Obsession...

My little guy has been obsessed with tape lately.  I should've bought shares in 3M apparently!  Little Man is having a blast wrapping up everything in the house.  He has used up most of my wrapping paper and when he ran out of that he started wrapping things up in blankets.  yup.  I consider it cheap entertainment for a 3 year old!

Surprise, Surprise...

Here I was, sitting at my computer when I should've been sewing.  BUT, if I had been sitting in my sewing room, sewing away, I wouldn't have heard the knock on the door that brought a pleasant surprise to my day!  My friend, Rhonda, drove all the way out from Chilliwack to drop off a giftie for ME!  Why?  I have no idea...the card says 'Thanks for being You'....well, Rhonda, I say thanks for being YOU!  You brought a smile to face and a bright spot in my day.  I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I appreciate it!  You have always been a generous person.  I love, LOVE the gifties.  A beautiful fall wall hanging that will inspire me to stitch waaaay more neater, and a book that's been on my "I 'need'" list for awhile now! (After all, I am a Farmer's Wife.....) Well, now that I'm inspired, I'd better go sew...

Still Proud to be a Canuck...

Ack, this is a hard post to write.  I had planned to write up a post on our infamous Canucks and all the joy and fun they've brought to us hockey fans lately.  The orginal post would've been all about how 'we' won the Stanley cup after 40 years of trying, blah, blah, blah. 
Plan B was to write about how 'that's ok, we still made it this far and we're so proud, blah, blah, blah'. 
Plan C...here it goes...
Well, we didn't with the Cup (duh).  But, we did end up with a trashed out city and a lot of negative news coverage.  Fair enough.  But, BUT...we are still proud to be Canadian and still proud of our 'Boys in Blue'!  We are NOT proud of the post-game idiocy displayed.  We are disgusted with some of our fellow Vancouverites.  We want them held accountable for their actions.  We want them to pay for the clean up.  We want them to serve jail time.  We want them fined.  We want them to know how they've embarassed our country and our hockey team.  We want them to know they are not representatives of our Canucks at all.  They are not fans, they are troublemakers.  As to the 'man' who was pictured lighting a rag stuffed into the gas tank of a police car who is now sobbing and seeking forgiveness for his apalling display of rebellion, I have no respect for you.  How ironic that since you've been caught on tape and your identity has been revealed to be that of a potential Olympic contender in water polo, you see the error of your ways.  Guess what buddy?  I say the best punishment for you is to be denied the right to represent your fellow Canadians at any upcoming Olympics. Ever.  Forgiveness: Yes.  Consequences: Absolutely! 
Kudos to the real fans who went in masses to clean up the city.  You are true Canadians and true Canucks!   
Ok, all that being said, we still enjoyed our run for the Cup!  It was such a great time of community and family.  We enjoyed the juggle of calendar life to accomodate the hockey games and all the crazy puck drop times.   I enjoyed making a ton of meals to pack up and go to whomever was nice enough to host us in front of their big screen tv's!  We enjoyed flying the flag on our car.  We enjoyed wearing blue and green as much as possible!  We enjoyed the parade's on South Fraser Way following each victory!  Some say hockey is all consuming, I say it is an opportunity to embrace a fun, patriotic event!  We created some great memories through these last few months.  We spent wonderful time with friends and family.  Sure we're a little sad that we didn't win the cup, but we're also decent enough to admit that Boston is a great team and, in my opinion, was the better hockey team this time around!  We even gave their goalie a standing 'O' when they recieved the cup!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Canucks boys, but fair is fair.
So...so long playoffs.  It's been fun...we'll do it all again next year! (only we'll win;)

Some GOOD memories from the playoff season...
What would playoffs be without playoff beards?  Huge tradition here in Vancouver...grow your beard until your team is done...wow, this year the beards got bushy.  I kept telling my brother that with the last name McIntosh, and a bushy red beard, he looked like a Scottish clansmen during playoff season!  Way to go Dave...but, for the record, I love you just the way you are!

Even our local coffee chain gets in on the action...there was window art and the famous 'Canucks' donuts!

Everybody has their favourite Canucks logo...mine is the old school 'Halloween' logo that's black, orange and yellow, and Rob likes the Orca logo...

The kids were all in canucks mode...from T-shirts, to hockey sticks (that I tripped over on a daily basis around the house) to face paint and home made signs....

Going over to guests homes was always fun...even home decor was Canucks style!

The purchase of the Canucks flag for the car was an investment in family fun!  Isaac spent many quiet moments in his car seat watching that flag fly!  Mind you, he also screamed in his car seat all the way home when he rolled down the window and bumped the flag off in the middle of an intersection in town!  Uncle Ken rescued the day by showing up with a brand-spankin' new flag for the kids and smiles were restored once again!

Thanks to the 'Boys in Blue' for another memorable hockey season!  Next year:  Same Time, First Place! 

GO CANUCKS GO!!!

One of these years...

