Monday, March 20, 2017

March Break

Alan's birthday shot with his Mackinaw twin
My parents bravely (and incredibly generously) offered to take both of our children to Fredericton for March Break this year. Alan and I immediately accepted. A week at home with no children?!? The last time we had a few days on our own seems like a very far off distant memory. And we immediately had plans - Operation remove pansy wallpaper borders and get some painting done. It was the first chance we had to tackle a few small things to make our house really feel like our own. It was not nearly as glamorous as an HGTV show, and plaster walls are trickier than I had anticipated, but we got it done...well, one and a half rooms, anyway! And we went out to dinner TWICE and spent a day touring around second hand shopping in the Valley, which is one of my absolute favourite things to do.

Bathroom blitz

Drywall coating the toy room. I didn't even realize this was a necessary step, or the sanding that followed...so I was VERY ready to put the paint on when the time finally came. Turns out we chose a very similar color to the original wall so the kids didn't even notice a change after all of our hard work! Haha!

 The boys, of course, had a blast. We got to skype with them every night, and as happy as I was for Odin to be able to spend a week without me, it would have been nice if he missed me even just a tiny bit! But no, they were having too much fun. Alan's aunt Teresa took Caleb and  his cousin Monica to Crabbe Mt skiing twice - his first time ever on skis, and he now he is absolutely hooked. He made it down the big hill and back up the chair lift, which is a great accomplishment for such a cautious guy. We were seriously proud of him. The boys also had lots of cousin time, a snow day to build forts and donuts for breakfast. Pretty good week if you ask me!

Ski team!

Meeting baby cousin Daniel

Baby love, and grandchild number 9 for the Jeffries side! (Hey Kathy - you made the blog!!) 
UNB hockey game with Uncle Jay (2017 National Champs!) Odin was happy to share his popcorn, but would only hand out one piece at a time! 

Alan and I went to pick them up this weekend and we were so glad to also be home for the memorial of Jim Myles, an amazing man and father of the Myles boys who Alan has grown very close to over the years. We were also able to help with removing the final few loads of things from my uncle Mike's house, who we lost in January. It was an emotional few days for us, for sure. One of the items I took from Mike's was a bunch of old deer antlers. We weren't sure what to do with them so I offered them up on facebook and within 20 minutes had found a friend who wanted to give them a good home.

Today, after getting off the ferry, I went for a quick beach walk before heading into the office. I hadn;t been beachcoming in a few days and I really needed some time on my own to reflect in the fresh air. I was walking around slowly, thinking of Mike and Jim, when I looked down and found a deer antler on the beach. It was the first one I've ever found in my life, despite all the times I've spent at Moosecall and in the woods (often actively looking for antlers). I couldn't quite believe it as I bent down to pick it up. It was small, from a young buck and it brought tears to my eyes. Just an hour earlier we had unpacked our trunk and the only thing that remained was a box of deer antlers to bring to my friend in Halifax. And now in my hand, I held one more antler. I'm not an overly spiritual person, but I felt such comfort at that moment and I knew that this antler would be coming home with me.

Today's beach glass and pottery finds, including my lucky antler.