The Ewing Chronicles*

Interview with Claire

2011-08-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

"Say Cheese!"

What’s your name?
I'm name Claire Bear

How old are you?
I dunno

Where do you live?
I dunno. In our place. In Aida's room.

Who do you like to play with?
Momma.

What’s your favourite drink?
I like drink milk.

What’s your favourite snack?
I like pickles. Cottage cheese. Cake. Chocolate chips.

What's your favourite supper?
Chocolate chips

What’s your favourite toy?
I like my toys! All my toys! And cottage cheese.

OK. What’s your favorite movie?
Barbie Movie

Really? What about Strawberry Shortcake?
Love it!

What about Dora?
Love it?

What’s your favorite song?
I like ee-i-ee-i-o song.

What’s your favorite book?
I like cake.

What’s your favorite restaurant?
I like my restaurants. Chicken fries! (chicken nuggets and fries)

What's your favourite thing to do in the whole world?
I wanna see Uncle Morrie! I like Grandpa. Grandpa's so cute and happy and funny. (not sure which Grandpa she is referring to, but she loves both of them!)

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Like Grandpa.

Claire at Kai Bay

Claire's typical pose when she's tired: thumb in mouth, finger twirling hair.

Interview with Aida

2011-08-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

What’s your name?
Aida

Aida what?
Aida Majoree Melanie Ewin'

How old are you?
4

Where do you live?
In Langley, BC, Canada

Who do you like to play with?
Claire Bear

Anyone else?
Caleb, Tyler, Eva, and Kaitlyn, and Jason, and Shawn. And Daniel.

What’s your favorite vegetable?
Plums. I mean mango. no, plums. and apricots that are round.

Those are all fruits! Don't you like any vegetables?

Ahhh.... carrots. and cherries. they're fruit though.

What’s your favorite drink?
I like mango drinks.

What’s your favorite snack?
Goldfish.

What's your favourite supper?
Hot dogs and pancakes and pizza.

What’s your favorite toy?
I can't decide, 'cause.... Maybe I should go look.... I like stuffies.

Which stuffy do you like best?
Baby beluga.

What’s your favorite TV show?
We don't have a TV!

OK. What’s your favorite movie?
Rapunzel

What’s your favorite game?
Hide and go Seek

What’s your favorite book?
The Twits and Charlotte's Web

What’s your favorite restaurant?
I like sushi. A sushi restaurant.

What's your favourite thing to do in the whole world?
Paint and snuggle and going on the ferry to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I like Grandpa Ewin' and Grandma Debbie, too, even though they laugh too loud.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A teacher. And I want to paint like you (I promise I didn't give her this answer!)

Whats your favourite thing about Langley?
Riding my bike

Aida after doing some art

Thanks Teresa for the idea! I'll interview Claire also sometime this week. I am not sure yet if she will be cooperative....

Here are a couple of new Aida-isms from the last few weeks:

Spectacular/Humungous = "hertacular!" (ie. "look at the size of this leaf! It's hertacular!")

Aida: Mom, you know how I really want a pet?
Mom: Yes, Aida.
Aida: And you said maybe we could think about a fish?
Mom: yes....
Aida: Well, I don't think I want a fish anymore. I want a horse.
Mom: Wow. Horses are pretty big and we have only have a small condo. Where will the horse live?
Aida: I've been thinking about this a lot and I think the perfect place for a horse is the deck.
Mom: Horses need more room than that to move around and eat grass and stuff.
Aida: Well, I'll take it downstairs to the back to play in the grass.
Mom: What do you think our neighbours downstairs will think?
Aida: If they're nice maybe I'll let them ride the horse sometime. But only for short rides.

Aida-isms (age 4.5) and Claire-talk (age 2)

2011-08-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Aida (finishing praying): AMEN STINKER!
Mom & Dad (trying not to laugh): Aida, that's kind of like calling God a stinker. It's kind of rude. Don't do that.
Claire: But I love stinkers!

Mom (referring to Cinderella): Wouldn't it be nice if we had a maid to cook and clean for us?
Aida (completely serious): Well, we have you. You're kind of like my maid....

Aida: I'm the princess!
Claire: I'm the little mother!

Claire watching mommy get out the shower: You boobies a so silly!
As mommy turns around to dry off: And you bum a SOOOO big!

Aida, Claire, mommy, grandma, and great-grandma (Nanna) out for lunch....
Aida: Nanna, you and Grandma have to sit on the old lady side of the table.

Mom or Dad: Claire, it's time for ______ (a diaper change, bed, lunch, etc.)
Claire: No thanks. I just fine.

Claire: I love blueblawies!
Aida: The only thing that would make them better is if they were candy.

Aida and Claire slept over at Auntie Krista and Uncle Cody's while mommy and daddy went camping for a night:
Aida: Why are you going without us?
Mom: It's important for mommy and daddy to get special time together sometimes without you and Claire. It will be like a date.
Aida: What will you do?
Mom: We are going rock climbing.
Aida: I know! You should prepare a special dance for daddy and then he can do a special dance for you! Don't forget to say bravo at the end!

A letter to my friends

2011-05-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,
You may be wondering what has happened to your friend, Milissa, since Christmas. I know that many of you have tried to contact me via email, facebook, and phone messages. You see, I feel like I have been running on "survival mode" for a few months now, trying to maintain work, family church. And it is not sustainable. As I peruse your blogs and facebook profiles, I realize how much of your lives I have missed lately, trying to maintain my own.

A few weeks ago, I decided to give my notice at work (teaching kindergarten at Langley Christian School) for next year. It was a very hard decision to make, and I will miss the staff and family community immensely. But, as many of you know, Aida, who is now 4, has never consistently slept through the night. She is a very light sleeper and is plagued with nightmares and night terrors. When Jay and I look back over our year, her sleeping is at its worst when I am at my busiest. Then, the whole family is sleep-deprived, Jay and I are not as efficient as we could be, we have less time for the girls, and then Aida's sleep gets worse. It is a vicious cycle. The reality is that I need a job that I can just do, come home, and switch to mommy-mode without having to worry about the job on my days off.

Later on, when I look back at this time in my life, I want to be able to say I was the best mom I could be to my girls given the circumstances of our lives. When I frame it this way, it is an easy decision. So, next September is up in the air. I am not sure where/what I will be doing, but I feel complete peace about this decision. I know God will provide a job and wants what's best for our family, too.

I miss you, my friends! Thank you for your patience. I am fortunate to have friends that I know will still be there when I emerge from my hole. And I intend to emerge soon - summer holidays are a little over a month away, then watch out! Milissa's back! Almost.

Grocery Store Blues

2011-02-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

If you read my blog, you'll start to notice that the grocery store is a source of parental angst and revelation for me. Usually, my parenting crises happen here and upon further reflection at home (once my stress-induced, elevated hearbeat has returned to normal and I can breathe evenly again) I take stock of what happened so as not to experience it ever again. After weekly trial and error, we have a routine down: (1) get grocery cart; (2) put kids in cart; (3) get to the bakery for the free kid's cookies as quickly as possible. If I don't have a big shop, the giant cookies will last to the meat aisle, which is my last stop, where I will begin earnestly and desperately trying to bribe the kids with promises of treats if we can get home in peace.

Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.

The other day, instead of the giant cookies, the bakery was handing out mini glazed donuts. This wouldn't be that big of a deal, except my grocery routine is a finely honed series of steps which doesn't handle minor disturbances well. If you are a parent, you probably noticed a key word that should raise red flags: mini. Yes, the mini donuts were consumed in a mere two minutes. Although I always have extra snacks in our bag, it just so happened that on this particular day, I forgot. Of course.

By the time we reached the meat aisle, Aida and Claire were embattled in a full scale war over who would hold the bag of goldfish crackers, while I was just about running, trying to get out of the store as quickly as possible. If you are not a parent or ever shop without your children and witness such a spectacle, please, just smile a empathetic smile of solidarity and be on your way. Resist the urge to give unsolicited advice. Please.

On this day, when the end was in sight and Aida was whimpering and Claire was screaming because I took the bag of goldfish away, an elderly woman stopped my cart. That's right - she reached out her scrawny, wrinkly, and surprisingly strong arms and physically grabbed ahold of the end of my cart, stopping it in its tracks. And me. And my wailing children. I must have looked completely shocked, but then thought, "she is an elderly woman. Perhaps she needs help. Maybe she oblivious to the fact that if I don't get out of here soon, I will also be wailing."

So, I tried my best to mask the mix of desperation and iritation of my face and kindly asked, "May I help you?"

"No, but it looks like you could use some help," she answered. "You shouldn't let your children act like this in a public place."

"Excuse me?" I answered in shock.

"Yes. You need to show them who's boss. You young mothers now-a-days, don't know a thing about discipline," she replied.

She then tried to tell me how to discipline my children, but I cut her off with a, "I'm sorry you feel that way," and made my way directly to the check-out, forgetting the ground beef that was still on my list. Still fuming and replaying the incident in my head, I did not notcie the woman behind my peering into my cart and assessing its contents.

"Excuse me," she said.

Again, I plastered a smile on my face and turned around. "Yes?" I answered.

She picked up the aforementioned package of goldfish crackers. "You really shouldn't be feeding that to your children. Have you ever read the ingredients list?"

You have got be joking.

I stared at her, completely at a loss for words, took the goldfish from her hands, placed it on the conveyer belt and muttered "We love goldfish." (Actually, I hate goldfish. But Aida and Claire love them and they're the perfect snack for packing in the diaper bag, when you remember to bring them.). Then, the girls saw the goldfish again and started crying and reaching for them.

I must have looked like I was about to lose it because the sweet, young, pretty check-out girl offered, "Did you know that we hand out free cookies to kids in the bakery?"

Aida-isms and Claire-talk

2011-02-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I updated you on Aida's favourite sayings and now that Claire is talking non-stop, now I can update you on her as well (be forewarned, Claire can be a potty mouth...!).

Aida:

"Mom, I am so cold that I'm shimmering!"
When Claire is bugging her: "Claire, I'm g'noring you" (ignoring)
"I love you as high as 5 mountains stacked on top of each other!"
"On my birthday, can I skip four and be five so I can go to school?"
"I'm not having any babies because I've heard you talking to other ladies and I know it hurts."
"My favowite pwincess is awawa." (Aurora)
Aida: "Claire and I are the princesses and you're the evil queen." Me: "Who's Daddy?" Aida: "Prince Charming." Nice.

Claire:

"A doin' mommy?" (what are you doing mommy?)
"Hi daddy-o!"
"_uck! _uck!" (starts with F, whenever she sees a truck)
"Wha the _uck?" (Where's the truck? when a truck goes down the street)
"A Mowie?" (Where's Morrie? - my brother, who she asks about on a daily basis)
"Babek" (the name she has for her cousin BABy IssAC)
"Winko, winko, witto tao" (twinkle twinkle little star)
"NAK! NAK! A honey mommy!" Bekus? Bekus?" (Every hour or so: Snack! Snack! Hungry mommy! Breakfast? Breakfast?"
"A wuv you mommy!"

Oh, let me be present in these fleeting moments of tenderness....

