Just Jordan

This video is longer than I anticipated. Partly, because I had an uncooperative child. Partly, because I think said child is so darn cute and funny. More to follow on Monday!

I got my hair cut and colored on Tuesday. I wanted a fresh new look for back to school. My regular hairdresser is on maternity leave (I miss you Heidi!), so I booked myself in with someone new. On my way to the salon, I prepared myself for small talk. I am not a fan of it, so it takes a bit of a pep talk to get in the right frame of mind. When my hairdresser asked me how many kids I had, I braced myself. I had prepared for this question, so I just did it. I said two. I told her about our oldest, Calder and our youngest, Tripp. At first when I told her that Tripp  had passed away she was silent.  After a few seconds she spoke. She asked me question after question. She gave me the opportunity to share his life with her. I loved every minute. And I think because I shared my story with her, she felt safe to share hers with me. She talked about her infertility struggles and with the grief she experienced when she learned that she would never carry her own child. She told me that sh...

My computer is back up and running. It feels a bit like Christmas. Here are some of my favourite photos from our camping trip to Emerald Lake. Deena said it best in her post HERE . She also took some fabulous photos you will want to snoop at :-) Calder and I were having a bit of trouble coordinating our silly faces! The boys had been doing some SERIOUS puddle jumping (see Deena's action shots)  No, my dad wasn't there doing the rabbit ears. Apparently Hugh has joined my dad's bandwagon. Silly faces and screaming, anyone? Awesome weekend.

On Sunday Hugh and I celebrated our 6th anniversary. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary to celebrate. We woke up at Emerald Lake where we were on our weekend camping adventure with some friends*. On Saturday night Deena had promised me a good morning anniversary kiss (she was quite excited she would be around to celebrate our big day!). Deena, her daughter, Lucia, and I were all sleeping together in a tent trailer while the boys were having their adventure in tents. I didn't get my kiss from her, but I did get one from my sweetheart. Deena said she forgot! But, I think after Hugh accidentally walked in on her changing twice, she felt our family had received enough "love" from her:-) Hugh fired the trailer open the first time and the second time Deena forgot to close the trailer door! hahahaha.   Luckily for both their embarrassment factors nothing inappropriate was exposed either time! The traditional wedding anniversary gift for year 6 is iron. Hugh and I b...

Today is it. The last Friday I got to sleep in before heading back to work. I am sad, but not that sad. Hugh and I have headed into our respective schools every day this week. We have been putting in shorter days (about 9 am to 3 pm) and heading out for lunch a few of the days. It has been a great way to get back to into the swing of things. I have got a ton of work accomplished and feel really good. I really do like a routine. And for whatever reason I wasn't able to get into one this summer. It is nice to be back in a bit of a groove.  Today we decided that we weren't going to go in to work. We have some BIG plans for the weekend and we wanted to get started on them (will post about it next week!). Right now I am enjoying a coffee (GASP. I know. Shouldn't be drinking because of my acid reflux. But seriously, it is my LAST Friday off. I needed a treat.) and some peanut butter toast*. A deadly combination as far as I am concerned. I am then going to summon my inner supe...

I had baking to get done last night. I wanted to make some muffins and cookies for the weekend. The weather COMPLETELY cooperated giving me thunder, lightning, hail, and sheets of rain as my backdrop while I worked in the kitchen. Calder couldn't get enough of the storm. He was running from one side of the house to the other checking out the different views! Then when he saw the fun I was having in the kitchen he came to be my helper. He stirred for a bit and while I grabbed the chocolate chips, Calder opened a jar of sprinkles that, for some reason unbeknownst to me, happen to be sitting by my bowl of cookie dough. Calder put his little hand underneath the open jar and poured. And poured. And poured. By the time I turned around, half the jar were on the counter (or the floor).  There were about 14 sprinkles in his hand. After Hugh cleaned up the mess :-) I put my first sheet of cookies in the oven and noticed a couple of balloons on the counter. It took some serious lung power...

Just over 10 years ago I sat in a living room where the ashes of someone I knew and loved sat on a side table. Up until that point I had only encountered urns in movies. In movies urns were always depicted to be creepy and morbid, or they were part of a comedy of errors ending up smashed on a floor. The ashes on that table weren't there for a wake. They were part of that family's home, part of that family's daily life. I remember having trouble coming up with how I felt about it at the time. The part of me trained by movies to think that an urn is morbid, was confused by the part of me who loved the person contained in that box. It didn't feel morbid, but it did feel strange and I think it's because I wasn't sure how to act around that urn. I wasn't sure if I should acknowledge it or if I should even look at. Death was not something I had experience with, nor was it something that I talked about.  And because of this I was clueless when it came to how I ...

Hugh, Calder and I have spent the last two glorious weeks of our holiday at the lake. We spent time canoeing, reading, fishing, swimming and of course, playing monster trucks. My brother, Luke, had taken my dad's boat on a trip north of LaRonge with his girlfriend, Brittany, and her family on the middle weekend of our holiday. The plan was for him to return it on the Sunday so we could use it during our last week at the lake. Because of unforeseen circumstances (including multiple flat tires, a bent trailer axel and what I presume is ALOT of swearing) Luke, understandably, wasn't able to get the boat back to us. We had the canoe, but apparently we needed a boat with a motor, or so my dad thought, because he brought us his 14 foot aluminum fishing boat and a 20 horsepower motor to get us out on the water. He got it there Monday night just as Calder was going to bed and both he and Hugh figured they better use the last hour or so of daylight to get some fishing in. I, not wan...

My mind has not been focused on blogging. My lack of posting makes that statement obvious.  During the school year I have oodles of time in my own head. On the way to and from work I am always thinking about how I feel and formulating blog posts (along with developing lessons, organizing our lives, and meal planning!). I have found during the summer I have NO time alone, so I have felt scrambly trying to formulate something to write in the evening. Even though I have more time to write, I don't enjoy writing when it feels like I have nothing planned to say. I think for the next few weeks I am going to step back a bit from my blog. I will still post occasionally, but I am not going to write just so I can get my four posts out a week. I am going to write when it really feels like I have something to say. • • • Conversation between my brother and Calder: Luke: Calder, what do you want to be when you grow up? Calder: looks to Uncle Luke and puts four fingers in the air. L...

The two weeks of Vancouver 2012 I spent glued to my couch. I watched every single moment. I was on maternity leave and took full advantage. I actually felt sorry for people who had to go to work and were missing all of the record breaking accomplishments by Canadian athletes. I would watch the events live during the day and then the re-cap with Hugh in the evening. I seriously could not get enough. These Olympics are no different. I love watching any event. I especially love watching athletes have their dreams come true. In the last few days, I have had more tears of happiness come to my eyes than I have in a long time. I just can't fathom training your whole life for one thing and then have your success rest on one competition. I know the Olympics aren't everything, but they are pretty darn big. My favorite moments so far are: 1.    Antoine Valois-Fortier's bronze medal performance in judo. He wasn't even supposed to be anywhere near the top 10 and had caused ups...