i hereby promise to post more and read more blogs.  hold me to it peeps!

Sometimes I wish my life was just watching movies and eating chocolates

It is Sunday night and I don't want to go to bed yet because I don't feel like ending the weekend yet.  A couple of weeks ago I was feeling rather sluggish on a Monday morning so I decided to plug in the laptop and listen to conference while I did my housework.  I have found it to be a very good way to 'get the ball rolling'.  You know how when you watch conference your mind just fills up with things you should be doing and you feel this restless energy while you sit there listening?  Now I put that energy to use cleaning my house...although I'm pretty sure that isn't exactly the desired effect of conference... it helps and inspires me in other ways too.

I have been wanting to blog but just haven't really had anything to write about.  I think when I haven't blogged in awhile I need something...a feeling, a special thought to share and I just don't have one this time.  But I will persevere in the hopes that the feeling comes eventually.

The weather lately has been so beautiful and I finally managed to get Brent to make a family outing to the corn maze.  Every year he has always rejected this suggestion.  I think the big difference is that right now we have a couple Japanese students staying with us and we like to do fun things with them.  The last time I was at the corn maze it was night (for YWs) and really really muddy.  E was a babe in arms and I didn't even make it to the maze before I got stuck in the mud, so I didn't even do it.  Luckily we've had fairly dry weather this year so it wasn't too bad.  The kids had a fun time and when we were done we took a little hayride to their pumpkin patch.  Mic and nat picked out an enormous pumpkin and our 2 students each picked out little ones.  Tomorrow we will be carving them and roasting the seeds.  This is a little earlier than I like doing it--I think that the pumpkin will be rotten before Halloween, but Brent is getting his way this time.  (just as long as he can accept he won't get his way for Christmas.--Every year he starts nagging me earlier and earlier.  last year it was the 3rd week of november.  And Sarah you are no help at all in that area.)

Last night I took mic out for a girls night out.  I really wanted aunties here for this because that is when she really wants to be included in the 'grown up' things.  I got Nieve and Michelle, Melissa, and Keera to come.  Although I had reservations we had to wait 45 minutes to be seated.  Consequently we received $50 in gift cards and free appies.  The night started out a little rocky with Nieve making mic cry by embarrassing her, but other than that it went pretty good.  Nieve and her mom got mic some gifts that mic would only look at when neive was in the bathroom.  They got her a stuffy for her future child, cozy socks, and a ring.  Neive also illustrated a card that was kind of...graphic.  Mic cheered up by thinking of what she'll do to get back at Nieve.  One of them is to regift the card  to her. 

Today we (minus stick-in-the-mud-Brent) went to Sugar loaf.  First thing we noticed when we drove up was that the sign featured in our sugarloaf  photo shoot has been replaced by a much more generic one.  Climbing up there always make me think of family.  It just feels like one of our spots...Almost every time I go there I am with someone from our family.  Although I often see people there it always seems to be an under appreciated gem and our family belongs to the small group of appreciaters.  Our students were so amazed at how beautiful it is there.  It has been interesting for me to see Nanaimo through their eyes.  I mean I've almost always thought it was beautiful here but when I contrast it with the urban sprawl of Japan I can really appreciate the beauty of this sleepy little city nestled in the hillside along the coast.  That's what I think it looks like as you approach departure bay from the ferry.   Ironically the only time I was not able to see the beauty here was when I flew home from Okinawa.  After living somewhere so tropical the evergreens and ocean looked so dark to me.  There was definitely something psychological interfering with my judgement.  I'd be willing to bet mom and dad would still be able to recognize the rugged beauty of the island after their 2 years in the tropics.  I'm feeling rather rambly now and since it is now technically Monday, I'd better stop.

Conference Weekend at the Schofields...

Conference weekend was so uplifting and inspiring.  We all crowded in the study to watch it at home.  Due to the attractiveness of our traditions, even E wanted to participate.  I don't know why I insisted on going to church to watch it for so long.  It is just so much more comfortable to watch it at home.  I don't have to do my hair...(as you can see) get the girls up and ready...we can control the temperature or at least use blankets (why is the church ALWAYS freezing during conference?  to keep us awake?)  and if the girls have watched enough, they can leave and go play or have a nap.  Although this year, I think it was mainly E who didn't stay and watch everything.  So here we are...

One of our traditions is to have a little quiz for fhe the next day and everyone gets to ask questions.  This gets the girls keeping copious notes about tie colours and hymns sung.