2011-02-02T16:14:00.000-08:00

I was home alone last night (and by "alone," I don't really mean "alone" - Jay was out, so I was alone-with-the kids) and after the girls were snuggly tucked into their beds, I lay in my bed thinking about my wonderful kids: how they are starting to play together; how Aida can get Claire laughing so hard; how they both love to curl up on a blanket and look at books together. As they play together more, they don't need me to play with as much. Sure, they definitely need me to break up the hourly epic battle over a specific blue felt pen to which they have become particularly attached (even though we have 3 blue felts in the felts box...), but I am starting to see them have little secrets and giggles of thier own.

Again, this brings me great joy and sadness at the same time. I read an article before bed, which probably brought about this night time discourse, written by a dad whose 9 year old son does not want to hold his had anymore. Not hold his hand? One of my greatest joys is walking down the street holding one elegant, delicate little girl's hand and one chubby, sticky littler girl's hand. But, the other day, Aida opted not to hold my hand, but hold Claire's, sandwiching Claire in between us.

As I lay in my own spacious and comfortable bed (that is, spacious when I am alone), I suddenly felt the urge to go curl up around one of my girls like I did in those weeks and months after they were first born. "Well, why not?" I thought to myself. So, I decided to bring both sleeping girls into my bed with me for a midnight snuggle. Neither girl woke up during the transfer and as soon as I stealthfully slid under the covers between them they both inched their way towards me, this time sandwiching me firmly in the middle. With each of their sweet sweaty heads on my shoulder I couldn't help but pray, "for this, I am truly grateful."

Bye Bye Baby

2011-01-22T23:23:00.000-08:00

My thumb-suckers

A typical grocery store scenario: You are in the check-out line with your children sitting (or in my case, standing and crying) in the cart and the well-meaning older woman behind you says, "Cherish these years with your little ones, dear. They'll be over before you know it." You think, "You obviously don't remember being so tired that you can't think straight, so frazzled that your husband wonders what happened to the woman he married, and so broke that it's a treat to go to the library to take out a free movie," all the while smiling weakly and praying that you can get out of the store before you or one of the kids has a meltdown. In that moment, you cannot wait to have your life back.

But, as per usual, I have once again pridefully and foolishly spurned the advice of my elders and have had to eat humble pie. Aida is just about 4 and Claire is 19 months and we have marked two major milestones in our family life: Aida has stopped sucking her thumb and we just transitioned Claire out if the crib and into a bed (in an effort to create more room in our tiny condo...). As the kids are getting older and I am discovering some of my pre-motherhood life again (Jay and I just went away together sans kidlets for 3 nights), I am starting to feel a strange mixture of "Hallelujah - I'm free!" and "I'm a terrible mother for wanting more than motherhood" and "All I want is for time to go backwards and have my little babies again."

Recently, Aida stopped sucking her thumb. That's right, friends. Aida's mouth has been attached by an invisible thread to her thumb since she was about 3 months old. As soon as she was old enough to yank the pacifier out and put the aforementioned appendage in, she used her thumb for comfort when she was insecure, for assistance in falling asleep, and sometimes for pure joy - just "because it tastes yummy" (Aida's own words...). One day last month, she told me she was tired of sucking her thumb. I just happened to have Mavala Stop on hand (disgusting tasting nail polish). After a month of continuous wear, she is done with her thumb, and we went on a date at Chuck E. Cheese with the whole family to celebrate.

I should be rejoicing. My baby did it! Correction. My Big Girl did it. But, the first night with the Mavala Stop I sat at the computer looking at her baby pictures and sobbed. Yes, complete and utter sobbing - the kind where you can barely catch your breath and you sound like an old car whose engine keeps turning over, but won't start when you turn the key. In some completely wierd and, I'm sure, unhealthy way, I wanted her to suck her thumb forever. Then, I would know that she still needs me. I need her to need me because as long as she needs me, I think I can protect her from everything.

This morning, Jay and I packed up Claire's crib. As I mentioned before, we live in a tiny two bedroom condo and space is at a premium. As the girls' toy inventory increases we need more space. So, Claire has been gently transitioned into the bed and has been sleeping soundly in it throughout the night for a few weeks now. Again, I was weeping, but managed to keep it a bit more civilized as I didn't want to traumatize the children.

Aida at about 8 months in the crib

Claire at the same age

Aida trying out her big girl bed for the first time. She was just about two and I remember thinking she was so tiny for such a big bed.

Sorry, I can't figure out how to flip this, but here's Claire in her big-girl bed - as you can see, she's had no trouble adjusting!

The unknown is scary. What will become of Aida and Claire as they start to exert their independence and experience the world on their own. How will I save them when they get hurt if I am not there? How can I contain Claire and be sure that she is safe and sound without the crib? How will Aida soothe herself without her thumb?

Oh, how fickle and ungrateful I am! As I am writing this, I am remembering how (just this morning) I was complaining about how I can't wait until I don't have to buckle the kids into their carseats every time we get in the car. And I was wishing over dinner that we didn't have that ugly booster seat strapped to a kitchen chair for Claire. At a staff meeting earlier in the week, I was thinking about how much easier work will be when the kids are in school. I know full well, with each of these passing milestones, I will cry and wonder how the time went by so quickly.

My babies are growing up - just like babies have for thousands of years and in the process have simultaneously broken and mended their mothers' hearts. Lord help me.

One last hurrah in the crib before it came down this morning

Back to work....

2011-01-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

My Christmas break is over and I am back to work again. It felt like the shortest 2 week break I have ever had! It felt like I was just starting to relax and get on top of things at home and then I was back to work again. It has been a bit of a rocky transition for the family again....

The other day, as I was walking out the door, Aida started crying, and saying, "Please don't go mommy! Please stay home with me!" When I told her how lucky she was to go play with Eva and Kaitlyn that day, she said, "I have a great idea! Why don't you come, too!" Oh, my heart is breaking again, reliving that ordeal. To rub salt in momma's wound, Aida said at the end of the day, "Mom, how come other moms stay home, but you have to go to work?" Ouch.

I love my kids. And I miss them so much. Even though Claire is starting her "terrible two's" and Aida is discovering that she can be naughty and blame Claire and mommy loses it, I still miss my kids. Here's a couple of recent pictures of my beauties:

Aida painting with me over the break

Claire loving up baby Jesus from the kid's concert at church

Anyway, it was a hard week and I wish it was spring break already!

Part 3/5 of Advent Film Series: Joy

2010-12-13T14:04:00.000-08:00

Painting: The Gospel of Luke

2010-12-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

Somehow, I have recently found time to do a bit of painting and this is the result. I painted in the evenings after the kids were asleep and discovered that when you are doing something that you absolutely love, it does not feel like work at all! I probably put in 40-50 hours into this one and it is 30" x 30", acrylic on canvas. The painting is on display for the advent season at our church, and below is my artist statement, explaining the painting a bit more....

Luke 1:30-33 says:

But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

And so begins the human life of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God-With-Us, our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Messiah. What an amazing thing that we serve a God who would be born a helpless baby, suffer, die on a cross, and be raised from the dead three days later – all to reconcile His creation back to him.
This painting shows the infant Jesus surrounded by the text of the entire book of Luke from the Bible (which is one account of the life of Jesus). I wanted to show the magnitude of the weight that this helpless baby already had upon him at birth. At Christmas, we celebrate God becoming flesh in a tiny baby. A baby who had his whole life ahead of him. A baby who would alter the course of history. A baby who would be key to God’s divine rescue mission!

Part 2/5 of Advent Film Series: Peace (featuring the Ewing's!)

2010-12-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

Part 1/5 of Advent Film Series: Hope

2010-12-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

<p>&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;sfdggfffd</p>

Our small group at church (Mountainview Alliance Church) has made an Advent series of short films to be shown each week in conjunction with lighting the Advent candle. The theme of the first week is Hope and features the Werner family. Next Sunday is Peace, and will feature our family (stay tuned....).

Thank you, Colin and Katie, for all your work!

My Christmas Confession

2010-11-03T22:41:00.000-07:00

Halloween is over and the Christmas decorations are going up. Really? Already?

Now, I am not a scrooge. Actually, I'm far from it. I LOVE Christmas. Aida and I have begun singing Christmas carols and I have started planning and prepping for Christmas in my classroom. I am planning in my head the Christmas cards I will make next weekend (once parent teacher conferences are over and we get Remembrance Day off!). I've got my Christmas shopping list ready to go and I will try (keyword: try) to get my shopping done early this year.

But, I was a little perturbed about the early decorating for a number of reasons:

Since starting work again, time has flown by so quickly that I still feel like it's September.
It seems weird to think about Christmas when the weather forecasters are predicting a high of 20 today (celsius)!
I know that stores are putting up decorations to entice Christmas shoppers sooner and drag out Christmas spending for 2 whole months.
Every year, I vow not to get stressed out during the holidays, and every year I do. I always over-commit, over-spend, and over-eat.
Then I spend the last part of December feeling guilty.

There you have it. My Christmas Confession.

But, I have been inspired and I have a plan.

So, here's my plan: I will go to the Santa Parade and caroling with my friend, Nelson. I will drive around and marvel at the Christmas lights; I will buy eggnog for our coffee; I will buy (instead of make from scratch -see previous post on being a working mother) a gingerbread house kit and make it with Aida and Claire; I will go to a few Christmas parties and get a babysitter for the kids; I will spend Christmas this year with my parents and let them plan the Christmas dinner. At this precise moment, I am most excited about a conversation that my sister and I just had. Rather than exchange Christmas presents this year, we will put that money towards buying for someone else in need.

Where did my inspiration come from? I encourage you to watch the clip below, and you will see where this little rant is coming from....

Advent Conspiracy Promo Video

2010-11-03T22:29:00.000-07:00

The Future of Education?

2010-10-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

My friend, Karin, forwarded this YouTube clip to me the other day, called Changing Education Paradigms and I think it is so thought provoking! As a teacher and as a parent I think it is a good watch. Also, the presentation style is so engaging and interesting. It's bringing up a lot of issues that we have been discussing at school lately and if you're a parent, this may give you some insight about what's going on with your kids at school (or perhaps, what is not - but maybe what should be - going on with your kids at school). I forwarded it to my Vice Principal today and we are going to watch it at our next staff meeting and discuss some of the issues brought up in the segment.

Musings on Being on Working Mom (obviously this post is written by Milissa)

2010-10-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

I am procrastinating. I am sitting at the computer, while the girls are napping, wasting valuable time. I should be writing unit plans. Making dinner. Folding the 3 loads of laundry that are piled in the middle of the living room floor. Making the playdough I promised to Aida two weeks ago. Designing and making new sign-in sheets for my students. Reviewing the report card template. Yada, yada, yada.

Here's what I would rather do while my kids are napping. Read. Finish the paintings I started 2 months ago before I started work. Surf the net for new music. Plan and make a gourmet picnic for my family and guest who are coming over later. Sleep. Talk to my mom. Write.

