. And the boys got me a pedicure and manicure which I was going to get today, but I think that I would rather go home and look after my sick boy.

That's it for now, but I will post again soon!

Where does time go?

It seems like it was so long ago that we were hustling through the malls buying Christmas presents, trying to fit in holiday visits with friends and family and just enjoy the mood. But really it was only 6 weeks ago. When I try to think about anything exciting that's happened, I can't. But yet we are still very busy. Between skating lessons, swimming lessons, volleyball and soccer, sometimes I don't have time to think. But it's a good busy because the boys love it.

Logan has completed another set of skating lessons. He's now going into level 4. He has also started a hockey school on Saturday mornings. It's for 3-5 year olds and they learn the basics about hockey. He loves it and looks so adorable in his hockey gear. So between the skating lesson, hockey school and Dean taking him to Puck and Stick once a week, he's getting tons of ice time. He is also doing swimming lessons twice a week and is going to repeat Preschool level 5 this week. We've also signed him up to do soccer on Sunday evenings at Douglas College.

Jordan passed level 8 of swimming. I'm so proud of him. Before his surgeries he would have to do each level 2 or 3 times. But since level 6 he's been sailing. So this afternoon he starts level 9!!
He is also still playing soccer on Saturdays and he too does the Douglas College soccer camp on Sundays evenings. The boys really love their coach there. Jordan's doing really well in school, despite the number of TOC's they've had since January. I'm not sure that I would be able to handle the inconsitencies like he has. Last night was student lead conferences and he was so proud to show us all the work they've done this year.

Dean and I are both playing Volleyball twice a week. One night is drop in and the other is a league. It's lots of fun and the team is great group of people.

We are also finally getting our carport turned into a garage. Dad has hired someone to do the work and it's looking great. Really, it's going to be fabulous when it's done. I think they are expecting it to be finished within the next 2 weeks.

Today is my birthday, but nothing exciting will be going on. It's Tuesday, so that means skating, swimming and soccer..lol. But really, I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday then with my kids.

Am I getting my wish....

to have a full winter of snow? This is amazing. We got more snow yesterday and are expecting more today. Although they say that it is going to warm up and rain this week. We are going to enjoy hopefully one more fluffy fun game of ball today. It amazes me how much everyone's attitude changes in the snow. I love it.

I took down the rest of the decorations yesterday and the tree. No sign of Christmas in our house. I felt good. Dean and I really work out butts off and cleaned the upstairs like it's never been cleaned before. The boy's went over to the Sabinins house for the afternoon and had a very tiring day in the snow.

Tomorrow is back to normal day. School starts again, swimming lessons, skating, soccer and the normal rat race! I always hate when the kids go back to school. Because now there has to be a routine. Some times it's nice to just fly by the seat of you pants.

New Years 2009

We spent New Years Eve with good friends Larry and Hilary. We took the kids with us (of course, because it's there holiday too) and just hung out. The kids danced and played and the adults played cards and the boys (big and small) played Rockband. The kids made it till 12:30am and got up around 9:00am. We hung out at Lar and Hil's for the rest of the day then called it an early night on New Years Day!

Done for another Year

Christmas was a big success again. Unfortunately we didn't make it out to Nana's on Christmas Eve because of the huge snowfall. Dean and I just were not comfortable putting the kids in the car. The roads were horrible. So we spent out first quiet Christmas Eve together as a family. The kids went to bed early and amazingly slept till 6:15am. Then the day began.

Jordan's biggest score was his laptop. Logan's was the Air Hogs Zero Gravity car. Santa also brought them RockBand and the Wii Outdoor Challenge. Needless to say, they haven't been bored since then. We had a quiet day with just Ma and Papa, and Ma cooked a wonderful turkey.

Boxing Day was our annual Open House, but obviously due to the weather, only the neighbors showed up. It was small and nice and lots of time to visit with everyone.

