| To be honest, this is what things have looked like here during the past couple of months... |
Premium Plus Soda crackers on the bedside table
No Onions anywhere in sight
Lots of carbs, fat and dairy
Salsa is being considered a vegetable
Chips have not yet been considered as a vegetable, things haven't gotten that bad
The kids are watching a lot of Franklin and Berenstein Bears
Mama is napping on the couch
Pink horse pills
An ultrasound in a week to determine the headcount |
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| Oilers Fan prays for chris pronger |
We have a book on the Oilers from the library (Lance ventured beyond the board books and found this one for our crazy oilers fan) and it has a photo of Pronger in it. Elijah (and Eva too, but with much less sustained interest) is learning all the names of the players pictured in the book. So yesterday and today he has been learning to say, "Ponger" - in his husky little voice. Very cute. He also says "smiff" for Ryan Smyth and "Hem SEE" for Ales Hempsky. When I saw how much Elijah loved the book, I turned to Lance and said, "You planned my week for me". We read it multiple times daily.
An important note on Pronger for non-hockey people - Pronger was a great player for the Oilers and helped them almost win the cup in 2006. Then - even though he had a contract - he requested to be traded - for undisclosed reasons. The trade wasn't great and Oilers fans have been irate at Pronger ever since. He get booed when he comes back to Edmonton to play. Anyways, Elijah is apparently taking a different approach from most - perhaps all - fans.
When we put the kids down for bed we make up a story for them and then sing a song. Tonight I put Eva down, then got Elijah and started heading to his room. He was saying, "Ponger, Ponger". I thought he wanted to read the book AGAIN. But it was bedtime. Then I realized that he wanted Pronger in the song I usually sing. The song can be sung with any name and the kids like to insert names and have me sing them. So tonight, over and over, I sang:
Jesus bless Pronger, bless Pronger tonight,
Jesus bless Pronger, bless Pronger tonight....
tried switching it up...
Jesus bless Papa bless Papa ton...
"Ponger, Ponger"
Jesus bless Pronger, bless Pronger tonight.
I am pretty sure that Elijah is the only Oilers fan praying for Chris Pronger.
Here's a photo, from when he was forced to wear a flames jersey, to show how hardcore of an Oilers fan he is.
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| Reminder |
Just a reminder that the Abbotsford show of "The Space Between Tour" is tonight. It's at Trinity Lutheran on Gladwin Rd (it's on the left hand side just before you get to Downes Rd - when you're heading toward Mission). At 7pm. Tomorrow night's show is at : Zion Lutheran Church, 5950 – 179 Street, Cloverdale, BC, 7:00pm.
The kids got to talk with Lance today and were exuberantly acting out our current favorite book - a curious George one where he accidently lets all the puppies at the animal shelter out of their cage. I think Elijah thought Lance could maybe see him. He was yelling, "Opud, Opud!" and flinging his arms out wide, all the while getting closer and closer to the phone.
I've been working on some minor house repairs - and I do mean minor. Like painting chipped baseboards. Also doing cleaning in preparation for showing our house. And some SERIOUS downsizing in preparation for moving to a smaller home (which doesn't have the convenience of a more than double garage for us to fill with all our extra stuff). If you know me well you will know that downsizing is not my specialty. I am a packrat. I save things. Scraps of ribbon, fancy paper, envelopes. And sometimes I even use these things. I am trying to be realistic about what I box up for our garage sale. Hmmm, these dessert dishes that we have used once, maybe twice in our five years of living in Camrose... I really like them... all eight of them. I don't foresee a lot of dessert parties in our future. I have plenty of bowls and plates that could serve the same purpose (but not be as cute). See it's kind of hard. These dishes will be in the garage sale and I recommend you buy them if you've got the space to keep them.
Now on to clothes. Do I need 5 knee length retro floral patterned skirts? Are these even practical now that I have kids I need to chase after. I guess I could part with a couple. I'm already parting with a lovely swirly linen skirt that Lance got me for my birthday one year. Too impractical - I hate ironing. And it's pale blue and cream - a dirt magnet. What about shirts I don't really like, but that I paid full price for (which I pretty much never do) and don't feel I've worn enough to get my money's worth? Pass them on and try to choose more wisely next time?
