Vancouver(ish) Tribe: September's here and there's a nip in the air - Page 2

[Piglet68]

Tricia, congratulations on completing your marathon! That is amazing, and what a wonderful experience to go to Iceland! You're fantastic!!

Lisa, it sounds like Emma has very similar interests to Emily. I cannot emphasize enough the Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre courses. As for resources, Emily has always enjoyed reference books. Some we buy for keepers (like "Birds of Southwestern BC" or "Insects of the Pacific Northwest") b/c we use them alot, others we get from the library. We also have some DVD's such as Planet Earth, Blue Planet, and Emma might really enjoy "Life in the Undergrowth" which is all about bugs. All these DVD's have incredible scenery and cinematography, too.

We're planning on attending the NBTS picnic on Thursday. The kids have doc appointments (sorry, our doc is not taking on any new patients!) at 11 am so we'll likely show up around noon.

I sure enjoyed NOT being back to school today, lol. Didn't deal with any traffic. Went for a nice run this morning (Sun Run, yeah!) and saw many families walking their kids to school (which was nice to see). The kids and I spent the afternoon hiking along the Baden Powell trail and logged our second geocache find! It was a lovely quiet day and one of those times when I'm really glad to be a homeschooler!

[artparent]

we'll be at the picnic thursday, tips? bring lots of food! and a blanket to sit on - it has been so cool out, make sure you're well-dressed. i would LOVE to go for a last late-summer ocean swim after, but i expect it won't be warm enough. my dp is working at the aquarium that day, so we'll be heading there after.

i'd love to get back to running, but i'm finding things too overwhelming to do more than a few yoga stretches. back to packing!

*

[iris lea]

baby sitter??

hello!!
I'm looking for a babysitter. to have my 1 1/2 boy and maybe sometimes my 7 months old boy, occupied while I'm taking an advanced doula class on the internet!! I'm in fort langley. if you know anybody that would like to do that, or yourself, write me back as soon as possible.
would be at 6:00 for 2 hours every wenesday
starting 10 of septembre!!!
hope to here from some loving sitters!!!

[SweetGoddess]

Hello mamas! I haven't posted here in ages so I thought I should fix that

We have a tummy bug working it's way through our family. Poor Nate has suffered the worst so far and we had to go to ER today because Tasha took quite a tumble. She is fine, but having to get a head xray sucked! Man, I am so ready for a new day tomorrow.

I'd love to get together for a mama meetup. Perhaps summer weather will return so that we can find a nice patio as a meeting place.

[Alison's Mom]

Subbing. . .

Wow, Tricia - congrats on finishing your marathon! I would love to hear more about Iceland, too, as we had considered going there (to run the marathon as well) on our honeymoon. I soooo need to get back into running. We were on Saturna Island last week, and I had a 1km hilly jog from a park back to the cottage while DH and the kids drove. It felt great, and I would love to get into a routine again. DH keeps talking about picking a 1/2 several months away and signing up as motivation. I need to get DS sleeping better at night so I'll actually have the energy (and time if I'm not napping with him during the day to make up the sleep!).

[flowmom]

: Welcome jujumom!

dawncayden -- take care of yourself. Maybe take it easy and do some bathtub parenting?

gr8fulmom, scary! Is he doing better today? If not I think you need a second opinion. Sometimes I think that the on call drs on long weekends aren't exactly the first tier ones .

to everyone who came to the party. It went really smoothly, and I appreciate everyone contributing to that .

I was disappointed that ds only played with our neighbour and was aggressive to our guests . He is really bonded with 2 of our neighbours who are in full time school and do family time on the weeks during the school year. It's gonna be a rude shock for him. And he resists situations where there are kids who he doesn't know that well . I suck at engineering my own social life -- that's one of my challenges as a hs mom is being in charge of that for 2 kids.

widemouthed frog -- you are amazing isn't the midnight sun incredible??

Age 3 is really tough IME. I think that part of the problem is that they get more assertive and less cute . I've observed that even with other people's kids, I have work more at appreciating and enjoying them when they are 3. 4 was tough for us as well, but we're coming out of it. Phew!

Piglet68, I feel your pain with the dinners because I am in the same boat with dh's diet, etc.

Storm Bride, the library has wonderful books on nature and science -- that's usually our first source of information.

Len -- butter dates -- it's either the year then the date code, or the date code and the year. The date code is the number of the date - Jan 5 would be 5 and Dec. 30 would be 364 etc.

We are going to hornby tomorrow and we're crazy busy with work stuff. And everyone has a cold and dd is brutally teething .

[Autumn Mama]

Originally Posted by widemouthedfrog

I finished my marathon (slowly) but I finished it - it was VERY windy and rainy. I have my gold medal, anyway!

