See Jane Run

I was sooooo proud of Amelia and Evelyn tonight.

But lets start at the beginning...

Back in June the girls' school participated in a 5K run. Very non-competitive, more of a fun-run/walk for French schools in the area. This year Amelia came home kind of down. She said that she wished she could run it, that she had the ability to actually run a decent chunk of it. I told her that for sure she could do it if she was willing to put in a little bit of work. She really wanted to so we sat down and made some goals. We looked up learn-to-run programs for young girls and committed to running 3 times a week. We found a calendar we could track her distances and time in so she could see her progress and found a Halloween run in October to work toward.

The last 4 1/2 months have not been easy and it's been a learning curve for me too. The hardest part was finding the time to run. Early mornings are out because they're too early with Rene having to leave for work by 6:30am. Evenings are too unpredictable.  So we finally settled into a habit of running as soon as Rene gets home from work. I try to have dinner half ready or at least prepped so he can finish up and we can come home to a hot meal on the table.

Next hurdle, how do you keep a 9-year-old and nonathletic mother motivated? Add an energetic 7-year-old to the mix. It didn't take too long before Evelyn wanted to join in on the runs. Also add a crazy 2-year-old dog who really needs to get out and work off some energy. We also found a favourite place to run. A nice flat trail that has km markings every 1/2 km.

We didn't always want to get out but with the addition of the Halloween run looming in the background it was usually enough motivation to get us all running.

Thankfully on Thanksgiving weekend a treasure box of old dance costumes were discovered which sealed the deal. Add yet another reason Aunt Becca rocks!

The week before the run was the first time we ever ran 4kms so I wasn't sure how 5 was going to go on the day off but figured we'd get to the end no matter what. The day of the girls were pretty pumped. They were in their costumes as soon as they got home from school. Flashlights were found and readied (the run was at night) and water was stocked. We got to the run with plenty of time to enjoy face painting and balloon animals. I made the girls hold off on the free pizza, hot chocolate and gobs of candy being handed out and told them they could have their heart's desire AFTER the run.

I forgot how energizing participating in a run like this is. I've only done a couple in my life and this was by far the most fun. Probably because I was doing it with my girls but something about being behind a space-ship stroller, surrounded by minions, monsters, farm animals and grapes made the night a little more magical.

When the starting bell rang, the girls were off. And when I mean off, they were OFF. I kept asking if the needed a break and got an unequivocal no every time. We ran for over 10 minutes before one of them finally needed to stop, and even then they were ready to get back at it after 30 seconds. The furthest we'd got in our training was 3.5 minutes before breaking for 1.

We crossed  the finish line at just over 40 minutes to find a surprise personalized cheering section of Grandma and Aunt Erica.

What a fun night. Santa Shuffle, here we come.

First Annual Thanksgiving Apple Picking Trip

We had to start the day with chopping wood. The novelty has worn off for our helpers. Hmmmm, that insinuates they were ever excited.  Rephrase: the task continues to be daunting for our helpers. But they are troopers! As an incentive to getting the job done we promised them an afternoon of apple picking.

Still monkey see, monkey do

Initially I had visions of visiting one of those farms that makes the apple picking a small portion of fun as kids can participate in wagon rides, petting zoos, hay jumps, corn mazes...you get the picture. As the day wore on though the hours quickly passed and after wood chopping, lunch, and a quick jaunt to help a friend with roofing we ended up leaving Orangeville around 4:15pm. We hastily arrived at a farm 15 minutes before they closed, jumped on the last tractor ride out to the orchard, speedily picked a bag of apples and ran to catch the last tractor ride back to the farm.

I felt bad. The girls had really worked hard all morning with the prize of apple picking, which ended up being a 30 minute frenzy of apples and tractors. There was a farm dog (petting zoo?) and we had to remember where we parked (maze?) and they did jump over a chain fence (hay jump?) so I suppose we did cover all our bases.

The neat thing about kids: they know how to have fun. They were thrilled to be allowed to climb a ladder to reach the high branches (where Rene insisted all the best apples grew).

The look of concentration...

The scrutiny that every apple went through,
only the best for our family.

