Kindergarten year is over!

Where did the last year go??  Between my school and Loic's first year of school it sure felt like a whirl wind.  

Loic graduated from Kindergarten last Friday.  He is such a nice boy.  He still wants to be a scientist - but has now decided to be a Palaeontologist and an Arachnologist - no more cave science for him I guess :)  And his current obsession involves all of the Lego Mixels he can get his hands on, including asking us daily (hourly?) who our favourite mixel character is.  Adorable if not annoying at times :)  

We have a combo of myself, my folks, camps and Yma watching Lolo for the summer.  He is sure excited about a few of the camps!  One week up Grouse with his buddy Holden and one week up Seymour with his buddy Ezra!  Maelle will stay with her normal schedule at daycare where she tends to rule the roost.

I have one month to finish my thesis project before I head back to work; wish me luck!

 Adorable!

Jody and I spent 5 days in LA in June!  We had such a fun time.  Note to self: take Ativan in the airport lounge prior to boarding flight, do not wait until actually on the plane (sorry Jody - the flight there was awesome but I did have a 5 min unhelpful freakout on the way home.....I tried to make do without meds but clearly that is not a good idea.  At all. )

And Maelle is still as funny and sassy as ever!!  She likes to tell Loic that 'sharing is caring!' while taking toys away from him.....we are working on sharing with this one.....

All three dogs are doing well - Taz needs some major dental work, poor guy (and poor bank account).  I am sure Toby will need some work done soon too - why, oh why do these small dogs have such terrible dental issues??

We are coming up on the 12 year anniversary of when we adopted Tyler - seems so crazy to me!  I never thought he would a) be kind of normal b) live this long c) seem like a normal dog sometimes :) but I am so happy he is still with us, barking issues and all.

Well, back to my project!

- E

Motivation

My mom has told me that I have a lot of energy, something that I don't often think about but I have to agree with her.  I am at the very end of this term - my final paper is due this Thursday - and I am now running out of steam.

I have been in full time classes (5 classes each term plus my major project throughout) since September.  It has been so very rewarding.  Now, with my final paper due soon, I am for the first time dragging my heels.  I can't decide if I am just tired of writing or if I am struggling because this is a hard topic for me.  Oh well, my first draft is almost done and I did well presenting the topic last week - so close to being done!  I am debating using this paper as a part of my RPBio submission in the fall; it is not an easy topic for me but it clearly shows my new found statistical analysis skills.  Something to ponder.  I am sure going to miss going to class!  Classes appeal to my logical, orderly side: I like learning, working on the information and presenting my findings in either paper or exam format.  While exams do tend to cause me anxiety, I have certainly gotten much better in that regard over the past 8 months.

We had a nice weekend at our house - Rob and I had a rare date night out Friday, we went for tapas and drinks.  Saturday Loic had Taekwondo and we visiting with friends.  Yesterday I worked on this paper for what I hope is the last weekend day of writing for a few weeks!  We also ended the day yesterday with a lovely hike up Lynn Headwaters with the two kids and three dogs.  It was really nice, Maelle can now walk for most of it and the kids together are so funny.  The dogs also had fun - Ty still loves to run and wallow in the mud.  Yesterday was Rob's sleep in day so I met up with a group of friends and their kids at White Spot for an early breakfast.  My kids did well, Maelle is getting past the age of having to wander her around restaurants - three cheers for that stage ending!

This is the best photo of my attempt at a group shot.  Tyler is the only dog who stays where I put him!  Taz ignores me and Toby always tries to wiggle towards me - very funny.

Here is Loic on some old logging equipment on the trail.

 Ok then, back to my paper......

-E

A list of sorts

Here are some random thoughts; I can no longer do any stats today so I shall write a list instead.

1. I do not aspire to be a hydrologist.  I just need to get through this project and come out with an okay (not amazing, plain old pass is perfect) grade on the other side.  Presentation in one week, paper due in two weeks.  My topic?  Can I see a change in creek discharge, precipitation or temperature in one creek in N.Van looking at 35 years of data and can I see what the effects of PDO and ENSO might be.  Yeah.  Interesting but not easy for me at all.


