Just smile and wave...

Jonah's movie

2011-06-28T18:54:00.001-05:00

Jonah was bored one evening and decided to make a movie starring our cat. This is the result. Enjoy!! :)

A LONG overdue update!!

2009-12-16T21:34:00.013-06:00

Ok...so it's been many a week and month since I've posted anything on here....AND....since I crashed my van and presently have no vehicle to drive and am stuck at home every day....I decided this was the perfect time to post some new pictures. :P

About the van....yes, I totalled it about 3 weeks ago. (Still kicking myself) I had a rental for about a week but as soon as they settled the claim they wanted it back and we want to wait until the new year to buy something. So.........Trev is now my chauffeur. He has to drive me everywhere. At least it's one way of spending more time together ;).

So, the last time I posted pictures was back in September. I'll just post some from some of the stuff the boys have been doing this fall.

This is Halloween night. Seth went as a prisoner, Jonah was an alien, Sam was a fighter pilot and Jude had to take his turn as the kitty ;).

Jude taking a flying leap into the leaves.

At the beginning of November Samuel was "Student of the Week" and I got to come in and have lunch with him one day.

This was the bulletin board all about Sam that week. Note what he put under "hobbies" right at the bottom. Oh dear....I feel like a really great mom :P

My Seth turned 12!!!

At the end of November, the boys' cousin Troy came and spent a weekend with us. Jonah was THRILLED. They spent one afternoon stuffing their clothes...pretty kooky but they had fun :).

the whole gang

Just throwing a picture of Jude in there...just because I think he's cute ;)

This is Samuel's birthday party. The boys went skating at the rec centre and then we came back to our house for the rest of the party. You would not believe how much noise seven 7 and 8 year old boys can make...wow!!

On November 29 Seth was baptized. I am so proud of my son...what an awesome decision he's made! Paul and Chris came out for that weekend so that Seth's Grandpa could baptize him. That was incredibly special and we're so thankful to them for doing this.

This is Jonah's birthday party in early December. We took the boys glow bowling.

Jonah turned 10!!

Samuel got to make gingerbread houses at school again. That's always a fun day for them.

Even Jude got to make one. Here he is with his one-eyed pose again.

These pictures were just taken yesterday. Jonah and Samuel are in swim club this year....but it's their first year so they're in the non-competitive levels. Yesterday they had their "Skills and Thrills" day where they got to get a taste of competitive swimming. The very first race they did they put Sam and Jonah together. Guess who won??

That's it for now. I'll try to post a little more regularly from now on. I wish you all a very very Merry Christmas!!!

Bye bye crib!!

2009-09-29T12:43:00.005-05:00

Hooray!!!! ;) We finally went and bought Jude a bed the other weekend and packed away the crib for good. I'm so excited....no tears here whatsoever!!! Jude was pretty excited too...all the next day he would say "I'm going to look at my new bed". So cute.

One last picture in the crib.

Helping Daddy build his new bed

He was so proud :)

He had to try out various positions

And a nice cuddle with Daddy

We got the bed just in time for Grandma's visit last week so she was able to stay at our house for a couple of nights. The boys absolutely loved that. Jude slept on the floor beside her and he kept telling her he was going to snore and keep her awake. He was so tickled to have Grandma there. Unfortunately I didn't think to take any pictures at all....grrrr. And she's leaving today. Oh well, next time.

First Day of School

2009-09-07T23:37:00.014-05:00

The boys started school last week Monday. One week down!! ;) It was a good week...busy but good. Today I finally went through the STACK of papers from school that was sitting on my table so I'm feeling much more organized....(although many of those papers required the writing of a check...that didn't feel so great lol). Anyway, the boys all seem very happy and really enjoyed their first week. I think it's going to be a really good school year :). i made requests for each of their teachers and found out in August that I got them except for Sam's. So 2 days before school started I decided I would be that "meddlesome mother" I sooo don't want to be....lol. I went to the school to see if their was any chance and any room for Sam to get the teacher I requested. I'm very happy to say....it worked!!! They were a little reluctant but agreed to switch him. The only reason they were hesitant about it is that they were hoping to put another girl in the class if they needed to....at this point the grade 2 half of the class is 9 boys and only 3 girls. I feel a little sorry for the girls but am VEEEERY happy Sam got in there.

Here they are Monday morning...ready to head to school.

Seth and Ms. Andrew....she's a fantastic teacher....and tonnes of fun.

Jonah and Mrs. Milz....I heard she's a very kind a gentle teacher...and super good with boys. Jonah really likes her.

Sam's checking out his new desk.

Mrs. Gushulak....AMAZING woman and teacher. Sam actually had her for about 4 months last year when his teacher took a leave of absence. She's a Christian woman and created such an awesome teaching environment. The kids just loved her. And now Sam gets her as his teacher for 2 years!! Yay!

This was on Friday afternoon. One week of school done and Jude is anxiously waiting for his brothers to come home.

Seth...already carrying chocolates for fund-raising. He's fundraising for his grade six week of camp in October. They go to a YMCA camp for one week. We had an information night at the school last week and it sounds like he's going to have a lot of fun. I brought home one box of chocolates from that night and Trev sold the whole thing at work the next day....so he called and said to tell Seth to bring home 2 more boxes. LOL.

Here comes Jonah!!! So sweet.

Here are a few miscellaneous pictures from over the summer.

Last weekend we took the boys to see the Military Museum. They've been wanting to go their for months! Definitely not a trip we'd have made if we had girls ;).

One of Seth's dramatic moments while visiting the zoo. :D

Jude showing off his muscles at the beach :)

Jude sitting and jumping on Jonah while he's buried in the sand

Playing football with the Reimers

And before I end this post, I want to say a BIG HUGE thank-you to all my family and friends for all their hospitality and the wonderful memories they gave us back home this summer. We had a fantastic time and we love you and miss you all!!!! Smooches!!!

Jonah's beach day

2009-06-28T15:33:00.008-05:00

Here are the pictures from Jonah's beach day on Thursday. Jonah's class had just finished a unit on "boats and buoyancy" so they all had to build a boat to test in the lake. Jonah made his out of styrofoam and water bottles.'

Jude had his own boat to "try out" too. :D

I noticed something a little interesting on this beach day....note the following:

Jonah swimming with the girls:

Having lunch with the girls:

Being buried in the sand by the girls:

Hmmm....apparently the girls seem to like hanging around with Jonah. I think I may have to start paying more attention....lol.

Ok...he did spend some time with the boys as well:

And one pic of my little cutie Jude:

One More Day!!!

2009-06-25T11:36:00.015-05:00

Does anyone else feel like the month of June has just FLOWN by?!? I can't believe the boys have just one more day of school left...well, actually half a day. At noon tomorrow they're officially on holidays. :)

Between the 3 boys being in baseball and going to see the "Dawgs" games whenever we get a chance, this month has been filled with baseball. It's been a lot of fun....I'm almost sorry the boys' season is over. Jonah had his last game last night and the other 2 finished last week. After 6 weeks of baseball, I'm not sure what I'll do with my evenings now ;).

Sam absolutely LOVES baseball. He gets on the catching gear every day after school and he spends HOURS in the back yard practicing. He even eats breakfast with his ball glove on!! :)

Seth was on the pee wee level this year. They had a tournament last weekend and his team won!! He's pretty excited about it. It was hard to get pictures of him but I did get one of him in outfield.

Here's Jonah during his last game just last night. Since Trev coached his team, Sam got to play on the team as well....so he's been playing 4 nights a week!

Seth got to ump quite a few of Jonah's games. If no parent volunteered, Seth was more than willing to step in. There were times parents weren't always happy with his calls...but he actually did ok. That's Jonah on 3rd base.

Sammy's back catcher.

The boys hanging out and having fun after the game.

The boys even have Jude playing baseball...lol. After watching his brothers play every night of the week, he now wants to play too. It's pretty cute.

He actually hit this one.

Running bases :D

Ok...enough of baseball. Trev had a birthday this month. He's now 39!!! He's caught up with me ;).

The last week of school is always so fun and exciting for the kids. It's filled with fun activities and parties. Seth's gone swimming twice, they've had sports day, and Sam and Jonah both have beach parties. Sam's was yesterday and Jonah's is this afternoon. Here's some pics of Sam's day.

All the kids got a water gun as a "end of the year" gift from their teacher.

Sam and his friend Sam :)

The boys had fun burying themselves in the sand. That's Sam and Jude at the end.

I'll post some pictures of Jonah's party tomorrow.

Hair Update

2009-05-19T20:02:00.003-05:00

So I took Sam for his haircut and they fixed it up just fine....blue mohawk and all. :D

The long weekend

2009-05-19T15:00:00.012-05:00

We had a pretty quiet May long weekend. We stuck around home. We had some REALLY nice weather on Sat and Sun.....FINALLY!! But Monday we were back down to 1 or something ridiculous like that.

Anyway, Saturday morning we did the baseball thing. Sam had a game and Seth had a practice at the same time. Trev took Saturday off so we went separate directions that morning. The afternoon was mostly relaxing...I prepared a nice shish kabob barbecue for dinner... but in the midst of that Jude had his lip split open AND Sam decided it would be a good idea to cut his own hair. Aye ya yaye!!

Sam was swinging a bat in the back yard and had moved Jude out of the way and told him to stay....buuuuut, of course, Jude walked right into Sam's path. It bled quite a bit but it was amazing how quickly it healed. By the next morning it was closed and didn't bother him at all.

While I was getting dinner ready, I saw Sam climbing up on the fence....well, apparently he got tree sap (he thought it was glue) in his hair and decided that instead of telling me about it, he would go and just cut it out. I didn't even notice until Trev pointed it out later at the dinner table. I was NOT impressed!!!! We're going for a hair cut after school today.

Isn't that just lovely??? ;) I DID even it out a bit before we went out the next day. LOL! WOW...first time I've dealt with that one.

On Sunday we went out to Drumheller for the day. It's the land of the dinosaurs!!

First we went to see the biggest dinosaur in the world. Very cool. We could have climbed up the inside of it to the top...we told the boys we'd do that next time we go out there.

After that we headed out the the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum. That was pretty amazing. If anyone has a kid that's into dinosaurs...THAT'S the place to visit!!

Then we headed out to cross over a suspended bridge and check out the hoo doos. The boys loved being able to do a bit of climbing and exploring

I was going to post this last week but never got around to it. I was able to go with Sam on his field trip last Tuesday and we went to Fort Calgary. It's all about the Northwest Mounted Police and how Calgary started up.

At one point the kids all sat on a "train" and role played a story. It was a true story about a convict that escaped the police while being transported on the train. Sam got to play the "convict" role. It was pretty cute..the kids all loved it.

He's seated between the Calgary Chief of Police and a Northwest Mounted Police Officer. :D

Here he is with 4 buddies dressed up as North West Mounted Police.

"Haaay Coach"

2009-05-07T15:28:00.012-05:00

Remember that McDonald's commercial from this past winter promoting hockey trading cards? There's this little mini french hockey dude skating around scoring goals and he says "hay coach...who is the new guy" (you have to hear it with a french accent) :D. Well, that's Trev's new name around here....."hay coach" (with the accent, of course).

The plan for this spring was that Trev was going to ASSIST with coaching on Jonah's team. The coach was the same guy that Trev helped out last year on Seth's team. Well, it turned out the guy had to go out of town to work....soooooo....guess who had to take over??? Yup, Trev is coaching this year. No one else was volunteering so it was either he coach or they'd have to cancel the team. It's definitely making life a lot busier for him but at least it's a short season.

So baseball kicked off last weekend. The boys had their season opener at "On Deck" on Saturday. Jonah and Seth played their exhibition games at 8:45 am and Sam had his at 12:45. They did their parade at noon. Here's a few pics.

Seth's team....the "Cannonballs"

Jonah's team....the "Gators"

Sam's team....they weren't quite organized enough to get a banner done. But I think their name is the "Red Devils" :/

I think all the boys on Sam's team were doing this at some point during their game....on the ground and playing in the sand. :)

That's better....

I finally downloaded some of my video. Here's a science experiment Jonah did for us in March. Very educational.......:)

And here's one more......Jude was playing Wii all by himself one morning last week:

Easter (a little late) & other things...

2009-04-21T17:24:00.030-05:00

This is going to be a long post with LOTS of pictures...I was going to post about our Easter weekend last week and never got around to it....so here it is, a little late.

Trev's parents were out for Easter weekend...which was also the start of spring break for the boys. They came out on Thursday evening and the kids were THRILLED to see them. Jude had been talking about Grandma and Boppy coming to visit for WEEKS!! He was a little shy at first but he warmed up in no time!

On Friday we went out to visit Heritage Park. A lot of it was closed for renovations but we walked around, looked through the shops and saw an exhibit on old vehicles.

They had this little track with tricycles for the little people. Jude loved stopping to fill up his trike with gas. :)

After Heritage Park, the boys wanted to show Grandma and Boppy the "Big Rock", so we headed out there next.

On Saturday we spent about 3 or 4 hours shopping at IKEA :O. Paul and Chris almost filled up their truck with their purchases ;). Ok....maybe not THAT bad but they made it worth the trip. Trev and I picked up some more furniture for our bedroom...yay!! After IKEA we took the boys to ToysRUS where they got to pick out toys for Easter from Grandma and Boppy...they were pretty excited about that. Then it was off to Swiss Chalet for dinner. A busy but fun day.

