Acire Adventures

Convocation

2013-05-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

It's official, today is the day of my convocation. And also, the fifth anniversary of the day I took that fateful pregnancy test that came back positive. It might sound funny to remember that date with such accuracy, but the place I'm in today can be traced back to that moment.

If you had asked me where I expected to be in five years on the morning of May 30th, 2008 (before I took the test), I don't think I would have said, "Celebrating the completion of an honour's degree in Lethbridge, Alberta, with my mom, dad, Mason, and four year old son." I don't think I could have imagined it if I had tried. It's hard not to look back to that day when celebrating any achievements in my life now because I just can't imagine life without Gavin and all the change he brought. There are so many decisions I probably wouldn't have made, relationships that would have looked so different or never existed at all.

So it's a big day, it's a good reminder that no matter what this moment looks like, we have no idea what the next one holds. And in five years, your life could change in the most amazing ways, because mine did. :)

Lately

2013-05-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

Lately it has felt like summer, not just spring.
I feel grateful that homework has come to an end,
And I can go to the park with this dude,
And hang out with my other dude,
And read books that I want to read,
And just do ordinary life.
I'm still playing catchup with reality in general,
But it's great anyways.

I hope you're having a great week too ;)

Done

2013-05-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

Well, at long last, the day has come.

I stitched up my final dress for costume construction,
I wrote an anthropological analysis of George Carlin's comedy,
I wrote the most pointless history final ever,
And I completed my undergraduate thesis,
And presented it to a bunch of professors,
And defended it.

And I got a really good mark.

And now I'm done.

I'm still not ready to wrap my head around the idea of the end of this chapter of my life, leaving that big ol' concrete campus in the coulees, and not being able to sit and learn from some of the amazing professors there... but ending it on such a high note helps a little.

And it feels a little weird to say, but I'm proud of myself for accomplishing something I never expected to accomplish, for sticking it out when my brain felt like it was going to burst and my fingers felt like they had run out of words and I felt completely and utterly clueless (not smart, like I thought I should have felt).

Completing my own research project (and university overall) was quite the adventure.

And maybe now I will find some room for this blog in my life again. :)

(crossing this one off my 25 before 25 list)

A Good Laugh

2013-04-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Since I'm now down to just a couple weeks of university, I've felt like I'm going crazy at times. So many papers to write. Anyways, if you're in need of a good laugh like me, this should do it. :)

Easter

2013-03-31T21:00:00.000-06:00

Well I hope everyone had a happy easter today. I was at home alone because the boys spent the holiday in Regina. I had too much homework to do. You know.

Since easter is so much fun and I was bummed to miss out on Gavin's egg hunting and colouring and bipsing** I decided to whip up some easter fun for when they get home tomorrow. (Because in Canada we have easter Monday too, and it is also April Fool's this year too. Isn't that just crazy.) Oh, and I forgot to mention that Tuesday is Mason's birthday as well!

So I decided to smush boys coming home, easter, and Mason's birthday into a fun day. I'm looking forward to it. I set up an easter scavenger hunt for Gavin, boiled and coloured eggs for bipsing**, and I made these easter/spring/birthday cupcakes, which I am so excited about. Aren't they cute?

(btw, they are actually brownies, not cake underneath!)

And since I was missing my guys and wanted to make Gavin want to come home very badly, I sent them this photo of the Easter Bunny in our dining room.

Not too shabby, hey? Just don't look for any feet under the table ;)

**"bipsing" is a game Mason's family plays on easter morning. After hunting down all those colourful eggs that they decorated the night before, they "bips" them. All you do is hold your egg pointy end out and hit another person's egg (which they hold the same way). The egg that cracks is the loser. You then turn them around and try the other side. Some sort of informal tournament generally goes on, and the winner gets bragging rights until next year. It's actually tons of fun, and then you can peel and eat your egg after. :)

Acire Adventures is 3!

2013-03-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

I don't know how these things sneak up so quickly. Birthdays, you know. Today this blog has been up and running for 3 whole years! Despite the lull that my blog seems to be in, recognizing that it's been here for 3 years is motivation to keep it up. Like I said a while back, I may not have much for you until school is over, but I plan on getting back to it when I can.

