The Kitchs

Enjoying their flowers

2012-01-22T19:54:00.000-03:00

The kids have been enjoying watching their flowers grow and blossom this winter. It helps to keep the Canadian winter green!

Santa Claus Parade

2011-11-27T22:46:00.001-03:00

Saturday was the official start to the Christmas season in Yorkton with the lighting of the town's Christmas tree followed by the Santa Claus Parade. Der was still out of commission with the flu so I took Kirsi and Aidan down for the festivities.

I was really surprised to see this sign up at the City Centre Park. You just don't see the religious meaning of Christmas in public places anymore so I was happy to see it.

The kids are enjoying hot dogs and hot chocolate at the park.

The town's Christmas tree is officially lit up.

And here's the Parade!

A chuck wagon leading off the parade - you know we're living in the West, right? It's great!

The kids loved seeing this garbage truck all decorated up!

Harley Santa!

And look at this big rig all lit up in John Deere colours. Aidan was super pumped to see this float!

And the Big Guy to finish up the parade.

It's great to be back home for this season. I love seeing the lights, decorations and just the electric Christmas spirit. And it's so fun for the kids to be able to experience it. Yay!

Let It Snow

2011-11-06T23:12:00.002-03:00

October 31st - Halloween

November 6 - First Snowfall

First Canadian Halloween

2011-11-06T15:27:00.002-03:00

The kids enjoyed their first Canadian Halloween. Here they are practising before they go out trick or treating!

Funny of the Day

2011-08-14T08:59:00.003-04:00

This morning, I was browsing on Pinterest and I found this there. So, here's your funny of the day - I love it!!

From this blog

Summer 2011...in a nutshell

2011-08-09T16:33:00.002-04:00

So, we've been slackers in posting about what we've been up to. So, rather than bore you with details, here are some photos to tell you what we've been up to.

Birthday Party Fun

Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream!

At the lake

Picking raspberries - they taste better straight from the patch!

45th Anniversary

Bought a house

Silly times with Daddy

Wagon rides

Northwest Round-Up Parade, Rodeo and Fair

Our new van

Combining

Helping Grampa fix the combine

Looking for ladybugs in the straw

Lost in the grass

More fun at the fair!

There you have it!

Evening of the Arts

2011-06-14T14:40:00.005-04:00

Last night was Kirsi's school's Evening of the Arts. It's a showcase of what the kids have done throughout the year, not just in the visual arts but also the performing arts. There were kids who sang, danced and did skits, along with the kids' art displayed throughout the school. It was great. Kirsi's class performed with the Preschool, Kindergarten and Grade 1 classes and they were adorable. Here's a pic of Little Miss singing her heart out:

Then her ballet class did their dance and it was great! The girls did so well with it - we were definitely proud of our little Boo!

As the final performance, the Grades 2 - 6 classes, along with the elementary principal and a teacher sang Jimmy Cliff's "Wonderful World, Beautiful People". It was fabulous! If you'd like to give the song a listen, here's the link to it on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVdfANgPAz4

Let It Rain

2011-06-11T19:23:00.000-04:00

We just had a storm system go through that brought 2 weeks of rain. We thought it could rain in Sri Lanka but this downpour was amazing for how much and for how long it rained. Mommy brought out the rain jackets and rubber boots and let the kids dance in the rain.

Then it was some time to practice our grumpy looks.

Before showing their true nature...

In The Know Traveler

2011-06-11T08:36:00.000-04:00

Dana and I love to take photos. Our iPhoto collection holds close to 38,000 photos and we still have a lot of negatives to scan. Thank goodness for digital photos!

I recently came across a great travel site called In The Know Traveler. It's got some great articles and also has a photo section. For travelers like us, it's a fun site to scan through.

We've been fortunate enough to have two of our photos accepted for their photo section. One is taken at Payunia Volcanic Park in Argentina. As far as geography goes, this is trip is still one of my highlights for it's eerie vastness and serenity. All you could hear was the wind blowing around the volcanic peaks.

The other picture was taken just outside of YS Falls in Jamaica. Two people were walking home down an old dirt road with jungle all around them.

