Incognito

Macie came home from school one day and said that the boys that walk her home were mean to her. SO the next day dad and Wade were on a mission. Spy on the walkers and see how the escorts treat their precious cargo.
While we were parked, i look back a Wade and say, "Put these on and act causal. This is how spy's do it."
Wade was stoked and joined me in the moment.

The mission did not recover any evidence of malpractice from the two guides, so we closed the case.

Mark and Wade out!

Another House for Sale

Thank-you Cold Lake for all the memories, the beautiful lake, provincial park, the beach, the amazing summers, the good schools, the wonderful teachers, the welcoming ward (yes i said Ward),  the lack of wind, and the awesome parent centre.
The cold winters will not be missed, and neither will the pigeons.....
We bought this house in October 2015, when there was only one other family in the cul-de-sac, and now there are 6 families including us, and 3 years later we are listing it and saying good bye.
Together we took a barren lot with only a house and landscaped the yard, built a deck, and a fence, and grew one garden. There was a bit of blood, lots of sweat, and much children whining. Its location was optimal..Macie just hops the fence and walks to school. Our Neighbour are pretty awesome.
Our house kept us warm, dry and safe.  Our back yard hosted a few parties, where we were able to enjoy our tremendous friends that we have made during our stay.

huge back yard

Kalindas Retreat

Forced Children's retreat

Dance Recital Dress

Another year gone by and and another dance recital coming up shortly. Macie loves to dance and getting her costumes is another favourite thing of hers.

looking very grown up

PHOTO BOMB WADE

Kansas Photo Dump

Here are some super cute pictures of our little sweet heart

her new hat and stylish drool bandana

our little messy eater-Focus Fidget!!

Reading at Library

Shopping with Mom

Sunday Best

COLD LAKE SWIMMING LESSSONS

Cold lake sure struggles in the swimming lesson program.
Lets start at the beginning
Macie is a very strong swimmer. She is fearless in the water and is fully capable of serious swimming
She passed level 1 first time no problems
Level 2 has been a total bummer. The coaches are teenaged snowflakes. Macie has taken level 2 twice  this year and has failed both times. First time the coach indicated that she could not complete certain swims that she was able to complete in level 1??? figure that out. The second time the coach was a nice guy but spent more time looking at his notes and speaking french to the one kid in his class than he did with the other students. Macie got like 5 min out 30 minuts swim time. and the coach would barley look at her. There was no stopping and showing, or explaining her mistakes so she could improve.  well when we thought it was test day, Macie worked her tail off and went the distance and completed the forms required, but the substitute did not pass her. it was very weird. When the sub was questioned as to why Macie failed again, she said that the other coach completed the test scores which take into account the whole 6 weeks...BLAAA
Well no more swimming lessons in Cold Lake- Come on Lethbridge....

Wade did well in Salamanders and was abel to pass his second round. He is doing well under water retrieving rings and listening to coach.

They both worked very hard to listen and to pass. Regardless of the outcome we are proud of these kids

Macie Level 2 Exam with Sub

Wade Splish Splash Salamanders

Keeping Active in the Cold Weather

This weekend, we kept ourselves active even though it was cold. Friday night was ice skating at the out door rink under the lights. It has been a few weeks since our last skating outage, so it was time to get the kids out and practicing their skills.

They both did so good. Macie is really getting the hang of it and falling with grace. She is starting to speed up and using her edges to push off.
Wade did not have any push bars to support him, so he had to balance all by himself. He was slower but was able to navigate around the rink very well.  we played around for about 1 1/2 hours.
The kids were funny when they fell, they would leave their mark on the ice. Macie would wipe 2-4 swipes with one hand and Wade was 2 hands with lots of swipes. It got pretty funny to leave so many marks every time we fell.
Macie has a few bone crushing falls, but she got up and kept going.

Leaving their marks after they fell 

Saturday was a huge day, swimming lessons for both Wade and Macie, then Piano lessons for Macie. Then at 3pm we hit the Kinasoo Ski Resort

The second time in a month and the kids did good again. Mom worked her butt off with Wade, as she walked down the bunny hill with Wade in a harness time after time. This was very helpful for Wade to keep him under control.
Macie tore it up on the bunny hill. Dad couldn't keep up with her, she was already down the hill and on the magic carpet by the time dad got his bindings done up.
The last run of the day Macie and Dad took a ride on the chair lift to attempt a longer run. The ride up took along time, and Macie just sat still as we moved higher up the hill. The view was amazing of the lake and sun setting in the west. Macie mentioned that the long ride was good because that means that  her and dad can talk a little bit.  We took the ridge run (8) down, which was a narrow trail with ups and downs. Macie did excellent with no falling. She learned well how to snow plow on the steeper sections.
We may have found our winter family activity.

