Splash & Dash - November 2014

    When I came across the Splash & Dash fundraiser I knew it was something our family should get involved in. After winning over Jason on the idea I was pretty excited to tell the kids about it. Once I told the kids, the count down was on!  They were so excited to get to help out the children’s hospital, especially when they learned that it was for the same unit (different hospital) that had helped us 2 years earlier when Milayla was sick.

    As part of this fundraiser we needed to raise funds to support the oncology unit (Sarah’s Floor) at the Montreal Children’s hospital. Our part was to participate in the family relay. The kids would run laps and Jason would swim laps. Phinny and I played a large role in the encouragement side of things. We were pumped! We had some wonderful family and friends donate money to the cause - so grateful for their support and we headed over right after Milayla’s gymnastics class that morning.

    That put us there pretty early but gave us plenty of time to enjoy the festivities they had in addition to the main event. The kids pretty much exhausted themselves in the inflatable obstacle course, Milayla was taken out by some boys in the bouncy turtle (got a bruise to show for it!), we played inflated soccer and baseball and I demonstrated my mad skills at the flower sticks (seriously - Jason was shocked that I was so good. Ha!). Then a delicious lunch from the sponsors at it was a great morning!

   Having attended and helped with quite a few fundraisers, I am seriously so impressed with how this event was organized. The afternoon was the BEST. It kicked off with the Heroes & Celebrities relay. This is where kids who have been through Sarah’s Floor ran laps with local celebrities. Seeing those kids running around the track filled my heart to overflowing. It was so incredibly beautiful. I cried. Jason cried. And we weren't the only ones. And the cheers that filled the arena were simply magical and filled with incredible, genuine love. So so so beautiful.

   Then it was time for our family relay. Atticus was up first to run. He was a little nervous about running that big ‘ol track so he ran with someone else but he ran the entire two laps then tagged Jason for him to go swim. When Jason got back to tag Milayla, she was a little nervous about running so Atticus got back out on the track and Phin and I joined in and away we all went. Those little legs of theirs were working so hard and so determined. I wish I got a picture of them running through the finishing ribbon, Atticus and Milayla were holding hands to support each other. Instead I was running along side them cheering them on. Pictures are great, but I definitely think I was fulfilling the more important role in running with them instead of being behind the camera. My heart was beaming for them at how determined and excited they were to play a part in helping others. They have hearts of gold. I feel so honored to be their mom.

    It was a very full and wonderful day (especially since we went to a baptism and a church talent show afterwards) and I am so immensely grateful that we did it. A wonderful experience. And it has reminded me to be a little more watchful day-to-day in ways to help those around us. It’s a lifestyle, not a one time thing and we are certainly trying to do a little bit better.

Books as a family

We read books every night as a family before the kids get tucked into bed. A few months ago, Atticus picked a small chapter book of the shelf as his book choice. Thinking that his and Milayla's interest would not last the entire book we still entertained their interest and agreed to read a chapter each night. And, surprisingly, they were both hooked. They loved working through the book. They loved it so much that when the kids got to pick out books with a gift card they received for Christmas, they eagerly looked at new chapter books that we could read. 

Admittedly, Milayla isn't always interested, as I think following the story along entirely is still a little bit beyond her grasp, but she still loves sitting and listening to the rhythm of the reading and I consider that a good start on her road to reading. We still read a book or two of her choice in the evenings as well, which she is very keen on. I think it all does well to feed her little love for books.

And Atticus certainly surprised us with how well he can follow the story along. We just finished up Charlotte's Web, and Atticus was pretty sad at the end. I think I need to do better at picking books for Atticus to grow into the slightly harder to grasp concepts. As it is though, he has enjoyed the books that we have read. Starting the search for our next one.

Atticus wanted to get pictures with some of the books that we have read so that he could share them with everyone. So here you go! We are missing some as they were library books and have long gone back, but here are a few at least. 

I do love the time to curl up on the couch with a book together!

BYU Symphonietta

In the week leading up to easter we had a few things going on around here, one of those things was that we had a couple students from the BYU-I Symphonietta stay with us for a couple days. 

The kids anticipated their visit for several weeks before hand and were pretty excited that they were even going to get to go to the symphonietta. 

All that excitement didn't seem to stamp out their nervousness of having someone they didn't know stay with us, but they seemed to warm up to the girls pretty quickly. 

Both girls played viola and agreed to play some songs for us before the kids went off to bed. Pretty sure that sold both the kids on learning to play a string instrument (yes!!). 

And then the next day I had the sole task of ensuring the girls made it to their bus on time with a packed lunch for the day. I failed on both accounts. Thankfully, the bus was extremely late and the girls got there with enough time for me to get home, realize I forgot to give them their lunches and run back to give it to them. 

When we made it to the concert that night the kids were just buzzing with excitement. I wasn't sure how well they were going to do seeing that the concert didn't even start until well after bed time, but they were pros. They were definitely tired, both opting to sit and cuddle on our laps through the concert, but they sat and listened through the entire concert. 