Feel-Good Video For the Day

2011-05-27T16:27:00.000-04:00

I love the Weber Barbecue commercial and I found it on You Tube. Yay! So, if you want to liven up your afternoon, have a look:

Weber Barbecue Commercial

Negril Beach - Jamaica

2011-04-20T12:20:00.000-03:00

Here are some photos from our trip to Negril.

Bon Fire at Negril

2011-04-19T21:30:00.000-03:00

We just got back this afternoon from a wonderful 3 days in Negril, Jamaica. We drove that far on Saturday with the intention of dropping Grandma off at the airport Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, we had some van trouble so Grandma took a shuttle to the airport in Montego Bay. More on Negril later but Kirsi and Aidan experienced their first bon fire at the Westender Hotel, which was a great place to stay.

Kirsi and Aidan dancing at their first bon fire - Westender Hotel, Negril, Jamaica

Close up of bon fire

Bon fire at Westender Hotel, Negril, Jamaica

Enjoying the fire

Kirsi at the fire

Kirsi shaking it a the fire

Family Soccer

2011-04-09T10:04:00.000-03:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Can Can

2011-04-09T09:55:00.000-03:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Kirsi's 5th Birthday

2011-04-05T15:39:00.000-03:00

Our little girl is 5 - wow! It really is hard to believe. It's been five years since she joined our family and it's been wonderful. She's such a grown-up little girl now but still so sweet and snuggly. I hope she never stops cuddling with us. :)

We had a small birthday party for her on Saturday and we had a pool party. She asked for a lemon-flavoured flip flop cake so that's what she got! It turned out pretty well so I'm happy. We spent a little too much time out in the sun but it was lots of fun. Daddy did his usual washing machine game and got worn out by giving so many cycles in the machine. ;) With it being such a small party, it was pretty low-key which made for much less stress for us. Yahoo!

Flip Flop cake:

Notice the flowers on her flip flops. I made those with my Cricut and I iced Twizzlers for the straps. :)

Our birthday girl ready for her pool party:

The other cake:

Pinata time:

Aidan came out in Kirsi's high heel shoes to celebrate!

Opening gifts:

Kirsi's new puppy, Weenie Sophia. This is her gift from cousin Teagan:

Yesterday we took some cupcakes in for her class to celebrate. They played pin the tail on the donkey and she gave each of her classmates a little loot bag to celebrate.

Then Gramma took us out for supper to Kirsi's choice of restaurant. And she chose Wendy's. :D

Trip to Montego Bay

2011-04-03T14:14:00.000-03:00

The kids and I took the Knutsford Express up to Montego Bay to meet Gramma at the airport. It's a very comfortable and affordable way to travel in Jamaica. They even showed a movie on the bus ride. Kirsi got so into it (The Tooth Fairy) that she couldn't sleep! :)

Here are the kids by the pool at Toby's Resort:

Here they are with Gramma:

I love, love, love this picture of Kirsi at the pool:

Practicing her back float:

The bus ride back was eventful. We had to take an alternative route because the Flat Bridge is closed to traffic coming from the north after 4:00 pm. So we took a scenic route back but it was a narrow, narrow road. When we'd meet a bigger vehicle near a curve, both would have to stop and then the other one would have to back up to allow the bus to pass. We did get to see some orange orchards and sugar cane being harvested, which was really neat to see. Thankfully, one of the passengers had said a prayer for all of us before we left Montego Bay and we were kept safe on that journey back. Welcome to Jamaica, Gramma!! :D

Field Day

2011-04-03T14:04:00.000-03:00

Last Saturday (not yesterday), Kirsi and Der had a field day at school. They're part of yellow house and had a fun time, though it was far too long in the sun. Kirsi won second place in her race and got a red ribbon.

