Christmas Time

Hello,
It has been a while since my last post. Mike has given up on it, but I am determined to keep it going. I'm not even sure if people read it anymore. Anyways, we are now on holidays until January 5th!!! The last few weeks of school were crazy. At my school we had a winter celebration on the last evening before break. Students came with their parents and either brought donations for the food bank or for the shelter (gloves, boots, socks, toothpaste, etc.) The students and their families came to the classrooms to create cards to go to the shelters as well. They enjoyed hot chocolate (the school provided it and we served it)as they made the cards. They also made wish ribbons and created a chain with the ribbons and hung them on the Christmas trees around the school. The families then watched The Grinch in the gym on the huge screen. They laid their blankets out on the ground and wore their pajamas as well. It was such a great night. I was part of the committee that put the night together. One of the other members delivered the donations and cards to the shelters and sent the following text:
Hi everyone:
I just got back from dropping off the Inn from the Cold donations and wanted you to know that each organization was thrilled, and very appreciative of our school's donations. They were particularly touched by the student made cards.
While we were walking in to drop them off, a homeless man asked about the cards that Rob was holding in his hand. He then asked if he could have 3 cards to send to the people he loved. We gave him 3 cards and although we didn't have any envelopes to give him, he walked away smiling & admiring the cards.
We then went to drop some off at the Mustard Seed (around the corner) and they were equally touched by the thoughtfulness of our families.
Our third stop was to the Calgary Drop In Centre, and when we made our way up to the second floor, Rob and I were both surprised to see so many people (more than 200 people) having a little break from the cold, inside a warm building. Phil the man that we dropped the cards off with was speechless, and so appreciative of our small gift of cards. We left feeling a little sad that we didn't have enough cards to leave for each person there.
Our final destination was to the Food Bank. The guy at the receiving dock was happy to include our student's cards in their Christmas food hampers, and thanked us for thinking of them.
Over all it was an emotional day, and I just wanted you all to know what a great impact your work had on the less fortunate people in Calgary.
Have a great holiday, and thank you for all of your effort to make the Winter Celebration such a success!

Mike and I are very excited to come home for a week to visit with everyone. We have a lot going on over the next few days and hopefully can get everything organized before leaving on Friday. We went to the Zoolites at the Calgary Zoo last night. It was beautiful. We walked around for about an hour to see the displays. There was a great Christmas feeling - people singing carols, others gathered around outdoor fire pits, kids sliding down the hills.

Wow Time Flies...

I can't believe it has been just about a month since the last post! Things are pretty much the same here. Just finished working on report cards - they will be going home this week and then parent-teacher conferences will be the following week. I have been very busy with school - student teacher evaluations, preparing for winter celebration, inline skating; jazz dancing. This is the first year where I actually feel like I have things under control and I am enjoying volunteering for various positions in the school. Mike has been busy as well. He had a school retreat last week. They went to Kananaskis for professional development and some time to relax. We have been trying to save money for the past few months, so a lot of our time is just spent at home doing homework, watching t.v., organizing, going for walks, etc. We have also been trying to make different recipes lately. Tonight we had spicy shrimp gumbo and I am making crackerjack cookies...mmmm. We went to the mall today to pick up some new runners for Mike and some makeup for me:) The malls are starting to get crazy...it took us half an hour to find a spot to park. Gordon is still doing well. We are so happy and less stressed now that he is happy and running around.
Christmas is just around the corner and we will be home in a few weeks...hard to believe. Looking forward to a lot of visits, as well as attending the gathering for Jasmine.

Happy Halloween

Hello,
Not much going on in Calgary. The weather has been pretty nice and it was probably the nicest Halloween weather I have ever witnessed. We had about 30-40 kids come by the house this year, mostly really little ones with absolutely adorable costumes. They really liked seeing the cats at the door and one girl even thanked the kitty for her treat. Mike and I took it easy all weekend and got a lot done around the house. We put away all the outside stuff (chairs, marshmallow sticks, etc.) and cleaned the house from top to bottom. Trying to get rid of as much dust as possible for Gordon. We moved all the furniture and vacuumed just about everywhere. Gordon went to the vet this week and he gave him a shot to relieve his itching. It should last for about 3 months and then we go back to another shot. So far it seems to be working. He has been pretty calm and not as itchy the last few days. Our fingers are crossed because we seem to be running out of options. If it isn't dust allergies it could be OCD, which could be a lot more difficult to treat. I have been working on report cards the last few days, trying to get ahead. I am still not feeling very well - started off as a cough and sinuses, but now I have a sore throat :( Mike has been busy watching all the sports he possibly can - BORING! Baseball, hockey and basketball. Although it does give me time to focus and get some work done. Mike and I headed to the Farmers' Market this morning and got a huge bag of vegetables. We were done all our running around by 9:30. Gotta love the time change :) I'm off to bed and Mike is watching his Canucks and the World Series. Hope everyone had a good weekend.
Mike and Mel

