First Day of School

School started last Wednesday and we had two very excited little boys.  Cavan has been mighty miserable the last two years watching his big brother head to school while he was left behind.  But this is the year!  He is now in K4 and will be going to school every morning. 

Was I sad?  Nope.  No tears here.  Tears from the boys?  Nope, none of those either!  They are happy to go to school and I am happy to have my mornings all to myself.  My plan?  Go back to work?  Naw.  I am taking a year at least before I even begin to think about that.

This year I will be taking my hour each morning to go to the gym.  And the other two hours?  Who knows.  Maybe some sewing, house cleaning, or just tea time.  Being a stay at home mom for the last six years has earned me these three hours of peace and quiet each day!

The Went boys are ready for action!

Bikes ready!

Grade 1 with Miss Fitz!

Cavan with his two best friends!

K4 with Miss Marilyn and Diana!

And this is the grin of a happy mama who now gets three hours a day kid free!

Meet Battleship and Pumpkin Cat

The house was just too empty with Freak: The White Cat gone.  Tweakers was lonely.  We were all sad. 

SO BRING ON THE KITTENS!

We found some kittens in Whitehorse and had them brought home to Faro by a friend.  Four kittens from the litter came to Faro; two kittens came to our house and two kittens went to another family.

Since I found the kittens, I had first dibs on which two I wanted and I picked the two all-black ones.  The other two that went to another family were a grey puff ball and a multi-coloured striped one, which were both very adorable!

It was a complete surprise for the boys and they were both mighty excited.  Although, I think I was more excited than both boys combined.  Come on, KITTENS!  Who couldn't get excited over that?

We ended up letting the boys name the cats.  Hunter originally named his girl kitten War Ship, but we found that very hard to say and it sounded more like worship.  When I tried to shorten it to ship it sounded like a bad word.  Today he agreed to a change to Battleship and we are all happy with that.  Hunter says she is officially Kitty Battleship Went.

Cavan took one look at his black boy kitten and named him Pumpkin Cat.  It is straight from a book we have called, "Pumpkin Cat" where a black cat and a mouse plant a seed that grows into a big pumpkin right in time for Halloween.  Awesome!

The kittens are full of energy and are hell-bent on climbing the curtains right to the ceiling.  So really no different than Hunter and Cavan.  Tweakers is much less impressed, but we are hoping that she will make friends (or at least tolerate them) as time goes by. 

KITTENS!

Cavan and Pumpkin Cat

Hunter and Battleship

Hunter reading to both kittens.

And Again.... More Camping!

This summer has revolved around camping, the swimming pool, and the garden.  Life is rough.

After our ten nights away, we went out camping down the South Canol Road with another family.  The weather was miserable most of the time, but the company was pleasant!

We took the guns and fishing rods, but the only thing that was caught was our friend's son.  Cavan and him were fishing, and their little guy got too close to Cavan as he cast.  The poor guy got two hooks stuck in the side of his head right above the ear.  Matt pulled it out with his leatherman and there was only a few tears!  What a tough kid.

Angry face:  You said there would be fish!

Picnic with friends!

I love my truck and camper!

Camping supper.  Steak, potatoes, green beans, onions, and carrots.  Rough.

Here fishy, fishy!

Helping dad.

10 nights away

The boys and I (along with two other mamas and their broods) had a fantastic time away.  I spent ten nights in the camper with my boys in perfect weather and I found it hard to leave the campground and head for home!

We spent a week in Whitehorse and the boys got to attend five days of daycamp at the Canada Games Centre.  They loved every day and passed out hard every night.  We went swimming almost every day and bike riding around the campground every evening.  Camping with friends is the best way to do it!

While the kids were at daycamp the moms enjoyed leisurely mornings at Starbucks and Baked Cafe, visiting with WH friends, and exploring every single aisle of Walmart, CT, Dollar Store and SuperStore.  It didn't feel right without having a kid screaming or throwing a tantrum on the floor!

After that one week, we left Wolf Creek Campground and headed up highway to Fox Lake Campground.  I stayed there for another four nights.  It was hot, hot, hot!  Every day I sat in my chair by the dock, read my book, and watched the kids swim their hearts out.

Us mamas are superwomen.  We parked our rv's, ran around town with them, dumped poo out of them, and set them up in two separate campgrounds with no problems and no husbands around!

We will definitely be doing that again next summer!

Rubbermaid bath!

Lounging in the tub.

Cavan and Alex on the shore of Bennet Lake.

The kids even got an afternoon of circus camp!

There were a lot of crazy dock antics!

Not all fun and games!

I am a mean mama and drug my unsuspecting kids off the dock a number of times.

A slew of happy northern kids!

Thanks ladies for such a great time!

