Some group photos.

This year's staff held a 'Biggest Loser' competition during the last 9 months. On total, they lost 196 lbs!!! The winner at Christmas time was Dave (in the blue) and at Spring Break the winner was Amy (in the white shirt). The goal was percent of body weight lost - not actual lbs. This made the playing field as fair as possible. Ryan lost about 7% of his body weight and has kept it off! This campaign was wonderful and the competition kept everyone on track and motivated.
From a nurses 'health promotion and prevention' point of view: WOW! YOU GUYS ROCKED!!!!

L-R: Megan Devereaux, Yvonne Lassard, Gloria Gladue, Melissa Woods, Amy Ocher, Alaina Farmer, Rachelle Best, Denise Parranto, Ryan Cracknell ;-), David Skoglund.

Evelyn's entire class was there for the Track and Field day. I can't recall that happening before, so I had to get a picture!
L-R: Front row: Ruscetta, Megan, Savannah, Shanay, Evelyn, Blair, Chassidy.
Back row: Trevor, Cohen, Koby, Isaiah, Isaiah, Hayden, Caleb, Mikey.






In their caps and gowns...












Hanging around...I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. Some of their answers were a Ninja, a cowboy, an army man (x2), a cop (x2 girls), a nurse, a care aid, an animal helper...I think that's all. The goal of a Ninja may be a bit far-fetched, but the rest are totally achievable! I hope they remember their goals and continue to work toward them!





One last photo with Miss. Megan Devereaux and Mrs. Irene Gautier.

Caslan School ECS class of 2010.

Track and Field

Ethan was able to join the girls of Evelyn's class for Track and Field day. He did very well, and fit right in. It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day. At the end, as the ribbons were passed out for each event, I found it very humorous that the girls were trading ribbons to collect all the colours. One girl was lamenting that she didn't have any burgundy or white ribbons (participation and 3rd place). I tried explaining that that was because she always placed 1st 2nd or 4th but that didn't matter to her!

When we got home, Ethan and Evelyn went through a very similar scene where they traded each other so they'd get the colours they liked best. Ethan happily traded away his 2nd place ribbon for a 3rd place (because he liked the white ribbon best) and Evelyn was happy to give him a 4th place ribbon in return for a participant ribbon.

I just chuckled and found the whole thing very amusing.

Western Day Penny Carnival

The highlight of this years carnival for Ethan was throwing wet sponges at his Daddy. I'm not sure which of them got more wet, Ryan from the thrown sponges, or Ethan's back from the dripping water falling on him when he reached back to throw!

Evelyn loved having her face painted and she enjoyed doing her own thing as she went from game to game and redeemed her tickets for a prize.

Grad Photos

Here's a sampling of photos of Evelyn in a grad cap and tassel. The B&W is from Ryan's second convocation in 2005 when he completed his Education degree.

The photos of her in Red are from this year. She has completed ECS (kindergarten). This was a full day, 4 day a week program. She has learned to read, (grade 1 level) write, and 'make stuff' (as she says). The highlights of the year were being a mermaid in Peter Pan, meeting a de-musked skunk, going on a swimming field trip, and seeing a magician.

The photo of her in a blue cap and gown is from last year when she finished pre-school.

Runaway, Playground, Poses, Sticks, and a Cat

Today was a beautiful day. It was warm and sunny when I got off work, and even nicer after I got up after lunch. So, I decided to take the kids to the park.

Ethan got a massive burst of energy at the idea of being outside and being allowed to be noisy and boisterous and he took off down the road. If you click on this picture to make it bigger, you can just see him in the distance. I sent Evelyn running after him. Despite repeated (hoarse) commands to "Stop", he kept going. Eventually, he stopped just before the main road and waited for us to catch up. He must have sprinted about 400 m! Now, in my house the command "Stop" is serious. The kids know they need to obey that one right away and I only use it when they are in an unsafe situation. Lets just say that when I caught up with my little runaway and discussed this with him, he readily accepted his discipline without any fuss. He knew he had done very wrong. (I was very impressed with his speed and endurance though!)














We enjoyed our time at the playground and I got some good photos of the kids. This one of them on the Teeter-totter made me think about how much they have grown since we've lived here. The first pics I have of them on the playground are from when Evelyn was 10 months old, and Ethan was 5 months old. (LOL! They look the same size!)

They both climbed up one of the structures and I got this photo.

I LOVE IT!









Evelyn wanted to do some modeling, so we took several photos. These were my favorites. She also sang a song and wanted me to record a 'trailer plug' for the new tinkerbell movie. I'll post those later.

