Friday, May 30, 2008

Always busy

Bored is definitely not a word I have used lately! Jobs just keep crawling out of the woodwork to find me.

So on top of my study guide reviewing (waiting for the writers to finish up so I can review their work) I have a few other jobs! I had been tutoring the only grade 11 biology student at the school. I helped her get through all of her labs; today we dissected a nice leopard frog. It was a lot of fun and would do this kind of tutoring again in the future! I am also doing all of the marking for that students course and her chemistry course. My name is in the barrel for another tutoring job this summer to do some reading with a young student. And then the principle of the school just asked me if I would take time over the summer to clean out their science classrooms and storage rooms. They have been quite a disaster for the last couple of years I gather. I think I just get keys to the place and have at'er! I know I will enjoy doing that this summer. I love to organize and I love science.

And then I am still making baby booties! I have a bunch for sale at the visitors centre here and have 18 pairs cut out and ready for sewing this weekend. We are going to Whitehorse in a few weeks and a tourist store there is going to sell them.

Playing with the boy is the best part of the day! And that sure does keep me busy. But since he goes down at 7 every night, I always have a few quiet hours to get stuff done.

Of course there is always the never-ending housework (I want to shave our cats so I don't have to deal with their hair!!), watering my outdoor plants, going for walks (soon swimming with the pool opening), going to the library, visiting.... yep, I am never bored!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Cranes

A few weekends ago Faro held its annual Crane and Sheep Viewing Festival. The weekend was full of speakers of all sorts (scientists, naturalists, photographers, etc). There were numerous guided walks on different topics around town. A shuttle took loads of people out to the sheep viewing station where even more activities were taking place. There was a community bbq/potluck, pancake breakfast, crafts for kids.... my gosh the list could go on and on! We were very impressed with how well organized the weekend was and how many families attended the event. It was nice to see so many kids and parents walking around the streets of Faro.

And right on time were the Cranes! We could hear them at night the week before the festival and during the day there were black patches of them in the sky.



And here is a nice blurb about the cranes by yourYukon and Environment Canada

Monday, May 26, 2008

Faro So Far

We have already been living in Faro for three full months. Somedays I feel as though I just arrived yesterday and other days I feel like I have been living here for years.

I am enjoying how safe I feel in this community. So far I haven't seen a single drunk person walking down the road. Quads slow down when they pass you on a trail and vehicles pull right over when they pass you walking on the streets.

I am pretty sure that everyone in town knows who Hunter is, but not as many know who we are! His morning babysitter takes him out for walks and goes out visiting with him. What a social butterfly we have. The boy gets lots of love from every person we pass and the children in town love talking to him as well. We have another baby sitter who is 11 and Hunter adores her. Much of the community is made up of retired folks who once they see Hunter tell us all about their grandkids (and great grandkids!). There are not a lot of young families here in Faro, and I think the retired folks like having us here.

Yesterday we went out for a walk and it ended up taking us out of the house for four hours. In that four hours of beautiful sunny weather we only saw 12 people and 5 of those were at the store! I guess for a lot of people this kind of quiet would drive them mad, but I really love it. Communities like this (Kugluktuk was the same), allow you a lot of family time. There is no commute to work, shopping doesn't take all day, people keep an eye out on the kids, etc. It doesn't bother me that there is only one store in town; I would rather that with once a month trip to Whitehorse then spending hours a week at stores. And I still order online here like we did up north.

My only complaint is the state of many of the playgrounds. Faro is trying to sell itself as a great family place, which I believe it is. However, the playgrounds are in various states of disrepair. We bought our house based on a number of factors, but a big one was that we have a large playground just past our backyard. But the paint is chipping (not sure how old the paint is- lead??), this weird blue dust comes off of the swings and gets onto everything, the grounds need to be raked, new sand added, etc. Other ones around town have chains that are dangerous, bolts coming out of benches (careful where you sit!), broken glass, etc. I think I am going to write the town a letter asking who is responsible for the upkeep of these playgrounds and see if anything can be done. It is also only the start of summer, so who knows, maybe they have a maintenance person who will be fixing them up. I will keep my fingers crossed!

