Thursday, September 17, 2009

Fundraising time!

We love our elementary school. It's tiny, which means that it is incredibly supportive of the children that attend it. It stays open pretty much solely on the support of the parents and the fundraising that our PAC does (not that they're allowed to buy things for educational purposes, of course). We have Entertainment books for sale right now ($46) and Values books ($20 - the smaller version which is mostly family oriented coupons...none of the fancy restaurant stuff). We can even sell them to you for any region of North America that you happen to live in (with varying prices). We also have Dominoes Pizza coupons. (For $10, you get a 'free' medium pizza, plus a bunch of other coupons that are mostly two for one.) If any of these sound appealing to you, please let us know and we will gladly let you know how to purchase!



Thank you.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Summer Update (with plenty of pics!)

Summer school was incredibly stressful, but it's over now - yay! We discovered that Jade has my hair - we put her in curlers overnight right after a shower, and there wasn't a curl to be seen when the curlers came out! Quentin had a birthday party in July with the hopes that lots of his classmates could make it...we got less than half, but they had a lot of fun. They decorated their own goody bags and sun hats and had a blast! We took a week to go to the Island to visit Victoria, Tofino, and family (in Crofton and Campbell River). Jade made friends with a 'statue' in Victoria - long conversation one day when we didn't have a camera on us. We visited him the next day during busy time for the picture and got him a ton of business with everyone else getting their kids' pictures taken too. He was really nice so we were happy to help him out that way! Both children loved the museum (and the frozen mammoth slobber!), got followed by tv cameras at the petting zoo, and thoroughly enjoyed staying in a 'fancy hotel.' While we had fun camping and at the beach, Jade picked up the bacteria from Tofino that's been there a few years now. It's a strain of the flesh-eating type. She's felt fine and happy the whole time, and antibiotics cleared out the bacteria, but she's still got scars from the rash which we hope will disappear over time. Quentin turned six when we returned. We went to the Aquarium for our annual birthday trip and saw the second baby beluga. I got my wisdom teeth out - complete with dry sockets and migraines (which I had never experienced before). I got a job teaching Chemistry for two months, and teaching English for the eight months following that at a different school. So far, so good. Quentin has enjoyed his first week of grade one, although we're not positive who his teacher is at this point. There are fewer Kindergarteners this year than last, so they've had to split up the grade ones. Hopefully we'll find out very soon whether he's in the K/1 class, or the 1/2 class. Jade cannot handle the wait for when she gets to go to Quentin's daycare and school too, even though she does like her daycare. I chopped my hair again to donate another ponytale to make a wig for someone suffering from cancer. (It takes seven ponytales to make one wig for someone, so if you haven't dyed your hair and would be willing to cut off an eight-inch ponytale for a good cause, please consider it!) We sprayed the stucco on our house in two goes during the summer. Tyler replaced the carport ceiling, and when he finished that, it got painted and we rolled paint on the stucco in the carport. This weekend we're finishing the trim on the house. It's looking fabulous, if I say so myself! I'll post a picture soon. In the meantime...





Jade with the curlers...

Jade after the curlers...


Our son's idea of clothes that match...


Bob from Monsters vs. Aliens


The birthday party...



Our good friends Grady and Cole joining us. They used to be in daycare with Quentin and Jade, but moved to a daycare close to home in the Spring. It was great to see them again! (Jade plans on marrying one of them when they are all grown up.)



Our goofball...


Jade enjoyed the sprinkler this summer...


The mammoth! They had ice on the walls, and Jade was convinced it was frozen mammoth slobber.


Jade and Daddy in front of the Empress...



Petting goats. This one is named Lily. Lily was always my favourite goat when I'd visit Taira in Victoria 10 years ago. Somehow, I don't think this is the same one.



Jade and her statue friend...



Playing with some bull-whip kelp on the beach at Tofino...



Twilight in Campbell River...