Good luck Jake! You've come a long way!

The twins and I just dropped Jake and his dad off at the airport. They are on their way to Chicago, where Jake will compete in the North American championships in Irish Dance. We're so proud!

Five or six years ago, Jonathan saw a sign outside of our neighbourhood community centre, advertising Irish Dancing, alongside a sign for martial arts. Jake was given the choice (at 5 years old) and chose the dancing. No surprise there. We struck gold. His instructor was fresh off the Riverdance tour and was starting up her own school. Cara was a sweetheart and Jake loved her immediately. What started off as a recreational, fun activity for Jake, soon became a competitive passion that has somewhat defined him. When Cara's boyfriend, Mark joined in the teaching, Jake now had a male dancer to be inspired by and he caught the bug.

He has come such a long way.


(Jake with good buddy, Kera, beside him)

We asked him why his hands were in his pockets and he innocently replied, "well I wasn't wearing any underwear and it's the only way I could keep my pants up!".

Jake has had his struggles in dance and it was in class that it was most apparent that he was challenged with focus and attention issues. It's amazing that Cara and Mark lasted all these years with him, and that Jake managed to persevere through it to come to this level. But if you know Jake, you know that he's a natural born performer. He hits the stage and as Cara nicknamed him, he's the "Shocker". After suffering through practices of not paying attention or getting his steps right, once he's on the stage, he's "on" and nails it.

(Cara, Will, Jake and Mark)

There's an amazing camaraderie that is formed with these kids, especially from all the travel to various feisanna. It's not an easy thing to be a boy who loves to dance, and it's nice to know that Jake found an extended family with the girls in his class (and not to forget Will who recently joined the competitive ranks!).

(Kera and Jake at a feis in Edmonton)

I wish I had some video of Jake competing, but since filming isn't allowed, here is some footage from St. Patty's Day this year, at our favourite coffee shop in Calgary (Garden's Grace) with Lauren, Clare and Roisin).

So Good Luck Jake! Can't wait to hear the results on Thursday. xo

 

Check out our boy!

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I've got lots to update you on, but need my sleep more. Update to come..

But in the meantime, please take a minute to head over and check out our Jake's new blog. He'd love for you to drop him a note and follow him.

Willowjak Sibling

Paranoia or Preparedness in Calgary?

I think I walk a fine line between being crazy and being responsible. Here is a simple scenario as an example:
- we'll have plans to spend the day in Banff. I'll pack a bag of extra clothes and jackets. Another bag of food and snacks. I make sure we've got the car charger for the kids' ipods. I make sure we've got a towel or two in case someone gets soaked. In all my 'craziness', I even make sure that the kids have gone to the toilet before getting them in the car.

Now my husband will roll his eyes and be irritated that I'm taking too long to get ready while I run around getting all of this stuff together. But this is the same guy who will be using all of the items I've packed. This is also the same husband who has more than once buckled the kids into their seat belts and driven away, not realizing that his children didn't have shoes on their feet. It's an ongoing argument between us. That I see myself as being proactive and prepared whereas Jonathan is reactive and unorganized. He plans for nothing, things go awry, then he blames everyone else for his lack of foresight.

What brings me to this conversation is the fact that we've had a ton of rain in the past week here in Calgary and we're looking at a forecast for more. Banff National Park has had record snow accumulation this past winter and that means that the snow is soon going to melt. The Banff townsite, Canmore and the Bow Valley are already dealing with flooding and Calgary sits just downstream along the Bow River. Environment Canada issue rainfall warning as flooding fears continue. How does this affect me? Well I care about stuff like this. I follow the news and get weather and emergency alerts sent to my phone. In 2005, the year before we moved to Calgary, the city experienced some pretty terrible flooding (see 2005 Calgary Flood).  Any Calgarian will simply shrug their shoulders and say "that's Calgary for ya! What else would you expect for June weather?".

So knowing all of this, am I crazy or responsible if I feel that I need to prepare for a possible flood? I'm not saying that I'm going to be sandbagging a barricade around my home and I haven't run out and bought a boat to park outside my front door. I'm just saying that I'm being aware, I'm watching the news and I'm making mental notes. If water starts to pool at the bottom of the slope in my backyard, what do I do about it so that it doesn't start leaking into my basement? We only live about 800m away from the Bow River. We're on the flood plain. Is it so crazy to be cautious?