Sunday we went to the Easter service at church ...which was AMAZING! The rest of the day was quiet and relaxing....other than the sugar induced wildness of the boys after their Easter egg hunt. We rounded out the day with a yummy barbecue.

Samuel is loving his treats

Jonah is REALLY loving his Easter treats :D

These are the treats they got from Grandma and Grandpa FRIESEN

My biggest and littlest boys

A rare and strange yet precious loving moment beween the middle ones:

Ahhhh....now we're back to normal ;)

While the boys were having a fun Easter egg hunt, Trev was busy putting together our new IKEA furniture on EASTER SUNDAY!! Such a hard workin' man! :)

This Easter Samuel was the age where we give the boys their first bible. We made a special presentation for him before dinner and Boppy prayed a blessing over him.

It was such a fun and busy weekend that by halfway through dinner, Jude just passed out right there at the table. We added a little prop for the picture...lol!!

Paul and Chris said their good-byes that night and left Monday morning.

The boys had spring break last week and we spent the first few days just taking it easy and hanging out at home. By the end of the week we went out and did some stuff. On Thursday we went swimming and on Friday we spent the day at the zoo with friends.

We went with my friends Kim and Dawn. I got to know them through kindergarten last year...Samuel and Lucas and Matthew were all in the same class. And they both happen to have little girls that are exactly Jude's age (they'll both be 3 in May)

So this is Jude with his little girlfriends Ella and Emily:

Sam and his buds

We got to see the stingrays this time which was really cool

OTHER HAPPENINGS

Sam lost his very first tooth! This was very exciting for him...he's been waiting and waiting to lose a tooth. When he checked under his pillow the next morning he found a toonie. He came and told me right away and he said he didn't know why he got a toonie and his friend at school got THREE dollars for HIS tooth! But Sam figured that maybe because he had left a note for the tooth fairy to please leave his tooth so that he could show his class that the tooth fairy had left less money. I think maybe next time the "tooth fairy" better do some research on the going rate for teeth these days. ;)

Jude had a run-in with Seth's dresser on Sunday. Ouch! Even with his roughed up face, he still made sure to give a cute pose :)

And here he is helping me bake again....doesn't my pan of cookies look lovely?!?! ;)

Shape n Race Rally

On the weekend the boys were busy working on and finishing up their cars for the rally last night.

The finished products:

Last night was race night. The boys had a blast. And Seth and Sam both won a trophy!! They were sooooo excited. Seth won for best replica design. And Sam won for best paint job. Jonah was a little disappointed not to have won but he was a pretty good sport.

Some of the cars:

Sam's "Yellow Bus" ready to go:

Seth's "Military Truck" almost at the finish line:

A shot of the whole group of boys:

Everyone got a badge and a hotwheels car:

Seth won a trophy and a pocket knife:

And Sam won a trophy and a flashlight:

I was pretty proud of my boys!!

And after a week or so of really nice warm weather....we're back to winter again. It just started snowing as I've been typing :(. Summer WILL come... it WILL!!! :D

It's hard to be cool when you have pesky brothers

2009-04-08T13:38:00.003-05:00

This week Seth wanted to make a cool video of himself lip-syncing the song "Eye of the Tiger". Well....once Jonah saw what Seth was doing...he couldn't help himself...he just had to get in there to try adding some comic relief.

Some Randomness...

2009-04-03T14:35:00.009-06:00

POTTY-TRAINING

Well, it's been 2 weeks and Jude's pretty much completely potty-trained!!!! I'm in shock! I was dreading it soooo much and, really, it's been a breeze. He had the peeing thing figured out after only 3 days. By then, he already preferred going on the "to-ret" instead of the potty. And the last 3 days he's accomplished the other "job". Let's hope that one continues. So Mommy is VERY VERY happy. And you know what else???? Practically from the day we started he's been dry after naps AND in the morning!!! Amazing! I'm so excited....can you tell?? :D

BASEBALL

Baseball kicked off this weekend. The boys all had evaluations on Saturday and Sunday. It was fun to watch the boys...they're excited to have baseball get started. In just a few short weeks, it'll be baseball games almost every night of the week. I'm actually looking forward to it. The boys need it already...they're feeling pretty cooped up these days.

AMERICAN IDOL

So, I'm totally into American Idol again this year....and am REALLY loving this season. My favourite by FAR is Danny Gokey. He's actually a church music leader and he lost his wife just 4 weeks before the auditions. Very sad story. Anyway, last week he sang a song by Rascal Flatts and it almost brought me to tears.

CHICKNEXIONS

That's the name of the Friday morning women's bible study group I've been attending since January. We're on week 10 of a 12 week video teaching series by John Bevere called "Driven by Eternity".

It's been AMAZING!! I've learned so much and been really challenged to change my mindset from the here and now to what my focus should be on....eternity! It's so easy to get wrapped up in just living life day-to-day when really our life here is "zero time" in comparison to how long eternity is. Our life here is but a "whisp" of time and yet we will be judged for how we spent that time...and only that which was done for eternal rewards will count. And that judgement will last for ETERNITY!! What a sobering reality that has been for me. And not only the things we do...but our thoughts, motives, intentions and the things God has CALLED us to do will be judged! I want to live beyond the temporal things of this world and the fleeting rewards here and focus on the incomparable rewards of my eternal life. :)

Shape n Race Rally

The Boys Brigade "Shape n Race Rally" is coming up soon so this week the boys are busy shaping and sanding their cars. They just love working out in the garage with their Dad and tools. :D

Sam's making a bus this year:

Gitchies

Ok...so perhaps this is an inappropriate picture for the blog....but this week I'm finding I now have FOUR piles of little gitchies to fold (ok, some are not so little anymore....and actuallly there's 5 piles...but I didn't think that 5th person would appreciate me posting THAT on here). ;)

Easter

Lastly...it's almost Easter!! I'm so excited. The boys only have 3 1/2 days of school this week...they're done at noon on Thursday. And then, Trev's parents arrive Thursday evening to spend the weekend with us. Jude can hardly wait. He's been talking about seeing them for WEEKS!! I'm not sure what the plans are for the weekend but apparently a trip to IKEA on Saturday is already a definite. LOL! There are certain family members (who shall remain un-named) that are sending them on an errand. That's ok...I love IKEA too!!!

Have a wonderful Easter everyone!!!

My brother was in town!!

2009-03-23T19:13:00.012-06:00

Last week Josh and Tracy stopped by for a couple of days. They had spent a week up in Edmonton and then drove down to spend 2 nights here with us before heading home. It was soooo nice to see them and the kids. The boys are always thrilled to have family come and visit. It was very cute to see how Sam and Jirah got along. They spent almost the whole time in spiderman costumes! They had so much fun playing together.

And here they are in just ONE of their many very cool superhero poses:

Jude and Keziah....Jude was giving me goofy faces. How gorgeous is my niece?!?!:

Jirah had a great time beating up Jonah...and Jonah would just laugh. Boys....

Josh and Seth watching "Ultimate Fighting" videos on Youtube:

Keziah loved playing with Jonah too:

We were playing "Apples to Apples" and Josh told Jonah to choose his card "or else". It certainly created some extra "drama". ;) Josh seemed to really enjoy the boys collection of nerf guns..lol!

Seth decided to make himself a mask of protection out of masking tape:

And on to other things from last week. On Tuesday the boys went to Boys Brigade and during some kind of running around game (???) Jonah tripped, bashed his head on a wall and got a huge gash in his forehead. They took him to urgent care and got him stitched up. I was in Calgary at the time but got back in time to be with him while he got the stitches. The "ranger" that was with Jonah told me that in the 5 years Boys Brigade has been running this is the first time something like this happened...crazy!! He was so tough...didn't cry at all during the freezing or the stitches. Anyway...this is how Jonah looked when we got home. It's kind of gross... his hair was all matted with blood..it must have gushed pretty good. It looked terrible.

After stitching it up they covered it with polysporin.

He had 5 stitches. He actually got them out just this morning...and it looks really good.

This was Seth and Jonah on the weekend. Sitting out on the deck, reading books, and enjoying the sunshine. Then on Sunday...we had 2 feet of snow again. Grrrrr. But thankfully it's melting fast.

And lastly....this is what I'm focused on THIS week. The wonderful experience of potty training. ;) I just keep telling myself "this is the last one!!!!" I just started today and he's actually catching on quite well. We've gone through lots of undies today...but by 4:00...he was getting quite good at catching it and at least 'finishing' on the potty...lol.

The portable DVD player comes in handy for all sorts of things:

Sam the Super

2009-03-14T16:17:00.004-06:00

This morning Samuel was up at 5:30 and went to work with Trev. We seriously need to start doing more one-on -one time with the boys so this is our start. Sam absolutely loved it. He came home exhausted but very excited. Apparently the guys liked having him there. Trev's " right hand man" had Sam telling the guys "less chatting, more working" :O. LOL. I heard he was also up on the edge of the top of the building...gulp...don't tell a mother these things. But I'm glad he had fun. Here's a few pictures Trev took.

Sneaky boy

2009-03-10T13:40:00.009-06:00

Yesterday morning I did my grocery shopping (don't get me started on how much grocery shopping I do!!). I gave in to temptation (once again) and bought a bag of chocolate Hershey 'Eggies'...they're ONLY available until Easter after all!! ;) Anyway, Jude and I got home, I put my groceries away and I put my wonderful chocolates into a little bowl and into my secret cupboard where no one knows I stash chocolates..lol.

After lunch I decided to share my treats and gave Jude a couple of 'eggs'. A few minutes later he asked me to open the cupboard he was pointing to....the medicine cabinet. So I opened it...he shook his head, said 'no' and pointed to another. He reacted the same way and went to point at a third. When I opened "the" cupboard and he saw the chocolates, gave me a huge smile and said he wanted more "pwease??". Anyway, I indulged him and we went on with our day.

Then, last night, after all the boys were in bed and Trev and I were finally settling down to sleep, we were just chatting when suddenly Trev says "WHAT is THIS?!?!" And he proceeded to pull out the bowl full of chocolates from underneath his pillow and as he sat back up about 10 or more little chocolate eggs rolled out from under him. I laughed so hard. I guess at some point in the evening Jude had snuck them out of the cupboard and hid them....and did it without any of his brothers seeing it....how do I know they didn't see???? Because there would have been NO chocolates left!!

I just love that little boy....he makes me laugh every day. This morning I brought the bowl of chocolates out of my room and asked him what they were doing under Daddy's pillow....he gives me the HUGEST grin ever and says "I...DON'T....KNOW...mommy!!" Suuuuure........

I was downloading my pictures today and came across some photos on my camera that I never took. My older boys can be sneaky too. And what were they taking pictures of??? Neo Shifters, of course!!! ;)

Notice how they nicely posed them in of the the fire background for extra drama...lol.

And guess what we had for supper on Friday night???

I'm back!! :D

2009-02-21T15:19:00.017-06:00

Well...I'm slowly but surely figuring out this new computer. It's actually quite different from a PC and takes a bit to get used to....especially my programs for managing my photos. That's what's taken me so long to get back to this blog...figuring out how to get my pics on here...but I think I've got it!!! :)

Anyway, things have been pretty quiet around here since Christmas. The boys just had a week off of school ..which was soooo nice. Sleeping in, no homework, no lunches. What a nice break. I was even able to spend a day painting while Seth looked after Jude....couldn't have done THAT on a normal day. So my bathroom is finally painted and looks so much nicer. Plus, last weekend we re-painted most of the basement walls..finally! They were COVERED with pencil, crayon, and marker...thanks to 'you-know-who' ;). I think he's finally through the "drawing on the walls" phase so we should be ok now. Although this afternoon he was slamming an upstairs wall with a mini-stick and yes...the wall is now full of dents. Sigh...

He's such a little roughneck. I'm almost scared when the boys have friends over because he's so used to being rough with any boy who's older than him. Jonah and Sam both had friends over today and Jude was punching them, headbutting them...etc etc. That's what he's used to with his brothers so I'm not quite sure how to "un-teach" this.

I'll post a bunch of pictures to show you some of the things the boys have been up to since Christmas. Since I haven't posted any since then I'll include a few of my favourites from our time in Manitoba as well.

I always love pictures of Jonah with his best friend Troy. They had a great fun spending time together at Christmas.

Jude giving Santa a hug at the Moser Christmas.

The boys and their Grandma and Grandpa

Jude and Preston had a hard time getting along at first but eventually they started playing together and not just fighting.

Keith and Sheree had the great idea to get Dad a personalized license plate. "Boppy" is what Seth called Grandpa when he started to talk and now all the grandkids call him Boppy.

Me and my hubby (and my Sethy's head ;) )

These pictures are from Camp Arnes with my family. These are my beautiful sisters. ( I miss you Lucy)

These are all the grandchildren (and great-grandchild)

And, of course, my awesome siblings!!

The boys have been enjoying the Wii we got earlier this year. Jonah loves playing "Guitar Hero"...and he's pretty good at it too.

We bought Jude his own guitar for Christmas so he could play along.

In January, the boys were busy building their rockets for the Boys Brigade "Rocket Launch"

Jude is still loving "Cars". Although it is starting to abate...his favourite movie has now switched to "Hotwheels". LOL... different movie but still about cars and racing.

