I was going to write a couple posts already but somehow never got to it or felt like it. Our Spring came way early this year and it is so fun. We had about a week of really nice weather already and some days we had to pull out shorts and T shirts which is unheard of for us UP Here. :) Our snow usually doesn't melt until April/May and even if it does it can be cold enough for sweatshirts in June. So we were just thrilled with this weather and the kids love being outside. Since then it got a bit colder again but it is still above average, it's just always hard to go to colder weather and get those hats and mittens on after we wore T shirts for a week.
I just wanted to put some pictures on here from our nice weather and from Kade's first ever concert. A couple of weeks ago him and I went to Chris Tomlin concert with a group from our church and it was so good. Kade and I know a lot of his songs because we sing them at church a lot and I just love going to a concert where I actually know most of the songs. It was so fun to sing our lungs out and it was more like a big Praise and Worship concert than anything. Kade had a great time too and got quite into it during some of the songs. He's growing up so fast and is getting so independent. He has his little buddies at church and school and he wants to play sports with them all the time. If there is a Saturday or Sunday where we're just staying home he will keep asking us who's house can he go to or who can come over to our house to play with him. In a way I am a little thankful for not living right in town because I know I would never see him and he'd be going to see his friends all the time, inviting himself over like the kids in town do. :) This way, someone has to come to our house or we have to drive Kade to someone's house which doesn't happen too often and I like it that way. He will be gone before I know it so I like it that for now I know where he is and who he's playing with.
We didn't get home until almost midnight after the concert so I let Kade skip school the next day and instead we went to visit Ingrid in Grand Forks and had a blast with the cousins Clare and Sage. Kids played outside all day, went to the park, I was able to go on a wonderful run in the morning, it was just the best weather. Now I am wanting more of it as I look at the freezing rain outside. :) But I have to remind myself we were pretty spoiled by that so I can't complain now.
So I've been doing some Spring cleaning, mainly with the kids' clothes and organizing those now that Anika and Kason are out of their sizes. It's time to pass them down to someone and maybe sell some at the garage sale in a few weeks. I'm also trying to run more to get ready for that half marathon in May and that's going so-so. :) I'm really out of shape and my hips are giving me back ache so I hope that gets better. Other than that, it's adding more miles each week until May so I'll be able to run those 13 miles. We'll see what happens, I am just hoping for nice weather because it is typical for the race to either have some rain or strong winds which I don't like to run in either of those. :)
before the concert started
Kade and his friend Alex at the concert
Tiffany - this is for you. When she got on the stage we all thought, "wow, there is Tiffany singing. :)"
walking Sage home from her school
playing with bubbles and having fun
Sage and Clare's house
some preschool work
and some math
Kade's basketball traveling team - they got 2nd place in the tournament
and were very excited to get a trophy.
So I have no idea why it took me 12 years of our marriage to miss out on skiing. Sure, we can't go to the mountains here like the Austrian Alps and yes, it is expensive but come on, once in a while you can splurge on a little fun. :) Today the day finally came when I broke in my "new" skis that my brother got me and I had a blast doing it.
I have been wanting to take Kade skiing this whole winter and we finally picked a weekend when we could go to the cabin since the little ski resort is close by there. We were all planning for the big day to come next Friday. And then last week it started to get warmer and this weekend even warmer. The weather channel was saying by the middle of next week it will be in 60s which would never work for skiing since it's not up high in the mountains. As I was seeing yet another winter pass and not be able to go skiing a thought occurred to me - "Ehren, we have to go skiing this weekend, like tomorrow (Sunday) because it may be our last chance until next winter." I am the one who absolutely hates missing church on Sundays and if there is not a big enough reason for not going, I just can't do it. So I was a bit hesitant but then I thought how our whole family really needed a time out together and it was such a great bonding time for me and Kade.
It didn't start out that great which I knew it wouldn't. It was Kade's very first time on skis and they were pretty heavy skis too so he had a bit of a hard time controlling them but for his first time I have to say he did great. We started with the bunny hill which has a rope that you have to grab that pulls you up to the top. It took Kade a few times of tumbling down because when you first grab the rope it really pulls you hard and you have to hold on for dear life, if you're a child or a middle eastern adult who just couldn't quite get the hang of it either. But pretty soon Kade got it and was cruising down the hill like nothing. Soon the bunny hill seemed boring and mainly because it was such a beautiful and warm day that it made the snow sticky and therefore very slow for skiing. So I took Kade on the ski lift. We had a couple of hick-ups there too but he did great. First, when we got on the lift his ski got stuck in something and came off so they had to stop the lift and hand us the ski while we were up in the air so I was holding 4 poles and a ski when we had to jump off. We had a couple of tumbles down when getting off the chair lift too, one time Kade couldn't slide off fast enough until he had to jump off when the seat was up high, with his legs and skis falling all over the place. Luckily he didn't get hurt and we were soon going down the "big" hill. I wish I took a video on that hill, that would have been better than the bunny hill. Since the snow was slowing us way down though it was the perfect time for Kade to practice and not be scared of the speed. He has a lot to work on and he didn't quite get how to lift one of the legs for turning or stopping, but for one day he did great and I was so proud of him. Mostly, I was thankful for the bonding time I had with Kade and what a great activity to do with a child. I always loved skiing with my family even though I never became a really great skier. I love the sport because it doesn't matter how bad or how good you are, you can enjoy it fully at your own level. Or even going really slow with your son because he needs you. It sure gives me a lot of respect for my parents who took us skiing a lot when we were just learning. Mom was always there on the bottom of the slopes, cheering us on and wiping our noses from all the crying or serving us hot tea and sandwiches. :) Those are such awesome memories for me and mean so much more than words could describe. I only hope we can do that for our kids and they will feel that way looking back at their childhood.