Change is Good

After reading Ron's blog, I realized that our blog also needed a change. I hope everyone likes the new look :)
Mike and I are enjoying a quiet weekend at home. The weather has been pretty nice the last couple of days. Nothing much new happening around here. Busy with work as usual...it is almost time for report cards :( Mike has been busy coaching volleyball. His team had a tournament last night and they won! He was pretty surprised that they did so well. I have been meaning to post more pictures, but we really haven't been taking many...maybe next time :)
Mike and Mel

Happy Thanksgiving

Mike and I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We were lucky to enjoy a four day weekend - the board gave us a few payback days for starting early this year due to the World Skills Competition. On Saturday I made cabbage rolls for the first time and I must say they were fabulous! Jen and I worked all afternoon to make them. I only had to make 5-10 calls home...hahaha We had to stop Mike and Dale from eating them so there would be some left for the next day's dinner. We had dinner on Sunday at Jen and Dale's place. I brought the cabbage rolls, glazed ham and a pumpkin dessert. There was soooo much food and everything turned out great! The weather has been very cold the last few days and last night we got quite a bit of snow. The roads were pretty bad today. Next week the weather is supposed to get nice again...thank god for Chinooks!

I'll end with some wonderful news...Mike and I are coming home for Christmas! Thank you Dad!!!!

See everyone in a few months!

Mike and Mel

What a Week

Hey everyone,
We have been very busy with work, so have not had the time to do as many posts this month. This past week was especially busy. I had parent conferences, schoolyard naturalization meetings and I also had my student teacher starting this week. We had amazing weather this week! On Wednesday it was 34 degrees and we had to run the Terry Fox run on that day...yuk. Mike also started volleyball this week. The weather is a bit cooler today and I think we will get some regular fall temperatures this week. Mike and I were looking forward to the season premiere of Grey's this week and were quite disappointed. I thought it would have been more interesting...I found it very choppy and I was also very disappointed with all the commercials. Hopefully next week's episode will be a bit better. Last night Mike and I went to the pub with some of his work friends and then had a quiet night at home. This morning we woke up early and went for breakfast at Perkins, then headed out to the new mega mall just outside of Calgary called Cross Iron Mills. It was nice and had some interesting stores, but was nothing really special. I got a few new shirts and Mike bought an olive oil bottle. He was very excited...lol This week will be busy as well with work and on the weekend Mike has a volleyball tournament with his grade 9 boys and I have a cancer walk with Jen. Well that's all for now...Mike and I are just cooking dinner and then we are going to watch Wolverine.
Later,
Mike and Mel.

Long Weekend

Hey everyone,
I am trying my best to keep up with the posts. It was a very long week at school. The first full week is always painful. Friday after school Mike and I went to a pub with people from his work for a few drinks and dinner. Then we went out with Jen and Dale to another pub and then out to the casino. I lost my 20 dollars in about 10 minutes and Mike won 20 dollars...so we left even.
Saturday morning Mike and I headed downtown to the stampede grounds on the CTrain to look around at the WorldSkills Competition. Mike had already been there Friday with his school, but I really wanted to get a chance to look around. It was incredible. Not many people know how big the competition really is. It is held every 2 years and is a competition of trades. This is only the third time it has been held in North America. It is very big in Europe. The landscaping competition was very cool. There were like 30 or so backyards in a big tent and the countries had to create the same backyard with paths, deck, fountains, etc. I really liked the hairdressing, fashion design, jewelery making and painting. They had this one technology competition where they are all working on these little computer chips, it looked so complicated. I am so glad I had a chance to see it. Saturday night we headed to a friend's house (a girl from Mike's work) for a BBQ and games night.
Today we are just hanging out around the house cleaning and cooking...maybe having friends over for dinner.
I will post some pictures of the World Skills competition later, or visit the website...very neat!
Later,
Mike and Mel

