Purple eggs and pine cones

Papa gets a new ride!

2011-08-31T14:13:00.003-06:00

Meet our new family member. She doesn't have a name yet but we are taking suggestions. She sure is purrrrrty!

Can Am 650 Max XTp

First day of school for the Dagg boys in FMac

2011-08-31T11:34:00.003-06:00

I know I have been sporadic in my blogging lately but now that we are all moved in I better get at it.

The boys started school on Monday and the end of day report was "Awesome"! Hopefully that enthusiasm continues all year.

Happy Bday MJ and Uncle Darren!!!

2011-06-13T20:25:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T07:21:00.003-07:00

Well after a long hiatus from writing this blog I have decided to pick it up again. I had been thinking about it for a little while and decided to fire it up again after speaking to John and Mary and my sister Sherry over the holidays, and realizing how much they enjoyed it.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas holiday and stay tuned to read about ours!

Spring is here. Sanity returns

2010-03-31T10:13:00.002-06:00

We had a busy winter season and weeks seemed to fly by with us barley keeping it together. Although I do love coaching the kids in hockey doing both teams was a bit much. I had the opportunity to be a goalie coach on Aidan's team and really enjoyed it so I may do the same next year. Jess and I decided to try out curling with some friends but I found that this being on a Friday night was a bit much for our "Super Mom". Not to mention she has been training for another half marathon and taken on a new role at work. That being said we had some great times throughout the winter but I think next year we will take it a bit easier.

When people have asked me lately what I do for a living my response is that I am a full time Dad and volunteer. I'm not sure if I'm trying to pack it all in before I head back to the corporate world (which is probably going to be in September) or if I just get a personal kick by helping out but I'm neck deep that's for sure. To bad there wasn't a government tax reduction based on volunteer hours!

Here's what I'm involved in lately

Coaching on both hockey teams
Vice Chair GSS School council
Project coordinator for "Friends of GSS Playground"
Knight's of Columbus
Usher (this is new)
Always available to help a friend in need! Heck, I got a truck I better use it.

I'm also working on a degree from AU and attempting to learn the guitar for the hundredth time! Not sure where that stereotype of the Stay at home Dad drinking beer and playing video games came from but some days that sure sounds good!

A long overdue update

2010-03-11T13:14:00.005-07:00

Howdy all,

I don't believe I have updated this blog since Christmas so I'm long overdue. Life has been busy in the Dagg house especially through hockey season! Aidan had a great year and has shown some major improvement for first year Novice and had a great coach and loads of fun. Riley is on the last stretch with a tourney this weekend and is working on skating and holding the stick with two hands. Timbit hockey is such a riot!

I've been keeping busy with coaching hockey, volunteering at the school, project coordinator for the playground project and working on a couple of courses at Athabasca University. Jess is busy as ever with her work and is training hard for another half marathon. She's already getting the itch to start gardening but hopefully I can hold her back for another month. Last year she started planting indoors a bit early and we didn't have an empty window in the house!

We decided we all needed a bit of a break so we hit the Skies and flew to San Diego for seven days. What a great city to visit. It's very easy to get around and so much to do that we didn't even get to everything that we would have like to. We did visit LegoLand which was a hit with the boys, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Park, the USS Midway, Torrey Pines Reserve, the beaches and my favorite was Whale watching. We were super lucky to find 7 gray whales! Fun was had by all and the weather was perfect!

The boys are both doing very well in school and AJ will be doing his First Communion this year. Our spring should be a bit more quite as hockey is done and swimming is kicking in. We are also going to try and get AJ into an art class as this is still a passion of his.

Cheers,

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-26T08:44:00.026-07:00

We've been having a Merry good time.

Over the past few years we have grown into a couple of traditions. Making a gingerbread house and smashing it on Christmas Day is tons of fun and yummy too. Tortiere for C.Eve supper is one of my favorite and opening one gift before bed is a hit with the boys.

One of the coolest things about living in Okotoks is on Christmas Eve Santa comes around on top of the firetruck with a parade of cop cars, blaring music and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. The parade always swings by close to bed time for the boys so it's a perfect exciting topper before bed. Aidan was so excited this year when he finally saw the lights down the road he ran into the house shouting and screaming for us to get outside.

Although we didn't see any Reindeer we had a couple of deer visit behind our house. Must have been scoping out the place for the big guy's landing.

On Christmas Eve we were invited to head to the mountains to Sandy McNabb provincial park for some skating, sledding, bonfire and great company. It was loads of fun and I even tossed on the goalie equipment for the little guys and big guys too...Sorry we were so focused on getting everything in the truck we forgot the camera!

Santa was good to everyone this year even for some little boys who were probably on the "Second chance" list.
Riley jumped into our bed around 6am on Christmas Day and we had a riveting conversation about the health concerns of Santa. "Papa, Santa ate all of the angel ginger bread cookie and took a bite of the tree cookie." "Well Riley he has to eat a lot of cookies in one night maybe he was getting full?" "Yeah, maybe he's going to have to eat more vegetables as he gets older".

Jessica has been baking and cooking up a storm and has pulled out some amazing meals. Uncle Matt and Auntie Tina joined us for Christmas supper and some Lego building help.

The Dagg tree

2009-12-13T16:34:00.006-07:00

She's a little bottom heavy and we almost knocked the whole thing down trying to put up the Star but she sure is purtty!

Aidan's Christmas concert

2009-12-10T10:11:00.005-07:00

Aidan's concert was performed at the church this year and went off without a hitch. It was a modified version of the birth of Christ with lots of singing. We were very impressed by Aidan as he has been having some difficulty with staying focused as of late. He didn't have any acting or reading parts but sang his little heart out up there! Great job A.J.

The Daggs Christmas tree adventure

2009-12-10T09:18:00.011-07:00

We had a wonderful, yet cold adventure getting our tree this year. I had been talking about heading out and cutting down our own tree for sometime and happen to mention it to some friends who have been doing it for years, so we all went together. Unfortunately Jess was fighting a cold so she couldn't come but she enjoyed the quite time for resting.

We had just gone through our first snow dump/blizzard and now were in a bit of a deep freeze but we dressed the kids up warm, packed the buck saw's, hot chocolate and toboggans and braved the cold!

The snow was deep and fluffy and the temperature around -20 so I can't say we were too picky on the tree selection, in fact I like to say that our tree is beautifully tall yet sparse... Having the truck made it super easy as we just tossed all 3 trees in the box and the rack held them in nicely. It was actually a bit funny that when you squished all 3 of the somewhat sparse trees together they looked like one big full tree!

The kids had a great time trudging through the snow, finding big sticks and tobogganing. It was a great time and the start of a new tradition!

Thanks Lana and Dylan for getting us out there.

10 yrs married - Let's go to Vegas!

2009-11-30T13:06:00.007-07:00

Jess and I celebrated our 10th anniversary October 2nd and since we had family in town we took the opportunity for a quick trip.

We spent 3 wonderful nights at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. My sun goddess really wanted to go somewhere south, smell the ocean and chill on the beach but since we only had a few days Vegas was going to do. The hotel had a 13 acre beach and wave pool which was fun but Jess really loved the Lazy river. Essentially it's a pool with heavy current that pushes you around like a fast moving river, although instead of being lazy Jess thought it would be cool to swim real fast.

We saw a few different shows during our stay. The first evening we had a nice meal then caught the Carrot Top show. This guy is nuts and we laughed our *#$ off.
We were fortunate enough to catch a real good Blues band at the House of blues on night 2 and also my best ever burger!
During the day we pretty much walked the strip and did some people watching.
We had an amazing anniversary supper at an authentic (like anything is authentic in Vegas) Mexican restaurant. The food was so flavourful and Nell looked stunning. After the meal we headed off to see Cirque de Soliel KA. You have to see one of there shows to understand how truly an artistic, unbelievable and beautiful experience it is.

All in all we had a great time just spending some alone time together and having an adult vacation.

Jessica is an amazing women and I still believe I was a little lucky she said "Yes" 10 years ago.

Matt and Tina's wedding

2009-11-30T09:27:00.006-07:00

Our little bro gets married!
Let me start with stating how happy we are for Matt and Tina as they truly are both amazing

and special people and now seem to just have that glow about them. Congrats you two!

The boys were so excited to finally call Tina "Aunty" Tina and you can tell she loves it and adores our little monsters.

We had the honour of hosting the visiting clan from Ontario and Alberta and couldn't ask for a better time, well except for the crazy cold weather and the snow but we made the best of it. We all kept fairly busy between touring a brewery, riding in the mountains, shopping, air hockey, darts, poker and I hear there may have been some drinking as well...It was great just to hangout and catch up with the family.

The wedding reception was beautiful, the food was awesome and the new bride and groom know how to throw a good party!

Did I mention how amazing everyone looked, of course besides the bride, my beautiful wife was top of the list! I didn't think my boys could clean up that good either, but they sure looked handsome. The boys may have been handsome but that was matched by two pretty cute little girls!

There was some rumours about a crazy yellow bus but I don't remember anything ;)

The fall update

2009-11-30T09:06:00.004-07:00

Howdy all,

A whole lot has happened since the beginning of fall so I'm going to make this a rather large summary post of the last 3 months.

