Whitehorse Bound

It's that time again! We are heading to the bright lights of the big city to do some shopping and another dentist appointment for me. I am getting pretty sick of the dentist and I still have a few appointments to go.

Usually we just go for one night and it is always a busy, exhausting trip. This time, since the boys are still a little sick we are going for two days and trying to do some fun family activities. On Sunday we will spend the afternoon at the pool and playroom up at the Canada Games Centre. I love that place!

Yesterday in the newspaper there was an insert that had an article about horse drawn sleigh rides!! I thought that would be a blast so I called and got us a ride on Sunday morning. You can see pictures of some other awesome Yukoners enjoying this experience here.

Matt also gets to enjoy his Christmas present this trip. I bought him tickets to see Ron James live on Sunday night. Matt loves this comedian and they are even from the same hometown back in Cape Breton!! Since the boys are still sick I am going to stay at the hotel with them and a good friend of ours will be joining him for the performance.

So hopefully Sir Barfs-A-Lot (aka Cavan) will not live up to his name today so we can have a good trip in! And sorry I haven't called anyone to go for coffee this trip, but we have just been so sick (and the boys still are) so I just don't want to spread this plague!

Me Update: Progress!

It has been a while since I did one of these posts!

First I want to thank everyone who has been supporting me through this blog, online and in person on my goal of getting healthy. All of the encouragement has been so inspiring! And I do need the butt kicking to get up going some (most!) days.

The getting active part of my goal is coming to fruition! I have been attending aerobic and circuit training classes that are offered for FREE at the rec centre. They are held three times a week, although with our super sick boys I have only been going once a week. But that is better than nothing! I have been using my exercise bike in the house as well. I would say I am currently doing three hours a week of activity and I would like to double that over the next couple of weeks.

Now I am focusing more on my food. Just last week I signed up for the Biggest Loser Club website. It is from the tv show; I have been watching it online and love it! I discovered that on the site you can get meal plans, recipes and shopping lists done up for an entire week. So I have printed out two weeks worth of shopping lists for our trip to Whitehorse this week. I find I get into a real rut when it comes to cooking. There are about 10 meals that we cook over and over again. And I absolutely hate making lunch; I have no imagination for this meal at all. So now I have someone else telling me what to make and how to make it. Perfect! The meals are adjusted for my weight and goals. Since I do all the cooking in the house Matt will be eating the same thing as me. The meals look really good and have quite the variety. I am excited to get going with this!

To keep myself motivated I have also created a rewards chart for myself! I get something for every 2.5lbs I lose. Mostly small things like gift certificates for books, itunes or movies. But also new earrings (I am an earring addict), a food processor and a new gun! I have a modest goal of losing 1lb a week for the next year. And I am proud to say I am off to a great start!!! I have lost 9.5lbs for the month of January. I lost most of that in the first 15 days. Since then the kids have been so sick and meal planning and exercising have been pretty blah. So I have completed 1/5th of my goal already.

Now I just need someone to tell me how to cook lentils.... it is in next week meal plan but no recipe to go with it! :)

A Boy And His Kingdom

Climbing the ladder to the highest lookout point in his kingdom.

The king of the playground surveys his kingdom. Always keeping a watchful eye out for dragons, monsters and moose.

Now where is that damsel in distress that I need to smooch?

Lick N' Stick Cheerios

I was a little bored this weekend and the baby paid the price....

Too Funny Not To Share!

All of my rights to privacy went out the window that eventful day when about a dozen people looked at my hoo-hoo and finally my son came out of it. From that moment on, someone would be watching my every move and taking notes.

Doors are never closed inside our house now, and that includes the bathroom. Even if we try to close them Hunter has finally mastered the ability to turn that nifty little knob and let himself in. Watch out if you are company in our house!!

Today's bathroom conversation went like this:

Hunter: "What are you doing mom?"

Me: "Sitting on the toilet."

Hunter: "Why mom?"

Me: "Because I have to poo Hunter."

Hunter: "You going poo mom?"

Me: "Yes Hunter. I am going poo."

Hunter: "Yaaay mom!! Good for you! You go poo on the potty!" Claps hands enthusiastically.