Thanks for reading!

Sugar-Free Easter

2013-03-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

With Easter fast approaching, I've been thinking about what I want to do for Gavin for Easter. He'll be in Regina with family, but I still want to do an egg hunt here when he gets home! I know that when he's in Regina he'll probably get more than enough of all the sweet, sugary stuff that usually goes along with Easter, so I want to aim for a sugar-free Easter (in our house at least!). So I thought I would do a little round up of sugar-free Easter gifts.

1. jellycat bunny
2. spring or easter themed books
3. rain gear
4. junior gardening kit
5. froggy kickball
6. little garden tools
7. not so sugary snacks in plastic eggs (maybe not sugar-free, but almost ;)
8. hide and squeak eggs

A few more ideas (not pictured):

-activities: tickets to the zoo, museum, etc.
-a craft you can do together
-easter-themed origami (Gavin has been obsessed with origami boats lately, I might put a bunny or chick in his easter basket)
-bunny dress up clothes
-egg-shaped crayons
-a spring themed colouring book
-rubber duckies

What are your plans for easter this year?

My Last Ten Dollars

2013-03-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

Let me clarify, first of all, that I am not so broke that I'm spending my last ten dollars. But I was just thinking, if I was, I would happily spend my last ten dollars on the latest Hawksley Workman album. :)

Thankfully I have much more than ten dollars left so I'll be able to both own the album and catch the performance of it sometime this year! (It's on my 25-before-25 list!)

Travelling with a Kid: Favourite Tips & Lessons Learned

2013-03-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

Let me start off by saying that we were so lucky to have a 2:1 parent to child ratio for this flying business. I'm sure this makes one of the biggest differences. Even though Gavin is a good kid, it's just nice to have two parents. When we flew to and from Hawaii, we had over 14 hours of total travel time (cars, planes & airports) each direction. With that said, Gavin is used to long drives so he is well trained for travel. I still spent a lot of time gathering tips beforehand and learned some lessons from the experience and I thought it was worth sharing here with you.

1. Gadgets are great.

Letting go of usual limits on screen time helps the whole travelling thing go easier. A lesson I've learned from our many road trips is that it's best to wait a couple hours or more to bring these things out. Kids are in better spirits earlier in the trip (and so are parents). It's a much more welcome break for everyone if you bring those things out later. You're also able to save battery power in case you really need that gadget to keep everyone sane near the end of a long trip!
(ps - fun, kid-size headphones help)

2. Prepare yourself with lots of healthy snacks ahead of time.

It's cheaper, more convenient and probably better for you. I left as many things in their original packaging as possible and brought a kid-friendly dish so we had options (and to avoid problems at customs/security).

3. Stash some treats in your purse. For rewards... or bribery if things get desperate.

4. Bring an empty travel cup for kids (sippy cup or this is what we brought).

Fill it with water or milk once you're through security.

5. Keep wet wipes & tissues close at hand because kids (and adults!) can be messy and flight attendants aren't always right there with napkins when you spill a glass of coke all over your stuff.

6. Bring new stuff.

You don't have to go crazy with this, but new things are more exciting for kids. I put together books of activities for Gavin at home (printable colouring pages, etc.) and made him some star shaped crayons from what we already had. Free stuff, but new and exciting (bonus: star crayons don't roll away!). We also invested in a new book based on his current obsession with Star Wars because Hawaii seemed a little far to take a library book.

7. As parents, take turns.

Being stuck in a jet with 200+ other people for 6 hours is tough on anyone. If it is weighing on your family, switch things up to keep everyone happy. We were lucky enough to have two parents and one child so one of us could be free to do our own thing if the other was playing with Gavin. On one of our long flights we saw a family of four with a each parent with one child in a two-seater row (one in front of the other). The mom struggled the whole flight with the cranky, restless toddler while the dad sat on his iPad with the older child who behaved perfectly. It's not my place to judge, I'm just saying if I were in their shoes, I would swap kids every now and then.

8. Remember your manners. We didn't have the option to choose our seats when we booked our flight, and there was only one flight where all three of us were assigned seats together. For 3 of 4 flights our seats were scattered all over the plane. While it seems like common sense that at least one parent should be beside a four year old child, crew members and other passengers went out of their way accommodate us on our flights. Being polite, rather than entitled, and showing appreciation is important.