There is quite the golf course here as well. If anyone out there likes golf there is a beautiful grass course that runs all through town. Very unique. While I am not the type to golf (more the drink beer and race golf cart type), it makes town look nice. There are also a lot of trails around town! We have been exploring a bit, but we need to buy a backpack carrier for Hunter. Our super stroller can only go so far! We had to go off trail when we hit a peat spot that was getting deep because of the quad traffic and Hunter was hilarious. Matt was pushing the stroller through the bush and it was pretty rough. Hunter had both hands on the side of the stroller with a death grip on them! Too cute. I had been hoping that we could buy a new set of quads this year to replace the ones we sold up north, but I think the earliest we can look at getting some is this fall, but probably more like next spring. Sigh...

Matt is enjoying work at the health centre here. He is booked until the end of August so far. I like the hours- he starts at 8 and is off at 4:30. That extra half hour in the afternoon seems like it makes such a difference. I am still working a few hours every morning and I am just finishing up my tutoring at the school. We still have not hooked up the satellite, but have borrowed CSI season 1 and 2 and have been watching them in the evening in our cool basement.

Well I am sure that is enough rambling to bore you- so here is another cute picture of the reason you probably came here today:

Stat Counter

I installed a stat counter last week and have been amazed at how many people are visiting this blog. I had a lot of traffic on the Kugluktuk blog, but didn't think I would get as much here. The draw of a cute baby I guess does it!

With the stat counter I installed I can see what people searched for to end up at my site. So far nothing as funny as other northern bloggers have had- but one entry "kara is being annyoing" made me laugh.

I think I am going to enjoy this stat counter!

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Medium Annoying Toy

Another in the series of annoying toys- although this one I don't mind as much. Hunter has just figured out how to use it and plays with it quite a bit.

Friday, May 23, 2008

The Van Full of Women

And another installment of annoying toys we now own. We call this his "van full of women". His Nanny and Poppy back in Cape Breton bought it for them. They were boxing it up to send to us when they realized all of the pictures on it were girls- who are brushing their hair, etc. Nanny felt so bad for sending it, but we get a kick out of it. Hunter loves to drive his women around the house. Although, the noise this thing makes is unreal. We have now put a ban on both sets of grandparents- no more noisy, plastic crap!! Lets see if that rule sticks (you hear me out there grandparents?? send books, wooden blocks, and chickens. Yes chickens. I want chickens, but Matt says no. So if the boy gets them as a gift.... well then the husband cannot say no!)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

My boy as the Incredible Hulk

Natural Consequences

Hunter and Tweak are very entertaining to watch. Hunter loves to pull Tweaks tail, hair, whiskers, etc. We have been waiting for the cat to have enough and swat Hunter. We have left the two of them alone to figure this out for themselves; natural consequence I like to think of it as. The cat has finally started to fight back a little with a couple of swats to the side of Hunters head and a little nibble or two to his fingers. It hurt Hunters feelings at first (she didn't use claws, so no bodily harm was done), but now Hunter thinks it is a game. And the cat isn't any better. She gets pissed off that they boy is attacking her, but then she goes and lays right in front of him and flicks her tail in his face. Ah well. The two of them will figure out who is boss soon enough. My money is on the cat.

Going for the tail:


The "I hate you" look:


The "I am going to rub my ass on your pillow when you aren't looking" look:

Another edition of....

WE ARE BAD PARENTS AND WE ARE OKAY WITH IT!

Mish-Mash

Oh mama- I don't think I could fit another bite of oatmeal...


The Chef Boyardee incident. I had never tried this stuff before and I though ah what the hell. So Hunter and I had it for lunch. We everything was orange! What a mess- never again! It stains everything including the kid. No preservatives my ass.


The turtle tub toy that Hunter likes to take everywhere in his mouth.


Foxy Loxy visiting us last week:

May Long Weekend

Last weekend we went out to Drury Creek Campground on Little Salmon Lake. It started so nice. We were out at the lake by Friday at noon and the weather was warm and sunny. We got set up, had a bit of a problem with our propane, but a new friend from Faro fixed it for us. But that evening the rain started and did not end!! We came home Sunday afternoon after being rained out. Even with the rain we had a very nice time and Hunter loved his first camping weekend in the camper.