School
Both boys are doing very well in school and enjoying their teachers and school community.

Riley brought home his first perfect report card and was so proud. His teachers and friends think that he is a little gem in class, very helpful, creative and funny. Crafts seem to be still a favorite for him and his drawing has really come along. Mrs. Lloyd taught Aidan last year and commented on how well both boys draw and color. Math is also coming along very well and has started working on Addition. We were in the truck last week and as I was having some math fun with Aidan, Riley started to answer the questions too. Might have another little engineer on our hands!

Aidan loves his classroom and his teacher. Mr. Prescott has a hedgehog in his class and lives on a ranch with horses and dogs so you can see the connection. Reading is still taking off for A.J and is now eating up chapter books and his speed and comprehension has improved. No issues in math at this point but he defiantly has to work at this and it doesn't come to him as easy as reading and Art. The one issue we have had with Aidan is his lack of focus and interrupting/disrupting the class room, in fact he has the same problem in Hockey and at home so we have really been working on helping him with this. It's very apparent in his writing as last year it was waaaay neater and not so rushed.

I've been spending much more time at the school this year as well. I am Vice Chair of Parents Council and have volunteered to be the coordinator for a new Playground project, which is super exciting but a ton of work. We are really feeling like we are part of the school community and getting to know so many parents and teachers.

The writing break is over

2009-11-05T08:19:00.003-07:00

Well sorry for such a hiatus from our family blog. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with it this year and with school, hockey and Matt and Tina's wedding the writing just fell to the side.

Jessica has suggested that I turn the first year of my blog into a printed book so that we can capture it in hard copy for our family. If there are any editors out there feel free to call!

Over the next couple of weeks I'll work on getting this caught up with some pics and highlights over the past few months. Thanks again for sharing in the Dagg family life adventure.

Great long weekend in Montana

2009-09-08T12:37:00.004-06:00

We were invited to spend the long weekend with friends at their cabin and had a wonderful time. They've got a beautiful place and lots of room to relax as well as run around and be big kids.
On Saturday it was nice enough to take the boat out for some water sports and beach bumming. The boys started off a bit timid on the tube but were asking to go faster by the end of the day. Karen is a great skier and boat skipper as she got me up on skis for the first time in over 16 yrs. Jess enjoyed the sun and chilling on the beach.
Sunday was a bit too cool and rainy so we took a road trip to check out the area and the small town of Eureka. It warmed up in the afternoon and we had our own labour day classic playing soccer, baseball, football and frisbee. We took a nice walk down to the marina in the evening and just took it easy.
Aside from the crazy long ride home we had a very low key relaxing weekend. As Aidan said jumping off the tube "That was awesome!", ditto goes for the whole trip.

A big thank you to Demetrio, Karen and the kids for such a great weekend on Lake Kookanusa!

First day of school

2009-09-08T12:15:00.006-06:00

Summer should be 6mths long!

I just can't believe how fast it went by, I know we were busy but c'mon we needed a few more weeks. And of course the first week back for the kids turned out to be one of the hottest all summer!

Aidan and Riley are both excited about school and are enjoying there teachers. Here is a list of some comments from our first couple of weeks.

Riley
"I'll we do is play games and eat!" (heck I want to go back to school)
"Ah, can I go everyday like Aidan" (Let's see how long that lasts)
"I wish I could have more computer time" (Aspiring software geek, gotta love it)

Aidan
"We didn't even do any work today" (Thinking this is a Jedi teacher mind trick)
"I got some candies and if we get enough points we get a Slurpee!" (This behaviour motivator could work on me)

Better slow down on the Brew

2009-09-08T11:34:00.002-06:00

I was trying to get Riley to drink some V8 today and told him that it was my favorite drink in the entire world. He called me on it and said "I don't think so Papa, I thought beer was your favorite? Busted again!

800 channels down to 1

2009-08-18T22:41:00.003-06:00

Ever get the feeling that you've got 800 channels yet nothing is on? We have made the bold step to cancel our satellite, well actually Jess and I talked about it briefly then I went ahead and cut the cord. It's amazing how much money you toss into this entertainment without any question. We were well over $100 a month with our PVR rental and HD channels and I know I'm going to miss my hockey this season but I think we can put our money towards better things and still survive.

We are now running on Potato vision thanks to Eoin and Barb for showing us this great trick. You stick the end of your cable wire into a potato and it works like a sweet antenna, I guess you just need to remember to change it once in awhile. So far we get the CBC and that's great for me. The kids just realized it today when the asked if they could watch one of their shows and they took it harder then I expected but have already seemed to get over it. Friends of ours have said that doing this has changed their lives and I can already see the benefits as I'm reading more and Jess and I seem to have more time together in the evenings.

Rec Camps for the boys and I'm a bit lost

2009-08-18T09:42:00.002-06:00

Aidan has started a hockey camp this week and tells me he enjoys the dryland training the most, we might have an Ironman on our hands! Riley is in a Sports/Arts camp and is having a grand old time and I've got to admit that the house is a bit too quite.

Don't get me wrong there's lots to do as Jessica has reminded me, oddly enough when we booked this week it was supposed to be some "Bryan" time to go fishing, hiking, biking or whatever else I wanted to do before the school year started. It has now turned into "your going to your sisters wedding for 5days so you better get some things done around the house time". I think I liked the first option better.

I should be rejoicing with the time I have but this morning when I dropped them off I felt a bit like I did when they went to daycare. I miss not having the little buggers hanging around.

Well enough of that I better finish the recycling, take out the garbage, take something out for supper, finish the laundry, clean the bathrooms, organize the garage, call a sitter for Jess so she can go out to ladies night on Thursday, walk the dog...

Just the boys hit the road

2009-08-17T12:55:00.005-06:00

During our trip at Dino Park Jessica mentioned that since we have the trailer hooked up and stocked perhaps I should take the boys out for a few days before it gets too busy, so I did.

The boys thought this was awesome and we camped from Mon-Thur then returned Friday with Mom. The weather was not the greatest but we found ways to stay amused with games and some crazy toys called Toobers and Zots. We had some fun times on the canoe and are slowly turning Pepper into a fishing Dog. The fishing was slow for the first couple of times but Aidan and I got lucky on the last day and caught 9 fish between us in 30mins! Most of these we wee little fish but Aidan caught a good size one that he was proud to take home and provide lunch for us.

I kinda liked the fact that it rained as the boys and I spent some good one on one time in the trailer and it was nice to have some quite time at night to get caught up on my reading. Although we had a blast hanging with the boys we were happy to have Mom join us on the weekend!

Fossil and mosquito hunting in Dino Prov Park

2009-08-14T12:53:00.005-06:00

What an amazing place in the middle of the freaking prairies! Can you think what it would have been like for a lone cowboy just a givn er through the prairie and then coming up to the edge of the badlands. I bet you he might have done some cussing.

Of course as the story goes the badlands were fist discovered by French Canadians looking for new trapping routes and farm lands to settle, I knew this area called to me!

Anywho the campsite, facilities,programs and tours were topnotch unfortunately our trip was cut short due to the fact that the had a record amount of mosquito hatching and we couldn't stay outside for longer than 5mins. It was fine in the actual badlands but in the campsite and around the facilities it was unbearable. I mean I would take Sturgeon in the top of the blackfly season over this any day. At one point when I was trying to hook up the trailer they were all over me and I jumped in the truck and told Jessica that it felt like I was in some crazy Steven King novel.

Can you beleive RiGuy is 5!

2009-08-13T15:16:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe that our little guy just turned 5, I know it's not 16 or anything but wow where did the time go.

We put on an outdoor "Fun in the Sun" birthday party with water balloons, squirt guns, pinata and a pool cake. Riley is starting to get quite the group of friends and everyone got along which made it easier for me.

Talk about your lucky kid he got to have three birthday cakes, one shared with his Pepere as there dates are one day apart, one at home and then we met Uncle Matt and "soon to be" Aunt Tina at Montana's for a great family meal.

Happy Birthday big guy!

Oma visits and brings Silpada!

2009-08-13T14:40:00.005-06:00

I know people don't believe me when I say I love my in laws and always enjoy spending time with them but I do and I'm not just saying that to impress them for a sweet Christmas present or to retain my special spot on John's bar. They are just great people.
Jessica often talks about how her parents and grand parents used to hang out together all the time and how they had such a good relationship, hopefully we can live close enough someday to do the same.

Enough about the mushy stuff.

Mary scored on a sweet deal with Westjet and recently spent a week with us. It was good timing as Jessica was still off on her vacation and she got to be here for Riley's 5th birthday.

Her time was spent hot tubing, putting on Silpada parties and drinking wine... Oh yeah there was lots of quality time with the boys just hanging out and a visit from her brother Adrian. It was pretty low key but we had lots of fun and it was nice to catch up.

PS. Jess is going to hate this pic but it's the only one I could find with Mary from her visit?

PSS. OK I found some better pics but this one stays cause what the heck I need something to get me in trouble once and awhile...

Trip to B.C

2009-08-06T15:20:00.005-06:00

Nothing like buying a trailer and taking it for a 600km trip the next day. Yep were crazy but heck we like to live on the wild side.

