Sunday, March 30, 2008

Cuggle? Lub you mommy!

Kai loves his cuggles (cuddles). He has not been going to bed at 7 pm this week and I think that his naps are prob. just too long. He's been going to bed at 8pm. Tonight he sat with me from 7-8pm watching hockey and saying `go 'nucks', it was pretty cute. He also went through his `first words' picture book and read it to me saying 38 out of the 40 words (without me saying the words! He just didn't get `dress' and `pond', which kind of makes sense). Wow. I hope it doesn't sound like bragging, I'm just recording info for the future AND I'm very proud of him:) Time to send him off to daycare to tire him out so he can go back to sleep at 7pm. I can't believe Spring break is over and its back to work. I'd been fine not going back (I do love my job but I really enjoy playing outside in the sun too). Spring break is always so healthy for our marriage, Gary and I get along so well and we have a lot of fun together. I would recommend it:)

It's been an emotional few days and I'll share more on it later, but i feel very drained and incredibly sad. This afternoon we went out in the sunshine in order to rejuvinate. We went to the bird sanctuary on King George that we always drive by and want to stop at. Kai liked the ducks, all the dogs, and a stick that he found (he called it his hockey stick and even waved bye bye to it). He wanted to go in the water and when we said he couldn't, he wanted us to. This is what he said for half an hour: `Ducks. Quack Quack. Doggies. Doggies. Kai Water. Mommy water. daddy water. Hockey stick' He's really saying a lot these days. We asked him what he wanted for lunch and he said `apples. getti (spaghetti)'. He can say stuff like `back itchy' and `knee owie' so we know how he's feeling.

Kai also took his first picture today, well, he just pressed the button. I can't wait to get him his own camera once he's old enough!

The pictures below are just some funny ones taken from the webcam on our laptop which we have never used:)

Wow, look at that husband of mine!


Bon nuit.

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Late night post

Wow. When was the last time I was up at 12:30am? For some reason I can't sleep. I went out for coffee tonight but I did ask for decaf. I just ate a piece of pizza because who doesn't get hungry if they are up at 12:30am?! I better be brief and try going to sleep again.

Let's see. Yesterday I went to the dentist and my teeth are perfect, yay! We also went to the park and hung out with family. Today we woke up and went straight out to Mission. Gary used to be a painter so he was able to help my sister by cutting in and rolling the stairwell that had extremely high ceilings. Gary is quite the pro, he doesn't need to tape anything (well, except when we did the stripes in Kai's room). While there, Kai and I played with their dog Repo. No offense, but I am kinda scared of their dog so we tried to play behind the sliding door as much as possible (as opposed to actually touching him in the backyard). When we were in the backyard, Kai had no fear and ran giggling towards Repo, trying to take the ball out of his mouth.

Then, my lil sis Trisha came over for some more web page help from Gary while I snuck off to Michaels. Fun, Fun! Then, we made a stop at Superstore because all their dark furniture was 50% off. Our living area is not the largest and the clutter of toys really stresses me out. We want toys hidden when not in use and all our school work in appropriate places so we bought a bench with storage and also a new bookshelf. Gary does not like high bookshelves so I think he is pleased with the one we got.
(Ani and Kai sitting on the new bench)
I would also like to point out that we had mac and cheese for lunch, and not a homemade one! We NEVER have it because Gary doesn't like it and I know its so wrong, but, it was soooooo good:)
Kai putting the dowels in, what is cuter than a son helping his dad with a little project?! He just kept saying `Help daddy'. He loves it when we ask for help:)
(He was pretty focussed)
I've been reading my book about understanding men and I can't say that I've learned a whole lot but I do see now that Gary is def. a guy and I'm def. a girl. Here are a couple of comparisons that I've thought of that are not in the book. If I say `Gary, could you put some bird feed in the birdfeeder?' (he's taller, he gets stuck with these jobs), I will think to myself, `That means, get off the couch immediately and do it now' and he thinks `I will get it done next time I see a bird there unable to get food'. I have now learned to say `Gary my sweetie pie (or something like that),by the end of the day, can you make sure that there is birdfeed in the feeder?' This has helped our relationship a lot. Secondly, I take great joy in paying with exact change. I love it! I love getting rid of all those pennies and nickels. Now, I understand that Gary doesn't carry change but we do have some in our car. If we are in a drive thru, he will just give a $20.00 bill. What about all that change??? He puts all the extra change in a glass on our desk. Why? I don't know, but apparently I am not allowed to take the toonies and loonies out so that in 10 years he can bring it all to the bank or something. Finally, I need recognition. I will say (out loud) `Wow Louise, those floors look clean!' and `Louise, that dinner was so good!' Not sure why, but I need to make sure that he notices all I do. I think we have learned to be more appreciative and thankful of eachother. Last week, I wanted him to recognize that I do thank him so i did a little drumroll before I said thanks each time, just to make it stand out more. I think he realized I do appreciate him. He's great. I'm a lucky girl. Wow, just about 1am...who am I? I know that tomorrow I will be tired!!!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Last couple days