Lucienne's squeals of delight with the tractor ride would make anyone think we were on the ride of her life.

Heading back.

I had to question why there were people there without kids. Because pick-your-own-apples is really just a clever way to disguise make-your-own-work and without the antics of children it's really not that much fun.

Stop, Drop, Roll

**sorry for the low quality of pictures...it was dark out and the camera flash didn't seem to want to cooperate all the time.

The local fire department had an open house so we thought we'd stop by.

They had a fire house going that they let the kids spray. I tried to convince them to hit families going back to their cars (lets put a bit of a challenge to it) but the firefighter didn't seem to think it was a good idea. Audree wanted nothing to do with it at first but later in the night decided to try (Rene had the camera though and I couldn't find him so it will only be documented in our memory).

They had all the trucks open so the kids and Dads could climb inside. One kid even managed to get the horn on one of them working. Those firemen really can move fast, I got the impression that it wasn't suppose to be operational.

They had all the gear out and kids could suit up and see how far they could walk. They even had them holding oxygen tanks and axes...not sure how safe that was but the kids' sure thought it was great (once again, Rene and camera were MIA).

They had a spin-the-wheel-answer-the-question-and-win-a-prize table. Apparently I need to brush up on my fire safety knowledge, most of the answers I fed the girls were embarrassingly wrong (once again, no Rene and thus no camera).

There was someone dressed up as a dalmatian dog that Lucienne thought was hilarious, until he took a step towards us. She would then yell "No, scary, scary" until he would take one step back which she would burst out laughing and think he was great. We played that game for a few minutes until it just seemed cruel. Audree was quite enamored with him and gave him lots of hugs and high fives (and of course, no Rene and camera).

For most of the night I couldn't find Rene (which really made me wish I had the camera).  Turns out he made a new volunteer fight-fighter friend who was talking up the profession. He now has the fire-fighting bug in his head. Volunteers need to be on-call from 6pm to 6am but don't necessarily get called every night. I wonder if he realizes there may be heights involved.

Watch Out World

It was this girl's first day of school today. To say she was excited would be an understatement. I think we've been counting down this day since the start of school last year. Only then it seemed so far away that my little blond-haired girl would actually be going. I don't know how that passed so quickly. We were counting by events (Halloween, Christmas, birthdays, Easter, summer, then school), then it came down to months, then weeks, then we made a daily chain to count down the final 9 days (only because she officially started school 9 days after her sisters). 

And today she's gone.

I'll admit, I was a bit teary...but I always am sending off a kid for the first time. 

As excited as she was she was also nervous. She was nervous about not knowing what her teacher is saying, not knowing when it is time to eat or play, of making a mistake and getting in trouble, about being sent to the principal's office (thank-you older sisters), of not having anyone to play with. How can a four-year-old have so many concerns? The last couple of days she's been asking me how nervous I am. 

I overheard this conversation between her and Evelyn this morning as they were getting ready:

Audrée: "What if everyone laughs at me?"

Evelyn: "Are you kidding? You are beautiful. All the boys in your class are going to want to marry you."

Audrée: "But what if I do something then everyone laughs?"

Evelyn: "Don't worry. You tell them I'm your older sister and then find me and I'll make sure they stop."

What a blessing it is to have older sisters! Older sisters who were just as excited as she was that she finally was coming to school with them. As the bus pulled away from the house I saw them all squeezed into one seat with Audree tucked in the middle. They were struggling to find a place to put all their bags. 

The house was eerily quiet as Lucienne and I came back in (although she rectified that soon enough). I don't even want to think about the day I'll be walking into the house all alone. Until then, Lulu and I will hold down the fort until their return at 3:30. This should be interesting...

A Whole Lot of Hair

First day of school tomorrow for Audrée...very exciting!!! I thought we'd start off on the right foot and send her in clean. As she was finishing up her bath she said, "Mom, I want my hair to be beautiful tomorrow, can you put it in buns so it's very curly?"

I think she may end up with a complex about those golden locks of hers, but only time will tell. I've already caught her asking a family friend if he thought her hair was beautiful. As a father of three boys and a one year old girl (who is working on growing a beautiful mane) he dutifully nodded. She then proceeded to demonstrate how she brushes it to keep it shiny and smooth.

