Vegas Baby!

Is that the title I used last time? Oh well, still a good one! Just settling back into mommy routine as the one thing I like best about Vegas is that you are definitely in adult mode when you are there. Although we were silly kids sometimes too! It was a whirlwind weekend and we had a great time despite the weather that did put a bit of a damper on things. I suffered through the entire winter (not the worst one I suppose) and then when I finally go away to the desert it is literally 20 degrees warmer at home. Seriously? 28 in Winnipeg middle march? Still makes no sense. It was less than 8 degrees in Vegas and the wind was COLD! Luckily I had some warmer clothes since I had seen the forecast but the jacket I had been wearing for the last 6 months would have been awesome. We stayed at the Mirage and it was very nice with a perfect spot on the strip. We did lots of walking, eating and we went to a Cirque show. Oh yeah, and shopping too! Here's a few pics and if you want to know the "crazy" details give me a call! lol
PS- Chris is at a Kia conference so we went before that for a vacation and his partner and his wife came with us.
Here's some pics as well as the ones I told you about before.

My Baby is 5!

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Ok- I need to backtrack a bit here. We are now in March and I am really excited about that so I will quickly go back a bit and then look forward to spring! So far the new year has been pretty good, we had a few bumps in January with some crazy cold temps and some bad tenants but we have worked hard and overcome those obstacles and we have also been blessed to enjoy a lot of great weather as well. I don't think I have ever taken the kids tobaganning and skating this much before. How great to be outside sliding for several hours, that would be unheard of normally in Winnipeg in winter. The boys have enjoyed it as well. Carson is a great skater now and will soon end his lessons and move on to soccer I guess! Now there's a sign of spring! February really went quite quickly. Chris was gone a few days twice in the month on business and that was a bit of a challenge but I kept myself busy with mom things and as I always say, planning your kids bday is a huge undertaking. Not sure why but it is. So Caleb turned 5 on the 19th and we did several special things. On the thursday before we had an awesome party at McDonald's of all places! It was really quite simple as I got there early and put my stuff on a table or 2 and then preordered the happy meals for 11 kids and then the kids just played on the structure and had a great time. It was simple because parents could easily grab a coffee and stick around and bring their little ones as well. I made these great little teddy cars instead of cake and Caleb and I were so proud of them as we were able to make them together. When we got home from there we made marshmallow pops for the next day at school where I volunteered. We had so much fun. It's so cool when kids are so excited about their one special day! One time when he opened a gift from his friend he just screamed "HOW DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS JUST WHAT I WANTED!!!!" Everyone was laughing like crazy! I also got his pictures done at my friends who did them last year and they look so good!
So anyway, we are now in March and are excited to have 2 holidays this month...one to Vegas and one to Florida so I will cross off the first on the calendar today and the countdown begins. Here are some pics of the last few weeks including a trip to the lake where the boys discovered what it was like to walk on the lake! Also stay posted for pics of Carson's room which Chris (and I ) have been working hard at every spare moment including the last few weekends. It is almost done but we are waiting for the Jets border to come in the mail. Also, we went to see the Stanley Cup the other day at a special thing Chris was invited to and they took professional pictures but unfortunately I am not able to access them yet so when I can I will post those too...it was neat. Take care!

Bring on 2012!

I wish my camera made it a bit easier to post pictures as I would probably be posting more often...I also just really don't have a whole lot to say! Well, maybe just a bit...
It was great to just relax over the school break and not rush every morning-the kids enjoyed it too! Since the 22nd of December and until Jan 9th we had not done a whole lot but fussing around the house and the kids have been as per usual immersed in their "electronics". And as per usual I have been intent on getting us the heck out of here (on vacation)! Chris is finally on the same page as me as he sees the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the never ending house renos go. No surprise he has done ALL the finishing work himself and focuses all his attention on this every moment he is not at Autotown. He took Christmas day off and that was hard for him! So it's nice to have him home alot but he is wearing out and thus in need of a vacation. In the last month or so he has done all the baseboards, casings and crown molding in our house as well as many other projects like our powder room (new tap, sink, granite, toilet, lighting and mirror). This requires a lot of painting, staining and general "finishing" work that is very tedious and time consuming. I try to help by either staying out of his way or just passing him stuff or cleaning up so that's why we have been home so much. But hard work pays off and we are definitely seeing the results of our house transformation. Soon Chris will start on fixing up the boys rooms the way they want them and by then it should be lake time! LOL Carson wants a Jets themed room so we need to order a border and such and it should be fairly easy considering that you can find Jets gear just about anywhere in Winnipeg. I am sure even 7/11 has plenty of stuff. Anyways, enough about our house...although that truly is what we spend most of our time and energy on. We also enjoy our hottub, watching movies and generally just snuggling the winter away.
So leading up to Christmas was busy busy. I called myself a gong show mother as I ran around doing "motherly" things. I used all of Caleb's preschool time to scoot around and shop. Those are a couple of crazy hours! We enjoyed my sister in law's company from Vancouver and it was so nice of her to make it to all the boys concerts. As a family we had a great time at the arena for a Santa breakfast and skating on the Jets ice just before Christmas. All of Carson's lessons paid off and it was a real treat to watch (and participate!) as our whole Dyck family skated around. Our weather was more than any Winnipeger could have ever hoped for, especially during the Christmas season, and we had no trouble scooting around and enjoying the unique time of year and what comes with it. But we were also happy to move on and I took the tree down in record time this year! For New Years we just chilled with my mom and watched the Jets game. Heaven forbid Carson misses even a second of any game on TV. He's been lucky enough to go to several games with Chris including the one 2 days before Christmas.
So we are now into the second week back to school and the temps have dropped dramatically. Last week tues we were still enjoying plus temperatures and I took Carson to the duck pond to skate and then boom -30. It is a shock and changes the way you go about things but you still need to go to school and eat etc so there is no hibernating. A lot of days Carson's recess gets cancelled which I am grateful for. Hopefully we will get a break from it soon but as of yet I have not booked anything (trip) as we have some rental property issues that need to be resolved first. It is fun to go last minute and believe me I can pack my bikini fast but it would be nice to know when and where at this point and have something to look forward to!
In the meantime...
I have sold and made about 1000 dollars on Kijiji and the house and garage are emptying out!
My baby turns 5 soon so I am thinking about parties and such
Carson has homework, skating and piano to practice (and chasing him to do these things takes a long time!)
I am trying to work on projects like cleaning out closets
I am hoping to work on some picture type projects like albums and such
I try and have playdates with friends and go to the Y
So that's whats going on with us in somewhat of a nutshell! Here's some pics! (Decorating tree, Santa pic, Chris and Carson on the Jets ice, Carson at his school concert playing xylophone, Caleb at his concert at preschool amongst all the girls, the boys on Christmas morning with their new hats, Caleb in his knight in shining armour costume, Carson enjoying his new net with Daddy, and Stacey and Dan and Leo at Christmas.) I always post my pics backwards...oh well!