We packed up the kids and the trailer and headed out to Wasa lake provincial park for a 7 day trip. This was the first time I pulled a 28ft trailer so it took awhile to get used to it and dial in the brake controller. I had one tense moment when I was passed by an 18 wheeler and got sucked into the draft but I managed to keep her steady and pull out. The truck seemed to have no issues with the weight which is good and it was a nice and comfy ride.

It's written that Wasa lake is the warmest in the interior and we had no complaints. Our days were filled with hanging on the beach, cycling, hiking, fishing and just taking it easy. Our neighbors have a cabin on the lake so we got to hang out on their beach and I docked the canoe there as well.

Jess and our neighbour Alison planned a hike to the top of a lookout which included some sketchy logging roads and gave me a chance to try out the 4x4! I think I enjoyed the drive more then the hike ;)

My new baby...

2009-08-05T13:34:00.004-06:00

That title must have opened a few eyes!
Well it's not a baby per say but a new to me Ford f150. I found a smoking deal off of kijiji no less, that worked out great for us so we moved on it. This gentlemen was transferred to the U.S for work and needed to get out of his lease so he tossed in some cash to cover some of the remaining payments and gave us all of the after market goodies he put on the truck. I put on a sweet rack to carry the canoe and now she looks mean.

When I was posting the van forsale Jessica suggested that we try and sell our tent trailer as well and look into a travel trailer since we can tow it with "Elenor". Sure enough we had them both sold in about a week and bought a 28ft Dutchmen trailer.

The truck has been super handy and the camping for 8 days in B.C was great in the trailer and we're looking forward to getting out many times including into the fall

My parents visit from Ontario

2009-08-05T12:57:00.004-06:00

We just had one of the most pleasant visits with my parents.
My mother had quit smoking the day before arriving and I have to say we were expecting it to be a bit rough but boy was I wrong. It's amazing how much that addiction takes a hold of your life without even knowing it, in the past Mom would be out every half hour for a smoke and coughing for the remainder of the time not to mention getting up through the night. It's no wonder why she was tired all the time. Instead we were able to have some really good conversations and outings that we just didn't do in the past.

Jess thought it would be fun to take them out to the Chucks and Grandstand show and it was definitely a hit. Mom loved betting on the horses and was like a kid cheering her favorite chuck on and teasing us. Robert had a blast too but for some reason chose the losing rig 3/4 of the time, could be cause Mom chose first every chance she could.

Robert is a master carpenter and I always love to learn from him so he helped me and the boys build Pepper a dog house. My wife is always full of compliments but felt the need to tell me the dog house looked amazing and that I couldn't have done it on my own and have it look so good. Thanks Nell...I hate it when she's right!

Technical difficulties

2009-08-05T12:54:00.001-06:00

Howdy all,

I had my last post blow on an image download and learned a valuable lesson wrt save as you go! How many times have people heard me say "save your docs\code often", I guess I should listen to my own advice.

Holy cow the school year is over!

2009-06-29T20:45:00.009-06:00

Man that was fast!

The last month was a bit of a gong show with volunteering, school projects, lacrosse and preschool wrapping up.

Riley really enjoyed his preschool and did a rocking job in his final concert.

Aidan is growing like a weed and is one smart cookie. He is reading at a grade 3 level for sight words and received Exceeding expectation in reading and Meeting + in Math, Writing. Socially he continues to be a ham but did have some tough times on the play ground in his last term. I think all the kids were going a bit nutz and were ready for a break

Lacrosse was fun this year but got to be a bit intense. Riley started off with very little enthusiasm but had lots of fun in his last practices.

We went camping with friends of ours and Monique or Mo as I call her to Chain Lakes reservoir. Nothing says your part of the family like getting cozy in a tent trailer eh Mo!

The weather was perfect with the occasional shower. Mo and I tackled the awning and screen attachment for the first time which gave us much more room. The kids played like crazy with there buddies Emily and Grant and we had some good fun in the canoe as well. The wild life was in abundance with Pelicans, Eagles, Moose, Osprey (My favorite bird) and even a lucky trout at the end of my line!

Dagger gets his first goal!

2009-06-05T10:31:00.003-06:00

Well so far our lacrosse experience has been mixed to say the least. Aidan has had a bit of a slow start but not for lack of skill but for lack of focus much like his other sports. I mean he has a great time but doesn't always participate 100% in practice and games, so we've been working on it. I decided to break it down into smaller parts this week and asked him to focus on one thing at a time during his games and work hard every shift. The past couple games he decided to work on his checking and not let up on the ball. The first game he did just that and had ball possession longer than all 5 previous games and the second game his hard work paid off with a beauty of a goal.

Aidan beat a kid to the ball in the corner, scooped it up and ran around to the front looking to pass but saw no one, so he lined it up and let'r rip right over the goalies shoulder!

I was so excited for him that I jumped on the bench and may have exposed a little mid riff, good thing I've been working on my 6 pack ;)

Aidan was so excited and I think is now starting to get the idea that if he really tries hard and focuses good things will happen and he will have a much better time...He finished the night with a big "I love lacrosse Papa!".

We are off to a tourney in Strathmore tonight just him and I so wish him luck!

Were did May go?

2009-05-25T20:24:00.007-06:00

May has been a tough month for keeping up with the blog and I apologize to my couple of steady readers.

Uncle Matt was visiting so we took the "Nelly 1" out for her maiden voyage and a little fishing for the boys. They were so excited to get out and had a great time, of course the fact that the battery died for the motor in the first two minutes did not bother them as they didn't have to paddle. I got the battery all charged up and can't wait to get out again...

Jessica went to check on Aidan before going to bed and this is how we found him snoring away.
I know that reading helps you sleep but I'm not quite sure it was meant to help in this way. That's actually a joke book so maybe he was doing some studying by osmosis.

Aidan and Mom at the school Mothers day extravaganza...

I should also mention that Jessica has been training for a half marathon and considering she thought I was nuts a year ago when I suggested she try a 5k she's come along way. She once told me that I inspired her with my motivation to run but now she inspires me. Great job Nell and can't wait to meet you at the finish line on Sunday!

I've also been busy doing some landscaping in the backyard and have now leveled and put down sod where the hockey rink was and finished building and filling Jessica's garden boxes.

The boys are both in Lacrosse and Riley also started playing soccer at the rec center. Aidan is doing very well with his bike and RiGuy likes riding on his new Tag a long bike or as he calls it "the bike with two seats".

Pepper is coming along with the house traing and has continued to grow. We figure she's over 40lbs now which makes her heavier then our RiGuy. She's learning fast and I'm going to take her to some fly ball training to help burn some energy and maybe a few pounds!

First trip to the river this year

2009-05-06T12:47:00.002-06:00

It was so nice today that Riley, Pepper and I headed out for a little hike around the river. It was neat to watch Pepper tap the water and try and figure out what she was supposed to do. It didn't take her long for her to jump in and splash around. Riley was cute as he asked if we could go again when Aidan was home for school because he misses out on this fun stuff...

Pepper is getting better with the car rides and hasn't tossed her cookies lately and even jumped in without a little lift up on the way home. Aside from her fetish with socks and tea towels she's coming along nicely and is a great addition to the Dagg clan.

Sick boys and messed up again

2009-05-04T13:49:00.003-06:00

OK,
So this isn't as bad as being a wee late picking up Aidan but again I messed up. We've been talking for weeks about Riley's assessment at the school and on Friday "we" or "I" totally forgot about it until Oma asked how it went! In "our" or "my" defense we would have had to cancel as both boys were fighting separate illnesses but as Jess mentioned I should have called at least. So I walked into the office with my look of shame and told them the story to which they said "well if you've got no big concerns we'll do the assessment in September". I told them he is a superstar and could really skip Kindergarten and go straight to grade one ;)

Getting ready for some fishing!

2009-04-29T23:34:00.003-06:00

This was a hard decision but instead of moving forward with my Motorcycle license as a bday\Christmas gift I have decided to get a boat. I thought with the summer coming and the boys at home we can hit the nearby little lakes and have some fishing fun! I can do the bike thing when they no longer want to spend time with me ;)

So meet the "Nelly I". I wanted something I could toss onto the truck but still be stable enough with the boys and the dog. She's a 16 ft sportspal canoe made in North Bay no doubt! How could I pass it up! I'm going to pickup a little electric trolling motor and were off to chase the big ones!

More *#&# snow!

2009-04-27T12:43:00.003-06:00

Howdy all,

I can't believe that we've just had our second snow dump in a matter of days! I take that back I can believe it, as I think God is punishing Alberta for what were doing to the environment...Just kidding. Right now I'm sitting in the kitchen watching Pepper play in the snow with a ball she keeps losing, at least she's enjoying it.

Jess got a little too excited early this year with the gardening and our house is covered in plants in all stages of growth. We actually have 2 foot flowers blooming right now. I bug her about it, but she really loves to garden as it's her passion and she's pretty damn good at it too! I knew I was in trouble when she asked me to build her another grow light... Were going to get nailed as a grow up and we've got nothing of any street value!

