Sonntag

Today we woke up and thought, "How can we make ourselves feel like outsiders, lost, and totally awkward?" Hmmm...how about we go to a Sangerfest in Schanzenfeld! Yep you read right! Ike's co-worker Galina invited us to her german church today for an all day song festival complete with delicious lunch. You wouldn't think that in a sea of white people at a church you could feel so uncomfortable...after all I did put a dress on (it may have been a notch too colourful). Despite how uncomfortable we were they did treat us really well; playing musical pews to allow a seat for us, giving us headphones so we could listen to a paraphrasing translator, letting me know about an enclosed corner for nursing in the quiet room(which I didn't use cause I already was in the quiet room why do I need to hide? I cover up...lol), and picking us out in a crowd of about 1000 people and ushering us to the front of the lunch line up(while 2000 eyes watched)!
Even though we felt so very awkward I have to say that it was pretty good...it felt like a typical Mennonite church with an amazing choir, great food, and my personal favorite boys in slacks with mini frilly aprons acting as busboys during the lunch(if I hadn't felt a million eyes on me I would've snapped a picture!! Guess you'll just have to use your wild imaginations!)

UPDATE:
Apparently my husband is bolder than I am! Enjoy!

A Weeks Worth of Highlights!

Last weekend we ventured out to St. Pierre where we enjoyed a fairly nice day(weather wise) at the Sugar Festival. I always enjoy having fresh made taffy on snow! This year they had a whole lot more stuff to do too! They had men and women dressed up in costumes...the men even had black powder rifles which they demonstrated to my mother's surprise! We also enjoyed an old school clothes washing demonstration by a very sweet little girl while waiting for fresh made straight out of the oven 'Pets de Soeur' (pastry cinnamon rolls). We also partook in a good old fashioned horse drawn wagon ride around town! Always a good time at the Sugar Shack!
Yesterday we had what was supposed to be Sonya's 2 month check up...her Dr. Is so busy it ended up being a 3 1/2 month check up! We weren't too concerned though cause she's been doing so well health & development wise! Our "little" peanut now weighs 16lbs 4oz...wow almost 7lbs gained since birth! No wonder her car seat is sooo heavy!
I've been doing pretty good too, besides exhaustion and plugged breast ducts (so so painful!). Even my incision has almost completely disappeared. The three month mark is definitely more fun and easier for outings! I love her smiles and giggles and her effort at talking and copying our crazy sounds!

FAMILIES FIRST
This week we watched a really cheesy 80s parenting video! The video was mostly about brain development and playtime. The biggest thing that I learned was to allow my child to learn through play without my direction. It's far too easy to want to help or to show them how to: get the puzzle right or appropriately play with a certain toy. By doing this we could be cutting short development in other areas of the brain.
'We often learn more by making mistakes than getting it right!'

Busy Weekend!

We had a really great but busy weekend!  On Saturday we attended my good friend Ghislaine's wedding!  It was beautiful!  They decided on an outdoor wedding at a place called Evergreen Village (basically a done up farm yard on the 59Hwy) and lucky for them...they were blessed with gorgeous weather!  Unfortunately they had one major snafu...The justice of the peace they had hired showed up an hour late for the ceremony!  She claimed to have gotten majorly lost...hmmm maybe figure out ahead of time where you're going!  The bride did need some make-up touch ups, obviously, but all went well after the jp showed up!

Ghislaine & I

Chantal (my friend since kindergarten and G's older sister) / Ghislaine / My prego self / Marjolaine (G's twin sister)

Then on Sunday we spent the day at my mom & dad's to celebrate mom's birthday as well as mine!  We surprised my mom with a kindle from all of us kids (special thanks to Auntie for the help)....It definitely made her day!  I got some great loot too and strawberry shortcake for dessert just like I had requested...Mmmmm!!  

Just before dinner mom dragged us outside to take pictures of the grandkids and of course she snapped this one of the one on the way. 

Ike and I and "Mistletoe 27w5d)"

Baby Update & Artist Tour!

On Thursday I had my 24 week ultrasound...I was so excited getting ready to see my baby, probably for the last time before it will be born!  It didn't even matter how bright and early my appointment was!

 Baby is healthy! Yay!  Everything is developing properly! Baby weighs approx. 1lb10oz!