One of my favourite talks was by Elder Cook about how lds women are incredible.  Of course that is when I look over at Brent and see this:

Why is it that he always falls asleep in these ones?!!  The flash of the camera woke him up and aside from that little bit of dozing he was awake for all of conference.  Which may not seem like anything, but he usually sleeps through most of the 2nd sessions on both days.  (he probably won't like me posting this)

One of our most popular traditions is making a list of words that we think will be said during the conference and if you hear one of the words, you get to dip into the goodie bowl.  The girls choose what treats they want us to get and we pick them up the night before.  Brent always picks really specific phrases that are unlikely to be used such as "provident living"  but ever since the first talk of a conference was on that exact topic, he has gloatingly added many such phrases.  This year he said "natural calamity" which was only said in one prayer and prayers don't count for getting candy.  But I doubt he will change his ways.

This is E's face as she asks me if she can have another candy.  The candy is really the only reason we saw her come around during those 4 hours.

It would be misleading for me to leave you with the impression that it was all just an idyllic weekend.  During Elder Scott's heartfelt talk about his wife and love in the family mic and nat started fighting over feet being on the chair and it got so bad they had to be kicked out.  I loved Elder Scott's talk too.  (in spite of the contention)   Elder Oaks talk probably was the one that really spoke to me and has made me think.  He spoke on desires and how our desires affect our choices and choices affect our actions.  It has caused some reflection--what do my actions show my desires to be?  I really need to take some time and delve into this.  Taking time for things like that is another thing that is hard for me.  Look how I've put it off all this time--2 weeks since I heard his talk and I've done little about it other than reflect a little on one of my runs.  

the end of good things...

Brent is gone.  I dropped him off at harbour air just after 7 this morning.  He has gone to California for some training for half a week.  When he is gone, some things (like dinner and dinner deadlines) become so much more laid back for me.  And I can watch all the chick flicks I want guilt free.  I've been thinking about watching the twilight movies again.  I've only seen the 2nd and 3rd once...It is even easier for me to keep the house clean when he is gone.  Not because he is so messy but because I just spend more time cleaning when he isn't here because I'm bored and lonely.  I don't know how single parents do it.  Our home is incomplete.  And with the kids going back to school tomorrow, life is feeling drab for me.  I LOVED having 2 weeks for spring break.  I adjusted so well that a 1 week break seems way too short.  My life isn't even that hectic anymore--spring break used to just mean a break from scheduled busy lives to me.  It is just so nice having the girls home.  All 3 girls got along so well and did so much together.  Every year at the start of spring break I have all these plans of what I'd like to get done during the break and we never get close.  Always one of the things on my list is organizing the girls room...I guess I'm a little intimidated or just don't want to do it because it NEVER happens.  Hardly any of my plans happen.  Mostly we laze around eating lunch late and reading lots of Harry Potter.  This year the kids were getting along so well, I just didn't want to interfere.  But now it is over and tomorrow we are back to living with a schedule.  Schedules, I know, can be a good thing.  I know I would get a lot less done--but right now I'm feeling rather rebellious about it all.   ramble ramble ramble...

I've got the JOY JOY JOY!

I'm not sure why or what I have done to deserve it, but I just feel so much happiness, love and joy swelling up from deep within my soul and spilling out all over me and my life.  I have been trying to improve my life--I see it lacking in so many ways.  The change that occurred in my ward 2 years ago has been hard for me.  At times I have felt discarded, rejected, not good enough, etc etc.  I have struggled to understand why I felt so disconnected with the ward when just a few short months prior I felt so beloved and like the ward was such an extension of my family.  I knew that I had probably withdrawn myself, but I didn't really know how to undo that or change.  I felt the shame of our family (and I resented this shame) and the circumstances under which most of everyone left and to some degree painted with the same brush even though I was rather detached from it all.  I've felt a barrier in my spirituality.  I don't know how to describe it--maybe like I was just going through the motions but even when I tried to fix that, I couldn't connect....

Anyways, I've been doing little things to try to be better.  Like trying to put more into my prayers.  I mean when it is something you do everyday at least twice a day it can be hard for me to not just say the same platitudes.  Just like it is hard to write a letter to the same person regularly without getting a response (not that I don't get a response, but not in the same way one does when having a regular conversation...you know:  yak yak yak, pause, think about what I've said, wait for some inspiration, repeat again and again--its different than yak yak yak, hear response yak yak yak, etc etc.  Anyways, it has been an area I need to put in renewed effort.