The boys are right into lacrosse and Aidan has his first game on Thursday. We just took the team photos so when they come in I'll post them. Did I mention Riley looks like Sponge Bob with his big equipment and skinny little legs, you gotta see it. I joined the Lacrosse Masters team in Okotoks and I think I'm going to loose a lung and blow a shoe! These guys are fast and good, I can keep up for the most part and my positioning is good but I can't catch worth the s*#&, but I'll keep working on it. I got a smoking deal on some used equipment and a Lacrosse net so we can all practice at home.

Jess and I have started painting our basement and we've got a painter in to do the upstairs who started today. Should look pretty spiffy in a week or two.

Riley has his school assessment on Friday so we've been reviewing this week, which is fun cause I picked up a new kids learning computer game that he really enjoys. I think he was getting a bit bored so it was time to mix it up.

Jess is doing great with her training and I believe is still on target for her half marathon. I stated running again and won't be able to catch her for awhile but I'm looking forward to running with her soon.

That's it for now Dagg out,

Easter break flew by

2009-04-21T07:58:00.003-06:00

I can't believe how fast the week flew by. It was nice to have mostly good weather and we hung out for the most part around the house. Jess took a few days off which was great and managed to tackle some of her gardening.
The boys and I did another run to the Royal Tyrell museum and for the record we ran through the entire building in 1hour and 15mins! On our way to the museum we dropped Jess off at work and about 5min into the trip Riley looked up and said " Where's Mama? " I guess he was so excited about the trip he forgot saying good bye? Aidan is quite the little walking animal\dino fact machine now and it's tough for me to stay ahead of him.
At one point we were looking at the soft shelled turtle and I mentioned that they've been around for over 100 million years and Riley thought I was talking about the one we were looking at!

Observant little bugger

2009-04-13T17:28:00.003-06:00

I was brushing Pepper today as the boys were watching a show and Riley looked over at me and made an interesting observation.

"Hey Papa, Pepper has a hairy belly just like you!"

***Correction

After recounting this story today to Jessica, Riley piped up and said he meant I have the same hairy belly as Shrek not Pepper which was the show they happen to be watching... Not sure I like that any better.

Double Bday lunch for Aidan and Tina

2009-04-08T14:02:00.003-06:00

I forgot to mention that we had Tina and Matt over for lunch on Sunday. It was great to see them and we had a dual Bday celebration for AJ and Tina. Here are some pics.

Yippy the sun has returned...go away crappy snow!

2009-04-08T13:44:00.005-06:00

It was nice to get back to our routine on Monday but with two play dates yesterday and today as well as preschool and lacrosse were wiped and the house looks like a hurricane ran through it.

Pepper is doing well and growing every day. She now weighs in at 30 pounds and is only 4.5 months. Her first vet appointment was interesting as she does not do well in the car and tossed her cookies right before heading in. The Doc thinks she might have some Perenese Mountain dog in her or maybe a type of Shepherd due to the double dew claws she has. Can you say big food bill!

I'm excited for the snow to be gone and can now get started on the spring cleanup, although I do think I'll leave the Christmas lights up this year, OK maybe not.

Aidan turns Seven

2009-04-05T16:21:00.004-06:00

Wow,

Man where does the time go by? It seems just like yesterday when I held this little baby with the hockey hair in my arms as he wiggled and screamed then smiled at me when he heard my voice. For anyone expecting, talk to the belly cause it works!

We had a Star Wars themed party with costumes, theme games, galactic pizza, yoda sodas and I built a snow speeder out of cardboard that was a hit. Aidan and his buddies had a blast and Riley did great playing with all the older boys. I had a pretty good time too!

Another good laugh with Riley

2009-04-01T22:50:00.002-06:00

Riley and I were messing around on the couch today and I called him Scooby doo, so he looked at me and said "Ya, well your Boobie Doo". What can I say, he got me again!

Sadly we had to put our Willy dog down today...

2009-03-31T22:38:00.003-06:00

Willy and I have been together for almost 13 yrs and today was tough for me and the family but unfortunately his health had really deteriorated. He had been out of sorts for a few months now and sadly he had diabetes and had gone into renal/kidney failure.

Although he was a little bugger of a Schnauzer he was a wonderful friend and companion. He often thought he was a German shepherd and loved to chase anything that had four legs and moved.

Aidan is taking it very hard as he was his first dog and has been part of his life since he was a wee lad. We are going to make a picture collage for him and Riley and will be planting a tree this spring.

Love ya old dog.
RIP willy.

Report Card day

2009-03-31T09:55:00.002-06:00

Aidan had his report card come home for this term ..da..da..dadaaa...
Now that I know the marking system I'm excited to see "E's". Overall he did very well and like his Mom he is one smart cookie! Excellent marks in math, social studies and art but needs to work on he's focus and attitude in gym class...there goes the basketball scholarship eh!
As reward for a great term we take Aidan out for a diner of his choice, although I think it's cool that he chooses Sushi he eats like a horse and Boston Pizza would be an easier bill to handle.

Great job son!

Meet Pepper the new Dagg family member

2009-03-25T09:16:00.006-06:00

We adopted Pepper from the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society last Sunday and she's a real gem. She's one smart cookie and is great with the boys so far, they are in heaven and happy to have a dog that will acknowledge and play with them. The Willster is doing good and mostly tries to ignore her although oddly enough he has been listening better than ever before.

We're pretty sure she is border collie but what she's mixed with is a crap shoot, our best guess is lab, shep or husky. Pepper will be a medium to large girl, guessing around 40-50 pounds and will be a good running partner for Jess if she can keep up.

Her story is that a family had a dog that got knocked up as they couldn't afford to spay her so the people at AARCS agreed to cover the surgery and help locate homes for the last pup. She is timid and we don't believe she had seen much of the outside world until joining AARCS but she is coming around nicely.

What's with the snow!

2009-03-25T09:08:00.002-06:00

I gotta tell ya I was hopeful on the first day of spring when it was 13 degrees but I had a feeling it wouldn't last! I'm not sure if it is because I'm at home but this winter seems like it has been dragging on and I'm done with it. I mean the snow angels, frosty, snow forts, and sliding has been great but were done now.

Riley has been so excited to start riding his bike and then poof the magic white stuff falls from the sky.

Hard to believe hockey is over for AJ

2009-03-10T09:37:00.003-06:00

Well there goes the hockey season.

Although before Christmas it started to feel a bit long, the hockey season just flew by. Aidan has come along way and is much more confident on his skates. In our last tournament one of our opposing teams were short a few players and when we asked the kids who would like to play on the other team, Aidan volunteered. The little bugger played great and got 2 goals against us! I was proud that he wasn't afraid to join a new team and help out.

I've got many fond memories from this year but I will always remember Aidan's first full ice game we played in Olds. The team was getting slaughtered but our kids were having a blast, at one point Aidan jumped on the bench and screamed " I love Hockey " and just wanted to get back on the ice. I hope it always stays fun for him and that kids continue to ignore the scoreboard.

Riley and numbers

2009-03-10T09:31:00.002-06:00

Riley has been really interested in numbers lately, he's always asking how many and guessing at numbers. He has been using his fingers in doing addition and subtraction and is pretty creative too. The other day he asked me what 5+5 was and I did as I usually do and suggest he figure it out so he started out on the left hand, stumbled a bit then counted his right and shouted 10! I then asked him what was 10+5 thinking that I may have stumped him but after looking at his fingers he sat down and pulled of his sock and counted them up!

Hockey Tourney, Coaching and Disney sort of...

2009-02-25T14:36:00.003-07:00

Aidan had a hockey tourney in Sylvan lake this weekend so we headed out early afternoon on Friday and returned Sunday aft. You can tell we haven't been out much as the kids were super excited to go to a hotel, especially one with a pool. I think we will save our money on Disney trips and just continue to go to Red Deer. Well it might not be as magical but you sure can see some characters and a show or two. N0 offense to any of my Red deer friends.

Although the team didn't win any games, something we are very used too, they had a great time and I think everyone improved. I had some great coaching moments as well.

Here's a conversation I had with one of our players:

" Noah, I want you to fight for that puck and don't give up buddy "
" I can't coach "
" Why not? "
" Well, I'll get a penalty "
" Not that kinda fighting Noah, I mean with your stick, battle for that puck and go get a goal! "
Wouldn't you know it, he did on the very next shift!

Another little guy on Aidan's team jumped on the bench and was looking a little down, so I asked him what was up? He said it just wasn't working for him today and he couldn't get the puck. I told him to keep skating hard and having fun and good things will happen. It took a couple of shifts but you can tell he was having fun and sure enough got a goal. Man was he happy.

Aidan had a great tourney as well, he has come along way and although sometimes focus is a bit tough he's having fun. He managed to squeak a goal in the last game and did a bang up job playing in net too!

I really enjoy coaching and not only for the time I get to spend with Aidan but the chance to help teach, grow and share these memories with all the kids.

All in all we had a crazy weekend, sleep was limited, but as a family we had a great trip!

Thoughts....

2009-02-17T10:15:00.002-07:00

I guess it wouldn't be a true log of my adventure if all I talked about was how the kids are doing. For the most part I'm really enjoying being home with the kids, this really hits home when I'm able to play an active part in Aidan's school, sport and day to day teaching as well as working with Riley on school prep handling his little temper and just plain having fun.

