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.

Rain rain go away... seriously.

I'm trying to stop complaining about, well, everything, so instead here is a list of good things about all the rain we get here in the Maritimes:

1. We don't need to water the garden or the grass
2. We save money on sunscreen and almost no risk of sunburn
3. The grass grows green and lush with no work at all
4. The car gets washed with no effort from us
5. The chance of forest fires in this province: 0.0005% * (approximately)
6.  You get year-round use out of your Bogs** - lord knows you paid enough for them!
7. Although there are probably lots of breeding grounds for mosquitos, none of them can fly when it's raining.
8. Puddle jumping is an official sport in Nova Scotia
9. There is literally no chance of any lakes ever drying out. Ever.
10. Damp officially becomes a "colour" - as in: "Do those Bogs come in damp?"

Not bad for my first try in being positive, eh?

I tried to upload a video of the rain but it didn't work and I'm too lazy to figure out how to do it properly (I think it needs to be converted to a different format and that sounds like too much work!) So instead here are some random photos from the past few weeks when it didn't rain.

Ember's fabulous outfit

Face painting at the Lebanese festival

Unicorns!

Lebanese Festival

A birthday party at Superstore where they each got to take home a cake. We had a lot of cake that weekend.

A warm day at the park

Enjoying cotton candy at the Brookhouse Elementary BBQ

Ember with her pockets stuffed with rocks - she was holding her shorts up, or they would have fallen off. 

* this is not a factual figure, just one I made up :)
** Bogs are over-priced hybrid rubber/winter boots that are almost essential in Nova Scotia, they come in cool colours and designs, for which you pay dearly.

Sew fun!

Just thought I would post pictures of what we made today. The girls each chose what to make, and which fabrics to use. Ember made a bird and Amelia made a rose and an ice cream cone. They stitched them (mostly) by hand (with a little help from Mommy) and even threaded the needles by themselves (as I held the needle steady). I think all their projects turned out great!

The irony was lost on me until I was telling Ron about it afterwards, but when I asked the girls what music they wanted to listen to while we crafted, Ember asked for Kraftwerk. Awesome!!!

Work in progress

Since I have moved my sewing room upstairs into the spare room, I have been able to do so many new projects as well as finish some old ones. I just wanted to share some of my work.

I've made a teapot "sweater", a plastic bag holder, and a hot water bottle cover - which is made from an upcycled felted wool sweater. I've also made some rain pants for Amelia, and crocheted a pile of dish cloths. I almost forgot- I finally made some curtains for the bathroom window, so no more flashing the neighbours! They are a beautiful, simple, white linen than I did a drawn thread technique on. They are quite lovely, but I might stitch on a ribbon for some color.

I love having my own space on the main floor, it's awesome! I can duck in and work on a project if I only have just a few minutes, since I can leave my projects on the table. The girls sometimes like to come in and visit but today they played happily almost all day with each other and I was able to make a complete project. I'm building myself up to trying some more projects with them, but it is much easier to do when I can work one on one with them.

Earth Day

Good deeds should not go unnoticed, so here was our good deed for Earth day. We went and picked up garbage around our park at the end of the street. There was a surprising (or unsurprising) amount of trash, depending on how cynical you are.

Haircuts!

Some new haircuts for my fabulous little ladies! Of course I forgot to take a picture of the two of them before the actual hair cut, but here are some recent photos showing the length and style.

Before:

After:

I'm a good singer!

Ron has been pestering me to put up this video he took a few weeks ago of Ember singing. It is pretty cute, I just never think of doing blog posts on a regular basis. As soon as I get on the computer the girls get in here and start pushing random buttons and making me crazy.

Here it is, enjoy.

My baby is three!!!

But don't you dare call her a baby anymore!! Grandma Anne got straightened out when she said it, as have I (many times) and anyone else who let's the "b" word slip.

It always amazes me how much she's changed over the past year. It seems more noticeable than Amelia sometimes, I'm not sure why - maybe because Ember is the "baby"?

Miss Ember is getting much taller now (97.5 cm - almost a whole 10 cm since last year!!). Her long legs have lost the last bit of baby pudge, and she doesn't have the baby tummy anymore either.
** single tear rolls down my face***   sigh.

She's talking as well as Amelia, learning to sign her name (E's are her specialty), and has officially entered the terrible threes! Her favourite things to do (for both girls actually) is to dress up in fancy dresses (even if they are already wearing a pretty dress), running around naked/in underwear, playing with each other and alternately fighting with each other.

Ember has been loving a superhero from a TV show called Super Why so I made her a cape and mask for her birthday. I thought it would be a hit but she's not as enamoured as I thought she would be. But she did say she would wear it at Halloween.

The cape has since been adjusted so it fits much better.

Anyway, enough yammering - here are more pictures of my young lady.

the kids woke up at their usual time (6am) but the party wasn't until 10am. Em was getting bored of waiting at this point (9:53am) 

This was on her actual birthday (Thurs) while the party was on a Saturday, hence the different dress and hairstyle.

I just love this picture.

This would have been a really cool shot if anything had been in focus.