Sat/Sun that followed, Dean and I played in a ball tournament. There was so much snow on the ground that you couldn't help but have a good time. As I tell everyone, it's how us big people play in the snow. We did well, and won our division for the second year in a row.

Holy Snow Fall Batman!

We got dumped on! It started Saturday night and hasn't stopped yet. On Monday morning we have over a foot on the lawn. The kids are loving it! We went toboganning again Sunday and laughed so hard. The boys were flying down the hill. Of course Dean and I had to get in there and try too. By 9pm, the boys were begging to go to bed.

Mondays commute to work was not so fun. The roads were completely compacted and I actually had Dean drive me in. Even with snow tires I don't think that my car would have made it in. Going home was better but not great. Jordan was out the majority of the day yesterday and zonked out on the couch at 6:45pm. I love how the fresh air beats them out!!

I'll get some pictures up soon.

Christmas Vacation!!

I love Christmas vacation. No kids to wake up in the morning, no lunches to make, no homework to nag about and most of all.....no schedule to follow!!!

Jordan had pancake breakfast and pajama day at school today. I got the call last night that the lady co-ordinating it was sick and that I was going to have to do it. Crap! I just wanted to go in and be told what to do, not tell everyone else what they needed to do. Anyways, it was a huge hit, as it always is, and the kids had fun with the crafts as well. It's always fun seeing everyone still in there jammies, and I decided that I was going to stay in mine all day too. So here I am at 4:20 after having gone and taken Logan for a haircut, done some shopping, and taken Jordan to guitar lessons all in my jammies! But it's amazing how many people look at you. Mostly I think that they wish they were brave enough to do it themselves.

I have a little shopping to do, mostly just "fillers". And I haven't taken the kids to see Santa yet, so I think that I will do that tonight.

Let it Snow

Today is a very first real snow fall for the season and it's beautiful. I went to work today and the drive was okay because at 5:30am there isn't too many people on the roads. But the drive home took an hour. I don't get it. The roads were a little slushy, but for the most part they were fine. What's the big deal people? Put it in drive and drive! Just because you see some white flakes following from the sky doesn't mean you have to become stunned when you drive!

The boys are loving the white stuff. Logan spent most of the day outside with Daddy shoveling snow and playing in the backyard. Then once Jordan got home, we spent another hour outside. We came in, had dinner, then headed up to the school to go "boging"...that's what Logan calls toboganning! The boys had a blast. It was wonderful that they were able to walk back up the hill on their own and never asked for help.

I will add a picture later once they are uploaded!

3 or 4...we are losing count!

My sweet little Jordan. What an amazing guy you are. To have already gone through 4 surgeries in your short 9 years and to never have complained...well, I think we could all learn a thing or 2 from you. This latest surgery on November 13, 2008 you had your Pronator tendon transfer. This was probably the biggest surgery of all so far, but like the others you handled it amazingly. Here's how the trip to Portland went:

Thursday 4:30am Mommy, Daddy and you left to drive the 5 and 1/2 hours to the hospital. Of course we stopped for lunch, and then to the book store to get you a new book. We checked into the hospital at 1pm and then it was visits from the nurses, care co-coordinator, doctors, anesthesiologist, and more nurses. They went through everything that was going to happen, took all your stats, weighed you, measured you and made sure there was nothing that you were worried about. It was 5:30pm when we were finally done and allowed to go for dinner. Of course it was your choice and of course you picked The Old Spaghetti Factory. We have a wonderful dinner then headed back to the hospital. That night we were all pretty tired. I think that we just watched some T.V and you played some video games, then we hit the sack.

