Catching up

Now that I've caught up on my vacation posts, you might (or not) be wondering what I've been up to in the past month.  Well, not much yet it has been busy.  Work, of course, takes up most of my daily routine.  The last two weeks were particularly busy because one of my staff have been on holidays and I've filling in for her.  It has been an interesting exercise...and that is all I will say about that.

The weekend after I returned home, the Canadian men's curling championship (the Brier) was held here in Regina.  I had purchased the championship weekend tickets as my Christmas gift to myself.  There was really incredible shot-making and I love the strategy of the game.  As one of the other spectators seated nearby said, "I haven't missed a shot all day".  

The photo isn't the greatest, it was taken with my cellphone as I didn't feel like lugging the camera bag with me.  The two teams in the final were Team Gushue (Team Canada - they won the event last year) and Team Bottcher (Team Alberta).  Gushue's name would be the most recognized, the team won the 2006 Olympic gold medal in curling.  Bottcher, however is a team to be reckoned with - they are a young team and I predict they will win a Brier in the not to distant future.  The game was decided on the last shot of the last end - in my mind that is the ultimate way for a game to end.  Both teams gave as good as they got and the spectators saw a thoroughly enjoyable game.

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The following weekend we celebrated Eli's first birthday.  While his birthday is actually March 2nd, the party was held on the 17th to allow for out of town guests.  It was those out of town guests who caused the most grief...they had booked an Airbnb, but before they arrived on Friday, they received an e-mail advising that the property wouldn't be available until Sunday.  My daughter D had picked them up off the bus, and without consulting me, brought them to my house.  Initially they, mom, dad and 7 month old daughter were going to sleep on the basement floor.  I felt that would be more disruptive, so gave up my bedroom (and bathroom) for the weekend.  Though I did tell them, they had to find a place by Sunday.  My generousity does have a limit.

D asked me to bring my camera; I took nearly 300 photos, but narrowed those down to about 180 after getting rid of the fuzzy shots of moving babies and children.  The afternoon turned out just as D had planned - the young ones had a great time, the adults too, and little Eli was spoiled rotten.  Here are just a few photos from the happy day.

The happy birthday boy!  
He's started smiling at me when I bring out the camera - and you can see a couple of his bottom teeth.  He's already got 9 teeth, six on top, including two molar and the third one on the bottom popped through the morning of the party.  Since then, his bottom molars are coming through as well....I know because I was dumb enough to stick my fingers in his mouth.  :p

I got such a kick out of this shot.  Eli and R are watching A take a bite out of the foam.  R looks a bit shocked!

The boys are close in age, R turned one in January, and little A is the 7 month old.  I was surprised that the three of them enjoyed the foam pit so much.  I suspect it is deeper than they are tall but they loved crawling around in it.  

The moms were keeping an eye on them here but I often spotted a baby who had crawled into the pit on their own.  Happy babies!

This is J, R's older brother. He is just over two years old, and a little shy.  He and Eli get along very well, as he walks and Eli's crawls and the two of them can get where they want to go very quickly.

Little R isn't crawling yet, though can scoot around on his bum.  He can move, but not as quickly as the other two and tends to get frustrated when they take off on him.

My daughter has coached gymnastics since she was a teenager, and had competed in trampoline as well.  She took Eli over to the large trampoline and jumped with him.  It may not appear that way, but he really enjoyed himself.  

She did too - after she passed Eli back to his dad, she did part of a routine...I assume the less difficult portion but watching her flip and turn brought back a lot of memories.  Good ones!

After 90 minutes on the gym floor, we moved upstairs to the party room, where the presents and birthday cupcakes were waiting.

After his mother lit the candle, Eli immediately grabbed the flame.  So there were a few tears but he quickly made a dive into his cupcake and all was forgiven.

There are a stack of presents behind him.  There was a set of blocks (which went to Dad's house), a small rocking horse (which went to Dad's house), clothing, books, and a teddy bear.  Remember how I said he was spoiled...and note how all the large toys went to Dad's house?  My house is overflowing with Eli's stuff already!

There were a few minutes of animosity between D and J but the two held it together for the afternoon.  She was unhappy as he had arrived over a half hour late - because his back hurt.   To ensure I didn't say anything untoward, I hid behind my camera, hence the reason for 300 photos.  While I know that Eli won't remember his birthday, I can share these photos and tell him all about when he gets older.

Our house guests left mid-afternoon on Sunday, thankfully so I had a few hours of housework and laundry done. It made for one very busy and tiring weekend!  This past weekend, on the other hand, was quiet.  I did watch the women's World Curling championship - Team Canada (Team Jones) did us proud and came home with the gold medal.  Eli watched some of it with me; when I tell him, "hurry hard, great shot!" he claps his hands. What a character!

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Last Friday, we got another dump of snow, about 10 cms. along with wind to blow it around.  I was out mid-afternoon shovelling as the driveway had blown in.  C got home shortly after 5 p.m. after a 45 minute commute that would normally take no more than 15-20 minutes.  By 6 p.m. the snow had stopped falling, and the wind wasn't blowing so I headed off to dinner with friends.  D was running out to a children's clothing pre-sale so left Eli with his uncle.  I got a text just before I left the restaurant, "this kid could use a diaper change and his mom is in no hurry to come home".  I arrived home to this little stinker (literally) who was undressed, wiped off, and popped in the tub immediately.  OMG I'd forgotten how bad a toddler's poop can smell!  He sure looks pretty proud of himself, doesn't he?  

On that note, I suspect that's TMI and I'll end this post.  Have a great week everyone!