Me: "Thank you Hunter."

Hunter: "Me see mom?"

Me: "No."

Hunter: "Yes mom! You get smartie!" Claps hands again and reaches behind me to flush the toilet.

I haven't laughed that hard in a few weeks! What a great kid we have. He is totally worth losing my privacy over.

Nine Months

Cavan hit nine months today and I am astonished at how different he and Hunter are.

At nine months Hunter was no where near crawling, but was eating everything in sight. Cavan is crawling, but just mainly eats pureed foods. Any food with a hint of a chunk causes him to gag and yak. He has started on feeding himself cheerios and the gagging is diminishing each day.

At this age Hunter had a couple two hour naps a day, while Cavan prefers a few fifteen minute cat naps a day.

Cavan follows his brother around the house continually trying to imitate his hero. He loves to play Godzilla with the train table and pull fur off the cats.

We are lucky to have two boys that are so joyful and pleasant.

Cheerful Cavan at Nine Months

He is growing! About 23lbs and outgrowing his 12month Carhartts.

Here is Hunter at nine months. He was under 20lbs and still had room to grow in the same pair of Carhartts.

The House of Plague

The kids are tag teaming us! Cavan is over his thrush, but now Hunter has croup. He was awake all night with a barking cough that sounded an awful lot like a seal. Today he was extremely lethargic, not even bothering to get off the sofa when Godzilla (Cavan) attacked the train table. Over the run of the day he only ate two small yogurts and a few cups of milk which made a nasty appearance all over the sofa this evening. After a bath he fell right asleep on the sofa and has since been moved to his bedroom.

I am thinking sleep for us will be near nil tonight, so I am headed to bed now! Yep, 8:30pm and I am off to bed. The exciting life of parents!

Videos of the South Canol Road

I get a number of people coming to blog to see the pictures we have taken of the South Canol Road. This summer I took some video just of the road and a bit of scenery as we were driving. I am finally getting around to posting them! It sure does get me excited for the upcoming camping and quadding season!

We love going down this road. I think it is some of the best scenery the Yukon has to offer and very few people head down there. If you haven't been down there yet, get on it! You will love the drive.

Babies and Bonfires

Don't worry- no babies actually came in contact with bonfires. Only marshmallows and hotdogs were sacrificed!

Early this afternoon friends of ours invited us out to a bonfire. Matt is on call, but luckily the radio works at this spot since it is quite close to town. We went out and spent about an hour and a half enjoying the beautiful January weather! A warm spell hit town this weekend and it was only -6C. I had my jacket off the entire time out there.

Relaxing infront of the fire:

My blue-eyed boy!

Handsome Husband:

Bonfire!!

Cross-eyed with love for the marshmallow!

Relaxing with Cavan:

Me and my boys! It is so hard to get Hunter to smile for the camera now.

Playing around on our friends skidoo:

I really miss our skidoos!! In a few years we definitely need to buy some.

Happy Family:

Walking on the skidoo trail:

The Terleski Family:

The Freake-Minder Family:

After a bit of boob, Cavan passed right out!

He even slept in the sled for the walk out, the drive home, and another 45 minutes in his carseat in the living room!! He was nearly falling out of this sled:

So I put him into this bigger sled to drag him out:

Watching my children enjoy time outdoors is so rewarding!

Success!!!

I know.... you are all sick about hearing about Hunter and the damn potty but that is about as exciting as my life gets these days!

Today we had total success on the potty front! Diaper came off when he woke up and he used his potty, all on his own, all day. And he finally conquered his fear of the elusive Poo-Snake and took a crap on the potty. I think he ate about 10 smarties today and he was so excited to show us his potty after each use.

I have high hopes that this is it. The end of the diaper is near.... for one kid anyways!

The Elusive Poo-Snake

We are trying hard to have Hunter diaper free as soon as possible, but oh it is a frustrating endeavor. Today I saw some real progress with five pees in the potty.

I let him run around mostly naked all day and ask him every few minutes if he has to pee/poo. It works! For the most part he yells at me, "NO PEE MOM!". But those five successful times, when I asked he booked it over to the potty, asked for me to read a story, and ta-da here comes the pee. He always says to me when he is done, "Look Mom, I peed in the potty for you!" Awww, what a good kid. We are giving him a Smartie for each successful use of the potty.