Aidan's first shadow day

2011-03-31T08:03:00.000-03:00

Yesterday, Aidan had his first "shadow" day at school. What they do at AISK for future or potential students is to allow them to shadow their class for a day so they can see what it's like and, for the little ones, get used to it. Since Aidan hasn't been in a school setting before, we're doing it slowly. Yesterday, I went in with him for an hour while Ms. Edwards did calendar math with the kids and then they had time to play at their learning centres. Aidan was very shy and didn't want to say anything during the lesson but he took it all in. When it came to playing at the centres, he was good. He chose to work with the Play Doh and he was very happy doing that. He did it on his own, without me being anywhere near him, and he was sad to leave.

While the lesson was happening, Aidan wanted to get up and move around. I told him that he had to stay sitting down and he asked, "Why?" I explained that Ms. Edwards was teaching a lesson and that she had asked everyone to sit nicely. He sat back down but wasn't entirely pleased with that. That's the adjustment that will be the toughest for him, I think. He's used to being at home and playing with what he likes, when he likes. He'll be fine but it'll take a little bit for him to get used to it.

We go back on Friday morning for a little longer. Not sure if I'll be sitting in or not - I'll have to talk with his teacher to see what she thinks. But I think he'll have a great time at school!

Sick kiddos

2011-03-13T19:18:00.000-03:00

First of all, as a follow-up to the "No Ting" post, I'm happy to report that we've found it once again. Phew! ;)

Kirsi and Aidan have been sick with colds for a long time. It's been about six weeks since they got the first cold and they've had two more since. Then on Thursday, Kirsi came down with a fever and then vomited later that afternoon. The next morning she woke up with a bit of gunk in her eyes but it went away as the morning went on so we let it be. Then, around supper time, her fever came back with a vengeance and the gunk was back. :( Too late to go to the doctor (and not serious enough to go to the ER) so we continued with the Tylenol and cleaned out her eyes. Saturday morning, we headed to a walk-in clinic for both kids, as Aidan has a cough that isn't going away and it doesn't sound good. So, Kirsi got the medicated drops for her eyes and Aidan got amoxicillin and a prescription for conjunctivitis in case he gets it. Last night, Kirsi had another wild fever so more Tylenol. And Aidan woke up sobbing that his ear was sore. So, after an hour of trying everything, we gave him some Advil for kids and hoped it would help. He did sleep the rest of the night, thank goodness. They both woke up in good spirits but by noon, Aidan was starting to get gunk in his eyes. So, off to the pharmacy I went.

They've got lots of meds to take now but hopefully they'll be on the mend. Being sick is lousy!

What??? No Ting?

2011-02-27T16:27:00.000-03:00

It's impossible. It.Cannot.Be. No Ting to be found in Kingston? It's a national staple, isn't it?!

This is Ting:

We discovered it when we arrived and there's just no going back. It's so refreshing in the heat and humidity and it's become one of our favourite drinks. Not quite a staple in our household, but pretty darn important! It's a grapefruit-flavoured soda and it's made here in Jamaica. If we have pop anymore, it's Ting. It's great with ice and delicious mixed with white rum. Mmmm, good!

That said, I've been trying to pick some up in the last week or so and none of the groceries stores in our area have it! Yesterday, we did find some small bottles so we picked them up but even those are running scarce. I went to another store today and asked and nothing. They sold the last of their Ting last week. What? I have no idea what's happening but I'm guessing there could soon be disruptions in the city if Ting runs out! :D

Long time, no update

2011-02-09T21:47:00.000-03:00

It's been ages since we last updated our blog. After Brody, Hannah, Ian and Rhonda's visit, we had Nana and Papa arrive and stay with us for a month. The kids have had such a great time playing with them and getting their undivided attention (thus the reason I've had so much time to scrapbook!). Our first weekend with them, we stayed at the Great Huts at Boston Bay and went to Frenchman's Cove. It's such a fabulous beach! We also took Nana and Papa to Reach Falls, which are still my favourite set of waterfalls here in Jamaica. We drove along the southeast coast back to Kingston - I love that drive, much better than through the mountains.

There was a lot of playing going on here. Nana and Papa brought the infamous Fisher Price cars and people with them and the kids couldn't get enough of them. They also played tea party, cars, ball hockey and soccer. There was a lot of planes, trains and automobiles played too. Nana got her daily half an hour in the sun while here - she wanted to soak up as much as she could.