9. Dress your kids in bright clothes.

You never intend to let your child out of your sight, but if it happens they will stand out in a crowd.

10. Sarongs make great blankets.

They are large enough for a child, but pack up small. Once you arrive, you can use it at the beach.

11. Consider using a trunki for kids.

When we arrived back in Canada at 7 a.m. Monday morning we were late, tired, and had to run all over the huge Vancouver airport to get to our next flight. Being able to pull Gavin on this thing helped immensely. Even in normal circumstances, it's so nice to have. Gavin could also pull it himself and he thought it was so fun that he would gladly sit on it while we waited in lineups rather than running away from us! Plus people at the airport loved it, everyone stared, we got lots of questions about it and Gavin chatted with the only other child we saw with one.

12. Overplan, but don't overpack.

Gavin didn't use all the stuff I put together for him to do on the plane, but I'm glad I had it just in case he didn't sleep overnight, or something. On the other hand, be smart about what you bring in your suitcase. I found it hard to pack for summer when it's currently winter at home. I packed light (for me), weeded out things that were unnecessary twice, and there were still some things I didn't wear. I also packed a straightener which was ridiculous for a curly-haired person like me on a tropical island. Lesson learned.

25 before 25, 3-in-1!

2013-03-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Obviously I knew that our trip to Hawaii would give me a chance to cross a few things off of my 25 before 25 list, so I figured they could just share a post. One thing that is on my list that I didn't do was try surfing. I definitely could have when we were there, but once we arrived I quickly decided it wasn't a priority. There are a million things to do in Hawaii and I wanted to have a lot of family beach time rather than busy tourist time. I still want to do it someday, but it just wasn't the time.

us three on our first night

The whole trip was one thing on my list. Going somewhere amazing with my boys was even better than I could have imagined, and I hope to do it many more times in the future!

honu & I

Another thing on my list was snorkelling. I've never done it, just seen photos that my dad brought home. The photos just don't get anywhere near the experience. It was a whole different world out there. We went just off the beaches and also out to Molokini and another location further from shore nicknamed "Turtle Town". All three were spectacular. We saw so many cool fish, an octopus, an eel, many sea turtles of various sizes, and even heard the humpback whales under the water!

me, Mason & Dad... cold!

the most "sunrise" we saw from Haleakala

And the third one was watching a sun rise from above the clouds, on Haleakala. We weren't above all the clouds and it was super windy, rainy, cloudy, and cold! But I saw the sunrise on the airplane coming home from Hawaii, and that was definitely above the clouds! I don't have any photos from the plane, though, so these are from Haleakala.

Gavin's Birthday Party

2013-03-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

So I was reviewing my 25 before 25 list, and remembered that this was on the list. Gavin's birthday party was over a month ago now, but it did happen. We had 3 of his friends from daycare over for a couple hours and did cake, presents and a couple games.

The kids were crazy! I can't imagine having more than 4 little boys in the house at once! But it was fun and I'm glad we did it. I modified a couple party games to fit our dinosaur theme and their age. One was "pin the tail on the dinosaur"

The other was a game that let them all open a present. I thought this might be a good thing since kids this age often really want to 'help' the birthday boy/girl open their gifts.

Mostly, they just wanted to play with all of Gavin's toys. It was definitely a good lesson in sharing!

[Note: For obvious reasons, I can't post a bunch of photos of other people's children, so I just chose a couple photos without their faces.]

Some Inspiration

2013-02-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

I know I've gone on about our trip to Maui a few times now, so I knew I had to do some follow-up. Actually, who am I kidding, I just can't help myself from going over the experience now that it's through. We left Maui on Sunday night and I didn't want to leave. Looking at the pictures now I wish I was still there... it was so, so, SO amazing. Even the 1000+ photos I took (yes, that is the right number of zeros) don't do it justice. It was heaven.

