Garden, dog, kids, and a cake, oh my

Rob spent the day building my 4th and final raised bed in the front yard!  Thanks Rob!  After this pic was taken he also filled it with soil.  Well, Loic 'helped' him by throwing soil around and using his dump truck to move it around.

New bed is on the far right, and he fixed the blueberry bed by the brick fence so that I can plant all the way along now - I will put in another blueberry I think (the kids love them)

Last night I baked a cake!  This recipe is right from the Pioneer Woman's site and it turned out quite well:

Chocolate Nutella Strawberry cake with whipped cream.  Yes, it is very tasty.

Tyler is doing well!  We are doing long leash walks and some off leash time too.  We have been swimming a few times at Aquapaws, which he loves.  That is what we are doing for therapy now because he is ready for the next level.   He is also back to teaching with my on Thursday nights!

We also have two new family members:

Pancake and Thumper!

They are nice, nice bunnies from a co-worker.  They live in a cage in our bathroom, but, they spend as much time outside as possible - I think it is good for them.  We use the x-pen in the yard if we are gardening or on the deck if we are not in the garden.  They are only outside if we are home though.  Loic adores them and Toby ignores them but Tyler, oh Tyler, might want to eat them.  I let them out in the living room too after the kids go to bed.  They hop around for a bit then lounge in front of the TV :)

The kids and I had dinner with my folks tonight while Rob went to the hockey game.  We had a great time - Maelle did NOT want to get out of the wheelbarrow!  She kept saying "Again! Again!" while laughing hysterically.

This little miss is almost 2.   I can't quite believe it.  She got her hair cut last week and while she initially lost her mind, she recovered well:

We are all so glad that the weather is improving and that we can head to the park after work again!!

Yipee!  I am also glad to be able to start gardening after work a little bit after work again, with my bunny friends and the kids and the dogs :)

Coming up....a post about school!

E

So much to say

Wow, I haven't posted in a while.

First it was Christmas, which was lovely.  We hosted a big dinner here at our house again, which was nice, and then we visited with Rob's brother and his family.  The kids had a great time, Loic is starting to really understand what Santa is all about.  Maelle is still highly suspicious (meaning won't go near) Santa yet.

Then, we went to Hawaii for two weeks (I highly recommend it!).  We were there with my folks and my aunt and uncle.

The kids swam, laughed, played in the waves and ate chips and hot dogs for two weeks.  Oh, and drank enough POG (Pineapple-Orange-Guava) to meet their yearly sugar intake.  They don't drink juice at all at home (except for at Grandma and Grandpa's house) but drank juice every single day in Hawaii.  Ahhhh holidays.  Maelle would RUN full speed into the ocean while screaming with laughter; it was adorable.  Loic played so nicely with his surf board in the waves.  The whole group went whale watching - except for Maelle and me since I get so sea sick - and they had a great time watching the humpback whales.  

Then we came back home to rain/snow/cold.  Good times North Vancouver, good times.

A Tyler update: he is allowed to walk on-leash as much as we want AND he is now doing short stints off leash!  We still do massage and rehab appointments, but, he has come so far.  He still has an odd gait, but, is in no pain at all and is strong and muscled again.  Good, good dog.  We are going to start swimming next.

These two are still best friends.  I am not sure how they fit into that bed though!!

Last week, we ventured to Toronto to visit with Rob's mom and to see Rob's grandpa who suffered a bad fall just before Christmas.  The day before we left, Maelle was exposed to the stomach flu.  We debated going but decided to risk it.  We had a lovely first day in Toronto, visited with Rob's grandpa, then ventured out to visit Rob's aunt.  Promptly after dinner, Maelle vomited allllllll over Rob.  F*ck.  

She was only really ill for 12 hours, then woke up and demanded some oatmeal.  

The one plus was the time we got to spend with Rob's mom, which was just lovely.  I was a bit militant about hand washing/bleach/laundry in hot water but I was so worried Loic would get this bug while we were on the plane on our way home.  He didn't, but both Loic and myself got sick once we got home.  At least it wasn't on the plane!!  I cannot imagine a vomiting 4 year old on a plane...

While we were in Toronto, Loic and I spent a morning at the Royal Ontario Museum.  Hands down, one of the best times I have had with Loic.  We only looked at the animal and dinosaur exhibits - he was in his element!!  He impressed some of the staff with his knowledge - what other 4 year old knows about the tarantula hawk wasp and what they do??  It is an amazing place and I am so glad we got to see it.