Time. What a precious commodity. I feel as if I have been operating on survival mode since work began 2 months ago. There just aren't enough hours in the day for me to be a good mom and a good teacher. Jay and I have often talked about how, to really excel in one aspect of one's of life, sacrifices need to me made in another aspect of one's life. For example, when Jay and I were first dating and married, we spent ALL our time together and we had (and still have) a great relationship. However, during that time, we neglected other areas in our lives (friendships, family functions, church involvement, etc.). I am not prepared to sacrifice my kids or marriage for my job. But, teaching is the type of job that you can't just leave at school. My 50% workload looks more like 70% at the end of the week. More often than not, at the end of the day, as I struggle to stay awake after the kids go to bed, I worry about all of the things that did not get done.

I have been asking myself these questions lately:

Can I find another job for now that pays enough to cover childcare but isn't so time consuming?
Can I find a way to make money with my art?
Can we cut back more at home so I don't have to work as much?
Can I stick this out for the year and find something else next year?
Will it be easier next year when I have a year of experience under my belt and my kids are that much older?
Where is God in all of this?

Now, don't worry. I am not about to lose it and do something rash. I am not going to quit my job. I am not going to sell my house. I am not weeping (at least not every day!). I am not moping. I am not complaining (at least trying not to). I am merely sharing with you some of the struggles of being a working mom.

I recently had a conversation with another soon-to-be working mom and we talked about how "easy" our grandmothers had it, not expected to contribute to the home income. They could be moms and housewives and there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, that was what was expected of them. Now, don't get me wrong. I completely appreciate the women's right movements. I am glad that I can compete with a male in the workplace. I am happy that I can go to work and not feel like others must think I'm a bad mother for doing so. I like wearing pants. I want to vote. I want to drive. I want to be able to be a married teacher (did you know that early female teachers had to quit their jobs when they wed?).

However, I have been thinking about that particular conversation a lot lately and think what I resent the most about my situation, is not having a choice. It is almost impossible to raise a family anymore on one income. Almost every "stay-at-home" mom I know is bringing in another source of income, whether it be through babysitting, selling items through home parties, or bookkeeping in the evening. A lot of mothers try to squeeze in their home business during naps and after bed. Then there are those of us who find childcare and leave the home to work. Some mothers love jumping back into their careers. I am glad they have that choice. Other moms (like me at the present) resent the fact that they have no choice but to go back to work. I want the choice. I want to be able to stay at home with my kids right now during these precious formative years.

I am not sure what the answer is. Jay has a great job. A professional job in which he has a strong and definite calling. I am glad he is a pastor. I would not want him to do anything else. I also love the lower mainland of BC. I love the warm summer and rainy winter. I love the big trees and swaths of green wherever you look. I love being a 20 minute drive to the beach. I love being a 40 minute drive from Vancouver. I just wish that it wasn't so expensive to live here. I have to work. I have no choice.

We will get through this though. I will just have to find new ways of doing things. I might just have to buy playdough in stead of making it. Perhaps I will solicit more parent volunteers at work. And I have already started stocking my freezer with frozen pizza for dinner on work nights. I keep reminding myself that teaching will be great for my kids when they are older. We will have summers and Christmas and spring break together....

That's it for my rambling of the day. Nap time will be over soon. I have to fold the laundry before Claire comes out and discovers the joy of unfolding mommy's work. I also have to start dinner. Black bean soup. With nacho chips and salsa and sour cream on the side. But I am going to call my dinner guests and ask them to pick up a bucket of ice cream for dessert.

A Rocha on the Move!

2010-10-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Jay teaching important guests in the A Rocha greenhouse.

When we first moved to the A Rocha Canada Field Study Centre in 2007, talks began about a 20 acre site donation from a long-time friend of A Rocha. It has been almost 3 years in the works, and the move has already begun to the new site, Brooksdale, in South Surrey (the corner of 16th Ave and 192nd Street). The old site, where we lived for two years, has been sold. Thankfully, it has been sold to a group of families which include A Rocha employees and volunteers, meaning work will continue on the old site and all of our work wasn't in vain (ie. it wasn't bought by a developer)! For information about the move and the new site, click here.

Aida playing outside shortly before we moved.

"No mommy. I'm not going to pick the lettuce...."

The final event at the old site will be this Saturday: The Harvest Festival. We'll be there to celebrate the site, especially God's provision and abundance! We will also say good-bye to our old home (although we plan to visit the new owners still!). This was the place where we brought Claire home. Where we hosted our first family Christmas. Where we learned about living sustainably. Where we learned in a very tangible way, how to trust God (especially as we raised our whole wage....). Click here to see the archived announcement from when we left A Rocha.

If you're around, join us for the event!

Time: 10-12 Volunteer Day, 1-4 Harvest Festival (folk dance, apple press, children's activities, hay ride, etc.)
Where: 512 172nd Street, Surrey BC
What to bring: Your own lunch and a harvest goodie to share in the afternoon. Also some $! The Rivertree Store will be open featuring local, sustainable artisan products. Pumpkins, squash, and garlic braids might be on sale too!

If you plan on coming, RSVP to british.columbia@arocha.org.

Aida bustin' a move at an A Rocha folk dance.

Climbing Mount Sir Donald

2010-10-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

I had the great privilege of climbing Mount Sir Donald in Rogers Pass this summer with my great friend Trevor Howe. I have looked at this mountain so many times over the years and dreamed of being on top of it, and this summer that dream came true. We hiked up through the Illecillewaet Valley and bivyed at the Sir Donald - Uto col. It was a beautiful night and so no tarp was needed. We heard a few major rockfalls throughout the night, but being at the bivy, there was no danger for us (except maybe contracting some disease from our nightly visitor - the chipmunk). Our route follows the lefthand skyline.

This is showing the hike up under the West face of Sir Donald. If you look carefully, you can see the face in the very top of the picture. The valley was incredibly hot that day (around 30c), but the evening was much cooler...I think our thermometer read about 8c at the bivy if I remember correctly.

This is Trevor and I enjoying coffee and the view from the col toward the Purcell range. We look a little sillier than normal because the other party at the col asked us a question just as the timer on my camera took the picture...

This is me getting fairly close to the summit. Behind me stretches the remote Northern Selkirks...this is an incredible place!

This is Trevor working the rope as we are nearing the summit. Sir Donald has such a classic mountain shape, I can assure you, the summit isn't that comfortable with drops every direction for thousands of feet. If I remember correctly, its summit is around 10,800 feet. Our route was the Northwest Ridge. We simulclimbed much of the route as it is necessary in order to get up and down in a day. There was only one other party on route this day; a guide and two clients, a father and son. The dad was over 60 (I only hope I am in that kind of shape at that age). I was exhausted by the end of the day which took us 15 hours from the col to the summit and back. The other party left us at the col at around 4:30am, we left at 5:30am, but because of our bypass route on the descent, we made up good time. They followed the Northwest ridge all the way down and were on the mountain for a total of 20 hours...

This is me rappelling part of the route.

This is the view South from the summit with the Purcell Range on the far left. The major glacier in the photo is the Illecillewaet Glacier - does it get better than this view? I had so much fun with Trev -it would be hard to find a better friend or climber. I hope to climb in this area again sometime in the future, but for now, I will look at pictures and continue to dream...

Yes, I'm Still Here

2010-10-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I have returned to teaching. I am teaching kindergarten half-time at Langley Christian School. I started mid-August prepping and planning, and have been at it now for just about two months. Which is why you haven't heard from me in about two months. We have been busy adjusting to mommy being a working mom, daddy having to take on more at home, and Aida & Claire going to the babysitter's twice a week (we have a fabulous babysitter by the way: my great friend Teresa who has two lovely daughters as well).

So, here's a little update on how we have been doing:

As some of you know Aida has been plagued by ear infections her whole life. If she ever gets a cold, we know an ear infection is close behind. Last week, I drove into Vancouver to take her to a specialist at Children's Hospital. It took us 2 hours to get there (nasty road construction on the #1...), we waited for another 2 hours in the waiting room, just to be told in the 5 minute appointment that Aida is fine and doesn't need tubes in her ears. Apparently, a child should have 6 ear infections in a year to qualify. So far this year, Aida has had about 3. Today, we took Aida to the doctor to discover that she has ear infection #4. My poor baby. She was up all night last night crying about her ears. Lesson learned: Be a stronger advocate for my daughter with the doctor. They obviously know more about medical stuff than I do, but I know more about my daughter. I am carefully documenting all of Aida's infections as well as the length of time that she has trouble hearing (basically her ears were plugged from February to April this past spring), so that when ear infection #6 strikes (I am not being a pessimist, just a realist), I can go back the the specialist armed!
On a positive note, Aida is 3 1/2 now, and such a smartie-pants! She is learning to write her name (she gets all the letters, but not quite in the correct order) and draws ALL the time. Our easel has been one of the greatest toys. Aida has just learned how to make cats and dogs. She also sings all the time and often narrates her actions through a song. For example, "Now I am a priiiiiiiincess, I have beautiful haaaaair! Claire is my priiiiiiince, and we will get married...." Oh yes. Aida has a fantastic imagination.
Claire is now just about 16 months and learning like crazy! She walks everywhere, climbs everything, and yesterday jumped OFF the bed after her sister (she now has a bruise on her cheek). It seems like she learns a new word every day. She says: hi, bye bye, mama, dada, daida (Aida), aga (again), more, meow, woof, moo, tree, ba (ball), amen (what a pastor's kid!), wawu (I love you), up, poopoo. The other day she strung her first two words together: Bye bye doggie! She also communicates through the standard grunt, scream, and point! Claire is very affectionate and generously gives hugs and kisses to mommy and daddy often. Unlike her sister (who still wakes up in the middle of most nights from nightmares - the down side to a fantastic imagination....), Claire is great sleeper. We lay her down at 7 and she now sleeps solid until 6. Yay Claire!
We celebrated our 10th Anniversary recently. Jay surprised me with a fabulous dinner at Pearl in White Rock and a night away at a cottage in Point Roberts. Thank you Krista and Cody (and Isaac) for watching the girls for us!
Jay still loves his job at Mountainview Alliance Church. He really feels like, as a pastor, he is doing what God made him to do.

Anyway, that's just the basics. Hopefully I can tend to you more often and will update soon. Here's a few recent pics:

Aida and Jay had a sleepover in the tent. Since we don't have yard, the living room will have to do!

Aida a Claire love dressing up in their ballet duds.

My poor sickos.

A future as a aerobics instructor?

Aida learning how to make a cat and dog. Mine is the top left cat. All the rest are hers.

Beautiful Claire

Part III: Calgary

2010-08-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Calgary! We're a little ashamed to say this was Claire's first time to Cow-town. When Aida was a baby we took so many A Rocha-related trips to Calgary that I think we figured Aida flew 10 times before she was 2! Unfortunately, Claire has not had such luxury, especially now that we would now have to pay for 3 seats....

Anyway, we stayed with Dale and Carla (and, of course, Ethan, Gillian, and Joel), and had a great time! Joel and Claire did not instantly scream when they saw one another (like the last visit) and Aida just adores her big cousins Gillian and Ethan. Really, it was like having one child the whole time because Aida could be found wherever her cousins were and they were such good sports. Aida kept telling Ethan how much she loves him and wanted to be RIGHT next to him at all times.... What a sweetheart Ethan, who is going on 11, is!

Claire and Joel trying out Joel's Grandpa Sanguinetti's new ride!

