The Canadian Z's

Emily Celebrates 100 Days of School

2011-02-01T16:35:00.001-08:00

Cold & Frosty

2011-01-30T08:08:00.000-08:00

January has been quite cold, so the kids haven't played outside much this month. However, we did get a couple of days to go outside and enjoy some sledding and skating. Here's a few pics.

Connor has also taken in a Prince Albert Raider game with his dad and Grandma Dorothy. Unfortunately, the Raiders were losing so badly that by the third period he started cheering for the other team. He has also been hard at work this month creating his "Hockey Newspaper". He started with 1927 and worked his way towards 2010, one year at a time, listing the teams that had won the Stanley Cup. Only thing is, Connor is not much of a historian-- so he just put in whatever teams he wanted to win for each year. As a result, the Might Ducks and the Hurricanes both managed to win the Cup in the 1930s-- even though they didn't exist until the 80s and 90s. The FLAMES, his favorite team, have also had multiple wins; while the team he hates-- the Oilers-- never did win. Tell that to Gretzky, kid. Oh well, historical accuracy is highly overrated as any political party will tell you, the important thing is that he's been happily practicing his printing and spelling skills. Also, he uses his hockey cards to do all his research-- so that means I get a short amount of time where he is quietly working rather than talking my ear off about his favorite topic-- HOCKEY. And yes, I know I'm a bad mother for tuning out for a moment while he drones on about goals and scores and teams. He has caught on to the fact that I don't listen as fully or attentively as he would like-- but he is a resourceful lad not easily discouraged. Rather than talk to mom, he sneaks off to the bedroom, dials Grandma Z, and talks for 10, 20, and sometimes 30 minutes about everything she ever wanted (or didn't) want to know about hockey. She is a patient grandma, and one day when he's broadcasting for Hockey Night In Canada, I know she's more likely to get credit for his success than I. No big deal-- I'll probably be watching some other channel as I will already have heard Connor talk enough about hockey.

As for the girls, they are keeping busy too. Kaylie continues to be obsessed with her stuffed kitten Cricket. We even had to throw it a birthday party this past month, since Kaylie announced one Sunday that we had to make "pupcakes" for Cricket's birthday. Emily decorated them and we all enjoyed. Kaylie has also started to enjoy playing with Polly Pockets this month and legos and blocks and all things related to building.

Emily is busy with school. They've been studying about Antarctica and penguins, and we were able to make contact with someone working at the South Pole Weather Station who has been telling us a little bit about working there. Emily, who has always said she's going to be a meteorologist isn't sure she wants to work where the warm days of January are as cold as our cold days in Saskatchewan.

This morning it was -35C-- and I was perhaps the only person in Saskatchewan happy to see the cold weather. I had seen a science experiment on television that I had wanted to do with Emily, but the only problem is you need -30C or colder weather to make it happen. We've waited almost two weeks to get the right weather conditions. Then we bundled up, boiled some water, threw it in the air and made instant steam and snow. Way cool!!! (Literally and figuratively). We posted our video of us doing the experiment on a weather wiki that I have been doing with Emily's class at school. Link here and scroll down on our Meath Park page to take a look at the movie:

Emily's also been having some fun creating music at a site called www.noteflight.com. Follow this link to listen to one of her songs:
A Zircon.

She did this by herself-- harmonies and all. Looks like the piano lessons are starting to pay off!

So that's what life's been like in the month of January. We'll try and update again in February.

Annual Christmas Letter

2010-12-16T14:05:00.000-08:00

December 4, 2010

It’s December and the season is upon us— awards season that is. While nominations are going out for such prestigious prizes as the Golden Globes and the Oscars, it seems only fitting that the Zbaraschuk’s take time to assign some seasonal awards of their own.

We start first with the Sports Awards, where Connor, our six year old, skates away with all the prizes. Not only was he voted the “Most Likely to Destroy the House Playing Hallway Hockey”, he also scored big in the “Most Likely to Whine If I Don’t Win” category. This year has been a long lesson in not getting upset when we don’t get our way. For instance, Grandma Z has learned not to get upset when Connor interrupts here regularly scheduled television viewing to watch hockey and NASCAR. Mom is also learning not to get upset when a bazillion hockey cards are scattered throughout the house. At present, we are trying to build a hockey rink for our Little Gretzky, for he is determined to become a hockey player, despite Mom and Dad’s complete and utter disinterest in the sport. To be honest, hockey is not the only sport Connor has taken an interest in. FIFA 2010 generated an interest in playing soccer, while his entrance into Kindergarten has made recess wrestling a new pastime—much to his teachers’ chagrin (Mom included). Connor’s philosophy seems to be, “Anything worth doing is worth a little time on the time- out chair”, or the penalty box, as it were. I threatened to go out on supervision to watch his behaviour on the playground, to which he replied—“Can you play soccer with me, then?” In one ear, out the other... Other than a few playground antics though, Connor is loving school, making friends, and excelling at what little boys do best—being a boy.