And going to the temple.  After what happened to Brent last time we went to Seattle, we just stopped going.  Expensive, need passport, expensive, expensive, expensive.  Then the lower mainlanders finally get their own temple and we still find it hard to go.  We hadn't been to do a session in a really long time...The last 3 or 4 times we have gone we have worked with the youth in baptistry.  The temple is a lot closer and the passport obstacle is now removed but we still have the biggest difficulty which is the expense.  I like where I live.  Love it actually.  I don't really like leaving much--probably mainly because of the expense.  When I thought about how little we have used the temple since it has opened I felt ashamed.  So Brent and I have set the goal to try and go once a month.  With so much family over there, it doesn't have to be as expensive as it is for some other islanders. It is a sacrifice that we felt we should be making.   And so with that goal, we went over at the end of January.  I was worried that we weren't going to have the money but then we got an HST cheque.  It is rather remarkable to me that as soon as we made the firm commitment to go, my mood just changed.  It was easier to get up in the morning and do everything I needed to do--sort of like the energy I get at Christmas time.  We were graciously picked up at the horse shoe bay terminal by Laura who basically spent the greater part of her Saturday chauffeuring us around and attending the temple with us.  It was just really nice to be there and call it an amazing coincidence or just one of the "tender mercies" but our session was about one third peopled by Nanaimo people.  The next day at church I felt buoyed up by our little trip.  I just felt happy, you know?

Then we felt the need to have a fhe lesson on fasting and this responsibility fell on me.  We challenged the girls to have a better attitude about fasting--to try and view it more as the "joy" that it is described in the scriptures.  We also challenged Mic to do a full fast which she has never done, but that we felt she was ready to start doing.  I hadn't fasted since before I got pregnant with E--so since September 2007.  I've been thinking that I probably could now that she only nurses really at naptime and sometimes before bed--especially since I'm trying to ween her.  So with that in mind, we all started our fast together on Saturday evening and talked about what we were fasting for.   Brent was in Kamloops but he was involved in the discussion via skype.  On Sunday morning I woke up earlier than necessary.  I thought "oh good.  I can use this time to prepare spiritually to have a really good experience at church today.  I reviewed my lesson, said my prayers.  While I was sitting there enjoying the peace and quiet before I had to wake up the girls, Nat came in and said "I think I have to give a talk today"...From there, everything went downhill.  Trying to get the girls ready on time, help Nat to put together a talk that is in her words on her level about Heavenly Father's plan I became very grumpy.  Nat kept bugging me (probably because I was so irritable) and I just couldn't seem to stop myself from being grumpy with the kids.  By the time we got to church the library was closed and so I couldn't get the things I needed for my lesson.  I just felt harried.  I didn't have the peaceful, connected feeling I had been striving for.  But I did give it my full effort.

Another family goal we have set this year is to focus on service.  Every month for one of our fhe's we do an activity.  So the Sunday night before the activity night, Brent and I were talking about some difficulties in our ward.  One thing I love about my husband is how he can't resist helping someone when he sees their need--no matter what they have done to him in the past.  We decided to do a little secret service to some members in the ward.  This doesn't usually happen when one does secret service but we heard a little of how what we did helped.  It was very rewarding.  I guess we "received our reward"  especially by my admitting that we did it on here--no longer secret is it?  But I will say that doing it has helped at least a little bit in feeling less detached from the ward.

Going back to the just going through the motions, I felt like I was doing that with my scripture reading.  Why is it so hard for me to stop in the middle of my day to sit and read my scriptures?  I can get so caught up in my day in going from task to task and scripture reading just becomes another task rather than a moment to treasure and enjoy.  So it has been another area that I've been trying to give renewed effort.  The thing with scriptures at least for me, not every time is a great spiritual experience.  Sure sometimes I glean some good direction or inspiration, but mostly I notice how it just helps me through my day.  This week I've been rereading the conference talks from the Saturday afternoon session.  I've just been blown away at how insightful they have been and were just the sort of things I needed to consider.  I love conference :)

Then I heard this song that I had never heard before that just seemed to speak to me.  It is not a new song, but I had never heard it before.  Since my first time hearing it, I have heard it several times.  So had I heard it before and just not paid any attention?  or is it suddenly being revived?  I don't know.  But it resonated so strongly with me and they way that I have felt.  Here is a link to it.  Although the version I heard was sung by Katie Thompson.

