THE INTERNET

I hope you all appreciate the sacrifice I make every year. I leave my comfy home and drive for hours and hours to visit you. The most supreme sacrifice must be the internet. All those who are still on dial-up internet please raise your right hand. Now with your left hand pick up your phone. Now lower your right hand again and dial the number for your local internet provider and request high-speed. You guys are killing me! LOL! I am sure I will survive though. You know how they say "nothing is better than sleeping in your own bed", does the same thing apply to computers? And who are "they"???

Enough of that. We are in Kelowna now. I would be out basking in the sun, but it is way too hot for that. Instead we took the kids shopping today. But it wasn't all fun and games. First of all we had to dodge this incredibly large machinery that has been tearing up the road in front of my parents place. Last night we had to park our truck out at the end of the road so that we could be somewhat mobile today. So, here we are trying to get to the truck. We had to run along the side of the road, jumping over juniper bushes. I was last in line. Everyone in front of my jumped over gracefully, but not me. I jumped over o.k., but the landing wasn't exactly a perfect 10.0. No, I landed flat on the ground. I didn't realize I would be landing in a dip. So, I arrived in Kelowna with a beautifully scraped knee. All 10 year old boys would be proud of the scrape I got. Thankfully, the walk back to the house was uneventful.

MY NAGGING SISTER-IN-LAW

Sonya has been nagging me (nag, nag, nag) to post something new on my blog. LOL. Well, as she knows, as has been witness to, we arrived in Kamloops safe and sound. Our trip down south was very long, but it was adventurous to say the least. We saw a lot of wildlife, besides that inside the truck. After 2800 kilometres we were very happy to get out of the truck and enjoy the Okanagan heat.
One of the best moments was when Brian had a total Mark moment. Actually he has had a few, but this one was great. We went to Tim Hortons in Whitehorse for lunch and I always make everyone order their own food and then I just pay for them. Well, when it came to Brian's turn he had a really hard time hearing the teller. He had to lean right over towards her and cup his ear with his hand so that he could hear her. I started laughing hysterically when we sat down. I'm sure the people at the next table were wondering what was going on. It was so typical of his Dad. I call Brian "Mark" sometimes just to remind him of these moments. What would life be without being able to laugh at someone close to you.
I will post more great holiday moments later when I have more time.

Today we all went to Paul Lake for the day. It was another very hot day here and we really needed to get out of the heat. The kids had a blast playing in the water. They even had their own impromptu biology class. They caught minnows and then cut them up. When they were finished examining them, they feed the pieces to the ducks. They also caught a frog which they named "Warts". They all asked to keep it, but we were really mean and said no. We also found out that there were some starving ant colonies at the beach. It is a good thing that we came when we did. They were able to fill up their empty stomachs with doughnuts, candy and pop. On the way home will all stopped at DQ for blizzards. What a great day.

WE'RE ON OUR WAY!!!

Well, after a long road the Oilers didn't win the Stanley Cup. I was disappointed, but felt better when I asked myself "How does this affect my life?" Answer: "Not at all!" So, we gamely watched the Hurricanes accept the cup and listened to their fans cheer. Anyways, enough of that. It's summer, why am I wasting my time watching winter sports? Time to enjoy the sun. Which is what I plan to do for the rest of the summer, especially the next 3 weeks. We are heading to Kamloops, Kelowna and the sun. If you haven't already put in your order for sunshine, please do so now. Thanks. So, I may post a blog entry if I get a chance, or you may have to wait until mid-July for another exciting installment of my life.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

In honour of all you father's out there I would just like to say,

"GO, OILERS, GO!!!"

It's hard to believe that the underdog team has made it to the seventh game in the finals. I thought when Roloson got injured that would be it for the Oilers, but much to my surprise they have a great chance to bring home the cup. As their fans so boistrously said,

"WE WANT THE CUP!"

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

My Dad celebrates his 75th birthday today. (Looks pretty good for an old guy, heh? lol)

Hope you have a great birthday. See you soon.

