Out With The Old

I love New Years Eve. It is a fun day and I like the idea of a do over, a whole new year to start over with.

I had a wonderful year, I am blessed with an incredible family, kids that make me smile every day and a husband who I love. I could not ask for more. I know the next year will be even better than the last and that is saying something.

Have a wonderful and safe New Years Eve! Paul and Sebastian are at a hockey game and PJ Quentin and I are having a party. Here is picture of PJ getting ready for our party.

Yesterday

I have not been blogging very much this week because we closed the office for the week and we have been playing with the kids and hanging out together and by the time I think to blog I am ready for bed.

Paul took the kids up to the ski hill on Tuesday and PJ skied with Paul while Sebastian had ski lessons. They both had a great time and did great on the skis. Paul took Sebastian up to the ski hill on Wednesday and he skied half the day with Paul, they even rode the ski lift together after doing the kiddie hill many times.

Let me show you what we did yesterday: we finally had some snow around here, only up here in the hills, it rained downtown.



After it snowed the sun came out and treated us to a beautiful sunset, it gets even better than this but here it is out the back door:



And here it is out the front door:



The snow resulted in the kids doing this:



They did have some adult supervision:



Here is the sunset about 5 minutes after that first picture: See I told you it got better.



Today the kids started a snow man, I don't know it they ever finished it or not. If they did I will post a photo for you tomorrow.

Christmas Photo Marathon

Are you ready? You might want to sit down with a cup of coffee for this post. Here are some of our Christmas Photos for you. You can see by the pictures that we had a great time. It was a wonderful relaxing holiday, it was nice to spend it here at home with the kids.

We missed everyone in California, Nevada and Brazil so much, I think if you could have all joined us it would have been the only thing that could have made our Christmas better.

This first photo is when the kids first got out of bed and went to see if Santa came to visit them in the night. They were very impressed that Santa ate all the cookies and drank a full glass of milk. The reindeer enjoyed their carrots too.



Quentin checking out his Christmas stocking, I love his sleepy face in this picture.



Here is a picture of Paul 'fixing' Quentin's chicken. When you squeeze the chicken an egg pops out. The egg would not go back in very well so Paul is putting some lotion in it to lubricate the chicken. He seems to be enjoying all of this a little to much!



Mary and the kids



Quentin shaving with his new shaving kit and Mary laughing at him in the background. You can see how much fun we all had.









This next one is Sebastian opening his gift from Santa, he got a great big castle lego set, he got some more legos from Shannon, Will and Taylor, and Morgan (my sister and family) in California. Paul and Sebastian spent the whole day playing with legos.



Here is PJ opening the doll house that Santa gave her. She has spent hours playing with it already.



This is my favorite picture of Mary, she is reading the note in the gift her family and boyfriend sent to her. Look at the smile on her face, she misses you all very much and was very excited to receive the gift and cards from you.



Paul and Quentin opening gifts.



This last one is Jodie (Paul's sister) helping PJ open a gift.



I will post some more photos of some of the wonderful gifts that my family sent to me on another day. I want to save some pictures to show you later. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is ready to celebrate the New Year.

The Anticipation Builds

The kids are very excited, they are patiently waiting for Santa to stop buy this evening. I wonder how long it will take them to fall asleep.

We have been online to check Santa's progress. He is in Paris at the time of this writing.

The picture above is from last night, that is Sebastian enjoying his turkey leg. Did you notice that his face is all scratched up? He did that sliding down the hill on a crazy carpet. The 13th hole of the golf course is a great hill to sled down, he went to fast and went head over heels. He is a tough nut, he just went back up to the top and took another go at it.



As you can see by the pictures the weather has been unseasonably warm, the snow is melting very quickly and it even rained a bit last night. If it keeps melting at this rate we won't have a white Christmas in Kamloops.



Greg, Paul and the kids managed to make the best of what little snow we have left.

And the Stockings Were Hung...

It did work, the kids were much better today. The Quote of the week:

"Mom, have we been good enough yet?" Sebastian
"I've been very good today." PJ

It looks like Christmas is back on at our house. I am so glad, I did not want to cancel Christmas, it is one of my favorite holidays. I am almost as excited as the kids have been, but I have been trying to be very good for Santa.

I promised you some hockey pictures:



The first is of Filet, that is him in the center of the photo, looking at us. It is very hard to get good hockey photos, as you will soon see!



