Yamato

Years ago, pre-kids, Ken and I went to concerts, so many concerts. One of the many concerts was Yamato - drummers of Japan at Massey Hall. It was phenomenal. When Ken and I saw and advertisement for them in the fall, we just had to go and take the girls! It was awesome. Awesome. The girls loved it - despite Fiona falling asleep. It was such a great night. I'm excited for concerts to be part of my life again!

The Birthday Boy

I love my Ken, love love love LOVE!!! I feel like Ken will forever get short changed in the birthday department because of his birthday's close proximity to Kate's. I don't think he cares though.

For his birthday he wanted to go to dinner at KB with the whole family. So we did. The kids really liked their food. Alice had a bit of an emotional time, but pulled it together.

The dessert menu wasn't speaking to us, so we went to Symphony Cafe for dessert, and I got to re-create (sort of) a fun birthday pic.

You are so loved!! Happy birthday!

I felt so sad and so defeated last night. I was beside myself at the thought of being on strike today. We had a P.D. Day last week, so Day 5 got bumped, and then Day 5 would be strike day and so there would be no Day 5 again this week. That thought alone was making me crazy. Three of my classes I only see once a week on Day 5.

The thought of having to walk around in a circle for three hours for a cause I feel very confused about, this was also plaguing me. The thought of trying to figure out where to park, what to wear in the -23 degree weather. It seems kind of dumb writing it all down, but I was spiraling and feeling so miserable.

This morning Ken said prayers with me and Kate. One of the things he asked was "help Wendy to feel better about what's she's doing today". I thought, yeah right, not possible. I don't like being in a work to rule situation. I don't like striking. I've only had one strike day previous to this. It was in the late fall of 2012 when I was pregnant with Fiona. I've been in work to rule situations many times. I don't like them. I'm not okay when I can't do my job the way I want to do it. I want to do concerts and band and choir, and for the love of all that's good report cards. Don't even get me started on not doing report cards! When I can't do my job it's just not okay. Not. Okay.

Today the sun was shining. I had some good conversations with people. There was camaraderie. So many people that drove past us striking were happily honking their support. The principals and vice-principals started showing up. (There were teachers from four schools at Kleinburg P.S.)

When Thang and Brian (our VP and Principal) showed up, it warmed my heart in a way I can't quite describe. Brian really stands back from things at times, so when he leans in, you notice. But oh my goodness, the thing that meant more to me than anything was when I saw the Director of  Education for our board - Louise Sirisko. I stopped and thanked her for coming. To see her there, it felt like, what we're fighting for really is legitimate, and that gave me such great comfort. And then there it was, the answer to Ken's sweet prayer for me.

I'm nervous about how long this is all going to go on, but I know that my Heavenly Father is watching over me. I feel so very grateful.

Kate's Birthday Party!

Weather! Being Canadian means talking about the weather. I think we talk a lot about the weather. Last year Kate wanted to have a tobogganing party. There was no snow, we had an art party instead. This year she wanted to go up the CN Tower, and what did we get? A blizzard! Kate was a little upset about it, but thankfully she didn't dwell on it, and was perfectly happy with the back up of the Aquarium.

We made her invitations I feel like in December? She invited two friends from church - Saraliya and Hannah, and one friend from school - Sofia. We even had Sofia andher parents over for a brief visit last weekend, before trying to take their kid downtown! Sadly, on Saturday morning I get a text from Sofia's Mom that she was sick and wouldn't be able to make it.

I can't remember exactly when the snow started coming down, but by 2 p.m. it was very sloppy outside. Hannah got dropped off at 2 and we finally got organized and left the house to pick up Saraliya around 2:30.

The girls were so cute. Honestly, I kept looking at them and feeling all warm and fuzzy. We took the Go Train downtown which made traveling through the snow a breeze!

We had been watching the CN Tower cam all morning so it was no surprise when we were walking into the Aquarium and looked up and we couldn't see the top of the CN Tower. It was confirmed that we were making the right decision!

Hannah had been to the Aquarium before, and our girls have been, but Saraliya had never been, so that was fun!

Hannah had a phone and Saraliya had a game device, and they took so many pictures. It was so cute to watch.

At the end, just before the gift shop there's a huge pool where there are Rays swimming around and you can touch them. There was this one Ray that kept swimming and splashing the girls. The girls were laughing and giggling and loving it!

I bought the souvenir photo for the birthday party guests and Kate and bought a digital download.  It's so cute! I'm a sucker for souvenir photos - well some of time!

 

When we left to go to dinner you could barely make out the top of the CN Tower... barely! 

Lesson time... When we were leaving Kate wanted to wear her sneakers, not her boots. I strongly encouraged her, tried to reason with her, but she was a little sassy in front of her friend, and I didn't want to completely embarrass her in front of her friend, so I said, fine, do it your way, wear the shoes. When we were crossing Front Street to go to Boston Pizza, I was holding onto Kate. The snow bank was really big, and I lost my grip and Kate fell in the snowy slushy mess and she sobbed.

We ate dinner and had a good meal - it was busy and the service was okay, but we got everything we needed so that was that.

When we left Boston Pizza you could completely see the CN Tower! Hannah and Saraliya are fast walkers, and it turned out to be a good thing, because if they hadn't kept up the pace they did, we wouldn't have made the train! As we were walking to Union station we had to cross York Street, this time I made Ken hold onto Kate. She didn't fall, but this time stepped in a huge slush puddle and got a soaker. She sobbed and sobbed. I was very sad for her, but we had a great discussion about agency and consequences. I hope she will remember the conversation!

We got back to Ajax, and drove the two girls home. Ken was able to get the van through the very snowy side streets and get us back home. We had a really fun day and I think Kate was very properly celebrated!!! We love our Kate! Happy snowy birthday!

Minecraft Cake

Kate's birthday has been in a funny order. Actual birthday, family dinner, cake a few days later, then a birthday party a week after that. Perhaps when she's older she'll appreciate her birthday getting to last for more than a day? When Ken asked Kate what kind of cake she wanted, she asked for a minecraft cake. And that is what she got! It was delicious!