'The Parkins' For Dummies

Race for Life

2009-04-23T13:35:00.002-04:00

It seems Facebook has replaced our need to blog, it was originally created to keep our families up to date with our Canadian adventure. Nowadays we're close enough to see them regularly and the blog has become a little redundant as our Canadian friend are all facebookers. However, I'm under the impression that there are a few people who still check this webpage from time to time, so I have a few things to say.

I will be running the race for Life in June this year with my sister in law, Claire, and my younger sister, Amanda. I've started my training and fundraising this month so that everyone has time to sponsor me before the big day. We will be running 5km / 3miles at Tatton Park in Cheshire on June 6th to raise money for cancer research. If you're able to come along and cheer us on, we'll probably need it! None of us claim to be runners, although Claire has a fair bit of experience, so in my opinion she is really. So far I have raised 30 pounds but I'm aiming high and would like to raise 300.

The reason I'm doing this is one dear to my heart, that affects us all. Cancer treatment has progressed radically in the last few years while I've been studying it and I believe it has improved the journey drastically. As a result I believe in cancer research, I have seen it's effects in action already. Sadly in January this year we lost my mother-in-law to cancer, I also lost a work colleague from Canada. A dear friend of mine was just diagnosed with it along with one of my uncles and that is just this year! This terrible disease affects so many people, everybody knows someone who has dealt with it - thats how prevalent it is! I have decided to start the fight against cancer for myself by raising as much money for research as possible, so that we can improve the journey for those people both now and in the future.

If you wish to sponsor me check out this address: www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/natashaparkin
Thanks for your support and prayers!

Evangeline Rose Parkin

2009-02-13T04:03:00.004-05:00

6 days over due and a healthy 8lb 2oz baby Eva entered our world last Friday. She was born at 9.50am after a speedy labour and delivery. If you are at all squeamish or don't like to know details don't read the next two paragraphs! I went in Thursday night after my waters broke and was sent promptly home with some nice pain killers to wait for more pain or some other sign she was on her way out. About 6 hours later I realised the painkillers had worn off and I was more than ready to have someone else decide how well I was progressing, so we returned to the hospital at about 8am.

Gabe was being watched by Aunty Claire who was all set for a long haul. The midwife who admitted us told us we had a fair way to go yet so she hooked me up to the lovely baby monitor on the not so comfortable triage room bed. half an hour later I was ready to push and noone seemed to believe me. One midwife reluctantly agreed to take us to a delivery room so that I could have some gas and air for the pain. She left us alone again in a state of disbelief, she didn't check to see if I was right, she just assumed I didn't know what I was talking about. Two contractions later Ryan was pressing the buzzer and the head midwife arrived to see Eva crowning! She was shocked to say the least...if she'd have taken her time Ryan would have delivered Eva himself. We did get an apology afterwards, so we won't be writing any letters of complaint.

Anyway for those of you who skipped the above paragraphs the highlight of the day was returning home the same day with our little angel in tow. She has maintained her birth weight and is already spending more time awake staring around at any face she can see. We've had a slow week at home adjusting to our larger family. Ryan is back to work next week as my parents are visiting and we'll be moving into our new house in a couple of weeks so he'll be taking another week off then. Life has been quite intense lately and little Eva has been a real angel so we feel quite blessed to have her lighting up our stressful time.

Gabe is slowly learning that his boundaries have changed since she joined us and is doting over her every chance he gets. He keeps asking to hold her and hold her hand, stroke her hair and kiss her. She couldn't ask for a more affectionate big brother thats for sure!

Goodbye Grandma

2009-01-22T09:18:00.005-05:00

I'm very sad to report that we have lost a valuable member of our family to a much better place. Ryans Mum, Gabriel's Grandma and my Mother-in-law has entered Heaven's gates. We were blessed to be by her side to say goodbye and to tell her how much we loved her, we held her hands and asked her to stop the fight, so that she could be free to enjoy the rewards of Heaven after such a long battle.

Gwen was a beautiful person with amazing faith and strength, she battled cancer for more than ten years. God healed her many times during those years, so Gabe and I count ourselves blessed to have even known her. She died knowing exactly where she was going and that she wouldn't have to suffer any more. I feel a deep sadness, more for my family than for her, as we will miss her sense of humour, stories from childhood (hers and Ryan's), beautiful singing voice, selflessness, rock steady faith and generosity of spirit in the years to come. She was easy to love and she genuinely loved those around her with ease, her life was full of people who knew her and loved her company.

Ryan and I are due to have another baby within the next couple of weeks and we will be proud to name her after Grandma. There will be a celebration of her life next Friday in Worthing for those of you who knew her.

Kerchow

2008-10-21T06:40:00.003-04:00

Gabe had lots of lovely gifts and cards on his birthday, but Auntie Claire wins with the most entertaining card, as judged by Gabe himself. In fact, 20 mins after opening it, he's still opening and closing it, randomly shouting "Kerchow!" (Lightening McQueen's catchphrase).
We're on our way to Cheshire Oaks to visit Nan, Pops and Auntie Grace now and it looks like the noisy card is coming along for the ride!
Thank you Claire!

Happy Birthday Gabriel!

2008-10-13T17:17:00.005-04:00

It has been a couple of weeks since Ryan arrived and we're doing well. Life is really good and very complicated at the moment so we have been relieved to spend a day just enjoying Gabriel not focusing on our issues as much. Gabe has been waking up very early since we arrived in the country and today he surprised us by sleeping through til 6.30 am - woopee what a great way to start his birthday! We crept downstairs to see and play with the present we constructed last night, it almost felt like Christmas! The day was filled with presents, family, friends and cake - everything a little boy needs to keep him cheerful!

We went up north to visit my grandparents' on Saturday and had a beautiful day

...here's the crew all well fed and ready to face the windy road home.

Hmm - I think the angle is wrong on this one, but the picture is still lovely, father and son working on a project together.

Here is Gabriel enjoying his new Thomas the tank engine train set.

Gabe chased bubbles happily at Nan & Pops house for ages in the afternoon

...perfect exercise for such a busy little boy!

Gabe showing off his stylish new pyjamas after a feast of pizza and cake!

Gabriel had a wonderful day and he sends his love and Hugs to all his family and friends!

Kitchen

2008-09-15T11:30:00.003-04:00

The kitchen is finished at last. Our nightmare room is no longer so unbearable! And so now I get to enjoy it... ...for 2 weeks! The house is up for sale, Tasha and Gabe are back in England and I'm just killing time until my flight in 2 weeks!
Well...here are some pics of the finished kitchen. It's not really that impressive, unless you saw the old kitchen!

Moving one's life

2008-09-12T17:15:00.004-04:00

Up until this morning our house has been filled with full and semi full boxes. The shipping company came and took it all away in less than an hour. The house is so sparse now that we're pulling off the minimal look by default! I feel oddly amazing without all this stuff, just living minimally is sweet.
Gabe and I fly home tomorrow, so please pray that all goes well at the border and that they allow my little Canadian residency! They should, but you never know, he might offend them with one of his songs. He's been reciting a handful of tunes of late and it makes very entertaining listening, especially when he slips into a different song altogether part way through...we may have a DJ on our hands!
Anyway here are a couple of photos to keep you hooked until we're back in England have more time to collect thoughts.

My Wife

2008-09-04T10:21:00.003-04:00

I'm so impressed with Tasha. She has been working incredibly hard since finishing work a week ago. If I was a better husband, I'd try stop my pregnant wife from working so hard, but she's pacing herself well and seems very motivated. We are sorting all our belongings ready to sell, ship or scrap and Tasha has single-handedly sorted almost everything. (In case you are wondering, I haven't been sat on the rocking chair, barking orders! I've been continually renovating!!!)
We're leaving all our furniture behind, along with most of my powertools (I could cry!). We're hoping to sell some of it to pay for our flights, but a lot will just go to the thrift stores or donated to friends.
As for renovating, the end is in sight and we're hoping to have the house on the market by next week. Please pray for a fast sale at a good price!
The most exciting part of our week was Tuesday, when we got to see our little baby wriggling and yawning on the ultrasound screen. We have a couple of photos, which I will try post tonight. We will also find out in a few hours whether we are having a boy or a girl. Maybe you don't want to know, so perhaps we wont post the outcome on the blog! When Tasha was pregnant with Gabe, I felt like I just knew it was a boy. I had a 50/50 chance of being right, but I was quite certain, even during the first few weeks of the pregnancy. This time, I'm not so sure. I know for sure I wont be disappointed either way.
Check back later for the ultrasound photos.

Renovating

2008-08-27T16:42:00.003-04:00

I'm currrently learning what the phrase "burning the candle at both ends" means. For those of you who know me well, you might be expecting me to be a little stressed at the moment, but surprisingly, I'm still very excited about the move and things are moving along well.

However, it's a huge undertaking and I'm working 9 hour days at work with a very busy schedule as we undergo a huge server upgrade at work. We have 150 staff and more than 50 computers and I'm the only I.T. guy for the building, so it's the busiest job I've ever had.

When I get home, I barely get a few moments to hang out with Tasha and Gabe and then I'm deep into the renovating. At the moment, we're working on the kitchen and we're really pleased with the progress; both in terms of how fast it's developing and also how much better it looks than before.

Here are some pictures that only those who saw the kitchen before we started will really appreciate. (The photos are terrible, but that's what I get from a phone camera and a shaky hand!)

One of the first jobs was to take down the cabinets and put them up straight!

They were visibly wonky before with a gap between cabinets.

Now they're level thanks to my dad's laser-level!

The floor has also been replaced. We opted for vinyl tiles for speed and ease and we're very pleased with the result. Much better than the previous laminate job.

Above is the view from the kitchen to the front door. Again, it looks amazing, but more so if you ever saw the old hallway. Previously, there was a second door frame only 3 feet past the door frame that you see in this picture. We took out the unnecessary wall and door and the room looks more spacious.

We painted it a cheerful yellow, with a bright white wainscot (thanks for the help Dad) and then added a brand new laminate floor and finished it last night with a coat rail and a picture frame.

Above, you can see the view from the front door back to the kitchen.

Note the makeshift diner in the hallway. It's a tight squeeze but much cleaner than the kitchen (hence the blue tarp holding back the dust in the kitchen at the end!!!)

This blog post is mostly for my Dad, as I'm sure no-one else cares about the renovations. Even Dad must be sick of the conversations we have about renovations, but he politely asks for updates and photos every time we speak (and that's why I love him!)

Other updates:

Tasha's last day of work is tomorrow and then she will fly home around September 16 with Gabe. I'm staying a little longer until the end of September and I finish work on September 26. 10 days without Tasha and Gabe means a very lonely Ryan, but I'm sure the housework, packing, shipping and a healthy dose of good friends will keep me busy.

Baby is kicking!

2008-08-25T20:23:00.003-04:00

So I was really excited about this and wanted to share it with everyone. Last time I was pregnant I didn't feel Gabe kicking until I was about 21 weeks along. This time I felt it 4 weeks earlier, I was just chilling with Gabe in the living room on Saturday morning and I felt the tiny little prod that I knew was not me or Gabe, I've felt it a few more times since, so I may have another little footballer on my hands! I'm counting down the days until my scan now to find out whether it's a boy or a girl this time...I don't really care which it is, but I can't wait to say he or she rather than it all the time!
I officially have three days left at work and then I start the real work arranging our big move home, there is so much to be done, but I'm incredibly excited to do it because it makes the whole thing more real. We have successfully tiled the kitchen floor so it looks wonderful and we've all had a lie down on it to understand the beauty of a new floor...it wasn't exhaustion honest! Now we just need to finish the walls and paint everywhere before we can put this place on the market.
Unfortunately I have no photos to add this time but I'll see what i can get for the next post, maybe that one will come from the UK!

Recent Photos

2008-08-17T22:16:00.001-04:00

Gabe had a lot of fun in the garden a few weeks ago. We hooked the leaky hose up to the patio canopy and he thought he had his own splashpad!

Gabe enjoying some time with Pops.

Gabe showing some style in sunglasses (above) and a Montanas napkin (below)

Mopping with toilet water

2008-08-15T20:27:00.003-04:00

Today has been a very productive day, Ryan officially finished laying sub-floor in the kitchen, which was no small task may I just say! We also removed the cupboards and hung them straight...well straighter than they were before.

Please note the beautiful makeshift "jack" we were using to hold
the cupboards up while we quickly put screws in!