It's amazing that when you are in complete work mode you don't realize how much more you can be doing with your family, you just have a feeling you could be doing more and assume they will be fine, which most kids will be. But being around before and after school and volunteering allows you to not only observe how they are doing but be there to help them when they need you, even if it seems small.

Every now and then I still get this feeling that I should be doing something else, like being a SAHD is a not enough or that I should be learning something or doing some kind of "work". It usual occurs after I have a conversation with someone who says " so, are you taking any courses or doing contract work, or what do you all day? ".
I am taking stock of " what I want to be when I grow up" and looking into setting some goals, but to be honest, I still don't think I've got a handle on my current role of SAHD. Don't get me wrong my employer (working mom) is quite happy with the success and progress of our munchies and the goal of a calmer, less stressed and involved family life is being hit but you know me, I can do better.

I still have a lot to learn when it comes to parenting and I guess you never really get it all right. Working on my patience and trying to remember that they are not adults and that everything is a learning opportunity is something I always try to remind myself of. It's just not easy when your tired and need to get some house stuff done and your late for the next hockey practice and their scrapping over something that seems pointless. Hey was that a rant?
Anyway maybe what I'm saying here is that I still have a lot of growing up and learning to do as well....

Love bug Riley

2009-02-12T15:21:00.002-07:00

So on the way home from preschool today Riley told me of his new life plans. He said he has a new friend named Aslan and he loves her, he plans to marry her when he grows up. This is a bit of a relief cause prior to this he had planned to live with his brother forever. Kids are so damn cute.....

Riley can spell

2009-02-11T16:55:00.002-07:00

We've been getting better at our daily routine and I think it's paying off. Riley really likes knowing what were doing and considering he's a bit of a control freak (not sure who he gets that from) this works well for him. Here's a rough look at our routine:

- Play, eat and get ready for school
- Take Aidan to school then take Willy for a walk
- Free play, normally Star Wars related
- Work on Alphabet and Numbers (Riley knows all his letters and can count up to 30). He can now spell two words (Mom, Zoo)
- Work on French word of the day (Currently teaching head and shoulders)
- Snack time
- Fun drawing letter games and coloring
-Sesame Street
- lunch
- Quite time, sometimes naps
- Swimming Lesson or Preschool or wrestling....
- Pickup Aidan

In between there we manage to clean the house, do some laundry, cook and tackle one or two items on the "Jessica's task list".

Ready for summer

2009-02-11T16:46:00.002-07:00

I tell ya, I can't remember a winter that has had me wanting some warm weather in awhile. I think if we had any money we would be hitting a beach asap! Maybe it's because we've been inside a bit too much and were getting cagey, unfortunately winter is far from over. I've got to get better at bundling the kids up and kicking them out more often or we might not make it through the winter with both of them.....

"A game of "hide where I tell you""

2009-01-26T13:10:00.005-07:00

Riley and I were playing a new game of hide and seek today which incorporated using his camera, when he found me he would take a picture. So off I go to hide and he starts counting (we need to work on his numbers as it gets a little sketchy after 12) I was hiding behind the kitchen table when I was found and told:
"Papa, this is not where you're supposed to be hiding, I want you to hide up in Aidan's room behind the bed but not in the dark cause the picture won't work....So why don't you just try again?"
So much for the surprise part eh?
I did try again but being the stubborn Papa, I hid in the bathroom in the dark ;)
He found me and the picture turned out great.....

Registration for Kindergarten

2009-01-21T12:51:00.002-07:00

I can't believe it, but the time has come for registering Riley into Kindergarten for next year! I currently in the process of deciding what would be the best time for him and me I guess. The options are half day mornings 5 days a week or full day Tuesday and Thursday. I'm torn on this one, Aidan was ready for full days and with Jess and I working it was the obvious choice.

I'm leaning towards the full days as that allows me some options if I choose to work part time or take some courses, it also means I won't have to be at the school 3 times a day...but then there is a side of me that feels this might be a bit selfish and that I shouldn't be sending Riley all day for my benefit. Although that would leave us with 3 full days and as Jessica mentioned this would be prepping him for the all day grade one. Maybe I need a decision matrix ....thought a few of you might get a kick out of that.

Well I don't usually ask for feedback in this blog but hey I would be an idiot to ignore the wealth of parental knowledge that I can tap into here, so if you've got any tips or info for me send me a comment.

Cheers....now where's my wii remote.....

New features

2009-01-21T12:49:00.002-07:00

Hey all,

I spent sometime playing with the settings of the blog today and now you can comment without having to register and you can email one of my post to someone as well. Enjoy and thanks for following along on our little adventure.

Jess gets in a jab and a good laugh

2009-01-21T10:28:00.002-07:00

With the economic down turn and fact that I no longer have a salary, I've been trying to make some smaller sacrifices, one of them is pushing out the hair cut to once every 5 weeks instead of every 3. Well I'm no Rapunzel but my hair (and Aidan's) grows very fast and lets just say I was looking a little bushy not to mention my trimmer died on me so the burns may have been a little out of control. I'm sure your wondering where I'm going with this but you know me I like to set the picture up for you....

Jess and I are sitting at the table having breakfast when she looks over and makes a comment on my bushy burns and then says with a smile " Just cause your at home now it doesn't me you can let yourself go! ". We both cracked up and I've been ribbing her ever since...cause had the shoe been on the other foot I'm not sure even I could get away with that comment!

So I got a hair cut, some new clothes and I may even treat myself to a spa day and makeover...nah not really....

Aidan's hockey pic and "Mo" proof

2009-01-15T14:59:00.002-07:00

Hey all,

Aidan has received his Hockey pics this week and I thought I would upload one of us both. For all that donated to the "Movember" fundraiser here is my proof. I would also like to thank everyone for helping me raise money for prostate cancer, my team of 40 men raised over $25,000!

Time...

2009-01-13T18:36:00.005-07:00

Why is it that kids use time to their advantage even before they know how to tell it!

If I ask Riley to clean up and tell him he has 5min he automatically will try and bump me to 10min and when time is up he claims that it isn't. The opposite is also true, when Riley would like me to do something and I tell him 1min or 5min it's as if his clock works twice as fast! 20 seconds will have passed and he will be telling me time is up......boy let me tell you, today I'm sure glad it's almost "bed time"!

Can't say no to this cute request

2009-01-09T09:28:00.002-07:00

"Papa can I have hot choc O late, mellows and swiss cream?"

Aidan is playing in the Big Leagues on Monday

2009-01-08T13:49:00.002-07:00

Aidan will be playing a 40min game at the Saddle Dome on Monday 12th, 6:30. This event is called the "Big League Experience" and will have official player intros, National Anthem, Video Cameraman to follow the action, live DJ and the game will be played on the Jumbotron. It should be a blast for the kids.
If you would like to come out and cheer the little "Dagger" as he team mates call him, it's free including parking. I'm going to make some signs up and it would be great if we had a cheering section. If you are interested in coming out send me an email and I'll send over the details.

Church with kids....

2009-01-07T09:18:00.003-07:00

I must say church with kids has been quite an experience over the past 6yrs. You really can't blame the little guys as staying in one spot is hard enough for me let alone them. I've gone from praying to let me and them survive the next 1/2 hour to having some really nice moments with my boys.
This week went exceptionaly well, we got out on time without too much herding and coaxing and the boys were really good. In the middle of the mass I was standing with Aidan beside me and like many times before, Aidan would call me down and ask me to explain something or would want to tell me something that he can relate too, so I bent down and this is our conversation...
Aidan was full of excitement "Hey Papa, hey Papa"
Getting ready to answer some deep religious question I said "Yes Aidan"
"I just saw the Doritos's truck go by"
"What"
"Out the window, I just saw the Doritos's Chip truck go by!"
I had a hard time keeping a straight face and realized that he got me again. Like I said, happiness can be found in the simplest of things....

At the end of the day we all have our different beliefs and traditions but that aside Church brings families, individuals and therefore communities together for a few hours a week and that can't be a bad thing.

Back to the routine

2009-01-07T09:02:00.003-07:00

This is the first full week back from the holiday break. We kinda got use to having Jess around with us all day and I sure do miss her already...and not just for the adult conversation.

I'm not big on the whole resolution thing as I feel you shouldn't have to wait for one big date to change or do something. I believe you should be taking stock every month\week\day but maybe that's the "Agile" in me. That being said, seeing how we were starting a new school session with Aidan and preschool with Riley, I'm going to work hard at making sure I don't miss any "special" school notes, dress "color" days, bring "item" days, comb hair to the left days....

I was so eager on this that I brought Riley to his swimming lesson right on time. Unfortunately they don't start till next week....Oh well

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2008-12-29T09:00:00.008-07:00

Ho Ho Ho y'all,

I took a wee break from the blog through the holidays, mostly because we were so busy and having a great time with Opa and our friends.

It sure has been nice to have John stay with us for Christmas and not just for all the great handy work he does around the house! The kids just loved playing with him and we really enjoyed catching up and making new memories. My fondest would be of John playing goalie on the ice while Aidan took shots.

Although we had a great time with John we really missed Mary too and it must have been tough on the two of them being separated for the first time in 35 years during the holidays. We love you both and wish you have a great time this New Years Eve!

