Renovation Hell & Mexico Heaven

Disclaimer: This is a long post. Really long. It has taken me a month to go through pictures and get it written. I apologize in advance. lol

Renos are tough. We've been pretty focused on them since the middle of January, in an attempt to get our house ready to put up for sale & take advantage of the spring market. It's so hard to get done all the stuff we usually do, in addition to what ended up being a full time renovation job on top of it all. Since January, our home has felt like a place of constant dust & mess, our kitchen has become a tool storage area, because I was so busy, I stopped preparing my usual healthy meals, our kids spent a lot of time in front of the tube. Mr. Q now knows the theme song from Jake and the Neverland Pirates by heart.

The TV was the babysitter for 6 weeks of their short little lives. Sad, I know. The chaos was really affecting my mental health. You know that feeling when you've been going too hard for too long and the light at the end of the tunnel seems much too far away? That's how I felt. Then, a little seed of happiness popped into our lives. My parents told us that they wanted to take us all to Mexico for a week in mid April. At that point, it was a month away. We were all so excited! I desperately wanted to finish the renos before we left so we could get it up for sale & I could just relax and not worry about my to-do list anymore. It's only me with this problem, Matt wouldn't be worried while we were gone. I started working overtime on the house, dragging my poor husband along for my crazy ride. We stayed up 'till midnight or later night after night, followed by a hot shower & finally collapsing in bed exhausted (with sopping wet hair). I had this countdown to our week of relaxing in the back of my brain, but I couldn't have a moment of peace before then, not unless the renos were finished. The week came for us to go on our vacation, I had worked myself non-stop but was unable to get it all pulled together in time. I felt like I had failed to accomplish my self-imposed (unrealistic) goals, and instead of being proud of all the things we had accomplished, I was disappointed in being unable to get more done. This is a real big personality flaw of mine. I recognize it, and it drives me bonkers. I worked on the house until noon on Friday and then started packing (for 5 people...) for our flight that we had to be up at 2am Saturday morning to catch. Crazy, I know. We went shopping for t-shirts and shorts in the early evening and were at the mall until it closed. We finally had the suitcases packed and waiting by the door at 1am. No point in sleeping at that point, right?

The flight there was pretty uneventful. The girls like to colour and Mr. Q slept most of the way. I was exhausted and slept on and off between trips to the teeny tiny bathroom that is not designed for a mom to bring her little children into. The super sonic toilet flush is pretty terrifying to a 3 year old. Our kids, I must admit, were angels on the plane. We received many compliments from other passengers on their good behavior. Makes a mama proud.

We stepped off the plane at PVR and the heat & humidity was almost shocking (in a really good way!). We went from a weather forcast with a snowfall warning, to beautiful, tropical sunshine. It was wonderful.

We stayed at the Friendly Vallarta resort. We went up to our room and stepped out on the balcony to see the most gorgeous view.

Stunning, no? We spent a week as a family, enjoying each other, the weather, the water, the break. It was perfect. My parents, my sister &  her family, my brother & his wife, and another brother all went together. There were 16 of us total. Another brother and his wife were not able to come as they are expecting twin baby girls soon and couldn't travel. Often, someone mentioned that they wished they were with us. Hopefully next time there will be 20 (or more??) of us.
When we arrived, we almost immediately got changed into our swimsuits, slathered on the SPF 3000 and sunhats and went swimming right away. The pool had a little kids area that was only about 18" deep or so and there was a ledge around most of the pool that the kids were comfortable walking on.

There were many trips to the little cabana that had the slushy drinks. The food/drink servers were outstanding. You never went too long without someone bringing you something yummy. All-Inclusive is definitely the way to go. It was SO nice not having to prepare meals or clean up. I kept reflecting on that several times each day. It makes for a true vacation. As we are teetotalers, the non-stop alcohol wasn't an enticement, but once we told the waiters we don't drink, they remembered who we were and said, "No-alcohol, right?" whenever we'd order a drink. That's great service.

Before church on Sunday, we went for a walk along the beach together. The girls wanted to stick their toes in. Miss C. got pretty wet. I was randomly asked to play piano at church. It was interesting to play these Spanish hymns, because even though the tunes were mostly the same, the notes were slightly off from what I'm used to because the translation of the hymns didn't necessarily allow for the same number of notes in each measure. I don't know if the musical terms are correct, but it was just a bit off.

We had a quiet afternoon. Mr. Q had fun building sand castles with his cousins. He always sticks out his tongue when he is concentrating on something.

Quick break from playing to have a cuddle with Grandma.

Tuesday, we went on a fun excursion with the whole gang. It was a day long Pirate ship voyage & was really different and fun. Grandma and Papa had been before and wanted to take the grandkids. This was taken during breakfast in the ships galley.