We put him in the playpen outside to reduce the rock/dirt eating:


He LOVED looking at the fire. Just like mommy:


Naked baby in the camper:


We put a tarp and some mats on the ground for Hunter to play on. Kept him off the wet ground and again reduced that amount of rocks/dirt that was ingested:


Sticks proved to be tasty too:


Little Salmon Lake


Dad and his boy at the lake:


Mom and her boy at the lake:


The campground:


Camping was exhausting!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Reflecting on Mommy-hood

Hunter is approaching eleven months old and what an amazing year it has been. A year ago I was scared shitless, mostly from another mom back in Kugluktuk telling me horror stories. She went on about how you would be lucky to get a shower once ever three days, you shouldn't socialize anymore (just stay home I guess!), nothing would be the same, your house would be a mess all the time, blah blah blah!! Then we would watch as her and her husband would bicker to the point I didn't want to be there anymore about how to raise their kid. They yelled so much! What an unhappy person/place to be around. I was so worried that I was going to turn out like them!

But, mommy-hood has been spectacular. I should have known it would be. I am a happy, outgoing person and I have a happy, outgoing son. I get a shower everyday (although, I have to put the garbage can, toilet brush, and plunger up high!). We socialize a lot (and it doesn't harm our family!). And while life certainly isn't the same (so much is better!), we still have much the same schedule just with a baby in tow! And the messy house- well you know- it is cleaner now then before I had Hunter!! I think that is because he puts everything in his mouth, so I am turning into a floor cleaner extrordinaire! Matt and I have never felt closer as a husband and wife and our home is a wonderful place!

Anyone out there becoming a mom and worried- put those worries away. It is the best thing you can do. Not to say I haven't cried (in the beginning with little sleep I had a few tears, but it wasn't that bad- more hormones I think), but I look at my son and thank God for blessing us with him. I even got over my fear of poo and my sympathic barfing syndrome.... I have changed the nastiest diapers ever and had barf all over me. So far, so good though.

Advice for those of you out there- tell expectant mommies the good stories. Don't fill their heads with your own problems.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Hunter and his Rocking Horse

My parents got Hunter this toy a few months back and he absolutely loves it. The batteries show no sign of wearing down...

Sunday, May 11, 2008

My computer has a bug!

Well a spider actually! Here is my newest friend. He lives inside my MacBook Pro. I see him from time to time. He comes out to visit, we chat....


Friday, May 9, 2008

Hunter Drives the RZR

Third post of the day! I think this is a record. Here is a super cute video of Hunter driving Granny Hunter's RZR when we were back down in BC. Listen and you will hear him do a little "whooo!" He is so focused on driving, well until he almost drives Granny and Daddy into a fence post.

The Boy and Stuff

Two posts in one day! Holy Toledo!

Hunter is growing so fast. He was 10 months on April 15th. So that makes him 10 and a half months already. He is crawling like a mad man and his favorite thing to get into is the cat food. Chasing the cats around the house is also becoming a favorite pastime. Surprisingly, Tweak lets him grab her and climb over her. When she has enough she runs away. Freak allows Hunter to get a bit close, but then she is smart and runs away! He is almost 20lbs and 73cm long. I know, I know, I know, mixing metric and imperial!

He word of the last two weeks has been: oooooooouuuuuu. So cute! He little lips pushed out making that noise. No more mamamam or dadaada it is all oooouuuu. I put him in the swing at the playground behind our house and he was all smiles and giggles.

Today we are going on a play date with his girlfriend and her brothers! Her name is Josie and she is just 4 days younger than Hunter. She is cute as a button! Her brothers are 2 and 5 I think. Really nice young family that we are getting to know.

We are also taking my booties to the visitor centre today. It is open and they let you sell your goods there for free! I have made lots of booties and they are so cute! I hope some sell. This week is the Sheep and Crane Festival here and I guess quite a few people come into town for it. The next time we go through Whitehorse I will be taking my booties to a store that wants to sell them and I will talking to some other people about selling them at their stores as well.

Matt is on his way back from Haines Junction. He has a week off, and then is booked to work here for the next month. It will be good to have him home for so long!

So more pictures!


Plotting his escape:


Realizing that escape is impossible:


Well hello there kitty kitty!


Here... let me pull that ear off for you:

The Trip Down South

We left last week on Monday to drive back down to BC and get our camper. We had bought it along with our truck, but didn't want to move it up here in the middle of winter. After Matt was done working at the nursing station we loaded up our truck and our quad trailer and headed down the South Robert Campbell Highway. We stopped for supper at a pull out. I had made venison stew and had put it into a thermos for us. It was warm, sunny and a wonderful family evening. We drove until almost 11pm and then pulled over into another pull out. I had packed our air mattress and sleeping bags and we all slept the night in our quad trailer. It was a funny night with Hunter sleeping with us. He didn't fall asleep very quickly- instead he kicked at the covers and kept giggling. Eventually we all slept, although I woke up a few times listening to the rain hit our trailer.