We also had a lovely visit with Rob's aunt (a few days after the vomiting episode).   Come visit us in Vancouver next summer Aunt Tiny!

Loic and a T rex.  Enough said!

Loic chatting with Rob's 95 year old grandpa

Now we are home, and it is starting to snow again.  What is up with this weather?  Pretty sure I was planting peas around this time last year....

I will leave with another photo from Hawaii.  At night, after a full day in the sun and ocean, the kids basically put themselves to bed.  In this photo they had taken pillows of the couch and made a bed for themselves :)

I know it will change as they get older, but they sure do love each other a heck of a lot right now.

She adores him, and he thinks she is hilarious.  

-E

A trip down to the Farm

Last weekend Loic and I spent two days at Jody's farm!  We left with Jody Saturday at lunch and came home at dinner on Sunday.  We had a great time - Loic loved the animals, I was shocked at how comfortable and fearless he was around them all.  It was really, really special; Loic loved that it was just him and I.  I need to make a point of doing stuff with just him, he was super well behaved and we had a total blast!  Thanks Jody, we had a great time.

Loic *LOVES* chickens, much like his Grandpa - must be genetic?!  Jody has one very tame chicken and Loic can pick that chicken out of the crowd.....sorry chicken!!  I hope he is still tame after Loic picked him up all weekend!

Jody and Jess gave me an awesome birthday gift on Saturday before we went to the island - a family photo shoot!  They have both shared a few pictures with us and we totally love them.

Here is one I love:

These two are just so adorable!

I must say, cudos to you two for trying to get all of us to both look at you and not close our eyes in the same photos!!!  What an aweome gift!

-E

Oh Tyler

We are almost 5 weeks into Tyler's recover and he is doing really well.
We have been cleared to go on 15 min walks which we are both enjoying.
We have another rehab session next week and just yesterday, he had his first massage which he really seemed to like (he even fell asleep at one point!).

Then today, I gave each kid a box of raisins to eat at the table.  I then ran downstairs to put on a load of laundry (Rob was around, don't worry, the kids were not at risk of choking) and when I came into the room Loic said "Maelle is giving Tyler raisins!" ugh.  I called the clinic and figured he ate between 1-7 raisins and the vet said we should come in to make him vomit.

Having been down this road a few months back due to him consuming 6 pounds of kibble in one sitting, I knew it would suck.  He is a hard patient to make vomit, he has a bit of an iron stomach.  I was super worried about him hurting his back too.

Anyways, after much debate we took him in.  He was predictably hard to make vomit but we did get at least one raisin out - and we found 4 more at home so we figure he should be ok.  We will do a urine test in the morning and as long as he is able to concentrate his urine we should be in the clear....

Oh dog, are you trying to kill ME?!?  He is now resting comfortably and I am about to give him his first dose of charcoal.  Fun times!

E

Tyler, Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

We had a nice Halloween this year (well, the dog would seriously disagree but I digress).

Maelle went as a baby dragon - adorable - and Loic went as Batman!  He said Batman doesn't smile in photos.  We started at my parents' house and then my mom and I walked with the kids up to Dave and Linda's.  A fun night for us all.  Well, not Rob - he stayed home with the terrified dogs.  Why do people feel the need to blow up sticks of dynamite on Halloween?  I will never understand it.

She spent a lot of the night asking us for Chocolate

Batman is very serious about photos :)

We are almost at the 4 week point with Tyler's recovery.
We have now done 3 acupuncture sessions and have our 4th and last session tomorrow.  Tyler has improved enough to go to rehab and we went to our first session this week.  Tyler did an awesome job!  The sessions are an hour long at Canada West with two rehab technicians.  They did some laser therapy, some exercises (that we do at home 3 times a day) and Tyler learned how to go into the underwater treadmill contraption.  They gave him a lot of cookies so he was game to play along.

"I am in a giant glass box full of water but there are COOKIES!!"

Tyler is not in any pain anymore, but, he has to relearn how to use his hind end properly.  The goal of rehab is to teach him how to walk properly so that he has less of a chance of re-injuring himself.  Rob still has to carry him up and down the stairs and I use a sling; he can do the stairs but the worry is that he will slip and re-injure his back.    We have 5 more sessions planned and then we will see how he is doing.

We went to our annual Pumpkin Patch visit last weekend!  It was as awesome as always.  This was our 5th year going!!

