Meghann's Place

My little pink SPARK!!!!

2008-11-26T06:33:00.006-07:00

This is my darling Maci at her Sparks enrollment, last week she became an official SPARK. It is the youngest group for Girl Guides. Their motto is"I promise to share and be a friend" which the very adorably hold up their pointer and middle finger together and say it every wednesday eveing at the beginning of their Sparks activity. She loves being in Sparks and I love her being in it. It teaches them important values and lessons about, respect, giving back to your community( went of a field trip to the food bank), independence, self esteem, equality for all etc..... On their cookie boxes that they sell, it says Girl Guides is a team that that everyone can join or something along that line. I love that they are fostering the concept acceptance and frienndship at such and early age. She comes home every Wed evening with a new little badge for me to sew on her hot pink little sash. Here are some Pics Also to all you blogging divas, I need help. I cannot figure out how to make paragraphs in my blog entry. When I am typing my blog, I make them but then when I publish my blog, it all just mushes every thing together again... HELP ME!!!!

Where To Start????????

2008-11-20T14:04:00.012-07:00

I am going to attempt to give a recap of the latest happeinings around the Clements household.I have been attempting to blog for quite sometime now but let me tell you about a few things that have gotten in the way( some good and some not so much). So way back to September.... shortly after my last blog entry we had a friend do some family pics of us , which I will post a few in this entry. Vanessa Ross, the photographer, met me and my crew down at Fish Creek Prov Park. She was so patient with the gong show that proceeded to follow the beginning of the photo shoot. I tried to stay as mellow as possible with my kids and although there was some tears and bribary, we ended up with some really cute shots.So shout out to Vanessa for her fabulous work. Then at the end of September, I turned 30!!!!! My mom and Joe flew out for party. In typical Shirley fashion, she threw a huge BBQ bday party with lots of family and friends and even rented a huge bouncy castle for the kids. So fun and almost distracted me enough from dwelling on how old I was feeling. My birthday was definatley bitter sweet as that day I also found out my precious little Cohen has a tumour( thankfully benign)between the end of his tail bone and his rectum. Since that discovery my poor babe has had a bunch of blood work done, a CT scan and MRI to see this thing closer. He is scheduled for surgery this thursday,the 27th of Novemeber. It is a fairly complicated surgery and they will actually have to remove the end of his tailbone to get to the tumour. We will be in the Alberta Children's Hospital for at least a week recovering. I am getting anxious about the whole ordeal we are about to embark upon. Hospitals are a place that Cohen is all to familiar with. My poor little guy sees that stupid cow staute at the entrance to the hopsital here and goes nuts and has a full fledged melt down. Cohen has already had more pokes, scans tests etc... then most people will ever have to have in their entire life and unfortunatley for him, this surgery won't be the end of it. I know that Cohen was sent to me for a reason and is here to teach me something, I am just not sure I have quite figured out what that is. This extended hospital stay will be be a bit trickier due to the fact that I have two other little ones and Seth, my baby is still nursing alot. If only I could clone myself........ Other things that have happened in the past 2 months.... I have just finished the whole process of reinstating myself as a RSW(registered social worker)in Alberta. I am going to begin working for an Adoptions Agency doing contract work. More specifically, I will be doing very thorough family assessments on families that hope to adopt a child through Children's Services, or hope to be Foster parents. It is a great job in that the majority of the work can be done from home. I will have to go out and interview the families in their homes a few times but with my information, I will be able to wirte the very lengthy assessment from home. You do about one per month and is quite decent $ as well. I am excited to get my foot back into that social work door as I have missed using"that" part of my brain this last year and a half. At the end of October, I took Maci and Seth out to Ottawa and Montreal for a week( Cohen stayed with his grandma Clements in Taber). We went out to see my sister, Bronwyn, star as Anne of Green Gables in the fabulous production"Anne and Gilbert". She was perfect and amazing and made us all so proud that I bawled through half the show. Maci and Bronwyn did some serious Anne bonding a few months back( watching the movies together over and over) when Bron was staying with us in Oakville so what a treat for Maci to see her aunt whom she adores playing Anne. Maci sat still and was captivated by the play for 3 hours( you know its good). We have just found out that the writers of the original Anne of GG that runs in PEI every summer were at Bron's show and have just asked that she fly out to Charlottetown this saturday to audition for the part. BREAK A LEG Bronwyn!!!!! What an accomplishment!!!! We love you!!!!!!We were also able to catch up with some wonderful relatives out there and tour around Ottawa,see the Parliment buildings and also tour around some darling quaint little towns in the mountains of Quebec as well and Old Montreal. In November, my grandpa Steinberg passed away as well as my sister, Bronwyn's dog Kudra.Kudra was almost 19 years old and was a worshiped and adored little red daschund. She was in our family since I was 11 or so and she will truly be missed.There as some classic video's on my Facebook of Cohen and Kudra sharing some special moments together. Also two weeks ago, Ryan came off the LRT to discover his car had been stolen from the train station parking lot. The thieves were kind enough to leave all the contents of our trunk on the curb. I thnk they probably needed the trunk space for stolen goods. Now we sit here, the day before my child is to be admitted to Alberta Children's Hospital and I am thinking wow, what an insane month and it is not even over yet. I am trying to see the "good in things' through the bumps and lows but sometimmes it is a little tough.So this next week , we will be consumed with Cohen and surgery, recovery etc.... Here's hoping all goes smoothly and he doesn't remember a thing, and that the surgeon will have steady hands and a clear mind. I am going to include some pics of the last months happenings as well.

Confessions

2008-09-16T13:55:00.003-06:00

So I feel the need to get some stuff off my chest.....Before I start I just want you to know that I love my children with all my heart, they are my world and when Maci asks me from time to time, If there was a line up of 1000 kids would I pick her, Cohen and Seth all over again, the answer is a resounding YES!!!! still I feel like there are some parts of my life that aren't so glamorous and sometimes just downright sucks so I feel like I need to get them out there(cyberly). 1. I am ALWAYS tired, doesn't help to have a nursing baby that eats 3 times in the night..... 2. Many times through out the week, if someone took a snap shot of my house for all to see, it would look like a bomb went off in there. 3. This may sound lame but I really appreeciate whoever invented that suction hose thingy of a vaccuum and have created a new permant home for my vaccuum in my kitchen. 4. I often feel this" Me vs. them" feeling and feel like"they" are winning most of the time 5. I sooo look forward to nap and bed times and sometimes am NOT ready for them to end. 6. I have resorted to putting a tv/dvd player in Cohen's room and will put him in his crib(where he can't climb out) and let him watch a movie from time to time( not done daily). Something I would have never done with Maci and would have probably judged some parent for doing that back in the day . 7. The "laugh or cry" idea is often how I feel at the end of the day, sometimes I laugh and sometimes I cry. 8.I sometimes feel envious of Ryan getting to leave the house everyday and go to an office where his desk and work doesn't get messed up the moment it is completed. 9.I use styrofoam plates and utensils for more than just picnics(occasionaly ) 10.My laundy is the enemy in my home and we live out of clean laundry bakets most of the time. Anyways, as a social workerr we are always trying to help our clients to "reframe their reality" so I am going to take this approach for my 10 points I just made. 1. My baby is a well fed, healthy baby and I am lucky I am able to nurse him b/c some women aren't given that opportunity. 2. At least my kids have a place they can feel comforatble enough in the express themselves and learn about their world. 3. A messy kitchen floor shows my kids are well fed and are learning to use their taste touch and smell senses well. 4. A healthy dose of competition never hurt anyone. 5. Waking up just means that I get to spend more time with my little ones, time I will miss one day when they are all grown up 6.I am able to recognize in myself when I need a time out from Cohen, as he is 2 and is by far my most challenging kid right now. Everythiing is usually better after a quick episode of Dora or the Wiggles for both of us. 7. By laughing at myself forces me to not take my life so seriously and sometimes a girl just needs to cry and that is ok 8.I know that me being home with the kids isn't forever and I will get to to social work again one day and this is time I will never get back. 9.At least I am preserving water by not running the dishwasher as much. 10. I can use laundy time as a a time to teach Cohen his colours and Maci the importance of helping out around the house( something we are struggling with a bit right now with her). Anyways, I would love to here some feedback from some of you that may be able relate to some of my points and if you have any other fresh veiwpoints on the domestic life,feel free to offer it as well

The blogging slacker resurfaces

2008-08-19T22:17:00.006-06:00

SO here I am again, in front of this cyber stranger, my own blog. Yes I am the first to admit I am one of the most fickle, fair weathered bloggers around. I just can't seem to get my act together when it comes to blogging......sigh..... Anyways, so now we are settled in our new place in Calgary, New Brighton is our community in the far south east. We are quite content here for now. There is a splash park one block from our home and lots of parks around every corner so the kids are entertained with minimal effort by me=). Ryan is busy as usual and we are lucky when he is home for dinner, about once every 2 weeks or so. I was prepeared for this so it comes as no suprize.He is now a real lawyer, no more school. He had his bar call in Ontario on June 19th. YEAH!!! Big pat on the back for both of us, I have no problem taking credit along with him for getting through law school. Most important change in our lives was the birth of my perfect, beautiful, healthy baby boy, Seth Ryan Clements. He was born on April 25th. He was 8pds 10 oz. and 21 inches. He was born in Oakville ON, a month before we moved out here. The birth was a C section(Ontario doesn't like to do a VBAC if it has been under 2 years since your last C section) so alas he was a section. I had a rare side effect to the spinal block, called a high spinal. Which basically froze everything from my toes to my eyelids including the nerves surrounding my lungs. So to make a long story short, I began to asphyxiate, they had to quickly intubate me and knock me out(GA) , so one moment I was sure I was dying and the next I woke up to see the most beautiful sight of all, Ryan holding our healthy little boy. There is a bit more to this story but it is quite personal and I don't feel like putting out there into cyber world. The kids have adjusted well to the move and we have met lots of friends already through church and our community. Maci is starting kindergarden at a french immersion school this fall and will be taking the bus every afternoon. Since Ontario starts kids at 4 for JK , she is technically doing Kindergarten for the 2nd time. We tossed around the idea of bumping her up into 1st grade b/c she is reading up a storm and writing full sentences but she would have been so young so we decided to put her in French. That way she will have a bit of an acedemic challenge and still be with her peers that are the same age as her. Cohen is TWO, need I say more. My days are filled with lots of strong willed little battles with him. Ryan and I call him our precious little Neanderthal as some of his tendencies seem to be almost barbaric at times. Don't get me wrong, he is the source of much entertainment in our home, his talking is getting better everyday. Infact today he learned to say Hannah Montana, which just made Maci's day. He is obsessed with the letters and alphabets and can almost do the whole alphabet in the right order(almost). Seth is perfect in every way, except his sleeping from the hours of 12 am -7 am stinks but oh well, sleep is overated. He came out with this great full head of hair and it just keeps growing. The biggest suprise was the his hair is auburn but getting redder by the day!!!!! He has these peircing blue eyes and is such a content little guy.I am really enjoying him and lots of cuddle time. I am home with kids right now but come fall I will be starting some contract work with an Adoptions Agency. I will be interviewing families who want to adopt kids from Children's Services and then taking the content of my interviews and composing an extremely long assessment which will contain the content of the interviews and my own recommendations if the family should or should not be considered for adoption. I will be able to do all the writing from home and can decide how much work I want to take on. It is important for me to keep up with the social work profession and this is a perfect way for me to be home with the kids while they are so little and still keep my foot in the professional door,so to speak. All in all, life is good. We are happy with our decision to move back to Alberta and are quite content to settle down and call Calgary home. I really will try harder to update this thing but that is all I can commit to for now=) The pics are just a random assortment from the last few months, the one or Ryan is a pic I took off his firms website.