That is Paul and Filet, Fillet is #79, Paul is to fillet's left, in the white shirt and black pants. {au; scored 2 goals and Filet scored one, they were on the same team. No one kept score, everyone is a winner in beginning hockey school.



This picture is my favorite. You see how everyone is a blur of activity, of great hockey action, speed and agility? See the one guy standing still amid the hockey fun, the one in the white shirt, black pants and blue helmet? That would be Paul, I think he is resting.

He had a great time and improved a lot. They both signed up for the next hockey class in January, I think it is great stuff.

Cancel Christmas

Okay I give up. I am tired of excited children being rotten and I am ready to cancel Christmas. I would love to be sharing in their excitement, I would love to be enjoying every precious moment with them. They are making it as difficult as possible.

Today Mary watched them during quiet time for me while I went to the office for 2 hours and had an acupuncture appointment. My lovely children did nothing but give her the gears the whole time she watched them. They colored 2 bedroom doors with green and black markers, the colored all over the floors and the walls. After Mary and the kids cleaned up the first mess (the doors by the way are now stained a lovely shade of light green even after the Magic Eraser worked its magic) the kids went into my bathroom.

Would you like to know what they did in my bathroom? They filled the sink full of water, added food coloring and painted all over my bathroom. Green and Red, at least they were in the Christmas spirit.

I got home and Mary told me what happened. I told her in no uncertain terms that it was not her fault, they know better. PJ and Sebastian got a good talking too and their Christmas stockings were taken down. Santa will only bring them gifts if they behave well enough to earn them back. Quentin was sleeping the whole time so his is still hung by the chimney with care.

Would you like to know what they did while Mary was telling me what happened? They went into Sebastian's room and found the one marker that Mary did not take away from them. (Not her fault either she thought she had all of them. The kids are very sneaky) They took this single marker and drew all over PJ clothes. Just the ones she was wearing at the time. Somebody shoot me. I am ready to take down the Christmas tree and put Christmas back in its boxes.



I figure Sebastian drew the picture on PJ's shirt. I think if PJ drew it the man would have been upside down to us and right side up to her as she was wearing the shirt at the time. Yes, I think it is a man, Sebastian gives all his male stick figures the appropriate equipment.

Now Paul is home, he walks in the door at 8:00 after all is said and done and goes into the kids rooms as mister good guy. Now I look really good. I am frustrated and need to have a good cry.

Almost Ready

I am almost ready for Christmas, how about you? All I have to do is help Santa with the stockings and get a gift for Paul and then I am done. WHOOOOHOOOO! The kids are getting excited about Christmas, what a wonderful time of year.

Shannon, your card is hanging on the wall, but the envelope I am afraid had a different fate. I did not keep the envelope, nor did I think to take down address from it, that would have been far to logical for me.

For those who asked the Wheel was held here at Sorrento Centre. It is only about an hour drive from Kamloops, it is a pretty drive it is not far from where Paul and I got married.

Today was my first day at work since the wheel, it was a good day. I had to work hard not to take on anyone's energy and emotion but with focus I did it. I felt better when I got off work, I felt like me instead of everyone else. I don't know if that makes any sense at all. It takes concentration now to do this, but soon it will become natural to let people heal themselves and keep my energy and ego out of the whole process.

You all remember that Paul is learning to play hockey? And of course you remember the pictures I promised the last time I went to see him play? Well I am going to watch him again tonight, I will take the camera along and see if I can capture some good moments for you. This is the last session of this hockey class so they are going to play a game. It should be very entertaining.

On the knitting front I am having a bit of a panic about the baby blanket, I just realized Theresa is due in less than 2 months. Please remind me of the following the next time I knit a blanket of any sort: Large needles & Fat Yarn. Thank you.

I am just about to start the heel on my second sock. I am trying to knit it a little tighter than the last one, I think the first one was a little loose. It is my first pair, if they are not a perfect match I don't care. They will have character, and since when are hand made things supposed to be perfect?

Never you mind why I am working on the sock when the baby blanket is tick-tick-ticking away. But if you really need to know the sock travels with me and gets a row here and there. The baby blanket stays at home, where I never seem to be.

Digesting

First some business. Mom, I don't know if you noticed in the comments, but I did get your box of goodies a while ago. Shannon, your box of things came just yesterday. I sent my box to dads house last Friday, I hope it makes it in time for Christmas. I sent it to Dad's because I could not find your new address Shannon, perhaps you could email it to me.