When I look out my window and see something unusual, like someone sitting in a parked car that seems out of place on my street, I take a mental note of the car description in case I need to recall it later. If I'm walking in a dark and empty parking garage to my car, I hold my keys between my fingers ready to jab them and my cell phone in the other hand with the 9-1-.... already dialed. Is that paranoia?

Jake has always had a lot of irrational fears that we've always blown off to an over-active imagination. They haven't gotten better as he's gotten older, they're actually getting worse. He's also a mind-racer. He doesn't sleep well because he can't settle the thoughts going through his brain. What's interesting is that I am realizing how alike he and I are. I wonder if many of the fears are rooted in the pages of the many books we both read. I think the thing that separates us is that I am older (ahemm.. I mean, wiser) and have the experience to know that the likelihood that any of my fears will come to life is next to nothing, but I also have the capability to do something about it so that I am prepared if those fears come true. I think my job is to pass on my 'preparedness' to Jake to equip him with some tools so that he can focus on what he can do instead of focusing on what he has no control over.

Now I'm going to sign off so I can go check the weather report and make sure I know someone with a sub-pump. If you're in Calgary and want to follow and worry with me, I found a good site: Flood Watch

Memorable Moments

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I had a scare this week. My laptop went kaput over a month ago and I didn't have the money or the courage to call up my computer guy to repaire it. I needed the courage to find out first, whether or not I could afford the repair and second, I needed the courage to face the possibility that I may have lost all of my photographs and videos taken in the past two years. My own stupidity caused me to not bother to backup everything on to my external hard drive. I've learned my lesson. Lucky for me, Johan~ said computer guy~ manage to salvage all of my stored documents, but the bad news is that I just nearly paid a car payment on the cost of the repair for my replaced hard drive.

Having my pictures back gave me the chance to browse through some again and reminisce. I was even more thrilled to find yet another blogging game that would satisfy that need.

This is one of my favourite photographs. It was taken last summer and when I see it, I can't help but remember the beautiful location where it was shot. It was our one and only, first family holiday. We rented a cottage in the Shuswaps, British Columbia. We had waited a long time for Owen and Will to be ready for such a thing. Prior to that vacation, they hadn't slept in any bed but their own. All of our fears ended up being unfounded and the holiday was a success. This particular photo of Jake makes me laugh everytime I see it. Two seconds before the shot, I had just told Jacob that I could see Shirley the Shuswap Monster swimming up behind him. You've never seen a kid doggy paddle so fast. :)

Jake's a Celebrity!

So he's not exactly a celebrity, but he is a tv star (in our minds anyway). Today at school, Jake participated in a Wordapalooza at his school, where various authors held workshops with the kids. Jake got his mug on the camera and the opportunity to show off his rhyming skills.

Click on the link below 'Rhymers' and watch the newsclip for yourself. He's the gorgeous poet in the navy blue.

Rhymers Tue, Jan 27 - One southwest Calgary school spent the day getting its kids in touch with their “inner author.”

Divas pretending to hate the paparazzi

It feels like yesterday when Jake's favourite music was anything sung on Sesame Street. But with the school bus came a bus driver whose method of keeping the kids under control is to crank up the pop 40 tunes. Now I've got a seven year old who knows all the words to such songs as Britney's "Womanizer" or Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl".

Lucky for Jake, Devon has come into our lives and shares many of his interests. Call it what you want (immaturity or poor taste??) but it's made Jake a happier kid.

This video cracks me up. The goofballs just sat there singing with smiles on their faces, waiting for their photo to be taken.

Boom & Retro Sno Cones

Auntie Boom came out for a short but sweet visit. It was sweet because Steph missed out on Ontario's 20+ degree temperatures, only to instead revisit what Ontario has gone through all winter long-- another snow storm but this time in Calgary!

While here, Boom and Jake busted out the old skool Snoopy Sno Cone machine. I found this toy gem at a specialty toy store in the West Ed Mall. Ah! the memories....

Avert your eyes towards the end of the clip. I just noticed that there's a streaker in our living room...

Prizefighter

It's Christmas Eve. It just wouldn't be Christmas if someone in the family didn't get hurt or sick. Under Poppa's watch ;) Will jumped off the back of a loveseat, thus knocking it over. Unfortunately for Jake, his head was pinned under the couch. Jonathan likens the scene to the Wicked Witch's demise in the Wizard of Oz, with only her legs sticking out from the house on top of her. It really isn't funny. When Pop came upon the scene, it appeared that Jake had broken his arm. Owen and Will were oblivious to Jake's screams as he was pinned underneath, they were both standing on the couch that was on top of his face.