Just a few minor changes to our life=)

2008-03-31T05:48:00.010-06:00

SO last you heard on this blog we were settled here in Oakville, ON. Life was busy but stable, well guess what? We have gone and totally shook things up a bit. First off, Ryan and I knew that it was time to do some serious discussing about what we wanted our future to look like for our family. There were long hours of talking, weighing out pros and cons and really trying to look at what is best for all our family members and we came up with the decision that we needed to move home(Alberta). After the decsiosn was made, Ryan decisied to send off 1 resume to his top choice law firm in Calgary and see what happens and low and behold the very next morning, they called him at work and offered him a job on the spot. His firm is a huge international corporate law firm in Calgary, Blakes. They were very generous to us and made it near impossible to refuse. We were shocked how easy it was. I then contacted an old friend who is now a realtor in Calgary, Arlin Silverman( fabulous realtor if you are looking for one in Calgary) who worked super hard with us long distace and then Ryan flew out this past weekend and in one day found us the perfect house for us. It is in a neighbourhood called, New Brighton in the SE of Calgary. We already know lots of people who live there as well so that is a big bonus. Everything has really fallen into place for us rather quickly. We are thrilled to be close to family again, 2 sets of grandparents 2 hours away and all of Ryan's sibling and their kids all either in Edmonton or Taber not to mention loads of great friends in Alberta that we miss like crazy!!! Now the tricky part is that we are moving the end of May and I just need to have a baby in between now and then( C section scheduled for April 25th) pack my house and get out there. Good thing for family cause it will be tough but I have a few peole that I am worshipping at this moment, that will make the whole process accomplishable(not sure if that is a word). My sister, Bronwyn is going to be staying with us for the end of April and whole month of May to help me with everything. SInce I will have a lovely wound in my tummy, I won't be able to do the lifting of 2 babies, One very big baby who is 39 pds and our new little boy, as well as pack boxes etc.... Ryan's mom has offered to come out and fly back with me so I am not flying alone with 3 kids( can you imagine the gong show, YIKES!!!). My mom will coming to help out a few diff times from when babe is here till we move, so as you see I have some wonderful women in my life that will make this whole adventure worth while. Anyways, that is our newest adventure for now. I am going to try to put up some pics of our new house here. I am getting rusty on the bloggin and can't seem to remember how to get paragraphs on my blogs. It all just goes up in one big chunk, any help would be appreciated! I have attached the link to a video our realtor made of our new home on You tube. You will have to copy and paste the link as I can't figure out how to get it to take you directly there

My Blogging Revival

2008-02-08T06:54:00.000-07:00

I just needed a gentle push from a friend(thanks Kristy) and here I am again. I have actually been thinking about blogging for a while but just kept putting it off until now. So there is no way to really fill you in on all the happenings since June 07 but I will try to sum up a bit of our first year here in Oakville, Ontario. First off, I must say that we love our little spot here in the GTA( Greater Toronto Area) We are only 35km from downtown TO, although with the crazy traffic around here it usually takes a bit longer to get into the city. We have met great neighbours and friends that have made us feel very welcome. Oakville is right on the shores of lake Ontario and right in between Toronto and Hamilton. It is just under an hour to Niagara Falls and the NY border. Ryan loves his firm. He has had a true taste of"Life on the Street". He routinely gets on the train around 7am and doesn't get home till 7-9pm that night, visits with us, helps gets the kids in bed and then off to do a few more hours of work from home. He often has to work on weekends as well. I had been warned that this year would be like this but it still makes it just a tad bit tiring for me and solo kid duty all the time. He will be done his articles at the beginning of June and then will start as a "real" lawyer in September. Maci is in junior kindergarten and goes 2 full days/week and every other Friday. She likes school and has had no trouble adjusting to school all day. She is quite the social little thing and comes home with amusing stories daily. She takes the bus right around the corner which simplifies things for me. She has really caught on to reading and writing and is able to both amazingly well. Cohen is 20 months and is such a fun kid. His personality is really coming out. His new love of his life is Dora and will sit and answer all her questions. He is learing funny little words all the time and even proudly announced to me the other day , saying" I poo". He said it with such pride( a true male=)He and Maci are really starting to play well together and he will start to scream and laugh as soon as he sees her bus come around the corner. And for me, I am staying home for now with the kids. It has been a bit of an adjustment for me not to be working a bit while doing the mom thing but with ryan's crazy schedule, we just figured that the kids needed to have at least one parent around. I love my 2 little clingons, so much that I am now having our 3rd baby, another boy. I am scheduled for a C section on April 25th. We are excited for this little guy to join us!! I am itching to start my Masters in Social Work and am just trying to figure out when the best time that would be to start. I would have to do it very part time as I will be juggling the mom thing at the same time. Well that is a bit of what is going on here in Oakville. I promise to be a bit more dilligent with my blogging from now on=)

Settling in Oakville

2007-06-28T12:54:00.000-06:00

So many of you may think I have given up on my blog altogether, well I haven't I was just a little wrapped up with the move and with Facebook around I am finding I am neglecting my blog a little. So we are all settled into our new place in Oakville, we love our home so big and roomy, cleaning it isn't all that fun though. We have some great neighbours so the kids have been playing lots. WE have seen some old friends from Alberta already and done some exploring as well. Maci is excited to start junior kindergarten in the fall at a school close by. She get to ride the little yellow school bus which I think is adorable. I am having to work a few feelings of anxiousness when I think of her on the bus but a teacher meets them when they get off and her's is the first stop on and off at home so it should be ok. Ryan is just finishing up his " professional Ethics Course" at Ryerson University in Toronto and then will begin his articles in August. We are headed back to Alberta in a few weeks for Mac and Jorie's wedding( ryan's bro) and then we will drive our mini van that we left out there all the way back to Oakville. Should be quite the drive with 2 kids!!!!! Talk to me after and see if I survived!!! Anyways, I have had a few requests to post pics of our place, so will do that soon. Just wanted to check in and let you know we are here safe and sound and love it so far.

one more small town craziness!!

2007-06-01T19:54:00.000-06:00

So I need to share one Small town moment that takes the cake. Today I went up to the good ol' TC homehardware and bought one of those plastic kid pools. I got it to my van and found it way to big to fit in. So I am thinking "crap" I am going to have to roll this thing down the road all the way to my dad's house and look like a total moron doing it, when the sales guy who I have never met in my life hands me his truck keys and says' here, just use my truck" So I jump in this massive truck and take the pool home. I was in shock at his niceness and thanked him a bunch and probably sounded like a babbling fool but I was just so shocked by his random act of kindness. anyways that's all really. We are off to Edmonton to stay with friends on monday and anxiously await Ryan's arrival on thursday, then we do his convication of friday and then all fly out to Toronto on Saturday the 9th. Crazy!!! Meg

Small Town Simplicities

2007-05-19T09:48:00.000-06:00

Well I have been in southern alberta for about 3 weeks now. I have spent more time here this last three weeks than I have in years. We are defianetly getting anxious and ready to have our family reuntied and start our next phase of lifein Oakville/Toronto but I haven't forgotten to use this month to unwind a little from the hectic hussle bussle of city life. I have had a few experiences in this last while that has reminded me of some of the diffrences in the rural VS. urban lifestyle. First off, I have finally been able to loosen those grips of maternal control enough to let Maci out the door to play with neighbour kids. When I first got here, I only let her play outside when I was able to stand in the yard and watch her the whole time. Last night a little girl asked if she could come play and I let her out on her own. She was so excited to go out and play like a big girl. It felt a little like a kid releasing a trapped butterfly from a jar. I did open all the windows in the house and turned off the tv and dryer so I could hear her without standing at the windows. This may not seem like a big step for most of you, but for an urban mom, not to mention a mom who has worked in Child Protection for the last 6 years and has a jaded and quite untrusting view of the world- This was a huge step. She came back safe and sound at the end of the playtime!! Another little small town moment happened the other day. Lesley was making Lasagna and had gone up to the Trading Company (only grocery store in Magrath) to get some cottage cheese, she mistakingly got sour cream instead. I went up to the store with the 2 sour creams in hand, and asked to exchange them . I had forgotted the recepit. I knew the sales clery( a classmates fathers) and he let me exchange them without the recepit and also told me not to worry about the small diffrence between the two prices. These are things that just wouldn't happen in my grocery store in Edmonton. I still chuckle as I drive around Magrath and EVERYONE waves at me, although I don't know most of them. Usually in the city, if you are not using both hands on the wheel , you are using one to honk with. One more thing, I was able to sign Maci up for soccer a few weeks late and now she is happliy playing on a little team for the remainder fo our stay.That would of never happened in Edmonton. A deadline is a deadline!!!! This is really my last example: I took Maci to story hour at the public library on Wednesday and the lady who was reading the stories is the very same one who read to me as a 4 year old at the Magrath library, Irene Gruiniger is her name and weird enough she looked the exact same even though 20 years had passed. Anyway, these examples are just a few simple things that have stood out to me while we have been here. Being here hasn't convinced me that a small town is where we should be. I feel most at home now in an urban setting, the slow paced lifestlye is ok to visit but doesn't fit for our family right now, especially for Ryan-he is a big city boy through and through but it has provided us a little respite and time for refueling and rejuvination, and for that we are greatful. Meghann

Homeless...floating.......whatever you want to call it

2007-05-09T10:48:00.000-06:00

So me and the kids have been floating around southern alberta since them beginning of May. You can find us in Magrath, Taber, in our van(my mobile home) walmart, the park or wherever. We have been crashing between my family in Magrath and Ryan's in taber. They have both been wonderful to provide a shelter to my little vagabond family. Seriously, it feels really weird to not have a permanent place of my own. Well we do but it is on Ontario and our stuff is still on the moving truck for another week. Our whole routine is off and my kids are sleeping really crappy. It makes me appreciate the routine and structure we once had. Maci keeps asking when we are going home to Edmonton and then when I remind her we aren't she gets really sad. I know my last blogs have made me sound like a really wimp but this is all that is on my mind right now. Other things that are going on, Maci has joined a soccer team in Magrath. She will play every sat morning for 1 hour. She was super excited to go buy little cleats and shin pads. Cohen has figured out a new mode of transportation, it is the bum scooting boogie. He doesn't crawl he just bum scoots everywhere. He is getting pretty fast and has already managed to pull a shelf over on himself , unplugs some electrical plugs and dump over a big box of cd's. He is quite proud of himself and I am hoping it burns a few calories as well. I am going out for dinner to a yummy Japanese restaurant with some of my high school girlfriends tonight in Lethbridge so that will be a nice break. WE all miss Ryan and are counting down the days when our little family can be reunited again. To all our friends in Edmonton, especially all my fellow blogging mom's , we love and miss you all already. We loved Edmonton tons and will always have a special little spot in our hearts for our friends and time we spent there

I just need to Whine

2007-04-29T20:54:00.001-06:00

There is nothing profound, amazing or really interesting about this blog, I just need to whine a little. SO Ryan left tonight for Toronto.......won't see him for5 weeks , waaaaahhhh...., single mom for 5 weeks, have to wake up with Cohen every night instead of every other now, sob, sob.... Our house is basically packed but still dumb things left to do(by myself with 2 kids). I'm trying not to feel too down about moving but it is hard. I love my friends, my work, SPA LADY. Just found out my SPA LADY membership won't transfer anymore, grrrr so now I have to pay$100, to get out of my contract. Alberta Health Care is harassing me.....I hate living out of suit cases.... There in nothing to eat in my house, well crappy stuff that there is a reason it was at the back of the cupboard. Maci is having emotional issues with moving and is acting out more than ever.... Don't get me wrong, I am excited for our new adventure it is just a hassle getting to that adventure.. I think I am just tired, so I should go to bed... Don't worry though I really am ok!!

Maci Balloon Dance party/good bye party

2007-04-25T06:57:00.000-06:00

So yesterday Maci had 4 little friends over to have a balloon dance party( good bye party)We had a ton of balloons all over the living room( I made myself almost pass out by blowing up so many)They jumped around to kiddie music, played dress up, decorated cup cakes and had snacks. The kids had a ton of fun and it wore me right out, I fell asleep shortly after 7 pm last night. I never thought partying with a bunch of little girls would be so exhausting. Shows my good ol' party days are gone, hahaha......Today is also my last day volunteering at Maci's school. Everything is turning into the "last" of everything these days. Ryan leaves on Sunday to Toronto to study for the bar. We will be apart for 5 weeks. YIKES!! It'll be tough, especially on the kids( Maci in particular-she is a real daddy's girl) We have web cams in both locations so that will have to do. We will be down in Magrath/Taber for the month of May and then will be heading out east on June 9th( after ryan's convocation).

Our movers come in 6 days!!!!!

WEIRD!!!!