Gabe was an angel playing happily while we finished hanging the cupboards...the clean up didn't exactly go to plan though. It's quite a funny story so I hope I do this justice! Ryan was sweeping the wood dust off the floor in the kitchen and Gabe wanted to sweep too, so Ryan handed him the spare broom and off we he went sweeping the hallway enjoying himself quietly. About five minutes later I asked Ryan where he thought Gabe was, to which he replied I think he's sweeping his room because he's closed the door. So we carried on cleaning and rearranging the contents of the newly hung cupboards. Ryan finished up and went to wash his hands in the bathroom, to his great surprise he found Gabe in there. The toilet lid had been left up and Gabe had decided that the broom was a mop and that he would help us clean by "mopping" the bathroom floor with the water in the toilet! We just had to laugh, he has obviously been watching us clean, but not quite closely enough lol!

After his bath tonight I was picking out his pyjamas when he decide to help me choose. So he is wearing his ambulance, police and fire engine pyjamas with an orange jacket over the top just for extra warmth.

"Mummy I'm too tired to care about the appropriate outfit for
sleeping in, just give me the milk and we'll all be happy"

Too busy to blog

2008-08-11T20:35:00.006-04:00

So we've been a little slack in our blogging lately...life has become a crazy tumult of things that need to be done. I'm sure you've all gone through similar seasons and therefore can forgive our lack of posts recently. I do have some updates if you're still interested, Ryan is renovating like crazy (see pictures below), I am in my 16th week of pregnancy and am just starting to grow a baby belly, and Gabe is having fun forming mini sentences.

I'm attempting to attach a little video of Gabe, but I warn you it may not work as the usual computer set up has been changed and the iphoto library is stored in a thing that is no longer plugged in, the odds are against this technology agreeing with me...heres hoping!

(Above) This closer section of hallway is currently looking more bright and complete than it ever has, it now has proper siding and decent flooring. This is replacing the ancient water ruined floor and mental wood on the walls. If you do a bit of research on the blog I'm sure you'll find the original look somewhere. The farther section of hallway is also done to this standard...but it is currently doing a stand up job of holding our wood and drywall out of the way so we can work on the next project.

The kitchen has always seemed like such a mammoth job that we've put it off, had quote to get someone else to do it and hummed and hahed over it for a long time. Funnily enough though once Ryan started working on it we've been amazed at how fast the walls have gone up and the flooring has come out. You can see in the picture above we are at the sub-floor stage on this half of the kitchen and the wall behind the chairs is now fairly flat (or at least it will be when it's been mudded). If you haven't seen our kitchen walls you've missed out on one of the many wonders of our house, they are a little odd to say the least. The top half of the walls are at one depth and the bottom half are 1 - 2inches inset so theres a step outwards at about the 5 foot level - if you can't picture it, don't worry it wasn't a good look anyway!

The question you have to ask yourself now is: was he saying ducky or cookie?

Yet another HAPPEEEEEEEEEE BIRTHDAY!

2008-07-20T11:43:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday Mummy!!!!

Daddy and me love you lots and lots and think you are the best mummy in the whole world. Daddy says that we'll surprise you with a present when you decide to tell us what you want! I think he's just being lazy but he assures me it's all "under control".

Love and Hugs

Gabe

Even More Happy Birthdays

2008-07-18T18:14:00.003-04:00

Another Happy Birthday to Grandma (3 weeks late) and Grandad (today)!

Gabriel the Artist

2008-07-17T19:20:00.004-04:00

Gabe surprised me today by helping me to complete my drawing of Bob the Tomato. I grabbed the camera and asked him to do it again, and he did! Clever boy!

Dance with no Pants

2008-07-17T19:10:00.003-04:00

The guitar needs tuning...the guitarist needs shooting...but the dancing is top class!

Hippo Birdie Two Ewes!

2008-07-09T20:10:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday Ryan & Mum

We hope you had a beautiful day!

With Lots of love and hugs from Tasha, Gabriel and Baby

Shoes and bubbles

2008-06-28T09:11:00.003-04:00

Just some fun pics for you to enjoy:

Daddy shoes

Mummy shoes

I think the shoe thing is a pretty common occurrence among toddlers - it still makes me laugh and run for the camera though!

Night Night

2008-06-19T23:19:00.002-04:00

Famous for 5 minutes

2008-06-06T19:39:00.008-04:00

Our local TV Channel did a nice piece on the Thursday night soup truck that we've been running for about 18 months. Due to the fact that everyone important was busy, I ended up being interviewed about it. The interview lasted a few minutes and I was so impressive they cut everything out except a 5 second piece about volunteers. I'd had a rough day and my enthusiasm is somewhat lacking. Keep watching to the very end to see me stare blankly and sigh for a few seconds of awkward silence. Classic!

CLICK HERE FOR THE VIDEO

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Pretty 'Pasha'

2008-06-03T08:41:00.003-04:00

Gabriel is more talkative than ever and the rate he is learning new words (and remembering them) is incredible! He's even stringing words together to try make full sentences. Last week at Daycare, he said "Aw Man! Cookies all gone!"

A week ago, Tasha was given some flowers for helping someone at DHQ. Gabriel was quite drawn to the flowers and kept referring to them as "Pashas". I thought it was very cute that he couldnt say "Flowers", so he would call them "Pashas". It's even cuter because that's also what he says when he is trying to say "Tasha" (which we don't encourage).
We have to be careful to refer to each other as 'Mummy' and 'Daddy', as he is fast to pick up 'Ryan' and 'Tash'. The other week, Gabriel ran down the hallway looking for his Mummy, shouting "Pash..Pash!".

There's so many little stories that we should be blogging before he grows up and we forget them!

More cute pics - enjoy!

2008-05-22T18:30:00.003-04:00

Smelling the roses...or whatever this particular flower is!

The rest of the bouquet...very beautiful!

Just using a mug and a straw...oh and an adult chair all at once - very cool!

Gabe had just eaten his whole Weetabix by himself when I took this photo. He used a spoon with great skill, he was clearly very impressed with himself!

Chuckles

2008-05-16T23:55:00.003-04:00

This makes me laugh every time I watch it. Hope you enjoy!

Long Weekend

2008-05-16T23:45:00.004-04:00

My sister, Claire reprimanded me today for not putting more pics of Gabe on the blog, so here's a few more pics (including one of me....of course not nearly as interesting as Gabe, but relevant!).
It is a long weekend here and so I've been commissioned to take down the plaster in our hallway and replace it with drywall.... ...and if I have time, to lay a new subfloor too! Tasha is taking Gabe out for most of the day tomorrow, so I can work hard without a little monkey at my heels.
This photo is from a couple of weeks ago when we began the demolition work.

But now onto the more exciting photos of Gabriel. This is one of his newer habits; watching TV with his hands in his pockets. Very chilled!

Another favourite is bathtime, especially sine Mummy bought some bath-crayons for drawing on the bath and surround. We now use them as a reward for sitting on his potty before he gets into the bath. Now he goes straight to the potty and puts his hand out for a crayon. He learns so fast.

Eighteen Months

2008-04-20T16:57:00.004-04:00

Gabriel is now officially a toddler, he is eighteen months old and large for his age I would guess. He's doing really well, learning lots at daycare, everything from where his toes and nose are to how to ask nicely for toys. He has a slight obsession with bubbles at the moment - courtesy of Auntie Grace! While in Michigan, Grace bought Gabe some huge bubble blowers, so he can waft the wand around and make his own bubbles now. At lunch today I was mentioning the flowers sprouting in the garden and Gabe must have seen me look out the window, so he decided we were of course talking about going outside to blow bubbles. For the next ten minutes the only intelligible word we could get out of him was:
"bubble?"

"Bubble, Cheese!"
After dinner I told Gabe we would go out and blow bubbles, I grabbed the camera and Gabe yelled the above statement - I wonder how bubble cheese tastes?

"Look Mummy I found a piece of muck...do you want it?" - I have such a generous child!

We also decided it was about time we put him in a toddler bed, he's old enough to get on and off the couch safely, so we figured that means he is also old enough to stay in or get out of a bed without bars. Last night was our first attempt and he didn't like it much - he was stood at his door wailing within minutes. We're not push overs though, so we cuddled him and put him back in bed and this time he stayed there - wailing...for about 15 minutes! He was just lying there, in his bed, chattering away this morning. I'm not sure he knew he is allowed to get out and play in his room in the morning! This afternoon we put him down for his nap and he didn't even attempt to leave the bed, he just cried for a few minutes and gave up when noone answered.

Gabe and I went to the park this morning, he spoke "duckish" for a while at the geese and then went on the slide - a lot! After a couple of goes with mummy I felt he didn't really need my assistance and I definitely didn't want to keep going down that toddler slide, so I let him climb the stairs and slide himself down, much to his delight! It was all going well until he found the tube slide and was adamant that he was going down that instead...so I was back up there helping him to get in without banging his head on the top or going hands first. After a few more tries I decided to let him get in by himself and prayed he'd get his feet round before he started sliding - he did get them round, but I was at the bottom just in case he went face first. That was him, as happy as can be for the next twenty goes. My kid is growing up and I'm so pleased! I enjoy helping him do new things but I enjoy watching him do it for himself even more.

A few updates

2008-04-09T09:56:00.003-04:00

Ryan: is home sick with a cold.
Gabe: is learning new words every day and now says "Amen" and "Jesus" (which he always says with a smile, so I think he may be confusing Jesus with Cheese, but who hasn't made that mistake, right?)
Tasha: took part in a volleyball tournament in Hamilton last weekend and got to the final. I'm constantly impressed with her hidden talents. I'm posting some pics, but hopefully she will post more about the day, as I had to stay home with Gabe.

Tasha is also going for minor surgery to have her wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow, so we'd welcome your prayers for a painless process and a speedy recovery. We'll both be home after the surgery tomorrow and all day Friday, so feel free to call.

Michigan and Illinois

2008-04-07T19:59:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, we took a trip over to Michigan to spend a long weekend with my Dad, my step-mum and my two step-sisters. The journey there was a long snowy drive that lasted over 7 hours, but it was worth the effort. The following day, it was decided that we would go to Chicago for the day. Being tired and grumpy from all the driving the day before, and having the mother of all headaches , I sulked my way to Chicago and for a couple of hours, I came close to spoiling the day for everyone. Fortunately, the Shedd Aquarium was a lot of fun and the sea creatures were pretty impressive.
After that, the rest of our trip was very laid back and we enjoyed being around family. It was over too soon though, and before we knew it, we were back in the car for the (less snowy and much faster) journey home.
My biggest frustration was that I didn't take enough photos, but here are a couple from the fountain outside the aquarium, which became the playground for a lot of kids while we waited in line to get into the building.

He's football crazy, he's football mad

2008-03-20T21:46:00.004-04:00

Thought you might enjoy some real football enthusiasm....enjoy the video clip!

Gabe seems to have football in his veins, whenever he sees it on tele he shouts "Goal!" he doesn't really get the concept of a goal, but its cute that he recognises the sport and is enthusiastic about it.

Funny story - I'll just give you some background first, Gabe has had a bit of a cold for the last week so we've been blowing his nose frequently. I was folding laundry in the living room the other day and Gabe was helping out, he wasn't exactly folding but I let him join in anyway. So he was walking off with a pair of my trousers and sneezed, he lifted the trousers to his nose and proceeded to wipe it all over the pant leg! It was so cute I couldn't tell him off, I just had to laugh.

Spot the car...again

2008-03-12T19:52:00.004-04:00

We had some snow over the weekend, somewhere in the region of 29cm fell between Friday night and Saturday night. We had lots of fun clearing the car repeatedly on Saturday, Tim and Ryan were busy hammering and cutting our new door way. It looks great and just needs a lick of paint and some skirting board and then we are finally finished in the living room. Ryan also put up the tile back splash in the bathroom and grouted it – more fantastic progress!

While the boys were working on the house Gabe and I went to the gym for the morning. Unfortunately I don’t have pictures of him in the pool, but he does love the class. Especially at the end when the floor comes up to knee level and he can walk around. He gets a pool noodle to steady himself then runs all over the place, in and out of the shower part and after any brightly coloured ball. It’s lots of fun to watch and I take him every week because I can see how much he enjoys it. Hopefully that’s a vivid enough description that you won’t mind the lack of photo!

On Saturday night lots of snow fell and the driveway disappeared, the snow plough went by and drowned our only exit…with yucky slushy heavy snow! So here is our personal plough trying to make a dent in the mountain. This was my valiant attempt to get to church on Sunday morning…probably should have started half an hour earlier!