Of course, if Audrée has buns, then her protegé must have them too. Luci was surprisingly still as I put them in and didn't complain about it hurting. Audrée tells me that it hurts but is worth it. Lucienne loves having her hair done and will often ask for a ponytail.

And Evelyn followed suit. With her we tried an experimental cornrow attempt.

I wondered how long Lucienne would keep them in but as of bedtime they were still there. However, she's a hair twirler, especially to soothe herself to sleep, so as I nursed her she had no idea what to do with her hands and fingers. They were all over the place looking for something to twirl or fiddle. I have a feeling those buns aren't all going to be there in the morning!

A friend posted on Facebook, "I don't know how you do it with 4 girls...I have a hard enough time with just doing Kenzie's hair!" To which I responded, "This happens once every 4-5 months. I'm lucky if a brush runs through everyone's hair on a normal day". Erica seconded that.


Postscript: Audree woke me up at 2 in the morning to let me know she had taken out her buns so that her hair wouldn't be too poufy in the morning. And since she was already there...she snuggled in for the rest of the night. When Lucienne crawled in around 4 hers were still holding on. She'd pulled them a bit but at least the bottom half of her hair should be curly.

Doing the Can-Can

Note: this picture was taken early in the
canning day when smiles still abounded.

On Saturday we canned tomatoes. That simple phrase really doesn't do it justice.

3 bushels (with a cumulative of 1/2 a bushel being rotten, thank goodness!!)

58 jars.

19+ hours in total. (15 hours on Saturday, 2 on Sunday and Monday)

Rene made me take an oath that I would never buy that much of anything again. I solemnly swore, never again.

It all started with some salsa. Last year I whipped up a batch yielding a few jars of a friend's recipe that almost lasted us the year. The girls loved it, even more than store-bought (which says a lot) so needless to say I was more than willing to cook some up for my loving fans, this time enough to last until next tomato season. However, last year I was late on the uptake, I missed the bulk tomato season and bought the wrong type of tomatoes by the pound. When I saw the local grocery store with bushels of the "right" type of tomato my heart skipped a beat and I knew it was time. My mind thought, 3 bushels should do it, and if I need more I can always come back.

4 batches of salsa later there was a whole lot of tomatoes still sitting there. I don't think we had even used a full bushel. I'd recently read an article that canned tomatoes really weren't that great for you, something about the acidity reacting with the tin of the can. Great. I called up a friend who had sworn off canning to see if I could exchange her unused jars for a couple of homemade salsa. 24 jars of diced tomatoes later, there was still a whole lot of tomatoes still sitting there, and I was once again out of jars.

A quick run to a 24 hour Sobey's (at this point we were well beyond local stores still being open) and Rene returned with an additional 24 jars. I thought I'd mix it up a bit and try some tomato sauce. I found a recipe online that seemed yummy, and that I conveniently had all the spices for, and went about whipping up a batch of that. 8 jars later, still a whole lot of tomatoes sitting there.

At this point we were spent. It was midnight. We were tired...and both a little nauseous from inhaling fumes of cooking tomatoes all day. With 1/2 a bushel still left we called it a night. I sent my helper packing and tackled the last couple hours of waiting for diced tomatoes to finish up in their water baths.

I think I fell a little more in love with Rene that day. I knew he was a hard worker when it came to things like cutting wood, home renovations, building furniture and other "manly" crafts that he's so good at. But watching him wield a paring knife, wearing an apron, in the kitchen ALL day and night, boiling, de-skinning, de-seeding, and dicing tomatoes, willingly running off to fetch jars and other canning supplies we ran out of made me realize what kind of man he really is. One who loves me enough to spend his only day off in the kitchen with me dealing with my over-zealous-ambitious-tomato-canning-3-bushel vision. Never once did he complain.

Sunday, I was still spent. After returning home late from a  family birthday bash the house was a disaster and dishes were piled high on the counter. I crashed, leaving that lovely husband of mine doing the dishes (which, in my defense, I did say I would do in the morning because I knew how tired he was too).

