Physically and Virtually. This dear blog has served us well for the last eight years, but it appears that for reasons both logistical and aesthetic that it's time to start over. So please join us for the next eight years in our new home: A Long and Splendid View.
Thanks for hanging around. It's been fun.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Sunday, July 01, 2012
3 weeks
Oh dear. I'm afraid there's no way to adequately capture all the loveliness of these, our last Canadian months. Since the amount of photos and events is a little overwhelming, I think I'll limit myself to the pictures I just pulled off our phone. They're not necessarily great quality, but have their own blurry sort of charm- kind of like a cheap version of Instagram :)...
Mom and Jos, looking very serious.
One of my last days subbing at Westgate (which was a fantastic experience overall, by the way), I came home to this lovely sight. Wow, I love those kids.
A beautiful night with friends from Grain of Wheat, enjoying their new wood-burning oven (christened Brother Lawrence). Springtime in Wolseley. Pure magic.
We've been in a major daughter dating phase- as in, Mommy-Daughter and Daddy-Daughter outings. This was my lunch out with Magdalene at Stella's. Couldn't ask for better company.
Here's Phil browsing the books at the Neighbourhood Cafe and Bookstore. And there, in the art display beside him, is art by our in-house artist, Magdalene. ( I think hers is second from the left on the second row). Her Kindergarten teacher arranged for an art display at the cafe, and as you can imagine, that's a big deal for a five year old (and all of us).
Celebrating my birthday with cakes in cups, made by my darlings. Picture by Mags.
Our dear friends Dave and Carrie Matlak and their four boys came to visit last week. It was so wonderful to be with them and we had a great time showing them our Canadian world. Penelope's highlight was definitely the train museum. She still hasn't stopped making exuberant choo choo sounds. The other kids liked it too.
And then a perfect evening out at the farm. Here's Papa pulling the gang behind the tractor.
My dad and niece, Hailey. Check out Penelope's grin. She's hilarious.
Pondering the pending farewell. I got a little teary myself watching the shadows grow long by those barns.
Around the fire.
The last violin lesson with beloved Buffy. (She's on her knees, thus the confusing height similarity).
And the last day of Kindergarten. It's been an emotional couple weeks for Mags. She's mostly managing, but there have been a lot of "Lasts" in her life.
My last walk/run with Josephine to pick up Magdalene after school.
Goodbye to Kindergarten teacher extraordinaire, Deenie. We have lucked out so royally when it comes to teachers this year. Every one has been the absolute best :).
And then the way home from school, stopping at one of our favourite little roadside gardens. Pictures by Jos and Mags.
Sister love.
Dancing with Grandpa Jig. These kids are going to go into major Grandparent withdrawal.
Pulling a boat through the ditch rivers. Classic Childhood. Love it.
Flowers from Nana after the violin recital.
We spend a lot of time on these steps. Penelope and Josephine usually opt to eat all their meals sitting right there.
Or here. Not sure if you can see how muddy this kid is. Yep, even her hands. You don't have to wash hands in the summer, do you?
This is a flashback, but our friend Nathan (the talented one) sent us this pic from Jos's birthday. It's not easy getting pictures of this avoider of cameras, so I wanted to include this one where she's right in the middle of the spotlight.
And on it goes. I'll stop there. There's still much fun to be had (leaving today for a week at the lake with the Penners, then Krymusa weekend, Folk fest, and a hundred goodbyes and gatherings with friends), but I imagine they may never be documented here. I may muster one last farewell, but then soon it will be photos of acacia trees and faces smeared with mango. Our two amazing parallel lives. It's a weird but wonderful way to live.
Off to the lake...
Mom and Jos, looking very serious.
One of my last days subbing at Westgate (which was a fantastic experience overall, by the way), I came home to this lovely sight. Wow, I love those kids.
A beautiful night with friends from Grain of Wheat, enjoying their new wood-burning oven (christened Brother Lawrence). Springtime in Wolseley. Pure magic.
We've been in a major daughter dating phase- as in, Mommy-Daughter and Daddy-Daughter outings. This was my lunch out with Magdalene at Stella's. Couldn't ask for better company.
We managed to attend two shows at Jazz Fest this summer, one was our friend Mike Janzen's incredible night of jazz piano (and song and bass). No pictures of that one, unfortunately. The other was Moses Mayes at Old Market Square (pictured below), starring our dear Nathan Reimer. The show started at 11 p.m. and involved mud, a cloud of marijuana smoke (not our own :)), and even some crowd surfing (again, not our own). Not exactly our usual fuddy-duddy-tired-parents-of-three sort of evening. Both shows were super fun. We have stunningly talented friends.
