My last Sunday in primary

I feel like Wendy in Peter Pan being told this is her last night in the nursery. This is my last day in primary of the Hamilton 2nd ward. It's a mixed feeling I have. I have loved all the kids I have taught over the years in my various stints in primary, but I relish the idea of starting new. I have not been in Relief Society for years at this point. I would actually love to have some time to just be taught instead of doing the teaching. I am nervous to see what the new ward will be like but I am comforted to know that I at least know a few people down there. Not to mention that this isn't exactly our first rodeo. We have moved wards many a time before. But I will sincerely miss everyone here. The Hamilton 2nd ward has become family to me. I have a great love for everyone. The young women in particular hold a special place in my heart. I spent 3 years being their counselor. Some of the best years of my life I must say. The youth have this amazing spirit. That zest for life. I really think they helped keep me young! But today as I say goodbye to my primary kids I know that I will be very sad to not have the opportunity to teach them again. I hope to keep my fingers crossed that I at least get to see everyone once in a while. Assuming I get some "calling free" time in Stoney Creek I hope to come back and visit every once in a while. At any rate it's a new adventure we're heading on and I can't wait to see what the future brings!

50th Anniversary

Tonight we are attending a 50th anniversary open house of a couple that we attend Church with. I was fortunate enough to have been able to do their portraits while I was still at the studio and they have asked me to take some pictures tonight as well. It got me thinking of what it takes to make a marriage last that long.

First things first, divorce cannot be an option. I know it's not on the table for Shawn and I so I assume they subscribe to the same thinking. How can you really expect it to succeed if there is a back door you can duck out of when the going gets tough?

Second, a deep love for the Gospel and keeping Christ in your marriage. I know in particular this couple have a deep love for Christ. They read the scriptures daily and have dedicated their marriage to promoting the gospel. It gives you that eternal perspective when you think that your marriage is not only something to have in this life but throughout the eternities.

Thirdly, a sense of humour. I heard a quote once that said "If you are going to look back at something and laugh about it; you might as well laugh about it now!" I can imagine how many times they have looked back on their lives together and found many hilarious things to laugh at.

Fourth, your posterity. Children, grandchildren...they are the ties that bind. i actually believe they are great grandparents now. I hope I live long enough to see great grandbabies.

Fifth, I think you need a bit of stubborness. Not in a bad way but you need that sort of drive to get you through the hard stuff. We've all experienced hard times and it's always better when you shoulder up and keep on going. What would happen if we all laid down and just let the bad stuff take over?

Sixth, realistic expectations. I think television and movies have really warped our sense of what love is. It isn't all passion and excitement. I actually look forward to the days with us on the porch, eating mushy food and rocking in our chairs complaining about the younger generations. It's remembering the little things. It's being there when the other one is sick. It's supporting your spouse. You get out of it what you put into it in the end.

I know there are a lot of other pieces of sage advice that you all have. I would love to hear them in the comments section. For now I have little ones that demand my attention so I cannot continue. But I will close with this. Shawn and I are celebrating our 11th anniversary this year. I am so grateful to be his wife. I know how lucky I am to have found someone so good for me. I only hope I am that good for him. So cheers to 11 years and to an eternity more of them! Love you hun!

What we are looking forward to in the new house

So the other day I wrote about the things we are going to miss when we leave here. So, I thought I should write about some of the things we are looking forward to in the new house!

- Bigger bedrooms, especially for Jenna who has always been stuck with the "tiny room"

- Walk in closets to maximize our clothing storage. There will be one on the main floor and one in our room

-Needless to say, the POOL! We will hardly be inside this summer if the kids and I have our way!

-The new shopping complex opening soon near our house (well, Shawn might not appreciate what happens to the visa card there!)

-Having a garage, oh how sweet that will be!

-The new school and how it will help Ethan to be successful.

-The opportunity to finally have carte blanche to do what I want to my own home. I can decorate exactly how I see fit.

-And of course, finally realizing the long held dream of home ownership! It's been a long, hard road to get here and we have finally made it. Thank goodness it's finally here!

And it goes without saying that we are also looking forward to seeing you all at our new home. Our family and friends have been such a support to us and we couldn't have made it this far without you. Thank you all so much.

Ethan's math test

Ethan, our oldest has a lot of strikes against him. When he was younger he was diagnosed with ADD. We decided after much deliberation to try meds and they have worked wonderfully with little to no side effects.

When he was 7 I went to his doctor and said "I know Ethan has ADD but there is something else going on." I literally said "my son is weird and I can't figure it out." So off to the developmental paediatrician where we first heard of Aspergers Syndrome.

AS is a form of autism. Those afflicted with it have very little in the way of social skills, often have a motor skill delay and problems at school. They also tend to have very narrowed areas of focus. Ethan has many different obsessions but books are his life. He needs them like he needs air. Even if it's just holding it while we go shopping. Ethan also has few friends, walks on his tip toes, can't ride a bike (he'll be 10 soon), needs help with dressing and grooming (although that is improving), He is a master of the english language and speaks as though he is much older than he is. He is extremely sensitive to loud noises. He covers his ears when even the hair dryer is on. He also has extremes when it comes to his abilities in school. His reading for example is the 98th percentile of other kids his age but his math is in the 35th. There are a lot of discrepancies where that is concerned. So much so that he was recently labeled as having a learning disability. That being said he is a wonderful little boy who doesn't let what he has get in his way of being happy and as successful as he can.

