Splash Happy

For anyone who does not make it over to facebook, here our some photos from out latest summer play... in puddles!
They say climate change will take its nasty toll on developing countries first due to their placement in the world (and ironically, the fact that they do the least to affect climate change and have the fewest resources to deal with the horrible results)... okay, enough of me being political... all this to say that we have had some very different weather (all across Canada) and our summer has mostly been rain. For having such a typical BC summer I wish I were at least surrounded by mountains!
Dave took these photos of Corrina playing with her neighbor friend.

The rubber boots are the ones brought back from England for Corrina. They still fit and work very well... no wet feet, unlike our neighbors walmart ones! Go Walmart!


I thought the sun would be shinning today, as it was streaming through the curtains when we awoke. The clouds rolled in and took over the sky in the end. I really do want to get up and wash some dishes, but the chore is much nice when the sun is beaming through the windows.

Corrina is at daycare today, but my (one month of) summer job hasn't started yet, so I have yet another day to myself. I am beginning to get bored. Sure, I have lots on my to-do list but it is so dull to be by myself all day long. Instead of sitting home and being grouchy I called a new mom from church asking if I could take her and baby out. She is single, and does not have a car. I really like spending time with her though, and remember being at home all day with a very new baby. Since it is raining we will probably just go to the mall and walk around, but I doubt she has gotten to do that in a long time. Hope it goes well! Her little baby boy is cute cute cute, and I can always stand to hold a new born!

Lots of interesting things going on around here, but nothing I can peep about yet... have to wait until a few dates pass by before I can share cool secrets! Do I have your interest now???

It's greener on the other side

I am absolutely sure that most people really will not care at all about the photos I am about to post. But than, I am sure that mom and dad colvin will be happy to see them, and other horticultural freaks (not that mom and dad are in the category of freaks, they just have an interest in what we have done with our yard!)
Lush, Green Grass! Just starting of course! And as you can tell we haven't even finished laying down the dirt. Afternoons have been spent typing papers, or watching the rain. Both cause major dirt laying setbacks. But, the sun shines today!

My garden has really taken off since planting the seedlings. The only color right now is green, but that's what comes of growing annuals from seeds! Next year I will start a perennial garden, which will supply endless June/July color!
My Nasturtiums are growing just fine now!

These Zinnias will bear flowers eventually, brightening the garden space!

Dave finds the BEST toys for Corrina. Check out more here!!!

The Superfort (on sale for $20 at our Zellers!) really has endless possibilities for building.
Thanks Dad!

Have I posted a picture of our place since the white went out and the green came in? Well...
I am growing beans up along the fence in the front corners. Our house still looks so plain to me, and I really am not a plain Jane, so this is worrisome. I want color, pizazz, brightness, life, zing, zang, whatever... I just don't want blah beige and brown... but I am working on a budget here, any inspiration? Maybe I'll do a little search and post what I find.
I am thinking that wedding lanterns could be hung from various area, but even then, they are small little jars, with just a twinkling of color.
Time to hit the thrift store and the hardware store for some bright tremclad! But not on a whim, rather with divine direction and inspiration!

Summer Summer Summer

We mixed some food coloring and glitter into glue and corrina 'painted' on tracing paper. It dried rather neat!




A week or so ago we took Corrina to Kids Fest! It was such a great event, with amazing performances, activities, food, and of course people and kids! You can't really tell, but that's Fred Penner (at the fest every year since he is from MB) in the photo below. She actualy didn't want to sit and listen to him though. She was distracted by the police tent just outside and spent about 30 minutes just playing with the model lights and sirens they had set up!


As Corrina gets more patient with sitting I get more creative with hairstyles.
My garden is in, and growing (the most important part of course!).My neighbor gave me a bunch of bricks to line the edges with. It looks great! Don't have a picture of that though...
Tomatoes... that have doubled in size since planting, sweat peas at the back, and Zinnea as a border plant.