Surgery Day, Friday: We had the dreaded wake up call from the nurse at 5:30am. It was off to the big bath tub for the wonderful Chlorhexidine bath. You don't mind having it, except that the soap is so cold and it stinks!! I washed you all up and got you in the very stylish hospital gown!
Then the nurse came in to numb up your hand for the I.V , and gave you some of that disgusting medicine. It's midazolam and it's so that you don't remember anything. Well, you hate it and when you took it, you sort of gagged and spit some right back in the nurses face. Mommy thought it was a little funny and her fault for having her face so close to yours..lol. Dr Thayer then popped up and talked to us more about the surgery while we were in the elevator on the way down to the holding room. There they gave you a beanie toy, and put the I.V in, which you didn't even realize they had done until you looked down and it was already done! Then it was off to the O.R for you. Of course Mommy cried.

Surgeries NEVER get easier. The first one is just as scary as the 4th one. I try not to cry, but I'm emotional on a good day, never mind surgery day.

3 hours later you were in recovery and doing wonderfully. While you were in surgery, Mom and Dad had gone out and bought you a stuffy to have when you woke up. You loved it and had a big smile on your face. Shortly after it was back up to the room. You pretty much slept for the next 2 hours. You woke up and boy were you hungry! We had to start with ice chips, then jello, and so on. I think you finally got a decent dinner around 6pm. By that time, we had all been to the games room and played ping-pong, pool and air hockey. The nurses were amazed at you and couldn't believe it. They had no problems discharging you at 8:30 the next morning.

As soon as we got home Friday night at 6pm we got ready to go the New West Fire Fighters VS Canucks Alumni hockey game. It was there that your arm started to feel sore. Mommy knew that if you were telling me it's sore, then we are beyond the point of Tylenol. So if was off to the ER to get a prescription for Codeine. The pediatrician there was awesome! Gave us some pain killers and sent us home. You only took 1 of the 4 doses he gave us and never talked of pain again.

The cast came off December 12. All I can say is that I'm truly amazed by this surgery. Not only is it easier for us to suppinate your arm, but I think that you have more finger movement. We are going to work very hard with therapy to try and get you to suppinate it yourself!

I love you my little Trooper.
Mommy!

It seems like a Pattern

That I have to keep summarizing the months as they go by. It's funny, I can log into the Garden, I can play pogo game, and I can read everyone else's blogs, but I can't ever update my own. The one that was started for the boys. The one that I was going to be so diligent about updating. Ha!! But really if you know me, you know that I always take on way too much.

That being said I'm wearing a multitude of hats this year. Since September, I've become Co-Chair of the PAC, continued my roll as Hot Lunch Coordinator and taking on the great position as Coach of Jordan's soccer team. The "Nike Swish"boys are great, and I am enjoying it alot more than I expected. I have a great group of parents (but as you know, there is always 1!!) and a fantastic manager who seriously leaves nothing for me to do except coach. It's great. And I'm slowly learning something about this game. Hopefully by March, I'll know atleast 1/2 the rules!

Jordan really enjoyed his cross Canada tour with Ma and Papa. I think the best part for him was getting to visit Nan and Pop in Newfoundland. It was a hard 8 weeks for Dean and I without him, but knowing that it was the best experience in the world for him we sucked it up. I really think that Logan missed him tons.

Jordan's now in grade 4. He's doing really well in school. We just got his report card and I was impressed. He continues to struggle in the language arts area, but with the help of an SEA he's doing great. He started swimming lessons again and in January will be going into level 8. He breezed right through levels 6 and 7, and boy, is he ever a fish! Swimming seems to be one of the areas where he's really excelling. Perhaps in the summer, I will put him in a Swim Club. He wants to also try skating again. But we'll talk more in January about that.

Logan started his second year of preschool in September, but it's not really his thing. He's doesn't get excited about going, and really could care less if he goes. So he won't go back in January. He'll start Kindergarten in September and I want to cherish these last months that he's at home. He's doing really well in swimming and is just finishing Preschool Level 5. He's becoming quite the little fish like his brother. Dean's also got a project on the go with him. He started skating lessons in September and once or twice a week Dean takes him to parent and tot hockey night. The kids get all suited up and go out and pass the puck around with their parents. In January he is going to start Tips for Tots which is a program that teaches them the basics of hockey. I'll post a picture later of Logan all suited up.