But then there is the Poo-Snake... Last month Hunter took a HUGE crap on his potty. He stood up, looked in, and loudly proclaimed, "Look Mom, a snake!" I then called it a Poo-Snake and the name has stuck. Ever since Hunter has said he is afraid to poo on the potty because of the Poo-Snake!! He was even afraid to go to the bathroom with me in SuperStore because he said there was a Poo-Snake in there. What a crazy kid!

We will keep at it and hopefully in a couple of months we will be done with diapers for him. I will definitely remember his encounter with the Poo-Snake so I can embarrass him with it when he grows up.

A Toddler Free Day

Today Hunter spent the day out of the house without us! Heather (check out her blog here) has started running a bit of a dayhome for kids and Hunter hung out over there today as a favour returned. Last week I took Heather's two little girls for part of the day. Oh my gosh girls are so much different! Much less destructive, or perhaps they were just on their best behaviour when they were here.

Cavan and I were on our own from 10:30 this morning until almost 5 this evening. The house was so quiet! I would love to say that I was incredibly productive and cleaned the house from top to bottom, but that just isn't the case. Instead, I spent most of the day in my comfy reclining/rocking chair as I fed and rocked my sick baby. I went through a lot of season 3 of Heroes and reading of some blogs I was behind on.

Cavan enjoyed playing with Hunter's toys without being pushed over, but his face just lit up when he saw his big brother heading up the stairs. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with Cavan without being pulled in twenty other directions today. Usually by 5pm I am exhausted and Hunter has me at my wits end. Tonight I was greeted with a big hug and tales of fun at Heather's house.

I am now hoping that Hunter can head over there once a week or so. It is good for him to get some interaction with others without mom there, and it is just as good for Cavan to have some undivided attention from mom. Completely worth the money and my sanity!

Sleepless Nights

Cavan seems to be going through a bought of thrush combined with pushing through some molars. For the last two nights he has only slept if we hold him upright. Every time we lay him down in his bed he starts to scream. Although his scream is more of a raspy yell, poor kid. I was up all night Sunday and Matt had to take Monday morning off of work so I could get some sleep. Last night we alternated a bit, but we are still running on very little sleep. At 3am this morning the baby was yelling and it woke Hunter up. The kid was wide awake and has been up ever since. I have no idea where he is getting his energy from, but I sure want to steal it.

Matt was supposed to head to Whitehorse this week for two nights, but thankfully he has rescheduled. I don't think I could have done two nights on my own this week at all.

But there is a good side to the morning- Hunter has peed on his potty three times this morning!

Bedtime Buddies

You met the entourage a few months ago. Since that time, one more rather large puppy has been added to that mix. The kid has a thing with stuffed puppies!

He is scared of the dark and has been sleeping with a lamp on at all times. This provided me with the perfect opportunity to sneak in and take a picture of him and the entourage at night. There is barely any room for the kid in his little bed! In the picture below you can see Pup 1 (top left), Pup 3 (beside head), Polar Bear (bottom right) and new addition, Pup 4 (light brown under Pup 1). Under the covers are Pup 2, Earl the Squirrel and four dinky cars. Also part of the night crew are the two required pillows and the cardboard gate. And of course we cannot forget Ah-Nigh the blanket.

Please everyone (GRANDPARENTS INCLUDED!) do not give us any more stuffed animals or the boy will not have any place to sleep!

The Girls Who Saved My Life

Okay, not literally. But I think they gave me a life.

I was the victim of bullying all throughout school. Actually, elementary was not bad. It was a small school made up of around 40 kids from kindergarten to grade 7. I remember liking school then. Of course there was always the popular kid even there and of course I was not it. But I was not harassed like I was once I left.

Due to poor teaching, my parents decided to send me into the middle school in town a month into grade 7. I went from a school with just 40 kids to one with over 600. I think that was the worst year off my life. I really had no friends and was constantly harassed, mainly because of my weight, but I sure the kids would have found something if it wasn't that.