Poor Jake got another tooth knocked out (one that wasn't loose yet). His nose is swollen and he's got a great shiner, not to mention the rug burn all over his face. His one lone top front tooth is hanging by a thread, but there is no chance that Jake is ready to pull that one out. Meanwhile he looks like he just lost a boxing match. He really is lucky he didn't break his nose or require stitches.

A Good Day

There is soooo much to update, but I think I've been in hiding. It's just so hard to put it all into words and it's even harder to find the time to type it.

In the meantime, you'll have to be satisfied with these photos of our good day. The twins' therapy was light and fun today as we come into the holidays. They got to decorate gingerbread cookies with Melanie and Sherri and they did pretty well.

Will and Melanie enjoy tasting their work

Owen's not unhappy, he's just got a mouthful. Notice the icing sugar all over Sherri.

When Jake got home from school, he was presented with a gingerbread cookie that his brothers made for him. There is nothing better than hanging with the boys when they are all happy and loving each other. Admittedly, it's a rare occasion. But that makes it even more special.

Tooth and Tears

Another milestone for me today. My baby, my firstborn, my little man.. he's one step closer to not being so little anymore. Jacob's had a loose tooth since August. His hanging on to a tooth that has long been ready to let go, is much like his mom's desire to hang on to her little boy's last precious moments of childhood. So what if he gets his drama for me. I love him for it. And my heart broke when he started to bawl his eyes out when that tooth fell out.

Almost got it...

Growing up isn't all it's cut out to be

Jonathan reminded us of early days when Jacob was just an infant with his gummy smile. We told Jake how his Mom and Dad would check his gums everyday with the pad of our thumbs to see if the first tooth was ready to poke its way through. I think Jake got a kick out of hearing how excited we once were just to see a first tooth! It made me realize how quickly the time has gone. So when Jake cried real tears and said "I don't want it to go. I don't want to get bigger. I'm gonna look awful!", I tried to console him like any parent would and tell him that his fears were unfounded. But really I wanted to say "You have every reason to cry! It goes by so fast! Hang on to every minute!"

Our 2nd Halloween in Calgary

Wow. It took a holiday for it to really sink in that we have been living out here for more than one year. Last night we were lucky enough to start some new traditions.. or at least, continue with a couple that we started last year. Halloween is always a chaotic holiday with the mad search for pieces of costumes, the chaos that is probably attributed to sugar overload and the crazy rush to feed the kids a proper dinner, trying to get the kids on webcam in their costumes for the grandparents and to get them out the door for trick or treating before it gets too late. We pulled it off and as we were driving home last night, I realized that this was probably our first holiday EVER that happened as it should. We were a normal family, celebrating in a normal way (with our normal share of blips of course). No tantrums. Cool kids. Lots of treats. Relieved parents.

Jake and I carved our pumpkin the night before. He says it was the grossest thing he's ever done. I tend to agree. Who likes touching pumpkin guts? Which reminds me, I still have to roast the seeds. Does anyone have any interesting variations of the 'recipe/instructions' to do this to spice it up a little?

Jake decided to make his own costume this year, from items in his dress-up chest. While we were searching through it all, Will decided to participate. He'd put on a mask or a pair of glasses, then run to the mirror to check himself out.

I can't help laughing everytime I see this pic. Look closely at the eye-hole of the mask.

So if you know our Jake, you'll know that he is a holiday-lover. He's not just in it for the candy and the presents, but he really treats a holiday like it's an opportunity to do nice things for the people you care about, or the chance to decorate, or to make a card. So when he woke up yesterday morning and as Jonathan was rushing to go to work, I think Jonathan snapped at him for something. Jake says "thanks a lot, Dad. And I was just about to wish you a happy halloween. Thanks for ruining my holiday". Ever the drama-queen. Love him.

All of the boys had parties at their school, I was only able to attend the one for Owen & Will. What a fun time. Chaotic, but fun. This year the boys have 5 children in their preschool class every morning. This year Zachary was Buzz Lightyear (his little sister & baby brother also joined us), Owen M. was Clifford the Big Red Dog (his sis Ella was a dinosaur), Eric was a pumpkin. Will was Shrek and our Owen was Donkey. One of the agency's directors also brought her two children as well.