Lance's shoes.... I will let him sort through these upon his return. I think I will line them up across the backyard so he can see them all at once. There are quite a few, all unique. Probably all hard to let go of.
Craft supplies - I've got a great stash, just perfect for creative kids. Well I could consolidate a little.
Gift bags... I should probably cut back from 50 to 5 on hand. But I'd hate to run out and then actually BUY one (and that's not sarcastic, I mean it)
Kids clothes. I went through our boxes yesterday. Sorting and boxing what goes back to friends and what is ours. I purged quite a bit of stuff that unless twins are in our future we'll never need that quantity of clothes again. Lance was glad to see some of the hand-me-downs from the 90s finally go. Not quite retro/cool yet.
Strollers. Hmm, three double strollers... Seems a little excessive.
Okay that's enough for now. I may do a little sorting right now - Elijah's chattering happily after a nap and Eva's still asleep.
It's sunny and warm here. Warm being relative. I think it's around 5, but in the sun it's warmer. I think we'll play in the backyard today.
Hope you are well.
Aimee
Had to add this. Elijah was cracking me up after his nap. I was in the living room and he was being very quiet in the kitchen. I heard a tiny bit of banging around, then thought it was too quiet so I peeked in just as he was heading into the living room - with a hat completely covering his eyes - arms outstretched like a blind man. I'm assuming the banging I heard before was him bumping into the baby gate. He kept this up for quite a while. I laughed right out loud. The photo is from another time, but it's the same super joyful boy. |
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| Holy Week/Passion Week |
Lance described his experience of/participation in Lent this year as anemic. Mine has been about the same. I was thinking about it awhile back and wondered why I wished I had invested in making Lent more meaningful. Our friend Jeff (who is an almost entirely silent reader of this blog) shared a sermon in church on the first Sunday in Lent. One thing stuck out to me. He used the metaphor of marinating to describe the church year seasons of Advent and Lent. Easter and Christmas - like a good steak - will still "taste" good whether or not we prepare for them. But with the preparation (marinade) time like Lent, Easter can have a whole new depth - richer flavours...
Well it may seem like it's a little late now. Good friday is already tomorrow and Easter will be here is a flash. But I am deciding that it is not too late for me to try to jump into what this week (Holy/Passion Week) is about. Today, with Eva chattering away in her bed after her nap, and Elijah still sleeping, I reached to the bedside table next to me and grabbed a small copy of The Message and turned to John. I started with chapter 12, where Mary annoints Jesus feet, followed by his entry into Jerusalem (complete with a huge cheering welcoming crowd) and then on to Jesus sharing about how a kernel of wheat must fall to the ground, "dead to the world" and how only then it will grow and multiply. He also talks a lot about light in this chapter.
Reading this from our place in history it so easy to see all the references Jesus is making to his coming death - John even mentions that at the time the followers weren't putting two and two together, but looking back they could see the scriptures being fulfilled. I am trying to both "be there" and here. To soak up his words like I am hearing them for the first time. To wonder about them and chew them. To, with the Holy Spirit, digest them. I'm finding that reading in The Message really helps with this, in some ways it is like hearing them for the first time.
The next part of John, chapter 13, begins with footwashing at Jesus and the disciples passover meal, followed by a lot of words from Jesus. I haven't read this chapter (actually 13 - 18) yet, but did peek ahead to give this preview. It looks like Jesus is preparing his followers for their future. Imparting to them some last words on love - likely reiterating things he'd already taught. Promising the Holy Spirit - or the "Friend" in The Message. Praying for them. I am struck by his thoughtfulness. In a tumultuous time (and it was about to get even wilder) he knows exactly what his human (flaws and all) disciples would need in the coming days (and years and lifetimes). It can be easy for me to picture Jesus as aloof - up on a hillside teaching the masses - not very personal. But here he is - with people he called his friends - acting like a good friend would (also reconstructing my picture of who Jesus is are the stories of his interactions with children. I love to tell our kids these stories about how Jesus loves children and how he loves Eva and Elijah)
Three days till Easter and I am jumping in. Hoping to soak up and dig deep. Praying that the Holy Spirit will infuse these days (this quick marinade) and make something 10 times better out of it. I want to arrive at Friday ready to grieve and then come to Sunday morning ready to rejoice to the depths of my spirit.