Part way through that year I met a girl named Kim while in (the dreaded) gym class. Her classroom was next to mine and we became friends pretty quickly! She was tiny, had glasses, smart as hell, and I am sure was harassed in some way as well. We were definitely not the popular kids! Her friendship was that little bit of peace I looked forward to in that hostile world of middle school.

Grade 8 was a bit better. Kim and I ended up in the same homeroom together and our friendship grew. Into grade 8 I met some other girls named Kathy and Crystal. They attended church together and they invited me to attend a youth bible study that was held in our school once a week. Through that I got to know them and then then in grade 9 a friend of theirs started grade 8 at our school and I got to know Lana.

I was still bullied, but now I had a support group. I don't even remember talking about the bullying to them face to face, but we all understood and were there to support each other, I think through distraction! This group of friends grew and into high school I really had a sense of belonging.

We started a tradition, I am not sure if it was in high school or afterwards, where we would all meet for brunch on Christmas Eve morning and exchange gifts. It had been six years since I had been able to attend one, but they were still going. I would always get a call from a cell phone by one of them so I could say hi. I missed that brunch so much!

This year the stars aligned just right and we were all back in Dawson Creek for the holidays. We were all invited into the home of Kathy's parents for brunch this year since we were such a large group! Thank you so much Whitrow Family! It was such a treat to have this tradition in full swing this year. Those who had husbands and kids brought them, and we all had a wonderful time. There were 7 kids under aged 4 and they were all boys!

Thank you Crystal, Kim, Kathy, and Lana. I don't know were I would be without these friendships! Seeing you this holiday brought me to tears. I want to cry now as I write this! Your support through those school years has stuck with me. Instead of turning into a bitter person holding grudges from that time, I became a happy, compassionate person. Thank you to the rest of that support group from high school. I am still close to many of them as well.

I hoped that high school would be left behind once I made it out into the "real" world, but sadly there are the same problems out here as there were back there. But now I have the skills to avoid that so-called popular crowd, the cliques, the in-crowd, whatever they may be. I have no desire to be part of that and it saddens me that those still exist. I feel strong now, strong enough to reach out to those who feel left out and not worry when I know I am being left out.

Of course I hope my boys will never be the brunt of bullying, but that is not realistic. I just hope they have a real friend or two that will help them make it through.

Crystal, Me, Kim, Kathy and Lana

Dirt

I forgot how much trouble a crawling baby can get into. Now Hunter has always hated having his hands dirty and I think Cavan is going to be the opposite. Check out these pictures!

Ohhhhhh!! Dirt!!

Hmmm... maybe if I ignore them they will walk away and just let me play!

Uh... Hi? I so did not do this. Honest.

Olympic Spirit Box Arrives In Faro!

Today Faro was bustling with activity! Well, actually the airport was. Here is what was going on as stolen from the cbc.ca/north website:

A military Hercules aircraft carrying donated sporting goods to 20 communities across the North this week, part of a project leading up to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The donated hockey, soccer, lacrosse, baseball and basketball equipment began its northern journey Monday as part of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Truce Northern Outreach Project, which officially launched Monday morning in Winnipeg.

The project is organized by the 2010 Olympic organizing committee (known as VANOC), the Canadian Forces and the United Nations Association of Canada.

"Canada is the largest country in the world ever to host the Winter Olympics, and it's six times the size of Europe," VANOC chief executive officer John Furlong told CBC News on Monday.

"We have plenty of need at home, and so we thought, why not try to do some outreach work in our own country, where there's definitely a need?"

Furlong said the donated equipment will foster more play and hopefully mean less conflict in northern communities.

The sports gear — donated by Nike as well as the NHL's Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames teams — has been loaded into a CC-130 Hercules aircraft at CFB Winnipeg and is scheduled to fly to the Yukon community of Watson Lake on Monday afternoon.

Canadian Forces spokesperson Jennifer Taylor said the Hercules will spend Monday night in Whitehorse, then drop off more donations Tuesday in the Yukon communities of Faro and Mayo.

There was a hefty showing of community members waiting in -30C temperatures for the Herc to arrive after over an hour delay. It made a number of circles and a couple of flyovers before landing on our snow covered airstrip.

Fly-by of the Military Herc

Perfect landing!