Love you lots.

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

Last night Brian and I were watching the news. I wasn't surprised when the door opened at 10:30 and in came 5 kids looking for a place to sleep. So, we said "NO" and kicked them out. Just kidding. It turns out it had started to rain quite hard by the time they reached the tent - which, by the way, was quite a hike up the mountain. So, they grabbed their sleeping bags and food and hiked back down to a partially finished cabin just on the other side of the river. They hung out there eating chips and having marshmallow fights until they decided they were hungry and came home. They were going to have a campfire and cook hotdogs for their supper, but they didn't have any dry wood. So, we cooked their hot dogs in the oven and cured their hunger. Then they all crashed in the living room - actually this didn't occur until somewhere around 2 am. It's funny to watch them - the 3 girls are all on the futon just curled up. But the 3 boys are taking up way more space - the other futon mattress and the fold-out chair. They are deathly afraid they will touch each other during the night. Oh well, they had an adventure anyways. I'm sure they will try this again sometime soon.

More stuff that I was hoping to put pictures with, but they are not working out, so I will just tell you. All 3 of our kids took home Kaska Language Awards from school and Josh and Naomi received the academic award for their grades. Hannah tied with another student in her grade 8 class, so the teacher didn't give out an award for them. ????? Oh well, I am really proud of all of them. Next year I will have 3 kids in high school - that is a bit scary.

THANKS FOR THE KEYS, MOM

Well, we have another official driver in the family. Naomi passed her learners license today and is very proud. She got to drive home from Faro as soon as she got it. She did extremely well, inspite of my nervousness. My baby is growing up.

MANY THINGS HAPPENING IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS.

Yesterday was Naomi's birthday. It's hard to believe that she is 15 already. She had a bunch of friends over for her party but not everything turned out as she had planned. First of all she was going to have a party at the pool. We had booked it for 2 hours and she was very excited. But at around 3:00, they phoned to tell me that the sewer was backed up so the pool would be closed until Monday. Then her best friend didn't come to the party because she had to pack because she was leaving today to move to Edmonton. Then everyone decided to go to the youth centre to watch a Halo 3 tournament. Naomi hates going to the youth centre, but she went anyways. Then 0ne of her other friends she had invited to sleep over decided that she didn't want to. That left only one friend staying. But she put up with it all and didn't complain. She is such a wonderful daughter, she makes being a parent very enjoyable.

Today Hannah, Josh and 3 other kids decided to go camp out on the mountain. With much fear and trepidation I allowed this. Actually I phoned one of the other parents first to get their take on it. So, they packed food, etc and headed off. After all this hot weather we have been having, about 20 minutes after they left a rain storm hit. The wind was howling and dust was blowing everywhere. We assumed they would come running home, but 2 hours later they haven't appeared, so I will assume they didn't melt in the rain. I will have to get out my binoculars and check on them.

BEATING THE HEAT

It has been very hot here. The temperatures have been getting up to 30 to 35 (above zero, believe it or not). Oscar has developed his own way of beating the heat - he lies in his bed and sprawls out on his back. If the fan is going, he will lie right in front of it. I guess he's not as dumb as he wants us to believe.

BOUNCE CAN DO ALL THAT???

I was talking to my Mom on the phone and she mentioned that bounce can repel ants. This got me thinking about all you poor souls with ant problems. So, I went online and found the following. Personally I am more interested in #3 - will it prevent mosquitos the size of budgies? Hope it can be of some use.

And all this time I've just been putting Bounce in the dryer!
Nancy Haddon
http://www.binkypatrol.org/article.cfm?id=213

1. It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them.

2. It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.

3. Repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.

4. Eliminates static electricity from your television screen. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.

5. Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.

6. Freshen the air in your home. Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet.

7. Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through a sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.

8. Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing.