Ethan found this branch that had been trimmed off a tree and wanted to take it home. He lugged that stick for almost a kilometer - then tossed it aside because he wanted to run!

For full effect of the ferocity of his face, click on the wide pic to enlarge it.




Finally, we stopped in to visit a neighbors cat. This is a very friendly and gentle little feline. The kids had it batting at the dandelions like they were a ball of yarn.

After we got home, Evelyn and I had a 'Princess makeover Tea Party'. I put eyeshadow on Evelyn and we both dressed up in dresses and had raspberry tea, cookies, and Smarties while we watched 'Enchanted'. Ethan got to participate in the tea and goodies and movie too.

Finally, Miss. Alaina came over for supper and she treated both kids to bedtime stories. Ethan was so excited and engaged in the books, and then he fell right asleep! Evelyn followed him a few minutes later. They were both totally out by 8 pm. So Ryan and I watched a chick flick he was sent to review (When in Rome) which had funny moments, times of awkward writing and iffy acting, and other solidly good scenes. On the plus side, it had no swearing, and nothing more than kissing. I'm not quite sure whether to say it was good, or sucked. It was very inconsistent in it's quality, but overall, I liked it.

So here I sit at 11:30 pm, still very awake. In the last 24 hrs, I've logged 8 hrs of work, 3.5 hrs of sleep, and a full day with lots of memories. Aside from hacking up my lungs on a frequent basis, I feel pretty good! It's been a full, and enjoyable day!

Peter Pan

This was the first theatrical production in the schools memory. The kids did well, considering. It was obvious that they enjoyed being in costume and found the experience fun. Some of the items they found for the lost boys to wear were amazing!







Shortly before the play was to happen, the student that was going to play 'Nana' the dog was not able to continue. Ryan stepped in, squeezed himself into a cut up dog costume, and assumed the role with comedic results.

Evelyn made a beautiful mermaid her name was 'Moonglow'. She remembered to speak clearly and loudly - in fact, I think she was the loudest one up there! She said she was not scared at all and loved to 'act'. Again, I think we have a budding actress in our midst.

life and activities outside

I just love those harmonious moments in life when the kids get along, and agree to pose for a picture!

In the first one, they are giving their 'Build-A-Bears' a swing ride. I think 'Rainbow bear' and 'Race Car' enjoyed the ride!





Some random photos from the last week. We have all been sick this week with sinus congestion, sore throats, coughs and headaches. I kept Evelyn home today because her cough is getting more congested. Ryan and I are pretty miserable, as is Evelyn, and Ethan has only a mild form so far. I've totally lost my voice intermittently today, so, lots of salt water gargles and honey lemon tea for me!






The purple bows Evelyn is wearing were made by a former co-worker of mine from Calgary. Evelyn loves them and she received several compliments when she wore them.

In other news, Ryan did not get the position at that private school that he really wanted. This has been a pretty big disappointment for him. The only jobs posted in Nanaimo for teachers are either Kindergarten or French immersion. Now, if he was a french speaking kindergarten teacher - we'd be set! It is very nerve wracking to know we will be going from a 1.4 FTE between us to a 0.77 FTE and our living cost will only rise with the move.

The people who saw the house a while back seem very serious. They are pursuing info about the land and want to come and dig a hole to see what the soil is like (is it suitable to build a massive garage on). All this will take a couple more weeks before we can even begin to talk money.

Rainy Day Walk

This past weekend was dreary and drizzling. In other words - it was great! We took the kids for a walk in the rain and we taught them the art of splashing in puddles for maximum splash effect. Think of it as training for future puddle battles! The end of the driveway for the school has a MASSIVE puddle that was at least a foot deep. Evelyn, of course, wanted to walk through it. So she flooded her boots and had the pleasure of dumping them out. She did not wine much on the way home, but wanted a warm bath as soon as we got in. I also did some training with them on how to hold their umbrellas so they won't be caught by the wind, and will shield the largest area of their body. These lessons will continue in earnest after we move as well. :-)

We did our Walk-a-Thon today. It was beautiful, sunny, and a bit windy. We had 6 Moms and about 10 kids participate, which is pretty good! Actually, if I count the babies, it was 12 kids. We stopped in at the villa and said "Hi" to the seniors. It was nice to see many familiar faces, and looking healthy too!

The group raised a total of $586, with a couple pledges outstanding. This covers our deficit, and will allow the group to replace a few worn out toys and buy a couple new things. Thank-you to everyone who contributed.