Anyway, here are some pics from the party yesterday!

Face Book

2007-04-17T20:23:00.000-06:00

OK, so I have a confession- I have totally been cheating on my blog with Facebook. I have just been introduced to this crazy thing called Facebook and I have totally been ignoring my blog. For those of you who aren't familiar with it. It is this new social community that each person creates their own profile and then you can invite friends to join your network. It is crazy how many people I have connected with. Each person you connect with, you can then go into their profile and see who their friends with and connect with them if you want. You can also post pictures, join groups and so on. I have already connected with so many old friends that I haven't talked to in years. Anyways, I am having a blast with it and it is really easy to join. Just go to www.facebook.com Other than that, 13 days left till we move YIKES!!!!!!!! Meg

The Countdown is On.......Bye Bye Alberta....Hello Ontario

2007-04-10T21:34:00.000-06:00

So I just got back from the post office. I went there to pay my $36 so Canada Post can connect our Edmonton address to our new Oakville address. It was a weird experience:kinda sad &kinda exciting all in one. It made it seem so final to be doing that. I finally broke down today and filled one box with my clothes, hey it is a start right. I have three weeks and I know they will fly by.

There are so many things I will miss here and a few I won't- like the ENDLESS winter weather(yes we were treated to ANOTHER snow fall last night)gotta love waking up to that. I am not one to converse about the weather, I have always felt it is a rather shallow topic and doesn't say too much for your conversation skills, so forgive me for just saying that this winter has really sucked!!!!!As I say that, I am reminded of my little 3 year old shadow saying to me this morning in the midst of my grumbling about the snow( while we were walking to the van on the way to her school)

"mom the snow is beautiful" as she ran in circles fascinated with her boot tracks. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying" no it sucks Maci" I just thought it instead.

I will miss my friends, some of them I have met through our ward, others I have met from previous wards, work, and just from the community.

I will miss my SPA LADY only 3 blocks from home.

I will miss my work- to all my crisis staff in the "pit"- I will miss those late late - like 3 am chats as we do the night shift," holding down the province", some crazy stuff was said in those wee hours of the morn. not to mention some crazy calls from intoxicated individuals and so on...

I will miss the beautiful Edmonton summers (even thought they are only like 6 weeks long).

I will not miss it getting dark at 11 pm though- very hard to convince a child it is bed time when kids are running all over outside and it looks like noon at 8 pm.

I will miss being able to drive home to southern Alberta in 5 hours.

On the other hand........

I am excited to be done the "school "phase of our life

I am excited to live in a real house

I am excited to meet new friends.

I am excited to be so close to Toronto but not actually have to live in it.

I am excited to like close to my mom and Joe and be within a days drive of all of my siblings.

I am excited to be in a humid place where my hands won't crack all the time.

I am excited to shop, there is some sweet shopping out east.

I am excited for my kids to be exposed to and learn about many different ethnic groups and cultures.

Those are just a few of my thoughts running through my mind tonight.............Well I am off to read my latest Jodi Picoult book while eating a bowl of key lime sherbet and then off to bed

My Own Private Easter Egg Hell

2007-04-04T19:52:00.000-06:00

So I just wanted to start off by thanking all my family that contributed to my last blog on Grandpa. I really enjoyed hearing some more stories and felt closer to you all through the memories of him.

Nothing really earth shattering going on around here, well except trying to get ready to move across the country. I have packed a whole 1.5 boxes so far and am just procrastinating like crazy!!!

We are going home to my dad's and then Ryan's parents for easter. We are leaving tomorrow and will be back on Monday night. Maci is in full easter mode, just salivating over thoughts of candy and easter eggs. Today was her school easter party and I had the choice opportunity of being the parent helper today.

As I type, looking at my hands, stained with blue food coloring, I am reminded of the pure"gong show" of a day that easter party was. So I was put in charge of running the easter egg colouring station. Each kid brought 4 eggs to colour. We had about 5 buckets with food coloring and water mixture then stickers, sparkly glue, rubber bands and crayons to decorate. Anyways, at 10: 15 am, the class went to gym. Any kids who had not done their eggs stayed with me to dip ad decorate them. Well it turned out that at least 10 kids hadn't done them. So off the teacher goes and I am left with about 10 kids(the kids left over were the ones who didn't want to decorate during class, or the ones that couldn't focus on a task for the life of them) anyways( kids with issues), I have about 15 minutes to get all these kids to dye and decorate their eggs . Do the math=10 distracted 3/4 year olds + 40 eggs + 1 adult(me)+ 15 minutes= PURE BEDLAM.

I felt like I was in a horror movie!!!There were kids smashing their eggs,crying cause they rolled off the table and cracked, throwing them around, others wandering all over the room, little perfectionist girls that wouldn't hurry up and had to colour every last part of their egg. The clock was ticking. Kids whining to me to help them, kids taking other kids eggs, glitter glue spilling, ....I think you get the picture... So I have a confession... I totally squashed some of these little darlings creativity and took matters into my own hands. After trying desperately to keep track of whose eggs were whose, who still had to put stickers on, and failing miserably, I just started taking the eggs from the kids and making them all by myself , I found myself scribbling like a 3 year old would on their eggs and basically doing them for them while they stood there and looked at me like a mad women. I didn't even keep track of whose was whose. I just made sure that at the end, they all had 4 in their basket. By the end I wasn't even using the spoons to dip them, I was just dunking them in with my hand, holding them in the buckets and pulling them out.(hence the stained hands)

I know I sound like a terrible human and would probably not make a very good preschool teacher, but all I kept thinking about was those eager parents who would be looking in their child's little brown paper bag easter baskets and calculating exactly how many eggs there were and if they were decorated up to par.

I wouldn't confess this but it has been bugging me all day, so I am using this as a place to confess my sin of "creativity squashing". I know there are some parents out in Edmonton that are probably bragging up little Tommy's eggs, thinking he has some amazing newly discovered artistic ability, when little do they know that it was made by me.

Anyway, I don't think any of the parents read my blog so I feel I can vent.

Well that is enough for now. SHHHH..........this is our little secret

Remembering Grandpa Mark- 10 years later....

2007-03-29T06:56:00.000-06:00

My Grandpa Mark Dahl passed away on March 29, 1997-ten years ago today. I wanted to write something special about my Grandpa. I have so many vivid memories of him, they have not faded with time.

I was 18 years old when he passed away. He was only 74. We lost him because of a rare form of cancer had developed in his lungs. He flew airplanes in World War 2. He was a pilot and flew a Lancaster Bomber. These planes were lined with Asbestos and he inhaled it. The asbestos lay dormant in his lungs for almost 50 years and then turned into lung cancer. I can't remember the technical name of this cancer but apparently other veterans have also lost their lives with the same form of cancer- still a causality of war so many years later.

Anyway at 18 years,I was "young and confused" in so many ways, I had so few constants at that time of my life that losing Grandpa was really rough- he being such a "rock" for me. He was always around for us.

Don't get me wrong, he was a very busy man. He was a doctor in Magrath for 45 years. An article in the Lethbridge Herald referred to him as," a quintessential country doctor, a Marcus-Welby-type physician who typified the traditional country doctor".I knew that I could find Grandpa in obvious places like the Magrath and then the Dahl Clinic or the Hospital,on a house call or out to one of the hutterite colonies( often Rockport or Old Elm- I had the chance to accompany him on numerous colony visits). If he wasn't at work then it was a pretty safe bet I could find him at home, downstairs sitting at the end of that little orange couch with the coloured Afghan on it. He was either watching the news or Star Trek or snoozing away. If it was nice out, there was a good chance he would be on his ride-on mower in his yard or in one of his kids yards( either my dad's, Allan's or Dennis's). If he was in the kitchen, he was always sitting at the end of the kitchen table with his back to the fridge .He might have been eating or reading the paper but there was ALWAYS a bright red can of coke in front of him,(compliments of that old white freezer in their garage with the never ending supply of coke and sometimes chocolate bars.).

Other vivid memories of grandpa are as follows:

Suspenders, briefcases with RMD on them,nice leather coats, walking sticks, chocolate malts in Cardston, doctors bag, the spontaneous coyote call he made with his hands and mouth, watching basketball games, going to movies , collection of sports illustrated, rocks- he loved rocks, dairy queen treats, going out to eat, at grandma days he would say" are your eyes bigger than your stomach", picture books of bomber planes from previous wars, waterton, hiking bears hump and hearing his infamous coyote call somewhere along the trail and for sure at the top, his black framed old person bike, (the one that came in a matching set with grandma's), his named stamped into all his books, oh I could go on..........

Grandpa was an example of selflessness. He had such a humble and quiet way about him as daily served his family, his patients and the community. I learned a few things about Grandpa (from people seeking me out to tell me stories of him after he had passed). I learned that Grandpa was known to drive into Lethbridge(from Magrath) in the middle of the night after receiving a phone call from an intoxicated person to drive them safely home. On the day he died, we were all at his house looking at pictures and grieving together. The doorbell rang and an older Native women was standing on the door step. She told me that she had just driven all the way from the reserve because she had a bad feeling about"Dr. Mark" and needed to know if he was ok. I told her that we lost him that morning and she just stood on the steps and wept.

I also remember a time when I was doing my practicum on the Blood Reserve( for my social work degree). I was participating in a community march through the town of Standoff( Family Violence Awareness). I was walking with a Native women and we were just making idle chit chat. She found out I was a Dahl from Magrath, and that Dr. Mark was my grandfather.She began to cry and then proceeded to tell me how much she loved him and how difficult it was for her to find another doctor after he passed, she then decided that she needed to tell everyone around who I was related to. For the rest of that march people kept coming to tell me more and more stories about Grandpa. That women from the march always came and gave me a hug and was sooo kind every time she saw me after that day.

Some of you may remember the beautiful German song that dozens of Hutterite women stood up and sang in the middle of the funeral. I also remember the funeral director telling us that this was the biggest funeral they had ever done.The lines wrapped around the entire stake center (during the viewing) and the chapel and gym were filled to the back. I was also told that the year that Grandpa died, there was more than one little hutterite boy named Mark after him.

My little boy is also named after him.

I love my Grandpa, I think about him often and love to tell my kids stories about him. Maci says that she knows she met him in Heaven and laughs when she hears stories of him eating worms and making coyote calls. I miss him everyday. I love you Grandpa Mark-

love Meghann

Please feel free to post in the comments section any thoughts , feelings and memories you have about Grandpa Mark . Also pass on this link to anyone else you may have want to share in this tribute. I want to send this to Grandma Helen .

Best Friends-Maci and Ella

2007-03-27T13:44:00.000-06:00

So I just wanted to share some sweet little pictures of my Maci and her best friend, Ella. Maci and Ella have been friends for a few years now and Maci just adores her. She loves playing with her and is always wanting to call her and often asks what I think Ella is doing at any given moment.Here are some pics of their latest play date, they made binoculars out of toilet paper rolls and went outside to go "bird watching".

Mcfamous!!!!Click on Mcfamous

2007-03-21T14:13:00.001-06:00

So what I am about to tell you is not a joke. My dad and step mom(Lesley) can be seen on Mcdonald's bag's and cups all over the world starting this month. I will attach an article from the Calgary Sun so that you an hear the story from Lesley. She tells it better than I.

Say cheese! The new face of McDonalds Story about love of hiking put couple's photo on chain's cups and bags Calgary HeraldPublished: Friday, March 16, 2007 MAGRATH - When Lesley Dahl sat down at her computer last April, she was just looking for information about global warming. Now she and her husband are part of a global marketing campaign, and their faces can be seen on McDonald's cups and bags all over the world. Their journey into the fast-food nation began when Dahl, who lives in Magrath, did a computer search and came across a website for the McDonald's Global Casting Call. Email to a friendPrinter friendly Font: * * * * "There were a lot of features of people and their passions all over the world, and I thought, 'Hey, I wouldn't mind writing about ours,' so I did," says Dahl, 55. Restricted to 100 words or less, Dahl submitted a story about herself and her husband, and their love for hiking. Months passed, and Dahl was contacted by McDonald's, informing her that she and 23 other people from around the world had been selected out of more than 13,000 entrants to become the new faces of the restaurant chain's "I'm lovin' it" campaign. Lesley and her husband, DeVar, were in Chicago this week for the unveiling of their packaging. "It's hard to imagine it, really," says Dahl. "Initially, I just wanted to get our kids and grandkids to see it, and they were so excited. But in Chicago it was quite amazing to be in the restaurant where people actually had our bags on their tables, and were walking out the door with us. It was quite a shock." The new cups and bags will be available at McDonald's beginning this month and throughout the year. The Dahls were the only Canadians selected in the Global Casting Call.