These are my nasturtium pre-planting... they are all dying now... The leaves are shriveling or going yellow. The stems are brittle. What do i do???? I LOVE nasturtium and want to save them. They are spread out, about 6 inches from one another, and i wove some leaves into the fence for support since they are a climbing type. Help!?

I'll Try to Catergorize on this very long post!

Food I've baked or made and actually remembered to take a photo of:

On the occasion that we make it into a unique winnipeg store or bakery Dave often says things like "oh, that looks good" to the pies, or breads, or action figures. To which I reply "I can make that."
Oddly enough, when I do go and make something, like these delicious apple pies, he eats it enjoyable and than talks about how I bake too much and how he's going to get fat. There is no winning...We decided it would be fun and important to have some other Anglican youth leaders (that Dave works closely with) over for desserts, so I made strawberry tarts.
As it was April in Winnipeg, fresh strawberries (at least any that would be good) were not an option, but a good friend of mine gave me some frozen berries from her summer picking. What a lucky duck am I!
I've always used the tenderflake recipe for my pie crusts because I like easy, no fail flaky crust!
I thrifted an old molded tart pan a year or so ago, but don't often have a chance to use it except for muffin making (which turns out to be Corrina's favorite thing to do! My little baker!) . The tart shells took the design so nicely, which doesn't really do anything except make them a little more fun! To avoid a puffy tart shell I use beans (dry ones, not from a can) as pie weights when I am baking the shells or pies empty. Oh, and always remember to prick empties with a fork! Once the tarts are cooled the 'pie weights' drop right out. Gotta love being cheap!Because the berries were frozen the classic "strawberry tart" recipe geared towards fresh berries was not going to cut it. I went the route of sugar and cornstarch to achieve these delicious masterpieces! I actually do most of my heating in the microwave (yeah I know, lab rats that were given microwaved water did not benefit from any nutrients, whereas the ones that were given fresh water did... blah blah.. I still like my microwave!), so this filling was done in the microwave too, hence the giant Pyrex, my most indispensable kitchen tool! I've always wanted to try this giant cookie cake and finally found an excuse to make it for a friends birthday party!
The recipe calls for a cream cheese frosting between the layers. I changed this up a bit, for the better. One, I didn't want to buy 7 packages of cream cheese. Two, I thought that would be a little much. I ended up making a whipped cream & cream cheese frosting by whipping cream (with some sugar and vanilla as usual) to stiff peaks, and folding in whipped (with some sugar) cream cheese. I will never make plain cream cheese frosting again! The whipped cream version was so much better, lighter and tastier. Mind you the cookie layers absorbed alot of it, so i think I would double the icing next time, but this frosting on top of a cake would be amazing!

Crazy Colvinson's:

Can you believe that Corrina has been hearing for ONE YEAR with her right implant?

It doesn't feel so long ago that we were off to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto to have her head carefuly sliced open in order to give little Corrina hearing!

Corrina has gone from nothing more than a screeching "aaaaaaaa" spoken randomly to a vocabulary full of words and a mind even more full of understanding!
We spent a few mintues going over language developmental levels with Corrina's speech therapist a week ago. From our own observations of Corrina her development seems to be in the range an average 15-20 month old child (most two year olds are far beyond the 'average' development for their age range, so while Corrina is no where near the actual development of her peers she is at least catching up to the average level of development.)


We got a few new toys around here this spring. Dave is doing his part to make sure they are safe for Corrina.

Actualy, Corrina spent the entire evening riding tricycles and 'driving' cars with a few other 2 year old girls on our block. We have been meeting so many neat families and lots of little kids on the street. Right now we couldn't have asked for a better neighborhood for our family to grow into!

Our backyard still does not look too good. We have a fence along the back, and some bird feeders. We have started digging out garden plots. Good friends helped us weed, cut grass, and prepare our yard for soil and sod, but there is still alot of work to be done before things look, hmmm, how shall I say it... normal!
Corrina really doesn't mind though, in fact she doesn't really know the difference! She loves to dig in the dirt and at least right now she doesn't have to stay out of mommy's flower beds!
I am hoping that by next week I will be yelling at her to get out of them though, as my plants really need to get outside!