I am sure you are waiting to hear about the wheel. I think I have not blogged since I got home because I am still digesting all I have learned. I will try to share bits and pieces as I digest them and become ready to share.

I can tell you that it is amazing work. I feel as if I have changed somehow. As you know the first direction is South and it involves dealing with your past. I feel like I let go of a lot of baggage, I feel lighter and more at peace with myself and who I am.

I feel like most of the teachings from the weekend are sitting on top of my head and I have not quite learned them yet. I know why the next weekend is 6 months away, it will take that time and more to work with what I have so far. I promise to share more of my experience as I can.



I did take the camera with me last weekend but I only took a few pictures. The light was very flat and it was difficult to take a good picture. Here are my two favorites.

The Adventure Begins

Tomorrow morning I am off to start the wheel. I will tell you all about it when I get back. I will be home sometime Sunday afternoon.

I am looking forward to the journey, I think it will be challenging and will make me a better healer.

The Quote of the Week:

I have to step out side the gene pool for this one, I can't help myself. In honor of John Lennon. I was 10 years old at the time of his death and remember watching the news with my mom and sister when he was killed. The man had a vision:

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell bellow us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people,
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm dreamer,
But I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

John Lennon.

A Bit of Sunshine

It has been cold and grey in Kamloops for the past week. When I say cold I mean COLD. I have half a bottle of white wine out on the back deck. Keeping cold and saving on fridge space. Monday the wine was frozen solid.

I keep hand cream in the center console of the van, it is very dry here in the winter, I tried to use it today. Frozen solid. I did not know lipstick freezes but it does.

It has warmed up to a balmy -12C today. We saw some sunshine for the first time in a week. I could not help myself, I had to capture a ray of sun for you and for myself.

The first picture I am standing on the back deck and looking to my right over the fence in my neighbors back yard.



This next picture is of the hill that overlooks the golf course. It is the view looking out our back door and over the neighbors yard. I don't know if you can see the tower in the skyline on the right, but it takes me about 25 minutes to run to that tower from the house up hill all the way. The run is worth it the view from that tower is lovely. I think I have posted some pictures from there before.



What do you do when it is to cold to play outside. PJ has the right idea, curl up with your baby doll and have a sleep.

Scrub-a-Dub-Dub

I just couldn't help but post this picture of the kids. I was playing with them while they where in the tub and we all laughed until our stomachs ached.

It was a very cold weekend in Kamloops. I went for a run on Saturday morning and it was -18C with the wind chill. That is about the limit for me, if it gets any colder it will be time to fire up the treadmill.

Paul went up to the ski hill on Sunday and I took the kids skating and then brought them home to do crafts with them. The kids were very good with the crafts and we had nice together. Paul go home around 7:00 so he read them stories and they fell into bed all worn out from our fun.

Quote of the Week

"I look at this as a chance to recreate myself, I mean I am going to a place where no one knows me, where no one has any expectations of who I am or who I should be."

Bonnie

I heard Bonnie say this to me not long before she started her exchange to France. Check out her blog bonchanceinfrance she posts amazing pictures and you really get a sense of Bonnie and her experience by reading it.

I find myself in wonderment that a 17 year old has made this realization. That she has taken this leap, this huge jump into the unknown with both feet and excitement. No fear, just wanted to experience and learn all that she can. I am learning that the young adults chosen for the exchange program are phenomenal people, I think they have a gift.

I have had the pleasure of knowing several exchange students, there is of course Bonnie from Canada to France, Alex (who stayed with us a few years ago) he was from Australia. There is Mary of course from Brazil, and I am getting know Roxanne (Belgium) and some other students as I spend more time with Mary. Oh yes, I remember Jakko from last year, he was from Denmark.

I have noticed that they seem to be a special breed of people, I see a common bond in all of them. They willingly step outside of any comfort zone they have and step into another world, where they are going to live with strangers, who speak a strange language, who eat different foods than they are accustom too, who may have different belief systems, different religions, different family dynamics, different customs, even different money.

