Fall break part 1--Drumheller

Last week the kids had Friday, Monday and Tuesday off of school so we decided to take advantage and go do a couple of things from our list. Saturday morning Max had a soccer game at 9 and we woke up to snow and cold! The snow we have had previously didn't really stick and we always knew we were going to be getting warmer temps in the days ahead, but this one we knew was the real deal. I've been working on my celcius conversions a lot this week and finally changed my car over to the metric system. The kids go outside for recess up until -23 celcius so I needed to know the temp each day for that and for basic conversation. (because EVERYONE here talks about the weather.)

Anyway...so we drove out of Edmonton in this snow/freezing rain weather and drove right out of it about an hour later and right into 50 degrees! We started our trip off in Drumheller, Alberta. It was about 3 hours from our house. We were driving on flat roads surrounded by farm fields and then all of a sudden, we were in a canyon! This area is known as the Canadian Badlands. It's in Drumeller and the surrounding canyons that they have found so many dinosaur fossils. First we hit up the dinosaur museum (Royal Tyrrel Museum) and it was amazing. The neatest thing about it was looking at all the dinosaurs that had been constructed with bones found right in the area. I would have loved to spend more time reading, but the kids kept us moving right along.


below is the lab where they work on the fossils. It was neat to see the scientists work just sitting there with all of the tools, etc. In the summer they do lots of kids activities/camps that I would love for Max and Mya to do sometime.

I thought the picture below was one of the neatest things I saw all day. If you can read it, a couple of teenagers were fishing in 1980 and uncovered a few dinosaur bones. When they started digging around, they uncovered this t-rex!


After we left the museum we climbed up a bunch of steps to overlook the museum and the surrounding area. Chris works with a guy who said we could have seen his family's farmland from up on those steps. He said when he was younger his dad told him if they ever found something that resembled a bone, they were to drive up to the road and run it over! I guess if you find dinosaur bones on your property they come in with excavators and take over your land for up to 3 years. You can imagine what that would do to a farmer's income so I guess I can see why people would think like that, but it's also very strange to know that there could have been some major clues or a rare dinosaur in those fields!



We also drove about 3-4 miles to Horse thief Canyon. (Canada's version of the Grand Canyon) It was named this during the early settler years when ranching was the main industry. Legend has it that thousands of horses would disappear into these canyons, later to appear carrying a different brand. Hence the name "horse thief canyon". Also some of the most significant fossil discoveries ever made from the Age of Reptiles have been found here. Over 35 species of dinosaurs dating back 70 million years. Crazy! Max loved exploring in the canyon. He went down quite far and was even making the other random tourists a little nervous! I can't wait to come back here in late June/early July when the canola fields are blooming. I guess it's just unbelievable.

Picture below is for Aunt Tara:)


Can you spot Max in the picture below? He was pretty far down there! (guarantee my mom is cringing right now looking at this!)



After the canyon, we drove into town to a total tourist trap and the "world's largest dinosaur". The kids and Chris paid $10 to go up to the mouth of the dinosaur and I stayed down on the ground with Chloe to take pictures:)



Fall break part II coming in another post!

Ivy is 3!

Dear Ivy,

Happy Happy birthday to you! You are pretty happy your birthday is finally here. We have been talking about it since the week before Halloween, so you are ready! When I ask you how old you're going to be on your birthday it ranges from 3 to 3 1/2 to 10 1/2! I think you're stuck on the 1/2's because you're used to saying you're 2 1/2:)You bring so many smiles to our faces...everybody just loves you and your little personality.

What you're like these days...Well, you and I get lots of time together when Max and Mya are at school everyday. You never want to take the kids to school or pick them up. Sometimes you even physically try to keep them from going out the door in the morning! You are in the stage where you think running away from me and hiding when I'm trying to get you dressed, get your hair combed, or get you to go somewhere is pretty funny. It was funny the first time, but not really since then! You are getting more and more particular with your clothes. You refuse to wear jeans (why am I surprised...)and you don't like having your coat on while buckled in your carseat. Could be a tough winter if you don't change your ways with the coat!

