Crossing A Few Things Off The List

Well I've had the chance to cross a few things off the bucket list in the past few weeks. Sorry in advance for the length of this post and the number of photos it includes. Feel free to bypass it as this is mainly a record for my own benefit!

#34- Colour The Snow (March 31)
Well you may or may not recall the endless winter we've had this year (fingers crossed, I think it might actually be gone for good now!) A few weeks ago it had just started getting nice and then decided to dump a whole lot of snow on us again. My kids and I had definitely had enough of being cooped up indoors so I decided to try out an idea a couple of my girlfriends had used at home- bringing the snow inside. I filled up the bathtub with a whole lot of snow and then let the boys go at it. At first they weren't too sure, but the they realized it was a whole lot of fun. I filled up some squeeze bottles with water and a few drops of food colouring so that they could colour the snow and they had a blast!

A tub full of snow!

Getting some toys in the tub.

Colour bottles!

The boys really enjoyed making the snow colourful.

It got really colourful!

Thinking about what to do next.

Getting ready to dig!

Pardon Cohen's crazy bed head.

The boys decided they needed mitts to keep their hands warm.

#38- Go On A Family Bike Ride (April 7)
In stark contrast to the snow, we were finally able to get out this past week and go on the first family bike ride of the year! I'm really looking forward to lots of bike rides this summer since I will not be hugely pregnant this year! We took a nice, slow 5 km ride around the Glenmore reservoir on Monday of this week. Novah and Cohen were in the bike trailer and both had a long nap while Marshal biked on his little strider the whole time like a champ! We did have several stops and some slow moments but all in all it was a great way to spend a sunny and relatively warm Calgary afternoon!

Dan heading off with the little munchkins in the trailer. 

Grandpa and Marshal are ready to go on an adventure!

I can ride a bike too!

Riding along. 

Stopped to take a picture with my little pro rider. 

Proof the two littles were there. 

When we got back to the van Cohen woke up so we let him ride around for a bit on his bike.
He really wanted to ride down the grassy hill, but that didn't happen.  

Looking out at the water. Or maybe trying to sneak down the hill. 

Marshal taking a moment to look out. 

Brothers biking together. Couldn't be anything cuter!

#70- Go To The Temple (April 11)
Today Dan and I were able t go to the Calgary temple. I haven't been since August (just after Novah was born and my in laws were here) so it was really great to be able to finally go again. Now that Novah is a bit older and eating food I can actually get away for a few hours with greater ease. Thanks so much to my parents who came over to watch the kids!

#1- Take A Ballet Class (April 12)
Well it's alway in the back of my mind, but it has been a struggle for me to get out and take a ballet class since having kids. I think the last real class that I took was back in 2007 when we lived in Surrey and we didn't have kids! I'd often go into Vancouver to take classes at Harbour Dance Centre (how I miss that spot.) Since then I have done some classes while doing my RAD teacher certification but those were always classes for learning (about teaching) purposes so not the same as just taking a class for me. Alberta Ballet School had an open house yesterday and a free Adult class was being offered so I jumped at the chance to finally get back into the studio. It was a very basic class but it felt so amazing to dance again! Not dancing on a regular basis has definitely been the biggest struggle for me since becoming a mother. I had a great time and hope to get back in the studio again soon!

Here's to checking off a few of my bucket list items! I'm actively plugging away at a few more things which I hope to cross off soon! So far I'm really enjoying 2014 and feeling very motivated by all the, "goals," I have set for myself and have yet to achieve!

Jordan

The Truth About Cloth (2 Weeks In)

Ok my friends, many of you have noticed that I have switched over to cloth diapering. This may possibly be because I have been over instagramming and hashtagging my ridiculously cute diapers, please forgive me but cloth bums are just adorable!

A rainbow of beautiful colours and prints arrived from The Little Bee Co. 

I have also already had several of you ask me what I think? Why I switched? How's it going? So rather than send you each private messages (sorry for being a cheapskate) I'm going to write one lovely post which will be a first in a series of many.

As of today 2 weeks in these are my first thoughts on cloth.

1. Why the heck didn't I do this earlier? Seriously I could have quite the wicked cloth stash by now and lets be honest there are an insane amount of absolutely adorable cloth diapers out there! Ok but I'm not just in this for the diapers I promise!
2. Cloth diapering is way more user friendly than I expected. I hate to be the bearer of bad I mean great news but whoever told you cloth was hard was lying. With the modern day conveniences of disposable liners, flushable wipes and washing machines I have been wondering to myself why more moms aren't using cloth. The thought I keep coming back to is that we are improperly educated on the matter! 
3. Cloth diapering means more laundry, so what?! I think the main argument for cloth diapering being harder revolves around the fact that you have to do more laundry. As I already do an insane amount of laundry I'm not finding this to be a problem. I realize that many people strongly dislike laundry (I am among them) but I am finding that I am happy to do my cloth laundry because it means I can go another day without producing an insane amount of waste. 

I do want you to know that I've only been using cloth part time for the past two weeks. My initial diaper order arrived with only 4 diapers so I used those each day until they were dirty and then used disposables the rest of the day. I washed these diapers every night so I could use them again the next day. I did that for about a week and then we were away for 4 days so I used disposables. Now we're home again and I have a more complete stash of diapers (I picked up an additional 14 that I had ordered while I was out of town) so I'm moving into using cloth full time. I can't say how thrilled I am about this change in our lives. It may sound absolutely ridiculous but the first time I used a cloth diaper I seriously felt great knowing that there was one less diaper being sent to a landfill. It's amazing but even the days when I was using 4 cloth diapers and 4-5 disposables I still felt like I was making a difference. Now as I switch over full time to cloth I am feeling even better. You can actually see my back step now and it isn't covered in dirty diapers!