They all want to embrace every experience they can and they all do it with a huge beaming smile. They glow with the joy of it all, they can't wait to try a new thing. They are confident, poised, and always ready to try anything. Mary, who has never seen snow, is ready to try skiing, ice skating, I think if we told her it is our custom to ring in the new year with a polar bear swim that she would be all for it. (Hmm, this might be a good idea)

I was concerned because we often drop Mary off at school just as the last bell rings. This means she is late to her first class, we have to drop our kids off at school before we drop Mary off and this is why she is always a bit late. I asked her the other day if this was becoming a problem with her teacher. She said, "No, and if they call me into the office, I will point out them that I have good marks, and that I am good student who does my work and does not disrupt or bother anyone, and that I often use my 15 minute break between classes to do extra class work so I don't have to bring home work. If being late is the only thing the have to worry about me then that is just to bad." She would never even think to mention the kids, or that it is really her host families fault. Her statement says that she would just step up and take responsibility.

I see the same gifts in Bonnie and Roxanne, indeed in all the exchange students I have met. I often wonder how to give my children these gifts? I think you just try to be the best parent you can and then keep your fingers crossed, but I am really not sure. I think exposing them to these wonderful role models will have an effect on them. The exchange students are always so grateful to their host families for a good home and a sense of family, for giving the students a ground while they explore and experience the country they came so far to learn about.

I wonder if the exchange students realize how much they teach us and how much they give back. If they realize that they are role models for the young families they live with. I wonder if they know they are teaching the adults a thing or two as well. I hope that they realize that they are giving us a gift by coming to live with us. They are making memories that their host families will have forever. Do they know that their enthusiasm is contagious, that their self-confidence is catching, and that they are not only recreating themselves, but all of those around them as well?

All About Socks

My finished sock. I finished it 2 weeks ago but I have not shown it to you yet. I understand the addiction to knitting socks, I am hooked on them. I would love to start the match to this one but I need to make some progress on a certain baby blanket. I have a schedule to keep on that project. The sock was fun to knit, but when I knit the next pair I will try a different pattern. This one is a little loose on me, it had no shaping for the ankle so it bags a bit in that area, thank goodness my ankle is smaller than my calf or my legs would strongly resemble tree trunks.

I have been wearing just one sock around the house today, I love the knitted goodness that much. I think I will try The Sock Calculator for my next pair of socks. You put in your measurements and it generates a pattern for you. I can't wait to try it.

Mom did you know there is a similar site for Custom Dog Sweater ? Imagine a dog sweater to fit a Newfi! I can't get the image out of my head. Perhaps it would be a good sweater for Darryl to try? Knit out of Newfi fur?



A patient of mine brought me this fiber treat when she came in and got adjusted today. Last month when she came to see me we compared notes on available sock yarn, it is not the lack of yarn itself, but the lack of color. (No good sock yarn and no good buttons, what kind of town is this????) See the color I knitted my first sock from, that is the brightest most exciting color I could find, everything is grey or denim blue, all the colors you find are very muted. Gaile makes special trips to the yarn shop in Vernon occasionally and this time she bought some sock yarn for both of us. She is one thoughtful lady. She does tons of knitting, she knits children's hats, blankets and scarfs and sends them all over the world to children who need a warm hug. Last year she sent more than 30 items. People like Gaile make the world a better place.

In Sickness...

It seems that every year around this time the whole family gets sick. Yuck.

Mary was sick for 2 days, she had the flu and spent most of her time in the washroom, I don't think she even ate anything for 2 days. She is better now and has gone to school the past two days.

Sebastian is sick today with a fever, he has slept on the couch most of the day. PJ would not go to school, I thought she was feeling better and did not want to go to school without Sebastian, she surprised me by sleeping all morning and waking up to have a small lunch and going back to bed around 1:30 for another nap.

Quentin made it through the morning using an entire box Kleenex on his snotty nose. He went right to bed when I asked him to take a nap.

I am not feeling well either. It seems like everyone in the house has something different, some of us have a cold and others have the flu. I had an upset stomach, but now I have a cold. If I could get a good nights sleep I am sure I would feel better, but the kids have not slept well for two weeks. I am getting a bit frustrated with the whole thing.

Paul is feeling well, I kind of hate to mention it, I don't want to jinx him. I am taking Cold FX, it is a homeopathic that is supposed to work well. I wanted to try Airborne, but it is a US Product and I can't get it here.

In Button News, I went ahead and made the button holes today. I don't really want to send an unfinished shirt and I don't really want to send any work for mom. I have not been able to get out of the house today to find any buttons.

I have a lot of wonderful Thanksgiving photos to share, I will post a few at a time just keep things interesting.



A good photo of Debbles and I.