See I am not kidding around. Maci thinks it is hilarious that her grandparents are on the bags. She wants to go everyday to try to see we can get their bag.They went to London last summer for a week and did the photo shoot there. They were wined and dined by Mc D's the entire week.

So if any of you are doing some high class dining, check your bags and cups and see if you see two people sitting on the side of a mountain. Lesley's global casting # is #9.

Look in the link for this blog and you can see a collage of pics from their Chicago trip

Black Gold Rec Center( Leduc)

2007-03-20T06:58:00.000-06:00

Last night we took the kids to Blackgold Rec Center in Leduc. The kids pools were amazing and so much fun. Maci was in heaven and Cohen was amused and intrigued by the water. It was his first time swimming. Then we went to dinner at a friends house with another couple where they BBQ'd(no it is not really warm here but Graham was willing to stand out in the cold. The steaks turned out great). . We had a great time and it made me realize how much I love our friends and how I am going to miss that part of our life soooo much here. Anyway, here are some pics from swimming.(Cohen didn't swim in his PJ's. I just changed him first and then I took the pics).

Mission Completed

2007-03-17T06:06:00.000-06:00

I am writing to y'all from the Marriott at Eaton's Center in downtown Toronto. It is a beautiful hotel attached to one of the biggest mall's in Toronto.

So I arrived in Oakville on Wed evening. My realtor took me out for dinner and then on Thursday morning we began the house hunt. I saw a few places I liked and some that I didn't and some really nice brand new town homes but they were surrounded with dirt and mud as lawns had not been planted yet and weren't going to be for quite some time, not to mention construction people everywhere , so anyway in the afternoon I had about 2 I was waffling between when Garry(the realtor) said "let's go back to my office and see if there are any new listings" so we did and that is when we found the house we have now rented. We are renting for the first little while (lease is a year)while we get settled in Oakville and learn the areas. We will then buy within the year.

I do love Oakville, it is a gorgeous little city and so much shopping and 1/2 hour drive to downtown Toronto.It is on the shore of lake Ontario and even has a lighthouse. There are tons of trails, ravines and parks too.

I also got Maci registered in junior kindergarten. I love the school. She has a science, drama and art room. The school is built around a Reggio philosophy-the thought being that kids are treated as individuals-for example-each kid brings a snack to school but they get to choose when they want to eat it. There is no"snack time" allotted. Also only a few kids will go on a field trip at a time, depending on the child's specific interest. For example, why would a kid go to a circus field trip if they were scared of clowns. I am so impressed with her school. They also have a pet guinea pig that the kids get to take turns taking home each weekend to take care of it.

Anyway,now that I found a place we are in Toronto all weekend to shop and play(my mom and I).

Here are pics of the house.

Sorry for the repeats I can't figure out how to delete the pics without deleting the whole post???

I love the toy room/family room-that is a fully finished basement. It even has a cold room in it.

Another cool thing is that the island in the kitchen is portable. I forgot to take pics of the bedrooms but there are four upstairs and the master bedroom is huge!!!!

Off to Oakville

2007-03-13T22:49:00.000-06:00

So I am flying to Toronto tomorrow morning. My realtor is meeting me at Pearson airport and taking me to Oakville and I will then begin the house hunt. Since I am only there for two days( the weekend, my mom and I are staying in Toronto) I have to find a place in such a short time, I also have to tour Maci's prospective preschool as well. I am excited to see the town and have a glimpse of what our new world is going to involve. Ryan's mom has come up to help with the kids while he is in school. She will be here till friday night but he will be solo with the kids friday night to sunday night( hehehe....whoops did I type that...shhhh!) It will be a great experience for him a and I know he will do just fine. I will take my camera and takes some pics of our place(when we find it). Meghann

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

2007-03-12T22:24:00.000-06:00

So tonight I went out with some of my favorite girlfriends, we all met and worked together at the North Central Office for Children's Services. We have known each other for a 5 years and have stayed quite close. We try to go out to eat on a regular basis but hadn't done so for a while.It was fabulous to spend 3 hours chatting our hearts out. we first went to a yummy Thai restraunt and then to Joey Tomatoes for desert. Here are some pics

The Grand Explosion and a father's love...........

2007-03-12T22:08:00.000-06:00

So this evening was just a regular night in our home, I was upstairs getting ready to go on a "girls night out" with some of my closest friends from work when I heard Ryan yelling desperately for help in the kitchen. I come flying down the stairs to meet Ryan and Cohen on their way up, both of them covered in one of Cohen's finest masterpieces from the diaper. We only had a few split seconds to think and so Ryan thought it would be easiest to keep the mess contained to the tub so we dumped Cohen in and then Ryan realized he might as well join the poop party as he was already covered in it. I think I fell in love with Ryan a little more tonight as I saw him sitting with Cohen in poopy nasty water trying to deal with the mess. I was on my way out the door and not wanting to get dirty, left this one up to him....Here are some pics of the special father/son bonding...

"Shut Up and Sing"

2007-03-11T18:31:00.000-06:00

Ryan and I have always loved the Dixie Chicks. We went to their concert in Calgary in November 06. We love their music, Natalie's voice is addicting and they are just sooo funky and REAL. We rented their new documentary "Shut Up and Sing" on Friday night. It evoked alot of strong feelings and thoughts regarding to the concept of "Democracy". If you don't remember what happened in 2003 when Natalie Maines made a joke at a London concert about Bush being from Texas, all you have to do is Google it and you will find a plethora of info regarding her "alleged crime". I find it despicable with respect to the way the media, american country music and SOME of the american public treated them after her comment. Their music was banned from many country radio stations, there were organized cd burnings/dumpings, one hick even brought his John Deer in and ran over a bunch of their CD's. A death threat was made against Natalie and list goes on and on..... The irony in all of this is the idea of democracy and freedom of speech that America professes to stand for. Isn't that what thousands are dying for in Iraq?? This concept of Democracy.......hmmmmm...... Oh I could really rant but I won't........not now anyway, just go out and rent or buy this enlightening documentary... Once again, I am so content to be living right where I am!

Maci In RED is Sassing me!!!!

2007-03-11T18:16:00.000-06:00

We did these pics yesterday when we were just messing around. It made me think of the song" Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh.... These pics are actually a true reflection of her little personality. She is soo incredibly sassy, spunky, assertive and adorable all in one....I love her sooo

Ryan's Law School Grad Banquet

2007-03-11T08:59:00.000-06:00

SO we had a lovely evening at the Crowne Plaza last night. The food was fabulous and the company was wonderful. Ryan looked really hot and I got to meet alot of Ryan's friend's and profs:people that played such a huge part of his whole law experience. My feet are still recovering from my heels that I wore, now I know why I only dress like that once a year or sooo........ Now we are just adjusting to the hour we lost...... Here are some pictures of Ryan and myself, Ryan and I and his parents, and Ryan his close friend Nitin Bhatia.

Law School Prep

2007-03-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

So Maci basically worships her dad and he has her thinking she is going to be a lawyer so here is some pics of some early prep work. She looks like she is taking it preaty serious eh!!

Just an Update

2007-03-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

I have been so caught up with my 100 list that I haven't done just a regular update lately. So tonight is Ryan's grad banquet at the Crowns Plaza Hotel. There is a really yummy/fancy banquet,speeches etc and then tomorrow there is a brunch at the law school.It is quite a fancy event and we are excited as it actually makes it feel way more real that our lives as we know it( STUDENTS) is rapidly coming to an end. YEAH!!!!!!!I will post pics from the event tomorrow.

Other than that, life is pretty regular. Maci is off to one her best little friend, Ella Walters birthday today, she has been counting down her sleeps all week. Cohen is just doing his regular little 9 month old things. It is so fun to watch his discover sounds and cause and affect. His new thing is to sit in his high chair and we give him a spatula and a little kid bowl and he"plays hockey "with it. He loves to bang things really loud too. He is yet to figure out the crawling thing but it rolling all over and as a result,gets himself stuck in odd little places. He has also discovered his lips and loves to suck them and make smacking sounds.

I still haven't done any packing yet, we did buy packing tape so that is a step. I am off to Toronto/Oakville on Wednesday for 4 days to meet my mom and hopefully find a place and get Maci registered in school. They take the "junior kindergarten" a little more serious out there. The one she will be going to is the best location wise to the neighbourhood we will be living in. Her school is called Forest Grove Institute of Arts and Technology. It makes us feel like we need to send her to school with a lap top. I was a little surprised when i heard that for 3 days a week( 2.5 hours/day) it would cost $300/month. GULP!!! I heard it was a bit pricey in Oakville as it is quite a affluent community but I wasn't expecting that.

Anyway, that is all for now. Here are some pics of the kids I took yesterday. I love my little guy's curls and Maci has been so into letters and writing so she wanted to show how she could write her name.

One more thing....

2007-03-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

Throughout my 100 list I didn't really mention Ryan's family and the huge part they play in our lives. I love my in-laws and all of Ryan's bro's ,sister and their spouses. They are so good to us. Here is a picture that was taken in October 2006

The final 10!!!

2007-03-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

91. I love it when Maci asks for me to kiss her bumps and ouchies better and somehow magically they are better(in her eyes).

92. I played on a girls hockey team in Gr 6. We had to play boys though cause there were no other girls teams.

93. I have read all the "Little House on The Prairie" series( when I was quite young) and use to day dream I was Laura Ingalls.( My brother, Chaim reminded me of this one)

94. I kept a journal faithfully from 13 years old till I got married, now I write maybe twice a year, that is one of the reasons I am blogging.

95. My hands are sooo dry that they have been cracking and bleeding. It is partly the dry edmonton air and the fact that I was my hands probably 20 times a day.

96. I still struggle with the fact that one of my best childhood guy friends has passed away. My friend, Jess Zobell, from Welling was killed in a car accident only 3 months after he was married in 2001. I use to be really angry about it, not understanding how the world is filled with so many people that are"less than desirable" and one like Jess is taken away now I just feel really sad when I think about it.

97. George Bush REALLY gets on my nerves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

98. I love Ryan

99. I love Maci and Cohen

100. I am happy with the choices I have made in my life thus far and would have it no other way

A few more

2007-03-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

87. Ryan and I went to the Dominican Republic with my mom and Joe when I was pregnant with Maci.

88.I didn't get any stretch marks with Cohen until a few days before he was born.

89.The province of Quebec flew Cohen and I down on our own private Lear Jet from Montreal to Philadelphia.

90.Something is wrong with me, I just had another hotdog for breakfast!!! No I am not Pregnant.

Almost Done

2007-03-06T13:17:00.000-07:00

80. I was a camp counsellor the summer of 2000 in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. I lived in a one room cabin with twelve 12 year old wealthy jewish girls from NYC and Jersey. Let's just say I was glad when it was over. Camp was TWO months long.

81. My highschool girls basketball team won provincials in Gr.11 We beat Bert Church(Airdrie)

82. I love shopping.

83. I love MEXX( the store) I just bought a dress suit for Ryan's Grad today and am in love with it!!

84. My favorite white fish( to eat) is Tilapia. I am making it tonight. YUM!!

85.I have been craving hot dogs lately, I had them for lunch yesterday and today. GROSS!!!

86. I am counting down the minutes till we are not"students"anymore although Ryan is already talking about doing a Masters Degree( in law). UGHH

I need to run, I can hear Cohen getting attacked in his crib( Maci is the aggressor).....

And so the list continues...rounding the bend

2007-03-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

71.Right after highschool- I think july 96, my dad and I rode our bikes from Raymond to Writing on Stone. I think it was at least 100 km, it took like 7-8 hours and it was super hot. My butt was killing at the end of the day.

72.I don't do casseroles.

73.I have this one frined, Dawn Rienguette, who use to live in Magrath until Grade 8. I have totally lost contact with her. Last I know she moved to Sudbury, Ontario. I have been trying to find her and I can't seem to. It is really bugging me. Anyone know where she is???