Back To School

Well, last Monday Mike and I officially went back to work. It was a tough day - hard to get out of bed and I also had to say bye to my dad and brother that same morning. It was so great to have them down to visit. My other brother Brad and his girlfriend Jen also came to visit at the same time. Lots of fun for sure :) Joey was obsessed with the dirt track here. I was also lucky to have my dad fix some things around the house. We already have a plan for his visit next year! Can't wait!! We went to McKenzie Lake beach, out for dinner, had a big BBQ at our place and enjoyed a day downtown. Joey and my dad were mostly busy spending the day at the track and finding other trails outside of Calgary. Brad and Jen stayed here a few nights and they brought their dog Miley Cyrus. She is the cutest puppy ever - a little pug. The cats weren't too pleased.
Mike and I have been pretty busy with work and are trying to get back into our routines. My class is pretty challenging this year, but they are all adorable! I may be taking on a student teacher this year, which is very weird. It is hard to think that this is my fourth year of teaching already! Mike is loving being the gym teacher and made a lot of students upset when they found out he wasn't their teacher...haha.

A Few Pics

Here are a few pictures from when my mom was visiting. She hates when I post pictures of her, but I don't think she looks on here too often...lol

Holidays Almost Over!?!

Wow,
It is hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks left of our summer break and then back to our hectic schedules. Mike starts his hockey school tomorrow morning, so I guess today was he real last day of summer. He is excited to work with the kids and make some extra money of course. My brother Brad and his girlfriend are coming down on Wednesday and my dad and brother Joey are coming down on Friday!! So it will be pretty busy around the house. I am trying to get stuff done for school early this week so that I don't have to do much work when we have company. We start school on Aug. 24 this year because of the World Skills Competition being held in Calgary this year. They want the older students to be a part of it, so we will start a week earlier, but they will make up for our early start by adding some extra days off onto other holidays.
Mike and I had a good weekend. Mike got to go golfing on Saturday morning and then we went for lunch on a roof top patio down the street. We were lucky to enjoy some more warm weather. Saturday evening we sat on the porch, enjoyed some music and drinks, and then had a fire.
Some bad news this weekend...Gordon has to put his cone back on :( He ate a piece of fish and because of his allergies he got really itchy and cut his face. Luckily it isn't too bad, so it shouldn't be on for too long.

More Pics

Here are a few more...

Mom's Visit

My mom came in Thursday evening after a long day in the airport and on the plane. We gave her a quick tour of the house and had a pretty early night. On Friday we got up early and headed to the Farmer's Market. We bought some potatoes, peas and some different types of cheeses. Then we headed to Pho, a vietnemese restauraunt, for some delicious noodle bowls. It was pretty nice outside, so we spent a lot of time on the front porch enjoying the heat. We had steak and caesar potato salad for dinner...soooo good! Saturday it ended up being 30 degrees outside. Mike made breakfast and then we headed out to IKEA. After IKEA we went for a drive downtown to show her all the neat places. We spent a lot of time outside as well. We laughed our heads off listening to the icecream truck which was playing Christmas music! :) Mike made us a delicious risotto for dinner. Sunday morning we headed out to Banff after an early breakfast at Ricky's. It was very busy and very very hot! We went up the Gondola and took some great pictures from the top. Then we walked around to look in the shops. We ended up eating at the Grizzly House...one of our favourite restaurants. It is a fondue place and it is fantastic! After dinner we stopped by the Candy Shop and then headed for home. When we got home we had a fire, which didn't last long because it started to rain. Monday and Tuesday we spent most of the day at home because of the cold, rainy weather. Mom is cooking a roast and also making buttertarts...mmmm. I am sure going to hate to see her go tomorrow morning. Anyways, here are a few pictures from the last few days. Enjoy!
One more week and the rest of the family will be down!

New Pics

Can you believe it? Another post in the same week!! Don't get used to this. I will probably write a bit more during the summer, but as soon as school starts I am sure it will go back to once a month or so. Mike seems to have lost interest in creating new posts...so it is all up to me now. Not too much is new since the last post. We had a few couples over last night for a BBQ, some karaoke and a fire. Today Mike and I went looking for ceiling fans and now Mike is working on creating a door for the downstairs crawl space. The cats love it in the crawl space, but they always seem to climb up into the space in the roof and it is so hard to get them down. It is beautiful again today...30 degrees. I sat outside most of the day re-reading some of the twilight series, while Mike sat inside. I can't understand why he doesn't enjoy the heat.

