Thursday, August 28, 2008

Poll Results


Thanks for voting in my poll, Everyone. Here are the results for favourite Olympic sport:

     6 votes gymnastics
     1 vote diving (that was me)
     1 vote volleyball

I ended up voting for diving because it looks really hard and scary. I'm in awe of those who can hurl themselves in the air like that and land in the water. 

I admit that I was totally glued to the TV during the final volleyball match between the two American girls versus the Chinese team. It was getting late, but I had to stay up and watch it to the end. It was exciting. They were playing in the pouring rain and there was a lot at stake. The American team hadn't lost a match in over a year and this match brought them their second Olympic gold medal. It was an intense game. 

I just wish that they showed more of the games than just the ones that the Americans excel at. Ping pong is huge in China. It would have been fun to watch that or maybe the rowing and synchronized swimming. 

Next Olympics - my home town of Vancouver. I can't wait. Canadians are awesome at the winter sports. We are going to kick some Olympic butt!

Check out my new poll. 

Monday, August 25, 2008

The Fair

This past Friday, Will and I took the kids to the fair. We hadn't been since Moira was about three years old, so we figured that it was about time that we went back.  The kids went on a few rides and played a very expensive game. We saw the animals and went to the petting zoo. We had cotton candy and lemonade and walked around the vendor buildings. It was a typical fair and reminded me of how much fun I had when I was younger and went to the PNE and Playland. I hope the girls will have lots of fond memories of going to the fair. 



Unfortunately, Liam had a cold so he didn't have a fun time at all. 














Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Poll Results

So, like a dummy, I deleted the last poll before I could post the results. I remember that there were eight votes for "What is your biggest pet peeve" and five of those were for rudeness. It was a hard decision for me between bad drivers and rudeness, but I decided on the latter because, ultimately, bad drivers are being rude. 

In the spirit of the Olympics, check out my next poll. 

Boise Brings Home a Gold Medal

So many of us are getting caught up in the Olympic spirit, watching the competitions on tv and routing for your country. Who knew that we could be routing for a hometown girl? Kristen Armstrong of Boise won the gold medal in cycling. Idaho get so few claims to fame so having an Olympian in our midst is pretty exciting. Way to go, Kristen!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Liam Scoots

In the last couple of weeks Liam has started getting around the house, but he doesn't crawl on his hands and knees. Instead he scoots on his bum (thus earning the nickname "Scoot Scoot" from Matt and Amber). He gets around fast and he is so proud of himself. I keep thinking that I should strap a micro fibre cloth to his bum so he can pick up the dirt as he goes along. 


Sunday, August 10, 2008

McCall

This weekend we all headed to McCall to spend the weekend with our friends Matt and Amber who were in town from North Carolina. Matt's family owns a cabin (It's actually a full sized house.) on the lake. The property has been in his family for several generations and it has made a great getaway. Although McCall has now become a home-away-from-home for Idaho's rich (neighbours include the Dunkleys of Dunkley's Music and a former CEO of Alberton's), Matt says that he remembers lots of quiet summers before the influx of residents. I was so amazed at the number of large houses that were practically on top of each other. There is no such thing as privacy in McCall. 

The Cabin



Views of Payette Lake as seen from the beach below the cabin.


The marina downtown.


We went for a ride on the boat around the lake. 

This was Liam's first time playing in the sand. He loved and didn't even try to eat it. 

Building sandcastles with Amber.

Moira is making a moat from her castle to the lake. 

Will and Matt took the girls out in the canoe on Sunday and taught Moira how to fish. They didn't catch anything, though, but they had such a good time that they didn't mind. We got spoiled with Amber's cooking and had a great time just relaxing. 

Friday, August 8, 2008

Poll Results

Thanks for voting, everyone! Here are the results for what you wished you had more of:

     1 vote intelligence
     1 vote money
     2 votes friends
     2 votes time to yourself

I voted for more time to myself. As I've gotten older I've learned to enjoy my own company. With three kids, a husband and a home to take care of, I feel like I spend most of my time looking after them. I wish I had more time to myself to work on sewing or beading projects, to read and write more. There are so many things that I would like to do and not enough time to do them all. That's when I have to decide what my priorities are. Unfortunately, I don't always make myself a priority. It's important for me to have time to myself. It helps me to relax and feel centred, therefore making me a better parent and wife. It's sometimes hard to remember that through the guilt and selfishness that I feel when I try to make time to myself. Maybe one day I will get over that and just make it a part of my life. 

Check out this week's poll.

Friday, August 1, 2008

This Busy Life

Wow! I can't believe that it's August already. July was such a busy month for us. Here are just a few of the things that kept us going all month long.

First, as you've already seen from previous blogs, we went to two Highland games. The first was in Athena and the second was in Enumclaw. Eventhough we have a lot of fun, they are still a lot of work and it takes a few days for us to recoup afterwards.

Second, Moira developed a very strange skin condition. Neither her pediatrician or the determatologist could figure it out. Basically several layers of her skin got extremely dry and would crack. It eventually started flaking of in huge clumps. It started on her neck, the insides of her elbows and her armpits. It spread out and on to her back and torso. It's now gone, but the new skin has no pigment to it so it's very pale, especially next to her tanned skin. In the end, the dermatologist thinks that it might have been a virus so there was nothing we could do but wait it out.

I sold three of my ear cuffs on Etsy this past month. I was so excited. I've been trying hard to work on it some more and have posted a few more items. I still have a few more to add on as soon as I get some spare time.

Moira started grade two in July as well. I can't believe it. I'm still a bit in shock. I went to her classroom last night and got to see her desk and meet her teacher. I have so many memories of my third year of school. My teacher's name was Miss Dong. We even had a little rhyme about her that went:

Miss Ding Dong
played ping pong
with King Kong
in Hong Kong

She will forever be etched in my mind because of that little ditty. We learned how to tell time and add up two digit numbers - stuff Moira learned last year and some in kindergarten. School has changed a lot since I went. They are learning a lot more and at a younger age. There is so much more out there now to learn.

Our book club read "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte. It was such a great book. I really enjoyed it. Our newest one is "Midwives" by Chris Bohjalian. I'm also almost finished reading another book called "The Golden Spruce" by John Vaillant. It is a true story that combines two of my interests - First Nations history and culture and the forest industry. Throw in some sunspense and have it set in my home province and you have a truly great read. Thanks, Nana, for sending me this book!

A friend and member of the book club, Amanda, has left us for Utah. For our book club meeting we decided to go out for dinner and surprised her with a bunch of her friends for a going away party. I decorated a book-shaped box and the book club members wrote out quotes from their favourite authors and wound them around wooden spools. I made the divisions inside the box and put other things in it, too, like a sachet with dried lavender from our garden, a wooden butterfly, silk flowers and large faceted "chrystal". I was pretty happy with the way it turned out.







In amongst all these goings on, I've still been trying to get boxes unpacked and figuring out where I should put things. We want to do some painting so, before we start putting things up on the walls, we want to add or change the colours of the rooms first. It's slowly getting there, though.

July was a busy month for us. I can only hope that August will be a little bit calmer.