The boys have had lots of fun school activities in February. I was able to help out in Seth's class when they did a project on "Kitchen Chemisty". They made "Jewish Pastries" which involved seeing how yeast works. They were really yummy. Seth and I actually made a batch today! :)

Sam and Jonah both celebrated "100th day of school".

In Jonah's class, the kids were supposed to dress up like they were 100 years old.

Sam's class has been studying "Communities" so they've formed about 7 different clubs to join and be a part of. Sam joined the "gardening club".

I also popped in on the last day before their holidays when they were all having Valentine's Day parties.

I hope that wasn't TOO many pictures but that's what we've been up to. I also have had a birthday in there...I'm now.....39!!!! Yikes! I had a really nice birthday this year. It happened to be on a Friday night and Trev and I went out to the "Bistro Provence"...an authentic French Restaurant right here in town. It was absolutely wonderful....amazing food!! After dinner we came back home and I opened my birthday gifts. I got an iPod....yeah!!!! I LOVE it!! And the boys got my Madagascar 2....LOL. So we stayed up and watched the movie and this is how the evening ended...me and 2 sleeping boys. It was pretty sweet.

A new computer!!

2009-02-08T22:19:00.002-06:00

By now most of my friends and family that happen to check on our blog now and then have probably completely lost hope in my ever updating this thing anymore. BUT....I've have good reason...HONEST!! I've been without a computer since shortly after my last post in December. It's been very frustrating but probably a good thing for me..LOL. I get a lot more done around the house...that's for sure ;).

So....today Trev and I went shopping and bought a new computer. I am sooo excited!! We bought a Mac this time and I can't wait to try it out. The guy that sold it to us said we would love and would never ever go back to a PC. We only get it tomorrow night. (I'm using Trev's laptop right now). I just hope it won't take me too long to figure the thing out. And I'm sure Trev is very happy too since now I'll stop nagging him about a computer ;).

So once I get the new computer up and running and get familiarized with it I'll post some recent pics of the boys and what they've been up to.

Sam's take on kindness...

2008-12-15T22:44:00.003-06:00

In November Sam's class made a "Kindness Quilt". They each had to say what kindness meant to them. I saw the display on the wall when I went for parent-teacher interviews at the end of November. Most of them said things like "kindness is helping my mom" or "kindness is when I help my mom clean the house"...(lots of 'helping mom' definitions. When I got to Sam's, I was quite surprised and thrilled to read his response....

It says "kindness is help(ing) kids with cancer by donating money to cancer".

Now...how can that not make a mother proud?? My sweet boy. :)

A 'Christmas-y' birthday weekend

2008-12-09T22:37:00.011-06:00

Jonah rounded out our flurry of fall birthday celebrations this weekend. He turned 9 years old on Sunday!! But before we got to that, we did some fun Christmas-y things that we haven't done this early in December since before Jonah was born.

Usually on December 7th our house is still full of balloons and streamers and bright colorful table cloths....but since we had his 'friend' party last weekend AND since it's only 2 weeks until we leave for Manitoba, we started Christmas early this year :D.

On Saturday, we spent the first couple of HOURS...yes, it took, literally, hours to clean up Jonah and Sam's room. And I ended up with about 1/2 a garbage bag full of stuff. It's amazing how much stuff they can accumulate under their beds, in little containers, on their shelves etc. Wow...that was a job. But their room is now organized (let's hope it stays that way for at least a couple of days ;) ). Anyway...later that day we made our traditional white cookies that the boys LOVE to help with.

We took the boys to Wendy's for supper and then while I iced the cookies Trev and the boys went and got us a Christmas tree. And I have to say this is the prettiest tree I think we've ever had. I love it!! It's the perfect size and shape and it's just beautiful. Yes...I'm excited about a tree :P. We set it up and let it thaw over night and when I was getting Jude ready for bed I asked him if he liked the Christmas tree and he said "yeah"...but then also said "scawy". LOL! He didn't act scared...I think it was just a little strange for him to have a tree in our house.

On Sunday we woke up to a huge thick snowfall...and it kept up all day. We got 16 cm in one day!! I think that's what made the weekend feel so Christmas-y as well...it was an absolutly beautiful winter wonderland outside. In the afternoon we decorated our tree...and the boys had to be VERY patient while Trev and I put on the lights and I did the garlands and ribbons...then FINALLY they could help with the ornaments. They did really good this year....I sure can tell they're growing up.

And my finished tree!!

After that Jonah and Sam headed outside and spent a long time playing in the fresh fluffy snow

And FINALLY...Jonah's birthday evening. We had Colleen and Jerrie over for finger foods and chocolate cake.

He was pretty excited about the 'Mars Mission' lego he got from us. He also got a pig webkin from Colleen and Jerrie and a personalized DVD from Jeremy and Matthew. Jeremy has made a DVD for each of the boys and they are sooooo cool.

I have a nice picture of Jonah with his cake but I thought I'd post the kooky one :D.

And this is about as nice a picture as I could get of the 4 of them. Jude kept blowing (more like spitting) at Jonah's candles...and actually managed to get a few...much to Jonah's frustration. It was pretty funny though.

So that was our weekend. Birthdays are done again and Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye.

One more picture before I sign off. This was the three boys this morning before school...all dressed in red sweatshirts and santa hats. How could I resist taking a picture?!?

Gearing down...and then up again...

2008-12-05T17:10:00.001-06:00

The boys extra-curricular activities and birthdays are slowly gearing down and coming to an end. Seth had his last basketball day this Tuesday and Sam has 1 or 2 more gymnastics classes and then they're done. So, of course, I've been busy quickly snapping some pictures before it's too late ;).

So now the boys are very excited to be able to start going to "Boys Brigade" again...and just in time for rocket building. After Christmas we'll keep things pretty quiet and just do some swimming lessons until baseball season starts up again.

Anyway...as that part of life slows down...Christmas is quickly approaching. Although I can't complain...as busy as December is, I love ALL things Christmas. Yesterday I spent the day baking, wrapping presents and putting up my garlands. This weekend we hope to get a Christmas tree...the boys are very excited. And then it's only 2 more weeks of school and we head out to Manitoba...yikes!! Sometimes I think...it would be so nice to have just a quiet Christmas here again...but in truth, I'm really excited to spend the holidays with family and loved ones. And the boys CAN'T WAIT for Camp Arnes!! :D

Jonah and Samuel's birthday party

2008-12-02T15:12:00.002-06:00

On Saturday we had Jonah and Samuel's birthday party. We combined their parties this year and had it at Mountain Shadows Gym. It's the same place where Sam takes gymnastics. We had a total of 16 boys including my 4. Wow...that's a bunch of boys!! Having it at the gym was so perfect...they spent almost an hour and a half playing and being as wild and loud as they wanted.

There were tramplines, climbing ropes, balance beams etc but the favourite was definitely the foam pit. They did flips and dives and jumps into there...very fun. Even Jude went diving in. They also played hide n seek in the dark. They LOVED it!! That's the way to throw a party. All I had to do was serve some snacks and cake and manage the present opening. But wow...put fourteen 6-9 year olds into one small party room and you've got a lot of noise. It was a great night....the boys loved their party and loved all their new toys.

I'm posting a little "scrapbook" of their party. (Just so you know...the individual pictures will enlarge if you click on them.)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Jonah's birthday is actually this Sunday but since we've already done a party we'll keep it pretty low-key. We'll probably invite Colleen and Jerrie over for some snacks and cake. I guess since I'm posting it here I should probably give her a call and actually invite her :D.

Seth's 11th Birthday

2008-11-20T18:45:00.002-06:00

For Seth's birthday this year he just wanted to invite a couple of buddies, go see a movie and have a sleepover. That was easy enough for me!! ;) So last Friday, Trev took Seth and his friends, Euan and Jonathan to see Madagascar 2 and then they came back here where they watched some more movies, played Wii and X-box and ate junk food until 7:30 in the morning. They had a great time!!

That afternoon Trev took Seth, Jonah and Sam to the Stamps game and then we had company for dinner...needless to say by Sunday Seth was downright exhausted. That'll teach him for staying up all night! ;)

Then on Monday, I had my mom over here to show me (and help me) how to make perogies. It was a lot of work but they turned out great and tasted mmmmmlicious. I invited Colleen and Jerrie over for dinner and we celebrated Seth's birthday again. And THIS time....as long as Trev held Jude, he was ok with the candles on the cake...lol.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Jonah's Baptism

2008-11-12T15:20:00.009-06:00

This past Sunday Jonah, Felisha, and Ashley got baptized. It was a very special day...and very neat for the 3 of them to be able to do it together. My mom and sister Lucille even flew out on Saturday to see the baptism. Here are some pictures from the service.

This is Jonah's cousin Felisha....the girls had their dad baptize them:

Ashley:

This is the slide show of Jonah that we had playing on the screen while Jonah was being baptized. There's music with the video so pause the blog's music if you're watching it.

Lucille stayed at our house while she was here and it was sooooo fun. She left this morning and I miss her already. We had a great time...we spent all of Sunday at Colleen and Jerrie's, Monday night we went to see a movie with Colleen and mom and went for coffee after, and Tuesday we all went out for dinner. I have to say I'm liking all of these evenings out...I'm getting spoiled ;).

Here's Lucy and Jude

Leaves, Pumpkins, and Costumes

2008-11-03T16:01:00.018-06:00

Can you believe it's already November?!?! I'm so amazed how quickly the past 2 months have flown by!! November means.....BIRTHDAY SEASON!!!! HELP!! Actually, it won't be that bad this year. Seth just wants to go to the movies with a couple of friends and have a sleepover. And I'm combining Jonah and Sam's birthdays this year...I booked it at Mountain Shadows Gymnastics. They do activities with the kids for as long as you want....yay!! All I have to do is the food. I figure I have to take advantage of them being willing to share a party while I can.

So last week was halloween and with that came a busy week of activities and excitement. The boys were so excited about Halloween this year...maybe because I finally made sure they all had decent costumes this time ;). Well..it wasn't TOO busy to start off with...the boys had Monday and Tuesday off so I took advantage of that and had them help me clean up the leaves in the back yard. Which really means that I raked up the leaves into a pile and they jumped in them and scattered them back all over the yard...then we repeated this over and over. With all the re-raking I probably raked the yard about 10 times...no wonder my back was so sore ;).

On Thursday Seth and Jonah both had Halloween "pumpkin" activities. So I went and watched Jonah in the morning and then came back for Seth in the afternoon...all the while chasing Jude all over the school...and across the schoolyard as he escaped outside...sigh...how many more months until he's three???? ;)

Seth and his best friend Euan...doing what boys do...

And yes..that's Jude lying in the boot racks...

On Friday the boys had the costume carnival. They did this last year as well...all the kids dress up and they go around to activity stations all over the school. The kids love it. Siblings are invited too...so I dressed Jude up and joined them.

Sam was 'Black Spiderman'

This is Sam with his two best buddies. He is ticked off with me because I made him let someone go in front of him so he could stand by his friends for a picture. Bad mom ;).

Seth was 'Indiana Jones'.

Jonah was a very freaky looking "Black Skull Warrior".

Here is Seth with some of his girl "friends"...see the look on his face...heehee...I think that's priceless!!

My little tiger...pretty scary with his 'soodoo' in his mouth huh?? ;)

Everyone in Sam's class got an "award" for their costume...so cute!

A little bit of picture overload today...but just a few more. This year we handed out candy and the boys went trick-or-treating. Actually Seth went with a friend this year...made me a little sad. The tradition is that Daddy takes them trick-or-treating...Seth's growing up :(.

And this week I'm getting ready for my mom and Lucille's visit. They're flying out on Saturday!!! YAY!!! I'm so excited to see them. They're actually coming for Jonah's baptism on Sunday. That will be soooo special to have them here.

New pictures

2008-10-21T14:54:00.015-05:00

Wow..I can't believe it's been a month since I last updated the blog. Amazing how fast a month can go by. Well...I have nothing new or exciting to report. Life is just cruising along...pretty routine. The boys are enjoying school (for the most part) and every weekday evening we're taking somebody to some activity.

Jonah is still in football, which is always 3-4 evenings a week. He has only 2 practices and 1 game left and then it's done. Seth started basketball 3 weeks ago and is really loving it. Whenever I pick him up he comes out with bright red cheeks so I think he's working hard.

The boys are super excited about Halloween...they're counting down the days. The other weekend we went shopping for costumes so they're all set up and ready. Seth's going to be Indiana Jones, Jonah is a "dark skull warrior" ( that's the least scary thing I could convince him to accept), and Sam is Black Spiderman. And Jude, of course, has no clue what it's all about but we'll try to get him into the tiger costume.

I've talked about Jude's "Cars" obsession before..well, last week he broke his "DBB" (dvd) in half so no more watching the movie 3 times a day ;). We really don't mind the break but now he's replaced "Cars" with watching "Giggles" (Wiggles)...which I have to say is definitely NOT an improvement!!

Anyway, I don't have much else to tell you so I'll just post a bunch of recent pictures from this fall.

We took the boys to "Kayben Farms" one Saturday for some fall fun:

Here's Jonah in three point stance:

This was his game against Edmonton on Thanksgiving Monday:

I've taken the boys over to the "Big Rock" a couple of times this fall. They love to climb and explore.

