I doubt there's anyone out there still bothering to check in on this blog - and I don't blame them -but despite my slacking I'm still in this, for the girls. There never seems to be enough time in the day to do it all (and remain sane) and the blog is often at the bottom of the list, but I'm not giving up on myself!

So what have we been up to since June? We managed to have a fabulous summer, despite the horrible weather we had out here, thanks to our camping adventures. We had many wonderful weekends with friends, with family, on our own, by lakes and in the mountains, in rain and hail and sunny weather. The girls, Mehdi and I spent 10 days on a family holiday traipsing around BC, a trip the girls are still talking about longingly. I went in our little camper a few days ago and just the smell of it had me eager for next summer so we can get out there again.

This fall, I'm teaching part-time again and the girls are both in school (Anissa, grade 2; Eli in preschool and part-time daycare). Maybe for the next post (sometime soon, I'm promising myself!) Ill write a little bit about the girls and what they're up to these days. For now, some shots from our summer vacation:

Conversation in the car today:

Elianne: "Oh no, oh no. There are holes in my leggings. Mom, why'd you give me leggings with holes to wear?"

Me: "Your leggings have holes? Your purple ones? Oh, I didn't notice."

Elianne: (who must wear "fancy" clothes at all times and changes outfits many many times a day and gets very upset if we try to convince her to wear anything remotely practical or something that is any color but purple or pink) "Oh no! Oh nooooooo!" -begins to wail - "Oh, this is terrible! The holes in my leggings are YELLOW!"

Me: "Huh? The holes are yellow? What do you mean? Calm down, Elianne!"

Elianne: "Oh, not yellow! Not yellow! I don't like yellow! I want purple!" (crying)

Me: "What do you mean they're yellow?"

Anissa: "Elianne, that's your SKIN."

Elianne: (stops crying) "Oh."

We finally did it. The planets had lined up and the conditions were right: sunshine. No snow in the forecast. So, after months of waiting, we hooked that 21 foot beast in our driveway to the back of Mehdi's "new" car and pulled it out of the big city and into Kananaskis country.

Camping! One of the first things I told Mehdi when we decided to move to Alberta, a little over three years ago, was that we were going to have to become a camping family. Embrace the outdoors, all that stuff. That's the thing to do in Alberta. Mind you, many Albertan families are lucky (= wealthy) enough to embrace the outdoors in 30-some feet of luxury trailer, complete with satellite dishes and master suites. Ours is not so fancy, but it has everything we need for a comfortable holiday. And after our test run this weekend, I can confirm that we made a great choice.

I can't tell you how happy I felt to be out there, in this gorgeous campground with a mossy, beautiful forest and the sun shining and the smell of pine. We got there on Saturday, cooked a tasty dinner, roasted marshmallows around the fire. After putting the kids to bed in their bunk beds, Mehdi and I drank Baileys and hot chocolate around the fire. And when it was adult bedtime too, we kicked in the heat in our little home-away-from-home and thanked God we weren't in a tent! The Rockies are chilly at night, even on a hot day.

Nothing particularly exciting happened on our adventure. The girls had fun building pretend fire pits in the woods behind our campsite, running and jumping over fallen logs, and making a nature collection. Mehdi and I enjoyed having no phone/internet/TV to distract us. It was peaceful.

I can't wait for more!

Elianne is sounding so grown-up these days. Or, more accurately, she's sounding like a teenager! She's got a dark sense of humour, and doesn't hesitate to share her opinion on everything. A few examples:

When my parents were here a few weeks ago, my Mom and Elianne made chocolate chip muffins. Later, my Dad and Elianne went for a stroll and Elianne filled him in on what the ingredients were: flour, eggs, water, sticks and some rocks. She said it very seriously, with a sneaky look in her eye. When I got home from work, she offered me a muffin. As soon as I took a bite, she said, without even blinking, "Oh, Mom, watch out. They look like chocolate chips but it's actually dog poo." Yum.

Yesterday, while we were eating dinner Anissa asked about how exactly cows make milk. Mehdi and I were trying our best to explain, and trying to work out the details between us (for an ex-farm girl, I'm not very savvy on the science behind it all). Anissa was asking questions and it was quite the educational moment until we were interrupted by a very loud sigh from Elianne. "You guys, can we stop talking about this already? It's so BOWING!" (=boring)

As for any news, not much going on here. Just waiting for winter to end (yes, still snowing here, as I write) so we can use the camper we bought months ago. At this rate, we'll have a few weeks to use it before the next winter hits. Wherever you are as you read this, please send some sunshine this way! We're desperate.