Wow, I wish Spring Break lasted forever. I will try not to rub it in, but, it's amazing. Gary gets up with Kai at 7:30 am and I sleep til 8:30am. Amazing. I have been able to do this about 3 times and I have dreamt about it for over a year and a half (sorry Dana!). In the daytime, so much easier when Gary and I can take care of the house and Kai together. I feel so happy and energetic.

Yesterday we went to Costco and I got some great capris. Gary does not like capris and so when we first got married, I never wore them. But now, too bad! So, if you are looking for a good, flattering pair, check them out. They are the Gasoline brand ones for $19.99:)


I wanted to post a video of Kai but our video camera is not digital so it takes a bit more work to upload. Suddenly he's learning so much. We go through the alphabet and count to 10. If I say `1', he will say `2' and we will rotate back and forth up to 10. I can't wait to teach him how to spell and read etc. I used to love teaching my sisters by playing school so hopefully Kai is cool with mommy playing school with him! I've noticed he can't say `t', it comes out as `p'. It's pretty amazing the way they watch your mouth form the sounds and then copy it. Sponges they are.


He is def. very tired these days and I don't know if its all the talking that he's been doing (processing it etc) or if he is on the verge of getting sick. He's also been quite cuddly saying `hold you' (because i used to ask `do you want me to hold you').


I asked Gary to contribute some words to the blog about spring break or any thoughts and at first he said `My wife is hot' and then I made him think of something else. He just said that he is enjoying a balance of getting stuff done and relaxation. Gary seems to really have gotten into Starcraft and solitaire. He would like me to point out that he hasn't been playing that much:)


I finished reading `Into the Wild'. It was okay, maybe the movie will be better? I found that the story was too much about other people that had died or come close to dying in the great outdoors. Oh well, not bad. I'm now readying a book about understanding men. I'll let you know if I find out anything interesting:) It's called `Men: Some Assembly Required. A Woman's Guide to Understanding Her Man'. By Chuck Snyder.

We pretty much finished Kai's big boy room. He won't be moving in there for a few months but he's pretty pumped about all the balls in there. We did a sort of sporty theme and tried not to make it too young so that he can use the room as he gets older. You need to understand that our son is CRAZY about balls. We play pass, catch, bounce, try to hit the ceiling, count them etc. all day long!
The sporty clock
The sporty pillows
Please note that his stereo is mine that I bought with my own money in grade 10...it's 15 years old and still works all right:) He loves the hockey stick on the wall, its not really what I wanted but I wanted a sporty-ish shelf for his name...I'll work on it. He just goes into the room, points at it and says `hockey stick. wow!' There is a basketball piggy bank and mirror on the shelf too:)
He loves to name every ball up there and particularly loves the basketball.
I used to scrapbook in this room so I got a free desk off of craigslist and stuck it in our bedroom. I hope it doesn't look sloppy but now I still have a place to get away. I'm not a wild scrapbooker. My goal is to make it nicer than a photo album, not spend more than 15 minutes on a page and not too spend too much money on fun scrapbooky things. So, real scrapbookers would prob. not include me as a scrapbooker but i enjoy it.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Our weekend according to Kai

Mommy football (I had football practice on Sat). Church (On Sunday). Bible (He just started learning the B-I-B-L-E song). J-dog. Basketball (Cousin Jayden played basketball with him at church). Nathan pass (I'm assuming he played pass with the only other boy in the nursery). Trisha owie (we played `ring around the rosey', a new fav., and Trisha fell down a bit too hard). Door went up (he loves pushing the garage door button, this is his first 3 word sentence!). Jackie puzzle (whenever Jackie visits, out comes the puzzle). Cheese (Mommy and daddy got their cameras out). Ani. Bailey. Maria (Kai went to visit Ani).