Another great surprise was the engagement of Matthew and Tina! Were super excited for both of them, although for some reason Riley said her name is Tina not "Aunt" Tina...I'm sure he'll get over it.

Jess and I are enjoying the time at home with family and friends and just hanging out. Although we miss all the family it sure is nice not to have to fly anywhere with the boys.

Our typical day has been filled with playing Star Wars Legos, Star Wars Wii, Nerf battles, board games, Elefun, skating, sliding and swimming and in the evening we've managed to have a few drinks of wine ;)

Riley's first Christmas Concert

2008-12-16T14:39:00.004-07:00

We just came back from Riley's preschool Christmas concert and it was so much fun. They had done the nativity scene and Riley was the Inn Keeper and his buddy Owen was Joseph. I was chatting with Owen's Mom and she was telling me that Owen wanted to be the Inn keeper, which was funny cause Riley was telling me that he wanted to be Joseph. The two boys rocked there parts and happen to have the only speaking roles.

Owen (Joseph) "Can we stay at the Inn?"

Riley (Inn keeper) " Nope, but you can stay in my stable"

Que music....

This really is a great preschool and they've put in tons of work with this concert as well as in raising food and money for the less fortunate over the holiday season.

Wow it's already mid December!

2008-12-15T10:29:00.002-07:00

Hey all,

Sorry for the dry spell I had another PC crash. It took me awhile to track down the problem then wrestle with Vista for control of my machine. I finally had to format all 3 hard discs...anyway there are a lot of people reading this who just don't care but for my techie geek friends let's chat about this over lunch!

We've been doing very well and keeping very busy.

Aidan is growing like a weed
He's got crazy long arms and wears out his jeans like there made out of paper! He's now wearing size 7/8. Still sporting the hockey player look on his grill with two front teeth still missing, yes he likes to sing the song.
Aidan is doing well with his reading and continues to love to draw, man he can make some great pictures and is now writing little books and comic strips. Maybe I'll scan a few and add them.

Riley "I'm tricky" Dagg
Continues to make me laugh and keep me smiling. He loves to play little tricks and is trying to be funny like his big bro...we could be in trouble.
Riley can now write his name with no prompting and knows all of his alphabets except for w,n,u and sometimes m. He loves to play alphabet bingo (gets that addiction from his Memere) which really helps with the learning. Were working on numbers and need to be more creative in this area.
Riley has been a lot better with his behaviour and temper and is playing so much better. He loves playing with his buddy Grant and has a new buddy at Preschool called Owen.

As for me.....
Between wrestling with the kids, doing homework, Christmas shopping, coaching/playing/watching hockey and getting the house ready for Opa I've been kept busy. Oh yeah I forgot to mention the rink. The - 30 weather has been good for something and we should be skating sometime this week!

Starting to feel like Christmas

2008-11-27T09:17:00.004-07:00

We've been slowly getting our lights up and are almost done with the exception of a couple more trees. I would like to put lights around the rink so we can skate in the evening, it won't be as romantic as the Ottawa canal but it will do. The boys wanted to put lights on the fort in the backyard so we opted out on putting them up on the front of our house.

It sure is nice to do your shopping during a week day instead of the crazy weekend or week nights of long lines and grumpy humbugs, not to mention you can actually find someone to help you when you need it.

Jess and I decided to pull way back this year on the gifts, even before the economic downturn. I guess part of my decision to make this change was that I didn't like what I was becoming and I know I needed a change. I don't know if it was because I came from such humble beginnings that I thought I needed everything and had to provide everything to my kids but what was I really teaching them. I've got to thank Jess for always asking the "Do we really need that?".

I am who I am partly because of how I grew up and what I was taught, we were on the receiving end of the fireman's Christmas food basket and I remember how happy we were to get the help and gifts. My mother may not have had much but she taught us well and when ever she has the chance she's the first to give back. We plan on teaching our boys the same.

Dagg rink progress

2008-11-21T12:30:00.002-07:00

Hello sports fans!

I was very excited for the recent cold weather as it gave me a glimmer of hope for ice before December. Well thanks to the +4 degree weather out there we still have a pool. I still have some back boards to make and a bench or two but the general rink is complete and waiting to freeze.

Riley quote of the week

2008-11-21T12:24:00.001-07:00

At lunch time yesterday Riley looked at me and said "Papa, you are the silliest man I have ever met!" He just cracks me up.....

Looks like nap time is over!

2008-11-21T12:20:00.003-07:00

I was hoping I would make it into the new year with afternoon naps but what was I thinking. Riley hasn't had a real nap in a few weeks so I believe it's time to come to terms and face it. I'm not going to say that nap time was part of the job description but it sure was a perk. Well more time for us to play Star Wars I guess.

Report cards are in

2008-11-20T07:51:00.003-07:00

Aidan brought home his report card\book last week and at first glance I was shocked to see so many "E's". As I prepared mentally for the following conversation and put on my stern disappointed look, I decided to check the letter legend....Let's just say it's a good thing I remembered the old "think before you speak" (thanks Mom) as E=excellent.
Whatever happened to the good old A,B,C,D,E system? I actually think this makes much more sense and you really do get more substance in this type of report book then the one pager I received growing up.

Aidan is doing well and really enjoys going to school, he needs to work on being a bit more organized (quelle surprise) and more respectful when others are speaking but overall we are very proud of him.

We started a little tradition of going out for diner where ever Aidan would like after a good report card, his choice this time was Sushi. Of course I thought this was a good idea but Riley tried to convince him that Boston pizza would be a better choice. No luck RiGuy.

Aidan's first goal

2008-11-18T07:14:00.005-07:00

Crosby-Esq?

The little Timbit got his first goal on Saturday and man was he proud. This is how he describes it.

"I was skating with the puck when 1, no 2, no 4 players tried to take it from me. I was tripped but as I fell I hit the puck straight into the net!"

I got to tell you that I love being out on the ice with the little kids, it's just so much fun. Aidan may forget his first goal in time but I don't think I will.

Mo progress

2008-11-17T14:02:00.004-07:00

Hey all,

Riley wanted to take some pics today so I thought I would post one of us which also shows the "Mo" progress. So far it's unanimous, Jess and the kids hate it, as do I! Bring on Dec 1!

"Riley isms"

2008-11-12T12:51:00.003-07:00

Thought you might get a kick out of these,

gotfor = forgot
opameal = oatmeal
warm necker = neck warmer

I'll add more as they come up. Aidan's best when he was little was firefuk = firetruck, boy did that get us some looks now and then!

It's Movember - Prostate Cancer fundraiser

2008-11-12T10:39:00.003-07:00

Hey all,

Myself and some friends are growing moustache's to raise money for prostate cancer. I'm going to be sporting the biker look for the month of November and if you would like to sponsor me or my team please see the details below. I'll even post some pics for your enjoyment!

Head to this site ( http://ca.movember.com/ ) and click on the donations tab. You can search for me or donate to the team.

Team name: The Big Mo
Capt: Simon G

Some Prostate Cancer details.

Did you know:
Every year around 24,700 Canadian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 4,300 die of the disease, making it the number one cancer threat to Canadian men.1 in 7 men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. All men over the age of 40 are potentially at risk and should talk to their doctor about the disease and early detection. Prostate cancer is 95% curable if detected and treated early.

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Trip was great - Congrats Pat

2008-11-12T10:16:00.003-07:00

Hey all,

I've just returned from Ottawa and had a wonderful time. It was great to spend some time with my nephew and niece as well as connect with some old friends from the prior. I did find myself calling home every day and missed the little monkeys.

It was nice to do my God Father duties and I can't believe how much he has grown. Paris and I had a blast as well and I'm going to miss all her hugs and snuggles.

My sis and bro in law are great and we always have a fun time. Wish we could do it more often but life has brought us all in different directions.

I'm looking forward to spending some time out there this summer with the family.

In the Valley!

2008-11-07T01:58:00.002-07:00

Made it to Ottawa, flight was delayed. Hope the boys are having a good time with Mom.

Felling a bit mushy today....

2008-11-05T11:20:00.005-07:00

Thought I should stay true to this being a log of how things are going and yes gentlemen even talk about feelings...scary eh!

I gotta tell you I hear this at least 15 times a day and I don't think I'll ever get tired of it.
Riley "ah Papa"
Me "Yes Riley"
Riley "ah, I love you"
Me "Love ya too buddy"

One more mushy thing and that's it, I wouldn't want you guys thinking I'm going all soft!

Some of the best things just happen, they don't have to be a great planned event. Nothing puts a smile on my face and make me feel better than an unexpected little hand reaching up to hold mine as we walk. That's it, simple but powerful.

Riley on politics

2008-11-05T09:12:00.003-07:00

We were watching the election last night and the boys wanted to watch hockey (they make me so proud) however Jess and I were working our way through the CNN coverage. Jess attempted to explain to our future Prime Ministers, why this was important and relevant to Canada. Things were going well until she mentioned the word "Super Power", at that point Riley stated that the US could not be a "Super Power" as they did not have any "Light Sabres!".
Great point I thought....