When I woke in the morning, the site in the kitchen made me cry. And that's not a small feat. Not only were all the dishes done, 1/2 a bushel of tomatoes sat on the counter, peeled and diced. The garbage was even sitting at the curb with all the rotten tomatoes tucked in the green bin. I spent the morning finishing up the canning, put on some labels and hauled our harvest down to the food storage.

I also have to acknowledge my other trusty helpers. I wish I had taken more pictures but my hands were kind of slimy most of the day and I didn't want to seem like a slacker leisurely snapping photos of my family working hard. Amelia, Evelyn and Audree all had their hands in peeling and de-seeding. Amelia helped chop fresh herbs from our garden for the sauce. And Lucienne mostly stayed out of trouble, which is all we could really ask of her.

I'm thinking of asking for a pressure cooker for Christmas (hint-hint).

Another Summer Bites the Dust

I know I probably say it every year, but, THAT WAS THE SHORTEST SUMMER BREAK EVER!!

Today was the first day of school for the girls. Kind of. Audrée has to wait until next Thursday for her start date but the other two started today. This morning after the girls got on the bus we made a paper count-down chain, 9 loops for 9 days. It almost seems cruel that we've finally arrived at her year and she still has to wave to the girls as the bus disappears around the corner.

Anyway. The girls are ready. They were excited to see all their friends again and find out who their teachers are. Amelia's class is back together after having been split for 2 years so she's excited to be with Charlotte and her other girl-friends that she's been separated from. Evelyn's class will be split this year so she was a bit nervous to find out who she'll be with.

Turns out it's split with 15 of her classmates in one class and 4 of them in with the grade 1's. She's one of the four. At least she's with three of her closest friends but I'm not sure how I feel about her being with the younger grade when there's only four of them. I wish there was an easy way to keep tabs on what she's covering versus her counterpart classmates but I suppose if she seems to be getting smarter she must be doing ok. At least she enjoys reading and in the grand scheme of things if she doesn't cover everything that a normal grade 2 should cover she'll probably still survive in life.

Amelia's excited because this year she gets to learn English! Which really just means they can finally speak English at school and not get in trouble. Apparently they'll also be allowed to read the previously outlawed English books. It's the little things.

In the meantime, I have a couple more weeks of only having to get two girls ready, two sets of teeth brushed, two lunches made, and two bags packed. And I have my super Audrée helper home to help me entertain her little sister. Oh how different it will be when Audrée's not here.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's......yep, it's a plane.

Lucienne's new obsession are planes. She can hear them before anyone else and will start incessantly say, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy..." until I finally say, "Yes Luci" and she'll excitingly point up to the sky and say "Plane!!" although it comes out sounding more like "pane". I think she has actually seen maybe 4 of the 500 she's pointed out.

Today a bright red one flew really low over our house and I thought her little almost-2-year-old body was going to explode. It was kind of infectious. We all stood in the backyard screaming plane while waving at it.

I think she just might have a little bit of her Grandpa in her.

My One and Only Turns 35

Rene is 35. On the morning of his birthday Evelyn ran into his room, jumped on him in bed and shouted "You're 35 today!!!" Rene would have gladly just had a "Happy Birthday" instead of a declaration of actually being one year older.

We had a lovely birthday BBQ with good friends on the day of his birthday and another one on Sunday with our fabulous family.  As a sidenote...I just want to say that I love our family. I have amazing in-laws and immediate family members. I'm not sure how we lucked out to be here together on earth. I think we must have pulled one of those "if she/he goes, I go" up in heaven and threatened to defect the other side if our request wasn't granted. I can see us all with linked arms sitting in protest in front of God's mansion. Not only was I born into a solid family but the ones that have been added have just increased the stellar-ness of our bunch. There is no other group of people I'd rather be stuck with for all eternity!

Any-who...in continuing with the birthday tradition, here are the first 35 things that come to mind when I think of my one and only (in random order):

1. Obviously he's handy. And not just in that do-it-yourselfer way that leaves the next home owner cringing at the work that's been done. He really knows how to do everything to perfection. In the middle of installing a couple doors on our back room I learn that he's never actually done it, just remembers a video he watched in school 10 years ago on how to do it. We've saved thousands and thousands of dollars because of this amazing talent of his.