Stats...you are 36" tall, 34 pounds, wear size 8 1/2 shoes, size 3T-4T shirts and size 3T pants. You are still a pretty good eater although you definitely prefer junk food to real food and you have very strong opinions on whether a food is considered a snack or not. apple=not a snack. crackers=snack. You love salmon (you call is just "sam") any kind of pasta, cooked vegetables, peanut butter sandwiches, all berries, smoothies, ice cream, ketchup, and any kind of bread/pastry/muffin around. (wonder where you get that from..:) You are not allergic to milk, but don't like the taste of it, so you are still drinking almond milk. Your other drink preferences include ice water and a water/oj mix. Oh and you still love to drink my coffee after it cools down! You have a bladder of steel, when you want something you ask for a "whole whole whole bunch" of whatever it is you want and I still love it when you say the dinner prayer. You squeeze your eyes shut really tight and have a cute grin on your face as you say the prayer:) You're still a big fan of your blankie (mostly just the tag) and we're trying our best to wean you from that paci, but it's proving very difficult! You are quite the negotiator already...

Last week you started a gymnastics class and preschool! You go to gymnastics on Mondays for 45 minutes without me and then school is Tue/Thurs. afternoons from 12:45-2:45. You loved both last week and hopefully that continues! We also go to kindermusik class together Wednesday mornings. The week is pretty full for us which is good because when we're home the only thing you want to do is watch tv which drives me crazy so we have to get out of the house for at least part of the day. You would still love to take a nap everyday, but we've started to cut it out a few days a week. Partly because we knew afternoon preschool was starting and partly because when you nap, you love to stay up super late with mom and dad! The days that you don't nap are rough. You start asking to take a nap around 5pm and we try to hold you off until 6:30. Speaking of going to bed...you are kind of in a funk with that right now. We have to put you to bed in our bed and then daddy moves you to your bed when we go to bed. But somehow in the morning, you end up back in our bed!

We have a little neighbor girl named Cali who you like to play with. And you still talk about Audrey, Cadence and Abby from Dubuque. Last week we were driving and you said, "do you remember when we went on Audrey's boat?" You remind me of Max when you bring up random things like that. You love to have books read to you and you go in spurts wanting the same 3 books for a week or two and then switching to a different 3 books. This week we're reading Mouse Paint, The Big Red Barn and a Strawberry Shortcake book. You also love to "read" on your own. Since we read in Mya's classroom every morning you're getting pretty good at fake reading. You're quite stubborn when it comes to me teaching you something. I have to make sure it's your idea or else you'll have nothing to do with it. You started making "I's" but that's about as far as we've gotten. You can count from 1-23, and then a bunch of random numbers in the 30's and you usually end with 41. You can say your ABC's, but again it has to be your idea or else you'll just give me a jumbled mess of letters if I ask you to say them!



We sure love you baby Ivy. I wonder how long I'll call you that....I'll give myself at least another couple of years or until you ask me to stop:)

Love, Mommy


11/11/11

11/11/12

11/11/13


11/11/14

The Bachelor in Dubuque!

One of my favorite shows is the bachelor/bachelorette series. Yes, I agree, it's one of the dumbest shows around, but I find it entertaining and I enjoy reading the spoilers before the season starts. (I'm also one who prefers to watch games after I know the final score and almost always read the last page of the book first, but don't find out the gender of my babies...go figure) So, on Thursday afternoon when I was checking facebook while sitting in the carpool line I couldn't believe what I saw. Farmer Chris (the next bachelor from Arlington, Iowa) walking the streets of Dubuque! So I was immediately in touch with my other bachelor loving friends in Dubuque trying to figure out what was going on! (some of them closet bachelor fans:)

Anyway...after a few phone calls/texts to various people we found out that he was staying at the Hotel Julien Dubuque for the rose ceremony after hometown dates. So they were going from 4 girls down to 3. I told my friend Katie that she should hang out downtown that night just to see if there was any buzz. She told me she had bunco so she wouldn't be able to be down there. Fast forward a few hours...