Novah in her Applecheeks diaper.

Planking in a bambinoBUMS diaper.

I am honestly so impressed with the ease of using cloth. I am using pocket diapers which are very user friendly. They snap on and off with ease, are adjustable so either Novah or Cohen can wear them, they can be stuffed with one, two or three inserts to allow for longer periods of time without a change (ie. overnight), the inserts are easily interchangeable between brands (perhaps something they don't want you to know) they wash great and dry quickly (I put my inserts in the dryer and hang my diapers.)

I've been trying to use disposable liners to contain and make easy the flushing of poops, but I have already run into a few poops without a liner. Luckily they were easy to flush away and wiped off with a flushable wipe before going in the laundry. I have been using the flushable wipes for dirty diapers which also makes the process a bit cleaner and easier.

All in all I am really enjoying this transition. I'm sure I will learn more and have some bumps along the way but this is one decision I am really happy I have made.

Diaper laundry!

Me and my sweet little princess. 

Cheers- Jordan

A Visit To Creston (# 32 Road Trip)

This past weekend we made the trek out to Creston, BC to visit with Dan's sister and her family. I will confess that we also went out to do a bit of town scoping as we have been considering a move out there. Unfortunately I got sick just before we left for the trip so I spent the most part of it feeling down in the dumps, with a bad head cold, cough and a really runny nose. It wasn't exactly the way I wanted to spend the weekend but c'est la vie. All in all we still had a really great time.

We arrived Thursday evening and the kids were so excited to see their cousins whom they hadn't seen since September (when we went camping.) Marshal and Violet immediately got along and spent the whole weekend playing dress up and all sorts of imagination games! This was a definite improvement from last year when we visited in May and the kids had a hard time getting along. A year certainly makes a difference in their ability to play together. It was Cohen and Desmond who had a bit of a harder time with sharing and co-operating but overall the kids were quite content to play with one another. 

Marshal and Violet playing prince and princess.

Hanging out in the castle.

On Friday morning Dan and I went to do some house hunting while Aunt Sarah took all the older kids to the Family Place in Creston. They have this amazing FREE program that runs every day with different activities for children and their families. It is run out of a school (that is no longer used as a school) and is seriously terrific! I would liken it to a free preschool program. The classroom is equipped with all sorts of learning centers and activities for the kids. They have crafts, snack time and people who are there to work with the kids. Parents do have to stay and are responsible for their children but it is a fabulous program and one that I wish we had in Calgary. The boys just loved it. Here they are at Family Place having fun with their cousins.

Desmond and Cohen enjoying the rice bin.

Violet and Marshal racing some cars.

Marshal is one serious driver.

The kids ready for snack time.

After house hunting and the family place we went back to the Moreton's house for some lunch and then Dan and I went back to check out a few more houses we had to wait for the afternoon to see. Then it was time to check out the local library. Again the kids had a great time just being kids. The library was a great space and quite inviting. We hung out there for awhile simply because the kids were content reading, wandering around, playing, doing puzzles and colouring. I have to admit that it was really nice to be in a slightly smaller library where it was easier to keep an eye on the kids and it was not busy at all! The pros of a small town!

Fun at the library!

On Saturday we headed to the farmers market in the morning. The market is usually quite a bit larger and is also outdoors in the summer, but as it was still a bit chilly it was indoors for the weekend. We had fun checking out all the local hand made treasures, and even got some yummy treats. In the afternoon we went to check out the local trade show which Jesse was at for the weekend (he was promoting his business.)

Farmer Marshal just chillin.

The trade show was at the rec. center and we promised the kids that we would go swimming if they behaved. They did pretty well at the trade show so as soon as we were done we headed to the pool! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the time we spent at the pool but the kids had so much fun. I was so impressed with how well they did. We were there for 2 hours! Even Novah had a great time. They had this awesome little foam floater with a rope on it which Novah could sit it. Violet was very happy to swim around pulling her the for practically the whole time we were there. The boys also had lots of fun going through the lazy river, playing with the pool toys and "swimming." It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

After the pool we headed back to the house for dinner. Dan and I decided to stop and get a DQ cake for Sarah (who had her birthday earlier that week.) We told the kids to keep it a secret and they did! Though Violet told Sarah we had a surprise for her as soon as we got home. But at least she didn't say what it was. Ice cream cake was a yummy treat for everyone!

The birthday girl and her cake.

The kiddies enjoying their cake!

Here are some more photos of the kids having a good time playing throughout the weekend.

Marshal and Violet were really quiet so I snuck into her room and found them playing dolls on her bed.
Cohen thought it looked like fun so he jumped in there too!

The boys were quite interested by the dolls since we have none at home!

Cohen and his dolly.

They were very happy and stayed there for a little while. 

Novah having fun crawling around.

She loved watching everyone!

Cheese!

Playing lite brite in the closet. 

Wrestling with Uncle Jesse.

Colouring.

Colouring with Violet.

The beautiful girls after church on Sunday. 

All in all we had a great weekend and the kids had a ton of fun. No decisions were made regarding our scoping out of the town but we got to see everything we planned on seeing and were able to do a lot. We had a great visit with family and a really fun weekend. We left Creston on Sunday afternoon and had a smooth drive home to Calgary. Thankfully the kids (and I) fell asleep and we were able to make it home in just under 5 hours with no stops! That was the easiest road trip we have ever done since having kids!

Jordan