Blessings on your last couple days of Holy Week.
Aimee
ps. Lance is home!!!!!!! |
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| Email Confessions |
| If I begin to announce I'm going private quite regularly then you'll know it's because my inbox has been a little empty lately... Boy is that a good way to get emails! But seriously I am a little embarrassed by my email behavior. A couple times recently Lance has been recounting an email exchange and I'll cut him off sheepishly admitting that I'd read it... As in, checked my email, found nothing, again...signed out... signed into his account...voila, plenty of interesting reading material - but I have discretion and don't just read everything. Anyways, I knew this wasn't all on the up and up so I confessed. Now I have to ask before reading, just out of courtesy really. Of course he'll let me read them (and I'm not just saying that, that is what he said). But I haven't been feeling the itch to check his mail today...my inbox was full! |
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| Going going gone |
| I've decided to go private with my blog. Our upcoming move to a big city really spurred it on. I'd like to know that random creepy strangers aren't reading my blog and planning to snatch my children or break in and steal my sugar-free baking. So I'm not sure how/when I'm going to do the switch. I do have a new blog set up with a lovely template if I do say so myself. So I guess if you email me then I can send you an invitation. So let me know if you'd like to keep reading. aimeeodegard at gmail dot com |
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| Not quite a bachelor |
maybe I shouldn't tell you and spoil the perhaps ultra healthy image you have of me. My supper tonight occurred in two stages. Stage one - chocolate cake with yogurt and applesauce (of course it was wholewheat and fruit juice sweetened). Stage two is the really questionable part. It centres around a bowl of cool ranch doritos and a glass of milk. That's all I wanted, but did round up a carrot and a few almonds to round it out a little. Hmmm. If this is what things fall to on the first night Lance is gone I'm a little worried how I'll be eating when the end of the tour rolls around!
I love doritos!
Aimee |
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| Dress Rehearsal (with random tree pictured) |
Last night I got to see most of the dress rehearsal for the tour. It was great. So creative. So many different styles of music and drama and visual art. Of course, again, I recommend that you try to make it!
I was at the school 6 out of 7 days last week. Yikes that was a crazy week. Hopefully this one will be more laid back.
It seems to be a little wintry again here. Emphasis on the "little". We were getting spoiled and acclimatized to plus 8 weather. Now that it's dropped to 5 or so below zero, I'm freezing. Looks like we're heading back to spring soon.
Found some Palm Sunday thoughts through Dewey's Treehouse at Tonia's blog (http://intent.squarespace.com/brush-strokes/)
"meditating on:
how different my expectations and understandings are from God's ultimate plans....there is much room for repentance and submission to God's will on this day."
hmm, hadn't really thought of that before. Like that connection from the Israelites hopes and expectations of crowning Jesus king to our/me hopes/expectations that are often so different from God's bigger/wiser/better plan. Learning to trust.
Just a little post today. Hoping to get the kids down for their naps soonish. They're still out of wack from daylight savings time. Going to bed on time but sleeping in - which seems good - but then not napping at all, or napping late and just for a short time. So this morning we woke Elijah up - Eva was already up. Hoping to get them back on track. After a week like last week I need naps too!
Hoping to make Lovella's Paska recipe for Easter.
Okay better go.
aimee |
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| Space Between Tour |
Here is some info about CLBI's spring tour (taken from their website) - it is going to be incredible. If you have the chance you may want to attend more than one show!
“The Space Between Tour” is a multi-medium event that combines a choir, bands, drama, visual arts, and a travelling art show. There is a whirlwind of activity at the school right now as students prepare, create and rehearse. Carolyn Olson and the choir are rehearsing their varied repertoire of african spirituals and choral arrangements. Lance Odegard is working with the bands as they practice their folk, country and rock tunes. Aimee Odegard is teaching a night class entitled “Art & Soul” as well as facilitating a visual arts lab along with Jes Hagen, where students are honing their skills in photography and painting. Jim Bishop from Calgary is coaching students in the video and installation lab, while Michael Peng of Edmonton is leading the drama lab. There is lots going on in preparation for this tour!