Of course, no Calgary trip is complete without Peter's shakes.

Aida: "I love you, Ethan"

We had a backyard campfire which proceeded to burn the grass underneath. Dale kept shooting the grass with the hose, but to no avail - the grass eventually dried out and turned brown!

Somehow the pictures got out of order and my computer keeps freezing, so I am not fixing it. Here we are again at Edworthy Park with the aforementioned Peter's shakes....

Holiday 2010 Part II: Banff

2010-08-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

The next leg of our journey took us to beautiful Banff, Alberta. The morning we were to leave, Claire was wide awake at 3:30am (surprise, surprise...), so by 4:30, we figured we might as well just hit the road if we're already awake. You'll see from the pictures below what happened once we started driving!

Anyway, we made it to Banff nice and early and ready for a few days of showing Aida and Claire around the mountains where mommy and daddy spent much of their time falling in love over 10 years ago! In fact, we had our first date in Banff. Unfortunately, the first night we were there, Aida woke us up crying at 3:00am (we were all in the same hotel room), so Jay hopped in bed with her. At 3:30, she started puking, narrowly missing Jay, but getting it all over the bed and herself. So, once again, we were all up at 3:30am, this time with Jay bathing Aida, me changing the bed and cleaning the mess, and Claire, excited to be awake and playing on our bed. Needless to say, the next day, we were all very tired and poor Aida was feeling pretty crummy.

So, the Banff part of our holiday didn't live up to our expectations, but that's holidays with kids - you never know what's going to happen and need to make the best of whatever they throw at you (or throw up at you....sorry, bad joke!). We ended up spending the day going for a short walk through the town and then decided to give up trying to push the kids who obviously weren't enjoying themselves. We returned to the hotel, watched TV in bed (a novelty for those of us with peasant vision - a.k.a. rabbit ears), ordered pizza, and ended up having a great day snuggling!

Part III: Calgary will be posted soon!

Aida was a great traveler and was excited to hit the road.

Claire promptly fell asleep once we started driving. Figures.

Do I look tired, or what!?

Beautiful Bow Falls

The sick day. This was about as much enthusiasm as Aida could muster up. My poor baby!

Right before we drove into Calgary, we stopped to wade at Quarry Lake in Canmore and had a picnic. Thankfully, Aida was feeling much better by this point. We, however, were still tired because after 4 nights of waking up between 3 and 4am, Claire had developed a habit that persisted until we got home 3 weeks later....

Holiday 2010 Part I: Summerland

2010-08-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

This year, Jay got 3 consecutive weeks of holidays. So, we packed up the car (correction: a borrowed, BIGGER car - thanks Howe's), and headed out for our longest holiday since Jay and I went to Europe 8 (!) years ago. Our first stop was the Dykstra's backyard in Summerland. With four other families (we missed you, Colin, Katie, Elliott, and Mollie!), we ate, swam, beached, laughed, and played for 3 days. Notice, I didn't say slept. Claire didn't allow for much sleep, awake at the crack of dawn in the tent (which, by the way, continued for the entire 3 weeks). I would keep her quiet until about 4 or 4:30am when Jay would take her for walks. They saw a lot of sunsets together. Despite the lack of sleep, we had a blast - definitely the start of an annual tradition...?

Oh yeah, did I mention that our crew consisted of 8 adults (Ewing's, Braam's, Petkau's, and Dykstra's) and 9 children ranging from 1-4 years? Below are some of the highlights from the first leg of our trip. Stay tuned for Part II: Banff....

Shawn and Claire chillin' on the beach

Kaitlyn enjoying one of the MANY floaties

(left to right) Eva, Aida, Tyler, Jason, Daniel, and Caleb. Oh, and Jay.

Aida, sad that it's time to leave the beach

Relaxing (well as relaxing as you can get with a baby and a toddler on board!)

Yippee!

Tyler

Bathing beauties Jennifer and Teresa!

Jason having a quick water break

Shawn having a little nap with Dad (Mike)

My beautiful Claire!

Does this need a caption?

Hiking up the Chief!

2010-06-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

When I was little, my family lived in Squamish at the foot of the Chief. I actually used to look up at the face and thought I saw a monster's face in the different coloured rock. I was always a little fearful of the granite giant! Jay, of course, LOVES the Chief for it's rock climbing!

Last week we decided to give a hike to the top a try with the girls on our backs (thanks, Petkau's for the extra backpack!). As we went up, we both felt relatively good (thanks to the recent running and biking we've been doing!) and, we took lots of snack breaks along the way. The girls were having a great time in the back and getting lots of attention from other hikers. We packed a lunch for the top, and except for my irrational fear for the girl's safety (the top is big and rounded and totally safe it you keep an eye on your kids....), it was absolutely perfect. The sun was shining, the whole family was happy, and Jay and I were still standing!

Aida and Claire were "hiking" during one of our many breaks....

Another snack break....

We made it!

We'll tell Claire, when she's older, that she had her diaper changed on the top of a mountain!

One last picture, before we descend....

Well, I should have know it was too good to be true because the way down was a different story! My legs were thoroughly fatigued to the point that I was walking kind of funny (which Jay pointed out often.... ;-) ) and I was worried that my knees would give out with poor Claire on my back! To be fair, Jay's legs were a little shaky too! Anyway, we made it and had a fabulous day, despite the fact that I could barely walk for the next 4 (yes, that's right, 4) days!

At the end of the day, Aida said, "Hiking tires me out!"

Our garden!

2010-05-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

Now that we're not at A Rocha anymore, we MISS being able to go out to the yard and pick food from the garden. So, because we now live in a condo without a yard, we have gotten a community garden plot at The Maples, which is right across the street from our church. Last week we spent the day weeding and ferilizing and planting. We had a great day in the sunshine. Unfortunately, the next day when we returned to water, our brocolli, cauliflower, kale, and parsley had disappeared. Apparently, we have a bunny problem.... Our next job will be putting a fence up!

My mother's day card.

2010-05-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

Aida made me a beautiful card for mother's day and told Jay what to write in it:

"To mommy,
Happy Mother's Day (apparently she wanted to write Happy Birthday, until Daddy explained that it wasn't my birthday, just a special day for all mommies)
Thank you for all the blessings, and the popcorn and the juice.
I love you mommy.
Santa, reindeer, and Christians.
Love Aida and Claire"

A little late, but here's the birthday pics!

2010-04-13T09:01:00.001-07:00

The photo uploader just stopped working, so here are some of the party pics!

Trying on the cool sunglasses Aida got from Uncle Morrie and Danielle....

Jay is a Good Dad....

2010-03-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Aida! Aida turned 3 last Saturday and we celebrated with a birthday party for her. Here is a little movie clip from the day, featuring Jay and 5 year old Jared. Thanks Uncle Cody for getting this precious memory on tape (even though we forgot to warn him that our camera does not work sideways, this little clip is worth showing you anyway!)....

I'll post more pictures of the party during the girls' naps tomorrow!

Go Canada Go!

2010-02-23T09:01:00.001-08:00

Thanks to my mom and dad, we have tickets to several Olympic events, including the Canada/US game a few days ago. It was tough to choose who got to go (between us, Morrie & Danielle, and Krista & Cody), and in the end, Krista, Morrie, Jay, and I (and Claire) got to go to the Canada/US game. Even though they didn't win, we had a great time!

Claire will be in hundreds of stranger's pictures. We saw lots of random people taking pictures of her because she's so cute!

Posing with the Athlete's Village in the background.

Inukshuks that people have built in the rocks surrounding False Creek.

Waiting to get into GM Place or whatever they're calling it for the duration of the Olympics.

We had four American guys in front of us. Jay kept planting the Canadian flag on them!

Starting to let the disappointment show as it looks like Canada may actually lose....

Can you imagine falling asleep in the loudest last ten minutes of the game?

After the last Canada goal we all had hope....

But alas, it wasn't meant to be. It's okay, though. We had a blast. And I have faith that Canada can beat the Germans this afternoon!

Claire, by the way, did great the whole day! Until she fell asleep, she was jumping in my lap, and clapping and laughing. She loved the guy sitting next to us and the cowbells! And she loved it when the crown sang, "Day-o!"

Aida's First Dance Class

2010-01-11T15:29:00.001-08:00

I always thought that toilet training would come easy to Aida because (at least in my "unbiased" opinion) she's a smart girl. We started in September and in December, I was still cleaning up messes after her, after which she's say, "It's okay mommy! It was just an accident."

My brilliant husband one day told her, "You know how you want to go in ballet lessons? Well, they don't let kids in the class who still wear diapers or go in their pants. So, as soon as you learn to use the potty all the time, you can go in ballet." Well, it turns out I do have a smart girl because that was the last day that she had an accident. Really. It was that easy.

So, we had to follow through, and these pictures show the result of our promise!

This may be last post for a few weeks. We just bought a condo, so the next few weeks will be spent packing (again), painting, and moving. I'll put up some pictures of our new place soon!

A New Family Tradition

2010-01-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

We have started a new tradition. A anti-consumerism tradition or sorts! We have decided to go on an annual boxing day hike. For those of you readers who are not Canadian, boxing day is the day after Christmas and the biggest sales of year are to be found in all the stores. The stores are packed. There are line ups outside the stores with the biggest deals to be had. Usually we trek to the malls in search of the best deals to spend our Christmas money. We fight through the line-ups, deal with exhausted and grumpy store clerks, and count every nickel, leaving at the end of the day feeling spent.

But not this year. Feeling weary and tired already (it's amazing what two young children can do to a family), we decided to spend the day doing something that would give us life. Something that would bring us closer to each other. Something that would bring us closer to God. So here are the pictures from the day.

We went out again to Golden Ears Park (a nice reasonable stroll, really, but about the right kind of hike for our family at the present!). We were joined by good friend, Trevor Howe and his son, Leif. We missed Kira and Annica who were home sick. Maybe next year, Kira and Annica!

Trevor, pausing to contemplate the winter morning....

Leif kept finding this really cool frost that had accumulated on the trees from the foggy, misty air.

This picture turned out a bit weird, but you get the gist. Aida could not stop eating the frost...

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T14:01:00.000-08:00

This is the first of a few installments of Christmas photos.... This year on Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day it was just the 4 of us. This was Jay and my first Christmas without family since our first Christmas together 10 years ago. I guess we were with family this year - our new family! We were a bit sad not to be with our parents this year, but also excited to start our own family traditions. We had a great time and it's true that Christmas becomes magical again, once you have children to bring about the magic!

We went to my Aunty Bev, Uncle Tom, and cousins, Julia and Karen's for Christmas dinner and were treated to a feast, courtesy of Julia. After watching Shrek and a game of spoons, which sadly, the Ewing's always lost (they had home-table advantage), we went home and tucked the girls into bed. That night, Aida prayed, "thank you for the kitchen and the turkey, and Santa, and baby Jesus. And his mom. And his dad. I think that's God. Or maybe Joe."

Santa Claus is Coming to Town!

2009-12-16T18:06:00.001-08:00

Well, here it is: the second annual Santa Clause picture. Some of you (the particularly smart ones) will now be thinking, "wait a minute - this is actually Aida's third Christmas, so this should be the third annual Santa Clause picture!" Well, that would be the case if we had gotten a picture last year. Which we didn't.