Some of the sites that we hit here in Kingston were Devon House (and the I Scream ice cream shop there), Port Royal and the zoo. They headed out to Parottee Beach near Black River and stayed at Idler's Rest, where we did in November. What's so nice about there is that it isn't crowded so you can just completely relax.

Our last weekend, we went back to Portland. This time we stayed in Long Bay and went to San San Beach both days. The kids loved it there - the water is calm and very shallow so it's perfect for little ones.

It's hard to believe that a month is up and that Nana and Papa are on their way back to Manitoba. But time certainly marches on, stopping for no one and nothing. We're just thankful for the time that they were able to spend with us. We have more visits coming up so we're happy for that. :)

Lots of scrapbook pages to share

2011-02-09T21:36:00.000-03:00

The last little while I've been busy scrapbooking and I haven't shared any of my pages here so you're going to get swamped today! :D

These pages are paper layouts. I finally got started on Aidan's baby album!

And these are digi layouts. Some were done for challenges on my two scrappy message boards, others were just done because I wanted to. :)

And that, my friends, is all for now. Tune in later for hopefully some news.

Christmas Journalling

2011-01-24T22:13:00.000-03:00

It's been a whole month since the Christmas blog hop and my challenge to you. Sorry about that. Since then, we had Christmas, two visits from family and a few projects that I wanted to get done. However, I've finally completed the LO to go along with my journalling. Here it is:

And here's my challenge to you...

If you took me up on my blog hop challenge of writing down some of your favourite things about Christmas, make a layout based on that journalling. If you didn't, here's the post I made.
http://www.millerkitch.com/2010/12/christmas-blog-hop.html

Make a layout based on your favourite things about Christmas and make the journalling the driving force behind the layout. Post it here by next Monday, January 31st and you'll be entered to win a small RAK. :D

Quite the kid

2011-01-07T11:27:00.001-03:00

Aidan continues to keep us laughing with what comes out of his mouth.

Yesterday, he was singing "Jingle Bells" (both kids love that song!). Then, he decided to change it up a bit. "Twinkle Bells, Twinkle Bells, Twinkle all the way!"

This morning, Der made up a song for the kids. He was doing a little rap and Aidan told him, "Don't do dat again!"

Our First Visitors

2011-01-04T23:10:00.000-03:00

Our first visitors in Jamaica have arrived! On Wednesday, we drove up to Ocho Rios and Der dropped the kids and I off at our villa while he drove to Montego Bay to pick up Ian, Rhonda, Brody and Hannah. He was gone for several hours (the drive there and back and waiting for them to get through all the airport stuff) and the kids were dying while waiting. They were so anxious for RIBH to arrive! I tried to keep them occupied and they did pretty well until about 5:00 - then they just kept asking, "Where are they?" Too cute! It was a very happy moment when they drove up and the kids got to see their cousins and auntie and uncle again. :D

We stayed at Lansdowne, a private villa in the hills near Ocho Rios. It is beautiful! The house is fabulous, the grounds are gorgeous and it's away from the hustle and bustle of the town. We met Arlene, the housekeeper who took care of us during our stay. She's so sweet and friendly and she helped us out with whatever we needed. It's totally kid friendly too - they have toys and games for the kids, both indoor and outdoor, and the kids love to run around outside.

The next morning, we did some running around - exchanging money, groceries, that kind of thing. The kids had fun playing at the villa and hanging out together until we went into town and went to the craft market. We wanted to go there because we'd read that there were good things to pick up. It felt like pure insanity there - loud music, tons of vendors trying to get you in their shops and one stall after another. We've been to many markets in Asia and we're used to getting called in and being approached. However, there was something different here. The vendors were much more aggressive and persistent; they wouldn't leave you alone and seemed ticked off when you didn't go in. And it seemed like there was a lot of the same thing from stall to stall. We did manage to find some cool things - a steel drum, some wooden carvings, a Rasta hat for Der, a basket.