So expect more than you ever wanted to hear about in the next little while because it's all I want to think about! At least I have something to post about... ;)

A Slump

2013-02-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, it's official, I'm in a full-on creative blog slump. It's just not happening for me right now. I'm in the middle of writing a thesis, prepping for a big family trip, and spending all of my creative energy on making costumes for my son's skating club carnival and sewing class assignments. So this blog may continue to be this bare and inconsistent for a while. I want to sit down and do some rethinking, but right now I just don't have room for that. Please bear with me and still pop by every now and then. I'm thinking that, worst case scenario, I'll be able to really get acire adventures back on its feet in the spring when I'm done school.

Thanks for reading. :)

This Girl

2013-01-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

I've talked about this girl here before. Stacey has been one of those friends you know will be around forever since a few months after she moved to my hometown, over 10 years ago. We did everything together, got into so much trouble together, fought and made up many times, and she is the only person I could possibly talk to on the phone for 2 1/2 hours with. When we don't see each other for a long time, we just pick up where we left off.

us, 2005 :)

And last night she became a mom! I'm so, so excited for her family. She is one of those people who was meant to be a mom. She has the biggest heart, more momma-wisdom than a girl who just had her first should, and a fierce love for her family. I just had to write a post about it because I don't know what else to do with myself. It's about all I can do to stop myself from hopping in the car and driving a couple hours to go see her.

Happy Friday!

2013-01-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well, Gavin's birthday is all done now and his new favourite line is, "yeah, well I'm four now". He says this as if it means he is now an adult or something. :)

The weather is gorgeous here today and my best friend is going to become a mom this weekend. I'm so excited, it feels like such a bright day today. We're also having a little birthday party with Gavin's friends this weekend. From what I can tell, we're in for a good one.

I hope your weekend is just as great.

Four.

2013-01-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Today my boy is four. There are no words to describe how shocking that is, in a way. I'm so proud of him, he is the light of my (and Mason's) life.

Happy Birthday, Gavin!

Shears

2013-01-21T09:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever made a purchase that you absolutely love and were really excited about, all the while aware of how nerdy you were being? This was one of those.

This semester I'm taking a sewing (actually 'costume construction' to be precise) class and we're expected to have good quality dressmaker shears. So I went all out and bought $50 gingher shears (for $30, thanks to a Michaels coupon). And when I got home, I emailed my mom about them, thinking she might understand my nerdy excitement, then wandered around looking for something, (*some fabric*) to cut. ;)

PS - I took and edited the photo with my iPhone. I'm amazed at the quality of cell phone cameras these days!

I Can't Keep My Mind Off Of...

2013-01-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Source: Uploaded by user via Erica on Pinterest

Source: mauiwhalefestival.org via Erica on Pinterest

Source: travel.ogate.com via Erica on Pinterest

Source: wayfaring.info via Erica on Pinterest

Source: atlasobscura.com via Erica on Pinterest

Source: google.ca via Erica on Pinterest

Chefs

2013-01-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

My sister emailed me some photos of her husband and son cooking in their matching chef gear that I made (minus the red chef hat). I love when I see handmade gifts being used. :)

Eat: Cake Pops!

2013-01-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

By now we all know about the wonderfulness which is cake pops. After seeing them everywhere and discovering Gavin's love for them, I just had to try making them. Being in Regina was perfect because there were many more people to eat them so that I didn't eat them all! They were awesome and not too hard to make. I chose to make them look like presents, so forming them into cubes rather than balls lengthened the process a little, but in the end it wasn't too difficult.

I coated them in candy as most recipes suggest, but I drew the ribbons on with cookie icing (called "Scribblers") that set just as hard as the candy. I may make them again if Gavin requests for his birthday... we will see!

PS - the 25 before 25 list

The Art Gallery

2013-01-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

When we were in Regina visiting around christmas, I made sure Gavin and I took some time to visit the art gallery. Gavin gets plenty of exposure to fun stuff like sports from Mason and his side of the family and the activities that we have put him in. So I figure I need to balance it out with artistic things, since they hold a place as dear to my heart as sports to Mason's.

It's been years since I visited the art gallery and who better to join me than Gavin? We had a run-in with a security guard over touching things right at the start, but things went smoothly from there on out. And at the end we came upon the learning centre where we built the "castle" pictured with Gavin above. We also made snowflakes and some ATCs. It was a blast. Oh, and it was free too!