That little tiny person would be Jude:

Jude had me take a picture of his left foot...then his right foot...and then his tongue....goofy boy.

Bar U Ranch

2008-09-24T15:20:00.012-05:00

Yesterday Jude and I tagged along on Jonah's field trip to the Bar U Ranch. It's a 125 year old ranch that is now a National Historic Site of Canada. They taught the kids the history and importance of ranching in Canada.

The kids went through 4 "stations". Jonah's group first went on the horse and trailer tour.

Jonah loved having Jude there:

After that they spent some time at the "Round-up Camp" where they learned all kinds of interesting things about ranching back in the old days. (Plus we got to warm up by the campfire....it was ch-ch-ch-illy.) :)

They sat in one of the "round-up" tents and enjoyed a nice cup of cocoa while they learned about tools and implements.

After lunch, they learned about "cowboys" and wrangling cattle.

Cowboy Jo!!

Jonah trying his hand at "calf wrangling"

He managed to get a horn:

Their last station was the cook house but I left with Jude before that. He's had a fever for about 3 days so I think I pushed him far enough staying as long as I did.

One last picture...Jude trying to climb down off of a trailer...the drop was a little farther than he anticipated...LOL.

Back in routine

2008-09-12T20:16:00.011-05:00

Well, summer has come to an end and September and school are well underway. The boys have finished their second week of school and although they are tired and showing a little attitude and occasional grumpiness ;)....they've adjusted back to the school routine very well. Sam is in grade 1 now and is in school every day...all day....no more Sammy at home...*sniff sniff*. I think the grade 1 year is harder on Mom's than on the kids. I definitely missed him the first few days but I've also adjusted and am really enjoying spending my day with just Jude. I wasn't sure how it would be for Jude to have his brothers gone after spending the whole summer with them...but he's doing surprisingly well. He's actually playing quite well on his own (when he's not watching "cars" that is...lol). He mostly has just the morning on his own...he goes down for a nap right after lunch and usually sleeps until the boys come home.

What a change this year was from last year...wow. Last year we had just moved, they had to go to a brand new school where they had no friends and came in a month after everyone else had already started. I'll never forget Jonah's tear filled eyes when I dropped him off at his class last year. This year they got to start on the first day of school, they know the school, they all have friends and were completely at home. Soooo wonderful!!

Their first day of school:

And this is one Jude's new favorite places to play with his cars and trucks while they're gone:

Another change for this fall is that we have all the boys enrolled in a sport of their choice :D. Jonah has been in football since the end of August and is loving it. It's a pretty busy schedule...3-4 practices or games a week. I think he's pretty excited to be doing something none of his brothers are doing. He's a linebacker. He started out a little shy and timid but the last 2 practices he's starting to tackle guys. I keep telling him "just remember...you're a mean, lean, fighting machine!!" LOL.

Sam started gymnastics this last week. He loves it too. I tried convincing Sam to do soccer over the winter but he insists "soccer sucks"...so I said, maybe next year...to which he adamantly said "No!! Next year I'm taking tap dance". :/ We'll see about that one.

It's a terrible picture because I took it from far away and cropped it but it's the best I've got.

Seth is going to be taking basketball. He only starts at the beginning of Oct. so no pictures yet. I'm happy he's doing basketball...with his height he HAS to do it! ;) This way by the time he gets to junior high he'll have had a bit of exposure and experience with it.

And now that Jude is on his own and we don't really have a lot of friends with kids for him to play with, we joined a playgroup. We meet one morning a week. There were tonnes of new toys for him to play with so he loved it.

Snack time:

So that's where we're at. I'm hoping to start doing some painting again in the next week or so. One year after we painted our basement walls, they are all full of beautiful crayon and pencilcrayon "drawings" thanks to a very sweet little boy in our home ;). And hopefully I can sit down and start doing some scrapbooking again soon.

I'll post a few more pictures I've taken in the past week or so:

A rare and beautiful moment in our home ;). This is how I get two birds with one stone...Jonah reads to Sam and they both get to mark down their reading minutes.

Kissing his "Lightning McQueen" pillow:

It's out!!!!

2008-08-23T23:10:00.004-05:00

Remember a few months ago I mentioned that I was having a srapbook layout of mine published?? Well, the September issue of "Creating Keepsakes" magazine is out!! I did a bit of grocery shopping today and decided to check the magazines to see if it was out yet...and there it was! I'm so excited that I scanned the page to post it here... I know that's kind of lame...but, like I said...I'm excited ;).

Here's a scan of the actual layout.

Down by the riverside

2008-08-21T23:02:00.007-05:00

For the past week we've had some beautiful weather out here...hot and sunny days. So Colleen and I have taken our kids down to the Sheep River a couple of days. The boys love it there.

Sam spends most of his time catching minnows...the last day we were there he had a bucket SWARMING with minnows. Thank goodness he didn't insist on bringing them home...although when I cleaned out the back of the van, he had managed to sneak home about 3 dead ones in his pail...why, I'm not sure.

Jonah likes taking the tube down the river...although the last time he hit his butt on a rock and then he was ticked and said that was it...he was done.

Jeremy and Matthew like cruising down the river too

Seth, of course, just likes hanging out with Matt. He wasn't feeling so good the last time we went, so he didn't do much. We've had a bit of a flu going around our house this past week..but we're all doing better now.

All the guys hangin' out

And then there's Jude. He mostly liked sitting in his chair eating snacks and drinking gatorade..lol. No...he loved splashing around in the water too. Plus he liked annoying Jonah and Sam by always trying to dump out their pails of minnows. He'd always laugh when we tried to walk across the river together because even though the river is quite shallow, it came up to Jude's waist and every now and then the current would get him and his legs would try to float away. It was a good work-out for me, I tell you.

This week the boys have been in VBS. It's a western theme and they're really having a lot of fun. And so am I...3 hours of peace every morning...just kidding!! It's been nice for them to have something to do though. I can't believe only ONE more week before school starts again...YIKES!!

Our month in Manitoba

2008-08-18T22:47:00.025-05:00

We've been back home now for over a week, but with all of the busyness of settling back in and the beautifully hot weather we're having, it's taken me a bit to get to updating the blog. Since most of those reading this blog are the ones I spent that month with, I won't bore you with details of our time out there ;). I just want to say a big big THANK-YOU to all of our family and friends for taking time to spend with us, giving us delicious meals, having the boys over for many sleepovers and just making our time there fun and memorable. We love you all so much and we miss you!!!

So here a bunch of pictures from our time spent with you :).

Unfortunately our trip got off to a bad start when we drove through Brandom and got sideswiped by a semi-trailer.

That was very upsetting, but a week later it was all fixed up...thank goodness!!

For the first 3 weeks, just the boys and I were there and we spent most of our time hanging out with family and friends. Seth and Jonah both spent a week at camp and during the other weeks did tonnes of sleepovers. It was so nice for the boys to spend time with their cousins again. And seeing Jude and Keziah together was sooo cute :).

Keziah kept lifting her dress and showing Jude her belly...so eventually Jude figured he'd give it a try too.

Jirah and Jude in their matching t-shirts

Grandma and 'Boppy' Moser bought a little jeep this summer and Jude thought it was the coolest thing EVER!! He often yelled for "Sammy" because he loved when Sam would drive it and he would sit beside and ride along.

Jude and Grandma spent a LOT of time playing "Cars" on the coffetable. He would push her off her chair in the kitchen and say "OFF...Mcqueen". LOL!

Sam and Jirah spent a lot of time playing in the sandbox together...and Jirah was thrilled to have a sleepover at Grandma's with him.

Trev flew out for our last week out there and we stayed at his parents house. It was a beautiful week and we spent most of it by their pool.

Jude loved spending time with Preston and Haydyn.

And then, of course, their was my siter's Lucille's WEDDING!!!!

Isn't she beautiful?? :)

CONGRATULATIONS Dave and Lucy!!!

A beautiful new family

Some of the boy cousins

The first dance

My turn to dance with the bride :)

Love my sisters!!!

All five of us!

Jude's birthday!!

2008-07-06T18:30:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was Jude's 2nd birthday!! I can't believe my baby is 2 already...wow!! We just had a small birthday party for him with family. We had Colleen and Jerrie and my mom over for a barbecue last night. Here are a few pictures from the evening:

My big boy!!

My poor little boy has been so traumatized by sparklers that he is now afraid of birthday cakes with candles of any kind on them. He kept his eyes closed the entire time while sitting by his cake...he was so scared. He wouldn't even open them while we sang "happy birthday"...LOL. It was kind of funny but I feel terrible that he's so scared of cakes!!

Eyes still closed:

All the cousins

Trying to cheer him up:

YAY....presents!!!

Happy birthday my sweetie!!!

Busy weeks of June

2008-07-01T16:51:00.019-05:00

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! Shall I sing in honour of the day? "Ohhhh Canada...." Ok...maybe not huh? :) I hope everyone is having a fantastic, fun and relaxing day. Out here it's kind of dreary and rainy so we didn't do much this afternoon but tonight we're off to a baseball game and fireworks...should be fun!!

And ...yes...that is Jonah under all of that hair!! LOL!

Well, school is finally out!!! Yay!!! One more week and the boys and I are heading back to Manitoba for a month of fun and sun and catching up with family and friends. We can hardly wait!!

As all mom's know...the last 2 weeks of school are busy busy days of field trips and wind-ups and all sorts of activities. I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures of what the boys have been up to the past couple of weeks.

First of all, here's the birthday picture from Trev's birthday I said I'd post.

We thought maybe Jude had gotten over his fear of sparklers by now....APPARENTLY NOT! He freaked out again.

The past few weeks we've finally had some awesome weather so we've been busy with lots of baseball games. Here's some pictures of each of the boys in action.

H...e..r..e..'s SAMMY!!

H...e...r..e..'s SETH!! Seth actually started doing some pitching towards the end of the season...and he did really well!! Good job Seth!

Sliding into home!!

And H...e...r...e..'s JONAH!! He even hit a home run late in the season:

When he was on 3rd base, Trev and I kept giving him tips and telling him to pay attention...this was just ONE of the glares we got in return...LOL!

Sam got to take swimming lessons with his class during his last 3 weeks of school. He loved it!!

On the Friday before the last week of school, Sam had a "end of the year beach party". The school is right in the middle of a lake community so lots of classes have their parties at the beach. The kids had a fantastic time!!

Sam and his friend William...they're pirates..LOL!!

They had a treasure hunt. There were all kinds of little trinkets and prizes hidden in the sand.

Even Jude had a great time in the sand.

On Saturday was the Okotoks parade. It felt VERY similar to the parades back home...LOL!! Small town parades...I think they're great!! :)

We even found some friends to sit with.

Jude started off in his stroller but he preferred sitting on the sidewalk with the others. :)

On Sunday afternoon they had a special day for the Minor Baseball Association at the Okotoks Dawgs game. Before the game started they had a parade of all the teams in Okotoks. Unfortunately, Sam's team wasnt' there so he just walked along with Seth's team.

On Monday, both Seth and Jonah had their class parties. I spent the morning with Seth and the afternoon with Jonah. Seth's class went to High River and spent the morning looking at ourdoor wall murals in town and stopped at a quaint little icecream shop for cones. In the afternoon they headed to his teacher's house for a wiener roast and water fight.

How cute is this little icecream shop??

Around 11:30, we headed back for Jonah's party. His class had their party at the beach.

Having lunch on the beach:

They had a big sponge water fight...Jonah had a such a good time!!

That same Monday evening Sam had his t-ball wind-up party...it was a crazy busy day. Jude was also sick that whole weekend...so by the time we were at that wind-up party Jude had had enough. It was a very hot day and I think he just had enough heat and sun...he just cried and cried, so we left the party early. At home I stuck him in the tub and he got all happy and smily again. Since that Monday, life has slowed right down. Sam had his last day of school on the Tuesday and Seth and Jonah both had swimming days at the rec centre on Wed and Thurs. On Thurday they were done by noon. Since then we've been taking it easy. My mom has been out here for a week now and so we've been enjoying spending time with her. This past Sunday was a nice scorcher so we spent it at the beach in Calgary...sooo nice!!

This weekend we'll be celebrating Jude's 2 year birthday and then it'll be getting ready to head to Manitoba. I'm not sure I'll post again before we leave so if I don't I'll be updating again in August. Have a great summer everyone!!!

Starting Young

2008-06-19T23:10:00.010-05:00

Jude absolutely LOVES Tim Hortons Ice Caps. He actually threw his very first tantrum and had his first time out a few months back over it. And well...he kind of threw one just the other day as well. Two years old and he's a caffeine junkie ;).

Here he is very happily enjoying MY ice cap

And this is after I took it away and told him that was enough

And here's a picture from Sunday...Trev receiving a very delicious looking breakfast in bed ;)...microwaved eggs and toast...doesn't he look excited?? Seth is a sweetie!!

For Father's Day the boys took Trev to see the Indianna Jones movie. They loved it. While they watched the movie, Jude and I shopped!! So we were all happy :D.

In the evening Trev was out practicing ball with the boys...even Jude got into it.

After getting in the way a few times, I had to take him up on the deck.

And lastly...this is how Sam woke up yesterday morning.

