Friday, October 28, 2011

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Fall Fun

Alright, I know that is a lame title.

A few family events have come and gone with very little fanfare on the old blog. This post feels a bit like a plate of leftovers warmed up in the microwave. I apologize upfront for the hodgepodge.

Lukey came home with a sheet of paper in the first two weeks of school sometime with instructions on the new "star of the week" program. Each week, one kid is the STAR (cue child feeling very special and important amongst their peers). There a few perks of being the STAR. Reservations at the front of every line (and they are kindergarten kids, so there are lots of lines). Pick of the carpets spots. First choice in centres at centre-time. Very VIP.

The bonus for the parents of the STAR is the task of creating the STAR board. My initial reaction to this was mild irritation, particularly since the kids' last names appear early alphabetically and this meant we were on for the second STAR of the week spot. I ordered pictures from London Drugs. I got out my glue stick. We made two little mini-posters of Lukey's life.

I was left with two observations. The first was gratitude to the teacher for making us do it. It was fun and now it will go on Lukey's bedroom wall, which is cool. The second was feeling like that little dude has a pretty great life with lots of people who love him and tons of neat experiences.

Here is Lukey in front of his display:




At the end of his presentation, Lukey took comments and questions. Every single one was about the picture of him cleaning crab in Point Roberts.

Last weekend was the Delta Fire Department Open House at Eric's home hall. You cannot have Lukey in your family and NOT attend this event. He digs this stuff BIG TIME. So we trooped out to North Delta for hot dogs and Krispy Kreme doughnuts (hey, I thought firefighters were supposed to be healthy?) and a demonstration of all the fun toys firefighters get to play with.

Here's a shot of the kids watching Eric cut up a car. I have to admit, it was pretty darn awesome.


They get those plastic hats every time. It doesn't get old.


We rushed home that night to attend our co-op's potluck evening. Molly and Eric missed it, but Finny and Lukey and I had a great time. I skipped the food (never have been a huge fan of the randomness of a potluck. I don't really enjoy a meal that has ribs, potstickers, macaroni and a chocolate haystack cookie hanging out on the same plate...just saying...). I was one of two people on face painting duty, which was cool until I saw the other woman in action. She was essentially a professional. I resigned on the spot. There was lantern making and a pinata.

Behold some of our co-op neighbours:


The line-up for the pinata. Bizarrely, I have raised two children who have single-minded focus on pinata destruction and one who won't hit a pinata with a face. Two guesses who is who...


This week was the big City Meet for cross-country. Both Molly and Finny competed in all four mini meets leading up to the big one. They were fantastic. Molly improved dramatically over the course of the meets, but didn't achieve her goal of breaking the Top 16 (and therefore getting a numbered ribbon).  She was a bit disappointed, but she loves cross country and runs like a happy gazelle. She finished 130th in the big meet, which was a great result in a field of over 300.



Finny was hilarious at the mini meets. She ran her race of one giant lap, then ran Molly's race as well. An extra lap and a half. She finished each of her races with what looked like energy to burn. Her results this year ranged from 4th to 11th in the mini meets. She was determined to have a great race at the City Meet.

Sadly, she fell close to the start. Not only did she go down, someone else went down on top of her. She had a shoe mark on her temple...! She picked herself up and still finished 20th in the city. She was choked, but I was so proud of the heart it took to carry on and make up so much ground.


Lukey, Eric and I were proud cheerleaders.



Finally, today we ventured out to the Westham Island Herb farm to get our pumpkins. Despite the insane amount of mud and my total lack of adequate preparation for said mud, we had a great time with our friends the Warringtons.

Did I mention it was muddy?



The kids each picked out a pumpkin and I slipped around taking pictures. Seriously slippery mud.


Westham Island is the best place in the Lower Mainland to go to the pumpkin patch. They do such a great job and all you pay for is the pumpkins.



Despite the promise of rain (both the forecast and the ominous sky), we stayed dry.


My inappropriate shoes, however, were soaked. Evidence of my poor planning below:





Alright. End of mishmash post.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Quick practice run around Douglas Park. Good work, girls!








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone