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...

All Suited Up

Last Saturday was another beautiful day in Winnipeg and we were thrilled to celebrate the marriage of our little sister, Jill. How fun (and stressful) when the wedding is in your immediate family. Chris was an usher, Carson was a jr usher and my little man Caleb was the best ringbearer ever! The dinner we had on Thurs night was great as the weather blazed and everyone had a fun time swimming in my in laws pool. You should have seen the fun the kids were having! Then we also had a fire and got to know all of Dave's relatives and their friends from BC. Then on Fri we went to the wedding location at the U of M where we had the rehearsal. The kids were a bit of a gong show but I was geared up for that. It is so neat to see everything come together. Then on Sat my mom came over to help me as Chris went go karting with all the guys. At 1230 we had to be at mom and dad's for pictures. This went smoothly and we all made it to the ceremony on time. After the ceremony we took pictures around the U of M and then we had a bit of time to go home and let the dog out as we live really close. It was nice to freshen up a bit. The cocktail hour on the patio was beautiful and they handed out wine and there were appetizers too. Then at 6 the festivities started and thanks to my mom and Stacey, Chris and I enjoyed the adult table and the wonderful meal without our kids. Who were well behaved by the way due to Jill's thoughtful packages that she made them with coloring books and stuff. We dined on steak and chicken and baby potatoes and corn on the cob and wonderful desserts. The speeches were great and then the dance began. We had so much fun and the kids just had a blast! You should have seen them all cutting a rug! Dancing to "Dynamite" was for sure the highlight. We ended up chatting with family and friends and stayed until 1130 which was fun for the boys! The next day we went swimming at mom and dad's again because it was another scorcher. On monday, Carson's twin friends invited us to join them at Lilac resort where the boys spent all day on the waterslides and having fun with their friends. On Tuesday we went out to the cottage and Jill and Dave and their friend from Montreal came out to join us as they had never seen our place. We were only there for a short time but it was relaxing and very nice to visit. On Wed we went to Steinbach and enjoyed Adam and Tanya's new pool. We had a great great time! Yesterday, thursday the boys had a birthday party to go to and today, fri they are sleeping as I type this...You think they're exhausted?! Oh man, get our fun in now because soon we will be starting to fix our drywall and then paint the whole house. This is something I can hardly think about without getting hives. We are anticipating packing up the house and moving out!? The details aren't worked out but it is happening soon so I can't ignore it any longer. So if you want to find me, I will be at Falcon Lake-Block 13 lot 30.