First Day of School

The first day of school has always meant an increase in busyness for me.  For thirteen years it marked another 10 months of learning.  For 6 years it was the starting point of a jam packed university education.  For the last 8 years it has marked the time of year when things go from a little bit slow and relaxed to craziness at work (again tied to the school year).  This year...it was a little bit different.  When I started this blog 5 years ago I wasn't expecting to be posting this so soon.  Five years have simply flown by and today our little girl had her first day of kindergarten.  


She was extremely excited.  She is very happy with her new teacher, Mrs. Ball (mommy is thrilled too, although to be honest you couldn't go wrong with ANY of the kindergarten classrooms at Westmount school - I may be a bit biased having been the SLP for that school for 6 years, but that is my honest opinion). She had nothing but good things to report, was thrilled they made a craft on their first day, made a friend (Noelle) and has already memorized all the words and actions to one of the songs Mrs. Ball introduced them to today.  I have a feeling the apple may not fall far from the tree with this one.

To commemorate her first day of school I took a suggestion from my manicurist and welcomed Maria with a little surprise.  She was very excited to receive her very first flowers as part of the whole experience.  

We are very proud of our little girl....and a little sad that she is growing up so quickly.

P.S. Dad was a little upset by the fact that when Maria wasn't playing with her new friend she said she spent most of her time playing with the boys.  

Summer 2012 Updates

Since I haven't been on here in almost a year, I suppose it is time we made things a bit more current (likely need to send out emails to let people know that I am once again attempting this "blogging" thing too).

Anyway, here goes.  It has been quite the summer here in the Betke household.  Back in the cool of spring Aaron and I took the plunge and purchased a travel trailer.   It is a gently used, 26 ft. trailer with all the amenities this little "princess" (Aaron's term, not mine) needed (incidentally all I asked for was a fridge and a toilet - the slide out was someone else's (who shall not be named) requirement).  But I digress.  The purchase of said travel trailer led to a summer of camping, both weekend trips and longer stints.


Camping Trip #1: Kinbrook Provincial Park, Lake Newell, Brooks

First time out with the trailer: kids were happy, we were happy, memories we will NEVER forget.   This weekend camping trip (which was also the weekend of our 12th anniversary) will forever be known as the moth massacre of 2012.

Setting up the trailer, at home, we noticed a "few" moths on the outside of the trailer...particularly along the slide out.  We swept them off, stamped a few out and began the process of packing up.

We made it to Brooks (with a stop to buy runners for the kids - you always forget something) and set up for our first evening.  Things were going great, or so we thought.  As night fell upon us we noticed 2 or 3 more moths exiting the trailer each time we went in for something (there was also an exponential increase in the number of winged insects in the nearby bathroom facilities as the night went on).  Then came time to turn in...or at least that was the original plan.  By the time we thought it safe to get into bed we had helped nearly 40 moths to head "into the light" (pun intended) .  Surely that MUST be the end of it.  No sir, between midnight and 1 am we must have helped an additional 20.  By now you think I am exaggerating.  I tell you I am not.  We should have piled them up for a picture as proof...needless to say that is one night we will not forget anytime soon.


The next day we went on a short hike along the bird sanctuary.  If the night previous hadn't been macabre enough that walk was.  I had no idea there was an abundance of fresh water crab in this province, but the hiking path was littered with crab claws. Seems the waterfowl had a little "massacre" of their own along the walking path.

And to top off the weekend:  Aaron had the pleasure of pulling a 26 ft bumper pull trailer home in gale force cross winds for 2 hours.  Yes, the inaugural camping trip in the trailer was one we will not soon forget.  Moth update: day two - around a dozen moths killed, day three: a half dozen, remaining camping trips less than 6 total (I think we left them all in Brooks...my apologies to other campers there).

Camping Trip #2: Metalex golf tournament

This was a great weekend.  If you ever have to go to a company golf tournament with your family make sure one of the people going is a dayhome operator.  Who else thinks to bring their portable bouncy house with them??  The company is great too...can't say enough good things about Metalex.  They are very good to families and I am very happy to once again find myself involved with them (they were the company that took a chance on Aaron when we were in Stettler and really set him on the path to owning his own business in the industry).

Camping Trip #3: Manitoba

For our third outing of the summer and my first official two weeks of holidays we packed up the trailer and drove to Manitoba.  We had the honour of being with my great-grandmother as she celebrated her 100th birthday.  This is a great accomplishment and not many people get to celebrate this milestone, especially with 6 great-great grandchildren in attendance.