(Note: this pic was taken a few weeks ago, during a pocket of nice spring weather, after Anissa's school spectacle at the university.)

Oh, Easter bunny, you were far too good to us this year. And Mom, so were you. We made a trip up north for Easter weekend and ate a ridiculous amount of chocolate, pies, and amazing meals. We started off with a BBQ at my brother's, then continued the feasting over at my parents' where we had an Easter treasure hunt and a sleepover with the big cousins. The kids had their usual country fun riding the quad, feeding the horses and just getting dirty outside. The weekend was so much fun that Anissa and Elianne first cried then complained about leaving for a good portion of the trip back to Calgary. Considering that it's a 6 hour drive, you can imagine how happy Mehdi and I were to finally park in our driveway.

(Only Matayla, my oldest niece, is missing from this photo. She was working her part-time job at a convenience store, which Anissa and Elianne think is the coolest gig ever. )

Spring has arrived, thought somewhat moodily, here in Calgary. Thus our weekend activities have changed from things like sledding and skating to biking and Mehdi's favorite, soccer. Mehdi has signed up to coach Anissa's soccer team this season, and since she is now in U8 (anyone who turns 7 or 8 this year plays together) things will be more serious with one practice and one game a week. He's been studying some How to Coach Soccer books and, after a trip to Canadian Tire this weekend to buy a pink soccer ball, took the girls out for a pre-season warm-up. I stayed home to paint our front door while they headed to our neighborhood field, and when they got back the girls proudly announced that they beat Papa 10 to 6. Go girls go!

I've got a camera that's giving me trouble, so I've been a slacker about taking photos lately. I did snap these shots the weekend before last, though, on Mehdi's blackberry...the girls are with their friends Storm and Aurora, hanging out at the conservation area near our house. They enjoyed the playground at the bottom of the hill, but spent most of their time carrying around an old tree, trying to find the right sized rock to balance it on and make a see-saw. Spring, gotta love it!

It's usually Elianne that has us laughing with mispronunciations and word mix-ups (although less and less these days - that girl can talk!) but today it was Anissa. She was watching me pull things out of the dishwasher and asked, "Is that a pistachio or a fly-smacker?"

What was it? A large spatula!

Three years ago at this time, I was walking around the house trying to decide whether my contractions were real or a side effect of the membrane sweep the midwife had done to try to get things started. Turns out, they were legit and a few hours later we packed up and headed to the hospital. At 8 the next morning Elianne made her grande entrance. It was love at first sight. Our olive-skinned, brown-eyed girl has been wowing us with her joyful presence ever since.

Yesterday, we celebrated that special day with a butterfly-themed party with friends. The kids made crafts, played parachute games and jumped in the bouncy house. Eli was so excited about her cake that she blew out the 3-shaped candle before I even had a chance to set it on the table in front of her. Yup, it's official: she's a big girl now.

After the party, Mehdi and I put the kids to bed and settled in to watch a movie; The Counterfeiter. It's based on the true story of a group of Jewish concentration camp prisoners who were forced to forge currency to fund the Nazi effort. The combination of fatigue from the party-prep, feeling sentimental about my baby turning three, and the emotions the movie stirred up had me unable to sleep. I had to sneak in the girls' room, watch them sleep and kiss their soft little cheeks. I've got it so, so good.

Elianne turns three in a few weeks and was thus allowed early entry into Le Capucine, the preschool at Anissa's school. We were all excited about our plan to drive the girls this morning as a family, and take Elianne to her very first day of "l'ecole". Unfortunately, Anissa woke up in the middle of the night with a fever so Mehdi stayed home with her, giving me the pleasure of taking Eli in for the big day.

Elle Belle had a funny, shy look on her face for the 15 minutes or so that I stayed in class, nodding her head and pretending that she understood whatever the teacher said to her in French. When I said goodbye, she was sitting with a group of girls playing with dolls - and I felt so proud of how well she handled it all. When Mehdi picked her up, the teacher said she had been a little sad after I left but quickly got over it and did very well. At dinner, when we all shared our favorite part of the day (a little dinner routine) she said hers was when the teacher sprinkled dust on her hands to make an elephant craft. Hmmmm...I'm still trying to figure that one out!