2. We have figured out a way to stop Ty from barking!  It is a formula that looks like this:

Barky dog (Ty) + Barky dog (Taz) = quiet

This formula makes no sense but seems to work!  We have a drop cam that we use to spy on Tyler, and if Taz is with him he is far less stressed and therefore quiet.  Toby is always home with Ty but it seems that because Toby hides under our duvet during the day, Tyler feels alone and gets upset.  This has been a source of stress for us because Ty has been bothering our tenant.  We really like our tenant and want her to be happy.  We have been taking him with us, sending him to my folks (thanks for that Mom and Dad!) and have been planning to make sure he isn't alone at certain times.  This is a big breakthrough.  I did put him back on clomicalm and think that has also helped.  Oh, and he is now totally addicted to peanut butter stuffed kongs....

3. The kids are so, so funny.  95% of the time I find them hilarious and entertaining and fun to be around.  I think that is a great percentage for parenting a 3 and almost 6 year old!!  Rob finds them equally entertaining.  They are just pretty darn neat little people.  They have their moments for sure (Maelle, ahem, has been known to bite.....) but on the whole are just great.

4. Grandparents & Rob have been instrumental during this year of grad school.  My parents take the kids on Wednesdays and Loic Friday afternoons (and the dogs too).  Rob has been awesome on weekends when I work on school stuff.  Barb (aka East Coast Grandma) came out and really helped out over spring break, which is now two whole weeks.  A big thank you to all.  I need to think of a proper end of class thank you.

5. Still loving my garden.  Loic and I spent an afternoon in the front garden this week and it was great!  I also spent an hour or so out there with Maelle.  It is nice that they are at such great ages.  Loic built his own little garden and Maelle moved wood chips around for an hour; during these times I could weed and plant and putter - amazing!  It doesn't get a ton of attention right now but it will all be ok.  A lot of what I have out there is low effort - blueberries and raspberries just need to ripen and be eaten, garlic isn't ready until August and other warm weather plants don't go in for a month.  Oh, I did put in peas and lettuce and radishes by seed though.  

6. While classes and the work load can be intense, this year has so far been pretty good.  I love the program and I *think* I have balanced it all well, aside from a low point at last fall's apple festival (sorry to Dad, Rob and Erin for that day and the tears that ensued) and a few rough days this term.  All in all I have positive feelings about my decision to do this program and about the program itself.  I do, however, reserve the right to continue to complain about statistics and the fact that I can't do them on my Mac!!!!  And that my math skills are not awesome.  At all. 

7. Thumbs up for trading!  I have traded a few hours of stats tutoring (thank god) for dog training. What a great trade.  I really like the woman who helps me with stats, and I like her daughter and dog. I have helped her daughter clicker train their nice dog and next week we move on to some rally and agility; the perfect trade.

8.  Now some pics from Maelle's third birthday and the garden.

I am concerned that we might need a pony in a few years :)

Love, love love my front garden!

- E  (and three cheers for blogging!)

Hello out there

Hello out there!

Grad school + 2 small kids + three dogs + two bunnies + a husband leaves little time to blog.

I shall do brief updates and will add some photos.  I haven't posted since last fall so won't get into any details - but Christmas was great, same with the fall term.  I have realized that making lunches for kids is not fun (when will they be old enough to do this themselves??) and I still love my little front veggie garden, now complete with a steel T.rex that I got for my birthday.  Such an awesome gift!!

Grad School: what an amazing experience.  I am in the thick of things class wise, but it is pretty darn awesome.  I take 5 classes per term, plus have work to do on my major project.  This term is done for me April 30th then I have four months to complete my major project.  I am going back to work on Wednesdays only starting in May and am looking forward to that.  While I have cried (mostly last term, at apple fest - sorry Rob, Erin and Dad for that!) I am loving the experience and am learning so much.