Ehren was so great being our chauffeur for the day. It would not have been his way of spending the day, but he didn't complain one bit and did it very cheerfully. He took Kason and Anika to a nearby town while we skied and did some shopping there, had lunch and then they came to watch Kade in the end. Ani and Kason were excited to see Kade on skis and I was surprised how much Anika loved it and she started saying right away that next time she wants to go skiing too. So we might do that next winter, even though I think we may have to be on the bunny hill most of the day, but that's ok. I found out there is another ski resort not too far from us the other direction so we may check that one out too. I would love it if our kids really enjoyed it and make it one of our fun family traditions. It's not something we can do a lot since it costs so much, but I think if you do it once in a while you appreciate it all the more and you look forward to it so much more because it is a big privilege to be able to do that.
trying to go fast on the bunny hill but the snow was too slow :)
I probably mentioned something before about Ani not catching on Math very fast. I don't think it's something bad and I'm sure there are a lot of kids who are not that interested in numbers and stuff, it can just be hard when I go from Kade who gets any Math facts right away to her. I am starting to really prepare myself for next year when she goes to Kindergarten. Really, I think they do a lot more with reading than Math that year, but we still need to work on it now. I am getting more determined than ever to teach her the basics by Fall. :) I am researching all kinds of teaching techniques and visual aids that can help but really, just doing some of it every day helps a lot. It is also a bit hard when I am working with her on counting and sequencing and her little brother that's 3 and 1/2 can do it all while she struggles. I really can't say she is not smart because of it though because she is doing just wonderfully with the beginning reading skills. She can figure out rhyming words, what letters the words start and end with, and she's starting to read those beginner reading books so I know with reading she'll have no problem. But then it's like something is not clicking with numbers for her. It's interesting to me because she is really good at puzzles and thinking skills but then when it comes to numbers she doesn't get them. Sometimes I think that's how I was. I drove my mom crazy the first 2 grades or so because I just could not get the simple math, adding and subtracting. But then once I got into more complicated things I loved it. I loved algebra, trigonometry and anything that was harder to solve. But I still do some simple math on the calculator or I use Ehren as a calculator. :) So Anika must have her mom's gene in her. I just pray I have the wisdom and patience with her as she struggles through the first years of school because I know she will in some ways. But mostly, I hope I always gently encourage her and praise her for her effort and show her what her strengths are. I don't believe in overpraising the kids who grow up thinking they are Einsteins but everyone needs praise and affirmation. I know Anika will do great because she is very determined to get anything she starts, she works hard and never gives up. I love my Ani. Her recent "obsession" is helping me with any house chores. She loves putting the dishes away, help with laundry, or dust and she does it all very cheerfully for which I couldn't be more thankful. I hope her attitude lasts because it is a nice change from the boys who couldn't care less about that stuff and have to be motivated to do it. :) It sure is nice having another girl in our home.
What a morning we've had! Our Kason has given me a huge scare and I'm still not quite over it. It was going to be a nice mellow morning because my nieces didn't come today so it was just Kason and little Carson until Anika got done with her preschool. I was cleaning up the kitchen, taking my time and was enjoying the chippery sounds from the boys. I just thought to myself how thankful I was that they were playing so nice together, even if Carson is only 18 months old. Then I started to look through some bills quick when somehow I felt a strange feeling that it is way too quiet which is never a good thing with the kids.