I get a text from Katie telling me that Chris Harrison (the host of the bachelor) and other bachelor producers are eating at the Peppersprout in downtown Dubuque! So I immediately facetimed all the crew at bunco and basically forced them to go downtown. They all packed up and went down there (even Abby in her yoga pants:) and ended up meeting Chris Harrison and Ken Fuchs (the director of the bachelor, shark tank and other shows) Our bunco secret is that we hardly ever actually play bunco at bunco (too busy talking) and when my friends met the bachelor people they called them out on not actually playing!

My friend Kate called me via facetime so I could see him and then eventually I got to have a facetime conversation with Chris Harrison! It was so fun and I couldn't stop smiling for at least 24 hours:) I just love my dubuque mama friends who went down there for me and included me in everything! Some of my friends don't even watch the show and I thought maybe this would convert them! But I don't think so. I had a text convo with my friend Anna and this is how it went:

me: You're sold now aren't you!! You'll be our next victim:)
Anna: Um no. I have 4 kids. I'll go anywhere with my friends lol!

Definitely a night to remember. Here are a few pics:)

That's me on the phone my friend Kate is holding:) Look at all of those smiles!!

The rest are pics of me facetiming with Chris Harrison:)

October one-photo-a-day

Day 274: Max swimming at his lessons! Both he and Mya had lessons this fall and are doing it again in the winter with Ivy now that she's (almost) 3. Last weekend I had a major mom accomplishment. Edmonton is booming which means kids programs are incredibly hard to get into. So winter swimming lessons registration went live Saturday morning at 8:30. I had one chance to get all 3 kids into lessons at the same time. Each lesson had 10 spots and I did it! I sat down and had it all ready to go and then just had to press register right when the clock hit 8:30 and we got in!
Day 275: Ivy and I met a friend at an indoor park and when it was time to leave she threw a GIANT FIT. and I meant to put that in all caps. This was when we got home and she was still not in great shape! It was definitely one for the books...
Day 276: A day off for Chris and the kids means it's a day to play tea party with dad!
Day 277: I took Max and Mya to see Box Trolls. Very cute movie!


Day 278: We went with our neighbors to the Edmonton corn maze. It was pretty neat even though there were no pumpkins!
Day 279: The kids' school picture proofs came home in their backpacks and much to my surprise, Max was not wearing what I sent him in to school! This was his under shirt under a very cute collared shirt:) He claims he was hot....
Day 280: Mya and Ivy play together so nicely most of the time. On this day they were playing puppy.
Day 281: Today was international walk to school day. There were contests at school to see how many kids they could have who walked/biked/scootered. So since we don't live close enough, we drove into the school neighborhood, parked and walked the rest of the way. It was a disaster. It was freezing, Ivy wasn't minding the rules of the road, we were late, etc. On the way there I even googled it on my phone to see if this school made the day up, but it was in fact true. Who makes these things up??!??


Day 282: Max got his expander in on this day and Ivy gets the credit for this pic:)
Day 283: Mya getting ready for her gymnastics class.
Day 284: Another typhoon means another day drinking coffee out of my Okinawa cup and thinking/praying for my sister and her little family over in Japan. So glad they were safe and I'm really hoping they don't get hit again in the next 18 months!
Day 285: A Hoden family selfie at the Jurassic Forest.


Day 286: Our first Canadian Thanksgiving was a success! Wish I would have taken a pic of the turkey before we cut it up!
Day 287: I never get sick of seeing my kids reading to each other.
Day 288: Chris was out of town so I ended a crazy day with a glass of wine and Ellen:)
Day 289: Ivy apparently really liked this soup! It was turkey noodle made with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. We ate it for days...:)


Day 290: Miss Mya on the uneven bars!
Day 291: Max's first day of indoor soccer. He did really great and had fun which is the most important part.
Day 292: We took Chloe to the dog park and she swam in the river so she needed a bath. Well, she knows the word bath and would not budge when it was time to go up so Chris ended up carrying our 70 lb pup up the steps!
Day 293: Hurray for Canada! We can now buy pulp free OJ with calcium and vitamin d. Prior to this, we could buy pulp free or OJ with calcium and vitamin d, but not together in the same bottle!