74. I use to go with my Grandpa Mark( he was a doctor) to the Hutterite colonies sometimes on house calls. They would often invite us to stay for dinner. The women/men and children would all eat at diff tables. I use to be scared that my grandpa would leave me there. I even had dreams of getting left at the hutterite colony. (I know this sounds culturally insensitive, I was very young).

75. The elliptical is my preferred choice of exercise at SPA LADY.

76. I raged at Maci yesterday for colouring all over her $400, hand made wooden doll house with a BLACK permanent marker. I couldn't even talk to her for about 1/2 hour after.

77. I feel like I am too impatient with Maci. I really need to work on it more.

78.I have always wanted 4 kids but now I am leaning more toward 3, who knows though...If you would have asked me a few months ago, I would have said NEVER AGAIN( COHEN TRAUMA)

79.I was sooo relieved when Ryan came home yesterday, 3 days solo with kids and I have a new found respect for single parents!!!

80.I love Anne of Green Gables and would love to go to PEI one day.

A few more on my list

2007-03-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

60. I spent to month of July 1999 in Belgium/France and England.

61. Half of the month was spent in the middle of nowhere Belgium, at a volunteer work camp. 10 other volunteers and myself. I was the only one from the western hemisphere and native english speaker. We helped paint/renovate a home for mentally handicapped adults. The home was actually an old nun convent. It was really big and spooky. We had to sleep in a big army tent in the back yard right next to an old cemetery filled with dead nuns. I have a picture of me pretending to dig up a nun's grave. I know I am evil.

62. The other 1/2 of the month was spent visiting Friends in England and France.

63. I have spent one night on an American air force base in England. Will not get into that story

64. I had my ford explorer impounded at the Cut Bank, Montana border( american vehicle issue) and had to leave it in a random farmers field.

65.My cousin Lyndsi and I went to Queen Latifah's talk show taping in NYC.

66. My brother and I were on Kid Street( kids tv game show in the 80's) We lost.

67. I have camped outside in a line with one of my girlfriends at Penn state waiting for tickets to a Phish concert. ( I didn't even know who they were, I was just keeping her company)

68. In grade 10, I lived in Miami for 1 year. I played on the high school baaketball team. We sucked so bad that we lost one game 62-2. the 2 points were scored on fould shots!!!

69.My family lost their house in Hurricane Andrew in Miami in 1992. I luckily left back to Canada the day before on one of the last flights.

70. This march will be 10 years since my grandpa Mark Dahl died. I still think about him all the time and miss him. He use to make the coyote call with his hands that he would do when we were outside. I can still hear it clear as a bell when I think about it.

Over 1/2 way done the list!!!

2007-03-03T06:55:00.000-07:00

We are off the Red Deer( me and the kids) to visit my good friend, Averley Vanorman. We met when we were doing our social work degrees and we have stayed Friends ever since.

52. I do most of the driving when Ryan and I are together.

53.I worship the DVD player that came with our mini van

54.I did one of my practicum's with Kainai Family Services in Standoff, AB( on the Blood Reserve) I loved it and enjoyed the experience of being the only non aboriginal person at the office.

55. Today is my mom's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We love you.

56. I also did another practicum at St. Michael's Health Center/Palliative care. I became close with one dear old lady. I sat and held her hand and talked to her as she passed away. It was a very spiritual experience.

57. At my office now, I get nervous when I hear the Child Abuse Hotline ring( province wide 1 800 # people call to report child abuse) I always quickly hope it is not someone I know before I answer it. So far so good, although I have had some calls that come from southern AB.

58.When I was 5 we lived in Leeds England for a year, I came home with a very thick English accent.Obviously I have lost it. I remember my cousins teasing for calling sucker's "Lolli pop's'

59. I love making chocolate puffed wheat and then putting milk on it and eating it like cereal.

60.My voice and my sister's sound so much alike lot of people get us confused on the phone.

Even some more of the list( Picture is of the traffic circle at the Arc de Triomphe-see #44)

2007-03-02T20:54:00.000-07:00

OH YA the sound of two sleeping babies..............Ryan is off in Couer d'Laine, Idaho pontificating with all the other law/academic nerds of the Americas over International Trade issues....So I have some me time, going to blog a bit and then going to snuggle up with my newest read"Vanishing Acts" by Jodi Picoult and my yummy Harvest Scent candle by Yankee Candles.

41. I love Cohen's super excited face and the way he puffs up his chest when I come in to get him up from a nap or in the morning. If only everyone could great me with such love and adoration....

42. I love it when Cohen strokes my chin or cheeks or neck with his chubby little hands while he his drinking his bottle.

43. One of the dumbest,most dangerous thing I ever did was climb the FACE of Bears Hump without any ropes or gear. I was with Ryan Alston, Tom Alston, Nathan Kearl and Jenny Williams( now Shockey). My hands start to sweat even thinking about it. We came home that night covered in tics! What was I thinking???Oh ya, I wasn't...

44. The other really dumb thing I did was with my bestest friend in the world, Danielle Rollingson( now Low). We were in Paris and we were trying to get to the Arc de Triomphe and there is a massive traffic circle/round about that surrounds it. We didn't know how else to get under the arc so we just grabbed hands and basically played chicken with all the crazy french drivers and darted in and out of traffic till we got to the middle.

45. I hate stinky kitchen dish rags!!!

46. I played on a Edmonton City League Basketball team for the first few years we moved here, not been able to work it around babies now.

47.I volunteer every Wed. morning at Maci's preschool. I love being able to see her in the classroom environment.

48. I miss Ryan right now.

49.The thought of packing my house in the next 2 months make me feel ill.

50.I really want to go to Rwanda, after reading about the Genocide in 1994, I am intrigued with the country and want to know more.

51. I love the design of the San Diego Temple

More of the List

2007-03-02T13:44:00.000-07:00

Maci is at Arwen Sutherland house on a play date so I have a little more time to continue...

21.Ryan and I love Prison Break at 9pm on Monday night. It is our monday night bonding time.

22. I refuse to take the garbage out, it sicks me out to touch that dumpster. Ryan has resumed 100% responsibility( part of the reason I hate him being gone!!!! I know I sound like a priss

23.I love to READ!!!!!!!!I grew up with books being an essential part of our home, the majority of people (parents/siblings) in my family are teachers/professors so the love of learning has been a profound part of my upbringing.

24. SPA LADY IS MY HAVEN-NEED I SAY MORE. I don't think Ryan knows there is a SPA Kids there, hehehe my little secret...

25. I feel like I live in perpetual fear of Cohen's body- stems from health problems for first 3 months of his life. The dr's say he is fine, but I am still so paranoid about him!!!!

26. I am really nervous to leave my comfort zone, I love my world here, such awesome girlfriends, love our girls nights,play dates and on and on. Good things for blogs eh!!!.

27. I despise laundry and feel like it is always out to get me.... I can never stay on top of it and the first thing I am doing when Ryan is making real money is hiring a house keeper just to come over and do it for me....

28.I adore country music and have seen concerts by Alan Jackson, George Strait, Alabama, Clay Walker.....a few more too

29. I always thought I was preaty relaxed until a few weeks ago when I was helping Maci make her valentines for school . I had the HARDEST time letting her do them all, I wanted to straighten the stickers, and watching her write backwards letters and putting them in the wrong spot in name drove me nuts, I had to literally sit on my hands most of the time. WHAT AM I TURING IN TO!!!!!

30. I love our bed time routine with Maci, she is so calm and we have so many wonderful chats at this time of the day.

31. My favorite vacation was going to Greece with my mom, Joe and all my siblings in 1998.

32. I am a dog person( sorry to my brothers and their wives who are both cat people).

33. I love SIRIUS satellite radio, especially the love songs channel #3, Channel #62- Road House (old Country) and #103 Blue Collar Radio(basically white trash humour).

34. I studied French all through school and in France, I use to be a able to speak it well but am a little rusty now.

35. Some of my favorite childhood memories are summertime's at our Watertown cabin- skipping rocks at Watertown lake, hiking Bears Hump and climbimg around Red Rock Canyon, and waffle cones at the Big Scoop.

36. My dad and I hiked mount Vimmy a few summers in a row( after high school), I haven't done it since babies, seems like I was either preggo, or just had one or something, he still does it every summer though.

37.When I was in Gr 8, I snuck out with a bunch of friends in Magrath, broke into the swimming pool and stole some blue paint, we then painted on the school wall. I went to school the next day with paint on my hands and remember seeing the police there and keeping my hands in my pockets all day. We eventually got caught and i got my first criminal record, I had to do community service hours at the school with the janitors. Happy to report that was my first and last major offense and my record is now clean.

38. I also got a speeding ticket going 142 in a 100 zone. I did not have any pants on and told the police as soon as he came to the window not to look at me. You see, myself and some of my CRAZY Raymond girlfriends like Jamie Schmale, Amber Stone and Zoe Harker were in Lethbridge with my boyfriend at the time( Wade Walters) and some of his friends. I think Toby Wood was there. They dared us to jump into Henderson Lake and we did(in our clothes) Luckily Wade gave me his shirt but the rest of the girls were in their underwear all the way home. I am surprised the officer didn't think we were drinking we were so silly.

39. I love my new perfume I discovered. "Miracle Forever" by Lancome. Ryan loves it too!

40. I love flossing!!!!

List of 100 things about me( they will be coming in incraments)

2007-03-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

So I have had enough of my blogger Friends ask me to do this list, I have been putting it of because of sheer laziness but one final push from Kristy has got me moving so here it goes....

1. My middle name is Loree- named after the doctor who delivered me's wife and funny enough, Kristy's grandmother in law( Loree Brewerton).

2. I have lived in 4 diff countries. U.S., Canada, France and England.

3.I love mushrooms!!!!!!!!

4. I hate birds, especially pigeons b/c when I was 5 I was in London, England at Trafalgar Square with my family and we were feeding the pigeons. I put a cup of seeds on my head and tons of those nasty creatures landed on my head and arms and tried o attack the cup on my head.Let's just say it did some emotional damage.

5. I can't sleep for more than 6 hours at a time, my body is all messed up b/c of Cohen's schedule. Even if he isn't waking up- I still do.

6.I have always disliked Billy Goats,they really get on my nerves,I think they are sooo ugly and wussy sounding.

7. I played the french horn in JH/HS.

8. I knew I was going to be a social worker in grade 11. I wrote it in my journal one day and then decided I needed to start training so I began volunteering at the Diamond Willow in Magrath( seniors home). I never wanted to be anything else.

9. I missed my University Graduation because I was on my honeymoon.

10. My passion was geriatrics(working with elderly in social work) but Child Welfare was the first job I could find and have stuck with it ever since. 6 years now!

11. I learned how to ride a unicycle in Gr 6 and even rode it in the Magrath parade, not sure I could do it now??

12. I was an exchange student in Besancon, France in 1998 for 5 months. I watched France win the world cup on a giant screen in the centre ville with my host sister and her friends. As we drove away, people were rocking our car so hard I thought we would tip. It was insane

13. I love my steaks medium rare ( on the rare side)

14. I worked at the Gap in lethbridge and State College , PA while I was in University at Penn State and U of L.

15. I sometimes get overwhelmed with the responsibilities of motherhood but couldn't picture my life any other way.

16. I love driving a mini van-thought I would never say that!!!

17. I hate it when Ryan is out of town- I know I have to get use to it!

18. Cohen is named after the last name of a character on the OC!!!

19. Maci is not named after the store.

20. I miss playing basketball on a team.

so I need to run as Cohen is having some kind of issue upstairs and Cohen has another Dr's appt. to get ready for, I will do some more later..........

Pics of Hair Cut

2007-03-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

So some of you have asked me to post some pics of of my new hair cut. I can't find my camera so had to use my cell phone, (shows how out of control my life is when I can't even find my camera)so the lighting and quality isn't great but I think you can get the idea.

Ryan is off to Idaho today.