Dagg rink is in full swing

2008-11-04T18:58:00.003-07:00

I managed to finish putting up the boards today. It's amazing how I can get more done in 30mins without the kids as I can 2hrs with them! They were just in a scrap'n mood yesterday and I was hoping to have the boards up and ground leveled before dark but that didn't happen. Current status is boards are up, ground is as level as it's going to get and I laid the plastic down with some creative patch work as I didn't have enough on one roll (quelle suprise). I still need to tack the plastic on and build the back boards where the nets will go.

Hope the plastic stays put as it just started to snow!

Riley skating update

2008-11-04T18:52:00.004-07:00

Riley is on his second round of skating lessons. He just passed the first one and the teacher suggested that it might be good for him to do a second go. He's a bit upset that his buddy is not in this one and seems a little bored out there but he's still smiling.

First Hockey road trip

2008-11-03T07:15:00.003-07:00

The Olds Tigers invited Aidan's team out for a hockey game on Sunday and although we are not a travelling division we thought the kids would enjoy this and learn from having an official game. Up to now our games have been half ice, short little games on Saturdays, so this was a big change being on the full ice for 60mins.

The kids played hard and really improved by the end of the game and thanks to the mercy rule of only putting up 5 goals on the board (which the tigers got in the first 5mins of the 1st ) they had a great time and never quit! We managed to shift the lines up in the last few minutes and got on the board with a couple of goals and you would have thought the kids won the cup!

Aidan is doing very well in his first year and I would say is almost catching up to the second year group. After the first few shifts he jumped on the bench and in true Aidan fashion screamed " I love hockey, hockey is awesome! " nuf said.

Halloween fun

2008-11-01T08:31:00.004-06:00

We had a great time last night...oh yeah the kids too!
The boys and I put the finishing touches up on the grave yard just in time and were ready to get dressed and out when Mom got home. Riley was hilarious in his suit when he shouted "Scooby dooby doooooo!". All Aidan could talk about was being a vampire but as this was not suitable for school he was Superman during the day and a very convincing vampire at night. Riley felt it was necessary to tell every home owner that he was Scooby do and his brother was a vampire, this was great and got quite a few laughs.

Jessica and I switched roles this year and I went out which was fun.

Fun was had by all, the little ghosts and parents enjoyed our decorations, the boys got a crap load of candy and no one got hurt. I'd call that a success!

Hockey equivalent to chasing bugs in soccer

2008-10-28T16:46:00.003-06:00

Let me paint a scene for you that I'm sure you have all seen.
It's a nice spring evening and your watching some kids play soccer, then all of a sudden one or two (usually named Aidan) little tykes start staring into the sky and chasing bugs as the soccer ball rolls past them. Last Saturday I nearly cried icicles as I watched the equivalent distraction on the ice but instead of bugs it's the mirror like reflection you can get off the boards and glass. Oddly enough it wasn't Aidan this time but the other coaches son, who was amazed that he could see himself and wave as the puck went sliding by his stick...

Gotta love kids sports!

Sunday-a-thon

2008-10-27T12:59:00.002-06:00

Holy busy crazy day.

It all started off with a marathon church session of 1hr 45 mins and it's a good thing there was share the word for the kids or I'm sure one of the boys would've jumped over the top balcony!

We then had a quick lunch and packed the boys and their bikes up for a birthday party. This was loads of fun as the mother of the bday boy is also the VP at the local High School so we had run of the whole school. Kids were firing down all the halls on their bikes and ride on toys and we managed to not lose any! This is Riley's little buddy and the two are stuck at the hip.

A few weeks ago Riley and I were saying our normal goodbye's after dropping off Aidan for school and having a play session with his buddy when he shouted "bye, love you Riley!". Riley replied with a big "Love ya too" at which point I shared a somewhat awkward but funny moment with his Dad. We both looked at each other and kinda said "Ah...bye...love ya..." and started to howl....Since then you can't really take the two apart...But I digress.

After the bday party we started to pack the truck up for the next adventure and tried to have the kids go down for some quiet time...ya right! They actually were pretty good and tried to rest up a bit. Jessica works with a lady who had invited us to celebrate the Indian tradition of Diwali. This was a great opportunity for us to share and teach the boys about other cultures and traditions. It was beautiful and the food was amazing! We would've stayed much later but the boys were getting tired and I had a hockey game to play at 9:15 in Indus.

Considering we were in the NW of Calgary and leaving close to 8:00pm we had to hustle back to Okotoks so I could get to my game in time. I arrived with 5 mins to get dressed face a couple of practice shots and play the game. This wasn't one of my greatest starts to say the least as we started the 3rd period 4-1 but we pulled through and won 8-4. After a couple of pints and watching some sport highlights I finally hit the sack around 1:00am and the crazy day was over! Bring on next weekend....

Oops - far from perfect

2008-10-27T12:30:00.006-06:00

OK so I guess I shouldn't just write about the good stuff as it might seem a bit boring or superficial so after a wee mishap on Friday I decided to talk about some of the things I can improve on.

Yes, I'm terrible and missed picking Aidan up on Friday! But let me explain. Every day I pick up Aidan at the school for 3:30 except for Fridays at 2:30 so you know I was bound to screw that up at least once. I normally have an alarm go off on my watch but I recently switched it to wake me up for his early morning hockey games. So there I was trying to fix a Vista OneCare problem on the PC as Riley was napping and the doorbell rings...It's my buddy who with a smile on his face says "kid delivery". Crap.... Aidan thought this was funny and had no problem coming home with his friends and their dad so a trip to the Psych doctor may not be necessary. I now have an outlook reminder, cell alarm and watch alarm so hopefully this doesn't happen again...or too often.

Best ice effort to date for Aidan

2008-10-18T09:56:00.003-06:00

Wow,
We had to get up and be on the ice for 7am this morning and I anticipated a slow and unimpressed little boy out there but man was I wrong. Aidan had his best effort to date on the ice. He didn't even want to sit down during his bench time. It was great to see and I think the mornings are much better for him compared to the after school times. His skating really is improving as well as his drive for the puck. Great job son!

My Halloween addiction

2008-10-17T20:59:00.003-06:00

OK, I think it's time I confess that I am addicted to Halloween.
I don't know if it appeals to my creative side or whether or not I just like to decorate and dress up....OK strike that last statement. The boys just love it and can't wait to decorate the house and now the yard. Yep, last year we started building some tombstones and this year we have started to build a few more including a cemetery sign and spooky fence. I realize I had to stop when I started to create a project plan to keep up to what needs to get done, and no Mike I didn't use Microsoft Project!

Zoo day with friends

2008-10-17T20:44:00.004-06:00

Another SAHD friend of mine joined us today with his two kids for a trip to the zoo. It was neat to watch the kids play with each other and have so much fun. All four kids play very well with each other accept for the occasional breakdown or "she pushed me" incident. Aidan was definitely the little ring leader of the pack until he spotted a feather or special rock and we would lose him. Riguy is turning into a zoo expert as we have been there a few times in the past couple of months and has a good sense of directions and memory.

I'm still torn on the whole zoo thing. Half of me hates to see animals in captivity and the other half realizes that they do play a role in rescuing some animals, providing a hand and keeping animals from extinction and also as a learning tool for our kids.

We will probably head over for the Zoo lights next.

Go fish with Riley

2008-10-14T20:14:00.003-06:00

No offense to my poker buddies but playing Go fish with Riley or "Gold fish" as he calls it is a riot! Just watching him hold all his big cards close to his chest and asking for the same type of fish every round kills me. You gotta see him working a strategy, dropping his cards and thinking out load, especially when he picks up a card he needs. I'm laughing as I type just thinking about it. So I challenge all of you to take him on if you can hold your laughter in and keep a straight face!

Rink construction begins

2008-10-14T10:33:00.002-06:00

Earlier this fall Jess and I decided that we should move our garden boxes to the east side of our yard to maximize the sun as there was just too much shade in the current location. Well this also meant that we would gain a sweet spot for an ice rink!

I thought since both boys are on the ice this year that this would be fun and we could make it our own little project. So far we have completed the deconstruction of the old garden boxes and have started to rebuild two new ones. Yesterday the boys and I had some fun moving all of the top soil around attempting to make a level surface for the rink. Just in time as we got a dump of snow last night! I'll keep you posted and maybe add some pictures once I figure that out.

Aidan goes pro..sort of

2008-10-14T09:26:00.002-06:00

The Timbits bruins team were invited to play during the intermission of the Okotoks Oilers Junior A game on Saturday. The kids did great out there and I don't think I've seem them work so hard for that puck.

A proud moment
Aidan was a bit nervous about having to skate with people in the stands and all the excitement was getting to him and he asked me if I ever get nervous. I told him I do all the time but what I do is just focus on the puck and ignore everything else. He kinda shrugged and off we went. He went out and did great out there. After the game we were chatting with a few people and someone asked him if he had been nervous out there and he said "Nah, I just focused on the puck".

Aidan's first trip to the office....

2008-10-08T10:34:00.003-06:00

I was on the phone with Aidan's teacher (our neighbor) and she asked me if he had told me about his trip to the principals office...Well, we don't get much from AJ as to how his day went and he definitely didn't mention a trip to the office. She proceeded to tell me that in a class exercise the students were asked to write down the words from the chalkboard that they could read. Most kids wrote one word per line however she said "Aidan wrote with his very nice small hand writing two words per line and covered almost all of them". He was then sent to the office to show Mr. Lorenz the school principal. I was glad to hear he was sent to the office for a good reason, although we will see what the future brings ;)

Sorry for falling behind..we're busy...really!

