My winter "break" is winding down. I use the word "break" with the scare quotes because this break is usually quite busy. Here are some of the things we've been up to.

Hockey

Joseph had a full slate of hockey. Along with a few practices, we just got back a few minutes ago from a game in Bjorkdale (25 minutes away).

There he is on the face off. He was cheating a bit by hanging over the other team's side.

Every kid gets a stint or two in net. Thankfully Joseph doesn't like playing goalie. I couldn't afford the equipment. On the other hand, he'd never have to pay for playing in any beer league when he's older.

The crowd. If you've never watched a game in small town SK, it's the equivalent to sitting in a freezer. But we love it! Joseph scored twice, and had five assists. He played great.

We talkin 'bout practice here.

S'toon

We took a day trip to Saskatoon for some much needed shopping.  It went smoothly, and we were able to visit with my sister and her family. The trip is tiring though. John Paul fell asleep on the way home with his juice straw still attached to his mouth.

Moving Day

My brother and his family finished their house. By finish I mean it's just good enough for them to move in. That's exciting! I'm sure it'll take years before everything is finished completely. So I took a day trip to Humboldt to help them move.

One of many trips.

Stuff starts piling in.

Their lovely kitchen. I hope Becca isn't jealous for it.

The day was very inspiring for me. After making dozens and dozens and dozens of trips carrying boxes up and down stairs I came home late and announced to Becca that we had to start throwing stuff out. It's too exhausting to move it all.


Hair-a-see

I finally gave Joseph a haircut. That means tub time after! Rub-a-dub-dub...

Yes, you can tell by the above picture that our tub needs new caulking. I was planning on doing it over the break, but something else came up...

Basement Renovation

A couple of weeks ago we were hanging out in Nipawin. We were talking with my brother Stephen and he was mentioning how he had a few days available with nothing much to do. Becca then opened her mouth and said: "Like doing our basement?" "Sure!" he replied. Huh? What? You mean our basement reno that we were planning on tackling this summer? Our ugly basement with water damage (it's all good), lousy painting, and 60s wet bar? As we drove home that night we talked about it. I usually like to plan, and over plan, such projects. But, the whole thing was pretty straightforward... And, I had an upcoming week off to finish things... And it sure would be nice to free up some time this summer for things I want to do like building knick knacks and things... and a trip to the beach.. and.. why not!

So we prepped and cleared things during our evenings. Then Stephen came and started doing the dirty work of ripping out carpets, cabinets, and removing our old wet bar area (the old carpets that were glued down... better him than me). We chipped in at night time, and of course when my week off finally came. We all worked together.

I mean everybody...

Most renovations hit a snag. Ours occurred when the bar area was removed. There was a little section that had some 9x9 vinyl tile underneath. This tile may or may not contain asbestos. Floor tile asbestos is safe, unless of course you're trying to remove it. The way it was installed, there was a chunk of plywood over top that couldn't be taken out without disturbing the tile. We had a problem. What to do? Get the tile tested? Nuh uh. Open up that part of the room to the furnace room? Nuh uh, not without moving electrical and furnace stuff. So Becca and I lay in bed awake. Late at night. Talking and talking. There would be little sleep that night. Not without a solution. And then, as sure as Donald Trump is president of the United States of America, it hit us!

That's right. We decided on building a wall using that plywood as part of the base for storage within the wall. To quote someone else: "We're gonna build a wall. I think it's a great idea." The only problem was how to get our neighbours to pay for the wall. Ok, that wasn't a consideration. Nevertheless, we built a wall. Here's where we're at right now:

John Paul's anxious to show you. But first things first. I finally put some decent trim on the one side of the door. Now I can use my chin up bar downstairs instead of hauling it upstairs when needed.

For now it's basically a workout room. Hey, it's what we like to do (yes, even the boys).

 We found an old heavy mirror kicking around in our furnace room. I built a frame for it using wood from my old tree house I built when growing up (clearly the tree house didn't stand the test of time). Now I can stare at myself in between workout sets. That or check my posture from time to time (good excuse, hey).