Just Randomness

2007-02-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

Nothing major to report. Our kids came home last Wednesday night from their trip down south. Cohen got sick AGAIN!!! He had a nasty cold, croup thing going on, we had to take him into the hospital at 3 in the morning when they got home cause he was having trouble breathing. They gave him a nebulizer( mask he has to breath in which puffs out steroid fumes) , suppose to open up his airway. HE HATED IT AND SCREAMED THE ENTIRE TIME. Then I took him back the next night as he was puking, high fever and all that stuff, thought he had another ear infection and he did but not bad enough to medicate. HE is fine now so we will just hope he stays healthy for a while this time!! I chopped almost all my hair off, super short, , too short to make a pony tail short. With my curl, I just have to put a little gel in , scrunch it and go, it is quite easy and I have gotten lots of compliments so that makes me feel better about my decision. I learned a lesson that day though, always ask how much it will all cost before you start, I didn't and learned the hard way. My highlight were $140, my cut was $70, I got some products and after tip, we were looking at a whopping $297. I had to put on my poker face as I paid and then spent the rest of the day justifying to myself how I could have spent that much. Here were some of my justifications!! 1. I worked last week 2. We had just got the $200 from the fed govt for the Universal Day Care subsidy 3. We had just sold our house 4. I hadn't had a cut in 1 year so I would have spent around this much if I had it cut every couple months like most do and on and on.... It is amazing how fast I came up with all these rationals... Anyway, so kids are home now. We have had to do some deprogramming with Maci, she is loved and adored here as well but she has been testing our authority a bit and we have had to get her back into her own routine. She is coming along though. Ryan was nominated to for Valedictorian of his Law Class, we will find out in a few day is he is.He has worked so hard in law school and really deserves it. Ryan is off to Spokane/Couer d'Laine for a conference with one of his profs, he wrote a big paper for it on the Mad Cow crisis_ it is a legal/international trade) conference full of lawyers/economists and his and his prof will be co presenting his paper. The law school is funding the whole trip too!!! So I will be alone with the kiddies from this Thursday till Sunday. YIKES!!!!! Anyways, I need to go work out this morning before we do the preschool thing so I am gonna take off........ meg

Prince(ess) Cohen...the kind of picture he will hide when he grows up

2007-02-18T16:42:00.000-07:00

So I am happy to report my little darlings are having a fabulous time in Magrath, Maci can't get off the phone with me fast enough. Here is a shot of Cohen with Maci's princess hat on. These are the kind of pics that are shown at weddings, I may hide this one from him till I need to use it for bribary.

Meg

Kid Free!!!!!!

2007-02-17T06:43:00.000-07:00

So Ryan and I sent our 2 little ones on a week holiday to Magrath and Taber. They will spend half the time with my family and then the other with Ryan's family. We drove to Calgary yesterday and dropped them off. It felt so weird driving away in our quite little van with no carseats. It is 6 30 am and I woke up and can't get back to sleep cause my body is sooo trained it doens't know what to do. These are all the things we are doing 1.Going to the temple 2. I am working till 6 till midnight tonight- I love my work and so it is a treat to do it. 3. Working out everyday for as long as I want. 4. Going out to eat at the Hardware Grill on Monday night( late Valentines dinner) 5. Going to the movies(haven't been to one since Cohen was born) 6. Going to get my hair done 7. Going to try to sleep more 8. Take a crap load of kids clothes to consignment 9.Go shopping 10. start some packing in my basement 11.READ READ READ whenever I want 12. Going to clean my house and watch it stay clean YEAH!!!!!!! Anyways those are just a few highlights of our week. Don't get me wrong I adore my little squirts and I already miss them but am excited to spend some time with Ryan and do whatever I want whenever I want. Plus their grandparents were super excited to have them and since we are moving so far away, I wanted them to get some quality time with them.. Anyway, off to read and then go back to bed.................. Meg

My new obsession

2007-02-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

So once in a while I get on little kicks. It all started on a bitterly cold and depressing Tuesday night last week. It was one of those days where it is too cold to leave the house with the kids and Ryan was at school ALL DAY. By the time he got home, the house was a bomb, the kids were crazy and I had cabin fever and just needed some time to myself. So as soon as the kids were in bed I darted out the door and went to Indigo(book store). I went and first treated myself to a Hot Carmel Apple Cider with whip cream YUM!!!! Ad then I began browsing, reading lots of backs of books when I cam across one called"Plain Truth" by Jodi Picoult. So I read the back and thought this sounded amazing, so I bought it and devoured it in like 2 days. It was the story of an 18 year old Amish girl in Paradise PA. She got preggo out of wedlock and had the baby in her families barn all alone and then the baby died. She is accused of murder and the whole book is her life before and during the trial.Her defense lawyer ends up being a distant relative, a big time lawyer from Philly. In order for this girl, Katie to be let out on bail this lawyer ends up having to "guard" her from the time she is let out till the trial which ends up being a couple months. So her lawyer comes and lives with her at her Amish farm. So we get to see her cultural shock and then slow adaptation the their way of life. It is romantic, mysterious, funny, and the end has a TOTAL TWIST. It is a great comparison of the American Justice and the Traditional Amish Justice System. I really learned alot about the Amish way of life and really how if our western society took a bit more of their values and beliefs and worked them into our mainstream, we may be a bit better off. Anyway there is lots more too the book but I don't wait to spoil it in case any of you want to read it. So now I have started on her next two books. " Perfect Match" and "Vanishing Act" Her website is www. jodipicoult.com. She has like 13 books out and they all look amazing. I am soo pumped to read them all and can't believe I hadn't heard of her till last week. I will put her website in my list of links. Has anyone heard of her already or read her books?? Let me know......... Meg

SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-02-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

You can probably guess by the title that yes we sold our house in less than 2 days. It was crazy. There were over 20 showing in 2 days( we went and stayed a night at fantasy land hotel in West Ed because we couldn't be there while it was being showed and it was such a hassle to keep it clean with two kids.) On friday night, our Realtor set up a meeting so all the offers could be presented to us. We had about 6 serious offers. It was a bizarre process. Ryan myself and Rennaye(our realtor)sat at our table and one by one a realtor came and sat down with us and presented their clients offer and then would leave and flag the next one in. I think we had 6 come through. We then picked our 2 highest offers and let them get into a bit of a bidding war. We then took the highest one obviously with no conditions. We ended up doing REALLY well since Edmonton real estate is out of control compared to when we bought 2.5 years ago. Ryan loved the whole business process, I on the other hand found it extremely uncomfortable and just wanted it over with( I felt so gready letting the bidding war happen especailly knowing what we payed for it in the first place). Anyways, now we can pay wipe out all our debt, and still have a nice chunk to put toward our next home. What a relief it is over!!!!!!! We had an amzing realtor and if anyone is needing one in Edmonton, check her out. Her website is: www.rennayemiller.com Anyways, Cohen has realized he has been ditched in his exersaucer so I need to go rescue him. Meg

Our little tenderheart and Cohen moments

2007-01-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

Maci is such a treasure. She is so sweet, sensitive and loves to love. Today we were driving to pick up Ryan from school and I had our Satellite Radio tuned into the Channel 003, Sirius Love- the cheesiest love station of all time filled with songs from Chicago, Celine Dion, Journey, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandros etc...I totally dig it and sing my heart out to it, subjecting my two little cling ons with endless serenades while traveling.

So anyway, Leann Rhimes song" How do I live without you" came on. I was singing away, not knowing that Maci was very seriously listening to every word of the song. About half way through the song I heard some sniffles from behind me. In a shaky little voice Maci asked me what the song was about. I began to tell her when she just started to cry saying that she felt she needed to cry cause the song was just so beautiful.

Tonight Ryan read her a story about a dog for bedtime and then when he went back to check on her and she was sobbing in her bed. He asked her what was wrong and she said she was sad because she wanted a dog and inquired through her tears when she was going to ever get a dog. Ryan talked to her about responsibility and how she just needed to be a little bigger before she could take care of a dog. He came down and told me and so I went up to check on her and she was still sobbing under her covers. She told me she wanted to name her dog "Pal" like the dog on Arthur and it needed to be brown. We talked some more about getting one when maybe she was 5 or 6. She seemed to like that idea and calmed down before she fell asleep burrowed in to me.

Cohen, sleeping through all this oblivious to everything. Cohen had a good day too, he figured out he can jump in his exersaucer and is totally amazed at his own abilities. He also is starting to babble more and more and had a great babbling day, except he seems to want to curl his tongue mid babble and his words get stuck on his tongue.What a funny little guy. He is also enjoying the drop and pick up game. How many times will mom be a sucker and pick up my toy that I intentionally toss out of the stroller or high chair. He also likes to shake and bang his toys as fast and hard as he can.

Our house officially goes on the market tomorrow and will be on www.mls.ca/

Anyway I am off to bed, I have a headache..

meg

Photos of our place

2007-01-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

So these are some of the photos our Realtor took of our place. There are more to come

We are lisiting our place on January 31st.

Another Hectic Day(picture taken with our cell phone)

2007-01-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well the last 24 hours feels like a tornado went through....my brain.... Starting with last evening. Our Realtor came over at 7pm to take pictures of our home to put up on the listing service. So in order to do that, there was a ton of deep cleaning, decluttering and ( shhh... hiding things in closed closets) to make our home look like it isn't actually lived in and just ready for show at any moment of the day. So yesterday all afternoon I was cleaning my butt off in between preschool and Cohen's nap schedule. Our Realtor came last night, ( she is wonderful, if any one is looking for one), we did the pics......... I will post them soon, we put up a for sale sign, although we aren't technically listing till Jan 31st. This morning we woke up, scrambled around (our typical morning Gong show, is anyone else's mornings gong showish if you are trying to get out the door by 9 or earlier?)We drove Maci to preschool for 9 30, then I dropped Ryan off at school at about 9 45 and then Cohen had a physio appt at U of A hospital at 10 15 am. He got his first cast off his toes(we are trying to straighten his right toes that are a little gimpy from sitting breech) and put a new one on. I got done there at 11 20 ish, drove to Maci's school and got there with 20 minutes to kill so I decide to go to the DQ down the street to get a blizzard cause I felt I had earned it for my hard work. Ok this is a bit embarrassing but I will tell anyway, so I order my blizzard in the drive through . I then notice two cars ahead of me,I look at the clock and then like 5 minutes pass and no one has moved. I then get panicky that I am going to be late my picking up Maci so I reverse out of the Drive through and take off without my blizzard. I am sure the DQ staff think I am a wing nut, or the lady I ordered from may think she is losing her mind.

So I pick up Maci, get home at 12 30 ish, make lunch and then we are out the door by 1 45 for Maci's 3 year old annual check up with Dr. Mcgonigle. We meet Ryan at the Dr's office since it is at U of A campus and then we go and wash the van.

Then we decide to reward Maci for being brave during her flu shot by going to the Panda Bear Express restaurant that has an indoor playground.

FUNNY MACI MOMENT:

So Maci goes in the playground and this little girl comes in. They instantly start playing together.The little girl is with a older man, maybe a dad or grandpa.. Anyway when it is time to leave, Maci said " I wonder where her mom is? Maybe at home with the baby or maybe she is an ORPHAN!!" Then Ryan said, "no, no,no she is not an orphan" and then Maci whispered,"No I think she is an orphan". Luckily the man didn't hear her.

Maci loves the movie "Annie" and must have got it from that.

So we return home after our hectic day and now the kids are both in bed and I find myself staring at about 5 loads of laundry yuck!!!

Ok so I just returned from a 20 minute break. You see, about 20 minutes ago, I told Ryan I needed to go to the bathroom so I went upstairs. The moment I get upstairs, the door bell rings. It was a little old asian man. He was an "urban missionary" and wanted to conduct a spiritual survey with me. Me being the empathetic soul that I am, let him in out of the cold and answered his 9 questions on spirituality. After the survey we were chatting about some basic christian principlas and Ryan comes running up the stairs and upon seeing the old man says

"sorry we are not interested" so basically take a hike without even inquiring as to why he was here. I told Ryan to not worry as he is not selling anything and sent him (ryan ) away quickly. I then apologized to him and he said not to worry as it happens all the time.

After he left, Ryan said he thought he was rescuing me as he thought I was just being nice( I kinda was) .

So anyway I had some more deep thoughts but I am suddenly tired and not feeling very verbose anymore so I will save those thoughts for another time.

Anyways good night to all my fellow blogger buddies and anyone else who comes across this page....