Mike has been trying to take some good pics of the cats to put up in the house, but Gordon can never keep his eyes open. We got a few decent pictures today and I thought I would post. We don't take pictures of much else...I'm just glad my dad doesn't read this because he definitely would not want to see cat pics...he despises them...LOL

Wish Summer Would Never End!!

Hello,

Mike and I are absolutely loving the time off. The best part is sleeping in for sure. We haven't been too busy, especially because we are trying to save some money. Last week we went downtown to a Vietnemese restauraunt with Mark and Jill and then went to see the Calgary Vipers play (baseball). It was actually a pretty good game. The weekend was beautiful. Mark and Jill came over to enjoy the sun. Jill and I suntanned for a few hours in the afternoon. We were lucky enough to have Mike making us Dirty Bananas and serving them to us! Then we stayed up pretty late and had a fire and made smores. Last night we had some friends over from Mike's work to have risotto and watch the premiere of Hell's Kitchen. Other than that we have been organizing the house and doing a lot of cleaning. I need to be ready for my mom's inspection at the end of July...LOL I think we are going to take a trip to Banff, visit the farmers market and just enjoy spending some time together. I can't wait!! Mike is also excited to cook her some of his fabulous dishes :) I really need to start taking more pictures so that I can make these entries more interesting. I will make that my goal for next time. Miss everyone at home.

Mike and Mel
xxx ooo

HOLIDAYS!!!

Well the school year is finally over and Mike and I are enjoying our time off. We have just been spending time relaxing around the house and spending time with friends. I have recently become obsessed with the Twilight series and finished the four books in less than a week and now I am reading them again..it keeps me busy while Mike is playing video games. Not too much is new here. We finally took the cone off Gordon and are hoping we can keep it off for good. We are looking forward to having some family visit this summer. We are planning on doing some camping in the next few weeks, but it definitely won't be the same as camping at home. This will be the first summer that we don't come home. The Calgary stampede is on and we will be going tomorrow night with some of Mike's friends from work...looking forward to the deep fried macaroni and cheese...haha
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far! Talk to you soon.
Mel and Mike
xxx ooo

Beautiful Weather...It is about time!

Hello everyone,
The warm weather has arrived...let's just hope it stays. It has been a beautiful week, especially today at 27. I am so happy that it is the weekend! It has been another busy week...meetings every morning and after school, a presentation, and field trip paper work. At least there are only 4 more weeks. Mike and I went to his school play last night...it was hilarious!! The kids were excited to see Mike there to support them. Gordon is still wearing his cone and has starting peeing around the house because he is so mad...so that definitely makes a lot of work for us. He is healing, but still has some scabs. Mike and I will hopefully get some more yard work done this weekend. We have been pulling out dandelions every day for the past week...the lawn is almost free of those awful weeds.
Anyways, I'm going to head outside to enjoy the rest of the sun, while Mike sits downstairs and plays video games as usual.
Later
Mike and Mel

Great Long Weekend :)

I can't believe how fast the weekend went by. We stayed at home and got a lot accomplished around the house. We discovered that Gordon is allergic to dust. So we had to wash all the blankets and vacuum everything. We had to put the cone back on him and he wasn't too pleased. We organized our laundry room, did some yard work and cleaned out our closet...I know, sounds fun right? But if feels good to be all organized before another busy school week. Only 6 weeks left and it feels like there is so much to do...curriculum to cover, report cards to write and the school is already busy getting ready for next year (ordering, classroom layouts, etc.) Mike and I are looking forward to the break. We are also looking forward to the upcoming Coldplay concert!!! Mike has been busy writing exams for his kids. He had a meeting about next year and he will most likely be teaching phys. ed. most of the day...so he is quite excited about that. Anyways, I should probably go start dinner, but just thought I would update everyone on our very exciting life LOL
Bye for now,
Mike and Mel