Gabe just figured out how to use a fork effectively this evening so I had to put this up!

"Look Mummy snow!"

This is Gabe's attempt at construction - while the boys were
building the door, he was building a tower as big as himself.

As you can tell Gabe still refuses to wear a hat - even when his head is getting wet!

So this is the car sitting in the snow...it had been cleared of snow several times already by the time I took this picture...and it was cleared several times after this photo too!
I still don't mind though I love the stuff.

Buttons and things

2008-03-06T21:11:00.003-05:00

Gabe has discovered clothes...yes he has been wearing them since day one but things have changed. He now wants to help put clothes on, take clothes off, pull up zippers, pop the poppers and do the buttons. Unfortunately he is rather slow and his help is really a hindrance when mum & dad are trying not to be late for work.
On Saturday I decided to let him play with clips instead, to defer some of the interest away from the stuff that slows us down. While I was changing my clothes after swimming he sat in his pram and played with the clip...I know you should never leave a child unattended but I'm complacent and I know he doesn't want to go anywhere he just wants to put the three pieces together like a jigsaw. He happens to be rather good at this, it's the taking them apart again to start over again that doesn't seem to make sense to him. Why would they make it so hard to undo I think to myself...oh yeah kids aren't supposed to get out of the straps d'oh!
Later on we were shopping and Gabe decides to throw his cheerios across the supermarket floor oops! Now the entertainment is gone and there is still lots to buy argh! Oh but mum saves the day by remembering the fascination with clips! Yay for trolleys that have seat belts! The next twenty minutes were spent in a calm enjoyable manner while mum finished the task in hand. Oh what fun it is having a curious toddler, who by the way never gets to play with his car seat clips - you have to draw the line somewhere!

"Look mum I found some buttons to press!"

Here's Gabe helping Grandpa clean his bike,
I'm not sure why he chose to clean the tire but I wasn't about to discourage him.

Clean bike - now we can pose for a photo!

I just realised we haven't shared many photos from our trip home so I'm putting a couple on at a time so you can enjoy them bit by bit.

Happy Birthday Dad

2008-03-03T01:44:00.001-05:00

Today my dad is a year older! Some of his glory was stolen by a random collision with Mother's Day, but we didn't forget. Hope you got our message. Happy birthday Pops!

Happy Mother's Day!...In the UK!!

2008-03-02T20:52:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day! to my mother especially and of course to my mother-in-law and Caroline. I hope you each had a lovely Sunday of rest and relaxation.

We've had somewhat of a roller coaster ride in the last few weeks and we're at a low point on the ride where we can start planning that next renovation project. I now have a fully functional washer and dryer and have delighted in the simple activity of washing my own clothes! So the next thing will be to finish the back splash in the bathroom and the door frame in the living room (both pretty quick jobs) followed by a plan and demolition of the kitchen....oooh the fun awaits!

Anyway enough about the house, we've had visitors who are far more interesting. Last weekend we met baby Diana (apologies no pictures yet) for the first time and had a great night of fellowship with her parents Tim & Sujin and her Grandparents Steve and Patty. Gabe really enjoyed having everyone over so he could show off how loud he can be and how much mess he can make. He wasn't really sure what to make of Diana as she isn't big enough to compete for toys or noisy enough to distract him much. Hopefully Diana, Tim & Sujin will be back this weekend for a play date and DIY fun, so we'll see if he remembers her.

We just said goodbye to Dawn & Lynn who visited us this weekend. Dawn lives and works in a group home with adults who have special needs, so she has lots of great stories. Lynn also volunteers in the home so they both know the joy of spending time working with people. Dawn doesn't get much time off so when she does its good to get away from the house...unfortunately Gabe loved all the extra attention and insisted on shouting up a storm every morning to wake them up! We really enjoyed having them over and it was so nice to have weekend where the house didn't demand our undivided attention!

Gabe has learnt a couple of new words recently and we said we'd keep you up to date, so here are the newer ones:

Bath (pronounced Baff)
No (sounds more like neh)
Food (sign language)
Cookie (pronounced ce-ce..with a huge smile on his face! Today he mimicked the sign for it too)
Bobbin (he usually comes out with it at some point when singing and doing actions to "wind the bobbin up")

I believe this is Gabe doing the actions to "wind the bobbin up"

Usually when we're warming his milk for bed we count down the last ten seconds on the microwave and yesterday I was distracted so I didn't count. Gabe proceeded without me, using grunts and random vowels in exactly the same tone I usually count down in. He has also learnt to dance...I believe we can give Mack some credit for this new trick as I hear he dances around with Gabe at daycare. Ryan and I have had many a giggle as we watch Gabe get excited and stamp his little feet around in a circle or on the spot! He particularly likes it we join in with the stamping, dancing fun....I'm quietly glad we haven't filmed any of these silly moments!

I just had to add this photo because it is totally random,
1. Gabe has a sippy cup with him in the bath
2. Ryan is also in the bath - fully clothed may I add
3. Ryan is offering Gabe a refill with a jug of bath water
4. There is definitely no washing going on here

Can you see anything else wrong with this picture?

2008-02-14T12:58:00.001-05:00

Jan 16: Decided to book a last minute trip to England

Jan 17: Drove to Toronto for an evening flight to London Gatwick (7 hour flight)

Jan 18: Landed at Gatwick, met with Peter and drove to Worthing.

Jan 19: Inspected Worthing beach with hundreds of tonnes of timber washed up from a recent ship-wreck!

Jan 20: Tasha, Gabe and I took a trip with Mum and Claire, to Warrington (6 hour drive) and visited Cathy, Fred, Alex and Meredith. Then went to Dad and Caroline's and stayed there for a few nights.

Jan 21: Checked out the new shopping mall in Warrington town centre, with Mum and Claire.

Jan 22:

Jan 23: A very quiet day. Everyone is working or busy. Went to visit Martyn and Heather and watched Everton lose 1-0 to Chelsea in the Carling Cup semi-final, on TV.

Jan 24: Met up with Tasha's family, including her Grandparents who were visiting.

Jan 25: Moved from my Dad and Caroline's house to Tasha's parents for a few nights!

Jan 28: Took Gabe to Mums and Tots at the Salvation Army in Warrington, then spent a couple of hours at a Playbarn and finally over to Chris and Jean's for a good afternoon of chatting, playing and catching up!

Jan 29: Gabe starts to be sick.

Jan 30: Went with Chris and Helen to watch Everton tie 0-0 in a very boring game against Tottenham. Went to Wrexham to stay at Helen and Mike's place. Gabe still sick.

Jan 31: Set off with Helen and Claire for a few more days in Worthing. (another 6 Hour drive!). Gabe still sick.

Feb 1: Gabe sicker.

Feb 2: Went to A&E at Worthing Hospital to make sure everything was okay with Gabe. Typically, he starts to improve while we are sat in the waiting room

Feb 3: Gabe is starting to get back to normal. Took Claire to Heathrow for her return flight to New Zealand. Emotional goodbyes.

Feb 5: Helen took us to Gatwick (1 hour drive) for our return flight to Toronto (3 hour wait and 8 hour flight). Passed through immigration in Toronto, officially becoming Permanent Residents of Canada in the process (1 hour), collected bags and drove to London (2 hour drive). Found a flooded basement. Cried like a little girl (30 minutes). Made lots of phone calls (2 hours). Went to Jenn and Josh's place and relived the story of the last few days (2 hours). Blacked out in a comfy bed!

A Crazy Few Weeks

2008-02-14T09:48:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. To summarise, we spent 19 days back in England and then returned to Canada last Tuesday, to find a flooded basement, which has consumed almost every waking hour since then. It's been such a contrast, from relaxing in England with family, to running around, making phone calls and trying to restore heat and water to our house! It was a draining week but we now have a new furnace and our hot water is running again.
We now have a restoration company drying out and restoring our basement, and then we can buy and install a new washing maching and dryer, to replace the ruined ones we discovered last week!
After that, I'll need to take a trip to buy a whole new set of power tools and a bunch of other necessities, and then finally I can enjoy a relaxing coffee over a stack of bills!
We'll post some photos from our trip home soon. They're much nicer to look at than the photos we took of our basement for the insurance company!!!

Gabe's Words

2008-01-18T13:09:00.000-05:00

We're visiting family in England right now and despite being a little bit grumpy due to all the travelling and time difference, he is already trying to impress everyone with his ever-increasing vocabulary. Here's the list so far, in the order we think we heard them first:

Ball (Gabe's first word, which he used for a while last year and then stopped using it until recently)
Mum-ma
Da-da
Amen (pronounced 'Ah Bah' after he hears someone else say Amen)
Oh-O (when he drops something)
All Gone (pronounced 'Aw Goh')
Bye
Book
Bob (for Bob the builder)
Cheese (taught byAunty Claire)
Duck (we haven't heard this one yet, but he said it twice at day care!)

He also does the sign for thank you, with some inaudible mumblings behind his hand! And then a few animal sounds, when he feels like it. We'll keep the list updated.

Potty

2008-01-07T19:25:00.000-05:00

Our clever little boy has taken to his potty very naturally, although just as a seat for now. I'm sure it wont be an easy process, but the earlier we start, the better!!!

Snow Gabe

2007-12-29T17:03:00.001-05:00

Our little Oompah Loompah!

Little Drummer Boy

2007-12-25T23:50:00.001-05:00

I'm still debating how wise it was to give Gabriel a drum for Christmas, but so far he has enjoyed only a brief spell of noise-making. I'm not sure he's found his groove yet, but perhaps when he isn't feeling so sick, we'll hear some more from our little drummer boy.

PS: As you can see from this video clip and the one from the last post, Gabriel chose to make Christmas Day a "no-pants day". (Never argue with a sick baby). I feel that his introduction of this tradition could have a transforming influence on our future Christmases and so I hereby declare Christmas Day a "No-Pants" day for the males of our household. This may help to minimize the number of unwelcome photographs (and visitors)!!!!

Happy Christmas

2007-12-25T23:35:00.001-05:00

We had a good Christmas Day today. It had a rough start, as Gabe has been sick for a few days and he clearly isn't over it yet. The doctor suspects an ear infection, but all we see is a clingy, sad, not-so-hungry and tired little boy. Consequently, Christmas morning was more a case of Christmas "mourning". Once Gabe went down for a nap, Tasha and I were able to exchange some gifts and open those which had arrived in the mail recently.
When Gabe woke up and had some lunch, his mood improved slightly and we were able to enjoy watching him open some presents and play with his new toys. Even in the two months since his birthday, he has developed so much and was more engaged with the opening of the presents.

Later in the afternoon, we had some friends come over for dinner and we enjoyed some card games. Good times!
We wish all our family and friends a very happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Kitchen Planning

2007-12-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

Our next renovation project scares me! The kitchen is a living nightmare with some terrible drywalling problems. The pictures below don't do justice to the magnitude of the problem ahead!
Even when the walls are done, there is a very noticeable slope in the floor which we need to either correct or choose to live with. Correcting could be expensive and require us to empty the kitchen for several days (or weeks...or months!)
**Deep breath**
Let's do it!

One of the "better" walls.

See the 'hump' halfway down the wall. This is 2-3 inches deep!
"Why?", you ask. If only I knew!

And finally:

How to make the worst ever kitchen sink backsplash:

Gouge out the lower half of the old drywall with a pick-axe before starting.
Use wood, which absorbs water and stains easily.
Don't use any measuring or levelling tools.
Trim with left-over scraps of laminate flooring.
Arrange to have all of your wood cut using a blunt chainsaw, by a blind monkey having a seizure.
Close your eyes while you perform steps 1-5

Blog Merge

2007-12-18T22:30:00.000-05:00

For anyone who was following our house renovations on the other blog (ahousestory.blogspot.com), this blog is now de-commissioned and the old posts have been merged into this blog. Any future house-related posts will appear on this blog instead.
Exciting huh?

Gabe "Giggles" Parkin

2007-12-10T22:47:00.000-05:00

Make sure you turn up the volume!

Santa Shuffle and Exciting News

2007-12-07T20:45:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday we participated in the Santa shuffle at Victoria Park downtown. Can you guess from these photos who is behind that beard?

I think the glasses give it away a little...Gabe wasn't sure the whole time!