Corrina really enjoyed seeing her Grandma and Grandpa Colvin in May, as did we!

They helped us paint our house, and did a great job putting up the fence with Dave.

Corrina and I have been spending lots of time doing crafts together. It is a great time for me to talk to her and teach her words, or refine ones she has because she is actually sitting down!!! Her focus while painting is just incredible. She loves tasks that require fine motor skills and detail. Although she is playing language catch up she is very advanced in many other aspects which both helps her and frustrates her at times.
I am very excited for this weekend, yes, because of Father's day, and also because of Winnipeg Composting day. Once a year the city sells compost bins for a reduced rate and we are getting one tomorrow! I have never been so excited about vegetable peelings and yard trimmings in my life! We also get the dirt for our yard tomorrow.
Not actually sure yet what I will do for Dave for fathers day... must come up with a craft...

Well, this post is definitely long enough now! Hope you all feel sufficiently updated!

Distracted

It's a warmish Thursday afternoon, 3pm. Corrina went down for her nap a little late today, so I still have plenty of afternoon to myself. The very fact that I am typing this means that I am distracted, really really distracted. You see, I have a paper due for my summer intensive course. The paper is due tomorrow. It is on Romans (3:21-26 if anyone is interested). This passage seems like an obvious passage to write 8 academic pages about, until you read an exegesis, make that 6 exegesisisisis all by very renowned Biblical scholars. Humph.
So, here I sit, doing my very best to keep my eyes on my research and off blogs in which people are singing songs of gardening. And that is just what I wish I were doing, digging more beds, digging out weeds, and generally preparing our 'gravel compound' for it's long awaiting transformation into my personal oasis. I have some great pictures to add up very soon... when the paper is done that is. Pictures featuring painted walls, fenced yards, goofy toddlers painting and crafting! Corrina is gorgeous and tall, and starting her career as a super model very soon. Dave is car shopping to replace our crashed up accent that the insurance company wrote off, and I really am going to get back to reading and writing (and thankfully no arithmetic!)
See you all soon, online that is!

I am fading

My energy is slowly depleting tonight, thus I am not going to make a new post here, because I just finished a new one over here. Enjoy!

In short

Two Friday's ago our neighbors house started burning down at 10:30 at night. Our house is about 18 feet away. We had to evacuate (and I mean grab the baby, and shoes, and get out) our house, stand in the snow for awhile while dark smoke billowed upward, mingling with the white flakes, and eventually leave to a friends house where we could sleep safely for the night. Well, sleep.... actually not so much. Between a wired toddler and extreme worries about the state in which we would find our house the next day, very little sleep was actually had. My most favorite moment of the night: Corrina finally fell asleep, so Dave and I were lying dead still (2:15 am). I began to think about the state in which we left the house (mid Carcassone game with a new Dave's-birthday-gift expansion pack we were playing for the first time, trying to get Corrina back to sleep after a waking.. nightmare maybe... we were sitting at the table, drinking tea.... oh Sh*t (pardon my french, but feel the stress!) we left candles burning on our table!!!!) and to make a long story short (ha, not really) dave went back to our house. Thankfully he found it standing with no fire damage. The police and fire people were still working on securing our neighbors house, putting up boards, cleaning up, etc.... The police office allowed dave to go back into our house to 'close' things up for the night.
Some funny details of the story: a week or so earlier I had called the health department because of all the garbage (large and small) spilling out in every direction from our neighbors house. Apparently upon inspection the house was condemned. When I first got outside in response to our neighbors yelling "fire" I found one hysterical (intoxicated?!) person and one very calm person who proceeded to announce to me: "Oh well, the house was going to be condemned on monday anyway..." In my very unknowledgeable opinion, I think they burned the house down to get the insurance money to rebuild! And rebuild they are!
Another funny detail: after about 5 minutes of standing on the street, going over in our head which area of our house may catch fire, Dave decided to go back in to get the computer! A fire person found him and kicked him out, with computer in hand! Dave tried to lock the door, and they wouldn't let him... they made dave give them the keys and locked up for us!
The majority of the fire was coming out of the top story of the house, out the back windows.
The side of the house bears dark burn marks from the flames. They all go in one direction: away from our house! They reach up to the roof, and at least 6 feet across the back of the house. Had the wind been blowing the other direction, toward our house, well, we try not to focus on attention on that. Praise God we are safe, and by all accounts our neighbors are physically safe as well. Priase God that our house is fine! We are glad to not be making a house insurance claim at the same time we are making car insurance claims! That would just be ridiculous, maybe. Although, i would take that over civil war, so, if we put things into proper perspective, really this was nothing!
I did mean to share this little story in short... really...