Tuesday morning we got up and packed away all of our stuff. Hunter and I played in the truck learning about electric windows while Matt finished up outside. Matt then put Hunter into the car seat and was heading around to his side of the truck. I had just made Hunter a bottle and got out of the truck to hop into the back seat. Well shit... the door is locked!! So I grabbed my door again... holy fuck-a-roo it is locked too! Matt tried his side and OH MY GOD I HAVE LOCKED MY SON IN THE TRUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! So I stood on the side of the road with my sons bottle in my hand and bawled my eyes out!! We were 60km north of Watson Lake with our son strapped into the car seat and us outside! I suck! As Matt was trying to break the window with a rock a truck came by and he had a hammer. We busted the window, I stopped crying, put a quilt in the window and continued on our merry little way. Hunter thought this whole even was a riot. He giggled the whole time Matt was banging away on the window. What an easy going kid. After about 100km, I was able to laugh about it, although I still felt like a horrible mom. I called my sister-in-law in Fort Nelson and she found a place to replace the window for us- only $200! I was expecting much worse.

We left Fort Nelson on Wednesday morning and we went from beautiful spring weather to frickin winter again. A drive that normally takes us about 4 hours, took us over 8. We have a bush radio in our truck, so we were listening to all of the truckers. They were either pulling over for the day, or putting on their chains. It was horrible out. We pulled over at a rest stop for a break. Matt was outside talking to some Americans who weren't too impressed with the weather either. Hunter was standing at the steering wheel practicing his driving. Matt opened the door without seeing that Hunter was there and my son did a cartwheel out the door!! Matt caught him before he hit the ground, but he did hit the running board. So we are definitely not winning Parents Of The Year for 2008.

Thursday was pretty uneventful. We spent the day in Grande Prairie shopping and getting our camper. We went out for supper with my parents and Auntie. My parents took our truck home with Hunter and Matt and I had a date night to the movies. On the way home, my mother gave Hunter a bottle. About a minute after he finished it.... he projectile barfed all over the back of our truck. Fun.

Friday we packed our camper and visited friends in Dawson Creek. Good day.

Saturday we drove back up to Fort Nelson and had a great evening with the brother, sister in law, and their little boy. Another good day!

Sunday we drove to Watson Lake and also spent a few hours at the Liard Hot Springs. I love that place. Hunter spent about 40 minutes in the hotsprings and loved every minute of it. What a hoot! Good day again!

Monday morning around 5am I gave Hunter a bottle while we were in bed in our camper. He barfed it everywhere. At 7am I gave him a bit more.... and he barfed that everywhere too- but mainly on me. We ate lunch in another pull over on the Robert Campbell highway- Hunter had yams and apple sauce. About an hour later I am looking at Hunter in my visor mirror. He grins at me and then projectile barfs everywhere. I am yelling at Matt to pull over- he doesn't know what is wrong- he had looked back and only saw Hunter grinning. Soooo.... barf barf barf everywhere. Nice and orange too. What a mess. So we cleaned all of that up, let Hunter play on the hood of our truck, and then got back on the road. I was so happy to finally make it home!

Hunter kept throwing up all week. He kept putting his fingers down his throat and then barfing. Matt was over in Haines Junction working, so I took him down to the nursing station and they said he has a bit of an ear/throat infection. So onto the antibiotics. Poor little gopher. But no barfing yesterday! Hurray!

So it has been quite the week! I am glad I am back in my lovely home in Faro.

Here are the pictures from our adventurous week! (in the wrong order!)

After the massive barf Hunter was playing on the hood of the truck!


I think it will take a lot of bug wash to get this off!


Our nice unit!


Having fun on the truck


A wolf we saw on the way home:


Going for a ride with Granny in the razer:


Me and my boy at the hot springs:


With dad at the springs:


Cute as can be!


Happy family time:


The bad weather on the way down:


Even worse weather on the way down: (it got even worse after this!)


Hunter telling us he will get us through the bad weather:


Attacking his Auntie Kathy at supper:


Fun with Uncle Ken:


Eating on the side of the road on the way down:


Matt eating stew at the pull out:


My boys:


Our night in the quad trailer!


And my fuck up. The quilt actually worked quite well!!