(a picture from the Island just to break the writing up)

He really has been starting to talk about his day and its so cute. I had football on Saturday which was fun. Our first game is just 2 weeks away.

Yesterday we went to church and before the service started there were probably about 40 balls of all sizes all over the gym and Kai was in heaven. I found that reading `The Shack' last week gave me a little bit of a different perspective on Easter. This fictional book is about a dad whose little girl went missing and was never found. He gets a note from God to meet him at the shack (where his daughter was killed) and there he spends the weekend with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It talks about sin, pain, loss, love and our relationship with Him. I would recommend it particulary for those that have experienced loss. It gave a cool perspective on another reason why we pray and talk to God if he already knows what's going on anyway. Why do I sit there and have a conversation with Kai repeating what I already know he's done in very simple words, back and forth...its part of building our relationship and being in that moment together.

Last night we taped up Kai's big boy room to paint a few stripes, here is the before picture. I'll wait til the room is set up to show you how it looks. He's not moving into this room yet but we just had time now to do it, so why not?!



Today we dropped Kai off at Ani's while we did an engagement shoot for my sister Jackie and her man Tyler. I love taking pictures AND its fun that Gary and I can do it together. Kai had a blast at Ani's and did not want to go home. It does help that he loves Maria and their dog Bailey.

Friday, March 21, 2008

Days 5-7: Ucuelet!

On Wednesday morning we left at about 9am to head to Ucuelet/Tofino. We visited my oma and uncle Al in Port Alberni on the way. Oma turned 85 years old this week! We arrived in Ucuelet at about 4:00pm. We decided to stay in Ucuelet instead of Tofino because we'd never stayed there before. The view below is of the harbour, right outside our hotel room.

As soon as we got to Ucuelet, we got set up in our hotel and out we went to `hike' the lighthouse loop of the Wild Pacific Trail. I was so pumped that Kai was doing well in the backpack and we were motoring along. And then, after just 15 minutes, he really got sick of sitting (makes sense, we were travelling all day). So once we finished all the stairs, Kai was running alongside us. He did a great job. He was huffing and puffing purposely and saying `go, go, go'.

(Do you like his new jacket? It's a size 4 and was meant for next winter but it was just perfect!)
Beautiful views along the way

We went out for some yummy pizza on Wed night...it was a West Coast Supreme one. Yummy smoked salmon:)

We were so pumped on Thursday to get to the beach and see that we had it to ourselves and to see that it was sunny!!!
As soon as he saw the beach, he just ran and ran and wouldn't stop. Those blue boots were motoring!


We did the bog walk. It was one of those interpretive trails that I detested as a child, and now Gary and I are actually interested in them. Kai did the whole trail by himself. It was just 1km but still, way to go Kai! Here is he touching a `broccoli tree' (really a shorepine). They grow short and out because of lack of phosphorus.


On Thursday night we went back to the trail to walk out to the lighthouse but it was pretty wet and windy. Kai kept saying `Bye ocean. Hotel.' He really wanted to get back indoors!
We ate dinner at Driftwoods where we had salmon and halibut burgers. Kai learned that he loves friest dipped in ketchup. He would dip it and then suck the ketchup off. He really loves `pies' (fries).
On the way home today, we stopped in Parksville so that Kai could run around before hopefully sleeping on the ferry (he didn't). I just wanted to include this picture because he is concentrating and sticking his tongue out. This is exactly what Gary does.
The park we played at was larger than Kai has ever seen, he was pretty pumped. There were also a million dogs...he would just run from one to the next. I really think we need to get him a small dog that doesn't shed.
We went straight from the ferry to Easter dinner (and the Easter Egg Hunt) at Gramma and Grampa Chapmans house. Kai had fun collecting the eggs but he just wanted to play basketball with them. Here he found an egg on the hoop!
Kai with his cousin Kieryn. She is the closest in age to Kai on the Chapman side so it is cute to see them playing together. Kai now can say all of their names, even though T-bone (Theo) sounds like `Nemo'.
Well, time to unpack a little more...football practice tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Day 3 & 4: MORE RELAXING

1. Yesterday Kai had his chicken pox shot and he did wonderfully. They just blew bubbles right afterwards and he loved it. He also liked that he got a `sticker' (bandaid) afterwards.
2. We had a photo shoot with my friend Terri and that was fun to do, and, Noah did so well.
3. We had care group (6 couples from our church that meet every Monday) last night and Kai refused to sleep there so he was up til 9:30pm. Gary got to play `Rock Band' for the first time and he was pretty pumped.