One of these years I'm going just go ahead and do it.  It won't be for awhile.  It's not really bothering me.  It's not really a NEED, vs a want, but it is an item I'd like to check off my 'to do/acquire' list.  I've never had one, but I'd like at least 2.  And, I'd like them to match.  Curious?  I'd like an end table.  There, I said it.  There are just some things in a home that finish it off well.  Nevermind the fact that there might be 1970's blinds and light fixtures that need to be replaced.  Nevermind that we have always used t.v.trays for end tables.  Nevermind that wallpaper still needs to be stripped, drapes need replacing...yah, the list goes on.  We're getting there, one room at a time.  One day I'll take the time to do a series of entries on the rennovations we've done.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not ungrateful. But if you know me, you know how I love a warm, inviting home.  I spend a huge majority of my time at home and I love it to be a place that welcomes both visitors and my own family.  So, I was dreaming the other day and took a look at a few end table potentials.  Here's a few pics of the current end tables (insert shudder here) , and then a look at some potentials. 

The 'current'...and I do the term lightly...

The Potentials...
These ones have beautiful, warm wood...and a bonus place for my son to 'hide'...

 This ones calls out to my inner shabby chic self...but reminds me how much 'fun' it would be to dust...

This one is more contemporary...

 Love the size and simplicity of this one...

Makin' Good on a Promise...

Olivia's school is a big supporter of local events, and especially charity events.  For 12 consecutive years, King Traditional has participated in the annual Abbotsford Police Challenge Run.  This year was the 20th anniversary of this event.  Our local police raise money for The ALS Society, United Way, and the Special Olympics.  Last year Olivia brought home all the paperwork for the event and asked me to do it with her.  I had been stepping it up in terms of trying to stay in shape and felt like I could do it with her, until we realized the day of the run was the same day that I had to be in a sale at a local fair that I had already comitted to.  Olivia was really disappointed and asked me to promise to do the run with her next year...which brings us to the here and now.  I had completely forgotten all about this.  But, sure enough, first week of school she came home with all the registration info and reminded me about my promise.  There was a part of me that thought she needed to understand that I wasn't up for it this year.  I'm still nursing an injury from ball this past spring, and I hadn't been doing great with my running.  But, the promise prevailed.  This wasn't about my ability.  This was about keeping my promise to my daughter.  We would only be doing the 5km...not the 10km.  I knew deep down that I could easily walk it if I had to.  But, with only 2 weeks notice, I dragged myself out to the track 3 times each week until I was up to running 4.5 km at a time...I know, peanuts for some of ya'll, but huge for me. 

So, we did it.  One week ago today. The rain held off, our bibs were pinned in place, our micro-chips attached to our shoes and away we went.  There were approx. 100 participants alone from our school, winning us the award for the highest represented school at the run for the 12th year straight.  Olivia will tell you that I held her back...that's her story and she's stickin to it.  She managed to beat me by a full minute.  But, I did it....and, I managed to run most of it.  A few short walk breaks prevailed, but all in all I ran.  I had a fellow friend, Sarah, along to keep me encouraged and running when our kids took off on us.
Now, posting these pics kill me.  I look absolutely awful...but, it's a memory made that's worth the hit to my pride.  So, don't look close, just look at Livi..and the smile of accomplishment on her face!  Hubby and 2 youngest were there to cheer us on through the last stretch..and snap away with the camera of course.   Next year you ask?  Absolutely...and I'm going to beat my time by at least 5 minutes.  That's my promise to myself!

We managed to find a couple of friends from church who participated in the run too...so here's a shot of the Heritage Gang!

Sayanora...

This morning we said goodbye to some special girls who were our houseguests for the past week.  I mentioned Ririsa and Ayumi in my previous post.  We hope these girls had a good experience here in Canada and in our home.  We were able to do some fun things together.  We've been told in the past that these students are here to observe the life of a typical Canadian family.  For us this meant a week of regular things such as housework, cooking, yardwork, driving, relaxing and spending time together.  It also meant lots of entertaining, fun, and a few special outings.  This past Friday we were treated to a Sayanora Party where our students sang and danced for us, and expressed their appreciation to us for hosting them.  Here are a few random shots of our week with our students. Thank you for coming girls...we enjoyed having you stay with us..please come visit again!

A prezzie from Mom...

My mom is a great gift giver! She always THINKS she is taking a gamble on a gift, but she always gives me beautiful, and personal gifts! A few weeks ago Mom and Dad were at a swap meet in Maple Ridge and mom found a building that had some neat kitchen antiques. Had I known...I would've been there!! It is hard to find cool antiques up here in Canada...they seem to be more common down in the States. Anyway, Dad had told me that Mom had found something for me at this swap meet. Mom said she didn't know if I'd even like it...but, guess what? I LOVED it!
This is an antique egg scale! My hubby says he remembers these from 'back in the day'. Being that we're egg farmers this is the perfect gift for me! I think it is so cool and I love the label on it. It fits in perfect in my kitchen...and, it works! (I had to try it out with several sizes of eggs:)
Thanks Mom...you're the bestest!