A cute photo of Paul and Quentin snuggling. Quentin was a bit overwhelmed by all the people and he spent a lot of time with Paul and I until he got more comfortable.



Mary is decorating some turkeys made out of rice crispy treats that Carolyn made for the kids.



Here is The Giggle Queen supervising as Filet slices and dices for us.

The Button Debate

Here is the shirt I made (am making) for Darryl for Christmas. Not to shabby, cut out on Sunday and almost done by Tuesday.

Almost. Here is where I need your help. I have looked in both of the stores in Kamloops that carry buttons and I can't find any I like. That is not entirely true, I found some really nice green buttons that I like and they match Darryl's eyes, I bought all 4 of them. Does anyone know how to turn 4 buttons into 10?

I thought the shirt would look cool with some leather buttons. Kamloops has cows, but no leather, go figure. Here are my ideas:

1. Find 10 buttons that I can live with do the button holes and sew on the buttons.

2. Do the button holes and send the shirt to mom to see if she can find some cool buttons in Buttonland to sew on the shirt when it arrives in California.

3. Mail shirt as is in case the buttons mom finds are not 1/2" and my button holes may be the wrong size.

Who knew buttons could cause so much trouble? I will call Fabricland and see they if they received "the button shipment" and maybe that will solve my troubles. I don't really want to drive all over town for buttons, we have had a lot of snow the past few days and I don't like to drive more that I have to on the roads. The roads should be better in a day or two.

Turkey for Me and Turkey for You...

Happy Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays. I realize that Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone, but here at the Ouimet house we celebrate both of them (why not have turkey twice!).

Canadians don't do Thanksgiving as well as Americans do, so I have taken it upon myself to teach all the Canadians I know how it is done. I don't mean to upset any Canadians out there, Thanksgiving is just bigger in the States than here in Canada, no harm no foul (hehe). So we have for the second year in a row invited tons of friends and family to our house and asked them all to bring a dish. I am cooking 2 turkeys, 1 ham, 1 cheese cake, 2 apple pies, I also make the stuffing and the mashed potatoes.

We are expecting about 40 people, the same as we had last year. Keep in mind that at least 10 of those are children the oldest being 7 years old. We are going to have a wonderful time. I will be thinking of my family in California and here and Canada and keeping in mind how blessed I am and how much I have to be thankful for.



I took the turkey photos when the kids had the farm field trip, I have been saving them for you.

Emotional

Debbles is helping me with my dirty work today. I will pause a minute here to let any male readers get rid of the image of Deb and I having a pillow fight in our lingerie. Debbles has been on the phone for me for a good portion of the last hour.

She has called 2 travel agents and the broker who the tickets were purchased from. She is getting more answers than I have along the way. She is cool, professional and won't take no for answer. I am so emotional about the tickets I can hardly listen to her side of the phone conversation without screaming in frustration or crying my eyes my out. It is a true friend that is willing to take on the entire travel industry for me.

Quote of the week: "We have received terrible service from a travel agent here in Kamloops and quite frankly this situation is just unacceptable."

Debauchery

We had a great time this weekend, the rotary vacation draw was a good time. We did not win anything but we did have a blast. We brought our staff along with us and made it our employee Christmas party, of course we had Mary with us and Linfields joined us as well. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. I did not any photos of Paul in his suit, but he did look hot.



Here is Filet showing a little nipple (hehe, now you can reach my blog by googling 'little nipple')
I know he was drinking Gin and Tonic, I also know that he even if he was drinking water all night long we would be likely to have this same photo of him.



Who is behind the mask? That is Carolyn, our massage therapist. She is a gifted healer with a wonderful sense of humour, can you tell? She danced all night she is a hoot.



That is me in the black in pink dress, Carolyn and the lovely lady in the blue dress is our resident girl with tiny sharp needles: Rebecca, who is our accupucturist.



I could not help but post this photo for you. I think those are Paul's fingers as he attempts to take some pictures.



Mary with her date, she picked him up there at the party and danced the night away with him. If you look carefully in the photo you will see Roxanne with her date, Roxanne is on exchange from Belgium. I believe there is a conspiracy to send only the most beautiful women on exchange, it is how they keep the travel industry in business, don't you all want to go to Brazil and Belgium now? Bonnie is in France making an entire nation of French men want to come to Canada for all the lovely Canadian women. It's a good system.



I took this picture of Paul and I and for some reason the camera flash did not work properly, but I love the photo.