 So cute!  Can't wait to meet this little one!  Some people say they see little hair whispys...hmmm are we going to have a full head of hair?!  :)
P.S. the little black spot in baby's chest is it's heart beating away!

ARTIST TOUR

Yesterday I had invited my mom to join us for a yearly local artist tour.  There were something like 32 stops available...I think we managed to visit 6.  Art varied from paintings(oil/watercolour/batik/encaustic), pottery, metalworks, textiles, clay, and glass.  Some stops were better than others but all were interesting!
First we visited our town pride "Gallery in the Park".

 The Schwartz House was built in 1902 and recently renovated and transformed into a beautiful gallery for local artists!

 The town created a beautiful park surrounding the Schwartz House complete with water feature and sculptures.

The gallery in the House is beautiful and they are constantly changing the art to display the many talents we have here in Manitoba.

We also visited a local place in the country called Elemental Stone.  Somewhere I've wanted to visit for years now!  It did not disappoint!

 Their farmyard was full of stone from all over Manitoba that he has trucked in.  He then carves or breaks them into wonderful pieces of art.

 He carves and polishes artistic faces, abstract sculptures, Stonehenge masses, and even furniture! 

 Of course they have landscaped their yard to accommodate the sculptures.  This pond held several beautiful Coy fish

We spent almost an hour and half wandering the paths and finding cool art along the way. 

 This rock is amazing!  It's got many colourful rocks inside it!

 Water feature!

Apparently Claudia needed help climbing up onto this boulder.  One of many in his "backyard" awaiting creativity.

Glass Class 2

A couple of weeks ago, my friends Leah and Diane and I challenged our creativity with another day of glass!  In three hours I ended up with two more sets of stir sticks, a beautiful smokey heart shaped dish (which will be a wedding gift for one of my close friend's this fall. Obviously she does not subscribe to my blog!), and my ladybug fruit bowl which turned out even more amazing than my flower dish!!! 

The Last Two Weeks

These last two weeks have gone by super slow and super fast all at the same time!  So strange how that is possible.  Last weekend a longtime friend of mine had her wedding social and I was asked two make two cheesecakes for the silent auction.  Of course, this being a big public event (it was sold out!) I really needed to outdo myself and boy did I ever.  I am actually jealous of the guy who won these beauties cause they looked soooooo yummy!

Strawberries & Champagne Cheesecake

Salted Caramel Cheesecake

Side note....check out this plant that my friend Leah gave me a clipping of....the flowers look like dolphins!

Last week was the junior high's musical, Aladdin.  I cannot believe that those kids were willing to do a musical!  They did AMAZING!!  Claudia was one of the guards...it was the first play she's ever participated in...so proud!

The costumes were too cool...I think the bird and the genie were my favorite costumes!  The townspeople were wearing torn up sheers (good old MCC!) and their mom's silky pj bottoms.  :)

Leafs Suck! :)

Oh boy another epic fail at blogging...I can't even seem to get on here once a month to keep you all amused. With that said here's what I have been up to...



Last night I was privileged enough to be invited to a Jets game by my awesome sister Laura. Not only was I thrilled to be going to my very first Jets game but it was going to be an amazing game as they were playing the Toronto Maple Leafs. And boy was it awesome when we beat them 2-1! Woot!

The weather has been so gorgeous that on Sunday we decided to take a hike in the Pembina hills. We spent 2 hours trudging up and down and around on the trails and through the brush. Very tiring but what a nice family outing!











In other news....I've been feverishly working on getting my craft room set up and I am so excited to be able to finally use it! Check it out!