Wade's Gymnastics

Wade has completed his second year in gymnastics. His teacher, Coach Leslie, thinks Wade is strong and learns fast. Parents can watch the kids as they practice though a TV set up in the weighting room. I enjoyed watching Wade on the trampoline, the bars and the balance beams. He is very strong, and was the first one through the circuits, leaving behind his classmates. Great job Wade on another year of gymnastics, his 3rd year.

Wade showing how boys end their routine. One hand up.

KANSAS is 6 MONTHS OLD???

How is this even possible, 6 months old, crazy! We are loving life with this little bug and she is just to stinking cute and to stinking adorable. She is finally gaining weight for us and the Doctor's are finally happy, which makes me unbelievaly happy. She is reaching all those crazy milestones, rolling both ways, cutting two teeth, sitting on her own a little bit, definitely don't leave her side though. She has started eating food and pretty much loves any pureed fruit or vegetable I whip up for her. The only thing she didn't like was broccoli, but who can blame her. She loves her exersaucer, playing peek a boo, playing with toys, watching Wade run around the house like a crazy person. Her face lights up anytime Wade comes in the room, and she is starting to recognize Macie as well and starting to smile when she hears her voice. She loves snuggles, and blankets, raspberries on her belly and cheeks, she is crazy tickelish, and doesn't like sitting still. She rocks at bed time still and sleeps 12 hours straight every night, she is also crazy easy to put to sleep. I put her in bed awake and she puts herself to sleep in about 5 minutes. She really has been such an easy baby. These past two weeks have probably been her roughest week cause she cut two teeth. These past two months we have been noticing that sometimes her right eye droops and so we took her to see an Optometrist, he diagnosed her eye with Congential Ptosis.  We are off to see a Paediatric Ophthalmologist so she can figure out why her eye is dropping. It could be anything from a week muscle to a neurological problem. These health issues with Kansas have been stressful for me and Mark but this little girl is amazing and we are so lucky and blessed to have her in our life.

SKIING

Saturday we took the kids skiing for the first time to get their mind of Molly and have some fun. I had an open mind going in thinking it was going to be a bit of a gong show, but man was I wrong. I have never had so much fun with my family. The kids caught on right away and we had a blast. Macie was on the bunny hill after only being on the critter hill for 15 minutes. She was a pro and loved every second of it. She didn't want to go home. Wade was a little more nervous when we went fast but after awhile of me holding his hand down the hill he finally starting going by himself. The even did two runs of the bunny hill at the end of the day, he went in the harness so he wouldn't go to fast.  Me and Mark brought our snowboards and Mark got in  a bit of runs with Macie on the bunny hill and I went down a couple times on the critter hill once the kids got use to it and could go by  themselves. I wish we had taken pictures, but in some ways it was nice to just be in the moment and enjoying our time together as a family. We will definitely be doing more of this in the future.

MOLLY

MOLLY (Molls, Molster) 2008-2018

Friday January 19th our dear sweet Molly went to heaven. She was deaf, blind in one eye and was having major ear problems. She was starting to get agitated when the kids picked her up and bit Wade once pretty hard, we were starting to get worried about Kansas and how Molly would do with Kansas when she started crawling so we felt it was time to send Molly to Heaven. It was one of the hardest decisions we've ever made. We kept the kids home from school as they where a mess when we told them the night before. Kansas and Wade went to the Ellis' house and Macie came with us. She had a ray of hope that the Vet could fix her, even before we did it I had to speak with the Vet because I didn't want it to happen, but she told us this was the best decision for our family and Molly. Mark and Macie said there good byes and I stayed in the room with her when the Doctor stopped her heart. Such an emotional moment, I'm crying right now thinking about it. Molly and lily have been with us for over 10 years, they have been such good pets, friends, guardians. Lily is really going to miss her buddy. Some of my favourite things about Molly is her love for food, her loyalty to Lily, When they were little they use to go nuts chasing around this toy fish on a pole. I remember in our house in Kitscoty they would chase each other in a loop around our house from the kitchen to the family room.  Molly was such a good traveler and loved going for walks. She hated getting her hair cut and going in water. We will miss you so much sweet dog. RIP Molly

Our New Addition

Girls Camp 2008

These 2 loved this fish cat toy- would go crazy to catch it

Molly was very aware of animals on TV and would Bark at them

Molly watching out the back window while we travel to another adventure

Merry Christmas