Aida is afraid of Santa. Last year we went for a visit and she stood off to the side and cried. The only way to stop her tears was to buy her an ice cream cone (ah, bribery....) and we ate our ice cream and watched other children joyfully experience the once-a-year visit with their beloved Santa. All year, Aida has continued to associate Santa with ice cream.

Aida has now grown to love Santa and often proclaims, "I LOVE Jesus and Santa!" So, this year, we had (naively) thought that we might get a picture, trying to remember, "It is not about the picture. It is not about the picture. It is not about the picture. It is about the experience of our daughter and trying to enrich her childhood, not scar her for life."

With that in mind, we trekked to the mall, waited in the line with other beautifully dressed toddlers (see below, we forgot the dressing up part...) for 25 minutes and Aida got more and more excited. She wanted to tell Santa that we will leave him a key so he can get in our door in the absence of a chimney and that she and Claire want "Christmas Monkeys."

However, the minute she approached Santa, she started wailing. For those of you who know Aida well, know that she doesn't just whimper or cry. She yells. So, after backing up several feet, in the arms of her mother, she tearfully told Santa about the key and the monkeys. Then she permitted a picture to be taken while she stood in front of Santa. With mommy's arms around her back. As you can see the fear is VERY apparent on her face.

Claire was quite indifferent.

Since the Santa visit, Aida has again begun to declaire, "I love Santa and Jesus!" and now talks about how next year, when she's almost and adult, she will sit on Santa's lap.

From the Mouth of Babes

2009-12-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Aida has been saying some pretty cute things lately. Here's a sampling of her cute expressions:

Mom: Claire is crying because her teeth are hurting her.
Aida: I have sore bubblegums, too!

Mom: If you go to the potty you can have some smarties.
Aida: Yay! Farties!

Aida: When I turn free (three), I gonna go in ballet and wiggle my bum like this (proceeds to demonstrate).

Aida: (looking at a picture of Grandma and Grandpa) I sure love Grandma and Grandpa and Santa and Jesus....

Aida: (playing with her dolls) I am so misappointed with you!

Mom: Let's make some music. What instrument do you want to play?
Aida: I love insolence!

Aida: (after finishing all her juice) Momma, where did my juice go? It misappeared!

Aida: Mom, can I do craps today? (translation: can I do crafts today?)

Mom, cooking Thai Green Curry with tofu in it.
Aida: (sniffing the air) Mmmmm, I smell toe-food!

Aida: (to mom)When I a adult, you marry daddy and I will marry Claire.

Deja vu!

2009-11-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, we had Claire's baby dedication. It was touching to see Claire wearing the same dress that Aida did for her dedication. I couldn't believe it when I saw this picture that my dad took of Claire:

Does it look familiar to anyone? Here's Aida two years earlier:

Aida and Claire were the exact same age (within a week) of each other when these photos were taken. I think these ones will find their way into a double frame!

You Are My Sunshine

2009-11-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-09T10:59:00.001-08:00

We know these are a little late, but better late than never, right? Anyway, Aida and Claire went trick or treating this year with their buddies Elliott (the skeleton), Eva (the elephant), and Katelyn (the pirate). Aida would say at the doors, "I have enough, but I'm getting some candy for my daddy!" At least she tells the truth.... Anyway, she got quite the haul and we are still enjoying the loot!

That's Hilarious!

2009-10-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

Thumb Suckers

2009-10-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

We are now the parents of two thumb suckers. Claire has started consistently sucking her thumb, and like her sister before her, rejects a soother in favour of a thumb. When Aida started at about three months, we tried to get her to stop until we realized that not only were such attemps futile (are we really going to stand by her bed all night to yank out her thumb every time she enters light sleep?), but she started sleeping much better at night once she discovered how to self-sooth. Those of you who are either reformed thumb suckers or the parents of thumb suckers know that there is really nothing you can do to stop it. We were told by our doctor and dentist that thumb-sucking is hereditary (I was a soother-lover, Jay prefered his thumb) and not to worry about it until the kids get thier adult teeth. So, in Aida's case, that gives us roughly three years to help her kick the habit....

Hiking at Golden Ears Park

2009-10-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying this unseasonably beautiful warm October. Last Monday, on Jay's day off, we packed up the kids and a picnic lunch and headed to Golden Ears Park. For those of you who have not been there, it is about 45 minutes away from us outside of Maple Ridge. We did a short hike (really a walk on a well-maintained path) to a waterfall. Jay and I both got our exercise, each carrying a child, and we got our nature fix for the week. We had a great day and Aida now says, "I LOVE hiking," (sure, you'd love it too if you were carried on your dad's back...).

Just getting started at the parking lot.

We stopped at the side of the creek for lunch. Aida wanted to sit with whomever was holding Claire. I guess we are starting to deal with a little sibling rivalry!

Claire's checking out the scenery!

Back on the trail after lunch...

The is the view from above the falls.

Again, Claire checking out the scenery...

Aida's First Sleepover

2009-10-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

Since we moved from A Rocha, we have been missing our A Rocha family immensely. Yesterday, Aida was especially excited for her first sleepover with Maya and Bryn Kostamo. Maya and Bryn lived across the lawn from us for two years and we saw them every day. They are like big sisters to Aida and leaving them (and Leah and Markku....) was very hard on Aida. Needless to say, any chance Aida gets to see the Kostamo's is very exciting and a whole night with Maya and Bryn in her bedroom is beyond exciting - Aida was extatatic.

Maya loved holding Claire and is very good at it. I can't wait until Maya is old enough to babysit!

The fun/anxious game of Jenga after Aida went to bed...

Good morning!

Maya and Bryn were especially "happy" to get woken up at 6:30am by Aida when Aida discovered them in her room upon waking!

Claire was apparently tired after the early wake-up, too!

What sleep-over would be complete without some hair-braiding?

A little art time.

The girls saying good-bye this morning.

Thanks for coming over, Maya and Bryn! We had a great time!

Remembering Nanny

2009-09-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we went to Courtenay to celebrate the life of my Great-Grandma, Mary Albina Verona Reid, or Nanny as we called her and Bea as everyone else called her. Nanny was born in 1909 and died last Wednesday at 100 years old. Three weeks ago, we had the chance to see her one last time and introduce Claire, her second great-great-granddaughter. Here are some pictures that I have of Nanny:

This was the 4 generation shot when I was a baby.

Here's the 5 generation shot after Aida was born.

Nanny's family (minus cousin Adam) on her 98th birthday.

Nanny and Aida's hands

Nanny loved holding Aida.

This is a few weeks ago when Claire met Nanny.

Although we are sad to see Nanny go, we know she is not suffering anymore. She has been steadily but s-l-o-w-l-y declining for a while now and we take comfort knowing that she is at rest.

Rolling Claire

2009-09-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Claire rolled over from her front to back for the first time at 2 1/2 months. Now every time I put her on her front, she rolls over. She is a very strong baby!

Our Girls Are Gorgeous - Sorry, Not Gorgeous - Pretty

2009-09-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Our camera issues are solved. I just had to buy a new cord. Yay! Here's a recent conversation overheard between Jay and Aida.

Jay to Aida: "Aida, you're gorgeous!"

Aida: "I NOT gorgeous!"

Jay: "Yes you are!"

Aida: "NO I NOT! I pretty!"

Okay, she may have a large vocabulary for her age, but she doesn't quite know the meaning of all the words.

I'm back

2009-09-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I think we're plagued by camera issues. I have about 300 pictures on my camera from our move and holidays and just general cute kids stuff, but it won't download onto my computer! I can't figure out if it's the camera, the cord, or the USB port. I still have a few things to try and get it going, but that is my lame excuse for not posting much lately (I know most of you don't read this thing, you just want the pictures...!).

For those of you who are still reading this post, we have now moved and settled into our new life in Langley. We are living in a ground-level suite of a house and it is so great to have direct sunlight in my home again! Maybe my plants can come back to health. I did take pictures to show you all....

Jay started his new job as Associate Pastor of Youth and Small Groups at Mountainview Alliance Church last week and he's really enjoying it. The people at the church are great. We have been warmly welcomed and have already enjoyed some great dinners and fellowship with members of the congretation. Last Sunday was our first Sunday and we got an official welcome, complete with a prayer and a big yellow potted mum for my front porch. Aida is excited because she gets animal crackers in the nursery.

Well, hopefully I'll get this camera thing figured out today. Keep posted for pictures soon (hopefully)!

Family Resemblance?

2009-07-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Since Claire was born, we've been thinking that there is little resemblance between Claire and Aida, but now that Claire is starting to smile and we've been comparing pictures I think the resemblance is getting stronger. What do you think?

CLAIRE:

AIDA:

***Of course, poor Aida has her head shaved in this photo from when she had to have and IV in her head,
so don't judge the poor thing by her hairline!

Kamloops Fun...

2009-07-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last week, Aida, Claire, and I (Milissa) went to Kamloops to visit my parents. My sister, Krista came as well, and her husband Cody, my brother, Morrie, and his girlfriend, Christine, joined uson the weekend. Unfortunately, Jay had to work, so he was the only one in the Barr clan missing. Poor Jay! We had a great time - here are some highlights of the trip:

We drove to Vernon for the day to see my best friend, Ginny, and her family. We met them at the waterslides in the morning (which Aida LOVED), and then hung out at Ginny's in the afternoon. We had a blast! Ginny just had a baby boy, Tyson, 10 days before Claire was born and her daughter, Rebekah, is 9 months older than Aida. They also have a little boy, Oakley, who is a great little guy. Oh, and I forgot to mention Trevor, Ginny's husband (sorry, Trevor) - Trevor is also a great guy. Ginny and I have been friends since we were two - basically the same age as Rebekah and Aida!

Here's Claire and Tyson chillin' on the picnic table.

The kids enjoyed the VERY hot hottub in between slides to warm up.

I don't think Tyson and Claire even noticed each other...

The girls in the tub

Back in Kamloops, Claire got some cuddle time with Grandma and Grandpa

Uncle Morrie bought Aida matching sunglasses. They're so cool!

Oh, and thank you Aunty Krista for being our photographer for the week! I forgot my camera... And Krista is the photographer of the shots in my last post too.

Just Pictures Today...

2009-07-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

I snuck up on Aida the other day...

2009-07-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Adjusting Life

2009-06-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

It has certainly been a week of transition for us. We have been so thankful for all the help we have received; from Melanie spending the week with us and enduring spit up on her clothes, late night crying sessions, and meal preparation...(she is a saint), to the many gifts and meals that have been brought over - we are blessed to have friends and family like you. Thank you all for your generosity - it is certainly appreciated!

Claire puckering up for a kiss - I am already scared about my girls teenage years!

Aida and Milissa with their babies

Aida and Daddy swinging in the hammock.

Claire comes home!

2009-06-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to update you all that Claire was released from hospital yesterday with reasonable bilirubin levels. We will take her tomorrow for bloodwork and if all is well - she should be able to stay home... (if not, back to the hospital we go).

