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In our house, the dining table is a central important piece of furniture for our family as we eat around it together daily. We have had many birthday cakes and parties around that table, discussions and friends. When we first got married, we had been given a little round oak table with two matching chairs from my in laws. We still use it as our extra table. When we moved into our first house, we upgraded from that four seater round table to another used six seater rectangular table (that came with 5 chairs and two leafs). It was an old white painted thing with ugly blue vinyl seats. Ugly, but practical. Great for kids, and we've squeezed 8 people around it regularly (as seen below).

It has been great to us, and we don't worry about any scratches or stains.

Lately I've been looking for a new-to-us set as one of the 5 chairs had completely broken. I have been looking for a month, in town, on kijiji and craigslist. On Saturday morning I was scrolling the "dining sets" section again and found an add for 8 wooden chairs for a great price in Kamloops. Greg picked them up for us this morning and they look fabulous! They have tied in the brown countertops with our brown couch. They are solid wood, and made in Canada!

One day I might get a new table, but for now this one is doing fine. It has pen marks, stains and knicks, but it's holding up. I think I actually need a bigger house before I get a bigger/better table! As you can see in the picture, we have to drag the table out onto the carpet to fit if people are eating at the bar. (Or I guess we could get new flooring that would carry the dining area into the living room.) To offically break them in, on the day we got our chairs, we squeezed 9 of us around the table (and 3 at the bar) for dinner with Luke's family tonight, our fourth big meal with family in a row this Easter!

Easter 2014

Easter is always a special time of year. It is so exciting to have the sun start to shine again and have things spring out of the ground...but more specifically, we are reminded of the hope we have because Christ has risen! We had family visiting and have spent the last three suppers having big celebration meals together. Look how big these boys are getting!

Baby on the way!

Our family isn't done growing yet. Greg's sister is having another baby in June, so we did a little photoshoot while she was home for Easter.

What a cute little family. I have no guesses as to what she's having, but it's exciting no matter what!! Congratulations, Heather and Christian, can't wait to meet him/her!

Hi friends, and hello spring! Life is going along at a quick pace, and I'm already looking into summer plans and activities. I have been working at least a day a week, and sometimes more. Last week my boss just finally got me booked into a regular casual schedule on Monday/Wed/Friday from 9am to 2pm, which is quite welcome! I didn't like being called the night or morning of the day I'd be working. This makes my life a lot simpler. The position is at the old folks home,but is in the rehab (convalescent care) section. It is made up of 5-10 people who have usually come from the hospital and are more or less medically stable but not ready to go home. We do lots of exercise and classes, as well as cognitive work with the patients. The goal is that they go back home in 2-6 weeks so we get a nice turnover of clients. It is a much slower pace than the hospital and has more of a homey environment. The boss is still trying to hire and has some new applicants, so my "position" won't last long, but for now it's working nicely. I'm hoping it'll last until summer. Time for work....more later!!

Finished pillow

I finally finished a project I started in the fall. I had been given some wool for my last birthday, and figured I should get using it and make something for myself as the wool was a gift for ME after-all! I am still fearful to make myself a sweater in case I hate it, so decided to make a cabled sweater for my pillow!

I used this pattern from ravelry to get me started. I think next time I'll try a more chunkier pillow like this one in hopes that it'll go a little quicker. I decided to do a three needle bind off to finish the project and then on the other open end, I sewed in a zipper by hand so I can remove the case if needed. I really like the finished product!

Two Shea stories

This past weekend, my parents asked Shea and I to join them on the long trek up north to Prince George to visit my sister and her family. We decided to go for it, as I would never do the drive on my own with kids and love any opportunity to party with the fam. So Shea got to skip school on Friday, and we drove up. We were able to stay in our favorite hotel there, which is like an indoor Hawaii, with palm trees and pools. It really is a cheap paradise, especially in winter. While there, we all went out for breakfast in the hotel restaurant, which is like a tiki hut in the main area of the hotel. Shea got the buffet and ended up finishing his meal before mine had even come. I figured I could be trusting and send him out with his older cousin to walk around in the hotel while we finished eating. I looked at him sternly in the eyes and said..."DO NOT GO near the pool. Don't even go around it. Just walk around the outside and stay far from the pool." Off the two ran, and the rest of us adults ate our breakfast. No less than 10 minutes later, Shea's other cousin came to the table and said, "The boys are in the pool." IN THE POOL?? How, what and IN THE POOL???? We purposely did not give the kids the room keys as we didn't want them getting into anything. All sorts of images were going through my head. I left my breakfast and ran off to the pool. My sister was there already hauling her son out, and I didn't have to say much and Shea came out and we marched straight to the hotel room. HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU GET IN THE ROOM?? He had his suit on, goggles and everything. He would have had to get dressed at Olympic speed and would have made a beeline straight to the pool from leaving the restaurant as it was only a few minutes later. "The cleaning lady let me in." Oh my word. BUT HOW did you think that was ok, as I said to go nowhere near the pool. What a rotter. I couldn't believe he would so blatantly disobey me. We have a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG way to go. His only good excuse was that my cousin (a responsible adult that we can trust) ironically was visiting PG too, was in the pool and asked the boys if they were coming in!! But still....any thought that maybe you could ask your mom if that was OK???!! KIDS. To be so carefree. The next day, we were lazing around in our hotel room. The adults were watching the olympics and the kids were running around and having fun. Shea asked me for a toonie to head to the gumball machines that are all around the hotel. It took him quite awhile, and I was almost tempted to go check the pool area again! Finally after 5 minutes, he came back and stumbled loudly into the room and announced. "AHHHHHH, I feel so good. I just had the best massage ever!" "I got 4 minutes and I L.O.V.E'd it!" The little crazy kid had spent his toonie on a four minute massage chair! What a nut. He is so crazy right now. Funny, adorable, but exhausting. Anyone wanna borrow him for awhile??