 

So anyways, to summarize a very long and drawn out post I feel joy--the deep down kind.  I feel it is a special blessing--maybe a recognition of my efforts--maybe it means I have a big fat trial coming my way.  But for now, I'm enjoying the feeling.

Halloween

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 The original reason why I stopped posting before was because I became too busy with Halloween preparation and then when I was done, I wanted to show off my "dolls"  That is what it felt like this year--like I was getting to play dress up with my dolls.  Unfortunately for E, I was so consumed with getting the other costumes right that I had very little to give to her consideration.  She found this dress in the dress up bin and loved twirling around and being a princess.  After the stress and insomnia of the other costumes, it worked for me.  At strongstart however she was the shabbiest and least elaborate of any of the other kids.

 Nat was Glinda the good witch; a recycled costume of Mic's.  The only challenge with her's was the crown and the wand and making sure she felt as important and got as much attention as her older sister.  On Thursday night before Halloween we all sat down at the table and made her crown and wand.  To someone artistic like most of you, you may think the crown was simple--not so to my obsessive complicating way of doing things.  Thank goodness I have a husband who is the yin to my yang...or the yang to my yin...(I can't remember which one is the masculine)   I coloured streaks in her hair with felt pens.  In the end she was quite happy with the results.  I think she looks happy and pretty darn cute.

 Mic on the other hand...took all my energy and focus to look like she did.  First of all she didn't really know what she wanted to be.  She wanted to be Annabeth from the Percy Jackson series but we didn't have anything and I thought probably nobody would know who she was anyways.  Probably most of you don't know who that is.  (I recommend it--its a good quick series to read)   Then she wanted to be Ginny Weasley, but again didn't really have anything she could use and a shortness of funds for buying things.  So I started asking her what her friends were being and one friend was going to be an Indian princess; that's when I got the idea of being a Japanese girl.  I even had a beautiful kimono.  I just didn't have an obi (the sash.)  So then I did some research about how long they are supposed to be and went to the store and found something that I thought would work.  The only problem was that because obi s are so long and narrow I had to sew it together and my sewing machine is broken.  I didn't mind leaving the edges rough, but i knew it would fray and I longed to be able to just go over to mom's house and sit down at her already set up machines to sew and surge.  So after lying sleepless in my bed I thought of Sis. Schortinghuis.  She of course was very gracious and even did all the sewing for me.  Wearing a kimono the correct way is a complicated process--especially the proper tying of the obi.  Luckily I found a good "how to" video on youtube.  The only problem was that the knot it teaches is the one you do for a summer yukata.  In the end that is the one I ended up doing anyways.  The other one was kind of boring and more complicated.  When I tried it out on Mic of course I had waaayy to much obi.  Here is my finished product.

We used spray on black dye for her hair and Sarah gave me the idea of doing 2 loopty loop buns.  For some reasons, these pictures, make her hair look grey, but it actually looked really black.

Japanese girls usually wear some dangly accessories when they are all dressed up in their fancy kimonos so we attached some beads.









Looking back, I can't believe how obsessive I became with this whole costume.  Maybe because it was japanese and I wanted it to be authentic.  I didn't want to do the whole white face geisha make-up so I looked up how to do hara-juku girl make-up.  It really accented her eyes I thought.  And made her look far too grown up.

Note the collar standing delicately away from her neck...

The full view.  Isn't the kimono beautiful?














With my Japanese umbrella that Sis. Ota gave me.  She wasn't allowed to open it at school except for the parade.  I like this picture because I think she really does look like a doll--not quite human.

All 3 of them before they went off to school.  I had to wake Mic up before 6:30 am to have her and Nat ready before school.  Phew...hopefully I won't be so crazy next year....

sarah butt munched us.

