Incisor Drama

Caleb has lost his first tooth, and in pure Caleb fashion, it was dramatic.

Caleb was eating a banana after school when he suddenly started crying. "My tooth cracked! Owwweee!" He was INCONSOLABLE. 

I quickly assessed the situation and informed him his tooth was not cracked, but loose. Really, really loose. This helped him a little, although Caleb informed me that it hurt to eat and so he wouldn't. And he wanted to show his friends it's loose, so he wouldn't be able eat until he sees them, anyway.

I tried to logic him into letting me pull it (it'll hurt less once it's out, he'll get hungry and grumpy if he doesn't eat for a day, we were having chocolate chip pancakes for dinner, his friends could still see the gap...) but Caleb was adamant.

Kyler got home and tried the exact same logic with the exact same result. However, Kyler and I decided to pull the parent card and just pull it anyway. 

After it was pulled, Caleb was pleased to discover it did hurt a lot less, he could eat pancakes, and also  realized the tooth fairy will come, hopefully bringing money and chocolate (?).

To quote Kyler, silly wonderful child.

Spring Break 2023

Spring Break is a weird time in Edmonton. It's still often cold and doesn't really feel like spring, so we sometimes have to get creative about what we will do with our time.

Of course, there's the taking-care-of-business parts. Eye exams, doctor's appointments. (More on that later!) I sure know how to make Spring Break exciting!

But there is also the fun times.

We went to the library, obviously. I love going to the library, and so do my kiddos. 

What's not to love?

We also headed downtown to meet Kyler for lunch and walk around the Legislature. 

It was actually probably warmer than you might think. 

The kiddos loved wandering on the grounds, especially walking in circles around the Centennial/eternal flame. 

Silly children.

We went to the zoo. We especially loved the lynx, farm animals, 

seeing Lucy the elephant, 

and playing on the whale bones!

The hopeful goat at the zoo did not get any food from us. Sorry!

And, in order for it to feel a little like spring, we went to the Muttart Conservatory. 

The Muttart is a great place to be when our plants haven't quite woken up yet.

Kyler came with us, which means... a picture of ME with the kids. 

Haha. 

And Kyler with them, too. 

And! Calista made a goal to play prelude on piano at church once a month, starting in March. 

We are super proud of her for having the courage to play, especially because she didn't wait for the hymns to be perfect before playing them. Sometimes if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly you do it anyway while you learn to do it better.

Happy Spring Break, even from Edmonton!

Family Photos 2022

While we were at the beach in Oregon, we got family photos taken.

Even if it wasn't quite the whole May family. 

Still, we had to document what we had.

Grammie and Grandpa Come To Town

For Craig's baptism and all just to see our family for the first time in a couple of years (except, of course me. Yay, Italy!), my parents came to visit us in February.

Of course, Craig's baptism was an important part of their trip, but it wasn't the only part.

Our big outing was going to Jasper. We had the kiddos and Kyler take a day off midweek and went to visit Jasper for the day! 

I had never been to Jasper in the winter, and my parents hadn't really been to Jasper at all. It was great, and surprisingly warm. I think the high was something close to 10 C / 50 F, which for Jasper in February felt pretty amazing!

Spooky Celebrations

In preparation for Halloween, I bought a watermelon. Because that's what you do. Caleb saw it and got really excited, but then begged to buy a pumpkin, too. So... he and I went to the store and bought a pumpkin, too.

Craig took over the watermelon, and Calista and Caleb worked on the pumpkin.

Craig did great, hollowing out the pumpkin nearly all by himself.

Calista and Caleb went to work on the pumpkin,

Though we quickly decided Caleb was a little too free with the knife and relegated him to eating watermelon.

Calista discovered that she had never gutted a pumpkin before

And she, surprisingly, loved the feel of the seeds and muck in her fingers.

After it was cleaned out, we got out the drill and let Calista go to town.

She loved using the drill, too. I think it made her feel powerful.

The finished products were pretty awesome.

Especially all lit up.

And Calista and Craig were both pretty proud of their creations.

As for costumes, Caleb went back and forth a bit before finding an owl costume in our costume box.

He fell in love with it, and decided that's what he wanted to be for Halloween.

When we went to Boo at the Zoo, we got a picture of Caleb with the snowy owl.

He loved it.

Craig informed me he wanted to be a pumpkin for Halloween. Why?

I don't know.

At first I thought I'd have to make one, because I had no idea where to find a pumpkin costume that fits a 7-year-old.

But, to my surprise and Craig's delight, I found one at the thrift store!

Complete with a jack o' lantern face. How perfect.

Calista was Elsa for Halloween, which has been a long time coming. 

The August Calista was 4, she decided what she wanted to be for Halloween... for the next 6 years. I might have laughed at the time, but here we are: Year 6. 

Her list is now complete. Never doubt a Calista when she makes plans.

My kids were all excited for their costumes, 

and I was pretty happy to have only spent about $20 on all three.

As previously mentioned, on Halloween itself we first went to Boo at the Zoo.

It was cold but not horrible, so we had a good time.

The white handed gibbon put on an especially good show,

And it was nice to get out of the house and do something as a family.

We also got out of the house that evening.

We hit up a few houses in our neighborhood

carried lanterns in our pockets and in our hands, 

And had an overall good time.

And got lots of candy.

Happy Halloween!