Thanks for all your prayers,
Jay

Keep Praying

2009-06-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I am just back from the hospital as Claire became very jaundiced last evening and we needed to take her to emergency. She was sent from White Rock hospital to Langley hospital at 1:00am last night to start photo therapy - does this sound familiar to anyone else??

She, like her older sister Aida has a blood incompatibility issue and needs photo therapy to help her get rid of bilirubin that builds up in her body turning her yellow. The photo therapy helps babies cope with the bilirubin. We had good news today from the pediatrician - he seems to think that Claire may be able to return home tomorrow night, so we will pray to that end.

Grandma and Grandpa Barr have been taking good care of Aida potata, and she would probably just prefer it that way...

I will update again as soon as I am able - I am heading back to the hospital now. Please pray for Claire and also that Milissa could get some good rest. She was only able to get two hours of sleep last night.

Jay

Welcome Claire Krista Ewing!

2009-06-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

We welcomed Claire Krista Ewing into our family on June 18th at 6:00pm in White Rock, BC. We are doing very well! Life has been quite busy the last couple of days and so it has taken me a while to get this blog up - but we hope you enjoy a few of our photos. She was born posterior (just like Aida...), but Milissa was wonderwoman and pushed her out anyway despite being 9lbs, 1 oz. Once again, I am amazed at my wife - she really is quite a woman.

We are adjusting to less sleep once again, but are happy that Claire is happy and healthy. Aida is a little out of sorts, but is doing a great job welcoming her sister to the world anyway. Thank you to all those who were praying for us the last few weeks. We hope to see you all soon...

Barn Dance

2009-06-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is one of the things we will miss the most about living at A Rocha...

The Downside of the Princess Dress

2009-06-07T22:50:00.000-07:00

In the heat of last week, Aida got a bad case of heat rash all over her torso. She scratched at it and now it's all scabby. I think the princess dress is the cause. She wore it for two days straight.

Now, Aida has switched over to wearing party dresses. More pictures to come...

My Princess

2009-06-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know, I have tried not to push Aida to like pink and princesses and Barbie and the like. I have tried to give her cars and tools along side her dolls and dresses. I decided that if Aida decided she like pink best (which she does) than great, but I wasn't going to push it on her. And I would hold off on the first Barbie or princess or whatever until she asked for it. It's not that I have anything against pink or Barbie or baby dolls (I was a the ultimate girly-girl growing up), I just want Aida to have a well-rounded upbringing.

Well, there must be something hardwired in a little girl's brain towards princesses, because Aida woke up this morning with, "Aida a pincess! A vewy vewy ditty pincess! (a very very pretty princess!)" I am not sure where she got this, but she was very adament that she was a princess. After wathching her try to fashion a pink dress out of a pink poncho (very difficult for a two year old), I remembered that she actually has a fairy princess dress in the closet, thanks the Grandma and Grandpa Barr (I think Grandpa may have been responsible for this one!). How could I resist! I dug out her fairy princess dress and she's been wearing it all day. It now looks like it will now become a permanent fixture in her wardrobe.

I'm Copying Katie's Post Because I Am Not Feeling Creative Today

2009-05-28T09:09:00.001-07:00

Aida's Top Ten Phrases (this week)

Mommy's havin a baby!
Stop it! Wight now! (we are working on tempering this one...)
Wead a book?
Aida hun-gew-y!
Daddy a-wook? (Daddy at work?)
Move it! Move it! (After "I like to move it, move it" from Madagascar 2 - usually accompanied by dancing)
Aida a tuddo wif mommy/daddy? (tuddo=cuddle)
Look-a-me!
Look-a-me!
Look-a-me! (Aida's becoming a bit of a performer. She has been putting on dancing/gymnastics performances for mommy and daddy)

The Blog will come back eventually...

2009-05-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

As d-day (delivery day) fast approaches (June 19, but remember Aida was 3 weeks early), I am winding down with work and will soon find myself with a need to write/vent/praise/cry/laugh about life. THE BLOG is coming back soon. I promise.

-Milissa

I Told You I'd Update More Often!

2009-01-05T18:28:00.001-08:00

Here's the continuation of the last post...

December

We braved the cold weather (warm if you're from any other part of Canada...) to go see the Santa Claus parade in Vancouver. Aida was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing until horses went by. For the next week, all she talked about was "hosies."

Our niece, Gillian, was given a school project based on the book Flat Stanley. For those of you who aren't librarians or elementary teachers, Flat Stanley is about a two-dimensional little guy who gets in to all sorts of adventures including getting sent in the mail to visit friends. Some school teachers started The Flat Stanley Project, in which children send their own Flat Stanleys to various parts in the world, where the recipient will show Flat Stanley around and take pictures and get souvenirs, which is then mailed back to the child. We took Gillian's Stanley to Granville Island in Vancouver for the day, and here's Aida posing with him.

In early December, we had our A Rocha Canada team Christmas party. Here's a picture of the A Rocha kids opening presents. I took a stuffed monkey out of Aida's toybox and wrapped it up for her to open. She loved her "new" gift and the monkey was the recipient of may more playtime hours because of it!

Here are a few pictures from Christmas day.... The first one shows a very-tired-yet-still-awake-early little girl. She really got the whole Santa thing this year.

Here's Aida discovering some presents from her grandparents. Thanks Eric, Debbie, Melanie, and George!

Our little drama queen loved posing for pictures in her new Christmas outfit (thanks to Aunty Carla and Uncle Dale). She especially loved her red legs!

Well, that's it for now! Keep posted. We head to Mexico on Thursday (yay!) for a holiday with Milissa's parents, Melanie and George, so we'll fill you all in when we get back.

It's Been Months...

2009-01-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

Yes, we have not been keeping up with this blog. Yes, we have gotten many reminders from you. Yes, here is an update. And yes, we will try to do better!

Baby News
If you haven't already heard, we are expecting #2 on June 19. We're so glad that the first trimester is over - Milissa has been VERY pukey up until about three weeks ago. Now she just feels nauseous about 30% of the time which really is a big improvement over one month ago. Milissa is excited because her best friend, Ginny, is also pregnant, due at the end of May.

October

Aida got two Halloween costumes. The first one was given to her from Grandpa & Debbie Ewing ("Ampa & Deddy"). Although it was too small to wear the big night (we couldn't get a warm coat on under neath), Aida wore it for days. The second one is from Aunty Krista and Uncle Cody ("Atty & Tido") and Aida calls it a "buddy-bye."

We went to Kamloops for Thanksgiving and the Kempner's came to see us from Vernon for the Saturday. The kids had a great time playing together. Aida is still talking about "Becca" and "Ookey" (Rebekah & Oakley).

November

In November, we did a few memorable things. First, we went to Calgary for a conference that A Rocha was co-hosting with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Manning Institute for Democracy. While there we got to visit family and friends, too. The first picture is Aida and Ampa Ewing. The second two are taken at a get-together with friends and family.

Jay and Trevor Howe

The Cowan's: Jason & Chelsea, and little Ari.

We also celebrated Jay's 31st birthday in Novemer. Milissa, Aida, and Milissa's brother, Morrie, got Jay tickets to the Nov. 27th Canucks/Flames game. Jay was happy when the Flames won.

Alright. That's all I'm posting right now - I'll add Christmas pictures later! This is taking a long time to catch up!

Farming Aida

2008-09-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

White Rock Summer

2008-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

We are so fortunate to live so close to the beach. This summer, we have spent a lot of time at the White Rock beach, playing in the tide pools, eating fish & chips and gelato, making sand castles, and swimming with Pippa (the dog). Below are some pictures from the White Rock Spirit of the Sea Festival, which was on the August long weekend.

There were thousands of people. We were supposed to be meeting friends there, but never did see any of them...

The sand sculpture contest was pretty amazing. It's such a shame when the tide rises a few hours later and everything is gone!

At this point, Aida was starting to feel a little overwhelmed from all the people.

I think Aida had the best time watching the gulls fly around. She is getting good at bird calls!

But, you can see here, that at the end of day, she had enough! This picture was taken as we were heading back to our car to go home.

Pizza Party!

2008-08-04T21:49:00.001-07:00

The pictures speak for themselves...

Aida's a Story-Teller

2008-07-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Aida!

2008-03-29T13:53:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that our baby went from this...

to this, in one year!

This is the cake I made for Aida's birthday party (I was the cake lady at Dairy Queen during my late high school years...!).

Here is Aida enjoying her first taste of cake and chocolate - I think she approves! Every time she would take a bite, she would start laughing.

Here we are on Aida's actual birthday. Because her party was on a different day, the lucky girl got two cakes. The second time around wasn't nearly as messy!

Our busy month

2008-03-17T19:55:00.001-07:00

February and March have been some of our busiest months on record. Let's see....

We all had the flu. At the same time. Puking. Fever. No sleep (because of Aida).
We dog-sat my parents dog, Mocha, for just about a month, so we had two dogs.
We went to Calgary for a week for work.
We went to Galiano Island. Twice. Once for a board/leadership team retreat, and once for a holiday (the holiday was great, except that Aida was sick - see #6).
I (Milissa) turned 30. Woo hoo!
Aida had bronchitis. Then I got it. Coughing. Phlegm. Runny Nose. Fever.

Are babies always sick? I guess it's inevitable that I would get sick, too, when Aida is either coughing right in my mouth, giving me wet, slobbery kisses, or sucking on my finger. The dogs did not like being neglected while we were sick and definitely acted out (that is another story, though...)! Anyway, we are settling down again, back home, and getting rested up. Aida and I are feeling better and are very thankful for Jay to take care of us! Here are some pictures from our crazy month:

Here is Aida - one of her rare smiles during the influenza ordeal. The poor thing lost just about three pounds that week.

My 30th birthday dinner at Washington Avenue Grill in White Rock.

At Galiano, the sheep were having babies. Aida was very excited to see the lambs. The bottle fed lambs were very friendly and would come up to us to have a pet.

This was the same glorious day. We were actually having a little break from board meetings and came across the lambs first and then the beautiful beach after. It was a like a little gift from God for our family.

This is Aida, dressed up for church.

This is on the plane to Calgary. We got a fantastic deal on flights, but we had to be at the airport at 5:00 am, which meant that we were up at 3:30. At about this point, Aida was excited to look out the window, but as you can see, she was very, very tired!

Here is Aida with her Calgary cousins, Ethan and Gillian.

This is back at Galiano Island. Aida found my art supplies and enjoyed "painting."

We found a great beach, Pebble Beach, where we collected beautiful polished stones, saw seals and eagles and Jay found an...

Octopus!

With my birthday money from my grandparents, I bought water colour paints and brushes. This is my first attempt at water colours (I usually paint in oils). Thanks Nana and Papa!

Aida is quite tired after everything and is spending a lot of time sleeping now.
From 7pm to 7am without a peep - Hallelujah!

Let Me Tell You Why...

2008-02-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

Let Me Tell You Why

“Let me tell you why God made the world.