Fall 2011

So the fall routine is well under way as we scoot everyone around to where they need to be. Everytime I think of me and the boys arriving at the skating rink last Monday I have to laugh at what I must of looked like trying to lace up Carson's skates. Poor kid, first time ever on skates and ever on ice and I am the gong show mom who doesn't put ski pants on him and doesn't know how to tie up laces. Try to rush a kid never on skates over to the doorway and say "ok go" with a shove onto the ice. Funny thing is, that I have realized, is starting them later when they have chosen the activity and when they are mature enough to have a passion and drive to learn is a totally different story. He was great and fell down repeatedly with a huge grin on his face! That day was like 27 or so outside so walking into the rink and seeing your breath was a bit of a shock! Caleb was not too thrilled and snuggled in my lap with no desire to try what his brother is trying...that's fine. Carson is also doing awesome at his piano lessons and we work very hard to practice 5 days a week. He had some changes at school as his teacher's husband suddenly passed away at age 52 (she is 49). It was a bit of a struggle in my "mommy" mind as I grieved for her but also worried about the changes in his classroom so early in the year. Then I ran into her at the bank last week and we talked for a long time. Boy did I feel relief to have had the chance to offer my condolences personally and also to hear of her plans before an announcement was made. She will be back after Christmas but will work closely with the lady they hire (most likely the sub they have had for these weeks). So other than all that, Carson of course is overjoyed that the NHL season has begun and follows all games his mommy will allow him to watch or catch scores on the internet. And what luck, the CFL is still going strong. Oh brother, heaven help me!
Caleb on the other hand could not be bothered with any of it. Although his "Go Jets Go" chants were just as loud as the rest of them! He loves school and has more of a passion for girls than anything else. Yes, yikes indeed. Actually it is just one girl-Abbey and Caleb's life at the moment revolves around this blondie. He frets the night before school about what he will say to her and how he will get her to "like him". They are known to hold hands during circle time and on the way to school the other day he asked me if there was a joke I knew that he could tell her. Other than that he likes to make messes and watch tv. The life of a 4 year old...
Our adult lives on the other hand remain quite stressful. What else is new at the Dyck household, I am sure you are quite tired of hearing about renos and such but that is us. We are in the 2nd week of tile laying and so far it is looking good. It has been a juggle to live but not step in certain places. For a while I had just a thin pathway to my fridge and that was it. I am a bit bummed at the amount of dust it is creating as we were well on our way to eliminating that and I (and my mom) had worked quite hard on that before the tile started. So there is a LONG way to go to getting this house in order. No closets is starting to wear on me as the time is getting nearer to jacket season. Piles and boxes are still sitting as there is not much point just yet and no place to put everything. The end is in sight but there is a long way to go. We spent the holiday weekend shopping for appliances and trying to choose a fridge. Wow...not easy! Luckily my mom took the kids on Sunday so we could just go from store to store until your head is a jumble of info. I HATE shopping for big ticket items! But I am super excited to have a new fridge.
Well, that's about it about our silly life, now we just wait for the snow to fly (AHHHH!) and hopefully plan a nice beach vacation to say goodbye to mess and ola to relaxation.
Check out some pics of the reno and colors we painstakingly chose for the walls and also some pics from our fun time at the Jets party we had here. My mom came along to help thank goodness and we had a great time! We also ran into Greg and Tanya and Isaiah which was cool. The other pics are Carson's first day of school coming off the bus and some canoeing at the lake (that was a while ago) and sitting on Grampi's motorcycle when he rode it to the lake to spend the day with us. Also, the tile is not grouted. Thanks for reading!

Dig Me Outta This Mess!!

Well, I am living under several inches of drywall dust but I believe (or hope and pray) that the worst is over. Good news is my computer is up and running and survived the dust...so far. Today the painters started so I did have to get a lot of that drywall dust cleaned up in order for them to start. I am still not cooking though so we have been living on fast food for several weeks now, although I must say I have discovered some tasty frozen dinners! Carson is currently at his 3rd full day of school and Caleb does not start until this Friday...would be nice to have him out of the house this week but oh well. My mom has our dog so that is a load off. It was a nice reprieve to be at the lake from Fri till Sun morning. The weather was beautiful and was more than likely the last nice weekend. We relaxed and ate real food. Nice to spend time with the boys because we are working like dogs at home. I also have a rental I am trying to find tenants for which has been a not so fun task. So yes, once again there are men in my house and renos at the Dyck household...