Our next award goes out in the field of Sound Editing, and the winner is.... Kaylie. One of the joys of three year olds is that they repeat everything they hear—although not always correctly. In Kaylie’s case she has kept us highly amused this year with her difficulty in enunciating certain sounds. For instance, the /sm/ sound comes out sounding like /f/. Consequently, her favourite candies are “Farties”, people who smoke are “Foking”, and the little smudges that get on the DVDs and stop her movies from working.... Well I wish we could say they were ‘fudges”, but instead we call them “smuckers” —so..... well, you do the math. It is quite hilarious to hear her indignantly pull out a ruined DVD, completely disgusted that it’s got !#@#uckers!

When Kaylie isn’t dropping the F-bomb—she’s quite a sweet little girl with a mischievous streak. She loves teasing her siblings who often find her to be a royal pain. This is a title she wears proudly as she is obsessed with Disney Princesses and spends much of her day in a castle recycled from a gigantic cardboard box. She has worn her princess costumes nearly non-stop since the spring, and several of them are in such disrepair that only a Fairy Godmother could repair them. Her other great love is a wretched looking stuffed kitten called Cricket—who has collected enough dirt and grime to be considered bio-hazzardous waste. Cricket is well loved, and Kaylie spends lots of time talking and singing to her little grey germ ball. Kaylie also loves cutting, coloring and doing crafts. Interestingly though, she cannot pronounce the /f/ sound in the word craft, so it comes out.... “Mom, let’s make a “crap” together.” Yes, this daughter is definitely the one destined to be the entertainer in the family.

This brings us to the second daughter, Emily, winner in both the Best Picture and Best Original Music Score categories. Emily continues to love drawing, making craps—I mean crafts—and playing the piano. She would also win a prize for “Most Likely to Do the Least Piano Practice” if such an award existed. Unfortunately for her, she has a mother who knows that piano players are not made in a day—or in Emily’s case 5 minutes of practice—so we faithfully put in the half hour prescribed by the teacher in the hour and a half it takes Emily to get done. It’s true that as you grow older you relate more to your own parents, particularly in the struggle to raise kids. Looking back, I’m not sure how Mom and Dad managed to get each of us six kids to practice piano daily so that we might appreciate the great gift music is, but, oh wait a minute.... I’m the only one who actually plays. Ah, that makes me feel so much better knowing that I come from a long line of parents who couldn’t make their kids do what they wanted them to do. Clearly it’s genetic!

Fortunately, genetics is also on our side when it comes to reading. Kent and I both love to read, and Emily has followed in our footsteps. One of the ladies at church gave Emily the Laura Ingall’s books to read this summer, and since then she has been ploughing her way through the entire pioneer series, including additional books about Laura’s mother and daughter. She’ll often get up early in the morning to read, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen when she gets to the end of the series. I remember loving Anne of Green Gables in the same way, and I’m sure she’ll feel a little sadness when she closes the last page on the final chapter. I guess she’ll have to find something new to fill her time—more piano practise, perhaps.

And finally we come to the most prestigious award, that of Parent of the Year. While Kent and I did not in fact win the prize, you will be glad to hear we did place several rankings ahead of Charlie Sheen and Kate Gosselin. The awards committee noted our continued record of excellence, and were willing to overlook the few minor meltdowns that occurred within the context of taking the children shopping and cleaning toys off the living room floor. The awards committee even awarded us extra points for our summer vacation to Calgary and Banff wherein Lorie not only climbed to the top of Sulpher Mountain (okay the gondola took me the first 12,000 feet, but the last 750 were a killer and all up hill), but she also walked every square inch of the Calgary Zoo (okay we skipped the Australian section, but our feet were killing us) and rode every ride at Calaway Park ( even if Connor was screaming in fear. Suck it up, hockey boy!) . Even more impressive—both Kent and I went watersliding with the kids at the hotel, thus necessitating our need to wear swimming suits in public—which could explain why we lost out to Brad and Angelina in this year’s parenting contest. Oh well, as they always say at these award ceremonies.... just being nominated is an honor.