One afternoon, before anything was made, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit sat around in the unity of their Godhead discussing one of the Father’s fixations. From all eternity, it seems, he had had this thing about being. He would keep thinking up all kinds of unnecessary things – new ways of being and new kinds of beings to be. And as they talked, God the Son suddenly said, “Really, this is absolutely great stuff. Why don’t I go out and mix us up a batch?” And God the Holy Spirit said, “Terrific! I’ll help you.” So they all pitched in, and after supper that night, the Son and the Holy Spirit put on this tremendous show of being for the Father. It was full of water and light and frogs; pine cones kept dropping all over the place, and crazy fish swam around in the wineglasses. There were mushrooms and mastodons, grapes and geese, tornadoes and tigers – and men and women everywhere to taste them, to juggle them to join them and to love them. And God the Father looked at the whole wild party and said, “Wonderful! Just what I had in mind! Tov! Tov! Tov!” (Good, Good, Good) And all God the Son and God the Holy Spirit could think of to say was the same thing: ”Tov! Tov! Tov!” (Good, Good, Good) So they shouted together ”Tov meod!” (Very Good) and they laughed for ages and ages, saying things like how great it was for beings to be, and how clever of the Father to think of the idea, and how kind of the Son to go to all that trouble putting it together, and how considerate of the Spirit to spend so much time directing and choreographing. And for ever and ever they told old jokes, and the Father and the Son drank their wine in unitate Spiritus Sancti, and they all threw ripe olives and pickled mushrooms at each other per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

It is, I grant you, a crass analogy; but crass analogies are the safest. Everybody knows that God is not three old men throwing olives at each other. Not everyone, I’m afraid, is equally clear that God is not a cosmic force or a principle of being or any other dish of celestial blancmange we might choose to call him. Accordingly, I give you the central truth that creation is the result of a trinitarian bash, and leave the details of the analogy to sort themselves out as best they can.

One slight elucidation, however. It’s very easy, when talking about creation, to conceive of God’s part in it as simply getting the ball rolling – as if he were a kind of divine billiard cue, after whose action inexorable laws took over and excused him from further involvement with the balls. But that won’t work. This world is fundamentally unnecessary. Nothing has to be. It needs a creator not only for its beginning but for every moment of its being. Accordingly, the trinitarian bash doesn’t really come before creation; what actually happens is that all of creation, from start to finish, occurs within the bash: the raucousness of the divine party is simultaneous with the being of everything that ever was or will be. If you like paradoxes, it means that God is the eternal contemporary of all the events and beings in time.

Which is where the refinement in the analogy comes in. What happens is not that the Trinity manufactures the first duck and then the ducks take over the duck business as a kind of cottage industry. It is that every duck, down at the roots of its being, at the level where what is needed is not the ability to fertilize duck eggs but the moxie to stand outside of nothing – to be when there is no necessity of being – every duck, at that level, is a response to the creative act of God. In terms of the analogy, it means that God the Father thinks up duck #47307 for the month of May, AD 1723, that God the Spirit rushes over to the edge of the formless void and, with unutterable groanings, broods duck #47307, and that over his brooding God the Son, the eternal Word, triumphantly shouts, “Duck #47307!” And presto! you have a duck. Not one, you will note, tossed off in response to some mindless decree that there may as well be ducks as alligators, but one neatly fielded up in a game of delight by the eternal archetypes of Tinker, Evers, and Chance. The world isn’t God’s surplus inventory of artifacts; it is a whole barrelful of the apples of his eye, constantly juggled, relished, and exchanged by the persons of the Trinity. No wonder we love circuses, games, and magic. They prove we are in the image of God.” Robert Farrar Capon, from The Third Peacock (emphasis mine)

Mmmmm... Spaghetti....

2008-02-08T21:37:00.001-08:00

Every kid has to get the Infamous Spaghetti Photo, right? This is Aida's first time feeding herself her favourite meal!

Elfin Lakes Snowshoe Trip

2008-01-28T10:30:00.001-08:00

This past weekend I had the privilege of snowshoeing into Elfin Lakes Hut in Garibaldi Provincial Park with Cody and Ian. We were blessed with lots of snow and great views throughout the trip! The hut has bunks for 34 people, but I think there were probably more of us there than that. The following pictures are a small sampling of our weekend together...

Cody with Paul Ridge in background

Arriving at the Elfin Lakes Hut

Ian taking a picture of me in an Igloo

Mamquam Massif at Dawn

'The Battered Ones' along Paul Ridge

The 'Irish Kick of Joy' with the Mamquam Massif in the background

Cody aged considerably on the trip, growing a lichen beard

View of Squamish on the descent out of the Park

We were greeted the second day with about 25 cm of fresh snow; consequently there was terrific atmosphere on the snowshoe out. Thanks to Krista and Cody for the great birthday gift (sorry you had to miss the trip Morrie, next time...)

Aida's Found a Friend

2008-01-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

That's right, Aida has found a new friend. She loves spending time with the other baby girl and I got some cute footage of her playing with, kissing, and talking to her lovely playmate. I apologize for the shakiness of the first movie - Aida caught me off-guard with her cuteness and I had to run and get the camera to capture the moment. The first movie was taken a few weeks ago; the second movie was taken today, and you can see that she is still quite smitten with her new friend, but sometimes gets a little frustrated, too...

Flying Aida

2008-01-14T09:50:00.001-08:00

Holiday Pictures

2008-01-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

This year, we made the long drive to Calgary for Christmas. We stopped in Kamloops on the way there and back to visit with Milissa's family and break up the long trip a bit. We had a great time - Aida's first Christmas (not that it meant a whole lot to her yet...)! Here are some highlights from our holiday:

This is in Kamloops with Milissa's parents when we had an early Christmas celebration with them and Milissa's brother, Morrie

We were surprised when we first arrived in Calgary to see Ethan at first with his hair matching Uncle Jay's.

Aida is checking out her first stocking. When this picture was taken, she had not yet discovered that there was something inside!

We tried really hard to get a picture of Jay's dad, Eric, with all his grandchildren, but Aida would have none of it...

We did manage to get a photo in the end!

Aida met little Ari Cowan for the first time (Jason and Chelsea Cowan's firstborn... Sorry, Jase & Chels, we didn't seem to get any pictures of you - get used to it!)

We went skating at Bowness park with Dale, Carla, Ethan, and Gillian.

Aida was too little, of course, to skate, so we pulled her in a sled instead.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-20T14:19:00.001-08:00

This picture was taken seconds before Aida started wailing... Apparently a love for Santa is not ingrained in every child - they need to warm up to him. I think Milissa's sister Krista cried when she saw Santa every year until she was about 5... I'm sure, as the years go by, as Aida realizes that Santa is the bringer of gifts, she will LOVE him, as do most kids!

Anyway, we hope you all have a blessed Christmas season! If we are coming your way (Kamloops, Calgary), we'll see you soon!

Aida, The Irish Dancer

2007-12-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

Jay is 30!

2007-12-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Last week Jay had his 30th birthday. On his actual birthday (Nov.26), we got dressed up and went out for a nice dinner.

Then, on Friday, we had a big birthday party. We ate an Indian food feast (Jay's favourite), and then people brought out their various instruments (including kazoos, bean shakers, chopsticks, and pot lids) and we had a jam session/sing along. Krista kindly surprised us with outfits to suit the theme of the party! Thanks everyone who came and brought food and participated - Jay had a great time! We missed the rest of you!

Spreading the Word

2007-11-15T20:52:00.000-08:00

Last month, Jay spoke in chapel at Midamerica Nazarene University in Kansas city about creation care and A Rocha, lectured in a class, and hosted a screening of An Inconvenient Truth. I think (this is Milissa writing) that he did a great job! His sermon is now online and you can listen here.

Happy Halloween (okay, we're late, but here's the picture anyway)

2007-11-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

For Aida's first Halloween, she dressed up as a zebra (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa Barr for the costume). Milissa and Aida visited Auntie Krista at school for their primary Halloween dance - imagine a gym full of 5-8 year olds, dressed up, dancing to the Monster Mash! It was a blast, and Aida loved the costumes. Then they went to Movies for Mommies and saw Martian Child, where there was a baby costume contest. Even though we think Aida was the cutest of the bunch, she didn't win the contest, but she got to hang out with a little lion, a chick, a monkey, a teddy bear, and a fairy princess! By the time evening rolled around, she was done, so it was off to bed before the real Halloween festivities began (i.e. trick-or-treating!).

Maybe next year she can get her mommy some candy on the big night!

Below are some pictures from a recent "photo shoot" with the harvested pumpkins. As you can see Aida was more interested in eating the pumpkins than posing with them...

Ahhh Galiano

2007-10-30T10:54:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned before, we were very fortunate to go to Galiano Island last week for a holiday. Through some friends, we were able to stay in the nicest "cottage" we have ever had the pleasure of staying in . We spent the week reading, hiking, gazing out into the ocean, playing with Aida, and napping.... A much needed rest after the hectic pace of our lives the past few months.

The place we stayed at is one of a number of homes and cottages on Hunterston Farms, a sheep farm, perched right on the ocean. Left is a Celtic cross on the property.

The sheep have a pretty glorious life; they have pasture for grazing and a forest all to themselves. The sheep did not let us get to close to them, but we managed to get close enough for a few pictures.

This is the view from the balcony of the cottage we stayed in. We had fantastic weather the whole week. In fact one day it was almost 20 degrees. 20 degrees at the end of October! God was smiling on us. We were on the best side of the island, too - we had sun from sunrise to sunset.

Aida really enjoyed the view, as well. At times, she seemed quite mesmerized by the waves. From the balcony, we saw seals, sea lions, porpoises, lots of birds, and heard whales breaching in the night.

The inside of the cottage was phenomenal - we felt very pampered! We lit lots of fires in the fireplace and played with Aida on the floor.

Mushrooms were growing in abundance on the island, so we borrowed our friends', Brian and Sarah's, mushroom identification book. Below, Jay is chopping some shrimp mushrooms that Brian and Sarah picked for us - they actually taste like shrimp when they are cooked up!

We went on little walks and hikes every day. On one day, we hiked Bodega Ridge, which traverses the highest point of Galiano and offers incredible views of the other gulf islands and Vancouver Island.

Aida liked helping Daddy "drive" (this is actually while we were waiting for the ferry).

We have returned from Galiano feeling renewed and refreshed. Thank you, Williams family for allowing us the pleasure of staying at your magical get-away!

Harvest from the Sea

2007-10-29T21:40:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a glorious week on Galiano Island and a weekend in Victoria. I'll post some pictures of our Galiano trip after, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on the sea's bounty! In Victoria, we stayed with Milissa's Aunty Maureen and Uncle Reg, who are fishermen. We just happened to arrive on the same day that Uncle Reg returned to Victoria with his boat at the end of the fishing season, and it's their family tradition to mark the end of the season with a seafood feast. We had crab, steamed clams, clam fritters, prawns, and barnacles (yes, you can actually eat barnacles... who knew?). Although Milissa was a bit wary at first, she mustered up an adventurous spirit and tried everything, and we loved it all. This post is for Milissa's dad, George, who will be quite jealous about missing the feast!

Remember Grover from Sesame Street?

2007-10-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

Aida loves this game....

Aida's Half Birthday!

2007-09-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe that it has almost been a month since our last post... Sorry, faithful readers! Since moving here to A Rocha, we have been incredibly busy (new 24/7 job, visitors, finding a church, etc.) and Aida has been keeping us on our toes as well. The result? Extreme fatigue! After Aida goes to bed around 7:30, we can barely keep our eyes open. So, this blog has fallen to the wayside. Hopefully now that the fall has arrived, things will begin the settle down here.