So when I see Ethan acomplish something that is so hard for him I can't help but want to celebrate. Can you imagine my happiness when I beheld my sons latest math test. It was on division (which I remember struggling with) and didn't my son score a 26 out of a possible 27 on it!?! We were all so thrilled! I think his teacher wanted to do a dance! I may just frame it! We really worked hard with him on this one because he has struggled so much; so it's great when you see all his hard work finally pay off. I am so proud of my little boy. He has so much against him and yet he perseveres! So hats off to my hero of the day; my gorgeous, handsome and brilliant little man; ETHAN!!!!!!!!!!

Kids and moving

So we've reached a point where we need to delve into that next level of packing. Where you start packing the things you use on a fairly regular basis. So yesterday I started to tackle the playroom. For those who have seen our playroom you know that is a scary venture! My baby sister was kind enough to come and help which was great. It ended up being a night of negotiations and quickly hiding things behind the kids backs. "Yes Ethan you can keep 3 chapter books but the rest need to get packed for now" Yes Jenna I will keep out the lego but the barbies are going away for now. It made for an interesting night. We broke it up with a nice trip to Hutches for some fries though which made the evening not quite so blah.

So we are back to it today. Shawn was nice enough to hit the local food basics and found some great boxes for me so I forsee some significant process today. Hopefully I can get a lot of it done so that come moving day I will be a lot less stressed out. Wishful thinking? Probably? Eh I digress, yes I am not the nicest person to be around come moving day.....but my cheery disposition always returns! (eventually)

Last month in this house

So as of today we are into the very last month that we are in this house. As happy as we are to finally have our own home I will miss some aspects of living here. Here's what I will miss:

-the lack of stairs a back split has (although I might lose a few pounds climbing down full flights of stairs again!)
-the kids school and the amazing teachers (especially Mrs.DeRoo)
-my daily chat with Shari and how we always managed to linger long past once the kids went inside the school
-the memories we made here. this was the closest thing we had to a "real home" as of yet.
-the neighbourhood park
-living so close to great shopping! (although great shopping is on its way to my new home)

There are more things I know we'll miss but I know how much we are all looking forward to our new home. This is something we waited years for and I know we will make wonderful memories there. Hope that we will have you all in our new home to help make those memories happen!

Bachelor of Webology

Shawn finished his course this week at the Hamilton Spectator. He was required to take it for work. He had a lot of fun learning how to use video and the internet to the papers advantage. On Friday they had a little graduation ceremony. It was total cheese right down to playing "Pomp and Circumstance". He received a diploma for "Bachelor of Webology" and graduated "Magna Cum Laude". At least that's what it says on the paper! We all got a good laugh at it but still I am very proud of my hubby!

Wanna-be photographer

Now mind you I do not own a sophisticated digital SLR ( i wish!!!) but I do think I manage to take some pretty good pictures every once in a while. So I thought I would show off a little of my work! It's something I really enjoy, getting that perfect shot. Please feel free to comment!

The next great book series

I love reading. I am a huge fan of books and that love has passed itself down to my children. my son takes to books like fish to water. His nose is in a book nearly ever waking moment. That of course means books stores have come to love us. But myself I find in a bit of a lull lately. I call it my Harry Potter post traumatic stress disorder. I fell in love with the series about a teen wizard and his fight against evil. I could read those stories over and over again. But now the series is done and I am left wondering where do I go now. I have read several good books in the meantime, but I miss having that series of books to fall in love with. I have often thought about joining a book club, but that just hasn't presented itself to me as of yet. If anyone who reads this blog has any book suggestions I would love to hear them. Word of mouth is as good as a new your times review in my book. So off I go to find my next great adventure! In the meantime here are a few of my favourite potter-isms and jokes.

The house

So for those who don't have facebook and are curious I thought I would tell you about the house. We are moving to Stoney Creek mountain. It's a nice little 2 storey home nestled on a quiet court. We have nice sized pie shaped backyard with an inground pool. The kids are really looking forward to that! There is a little porch out front where the bay window is. The window is in the eating nook of our kitchen. Once you enter the house the kitchen is on the right and the pantry room/garage access is on the left. The kitchen is a galley which some people hate but we aren't the best cooks so it will be fine for our needs. There is also that pantry room right across the hall so whatever doesn't fit in the kitchen can go there. There is a living/dining room with nice hardwood flooring and a small bathroom and laundry room as well. The hall closet is a walk-in so for once all our coats may fit in one closet! The stairs take you up to the top floor where you have Ethan and Jenna's rooms. They are both a really good size. Jenna's has mirrored closet doors so as you can imagine she will have lots of fun having concerts and fashion shows and karate displays up there. Then there is the main bathroom and hall closet to the left then our room on the end. It's a really good size with a walk-in closet and a small ensuite bath. If you went down from the main floor there is a nice family room with a wood burning fireplace and then a playroom area for the kids. It will definitely serve ours needs for now and when the kids are teens but them won't be so much room that we will be lost once the kids are gone. I think we are going to be very happy there.

The Front of la maison de Lafrance

le pool (sorry it was winter when i took these!)

the pool again

hall, like the diagonal tile!

Kitchen nook

Galley with new stove and fridge!

more galley kitchen it will be getting some updates shortly!

living dining room

very pretty

family room...dumb me didn't photograph the fireplace!

Ethan's room

Jenna's roomupstairs bathmaster bedroom (hi Jenna!)more of the master with a view of the walk-in on the left on the ensuite on the right

We are due to have one more visit to the house before we get the keys so I will get some more pictures then and I will post them. Hope you enjoyed my little tour!