Limbo

So I worked up til January 10th, training my replacement and then have been home. It does feel really weird to go from working SO hard to doing just housework or knitting! It was a welcome break, but ironically I almost feel more tired. Now that my body is allowed to relax, it almost seems like it's trying to catch up on the last crazy year of insanity! I also stay up later, knowing I don't have to work in the morning, so I guess that isn't great. I did get called in already to cover for the new girl, as she needed a personal day. Next week I have two days of orientation at the convalescent care program. I don't know what kind of casual work I'll get over there, but even a day or two a week would be great. I'm really hating this time of year and can't WAIT for spring. The snow is just dirty and crusty and the sidewalks are terrible for walking. I really hate going outside, and I have little motivation to get working out again, though I did try a barre class which was a mix of pilates and ballet and man did I hurt for the next three days following! I do look forward to walking/running again once the weather improves. The boys have kept me busy with their various activities and helping them with their homework. We've been doing multiplication cards and reading as much as possible around here. Riley is doing a lot of guitar and ukelele and Shea is really doing well at his piano lessons. I need to dedicate 20 min. a day to helping him get through his theory and practicing, so it's a lot of work on my part as well. Check out two of his piano solos on my facebook page! Hurry up, spring....

...my favorite subject!

I love how with a toddler, you never know what you're going to get because they are so spontaneous with their faces and movements.

I'm looking forward to spring, and all the flowers that I'll be able to photograph. For now, I've got my poinsettia and some dried hydrangeas!

Done like dinner

Ok, so today was officially my official last day of work. (I know I've been saying that awhile!) It was my last day at the end of July, and then I went back in September and have been there til now. I had taken Christmas off, (cuz I'm casual and I can do that!) and then came back after the two weeks to train my replacement. I was only supposed to train her for 2 days, but it turned into four, so I almost worked another whole week. At the end of the day, my replacement suddenly informed me that she would love to job share and would be happy to give up one day a week of her full-time position. I was overjoyed to hear it, but hopes were dashed soon after when I approached my boss about it. She said that the union only will accept 50/50 job shares, or maybe a 40/60, but not a 20/80 or whatever that would be. :( I think it has to do with benefits, and that the union wants all permanent employees to have access to benefits. I would happily work without benefits, as I have been all year, but ya. So that's sad. I may write the union, and see what their reasoning is. So now the only options left are the two positions available at Bastion Place, both part time, but since it's a position, I'd have to work every other weekend and of course all school holidays/summer (so no). Or getting some casual positions to cover those currently unfilled posts. That may not happen for awhile, as they are still working out their new expanded convalescent program there. So it's a wait-see for now.

I must admit that I'm rather sad, but feeling also happy I am not in a position where I HAVE to work, or have to take what I get. I get the chance to pick the best option for our family. I am going to enjoy getting some more social time in, and cleaning out our disaster house! Maybe I'll get my kitchen tile in one of these days!!

Crossroads and decisions

I've been enjoying my part time casual position at the hospital this fall. Our hospital and neighboring old folks home is in the midst of transition, taking on a new rehab program this year. It means many changes for the employees, and many new job openings. As we're in the midst of this change, I've been able to cover on a casual basis. I've been able to work at the job I had full time previously (from Jan. to July) and I love it. I know the physio/occupational team, and the longer I'm there, the more useful I am to them. So it has been a win/win scenario. Sadly, because it's all union, one can not keep a permanent casual position...I guess they prefer that you own a position. My job will be posted as what it should be, a full time spot. I am not wanting to apply for it, as I really am reluctant to send the kids to daycare and pull them out of all after school events. I also don't want to be working every school holiday, and especially the summer. Not now. Not while they are still young and still think I'm fun to hang out with! There is a possibility of a job share, but again, hours will be set and it won't be so flexible as it is now. I am worried that if I don't take a position, that nothing will be left for me to cover, other than to work while the people in positions take their vacations! I guess best case scenario would be that no one wants my job, so they would just take me for the hours I'm willing to give. (A girl can dream!) So it is a stressful waiting game now. I am just trying to focus on how blessed I've been so far, and how happy I am to be working and to have earned some money and valuable work experience and references to go with. And God knows, right? He's worked everything out so far!

Projects

Once the yardwork is over, my cravings to get crafty start growing. I love to bring out the knitting and the sewing and try projects that I've thought about but didn't have time to do in the summer! I started my first knit sweater this fall and just finished this weekend. It is huge, and the body of it actually fits me just perfectly. It should last Shea forever! I'll just keep adding to the bottom and the sleeves!! :) It was a bit frustrating at the start and then got boring near the end, but overall, it was fun to do and I think I might just try one for myself next. Then last night I tried a pinterest bootie pattern, you know since I have babies and all. (NOT). I just figured it would be fun to try with my spare felt and other fabric and would also make a good/fast baby gift.

I'm not super impressed with the pattern, but once I perfect it, I'll try making some for me and the boys! A lot less work than knitting a pair! and you could even use a recycled sweater! Liam has been gone for the past few days, so it has been quiet around here! Hence the ability to craft! I have a lot more things to make....

slouch

Here is one mini completed project...a hat for Liam. I was actually busy knitting a sweater for Shea, when Liam had this bright idea that I should make him a hat with the same grey and green, plus a bunch of other cool stripes... So this is what we ended up with, and he hasn't taken it off since it was finished!