The boys' preschool is located in an office complex and the school's neighbours are really good about participating in the festivities that the school puts on. Most of them had decorated their doors to the hallway just for our boys and also had treats waiting for the door-to-door trick or treating.

After the trick-or-treating, the boys had circle time in the classroom. I love watching how all of the kids do the actions of the songs (with the help of their aides Sherri, Melanie and Tara & sung by Teacher Erin) and follow along. When I think back to two years ago, Owen and Will really only smiled while watching the other kids sing the songs at circle time. Circle time wasn't without its drama. Without going into too much detail today, Owen is easily upset by the slightest inkling that Will may start to tantrum. So if Will so much as stubs his toe and whines about it, Owen anticipates a tantrum and starts to wail, as if to say "don't you dare throw a fit and don't you dare come near me. Waaanh!" I am sure it's partly self defence after having been Will's target for 3+ years, but he is becoming very intolerant to any sound that comes from Will. You can imagine that there is not a lot of peace in our household, since Will is VERY vocal. So during one of these moments, while Owen was screaming at Will, Will got too close to Owen and CHOMP! Owen bit down on Will's finger. None of us who were there think that Owen had any understanding of what he did, but Will suffered for it for the rest of the day with a pretty nasty cut and swollen finger. Poor little man. But you know what they say about payback..... After dishing it out to Owen for so long, he was overdue.

There are no real stand-out moments to tell on our trick-or-treat outing that evening. Besides the fact that ALL of the boys behaved beautifully and they all loved going door to door, it really was a simple event. Who would have thought? The ghoul used his manners, Benny Hill gave me a glimpse of who I would be married to in another 30 years and Owen and Will had to learn the art of patience in receiving candy that they wanted to open and eat immediately. Note that Smarties are the family's #1 chocolate choice. Jacob is already lamenting the fact that he has to wait an entire year until next Halloween and is talking about the next costume choice.

I just realized what a lie I just told. This really was a momentous holiday for us. In every previous holiday, Owen just went with the flow. He has never really cared about wrapping paper, doesn't seem to understand the excitement of decorations, the joy you receive when giving a gift or card and most of all.. he never experienced the childish glee of eating a sweet. Do you realize how many holidays incorporate candy/desserts to mark the event? And to a kid like mine, who doesn't have meaning for most of what is happening around him, now that he enjoys candies and chocolate, he can finally be a participant in this holiday with his brothers. He's one of them and he gets it. He got it when he had to say "eee" for the "e" sound in "Trick or Treat" and in exchange, someone would plop those magic Smarties into his loot bag. My heart was genuinely full last night, watching my boys (all four of them), having such a fun time together.

We ended the evening with a repeat of what we did last year. We've established a new Calgary tradition for ourselves. We headed over to Sally and Greg's to show off our costumes. Aunt Sally greeted us at her door in full witch costume, much to Jake's delight. The boys immediately got the gratification of finally being allowed to bolt inside someone's house who opened their door for them this night. We took a repeat photo of the boys in "the chair" in their den and another of Owen in the same pose he was in last year, draped over their couch.

This year has definitely not been one that has been full of rainbows and butterflies. Our ups and downs have been dramatic, not to mention tumultuous. But looking at the photos of my happy boys puts it back into perspective for me. Look how far we've come.

Jeek

take a long look at Jacob's top, left, front tooth, because its days are numbered.

Tha Boyz

Long overdue.



The boys playing at the splashpad

Message To Dads from Disney

We are having a blast! So far, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom with Epcot and a waterpark tomorrow. These kids are spoiled rotten!!

Friendship & Birthdays

These posts are long overdue. I have so much to catch up on and so little time.

I wanted to share some snippets at Jake's 6th birthday celebration from last month. He was spoiled rotten (as usual). On his actual birthday, he invited friends, Ella & Joshua out for lunch at Boston Pizza followed by some fun at Rucker's - like a small Chuck E. Cheese, minus Chuck E. and minus the cheese. Michelle joined me on our fun adventure.

Jake poses with Josh and his cool new gift

Ella spoils Jake with some spy gear - his latest phase of favourite things

she's just so cute, I can't resist posting her photo

these three had so much fun at lunch. They couldn't stop the giggles

Someday he's going to kill me for this one..

