The Superbee has landed

On April 28th, 2008, Curtis was finally able to make arrangements to pick up his car after two agonizing weeks of waiting.  He is completely in love and says it is the best birthday present he has ever bought himself!! I think that it looks cool and sounds cool, but it does not smell very good. It has been in storage for a long time and it smells like an old man that has not had a good bath for quite some time. I think that the kids and I are going to get him a case of those trees to hang from the rear view mirror. He may need to use the whole box at once!
Since the car has come home I have seen Curtis only when he has come into the house to eat and then a few minutes before he goes to bed. He has been outside constantly and is waxing the "bee" as I type this. Too funny! Enjoy the pictures!

Very Busy Weekend at our House

Hello everyone! We had a crazy busy weekend at our house. Daniel had karate in Red Deer on Friday night. We have been driving down for classes with Sensei Gary and the rest of the Arashi Do gang since the end of March. It has been very good for Daniel, even though he is more tired than usual.

Friday night, I drank too much tea before heading to bed and had to get up at 5:30 am to pee pee. Well, when I came back to bed, there was this little girl in my front yard! TOTALLY COOL! I, of course, had to sit and watch for about 1/2 an hour and by the time I went back to sleep, she had been joined by her three buddies that have lived near us all winter. They look good and were definitely stoked to eat the nice new grass under our spruce trees.   They came from behind the pond and the 1st was making her way across the road when I went back to sleep.  





Saturday we headed into Edmonton for class at Arashi Do South with Sensei Ren, for extra practice. Daniel's karate friend, Noah, usually works out with him on Saturday, but wasn't there this week. We then went out for lunch and to the M&G hosted by Sue Mendoza on the east side of town. We got home around 6:00 pm.   When Curtis went to bed Saturday night, there was a HUGE porcupine eating new grass under our bedroom window.  Claire wanted the cats to see it so, she went downstairs and opened up her window.  The window makes a sort of poofing noise when you open it and she made the porcupine jump in mid air.  Scared the crap out of him.  I have no idea if the cats saw him or not.  Claire said it was too dark for them to see.  Lots of wildlife excitement!

Then on Sunday we headed back to Red Deer for the Team Alberta Practice with Sensei Gary and Sensei Cody. There were about 30 people there so, a great turn out and lots of fun for the kids. Daniel was super sweaty and said that it was "awesome" so, worth the trip! I took a dog and met some other greyhound people that transported her the rest of the way to Calgary and then quickly went to Costco and then went and took Chester for a walk at 3 mile bend. This is the off leash park in Red Deer and Chester thought that it was fabulous to meet all those other doggies, big and small. FYI, Chester WAS NOT off leash.

Curtis has gotten all the paper work for the "bumble bee" and it should be coming home this week.  I will post pics when it arrives.  He is just a little excited.

Gotta Love this Alberta Weather

So, it has been 1 week since I took the above picture of the geese in our pasture. They are standing out by the pond, just past the garbage can. Last Friday, April 18th, 2008, it started snowing and today, April 23rd is the 1st day with no little white flakes falling from the skies above. Now look at the pasture!!! The following picture was taken yesterday.



I can't believe the difference a week makes! The kids even had a snow day yesterday because the buses couldn't get down the road. We had broken out the capris and crocs a week ago and even had the yard cleaned up (dog poos too)! Now we have to start all over again. Thanks a lot Mother Nature!!!

At least the pond will be full of water if those geese come back and decide to nest!

New Dogs Blow in on Chinook Winds

On Saturday, April 12th, 2008, a brand new load of doggies made their way to Alberta.  They started their journey a week ago in Kansas and made it as far as "the lake house" at Moyie, BC, where they were quarantined for 1 week.  Then on the 12th, Leah loaded them all up and brought them north to Calgary.  

Once at Stone Haven Kennels, they were bathed and beautified and then I took 5 north to Edmonton, 2 went to Red Deer and the remaining 7 stayed in Calgary.  