Trisha, so awesome!!! I imagine you felt pretty stoked about achieving that goal!!! I have much admiration for you.

Originally Posted by dawncayden

subbing...not much to say. I'm feeling good this week. Did I mention I blacked out on the skytrain last week scary stuff. Low blood pressure at its finest

Hugs Dawn, hoping for more stamina and energy for you and your growing babe!!!

Originally Posted by gr8fulmom

we have had an insane weekend... Lucas got very sick starting on Thursday with croup like symptoms.

How scary, gr8ful! Wishing for healing for Lucas...

I remember staying overnight with DS2 when he was 18 months-ish at W&C Hospital for croup, getting raked over the coals by several residents and nurses for not vaxxing, who paraded through the room all night and morning.: Dreadful experience, what with the worry and no sleep through that for me. I stayed in bed with him, as he breathed with such difficulty, and each time they smothered him with those masks, I thought I'd die! There was just no way to explain to him at that age, that they were helping him, not trying to terrify him. Reading your post filled my body with anxious energy all over again!

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

Well, we started our first day as an "official" homelearning family.... She enjoyed that, and I'm feeling much more confident about my ability to handle this. The ideas are starting to click in my head, and I think we can put together a reasonable learning plan (we're doing Self Design this year) that suits her approach and interests...

Soooo happy for you, Lisa!!! I was right there last year, when it was the day before school and DS1's grade one was to start, and I woke up DH and said "Guess what- we're homelearning!!!" He mumbled "hurray" and went back to sleep. It was very liberating talking to the (excellent) principal at his school the next morning, and letting him know of our decision...he felt we would do great!!!

It's been a year, and things are looking great for us to continue the journey of living and learning at home. I find we have spells where the ideas pour in and then we get a bit quiet in terms of inspiration...field-trips and regular meet-ups are a great antidote to that! You'll find your groove, the kids will help you with that, so listen to 'em!!!

Originally Posted by Piglet68

Lisa, it sounds like Emma has very similar interests to Emily. I cannot emphasize enough the Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre courses. As for resources, Emily has always enjoyed reference books. Some we buy for keepers (like "Birds of Southwestern BC" or "Insects of the Pacific Northwest") b/c we use them alot, others we get from the library. We also have some DVD's such as Planet Earth, Blue Planet, and Emma might really enjoy "Life in the Undergrowth" which is all about bugs. All these DVD's have incredible scenery and cinematography, too.

ITA here. We loved the Ecology Centre! Matthew is also such a natural sciences lover and the more we are outdoors, the more he finds to do. Those video/book suggestions will help us too,piglet so

I also loved not going to school yesterday, and instead watching my boys play and work with two gardeners they have come to love. They helped harvest tomatoes, basil, fennel and other veggies and helped to tidy up their plots. We're meeting friends here, and "family " to widen their social horizons. Wondeful, since our own families are generally not interested in them much...

Then we packed a simple lunch and headed to the New West NBTS pic-nic. Soooo many people, and it was good fun, although hard to talk to very many with needing to watch my LO so closely in such a huge park! Met a few new folks, saw many I'd met through LLL and saw some from our tribe here!!!

Hope the sickies and hurt ones are all better soon, and now we're off to enjoy the return of the

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Ksenia

to everyone who came to the party. It went really smoothly, and I appreciate everyone contributing to that .

I was disappointed that ds only played with our neighbour and was aggressive to our guests . He is really bonded with 2 of our neighbours who are in full time school and do family time on the weeks during the school year. It's gonna be a rude shock for him. And he resists situations where there are kids who he doesn't know that well . I suck at engineering my own social life -- that's one of my challenges as a hs mom is being in charge of that for 2 kids.

This sounds so familiar. I really need to work at getting out and spending time with people, so that Emma has the chance to make friends. As you probably noticed, she also resists situatiosn where she doesn't know people well. I understand completely, as she inherited this trait from me...but that doesn't mean I know how to handle it!

Tricia: I just realized I didn't add my congratulations, but...wow! That's a huge accomplishment. You're an inspiration.

[VegMomma]

Originally Posted by tiffani

The practice at 8th and Laurel, the practice of the fabulous Dr. Nardia Strydom, has at least one new (really nice, we met her last week) doctor, who may or may not be taking new patients... worth a try... 604.874.0261 I'd go for any of the doctors in that practice, as I think they're all somewhat similar, fundamentally... and their reception staff are really helpful and efficient.

Thank you so much for the tip! We're waiting for a call back...