money matters

I guess I'm getting into a bit of a routine here. In light of our increased income slicing our child tax credit in half and eliminating medical subsidy, we have come to the desperate need to find a new source of income. So the girls and I have started a paper route. They get a small cut of it and I use the rest to cover half their piano lessons which Brent demanded they give up. But I just couldn't do it, so here we find ourselves. I wasn't sure how we would like it, but as luck would have it we ended up with a pretty sweet route. We do the neighbourhood behind our complex (where we go trick or treating) and the girls working together can get it done in less than 45 minutes. Our first day of papers just happened to be flyer day; the papers were so fat that we had to use 2 strollers to take them. There was no way they could carry that many papers (82) So then I was on the hunt for a wagon. Sure enough the recycling place came through for me again just when I needed it. The girls now love playing outside with the wagon. They have all the kids in the complex clamboring for rides. It reminds of the days when Layne and Karen lived here and their boys had a wagon. (Their rides were so popular that they tried making a little money off their rides) I remember Brenna and Alysha coming for a visit and all the cousins riding on the wagon.
Sigh. Now I've gone and reminded myself how alone I am here. I miss those days when my kids could just go out into the complex and play with their cousins. I had to go to the relief society conference all on my own. I felt so lonely. One of my first conferences here all of us girls that lived here were asked to sing--there were 6 of us and now there is just one. Sometimes I feel a little abandoned and cheated too. I would never have come here to live if our family didn't live here. You enticed me to live here, I set down roots and then you all moved away!
But I digress. Everything with the paper route has just fallen into place. I feel so blessed. We've also talked about Brent doing some gis work on the side--sub contract out for some work and work experience. It has been 3 years since he finished and since he hasn't used gis, he needs to brush up. The challenge is the software costs over 2 thousand. Then Brent went and did some pro bono work as an alumni for viu up in Courtenay. 2 of his instructors were there (1 gis instructor) and they want to use what he did for gis stuff. It ties gis in with what he does at work, so that could be really helpful. This also put him in touch with the software which he can use free for a year! He has already received some requests for work--he just has to demonstrate his skills. We have just really felt the Lord's hand guiding us in what to do about money problems and have been so blessed.

Summer update Part II

Now that I have some encouraging comments, and the house is quiet, I feel inclined to continue. I know it is rather pathetic, but I really do need validation when it comes to blogging. If no one bothers to comment, I simply lose all steam.
Anyways, like I said, it was pretty cool the whole time we were at Shawnigan until Friday morning--the day we were leaving. So Friday morning came around and Brent and I lay in bed discussing what to do with the rest of our vacation time. We can be 2 of the most INdecisive people! Brent had mentioned before when we decided to go to shawnigan, that since we could only go until Friday, that then we could go to the place that I had found. I was leaning more to going home and cleaning up and doing back-to-school prep. So we kept talking ourselves around in circles...'we might not be able to get a camping site on the labour day weekend and the place was up in the alberni area and we were down in the cowichan valley...it would be another tank of gas in the van and the truck (brent knows this argument almost always wins with me) but we made arrangements to be away from church for another sunday and if we go back now, our vacation is over...we could go visit Kim in Victoria, but she has a cat...and will be doing some hockey stuff (we have become so anti-hockey) and then we won't be just our family anymore...but it would be nice for the kids to see their cousins and there is an old navy in vic we could still be on vacation and do a little back-to-school prep. We kept talking ourselves in circles "what do you want to do?" "I don't know, what do you want to do?"
So we called the girls in and asked them their opinion. We got one vote for vic and one for going shopping. So we decided to go to vic. Brent took the girls out for one last trip in the canoe while I packed up. They came back and said they wanted to show me their special spot, so e and I went out too. It was really nice and warm and peaceful on the lake. brent said "this makes me feel like camping still" and so we decided to go camping.
Since we had such a slow start to our day we rushed around to pack up and get to the new place before it was too late. [just a little side note: we found 2 dead mice that morning] We got to port alberni by 5pm. Now we had to find the place. Nahmint lake. It was described as "A beautiful site on the shores of Nahmint Lake under large old growth Hemlock. Activities include boating, fishing and a great beach." We followed the directions which took us out along sproat lake and couldn't find the road we were supposed to turn off on. So I asked a local. She had even never heard of nahmint lake. As we were figuring out what to do, a man walked up and said he heard we were looking for directions. He knew where it was because he had been a logger. He said it was about 30 km into the bush. So we took his directions and started down a logging road. No biggy--the road out to Mabel lake was gravel too. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that e had started crying to get out about the time we arrived in alberni. So we started down this gravel road which turned out to be way rougher than the mabel lake gravel road. To our surprise there was a suv driving along right behind us and eventually it passed us when we took a wrong turn. You see, there wasn't just one gravel road--it met up with others and very few of them were marked. the road was so rough that we couldn't go very fast--30km/h was about the fastest. Other then the one little wrong turn which we realized right away, we were on the right track. Eventually after over an hour of driving on this terrible road with e demanding me to hold her foot (a comfort technique) and me singing the "i love you" barney song and ring around the rosie repeatedly, we came to a place where we weren't sure which way to go so Brent sent me down a little road to check it out while he drove up a hill to see if he could see the lake. the road I took became so narrow that bushes were rubbing on both sides and then of course, what should I see, but another minivan coming towards me. In a slightly wider spot we managed to pass them, but I asked where the road went to first. Their answer was "I wouldn't try it in that van" they said the road just got worse and they had a heck of a time turning around. So I turned around as soon as I found a spot (I think I managed a 5 point turn) Brent said he could see the lake but that he had passed 2 piles of bear poop and one was fresh and he couldn't take us out there unprepared for bears. (that is where the schofield part of the family kicked in) we got out of the cars to discuss our options and were immediately dive bombed by massive mosquitoes. I was more convinced by the mosquitoes than the bear poo. I wanted to try my plan b camp site but brent wasn't having any of it, so in the end we ended up at qualicum bay resort at 9:30 at night setting up our tent by the light of the truck lights until the truck battery died and then we couldn't find the van keys to jump the truck....Once we got there and set up and fed, we had a nice little weekend there. The luxuries of qualicum bay--showers, running water, fires...We started our summer off at qualicum bay and so I guess it was only fitting that we finish it there.