9. Freshen the air in your car. Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.

10. Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let it sit overnight, and sponge clean. The antistatic agent apparently weaken the bond between the food and the pan while the fabric softening agents soften the baked-on food.

11. Eliminate odors in wastebaskets. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.

12. Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the loose hairs.

13. Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.

14. Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.

15. Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.

16. Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight so they will smell better in the AM.

SPORTS DAY

We had sports day today. It was a gorgeous day - sunny enough to get a sunburn. I thought I would share a few pictures of the kids from today.

Hannah poses with Jessie, one of the grade 2 students.

Josh and Jason cheer their team on.

Naomi takes part in one of the relays. These are more for the younger kids, but the older ones always participate too.

Attitude???

As you can see from the smiles, our kids had a wonderful day. We finished sports day at lunch with a barbeque.

Oh, I can't forget to mention this: Brian was almost the running long jump champion. He had 3 tries. His best jump was 4 meters, 27 cm. Jason, pictured above with Josh, had 4 jumps under 4 meters. Then after Brian's jump, he gave it everything he had and beat him. He jumped 4 meters, 47 cm - 50 cm longer than his previous jumps. It was amazing to watch these 2 guys flying through the air. Everytime one of them was ready to jump everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. There was a lot of cheering and a lot of fun.

All that's left is the assembly tomorrow and a staff lunch. However they say it's not over 'til the fat lady sings - maybe I will sing something when I get home, like the Hallelujah Chorus!

CROWNS FIT FOR A QUEEN

This trip to Whitehorse was an interesting one for me. I decided to have some work done on my teeth. I'm not sure that is ever a great choice - needles and humiliation. But I figured it is about time for some self improvement. Little did I know that I would turn into some horrific creature for a few hours. However, unlike Sonya, you will not find any pictures of my humiliation. I decided to have crowns put on my four front teeth, something I have been planning for about 6 years. Being the brilliant person that I am, I had a cup of coffee at lunch before I went to the dentist. Needless to say after 1 1/2 hours in the dentist chair, I had a very full bladder. The dentist stopped to take the rubber dam out of my mouth and asked if I needed anything. Of course, I really had to go by this point. So, she warned me "If you happen to look in the mirror, be prepared. We have filed your teeth down quite a bit, so it will look very odd." I think that was the understatement of the year. I had four peg teeth in the front, and with nothing holding my top lip out, it looked like I had no top lip either. I honestly looked like some deranged creature. It was very horrifying. No lie!!! I managed one quick glance in the mirror, but couldn't look again. All I can say is thank God for temporary crowns. They aren't the greatest by any means, but they are an improvement over what I had and definitely better than walking around looking like a misplaced horror movie character. Actually they look like I have those cheap fake fingernails stuck on my teeth. Then the dentist warned me, "Your gums may go a bit black over the next few days from the glue we used and the temps are a little transparent." After my horrifying experience earlier, I was afraid to look. But look I did, but I was still feeling very leary about it - especially the black gums. The gums definitely had black splotches and the temps looked a little scary, but by this morning there wasn't so much black, so I was able to have a better look - besides the fact that the freezing was finally gone. The good news is I will have my permanent crowns on before I see anyone this summer. Aaahhhh, if only it was so easy to get a new body to go with the new teeth!

ANOTHER TRIP

Well, we are off to Whitehorse again today. We have tons of stuff to do regarding the house. The main reason we are going in is to get Hannah's braces adjusted. The poor kid has had to put up with a travelling wire for the past 6 weeks. It has moved around her teeth so much that it has come right out of the back 3 or 4 braces. I keep clipping the end with wire cutters, but there is still a piece sticking into her cheek. She has developed quite a callous inside her cheek. I phoned the orthodontist office a couple times, but they said not to worry, just keep her comfortable. Oh well, it saved me an extra trip to Whitehorse. So, I will update in a few days. Oh, by the way, only 1 more week of school left. This includes sports day and the last day which is just a year-end assembly. Then we start 3 months of summer vacation.