In fact Gabe was not impressed at all, the car was in the shop getting some much needed care and attention, so Gabe and I walked to the park. The walk took us about 20 minutes and the kid was wearing about five layers, hat gloves and all with a blanket just in case. He arrived in pretty good shape, had a wander round then decided it was nap time and he was far too cold and distracted to do so. Therefore I spent the next hour trying to help him settle down and sleep! Basically Gabe and I did our walk before the race even started and we did it on the way home too, but we didn't do it when everyone else did. I got a T-shirt without participating in the actual event!

"Aww grumpy munchkin"

"I saw Perron kissing Santa Claus...can't think why, he was awfully hairy looking!"

This is Major Lewis (my boss), making some sarcastic comment or joke no doubt!

"Ready Steady GO!"

"I've got lead in me boots, these kids are just over taking me...where are those pesky reindeer?"

So we won tickets to see Anne of Green Gables (we saw it Wednesday night and had an amazing time!) and a nights stay in a deluxe suite at a hotel here in London - not bad for a rough morning trudging in the snow...oh and did I mention all the money raised went to help the poor here in London?

Important Announcement!

In case anybody thinks they can leave now they've seen all the photos, I have one more thing to shout about. We just received paperwork this week saying we will be getting permanent residency! We just have to take / send our passports to the border and submit some photos whoopeee! This won't necessarily change our lives straight away but it does give us security for the future and a few more doors can be opened. We were told it could take anywhere from 9mos to 3 yrs yet we sent the paperwork at the end of May and we're good to go already, Praise the Lord!

Okay you have permission to leave comments and go now!

Christmas Party & Other Stuff

2007-11-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

We had our staff Christmas Party on Sunday at a bowling place here in London. We left Gabe at home with our good friend, Aurora, because we decided we would have more fun if he was in bed and not under our feet directing every move we make all night. We had a great time bowling and playing in the arcades, I think the "deal or no deal" game and the dancing game were the ones we played the most and enjoyed the most. I was particularly good at the gambling game and particularly poor at the dancing one - not sure if thats a good thing though! Heres a picture of Ryan and Dan trying out the dance game.

They're really concentrating you can just see the drops of sweat forming!

So great fun was had by all including those of us who can't bowl to save our skins - not mentioning any names or admitting any weaknesses!
The other day Gabe and I were hanging out in the living room and he started doing this:

Ready...

Steady...

Ahhh lie down

I know what you're thinking - where was the headstand? I was thinking the same thing until I saw this cute smile. He also showed me the smile through his legs - I think you'll agree it's extremely cute!

Peek - a - boo!

Finally I wanted to show you a new skill Gabe has been working on recently notice the vice like grip on the Lego while performing this complicated task. Apologies for the darkness of the picture, unfortunately the kitchen is pretty dark all the time - that project is on the "to do" list, along with several others.

I hope you enjoyed your trip to our blog!

Talking to the Squirrels

2007-11-25T13:45:00.000-05:00

Gabe can be very vocal when the squirrels come to visit our garden!

Buy Nothing Day

2007-11-24T09:24:00.000-05:00

Has anyone heard much about this new movie/documentary called 'What Would Jesus Buy?'. It's directed by the guy who starred in the 'SuperSize Me' documentary a few years ago. Apparently, this new movie is a good stand against consumerism, with a 'Christian angle' ...if you could call it that. It does poke a little bit of fun, by mocking the stereotypical televangelist, but who doesn't mock those guys??? However, it seems that it's message is that we've cheapened the season by making it a season to spend and collect debt.

So with that in mind, TODAY is international 'Buy Nothing Day'! Unless you read this super-early, it might be too late to jump aboard, but this idea could be fun to do for ourselves today or another day. A day where we buy nothing! I know a day might not change much, but the organizers say that it "isn't just about changing your habits for one day" but "about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and producing less waste". I'm aboard that idea.

Let me know your thoughts.

Bonjovi!

2007-11-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

I'm still buzzing, the concert was outstanding the music was suberb and my cheap seats were more than worth it! We thought we would end up behind the stage but in fact we were right next to it and only 5 rows from the front. Jon came over to our side of the stage several times during the night - which was pretty cool I have to admit I was excited to see him so close. It's kind of funny cause when he first came out I realised just how old he actually is and how Richie (lead guitar) is completely stuck in the eighties with his red flares and crazy hair. Their music has lost none of it's flair though, their sound is so refined - I never realised all the different instruments that make up their sound. There was a guy playing some kind of flat guitar style thing - it looked pretty cool though with blue lights behind it's strings.

They're very clever when they do shows like this because they "warm" the crowd up with a mediocre band then the main band come on and everyone realizes just how good the lead band actually are. I was a little concerned when the first band played that we wouldn't be able to see much because their speakers were blocking our view of the main stage. When they packed up though all that stuff was moved away and we had a fantastic view. My friend Sue took all the pictures though, so you'll have to check out her blog (link called Sue-ann & Greg along the right of the screen) you'll be able to tell from a couple of them just how close we were. I also scanned in the pictures from the paper on Tuesday because they were really cool.

Nice close up of Richie's lovely red flares & Jon just sucking up the attention!

Bed of Roses I think from the expression...maybe?!

Hopefully Sue will be sending me the other pics soon and I can post them on this blog, but in the mean time feel free to check out her post about it.

The Latest

2007-11-17T15:57:00.000-05:00

So the latest news from the Parkins in lovely snowy Ontario - that's right snowy. On Wednesday we had rain and 16degrees then Friday we woke up to 10 centimetres of snow - talk about mental! Gabe did not remember snow from last year so he stood awe struck on the front garden first thing Friday morning - he seemed to be trying to decide whether to dive into it head first or not. I decided for him - maybe he can do that when theres a bit more snow and we know we can just shove him in a warm bath afterwards, but not before getting into the car.
Gabe has been poorly this last week with many a nappy and clothes change - you can connect the dots there I'm sure. So he only had a couple of days at daycare, we didn't really want him passing this virus onto any of the other kids. On Thursday he stayed with our good friend Marilyn for the day and he seemed to have a great time. I love how he's so adaptable and doesn't get messed up by a change in routine. Yesterday he stayed at home with daddy and of course had a great time going shopping, checking out the snow and hanging out with uncle Dan.
Well I've been on a new adventure myself this last two weeks I've been learning my role within the admin office at the hostel. I'm starting to really like working there, the managers and everyone in the office have welcomed me and taken a real interest in me so thats encouraging. I've been brushing up on some skills I haven't used in a while - minute taking especially. I've been meeting all the new employees as they come to me to get swipe cards and ID cards and all that sort of stuff. I spent the first week just sorting through the work area trying to figure out where everything is and then last week my supervisor was away so I got a bit of training and have added a couple of new items to my "Tasha Do list". I went out with the girls from DHQ at Thursday lunch and had a great time catching up with them and making plans to get to the Bonjovi concert on Monday. P.S I'm going to see Bonjovi in about 48 hours!! I am of course very excited and will blog first chance I get afterwards!
Ryan may be blogging on the house blog soon to because the bathroom is edging ever closer to being completely finished...including all those annoying little jobs. So life goes on here as Christmas gets closer we're starting to make our plans and decide if the tree should go up yet and what to get people. Seems like we get pretty caught up in things at this time of year but I'm trying to keep out of the consumer side of it and focus on meeting with people and enjoying company rather than stressing over gifts - its much more fun in my humble opinion!

New Job

2007-11-03T10:52:00.000-04:00

Well I have a new job, I left DHQ yesterday and it was very strange because there was little point saying goodbye this time as I'll be working all of ten minutes away. I got the Office Administrator job at the Centre of Hope (where Ryan works) a couple of weeks ago.
So the last 5 weeks have been a whirl wind tour of the PR departments busiest time of year. I was so happy to be taken back on board at DHQ because it's assuaged all my doubts about my abilities. The people in the department have been such good teachers that I feel I know a whole other side to the army and I am amazed by how generous the public really is.
On Thursday night I went out on the soup van for the first time and had a great time, I can now see why Ryan enjoys it so much. We just decided last minute that Ryan should have a night in babysitting because I hadn't been out this week and he'd been doing loads and was a bit wiped out. So I bundled myself up and said good night to the baby and off I went on a merry little adventure. It was so rewarding just meeting people where they are and trying to help them with their daily struggle. I was the sock and hat queen of the evening so I basically went round asking if people needed socks or hats and tried to get them set for a cold night. It got pretty quiet at about 9.30, so I challenged one of the guys to try stop all the bus drivers to give them drinks and hot dogs. We were only semi successful but it was good fun and one lady bus driver went away much happier! It's getting colder here now with frost in the morning but no snow yet, so I imagine the van will be in great demand in the coming weeks.
Anyway, that's all for now folks!

Prayer Retreat

2007-10-28T21:47:00.000-04:00

This weekend we went up to Lake Simcoe (about 3 hours drive) to stay in a lakeside cottage and spend some time with our friends, chatting, eating together, praying for each other and worshiping.
The weather was typical autumn and we even spent an hour or two out in the yard picking up the leaves and cutting the grass.

Auntie Jenn with Gabe and Jer

Making more mess with the leaf-blower!

Josh and Dan...armed and ready for raking!

Let's throw leaves at Jenn and Gabe...
..it'll make a great photo!!!

The '614 London' Crew

Thank You Everyone

2007-10-22T22:36:00.000-04:00

Thank You Nan and Pops for my trendy new coat!

Thank You Grandma and Grandad for my play tunnel!

Thank You Granny and Grandpa for my exciting books!

Thank You Auntie Helen and Uncle Mike for my tasty Elephlump!

Thank You to everyone who bought me gifts! Mummy and Daddy haven't taken enough photos yet, but I've played with every toy and book I was given and had lots of fun. I feel very special and very loved.

Lots of Love and cuddles from me,
Gabriel Ian Parkin
(age 1 year and 9 days)
xxx

Gabriel says thank you!

2007-10-13T20:23:00.000-04:00

"1 year later"

I'm sure if Gabriel spoke the English language as well as the rest of us he would be saying thank you all very much for the wonderful presents! Thank you to everyone who could come to his party and helped us feel like we celebrated his first birthday properly, we had a great time and we hope you all did too. I am personally very grateful to put away some of his older toys that I'm bored of seeing (and hearing) around the house.
It's great to get so many books, he loves to read albeit in his own weird way but I'm sure he'll get lots of enjoyment out of them over the months and years to come. He's also been driving the little trucks around this afternoon and "counting" the circles on the activity toy. He was a little shy about crawling through the tunnel Grandma gave him but after a "Daddy test run" he got right in there!

"Well if Daddy can do it so can I!"

"Watch out here we come!"

"I can see you in there cheeky monkey!"

His bath balls and fish have gone down a treat and he was most upset to have to leave them in bathroom when bath time was over. Daddy built his big truck this morning and he really enjoyed carting it around the house and riding around the living room on it while the veggie tales played in the background. After all that playing and experimenting he's all tuckered out and will be holding off further play until tomorrow!

God Bless!

Birthday Party

2007-10-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

We had a great birthday party tonight with way too many presents and probably too much cake too! Despite being tired, Gabe was very well behaved and seemed to enjoy the whole experience. He didn't quite grasp the concept of opening presents, but we had fun helping him.

Life and Thanksgiving

2007-10-07T15:25:00.001-04:00

It's thanksgiving in Canada tomorrow and I just wanted to put a post up about it because I'm not very good at vocalising it. I hate to sound cheesy or fake but I do want to be earnest.

I am genuinely thankful that I have a loving family and though we've been through trials we have been strengthened as a unit because of them.
I am grateful that I found some meaningful work just at the right time.
I am happy Gabriel enjoys his day care and that he is thriving and growing.
I am happy that my family at home (and abroad) are doing well, that they are happy and successful.
I am overjoyed to hear that my mother in law is now in much better health.
I praise God for good friends who are so open in their faith and shameless in their walk.
I love being in a community that cares for its fellow man - no matter what.
I was so encouraged that the Army as a worldwide community prayed in unison against human trafficking last weekend.
I am thankful for fun and games with friends.
I am so grateful to have had Gabriel in my life for the last year, I have learnt so much from him and I believe I will always learn from him.
I am thankful for my home and that I can step out my door without fear.

Here are a couple of pictures of my two favourite people:

Cheese anyone?

Proud DIY-er

Jail Break!!

There is so much more, but these are things I had on my heart today.
May God bless you in your walk.

p.s. Gabriel just started walking this evening after I made this post! - Please see video clips below.