2. He's athletic. I hope the girls get some of that athleticism from him because I've always enjoyed the sport of spectating over chasing a ball up and down a field. I'm lucky to have genetics on my side for this one.

3. He loves to serve. Or at least is willing to serve. There is rarely a family that moves in or our of our ward without his helping hands.

4. He doesn't stress out (home renovations excluded) and is laid-back when it comes to things that really don't matter.

5. He's easy on the eyes, and just keeps getting handsomer with every grey hair.

6. He cooks.

7. And cleans.

8. And puts the girls to bed.

9. He loves doing nail art. My limit is painting each finger a different colour but he will sit very patiently and create a masterpiece on each of their 40 fingernails. Even though most of it will be gone the next day.

10. He's all for me getting massages. Even when we're figuring out ways to cut back on the budget he still insists that they're a necessity.

11. He puts up with my desire to paint rooms different colours every year.

12. He smiles when he walks in to a room I've completely rearranged.

13. He knows how to chop wood. I gave it a go once and almost took off my leg. How he makes it look so easy is beyond me.

14. He's already figuring out ways to intimidate the boys our girls bring home.

15. He lets me sleep in.

16. Then has a delicious breakfast of crepes ready and waiting.

17. He makes crepes. Enough said.

18. He stops on his way home from work to pick me a bouquet of wild day lilies by the side of the road.

19. He tries really hard to stay awake when I get into my talking moods at bedtime.

20. He'll watch romantic comedies when I know he'd rather be watching an action zombie movie (which I refuse to watch)

21. He bears his testimony at church. The girls need to hear it. I hate doing it and have limited it to every time I have a baby (which I'm going to have to figure out a new criteria).

22. He's always game for my ideas, no matter how crazy they may seem at the time. No wheat? Sure. Sell the car and be a one-car family? Why not. Have another baby? If you think so (he would have been content with two). Buy a century home? As long as the foundation is sound. Get a dog? As long as it's big. I can always count on him to have my back and support me in decisions I think would be good for our family.

23. He doesn't expect me to iron his shirts.

24. He works hard...at everything. And not because he has to, because that's just who he is. I know they respect him at work for his work ethic and willingness to do anything, no job is beneath him. That has created job security for our family which is priceless in the economy these days.

25. He's thrifty and is a great saver. He doesn't buy frivolous things we've managed to stay out of debt as a one-income family.

26. He has a great sense of style. He's often better put together than I am and will usually be the one to send the girls back up for a wardrobe change.

27. He stays in shape and is conscientious about staying healthy.

28. He'll go grocery shopping at 10:00 at night when we really need milk and eggs. I know he would rather sit and relax but still he goes...letting me sit and relax instead.

29. He speaks French, and is opening up that road to the girls. What a great opportunity for them to expand their options when they're older.

30.  He has wonderful parents who are so supportive of our family and have taught him so many of these qualities that I love about him.

31. He loves Halloween, because I don't, which makes us a perfect holiday match. He'll get the girls all costumed up and takes them trick-or-treating while I can stay warm at home watching a girlie movie and eating all the Halloween candy.

32. He leaves the toilet seat down. In a house full of girls it's kind of obvious.

33. He's not into technology, which could go both ways but I'm so glad he's not glued to the screen the minute he walks through the door (or to a phone or other portable device). Although get him and Amelia into a game on her iPod and there's not much that can be done.

34. He holds other people's babies. Which I never knew how endearing it would be until I saw him making cooing faces to a baby who wasn't ours. So cute!

35. He's mine. He chose ME to marry and right from the beginning I had no doubts that we were meant to be together. I got the French hottie.

The Princess Spoon

We have a spoon dubbed the "princess spoon". It is one of a kind...I have absolutely no idea where it came from. It is revered here like no other piece of cutlery...and fought over like no other piece of cutlery. There was, a few years ago, the great battle of the Hello Kitty plate but it pales in comparison in duration and intensity of the princess spoon.