We sailed across the bay to this beautiful beach with gorgeous clear water where we took an hour or two to play on the beach. The water was so nice. Little Miss C loves the waves pushing her back to shore.
Awe. I love that guy.

On the beach, the pirates had a treasure hunt lined up for the kids. They had to follow clues on a map & eventually unearthed the buried treasure. That was one of the highlights of the trip for the kids. They are still talking about it regularly a month later.

Thanks, dude in the green shirt, for joining our family picture... lol

Miss A was wiped out from all the sun the day before. I think she had a dose of heat exhaustion. We mostly just kept her out of the sun and drinking a lot of water. The only thing she really wanted to participate in was the treasure hunt. Poor sweetie. Thank goodness she was fine the next day.

We spent Wednesday at the Puerto Vallarta Zoo. The entire place is almost like a huge petting & feeding zoo. You can get really close to the animals (my brother-in-law was licked by a giraffe...) but I'd have to say that I found the conditions deplorable. The alligators were in these tiny puddles of water, the hippos had a hot tub worth of dirty water to sit in, the pens had next to no vegetation, just concrete. I'm not an activist, but to me, it was sad. To my kids, however, it was the coolest thing ever. They loved feeding the animals & didn't notice the conditions at all. I wouldn't go back.

We spent the next day hanging out at the pool for the most part. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins. We made sure they kept their hats and reapplied sunscreen several times. I didn't want to deal with kids complaining about sunburn pain.  I laid in the shade of a big umbrella, reading the Septimus Heap series listening to the kids laugh and splash and play for most of the day. It was so perfect.
Later that night, my parents were so kind to watch the kids while Matt & I went to the Rythms of the Night, along with my brother and sister-in-law. It was probably the highlight of the trip for me. It starts off with an hour long catamaran ride to Las Caletas, where you eat a really nice meal on the most stunning beach. After supper, we had a while to walk on the beach & enjoy the stunning scenery. Then, there was the open air show of music, dance and pyrotechnics. I'd describe it as Mayan history meets Cirque du Soleil, in the middle of a gorgeous beach and jungle. After the show, you follow the candle/torch lit paths back to the boat where you travel back to Puerto Vallarta. It was well worth the price & I'd do it again in a flash if given the chance. :)

While in the cab, traveling home from the zoo, my dad asked Miss A what her favorite animal was, expecting her to say hippo or giraffe or some other animal that she had just seen. Without hesitation she replied, "Dolphins!!" I had been toying with the idea of taking her to swim with the dolphins, but her reply pretty much cemented in my mind that I was actually going to take her. Friday, Miss A & I were able to have a most memorable mommy daughter date. The dolphins name was Angel. He is 8 years old. His skin is super smooth and not at all slimy. Angel was very well trained, and Miss A seemed to be comfortable with him, but she wouldn't let him kiss her.  Before bed tonight, Miss A was looking at a picture of her and Angel pinned up on her magnet board in her room and she said, "I miss Angel."  It was awesome to see Miss A so super excited and grinning. I'm so glad we went. :)

The next day was the day we traveled home. Our kids were again really great on the plane. When we arrived at the airport here, it was snowing... on April 20th. I wasn't impressed, but I could deal with it.

This trip was a wonderful break from all the renos we have been working on. I really, really needed to relax, and this vacation was like hitting a reset switch. I am truly grateful to my parents for their generosity and kindness. We have such fun lasting memories our family can share, and it's because of this trip. To be honest, Mexico was never a destination that I really wanted to go to. It seemed like such a typical place that everyone and their dog goes to. I thought I would prefer somewhere more exotic, like Hawaii or Tahiti, but I have to say it was the most awesome vacation ever! I guess I don't have anything to compare it to, but it doesn't matter. It was fun. It was relaxing. It was a week of heaven with people I love. Thanks mom and dad. We love you!



PS
We had our house up for sale 8 days after we got home from Mexico.

We got an offer after 5 days and after we negotiated a bit it sold the next day. They did the property inspection and all conditions were removed on Mother's Day. What a huge weight lifted!
It's been a whirlwind of change.
We packed up one of our best friends, Leah, on Saturday for her new life across the country, and we are moving as well this coming Saturday. As my mother and father-in-law are serving a mission in the Ukraine, they had an empty house we are taking over for a while. We are truly grateful to them for providing us a home.

Life is busy, but good. I'm living a wonderful life. I try to see the good and count my blessings everyday... kick me if you hear me complain. :)

Seattle 2012

 Matt and I recently returned from a long overdue vacation. We went to Seattle with a bunch of our adopted family for a week-long getaway. It was fantastic!