Finally! A New Post: End of summer update

Another year has passed and I find myself feeling the desire to blog. Maybe it is a time of year thing that causes me to be introspective and then want to publish my thoughts; maybe it is because I need to connect more with sisters since I'm all alone now; maybe it is that a lot of interesting things have happened to me lately...(not that interesting); maybe it is because brent went to bed and i'm not done talking; or maybe it is a bit of a everything. Anyways, for whatever reason i'm here.

I'm sad summer is over and my kids have gone back to school. I miss them. We had such a good summer with lots of family bonding. That's what summer is to me--time to spend with my family. Sarah is gone. I am the lonely Clarke. Today when we got to church e said "go see adriel?" and then after church she asked "go see auntie sarah?" Eliza was at church today and she asked if I missed Sarah and I got a little lump in my throat! First no sister movie night last night and then an obvious absence at church. (Yeah and Sarah, I don't think brent resented that he couldn't spend time with me--just the inconvenience of me leaving or of him having to go upstairs to watch tv. i was so bored last night!)

Brent took the week off before back to school to go camping. Inspired by our success last year with forestry camps i investigated the forestry camps on the island and found one that sounded really nice up in the alberni area. it is kind of scary to go camping at a unknown campsite so i asked brent to go check it out when he was in alberni for work. (sometimes it boggles my mind when i think about how much more than me he travels around on the island) he doesn't go up to alberni that often, but as luck would have it, just a couple days before we were going to leave he was up there. He mentioned to a coworker that was up there with him that we were going camping and his friend said "why don't you just go camping in my cabin?" He has a cabin on Shawnigan lake and he let us use it--the only catch was his son was using it for the labour day weekend and so we would have to cut our trip short.

So we took him up on his offer. The lake was beautiful and warm and his cabin was right on the lake. You might think that since we were in a cabin we weren't really camping, but it was mostly like camping. The cabin had no electricity and no running water. It did, however, have a flush toilet; we just had to bring water up from the lake. The only downside was that his cabin was totally in the shade the whole day. I'm sure in 30 degree weather one would appreciate the shade, but the temperature dropped down to below 20 for most of the time we were there. Brent and the girls spent a lot of time out on a canoe fishing. Nat caught a small trout that she couldn't keep and other than that they had very little luck. Then on the last day a boat came over and was fishing right off of our bank so Brent tried it from shore that night and caught a little bass on his first cast. I was a little unprepared for them to actually catch a fish and made him let it go. Nat was really upset with me for this--even brent was a little bummed. oops.