They are a wonderful bunch of dogs and we had a great day in Calgary for their arrival.  Soooo much better than -20 with a windchill!!

This is Stone Haven Kennels. They generously donate their facility and bathtub to us when we have new doggies come up. We could not get our doggies into their new foster homes as pretty and bug free without their help.



Standing around enjoying the sun and the grass after the long trip from Moyie. These dogs are either freshly bathed or waiting their turn in the tub.


Electra after her bath. What a pretty girl!!


This is Trey checking out this rock.


Daniel found this cat in the bathroom when he went to use the facilities and dragged it outside. Looks like she has his summer haircut!


Me with Easyascanbe (Easy) just out of the hauler. You can see all the dogs and their profiles at the Chinook Winds website.

Oh, and thank you Daniel for the companionship to and from Calgary and the great photos.

Curtis has been Stung

Last week Curtis decided that he was going to get himself a car.   More details to follow.  Stay Tuned!!

A Visit with Baby Jenna, oh and her Mom and Dad!

Daniel and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Red Deer/Calgary.  Daniel had karate Friday night in Red Deer and I had new doggies coming in from Kansas in Calgary Saturday morning. We stayed overnight at the Spitzke Ranch (thank you so much Lexie and Kass, your hospitality is 2nd to none) and then headed to Calgary this morning so that we could visit with baby Jenna before the doggies arrived.  

SHE IS ADORABLE!!!!!!  And so good.  Thank you Billy and Bobbi for having us and letting us check out your beautiful new baby girl.  She is still just a tiny little peanut, but a month old so, is doing all the things that a 1 month old does.  She is picking up her head and looking around and just too much fun.  Bobbi, I hope that her sleeping schedule settles down for you, but really girl, you look awesome.  Billy is a very proud Dad and Jenna is the apple of his eye.  We can't wait to come back and see you on May 3rd.  Curtis says that we might even be able to bring the new car!!!  

Daniel spent some time outside taking pics of Murray so here is a sample of that photo session.

Daniel also took the shots of Jenna.  Thank you Daniel!

Daniel got beat up by a ............

SOCCER BALL!!!! On April 2nd, Daniel came home from school looking like this. He was playing defense during the recess soccer game and I guess he doesn't know how to duck or step to the side because he took a nice cold soccer ball right to the side of his head. I wish I could tell you that he took on a much bigger kid on the play ground and got him into a submission hold and held him there until help arrived, but alas, that is not the case.



Oh, and the bruise on his cheek is from taking a header into his sister on his way down Uncle Dale's sliding hill in Manitoba. My tough Daniel.

Also on this entry I thought that I would show you the awesome spring snowman that the kids made last Saturday. Got home from Red Deer Friday night just as the storm was blowing in. Kid's had a great time building this guy. It was +18 here today so, all that is left of our winter friend is the gear in the grass. BRING ON SUMMER!!!!!

BLOG INFILTRATED BY SUPER BADDIES

My blog has been infiltrated by Super Baddies.  I don't know how the hell it happened, but if you see a comment on any of my entries that asks you to click "Here".  DO NOT CLICK IT!!!!!  I don't know what it does and I don't know who these people are that have found my blog to put this shit on it, but I just know that they are up to no good.  STRANGER DANGER!!!!!  I will delete these nasty comments as soon as I see them so, hopefully our computers will remain virus free.

My apologies.

Capital City Bronze Medal Fight

On March 29th, 2008 Daniel competed in the Capital City Championships. At this tournament the kids were divided by belt and age so Daniel was in the 10/11 year old brown/blue belt division with both boys and girls in it. This put Stacy"long legs" in the same division as all the tiny boys her age. Needless to say, she walked and kicked her way to the gold medal. Daniel got a bi in the 1st round and then had to fight Stacy in the 2nd to make it to the gold medal match. He lost, but redeemed himself by winning the bronze medal. Yay Daniel!

