We're still here!

I admire people who write daily, or even weekly. Heck, I'd be happy with once a month at this point, haha... How do they do it?

So... we have moved...back to Alberta.
A brief synopsis of the past 7 months:

• Ron finished school (cardiology technologist)
• He worked in Windsor NS for his practicum, loves the work and is really good at it. 
• He had the highest marks in his class (I'm bragging, I know - we are proud and like to talk to the kids about how hard work can get you places)
• We decided to move; I came to Alberta for our yearly visit and to get set up on this end
• I looked for an apartment/townhouse in Edmonton while Ron finished recording Floodland's last album (to be released... ??? maybe next year? that is it's own post)
• Ron spent the summer cleaning, tidying, decluttering, and otherwise preparing the house to sell
• We sold in a record amount of time (one day - a miracle considering how slow the market is in Nova Scotia)
• Ron got the house packed up and drove from Nova Scotia to Alberta by himself (4,841 Km or 3,008 miles)
• I found a great, but small townhouse in south Edmonton, 8 minute walk from the last stop on the LRT. --I might also mention that at the time there was a 1.5% vacancy rate and neither of us had jobs. 
• Melvin goes to live with Auntie Jen and Uncle Brent (Thanks Jen and Brent!!) since they don't allow pets here :(
• Got Amelia registered less than one week before school started
• Ron started work last Wednesday at the Mazankowski Heart Institute a world-class heart facility that takes hime less than 20 mins to get to on the LRT
• I'm still looking for work in the library field but haven't had any luck so far. I'm volunteering at Amelia's school library for the time being.

That about sums it up.
For those of you who said "move to Alberta! but it's so cold there!"-- Don't worry, it's a dry cold. Totally different.
Plus we've had the most glorious autumn I can remember - I'm not complaining at all.

Here are some photos of the girls from Nova Scotia because a blog post without photos is not worth reading. As soon as I find my cables I can upload some more recent ones.

Knuckles

Baby Knuckles

Master K, Master Kizzle, Special K, Schnuckles.... 

just some of the many nicknames I gave our Knuckles. 

He was a Good Dog. 

He was a good friend. 

He had a lot of attitude, but he was still a sweet dog, underneath it all. 

Rest in peace, Knuckles.

2004-2014

This is how I always think of him

Oh yes, for those of you who always asked how we got the name Knuckles, here is the lyrics to the song. It is by a band called Killdozer, you can listen to it on YouTube. It might help to have these lyrics to read along with it.

Knuckles the dog (who helps people)

Knuckles the dog what a very good dog you are
You're the best dog of all the other dogs by far

Raised to run the greyhound tracks
Down on the puppy farm
Retired and he's now devoted
To protecting people from harm

Too slow to compete they sent you away
To the glue factory
Saved by a handicapped boy
Now everyone knows that boy was me

I am a blind and palsied boy
Condemned to life in this wheelchair
Other kids will not play with me
But Knuckles the dog, you were always there

Knuckles goes to the nursing home
To visit the elderly
Abandoned by their own children
Knuckles lifts them from their misery

Knuckles the dog what a very good dog you are
You're the best dog of all the other dogs by far

Knuckles the dog won't hunt
He respects all forms of life
Dying now in my arms
To save me bravely gave his life

Put down by an assassin's bullet
That was meant for me
Knuckles the dog who helps people
Now you are forever free

Knuckles the dog what a very good dog you were (2x)

Knuckles the dog
Knuckles he goes with you
When you explore

Just pull his leash
And go for a walk
He's your dog
For sure

Knuckles the dog what a very very good dog
Very good dog
You were

Knuckles the dog what a very good good
Good good very good very good dog
You were

Knuckles the dog what a very very very very very good
Very good very good dog you were

Knuckles the dog what a very good dog dog
Very good dog
Boy good dog you were

Knuckles the dog what very good very good very good very good
Dog you were

Knuckles the dog what a very very very very very very good dog you were!

Floodland-Making of Ampersand

Here is another one I've been meaning to post about. Ron has gotten back into recording and recorded a few songs and albums last summer. He is one of the only people in Halifax that is recording in analogue, a sound much superior to digital - even I'm learning the difference.

