Field Day 2014

We've had the opportunity to enjoy Field Day in Texas.  It's one of Brenna's favorite days and all the kids look forward to it!  Field Day in Texas generally includes sack races, egg and spoon races, water balloon fights, and buckets of water.  It's a fun outdoor activity!

In Canada, it's very different!  Field Day is short for Track and Field Day, as in a real deal track and field competition.  The neighboring Christian schools are bused in and everyone competes in an area meet for a bid to the district competition.  Each year the venue rotates between the participating schools.  This year, we were lucky enough to have Field Day at Sarnia Christian Academy.

The day includes 6 individual events; the 100 Meter Race, the 200 Meter Race, the Standing Long Jump, the Running Long Jump, the High Jump, and the Shot Put Throw.  Brenna has never taken part in Track and Field before.  In Texas that was never an option.  However, ahead of the Track and Field Day the PE teacher did go over all the techniques associated for each event with the kids and give them some practice time.  On Track and Field Day, the kids are broken into grade level groups for the competition and then split by boys and girls.  There was 18 kids in Brenna's competition group.

The entire day is outside, with lunch served outdoors.  I volunteered to help in the kitchen.  Because of that, unfortunately I missed the first event the 100 Meter Race.  I made it to the track just in time to catch the 200 Meter Race.  Because of the number of kids, the girls were broken into heats to complete the race.  Brenna was in the third heat along with 2 other girls.  The race was fantastic!  Brenna and her classmate Leah broke away from the 3rd girl quickly leaving her in the dust.  I knew they seemed to be making much better time than the previous heats, but it was hard for me to judge since we're so unfamiliar with this.  Leah edged in front of Brenna just before the first turn creating some space between them.  By the second turn Brenna had caught up to her heels and began to pull up on the straightway.  Brenna ran hard and if we had only had another 10 meters she could have pulled ahead but we came in second at the finish line by only 1/2 a second.  Once all the heats were completed, Leah and Brenna placed 1st and 2nd overall!  I was so proud!

Waiting for the flag to drop!  Ready, Set, GO!

1st Grade Field Trip

I've been very pleased that we've been able to enjoy all the school activities that I thought we would miss out on by moving schools.  All things that we missed in Texas, we've got to take part in here in Canada!  Like spring pictures, Dr. Seuss Day, class field trips, and Field Day!

Brenna's class field trip was to the Lorne C. Henderson Conservation Area in the adjoining community of Petrolia.  Of course I volunteered to chaperon and enjoy some time with Brenna and her class.  The day was gloomy with the prospect of rain.  The whole focus of the field trip was "Loving the World the Lord Made".  We started our morning out with a presentation from the park administrator about how we can care for our world and preserve the natural habitat of the creatures we share it with.  First, we started outside with a game of bingo!  Each kid was given a bingo card with pictures of animals and different plants.   The kids had to find the matching picture which was hung somewhere among the trees in the common area of the park.  Each match had a letter that they would write into that bingo spot.  The kids who received the most bingos would win and uncover the secret message hidden on the bingo board.  The kids ran wildly from one tree to the next trying to collect all the matches.  It was a fun twist of traditional bingo!

Next we moved on to a maze game.  The kids pretended to be fish swimming in a pond.  The blue tile represented the water.  Chemicals leaked into the pond causing the water to become polluted.  The blue tiles were turned over to gray to represent polluted water.  The fish must find a path through the pollution to the other side of the pond.  If a kid made a mis-step onto a gray tile they were removed to a "fish care facility".  As the pollution continued, eventually there was no clear path across the pond and everyone was in fish care.  The kids enjoyed the activity and I think it was a fun and creative way to help them understand the importance of preservation.

Spirit Week

A few weeks back we had what I would call Spirit Week.  Each day had a fun theme.  Monday was Twin Day and Brenna dressed like one of her new buddies.  Tuesday was PJ day and Wednesday was Book Character Day where you dress up like your favorite character.  Brenna instantly knew that she wanted to be Stella Starkeeper!  Stella Starkeeper is a main character in a new favorite book series called Lucky Stars.  Two months ago, while Jacob and I were in Canada for the house hunting trip, we missed out on the Spring Book Fair at school.  Mawmaw and Pawpaw were taking care of Brenna while we were gone.  Brenna was especially excited to have them come to "A Grand Affair" which is a special book fair shopping event for Grandparents.  Mawmaw and Brenna picked out a new book from the Lucky Stars series and Brenna has been in love with it ever since.  I especially like the books because they focus on helping others with just enough magic and make-believe to make things interesting and fun!  Stella Starkeeper is a Lucky Star that uses magic to grant wishes to those in need.  So, based on a few black and white sketches and the written description we put together a Stella Starkeeper costume complete with star crown and wand!