Poor guy. Something must have bit him during the night. It took all day for the puffiness to go down...by evening he could at least open his eye enough so that he could still play t=ball.

OH...and today is Trev's birthday!!! I'll post a picture tomorrow. We didn't do a whole lot...Jonah had a baseball game tonight and after the game we had some cake and icecream. Happy Birthday honey!!!!

Dancin' Jude...another little video

2008-06-17T16:32:00.000-05:00

A little video...

2008-06-12T00:37:00.002-05:00

I was just playing around with my "movie maker" program tonight and put together some video I took of Jude this evening. It was kind of fun...the quality's not so great but I'll keep working at it and add some better stuff of him soon.

What we've been up to....

2008-06-10T21:16:00.016-05:00

Hmmm...where do I start? Well, June was supposed to be a month filled with baseball but we've had almost non-stop rain for about 2 weeks now and we are getting really really tired of it by now. Although...on the positive side, we have very lush, very green and very LONG grass...LOL. AND...I haven't had to water my flowers at all since I planted them 2 weeks ago. We have had occassional sunny periods here and there which we thoroughly enjoy.

Luckily, Jonah's field trip to the zoo ended up being a hot, sunny day. I went along and had just Jonah and his friend Patrick in my group. Then, Pat's dad showed up for most of the day so it was pretty easy ;). We were basically on our own for most of the day...just had to make sure we got in at least 2 of 3 presentations...we learned about elephants and tigers.

Just as we came to look at the tigers, one walked right past the fence in front of us...very cool to see one up close.

A Friday night pizza and movie party:

"Let's see how much popcorn I can shove into my mouth at one time"...

This past weekend we were pretty busy. On Thursday, after Jonah's baseball practice (yes, the rain actually let up enough to get in a practice) we went to the Okotoks Dawgs opening baseball game. The boys loved it. I had to leave early with Jude (he was tired and Trev was tired of chasing him) but Trev and the boys stayed to watch the fire works. We're hoping to get in a lot of games this summer.

It was a late night so luckily the boys had a holiday on Friday. I was looking forward to having the boys home from school but WOW...were they ever grouchy all day. It felt like all they did was fight. I was thinking ...."if this is what the summer will be like"...HELP!! But I think the weather had a lot to do with it...I was feeling down myself. Anyway...by evening I was VERY ready to get out on my own and was happy to go to Ashley's dance recital. She was so cute...it's very cool to be able to watch my niece's dance performances.

Saturday was birthday party day. I took Sam to Shaker's Family Fun Centre in the morning for a party. I wish I'd had my camera because they had a rock climbing wall and Sam climbed that thing all the way to the top!! I helped him a little the first time and after that he scrambled up that wall about 5 more times. One of the mom's took a couple of pictures and is going to e-mail them to me so I'll post them when I get them. I was pretty proud of him :).

In the evening we went to Colleen and Jerrie's for a party for Matthew, Felisha and Ashley. Their birthdays are all this week....well the last one is today actually. Anyway, Aunt Helen and Uncle Henry were there too and it was a very fun evening.

Sam being his kooky self once again..

Uncle Henry playing with Jude. He's always so good with the boys..they just love him.

A kiss for Daddy...

On Sunday we had the opportunity to go to Spruce Meadows to watch horse jumping. It was a baseball fundraiser. All the different groups and organizations there for the "Catch the Spirit" fundraiser got to participate in the parade and walk around the field. The first half of the day was quite boring for the boys but after the parade they did the long program where the horses did a long course and had to jump 19 obstacles. It was very interesting. Before it started we were able to go onto the field and check out all the different obstacles.

It doesn't matter where he is or how loud it is...once Jude is tired, that's it...he sleeps!! :D

Unfortunately, just as the long course started we saw very dark, ominous clouds approaching. Trev suggested we should get going but the kids were really enjoying it and didn't want to go yet. They said "one more horse"...and then "one more horse"..and then "one more horse". Finally we said it was time to go since it was a long walk to our van. Well, about 2 minutes into our walk it started to come down and after another 2 minutes it was POURING!! By the time we got to the van we were all completely soaked and dripping wet. I just had to laugh... we all looked like a bunch of drowned rats sitting there in the van...LOL. We were going to go to Wendy's for supper after the horse show but ended up driving home first to change out of our sopping clothes. Despite the rain, it was a very fun day.

And today....it rained ALL day yet again so baseball was cancelled ...again...and we had a quiet evening at home. I hope the rain stops soon...sigh...

In 10 years

2008-05-28T11:50:00.002-05:00

This morning Jude kept asking me for "deedee" and I had no idea what he wanted. He had been using this word for a few days and I haven't been able to figure it out. Then he added another word to it and said "Jamy deedee"....and I finally understood him. "Jamy" is Jeremy and he wanted to watch the DVD that Jeremy put together.

Jeremy is quite the film-maker. When we get together with Colleen and Jerrie he often has the video camera in hand he comes up with movie plots and directs the kids and films it. He's put together a DVD of all their movies and fight scense etc. It's quite cool...and of course, it's Jude's latest obsession. He loves watching it. So what he was telling me was that he wanted to watch "Jeremy DVD".

And that got me thinking...when Seth was Jude's age, the word I had to figure out was "vizzy"...which of course meant video. Jude doesn't even know that word. In only 10 years it's gone from "vizzy" to "deedee". It amazes me how quickly that transition went...and that's just from my first child to my last child...not even from children to grandchildren!!!

My sisters first book!!!

2008-05-20T17:30:00.009-05:00

My very talented sister, Colleen, has been writing for about 7 years now and has just published her very first book!! I am so proud and excited for her!! It's called Assignment Code 110 and is part of a series of books she's writing.

The following is a marketing ad she's circulating:

NEW AUTHOR
OF
SUPERNATURAL CHRISTIAN FICTION

COLLEEN F. REIMER

A DRAMATIC STORY OF REJECTION AND THE POWER OF GOD’S LOVE

Angels in Heaven are prepared for their upcoming assignment. They are told only basic facts about their next ward. They must battle dark forces and reinforcements have to be brought in to assist their descent to the home to which they are assigned. Once through the demonic barrier, they meet their ward, Sarah. She is a young child, only three and a half. It is immediately clear that forces are at work to destroy her….

If you prefer ordering through bookstores, they can order it for you through
Word Alive Press.
Assignment Code 110 is also available through Amazon.com.

CONGRATULATIONS COLLEEN!!!

On another note, I was talking to my sister-in-law Brenda this week and mentioned that I would post the scrapbook layout I did on Jude's 'Cars' obsession...so here it is!!

Field Trip!!

2008-05-17T22:34:00.004-05:00

On Tuesday I got to go along on Sam's kindergarten field trip to the zoo. The day got off to a very chaotic start however. The bus was leaving at 8:45 SHARP and I was taking Jude along so I was up bright and early to get ready. I got the boys up at their usual time but as soon as Jonah was up his nose started bleeding and WOULD NOT stop for the next half hour!! He was upset and I was in a rush and didn't really have time to help him so he was taking care of it himself. He was crying and getting frustrated and I was getting frustrated...it was just not a good morning. Anyway...he eventually managed to get in a bit of breakfast before I was rushing everyone out the door. I was planning on giving them all a ride to school but I had to send Sam ahead because I wasn't sure I'd make it in time. BUT....it all turned out ok. Sam and I both made it on time.

It was a beautiful day for a trip to the zoo. (I've been on a zoo field trip in the rain and that is definitely not as fun). We spent the first hour or so just walking around in our groups...actually, it was more like chasing the boys around as they flitted from one thing to the next...LOL. Not having any girl of my own, a trip like this makes me realize how different boys are from girls. The girls in the group would stop to look at the fish or the flowers and comment how beautiful it was...I never hear stuff like that coming out of my boys mouths...LOL.

Anyway, after lunch and some time on the HUGE play structure, the kids had a class on "Big Animals" and the moms went and had coffee...it was a tough job I tell ya ;). After the class, we had another 45 minutes to look around and then we headed home.

I had to drive to the zoo on my own because I needed the stroller for Jude so on my way home I stopped at IKEA and did a little shopping :D.

Sam...posing again :)

The lions were right by the fence...I've never seen that that close before...very neat.

So now we're in the middle of a double long weekend....yay!!! And it's HOT!!! We've had 29 degrees yesterday and today. I'm so used to having rain every May long weekend...this is just amazing. Yesterday and today I've been working on the yard and I'm now sore and tired. The boys have been a lot of help...they're staring to come in handy ;). Trev was home today too and he finally had some time to tackle our very cluttered garage. It looks soooo nice now...I'm very excited. We have no big plans for the weekend. I plan to relax for the rest of it...we might have Colleen and Jerrie over tomorrow...the kids really want to hang out again.

Till next time...I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!!

Baseball Season Opener

2008-05-06T20:35:00.007-05:00

On Saturday the boys had their baseball season opener. It was just a day of fun (and a fundraiser) for the whole minor baseball league. There were exhibition games all day long, a parade of the teams, and a carnival. There are about 500 kids involved in minor ball here...including surrounding towns....so it was a big group. The boys had a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, Seth couldn't go...he was signed up for a "Young Authors Conference". Two people in his class got to go and Seth's name was drawn months ago. It was too bad that it conflicted but he didn't complain at all about missing the carnival.

Jonah's game:

Sam's game. It's so cute seeing him play t-ball :)

This is Jonah in the parade...his team is called the "Green Dragons"

As you can see, Jude REALLY enjoyed the day...LOL. Actually, we just got tired of chasing him so we confined him to his stroller for a little while..he was not impressed.

Watching the parade

On our way home after a fun afternoon

I felt soooo bad...I TOTALLY forgot about sunscreen and Jude got his very first sunburn. Bad mama...time to stock up on sunscreen...summer's coming!!

I'm being published!!!!

2008-05-01T16:13:00.003-05:00

I am so excited!! One of my scrapbook layouts got picked up by a magazine!! And guess which one?? CREATING KEEPSAKES!! Ok...so maybe that doesn't mean a thing to some of you but to me it's almost like a dream come true. Creating Keepsakes is one of the top scrapbooking magazines out there and I never ever thought I'd see one of my layouts in there. They're publishing a 2 page layout I did of Jude and putting it in the "Reader Gallery" of their September issue. I mailed it off this morning. Yeah!!!! :D

Wednesday's Incident....

2008-04-30T16:05:00.003-05:00

And the incident of the day for today is.........

LIPSTICK!!

LOL!! He just learned how to open doors this past weekend and so this morning he got into my bathroom and into my lipsticks.

Into the bathtub he goes...

This happened at 9:00 am and wasn't even the first naughty thing he did!! This morning he kept trying to grab things from the counter while I was making breakfast and lunches for the boys. I thought I had pushed everything out of his reach and went to comb Jonah's hair in the bathroom. While I was gone...for maybe 1 WHOLE minute...he managed to pull a cup of milk off the counter and onto the floor. What a great start to the day...;).

Later this morning I took Jude for his 18 month immunization and he was such a trooper. He got 2 needles...one in each arm. After his first one he didn't even make a peep!! He cried a bit after the second one but it sure didn't last long...I was so proud of him...what a brave boy!!

Incident of the day.....

2008-04-25T14:52:00.004-05:00

And to------day.........it..........was..........

ICING SUGAR!!!

ROFL!! When I tried to take his picture, he kept looking down or away...he didn't want to look into the camera...I think he was embarrassed. I finally convinced him to look at me. Little stinker! :D

Sneaky little monkey

2008-04-23T15:31:00.003-05:00

As I finished up my vacuuming this morning, I looked around to see what Jude was up to. I looked in the kitchen and saw some drawers open, so automatically I glanced to the fridge expecting to see it open with little feet peeking under the door (as usual)....but nope, fridge was closed. Then I looked into the living room and there he was, sitting at his little table, eating a yogurt all on his own. He had got himself a yogurt out of the fridge, got himself a spoon, somehow managed to open the container and sat down at his little table to eat. LOL...it was so cute....and thank goodness, no yogurt on the carpet.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....

2008-04-20T23:04:00.010-05:00

"Oh the weather outside is frightful...but inside it's so delightful...la la la la la la la la" :)

Yes...we've had a very chilly, very white and snowy weekend. We've been so spoiled by weeks of beautiful warm weather that this was a bit of an adjustment, although the kids loved it. They've spent hours outside this weekend. The snow never lasts very long out here so when it comes in a dumping the boys take full advantage of it. It's funny...last Sunday the boys had their baseball evaluations and we barbecued out on the deck and today the deck has a foot of snow on it.

This was yesterday evening. When the 3 older boys went out to play Jude desparately wanted to go out too. However, he would NOT leave his mittens on and his hands got very red and cold so he had to come in shortly after.

And this is the 3 boys FLYING down the deck steps with their boogie boards *shaking my head*

Life has been pretty quiet for the past couple of weeks. Our very good friends Mike and Elaine were out for spring break at the end of March. We had an awesome time with them. Seth and Nic got to go to a Flames game with their dads...unfortunately they lost that game but they had a good time anyway. We spent a day at the water park and I kept my boys home from school one day (we had an earlier spring break) so that the kids could hang out. And of course, Elaine and I spent a whole day shopping and lunching...we had a great time. It was so nice for the kids to reconnect again...they're all such good friends.