The Shy Look

I try hard not to pigeon-hole the girls into any kind of category, but I do find myself thinking of Anissa as the athletic one and Elianne as the more "girly" of the two. I really should give Eli more credit though: she's tinier than Anissa was at this age and not nearly as physical, but she makes up for some of that with her determination. This weekend, for example, we spent both Saturday and Sunday afternoons out enjoying the sun, sledding and skating. We had some little skates I had bought for Anissa in New Hampshire and never used, so we brought them along thinking Eli would last a few minutes then Mehdi would pull her around in the sled. She surprised us, though, with her stamina and enthusiasm. After over an hour skating on Saturday, mostly pushing a chair, she graduated to skating on her own by Sunday. (And thanks to our friend Wendy, whose little girl Sydney is pushing the chair beside Anissa and I, we have photos to mark the occasion - I have been so lazy about taking photos lately!)

Happy 2010!

We had a lovely crowd of friends attend our first ever New Year's Afternoon/Eve Open House, and did a countdown at 9 (we yelled, "Happy New Year in Nova Scotia!") in case the kids, especially the younger ones, didn't make it until midnight. Turns out they all made it for the real thing, with the exception of Elianne who finally succumbed to sleep at about 11:50.

After the confetti had been swept up from the party and the champagne flutes put away, we spent a wonderful few days doing absolutely NOTHING. We hadn't done that in a long time and it was sooo great. Thus we had time for such pursuits as the game Elianne accidentally invented one morning: "Shoot the hair elastic at the popcorn ceiling and see if it sticks". Good times.

Merry (belated) Christmas everyone!

We've been up north celebrating with my family and are now back in Calgary getting ready for a New Years bash at our house. I was lazy and didn't take many pictures at Christmas (I'll steal some later from my sister-in-law ;) but here's a fun shot from Zoolights here in Calgary before we left. We've gone every Christmas since we've moved here (3!), and with the same friends, so I guess we are starting to form some Calgary traditions. It was slightly chilly but the snow was so beautiful and the girls were having the time of their lives. I don't think I've ever seen Elianne so excited, and she had to run up and touch nearly every set of lights that were in a shape that caught her eye (ooh, giraffes! oooh, flamingos!). Only Mehdi, the African of the family, was suffering in the cold...so the girls and I bought him the warmest pair of mittens we could find for Christmas. There will, after all, be more of these outings to come.

It's cold and blowing outside and we're not sure we'll ever get our cars out of the giant drift in our driveway, but the girls don't seem bothered by a day stuck inside. Mehdi and I are both tackling the piles of marking we have to get done for our classes, but the girls are happily entertaining themselves with a game of "Native American ". (See costumes below; one pair of Chinese pajamas, one jerba from Dubai.) As I write this, they've moved on to creating a realistic-looking firepit in the teepee they've constructed out of chairs and blankets in the dining room.

Their little adventure had me reminiscing about Anissa's earlier obsession with Native Americans back when we lived in New Hampshire. Her first month of preschool, she started asking me odd questions like,"Do Americans drive cars?" and it had me wondering whether Mehdi and I were spending too much time analyzing the American/versus Canadian way of life. That is, until we realized she was asking about the Native Americans of long-ago that they were studying at school. (Just now I heard Elianne declaring, "I am American!" to which I had to agree that, yes, she is indeed!)

Notice anything off with Anissa's smile? Her two front teeth have been loose for weeks now and keep moving closer into the middle, sideways, in all kinds of crazy directions, but refuse to fall out. I can't help cracking up every time she greets me with one of her kooky grins.

Oh, my girls, my sweet little girls. I must kiss them a zillion times a day. Someday they won't put up with it anymore, so I'm sneaking in as many as I can right now!

Way back I-don't-remember-when, maybe even right after last Halloween, Anissa decided she wanted to be a dolphin for Halloween this year. My Dad always helped me assemble my Halloween outfits as a kid, and we came up with some pretty awesome costumes: Erik the Red, with real fur garments and a Viking helmet; a mad trapper (reused those furs!); Miss Piggy in a sequined dress. I have fond memories of the time we spent together building those out of whatever we had at home, so I thought I would try my hand at making a dolphin costume.

(Okay, I confess...I first did a few checks of local thrift stores in case I would stumble across a more convenient option. I also searched online and found a $1600 mascot costume. Hmmm...)