Life here at A Rocha is starting to feel normal. We are settling in and getting to know our new home and community. Here are some pictures of our time here so far.

Hanging out with Aida at the White Rock Beach on the weekend...
As you can see, Aida has just about mastered the skill of sitting up on her own.

Our good friends Heather and Caleb Liebenberg visited us for a day while on their vacation from South Africa. Aida and Caleb weren't quite sure what to make of each other...

One part of Jay's job is overseeing naturalization projects (restoring the property to it's original condition, like removing invasive plants and replanting with plants native to this ecosystem), as well as the general maintenance and cleaning of the site here.

We've had one team day here at A Rocha - a time to connect and relax with the rest of the A Rocha team outside of work. We went for a short walk in Golden Ears Provincial Park to Alouette Lake, on one of the last true "summery" days in August. It was a beautifully relaxing day.

Aida has started eating solid food. Nothing special - just rice cereal and bananas so far, but she really loves it. The hardest part for us is cleaning all the cereal out of the many folds and creases of her increasingly chubby body!

Grandpa (aka - Eric) came for a visit since we've moved here, too. We put him to work weeding the garden, but he made sure to make time for Aida.

This is Aida with her new, fun, annoying (to her parents, that is) toy, "Tad" (as in tadpole). Tad sings many songs when you press various parts of his body. Aida is especially fond of "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes."
Tomorrow, Aida is 6 months old - Happy Half Birthday Baby Girl!

Aida's First Bracelet

2007-08-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Aida's Grandma and Grandpa Barr had a bracelet made for Aida by Uncle Billy (aka William Barr) for her dedication. It has a Kwakuitl humming bird on it, like Milissa's bracelet, that she got when she graduated from college. Legend says, "A literal messenger of joy, this beautiful tiny bird, also called Sah Sen, represents friendship, playfulness, and is a symbol of good luck in Northwest Coastal Native art. It is a positive sign to see Sah Sen prior to a major event such as hunting or travelling to another village. Hummingbird's ability to hover back and forth at great speeds is believed to be a skill for guiding the people; if they fall behind Hummingbird can easily back up to keep pace."

The following story about the hummingbird can be found in Eagle's Reflections and Other Northwest Coast Stories by Robert James Challenger:

"Many years ago there was a fragrant flower that rose every spring to display her beautiful petals and bright colours for all the world's creatures to enjoy. The people and animals waited anxiously each spring for this special flower to appear. On that day they knew the warm, kind rays of summer had arrived. Raven saw how much joy this flower brought to the world, so the next spring when it appeared, he transformed it into a tiny bird. The bird had the colours of the green spring grass and the flashing red of a setting sun. Raven gave the bird a special gift - to fly like sunlight flickering through tall trees. He also gave it a message to take to all the flowers. That's why today we see Hummingbird buzzing from flower to flower, whispering a message. Hummingbird is thanking each flower for making our world a more beautiful place."

The hummingbird, then, is fitting, as Aida is continually making our world a more beautiful place. Here are some pictures of Aida's bracelet:

Aida's Dedication

2007-08-20T16:46:00.001-07:00

We had Aida dedicated to God yesterday. The following are a few of our favourite shots from the day.

BC Day

2007-08-09T16:57:00.001-07:00

We were able to celebrate BC day by going down to the beach in White Rock. These are two of my favourite photos from the day...

Thanks Aunty Carla and Uncle Dale!

2007-08-05T17:53:00.000-07:00

Although Aida received this gift from her Aunty Carla, Uncle Dale, Ethan, and Gillian earlier, we just set up her new high chair. She is still not ready to eat in it yet, but we have been reclining the seat, putting her in it, and pulling her up to the table when we eat. She is loving her new seat and her new perspective!

Welcome to A Rocha

2007-08-03T10:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we're finally here at A Rocha! Last Friday, we loaded all of our worldly possessions onto a truck and with the help of some good friends and family, made the 45 minute journey down to A Rocha. We were done by about 10:00pm and shared pizza with our hard-workin' friends. After a week, we have got the new place unpacked and it is starting to feel like home.

Aida and Pippa are starting to adjust (Milissa had bronchitis this week and Aida has her first cold...). In addition to a new home, the whole family has new beds - thanks Mom and Dad Barr for ours and Dad and Debbie Ewing for Aida's new crib. Even Pippa has started sleeping outside for the first time in her doggy existence. Except for some barking at raccoons in the night, Pippa is enjoying it here - it's like canine heaven!

Holidays

2007-07-16T18:30:00.001-07:00

We just got back from two luxuriously long weeks of holidays. We went to Kamloops and stayed at "The Barr Hotel," or otherwise known as Milissa's parents. Here are some pictures of our trip...

Aida was alright with the traveling, as long as we left for longer excursions in the morning. She especially liked it when her mom rode in the backseat with her.

For the first time, Aida started to take baths in the big bathtub, rather than her baby tub at home. She really enjoyed kicking her legs and flapping her arms in the water. Here, she has just gotten out of the tub and is about to go to bed.

Aida with her Grandma and Grandpa Barr

We drove to Sun Peaks for a day with Milissa's parents for lunch and a stroll through the village.

Grandma bought Aida these snazzy sunglasses, which she doesn't seem to mind!

It was so hot in Kamloops - 40 degrees on some days. It was too hot and the river was still too cold to take Aida, so we bought a little wading pool and a giant beach umbrella and enjoyed the backyard. Pippa was sad that we wouldn't let her in the water with us.

The dangers of eating with a baby in your lap...

We visited Ginny and Trevor in Vernon for a day and at the end of the day, Aida hopped in the bath with her buddies Oakley and Rebekah.

This is one cooler day (it's all relative - I think it was still about 35 degrees), when we took Aida to the beach to watch Pippa swim.

We went for little hikes through our old favourite spot in Kamloops - Kenna Cartwright Park. We were sad by the devastation caused by the Pine Beetle - most of the pines in the park have been killed and are now the colour of the tree branches here in the foreground.

All in all, we had a great trip and are learning that holidays, like many other things, look different with a baby around! Aida did keep us entertained. She rolled over for the first time and has started giggling with her mom and dad. It's pretty cute!

Aida's Favourite Things

2007-06-24T17:46:00.001-07:00

Aida will be three months old on June 27. She is getting so big - we just cleared her dresser of 0-3 month clothes that don't fit her anymore. Her personality is becoming more and more obvious:

she is a morning person like her dad (she usually wakes up smiling)
she loves her uncles Morrie, Dale, and Cody
she has a quick smile
she enjoys talking (especially to her bears mobile)
she loves bathtime - we think she will like swimming
she is learning to let out a loud yelp when she wants attention - and of course her mom comes running

Here are a few pictures of Aida doing her favourite things...

Aida likes having nap time with her mom

She loves being read to by her dad

Aida likes "tummy time" on her ocean tummy time mat that she got from her Great Aunty Ila. It has an "aquarium" that Aida likes to look at when she is not to tired to prop her head up.

Aida's cousins, Owen and Naomi are finished with this activity mat so Jeannette and Denis dropped it off yesterday. This has already become one of Aida's favourite things.

And of course, these pictures would not be complete without one of Aida in her swing. Here, she is talking to the aforementioned bear mobile. This week, she laughed for the first time - not for mommy or daddy, but for the bears...

Smiley Girl

2007-06-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Although Aida has been smiling for a while now, she has just started smiling and talking and shrieking all the time. She is a very happy baby - we are very fortunate.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2007-06-08T09:30:00.001-07:00

It was great to be able to surprise our Dad for his 60th Birthday this year. Eighty of his close friends and family members were on hand to celebrate this momentous occasion. My brother and I were pleased to present The Slightly Biased Life and Times of Eric Ewing presentation and were indeed honoured to do so. We love you Dad and are looking forward to the next 60 years (well, maybe not that many...)

A Rocha Sailing Trip

2007-06-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

A Rocha Canada staff had the privilege of Sailing with Pastor/Capt. John Clarke this past week on his 51' sail boat. It was a time of reflection and retreat as we sailed from White Rock to Cabbage/Tumbo Islands in the Gulf Islands of the Georgia Strait. We spent the night out on the boat. It was an incredible time together, and I feel honoured to have had the experience.

Great Great Grandma

2007-05-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Milissa's family gathered in Courtenay for her cousin, Maureen's graduation and her great-great grandma's (Nanny) 98th birthday. Nanny got to meet her first great-great-grandchild. She loved her, even if she wasn't sure who the baby belonged to! She is 98 after all... She told Milissa, "I love this baby, but you're not leaving it here are you? I don't have what it takes anymore to care for a baby. You better find it's owner." When we told her it was her great-great-granddaughter, she just smiled contentedly and said, "Is that right...."

We made sure to take a five generation picture with
Aida, Milissa, Milissa's mom Melanie, grandmother Jeanne, and Nanny Bea.
The second picture was taken when Milissa was born...

Aida is getting bigger

2007-05-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

This week, Aida and I (Milissa) were discharged from the midwives, back into the care of our family doctor and pediatrician. We received excellent care from the midwives and will definitely go through the midwifery clinic next time. Jay and I had mixed feelings about being discharged. We were glad that Aida is healthy and growing (10 lbs...) but it felt a bit like being kicked out of the nest - as if we have passed the newborn test and are now qualified to be parents without the midwives being present 24/7. All a little scary.

These pictures are from the last few weeks. Aida is starting to fit into some of her "real" clothes and it is fun to dress her up. She is so easygoing, indulging her mother's desire to occasionally dress her up like a little doll! I love having a little girl; she's so much fun.

A Beautiful Day

2007-05-20T16:58:00.001-07:00

Last weekend, we were able to get out and enjoy the weather in Squamish and bring Aida on her first climbing trip. As you can see, she was quite content to sleep while we took turns climbing. It was a great day and will be the first of many small adventures with our girl...

Hooray!

2007-05-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

The latest pictures

2007-05-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

Aida is having a nap with Uncle Morrie. He has the magic touch - every time he holds her, she becomes magically quiet and usually falls asleep.

This is Aida enjoying her new swing that was given to her by her Uncle Trevor and Auntie Ginny (although, she doesn't actually look all that happy...)

The next two pictures are Aida modeling her new touques generously made for her by Kimberley Francis. Kimberley is currently studying Textile Arts at Capilano College and creating beautiful pieces of art. Check out some of her work.

The Little Leprechaun

Another milestone

2007-04-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

Jay received his graduate Diploma of Christian Studies from Regent College on Monday night. This is basically the half-way point to the Masters of Christian Studies. Jay hopes to continue on a part-time basis to complete his Masters in Spiritual Theology.

One of Jay's heroes and former Regent Chancellor, James Houston, was in attendance, along with Bruce Hindmarsh, and J.I. Packer.

Aida and I were there to cheer Jay on (this is Aida's first time wearing a dress - she decided to forgo the usual sleeper for this special occasion).

Aida slept when her daddy's name was called.

Andrea Beckum was on hand to offer her congrats/baby help.