We still don't have all our books up yet. We bought a heavy duty workout mat from Costco. It's been great. Also, we purchased a google chromecast on sale. This means we can play a workout video from Becca's ipod (which we do frequently) and play it over the TV (my grandpa's old one). It basically works out to be a poor man's version of a smartTV. Pretty nifty.

Finally I get to use my chin up bar!

 The boys love the space for playing ministicks.

 Weights and my punching bag. I want a Rocky poster there, but I gotta ask my wife first.

 And yes, there's our beautiful wall. The plan is to build a sliding barn door in front of it. But first I have to tear down a shed at my parents place, and figure out a DIY rolling system (they're $160 at Home Depot!). At least I'll have something to do this summer.

I built some quick shelving in the room. We'll fill it up when we're done going through our stuff (and hopefully throwing things out).

Long story short, it was a busy week off. It was nice to get the main part of this reno out of the way now, especially before Lent. You know, when renovating your house there is a lot of focus spent on how to make things look nice, do a good job, and have something you're proud of. This is good. But let's be honest, it's not like we end each sentence with "for the greater glory of God." For instance, "I will try and build a farm door to add a rustic touch to our basement.. for the greater glory of God." No, there's a bit of materialism that is hard to avoid with renovations. But we can be done with it for now, and focus on what really matters...

Joseph's hockey.

Just kidding. Time to focus on what really matters.

Have a great Lent.

Daddy Fans

I know, I know, it's like I've just dropped off the face of the blogging earth. Thankfully, whenever I do, Dan is there to pick up the slack. And that's why we share the blog, folks. 

I have so much mish-mash going on in my head and at least 3 different unfinished blog drafts behind the scenes over here that I'm not quite sure where to start and what to say. But this is perhaps my favourite thing going on here of late...

As you know, Dan had his "spring" break last week. The boys loved it. They were so excited to have Daddy home all day long. 

On occasion, Joseph will ask me, "Why does Daddy have to go back to school after lunch?" Meanwhile, John Paul goes nuts when Dan comes in the door for lunch every day. "Da, Da, Da!" he yells, trying desperately to spin himself around in his high chair to see his Daddy. John Paul is stinkin' mad if we don't get him out of his high chair promtly after lunch so that he can go to Daddy for a little bit before he leaves. We are so spoiled having him home in the middle of each day.

But nothing beats a week-long (or summer long) break.

Our boys are HUGE Daddy fans. 

Mommy is good to have around when you need something to eat, or need your diaper changed, or need a nap, but if you want to have FUN you really need Daddy.

It's not that Dan doesn't feed, change, or put kids to bed, either. It's just that these little boys don't seem to think of those necessities in life so long as they are busy with Daddy. It's only when they see me that their bellies start to growl. 

So last week was fun. The boys did lots and lots of their favourite things: make music, play Lego, do puzzles, build snow forts and slides, eat junk food, read books. All with Daddy.

In the morning when they got up, they were delighted to find that Daddy was eating oatmeal at home with us instead of leaving for work. After lunch, they were so happy to find that Daddy wasn't going back to work for the afternoon. 

John Paul refused to go down for decent naps because he knew there was so much fun being had behind his back. Or he would only go to sleep when completely exhausted and his Daddy rocked and sang to him.

Joseph was ticked off when he found out that Daddy had gone to the basement and worked out by himself while Joseph was napping. How dare he!

John Paul would groan and grouch if Joseph and Daddy were in the basement without him until I carried him over the gate and down the stairs. Then, he would put up a huge display when he entered the room to announce his arrival and demand their attention.

Joseph would wander around looking like a little lost doggy and whining about needing someone to help him build/fix/find Lego creations. Dan would go and spend an hour sitting on his bedroom floor with him making a fork-lift. 

John Paul would crawl around searching for Daddy and Joseph; finding they'd excluded him from their Lego fun, he'd bang on the door yelling at them until they let him in. Or he'd go to bed at night (with Mommy) only to elude sleep and emerge again, gloriously happy, to snack on apples with Daddy and Joseph.

Joseph would demand Daddy play "Try your best" on the organ or in the basement with drums. With much fanfare, Dan would pound out the song, with two little boys on accompanying vocals and much running and shouting, "Montreal Canadiens!" 