I don't sew and don't have a sewing machine, but I found a few ideas online and melded them together to make my own plan. Anissa helped me pick out the felt and I set off on a hot-glue-gunning adventure. Earlier last week, Elianne watched Anissa try her costume on and declared that she no longer wanted to be a princess. She wanted to be a dolphin too. Back to the fabric store, but there was bad news: the grey felt was sold out. So I had to buy the expensive, 3 times the price per meter, heavy duty felt in order to make a second dolphin. The next day, Elianne changed her mind yet again (upon receiving a horse costume from friends) and we now have one and a half dolphin costumes.

Fast forward to Halloween night. I was curious what Elianne would decide to wear ("Please, don't say you want to be a dolphin," I mentally pleaded, as the hot-glue gun was not even plugged in to finish the job). To my surprise, she announced she wanted to be Dora. This is why, in the photo above, she just looks like a regular girl out gathering candy. There was no time to throw together a freakishly-large brown bob wig, and there was no way I was cutting her hair. Oh, and by the way, the photo doesn't do my dolphin justice. It looks much better from the side ;)

A few shots of our little family taken this Thanksgiving weekend by my sister-in-law's sister, Tyla Lippai.

There has been a pretty big change in our household lately: Mommy's got a job! I've taken on a contract teaching ESL to adults with the Calgary School Board's adult ed department. It's only four mornings a week and only until Christmas, but since Elianne still naps in the afternoon, I see much less of her. Luckily, it worked out that Mehdi could be at home with her two mornings and she goes to a good friend's in the neighborhood the other two days. While it's gone relatively smoothly so far, the teaching and all the prep and correcting makes for a lot more juggling and much less "flex" time than we're used to.

Being a working Mom for the first time has me appreciating even more the time I get with the girls...like the day we took this photo, on a "hike" we went on at Nose Hill Park near our house. It was gorgeous, and lasted about...well, 10 whole minutes. Elianne was in an especially whiny mood and wouldn't walk at all, so we packed it in and went to Costco for lunch instead.

I was downstairs in the kitchen this evening and heard Elianne calling from the bathroom. "Nobody come wipe my bum?"

Mehdi, who was also upstairs, offered to help then corrected her, saying, "You mean, somebody." Her reply, "I want my Mom to be somebody!", had me laughing. I will try harder to be somebody, my little one.

I wrote this 11 days ago and never uploaded it:

11 days and Anissa is back at school. Grade One! I was picturing her sitting at a desk, doing actual work -unlike the dress-up, toy kitchen, circle and nap time activities of kindergarten - and I got worried that she would be disappointed with all the changes. I brought it up with her today (after a shopping trip for new school shoes, during which the only purchase was a pair of shoes for me), hoping to gently break it to her that grade one was less play and more work. "Oh, don't worry, Mom," she said, "We went to the grade one classroom and the teacher showed us the bigger kid toys." I asked her what they looked like and she shrugged and said, "I don't know what they were. I'd never seen them before." Maybe they're manipulatives for math? Puppets? I taught grade one ages ago during my practice teaching and don't remember many toys around. I think Anissa's going to be fine. The one who will suffer most from the return to school will be Elianne, as her big sister and full-time Activities Coordinator will be no longer be around to schedule the day with craft time, story time, gym and role play.

August, like July, has been flying by at a crazy speed. The girls and I spent 10 days up at my parents' sort-of farm, and Anissa can now identify more garden vegetable plants than I can. The girls did all the usual - riding the tractor and quad, gardening, helping Dad take care of the horses - and I attended my 20 (!!!) year high school reunion. Mehdi met us up there for a weekend of camping and boating with all the family. One night as the sun was setting over the lake and we were sitting around the campfire, Anissa came up to me and whispered, "Mom, I think this might have been the very best day of my whole entire life. I'm not sure yet, because it's not totally over, but so far it's been fantastic." Her voice was giddy with joy while she described all the things that were so great about that day: roasting marshmallows, boating with her cousins, playing on the beach, watching fireworks, and sleeping in a camper.

Yup, summer is good. Maybe too short, but I guess that makes us appreciate it more. At least that's what I tell myself whenever I question our sanity over choosing to live in a place with such a harsh climate!

Well, today was Anissa's first day of Grade One. All went well, and her only disappointment was that she didn't get any homework yet!