love this

Sunday afternoon

It was a fairly nice Sunday afternoon and we headed to Thetis Lake to take the kids fishing.  

 while i was taking photos of the kids a kind stranger asked if we'd like one with all of us.

would have turned out quite nice if Kamo hadn't had that nasty cough.

 i think she almost caught her brother instead of a fish.

and the bear of course had to show us some tricks.

isn't Kamo strong holding up that log for him?

we were reminded of my cousin Frank's "non-fishing", seeing as once again we didn't' catch anything.  Ret was really looking forward to some fish for dinner.  it was only until later in the evening that i realized we really weren't very hopeful going in seeing as we didn't bring anything to transport our catch home or a knife or anything.  maybe next time we'll come prepared and come home with some dinner.

i can never go without exclaiming how beautiful it is there, no matter what time of year.  

Happy Valentines Day (a wee bit late)

Valentines day.  The day of love.

We don’t celebrate it much around here (that’s a pretty big understatement) After the year of the exacto knife it kind of fell apart.  As well as the fact that it’s a commerecial holiday chocked full of expense.

And yet when it falls short I end up feeling disappointed and I deserve more.  Thanks Hallmark.

Well I got taught a lesson this year.  It might make me stop complaining for awhile.

Ret celebrated his first valentines day.  He has just started school.  Been there for 3 days.  I did my best to explain to him what this holiday was all about.  Giving to others.  Showing love..  we went to the store and he happily and bravely picked out his spider man cards.  He didn’t really know what was going on but knew he like spiderman or itsy bitsy spider as he likes to call him.   He took his time and neatly signed his name to each card.

The moment of truth came after school that day.  He came out looking tired after his first week of school, and proudly held up his paper bag of valentines.  He looked up at me and said “ mae , I have something in here for you.”  I thought they had made something in class.   He couldn’t wait to get to the car.  We were barely in the car , he was standing there the door wide open and digging through that bag.  Proudly he handed me a bag of gumballs, attached was a note from a new friend.   Then he dug some more and gave to sundee.   Next he presented a ricekrispie square for ndatay (dad) bcause he knew dad loved them.  Finally I got him buckled and we started to drive.  He says’  mae, the gum is for you and to share with willow” .  Because he couldn’t see anything else in his bag.  We drove some more.  He so happy with life.

A little while more he says. “mae, I think I have a master pop( lollipop) in my bag, is it ok if I give it to Kamo?”

His first valentines, given a bag full of gifts and what does he do?

He makes sure that first he gives to all of his family.

What does this teach us of love?

firsts.

We still get to celebrate lots of exciting firsts.

this weekend was the first ever Family Day in BC.

there was a lot of pressure to make it special and to do something worth writing about......

well we didn't live up to this pressure, but i'll write about it anyway.

 we had a plan but the weather did not cooperate.  we all piled into the van and drove to our destination and then ended up driving back home.

Plan B turned out to be a good plan.

we made a fire and cooked up some delicious smores.

                 today we had a very exciting first of Ret's first day of school!

He was excited, nervous and a little bit scared.  all of your normal expected emotions.  after the day was over he was excited and happy.  he told me all about his day, the homework he needed to do and quite happily completed, and the funny way his teacher makes them be quiet.
I think he will do very well at school and be a great student and friend.


On a side note:  both boys have grown over an inch since they have been here.

...look what they can do

Ride his scooter

 

awesome bike tricks 

get dressed up like a shepherd by my sister

make the most of all the cars that have been given us!! 

                            Willow counted 75 cars on the floor.