The kids are doing well. Jude is changing so quickly these past few weeks. He's picking up new words every day and it's so fun to hear him repeating everything we say...it's such a fun stage. One of his favourite foods right now is yogurt and he knows how to open the fridge (oh joy!) so he'll open the fridge, get himself a yogurt, climb on the handle of the bottom drawer to reach the cutlery and get himself a spoon and come to Trev or me saying "oeg oeg oeg oeg oeg oeg oeg oeg" ( that would mean "yogurt") ....it's so funny.

However, it's also the stage of those "wonderful 2's" ;). He has become a very very busy boy...into EVERYTHING!! He leaves me very tired by evening...thank GOODNESS for afternoon naps!! And he's just discovered that he can push the kitchen chairs up the counter and reach all kinds of fun things to play with...sigh.

And he is currently obsessed with all things "Cars" (as in the movie). First thing in the morning it's "car on?" "car on?" "car on?" and on and on until we finally put it on for him. And when it's over he wants it on again.

Watching "Cars" with Daddy just this morning. He gets soooo excited when it comes on and he's just glued to all the action. He watches for about 20 minutes or so until the story slows down and then he loses interest.

This was one day last week when I told him that was enough "Cars", and that he couldn't watch it again. Total meltdown on the bed...LOL!!

He also has these 4 little cars books that are the only books he ever looks at...and he studies them very intently....over and over again.

Seth, Jonah and Sam are supposed to be starting baseball this week but with the snow I think it will be put off for another week. Seth and Sam will be playing on Monday and Wednesday nights and Jonah will be Tuesday and Thursday night...aye ya yay. It will be busy but I'm looking forward to it...after seeing how much they improved through the season last year I'm curious to see how they'll do this year. And Sam playing t-ball will just be too cute :).

Anyway..that's where we're at. Here's one last picture...have you met my two sons Darth Vader and Optimus Prime?? ;)

Easter weekend

2008-03-27T20:52:00.016-06:00

We had lots of family out for the Easter long-weekend. First of all, my mom has been around for almost 2 weeks now. She's here staying with Colleen and Jerrie's kids while they're on holidays...so we spent a couple of days together last week. Then on Thursday Paul and Chris, and Keith, Sheree and Preston came to stay for the weekend. Paul and Chris stayed at a hotel and Keith and Sheree stayed here with us. It was sooooo fun to see Jude and Preston together...they're only 7 months apart and bound to be little buddies.

Preston loved going outside and playing "baketball" with the boys.

We were busy and on the go and had a tonne of fun. Thursday night I cooked dinner and we just sat around and caught up...a very nice evening. Friday was a very traumatic day for Preston...the boys showed him Daisy (the bird) and all was fine until she started flying around and whizzed right by his head. That completely freaked him out and the rest of the weekend he was quite consumed with the bird. He spent a lot of time Friday holding his ears and crying and asking to "go home Mommy"..."I 'cared bird". Poor guy...we put the bird in the garage for the rest of the weekend and every hour or so he would say "birdie gone? Birdie gone? Birdie gone?"

Friday afternoon we took a trip out to IKEA...Keith and Sheree drove with me and as we were walking toward the store Sheree said it was taking all her self control not to just run for the doors....LOL!! She was pretty excited about this shopping trip. Can't say I blame her....I LOOOVE IKEA!! We all bought some stuff...Sheree thought over some stuff that night and went back the next day for more. Anyway...Friday night I made a nice Easter turkey dinner and the boys got Easter treats from Grandma and Boppy.

On Saturday we decided to head to the zoo. It was a little chilly but we still had a lot of fun. Everybody's favourite part was the hippotamuses (sp?), the giraffe's and the rain forest. After the zoo, Sheree did her second IKEA run and then Paul and Chris took us all out to Swiss Chalet for dinner.

Seth and Grandma.

Our family at the zoo.

On Sunday morning we drove out to Banff. The boys were very excited about seeing the mountains. They really wanted to go up the gondola, but we decided it would be a lot more fun to do that in the summer. It was pretty cool that day and would have been even colder up on the mountain. So we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and wandered around and did a bit of shopping. We found the most delectable maple fudge in one of the stores and have decided we have to go back soon just for the fudge...LOL. Mmmmm...was it ever good!! We got home late afternoon and had a hamburger barbecue.

Trev and the boys in front of the beautiful mountains of Banff.

And me and the boys.

Walking around downtown.

I really got a kick out of this baby onesie I saw in one of the stores. It says "all Mommy wanted was a backrub"...LOL!

After dinner we gave the boys there Easter treats and their Easter egg hunt.

Jude and Preston into the Easter eggs.

Then it was packing up all the IKEA purchases ;) and getting ready to leave the next morning. And of course some more pictures of the two little boys with Grandma and Boppy.

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend and hope they all come back very very soon!!! If not for us...then for IKEA!!! ;)

3 Very very excited boys!!

2008-03-13T14:58:00.003-06:00

On Monday afternoon, around 3:00, Trev calls me up and says "When the boys get home from school (here I was thinking, "great...what job does he want me to do with the boys?"), tell them to get their hockey jerseys ready...they're going to see the Flames". Trev was able to get 4 tickets for the Calgary game from someone at work.

When they came home school I told them they should get all their homework done right away because they were going out for the evening. They asked "where" and of course I made them guess...LOL. It took several guesses, and several "no...more exciting" comments from me for them to guess. They could hardly believe it, and when it sank in...woohoo...major excitement. There was whooping and hollering and running around and hugging and jumping. Needless to say, they were very excited. This was there very first live Calgary Flames game and I'm so glad they could all experience it together.

There was a lot of love and joy in our house that day ;).

Jude was getting his shoes on, thinking he was going along. But...he had to stay home with Mama. We had fun too. It was a beautiful evening and we walked to the park where he had lots of fun playing on the play structure.

They got home from the game around 11:00 pm and all three of them came straight to my room and all started talking at once. They were so hyper...they went on and on and on for the next 10 minutes until I finally stopped them and told them it was late and they needed to get straight to bed. It was very cute and they had a GREAT time. But the next morning, I had to drag 3 VERY sleepy boys out of bed and both Seth and Jonah could barely talk because they were so hoarse from screaming and cheering all evening...LOL.

Here is an 18 second video out of the boys at the game. Trev says this was just 18 seconds out of 60 minutes of their excitement.

I saw the Calgary Flames!!

2008-02-24T22:00:00.016-06:00

Pete and Lisa and Haydyn came out to visit us this weekend. They got to our house Thursday evening and left for Edmonton tonight. They'll be back on Tuesday for one more night before they fly back home on Wednesday.

Pete brought with him an amazing AMAZING gift....Calgary Flames tickets!!! And the most amazing thing was that they were ice level seats...first row!!! Can you believe that?!?! There were players and pucks slamming into the boards literally RIGHT in front of our faces!! It was SOOOOO very cool!!! I'm still excited about it...LOL. The game was on Friday night against the Detroit Redwings and Calgary won 1-0. It was a fantastic night out. Seth gets to go to a Flames game at the end of March and the whole night I kept thinking "Seth is going to absolutely LOVE this!!!" I can't wait for him to go. I'm posting a bunch of pictures ...mostly to show Andy...my hockey fanatic brother :). You would have loved it Andy!!

Even little Haydyn got to see the game..lol.

Can you believe those seats?!?!

This was right after Calgary's one and only goal. I just missed the big team "hug" and got them as they were skating away.

A face-off right in front of us.

If not for the glass I could have almost reached out and touched Kiprusoff :D.

A hockey fight right in front of us.

And lastly....a picture of Iginla.

It has been so nice to have Pete and Lisa here. Haydyn is such a little sweetheart and it's so special to be able to get to know her a little bit. And I have loved watching Jude get to know and play with his little cousin. I have to say that that is one of the things I'm going to miss the most...Jude not being able to grow up with his cousins Haydyn, Preston and Keziah. We're going to miss little Haydyn when she goes home.

They are sooooo cute together!!

Jude being his kooky little self...and Haydyn wondering "what is wrong with this kid?"

We tried to give them a bath together last night...but the fun was very short lived. Jude started splashing like crazy and Haydyn was NOT impressed. Then when I disciplined him and told him to stop (over and over) they were BOTH wailing. Oh well..we tried. :)

This was just this morning...they were so cute playing side by side.

Visitors and Birthdays

2008-02-07T16:23:00.000-06:00

The past few weeks have been busy and fun. The boys have settled back into their school routine. We've done science projects, gone on field trips and this week they're celebrating "100th day of school". We've had both Lucille and my mom come to visit. Lucille came on Tuesday, the 22nd and stayed until Sunday. My mom flew in the day that Lucille left so we were able to have both of them here together for lunch on Sunday before Lucille had to leave. Mom stayed for a week and left this past Monday. We had so much fun with them...the boys loved having family around. Lucille, Colleen and I even managed to have a girls night out. We went to Tony Roma's for dinner and then to a movie...we saw "National Treasure". It was a super fun night out. And it's always fun and special to have Grandma around. Here's some pictures of the boys and their Grandma:

Jude loved playing with Auntie Lucy...she's soooo cwazy ;)

And me and my sista's!!

Yesterday was my *gulp* 38th birthday!! Actually, I was fine with it...I have no problem with approaching the big 40. I guess it means I'm now becoming "mature"...LOL!! Yeah right. It's like I said to someone yesterday...I'd rather be 38 than 20 again...been there, done that. I like where I'm at in life and I intend to age gracefully...if that's possible ;).

Anyway...it was a quietly spent birthday. Sam didn't have school yesterday so we went out to Walmart to gather things for his "100 day celebrations" and then we went to Tim Hortons for Ice Caps...he was quite excited about that. I cooked manicotti for dinner and Trev brought home a cake and some flowers. The boys were determined to put a sparkler on the cake so after rummaging around for a while, I finally found one. We all sat around the cake as I lit the sparkler and as soon as the thing went off Jude absolutely FREAKED OUT!!! Poor guy...he had no idea it was coming. I felt sorry for him but it was quite hilarious...the boys were laughing their heads off. Jude eventually calmed down but every time he got too near the sparkler he'd start wailing again. The boys figured they would have won on America's Funniest Home Videos if we'd have caught it on tape.

Jude was so still on edge and jumpy after the sparkler fiasco. When I opened the flowers that Trev gave me, he was turned away and I put the flowers close to his face so he could smell them...well, he turned, saw the flowers in his face and freaked out again...jumped about a foot in the air. This again sent the boys into gales of laughter. Not the most fun birthday celebration for Jude, that's for sure. He was sitting on my lap as I was downsizing the pictures of the sparkler just now and started whimpering again. I hope he's not traumatized ;).

It Climbs!!!!

2008-01-17T18:12:00.000-06:00

Oh boy...and I thought I needed to watch him like a hawk before. Help.....

And there he sits...on the middle of the table!! Stinker!!

And one more cute picture:

"Thank-you Jesus for this food, Amen".

Rocket Launch!

2008-01-13T22:49:00.000-06:00

With the coming of the new year we've started our search for a church to attend. For the past 2 Sundays we've gone to the Evangelical Free Church. It's a little different than what we're used to...but the people are very friendly and welcoming...last Sunday we were actually invited over for lunch for today. They had us and another family over. We had a really nice time. The church also has a great Boys Bridage program for the kids. Seth, Jonah and Sam went last Tuesday and they were getting ready for their rocket launch on Saturday. So, the boys got a rocket to take home and we spent Thursday and Friday evenings building it. On Saturday, we were up bright and early and headed out into the country where they were having the rocket launch on a big frozen pond. The boys LOVED it. They got to shoot their rocket up about 5 or 6 times. After that one of the fins broke off and that was it. It was a beautiful morning...perfectly blue sky, no breeze, not too cold...perfect for a rocket launch. Here are some pictures from our morning:

This was Jude's first time wearing boots and walking in snow. The boots were a bit big and bulky so he spent the first hour doing a lot of falling down and doing face plants...which really ticked him off. After a while he got the hang of it and had a great time wandering all over the place. Every now and then we'd head over to the fire they had going to warm up his little hands.

Seth putting in the engine.

Getting ready for take-off

There it goes!!!

"Where will it land?"

Safely recovered :)

Jonah's warming up with some hot chocolate

It's Christmas!!

2007-12-23T22:55:00.000-06:00

Wow...I can't believe how quickly this month of December flew by...and here we are...2 days until Christmas!! We're having our celebration tomorrow and I'm so excited. The saying about "better to give than to receive" is never more true than when you have young children. I think I'm just as excited about them opening their gifts as they are ;). I just love seeing their reactions and excitement. And then, of course, we'll have our traditional fondue dinner. It's kind of neat how the boys are now old enough to know that this is our tradition and they are excited about this meal that we only do at Christmas. It should be a fun day...I can't wait!

So, we decided to stay out here in Alberta for Christmas this year...and I have to say I feel both happy and sad about it. I will certainly miss our families and all the fun and laughter of the Christmas gatherings...and of course the traditional 3 days at Camp Arnes. That's always a huge highlight for the boys. I miss my family like crazy and would soooo love to see them...especially now at Christmas. However, I think spending a quiet, relaxed Christmas here will be very good for us. I think it will be a real bonding time for our family. We've spent so very many years apart that I'm looking forward to having some days just for "us". That may sound selfish, but we need it. We're planning to do some fun family outings over the holidays and give the boys a good time (gotta make up for Camp Arnes ;) ).