The boys are both very excited about Christmas. It's going to be a quiet one because Ma and Papa are going to Seattle to see Clara and Emma....oh yeah...Kevin got married to Stacy in August. Great wedding and we are very happy to have Stacy and Emma in our lives.

That's all for now, and no promises when I'll update again.
Love you all,
Kelli

A Little Step Up

We sold the motorhome and bought a 25 foot travel trailer. Not new. It's used. It's a 1988 Komfort. It's very clean inside and it's not orange and brown!! We've moved up to dusty rose and grey. It's actually very nice. There is a small bedroom in the back for us then Jordan will have the couch that folds into a double bed and Logan will have the table which also folds into a bed. There is a bathroom with a decent size tub and shower. The kitchen is a great size and we now have a microwave. There is so much cupboard space and even after I brought the stuff from the motorhome into the trailer I still have all the bedroom cupboards, plus the tall cupboards that I haven't even touched yet. I'll post a picture of it once Dean's got it all washed up!

The boys just completed swimming lessons and they both did really well. Jordan will go into level 7 when he gets back after summer. Logan will start Preschool level 2 next week. They both did really well, and I was very proud of them.

Last weekend we took the boys out to White Rock and spent the entire day out there. The boys had a blast and we're absolutey exhausted when we got home.

Spring Has Sprung

And now begins are very busy time of the year. I love spring and summer. We spend so much time outdoors and this year we are going to be doing alot of camping. Dean has just gotten the motorhome all ready for our first trip this weekend. He's like a little kid in a candy store. So excited. Last week he spent a couple hours taking the tarp off from the winter and washing the whole outside of it. Yesterday he spent alot of time inside, making sure the fridge and water was working and most importantly the furnace. I think we are going to need that in the mornings still. Today he was doing all the little "touch ups". It's stocked now and ready to go. It will be nice when we sell it and get a trailer. We need a little more room than what we've got, but I'm not complaining. It's still better than tenting it. What I really want in the next trailer is bunk beds. It will be really nice for the boys to have their own beds rather than sharing them.

It's supposed to be beautiful weather this weekend. It's going to be so nice to have the boys outside all day. I'm sure that they will crash each night, but of course it's going to have to be dark before they fall asleep. I'm looking forward to kicking back and relaxing all weekend. Their is nothing more relaxing than pulling up a chair next to the campfire and just sitting back with a book or watching the kids playing.

Jordan's guitar lessons are really coming along. I'm amazed how well he can already read music. Thankfully he takes after me for that. I've also been paying attention during his lessons, and often find myself with his guitar in my hands playing what he had learned each week. He's also doing really well in swimming lessons. The boy is a total fish! He's very attentive in class and his teachers always love him.

Logan's newest thing is "Dude". We are all dudes. "Yes dude", "No Dude" "Okay Dude" I must hear that about 100 times a day. The other thing that he learned from his best friend next door is "Sweet". Nothing is cool or good anymore, it's sweet!! It's very funny. Oh yeah, and if it's not sweet, it's excellent..lol. He's such a sweetie!!

Have a great long weekend!

Sick Boy

My little Logan is sick. It started on thursday with a high fever and feeling pretty lethargic. Friday he was okay until the late afternoon and then a fever again. Sat, not too bad but the runny nose started, then Sunday he was just not well at all. When you asked him if he was sick, he would say..."I'm feeling well". One thing about my 2 boys is that they never complain when they are sick. Today he doesn't have a fever but still has the runny nose. Hopefully he's over it soon.

The weekend was fun. Uncle Kevin, Stacy, Clara and Emma came up to visit. The kids all had fun together as usual. We celebrated Papa and Uncle Kevin's birthday as well. Jordan had 2 ball hockey games. They won one and lost one. Jordan is really enjoying playing and Dean is loving helping out coaching.