Trials over

2007-09-28T14:25:00.000-04:00

Gabriel has finished his second "trial run" at day care and he's happy. He napped better and had plenty of fun while I was gone. I wish I could say he was better off with me all day but I've come to the sad realisation that he needs little people to play with now and I need to work. I'm looking forward to spending evenings together after a day apart, they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder, I just don't think thats possible when I love him so much already! There are three slightly older children in his day care and I'm sure he'll be picking up all their little tricks (and bugs) in no time. I'm proud of him for being so flexible and sociable about the whole thing, he hasn't been for a full day yet but I think I'll cope with that better when I'm distracted by work anyway. I just wanted to type a quick update while he snoozes in the next room!

Ryan needs a hobby!

2007-09-22T00:45:00.000-04:00

Comic Relief

2007-09-19T01:27:00.000-04:00

I recently took up playing golf. No-one here really plays football (soccer), so golf was an acceptable substitute. My day off is always a Friday, so that was starting to become 'golf-day'. However, when Tasha starts work (in 12 days), Gabe will only go to Day Care from Monday to Thursday and so Friday will be daddy and Gabe's day to hang out.

I was bored tonight after Tasha had gone to bed and thanks to the Espresso coffee I drank at about 9pm, sleep hasn't been an option (until now).

Consider the following a reason not to drink espresso at night...

(click to make the cartoon bigger)

First Word

2007-09-17T21:33:00.000-04:00

Gabriel has officially uttered his first real word! I was trying to teach him a word that was similar to his baby gobbledegook so I took to saying the word "ball" whenever there was a ball around and saying it repeatedly. About a week later I bought him a little yellow ball and he kept saying it over and over again "ball, ball ball" it was very cute and he definitely knew what it meant and was concerned when the ball disappeared from sight. It was a lovely moment when I realised my son has been listening all this time! He's taken to clapping a lot too which is really cute, I think, he thinks it means "more" in sign language. Because he tends to do it at the dinner table after I ask him if he wants more (using the sign which is a little similar). That is quite a wordy sentence for me, I do apologise if you have to reread it lol!
On another note I have accepted a temporary job at DHQ so for a couple of months I can relax and try to work out how one works and runs a house hold with a little one. He will be test driving his daycare next week - we've been to visit and I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm grateful in a sense that I will be surrounded by friends at DHQ during that time and not trying to make new ones and deal with the guilt of leaving him at the same time.

Scrabblicious

2007-09-08T22:23:00.000-04:00

I am hosting (with much help from Aura) a scrabble tournament at my house next Sunday evening if that date suits all the competitors. We'll have several boards going at once with two people to each board and the winner at the end of the night is the person who wins the most games basically. So far we have 5 confirmed players and we need a sixth in order to balance out, so if you fancy joining us let me know and we'll squeeze you in.
I have to admit it I am "gamer", I love board games, card games, online scrabble, puzzles and jigsaws and so on (as long as they're humane, for example: Risk is way too cruel, the first people to be knocked out just end up sat there with nothing to do while everyone else gets slaughtered in slow motion). I have some good friends who also enjoy games so that has really fed into this passion of mine. I'm not particularly good at strategies or tactics but I love the process and the chit chat that goes on during the games.
We just finished playing poker (no money involved) and it was great fun, I went "all in" several times and kept winning by pure random chance. I don't even remember what order the good hands are but I have a laugh and pretend I know what I'm doing! Jenn was the overall winner but I stayed in until the final three and was pretty happy with that result considering my poor poker skills. It's just so fascinating watching how your friends play according to their personalities and how you start to read them better as you know them better. I remember as a child playing monopoly with my big brother and wondering how he managed to win every time, in hindsight I never watched his tactics or learnt from him. I just worried about how little property I had or how long it would be before I landed on one of his hotels.
I'm kind of sad when I think a lot of young kids now don't know how to play board or card games they only know how to play computer and playstation games. I have such fond memories of playing scrabble with my grandparents, chess with my dad and monopoly or cards with my brother and sister. I've decided to make a concerted effort to teach Gabe the value of non-computerised games so that he can share that hobby and maybe get to know his friends better through it too. I used to be embarrassed to suggest a card game as entertainment but now it's our back up plan whenever we're bored!

Camping...literally

2007-09-04T19:15:00.000-04:00

So 614 went camping this weekend - it was sooo much fun and sooo little sleep haha! We took tents out to the other side of Goderich and had some interesting late night pitching on Friday. Then Saturday we checked out the beach and local eateries (we overwhelmed the local pizza hut with stuffed crusts!).
On Sunday we said a very sad goodbye to the camp, it was a little strange to know it is over, we'll never stay at Glenhuron again. It is somewhere we have tonnes of memories and stories and photos all about so we won't forget it or it's role in our life. My one prayer is that the money raised by selling the camp is enough to make a significant difference in the Army's debt. "Camping" (at the provincial site in huts and buildings (not tents, lol)) will continue for the Army in this division though so that is really good to hear. Both Saturday and Sunday nights we played some fun games by the fire and ate toasted marshmallows and "S'mores" the kids loved it and I think us adults got swept away with it all too.
Gabe was very well behaved all weekend and thoroughly enjoyed the numerous people vying for his attention. It was good for us to hang out with the older kids for a change too.
We snapped a few pics so please enjoy:

Breakfast - Care of Geoff & Aurora

It's a bit chilly!

"Show me the food!"

More food!

Somebody likes the beach

Teamwork - digging a hole is hard work for five kids and a baby

Gabe loved having the sand all over...unlike his mother!

"Bounce Gabe bounce!"

"Dad you're making the ground sink, escape while you still can!"

That piece of wood was hit several dozen times and only a small
chunk actually came off it - we burnt it whole in the end!

Okay so Gabe looks awake but Aurora and I need a couple more hours!

I can't wait until next time, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, just hanging with my community out in the country.

Living Room: Finished (almost!)

2007-08-25T22:25:00.000-04:00

After a lot of help from friends with the painting, our living room is just about complete. Tasha put a lot of work and ideas into this room especially. She picked the wall and ceiling colours, helped painted them, painted most of the gloss trim (baseboards, window frame, door frame, etc), scrubbed the floors, picked the hanging picture and had a say and a hand in moving all the furniture! Just like Tasha, I think the room glows!

I couldn't decide whether to use the flash or not. The first version shows what it looks like in daylight, but I like the yellow glow that shows up at night with the lamps on. Very pretty!

It seems like such a little thing, but I love the white column on the far wall. It's the same colour as the ceiling, which really just gives the wall something extra. Small but significant stuff like that makes me happy with the final result.

We picked a mirror for one of the side walls, in an attempt to try throw a little bit more light into the room. It seems to help, but more so in the daytime.

Sadly, we are still haunted by the evil door (see below). I don't know how to describe the DIY skills of the previous owners, but this "door frame" sums up the many "challenges" we have faced and have yet to face in this house. I'm not really looking forward to the weekend or two that I'll spend repairing it, but I'll be glad when it's gone. Note Tasha trying to look part of the furniture. Nice try!

Swimming...at last!

2007-08-24T14:55:00.000-04:00

I officially have photographs of Gabriel swimming after many many months. He's been swimming at the pool twice a week since he was 3/4mos and I've never had the opportunity to take a photo. We were visiting a friend and her apartment building had a salt water pool which we all tried out and eventually the opportunity to capture one of his favourite pass times arrived. He also took his first steps (which I missed because I was in the kitchen at the time!) it was a bit of a fluke though because he hasn't done it since. And before you ask we didn't get it on camera! He's very close and much more confident as he runs around the furniture lately, he started pushing the ottoman (on wheels) around the living room this morning. Oh the fun is about to start I'm pretty sure!

Our in home pool...very nice

One of the first bubble baths...he wasn't really sure what to do with the bubbles so we decorated him with them!

So the first two pictures were just teasers, here's some proof he is a fish after all.

Dan, Jenn, Mum & Gabe enjoying the salt pool....tasty haha!

We even convinced Uncle Josh & Daddy to put their feet in the weird water.

Fun and games for everyone...even if it was two hours after bedtime!

New Ride

2007-08-22T22:58:00.000-04:00

Gabe now has a new car seat, due to the fact that he's just growing so fast. The old seat was too small and the weight of Gabe - the heffalump - kept losing the belt holding it steady.
The law states that Gabe can't be in a forward-facing seat until he is one year old and weighs over 20 lbs. He's weighing in above that now, but he'll have to face the rear for another 7 or 8 weeks.
Here he is, showing off his new throne!

Gabe's Room

2007-08-20T16:23:00.000-04:00

Our friend Dawn is awesome. There's no other way to describe her. Dawn spent the summer in London as part of her placement for her one year course at a Salvation Army college in Vancouver. Her main role was supporting the work that goes on at the Centre where I work, but she blessed us hugely in our home.
Aside from being a stellar babysitter, Dawn is a great artist. She generously gave a lot of time to planning, priming and painting Gabriel's bedroom. We can take no credit for how good it looks, although I did add the light/fan, which looks like a bumble-bee. I'll post some better pics soon.

Job Hunting ...Blah!

2007-08-16T09:10:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I blogged...simply because I have nothing interesting to say. I've been job hunting and sending resumes all over the place. No-one is interested though, I haven't heard back from anyone - literally. It seems you need a specific qualification for every job and I don't have any of them...nor am I allowed to study, or work in the areas I have experience and am trained in. Frustration and apathy are starting to set in, when I should be enjoying every minute of my freedom I'm worrying about how we'll cope if I can't find anything. We've been rejected for child care subsidy too, so we'll have to pay full price. It seems our non-resident status is more important to people handing out help and we'll just have to reapply when we become residents. I'm not bitter I'm just a little upset that Gabe may have to miss out on day care because his parents aren't Canadians.
I'm very sure that I will get a job, it's not like I've lost all hope, but I've come to the realisation that I'm not as desirable to potential employers as I'd hoped. I'm starting to think it unlikely that the job i get will pay well enough to fund Gabe's care.
I have hope because God has promised to look after me but I don't have enough foresight to see how. Is it big headed to think I should be looking for something more than McDonalds / Tim Hortons work? Or should I swallow my pride and apply for something in retail or catering? I'm really struggling with my own ambition, I thought I was lacking in ambition a few months back, but now I know I'm not. I've done some more extensive research into radiotherapy and found that I won't be able to do that for at least 2 years if not 3 (the waiting is due to applications for permanent residency the exam and registration).
I think the whole point of me writing this stuff down is to point out to anyone who is reading this that I'm looking for work. If any of you Canadians see something of interest you should totally contact me. The last job I did was recommended by a friend and it seems that is the best way to find fulfilling work, so I'm trusting it will happen again.
In His Hands

Big Progress

2007-08-07T14:05:00.000-04:00

As you can see, I haven't blogged for a while. I've wanted to post an update so many times, but blogs without pictures are boring and I'm too lazy to go through the routine of setting up the camera and then resizing and transferring photos to the blog.

So to update you, the bathroom is looking ruddy marvelous! (compared to before anyway).

The drywalling was finished, primed and painted (with a stack of help from Dawn); a lovely cherry wood vanity sink (from Canadian Tire) was fitted by our generous plumber Steve. It came with a matching cherry wood mirror which looks pretty good. I still need to screw the vanity to the back wall to provide extra support and then add a tile backsplash, but it's looking nice already.

I also had my first try at installing a vanity light, which ended up working out okay. I did break code by not fitting a junction box, but the previous light didn't have one either and I wasn't close enough to the stud to just cut out and fit one. Maybe I'll be able to retro-fit one later, but for now it works and looks good.

My dad was over last week and together we cut, fit and caulked the baseboards, along with the door frame. In the end, I decided not to try correct the wonkiness of the door frame. It was too much work and despite still being obviously unlevel, the framing looks good and just needs glossing.

Another little job we completed was to tidy up the bath surround unevenness (mention a couple of blog posts ago). A small amount of trim did the trick.

Last week, we bought a linen cabinet (from Walmart), which Tasha lovingly stacked with all our toiletries and towels last night. It's white, which I initially thought would look wrong with the cherry wood vanity, but since the toilet, bath and trim is all white, it actually looks good. The only problem is that due to our house being so wonky, the unit leans into the room and needs shimming and attaching to the backwall.