This weekend Corrina and I got to accompany dave and his youth group (along with two other church youth groups) to a really neat bible camp for a tri-youth retreat! It was great fun. I loved connecting a bit more with our youth, and meeting tons of other young people as well! Corrina got so much attention and exercise, and I got to relax and not cook!
Now we are home, back in the swing of things, and I have my last exam for the semester tomorrow night. I hope that things get 'boring' again... I could use some normal!

Apparently my new favorite thing to do is forget to blog.  Now that I am (almost) done school for the semester I can 'remember' again!
We are alive and kicking these days. I have lists made, games planned, friends written in on the calendar! I am so into this change of season. Spring brings such fresh feelings inside my heart and mind! And I can see the freshness appearing all around me too. For instance, the grass in our new front yard is starting to surface from the crystal snow that has forced it into hibernation for so long. Many wonderful treats (beer cans, fruit snack packages, full bags of previous owners garbage) are starting to appear in the back yard too. It's almost like finding a beautiful secret garden underneath all the snow. Almost! We have been waiting a month and a half to find out what exactly will be in our backyard. So far garbage is out winning grass by a long shot, but there's still lots of melting to be completed; I'm just trying to stay optimistic with my gardening gloves close by instead of my garbage gloves. Either way, when we are done with our yard it will be grassy, flowery, and playable, with room for the car too! I bought seeds for a salad garden yesterday, as well as different varieties of flowers. I have climbing vines, cutting flowers, and even a raspberry plant! How are other people's springs shaping up?Easter came and went. It's so far back I can't really remember the events, but here are some pictures of Corrina going on her 8 egg easter hunt. I think that she only found like 6 that day, and saved the rest for surprise discoveries later that week:This is Corrina and her little friend K hanging out together at church on Easter. These two gals are just 2.5 weeks apart. Play ground time together is pretty funny. First they avoid one another, than they fight it out, leading to great intimacy which allows them to actually play together. Good times!

Oh, and these little babies I am so proud of! I LOVE french braid pigtails, and was so pleased when she sat long enough for me to get them in there!
That is it for now. Nothing new to report, nothing else to say that I can think of.
Enjoy the springing spring, where ever you are in the world!

Corrina had her face painted for the first time last weekend at the children's museum. I was at home writing a paper, but when she came through the door she made sure i knew that she was a kitty, by pointing at her nose and saying "MEEEEOOOWWW"
Corrina and I painted easter eggs today, and made a happy easter banner out of them. I painted a few more than she did, but for a busy toddler she did very well at concentrating on the task! Corrina just dove right into this basket of laundry! I went to get the camera, of course by which time she had climbed out, but she was a great sport and 'modeled' her cute antics for me, over and over again! I just love my sweetie!

Here is a nice little movie of Corrina pointing out her eggs. Just remember folks, ya gotta be careful with that easter lingo!


Here is a nice little chat with Corrina. it is so neat that she can "talk" with us now! Love it!