VISION_
The Space Between focus our attention on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In many ways, we all find ourselves living in the space between, whether it is inbetween paychecks or waiting for recovery from illness. We live in a fractured world, where we wait and groan for the promised reconciliation between “what we hope for and what we have, what we could be and what we are, what we believe and what we see and feel” (Brian McLaren).
Another term for this space between is liminality. Liminality can be defined as “a threshold in a doorway” - a place of uncertainty and possibility, as you have left the previous room, but have yet to enter the new one. As we look at the liminality of our faith journey, we hope to rediscover that the struggle points to something much greater. We live in a long Saturday, but a better Sunday’s coming!
The performance is designed to engage people of all ages who may be familiar or unfamiliar with the beauty of the Gospel. It is hoped that The Space Between Tour can facilitate new ways of imagining the reality of Easter.
SCHEDULE_
Cultural Arts Theatre
10015 – 104 Street, Westlock, AB
Monday, March 17, 7:00pm
Trinity Lutheran Church
10407 – 100 Street, Grande Prairie, AB
Tuesday, March 18, 7:00pm
Peace Lutheran Church
9812 – 108 Ave. Fort St. John, BC
Wednesday, March 19, 7:00pm
Living Word Lutheran Church
6525 Okanagan Landing Road Vernon, BC
Tuesday, March 25, 7:30pm
Trinity Lutheran Church
3845 Gladwin Rd. Abbotsford, BC
Wednesday, March 26, 7:00pm
Zion Lutheran Church
5950 – 179 Street, Cloverdale, BC
Thursday, March 27, 7:00pm
Grace Lutheran Church
1162 Hudson Rd. Kelowna, BC
Friday, March 28, 7:00pm
Emmanuel Community Church
3003 – 28 Street SE, Calgary, AB
Sunday, March 30, 10:30am
Hope Community Covenant Church
245 Brent Boulevard, Strathmore, AB
Sunday, March 30, 7:00pm
Messiah Lutheran Church
4810 – 50 Street, Camrose, AB
Monday, March 31, 7:00pm |
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| Chocolate |
I honestly did not tell her that the peanuts in the crunchy peanut butter are chocolate. She came up with that herself and has been asking for more chocolate all day.
We also didn't tell them that the caramel rice cakes are cookies. They came up with that one on their own too.
So they don't get a lot of sugar... but they're happy. |
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| hypocrisy and pears |
Don't worry this isn't gonna be heavy. I'm referring to myself. How can I check and recheck blogs hoping for new posts, being disappointed, thinking "come on, it's about time for a post", when my own blog sits idle...
Some random thoughts before I get the kids out of the cribs - they're awake but cheerful so I have a little time.
We had a lovely weekend. Lance has been very busy with work preparing for the spring tour and has been working extra hours. He thought he'd have to work this weekend but ended up getting sick. I know it's not good to be glad about that, and I really did feel bad for him. But he wasn't to sick to read stories to kids and to just BE with us. He's feeling fine now which is good because this is the final week before the tour (see details below).
Eva is talking up a storm. Sometime putting three words together. Pretending to be swimming in a pool (blanket) she said, "splash in water". When pretending to cook at the stove (end table) she bent over peeking in the oven and said "eggs in there". She is growing up fast.
Elijah is very much into hugging and wrestling and sometimes the line between gets blurred. On another note, we had a 911 adventure with him a few weeks back. He fell of the couch onto the tuning peg of his ukulele. It felt like there was a hole in his head and Lance was away so I sheepishly called 911. By the time the call was wrapping up, and the lady was saying, "the paramedics are on their way, don't move him unless you absolutely have too..." ummm. He was already climbing on the shelf and couch again. So we ended up riding to the hospital in the ambulance (while odegards watched eva - can you imagine two 21 month olds wreaking havoc in the emergency room!) They didn't need to do any xrays and he was fine. Thank God.
I am wrapping up my teaching of the Art and Soul class this week. I have enjoyed it, but it has been a stretch to teach the class, run a lab, and be a full-time mom. This week I am at the school for three afternoons trying to get all the art ready for the tour. It's going to be a big week.
I finished my part of the group painting project. I'm pleased with it but more than that I just loved painting again. I haven't done a painting in years! And my new calculations worked perfectly.
