We Have a Door!

We’ve been waiting for this door so that we could close the big front door and not worry about the entire building exploding with all the west wind that we get.  They came this morning to get started and discovered that the guy who gave us the quote and came out to measure things had given us the wrong information!  Grrr!  He’d told us we only needed 12 inches of clearance at the top, so that’s what we’d given them (barely!).  Apparently that was all wrong.  They needed 18”.  They ended up having to go back in to Lethbridge and get some kind of special hardware and get a different panel that was shorter in order to make the door work.  It took them most of the day, but they managed to get it working!  It’s so nice to know that the hangar is closed up and secure now.  Hooray!

Primary Party!

We had our Primary presentation in church on Sunday, so today the kids got their ‘I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream’ Party!  They had earned toppings each week that they sang well as we practiced all the presentation songs and there were LOTS of toppings!  We had coloring pages for them, Minute to Win It games, a photo booth, and some group games as well.  It was lots of fun!

 

More Hangar Stuff

On the 24th, Lennard started strapping the inside of the hangar.  He managed to do quite a bit by himself on the side wall and then I got in there and helped finish it off and start on the back wall.

On the 26th, Lloyd and his son, Marshall, came out to help us and we got the rest of the walls completed and the ceiling all done!

 

Then, today, Lennard was able to get all the lights (that had been given to us!) installed!  It’s amazing how much light they give off.  We were thinking that we would have to buy all new fixtures eventually, but these give off plenty of light and we only had to pay for the wire to hook them up.  Even the bulbs were all working! 

Stay and Play

Stay and Play finally started up again today!  My kids love going and know that Tuesday and Thursday morning is supposed to be spent there!  Meagan took another job and I think it will take some time for the kids to get used to having someone else there.  Mary Ann will do a great job, it’s just hard to adjust to change sometimes!  We’re definitely glad the program is back up and running after the long summer break!

We Have a Floor!

It feels like it has taken forever to get to this point, but they finally poured the concrete for our hangar floor today!  Hooray!  We ordered the 'trailer' door today too, so it will be installed on the 30th and then we will finally have a secure building!  We haven't been able to close the front door completely as the wind could create a vacuum and blow the building apart.  In the kinds of winds we get, we didn't want to chance it!  It's just nice to see an end in sight.  I'm tired of spending all our 'extra' time at the airport.

The kids have been so 'anti-airport' lately from all the evenings/days we've spent there that we decided to try to change their attitude last night.  We decided to have a Flying High Evening for FHE.  Lennard took both kids flying and they had a blast!  It was so nice to see them light up and be excited to be at the airport.  They loved it.  It also helps that it was a beautiful night to go flying!

Reality

I'm not sure what happened this morning...  Emma was so excited all morning to get ready for preschool.  She put her snack in her backpack, got dressed in a new shirt, gathered up the mystery bucket and raced to the van.  We talked about school on the way to the preschool, I parked the van, got out and opened up her door, only to find her in tears!  She was crying and saying things like, "Please don't leave me? When will you be back?  I don't want to go to school!"  If you know Emma at all - this is NOT like her!  I was totally shocked!

I took her in to the school with her clinging to me, got her backpack and coat off and attempted to get a smile out of her.  She asked if I would take her to the bathroom, so we did.  I just kept talking to her and telling her how much fun she was going to have, especially when she got to show everyone what was in the mystery bucket (like show and tell).  As we left the bathroom, she was doing a bit better.  She found her name on their attendance wall and then I got her settled at the table she was supposed to be at.  I was able to give her a big hug and tell her goodbye and she seemed okay (a bit subdued, but okay).

I worried a bit about her this morning and Ben definitely noticed that she wasn't around.  Last week was so busy with me babysitting Levi & Will, having Grandpa Nichols here, etc that Ben was kept very occupied.  Today he was finding it very quiet and 'boring'!  We played Lego together for quite a while, but about every half hour he kept asking when we were going to get Emma from school.

The time finally came (and then he didn't want to go... go figure), and we headed down to get Emma.  Ben decided he wanted to come in, so we went in and waited for her to come in from playtime outside.  When she saw us there, she bounced over to us with a huge smile!  She was back to her normal, happy, excited self.  (Thank goodness!)  She had had a wonderful time and was excited to tell us all about it.

I'm guessing it was just a bit of nerves this morning, so it will be interesting to see how she is on Wednesday when she goes again!  Hopefully it was a one time thing!

Freezer Meals

Lennard’s dad has been visiting and made a Costco run.  When he got home he brought half of Costco’s meat department with him!  I decided I’d better get busy and get some meals made with everything so it was a very busy day!  I made bread first thing in the morning and then got going.  With the help of Grandpa Nichols I got 16 freezer meals made and many, many packages of hamburger, pork chops, roasts and steak wrapped up and in the freezer.  We can’t thank you enough, Dad! 

First Day of Preschool!

Somehow our baby girl has grown up enough to start preschool.  I’ve got some mixed emotions about it all!  I’m so excited for all that she is going to get to do and learn.  I’m excited for the friends she is going to make.  I’m sad that she is ‘out in the world’… when I dropped her off this morning I just wanted to stay!  I’m excited that she is so independent and excited to go to school (she didn’t even look back), but I’m sad that she doesn’t ‘need’ me for everything anymore.  I’m sad that I’m not going to be the one teaching her, although she will learn more from others at this point.  I’m sad that she’s not my ‘baby’ anymore.  It hit me as I started loading pictures onto the computer that she looks so grown up!  It seems like it happened overnight.  I’m excited for all the adventures this year and each following year will bring.  I’m a little sad that we are now going to have to follow a ‘schedule’ (I will have to know which day of the week it is!).

    

The idea of the ‘Class of’ picture is to take a photo of her every year on the first day of school and see her grown into it!  She thought it was hilarious to have such a huge shirt on!

Happy 4th Birthday, Ben!

Benny turned four years old today!  Wow!  He was so excited for his birthday, although Emma was just as excited as he was.  They both raced around the house yelling ‘Happy Birthday!” 

I attempted to make a ‘Lego’ cake for his birthday cake this year.  I wasn’t happy with it, but he was thrilled – so that’s all that matters!

We had my parents, Lennard’s dad and my sister, Rachel, and her family over for dinner.  I made a big lasagna, a caesar salad and garlic bread.  Simple, but delicious!

Ben was thrilled with his presents.  He got lots of Lego to build, some puzzles, pajamas and airplanes.  What more could a four year old boy ask for?!

The second that he could, the Lego came out and Lennard started building… with help!  Ben was so excited to build a bucket truck (just like daddy’s!).  He also got an airplane, ambulance, fire truck, etc.

It’s been such a fun day.  Every meal was a ‘birthday’ breakfast, a ‘birthday’ lunch and a ‘birthday’ dinner.  As we were eating dinner Ben reached over, patted my hand and said, “This is the best meal ever!”  We sure love you buddy-boy.

Roof is Done!

I went to Fort Macleod with the kids and got the custom roof cap that we’d ordered and we got it installed this evening!  I definitely don’t like being on a tin roof, but it makes it even more interesting when your shoes are a bit wet.  I finally took them off and went barefoot so that I could get a bit of grip.  My feet were killing me by the time we were done, but I’m glad it’s sealed up now!

While we were working on the roof, Grandpa entertained the kids…  Ben thought it was hilarious getting tied up with the backing from the roof vent backing.