We had a great time catching up with family and the kids had an opportunity to get to know some of their second cousins just a bit better.  Oh, and Aaron learned that staying up until nearly 1am and having a 6 am tee time the next day does not make for the best round of golf.  Thank you to my Uncle Don for defending my honour while others compared Aaron's game to mine as if that were an insult.  Most people know that on many an occasion I can golf better than he did..at least the way he apparently did that day :)

Camping Trip #4: Revelstoke, BC (Williamson Lake Campground)

Our fourth trip (and it remains to be seen if this will be the last of the season) was to Williamson Lake Campground in Revelstoke, BC.  This was our third trip there and second as a family.  It is a smaller campground, but quiet and a great getaway if you just want to sit around and relax.  This week involved a lot of beach time, sun, and relaxation (well, as much as you can get with children 5 and under).  We took a day to drive out to Lumby to visit some of Aaron's family, spent 3 hours hiking the Meadows in the Sky Parkway (which was absolutely lovely this year - last summer we were attacked by masses of mosquitos), and Maria caught her first fish.  It was nice to get some time just our family and we all came back from this trip refreshed.

Of course our summer was not completely camping.  We also took weekend trips to do things around home.  We made the annual trip to the zoo, took the kids to Heritage Park, began painting the playhouse, and redecorated Maria's room.  All in all, I think you can say it was a pretty busy summer in the Betke household.

                                                 

Merry Christmas: 2011 in review

It has been another long stretch since my last post, and since I have found December slipping through my fingers faster than I care to think about, I have decided that this blog will be a recap of 2011.  (This is also in lieu of Christmas cards, as that is one of the items that I simply did not find time for this December).  


2011 for the Betkes:


As you may or may not recall at the end of 2010 Aaron decided to start his own business.  We are pleased to report that one year later this has been an incredibly successful endeavour.  He continues to build self-framed metal buildings, primarily for companies within the oil and gas industry, but has started to take the occasional job on with a partner to increase the size and complexity of the buildings he can bid on.  On top of that he has spent the better part of December in Pennsylvania training an American contracting company on how to put these types of buildings together.  This has been a bit tough on the three of us left at home, as this has been Aaron's longest stretch away from home in the past 2 years, but we have managed and are eagerly awaiting his return tomorrow.  


I have also had some changes at work.  I continue to work at the Strathmore Health Unit as a speech-language pathologist, but this fall decided to try my hand at an all school-aged caseload.  This was a difficult decision, as I love the preschool age group, but I found that it was just too difficult to spend 7 hours of my day with other people's preschoolers, only to come home to two of my own.  Since the switch things have been much better on the home front, even if my caseload took a jump of 20 clients.  So I now provide service to 5 schools in Strathmore and surrounding area.  


Maria continues to grow and blossom.  She impresses me everyday now with her logic, reasoning skills and ability to take the things she learns in one context and apply them in other completely unrelated settings.  She amazed us this year with her performance in the Sunday School Christmas Pageant, not only performing her dance routine but by also learning and singing all the verses to "Away in a Manger".  I was simply hoping she would know all the words to the first verse, but after only 5 times through the song, she knew the entire song!  I was impressed.  She is really looking forward to Christmas this year too.  She is full of questions regarding Christmas, the meaning of Christmas, Santa Claus and various other aspects.  She has picked out the gift she would like Santa to bring her and talks non-stop of the "Breanne" doll Santa is bringing her for Christmas.  Should Santa be so kind as to grant this wish this year I am certain many of you will get the opportunity to meet "Breanne" as I have a feeling Maria will want to bring her with us on a great many outings in the new year. 




William will not stop growing...or talking for that matter.  Why I ever worried I'm not sure.  After all his mom is a speech pathologist who teaches the late-talker program at work.  Applying all those techniques to William has resulted in a 2 and a half year old who will NOT STOP TALKING now.  He comes up with new words every day, multiple times a day.  William also continues to be obsessed with Mickey Mouse and hockey, the latter being an obsession that began just before his second birthday after his aunt and uncle took him to two live Hitmen games.  As such, Aaron and I are hoping to get both kids on the ice some time in the new year.  We have also decided that we should cherish our "free" weekends now as we anticipate spending many a weekend in arenas in just a few years time, should this obsession continue.  


I think that about sums up the last year, and last few months, for us.  We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and hope that 2012 brings us many opportunities to catch up in person with many of you.