(This big bear is usually in the basement but Kai had a fun time playing/wrestling with it today)
4. Gary went to the dentist today to get part 1 of his root canal done.
5. Kai and I went to the park and we ran into the girls from his first daycare. He loves those girls and they love him. It's so cute to see him so excited to see them.
6. We sold a couple things on craigslist:)
7. Packing for our trip to Ucuelet/Tofino!! Woohoo!
(Opi and Kai having some down time at the end of a busy day..well, not really, they were wrestling but here is a moment of relaxation)
8. Reading: I finished `28 Stories of AIDS in Africa' and I'm halfway through `The Shack'.

Currently Gary and Kai are watching basketball...oh boy, March madness already? Kai loves trying to shoot the ball into the lampshade which he is not allowed to do. Fortunately, it only makes it halfway to the big light at this point:)

One last thing, Kai loves to watch juggling (guggle) or any attempt of it. Have a good evening!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

DAY 2=RELAXING

This is what our day looked like:
1. We all slept in til 8am!!! Party!!
2. Went to church. I've prob. mentioned this before, but, Kai does so well in the church nursery and has fun playing with the kids (he calls them `tids'). It does help that they have a ball in there and he just asks everyone to play pass with him.
3. Went to Deas Island Regional Park to check out the location for wedding pics...great place!


4. Came home and did housework (ironing, brought recycling to the depot etc)


5. Went to Gary's parents for dinner with all the Chapmans. Kai loves going to grandma and grandpa's and seeing the `tids'. He just watches the 2 boys playing and thinks about how he can join in. On the way home, he kept saying `boys. nomino (dominoes)' `boys. wrestle'. When he saw the 3 youngest wrestling with Gary, he wanted to join in but wasn't sure what to do. The first thing he did was hit T-bone in the face. We corrected him and he jumped on Gary instead. He wants to fit in and join in so bad, its sad to see when he just isn't old enough to participate (ex. dominoes). I babysat a 3 year old on Thursday and he really wanted to play with her, he even offered her all his fav. toys and she rejected his offers. He wanted to hold her hand across the street and she refused. He wanted to sit beside her on the couch but she wanted her space. I felt bad for him but he seemed okay. He just wants to play with everyone.

on the way back from grandma's...happy with Bubi in the back seat. He is REALLY into singing happy birthday and he'll yell someone's name and then we sing happy bday to that person. Tonight we even sang `happy bday to Bubbi (his blankie)'.
6. Did our taxes:) Woohoo, we both get money back!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Day One=AWESOME!

This is how the first day of spring break went (I'll just start with Friday):
1. Last night I went out for coffee with friends...felt good to get out after a BUSY week.
2. I have to say that the last day of work was pretty fun as all week we have had a standing long jump competition going on in the staff room. When is the last time you did a standing long jump? I made sure that I wore runners on Friday and I ended up with a 2nd place finish in the female divison. I'm looking forward to the arm wrestling competition which I'm sure/hoping will be next!
2. This morning I carpooled with two friends to football practice. We did drills and scrimmaged in the rain for 1.5 hours and it was great. Love the outdoors. Love sports. Love being with friends.
3. Came home and ate lunch with Gary and then played with Kai. That kid is FABULOUS.
4. Auntie Jackie came over to babysit so Gary and I could go to Vancouver! First we went to visit Lynette and Bryan. Then we went to Salathai...The Thai Restaurant downtown. We had gift certificates from JAckie and Tyler for Christmas so we went all out with appies, entrees, drinks, and dessert. It was yummy!!
5. Went to Ikea where we bought some fun stuff...a litle train set for Kai, pizza cutter...you know, random stuff.
So that was day one, loved it! Below is a picture of my hair today. I dyed it over a week ago and it is a wash out one so it is almost all gone, but, I thought I should at least get a picture of it sort of darker. Only 3 people noticed it so next time i'm going darker!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Spring Break