Here's Phil browsing the books at the Neighbourhood Cafe and Bookstore. And there, in the art display beside him, is art by our in-house artist, Magdalene. ( I think hers is second from the left on the second row). Her Kindergarten teacher arranged for an art display at the cafe, and as you can imagine, that's a big deal for a five year old (and all of us).
Celebrating my birthday with cakes in cups, made by my darlings. Picture by Mags.
Our dear friends Dave and Carrie Matlak and their four boys came to visit last week. It was so wonderful to be with them and we had a great time showing them our Canadian world. Penelope's highlight was definitely the train museum. She still hasn't stopped making exuberant choo choo sounds. The other kids liked it too.
And then a perfect evening out at the farm. Here's Papa pulling the gang behind the tractor.
My dad and niece, Hailey. Check out Penelope's grin. She's hilarious.
Pondering the pending farewell. I got a little teary myself watching the shadows grow long by those barns.
Around the fire.
Dave and Carrie
The last violin lesson with beloved Buffy. (She's on her knees, thus the confusing height similarity).
And the last day of Kindergarten. It's been an emotional couple weeks for Mags. She's mostly managing, but there have been a lot of "Lasts" in her life.
My last walk/run with Josephine to pick up Magdalene after school.
Goodbye to Kindergarten teacher extraordinaire, Deenie. We have lucked out so royally when it comes to teachers this year. Every one has been the absolute best :).
And then the way home from school, stopping at one of our favourite little roadside gardens. Pictures by Jos and Mags.
I've got a few more minutes. Let me dip in a little to the real camera photos...
Jos on the trail-a-bike. I can't believe I don't have a picture of the Daddy Train- Phil on bike, then Mags on the trail-a-bike, then Jos and Pen in the chariot attached to the back. It's scary or thrilling, depending if you're the mom or the daughter.
Sister love.
Dancing with Grandpa Jig. These kids are going to go into major Grandparent withdrawal.
Pulling a boat through the ditch rivers. Classic Childhood. Love it.
Flowers from Nana after the violin recital.
We spend a lot of time on these steps. Penelope and Josephine usually opt to eat all their meals sitting right there.
Or here. Not sure if you can see how muddy this kid is. Yep, even her hands. You don't have to wash hands in the summer, do you?
This is a flashback, but our friend Nathan (the talented one) sent us this pic from Jos's birthday. It's not easy getting pictures of this avoider of cameras, so I wanted to include this one where she's right in the middle of the spotlight.
And on it goes. I'll stop there. There's still much fun to be had (leaving today for a week at the lake with the Penners, then Krymusa weekend, Folk fest, and a hundred goodbyes and gatherings with friends), but I imagine they may never be documented here. I may muster one last farewell, but then soon it will be photos of acacia trees and faces smeared with mango. Our two amazing parallel lives. It's a weird but wonderful way to live.
Off to the lake...
Thursday, May 24, 2012
8 weeks
8 weeks till we say our already exhausted, teary farewells at the Winnipeg Airport and carry our little family universe back around the world. (Also, 8 weeks till we have internet access in our home and theoretically begin blogging more diligently). I could easily spend this hour lounging in my mom's wi-fi space by describing the million things we'll miss about this life and the million things we're looking forward to about the other one. But I also have 3 months of photos to sift through, so I may need to just skip straight to that. At least you should be able to infer a few of the things we'll miss...
The first hours of spring...Spring was nothing short of miraculous. I kept thinking of that quote "People from a world without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us." We are the people from a world without spring. And we were mad with joy the whole time to have such a thing unfolding about us.
A couple spring photos by josephine:
Then another climate leap, this time back to snow and a wonderful week in Montana with my parents and sister's family.
A Krymusa morning at the river...
Robyn and Ari
Mags.
Phil.
Al, Ari, and my Dad, who is 70, I need to point out, and can still beat me down the hill with way more speed and grace than I'll ever have.
Phil and Kieran, who is 10, I need to point out, and can beat me down the hill with way more speed.... you get the idea.
3 children later, still sort of able to snowboard, still loving being together on the mountain.
Not exactly backflipping off a cliff, but here's a shot the mountain photographer took of me. (We obviously didn't pay for the real picture :)).
Easter eggs.
Phil's birthday breakfast at the Forks.
Tall Grass coffee and cinnamon bun kisses. What better celebration is there?
A spur of the moment visit to the Children's Museum. Our children were ready to take up residence there forever.