Well that brings us to the close of our letter, which may not win the Pulitzer Prize, but it should bring a smile or two this Christmas. And for this writer, that is reward enough.

Have a rich and rewarding Christmas,

The Z’s

Kent, Lorie, Connor, Emily, and Kaylie

Summer Holidays

2010-07-30T20:30:00.001-07:00

Teachers are probably the only adults who still refer to July and August as "summer holidays". Whatever you call it, the first month of it has certainly flown by quickly with two family reunions, a trip to Calgary and the Rockies, celebrating Kaylie's 3rd birthday, and perpetually planning for the first two weeks of August wherein I am in charge of campmeeting's Kindergarten program followed by our church's VBS. (Back to back craziness!!!)

Good thing we had such a relaxing and fun July-- although Mama's climb up a bazillion stairs to the top of Sanson's Peak on Sulpher Mountain in Banff would hardly be what Mama would call fun or relaxing. More like, exhausting and terrifying-- as when you get to the top they have nothing but a few wire cables up as a barrier to keep your 2 and 5 year old from plummeting to their deaths. Needless to say, the trip down was a lot easier and when it began to spit-- two beautiful rainbows appeared in the valley so close you almost thought you could touch them. Definitely one of those God moments, and I was fortunate enough to have my camera with me to capture it. Though the colors in the photo aren't as brilliant as they were on that day-- still pretty awesome to have got it on film-- or is that silicon, given today's digital age. We also took in Banff's Bow Falls. Kaylie was especially impressed with the waterfall, and wanted to know " do sharks live in that ocean."

We spent the next two days in Calgary-- one at the zoo and the other at Calaway Park. Both were a lot of fun. The animitronic Dinosaur display at the zoo sort of freaked Kaylie out-- but Connor loved it. The rides at Calaway were lots of fun, and we stayed right up to the closing of the gates so the kids were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel. Unfortunately, pretty exhausted does not mean completely exhausted, ergo, the 2 hours spent in the hotel pool and waterpark both nights. Thank goodness for the hottubs that revived Kent's and my aching muscles.

This was the first time we've ever really enjoyed the hotel pools, as Connor and Emily have always been a little cautious in the water. While Connor still liked to hang back, avoiding the slides, Emily braved the curves and twists this time around and had a great time. And what about Kaylie? Well she is a tadpole in water with absolutely no fear. Fiercely independent, she insisted on swimming by herself (with a lifejacket of course) and by the end of the trip could paddle her way around the pool to wherever she needed to go. It was a lot of fun, and it seems we'll have to get to the pool a little more often now that all three of the kids seem to enjoy it. Who knows, maybe even Kent will learn to like it if we keep introducing him to the water.

While in Alberta we also did two family reunions which both had the same theme-- FOOD. It seems that every reunion is destined to have too much potato salad, too many deserts, and without saying, too many calories. It was good seeing family members I hadn't seen for a while, as well as a few I had never met before.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and we find ourselves back in Saskatchewan where it spent most of July raining. This past week, though, has been quite hot and dry. If it keeps it up, Campmeeting should be lost of fun in my "little log heat trap"-- er, I mean cabin. The kids are excited and looking forward to going-- in fact Emily is going to go away on her own to Adventure Camp this coming week. She loves making new friends, so I'm sure she'll do okay and not get too homesick. It's just me that's going to have to deal with the parental anxieties of sending her away for the first time. But hey, besides near-drowning, accidental choking, run-away horses, rock climbing falls, and archery injuries, what can really go wrong at a Summer camp? Hopefully she, like so many before her, will survive the week and have lots of fun!

Connor is a little bummed out that she gets to go to camp ahead of him-- but I'm sure he'll find it nice not being bossed around for a few days- except by Mom of course. Connor has become a total sports nut in the past few months, so I'm sure he'll find some sport to keep him active.

He especially enjoys playing soccer and is convinced I could be the next David Beckham if I just applied myself a little more. He will tell you he prefers playing with me over Kent, because I'm slow and easy to beat--unlike his dad, who's "in it to win it". Me, I prefer to be on the sidelines blowing on one of those crazy South African woofer horns.