The remaining jobs for the bathroom are as follows:

Touch up caulking

Shim and secure linen cabinet

Paint (semi-gloss) baseboards and doorframe

Fit vent cover

Secure vanity unit to back wall

Install backsplash

Prime and paint door

Fit new coat hook on door

Poorly Baby

2007-08-06T21:26:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately Gabriel has been pretty sick this week he started off with a cold and that was fine but then he caught a stomach virus from somewhere...that wasn't so good! I've had to wash pretty much all his clothes and plenty of ours because he's been so sickly. I won't go into details because it's not fair on those squeamish readers. It's safe to say no one really wanted to hold him for any length of time this week. He's been sleeping for up to 3 hours during the day which is unheard of for Gabe so that's another sign he wasn't 100%. The poor little thing lost a bunch of weight too he was weighed on Monday at 20lb 15oz then on Friday at 20lb 4oz so he lost 11oz in four days. It's not surprising because his appetite was next to zero and he wasn't willing to drink much either for a while. He's almost back to himself now, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear. We're back at the doctors again tomorrow for another weigh and follow up. We've been giving him electrolyte juice for the last couple of days to help him rehydrate and he loves it...so much for avoiding sweet drinks until he's older!
Sorry no pictures - didn't think you'd enjoy them much!

Painting Party

2007-08-02T09:53:00.000-04:00

So Saturday morning arrived and all our plans started to fall into place, it went a bit like this:

8.30am - put stuff on front lawn for yard sale and hang notices at ends of the street.
9am - post a sentry out in the front garden to guard / sell stuff
9.30am - start moving furniture inside the house away from the walls ready for painting
10am - start to despair over lack of yard sale customers
10.30am - reinforcements arrive to start work on the house and garden
11am - employ the mini babysitters to entertain the bambino
11.30am - start filling, sanding and priming the walls in the living room and Gabe's room
12noon - lunch break for the hard workers and realisation that the yard sale was a flop
12.30pm - front garden has started to look like someone else's property
1pm - hang on, so does the newly primed living room and hallway
2pm - realisation that the amount of work being done is phenomenal we have about 11/12 people working in extreme heat to make our place look brighter and smell less smoky.
3pm - colour is starting to creep onto the walls and ceilings
4pm - front garden is complete and the back one looks pretty good too, although Caroline got a real head start on Friday and she needed it, there was a jungle springing up before she arrived.
5pm - colour is spreading onto clothing and floors as well as walls but everyone seems to be having fun so it's all okay.
6pm - Organising all the food and building the BBQ is completed and ready to go
6.30pm - furniture from the front yard is recruited to let the workers rest while eating their well earned burgers in the beautiful back garden
8pm - "Happy Birthday" is sung to Jenn, followed by ice cream cake.
9pm - Some late night painting continues in Gabe's room as he snoozes in ours
10pm - much floor scrubbing and tidying up after the exodus of all our wonderful volunteers
12am - zzzzzzzzzzz

Disclaimer: The times used are a vague guess by someone who was too busy to take note of the actual time. Also all photos below were taken without permission from the people pretending not to pose for them.

Why can't I do what everyone else is doing?

Mini sitters!

clearly the paint fumes have affected Ian's ability to smile!

Bouncing on Pop's knee

To all our painters and helpers we just wanted to say thank you, our house is so much happier for the face lift!

Looking good, feeling great

2007-07-30T10:19:00.000-04:00

What a week! Gabe and I had a wonderful time at mums and kids camp, I was teaching the 5-7 yr olds and Gabe was in the day care. Gabriel was apparently a joy to be around he played with the other kids and loved all the different toys they had down in the conference centre. He fell in love with "Grandma Deb" and got a girlfriend called Corisa! There were several bigger kids in the nursery and one 3wk old baby so he had a whale of a time. One evening I was holding the newborn while her mother was busy and Gabriel showed a rather jealous streak, he went from playing nicely with his car to clawing his way up my leg trying to grab the baby's toes! He didn't mind when I sat and read or played with the toddlers but the baby was a definite threat haha!
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the day time sessions with the other mums because I was teaching, so I heard they were very uplifting and useful sessions. In the evenings I joined in with the mums activities while Gabe was snoozing under the watchful eye of a couple of counsellors. One night was all about pampering the mums, so I chatted with a girl called Renee (who is 8 mos pregnant) while covering my face in green stuff, putting my feet in salts and painting my toe nails! Those of you who know me well know that this was a challenge for me because I'm just not into that sort of thing and haven't painted my toe nails in years! The camp was very generous another night was called "shopping spree" and we were told to take whatever we liked from an array of womens items, baby essentials, clothes and toys. So I now have Gabe's Christmas present for next year (they only had older kid toys) and enough baby shampoo to keep me going until he's 2. As I started my packing I saw Susan (mum with newborn mentioned earlier) with bags and bags of size 2 nappies, so I asked where she'd got them and she said they were giving them away. She said there were some size 4 nappies too that needed to go home with someone - so I went to see about maybe getting a handful. Turns out there were over 300 size 4 nappies available and I was the only one with a baby that size. I gave some to Susan for when the littl'un gets bigger then I loaded 200+ nappies into the van! I wanted to cry because I was so taken back by the generosity I experienced during the week.

It's tiring entertaining those toddlers!

That bench probably means very little to most people but an awful lot to this boy's parents.

Mum the earth is bouncing!

new friends and neighbours down in the conference centre,Vanessa and Jamie.

There's more but that's all I have time for today.

Iron Stomach

2007-07-24T16:03:00.000-04:00

Q: What do alligator, buffalo, crawfish, celeriac and stinky cheese have in common?

A: They were the secret ingredients I had to use in an "Iron Stomach" competition last week?

Here's a quote from the bulletin email sent the following day:

"After a hard fought battle, the team of Nadine and Ryan were victorious. The scores were very close though and Sylvie and Pierre really impressed the judging panel. Kudos go out to Darren who was the swing man helping out both teams as Lisa and Tony could not make it. He really pulled the whole thing together!"

For more pics, go here.

Oh, so quiet

2007-07-23T13:04:00.001-04:00

Tasha and Gabe are up at the lake now, beginning a week of Mum's and Kid's camp. I wish I could join them, but I have plenty to keep me busy this week. Work is reasonably quiet today, but there's always something to be doing. The renovations at home are moving along and I can get more work done now that I don't have to work around Gabe's naptimes. Having said that, I'd much rather have Tasha and Gabe here to keep me sane and happy! Jenn and Josh have been painting the bathroom today, while I'm at work (pretty impressive friends, eh?) and the priming is now finished and ready for a coat of top paint when I get home (another friend, Dawn is helping with that this evening). Thank God for friends! :)
Dad, Caroline and Grace are coming to visit soon. Hopefully, they'll show up this week. They didn't give me a day or time, so I'm left guessing when they will show up, but I'm excited to see them, whenever it happens! It would be nice if they arrive before Tasha gets home, then the house wont seem so creepily quiet.

Fun Fun Fun

2007-07-21T17:15:00.000-04:00

Well it's been a good weekend so far with festivals, games, Harleys and a couple of surprises. Friday was my birthday and I was amazed at how many Facebook messages I got (23) - seems I have more friends than I realised! It was a lovely cool day so we walked down to Victoria Park to see the home and garden festival. We didn't buy anything but I enjoyed a splurge with an elephant ear and oodles of cinnamon sugar!
That night we played some cards and rented a DVD to watch with friends, I got a few lovely heartfelt cards and felt pretty good about my day in all. While we were out Jenn and Josh had left a singing voice mail for me (you can probably guess what they sang). Then they brought round a lovely gift in the evening and I figured I've got it pretty good here I feel really blessed and my birthday is just about spending time with my friends its not about presents and parties and so on.
Little did I know that Ryan had a few tricks up his sleeve, he told me he was driving Ian home then he took forever to get back, so I went to bed without him thinking he'd got chatting (you know what hes like haha!). I got up at about 4 am to feed Gabe and I see he's left the light on in the living room so I was a little suspicious but I was also extremely tired and zombie like so I ignored it and went back to sleep. Then the little man decided 5.30am is morning so I walk through to investigate the living room with my eyes open and I find not only the Bonjovi CD I asked for but also a very cute card and the Harry Potter book I thought I'd have to wait ages to get hold of!
Apparently Ryan and Ian went to Chapters last night at midnight to get it and they lined up forever amongst some very oddly dressed people - I think he must love me cause he's not even read the books. Suffice to say I was surprised and pleased and the 5.30am wake up wasn't so bad cause it gave me a head start on the book before Ryan even got up. I'm just past chapter 5 and finding it very hard not to read the whole thing and J.K.Rowling has captured me completely and I don't really want it to end.
Anyway I was sat in Gabe's room while he was playing...I was reading when I thought I heard a tank or something extremely loud rolling by outside. The three of us went outside camera in hand expecting something cool and we watched 1500 Harley Davidsons roll by! If you think Im exaggerating look at the pics it was a never ending line of massive bikes. Everything from trikes, to oldies, to ones with wheelchairs attached! Gabe just watched in awe at the loud grumbly bikes, he was clearly impressed and even returned some waves.

Do you like my camouflage?

Unfortunately I won't be blogging again this week because I'll be at Mums & Kids Camp until Friday so I'll do a catch up blog next week - over and out!

Organizing Tools

2007-07-16T10:06:00.000-04:00

For the last 6 weeks, my tools have been scattered around the hallway of the house, mostly just outside the bathroom door. It's been messy, but convenient. I finally took the time to clear the hallway and migrate my collection of tools to an old bookcase... ...in the kitchen. I couldn't quite motivate myself to move everything to the basement or to the shed, but that's the long-term plan.

Solution 01

2007-07-15T14:32:00.000-04:00

Thanks to my dad, I've made an attempt to solve the problem from the previous post. It won't fix the whole problem, but will hopefully reduce the gaps to be filled with caulk. I'm using the force of the spring-loaded shower curtain rail to hold some 2x4s against the joins on the surround. Hopefully this will give the glue a chance to bond. I'll be back from work in 5 hours to do the same at the bottom half. We'll see if it works.

Sadly, in the process I created a new problem. When I took the shower curtain rail down, it took off the paint, primer and the surface paper of the drywall underneath! Now I have to repair a patch of the paintwork by sanding, priming and repainting. Eurgh!
This bathroom is going to kill me!

Bath Surround

2007-07-15T10:34:00.000-04:00

We installed the bath surround on Friday, which is now looking good except a few challenges to overcome. Take a peek and feel free to make suggestions!

You can see the little rounded ridge at the bottom of the panel, which forces the top panel out from the bottom one.

This is another problem where the outer panels don't lie flush with the wall, due to the shape of the bathtub lip under the surround.
Any suggestions?

Dedication

2007-07-10T13:38:00.001-04:00

My apologies, with spending so long writing the photo diaries I forgot to post pictures of Gabe's dedication. Sunday June 24th Gabe was dedicated at London Citadel by Major Venables. He was very well behaved, entertaining would probably be the best way of describing his behaviour during the ceremony. We stood at the mercy seat waiting for Major to invite us up to the platform and the boys behind us were making Gabe laugh by playing peek-a-boo. I think he realised people were entertained by his laughter and so he carried on charming everyone from the platform too. It was altogether a very positive experience because he seemed to enjoy it so much.

Peek-a-boo!

"I'm the King of the castle!"

What a smiler!

That Wall!

2007-07-09T18:05:00.000-04:00

The bathroom is now drywalled and taped, with at least one layer of "mud" in some places, two or three layers in others.
The biggest challenge was discovering the latte and plaster / wainscoting combo and the decision to leave it or lose it. Two of the walls have been covered with drywall over the plaster, the tub area is a newly framed area with one wall of old drywall and two new walls of drywall. The hardest wall was the wall behind the toilet, which is now half drywall and half plaster. In hindsight, had I more time and space to remove the plaster, I would have liked to take the wall down to studs, but there were too many unhelpful discoveries along the way.
Heres how that wall has developed. There will hopefully be one more photo of it soon, with a couple more layers of feathered compound, primer, paint and trims included!

Before we started...

The discovery of wainscoting and latte...

After adding false studs...

The 'u-shaped' drywall addition...

After filling the huge gaps and adding tapes on the edges...

2007-07-09T15:12:00.000-04:00

Hippo Birdie Two Ewe,
Hippo Birdie Two Ewe,
Hippo Birdie Dear Daddy,
Hippo Birdie Two Ewe!

We Love You!

Fun with Tyler

2007-07-06T14:32:00.001-04:00

Gabriel has a little friend called Tyler who is a month older than him and we've spent many a swim lesson and play date together. I got a couple of cute pics last time that you may find funny. "Cheese!"
Ty: "Mine looks too blue to be cheese...maybe I'll give it a little try"
Gabe: Hmm I'm not so sure cheese comes in this shape...I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

Ty: "Hey you said not to eat it!"
Gabe: "I saw you try it and thought it might be worth a bite."