 We drove down through Sparwood BC, and stayed with some friends of mine in Kettle Falls, WA. They have a lovely home on the side of a mountain with a little lake in the backyard. It was so nice to visit with them. I was pregnant with Miss A the last time I saw them. I was kicking myself because I forgot to take my camera out. Ouch. Still am.

 We got to Seattle and stayed in a beautiful home we rented through VRBO. I highly recommend it for a larger group. It was right on the water, overlooking Camano Island. The only negative is that it took about 20 minutes to get anywhere, but it was very quiet and peaceful. There was an eagle that must have lived nearby, because it flew by early in the mornings. The hot tub was a hit too.

Some of our friends dug clams on the beach in front of the house when the tide went out.

There was all sorts of sea life, foreign to us landlocked folk!

Here's the whole group on the deck overlooking the water before we headed our separate ways.

We did a bunch of touristy stuff. We went to the Crab Pot for lunch. It's right on the Pier 57 near Pike Place Market. The waitress rolls out butcher paper across the table, then gives everyone a wooden plate, a mallet and a little fork. She dumped the seafood out on the table and we all dug in. The shells all went into a bowl on the floor. Pretty classy. Hahaha It was one of my favorite things we did. Something totally new to most everyone in the group.

We walked around Pike Place Market for a few hours. There were such a variety of booths and buskers and foods. The flowers were stunning. If I lived around there, I'd have fresh flowers all the time. :) The blackberries were huge. I tried to show my thumb in the pic for scale, but it was too hard to focus with the throng of people bumping me. I thought the cigar box guitars were pretty cool. They reminded me of this music video I saw by Walk Off the Earth called Little Boxes.
The Pike Place Fish Co. is known for throwing fish that customers have purchased from the display and back to be packaged. Why do they throw the fish? Because it's faster than walking it around, and probably because it draws a crowd.

 I always thought it would be cool to go to the fish market where they throw fish, so I did! Here's my little video.

 While in Seattle, we went to see the Freemont Troll (who lives under a bridge, and grabbed a VW Bug from above), the Space needle and we happened to walk by the Hammering Man in front of the Seattle Art Museum. We went to Snoqualmie Falls later on that day. The falls brought back lots of memories from when I lived near there.

We spent a day out at Whidbey Island. Deception pass is beautiful.

While we were out on the island, we stopped to have lunch with the Kendall's. When I lived in Oak Harbor as a missionary, they only had 3 kids. Check out that awesome family now!

Overall, it was an awesome week and a much needed break from the munchkins. Matt and I needed some together time. We are going to have to do this again regularly. I am so glad the kids had a fun time camping & fishing with grandma and papa in Saskatchewan while we were away. My parents are wonderful to take them for us. Thanks mom & dad!

Back in the Motherland aka Saskatchewan

I packed the kids up and went back to Saskatchewan this past weekend. We had a camping family reunion for my mom's side of the family. It was at a little lake called Chanté Lake, between Prince Albert and Duck Lake.
It was so nice to spend time with my mom's family. We have always been really close. One of the things I miss most about living nearby is spending every Sunday together. We used to go to my Grandparents farm on Sundays. We would eat, talk, play cards and spend time together. It's a tradition that I really think my kids miss out on. I'm glad that I got to enjoy some time with them all this weekend!

Here's my cousin Miss H. 

and here's another cousin, P.

We had beautiful beach weather. It was nice to sit on the beach chatting while we watched the kids play.

This pic of Mr. Q was taken by my sister-in-law Chantel. It reminds Matt and my brother Chris of Lord of the Flies. There was a big pile of sand at the beach the kids liked to play on/slide down/dig in. The munchkins had sand in every crevice imaginable by the end of each day...

Miss A. really liked playing on the boogey board

Miss C. tried surfing on hers, but it didn't quite work out for her. Maybe next year.

Mr. Q. had fun on his paddle boat voyage with Uncle Matt.

After the reunion we spent the night at my parents' house before coming back home. My parents have an elk ranch. We all piled in the back of Papa's farm truck and went to see the elk. Grandma brought a couple of pails of oats to entice them to come close by.

The kids didn't know what to think at first. I think they were a little nervous.

When we got out in the field with the bulls, and right beside the fence with the mama's and babies, my mom started banging the oats pail. The bull elk came running. The mama's and babies had to swim across a little pond to get to us, but they started towards us as soon as they heard her. The bull elk came right up to the truck and the mama's and babies got as close to us as they could.

My mom held out her hand to feed them, but I think the kids were a little too wiggly for their comfort level.

B is a lot more comfortable around them than my kids are.

The kids loved the baby elk. They even got to see the babies eat.

It was hard to get good pictures without hopping out and scaring the elk.

I finally got a cute picture of Miss C!! Yipppeeeee!

Sum-Sum-Summatime!!