So anyway, we went straight from birthdays into Christmas mode...the boys have been celebrating the season at school all month long. They've had so many fun projects and activities to take part in. I don't think they did much work at all during the last week of school. During the last week, Sam had a "pajama day"...a day of crafts and activities, snacks and watching the "Polar Express"...it sounded like a lot of fun..except that the hot chocolate was "disgusting" ;). One evening, all parents were invited to the school to do a craft with their kids, eat goodies, listen to the choir and check out the kids work. Trev has talked about how neat it was to be able to do that...he's always had to miss those activities because he was always out of town. Then the next morning Jonah had "Santa's Workshop"...more crafts and Christmas activities...he brought home some pretty cute ornaments to hang on the tree. The next morning, Jonah's "pod" (group of classes...they have little "communities" within the school) had a pancake and sausage breakfast for those kids and their parents. I had to bring a fruit tray :). That was unique and fun...it involved food so Jonah loved it. Then on Friday they just had school in the morning and they had a swim/skate day. All 3 of the boys wanted to go skating..and I had planned on skating with them but unfortunately Jonah and Sam were both sick the night before, with the whole "throwing up" business. In the morning Jonah said he felt fine but Sam was still not well so just Seth and Jonah went. However, when Jonah stepped back though the door at noon, he was in tears...he was sooo thirsty and his energy was completely sapped. I promised them we'd go skating over the holidays and it would be more fun :).

So, here are some pictures from a few of our Christmas activities over the past few weeks.

Sam made a cute pinecone decoration.

Sam and Jonah made gingerbread houses. All classes from kindergarten to grade 2 made gingerbread houses...and the gym was FULL of kids. It was amazing.

They had tables like this set up at both ends of the school and they were both loaded with gingerbread houses.

My dad and Josh were stuck in Calgary for a couple of days last week so we got to spend some time with them...that was such a blessing for me. I miss my family and it was so special to have them around for a few days.

And of course the boys loved the opportunity to wrestle with Uncle Josh again.

Last Saturday I made and decorated white cookies with the boys. I know making cookies with your kids is supposed to be a fun experience but...wow...have you ever tried it with 3 hyper boys?!? Aye ya yaye...I have no idea what is was about making cookies that hyped them up, but it was one loud and wild kitchen that afternoon. Whew!

Christmas with the Reimers!! Last Sunday Colleen and Jerrie had us over for an evening of tasty or'doerves (is that spelled right?) and finger foods. It was very delicious. And her house was absolutely gorgeous...so "Christmassy" :). Thanks Colleen!! It was a very fun evening.

The crazy cousins ;).

Me and my precious sister.

And here's my little "Santa baby".

Merry Christmas my friends!!! I wish you all peace and happiness and lots of fun and laughter over the Christmas holidays!!

Jonah's birthday!!

2007-12-10T22:43:00.000-06:00

Jonah always has to wait the longest but his birthday celebration finally arrived. Actually, after Samuel's birthday last weekend, I was tucking Jonah in that night and he seemed so sad and down. After some asking and prying (he's always the most work to get to open up) he told me that he always has to wait SUCH a long time for his birthday...Seth and Sam got to have fun with their presents and he STILL had to wait. Poor guy. Maybe next year we'll have to switch it around and let him celebrate his birthday first.

Anyway, Jonah's birthday was on Friday and unfortunately that was the same night as Trev's Christmas banquet. We still let him open up his presents from us and from his brothers before we left for the evening. Colleen actually stayed with the boys for the evening (Jerrie and the boys were in Arizona for the weekend), and she brought movies and a birthday cake...so Jonah still got to have a little celebration.

Jonah pretending to faint in excitement while opening his gifts from us. Those are Seth's hands sneakily coming after the presents during Jonah's "faint" ;).

Jonah's very excited about his bionicle.

He knew exactly what he was getting from me and Trev...but he was very excited about his star wars lego set....yes...MORE star wars lego.

We had his actual birthday party on Saturday. He invited 2 friends and we went swimming at the rec center again. Trev was working that afternoon so I took all the boys by myself and therefore have no pictures from the pool...chasing Jude around is a full time job and allows no opportunity for picture taking :). After swimming we came back to our house and played a few games, opened gifts and had some hot dogs and cake.

The boys are playing a racing game.

Jonah and his buddy Ryan. He got more lego from his friends. Once my 4 boys are grown up and finished with lego I'm going to make a fortune on e-bay getting rid of it all;).

My 8 year old Jonah!!

Ryan, Jonah, and Patrick.

Originally, we were just going to take the family to the wave pool for Jonah's birthday but after Sam's party Jonah decided he wanted a "friends" party after all. So....we did both. We went to the wave pool on Sunday evening but unfortunatly it was a "no wave" evening. We didn't know that. Oh well...they still had fun on the waterslide.

Sam wasn't quite tall enough to go on the waterslide by himself and needed someone over 16 to go with him. This time I told Trev I was NOT going and he had to...so he did. I think that's the first time he's gone watersliding with the boys :). In the end I did end up taking Sam a couple of times as well.

The boys loved the long jump off the side of the pool.

1....2....3....JUMP!!!!

It was a busy weekend..but a lot of fun!! Happy birthday Jonah!!

So now that birthdays are officially over, it's time to focus on Christmas...finally. And today I spent the day starting to put up my Christmas decorations....Yay!!

Samuel turn's 6!!!

2007-12-02T20:09:00.000-06:00

On Friday my baby turned 6 years old!!! Ok...I know he's not really my baby anymore, but after 4 1/2 years of being my baby I can't help but still think of him that way. Actually I can't believe how big Sam is getting....he's grown so much in the past few months. When I check on him at night and see how long he is lying there in his bed I sometimes wish he'd slow down....just a little bit ;).

Just last week we had his very first parent-teacher school interview. Those of you that know Sam well will probably get a chuckle out of what his teacher said about him. She told me he was a "very gentle, soft-spoken, quiet, courteous, well-mannered young man". Huh....who are we talking about? ;) I told her that at home he was very loud and sometimes a little obnoxious...we're always having to tell him to tone down his voice. LOL!! But actually, when I thought about it later I realized he is very much the boy she described. Really the only time he's loud is when he's with his brothers...I think he's had to be in order to be heard around here. He really is a very tender hearted, gentle and very encouraging and uplifting little boy. He's such an awesome kid...brings lots of laughter to my life.

Anyway...on Friday we had his birthday party. Even though we've only been here for 2 months, he had a whole list of boys that he wanted to invite to his birthday party...we limited it to five. And....he wanted to go swimming at the rec centre....eek!! I was a little worried about taking a bunch of little guys swimming but Trev came home early that day to help me out and it went really well. The boys had a great time.

The party started at 2:30 and we went swimming from about 3:00 to 4:00 pm. Seth and Jonah were great helpers by watching the guys and pulling them around the pool in the raft. Sam has a really great bunch of friends...they were very good boys.

Sam and his friends Tanner and Ethan....Sam calls Ethan his "best friend" :)

Warming up in the hot tub. Lucas, Tanner, Matthew, Sam, and Ethan.

Jude liked the hot tub too.

After swimming we headed back to our house and Seth and Jonah played some games with the boys, Sam opened his gifts and they had some snacks and cake.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Sam....uel, happy birthday to you!!!" I love you Sam!

After the party guests left we gave Samuel our gifts...he was very excited to get the "Naboo Starfighter" lego set he wanted. That's all that all 3 of them seem to want for birthdays and Christmas this year...Star Wars lego, Star Wars lego. Oh well...makes it easy for me ;).

And the boys gave him the Webkinz monkey he wanted....all in all, a very successful day as far as Sam was concerned...LOL.

I have to add a little story about a comment our family received later that evening. After cleaning up the mess from the party we headed into Calgary...there was a midnight madness sale on at Scholars Choice and Jonah wanted to buy something there with some of his birthday money. All three of them ended up buying something with there money from Grandma's and Grandpa's. Anyway...after our shopping we stopped at Wendy's for a bite to eat...and so Jonah could eat his precious "Baconater". LOL. As we were standing in line, this sweet well-dressed older gentleman walks by us, stops and says to me "How nice to have 3 gentlemen take you out to eat". Trev was holding Jude, and Sam was standing next to us. Seth and Jonah were standing off to the side and Trev points over at them and say to the him that those are ours as well. The man looks over at them and then says to us "oh, you have an epidemic happening, don't you?" ROFL!! I laughed for the next 10 minutes...I thought that was priceless!! I love it...my own little epidemic of boys!!

A Visit from "Boppy"

2007-11-26T12:12:00.000-06:00

On Friday Trev got a call from his Dad that he would be in town on Sunday. So Sunday afternoon he took Seth, Jonah, and Sam and they went to pick him up from the airport. He had dinner and spent the evening here with us.

The boys were thrilled to have their Boppy (Grandpa) come to visit...and were especially excited when he hauled out birthday and Christmas presents from family back home ;). Jude played shy for only a short while and then he was Boppy's little buddy...it was so cute. It was very good for the boys to have some family around again. Now we need Grandma to come and visit too. :)

Seth turns 10!!!

2007-11-19T13:31:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was Seth's 10th birthday...10 years since I had that first baby!! A decade!! Wow. Am I really a decade older...oh right...this is about SETH,not me ;).

Birthdays are definitely a little different this year. Seth wanted to have a party with just Colleen and Jerrie's family...and he wanted to play laser tag with his cousins. So that made it easy for me...just book a time and we're set :).

We went to LaserQuest yesterday afternoon and played 2 games of laser tag. Well, everyone played but me, Jude and Colleen (she was kind enough to keep me company while I ran after my very busy 1 year old).

Seth and Matthew getting all geared up.

After their first game they had Seth stand on a chair and we all sang "Happy Birthday". Then everyone got a print-out of their results.

Sam (aka "Bumblebee") placed 3rd during the first game!! We were thinking maybe he's so short that no one saw him coming...LOL.

After a second game, we all came back to our place for pizza buns, veggies, chips, and birthday cake.

Seth absolutely loved his birthday party....and the boys definitely want to go play laser tag again. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY WONDERFUL SON!!!

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Sam's thoughts on kissing

2007-11-09T15:27:00.000-06:00

Just the other day, I was changing Jude's diapar when Sam walks into the room and states quite matter-of-factly "I'm glad I'm not a girl". I, of course, asked "why?". He says that he wouldn't want to have babies...that would hurt too much. Well, makes sense...I can understand that. But I tell him that it's not that bad...otherwise I wouldn't have had four of them. He says, "but that's because you were supposed to have four...there's four kids in our family so you were supposed to. Ok :).

Then he goes on to say that he doesn't think he wants to get married. I again ask "why not?". He says...then I have to kiss a girl. LOL. "What's wrong with kissing a girl" I ask. He says, "I don't like kissing strange girls". I told him if he marries her, she won't be a strange girl. "Well, I don't like kissing girls...except for you mom". LOL...how sweet is that!! I'm going to have to hold on to that one...that is priceless. In just a few years those sentiments will do a complete 180....and kissing mom will be gross and kissing girls...well, let's not go there yet. :)

His conclusion on the whole "getting married" issue was that he would get married but they just wouldn't kiss. Ok. :)

Halloween

2007-11-02T23:10:00.000-06:00

Wow...look at this...two entry's in one week...I'm on a roll!!! ;)

Halloween is definitely celebrated more here than back at home..at least in school, that is. All the students in the school got to carve a jack-o-lantern. The school is divided into what they call "pods", which are groups of different aged classes that stay together as a group for 2 years. So anyway, each "pod" carved pumpkins together and of course each of the boys happens to be in a different pod so I had to go to the school at 3 different times over 2 days to watch the "carving of the pumpkins" :). It was actually a lot of fun to see...and talk about committment from the teachers. Imagine hundreds of pumpkins being carved and the mess that creates...there was pumpkin goo and seeds everywhere. But the end result was really cool...they lined all of the pumpkins up along the hallways on either side. It was a very fun activity for the kids ...the boys had a great time.

Even Jude enjoyed all of the pumpkins. Taking a 1 year old along on a school activity is definitely a wild experience...whew!!

Then on Wednesday, they had a "coin carnival" where they spent the afternoon going to different games and activities set up all over the school.

Seth as "Darth Vador" and Sam as a firefighter. Samuel didn't actually have school that day so we went to the school just for carnival and Seth took him around.

Jonah went as a "crazy guy"...pretty goofy looking. LOL. And that would be Jude's foot in his face (Jonah was holding him...sort of).

Normally, we carve a pumpkin at home and take the boys trick-or-treating but since we don't know anyone in the neighbourhood and it just didn't feel the same we made other plans. Colleen and Jerrie's church put on a "costume carnival" for the children so we went to that instead. The boys had an absolutely fantastic time with their cousins and said "this was the BEST halloween ever!!. And now, of course, they are all convinced that this is the church we should attend. LOL!!

There was mini golfing

Inflatable bouncers and slides

And about 6 TV's with different video games. Seth and Matthew had a great time playing the Wii

There were lots of fun activities for little people like Jude downstairs.
Sam got on to the little train which actually does have a motor that drives but Jude decided to help him along. I think maybe it should be the other way around huh?