I have to be really careful that I don't grab it when setting the table and unknowingly place it in front of someone. Immediately it's favouritism. A great debate will ensue about who had it last, who has had it most. Usually bowls of food are defiantly pushed away by the defeated person. The unworthy "plain" cutlery falls to the floor with a sad clang (I wonder if this is the root of Lucienne's cutlery throwing). Dinner is delayed while trying to get casualties back to the table with the promise of a brighter future when the princess spoon will be their victory.

Many times a noble gesture is made and the princess spoon is ceremoniously handed over as a peace offering followed by a dignified walk to the cutlery drawer to retrieve a less desirable but just as functional spoon.

I've thought about buying a princess set but Rene didn't feel he could eat with such an elegant pattern (although I think the word he might have used was ugly). Plus, where's the teaching opportunity there? I also thought about getting rid of the spoon altogether but I might have a mutiny on my hands where sides join forces for the common cause. Besides, every dinner table needs a little drama. So, the saga of the princess spoon lives on and I'll just have to try not to laugh every time it is unearthed from the cutlery drawer and knives are drawn.

An Ice Storm in April...Only In Canada

We had a wicked ice storm last Friday. Nothing too traumatic happened to us. We lost power a couple of times throughout the day for about an hour at a time. Our trusty wood stove served it's purpose and even our iPods eased the pain of the t.v. not working. Others, however, were without power for a couple of days and trees and limbs and branches were falling all over the place. At first it was very exciting to think of all the potential free wood we would be able to collect and store for next year but in reality, these trees were all "alive" and would probably take a couple of years to dry out enough to burn. We don't have the space for that.

But, service opportunities abounded so for Family Home Evening tonight we got out our work gloves and rain boots (and chainsaw) and set out to a family who lives on the outskirts of Orangeville who had a giant, probably 50-year-old maple tree fall on their house. Luckily their front veranda took all the damage and windows were protected but it was a sad loss of a gorgeous tree.

This isn't their house but a good example
of the size of trees this storm took down.

Rene set to work at getting the main trunk of the tree down to manageable pieces while the rest of us hauled all the branches out to the back of their house to be burned in their fire pit. And by the rest of us I mean myself and the other mother. Our nine children combined disappeared the minute ours set foot on the ground.

A side note...they have a beautiful property. I'm not sure how many acres but when I asked how far their property went it was with eyes squinting and finger pointed at the furthest point I could see before the road bend. It was like the girls were finally set free and they ran and ran and ran. There was a trampoline out back somewhere and they jumped and jumped and jumped. If they happened to run close to the pile we were working with I threw a branch in their direction to drag away with them.

This family did have an older son who is in Young Men's with Rene. When Rene asked him if he would like a go at the chain saw he cooly shrugged his shoulders and grunted sure but he couldn't hide the excitement from his eyes! It's amazing what a non-father person will let other people's children do. His father had a chainsaw but wouldn't think of giving it to his 16-year-old son to operate (and he wasn't there tonight to say otherwise).  I've never operated the chainsaw myself and can honestly say I have no desire to do so. It's probably something I should try at some point.

I know the focus of the night was suppose to be service but it was so nice to see the girls outside running without any boundaries...especially the one who tends not to run and skip ahead but dawdle behind anytime we go anywhere. We did manage to bring out a few rakes and they made an attempt to pile leaves (think bucket of water in a lake in terms of how many leaves there were on this massive property) but at least they were doing something!

We were even treated to a FHE dessert of German Chocolate cake with real wheat and real sugar. That alone made all the "hard" work worth it.

As much as I love our house and where we live I think if we could afford to live in the country we would. There's a renovated century home we always pass on the way to family dinner at Mom's that I love...it's been up for sale twice. It was such a different feeling being out in nature. Going outside to play here is puttering about in the sandbox or drawing with chalk on the sidewalk. The girls actually got out of breath and didn't mind! I won't even think about how much Paris would enjoy it. There are pros and cons of both lifestyles. I'll just be so happy when the weather turns that we can once again ride bikes to school. Evelyn has been asking every morning if we can ride...I think next week might be the week.