I think this picture helps to convey how cold it was out there today. It just looks cold!

Waiting for everyone to get off the plane. Cavan was tucked away in the amouti.

Here comes the Olympic Spirit Box along with delegates, the Mascots and a news (film?) crew!

Here it comes!

Matt and Hunter posing with Miga:
*I am pretty sure the mascots were the only ones nice and toasty warm out there!

Hunter was not impressed with Quatchi. I am pretty sure Matt could have let go and Hunter would have been able to cling there on his own!

The Spirit Box being unloaded:

The box was jammed full of new sports gear for our community. What a treat!

Showing off the loot!

Even with the chilly temperatures we had a great time out there today. Thank you to all of those who organized and participated this event. I am sure all Faroites appreciated being chosen as a recipient of this Spirit Box. Safe travels to this crew as you continue around the north!

Good Ole Peasant Vision

Two years ago we left the arctic to head south to the land of trees and roads. We left behind our satellite dish, so we bought a new shiny one. We attempted to hook it up, but could not find a signal. Since spring was only a few months away we decided to forgo the dish for a while just to see if we could survive. Well six months later we still hadn't bothered to hook it up and we were all the better for it, so we sold the dish.

Now this isn't to say we were not watching tv, really we just got to avoid the horrible advertising. We purchased movies and tv shows by the season. We reduced out tv viewing from probably 4 hours a day to maybe 6 hours a week. We had our lives back!

We also made the choice to have Hunter watch no tv until he was nearly two years old. And then we allowed about two hours of tv a day, mainly Thomas, Might Machines and the Cars movie.

We broke down a while back and bought a small 13" tv with a dvd player in it to have upstairs for Hunter to watch his movies on. As it has gotten colder and we play less outside, I admit the tv is on a lot more than his two hours a day. I dislike it, but hey, you do what you have to! The good thing about having such a little tv is that we can angle it so the baby isn't watching it. I would like to avoid tv with him for a while yet.

Now for the big break down.... Matt bought an antenna for the downstairs tv a while back in hopes of getting Peasant Vision (CBC) so he could watch some Hockey this year. He still hadn't hooked it up, until last night. I am so sick of listening to those damn naughty trains, Hardhat Harry and Lightening MacQueen. We have a number of other movies for him, but he always goes back to those. I am sure I can recite them by memory now. I begged my husband to bring the antenna upstairs so I could let Hunter watch the kids shows on CBC in the mornings.

So as of 7pm last night, our house had tv. Peasant Vision was here. With shitty commercials and a slightly fuzzy screen. It sure did bring back memories of being a kid myself when all we got was the CBC, and for only one season of the year. My parents turned off the tv for spring, summer and fall.

I am not sure if I will regret this decision or not. Hunter has happily watched the kids shows this morning, but for only a few minutes at a time, then he plays with toys for a bit. Pretty much the same as when I put a movie in for him. And it looks like there are no commercials on during the kids shows! Matt is happy that he will be able to watch the shows he has been missing like Rick Mercer and and Hockey.

I am sure this development will not lead us down the path to a satellite though. We are now addicted to watching our shows when we want and without commercials. I know, I know... we could just get a PVR, but I am going to pretend those don't exist so I am not drawn in again. Although, my husband says we have just replaced our tv addiction with an internet one, but I am not going there!

Inside Holiday Fun

And now a selection of pictures from the inside activities over Christmas.

Hunter and Damon decorating the tree. About an hour after it is done, Hunter yaks all over the floor and the fun begins!
Making cookies with Grandma. Look at the mouth on Hunter! He was getting ready to eat another ball of dough.
Grandma and her little grandsons:
My nephew- his shirt says trouble and so do his eyes!!
Decorating sugar cookies:
My dad, brother and nephews all taking a nap:
My dad attempting to read "The Night Before Christmas." Hunter was insisting that a truck book would be a better option.
We were all spoiled rotten!
The little guys trying to break into a present:Grrrrrrrrrrrr!
The whole sick crew:
Dressed up in outfits made by my mom:

So this is what I attempted to make.... seemed easy enough....Ummmmmm..... yeah..... let's forget this ever happened.
Good thing it still tasted good!