Home Away from Home...

That's what we were to 2 Japanese students last week. This was not a planned thing, rather spur of the moment, but we're sure glad we did it! Mamiko and Yukari were welcomed into our home for a 5 night homestay. These girls were wonderful and we had such a great time. Rob and I both enjoy opening our home to people so it wasn't hard to decide if we wanted to do this. It does make life really extra busy, but the experience is worth it. Our kids love being part of things as well. We enjoy the challenge of communicating, teaching Canadian culture and history, and learning about the Japanese culture in exchange. We did fairly stereo-typical 'Canadian' things with them, but they had no complaints. We made a variety of western-style food including pizza, fajitas, hot dog roast over a bonfire, meatballs, spaghetti and lots of baking. The girls really enjoyed eating cookie dough for the first time! The girls did a 'shodo' ceremony for us where they showed off their Japanese calligraphy skills. They were delightful girls and we hope they enjoyed their experience here in Canada!

For All You Poker Fans....

What's so weird about this you ask? Well....it belonged to a truck like this....




I know, I know...gotta be sinkin' to an all time low when you start bloggin' about the septic clean-out event. But hey, just another 'bonus' of livin' in the country! I mean think about that statement....yes, a flush definitely DOES beat a (backed up) full house!
I had to laugh when I saw this...I mean, you've GOTTA have a sense of humor to do this job! The guy was super nice, and chatted it up with hubby for a long time...giving us tips for an optimum running septic tank...eeewww. Anyhow, hope I made ya smile:)

Happy Birthday Boss...

So a couple of weeks ago I was surfing the universal calendar at work, making sure I hadn't missed any important dates and such, and saw 2 eye catching words. 'Mark's Birthday'. Ahhh...who is Mark you ask? My boss. The Big Cheese. Now, Mark has a great sense of humour, it's one of the reasons we work so well together. Upon noticing this upcoming event, I quickly emailed the youth pastor and suggested that we do a little 'something special' to commemorate the day. Dan was in full agreement. All we had to do was find the perfect prank! We chatted back and forth, we could jack up his car and take off all the wheels, no wait, we could get a spare set of keys from his wife and 'steal' his car, nah, lame. We could transform his office into a far-out 70's theme. Better. No wait.....we could drywall off the hall to his office so he's forced to take the looooong way (involving lots of flights of stairs and locked doors) to his office all day. YES...that's it! So, we got a crew together (thanks College & Career..you guys rock) , met late the night before his b-day and away we went. Us girls ran to town and picked up wrapping paper to wrap the french doors that lead down the hallway to his office. We also picked up some chocolate and a gift card to soften the blow a little, just in case it was a huge flop. The guys stayed back, putting their construction skills to work. It's hard to tell by the pics, but in the end, upon opening the door to the hallway to his office the next day, Mark was surprised to find himself in a closet. A closet complete with 3 walls, a mounted clothing rod and a bunch of hanging choir robes. I somehow missed getting the final product picture, but here's the gist. I'm happy to report that the prank was well received and we were only pretend fired for the day. We had fun sending people down to his office all day, only to hear an awkward silence when they opened the door only to find themselves in a newly constructed closet. Mark got his exercise that day, and we all had a good laugh. We did have a card and cake too. Thanks for being such a great sport Mark. I think it would be wise at this point if Dan and I removed our birthdays from the master calendar....yah know, just in case. Oh, in case you're wondering...that's Dan sitting at MY desk, pretending to be me, and, not surprisingly, Mark fanning out the candles on his cake.

It's all in the packaging...

I have to admit it...I chose this bottle of wine almost entirely because of the label...I'm such a sucker! Ok, well now I'll defend myself and also say that I do love fruit wine, and I have been to the winery that makes this particular wine, but it was mostly for the label. There's something about the packaging that makes us buy stuff isn't there? I'm the kinda gal who appreciates an aesthetically pleasing item...in fact, I'm sure that if I did one of those tests that says what I'd be good at it would be something along these lines...maybe not wine bottles, but something. I read the back of this wine bottle and it says that the label was inspired by vintage fruit crate labels. Well, it's kind of a nothing post, but at least now I can always come back and look at this cute label without buying the wine again...because in all honesty...we thought it was so-so.

Tea Time...

Our Japanese student, Ayano, treated us to a green tea ceremony the other day. It was a neat experience for our girls, who to my surprise enjoyed the tea! Here at home we may haul out the cute tea set but I quickly fill the kettle, dip a tea bag in and we're good to go. For this tea time we watched as Ayano brought out a neatly packed box full of all kinds of utensils for the ceremony. First she made sure everything was really clean, then she carefully measured out the powder into one container, and then re-measured it into the actual bowl/cup. She carefully mixed it with what looked like a bamboo whisk. It was quite hot at first but we all took turns sipping from the cup. My inner mom was screaming that we really all shouldn't be drinking from the same cup during this crazy flu season...but the other part of me respected that this was a custom and that we were honored guests. It was a great few minutes spent making another memory. Thanks Ayano!