School Spring Pictures

We took spring pictures at Adolphus our last week there. In the chaos of the move, spring pictures was the last thing on the priority list and while I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't have any for this year, it wasn't enough to matter. Lucky for us, our second week of school we also had spring pictures here in Sarnia!

Comfort Food

With just more than a month behind us in our new land, the initial shock has worn off and I finally have the peace of mind to stand back and really see what's different and what's not.  For the things that are different, I can honestly say that the good does out way the bad.  There are lots of little things, like the metric system, the French Canadian slang that the locals use, and the different Canadian creatures that visit our back yard (we have a resident woodchuck that Brenna has lovingly named Chuckular, but I'll save that for another post).  With those small things aside, there are four major differences that stand out here.  Those are the weather, the pace of living, the cost of living, and the food!

I'll start with the weather.  It's cold!!! It's cold for me especially because I like it hot!!!  It's mid-May!!! Where is Spring???  Much less Summer!!!!  As I write this its 45 degrees outside and the 5 day forecast says we won't break 65 this week!  I'm tired of wearing a coat!  I'm tired of running the heater!  The locals try to assure me that it gets hot in Sarnia.  I don't think these people have any idea what hot is!  So far this Spring has only made me afraid of what the winter will be like for this Southerner!

The move has dramatically slowed down our pace of life.  Things here are very laid back and easy going.  This pace stretches to the businesses and the schools also.  There's not that much to do in Sarnia, but even it there was it wouldn't open until 10 AM and then it would close at 6 PM.  We do have a movie theater, but it's only open in the afternoons after 6 PM and on weekends after 11 AM.  Having reaped the benefits of the Palladium, which was just steps from our front door, this came as a shock to me.  Coming from Houston, we're used to things being available 24/7, and that's definitely not the case here.

School here runs from the beginning of September all the way through the end of June, but they do get a lot more time off than we did in the States.  Even the school day itself is very "cushy" with playground time before school, two recesses during school, and two lunches.  They even provide swim lessons as part of their PE curriculum.  So, once a week for the last two hours of school, Brenna's class gets bused to the local community center for swim instruction.  Needless to say, Brenna loves everything about her new school!

At work, Jacob also get additional time off with more holidays.  They also have a fantastic benefit called "Happy Friday" where salary employees who usually work more than the standard 8 hour day, gets one Friday a month off to compensate for their overtime!  Unfortunately, Jacob may not be able to to reap the full benefit of "Happy Friday" because of his specific job, but it should at least make for some short-day Fridays!

The cost of living is expensive.  Some laughable examples of this are that everything at the Dollar Tree costs $1.25.  Also, the first time I went shopping, I thought it was odd that the cashier asked if I would need bags, since I didn't bring my own and obviously had more than I could carry.   Then I discovered that they charge you for every plastic bag you use! You learn to bag your groceries with efficiency!  This is specifically troublesome since our grocery list has increased in the base case.  There's not a lot a variation to their food venues here, so we don't go out to eat often.  So, I cook a lot!  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner!  Since school doesn't start until 8:45 AM, Brenna has time to eat breakfast every morning (not something we did in Houston).  I also pack lunches for both Jacob and Brenna everyday.  It's a necessity for both because Jacob can't get away for lunch because of time/convenience and the schools in Canada don't have cafeterias.  And finally, I cook dinner every weekday night, and then take the weekends off.

So that brings us to the food!  There's not a big selection of restaurants here, and don't expect to find any international food options.  I miss Papasittos, Papadeauxs, Carrabbas, and PF Changs!  We hear that there is a bigger selection in London (more than an hour away) and Toronto (3 hours away), but that's not helping us here in Sarnia!  The idea of a day-trip for dinner isn't exactly appealing to me, not even on the weekend.  Once again, oh how we were spoiled with the convenience of Houston!  So the lack of flavor has driven me to cook some of my favorite dishes. Things that I may not have cooked as often in the past, because homemade from scratch takes a lot of time and effort and why bother when I could get something just as good from a local restaurant right down the street.  Now there's no more "just as good" or "right down the street"!  So we've cooked a lot of comfort food in the last month.  Things like Taco Soup and Savory Taco Cupcakes (for Cinco de Mayo), Fried Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce, Spicy Mexican Shells, Blackened Mahi Mahi, and Grandmaws Chicken Pie.