I've been looking forward to summer for the last few weeks. This is how Miss C, Mr. Q and I decorated the front door before Miss A got home from her last day of school on Thursday. It was great because Matt got home early from work that day, so we were all able to start off summer together, Creamsicle style.

I taught my last Zumba class of the session Thursday night and was up until 1am doing laundry & packing. Friday morning, the kids and I hopped in the car and headed off to Saskatchewan for a camping/family reunion fun. Matt stayed behind to work. Hopefully next time, he'll be able to come along as well.

The reunion was held at a tiny lake, between Duck Lake and Prince Albert called Chanté Lake. It was lovely. As soon as I stepped out of the car, the first thing I noticed was the smell of prairie sage, poplar trees and a hint of lake. It reminded me of the smell at my grandparents farm, just across the South Saskatchewan River from where we were camping.
I will post more about our trip later. I'm so happy that summer is here!

A glimpse through our spooky windows...

After Halloween last year, I bought some spiderwebs in the clearance area at Superstore, and miracle of all miracles, I actually remembered I had it! Last night, I thought it would be fun to decorate the house with the kids, so we got to work creating monster window decorations, while Matt had a night out building something with one of his friends.I stole the idea from a friend of mine, Niki.

We used sheets of black poster board (which happened to fit in our windows perfectly!) and tissue paper from my wrapping/gift bag stash.  The poster board was 2/$1 at the dollar store, so the total cost was $4.50.

 We had a blast doing it. The kids kept pretending the hanging monster with the arms was going to grab them, and they'd squeal and run away. Too cute! They were especially happy that I let them stay up late to see how they looked from outside after dark.

Since I last posted, we had Miss A's 5th birthday. She wanted to have a makeover party, so we invited a few of her friends from school and had a great time. Here's her invitation:

Seven little girls showed up. The thought crossed my mind to invite all the girls in her class, but I decided that I'd probably go insane, especially if parents came and brought younger siblings... my house is not very big!

I couldn't really think of any traditional games that had anything to do with makeovers for the girls, but I came up with a few weird things that went over pretty well. First I put a dollop of Vaseline on the girls nose and they had to get cotton balls to stick to them. Miss A refused to do that one because she hates being dirty, and Vaseline is sticky. She is definitely Matt's daughter. I found these super long straws at the dollar store. I put a bowl full of water and dish soap inside a big plastic bin, the girls had to blow the straws until they filled the whole bin with bubbles. Then, I had a few balloons and the girls had to use a hair dryer to blow the balloons into a laundry basket tipped on its side. The bubbles was by far the most popular of the games.

My wonderful stylist friend Jen agreed to stay at the party to help me with the hair and nails. We put hair bling in the girls hair, as you can almost see in the photo of Miss A, and painted their nails. We also stuck a little jewel to most of their nails, but those didn't last too long. I was happy that the kids managed to keep their hands glued to the table until their nails were dry, for the most part, and I didn't have to deal with any nasty nail polish mishaps. I'm grateful for those cheap plastic tablecloths.

 The cake was a sad story. I stayed up until 4:30am and the fondant was a nightmare. My first batch had to be thrown out at 11:30pm, due to the paddles on my Bosch mixer exploding into shards through the fondant. My poor Bosch. I went ahead and made my second batch. For some reason, that batch never got to the right consistency probably due to an overtired-not-thinking-straight error on my part. Overall, it was a heartbreaking mess. Finally at about 4am, I decided I gave up and threw the ugly, bumpy, crumbly fondant on the cake and called it a night. It was supposed to look like a bottle of nail polish. Not one of my best cakes, that's for sure. Oh well, at least I tried.

 We were able to go to Saskatchewan for Thanksgiving and also for my great grandma Dorothy Palmer's 100th Birthday party. Her birthday isn't until next month, but you don't want to put off a party for this occasion too long. It was nice to be able to go and see her, though she doesn't remember us anymore due to Alzheimer's. Almost all of her descendents were able to be there.
Great grandma Dorothy lived a block down the street from me when I was growing up. I can remember watching the ants on the  peonies that lined the front of her home. I used to push our lawn mower to her house to mow the grass for her. I always remember her front room had bright red carpet and all sorts of trinkets that we weren't allowed to touch. She's a hard worker. She still washed her own floors (probably on her hands and knees) when she was 90. Grandma Dorothy hated wastefulness, and has a sweet tooth like no other. She had a tin foil collection in a drawer in the kitchen. Before the Alzheimer's struck, she had a great memory for peoples names and birthdays and who they married. I didn't inherit that trait, but my grandma sure did. Grandma Dorothy is a great woman whose legacy will last long beyond her time here. She only has one daughter, 5 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, I think there are 23 great-great grandkids (my kids fit here), and I know there are some great-great-great grandchildren now too.

Thanks for everything, Great Grandma Dorothy! We love you!