I went over to the living room and that is when my "nightmare" began. I saw the empty pills bottle sitting on our side table and I knew right away. I asked Kason all the questions at once: "Did you eat these? Where are the pills, Kason? What happened? Did you eat them?" The bottle with about 60 pills of Fluoride supplements was empty and I couldn't find one pill laying around anywhere. It was all my fault, just the thought that I was the one who left the bottle there the night before after the kids went to bed made me feel sick to my stomach. I started looking all over Kason and trying to see if he was ok. He seemed perfectly fine but he started getting afraid after he saw my expressions. At first he was just scared he was in trouble but then he got really scared seeing me in the panic mode. I called Ehren while I was looking up everything about Fluoride over dozing and he left work right away. Then I called the ER but they had me on hold for so long I got my cell phone out and dialed the poison control at the same time and luckily they talked to me right away. The lady made me feel so much better, she said the doze should not be threatening to him and it will just give him a really bad stomach ache. She said to give him as much dairy products as I can because Calcium would absorb the Fluoride. As I hung up the phone with the lady Kason started telling me his stomach really hurts. I made him a big glass of chocolate milk right away and by then Ehren got home from work. As Kason was almost done drinking it, he started coughing and threw up all over the kitchen floor. I don't think either Ehren or me were ever so happy to see a throw-up. :) It was all purple because the pills he took were tinted purple with grape flavor. I was still not sure, how can you tell how much of the pills he ate he actually threw up, but it for sure made me feel way better to see some out of his body. He still had stomach ache for a couple hours or so after that and laid on the couch for a while. He also had 2 more cups of chocolate milk and 2 yogurts and I thought that should be plenty of dairy for Kason's little body. After all that he had to go to the bathroom and I was glad he's able to go and things were moving inside of him. He also seemed to feel a lot better soon after that and after Anika came home from school you wouldn't know anything has happened.
It seems so unreal that it just happened today. I feel so bad for leaving it out like that, such a careless thing to do. But at the same time, I could not be more thankful and full of praise to God that it was such a minor thing. I am in the middle of my second book about a child being in Heaven (the boy that went to Heaven) and it really makes you think about losing your child or what it would feel like if you had to face that. It sure makes Heaven more real and closer than ever and I've been trying to talk to the kids more about it. Just the other day Kason decided he didn't want to die because he didn't want to go to Heaven without me and got a bit upset about having to go by himself if something happened to him. And I think for a second this morning when I was panicking and telling him he could have gotten really hurt he got really afraid that something would happen to him. So we prayed together for God to heal his little body and stomach and just like that, Kason was good to go and wasn't upset about it anymore. That's faith like a child. I am so happy this day didn't turn into a real nightmare and it was just a good reminder for me to be more careful. God is good and He takes care of us.
In Slovakia, we had the same teacher for a long time in elementary school. At least for the first 4 grades I think it was the same teacher. Here, Kade has had a different teacher every year. And I have to say, they were all wonderful teachers, until this year. :) Not that she's bad or mean or anything like that, she just doesn't seem to drive the kids and push them to their limits. We meet with the teachers twice a year and the first time we met with her it was still the beginning of the year and I wasn't sure what to really think. This time, we just met with her last night, I was able to form a better opinion and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed. Not that she is not doing her job, just her attitude towards the class. I get it, she has mostly boys who are a bit immature (including Kade) because they are months younger than the rest so she has to deal with a lot of that but overall the class is doing exceptionally well academically but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference to her. Our meeting with her wasn't very long but we spent most of the time talking about Kade either misbehaving with the other boys or him tattle telling on others. We do recognize it as his weak point right now because he does that a lot at home but we're trying to deal with it. He's very much concerned with everyone around him and if they are not following the rules he'll be the first one to point it out. In a way, I think it is a good character trait to have for when he grows up but on the other hand I try to explain to him how nobody likes being told on by someone and especially teachers do not like it. I'm not sure how to get it through to him because it seems like every day I have to talk to him about it over and over.
Anyway, that is a pretty minor thing because he is very responsible to do all his work and always stays on task at school. He is also very competitive and tries so hard to improve his score if someone is ahead of him, which is really great. One thing that bugs me about his teacher though is that she barely even mentioned anything about how well he's doing with math and reading. She's just like a matter of fact, "you know he passed all the math levels so that's great." I'm thinking that's all you have to say? He worked so hard to finish all the levels and she barely acknowledges that. Their goal really is for all the kids in the class to finish the levels by the end of the school year. He worked and worked on it and he was the first one in his class by like a month to finish all the levels. In my mind, that speaks for something and I was so proud of him when he did that. But I guess that doesn't mean that much to his teacher because he's the tattle tell. :)
I know, I can't complain because kids nowadays have it so easy as far as teachers go. They're all so nice to the kids, they can't ever go after a misbehaving child or else they would hear back from the upset parents right away. So Kade doesn't have it hard by any means, but I can tell a huge difference from 2nd to 3rd grade. He loved his teacher before and was so close to her and wanted to please her so bad but it's not there with his teacher this year. In a way, I think he wants to win her approval so bad but that won't happen. And it's ok. That is life and I know God can use the not such good experiences for our good. People are not going to be nice to us everywhere we go and it is good for Kade to see that. And our job is to be the light for those that live in the darkness. We can't be that light when all we do is stay in our safe homes and safe churches and only spend time with our good Christian friends. I hope Kade can get stronger and learn from the hard times he has sometimes in school, whether it's with bullies, mean kids or teachers that favor other kids. And I pray I have the wisdom to teach him and steer him in the right direction and to just be there for him and be available whenever he needs me. Because in the end, Ehren and I are his first and most important teachers and we need to be the ones teaching him right from wrong.