Ty:"Slow down there littl'un you have to press this button first"
Gabe:"I just wanted to touch it I wouldn't slobber on it or anything, I promise!"

They're so cute together because Gabe just laughs at all the things Ty can do and Ty is so tolerant of Gabe's hair pulling and face grabbing. I see a future in this relationship!

Photo Diary continued

2007-07-03T13:44:00.000-04:00

Sunday June 17: Also known as Father's day in England and Canada, we went to the Army in the morning and did some quick catch-ups with anyone who wasn't at the wedding. Gabriel got himself lots of attention and started learning how to do "High Fives" with Auntie Helen. he also got into mischief by sticking his hand into a cup of tea...good thing it wasn't boiling!
We spent some time hanging at the farm with Pop's then we went off to Chester Zoo with Grandpa and the gang.

You may be asking, "where are the animals?" well we found three in this funny bubble...

One of them tried to escape!

But we were safe because the big orangutan guard was keeping an eye on them for us.

Monday June 18: We traveled over to Wrexham to spend some time with Auntie Helen, Uncle Mike and Grandma. Us three and Grandma meandered around Wrexham town centre for a couple of hours until Helen was finished work then we spent some quality time hanging out and practising them "High Fives" again!

It rained while we shopped but Gabe just enjoyed splashing his hands in the water collected in his tray...just like his Mum would!

"High Five"

"It's hard work this learning thing!"

"I can't hear you!"

Tuesday June 19: We spent the day in Llangollen with Helen and Grandma, taking in the sights, the ice cream, the local coffee! The weather held out the whole time we were there and so we had a lovely time in bonnie Wales.

Llangollen Bridge...somebody would rather snooze than see the sights!

"Oh Grandma it's been such a long day can I just stay here with you?"

We stayed up late to watch a film and Gabe decided he should stay up late too...nothing to do with the fact he'd eaten chocolate and was completely wired!

Wednesday June 20: We spent the morning in Wrexham and enjoyed as much of Helen & Grandma's company as we could before heading back to Warrington to meet a couple of my aunties and Uncles. Aunty Kate and Sandy popped in to meet Gabe before flying to Turkey, then my Aunty Margaret and Uncle Michael stopped by too. Busy busy day! We stayed at the farm that night and left Gabe with Gran & Pops while we went on a much needed date to the cinema...just like we did when we were teenagers!

Yes, Gabe did fall asleep in this awkward position.

Can you tell I don't think I'm in the picture and neither does Manda, yet Gabe knows he is, cause he always is!

Anyone think we might have a poser on our hands?

"Hmm I can't get these pieces back inside the ball so I'll see if they fit in my mouth instead...that's much easier!"

"There are some definite advantages to being this tall, maybe I'll grow this big and find out."

Thursday June 21: We went to a play barn with a couple of our friends and their kids...a good time was had by all, including us parents who went down the slides and through the maze almost as many times as the kids!

Spot the difference 10 points for each.

Elliot thinks slides work better backwards...he could have something there!

Gabriel's first slide journey ....."weeeee!"

Sadly that night we said our goodbye's to my family and Gabe gave as many hugs and high fives as he could without really understanding what was happening.

Friday June 22: We said our goodbyes to Caroline & the girls after spending some torturous time trying to pack everything back into the bags (they should invent bags that expand yet stay light for return journeys). We drove to the airport with Ian and spent some time just relaxing before we had to go through to the gate. There was a definite sadness in the air but it was lightened a little by the promise of seeing Ian, Caroline & Grace in a few weeks time.

"I could sit here all day...especially if you supply me with more biscuits?? How about it Pops?"

"I didn't pay for this seat!"

"I wonder if they've noticed?"

I apologise for putting words in Gabe's mouth but I think I'd best do it before starts doing it for himself! I'm sad to say this is the end of our trip...there will be more though, I guarantee that!

Love and Growls

Tasha & Gabe

Intentional forward propulsion

2007-07-01T10:06:00.000-04:00

Backwards hmmm... not quite!

Let me out of the cage Mummy!

I'm coming to get you!

Ready

Steady

Go!

It's not exactly crawling, or scooching or even shuffling it's like Gabe's own little bum shuffle thing. He keeps his bum firmly on the floor and uses his hands to pull himself forwards. He kind of uses his left leg as a stabiliser (Auntie Jenn calls it his dead leg) when he's pulling his bum forward...crazy stuff! It's very handy that we have slippery floors or he would just have to stay where we put him. As you can see from the above photos he's also trying to stand up and escape so we'll have our hands full pretty soon.

Photo Diary

2007-06-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

Monday June 11: Gabe and I arrived safely in Manchester Airport at lunchtime in England after an amazingly smooth trip. We were put to the front of queues, blessed with three seats and we slept for most of the flight. So we were very excited and in a great mood when we met Grandpa. After some crafty car packing we were soon speeding along the motorway to see everyone else. It was wonderful to see my parents and siblings. My dad, Gabe and I went for a nice long walk to see some horses at the stable down the road. Here's a wee pic of Auntie Manda showing Gabe how to pose for the camera!

Tuesday June 12: We spent the day hanging out and catching up with my side of the family.
Here's uncle Paul teaching Gabe how to stick his tongue out!

Wednesday June 13: Ryan arrived early Wednesday morning...but our reunion was delayed because Manda had locked Gabe and I in the house when she went out to college! I tried phoning everyone but no-one was able to help so we started getting inventive trying every key I could find then passing them through the letter box for Ryan to have a go too. Eventually I remembered the next door neighbour used to have a spare key so Ryan went across to fetch it and luckily she recognised him and happily handed it over. The conclusion to the story is that I now have my own key that I will keep for my next visit. Gabe was very happy to be rescued by his daddy and Pops' and here's a great pic of him trying on Pop's hat. The other is of him taking his afternoon nap in the comfiest place he could find while Daddy did the same on the other couch. We had a busy day on Wednesday Daddy had a wedding rehearsal to attend in the evening we went back to my parents house.

My old friend Louis was about to arrive after a very very long bus ride from the south. I believe they are dancing to Abba in this picture.

Thursday June 14: We went shopping in the newly renovated Warrington Mall and enjoyed scones with Devonshire clotted cream and Strawberries for lunch. Then Ryan had to organise the Stag do so we did a bit of brainstorming and paid the deposit for the evening. Gabe and I visited with Richard and Lesley and their two munchkins Dylan and Erin. Gabriel had a fantastic time watching Dylan run around and play with his toys. It was great to see Erin too because she is only a couple of months older than Gabe so Lesley and I have been sharing stories by email for a while. We left with a few new toys too for Gabriel that Dylan kindly picked out.

Friday June 15: Ryan spent the morning with Martyn helping him with last minute details for the wedding. Gabriel and I visited Liverpool University with my dad who had to pick up his first year results. He did really well and he beat my score in physics so well done Grandpa! (for those of you who don't know my dad is currently studying the degree I did). It was really cool to go into the uni and speak to my old lecturers and introduce them to Gabe. We also got to meet some of my mum's work mates because we picked her up afterwards.

We celebrated that night by treating ourselves to a take out...hmm love Indian food made in Britain haha! We tried to weasel information about the stag do out of him but it sounds like they had a very well behaved evening with much bowling and joking around involved. Here's a lovely pic of my dad teaching Gabe how o play with his new toy...or maybe it's the other way around?

Saturday June 16: We took a quick trip into the countryside to visit my Grandma who hasn't been very well and was unable to travel down to see us. Gabriel spent the whole time showing off walking around with the foot stools and generally charming everyone!

We got back just in time for the wedding at 2pm and watched as Martyn married Heather...aww! The ceremony was lovely and after the vows Gabe and I went for a look at the gardens because he was mega wriggly. Daddy looked gorgeous in his Tux and he did a great job of his speech too. The reception was great and the food was so tasty, Gabriel really enjoyed it too. He was given a couple of toys to play with which entertained him during the speeches.

	Here's some proof Heather looked absolutely gorgeous and she actually asked to hold Gabriel! We'll convert her to motherhood in no time haha!

I also got evidence of Ryan looking handsome and dancing the night away with Chris. Stephen & Louisa were at the night do too so I caught them on camera too.

Well that's the first week covered so watch this space for the sequel.

Toilet

2007-06-27T09:46:00.000-04:00

After the grout had dried overnight, I was able to install the toilet in the bathroom yesterday. I wish I could say it was installed for the final time, but we will have to take it out one more time when we drywall the back wall. Consequently, I haven't caulked around the toilet yet.
However, for my first attempt at installing a toilet, it went well and there have been no leaks since. I won't get too confident, as everything else is still falling down around our ears, but I'm sure dad would be proud that his son can fit a toilet all by himself!
The next job is levelling the back wall for the new drywall (which I still have to figure out a way to get it to the house this weekend).

Jobs remaining:

Add straps to level back wall
Add support under bath edge
Reposition shower spout
Drywall side wall and back wall
Sand old walls
Remove old light fixtures
Mud, tape and/or skim all walls
Sand all walls
Paint walls and ceiling (?)
Install bath surround
Install bath/shower fittings
Install sink and mirror
Install new light fixtures
Add trims

Grouting Tiles

2007-06-27T09:26:00.000-04:00

We grouted the tiles on Monday night. By "we" I mean Gerry grouted and Perron and I stood talking and watching. Gerry is quite the professional when it comes to tiling! He walked into the bathroom with a bucket of mixed grout and a grout float and no more than a couple of minutes later, I went to see if I could help and half the floor was done!
To perfect his masterpiece, Gerry went back over the grout lines a second time, but all-in-all the process was fast. I had picked Perron and Gerry up at 6pm and within two hours, we had stopped at Copps (another home renovations place that I didn't know existed until yesterday), finished the grouting, enjoyed a cold drink break (and a smoke break for Gerry) and then a stop for coffee at Timmy's on the way home. Not bad, for 2 hours work!
Once again I owe Gerry big-time. I don't suppose he'll read this blog, but he's a great guy and does an awesome tiling job. Thanks mate!
And Perron, who has unofficially taken on the much-needed role of project supervisor for the last few weeks, was full of encouragement once again. He's been keeping me focussed on one job at a time and I think me, Perron and Gerry will go out for steaks some time soon, to round off our tiling adventures!

Disaster - in the form of a missing camera!

2007-06-26T13:54:00.000-04:00

I had every intention of blogging with all our pictures from England and the weekend but I have hit a significant hurdle. The camera has gone missing, we had it at church on Sunday to take pictures of Gabe's dedication but we haven't seen it since - uh oh! Wish I'd uploaded those pictures sooner now! Let's hope some kind person handed it in to the church office and that the camera will be winging it's way back to us promptly.

On another note Gabe and I visited a splash pad for a couple of hours this morning. Gabe got thoroughly soaked and is currently taking the longest nap ever right now so he clearly had an amazing time. A couple of people commented on how young he is to be interested in walking, so we enjoyed the fact he's ahead of the game for the first time.

We met Jon & Karla Evans for the first time too so that was cool. Jon worked with Ryan at camp when he went out in 2001 (the year before we both went). They are good friends with some of our other friends too so it's nice to put faces to names and meet their little people taboot.

p.s. is taboot a real word? does anyone know and how do you actually spell that?

There and back again a mother's tale

2007-06-24T21:05:00.000-04:00

Our trip home to England was wonderful it started off so well because Gabriel slept the whole way on the plane, we were put to the front of every queue, I was given my food first on the plane (just in case he woke up), and we made good time despite strong headwinds. It was especially good to be back for almost two weeks because I felt I had time for everyone who was available and no-one had to be rushed or missed out.

Gabriel loved all the attention and even learnt a couple of new tricks - he can now do "High fives" if he's in a good mood and has his hands free. He also started to move his feet while standing, rather just staying rooted in one spot, he "walks" to where he wants to go...if you are willing to go there too and hold him up! His legs are still jelly though so there's no hope of letting go yet and he refuses to crawl despite his Grandpa's efforts and perseverance. He adjusted back to Canadian time within 36 hours so I'm really pleased with him. He clearly enjoyed all the love and affection he was shown during his stay with family and I'm a little sad now thinking of all the alone time we'll have again now that we're back on Canadian soil.