The most interesting (as far as I'm concerned) is Floodland from Halifax. In the video, you can see Ron's arm at the very beginning and then he speaks at the end. It shows some of his equipment and awesome microphone collection, as well as how he sets things up - which I find very interesting. I have been listening to the CD almost obsessively since it was released. 

Check out the website here: http://floodlandband.com

To hear the difference between analogue and digital, click on 'songs' under the Music heading at the top. Ron recorded Ampersand, the rest were done digitally at other studios - there really is a difference in sound. I am so proud of his work - take a look (listen) for yourself. 

Amelia's birthday

It's only six months after the fact!! Can we just say '''better late than never"??

Miss Mimi turned 5 last September, and here are some shots of her birthday. Both girls had "My Little Pony" themes, which made for a lovely colourful decorations - and easy. All I did was rainbows, you can't go wrong with that.

Pin the horn on Princess Celestia

Rainbow cake!! 

Wow! has it really been that long??

The answer is yes, of course. Sorry we haven't been posting, I'm busy, but not that busy. It's time to take a few moments to recap the past few months.

Let's start from more recent news. Our little Ember turned 4 only two weeks ago, which was very exciting. I'll just show the pictures, there's not much to say about it.

My little beauties

Dance party!

The party gang

It was a great time and I still can't believe my baby is four now!

Ember's first day

So here is Miss Ember and her first day of preschool, as promised.

almost ready to leave

Went straight to work

Seems to be thinking: are they going to leave yet?

She is very comfortable at Ms. Pat's because Amelia went there and of course Ember always came for drop off/pick up. She even got to spend a couple of classes there - last year's Halloween party and the end of the year party.

Her drop off was even easier because she just went right in and knew what to do, probably wouldn't have noticed we were leaving if we didn't make her stop colouring to say goodbye (hence the annoyed look in the above photo). Also there are only nine kids in her class whereas there were hundreds of kids at Amelia's school plus all the parents for the primary grade drop off. It was pretty overwhelming.

Now as I look back at Ember's photos, I feel a bit teary. Mostly because she's my baby, but also because she has changed so much. It seems like Amelia has looked the same for the past few years, the only changes are her height and hair length, but Ember seems to have changed the most over the past two years. It's hard to say if that's true, I see them every day so I can't tell.

Anyway, now I have to find something to do with myself for 2.5 hours every Tuesday and Thursday! That shouldn't be hard.... I have a to do list longer than my arm.

Also, some good news! I will be taking care of our neighbour's little girl starting in October. Tayler is the same age as Ember and is enrolled in the same preschool. Her parents are both military and very, very busy. They were unhappy with the daycare she went to and we talked about it and here we are! We look forward to having someone else to play with.

First Day of Primary (Kindergarden)

Well, summer came and went again. Here we are and it's almost fall again. Everyone tells you how quickly life goes with children, but it never seems like it until that first day of school when you wonder to yourself, "where did that last five years go?"

I didn't feel any sadness dropping her off (I didn't even cry!) just pride and happiness. Not in that "yes! one down,  one to go!" way but in a "wow, my little girl is so big and mature and I'm so proud of her!" She is really ready and seems to be adjusting well.

Packing up our gear in the morning

Not wanting a photo taken on the walk to school

Ron caught her off guard

This one sums up her feelings right before the bell rang. This one kind of breaks my heart.

Just before we left the classroom

The succession of pictures shows her mood changing the closer we got to school. She was definitely nervous and probably overwhelmed the first morning, but she came running out with a big smile at the end of the day and I knew everything was great.

She has a few little buddies in school with her, one who is in her class, and hopefully more friends to come. Like me, she's shy so I'm working on helping her learn how to talk to other kids and ask if they want to play. It's so much easier to learn those things when you are (almost) five than when you are in your thirties.

Speaking of almost five, I'm going to have pictures in a few weeks of a 5th birthday! I'll also post pictures of Ember's first day of preschool next Tuesday.