Meg

Those silly Ears

2007-01-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick one because I feel like complaining. BOTH MY KIDS HAVE EAR INFECTIONS UGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so annoyed. We have had non stop colds in our house all month and this is the product of it.( no to mention I have a nasty cold right now too)I took Maci to the Dr. this morning after spending another sleepless night with her as she went in and out of fevers, crying that she was freezing, snotty nose etc... Sure enough she had an EI. I took Cohen into the Dr's last friday after his eyes started to get goopy. I thought it was pink eye but his wise doctor said I bet it is an EI and sure enough it was. Cohen's was really bad and Maci's was just getting started. The funny thing about Cohen is that he wasn't fussy at all through the whole thing. What a little champ, or he is so use to feeling like crap he thinks it is normal?? Anyways, so they both have their little matching bottles of Banana flavoured antibiotics in the fridge.What a fun life we have right now. Sorry for whining I think I am just perpetually sleep deprived... One more thing... As I sit here and whine and complain, Maci and Cohen as the same cheery little people, and they are the ones who should be the grouchiest but here I am being grouchy for them......... They never cease to teach me quality lessons. I love them sooo.... Meg

Moving To Oakville Ontario!!! and new kiddie Pics

2007-01-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

So we have decided to move to Oakville, Ontario. It is a beautiful little city about 130,000 and right on the shores of Lake Ontario. It is only about a 1/2 hr drive to downtown Toronto and a quick commute to Bay st. on the GO train for Ryan. We have movers coming on April 30th to take our stuff there. I can't believe it is really happening. We are excited about our new adventure but will miss our awesome friends and family here in Alberta. We are also going to be listing our home at the beginning of February so we are busy doing so touch ups to our place. Here are some new pics I took of the kids yesterday. Cohen loved his exersaucer, since he is teething like crazy he finds great pleasure in chomping on all the toys on it. Maci is over her case of pink eye and has come out of house arrest. She is loving being back at school after a WHOLE week off. Anyway, Cohen is being needy so I need to run...

Update

2007-01-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

HI everyone so we are home from our crazy holiday. We left to southern ab on the 18th and then Ont he 27th we flew to orlando. We first went to St.Augestine, Fla and rented a beach house with some family friends for a few days. We were literally right on the ocean, you could hear the waves all night long. It was soo cool. Maci loved the beach and could have stayed forever. The first morning there, she spent a long time "collecting nature" as she calls it by picking shells, and clumps of sand.Maci, my mom and I then flew to Memphis on the 30th for 2 days to see my sister. We spent new years eve watching my sis in Peter Pan and her theatre company had a gala for the children that we went to after. We then went back to Florida and did the whole disney world thing... a whole other blog in itself... but Maci loved it and met all her adored Disney characters. We come home on the 5th( 16 hours of travelling!!!! Since we have been home, both kids have been waking up at 4 30 am( due to the time change. ) and Cohen decided to cut his first tooth last night and woke up every hour crying and chomping his fingers and crying, so due to major lack of sleep I have been a barall of laughs to be around, just ask Ryan..........Anyway, I have some pics of Maci with the Disney princesses that she loves so much that i will put up soon Ta ta for now, get some sleep for me... meg

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T19:14:00.000-07:00

Happy holidays to one and all. SO it is Christmas eve and we are in Taber Alberta where Ryan's family lives. Currently the rest of the family is over at Ryan's aunts doing their traditional get together and white elephant game. I Am home with a scik sleeping baby, enjoying some peace and quiet that has been hard to find these last couple days. COhen has som enasty cold,chest cough and has had it for about 2 weeks. He was so tired to day that he went to sleep at 4 30 and hasn't woken it up and it is now 7 30. He may be down for the night. Maci is flying around like a bat out of hell, no really she is very cute and is soooo excited she can barely stand it. I just finished hiding her present from the "snowman" is the freezer. Ever since I was a little girl the "snow man" has come and brought us pj's on christmas eve. I even went so far as going out to the little pile of old dirty snow in the back yard, almost freezing my fingers off and dug some snow out and put it in a zip lock baggie and also put it in the freezer with the presents,just for proof that the snowman was really here. She is just soo beleiving right now.. Maci tried to quote the peter pan quote about every time some one says they don't believe in fairies, a fairy dies but instead she said" every time someone says they don't believe in fairies, a fairy kills itself" right mom?? I had to correct that fairies don't commit suicide. The other day she was wondering who she was going to marry and she told me that first she had to grow her husband in her tummy. Anyway, just thought I would check in as it has been a while. We are off to Florida on Wednesday!!. love meg

"Everytime you say you don't believe in faires, a fairy dies"-Peter Pan

2006-12-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

So my sister is starring as Wendy in Peter Pan. She works for a community theatre in Memphis Tennessee. Maci, my mom and I are going on New Years Eve to see her in the production. Maci is soooo pumped!!!!!!We are really proud of her and want to show her off a bit, so check out her . websitehttp://www.playhouseonthesquare.org/0607/peterpan.html If this address doesn't work, then go to it through my links. She is the red headed girls in the pinkish night gown.

EDAMAME WARNING!!!!!!!!!!

2006-12-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago, we bought a box of Edamame( Peggy's premium brand) at Costco. They come in packages of 8. Today we were eating #4. I like to put the whole bean in my mouth and slide them out with my teeth, never actually seeing the beans that come out. Ryan is a bit more meticulous and shells each one individually. Anyway, we are all eating them(except Cohen obviously) when out pops a lovely little worm out of Ryan's bean. I felt instantly queasy as I had just downed a bunch and am sure I can feel little wigglers in my gut now. I called Costco and and they said they had just pulled the product from their shelves this morning for a similar incident in Eastern Canada. Needles to say, we can take it in for a refund. Uhmm so is you have them in your freezer.... don't eat them unless you are feeling like playing a game from Fear Factor or Survivor. I don't have much of an appetite anymore.......... meg

Another Maci moment

2006-12-10T19:56:00.000-07:00

just a quickie.... yesterday my cuz, Lyndsi and her hubby Bryce and their kids stooped over for a visit. They have a new baby girl and a 2 yr old boy. Maci was bugging Braxton( 2 year old) to go on a treasure hunt with her and he didn't want to, he was actually confused as to what she was asking him to do. So I said, Maci I don't think he understands what you want him to do and she goes " of course he doesn't mom, he is still a toddler". We were like OK..... She is barely 1 year older then him but has somehow decided that she is not a toddler any more... Not sure when that decision was made in her little brain? Love those moments..........

more random thoughts and news

2006-12-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

So here I am again, sunday evening, both kids asleep YEAH!!!!!!!!!! I thought I would sit down and update my blog that I have been slacking on lately. So Ryan is in the thick of finals, which always proves to be a interesting time around our house( that's all I will say on that subject=)!! We are going home to southern AB on the 19th and spening half the time with my dad and Lesley and the other half with Ryan's family. On the 27th, we are flying to Orlando Florida to be with my mom and Joe. We will be going to a beach house in St. Augestine and then to Orlando. Maci will get the whole Disny World experience which she is already driving me crazy about. I hear the lines are preaty horrible there but I don't think Cinderella's castle and spinning tea cups and dumbo rides are what they are talking about when you have to wait so I am sure we will be fine. My mom ,Maci and I will then fly to Memphis Tenn, for 2 days to see my sister, Bronwyn in Peter Pan. She is playing Wendy in a community theater production she is working for and then back to Florida again. It should be a busy holiday but a fun one. Cohen is such a little joy and SUCH a Mama's boy. Ryan laughs at him cause if I am in the same room as Cohen and he hears my voice , he wiggles all over and cranes his neck to find me, and then once he does, he gives me about a 5 second window of time to smile at him and if I don't he starts sobbing. His new things is to stroke my face and pull on my nose and lips when I feed him. It is soo cute!!! He is sitting up and rolling around so hopefully a little more physical activity will help him slim down a bit!! I am doing the same old thing, working out is my thing I live for 5 days/week. I have had so much more energy lately and love the break from everyone and everything(mainly KIDS!!!) WE are starting to think about moving to Toronto a bit more seriously now and have just started talking to a realator about listing our house and trying to figure out what part of Toronto we want to go to. Well that's it for now, love to hear from any of ya!! Meg

Maci's Ultimate Revenge.

2006-11-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

Ok so today I was in the bathroom and I look down at the garbage can to see one of my nice black shoes in the garbage can. Immediately I call Maci over to the room and ask her why she threw my shoe in the garbage. The conversation goes -Mom: Maci, why is my shoe in the garbage? -Maci: Oops sorry mom , I thought that was daddy's shoe? -Mom: Maci, why would you want to throw daddy's shoe in the garbage? -Maci: well, because daddy always throws away my things in the garbage so it is only fair that I throw his things away. -Mom- Turn my head and laugh to myself-turn and face Maci. Maci we don't throw any ones shoes in the garbage. Maci scampers off........... OK there is history to this.......... Ryan and Maci are very similar in many ways but this little issue shows where they are VERY different. Ryan is a neat freak and hates clutter, Maci on the other hand is a bit of a pack rat and can't stand to part with any random toy, piece of paper with one scribble on it or even some food wrappers because she says she is using them for a tea party or that they belong to Gaga Nana or Lala ( imaginary friends). At least once a day, Maci nd Ryan have a garbage war, where Ryan runs around the house picking up things he thinks belong in the trash(the whole time threatening her to clean up her stuff), while she runs behind him fishing through the garbage( tears rolling down her cheeks) begging for her "very important piece of ripped paper with a scribble on it" back. It frustrates Ryan to no end. I have told him time and time again that kids come with a little mess and we can't squash her creativity by just junking anything that he doesn't see as serving a direct purpose. When was the last time he set up a tea party with important imaginary friends?? I told Ryan that Maci is going to have some psychological damage from all these wars,I can just see her as a 90 year old women with a classic case of "hoarding" which will all stem from these garbage wars. Just another classic moment in the Clements' home, meg

Random little tidbits

2006-11-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

So before I get into my latest Maci story, I must say that I have been plagued by a case of blogger apathy. I just haven't been into it this week. Cohen has been extremely cranky this week and tired( 6 month growth spurt) and we have been busy with other random things) anyway I will try to be better.My sister in law, Kristen Holst had a baby boy last Tuesday, the 21st and he was 10pds 4 oz!!!! Yikes. She is a super star!! She had to have him by csection after a long day of labour. So that makes us 3 for 3, myself and my two Clements sister in laws all had baby boys this year and all had C-sections( the other 2 were breeches). Ok. I just have to add that last night we went to the Keg for our friend, Brandy Palmer's bday. I had the YUMMIEST dish I think I have ever had. It was a steak(medium rare)mix between a rib eye and Fillet Mignon, with heaping scoops of fresh crab meat on top, all cooked in a mushroom sauce and then veggies like asparagus, peppers ,mushrooms...of it was to die for!!!!. Anyway, that's my weekly update. Love to hear what anyone is up to, anything cool??