On Saturday I ran out to Safeway to get some milk for the kids. I came home with three jugs of milk AND 7 loaves of of bread at 50 cents each. Which is a deal in itself. I usually buy superstore's cheapest bread at a dollar a loaf. But Safeway's discount rack was loaded with organic/ancient grains/sprouted grains bread. What a treat. It is delicious. But I hope we're not getting spoiled! This deal delighted my frugal and healthy self.
spring is coming to Camrose. Pussy willows are out. Snow is melting (though there could be more coming as is always the possibility!) And there are even tulips poking their leaves through the ground. It was like plus 7 yesterday and we enjoyed a walk together as a family. The kids are a joy to watch as they discover the world around them. It's slow going but where did we need to rush to anyways. They constantly stop when bird sounds or sirens catch their ears, or when puddles tempt their feet, or paths leading to houses catch their eyes.
Oh and we forgot about daylight savings time. But got reminded when the worship team phoned Lance, the leader, asking if he'd forgotten about the time change. Oops. Well that explains why Bonnie phoned at 7:15 asking for a ride. Seemed a little early. But not if it was really 8:15 and practice started in half and hour.
Here's a little peek into life with twins (it was papa's pear):
Well I better go get those kids. Hope you are well.
Aimee |
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| These are my kids |
The kids enjoy wearing my bandanas and being pirates. Here Eva is on a ship (blanket) with some friends. I assure you that the diaper in the background is clean.
Lance recently gave the kids haircuts - he does a better job than me and I'm okay with this. Eva looked like Cleopatra at first, now the blunt cut has calmed down a bit.
That's all for now. Oh, well, you probably should know that my math solutions left something to be desired. I recalculated and reached my solution a different way. Hope it works this time.
Aimee |
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| mathematics |
what do long division, algebra, and ratios have to do with each other? Well besides the obvious, that they're all math...
The dusty corner of my brain that houses the equipment to perform such operations groaned and creaked into gear tonight. I successfully recalled how to do all of these things. Some - the long division and parts of the algebra - without a calculator. Just to see if I could still do it. It took some hard concentrating. And no I am not going to tell you which of the 7 times tables gave me grief in the long division.
I'm working on a group project for the art class I'm teaching. Nine people were given portions of an image and a piece of board that they are to draw their part of the image on. In the end the pieces will come together and form a single piece.
Anyways I thought this would be a project that is actually reasonable for me to complete (I will do one or two squares I think).
So tonight I set out with my ruler to make graphs on the image (small) and the board (big). So that I could accurately transfer the image proportions. This was the method I asked the students to use too, so that our final large piece has a better chance of actually fitting together.
First problem, and this after my feeling very pleased at my long division success, is that the ruler I was using wasn't inches on one side with centimeters on the other... but inches on one side and then halfsize inches on the other. WHAT!!! Halfsize inches look a lot like centimeters. I was quite confused when I saw that twelve inches was exactly 24 centimeters, not 30cm like I had always been led to believe. Good grief. I would say this is my own fault as I probably snitched this ruler from mom when I moved out. I think it's for drafting or something - which you'd think could've worked to my advantage.
Anyways long story a little bit shorter. It turns out that the wood is the wrong size and isn't the same proportions (ratio) as the image pieces. So after painstakingly figuring out how to divide the board I drew the graph on and realized that my image had rectangle graph sections and my board had squares - meaning I would have to cram all the shapes from the rectangle into the square and this would seriously warp the finished image.
The solution is to cut 2.75 inches off the board's width. This calculation is where the algebra and ratio stuff came in. Good thing it was relatively simple. It was all the math I could handle tonight. (side note: I always did very well at math in highschool, even took honors math. But it's been a while, and Bekki, if you're reading, I just don't have the math mind like you do :). Thank goodness some of what Mr. Sanders taught stuck and ended up helping me with my art)
So after typing all that I realize you might be seriously lost- that's okay the main point is, I was working on an art project and ended up using my rusty math skills to solve my problem.
I better go erase all the work I just did and regraph it. Hopefully I get it right this time. I also hope the students haven't started their drawing/painting yet!
Aimee, ex-math whiz |
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posted by Aimee at 
