An Unexpected Fall Day

So, we've learned quickly that there really is no spring or fall here...at least not for any extended period of time.  We were already wearing our winter coats in late September, so it was an unexpected and fantastic surprise when we had a beautiful FALL day near the end of October.  Ben had the day off school, and we enjoyed a picnic outside and lots of playtime.  Gotta get outdoors and soak in the warm sun when we can!  PS - The stitches are healing up nicely...

 

Surprise...stitches!

Never a dull moment in the Zabikow family...

 

While Ben has gymnastics class, Nathalie and I usually run a few errands and then come back for the last 20 minutes to watch and play in the waiting room with other little brothers and sisters.  On Wednesday, October 16th, Nathalie was running to get a toy from the bookshelf, slipped in her socks, and went headfirst into the bottom shelf.  With all of her weight going into the fall and the start of the "silent cry", I knew this couldn't be good.  I picked her up and turned her over, and blood was everywhere!  Oh my!  I couldn't exactly tell where it was coming from, but a quick check showed me that her nose didn't appear to be broken, and all of her teeth were present and accounted for.  We ran to the bathroom to start mopping up the blood that was now dripping from her hair.  Naturally, class was ending and girls were coming into the bathroom.  "Ewww...blood!"  Sorry gals!  Another mom had gone on a hunt for a bandaid and some help.  The cut was definitely on her head, near her hairline, and finally stopped bleeding long enough for us to get a close look.  Yikes!  It looked like a deep cut, not to mention she had hit her head with some force.  I was definitely going to want to take her to the ER or urgent care.  While I was calling Greg, another mom was so kind to stay with us to help round up Ben and check on ER wait times.  Gave a quick accident report to the gym coach, and then we were on our way to check out Calgary's emergency health system.  :)

 

Now that she was bandaged, I had a few minutes to breathe while we drove to urgent care.  Except...she wasn't making a lot of sense and looked like she was falling asleep!  So, what does any good mom do when they are worried that their child may have a concussion and doesn't want them to fall asleep?  Keep a constant supply of snacks and candy coming...anything that I could find in my purse and in the car.  And, crank the music and sing along like a crazy lady.  :)  It worked, and we made it to urgent care awake. 

 

Here is the photo as she greeted Daddy...doesn't look too traumatized, huh?  She is a seriously tough little girl!  I guess it helps to have a big bro! 

 

Talked with the doctor, and great news, there was no skull fracture or concussion.  He thought stitching the cut was a better option than gluing, so here we are waiting 30 minutes for the numbing medicine to take effect.  He also mentioned that Nathalie could bruise on her head or even all around her eye, looking like a black eye.  Guess we'll be cancelling those family photos we had scheduled on Sunday...

 

The After shot...Nathalie was now the proud owner of 5 stitches and feeling great!!  Mom on the other hand was about ready to pass out.  It was almost 8:30 pm, I hadn't eaten since lunch, and I had just watched a man sewing my daughter's head.  Ugh... 

 

We drove home, with a stop for dinner and milkshakes for our brave girl and patient boy.  I think the worst of the night was yet to come.  Nathalie was in desperate need of a shower to get some of the blood out of her hair, and I wanted to ice her ouchie to avoid a least a little of the bruising.  Oh my!  Who knew a shower and ice could cause so much trouble?  Poor girl...I know she was exhausted and probably in pain.  So here are the "leave me alone and stop taking pictures while I'm in pain" pictures...what a night!!  I'm sure we'll all be laughing about this someday, just maybe not anytime soon.  :)

 

Giving Thanks...A Bit Early

Greg and I were able to sneak out on Friday, October 11th for a belated anniversary dinner at Cassis Bistro.  This adorable little French bistro was ranked second on Calgary's best restaurants of 2013.  Wow, it did not disappoint!  We enjoyed good food, good wine, good service...and best of all, time with each other!

On Saturday, we started off our Canadian Thanksgiving holiday weekend with some bowling!  The kids first time, and they really liked it!  Have you heard of 5 pin bowling?  I guess that's popular here for the kiddos, but Greg and I found it to be more challenging than 10 pin!  Either way, we shared lots of laughs as the bowling alley we went to markets itself as a "retro" alley.  The décor may have been from the 50's, but the music was from the 80's and 90's, so Greg and I had a blast reliving high school and college days.  I should have taken some video of Ben singing the good ole Will Smith classic, "Boom, shake, shake, shake the room".  Hilarious!

