Easter

Crystal Mountain Michigan Spring Break

We're trying to make the most out of our time up north.  We've slowing been moving through a hit-list of places that we wanted to enjoy while we were here.  These are the type of places that we might not have visited otherwise.  One big item on our list was to experience skiing.  Neither Jacob nor I have ever tried it, and considering how well Brenna has embraced the winter climate, we made it a priority for this year.

I found a great resort in north Michigan called Crystal Mountain that seemed to have everything we were looking for.  In January, I made all the arrangements for a Spring Break Ski Vacation.  It had been a mild winter, but the resort assured me there would be skiing until April.  I planned it just like I plan all our other trips; with great attention to detail.  I made reservations for snowmobiling, snow-shoeing, and ski lessons.  We also planned for spa appointments, the adventure course, and a hiking trip to the Michigan Legacy Art Park.  As the date approached, we weren't "warming-up" but we were hitting temperatures above freezing.  I was concerned that we may not see any snow on this ski vacation.  As it turns out, we did have snow.  Granted it was more man-made than natural, but it provided the slopes we needed to try our first ski adventure.  Unfortunately, because of the above-freezing temperatures, most of the other trails on the mountain were snow-free and eliminated our opportunity to try snowmobiling and snow-shoeing.  At first I was a bit disappointed, but after our first couple of days at Crystal Mountain I realized it was a better fit us.  We got the best of both worlds.  We could enjoy the all the outdoor activities with mild temperatures and still take in the winter-type skiing.  It did rain 2 out of our 5 days there, but there were plenty of activities to keep us busy and we enjoyed some down time in the cabin with board games and family movies.

We drove roughly 4 hours all the way across Michigan with the cats.  We reserved a 2-bedroom, 2-bath, pet-friendly cabin so they could join us on this vacation.  The cabin was just what you would expect from a cozy ski cabin.  It was settled on the outer edge of the mountain and backed up to a small pond.  The living area had a large window that looked out over the pond and the Canadian geese kept Pickles entertained during his stay.  He spent most of his time perched on top of the kitchen counter for the best view of the backyard.  Moose preferred the solitude of the master bedroom which had a very large sky window that gave him views of the tall maple trees outside.

Dr. Seuss Day

Usually, only the lower elementary takes part in Dr. Seuss Day.  So, it's alittle heart breaking that this is probably the last year that I get to celebrate it with Brenna's as an elementary student.  It's a program that I've worked with for a long time and to finally get to take part in it with Brenna these last 4 years has been a real joy.

This year the lower elementary teachers banded together with parent volunteers and made it an all-day event for the kids.  Everyone dressed up as their favorite Dr. Seuss character and we rotated through centers throughout the day.  At each center we read a Dr. Seuss favorite and then participated in a corresponding activity.  Brenna chose Sam I Am, since "Green Eggs and Ham" is her favorite.

We started the day with "Ten Apples Up on Top".  Then the kids broke into groups to build a tower foundation that was at least 4 feet high from a limited amount of blocks that would support 10 apples.

Next, we moved on to a double feature.  In case you hadn't heard, Dr. Seuss's wife discovered the nearly completed project of "What Pet Should I Get" along with 16 original black and white sketches while cleaning out his desk fifteen years after he passed away.  The book was published in 2015 and now stands as the last complete Dr. Seuss work.  The kids really enjoyed the book, along with the story of how it came to be.  We coupled it with "If I Ran the Zoo".  Then we made our own zoo from graham crackers and frosting, on which we stuck our favorite animal crackers that were caged with twizzler sticks.  Afterward, we all had lunch together with "Green Eggs and Ham" and cupcakes.

Finally, we finished with one of my favorites "Bartholomew and the Oobleck".  What better way to celebrate that book, than to make oobleck!  It was messy and gross and the kids loved it!

It was all a lot of work, a long day, and very tiring, but it made for a great last Dr. Seuss Day for me and Brenna!

The Run Down

Here's the fall and winter run down.  Fall held on through November, which allowed for a much milder winter this year.  Thank goodness, because winter didn't want to leave.  Our last snow was last week, but we've finally seen some sunshine and warmer temperatures this week that feel like spring.  We baked a lot this winter.  It was Brenna's favorite activity.  Now we're gearing up for spring and summer sports!

Family Day Sledding

It's been a tough couple of weeks.  Thanks to all that have prayed, called, and messaged.  It is greatly appreciated.  I haven't felt much like blogging lately, but one of the many things that come out of tragic events is just how precious memories are.  So, with that in mind, I didn't want February to slip by without posting something.