The kids: Loic & Maelle are both so funny and so smart.  They are a total riot 98% of the time and we sure enjoy them.  Loic is doing well in Kindergarten after a rough start, and Maelle still loves her daycare.  Maelle turned 3 yesterday and Loic will be 6 in July.  Loic still wants to be a scientist and she wants to be a Dr. and a mommy.  Loic is still a soft, sweet lovely little boy who asks a million questions a day about science.  Maelle is so so funny, she has her dollies she loves and the things she says!  She adores the colour pink, dresses, jewellery and anything fancy - where did this come from??

Tyler, Toby & Taz: Tyler is doing remarkably well.  He will be 13 or so this summer and has recovered so nicely from his back injury.  We hike off leash a lot and he is loving it.  He is also back on clomicalm because he is quite barky during the day at home but we are working on it.  We bough a drop cam and can spy on him while we are out - a maddening thing to do but helps us sort out what is working (and mostly what isn't).  We take him with us or plan to be home with him when our tenant is home.  Oh dog, 12 years of your barking now - I guess he is predictable??  The other two are doing well too.  We know now that Taz is prone to pancreatitis so he is on a low fat food.

Bunnies: Messy & cute.  While Rob doesn't see the point, he is a good sport about them.  He built them an amazing two story hutch in the kitchen and is a good sport about moving them around and helping me out with them when I am in class late.

We lost Pinchy (the scorpion) this week.  No one is really heartbroken, and I am glad that we gave him a good life.  Loic wants fish or another insect but we have agreed to wait until I am done school to discuss any other pets!!

Riding Jeff last week (we rode Jeff and Teepee for her birthday, need to upload the pics)

Pancake - Easter is a good season to own friendly rabbits :)

Loic is an excellent artist - this is him and his T. rex

I LOVE my front veggie garden!!!!!  Thanks to Rob & my Dad for dealing with the wood chip drama of 2014 :)

Sassy little thing 

Funny how quickly Taz fit in - he loves Tyler 

Rob won another Georgie!!

An animal lover through and through (kind of have to be at our house!)

Such an awesome family pet

She insists on wearing dresses and as many accessories as she can fit on her body.  She is almost potty trained!  Yipee!

Loic loves his bike and is such a good rider!

Terrible hunting dog :)  

Maelle sure looks up to him.  He is awfully patient with his little sister.  They get along so well - I hope it continues for many years to come.

 - E

Big Changes

Where to begin!

I will start with the pets.
We are now the proud (terrified?) owners of an Emperor Scorpion named 'Pinchy'.  Pinchy came to us after we tragically lost Dot (our praying mantis); Dot became impaled on a cactus....darwin award for sure.  Anyways, Loic was crushed and when one of his teacher asked if we wanted a scorpion I said yes because we had the tank and Loic *loves* scorpions.  He draws them very well and knows everything about them.  When asked, he will tell you all sorts of scorpion facts.

Say 'Hi' to Pinchy:

He isn't poisonous, and apparently hasn't every stung anyone but did pinch his old owners ex-boyfriend.  Maybe he is a good judge of character?  We have never and will never hold or handle him; I used a soup spoon to move him into his new house 

We sadly lost one of our bunnies in July, Thumper.  I was upset because she didn't seem ill but every rabbit person we asked said that they just die sometimes.  I didn't want Pancake to be lonely, he and Thumper were siblings, so off to the shelter we went and we found Waffles!  She is from the same shelter where we adopted Tyler 11 years ago.

Say 'Hi' to Waffles Wyldestyle:

Much more cuddly than Pinchy!

It took a few weeks, but now Waffles and Pancake are best friends. 

Waffles is funny, she likes to run laps of our deck and she LOVES her treats!

Speaking of dogs, all 3 are doing well.  Tyler has started to move better, 10 months after his accident. It is really neat to see.  He is almost back to normal and is only getting a massage once a month.  He can run of leash and the only big difference is that we don't do agility any more.  I am also super careful with how he gets onto and off of the couches.  He isn't but I try to make him do it slowly!  He isn't in any pain, and is happy as can be.  We adopted him 11 years ago and I cannot believe how time flies.  11 years!!