Goodbye to Freak: The White Cat

While the kids and I were away camping, a vet was in Faro for a weekend and did a housecall to put down our kitty.  We couldn't have asked for a better way to do it, actually.  The cat has been sick for a long time and with the nearest vet in Whitehorse, we had been putting off this decision for a long time.  The cat hates to travel, so the thought of driving her to Whitehorse to be put down wasn't a pleasant one.

The vet who came to the house said her kidneys were probably failing and while there were options (pills and such) we weren't willing to spend the money and prolong her misery.  The vet agreed this was the best option.  We had been telling the kids for the last few months that she was sick and would probably die soon.  They have taken the news quite well and while they tell us they miss her, they haven't been too upset.

So, Freak: The White Cat, you were a great cat.  Lazy as a cat should be, obsessed with your food, and demanding of at least one-third of our bed space.  You hated my mother and went to any length to terrorize her whenever she came to visit (which Matt really loved).  Your antics kept us entertained for the last ten years and you will be missed by our entire family.  You will be remembered forever, partially because of the hair you have left behind in our house!

Lazy

Tweak and Freak eyeing up a dog... 

This bed is all for me, right?

Fully relaxed!

Not the smartest of creatures by far.

This cat lived in all three territories! 

She dreamed of more travel, but could never bring herself to leave the north.

Starving at all times.

Freak and Tweak

Freak- friend to all wildlife.  Well, dead ones anyways.

Freak: The White Cat

We love toys!

All settled in for nap time.

Baby Hunter and Freak

Toddler Hunter and Freak. 

We will miss you, crazy kitty!

Adventure Time Again!

The little boys and I are off of an adventure again!

This time we are heading to Whitehorse for a week.  For five days both boys will be attending daycamp at the Canada Games Centre.  Then Hunter will also have half a day of circus camp next Saturday!  We are going to camp at a campground just outside of town for the week along with two other mommies and their rugrats who are also attending camp. 

My plans for the week while the kids are in camp?  Tea breaks, some back-to-school and grocery shopping, a lot of reading in the sun, and hopefully some visiting with friends!

Then next Sunday, if the weather is still looking good, we are going to hit up another campground for a few days.  Matt is on-call almost the entire time we are gone, so he won't be joining us; it is just a mom and kid adventure!

Once we return to Faro, it will be a quick clean of the camper, loading of the quads and hunting gear, and then heading out to look for a moose or caribou on the long weekend.  Hurray!  My favorite season, hunting season, is here!

Have a great week everyone!

Adventure time for mama and boy terrors!  Photo courtesy of Jentography.

Oh my. The skin.

I have nearly lost 130 in the last 21 months.  The weight loss has been in one hell of a stall for the last seven months, but I am happy to know that I am able to maintain a weight for such a long period.

But the skin.  I was shocked when I looked at photos from last weekend when I was in my swim suit and jumping off the dock.  My house doesn't have a full length mirror in it, so I don't have the opportunity to really see what my body looks like other than photos.  I loved every minute of jumping off the dock with my kids and friends, but when I saw what my body looked liked, I felt embarrassed.  Not embarrassed enough to keep me from doing it again right now or to hide the pictures, but enough that the guilt I feel over the amount of money we are spending on my skin removal surgery diminished quite a bit.

Silly, right?  I should feel proud at what I have accomplished.  But instead I feel embarrassed at the flopping skin.  When I see it, I wonder how the hell I was ever running or playing squash with it flopping and flapping around.  I feel like the saggy-baggy elephant.

My surgery is in just three months and I cannot wait!  I hope the surgeon is able to take care of a lot of the loose flopping skin and I can feel more comfortable with my new, smaller body.

Skin in the upwards and outwards motion...  Not so pretty!

Garden: 2 Months

The hot weather has not only been good for camping, it is has made my garden turn into a little northern jungle!  Everything has done amazing, except for the broccoli and cabbage plants that were given to me.  We have had a few feeds of potatoes and the kids are stealing carrots out of the garden all the time.  Tomorrow I am going to do my first pick of peas!

My first batch of swiss chard, I cut and dried in my dehydrator.  When done, I had three big ziplock bags of it ready to be crushed and mixed into soups, stews and casseroles this winter.  I have been cutting lettuce and mixed greens and giving away and even selling a few bags since I was completely overrun.

I am dreaming of another year or so down the road when I have a green house and can grow cucumbers and zucchini!  A neighbour brought me over a couple of eating cucumbers that we inhaled.  She also gave us an icecream bucket of pickling cucumbers.  I made sliced dills with those!

Peppers!

Lots of little tomatoes that I hope will start to ripen soon.

Beets in the back and second run of swiss chard in the front.

Carrots are growing and the kids are stealing them whenever they are playing.

Peas as far as the eye can see!

My beans are going to be ready in another week or so.

I have already picked about 4lbs of potatoes from my garden.

More tomatoes!

The world's smallest broccoli!

Cabbage fail!

Dehydrating swiss chard.

Sliced dill pickles now stashed for a few months until they are ready.