Friday, October 29, 2010

Happy Anniversary

It's amazing how quickly one year goes by. I realised a few days ago that the one year anniversary of our Vancouver house purchase had snuck past the radar unsuspectingly. Amidst the start of the school year for Ethan, dance classes, recent and impending visits from Andrew, and getting Halloween costumes finished, I didn't even pause to say 'happy first year back to Vancouversary'.

And what a year it's been. I became an aunt! Rueben met his auntie Andrea for the first time. We hosted our first Christmas dinner and christened 'the great dinning hall' (picture Andrew leaning back, hands up in front, eyes slightly closed, gesturing...). Ethan and Rueben experienced Hotel Lake and Sheridan Lake camping trips for the first time. For about two months after, ever lake we past was 'look, it's Hotel Lake'! We became landlords twice over (with better luck back in fsj...). Ethan started preschool and hip hop dance classes while I stepped back into my tap shoes (hello bedazzled 'all that jazz' number).

On the downside, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer and had a colonoscopy followed by chemo treatments. He has fared extremely well due to his amazing physical fitness (climbing Kilimanjaro is no easy feat, let alone when you're in your 50's). He has just recently been told by his Doc that he has only two rounds of chemo left before he's done with it. Excellent fantastic news.

I can't believe how much has changed in just one year, but I'm glad we made the decision to move back to the lower mainland. I do, however (and I can't believe I'm about to say this...) but I do miss Fort Saint John. It took me a long time to break out of my shell and make some good friends. I feel like this first year back to Vancouver was kind of like my first year in FSJ. Settling into the neighbourhood has been easy. Settling into friendships has been harder. I need to make a more concerted effort to make connections with people (beyond the baristas at Starbucks of course...) This will be my challenge for Vancouver: year 2.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

R.I.P Wasteful Halloweens | Seventh Generation

R.I.P Wasteful Halloweens Seventh Generation

Check out this article from the Seventh Generation Blog with tips and resources to celebrate a green and Earth friendly halloween. This year, Ethan decided he wanted to be Thomas the Tank Engine for halloween. His costume is coming together nicely. We found a big long box that will form the body of the train which we have painted blue. We painted some toilet paper rolls for the funnel and whistle. And for Thomas' face, we paper-mached a balloon which we will glue to the front of the box. I think it's going to look fantastic and I know Ethan will love it. And one of the best parts about it is that it only cost us a few dollars to make.

This year, Rueben is going to re-use one of Ethan's old costumes. Either a turtle (if the costume still fits) or Frankenstein's monster. Looking forward to some halloween fun!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Welcome great pumpkin









Well, it's autumn, and that means Halloween is right around the corner, which means it's time to carve pumpkins!!! Hooray!! I couldn't have been more excited when I found out that Ethan's preschool class was going on a field trip to the Hazelmere pumpkin patch. What a treat! It was so much fun.



We started our morning looking at some goats... Rueben was a bit reluctant to pet them and Ethan was not interested at all. Then we had a chat with one of the 'pumpkin farmers' who showed us different colored and shaped pumpkins. After the little lesson, we enjoyed a hayride through a spooky-ish forested area and were dropped off in front of a corn maze! It was so much fun zig zagging through the corn stalks with all my boys. We emerged on the other side into a huge pumpkin field where we decided exactly which pumpkins we would take home with us. Then once we had all made our selections, we boarded the hay wagons again for another little ride. Our morning ended with snacks and hot chocolate. What a fun way to spend the morning with Ethan and all his preschool mates. We happened to sit next to Ethan's best friend and train officionado Ty on the waggon ride. Ethan later pronounced "mom, I love playing trains with Ty. He's my favorite"! Who knew that the two little boys who argued over the trains on the first day of preschool would turn into best mates... OK, we all know that's how the greatest friendships begin! Here are some pictures from our little romp in the field.