[flowmom]

*wishing* I could go but I'll be away

FERMENTED FOODS CANNING WORKSHOP

Learn to make your own fermented vegetables: sauerkraut, kimchi, sour beets, beans, kombucha, and lots more. It's healthy and affordable too! Tues. Sept 9th. 2 -5 pm. Free for low income households. Call the Grandview Woodlands Food Connection for more information @ 604-718-5895

[flowmom]

I also strongly recommend the Lynn Canyon programs . Gotta get my butt in gear and register for some of them.

[Storm Bride]

I'll definitely register Emma for a course or two at the Ecology Centre. I think I'm going to have to book the later courses, though. I report for jury duty on the 29th, so I don't know when I'll be able to take her to them.

[gr8fulmom]

thanks for the well wishes... I took him back to the er today because, well, even though his breathing is better he has been complaining non-stop about his larynx area being sore and it just didn't seem "right" to us... I just can't believe that it should still be so painful for him esp since he is on both advil AND tylenol 24/7 since last Thurs but the dr. we saw today said he also thinks its just a bad case of croup thats still lingering... he gave me ventolin inhaler to try to help him cough less at night (even though its not asthma he thought it would help his lings relax and have less coughing episodes) and he suggested I up the advil/tylenol dose based on his weight not age so he is in less pain... I am not sure what else we can do : I have been give various homeopathic remedies as they seem to apply and have been giving him a breathe easy tea and emerg-c vitamin drinks... moist air at night... its just the whole incredible throat pain that seems so weird... anyways we'll just keep believing its going to get better for now... the dr. said if he has any change for the worse to bring him back....

off to check out lynn canyon courses...

[robugmum]

Gr8, have they ruled out strep or diptheria?
hugs to you all - so hard to have your little one in so much pain and not be able to do much about it.

[gr8fulmom]

they don't see any sign of strep and its way lower in his throat.. no one has mentioned dip... but I looked it up and it doesn't match the symptoms... I am just hoping to wake up tomorrow to my kid all better yk?

[Storm Bride]

Jen...do you know if it's actually the inside of his throat that's hurting? I only ask because I've got some weird thing going on that's causing me pain in my throat/neck area - but it's actually down the right side, along the artery. It was excruciating a few days ago, and has gradually faded to a barely noticeable ache. I think it was some kind of infetion, as I also had pain in my jaw, under my ear, etc. I don't know if it would help to treat the pain Lucas is having, but thought I'd throw out there that maybe it's not just in his throat? For this, I've found keeping it warm helps, but I haven't really tried anything else...

[artparent]

see you folks at the nbts picnic, jericho, later tomorrow!

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[widemouthedfrog]

Thanks for the congrats. I must admit to wearing my medal around the house the first day we were back. It took me 1.5 years to go from no running to a marathon (slow...I must stress...slow). Last year at this time I was all about the 10 k - go Sun Run go!

Storm Bride, if you haven't checked out Microcosmos it is really cool. It's a movie with few words and mostly pictures of different bugs doing their thing. We have it at the Ecology Centre if you would like to watch it there. I second the Eyewitness videos, too. Just going out and finding bugs and watching them and letting them go is a great way to learn about them...if you're there when I am there one day I can show you a good trail where the banana slugs like to hang out.

Just returned from the PPP meeting. I'm feeling a bit out of sorts - I'm one of only two adults with major health issues (you have to have it all laid out for everyone to see) and I have the only child who is not completely vaxed. I'm feeling weird. I hate feeling weird. It reminds me of high school.

gr8fulmom, could it be the mumps? pertussis?

[sea island mama]

So much going on - I'm sure I'm missing something!

Tricia - congrats on the marathon! Did they actually talk about everyone's vax status at the PPP meeting ? That was never mentioned at DS's last year.

Jen - sorry to hear your boy is hurting - it's so hard to watch . I hope he is feeling better soon :.

juju_mom - Welcome!

Sandi - I hope they are both feeling better soon.

[sea island mama]

Well, we did it - we're officially homeschooling as of today! :

The kids went to school yesterday, but after attending the NBTS picnic afterwards I was convinced that it's not the way to go for us. The kids stayed home this morning & I called the school & left a message...haven't heard back!

I'll probably be enrolling them in the morning with the New West Homelearners' Program (if there's still room). I have a couple of friends enrolled already & my neighbour who came out to the picnic yesterday (good to see everyone there, BTW) will be with them as well. We have some qualms about the ministry curriculum PLOs, but we'll deal with the when the time comes & if it doesn't work out, switch to SD next year.

I hope we can make it out to the picnic tomorrow! I'm sure the kids would be thrilled to see some of their friends again before they leave. I'm just not sure if I'll have a vehicle. Hmmm, maybe time for a bus adventure??? ::

If we don't get there, please look out for my friend, Arlene, who is hoping to attend with her 1 y.o. ds - she's into researching things eeeeaaarrllyy! I specifically mentioned that she should look out for Ksenia as she lives close to you.