Speaking of blowing horns-- we pulled out the party horns to celebrate Kaylie's third birthday a day early, tonight. She loves the Disney Princesses, so they were on hand-- or rather on cake-- to help us celebrate. She understands the whole birthday thing pretty well by now, as we've attended three different birthday parties this month. Funny thing, someone taught her the words to happy birthday incorrectly, so she likes to sing-- You look like a monkey and you smell like one too-- although in her case it was a princess, not a monkey.

Kaylie takes this whole princess thing very seriously-- insisting on wearing and sleeping in princess dresses 80% of the time. Belle is definitely her favorite-- although she'll settle for SnowWhite or the Island Princess Barbie outfit in a pinch-- aka-- Belle's dress is in the wash. And do not call her a queen! That ticks her royal highness off. In fact, when I called her a drama queen today, she informed me, quite indignantly, that she was a princess, not a queen. The good thing is, as of 12:00 midnight tonight, the terrible twos will be behind us, and we'll awake to a polite, well-behaved, compliant three year old, who like Cinderella, won't mind cleaning up all the messes she leaves behind. Now there's a fairytale if I ever heard one. Good thing she's cute-- even with icing on her nose.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the photos of the royal family and their summer tour. Ta, ta for now.

Swimming Lessons

2010-02-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

With all this snow, you'd think the kids would be excited about snowforts, snowmen, snow shovels, and all things snowy. Emily and Connor have, in typical fashion, garnered their snow gear to build igloos and slide down snowhills. However, Kaylie's heart runs a little on the warmer side, and she has determined that February should include "swimmin' wessons". She is constantly pulling out her two piece, and cannot understand why we haven't yet gotten to the pool. We plan on remedying that tonight with a first time ever, family trip to the swimmin' pool. Should be fun-- and at least a little warmer than where she's been trying to swim lately.

Wrestle-Mania

2010-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

The first SNOW DAY of 2010 arrived today-- and wouldn't you know it-- it was already my day off! Emily however enjoyed the extended long weekend which will actually continue again tomorrow as it is a work day for teachers-- but no school for kids.

The snow really did dump on us, and Kent spent a good part of the day snow-playing-- I mean plowing. Can't help but think a little of his inner child takes over on these days-- an opportunity to relive his sandbox glory days-- only with a little icier medium to play in and bigger tractors to drive.

The kids entertained themselves by covering the kitchen floor with all the puzzles they could put together. Made me think, perhaps all I really need to do to get new flooring is start building huge puzzles and gluing them to the floor. Can't be much worse than tripping over the cracks in the linoleum.

They spent some time outdoors in the super high drifts, but the temps are super cold so that was short lived. However, they worked off all their energy wrestling with their dad. No glasses or feelings got hurt, so I guess it was a successful end to the night.

It is my goal to blog once a month-- call it a New Year's Resolution. I dedicate this first one to my faithful followers-- you know who you are A & K-- who tell me that I need to do a better job keeping the world up to date on our comings and goings. So, seeing that bedtime is coming-- I'll be going.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2009-05-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

Last week, Emily and I found a new painting/art software that was a free download called ArtRage. She's just learning how to use it and having lots of fun. She can experiment with painting techniques like blending, brush loading, etc. with absolutely no mess or clean up. Don't you just LOVE technology!!!!!

(Click on the program's name if you'd like to download the program for yourself).

April-- Spring Has Sprung

2009-04-26T13:48:00.001-07:00

April really is the time of year when hope returns to the Prairies-- the snow has melted, the gophers have returned, and the kids are finally out of the house and playing outside every chance they get. Kaylie is in seventh heaven as she fearlessly braves the wind and the slides! Connor has brought his orange rubber boots out of retirement, along with the sand toys. And Emily is playing soccer at school and helping Grandma plant flowers.

We spent Easter break in Alberta and are now in the spring swing of things. I've been clearing out some of the cluttered corners and thinking about gardening which is on the horizon. Spring work is also around the corner-- which I enjoy about as much as a root canal done without anethsetic. Kent on the other hand is grinning from ear to ear!

Click the triangle play button on the video cast below to check out pics from the month!

March Movie of the Z's At Work and Play

2009-03-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here's what life looked and sounded like at the Z's this month. Be sure to click on the videocast below to see and hear what we've been up to!