2008-10-08T10:16:00.007-06:00

Hey all,
It seems as though I have fallen victim to the "doesn't update" blog syndrome.... Recently we were at a kinda play date picnic thing by the river when a mother asked how things were going. I said things were going well and that we are now into week 5, her response was "your counting the weeks" ? This rattled around in my brain for awhile and I still haven't come to terms with it completely. I don't believe I'm counting the weeks down but I may applying my typical anal way of tracking or organizing. To that point I'm going to change the blog and no longer cover week by week but just write as things happen.

Week 4

2008-09-15T22:29:00.005-06:00

Looks like another busy one but we are getting into a bit of a routine.

Riley had skating today and although we worked on wearing the skates at home he's still a bit shaky out there. He's got his buddy from the playground with him now so I hope they help each other. Needless to say there were too stay at home Dads on the ice with there boys helping out for little while. I also learned a good trick today and that is to keep change in the equipment bags for incentive and motivation. There are about 10 different candy machines at the arena! Hope that helps next week.

Both the boys are in swimming lessons and doing well, I still can't believe that Riley has finally taken to the water. Although he passed Preschool 1 there was no room in Preschool 2 so he is doing it over again, I think he likes knowing what to do and showing the other little tadpoles.

I'm trying to keep up on being creative for craft time as Riley loves it. The first couple of weeks we made a ton of bugs out of egg cartons and now we have resurrected a robot project we started months ago. I'll post some pics soon.

Timbits Hockey has started and Aidan is super excited. Man it sure is fun to be out there and see all these little ones dressed like mini NHL'ers. Aidan is loving it so far and told me this morning that he wants to be a hockey player and animal explorer\inventor when he grows up. Will see how that turns out eh! He's doing well and having fun and I'm going to enjoy being an assistant coach and out there on the ice with them.

I didn't want to turn this blog into one of those "complaining" type blogs but I guess from time to time I'm going to have to speak my mind.
I can't figure out why someone would buy their kid a $100 composite hockey stick at this level. Do they think it's going to greatly improve their game? I mean save your money and donate some to the needy kid equipment fund....OK I'm done.

Road trip to the zoo and China town
Riley and I decided to head to the zoo for the second time in 4 weeks. It really is nice to have a pass and not feel like you need to stay all day, I recommend it to all parents. We then took the train, which he thought was a hoot into downtown Calgary. Although apparently according to Riley the first two stops don't qualify as "Downtown" but the third does? It was neat to walk around at his pace as I'm used to running from place to place and dodging lights, it really is nice to slow it down. I suspected Riley would not be into the Vietnamese soup and packed a lunch for him but I was very impressed on how well he behaved, I think he really enjoyed being out and seeing so many new things and meeting different people. We had lunch with some of my old team then made a quick visit to the office although he thought the elevator was cool he had enough visiting and we headed out pretty quick. I was nice to see some of the team again but I totally felt like diving in and helping out.....

Week 3

2008-09-15T21:36:00.006-06:00

Now were cooking with grease! Things were definitely busier this week.

Aidan is in full swing at school and I had to step in for Grandparents day as ours are in another province. It went well as Jessica made little write ups of his grandparents and Aidan spoke to the class about his fishing adventures with Oma and Opa and showed the class his mini canoes and wood carvings made by his Pepere.

We also went to the Optometrist and had both the boys get their eyes checked. Aidan now has a pair of glasses and looks very handsome. He thinks there cool because they're called tarantulas. The best part was when the Doc asked if Aidan could see the letters and he responded " I can see the A and the E but can't see the P and the F ". We had a great chuckle, he must have memorised the previous letters! Riley also tried to give Aidan an kiss while he was getting his glasses adjusted and Aidan pulled away and said "Awkward". Riley then looked at the lady and said Aidan doesn't like mushy kisses anymore and gave him one anyway! When we returned to pickup the glasses there was a note in his file that said " Aidan doesn't like mushy kisses from his brother " apparently the team was having a good laugh. Nice to see my boys can put a smile on other peoples faces too.

Riley started skating and although he had fun I think it's going to take a lot of motivation to get him up and going. He likes the superman part where you get to lie on your belly!

Preschool also started this week for Riley. I got to tell you that It felt weird dropping him off again. We had been spending everyday for the past two weeks together and I didn't realize how much I was enjoying hanging out with him, the emotion took me by surprise. The three hours of quiet time was sure nice though and I was able to get some of Jessica's to do list done!

Soccer was also back on for Aidan and I for two more weeks. I coached his U6 team this year and although it was busy, watching the kids have fun was a blast.

I'm meeting a few more parents as I drop Aidan off to school and hang around the playground. Riley has met a little buddy who's sister is in Aidan's class. There are some really great families in the area. Were still learning to slow things down but I'm getting better, if Riley wants to stay and play at the park for an hour or two and we've got nothing really going on then we do...

Purple eggs and pine cones explained

2008-09-15T20:00:00.003-06:00

Some people already know the story but others have been asking so I thought I should post it.

One day I was working from home and under a wee bit of stress. Riley was sick that day so I kept him home from daycare so he could rest up and get better. I was in my office face buried in the monitor and Riley came into the room with the biggest smile on his snotty little face and shouted "Papa Papa look what I found, it's a purple egg and a pine cone!" Well you would've thought that he just found a pot of gold or solved the worlds greatest mystery with his excitement and I just sat back and smiled. As the stress melted away I realized that happiness can be found in the simplest of things. Chalk that up under the "kids can teach you a few things" column.

Week 2

2008-09-15T19:57:00.003-06:00

I’m having a great time and really realize that I needed to do this for the boys but also for myself. I am enjoying the time to unwinde.
I met another Dad at home today and man did he look relaxed! He’s been doing this for three years now and loves it. I will probably touch base with him a bit more often and get some tips and tricks.
Likes:
- Not having to get up and rush out the door at 7am
- Early morning snuggles with the boys
- More time to play and teach the kids
- The opportunity to be more active in Aidan’s schooling
- Watching Riley conquer his water fear and pass Preschool 1
- Getting to be more physically active (biking, chasing, weights)
- Whipping up some edible meals….Could use improvement
Dislikes:
- Man this is a lot of work. Just the cooking and cleaning keeps you busy let alone the planning and playing
- My cooking can use some work…need to work out a better system
- Still adjusting to the “Dad at home title” it’s growing on me though

Week 1

2008-09-15T12:55:00.003-06:00

Well the first week was a bit weird. It kind of felt like it was a long weekend, almost like it was a vacation at home and not permanent. Trust me it was no vacation and I remember thinking that this was busier than staying at work!

Riley was still a bit unsure that this was permanent too and kept asking "is it stay home day Papa?"

I was still thinking about work and wondering how the team was doing but held off contacting anyone.

I have to admit I was a bit anal (those that know me will not be shocked) and broke every day into 1hour time slots, oh yes I'm a professional planner! Here's an example of a day for your amusement....

7-8 Breakfast
8-830 Aidan to school
830-930 Excer Activity
930-10 Snack time
10-11 Game time
11-12 Swimming Lessons
12-1230 Lunch
1230-1245 Story
1-230 Nap time...(if I'm lucky)
230-330 Preschool work - Shapes, colors, letters, numbers
330-400 Pick up Aidan
.........You get the picture

Needles to say the important pieces got done and I'm quickly learning that kids have their own schedule and I need to chill and adjust :)

Coming out - No Jill not that kind!

2008-09-05T19:10:00.004-06:00

Now I do not want to trivialize homosexuality and what it must mean to “come out” but it felt like I was doing something against the social norm and I don't quite know what to expect when telling people.

I found I would typically get three different responses
1) That’s amazing, good for you for taking time and focusing on the kids while there young.
2) Ah, what….wow…ya…I guess that’s good
3) Well, if you can afford it….so are you doing this full time or still going to be doing something?

I can't really predict how people will react as some I assumed would be totally the number one response and turned out to be a number 2.

I have had a few great conversations with some guys with older kids who wish they could have spent more time or quality time with their kids when they were younger. I believe they are sincere and it helps in my decision.

The Decision

2008-09-04T23:12:00.006-06:00

Jess and I were both busy in careers and finding ourselves in the pickup and drop the kids mode more often than not. Although the financial benefit of two incomes was great I felt that there was something missing and that we should be doing more for our boys. I got to tell you that it felt like I didn't know my own kids after awhile and it killed me to rush them out the door and drop them off at daycare. We decided that we needed a change, one for the kids and two for our own sanity.

We talked about getting a Nanny, finding a day home, moving grandparents and part time schedules for a number of months and then we decided that if one of us could stay home that would be best for the family.

So why me? Well for a number of reasons.
1) although I loved my team and the BU, I had been working for my company for just short 7 yrs and felt that now was a good time for a change.
2) Jess makes more money . Yippy!
3) I love my boys and love a challenge
4) Over the past few years I have neglected to focus on myself and training and thought I would take the opportunity to assess what I want to be when I grow up!
5) I love my boys!