Earlier in the month, we celebrated Family Day, which is a national holiday in Canada.  I guess we're officially making it a tradition to spend it sledding as a family, since that's what we've chosen to do the last two years.  Brenna was especially excited to hit the snow hill so she could try out her new snowboard.  She started strong and caught on quick.  She quickly learned to manage her balance and was flying down the hill after only a few tries.  We only had one major wipe out and she didn't let it scare her.  She bounced back from it and kept trying.

Jacob helping to get her strapped in and ready to go.

Christmas 2015

The Christmas season begins especially early here.  Since Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, Christmas celebrations begin immediately following Remembrance Day (Canadian version of Veterans Day) which is mid-November.  Our holiday celebration started at the Imperial Theater with Mary Poppins.  One of the mom's planned a Mom and Daughter day for Brenna, Jenna, and Sofi.  It turned out to be an all day event since it happened on a Sunday.  The girls had Christmas Choir practice together that morning, followed by church, then lunch, and next we were off to see Mary Poppins.  The girls had a great time.  They enjoyed a taste of Perfect Punch, a Spoon Full of Sugar, and we all learned to spell Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!  That same weekend was the Winter Wonderland Festival at Degroots.  Brenna made lots of crafts, got her face painted, took a horse-drawn carriage ride, saw a magic show, and got to pet real reindeer.  Christmas was already off to a strong start!

Third Grade School Pictures

School Field Trips

So far this year, we've already had three class field trips.  We missed the first one while we were away in Puerto Rico, but we really enjoyed our last two.  Our fall has been very pleasant and has lasted much longer this year, with cool temperatures (meaning above freezing) hanging on for a longer time before giving way to bitter cold (meaning below freezing).  At the end of October, we took a field trip to Lorne C. Henderson Conservation Area to study all the different classifications of tree in our area.  Fall was in it's prime and we had beautiful skies that day.  The kids did a scavenger hunt where they identified tree classifications and leaf types. Then we took a leisurely stroll through the hiking trails with our Nature Guide.  The kids really enjoyed the day and learned a lot in preparation for the final test on their Tree Science Unit.  

Halloween

This year's Halloween caused us to look back over the years, starting with our costume selection.  Every year since Brenna was old enough to pick her own costume, she has picked her fascination at the time, making it easy to remember what she was "in to" at each age based on her halloween costume.  She was three years old the first year she picked her costume and it was Minnie Mouse because Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was her favorite.  The next year it was Pinkalicious and she could practically recite the book word for word.  Then she moved on to Strawberry Shortcake.  The next year she fell into the world of My Little Pony and wanted to be Twilight Sparkle.  And of course, last year she (and every other little girl) carried on the Frozen obsession as Elsa.  So, this year I just knew we were headed for a Barbie Halloween, but then she surprised me.  A large, inflatable, rainbow pair of butterfly wings caught her attention and she decided to be a Rainbow Butterfly.  She said it made perfect sense since she had a butterfly birthday party this year.  Her reasoning was that she wanted to keep up the tradition.  Last year was had a Frozen birthday and then dressed up as Elsa for Halloween  The year before she had a My Little Pony birthday and dressed up as Twilight Sparkle for Halloween.  And so it was settled, butterflies are the theme for 2015.

We got a late start to our usual Fall traditions.  Normally we would have visited the Brigden Fair, but we were away in Puerto Rico that week.  Then, Halloween was here before we knew it.   In an attempt to continue another fall tradition, we made a last minute trip to Korny Korners for pumpkin picking.  The kids were out of school the Thursday and Friday prior to Halloween due to a Christian teacher conference.  Brenna and her friend Sofi were on a mission to find the perfect pumpkin.  The good thing about living in a country that celebrates Thanksgiving before Halloween is that if you procrastinate (as I do) and buy your pumpkins the day before Halloween you can get what felt like 100 pounds of pumpkin for $9.  We walked away with two big ones for carving and four medium, and four mini pumpkins for painting.

Puerto Rico Family Vacation

Earlier this month, we met up with Jacob's family in Puerto Rico for a special family get together.  We spent the majority of our time at a beautiful hacienda that's nestled into the foot hills of the El Yunque Rainforest.  The hacienda is actually a part of a working horse farm and had some amazing views and cozy outdoors area.  Here's a few pictures from around the property and our family get together.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Well, we reached a milestone this year!  For the first time ever, we started the same school two years in a row!  We've had a ping-pong experience with education for a number a reasons.  We started Preschool at Rosenberg Baptist Pre-K program, then moved to Frost Elementary for Kindergarten.  Next we were redistricted to the new Adolphus Elementary when it opened for its first year, and finally we were relocated to Canada where we began Sarnia Christian School.  Brenna has never missed a beat through all the transitions and we've made some fantastic friends along the way.  However, it was nice to send her off to school this year without that nagging feeling of worry over all the "what ifs" that come along with a new school.  Instead, she strolled right in passing out hello's to every teach and kid along the way and fell right into her element.  She was excited to get back and see all her friends and kick off a new school year!  Third Grade, here she comes!