Emily's First Music Video

2009-03-27T19:53:00.001-07:00

This week, Emily and I found a web site called Fleximusic that gave us a seven day trial on a software program that kids can use to create their own music. It is awesome and easy to use!! We've both had so much fun using it. We tried to insert the music into this blog, but unfortunately blogspot doesn't appear to let you do this. (If anyone knows a solution to this, please post on comments). We got around this by creating a little video on Movie Maker and inserting one of her songs. Click on the video below to hear and see our Tornado Movie. Enjoy!

Emily's Pet Shop Story

2009-03-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

Here is a story that Emily and I wrote together:

Once upon a time, a horse and a butterfly each had a baby. The horse and the butterfly bought outfits and stuff for them. The little caterpillar and horse grew up until they were much bigger.

One day, a bear on a motorcycle came from the adoption center and took the little horse and little caterpillar away. He took them to the adoption center so that someone could come a buy them.

One afternoon, a young girl named Taffodil came to the adoption center. She wanted to buy just the horse, but the horse said, “Please may I have a friend?”

“What kind of pet would you like for your friend?” asked Taffodil. The horse said she wanted a caterpillar. Taffodil said, “ I have enough money to buy the caterpillar.” So she did..

Then Taffodil took them home. She asked her dad to build them a house. So he said, “I will in a few days.” A few days later, he bought the materials to make the pet house. He went to the paint store to pick out some paints. Then he went back home and he built the house. When it was all done and the paint was dry, they went to the furniture store to pick out some furniture for them. The pets put the furniture where they wanted it. Then Taffodil went to the fashion store and bought them some clothes to wear. They loved their clothes and their house and they were glad that Taffodil had adopted them.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Welcome to the Z's 1st Blog (No Really-This Time I Mean It)

2009-03-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first official blog of the Canadian Z's-- as opposed to the other blog I accidentally posted and then could not figure how to edit before it got posted to the world wide web so everyone could see what an idiot I was. I pride myself on knowing a little something about technology, but who would have thought pushing the enter key after the title would cause it to be published for the entire world to see. Nothing like embarassing yourself on a very large scale.

With that theme in mind, we will continue.

My purpose for joining this blog site is to keep friends and family updated on the comings and goings of the Zbaraschuk household. Emily has also indicated that she intends to post art-work on the blog and may from time to time decide to communicate with the rest of you. You will be able to tell the difference in our posts by the number of references to Littlest Pet Shops-- hereafter referred to as LPS. Emily and Connor are obsessed with these toys, spending hours playing with the creatures, creating fashions for them, building lego playgrounds for them, and ripping them out of the hands of their little sister, Kaylie! In this one area, Connor and Emily present a united front-- the baby is NOT allowed in Pet Shop World-- aka north east corner of my living room-- with future expansion currently being halted by "THE PARENTS". Kaylie is determined though, and from time to time she manages to break through the barriers and snatch a lowly hamster or kitty. Of course, she is eventually discovered and then must hear her siblings' cries of "Bad Baby"-- which Kent and I have definitely discouraged-- as name-calling is a behaviour only THE PARENTS are allowed to engage in. Alas, our efforts have come too late and too little. Kaylie has not only taken the barb to heart, but recognizes that as a word, BAD BABY" is a phrase to be directed at those who have wronged you. Consequently, when the two older kids get in her way, she now turns to them and calls them "Bad Baby". What goes around comes around, I guess!

Kaylie is definitely going through a defiant stage right now when it comes to her brother and sister-- although I might add the stage might be rightfully labelled "Self-Preservation". Tired of the way she's been smothered and pestered, she is now learning to stand up for herself. Biting, hitting, and head-bunting are just a few of the moves she's picked up-- leaving us to wonder if she has a future in the WWF. While THE PARENTS frown on this kind of behaviour, it is here that we face a quandry as she really does need a way to defend herself from Pet Shop World's heavy handed Security Agents. Being a professional educator, I have tried to teach Kaylie the playground motto of "use your words, not your hands". This somehow got lost in translation, though, as the main word she uses is "MINE!!!!!" screamed at the top of her lungs as she grabs things from her sibling's hands. So , for now, if no one's bleeding, it's all good!

Anyways, that about concludes the blog for this week. (It may in fact conclude the blog for this year-- as I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to keep this up)

I'd like to try and add some pictures of our recent trip to Florida, but I'm not sure I have the technological savvy to accomplish this. We'll give it a try and see how it goes. A Pet Shop drawing may appear, as Emily will be thrilled if her artwork appears on the web.

Signing off,

The Z's

Welcome to the Z's 1st Blog

2009-03-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 1st official blog of the Canadian Z's.