8 More Mondays!!!

Wow...I can't believe how fast time goes by. Only 8 more weeks of school and then summer holidays. A lot of stuff going on as usual. It is awesome to see how far my little ones have come since September...it is so hard to let them go after you have trained them so well LOL It is almost time for report cards...it feels like I am always doing report cards. Mike has been busy as well. He just finished up report cards and interviews. His hockey team also won the city championships. He starts summer hockey on Sunday already...just when I thought there would be a break. He also started playing softball with Mark. The rest of the time is spent watching the playoffs, ugh. When we watch the Canucks he makes me where one of his Canucks hats and sit there beside him. It is quite hilarious to watch him pace behind the couch during the game.
I have also been busy putting together a wedding slideshow using iMovie. I had no clue how to use it, but I was able to figure it all out on my own. I will be sending out some copies for people to see.
Well I'm off for now...Mike is laying on the stairs complaining about being bored...so I think we are going to go for a walk or something. It is a beautiful Friday evening...finally some sun.

Mel and Mike
xxxooo

More Pics

Wedding Pics

The wedding was amazing...everything I hoped it would be. It was great to have our families there and a few close friends. Here are a few pics

Getting Excited :)

Hello everyone,
Mike and I are getting very excited!!! Only 20 more days until we leave for Jamaica. We are looking forward to getting away from the cold and lying on the beach. It has been about a year and a half since our vacation to Cuba and we have been dying to go somewhere hot since we got back. We have already started packing and making our to do lists. I actually haven't thought a lot about it lately because I have been so busy with report cards, but now it is starting to sink in. I think we have everything taken care of and we are looking forward to seeing family when we arrive. Hopefully everyone enjoys the hot sticky weather ... it takes some getting used to, but it is wonderful! Anyways, we are off to the grocery store to pick something up for dinner.
Bye for now,
Mike and Mel.

Long Weekend!!!

Hello,
Well today marks the beginning of a nice holiday for us. We have teacher's convention downtown Thursday and Friday and then Monday is Family Day!!! I am looking forward to spending some time at home and organizing a bit. Not much is new around here. Gordon is still walking around with a cone on. He kept scratching his face causing an infection. He is not too happy about the cone, but it will be off soon. My class went on a field trip to a really amazing conservation area. The kids were in shock when we got there. It was the first time a lot of them had seen nature like that. Here are a few pictures.

Great Weekend!!

Hello,
Mike and I finally enjoyed a relaxing weekend. We cleaned up the house and organized everything. The wedding is all planned and ready to go. Mark and Jill came over for a pork roast dinner last night and Jill and I created our own band to go on tour. We played Rock Band pretty much all night. Today Mike and I bought a steam mop for our laminate floors...what a difference! I'm in love..hahaha. We are just waiting for Mark and Jill to come over this afternoon to watch the superbowl. We are going to have chili and chicken cheese dip. It was definitely nice to enjoy the weekend. This next week is going to be crazy. I have meetings every day and then a first aid course from 8-4 Saturday and Sunday! And then report cards start again...it feels like I just handed the first ones in. Happy Superbowl Day :)
Bye for now,
Mike and Mel.

It's All Coming Together :)

Hello,
I can't believe I actually remembered to update the blog...hopefully this will continue :) Mike and I have been busy as usual. Over the weekend we bought our wedding bands and Mike bought the shorts he will be wearing for the wedding. The bridesmaids also ordered their dresses. Now Mike and I are just trying to figure out what picture package we want and what the groomsmen will be wearing. Hopefully that will be finished this weekend. Not much else is new around here. We have both been pretty busy with work and other work related commitments. Today the zoo came to our school with a few small animals. The students also got to pass around snake skin and a duck foot. One of my students looked at the duck foot with a puzzled look on his face and then used it as a back scratcher...hahah that made my day. Ah the things you see in an elementary classroom.

Mike and Mel.

Back Into The Swing of Things...

Mike and I want to thank everyone who helped out with our shag, especially my mom. I don't think she slept for the whole two weeks prior to the shag. It was nice to see everyone over the holidays. Mike and I are also happy to be back in Calgary and back into a routine. It was a tough start to the week with crazy flights and lost luggage, but everything seems to have returned to normal. Now that the shag is over the countdown to the wedding begins. I can't believe how fast everything is going by! There is not much new happening in Calgary, but we are lucky to be having some fantastic weather this weekend...it is plus 2! Our New Year's resolution is to try to post more often...hahaha. So we will see how that goes. Bye for now,
Mike and Mel.