Taz continues to be a fun addition to the family.  He is a funny, sweet little chihuahua.  He loves stuffed toys, and still loves Loic.  I can usually find him sleeping on Loic's bed at night, it is very cute.

Toby is also well, although he has a sore paw this week.  I think he hurt it while jumping over the baby gate to get to our bed one day; now we just let him in and shut the gate behind him :)

Now for the children!  Both are doing so well.  Maelle continues to amaze us with her vocabulary and her, ahem, strong willed character.  She is a funny little thing!  Also, she loves her baby - she is always cuddling, feeding and talking to her baby.  The baby's name?  Baby Erika.  Maelle will be 2.5 in a month of so - and as she likes to tell you she is "Not a baby!" but a big girl.

Loic is now 5.  5!  He was supposed to start kindergarten this week, however, due to the strike, that is on hold.  It was a bit of a struggle, but we are keeping him in his daycare until the strike ends.  He loves it there and his buddy Holden will be with him.   He is one smart kid that one!  Nothing gets past him and he has such a sweet nature.  Loic now rides his two wheeled bike like a champ - thanks to a week at bike camp - and is back in Triathlon club starting this month.  

The garden was a big success this year.  From tomatoes, to cucumbers, to blueberries and kale (so much kale....) we eat something out of the garden daily.  I became sick of green beans at one point and am now putting zucchini in many dishes :)  I started an asparagus patch and look forward to eating some in a few years.  I finally succeeded with parsnips and grew the hottest chill peppers ever (sorry Rob!!).  So much fun.

I start school today.  Well, my first day of class is tomorrow.  It is very exciting!  I am doing a masters program at UBC and started my one year leave of absence from work today.  Feels like a big big change, that is for sure.

-E

Garden 2014 & a fun weekend all around

I had a lieu day Friday, so after dropping the kids off at daycare (terrible parent, I know) I did all of my chores in time to pick Loic up for lunch!  It was lovely having lunch with just him and he said he wanted sushi, so off we went.

For a kid who isn't into food, he sure can stuff himself with cucumber rolls!!

After lunch we grabbed the three dogs and headed out to Burnaby lake for a hike with a friend.  We had a nice walk and we saw some frogs - Loic also picked up many, many slugs along the way.....

Friday evening Rob and I took the kids to the night market near Lonsdale Quay.  We went with some friends of ours who have a kid in Lolo's daycare - a great time was had by all.  My folks came by and the kids danced the evening away.  There was a great band playing and every single food truck I have ever heard of was there.  I am a big food truck fan.  The fancy grilled cheese and poutine were very tasty.

Saturday Rob took the kids to the Lynn Valley parade while I went to a Beekeeping 101 class - moral of the story, no bees for us anytime soon, way too much work.  I certainly respect people who keep bees though!

On Saturday night we had our friends from Maple Ridge over for dinner with their kids - the kids again had a blast.  I roasted one of Jody's very tasty chickens.   Oh, and made some super easy and super tasty thai noodle salad with veggies.

Today I met up with my friend Michelle and her daughter for a bike ride around Deer Lake.  Well, we walked, I pushed Maelle in the stroller and Loic and Morgan rode their bikes.  Loic is still on his run bike but we now have to insist he learns how to ride his peddle bike....he is too big for his run bike and he is the only kid in tri club still on a run bike.

We then headed to the barn to watch Teepee and Jeff get loaded up on the trailer to go on their holiday; Maelle said "horses going to Hawaii!!" she is so cute that one.  And her speech is so clear!!