Toboganning at Uncle Dale's in MB

This is a quick video of the kid's sledding at Uncle Dale's in MB so that you can see how awesome the hill is. Oh and the ride back up to the top!!! Great set up!!

Introducing Lincoln Patience Staniland

We made a trip home to MB and specifically to Lenswood just to see this little guy. We are very proud to announce that Tanya and Melvin, once again, made us an Aunt and Uncle. Our new nephew, Lincoln Patience Staniland, was born on March 12, 2008. He is the cutest thing I have ever seen and since he is Tanya and Melvin's baby, he is just a doll. Tanya and Melvin make great babies!



While there, we of course got to hang out with Baba and Gedo and Morgan and Jorja. I bought Claire and Jorja matching outfits and they were sooooo cute! Thank you Claire for going along with this plan. Jorja thought that it was wonderful to look just like her big cousin Claire.

Another great part of our holiday was an afternoon spent and the INCREDIBLE sliding hill at Uncle Dale and Auntie Delorice's. This is Baba's brother's house and they have cleared trees on their property to make this amazing hill. It is such a great sliding hill that the local elementary school field trips out to it in the winter!!! The best part, I think, is that you get to slide down this great hill and you don't have to walk up. Uncle Melvin or some other related man gets on this fancy snow machine with a big sled behind it and drives down the hill and picks you up at the bottom and takes you all the way around back up to the top!!! You can't beat that! Of course this means the sliding goes on for hours, which in our family means you need food. So, of course, there is a big firepit at the top of the hill where the parents can keep warm and you can roast weiners. Gramma Donna supplied Rice Krispie cake and Puffed Wheat cake for Dessert.

Claire with the snowboard the attempted to slide down the hill on.  She was getting pretty good, but decided that it was waaay more fun riding down and up the hill in the sled behind the snowmobile.

This is the gang from sliding.  Daniel and Claire, Morgan and Jorja.  D and Claire's cousing Carson and Morgan and Jorja's cousins, Quincy and Ben.

Moose Sighting, FINALLY!!!

Monday morning was our 1st day back to school and regular life since our March break the week before and our big trip to MB. I had to get up early because I had to drive a dog to Lloydminster that day and was leaving when the kids left for school so, I was up and out of the shower by shortly after 7:00 am. When I walked into the bedroom after coming from the washroom, there before my very eyes was a MOOSE on the road! This is incredible for me because since we have arrived at this place last July, I have been hoping to see a Moose in my yard. I love Moose. I think they are amazingly huge creatures and I think the love stems from my love of draft horses and the fact that Moose are quite similar. Anyhoo, THERE WAS A MOOSE!!!!! Luckily my camera was just in the office. So, I got to take these pictures. I snapped the first when he was on the road and then I ran to the top of the stairs and hollered for the kids to come and see. They came with a little bit (OK quite a bit) of grumbling because the alarm had not gone off yet, but Daniel did see it, Claire did not. When I got back to the window the Moose was no longer on the road, but eating the bushes at the top of our yard. Well, now Chester did not like this big hairy beasty that close to his house and he started a very low menacing growl. Then the moose was through the hedge and coming towards the house! I was very excited, but Chester's growls were getting much louder and much more menacing. The moose came down the yard towards the house until he was about 20 feet away. Just before the Moose turned and headed across the yard Chester high tailed it for the office! He really thought the Moose was coming to get us! Great help he is going to be if we are ever attacked by anything. Anyway, the Moose headed across the yard in front of the front deck and behind the house and back behind the fire pit out of sight. The last picture is blurry because he is runnning across the yard.

I can't wait to see him again!!!!

Greyhound Sandwich

We had Mr. Seymour come and visit us for a weekend while his people went on a little holiday. He was a joy to have come and stay and really liked hanging out in front of the big screen in the basement. One evening when we were downstairs, Daniel made a Seymour Sandwich out of Seymour and two dog beds. Too funny and Seymour didn't mind a bit!