Day 294: Woke up to this sweet pic of my niece:)
Day 295: I got to see a familiar face on this day! Maryanne was here with John Deere visiting some dealers/suppliers so she made it over one evening for dinner. It was so great to see her and catch up!
Day 296: Someday I'll miss opening up the cupboards and seeing a little orange dinosaur in my tupperware:)
Day 297: My 3 crazies at the gym waiting for Mya's class to start.


Day 298: Ivy was playing really nicely in the basement so I ran upstairs to get a few things done. She came up a short while later looking like this. I was scared to death that there was green hand prints all the way up the steps, but thankfully she kept it on the paper!
Day 299: This fluffy white stuff came just in time for Halloween! It only stayed here a day or two though so we were very lucky!
Day 300: Happy 10th birthday to Chloe!
Day 301: I got to go with Mya's class to the Alberta Art Gallery. It was a really great field trip and I definitely learned a lot and I think the kids did too!


Day 302: I always make a coffee right before we leave the house in the morning. I had the kids loaded up and I came in and saw that my cup was not on the keurig. So I looked all over. I went out to the car and asked if the kids knew where it was. Then I started to think about what cup I used so I would know what to look for and realized I didn't grab a cup! What a mess. But I cleaned it up and made another coffee. We were late to school, but at least I had my coffee:) #priorities
Day 303: The kids were pretty excited to get a package in the mail with their new trick or treat bags from my aunt Kathy! Max said, "mom, I think she made them!" I think she did too buddy:)
Day 304: Happy Halloween from Dracula, Elsa and Olaf!

Halloween 2014

The kids had a great Halloween. Thankfully, it was exactly the same as it was back home (minus the people of course) We went trick-or-treating with some neighbors. Max ended up running ahead with some buddies of his, but it ended up going really well! The weather cooperated and the candy was plentiful, so we had some happy kiddos who woke up with sore legs/ankles from all the running they did!

Ivy was just in heaven. She didn't remember anything about it from last year. She has seen some tv shows where kids went trick-or-treating, but when it came time to go to the first house, she had no idea what to do. It only took her one house and she was off running with Mya and two neighbor girls. She said trick-or-treat continuously until the person at the door put candy into her bag. And speaking of the person at the door...so many more people were dressed up here than in Dubuque. I'd say at least every other house had someone dressed up! You'll see it in a picture below. Also another thing I want to remember...at one point Chris had to adjust Ivy's mask/hat thing and when he took it off, she said "Now I'm Ivy!" and then when he put it back on she said "Now I'm Olaf!" It was pretty cute. Also when you asked her who she was, she would say "Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs" which is a line from the movie:)

When we went to get M&M after school on Friday I gave Ivy 3 suckers. One for her, and two to share. Well, you can see she had other plans for those 3 suckers.

Dracula, Elsa and Olaf ready to head out!

Olaf started out in the wagon, but didn't last long!

Chris dressed up as Tony for Halloween:) Supporting the USMC in Canada.

Below you can see how the people were dressed up at the houses.

Daddy and Queen Elsa and her sidekick Olaf.


For the most part, the candy was the same. They call candy bars "chocolate bars" here which actually makes more sense since they're not really made of candy. And we came across two "chocolate bars" that I don't think we have in the states and if we do, I've never had them. But they are now officially my favorite (hence why I took pics of wrappers...they were gone pretty quick!) Also, thought I would point out that smarties here are called rockets and there's a completely different candy that they call smarties. Who knew:)

A decade old dog

Chloe Joanne Hoden turned 10 today! Her birthday snuck up on us this year, but we kept with tradition and took her to Pet Smart and let her pick out a couple of toys and some treats:) When I told Ivy we were letting her pick out some toys for her birthday she told me that Chloe was a dog and couldn't pick out presents. But then she also made sure to note that her birthday was coming up and she could pick out presents for herself! This was our first time in Pet Smart in Edmonton and the kids really enjoyed it. There were quite a few other dogs in the store and they had some cats in cages that you could buy that they liked. Ivy wanted to take one home of course, but we quickly distracted her!