Penelope living the train dream.
And maybe my favourite family photos ever. (Penelope's on there twice, I think, thus the mysterious child on the left).
The beginnings of Josephine's birthday celebrations. I don't have nearly enough photos of my mom on this blog considering how hugely significant she has been this year. Here she is, nailing it with Josephine's favourite present of all, a row of Polly Pockets.
Magdalene dressed up for 1960s night at school.
Waiting for our newest four year old.
Penner cousins at Assiniboine Park
Even the big cousins got in on the action.
The Senior Penner Kids.
A doll that Jos got from her cousins. She named it Annie Lisa Penner.
Turns out I don't have a single photo from the Krymusa birthday festivities. This is because A) Josephine was a disaster by this point in the weekend and I was mostly wrestling her through the garage amidst much wailing, and B) The Skrys take so many (really good) pictures at Krymusa events that I had decided to just ask them for copies. Of course, I'm only remembering that now. (S and S-L, can I have some party pics :)???)
#1
#2 (don't know why she's upside down. love the pic, though, so leaving it in).
#3. Our girls have never been famed for cleanliness.
Back to spring on Aubrey
Magdalene's 4 leaf clover. She's the luckiest.
Pensie and Auntie Lisa. Such BIG love.
And now it's nearly 10 and I'm still at my mom's and need to get home to bed before getting up for real-life work, as in, the kind you need to shower and comb your hair for. No time for sentimental closure.
Love from all of us.
The first hours of spring...Spring was nothing short of miraculous. I kept thinking of that quote "People from a world without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us." We are the people from a world without spring. And we were mad with joy the whole time to have such a thing unfolding about us.
A couple spring photos by josephine:
Then another climate leap, this time back to snow and a wonderful week in Montana with my parents and sister's family.
A Krymusa morning at the river...
And then on the mountain. The amount of pictures we took doesn't nearly correspond to the amount of fun we had. It was a spectacular time.
Mags.
Al, Ari, and my Dad, who is 70, I need to point out, and can still beat me down the hill with way more speed and grace than I'll ever have.
Phil and Kieran, who is 10, I need to point out, and can beat me down the hill with way more speed.... you get the idea.
3 children later, still sort of able to snowboard, still loving being together on the mountain.
Not exactly backflipping off a cliff, but here's a shot the mountain photographer took of me. (We obviously didn't pay for the real picture :)).
My first baby lost her first tooth. (We had no time to mentally prepare. One day she announced with nervous excitement, and Sheri-Lee's brownies still in her mouth, that she had her first loose tooth. I came to inspect and discovered it was already gone. I have a feeling this is how the rest of my life will go...I'll blink, and all these tiny wondrous milestones will already be gone. God help me).
Easter eggs.
Phil's birthday breakfast at the Forks.
Tall Grass coffee and cinnamon bun kisses. What better celebration is there?
A spur of the moment visit to the Children's Museum. Our children were ready to take up residence there forever.
Penelope living the train dream.
And maybe my favourite family photos ever. (Penelope's on there twice, I think, thus the mysterious child on the left).
I love the hunched-shouldered-gremlin-ness of these kiddos.
The beginnings of Josephine's birthday celebrations. I don't have nearly enough photos of my mom on this blog considering how hugely significant she has been this year. Here she is, nailing it with Josephine's favourite present of all, a row of Polly Pockets.
Magdalene dressed up for 1960s night at school.
Waiting for our newest four year old.
 | |||||
That's the one.
Penner cousins at Assiniboine Park
Even the big cousins got in on the action.
The Senior Penner Kids.
A doll that Jos got from her cousins. She named it Annie Lisa Penner.
Turns out I don't have a single photo from the Krymusa birthday festivities. This is because A) Josephine was a disaster by this point in the weekend and I was mostly wrestling her through the garage amidst much wailing, and B) The Skrys take so many (really good) pictures at Krymusa events that I had decided to just ask them for copies. Of course, I'm only remembering that now. (S and S-L, can I have some party pics :)???)
#1
#2 (don't know why she's upside down. love the pic, though, so leaving it in).
#3. Our girls have never been famed for cleanliness.
And then a perfect weekend in Toronto with Jodi and Hadassah, my and Penelope's best friends.
Back to spring on Aubrey
Magdalene's 4 leaf clover. She's the luckiest.
Pensie and Auntie Lisa. Such BIG love.
And now it's nearly 10 and I'm still at my mom's and need to get home to bed before getting up for real-life work, as in, the kind you need to shower and comb your hair for. No time for sentimental closure.
Love from all of us.