Dog Years

I will outwardly admit that I totally found this video when it was mentioned on the Dooce blog (thanks SIS!) It is a great video, but if you have never loved a dog you won't get it. If you have you will love it.

Photos from Claire's 8th Birthday

All the girls. From left to right, Addison, Shae, Claire, Emma and Tanisha.


Eating of the cake! Please note that Claire is taking these pics and the sugar is starting to kick in.




Sugar is now in full gear!



Great party!!! Claire and I are already planning our summer sleep over at the cabin. It was a pleasure having them all come and the wasn't a fight between them.

Claire celebrates 8 years Old with New Friends

On March 15, 2008, Claire celebrated her 8th birthday by having 4 of her new friends come and sleep over. We all went to see Horton Hears a Who and then they watched Nancy Drew when they got home. They had a great giggly squealy time as only 8 year old girls can! This is the video of Claire waiting for the cake to extinguish!

Daniel Wins Double Gold at WKA Alberta Provincial Championships

On the weekend Daniel competed in the WKA Alberta Provincial Championships. He did extremely well and won gold in both the -40 kg Point and Continuous Fighting Divisions. The Point Division had 7 kids in it and the Continuous Division had 5 kids in it.

WAY TO GO DANIEL, WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!





Daniel has a bit of a black eye in this picture. I made it black and white for artistic purposes, so, not sure if you can see the discoloration. Anyhoo, he did not get the bump and bruising from the tournament, it is from whacking his face on the edge of the kitchen counter about two days before the tournament. Alas, still a 10 year old boy stuck in the body of the champion.

Daniel Wins Gold at WKA Alberta Provincial Championships

Daniel also won the gold medal in the -40 kg Continuous Fighting Division on the weekend. This is the 2nd 1/2 of the gold medal match.

Daniel Wins Gold at WKA Alberta Provincial Championships

On the weekend, Daniel competed in the 2008 Alberta WKa Provincial Championships. This is the video of the gold medal final in the -40 kg Point Fighting division. Daniel won the gold medal and we are now off to Ottawa to compete in Nationals on the May long weekend. YAY!!!!

Visit with Boscoe and Sammy

When Stephanie was home for her unexpected visit, we made a trip to MB for a funeral and were so lucky to have Jenn, Jason and Maddie Markosky have us stay with them. Now, the big highlight for Stephanie was meeting Maddie and I have to admit, that was pretty special, but I was very happy to be there for other reasons. To visit my beagle best friends, Boscoe and Sammy!!!!! I just think they are the most fabulous dogs and I love spending time with them. I took some goodies with me, of course, and Boscoe got a new Screaming Monkey and a new Screaming Gorilla. He immediately destroyed the Screaming Gorilla and then settled in to love up the Screaming Monkey. The monkey is definitely his favorite. Jenn let me know that he has one frozen in his Aunty Lisa's backyard and hopefully it will warm up enough for him to get that one back. In the mean time, he has his new one to enjoy. I wasn't thinking when I left or I would have brought chicken treats for Sammy, but I know that she is happy to have Boscoe occupied for the time being.


This is the wonderful spunky Boscoe! He is really lov'in his new monkey.



This is Sammy. She is super sweet and Jenn calls her "our Eeyore". She is just having a little sleep.

Final song from Winter Concert

This is the last song of the Winter Concert where they introduce all the cast. Enjoy!

Claire performs in School Winter Concert

This is a very quick video of Claire performing one of the lines that she had to say in the play, Three of a Kind. Claire and her fellow Maids were very quick up and down from the microphone so, it was tricky to video them. Sorry that it is blurry, but Claire is in the middle in the gold costume.

Claire performs in School Winter Concert

This is the opening song from the Winter Concert at the Elementary School on February 28th. Claire's best friend, Shay, is on her left.

Last of the toboganning posts

These are the pictures that I took when the kids were toboganning. The kids had a great time and I think Steph did too. It was very windy that day and the only tragedy that we had was that D's Pokemon blow up slider got away from him and hurled itself into a barbed wire fence. It has a small hole in it somewhere that hopefully a float tube patch kit can fix. Please note D's snazzy new Harry Potter scarf and hat from Auntie Mee-Mee.

2nd video of Toboganning on February 16th.

Another run down the Hill!

Toboganning with Auntie Mee-Mee

This is a video of the kids toboganning down the big hill in town. They were joined by their Auntie Mee-Mee. Great time was had by all.

Garbage Truck Catastrophe

Once the warm weather showed up and the snow started to melt and then re-freeze over night, our yard quickly became a very nice skating rink. On Friday, February 15th, 2008, the garbage man and his big truck just couldn't handle it and became stuck in our yard.

Back up was called and came about 15 minutes later. It took some skilled driving and a really big tow chain, but soon enough the garbage man was on his way.

Rural life is so exciting!


This is the truck stuck. That is our garbage man in the picture directing the other guy.


Garbage truck being pulled out. Note the big tow chain!


Debrief at the end of the lane before the went on their way.

New Bedding

Curtis and I, well let's be honest here, I purchased new bedding for our bedroom. Please take a moment to bask in the beauty of our model! No comments from you know who!!