I must admit that it was a little strange to hear the musicians play 'O Canada' as their opening song. I can't remember the last time that I have listened to that song. Pretty sure that disgraces me as a canadian (though, in my defence, we sing it as a family several times in the week leading up to Canada Day), but I stood up and explained to the kids the importance of the song and felt a little soothed about my disgrace. 

There was a lovely soloist that sang as well, and Milayla was completely hooked. The singer was very expressive though and every time she made a concerned face Milayla would ask what was wrong. It was very intense for Milayla to watch. And Atticus just couldn't get enough of learning the names of a few new instruments. 

All in all - it was a lovely evening and I am so glad that we took the kids. It was a great event to have in our Easter week.  And it was a great family date!

These are some of the little pictures that we had fun taking while we were waiting for the concert to start. 

my sneaky picture :)

sooo Excited!!

Family picture

Atticus was a little concerned that he couldn't find Kelsey (one of the girls that stayed with us) in the picture of the symphonietta that was in the program. She was there though. Thankfully :)

Milayla loved listening to the musicians practicing

Love this girl's smiles!

blurry..but here we are! Along with a photobomber...ha!

When the girls headed off on the third day, Atticus requested that he get a picture with his new friends before they headed off. 

We're so glad we had these girls stay with us. It was a pleasure!

Family Temple Trip

This was several weeks ago now, but I thought I would post these pictures anyhow seeing the kids were so very excited for this little trip. 

Since living in Montreal, it's been a bit of an adjustment for the kids that Jason and I head off to the temple without them. Where we lived before it was a several hour drive so we all went together and Jason and I traded off for sessions while the kids got some time with the other parent walking the temple grounds and the area surrounding. 

Well, now that we live just 20-30 minutes from the temple (traffic dependant) we are able to sneak in a few more evening temple visits and the kids get to head to bed while a sitter stays with them. Sounds like a pretty good plan, but the kids are quite dismayed about not getting to go to the temple with us. So, in addition to mine and Jason's temple night, we also plan a day to drive up with the kids just to check out the temple, walk around (typically in below freezing temps, but the kids haven't minded) and take some photos. It's a really nice opportunity to talk to the kids about the purpose of temples, what happens inside and why it is important that we go. It's also prompted some talks about family history. 

All in all, we feel pretty blessed to have a temple nearby. It will actually be closing soon for renovations, so we feel pretty fortunate that we have been able to get some sessions in before we have to drive a pretty long way to get to the temple (~6 hours). And I am loving the interest that the kids are showing, so there is no better time than now to help them understand all the beauty, both physically and spiritually, that can be found inside the temple. 

Maple Sugaring

Well, it took a while for the weather to warm up enough that the maple trees decided to start releasing that lovely sap, but it has begun! 

Around Quebec, you can head to a sugar shack starting the end of March which is a place out on a farm that you sit down to a big meal (typically all you can eat) loaded with maple syrup on and in everything. Then you head outside and toss syrup into the snow for a toffee tire and head home on one incredible sugar high. And while I am sure that would have been a pretty neat experience, particularly considering all the hype about those sugar shacks and that several sugar shacks have other things like sleigh rides and trains, we were pretty anxious to experience the real maple sugaring. You know, buckets on trees, boiling syrup, the smell of a wood fire - the Little House on the Prairie edition. 

After looking and looking, through all the sugar shacks in our vicinity, none of them seemed to offer that opportunity we were looking for then Jason remembered that one of his coworkers had his own little maple farm that he had started harvesting maple at last year. We asked if he would be willing to welcome two adults and two curious toddlers to his farm and he happily obliged.

Alain, Jason's coworker, was such a great host. To begin with, we were all so happy to drive out of the city. It was such a nice breath of fresh air to roll down our windows and enjoy the sunny warmth of oncoming spring. The kids were quiet as soon as we crossed the river out of the city; they just sat and watched the hills roll by. We arrived to Alain's farm to be greeted by a very kind dog and cat. The kids, who don't get a ton of time around animals, weren't too happy about that and had a minor freak out. But then it was on to learning about Maple and all was good.

Alain showed us how he boils the maple, collects it from the trees, the importance of the temperature, let us drink some straight maple (it is so SWEET straight), he let us try some sap before it was boiled (tastes like thick, slightly sweet water), and then let us go visit his horses. 

I love maple, but getting to make friends with his horses kinda blew the maple bit out of the water. Love those horses. Jason remarked how at home I looked and it sparked a conversation about moving outside of the city which is an idea that I'm not sure will take root any time soon (I love the daily convenience of the city a bit too much..). I sure would love a little getaway cottage though! 

Back on topic though, we loved getting to learn about maple and are so grateful to have had an opportunity to get to know Alain and his family a little bit better. And, of course, before we left the kids thoroughly enjoyed splashing around in the mud. It was a morning that we are sure to remember (and we brought home a few treats to help us remember it by). Thanks, Alain!

And now for the pictures :).