Canadian Thanksgiving is "a day of general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed, to be observed on the second Monday in October".  So, while technically Thanksgiving is on Monday here, families celebrate their holiday meal anytime during the long weekend.  We celebrated our big holiday dinner on Sunday afternoon after church.  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and more.  Followed by some Wii bowling (I guess we've caught the bowling bug...Grandma Susie would be proud!), and then topped off with some pumpkin pie!  Happy Thanksgiving, eh!

Flowers

Flowers of joy...Greg surprised me with some flowers for our anniversary on September 30th.  So grateful for all that God has blessed us with these last 13 years and joyfully anticipating all that is yet to come.

 

Flowers of pain...Greg surprised me again a few days later with these white roses to mark the 10th anniversary of my Mom's death on October 5th.  It was a painful day of sorrow and longing for what has passed.

  

Five years ago, we were in Amsterdam, and these are the words I wrote to capture my heart at the time.  These words still ring true and probably always will...

“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:12-13 (The Message)

Terry Fox Run & Calgary Corn Fun

Nearly every day since school started, I have asked Ben what he did in gym class that day.  His answer was always the same..."we ran for Terry Fox".  All that hard work paid off on Thursday, September 26th...the Terry Fox National School Run Day.  Here's a little history lesson on this famous Canadian...

Terry Fox was 18 years old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer and forced to have his right leg amputated above the knee.  While he was in the hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research.  He called his journey the Marathon of Hope.  After 18 months of preparation, Terry started his run in Newfoundland on April 12, 1980.  There was little attention at first, and then enthusiasm grew and so did the donations.  He ran close to 26 miles each day, and then on September 1, after 143 days and 3,339 miles, Terry was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer had appeared in his lungs.  All of Canada was stunned and saddened when Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age of 22.  To date, over $600 million has been raised worldwide for cancer research in Terry's name through this annual Terry Fox Run, held across Canada and around the world. 

What an inspiring story.  It's such a tragedy that Terry passed away at such a young age, but what an amazing example of how one person really can make a difference!  So on September 26th, Nathalie and I joined Ben at school for the Terry Fox run with our donations.  A very cool experience to witness so many families uniting for such a worthy cause...

That Sunday, we woke to this unbelievably gorgeous sky.  We went to church, and then decided that we would enjoy a fall day at the Calgary Corn Maze.  You'll notice the winter coats and hats...it was freezing when we first got there!!  But, that didn't slow us down from enjoying the playground and winding our way through the junior corn maze.  The kids loved it...Ben was the leader, naturally, and Nathalie followed him obediently, giggling the whole time.    

In true Calgary fashion, by the time we finished with the maze, the sun had peeked out and it was then a beautiful fall day.  We picked out some carving pumpkins and sugar pumpkins for pie, decorated some baby pumpkins, and then called it a day.  A great family day and a great way to start my favorite season.

Moscow - The Final Frontier

Hip, hip, hooray!  Greg is an official graduate of the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management!  His last trip was September 13th through 20th.  Final presentations went well, and then the graduates celebrated.  This has been a challenging and exhausting time for Greg and our family, but we are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished!  And of course, we couldn't be more happy now that those far away trips are over! 

On his travels home, he flew through Chicago and stayed for a few days to visit with family and meet baby Kaelyn.  He is also the best husband ever for bringing back to Calgary a taste of home that we can't find here...Frontera tomatillo salsa.  Yum!

What Keeps Us Busy

I mentioned that swim lessons had started up again, but we've got a few other activities that keep us busy throughout the week...

Ben joined Beaver Scouts this fall.  He loves it!  Ben and Dad go to Beaver meetings every Tuesday night, and Ben makes sure to bring his dues...two Canadian nickels.  Why two nickels, you ask?  Because on the back of the Canadian nickel is a beaver!  Hee hee! 

Both kids are taking gymnastics from Stars Gymnastics this fall.  I'm not sure I've got Olympians on my hands, but they do have fun and it's a great way to stay active now that the temperature is severely dropping outdoors!

I think Nathalie is still adjusting from our lazy summer days to the hustle and bustle of our new fall schedule.  We were reading stories in her room after lunch, and the next thing I know, she is crawling into bed!  She hasn't napped for quite some time, so it must be a sure sign that we are busy, busy these days!