Luke's plan

On the first couple days of school Luke would come home with rocks in his pocket that he picked up on the school grounds. He kept telling me that he was going to make a path for his bike. I told him that he really needed to leave the rocks at school but surprise, surprise he didn't listen to me. He filled a gallon size plastic bag with rocks. Last night he followed through with his rock path plan. I went outside and found that a lot of work went into his path and he rode his bike right through it. I love it when a plan comes together.

Fall In Calgary

When we came back from camping, this is what we were looking at. All of the formerly green trees turned yellow. Now while red is my favorite fall color on trees this is a really astonishing change from all the green. It is really beautiful to see.

The pictures really don't do it justice but it is really pretty.

The House

Here are some pictures of the house in Calgary. We live in the Northwest area of town. We swapped homes and so we hope that the couple who lived here are VERY happy in the house in Spring. The longer they stay in our home the longer we stay here rent free which will help because homes are astronomical here. The first picture is one of the front of the house and off to the left is a huge Christmas tree. We love that. The second and third ones are views from our back porch. You can see Canada Olympic Park which is where the 1988 Olympic Games were held. Now we can take skiing lessons there and plan to do so in the winter. The last one is also a view from our back porch which is of the mountains. This is my personal favorite. I love seeing the mountains on clear days.

And now taking the ice....

Luke had his first ice skating lesson today. He LOVED it. He wanted to stay and skate. The first thing his coach taught him was how to get up from the ice. Very useful. He fell a bit but he also kept himself from falling just as much. This was the FIRST time in Luke history that he didn't cling to my leg or cry or throw a fit when he started something new. He even said that when we left, 'Mommy, this was the first time I didn't cry at something.' You can imagine my joy at that. He wants to go for "3 hours" next time. Apparently we can just go down the hill from our house in the winter and skate on the Bow River. I can't wait to do that. Lauren saw Luke's excitement but still didn't want to learn how to skate. She is holding out for ballet, which starts in a few weeks, even though I told her she could do both.

Scouts

Luke just started Scouts in Canada. 5-7 year olds are Beaver Scouts. Here he is in his uniform, minus the Shamu slipper of course. He and Jeff went to their first meeting on Monday. They went on a short hike which Jeff said was nice while Luke complained about the cold and clung to Jeff's leg. He said he liked it though. They have a few fundraising things througout the the year one of which is a bottle drive. The first bottle drive is...you guessed it, this weekend when Jeff and Luke will be in Houston. So if I don't want them to cash the $50 (incentive) check then Lauren and I need to go down and sort bottles on Saturday. I don't mind doing this but I don't know what the set up will be and if I will be able to do this with Lauren. We will find out. I overheard a man (at the scout store when we were buying the uniform) that last year his troop's first campout was snowed on. Not a big deal you say, you live in Canada there is snow. You are correct I say BUT their first campout was the last week of September, yup 2 weeks from now. Awesome! I am hoping that Luke has gotten the genes from both of his grandfathers and will enjoy camping and being outdoors but so far I think he is an indoor kid. He is excited to go camp though. Fingers crossed.

Lauren on the other hand (who can join scouts when she turns 5-yeah Canada and their non-segregation of kids) will probably be all for scouting and being outdoors. She loves that now and always wants to be outside even in 40 degree weather.

School isn't as bad as we first thought!!!

Luke has been going to school for a little over a week now and with the exception of 1 day he has liked it. I would pick him up and he would say, 'Best day ever!!' The day that he didn't like it or 'worst day ever' was were they made him sing during music....but other than that it was fine. I spoke with his teacher this morning and she said that she could tell he was a bright kid and that she really liked having him in class. Yay and of course, Duh! She also said that he seemed a little bored at times as well. That is when I told her how stressed he was at his old school and how much was expected of the students, like they expected them to read by the end of kindergarten. She was surprised and asked if he knew how to read. I told her not really but he knew some sight words and could read some simple sentences. She said that was fine because it was HER job to teach him how to read! I was so glad to hear that.
On to Lauren: We went to her school today for what was an orientation meet esentially. She liked her class and had no problem going off to play. I met a lady there who lives 2 doors down from us and her son is in Lauren's class. How great is that?? She said that she was planning on knocking on our door soon but knew we had just moved in. I invited her and her family over tomorrow for a little bit. Hopefully that will go well. She also has a daughter who is maybe a year old.
Here is to a great school year for both of the kids!!
On a side note, I am kinda cold:)

September???

What does September mean? It means snowsuits on sale at Costco of course. Apparently these were a good price because everyone was buying them. I was lucky to find one for Lauren (not in pink like she wanted) but it was a size 4. I found one for Luke but it too was the last one in his size. They love these things and think they are great.

Lake Louise with the MIL

So last weekend we went to Morraine Lake and Lake Louise. Jeff and I had been there the previous weekend to camp (awesome) and wanted Margaret (mother in law) to see it. We took a picnic lunch and saw some gorgeous scenery.

Luke's First Day of 1st Grade

Today was Luke's first day of first grade in a new city and a new school. Since most of you know Luke you understand that he was not exactly thrilled to be going to school. He goes to St. Sylvester School which is a K-6 school. They have a French immersion program (which Luke is not in, didn't want to totally freak him out) and a regular school program. His class is a 1st/2nd grade combo. He was pretty nervous about being there and wanted to hide in the box that we brought his school supplies in. Luckily my mother in law was here to help, which basically meant watching after Lauren and being a support for me as Luke looked very apprehensive about being there.

So off we went and left him in the classroom and the rest of the day was spent hoping that he was okay. Fast forward to 3:15: Luke comes out and he looks happy. He said that there were some things he liked and some that he didn't. He liked storytime and going outside to play. As I read in the school planner that he brought home: Students are required to play outside during recess and after lunch unless they are sick. What a concept?!? Kids required to play. Love it. But I am guessing that they have that policy because they will be freezing in a few short months and they won't want to go outside to play. I forsee big warm clothing bills in our future...and that is just from me walking him to school. Overall I think that he had a positive experience. He met a friend but doesn't know his name:) I am not sure how many he has in his class but it sounds like less than 18. Yay small class size.

Lauren of course keeps asking when she is going to school but she doesn't start until next week. That one I am not going to worry about.