The three kids loaded up in the horse trailer :) 

Saying good bye to TeePee - Loic loves the pony and while she loves to talk about ponies, she is a bit wary still

Now.  Garden update.  A few hiccups this year - peas planted too early, f**ing caterpillars eating my kale, dead plum tree - but - many more successes!  I figure I spend about 2 hours/week on the garden.  A nice, manageable amount.  Loic is getting more helpful with his watering skills while Maelle is still a bit of a train wreck while 'helping me' :)

Malle in front of some super impressive parsnips.  I planted them in the fall and they are now over 4 feet tall, however, they are not so impressive underground.....maybe I will give them some more time??  I am just not sure what to do

Peas in the back half, baby beans planted by seed one week apart and lovely red leaf lettuce.  I direct sowed them all from seed.

I learned my lesson and planted 1/4 of the peas that I planted last year.  I also planted ones that grow much shorter as to avoid the giant wall of peas I planted last year.  We have had some lovely salads already this year.  The beans are bush beans and are growing where radishes started out the season.

Tomatoes (started with care by my friend Christy), baby cucumbers (from seed) and carrots (from seed).  While carrots are super slow, the kids love them and I planted purple ones this year!

Garlic!  Planted in October, 2013 and ready for harvest this August.

You can see it being shaded by the giant parsnips.....

Easter egg radishes from a few weeks ago - they were a success this year.

The kids and my hand at Spanish Banks last weekend looking at a caterpillar.  He is lucky he isn't on my kale or he would get squished.

Kale, green onions, baby raspberries, peppers and basil.  Quite a mixed bed!

Overall, I am quite pleased with the garden this year.  I started my asparagus patch this year and while it is super unimpressive (only a few scraggly spears have showed up thus far) I am anticipating a lovely harvest in 3 years.  My dad also replaced my dead plum tree so we are going to try again.  The blueberry plants - all 8 in the front yard alone - are loaded with fruit.  The potatoes in the back yard are looking great, same with the apple trees.  

The dogs are doing well, it is as if Taz has always been here.  Most nights I can't find him and when I do he is asleep on Loic's bed.  He loves going to work with Rob and is great to hike off leash; totally ignores other dogs and sticks right by me.  Such a nice little chihuahua.  I will say he is quick to bark, but, he is a chihuahua so that goes without saying!!  Tyler is doing well too - we do about half his hikes off leash and half on, but only because I worry.  He is great though - back to getting on the couch when we are home and sleeping on the bed.  He can also go down and up stairs now so that has made everyone happy.  It wasn't that he couldn't do it but we wanted to wait until after the 6 month mark to reduce his risk of re-injury.  I will always worry, but, he is back to his happy, running self, albeit with a slightly funny gait.  I don't mind and he is certainly happy!

-E

And then there were 3 (dogs, not kids)

Rob told me a few weeks ago that he wanted another site dog, specifically, another chihuahua.
I was toying with the idea of getting another dog to do agility with, but, when I got into my masters program, I decided that another agility dog would have to wait.

So, we heard from a friend that there was a lovely little chihuahua at a local shelter.  Off we went on Friday to JUST LOOK.  We even had a pact to wait 24 hours after meeting him to decide.  Well, those of you who know us, know that this wasn't going to fly.

We went to the shelter, met him, walked him and yes, we did get back into the car.  Where we proceeded to drive for 10 minutes before we turned around and adopted him :)

Introducing Taz, the newest member of our family:

He was a stray so we don't know anything about him.  However, he LOVES kids.  As in, goes up to Loic and paws to be pet then curls up in his lap.  Loic totally adores him.  We think he is a young adult and he was neutered last week at the shelter.  He likes Tyler and Toby, but when he gets excited, he tries to 'have relations' with them....which doesn't go over too well.  However, he is learning that that isn't tolerated well here.  He also seems to be house trained (bonus!!).

While many people think we are nuts, we are used to having 3 dogs (we lived with Arthur for 5 years!) and Rob is happy to have a site dog again.   He fits in like we have always had him.

And yes, we named him, he didn't know his shelter name and we wanted another T name.  I voted for T. rex but was shot down -  although I agree, Taz is a good name for him.  Oh, he also ignores the rabbits but I would too if I were him, they are much bigger than he is.

Welcome to our crazy little family Taz!