HUGE birthday cake. It fed everyone at the table. Admittedly, I did take the photo from a funny angle to exaggerate its size, but it really was huge.

Later at Rucker's.. there were a million games and all the kids wanted was to pay a buck to 'fish' out a piece of 5 cent candy

After a long afternoon, the kids fight sleep in the car with their newly won hats

We really did have a great afternoon. I anticipated that it might get a little crazy, but the kids surprised me and behaved themselves.

Petting Farm Trip

Monday morning was a really fun day for us. Timing was in our favour for once and the twins' school had an organized field trip to a petting farm on the same morning that Jake & Jonathan had the morning off. We all went together and it was especially nice because for Jonathan and I, the whole time wasn't spent chasing Owen or Will because their teachers were there (Monique, Erin & Courtney). We just got to enjoy the day.

Here are a few photos from the past week to keep you happy:

Owen, Erin & Will

Dad & Will on the wagon ride

Jake practising for his GQ photo shoot

Owen riding the pony

Will (with Courtney) NOT wanting to ride the pony

Our three little pigs

I think they were looking at goats in this picture

from L to R: Jacob, Will, Owen M., Owen & Harry

Owen was smiling and happy the entire morning. It was amazing to watch how much he loved seeing all of the animals, compared to our days at the Knox Farm last year, when he was so complacent and disinterested

Milking goats - Will & Erin in background, Monique and Owen in front

Mr. Guy Smiley

What a difference a little nutrition makes. Owen has come alive this past month. His personality is bursting through and he is full of smiles and a new energy and desire to learn that we haven't seen before. It makes sense. Can any of us even imagine how it must have been for him to constantly feel hungry? When your belly is full of nothing but liquid (milk) all the time, I can just imagine the growling, the achiness and the lethargy that comes with being so hungry. Since Owen's feeding program has proven to be so successful, Owen's little belly is growing, his sunken cheeks have filled in and there is a new light in his eyes.

Check out my smiling little man now:

It is amazing to see how happy and engaged Owen is in this video, but I am equally as happy and proud to see how wonderful his big brother Jake is with him.

riding piggy-back

Owen with his Nonna

Spring is in the Air - Easter on the Brain

It is difficult to be motivated to get on the computer to blog when it has been so nice outside lately. Calgary has finally had a dose of spring. Sweet revenge after having to deal with snow while Ontario went through their mini heat-wave. The birds are in full force in our backyard, their singing wakes me up every morning before 5am, but I don't mind. What I do mind, however, is how our longer days are affecting Will's sleeping habits. It's nearly 9:30pm and it's still fairly light out. Will is still up. I suppose it's better than a 1 or 2am wake-up, but it has messed up our schedule. As the nights will take longer and longer to darken, I anticipate that Will will take longer and longer to fall asleep. Oh well. That's a whole other blog topic.

This dose of spring weather has me feeling like it's time that I hurry up and post our stuff from Easter. So this is Easter Sunday, part 2.

(Sorry about the smudge on my camera lens) Owen M. loves posing for my camera

Lisa, Craig, Owen & Ella enjoyed us for a lovely day. We sent the men to hide some pre-stuffed plastic Easter eggs in the playground (5 doors down). Each of the kids had their own pre-determined colour of egg to search for, not that they followed the rules and the idea was that the colour-specific eggs were also specifically filled with stuff that each child preferred. Our Owen, for example, does not eat candy so his egg was filled with cotton balls, feathers and the like - all things that appeal to him.

I wish I had taken a photo of Owen holding Greg's hand as we walked to the playground. Owen really seems to love Greg and it's really sweet to watch.

We were joined by Sally and Greg, who arrived with a bag of springtime goodies - perfect gifts for Easter. Sidewalk chalk, kites and bubbles. You can see that the bubbles were a hit.

Jake's friend Kirkland happened to be at the park with his little sister and father, as were our next door neighbours and their little granddaughter. It made our time at the playground that much more fun.

Little Miss Ella-Belle is a smart girl - she already has the boys working for her!

Truth be told, the eggs were fun but weren't nearly as appealing as the swings or the slide. Will is always a worry when he's near the swings. He likes to play a little unconventionally.

There is a lesson to be learned after a day like this. Kids don't need lots of gifts or loads of candy to enjoy a holiday. A day in the playground under the shining sun is enough to give them a memory that they won't soon forget.