When we got home we all had ice cream and sang happy birthday to Chloe. I made her some dog safe ice cream and she licked the bowl clean! It was 1 ripe banana, 1 cup peanut butter, 2 cups natural plain yogurt and 2 Tablespoons of honey. Even though the kids (minus Mya) would have loved the ice cream I made for Chloe they thought it was sooooo gross because it was for a dog! I took a few bites and then told the kids it was full of dog food, mashed up chicken, pieces of bone, etc. and they were just laughing so hard:)


Everyone enjoying their bedtime birthday snack:)


Now for a little update on Chloe! She is basically the same as last year, but just a little more gray in her face:) Her favorite thing to do is still riding along when we go places in the car. She loves to stick her head out the window and when we're waiting in line to pick up Max and Mya she loves when people notice her and give her attention. She is still a major lover of swimming. We found a dog park in Edmonton right on the river and she loved it. In the past she wasn't all about dog parks, but this one was so big and had the water that she didn't even notice the other dogs very much. Even though our backyard is fenced, she prefers to hang out in the front yard and I'm sure it's because there is so much more action. She likes to see the cars go by, the people walking by, etc. She has wandered down the street a few times, but doesn't go too far.



She can still rip up a toy in 10 seconds flat if it has a squeaker inside, still sheds A TON, still licks the plates in the dishwasher, still drinks water out of the toilet if her bowl is empty, still makes a gigantic mess every time she takes a drink, still digs in the yard, still tracks in dirt, still hates it when Chris wrestles the kids, still takes food out of the kids' hands if they're not paying attention, still paws at you if you stop petting her, still takes food off of the table if it's close enough to the edge, still stops if I don't take the long way on our walks, and is still the most loyal, loving, gentle dog in the world.

She is quickly becoming the kids' dog. Max and Mya feed her, get her water and let her in and out whenever we ask. (We said no more dogs if they don't start helping out and I'll tell you what, that did the trick!) Max is a total softie when it comes to his pup and is well aware of her age and what could happen to her in the next few years. For the longest time all he wanted was for Chloe to sleep in his room and it's almost like she heard him because now that's where she sleeps every night! Every once in awhile you can even catch her up on his bed which he absolutely loves.




Even though I complain about her almost daily, she really has been a wonderful dog for our family and I'm so glad we were able to find a house we could rent that would let us have a dog. Here's hoping for many more birthdays for our furry friend:)

What Canada does right/wrong

We've been in Canada 4 1/2 months. I jotted down a few of my most recent thoughts!

Some things Canada/Edmonton does right:

Maternity leave aka "mat leave". It's amazing. Moms get a full year off with 55% of their pay and a guaranteed job back after a year at their same level. It may be a slightly different job, but it will not be a demotion. Some employers offer a "top off" (I think that's what it's called) where they supplement your pay so it equals 100% for part of the mat leave. Someone I talked to today said she got "topped off" for 17 weeks. Chris and I have had many discussions on this. For one, I probably never would have quit teaching had this been offered to me back home. By the time Mya got to be a year old, I feel like I had my life put together, kids were sleeping through the night, etc. Of course it's easy for me to say that now, but you never know. I've also heard Chris's side of it as an employer of women who are taking a year off...it makes it really tough on the people left behind to fill in for them. We've decided we know what's best for both countries. 6 months of maternity leave at 75% of the pay and all benefits:) I'd love to see the breastfeeding numbers between the two countries. It seems like it would be a lot easier to give it a shot when you know you have a whole year off verse 6-12 weeks like most people.

