Isaac and his monster trucks

Here'san example of the fun that Isaac has with his monster trucks. Just yesterday he earned enough (through doing jobs around the house) to get another one. But these photos were taken a week or so ago, and so the new one didn't make it in.

Our amazing son

At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging, I wanted to share something that made Curtis and I very proud. Tonight I got out Isaac's Leapfrog "Word Whammer" game because I'd mentioned it to his teacher at the parent/teacher interview on Thursday night as one of the reasons he knows his letters and the sounds they make. She had commented on how smart he is, that he can already read and sound out a bunch of words in class. (There are some areas that he needs to work on, but this is one he does very well in). I told his teacher that I'd send it with Isaac to his next class, so we got it out - he hadn't played with it in quite awhile, so I had to put new batteries in it - and then we started making words. The game helps kids make three letter words, either by giving them words to spell, or allowing them to put letters together to make their own words. After awhile, I decided to write down the different words we were making. I don't know if I remembered them all, but there were about 40 words that he spelled, either completely on his own, or by my suggesting different letters to substitute for the ones he had, or asking "how do you spell...?". It was so fun to see the excitement of learning and accomplishment on his face! He even had fun telling me (or asking me) what the different words meant, and made a couple of four letter words beside the game.

The last couple of days I took it very easy, having worked 6 shifts in the previous 5 days. I could have worked more overtime, but decided to exercise my right to say no, and spend time with Curtis and Isaac. While I feel bad for the staff who had to work short-handed or do overtime shifts themselves, I realized that if I didn't make time to rest (which is biblical), I would get run down and sick and not be good for anyone. I'm glad I did. Hopefully they will hire more staff soon, and there won't be such a shortage of able-bodied workers!

Wet

Well the snow from a few days ago was just a teaser I guess. It came and went in a matter of hours. And here, six days hence, it hasn't returned. Although it has been raining quite a lot, and we can see the snow level slowly come down the mountain, especially on the ski runs. So I'm thinking that it, meaning REAL SNOW, will come sooner rather than later. But who knows. Only being here one winter season thus far doesn't really give us much to go on as far as what's typical.

New Signage

A couple days ago, I finished putting up a new sign for my business in front of the house. I also have some decals on the van (one on each of the back windows) with my name and contact details etc. With these new advertising efforts I'm hoping my phone starts ringing with a little bit more frequency soon.

...beat last year's first by 6 days

What you may ask did the beating? The first snow of the season that is. Last year it was October 22. This year's first snow here in Smithers was today.

The photo included here in this post was taken at 5:54pm this afternoon. BIG flakes that melted as soon as they hit the ground.



Isaac was really excited. He kept saying how much he liked winter a lot and was looking forward to shoveling snow.

bumps and bruises

On Thursday, I got to join Isaac and his class, along with the grade 1 class, at the skating rink. I was quite impressed with how well Isaac stayed up, most of the time, considering it was only his 3rd time on the ice with his new skates. I was also amazed with how many of the kids were able to skate on their own already. They even played a couple of games, like "British Bulldog" , and another tagging game. Isaac was quite determined not to get caught, until he realized that he could then be a tagger! He did have one mishap, though, near the end of our time there. He'd been pushing a wooden chair for balance, and had stopped to find out how the next game was to be played, when he lost his footing and fell to the ice, bringing the chair down with him . The curved part of the seat (fortunately, I think) hit him at the top of his nose, and resulted in tears and a goose egg right between his eyes. I managed to make a small snowball from off the ice to try to bring the swelling down, but he didn't want to keep it on long enough to do much good. Once he got over the initial shock and pain, he started pointing his goose egg out to anyone who would listen. What is it with boys and battle scars?

Yesterday morning I received a few wounds (bruises) of my own. As usual when I am biking to work, I had hooked my lunch bag handle over the right bike handle, only this time, I had forgotten to hook the strap as well. I hadn't gone very far when my right foot caught in the strap, and down I went, bike and all. My legs have a few bruises as a result, as does my pride. I was wishing I'd stayed in bed!

Since it is Thanksgiving weekend, I will start by saying I'm thankful that Isaac's injury was a minor one, and that mine was, too. I am thankful for the city and country we live in, where we have the opportunity vote and try to make a positive difference in the lives of others. I am thankful for our families and friends near and far, and for the ability to keep in touch through various means. I am thankful for God's amazing love and for all his blessings each and every day, whether we acknowledge them or not. I am thankful that you are taking the time to read this, and that you care about what happens in our lives. May God bless you and yours this holiday weekend, giving you many reasons to be thankful.

Isaac & His Bike

I've mentioned previously about Isaac enjoying his bike and doing the "tricks" as he likes to call them. Here's a short slideshow (about a minute long) of him in action. (p.s. If you have any pop-up blockers turned on, the slideshow will not show up. Please disable them if you want to see what I've posted).

View from house

On October 3rd at 8:11 am, here is what the view from the front of our house looked like.

Kindergarten Activity

A few weeks ago, I accompanied Isaac as he and his classmates went to the ice rink to go skating. All things considered, Isaac did pretty well. As they plan on going once every month or so, perhaps Isaac will develop a keen excitement for wanting to do more...