Here's something I never thought I would say, but I've enjoyed it!  The days are longer here, which gives us lots of time in the afternoons.  We don't feel as rushed to get through homework, dinner, and bedtime routine.  Brenna helps with dinner everyday and it's turned into a fun time for me and her.  Last week while we were cooking Grandmaw's Chicken Pie, I decided to pick up my camera snap a few shots.

We stared off rolling out the dumplings.  It took a while.  We like them thin and fluffy!

Easter

Easter was a low key affair for us this year.  Things were still a little out of sorts.  We haven't settled into a church yet, but for Easter we went back to a church that we had already visited with.  The service was nice, but it made me miss our church and our pastor back home.  There were other incidentals that weren't quite with tradition this year.  Brenna always dyes Easter eggs with Mawmaw.  Because of the move, we didn't catch them for a Spring visit this year.  Also, we usually put up a Easter tree, but again since I had just managed to get everything tucked away where it was suppose to be, we didn't get that out either.  Since our old neighborhood had an egg hunt every year, Brenna was disappointed that our new area doesn't do those kinds of activities.  I know this is all just a part of the change and next year will be different.

On Good Friday we started the day by dying Easter eggs.  Since Brenna usually does it with Mawmaw, this was my first time in several years to do it with her.  We did have lots of egg hunts, but mostly inside because it was just too cold to get out.

Dr. Seuss Day

I was a little disappointed that I missed out on Read Across America this year.  For those that don't know, Read Across America is celebrated in March across the US in honor of Dr. Seuss's Birthday.  I've taken part in Read Across America for years.  It was one of the first "extracurricular" activities that I became a part of when I first started at ExxonMobil.  We partnered with elementary school's across the area and served as guest readers.  After reading to countless classes over the years, I was very excited to finally get to read for my own child's class.  So excited that I ended up leading the program last year for the kindergarten's.  It was a lot of fun for them and me and I looked forward to doing a similar program this year for our first graders.  Unfortunately, Read Across America was the same week that Jacob and I were in Canada on the house hunting trip, and without a volunteer to lead the program it was dubbed as part of the spring book fair with no special hoopla.

So, I was thrilled to hear that Canada has a similar celebration called Dr. Seuss Day, where the kids get to pick their favorite Dr. Seuss character and dress up.  I tried to talk Brenna into Sam I Am, since Green Eggs and Ham is her favorite Dr. Seuss book, but she asked to be The Cat in the Hat.  Then, just two days before, she decided she wanted to be Sally!  I thought that was a great idea, so we rummaged through her closet until we found a very Sally-ish outfit and completed it with her classic top-of-the-head bow.  However, before we left for school we had to winter-proofed the outfit.  She's the only Sally that ever had to wear a snow bib and snow boots, but we made it work.  Here's some pics I snapped before school!  Pickles always gets in on the action!

Canada, eh!

Oh my, where to begin?  Way back in October we received our first indication that a job transfer was in our future, expected sometime in early 2014.  Based on several factors, we initially thought we would be headed east to Baton Rouge.  So, for 4 months I searched the Baton Rouge real estate and researched schools with the anticipation that we would finish out Brenna's first grade year in Louisiana.  Christmas came and went with no further word on the new assignment.  Just when we were beginning to think that things may be slipping into the summer (which would have made for an easier move) we got the call.  Well, I got the call after Jacob got "the talk"!  The first day of February we got a big surprise!  We found out that the South would longer be our home!  Jacob was transferred to Imperial Oil in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada!  In 2013 ExxonMobil obtained 70 percent ownership of Imperial Oil and it falls under ExxonMobil's international trade name Esso.  Jacob was appointed as the Operation Manager of the Imperial Oil Chemical Plant effective March 1st!!!

And then our world was turned upside down!

To be honest, my initial reaction wasn't great!  All of you know I'm a planner and Canada was no where in my plan!  But, God knows better than I do, and oh boy did He have a plan for us!  After I had time to let the reality of the situation set in, I had no doubts that He was putting us where we needed to be, but this has been a practice of faith.  Between Jacob and me, the oil and gas industry has taken us from Mississippi to Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas, and Texas.  But, this would be our first time out of the Southeast United States and the culture that we knew.