Cavalier & Christmas

Yesterday, after work, Ike and I took a quick trip down to Cavalier, ND for some groceries. It's a small town about 20min away and I needed some baking goods which are less than half the price they are here! Of course we get distracted...my shopping list only contained two items: Butter and Cream Cheese...the cart, however, contained: 3x Butter, 4x Cream Cheese, Cheese, 2x Flavored Coffee Creamers, 4x Flavored Coffee in mini packets, and somehow 3x candybars magically appeared at the checkout. We should have eaten before the grocery store instead of after but we weren't sure how late they'd be open until. For a mid afternoon meal we stopped in at what looked like a good greasy diner. Turned out to be a bizarre restaurant with 3 different sections to it, no ambient music, hand written self-advertisement posters, and a decor you only find at thrift shops. The food however was great and as it turns out not greasy at all! In fact I think they baked my american fries in an oven (as opposed to deep fried and left in a warmer all day) and the burger was homemade (not a pre-formed wet dog smelling frozen one)! After our leisurely meal we headed out to our vehicle for the short trip home. The street was decorated for Christmas much like ones you see in movies; with glittery garland stretched across the street every ten feet all lit up with giant bulbed festive lights. The decorations weren't what stopped me dead in my tracks before crossing the street to our van... What did was when I noticed that the whole town resounded with Christmas music....incredible...they play music over loud speakers for the whole town to hear! I literally looked around to see if I was walking through a cheesy made-for-tv motion picture in action! Such a cute town! Oh and great coffee...mmmm...Chocolate Caramel Brownie Coffee....how can you go wrong.

P.S. I'm not apologizing for my 3 month absence from blogging....you know how it goes!

TaDaaaa!

The siding is dark grey with a hint of green...hmmm looks kinda blue in the picture. This is what Ike and I accomplished in two weeks...Just have the back of the house to do now.

We went to Menard's in Grand Forks and bought these retaining wall blocks for super cheap...sure made a wonderful flowerbed in the front of the house and is making another nice one along the side of the garage and around the back!

Here's my young Evans Cherry Tree...It had fruit on it this year already but either the birds ate it or some kids picked them off...I got an owl from my mom so if it was the birds they won't bother it next year!



My concrete countertop was installed today....oh so worth the wait and oh sooooo beautiful! Yep two toned concrete...so amazing what you can do nowadays.

These are our old kitchen cabinets. Ike wanted to use some of them in the garage for storage, so for Father's Day I spray painted them fire engine red and hammered chrome.

And I replaced the old handles with all different tool handles :)

Whoa a Post!

Apparently I am a very boring person as I haven't posted since May and I don't even have anything too exciting to post about! What have I been up to? Work, Work, Work...and when I'm not working I've been working on the house (we've got the insulation and house wrap on...now to find time and not such hot weather to put on the siding!), and harassing my husband for a flower bed! This last weekend I finally wore him down and we went down to Grand Forks for some retaining wall blocks that were on sale! Now for some dirt and plants! I've also planted a young cherry tree...it already had a few fruits on it...so exciting...now if the birds don't eat them all I can try some soon!
And finally as Auntie requested....here's my Hoops Salad recipe (It'll be Jackie's favorite for sure...ha ha ha)
3-4 Peppers (Green/Yellow/Red/Orange), chopped
1 Can Black Beans, drained & rinsed
1 Can Corn, drained
1/4 Onion (White or Purple), finely chopped
1/4-1/2 cup Marble or Tex Mex Cheese, shredded (optional)
1/2 Bag Frito BBQ Hoops
French Dressing
Toss all together and enjoy! (Obviously don't add the hoops until you're ready to serve or they'll be soggy)

WooWoo Getting Closer!

Check out our new favorite room...the living room on the main floor!!!! Ooooh I LOVE it!!!!...Not quite done yet though we still have a portion to drywall and paint on the window wall but it's liveable and waaaaaaaaaaaay better than the basement!

Also noteworthy....a couple of weekends ago my parents came down and helped install our kitchen cabinets! They look gorgeous...we still have to install the mouldings and are meeting with the counter guy tonight....so pictures will be up relatively soon!

What Happened????

Kitchen before....

This was the day we moved in...thus the huge mess...ha mess...

Kitchen now....ahhhh...where did it go?

The pink on the walls, by the way, is actually the insulation inside the walls...we removed 4feet all around to get rid of the gross glass tile backslpash. We also had to peel off a layer of "white" linoleum and then pry up the subfloor it was glued to and then again peel off a layer of "gold" linoleum! Annnd...the best part...I got to swing a hammer and destroy the old gross built in pantry...so much fun!

All of my kitchen?....It went right into this spare bedroom....I hope not for too long! And the old cabinets? We tossed them off the deck into the snow! Haha ugly cupboards!

And here's a taste of the master bedroom just because you've been so patient with me! :)

Soooo much nicer than the basement!