These are some of the fun and not so fun things we will be doing over the next 2 weeks:
-Football practices...so pumped!!!!
-Thai food dinner date in Vancouver with Gary
-Kai's chicken pox shots
-Two photo shoots
-Gary's root canal
-My dentist appt
-school work
-Chapman family dinner with Easter Egg Hunt (we never did this as kids but Gary's mom is very into it, there is a very elaborate system involved)
-Dekens family dinner followed by our first annual ball hockey game (yay, I get to break in my new stick!)
-Ucuelet/Tofino!!!! I love the island and just made reservations yesterday....I'm excited!
-Paint Kai's big boy bedroom if there is time (we're hoping to do some horizontal navy and baby blue stripes)

Pg. 123

I got tagged to turn to page 123 in the nearest book and write out sentences 5, 6 and 7. Well, the nearest book to me is the Science 9 textbook...it always sits here next to the computer, ready to go for some lesson planning (new curriculum this year so I can't use my old stuff). So here goes a little info on the cell:

The mitochondria are organelles that are specialized to provide energy for cells by changing sugar called glucose into usable energy. The chemical reactions that occur on the many folds of the inner membrane of the mitochondria provide energy to the cell. Plant cells have specialized organelles called chloroplasts that trap the enrgy from the Sun and make glucose.

I tag: Maria VT, Maria sis, Jackie and Jan:)

Monday, March 10, 2008

Time Out

Gary and I are sick. Well, I guess Kai is too. We've got a wide range of symptoms from Kai's week long cough to my intense headache which caused vomitting last night. I'm sitting here on the couch wishing that I could sleep, but alas, it is only 8pm. Kai is so precious and when I tell him that, he says `precious' which makes him even more precious.
We have been disciplining Kai for a while because he has known right from wrong for a long time. If he does something bad with a toy (like throw it or hit the glass with it) we take it away. This has worked well. However, our son likes to hit people at times. So, when he hits me, he goes to time out. Time out is a chair in the other room. He sits in it for one minute. He needs to say sorry when he comes out. Unfortunately, I think he likes it. Yesterday, he hit me in the face, with a playful smile, and then announced `Time out!' and ran into the other room and jumped onto his time out chair. When I went to see him, he said sorry. What a punk. I told him that he has to be gentle so he rubbed his slimy hands on my face and said `gentle, gentle'. So precious.
Here's our precious boy in his newest shirt, it says `Chicks dig me'. This was a gift from my dad's girlfriend Joanne, thanks Joanne! This evening, Gary took Kai to Canadian Tire so I could have a little time out myself. As soon as Gary put Kai down to pay for his items, Kai ran off in search of the bin of basketballs. This kid is crazy for balls. He came home and all he could do was say `balls! toots! balls! basket-buddy'. He says basket-buddy and peek-a-buddy to say that he wants to do these things with us; his buddy.
Oh wow, I feel sick. I do not like feeling like this. Tomorrow should be interesting with just Kai and I. He will prob. drive me nuts. Oh, but he is so precious:)

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Sleepover Friends


Trisha might be a little upset about the lack of `hotness' of her in this picture but I thought this was a cute moment. Trisha has to design a website for a course and Gary just so happens to teach it, so here he is, teaching Trisha grade 9 curriculum. Trish just commented on how grade 9's in her day just did typing tutor. She was trying to pay Gary to hire a student to do it for her, but, Gary could not be persuaded. Here Trish, I'll put a cute pic of you from tonight below to make up for the one above:)
Today we went to Jan and Doug's new house in Mission. Here I am with 3 of my sis'. The ones on the far left are getting married in July and August.
Ani and Kai in their jammies. Ani came by at noon and is currently sleeping over! These two have a special relationship, they love eachother but they def. have their arguments. Two kids this age is def. easy to manage as long as Gary is around:) I really hope that one day we can have another!


Jan and Doug; happy new house owners.
The housewarming party had a `wild' start as Gary and Tyler found the game boys...
Ani and Kai eating their favourite...PIZZA!
The highlight of the night included playing basketball. The second we pulled up, it was hard to get Kai in the house because he had spotted a full size basketball net. We played with a flat basketball for a good half hour. Ani had tons of fun too...she loved playing monkey in the middle (she was the monkey) and loved watching us shoot. Times like this, I wish we had a real yard and a driveway!
Kai playing a little defense