The Run Down

Here's the run down for Spring and Summer.  The weather has been amazing!  We spent the majority of time outside with trips to the beach, sports, nature hikes, bike rides, and backyard playtime!

Sarnia Girls Soccer 2015 Season

We are a family that loves sports.  I believe it teaches younger kids about team work and perseverance and helps keep older kids of out trouble by giving them something to focus their time and energy on.  Brenna has most definitely embraced that love of athleticism since her list of sports activities continues to grow.  Even still her first and favorite sport still holds true.  She loves soccer!

At the end of the summer we closed out another soccer season.  Since Brenna enjoyed her all-girls basketball through the winter, we decided to switch from our previous co-ed soccer league to Sarnia Girls Soccer, the largest girls soccer league in Southern Ontario.  We had eight teams in our age division and each team was named for a participating country in this years FIFA Women's World Cup.  We ended up on the home team of Canada, which all the girls were really excited about.  The girls gave it their all for 14 straight weeks of games and one weekend soccer festival.  Brenna's skills continued to grow and she proved to be one fierce defender.  She scored one hard-earned goal through the season, but assisted on several.  She really shined on defense and was voted best defensive player during the soccer festival.

We had a great coach this year that really helped the girls with technique and also made it fun.  They had pre-game chants, face paint, half-time misters, and end-of-game high-fives.

We're so proud of the effort she puts in.  She's really starting to understand that practice and hard work pay off and I hope she can relate that lesson to all aspects of life.  Here's some highlights from the year!

Pre-game chant "We're Red, We're White, We're Dynamite!  Go Canada!"

Brenna's 8th Birthday Slumber Party

This birthday we spent a little time looking back.  Recently Brenna has enjoyed looking through her baby pictures and videos and we've enjoyed telling her the stories of her early years that she's doesn't always remember.  It's amazing what this little girl can do.  In these first eight years she's moved twice, relocated to another country, attended four different schools, studied three different languages, and logged more flight time than any other kid her age I know.  And through it all she still radiates pure joy!  People, places, and things; she find excitement and adventure in it all.  God knew her path and He blessed her with this amazing personality that has driven her through all these life changes.  I try to teach her so much stuff, but its nothing compared to what she's teaching me.  The greatest lesson so far being that there's happiness everywhere.  You just have to find it, and if you look hard enough, you will.  She's beautiful, smart, active, and fearless.  It's a scary combination.  She does everything with determination, especially her sports.  She's a terrible loser, especially stubborn, and likes to be right.  All around, she keeps us on our toes and in the middle of some "The lesson to be learned is...." situation, either for her or us.  We love her beyond measure and pray for her constantly.

This year for her birthday, Brenna decided to keep things small.  Rather than a large party with all her school and neighborhood friends, she decided to have a slumber party with just a few of her favorite girl friends. I thought it was a great idea!  A small group at home meant they could enjoy the day longer and have more fun activities verses a quick party with tons of kids at another location.  After she decided on the slumber party went started to discuss the theme.  Each year Brenna picks her party theme based on her current likings.  She said she wanted something fun, colorful, and girly, which quickly materialized into a butterfly theme.

She had a long list of activities that she wanted to do; scavenger hunt, piñata, slip-n-slide, hot tub, painting, fort building, movies with popcorn, mani/pedi.  I did my best to accommodate all her requests, but even I had to draw the line at a candy themed game of hide and seek.  I was afraid it would attract too many bugs!

Brenna carefully selected a cute butterfly background for her invitation.  She and I worked together to decorate the house for the party.  I found some fun headbands, pajamas, and crafts that went perfectly with our butterfly theme.  She also picked out a cute butterfly outfit for her party dress.

Mom and Me Day - Rock Glen Falls

After we had such a great time exploring the caves and beaches at the Baths in Tortola, I decided Brenna might enjoy another adventure for our third annual Mom and Me Day.  We packed a backpack for the day and drove over to Arkona, which is only about 30 minutes from our house, to Rock Glen Conservation Area.  This was one more place on my hit list of locations that I wanted to make sure we visited during our stay in Ontario.  We checked in with the park's attendant and started our day at the Arkona Lions Museum.  The area is known for its fossils and the park encourages visitors to search for them in the waters around the falls and near the river.  The museum houses a collection of fossils that have been recovered from the area and explains the different types of fossils you may find in the park.  You're only allowed to take one fossil per person from the park, but the park attendant said since it was Brenna's first visit and nearly her birthday that she could take three!