The first morning there I was walking past the cabin and saw a flash of something black by the wall. I stopped and looked and all of a sudden a black head popped out from under some planks of wood a lot closer to me. I screamed and it disappeared (of course) I had no idea what it was. The head seemed too big to me to be a rat and the face too round. Of course after that happened I couldn't help but look over tentatively every time I was near and I caught sight of it again and saw that it had a white under belly. Brent was ready to pack up right then. I had to convince him that I didn't think it was a rat--but I saw it so fast, how could I be sure? It reminded me of our Japan days when we'd spot a cockroach and how we couldn't stand to go in the kitchen for awhile and would usually end up going out to eat. Luckily there were no more sightings. Since we've come home and I've had a chance to research, I think it was a mink. There was even crayfish remains on the dock collaborate my belief.
The evenings were spent reading Harry Potter by candle light. We finished the fourth book while we were there and one night we watched the movie on a laptop. Since there was a fire ban we tried roasting marshmallows over the candles. We also invested in our own skip-bo and the girls really caught on. Other then constantly fighting over who got to sit on the canoe seat when they went out without me, the girls got along really well. On the last night the girls and I sang campfire songs. Mic had mentioned how much she liked that at the reunion so I decided to do it with our meagre group. Of course Brent the non-singer wouldn't participate. Nat said while we were singing that that was the best night of all.
I've just realized how late it is. I have to get to bed. I won't make any promises but I do want to tell you about the more Clarke-like portion of our trip, so I will try to get back on and finish.

a new school year...

the first week of school is done and tomorrow my girls find out who their teachers will be. i have dreaded school starting again since school ended. i love summer holidays! i love the warm weather--even if i'm too hot and have bfs. the solution for cooling yourself down is much better than the solution to warming yourself up. and i think it is easier to do too. but i digress. it was just so nice having the girls home everyday and sleeping in until 9:00 and reading little house together during breakfast and lunch and not having to go anywhere and being able to go on my run even if e was still sleeping and being able to shower without her crying. i loved it. and now it is over and maybe next summer mic won't want spend so much time with me. i hope i haven't squandered my time with her.

i have hopes that this year will be a lot less hectic. after a lot of thought and discussion with the girls we have decided to not continue with ballet this year. nat was happy to try something else--quite excited about the possibilities and asked me regularly what she was going to do. she told me a few things she wanted to do and said she'd like to do any of them equally so whatever is cheapest. mic said any of the options were good and wouldn't make a decision. in order for her to continue in dance she would have had to go to parksville 3 days a week and since she wasn't so passionate about it we gave it up. in some ways it was a real hard decision to make. she has worked so hard and was doing so well...i agonized over it. but once the decision was made it felt good. so now the girls are taking piano lessons--from sharon. she gave me a deal because she loved my sisters so much. in fact she said lots of nice things about them. she said she has never had such talented devoted students and that she expects to never get their equal again. the nice thing about piano lessons is i don't have t leave the house. so far they have only had one lesson, but they are quite keen--especially nat. the down side of piano is the recitals. don't get me wrong--i enjoyed hearing the twins play, it was everyone else i didn't care to sit through.

this and that...blah blah blah

i am finally done the end of the school year frantic pace thing and have a desire to write about some of the things that have happened...now that i sit down i have nothing. let's just say there were ballet practices and birthday parties and ballet recitals and achievement nights and ballet exams a gazillion doctor appointments and then ballet. the good news is...it is over for awhile and mic got highly commended for her exam (that's a really good score.) the bad news is...never mind. i don't feel like getting into that right now.

so...brent has gout. he has become an old man. and i think i have rheumatoid arthritis so i have aged right along side him. to me, he is too young to have gout. he shouldn't have anything with such a yucky sounding name. doesn't one of the less favorable characters in one of jane austen's stories have gout? and i feel that i am too young to start having to live a life of chronic pain. it is actually rather depressing to me.

on a happier note,my baby just seems to get cuter every day. as she grows i keep thinking that now she is in best stage. i guess that i just love every stage. she is becoming quite the little parrot now. she says akeeya for her sisters and geen for food and drink. she can say light and night night and baby and woof. she even sings the gilmore girls song whenever she sees me put the disc in. she loves balls and often carries her favourite one in her mouth as she crawls. yesterday we went to the church for adriel's party and she sat happily for quite awhile hugging a basketball. she is usually so happy and sweet and i feel such a close bond to her.

anyhoo, here are some photos that chronicle our life over the last couple of months:

we just can't seem to resist the bath pictures


and now she has teeth


in one of her many easter dresses. can you guess which child star she reminds me of in this pic?

 

we went to shack island--you had to walk over a bed of oysters to get there.



and now she's crawling


see? she is such a sweetie!





we went camping with the strattons


she gets to try some yogurt because she is on antibiotics for impetigo


she's not sure if she likes it










poor nat was sick and spent most of the time looking like this


elizabeth's first birthday







enjoying her first freedom with food--birthday cake!


frisbee golfing



this is what happens if you try to use "red eye" on a baby