The great news is that Gran & Pops and Auntie Grace will be out to visit us in a month and we've got mums and kids camp coming up soon. There is always something to look forward to and I'm so grateful. It's been an emotional roller coaster lately with moving house, visiting the Uk and hearing about people we care about being sick. We're a little tired and worse for wear but we know it's in times like these that we have to hold on all the tighter to what we believe in. I've got loads more to write but I'm probably going to do a photo diary in the next post to make it more interesting.

Watch this space!

Message from Gabriel

2007-06-24T07:40:00.000-04:00

\
'9. Z m zvf / o l,k; k. 0 m, njjm
\ oll m,bvc .,,,, C
?/LLLL

Toilet Update (Part 2)

2007-06-24T07:32:00.000-04:00

We finally returned the faulty toilet and exchanged the damaged bowl for a new one. I asked about getting a different toilet with a smaller tank, and he said "That depends if any waste has gone through it." Tasha and I hesitated before admitting that we'd been using it, but it was only as we drove away with the replacement that I realized how illogical that was. The only part that had been "contaminated" by waste was the bowl we had just left with them. The rest was clean.
Anyway, I haven't fitted the new toilet, due to some other problems that were awaiting us when we got home from England.
I also bought the wrong grout for the tiles. The gaps in the tiles are 1/8" or less, which requires unsanded grout. I bought sanded grout, which is for gaps of 1/8" - 1/2".
So today demands yet another return to Home Depot! **big sigh** We're home!

Back Home

2007-06-22T22:23:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post to let you know that we returned to London safely after a reasonable flight. We had a great time back in England and now we have lots of catching up to so with everyone (and with work and renovations too!).
Tash and Gabe are fast asleep now, and I think I'm going to join them!

Break Time

2007-06-11T23:31:00.000-04:00

Progress in the bathroom has been great since Saturday. We now have the drywall hung (by a few screws) in the bath area. This just needs tape and mud when we return.
But the biggest progress happened tonight when Perron and Gerry came over to help tile the bathroom floor. Those two are pure legends! I was able to take a back-seat while they did the tiling, which gave me all the time I needed to pack my bags for my trip home and do some chores around the house.
Sadly, Tasha took the camera with her back to England, so I can't show you the result, but I'm excited about showing you the photos of the tiled floor when I get home.
I'm officially done with the bathroom for a few days now. When we return, we will have to grout and set the toilet before we can even sleep at the house, but I'm hoping God grants me enough energy to do all that on the day we get home.
When we removed the toilet, we discovered a small hole in the porcelain where the bolt for the toilet seat goes. It's quite an unusual leak and was obviously there before we bought the toilet. It seems like it was a hole that was painted over, but that will hopefully work in my favour when I try return it and get a refund!
One problem....Tasha has hidden, lost, eaten or taken away the receipt for the toilet! I had the toilet packed up and ready to take back, but the receipt was nowhere to be found.
Anyway, I nominate Perron and Gerry for sainthood or knighthood or any other hood they want (along with Jeff, Geoff, Dan, Dave, Tasha, Gabe, Ian, Steve, Ian, Dawn, Jenn, Josh, Nathanael, Keith and probably someone else I forgot!). Thanks guys!

To do (when we return):

Return toilet
Buy new toilet
Buy grout
Buy grout float
Grout tiles
Clean tiles
Set toilet
Relax

Toilet Update

2007-06-11T00:57:00.000-04:00

Our leaky toilet is really starting to bug me now. It's not leaking from the flange but from the underside of the bowl. In fact, believe it or not, it's running from the hole for the seat bolt on the right-hand side. I can't quite figure out how it can leak from there, but there are no visible cracks, just a small stream of water at the flush and then it stops. I don't know what my "consumer rights" are for a toilet. Can I take it back? (I mean...it's a toilet...that's like returning underwear to a store....but much much worse!) Will they believe it was broken when we bought it? Can we fix it? (Bob, the builder says "Yes we can" but Ryan the amateur renovator says "Eurgh, my head hurts")

Aside from the toilet issue, we have now hung the drywall around the bath/shower. It still needs to be mudded and taped, but it's starting to take shape.

Tasha flew to England tonight. In fact right now, she's probably just over the Atlantic trying to get Gabriel to sleep. I miss them both already and the house is far too quiet. However, I'm taking advantage of their absence, and planning to lay the "EasyMat" in the bathroom after work. It's an underlayment for tiles and requires a roll-on primer, 30 minutes waiting, then measureing (twice) and cutting (once), then peel-and-stick down to the plywood. If that happens quick enough, we'll start tiling the floor. Otherwise we will have to wait until I get home from the UK, as I leave on Tuesday night.

It's slow progress, but better than nothing!

Not more teeth!

2007-06-08T10:08:00.000-04:00

Gabriel has been showing obvious signs of separation anxiety, possibly because we just moved house and everything is unfamiliar. Apparently it can happen in kids as young as seven months, so we've been dealing with a few more tears and tantrums than usual! I only have to take two steps away from him and he starts to whine and if I leave the room altogether he wails like I'm never coming back. I've read up about it and have a few tactics to try but the most important thing is to keep leaving and coming back until he realises it's not a permanent thing. It's kind of flattering to think there is a person in the world who loves me so me much he can't bear to be apart from me, but it's also rather frustrating when I'm used to a little more independence.
I was just cleaning Gabriel's teeth this morning when I noticed that two more are breaking through! No wonder he's been so teary I've missed blatant signs of teething because we've been so distracted by moving house...poor kid! So he now has four top teeth and two bottom teeth these ones are coming in fast though so hopefully this bout will be over very soon.
I had to put away his Moses basket yesterday too because he has learned object permanence so when he drops a toy over the side he dives over the edge after it and topples the whole thing over...not a fun game! I'm just praying he's not a complete nightmare on the plane with all this change going on around him. Unfortunately I don't have many recent pics to share because we've been so busy lately most of our pictures have been of renovations and not our little bambino. Here is a couple of funny ones from when he first met Cosmo the dog.

What a week!

2007-06-06T11:07:00.000-04:00

Well I have internet access for the first time in a week and a half...it's funny how attached I am to spending time on the internet when just a few years ago I'd rather sit with a good book. We've also been coping without a functioning bathroom for a large portion of the week. Ryan and the boys finished the demolition by friday and started construction on saturday. We currently have a bath, a toilet and a subfloor but no tiles (so no showering) and no sink. The work in there has been pretty tough considering all the layers of madness we found underneath the previous tiles and drywall.
We moved all our stuff to the house on the 31st with the help of a few good friends and the place suddenly looked very small. We didn't realise quite how much stuff we had accumulated in the apartment and how blessed we were there to have tons of storage space. The next couple of days were a blur of unpacking and trips to Home Depot! We crashed at Jenn & Josh's at night for three days until we had the plumber in to fit the toilet here. They were very graceful because we weren't exactly good company after our hectic days work!
Gabriel enjoyed his first night in his own room on Sunday and he only woke once to be fed! Praise the Lord!! He's slept way better in his own room than he ever did in ours and as a result so have I...I could cry I'm so happy to eventually get more than a couple of hours of sleep in a row! God answers prayer that's for sure, we prayed that he would sleep better and he has for the last three nights.
With all this going on I almost forgot to get excited about my trip home in four days - I can't wait to see everyone and have Gabe get to know everyone all over again. Gabe and I are traveling alone on the way but Ryan will be traveling back with us on the 22nd. Hopefully the flights will be smooth and Gabe will sleep peacefully the whole way...haha I wish!
Over and Out!

Toilet Leak

2007-06-04T15:08:00.000-04:00

Steve fitted the toilet for us last night on the wooden subloor. It was only a temporary fitting, so we could use the bathroom without having to go visit a friend's house. The new toilet is nice (although the tank is HUGE ...about 13 litres, I think!) and it fits perfectly in the corner. However, after Steve left we noticed that a small amount of water would trickle out from under the toilet when we flushed.

I suspect that it's either because we fitted a steel repair flange over the old flange and/or because the new flange is higher than the subfloor. We were going to lay ceramic tile, so the toilet would have to come up when we got around to that, but now, due to stress and time restrictions, we may opt for vinyl tiles instead. The problem is that this wont add much height to the current subfloor, so we may need to address the leaky toilet issue soon. Fortunately, Steve had already kindly offered to return to help installing the sink and shower finishings, so we'll get things moving soon and call him back.

The task for tonight is to add the drywall behind (above) the bathtub, mud and tape it and then install the surround for the bath. We also need to (politely) complain to Home Depot that there was a part of the shower-set missing when we went through the box. It's the backplate for the tap, so it's pretty much essential. I just hope they believe that it was missing and don't think we are trying to fool them. Tasha wonders if someone had removed it in the store before she bought it. Unlike me, Tasha takes the front box from the shelf, whereas I always reach to the back to make sure I get an "untouched" item!!! I knew there was a good reason for that!

First Night at the House

2007-06-04T15:04:00.000-04:00

We spent our first night sleeping at the house, last night. We still have way too much work to do, but it was nice to spend the night in our own house for the first time. Gabriel had his own bedroom for the first time ever and he slept peacefully with only one wake-up at 3am. This is much better than an average night, so we're praising God for that big step. Gabe usually wakes at least 2 times a night and so one wake-up was a great improvement.
It makes me wonder if it was Tasha's snoring that disturbed him in the old place! ;)

Plumber

2007-06-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Steve, the plumber went to work installing the bathroom fixtures, including 3 new valves (2 sink and 1 toilet) along with installing the water lines and waste line for the bath.

The bath is acrylic and is an unusual fit, but it has solid "legs" which seem to support the weight and so we didn't attach a 2x4 at the back edge. It felt very solid even before we added some screws to hold it to the studs. I was very uncomfortable with drilling screws into the bathtub, but I was assured that it wasn't uncommon and that it would give it extra support. The instructions showed the bath held in by nails, using only the head of the nail to "clip" the lip of the bathtub to the stud. However, the instructions were useless as they didn't match the tub and the lip of the bath was horizontal and not vertical (in other words, too wide for any clip!).

The screws held it in place and it looks very solid. I am tempted to add additional bars under the lip at the sides to give it extra support. I'm paranoid like that, but I don't want that bath to move anywhere!

Steve had a little trouble with one of the valves for the sink. That wasn't his fault, but we ran out of copper and so to save having to wait for another night to complete the work, we found a scrap piece of copper pipe in the basement and cleaned that up to use. It took a couple of attempts to get the valve to work, but when it did the work was done and Steve left.

New Subfloor

2007-06-04T14:49:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Perron came over to help with the bathroom. First we went to Home Depot to buy some stuff. The staff there are very friendly, but often their opinions vary on how to do the jobs needed. Anyway, we bought what we needed (including a bath in the hope that we would get that done soon) and headed to the house.
Perron and I worked at laying the 1/2" exterior grade spruce over the old 1 1/4" floorboard planks. The floorboards were thick but not very level and a little bit springy and creaky, so we added a few nails through the old floorboards and into the joists and went around removing or hammering down old nails that were sticking up too far.
Geoff came over to help later in the afternoon and between us, we got the new subfloor cut with the right holes for the water lines, drains, and air vent. It took time and I'm sure I bugged Geoff and Perron with constant reminders to "measure twice and cut once" and to "be careful of the pipes".
We screwed the new subfloor to the old floorboards using 1 1/2" floor screws every 6", and leaving approx 1/4 to 1/2" at the edges of the room and 1/8" between the two sheets of spruce to allow for expansion. We had been told to avoid the joists when screwing the floor down (some people told us to aim for them, but I went with the former advice). As it turns out, the screws would have been too short to reach the joists anyway, so it didn't really matter.
The work was much easier with 2 or 3 people and the help of a useful jigsaw that Perron brought. (I don't yet have my own jigsaw but I'm sure that will go on my wish list for a birthday present!)

Subfloor

2007-06-04T14:48:00.000-04:00

After removing the tiles the next step was to remove the wooden subfloor with old vinyl covering over it. This again took hours of work and lots of help from friends. Thanks Dave, Jeff and Keith.

Tiles

2007-06-04T14:23:00.000-04:00

The floor tiles came up with a lot of work and sweat. I foolishly spent hours prying tiles up with a small pry bar and then the following day I was advised to buy a bolster to finish the job. The bolster was an amazing success. We left the tiles and bolster in the capable hands of our friend Dan and he lifted the rest of the tile (half the floor) in less than 45 minutes!!! Verdict: Bolster worth the $8 and Dan worth a lot more! Thanks Dan.