PS - the 25 before 25 list

Benjamin's Magic Suitcase

2013-01-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

The moment I saw this post on Sometimes Sweet, I was in love with the idea of a "magic suitcase" full of dress up clothes. Eventually I decided that I'd make it for my nephew Ben for his christmas present. I wanted to use the same idea as the one on Danielle's blog, but I also wanted to make it unique. I found a vintage suitcase at an antique store and brought it home and gave it a good cleaning. Then I came up with my own design for the front, which was really fun to do (I've always loved painting, but don't often do it). I used acrylic paints and sharpie paint pens for the design, then finished it with a few coats of spray-on low odour, non-toxic matte finish.

Then I gathered a bunch of dress up supplies, some I made myself and others from out and about. Here's what I included:

{made by me}
-apron (& I made a matching one for his dad!)
-chef hat
-pirate hat
-pirate pants
-eye patch
-brown vest (kind of pirate-ish)
-felt crown
-super hero cape
-super hero mask
-safety vest

{bought items}
- glasses (real, from the thrift store, lenses popped out)
-funny play glasses (with nose, moustache, etc)
-bandana
-fireman hat
-santa hat
-old camera

There may be the other odd thing that I forgot on this list, but that's roughly it. I kind of ran out of time to make all the things I planned on adding, but those ideas include: a cave man outfit, a royal robe, a tie, a bowtie, a clown outfit, etc.

The best part of all was the email I got from my sister a week later with pictures of him exploring it. Handmade gifts are so much fun!

The Globe Theatre

2013-01-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Every year for the last few, my dad & step-mom have treated me and my sisters and our significant others to a play at the globe theatre. It's become a family tradition that I really look forward to and this year it was even more exciting since Gavin joined us for the first time. I love theatre and once aspired to make a career out of acting, so I love the idea of introducing Gavin to it from a young age.

my dad & gavin before the show

He is just starting to be interested in watching television that stars real actors instead of puppets or cartoons, so I was a little nervous about his interest. He was so good and really enjoyed it though! Never was he bored and he was full of questions about it all after. The plays are always fantastic, but I think we really lucked out that it was the Wizard of Oz this year because it was so silly and the costumes and characters were so exciting for Gavin, where others (like a Christmas Carol, which we saw a few years back) may have been slightly less engaging for him.

The best part of all may have been when it was all over and the actors were taking food bank donations in the lobby. It was like disneyland for Gavin!

PS - the 25 before 25 list

Hello Again

2013-01-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year!

It feels like ages since I've sat down to type up a blog post, and rightly so. I'm glad I took the month off. When I decided to take the time, I did it because I knew keeping up with this would be hard, but in hindsight I know it would have been near impossible. It's good to be back, though. I'm looking forward to this year!

The one thing I did take the time to write up in December was a "25 before 25" list for myself. You may know that I'll be turning 25 in August, which is one of those more significant birthdays. I wrote the list up earlier in the month and had the chance to cross a few off on my break and a few apply to our Hawaii trip in February, so I'm not being really strict about it... it's just for fun!

~~1. Finish my thesis~~
2. Get my degree
~~3. Watch the sunrise above the clouds (like from Haleakala)~~
4. Climb a mountain
~~5. Snorkel somewhere tropical~~
6. Try surfing
~~7. Go on a big trip with Gavin & Mason (Hawaii!)~~
8. Get some work done on my back tattoo
9. Reach my goal weight
10. Go to the dinosaur museum with my boys
11. Compile a personal cookbook
12. Start my "grandparent project" idea
~~13. Throw Gavin a birthday party~~
~~14. Make cake pops~~
15. Go one month without any TV or movies
16. See The God That Comes
~~17. Give Gavin his first live theatre experience~~
18. Learn one song on guitar
19. Fill a journal
20. Get a "grown up" job
21. Try 25 new recipes
22. Be silent for 24 hours
23. Go vegetarian for a month
~~24. Take Gavin to an art gallery~~
25. Visit my grandfather's grave (which I've never been to, as far as I know)

What do you want to do this year?

Merry Christmas!

2012-12-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday. I hope it's wonderful. :)