Coffee. Seriously these Canadians love their coffee. You can find a coffee shop on every single corner and three more in between. Tim Hortons is their national claim to coffee fame. About a month ago it was bought out by Burger King and everyone here was in uproar about it. It's really good coffee and at a fraction of the price of Starbucks.

Canada Post. Yes this will also be a part of my "what canada does wrong" side of this blog, but first I'll share something they do right. All post offices are open on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. (At least the one at the local grocery store was open on Thanksgiving day, not sure about the rest) There is no mail delivery on Saturday or Sunday but you can still do business at the post office. It's really nice to be able to take care of mailing a package or whatever else on the weekend. They're still saving lots of money by not delivering the mail, but also continuing to make money by having the windows open for service. And I have not missed Saturday delivery one bit.

Thanksgiving on the 2nd Monday in October. Sure it didn't really feel like Thanksgiving to me, but what was so nice about it was that it didn't feel like Christmas at all either! The Christmas stuff is not out in most stores, no one is really talking about Christmas lists, no one's house is lit up, the weather is really nice, etc. It was nice just to concentrate on eating good food and being thankful for all that we have:) Oh and maybe another reason I loved it was because I didn't have to run after eating!

No cell phone use while driving. I love this law and I was one who talked on the phone a lot while driving back home. There's a pretty big fine ($300) if you get caught so it's not something I'm willing to risk. I have found that after just 4+ months, it feels really weird to me to talk while driving. The other night I was driving Chris's car and didn't have bluetooth hooked up in his car. I had to drive across a parking lot from one place to the other and needed to call him. So without really thinking I dialed him up and put the phone to my ear. As I pulled out of my spot, I immediately felt like something was wrong and I figured out it was because I was on my phone. You never see people talking while they're driving and if you do, you can bet other people are cursing at them to get off the phone! I know some states have this law implemented, but it definitely should be everywhere.

Some things Canada/Edmonton does wrong:

Target. It's a crying shame that they can't figure out how to get full target trucks up here! Total first world problems here...I know my sister in Japan and my sister in law in Decorah would love a Target close by..even if it was only half full! But seriously I LOVE target and have only gone here a handful of times. I get the ad in the paper and then when I go to the store for the deal, they never have the item! When I ask about it they just say the trucks never make it here with the product before the ad goes to print.



Mail. It's a total guess as to when something will get here! My mom sent the kids each a letter in the mail on the same day. Ivy got hers on a Wednesday and the other two came the following Thursday. Also, the prices for shipping. It's ridiculous. Canadians just stand with their jaws dropped when I tell them how cheap/fast shipping is in the US. The whole amazon prime free 2-day shipping thing is usually the kicker for them.

Speed cameras. Sure, this is for our safety, but it's a big pain in the butt! Chris and I were commenting on how we never see police have cars pulled over. But then a few weeks ago we figured out why. We got a nice little $80 ticket in the mail with a picture of Chris's car, the time, and his speed. (to be fair..we don't know who was driving. It was 6:20 on a Friday night so one of us was going to pick up Mya from gymnastics, but we can't remember who!) Basically a camera picked it up and then charged us. He (or I) was going 72 km/h in a 60 km/h zone. 12 km/h converts to 7.4 mph. Typically you would not be pulled over for that in the States, but here anything over 10 km/h could get you a ticket whether or not you see a police officer! Pretty sure the only reason we haven't gotten any tickets in our Acadia yet is because we haven't switched to Alberta license plates yet! Oops...don't tell anyone.



What I'm still up in the air about:

Healthcare. There are definitely some pros and cons to the system here. While it's nice that everyone has access to free (I use the term free loosely...nothing is ever really free) it does make it difficult to get in to see a specialist if you need. My neighbor's dad got diagnosed with prostate cancer at an early stage. He got diagnosed at the beginning of September. The first he can get in for surgery is January. Another friend of mine here hurt her knee and waited 5 months for an MRI only to find out she had a torn ACL. So who knows...maybe someday we will get this whole healthcare thing worked out and take the good from one place, combine it with the good from another and everything will be perfect! Yeah right:)