Onwards and upwards

On Monday I updated my calendar. Things are moving so fast. On the calendar I added the date for Vanessa’s Kindergarten enrolment and the pre-school enrolment for Hailey. While I’m super excited for Vanessa to start Kindergarten, I’m in no hurry to send Hailey to pre-school. She still seems so young and my baby but I do know that in 8 months from now she will be ready. Vanessa is ready now. She has the social skills, the physical skills and the maturity to handle it. Of course it will be a huge adjustment for the whole family but still exciting.

Vanessa will be doing an international bilingual program. Where half her days will be in English and the other half in French. One teacher continues where the other left off. It looks very interesting and it’s a great school.

Hailey’s plans are more up in the air. The pre-school Vanessa attends would be great for her but it’s further from our new house. I’m very sad since it’s a fantastic pre-school where Vanessa has grown and learned on so many levels. I’m just not sure spending that much time in the car would be good for a nap schedual and with the rise in gas prices it doesn’t seem as cost effective. Maybe the year after when she could go 2 whole days a week.

Today I worked on organizing the office a little more and went through paper work. Chucked some and chuckled at others. Letters and cards that were written old car agreements. Things are moving along with organizing of the house but only at a snails pace. I can’t seem to find the motivation. Tomorrow it’s Vanessa’s room I’m tackling. Shhhhh she doesn’t know while she’s at school there will be casualties from this tidy.

I looked up activities for the kids in our new town and was thrilled to find lots to do. They still have a ski program and free activities in the parks in the summer. A very relaxed day camp. There’s suppose to be a great playgroup in French. This will be tough but ultimately good for me and hopefully Hailey. Makes me more excited lets see if that translates to motivated.

Using her powers for good and not evil

Vanessa’s trying her best to be good. Do you know how many books series rely on the main character who can’t help themselves and get into trouble only to fix it all with no repercussions. Like Curious George or Caillou. I’m sure there are many others but they’re the most serious offenders.

Today she just wanted to help in the kitchen at dinner. I find that my patience are thin by then and she’s, historically speaking, has not been great at following instructions. We have a small kitchen. It’s very efficient if there’s only one chef and possibly someone who takes direction on the other side. I have seen great improvement in her following rules and co-ordination. Today I put her to work putting the silverware away and unloading the dishwasher. She was happy and very proud to do it. Looks like she needs more jobs and more freedom.

Speaking of more freedom, when I get a little more organized, I’m going to start packing Vanessa snacks for her to eat at home. She can eat them all in the morning or over the course of the day. It will stop the constant. Can I have a snack? Just because she’s bored. I’ll let you know how that goes for us…

Crafts…OMG

This morning I suggested we make dards for Pamela’s birthday. That was well received. The girls created on their table in their new found tidy playroom. We had lots of clean, stress free fun. Hailey loved the colouring when she wasn’t eating the crayons and Vanessa cut out balloons with her tongue sticking out to the side. We made it until 11 am with no fighting, stayed inside and no electronics except the kid’s CDs. YEAH everyone. All I have to do now is get them out of their PJs.

The news story of the day.

We’re moving! We’re excited, nervous, thrilled and terrified all in the same breath. It’s real now because we told Vanessa this week. She’s not all that jazzed about the idea but she will be. The new house is closer to her kindergarten. (Kindergarten can you believe that?)

To make our house sell faster and at a higher price we’re renovating some pretty major parts of the house. Two weeks ago we redid the powder room and it’s fantastic. I’m sorry there are no before pictures but it’s dramatic. Eric changed everything except for the toilet. Nothing was moved but it looks impressively bigger. We put in a sink that is half the size and a mirror that is twice as big. We no longer trip on the step stool. There’s very little storage but less for the girls to get into. This was 400$ well spent. Even if we don’t get it back, it will sell faster and make me happy until we move.

There have been two people who gasped when entering so we’re thrilled.

Good Job Eric.

Soon I’ll be talking about the kitchen reno and fixing a leak we’ve had in the roof vent. Wish us lots of luck with the vent. All this needs to be done before the middle of February when we put the house on the market. FEWF.

Blogging Better for me

I’ve been on Facebook so much it looks like a blog post when combining all my status updates. I think it’s time to put it all together in a longer, possibly rambling format. I’ve got my office back to where it feels confortable to type after I injured myself with a non-ergonomic set up.

The girls and I have just finished our Christmas break together. Honestly, it went better than I thought. We took things easy and some of the rules were a little laxer. Vanessa got really excited about Santa and watching the NORAD Santa tracker. Hailey found Vanessa’s mood infectious. There’s been tobogganing and a trip to the Biodome, Now that I look back it’s all a blur.

I’m going to try and post more often but no promises here.

I’m BACK!!

No excuses here. I’ve been unmotivated and disorganized. The girls have been thriving. They’ve had a great 6 months. Lots of great days that I’d like to share with you. The recap will be short and sweet. I hope you enjoy it.