It was like this all week long. Whatever Daddy does, so too his boys. They had to tag along all week long. They are his biggest fans!

Here's a little video of some outside fun with our snow-slide:

Mommy Blog: Daddy Style

I most definitely wasn't planning on writing a, as Becca calls it, "mommy blog" tonight. But anger, that neutral passion which nevertheless must be controlled, forbids me from writing about what I really want to, namely Fr. Rosica and his threat of a lawsuit on a Catholic blogger. Also, I would love to delve in on the latest survey for the upcoming synod. But it ticks me off too much at the moment. What's that saying about doing the same thing but expecting different results?... Nope. Not going there. Instead, it's a mommy blog, daddy style.

So this is a scattered recount of my week off thus far. 

To begin, here's John Paul being a goofball while he eats. And boy oh boy can that boy eat. I have a feeling we may need a second income soon to feed him and Joseph (who went back for seconds and thirds tonight at supper). Thankfully teachers have a new contract in store here, which doesn't keep up to the cost of inflation, of course, but at least it's something. Whoops, I'm rambling. Here's the picture:

We went to Nipawin on Sunday. We ate most of their food. Then we skated. Finally we went inside and ate the rest of their food. I know, I know, another picture of Joseph on the rink. But look at him! He loves it!

We played a mini hockey game. It was Grandpa, Becca, and Joseph vs. Rheanne, myself, and John Paul. That's right. I had to hold him for the entire game. My poor back! Did I mention he eats a lot? Well he screeched and drooled the entire game. The drool then froze to his face. But that's ok. At least his face froze in the shape of a smile.

When we got in, as mentioned earlier, we dug into some more food. Chips all around, and beers for the men.

On Monday afternoon we drove to Saskatoon. First time since November. John Paul hates driving. Bleh. Anyway, we were very very thankful to be able to stay at Elaine and Brendan's before heading out to shop the next day. Going to Saskatoon just to shop is the worst. The traffic is nuts. The boys are cranky. And the money drains away too quickly. To be able to visit before shopping truly makes the trip enjoyable.

Well Uncle Brendan has the magic touch. He had John Paul just snuggling up to him. John Paul NEVER does that with me. He'll hit me, or drool on me, or try to eat my nose, but he won't snuggle on me. I'm just a little jealous.

Joseph had a wonderful time with Catherine.

And he loved playing with Michael ('s toys) too.

The shopping part of the trip was far less successful. We were banking on getting some stuff at Costco for our upcoming bathroom renovation. As you may know, Costco is hit and miss. Well on Tuesday they were far more miss than hit. Pathetic inventory, to say the least. We did manage to pick up some flooring for the bathroom though. And we stalked up on Craisins. And socks. Lots of socks. Socks for everyone.

The real winner was actually Target. Their clearance sales were at 30%. Not great, but just good enough, plus it meant there were items in stock. We picked up a hockey stick for me, a picture frame for our living room, as well as two nice stand up lamps for the living room (we've had a heck of a time finding nice affordable ones). We also found out the hard way that their shopping carts lock down on you if you were foolish enough to try and take them out of the store. All in all, we nearly enjoyed our first, and last, shopping experience there.

What would be a break without some DIY project? We (I) painted the six basement doors and trim. They were an ugly shade of red/brown before. The paint really freshens the place up. Here Joseph is showing you his paint brush.

Then the inspector generals arrived.

Adding to my work has been a forklift project that Joseph and I have been working on the past two weeks. You see, the problem is that I don't have my technic lego with me. I can't find it anywhere. So it's been a struggle to make the forklift operate properly. But we persevered, and so here it is.

It doesn't seem like much, but it was really finicky.

Joseph insisted I put it up to the window for a picture. If you look closely, you'll see a bird.





Or you could just look at this picture.

Finally, it's lent. It's been a tough start too, if you can imagine. We're in withdrawal of certain things, like T.V. So here are some books that will keep me occupied at night.

Before you laugh at the Don Cherry book, to be 100% honest with you, it already has been more inspiring and faith filled than last year's daily lenten meditation book that our church was giving away. Go figure.

That's enough for now. You know what? I don't feel angry anymore! So... about this Rosica guy... Whoops. Sorry. Angry again!

Time to sleep.