After our shopping extravaganza, we went to the Dunn's River Falls in the afternoon. They are beautiful cascading waterfalls that you can climb up. We went near the end of the day so there would be fewer people. The river water was chilly but not too bad (we're so used to warm water now). I (Dana) stayed on the beach at the bottom with Aidan while everyone else made the climb. They loved it - how can you not love climbing up a waterfall?! Kirsi went too and did great; she needed help in a few areas but she did most of it on her own and had lots of fun. Aidan and I built sand castles and dug in the sand while they were climbing. It was fairly busy when we got there but things cleared out. Unfortunately, they cleared us out of the ocean at 4:30 and the falls at 5:00, earlier than when they told us at the gate. But we'd had enough time there that it was OK. They all came back and Brody and Hannah wanted to climb again so I went with them. It was neat but I was always thinking about what would happen if I slipped on the wet rocks. I went half way up and was happy to be done there. I'm definitely not an adventure seeker. :)

After the falls, we needed to eat so we ended up stopping at Captain's Grill and Bakery. Oh my, was it busy...and slow! We waited forever to get the food - their system was a bit strange but eventually it worked. When we went back to the villa, Arlene said that it just opened so that's why it was so busy - it's a novelty.

On New Year's Eve Day, we went to Frenchman's Cove. It was quite a drive from Ochi to Portland but it was totally worth it. We left early and spent the whole day. It was so wonderful there - the kids had a fabulous time in the river and jumping through the waves in the sea. Lunch was good, though very slow to come. We ordered at 12:00 and ate at 2:30. Yeah, can't be starving there. :)

We started off New Year's Day at the Green Grotto Caves, just past Runaway Bay. They were really cool to see, though we had to dodge getting hit by bat pee and poop. I got hit - a lovely souvenir from the caves. Rhonda was doing great until they spotted a snake near the stairs. We actually came across three different snakes so she made sure to hurry past them. The kids really liked seeing the snakes and the bats, they thought they were cool. There was a lot of history at the caves. They were called Runaway Caves because that was where the Spanish leader hid out when he was fleeing the island after the British takeover. There are so many nooks and crannies and tunnels in there that it's not surprising that he was able to hide out and then escape from there. They also hid rum in the caves and in WWII, they hid ammunition there. One part of the first cave used to be a night club. They had some benches and spots to sit down, a stage was there and they even had a circle for crab races carved out of the stone floor. Can you imagine the acoustics in that place? Wow!

There were a few caves in the area and one of them served for a meeting place and burial grounds for Aboriginal chiefs. There was no specific place where they were buried but there have been archaeological finds in the area that show that the chiefs were buried there (along with their favourite wife who was buried alive with them). Lucky wives, eh?

It was a really neat tour and I'm glad we did it, though I must say that I could have done without the bats. But I was prepared for those critters going into it and at least none swooped down at me. I'd much rather get pooped on than swooped at.

After visiting the caves, we went to a beach just down the road. There's a restaurant called Flavours that is right along the sea and there's a pretty beach in front of it. We thought it would be a good place to enjoy some sand and sun. We ordered our food and drinks - Rhonda and I enjoyed a strawberry daquiri - and then went down to the beach. The water here (near Runaway Bay) was warmer than at Frenchman's Cove - so that was nice. There were lots of locals out and about as it is a public beach. Unfortunately, there were also some of the people who had enjoyed the New Year's Eve party just down the road that were still up. When we got back from the beach, there was a dude sitting at the table with Der, Ian and Brody who was grinding up a bud and rolling a joint. Nice. That totally freaked Brody and Hannah out. Thankfully the restaurant owner came with our food and told the guy to get away. He spoke in Patois but I did understand, "Don't be smokin' the ganja here, in front of the kids!" Then a couple other guys started talking to us. At first I didn't know what they wanted with us, but after one of the guys passed a bunch of buds to the other one, I figured it out pretty quickly. Thankfully, they left on their own once our food came. But that was enough for us to decide to find another beach.

So, after we finished eating, we went back to Ochi and went to a beach near the White River, which was recommended to us

Photo Slideshow