Bob the Builder Exhibit/Underwater Lego Adventure

2006-11-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

HI Y'ALL, this post will only be of interest to my local edmontonian friends with kids( or those who like to relive their childhood). Anyway, The Royal Alberta Museum is doing a Bob the Builder Exhibit and a Lego Underwater exhibit. Wondering if anyone has gone or knows if it is worth taking the kids too. It sounds fun and Maci is obsessing about it cause she keeps seeing the commercial on t.v. So if anyone has gone,or know anyone who has, let me know. Meg

Sharp Move Meghann !!!! Someone please help me feel not so ridiculous and tell me about some classic mishaps you have been responsible for

2006-11-20T20:35:00.000-07:00

So Ryan thinks I need to put this on the blog because it was such a classic and ridiculous Meghann thing to do.... So today was just a regular day like any other, Maci running around the house inviting everyone to her tea party, Cohen amused by everything she was doing, Ryan studying, I had just got back from working out and was getting the family out the door to Maci's hair cut. I was running out of time and trying to do too many things at once. I noticed Maci's fly was undone as she was standing by the coffee table, so WITHOUT THINKING, I sat down on our Glass coffee table to do up her pants, about 1/2 a second went by before I felt myself plummeting toward the ground surrounded by shards of glass everywhere. I landed on my bum in the middle of what once was our coffee table with my legs dangling over the edge. What shocks me the most is that although there were hundreds of shards and jagged pieces of glass surrounding me, I did not get one scrape!!! Maci watched the whole thing with wide and amused eyes and began to tell me how if Daddy wouldn't have been home to help me, she would have called 911. The funny thing about that coffee table is that I always regretted buying it because duhhh , you shouldn't have glass tables around little kids,ha the joke was on me. In almost 4 years I have never thought to sit on that table, the glass is held up with 4 little things about 1 inch long. The other thing that really creeps me out is that Cohen is often on a blanket on the floor by the table luckily he happened to be napping already in his car seat. So we clean up the mess and head out to our appt, Me and the kids then go visit a friend in Sherwood Park, and then go pick up Ryan at Chapters(studying) and then go to Costco. When we get home, we are putting kids to bed and Maci starts picking at my pants in the upper thigh area, I look down to see this gigantic hole in my pants. I walked around all day with the huge hole, people probably found it quite amusing I am sure. The other crazy thing is that the glass ripped my pants but did not cut my skin!! Anyway, it was such a ridiculous moment I thought you all could find some humour in it. I also believe if you can't laugh at yourself then you are in for a long boring life. Meg

Favorite Quotes

2006-11-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hey, I am looking for your favorite quotes. They can be quirky, serious, random or whatever... I want to change around my quotes on the blog every few days so give me some goodies!!! meg

Rwanda Genocide

2006-11-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

So I read the book "Left to tell" by Immaculee Ilibagiza( i mentioned in the last blog)it was one of those books that I read in two days, I just went into a zone.I went to bed thinking about it, woke up thinking about it and during the day when I wasn't reading it , I was counting down the minutes till I could get to it again. It was an extremely graphic description of the author's experience of surviving the genocide while the rest of other siblings and the other 800, 000 fellow Rwandans( except one brother who was out of the country at school) were gruesomely murdered by the Hutu extremists over 100 days from April 6 to mid July 1994. I am not going to recount the historical facts about the genocide, I figure that if you want to know more about it, you can find info on it all over the Internet as to why it happened and so forth. My big issue is obviously the lack of involvement of the UN,and the countries that usually run around policing the world(you know who you are) decided to turn a blind eye to it. Canada did have a peace keeping mission going over there, led by Romeo Dallaire that was horribly underfunded and understaffed( but at least they were there which is more that we can say for the rest of them that were WAY too busy worrying about OJ Simpson, the glove and "if he did it". My beef is also with the media and their complete lack of coverage. Oh excuse me, how could I forget, the the western world really needed to see OJ's SUV speeding away from his Brentwood California home for the hundreth time. To me, this is just another perfect example of the ongoing love affair between the government and the media.( a whole other huge topic I won't delve into right now) I was telling my mom the other day that I feel anger directly towards the media. They get a big fat 'F" in my books for not doing their jobs, they failed us. I was 15 at the time and as a 15 year old girl, I was of course wrapped up in my own adolescent drama, but I was also an informed youth. I was aware of my world and what was happening(or so I thought) I grew up in a family where knowledge is power, books surrounded our walls, my parents are all teachers, yet somehow I was never told about the genocide until I was 28 years old. I hold the media first and foremost responsible. OJ brought about such a media frenzy that I bet if you asked just about anyone what they were doing on the day that OJ was found "not guilty" they would be able to tell you, same goes for when princess Diana was killed, JFK assasinated, and when 911 happened.I remember I was sitting in our high school library studying and an announcement came over the loud speakers announcing OJ's verdict. I bet you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would be able to tell you what they were doing on the day the Rwandan Genocide began or ended.(oh but only 800,00 innocent Tutsi's lost their lives). Anyways, I will wrap it up for now, to those of you who have made it this far, I ask you to take a moment, do some research of the Rwanda genocide, give the victims of Rwanda some respect and a moment of your time to educate yourself so you can pass on this information to those you are responsible for(children, students etc...)Say a prayer in your heart for those who lost their lives and read this book "Left to Tell" Meg

Rwanda 1994

2006-11-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

HI Guys I don't have tons of time today but tommorow I have a new post coming regarding Rwanda Genocide in 1994, it is triggered by a book I just read"Left to tell" by Immaculee Ilibagiza. A women who survived the genocide by hiding in a very small bathroom with 8 other women for 91 days. I just watched the documentary" Shaking hands with the devil" last night regarding the UN's involvmeent( or lack thereof) in the genocide. I haven't been able to get this issue of my mind since I finished the book a few weeks ago. There is more to it that I wll talk about tommorow, just wanted to get you thinking about it. Meg

Book Ideas Anyone

2006-11-13T14:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyobody something else I wish to add to our blog is a list of recommended reading. I often go into the bookstores looking for a good book but end up leaving somewhat frustrated b/c I have spent the last hour reading the backs of a bunch of diff books, wondering if it is really worth my time. So I would like your recommendations on any books you have recently read that you would suggest. Don't tell me what I can already read on the back cover, tell me why it is worth one's time.

Middle of the night infomercials-Can anything good really come from it?? Help me convince Ryan!!

2006-11-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hi again so a few weeks ago, i was up at 4 am feeding Cohen, and I decided to watch tv to help keep myself awake, so the first channel I see is the infomercial with Kenny Rogers advertising 150 of Country's Classic Hits( 1950-1970's I know I wasn't even born yet) like Johny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings , Dolly and sooo much more........ I have seen the infomercial before( in the light of day)and i have always thought that I would love that collection of music. I have always thought ordering things off tv was risky and didn't think anyone in their right mind really did it. Well that particular night, plagued by chronic sleep deprivation and sheer curiosity, I order the stupid cd's. I am embarrassed to admit that I spent $150 on them and it is not like we are rolling in dough, we are still in school but my free spirit and tired fingers dialed that silly 1 800 #. I regretted it as soon as I told the lady I wanted to order it but I was already in to deep, so i ordered them and then sat up for another hour wondering how I was going to tell Ryan. Anyways, I am asking all of you to post on here about anything that you have ordered off infomercials that have been a big success and worth your money.. That way I can build a case against my "in house" lawyer-haha

Nobody likes a Shrub-Dixie Chicks Concert and Bob Schnieder-

2006-11-12T08:20:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I went to the Dixie Chicks concert on Nov 6, 2006 in Calgary.There opening act was a guy from Texas, Bob Schnieder. We had never heard of him before but figured if he opening for th chicks that he must be alright, well we were blown away, he was amazing. He is kind of a "fusion" of blues, rock, folk and country.Ryan calls him a mix of Jack Johnson, Johnny Cash and Dave Matthews Band. I haven't figured out how to put clips of music on the blog, but I will shortly. One of my foavorites is called "The Other Side". He also does,"If I only had a brain".-Wiz. of Oz As I am typing, we are listening to to the Brain song and Maci, Ryan and Cohen are having a dance party to the song. Ayway, the concert was obviously amazing but my personal favorite part of it was the overt political refrences and jabs that were made at Bush. For ex, when the Chicks came on stage they played"hail to the chief". Natalie also told us of some very funny posters that people had at the other concerts mocking Bush. They also played the trailer to their new documentary. When she played her" Not ready to make nice" song, she recieved a standing ovation from everyone in the saddle dome, I was suprised and sooo pleased with this reponse form southern albertans, not known to be overly political and definately not anti-bushish . I feel silly admitting this but it brought 3 little tears to my eyes when that happened.

Feelings-Nothing More Than Feelings

2006-11-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

We are learning quickly the Cohen, also known as co co, co co puff, cokie, hokey pokey, toot bum, my man, mr meem beam(maci's name) has real and very sensitive little feelings, and has established a very clear idea of what roles mom and dad play in his life. I found ths out a few days ago when Cohen and I wee working on our animal sounds, everything was going great until I got to the cow sound,I gave him a good old fashioned MOOOOOOOOO in a low and very convincing voice, cause who has ever heard a mooo sound in a high femalish voice. As soon as I did it, his little laughing smile went instantly into a perfect upside down U frown,( a trait both my kids have inherited ) quivering chin and then he began to sob, sob , sob ,sob and sob. It took me a good 10 minutes to calm him down.I learned quickly that Cohen sees his mom as his gentle, high pitched protector who in no way can lower her voice for any reason and must speak to him at all times with a smile plasterd on her face. Later that day we tested it out with Ryan, he mooo'd at him numerous times in a very low voice and Cohen just smiled and laughed, I did it again and he cried really hard again. Here are some pics to show before I moo'd and after I moo'd. I don't tease him about it anymore, cause I don't want to create emotional"issues" .

Back to Normal

2006-11-11T21:16:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, family, random surfers and spies this is my first effort at blogging, I am not sure if it will become a habit or a passing phase for me but time will tell. So our life is truly getting back to normal after a summer of craziness and every range of emotion imaginable. I will tell those who don't already know that our darling little boy, Cohen Mark Clements was born on May 31, 2006 in Montreal and had numerous health problems, the main one being severe infant hypoglycemia, to the point that he was having to be fed every 2-3 hours to keep his blood sugar from going to low. He was hospitalized for the first 3 months of his life as a result.I know most of you know his story and quite frankly I am not in the mood to go into details as it is a memory I don't like to dig up too often, we are thriiled to report that he has been home for 2 months now and coming home was his best medicine. He is growing like crazy( a little too much growing- he is 20 pds and only 5 months old yikes!!. He is developmentally on par with other kids his age and is a happy and peaceful little soul, some have called him on "old soul" and I tend to agree. Maci is almost 3 and a half and is an inquisitive, smart and stubborn(hmm I wonder where she gets that from) little girl. She is in preschool and just eats it up.She is learning about so many fun little things like dinosours and ladybugs. The other day she came home from school and told me in such a simple and darling way her understanding of what happened to the dinosours when they got "eggsticnt" she told me very matter of factly that the sun got too hot and melted all of their food and then they all starved. In her little 3 year old world, she was able to put to rest a mystery that has plagued generations of scientist and scholars alike. She is so in touch with her little emotions, the other day we were driving and I heard her starting to whimper in the back seat, I asked what was wrong and I looked back. She had her perfect upside down U shaped frown, and she said mom I think I am going to cry becuase this song is so beautiful, it was the song" a whole new world " from Aladdin and one more cute thing, tonight in her night time prayers she thanked all the nice soldiers for protecting us( today is Nov 11th). I know I sound like a bragging mom but my kids and ryan are the best thing that ever happened to me. Ryan is in his last of law school and then we are off to Toronto to start his articling year at a big corporate firm on Bay st.( Davies, Ward ,Phillips, and Vineburg). We will be moving out there in May. I am on mat. leave from my job as a crisis worker with Alberta Children's Services, I work a little here and there just to keep my foot in the ever revolving and evolving field of social work.My days are filled with the regular mom duties, spa lady to work out, volunteering once a week at Maci's school, reading - I have been into political non fiction- mainly autobiographies/biographies of women who have been right in the middle of political unrest. I just finished a book," Left to Tell " by Immaculee Ilibagiza a survivor of the 1993-94 Rwandan holocaust, mass genocide of the Tutsi people,probably the most disturbing yet beautiful book I have ever read. We have a great group of friends here who we do stuff with once in a while and lots of family stuff too. Wow, anazing what you can get accomplishe when the kids are in bed!!!!!!!! Tonight Ryan and I got take out from OPM-Asian Infusion and had quite yummy food, don't know why I shared that but oh well. anyway, I would love to hear from you guys and feel free to share any ideas for our blog or anything really. love from Meghann Clements

More Pictures

2006-07-17T10:50:00.000-06:00

Cohen and Maci - Sunday June 25th, 2006

2006-06-25T07:14:00.000-06:00

Maci and Cohen

2006-06-25T06:59:00.000-06:00

Some more pictures

More Pictures

2006-06-18T11:44:00.000-06:00

Cohen's new haircut is from the IV that they put in his head.

More Pictures

2006-06-18T09:07:00.000-06:00

Here are some more pictures

Cohen Mark Clements

2006-06-18T08:56:00.000-06:00

On May 31st a new edition arrived in the Clements family. Cohen Mark Clements was born at 11:10 am weighing 5 pounds 11 ounces. Despite a post partum stay in the intensive care and the Montreal Children's hospital his health is getting better by the day and we are just so happy to have him in our lives.