A Birthday Girl

This little girl turned 8 this week!

This smart and sassy girl knows exactly what she wants and will do it with a smile. Especially if she knows she isn't supposed to do it. I see more than a little bit of myself every time I look into her big brown eyes.

She has so much energy and is always on the move. Her favorite colour is rainbow. Actually the more colours the better!

She can also be very serious and shy when she wants to be, but it usually doesn't last very long.

She is brave and compassionate, and more than a little funny. She loves to sing and dance and sometimes just likes to be LOUD!

She loves her Daddy and her family! She wants to know that I'm thinking of her at work, and always requests me to draw her a picture.

She very often will complain "Mommy, not more pictures" Or "You are always taking pictures". But she will also pose and say "Mommy take my picture" if she is doing something really cute or funny

I think that she is growing up much too quickly. While I just want her to stay my little girl forever, I also look forward to watching her discover herself and grow!

It's hard to image what life was like before this happened!

Zoo fun!

We hadn't been to the zoo for a while, and our membership was running out. So the kids and I decided to go and visit the zoo!

Our original plan was the visit all of the new babies (panda bears, polar bears, white lions and rhino). But, that seemed to have been all of the other families plan as well.

So we went to visit some of the other animals

The kids liked the crocodile (or was it an alligator)

They wanted to get a close-up view

Katheryn liked running around and climbing on everything, even if we didn't see a lot of animals

To end the day we got to ride on the carousel. Nick wanted to try one of the up and down rides. But he didn't like it. The next time we went around he went in the turtle that is the wheelchair accessible one.

Another fun day out!

Easter Fun

It is Easter weekend! Which meant we got to visit a lot of family and look for a lot of Easter Eggs!

The kids got some giant crackers that they got to open before dinner

Nick did all of his Easter egg hunting with his crutches. Which gave him lots of flexibility in small spaces.

With the difference in ages and abilities we have been hiding 4 eggs in each place. This means that the super-fast girls don't collect all of the eggs before the boys get a chance.

Afterwards everyone went through their eggs.

The next day we went to Grandma and Papa Bartley's house. Nick walked the whole way there!

And on Sunday morning we had lots of time for relaxing and looking at the what the Easter Bunny brought

Umm. When did he get so tall!

It was a fun Easter, with lots of family and lots of smiles!

Physio with a partner

Nick had a partner this week for physiotherapy.

She got to help him focus his muscles when doing some of his leg exercises

And working on his core, by balancing on one hand or another. It is much more fun to give your sisters high fives

Katheryn was very interested in helping with everything. And Nick was happy that she was there too

There was lots of laughing and fun times. Katheryn got to feel that she was involved. And Lindsay, our PT said Katheryn reminded her of times when she was at Grandview with a sibling.

Teddy Bear... or Minion/Monkey Clinic

It was teddy bear clinic day!

Nick brought his minion, Bob, to be checked out.

Bob broke a bone, so he needed Nick to put a cast on him

But he needed to have surgery.

But that was OK, Nick knew just what Bob needed to help to relax

They got to check bloodpressure and take temperatures.
Monkey and Bob got bloodwork taken and an IV inserted (all latex free)

Nick says that the best part of Teddy Bear Clinic is the surgery (and he wrote it all himself)

These kids give the Teddy Bear Clinic a couple of huge smiles!