I don't know what it is about fresh air and how it can rejuvenate you right away. I am one of those people who need their outside physical activity and if it's too long without being able to go it really wears on me. And this weekend we've had the most gorgeous weather so I was able to be outside again. I really can't think of another winter since we moved up here that was this nice. I may actually start liking it here if we have more winters like this. :)
I have been trying to get over a cold this week that won't leave me. At first I would have cold symptoms one day and the next they would be gone, other than feeling wiped out. But then the cold came to stay with me and it's been about 5 days now. Never mind that I am trying to get into so-so running state so I can at least run without stopping at the Fargo 1/2 Marathon. My sister-in-law Jessica signed up for a race first and then Ingrid and I signed up together so now it's official and I HAVE to start running because the race is in May. I did it kind of to force myself to start running sooner than I would otherwise and also to hopefully get a better result by my second half marathon that I like to run in October. So far my running has been very up and down. I'd have a good week and then me or someone else gets sick and so it goes, always interrupted workout time. On Sunday morning I woke up, still feeling very stuffed up and coughing but I was determined to use this beautiful day and go running in the afternoon. Well, the afternoon came and I could tell there's no way my body would enjoy running already feeling weak enough but I didn't want to lose such a beautiful day. And so the only obvious choice was - a long brisk walk. I haven't done that forever because if I go walking by myself I might as well run. :) I do love long walks, especially with good friends so we can chat away while we walk but it's not easy to sync our busy schedules and come up with a good time. So I just run by myself, with my mp3 player instead. But today I walked instead and I couldn't even use my mp3 player because the batteries went dead but after a little while, I was really enjoying my walk. It was the perfect temperature, a slight breeze would hit my face and I just enjoyed the fresh air and quiet Sunday streets. I am so glad I decided to go outside instead of trying to take a nap. It cleared my head, I got some much needed alone time and it felt great.
It made me think of when I was working in the Cities and I had a dedicated walking buddy and a great friend Marcia who I would walk with every lunch break. I miss those walking lunch breaks so much, still after 5 1/2 years. I gave up trying to find that someone to go walking with me here in TRF but maybe some day I will find that person again. :) It is a bit sad too when we get these beautiful days because in a way it makes me too eager for Spring, but Spring is still 2-3 months away. But I'm really thankful for the beautiful weather I had today and for the time I got to enjoy some fresh air. I hope we get many more days like that.
A couple weekends ago an exciting thing happend - Ani started skating on her own! It was a huge thing for her and she was so proud. We didn't have our camera then so we went this weekend again so she could show dad how she can skate because he missed it. It is not exactly skating, more like walking on ice :) but that's ok, it is the beginning anyway. I just had to post something because I am so proud of our Ani. Ever since she was about 18 months old she's had a harder time with some physical activities than other kids. She walked at 12 months but as a toddler she had a harder time with things like walking up and down the stairs, jumping, throwing balls, walking on a straight line and so on. She even had a few months of physical therapy which really didn't do much because I felt like they weren't doing anything we didn't already do every day. At the end the therapist said she's still a little bit behind her age yet she doesn't qualify for therapy anymore. So we've been just encouraging her in anything she found interest in. And it's not at all like she has a handicap and we don't ever talk about her as if something was wrong with her because there's nothing wrong. Some kids are just not that coordinated or physically gifted and that's ok. I'm ok with her not being a fast runner or never being picked for a good sports team, but I want to encourage her as she learns new things and support her when she decides she'd like to try something new (well, within reason of course :)).
Anika always loved the thought of ice skating and last year she was very scared to try it on her own but this year we only did it a few times and she slowly got braver and braver and now she doesn't want to hold my hand anymore. She says "I want to skate by myself" :). It really makes me happy to see her getting braver at things and really try hard to do what other kids around her are doing. She reminds me of myself when I was little and I would try so hard to do anything my brothers were doing. She sometimes watches the kids for a while but then when noone is watching she will try and try and not give up until she gets it and that's what I love about her. It can be hard sometimes when I want to show her how to do something and she won't let me because if she can't do it by herself she doesn't want to do it. But in the end, it doesn't matter at all what sports she masters or knows how to do. What matters is if I am there to encourage her and cheer her on and to show her how proud I am of her.
trying to play hockey with Kade :)
Kason is not liking the skates that much but they are a bit small. We'll wait for next year to really work on it.