How did he get so grown up all of a sudden?

The best of many photo attempts....

She spent a lot of time climbing over and under these ropes!

So much cute and so much naughty in one tiny person!!

Lolo driving his sister around in a tractor :)

Milking a fake cow

Adorable.

My poor Tyler

It has taken me a week to write this down but I feel like I should keep track of what I am hoping is his recovery.

Last Sunday Tyler slipped on wet grass at the park and put his back out, we were playing fetch. Canada West says it is a disc injury (slipped or bulging is their best guess without an MRI).  An MRI is $2,000.  We have seen their neurologist twice now, she is very kind.

We are doing the rest and wait and see approach with my poor dog.  He can walk but not well.  He can also go to the bathroom which is a bonus.  He doesn't feel his hind feet well which makes him walk like he is drunk....

The neurologist at Canada West says she has seen a lot of success with acupuncture so off we went yesterday for our first appointment at Vancouver Animal Wellness.  It was nice, I liked the vet, and he seems more mobile today.  She did acupuncture, a cold laser treatment and she also burned some herbs near his back - I am trying to be open minded but she lost me slightly at that point!

If we could contain him he would be crated.  We tried leaving him in his x pen while he was heavily sedated but he just panicked.  So, he is on his dog bed loose in our upstairs.  We got a great product to cover the laminate floors so he can't slip and we made it impossible for him to go near the couches; heaven forbid he tries to get up on the couch.  He seems to be really good at just resting.  When we are home we tie him to the bed so that he doesn't wander but he seems content there.  I like that he is in the centre of the action - he wags his tail at us and the kids every time we walk by him.

We have to carry him up and down the stairs to pee and poo which is easy for Rob but hard on me, he weighs exactly half of what I weight and I find it awkward but I can do it!

I am hoping with all my might that he recovers.  This is the end of agility for us but if he can come back to hiking and holding his favorite ball I will be over the moon.

Come on black dog, we need you well again ASAP.  10 years of Tyler is not enough thank you very much, I need at least a couple more.

Getting acupuncture, what a good dog

-E

East Coast Grandma is here

We picked Rob's mom Barb up from her other son's house on Friday and have been having such a great visit.  She is here for almost a month from Toronto but we have to share her with her other family while she is here :)

Mom/Barb/Grandma has been spoiling all of us, but more importantly, the kids have been having such a great visit with her!  We have been to the Farm, shopping for little girl clothing (Barb bought Maelle some *adorable* pink leg warmers), been to Pink Berry and have just been having a great time.  Rob, Barb and I also had a lovely kid-free dinner this week at one of my favorite places to eat (Arm's Reach Bistro) and tomorrow Barb and I are getting manicures!  I think the last time I had a manicure was at my wedding....over 8 years ago now....

Rob and I took this week off to relax and recharge at home, and to enjoy his mom's visit without work getting in the way.  The kids have been mostly at home with us but are going to daycare tomorrow so that I can hike, Rob can golf,  Barb can go out with friends for lunch and so that Barb and I  can get manicures.  It feels so very decadent to have a day off while the kids are in daycare (sorry kids!!).

Tyler has been so lucky too - Barb has taken him on some great hikes while she has been staying with us. Barb is going to come watch me teach Rally tomorrow night - should be fun!  I hope Tyler listens to me while she is there :)

Rob and I went to a very (very) fancy party on Saturday where I danced my heart out.  It was amazing. I may have also had too much wine...however, Barb babysat both Saturday evening AND Sunday morning for us.  I need to figure out a way to hire that early morning babysitter so that we can sleep in more often.  It was pretty much amazing.

On Monday while Barb walked Tyler Rob and I took the kids to the local Ecology Centre, which was fun.

Coming up this week:  Rob and I are going to dinner together, we are all going to eat at my folks this weekend plus many more coffees, dog walks and grandkid cuddling.  Oh and good food thrown in for fun - we made homemade lasagna, and I plan on making some salad rolls and a great soup too.

Now some pictures!

Maelle with her many jewels :)  We are sure in for it later on!!

Loic and his new friend!  

Pink leg warmers, cow boots, brown tights, oversized sweater and hat - adorable

Loving his Pink Berry!!

Kids to water are like moths to a flame; here we are at St. Andrews park earlier in the week

Loic and I went to a very 'Pintrest oriented' birthday party with a real spiderman last weekend!