Julia and Emily's World

Julia started her next level of swimming lessons. She's a "Sunfish"! Her class is all girls with a girl instructor so she's happy. Later Saturday Julia went for a much needed haircut. For dinner we met up with Papere, Grandma and Auntie Weezie at Montana's. Papere treated. We got home in time to celebrate Earth Hour. To mark the occasion we turned off all lights that could be seen through windows at the front of the house and retreated to the interior of the house where the lights were on (see Julia Bowling). This way it LOOKED like we were participating! We had the skunk trap set for 6 nights and no skunk. I was pretty sure that it was gone so today I lifted up a couple of deck boards to peek underneath. He was gone but I could see where he use to hide. I blocked off all the openings. Now we have to call the catchers to come get their trap. What a waste of money!

Julia doesn't know it but she comes from a family of great bowlers (I'm not one of them). We bought her a toy bowling set to see if she has the skills! Check her out.

It was nice to have a long weekend. On Friday Grandma, Pepere, and Auntie Weezie came over to help prepare for Sunday's Easter dinner. Grandma, Pepere and Mommy worked on the cabbage rolls and Julia and Auntie Weezie worked on the cake. I worked the TV from my recliner. Saturday we went to Grandma and Papa's for dinner. The cousins were there and we went for a swim. On Sunday we had Easter dinner at home with Grandparents (both sets), Auntie Weezie and Uncle Louis. Julia kept everyone busy playing dress up. We had a good dinner and everyone over ate! Oh by the way, the skunk smell is gone but the skunk is still here. We can see his fresh tracks everyday and he is now digging up the grass. We have a wildlife trapper coming tomorrow to set a trap.

Oh no! A skunk sprayed in our backyard on Wednesday morning and now our house stinks of skunk! I could see tracks in the backyard leading to an opening to under the deck. What I don't know is whether the skunk is still under there. I'm scared to check but I certainly don't want to lock that thing under there. We aired the house out in the evening and got alot of the smell out but we closed the windows at bedtime and by this morning the smell was back. I think it's because the deck still stinks. Now we have fabric softener sheets stuffed in the air vents and bowls of coffee grounds in each room to mask the smell. Tomorrow I have a wildlife catcher coming over to give me an estimate to seal up the deck and get rid of the critter(s). Unfortunately it won't be cheap (over $400). I may have to try to tackle this one myself (...like the Crocodile Hunter!). Anyone want to help me?

NOT ME! but Julia seems to like it! Today she was playing in the snow with neighbour Nicky. They had fun. I can't wait for it to all melt. Here are some photos. In one photo Nicky is eating an icicle...she picked it off my car! Yuck!

Friday we went to Grandma and Pepere's for dinner. Grandma made a nice pork roast. On Saturday Uncle Louis came over for dinner. He missed Julia's birthday party so he also gave Julia her birthday present. On Sunday Julia went to church in the morning. She told me that Pepere was there too. It was good to hear that Pepere was well enough to attend. In the afternoon we went to Grandma and Papa's for dinner and a swim.      

Pictures of tonight's lunar eclipse. Not the best shots but the best my camera could do hand held. The first shot is early in the eclipse. The second shot is during the full eclipse phase. Awesome colour. Unfortunately the shutter speed had to be very slow so getting a clear shot hand held was impossible.

Today was Julia's birthday party! What fun! All of Julia's cousins and Jenna and Russell came to celebrate with Julia. All the kids had lots of fun in the basement and were eager to make lots of noise! Thank you everyone for the generous gifts! Unfortunately Grandma and Papere couldn't come. We missed them.

Pictures from Valentine's Day at Julia's daycare.

More pictures from Julia's daycare birthday party.

Today is Julia's birthday. She is 4! What a big girl! The daycare had a "party" for her and Mommy and Grandma came by to celebrate. This evening Grandma, Papere and Auntie Weezie came over for dinner and cake (chili was for dinner...Julia's choice). Julia got a train set and clothes from Grandma, Papere and Auntie Weezie. She also got a kitchen and a mermaid costume from Mommy and Daddy. She was very excited about all her presents. Julia is looking forward to her party with her cousins this weekend!

Today was picture day at swimming lessons where parents were allowed to bring a camera on the pool deck. There was only 2 kids in Julia's class today (usually there are 4). Here are a few pics.

Saturday was Andrew's 5th Birthday Party. Wow! Lot's of kids. The magician was pretty good. All the kids enjoyed it. He was entertaining and I couldn't figure out most of his tricks.

On Saturday we visited Grandma and Papa. Also there were Andrew, Nathan, Auntie Debbie and Uncle Bob. Grandma treated us all to dinner at East Side Mario's. It was a bit of a disaster. After being told that a table would be 20-25 minutes it turned out to be over an hour and 20 minutes! In the end they gave us free appitizers and the kids ate free. The kids were really good waiting for a table. Only a few "I'm STARVING!"s from each of them. Once we got a table the food and service was good. After dinner we went back to Grandma's for a swim.

This morning poor Julia survived a very traumatic experience. As I was clearing the snow off the car, the doors to the car locked with the car running and Julia inside! Tailgate?...LOCKED! Passenger door?...LOCKED! Drivers door?...LOCKED! I check all doors - THREE TIMES! OHHH NOOO! I have a spare set of car keys in the house but my house keys are hanging from the ignition! Panic starts to set in. I need to get in the house. Then I realize I have my cell phone in my pocket. Yes! Grandma has a spare key to the house so I can just call Grandma. One problem, I DON'T have Grandma's number on my cell phone! I'll call Sheryl to call her Mom. VOICE MAIL!!! and my cell battery is dying! Finally I get a hold of Auntie Weezie and she brings over the spare key. 20 minutes into the ordeal I am finally back in my car. Poor Julia. She sat in the warm car (climate controlled at a temperate 24C) watching the Backyardigans laughing at me and oblivious to my plight. Seriously, ...

Today was Julia's first class of her swimming class. This is the first swimming class she has taken without me going in the pool with her. She was a little bit nervous but didn't hesitate to go with the teacher and the rest of her class. One little boy was very active and splashing the others getting Julia in the face a few times. Julia didn't like it but she sat quietly. Overall I could see that she had a lot of fun. She is looking forward to going next week.

Happy New Year! This afternoon we went to Mama's house for the annual New Year's Day feast. We wish everyone all the best in 2008!

Just picked up today!

Julia loves her new bath robe from Auntie Linda!

On Saturday we had a party with all our friends. It was great to see everyone. It has been a long time since the last time we all got together so there was a lot of catching up to do. All the kids had fun playing in the basement and upstairs in the toy room. Hopefully we can do it again soon!