When we moved to Houston, Brenna wasn't even 2 years old and still very much a baby.  That move had no impact on her.  We've always been very honest with her about the fact that one day we would have to move.  With Jacob's job, movement is inevitable and while its not the kind of life he or I knew as children, it's the life we have.  When we broke the news to Brenna, of course her initial reaction was no better than mine!  LOL!  Can't really blame her for that!  But after talking things through she quickly picked up a positive attitude about the change.  Her biggest concern was leaving behind her friends.  We've grown so close to our "extended" family in Houston and I knew saying goodbye would be hard for both her and us.  But, we tried our best to look ahead to the new exciting changes that were coming.  Brenna has never seen snow and her favorite place is the beach.  Sarnia provides the best of both worlds for her.  Sarnia is located on one of the Great Lakes, Lake Huron.  So summers will be spent at the beach and obviously our winters will provide plenty of snow!  We even stopped in for a hockey game at Memorial City so Brenna could see the new (to us) sport of hockey.

Initially, there wasn't much we could do until Jacob's Visa was approved, so the first few weeks after we found out were spent preparing for the move.  It was a crazy race to purge the house of all unnecessary things.  The old saying is true, everything is bigger in Texas, especially the houses!  I knew that a portion of our stuff would have to be stored while we were away in Canada and that we would likely be downsizing.  After giving away, donating, and selling a ton of stuff, it was all to make room for a new bulky winter wardrobe!  My shopping suddenly included snow boots, snow pants, parkas, and insulating base layers!  Most of our winter clothes are now rated for 40 below!  And its a good thing too, because when the Visa was finally approved Jacob and I paid our first visit to Canada.  It was very cold and snowy!  It was a hectic week, but we manage to find a house and a school and get the basics set up for our permanent return in a few weeks.

Houston Rockets Basketball Season

It was another great basketball season at the YMCA this year!  Brenna sure will miss Saturdays with the Sanfords!  She did great and its amazing to watch the improvement in her.  She loves athletics and continues to improve her speed, coordination, and ability with each season we play.  This year we were the home team, Houston Rockets!  Here's a few of the highlights from the season.

The Run Down

1st Grade Hoedown!

I'm a little disappointed in myself.  I'm moving into my 5th year of blogging and I've never missed a month until February!  The "why" is a big deal and something I want to save for a post all on its own.  That will come a little later.  But, before I miss another month I want to catch up on what's been going on here!

Brenna had her first ever school dance, the Adolphus Rocking Rodeo Hoedown!  She may have had more fun that I did at my Senior Prom!  There was dancing, hula hoops, jump ropes, limbo, and games!  Brenna got all dressed-up in her cowgirl duds and we had dinner with friends and then headed to the dance!

Ringing in the New Year

We rang in the New Year snug and warm, snoozing away in our beds!  But we did manage to squeeze in some daylight fun with friends to celebrate the occasion!  Brenna attended a New Years party at one of her friends house and her mom passed along a few pictures from their day!

Blessington Farms

The day after Christmas we made a trip to Blessington Farms for some Christmas strawberries.  We visited Blessington in the Spring, but we were never able to pick strawberries because they were all picked out!  This time we got there right as it opened and were some of the first in the field.  The weather was beautiful and the temperature was just right.  The strawberries are amazingly sweet!

Roller Skating

Just before Christmas, Brenna attended a friends roller skating party.  This was her first time to visit a roller skating rink and she loved it!  There were several wipe outs, but no tears.  She quickly moved from the skate walker to independent skating.  I even rented a pair and did a little skating myself.  Turns out, its like riding a bike!  You never forget how!  And I'm proud to say I had no falls, which is good because not only would it have been embarrassing, I'm certain some injury would have likely occurred.  There would have been a lot more hitting the floor than there was 20 years ago!  Brenna enjoyed it so much that she's already asking to go back, so I see return trip in our future.

Kansas City Soccer - The Best Season Yet!

While looking ahead to the upcoming basketball season, I realized I never closed out our 2013 Soccer season.  The season ended in November, but with all the rush of the holidays, somehow I missed posting our team pictures.  This season was our best yet, with an actual winning record!  Brenna enjoyed it as always and we're so proud of our little athlete!