Stopping for a snack break. The church provided drinks, popcorn, cotton candy and a bag of candy for each kid.

I was so relieved that the boys had such a fun time...they didn't miss the trick-or-treating one bit. In fact, Sam wanted to go back the next evening. LOL!

And lastly, a little bit of nostalgia...I can't help myself. Look at how much my baby has changed in just one short year....one halloween to the next. It always amazes me.....

The Move

2007-10-30T14:40:00.000-06:00

Finally, I feel like life settling down enough for me to update my blog. We've been here for almost a month now and I can honestly say that it is starting to feel like home. So, let me tell you a little about what we've been up to for the past month.

At the end of September we stayed at my mom and dad's for a couple of days while our house was being packed up. It was a relief to finally be on our way and yet all of the good-byes that week were really heart wrenching. We spent time with both Trev's family and my family.

Saying good-bye to special cousins: Kyra, Troy, Jirah and Kezia

Jude his sweet cousins Preston and Hayden

So, after a tough couple of days, we left on Friday morning. My mom came with us...she drove with me and Jude and the other 3 boys drove with Trev. We stopped in Regina for a night. The kids were so excited about that. We stayed at a hotel with a waterslide and got poolside rooms. The boys just loved it...they swam and swam and wore themselves right out. Even Jude loved the waterslide.

We got to Alberta on Saturday and since our belongings were only being unloaded on Sunday, we spent the night at Colleen and Jerrie's. On Sunday Trev went over to our new house bright and early while the movers unloaded the truck. I went a little later and got started with unpacking the kitchen. Colleen and Jerrie came and spent the day helping us unpack while mom watched the boys at their house.

After a couple of hours of drowning in piles and piles of packing paper, (it is unreal how much paper the packers use...wow!) we headed back to Colleen and Jerrie's for some pizza. We needed to get the boys home early since they were starting school the next morning. They were very excited to see their new home. As soon as they got in, they raced downstairs to see thier new bedrooms. Their beds and dressers were set up and their clothes unpacked so we were able to get them settled into bed fairly quickly.

First night in their new home. They're looking a little tired and overwhelmed.

After an extra month of "summer holidays" for the boys, we were up with the sun on Monday morning getting ready for their first day of school. It was with a mix of excitement, uncertainty and apprehension that we headed off to their new school. Only Seth and Jonah started on Monday....Samuel is in the Tuesday and Thursday full day program so he only started the next day. We took Jonah to his class first. As the teacher was showing him his cubby and where to put his stuff he looked so scared and his eyes were all watery...I had to fight back the tears with all my might. I felt so sorry for him. I could only imagine how hard this was for him. His teacher was very sweet and kind and made him feel very welcome. On the board at the front of the class she had written "welcome to our new classmate, Jonah from Manitoba". Jonah's class was actually in the middle of swimming lessons that week....so Jonah joined in for the last 4 or 5 lessons and was able to complete a whole swimming level by the end of his first week of school. Pretty good for the first week, huh? :) After a month of school, he seems really quite happy. There have been no complaints at all...and I was the most worried about him. Just yesterday, the teacher told me he's still quite quiet with her but that he's doing really well...he a "whiz in math". :)

After Jonah got settled in, we took Seth over to his class. Unfortunately, he had a substitute teacher on his first day....but she was very nice and gave him a "buddy" to show him around and show him what to do. He got settled in ok but was also still looking a little nervous when we left. We met his teacher the next day. She's an older lady and SEth wasn't sure about her at first but he really likes her now. Seth has had the hardest time adjusting to a new school...probably because he had the most years in the Mitchell school. He's done a lot of comparing and according to Seth, this school just is not as good. I've told him things will be done differently here and to just give it time....he'll get used to it. But he's making friends...and I think it's getting easier for him. They've been doing a lot of fun things....although he says they do the "same thing every day". I know he'll be fine...it just takes time.

Samuel was very excited to be starting kindergarten...although he doesn't look all that excited in the picture. Trev was even able to come with us for Sam's first day of school. For as loud and kooky Sam is with family and people he knows...it always amazes how shy and quiet he is when he's in a new situation. And he is so incredibly independent...there are absolutely no big hugs and kisses and teary good-byes with him...just a glance and a see you later from him. Sigh... But I guess I do have to admit that that's better then sobbing and clinging....I don't think I could handle that. Anyway...I think he's enjoying kindergarten...although he does say that the toys are boring. LOL...kindergarten is such hard work ;).

After a few days of driving the boys to school, we discovered that there's a walking path just a few houses down that takes them directly to the school. It takes them about 4 minutes to walk to school. That is such a blessing for me.

And then there's Jude. Well, what can I say? He's just a happy, sweet, cute and cuddly, and very very very busy little boy. Home for him is just wherever mommy and daddy and his brothers are. I think he's feeling very at home in this house already. Within the first 3 or 4 days he learned how to crawl down the stairs...and that just opened up a whole new world for him. Now he can follow his brothers wherever they go and he just loves that. And one of his most favorite things to do is to throw things down the stairs. By the end of the day there's often quite a pile of items at the bottom of the stairs, often including a broom or a vacuum cleaner attachment. Sometimes he does get a little carried away with this new obsession. For instance, the other day I was cooking supper when I heard something go crashing down the stairs. I thought...oh no, what now? I had heard someone coming upstairs when it happend so I called down from the kitchen and asked what he threw down. Seth answered by saying "you don't want to know mom". Oh my...not the answer you want to hear. So I went to look and their was the highchair halfway down the stairs...Sam had stopped it halfway down. Needless to say, we keep the brakes on the highchair from now on.

Another new experience for him happened just this week. I was in the bathroom when I heard a thump loud enough to make the toilet rattle. I thought "what in the world was that?!?" I looked around and listend and suddenly I heard Jude start crying...I knew instantly what had happened. He had been napping and when I went to check on him, there he was sitting on the floor and crying. I have no idea how he did it, but he managed to jump out of his crib. He has a hard floor in his room so it can't have been a very nice landing. Poor guy. I hope that doesn't happen again soon...I'm definitely NOT ready to put him in a bed...Yikes!

My mom spent 2 weeks out here with us and it was so nice to have her around. It was like being to have a little piece of home here with me. Jude just loves her so much...every time she'd walk in the door he'd run straight at her. So sweet. It was very hard on me when she left. I've been really missing her this week and so wish I could just drop in at her house or have her over for dinner. I love my mom very much and it's going to be hard not having her around and not having her watch the boys growing up. Ok...now I'm crying. :(

We've been making some changes to the house. Within the first 2 weeks, we completely repainted the basement. It was so drab and dreary looking and my first priority was to get the boys area looking fun and cheery and like a place you'd want to hang out in. We did it in the same colours as the other house and I'm really happy with it. Now I'm trying to pick colours for the upstairs and it's taking me forever...I just need to decide already. I'm thinking of a deep orange as my accent colour...so I'm quite excited to get started on that.

Most of our family "outings" are to either Home Depot, Rona, or Superstore...not very exciting...but hopefully we'll soon start doing some more adventurous things. We have been going on walks and checking out some parks in the area. There are walking paths all over town...it's quite neat.

This is a park right close to our house with a walking path beside the river.

Sam...my poser. He always has to strike a pose...I don't know, maybe he thinks he's a model or something ;).

Anyway, so that's where we're at. Maybe now that's I've updated the blog with this massively long post it'll be easier to keep it up. I'll end with this picture I took just yesterday.

SOLD!!!

2007-09-05T22:23:00.000-05:00

Our house has officially sold!! It has felt like such a long road and there's been so many ups and downs but it's finally coming to an end.....or to a beginning actually. After 10 years, we're finally going to live together like a "normal" family. We're so excited about that. We'll actually have a husband and daddy come home for dinner every night :).

We originally had an offer on the house in mid-August. After being told it was a "sure thing" and there should be no problems with financing I booked a flight to Calgary to go house hunting. Well, the day before my flight, the deal fell through. Soooooo disappointing. But...Jude and I flew out anyway and spent 3 days with Trev. We looked at a bunch of houses on Saturday and found a house we really liked that had only been on the market for a week or so. But since our house wasn't yet sold, we couldn't make an offer. Jude and I flew back home on Monday and that evening we got another offer. By Tuesday afternoon it was a done deal....sold!! And by Wednesday, we had bought ourselves a house in Alberta. That's a whole lot to absorb in just 2 days!! It was so overwhelming, I wasn't quite sure what to feel at that point. My heart was aching and yet I was excited too all at the same time.

Well, that was a week ago...and the emotions are still a little mixed. I know it's still going to be extremely hard and emotional when I have to say my final good-bye to this house. But I want to leave my blessing here on this house....we've had 11 happy years here and I'm very thankful for the home we've made here. I brought home all 4 of my babies to this house and all of the memories are here. But, Trev's missing from a lot of those memories and that's what we're going to change and I can't wait for that. So, as hard as this whole experience is, I know that this is the road we're supposed to be on and I'm excited about our future.

Today was supposed to be the boys first day of school but just this week I decided I didn't want to put the boys in school here only to pull them out 3 weeks later. It was a really tough decision but I think this will be easier on them. I figured they already said all of their goodbyes in June and have slowly disconnected over the summer and it would be too hard to see all their school friends again then go through it all over again. It's the hardest for Samuel....he was sooo excited about starting kindergarten and now he has to wait even longer. I feel really bad for him but we told him we'd make it up to him....somehow. Seth's a little scared about making friends in the new school so we've been praying about it. It's so hard to see your kids go through something like this...but I know that he'll be fine. He's such a friendly social kid that I know he'll have no problem making friends.

So the next 2 weeks I'll continue organizing and packing as much as I can...we have a moving company coming in that will do all of the packing so really I don't need to do a thing. Woohoo!! But I'll still try to do what I can...I am my mother's daughter, you know ;).

I have to leave you with one more picture. We had family pictures done in June just before Trev left for Calgary. My family....my pride and joy....

My reprieve

2007-07-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

Wow!! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted on here. Life in June was an absolute whirlwind. Trev was home for the month and after a LOT of work we managed to get the basement done and the house ready for listing. We moved the boys into the basement and our house size immediatly doubled...WHAT a difference!! I love it. We finally have space! The basement turned out really nice and the boys love their funky new bedrooms. So our house has been up for sale for about 3 weeks now but still no offers. As July marches on I'm starting to get a little anxious because Trev is now working out in Calgary and I really really am ready to get out there and be with him. But I know that worrying will not help a bit...if we're supposed to be out there by the end of the summer, God will make the way and no amount of worrying will make any difference.

I drove out to Calgary with Trev at the end of June and we did some house hunting. We took Jude with us and he was soooo good. He did get a bit impatient with being stuck in his carseat so much but overall he was a really good boy. We looked at a number of houses but we haven't settled on anything as of yet. We're waiting for our house to sell before we move on anything over there. We got to spend a bit of time with Colleen and Jerrie and the kids and then Jude and I flew back home on his birthday, July 5th.

So now we have a bit of a reprieve for a few weeks. The boys are having a lot of sleepovers and I'm just busy trying to keep the house in a semi-clean state at all times so that the house can be shown even on short notice. I have to enjoy these days because once the house sells the whirlwind will pick up again.

We celebrated my baby's 1 year birthday before Trev left. We had his baby dedication and party at the same time. We invited family and friends and had the party at the pool in Trev's parents back yard. I still can't believe my baby is already 1 year old and walking!! How does a year go by that fast?!? Here's some pictures from his party:

Jude and his very precious Grandma. I love this picture!!

Another exciting event of the past few weeks is that Jude
finally got some teeth. Yeah!! So while Jude just got his front two teeth, Jonah lost his front two teeth. He lost them a week apart so the tooth fairy has been very busy around here lately. He'll have an awesome school picture this year won't he! :)

And here are some 1 year pictures of Jude I took last week. Ihought I'd post them just because he's so darn cute!! :D

Kin----dergarten, here we come....

2007-06-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

...here we come. Kin----dergarten here we come. Goodbye pre-school, we had a lot of fun.....kin----dergarten here we come, HERE WE COME!!! Sam had his preschool program and last day of preschool last week. The program is always so cute. It was the third time I've heard the song "Kindergarten here we come" and for some reason it still brings tears to my eyes...I'm just too sentimental ;). I guess it's just another one of those moments when I realize that my "baby" is growing up.

Here is Sam getting his "diploma". He's so proud. He's happy that preschool is over but he's not too thrilled about staying home with Mommy now. Apparently that's just toooo boring. Kids. He's been wanting to go to kindergarten since January so having to wait another 3 months is just too long.

Jude is growing up fast...he is now eating more solid foods. He's been eating cheerios, french fries, macaroni and here he is eating his very first grilled cheese sandwich. Mmmm mmmm.

One last thing: a funny Seth story. This is the conversation we had yesterday morning.

Me: Seth, do your sandals from last summer still fit you?
Seth: Yeah, pretty much.
Me: Not your flip-flops, your sandals. Have you tried them on? Do they fit?
Seth: Yeah, I think so. Except that my feet stick out the end.
Me: Well, that would mean that they DON'T fit!

Silly boy!! :)

I love Mother's Day!!

2007-05-14T22:30:00.000-05:00

I think I have the sweetest boys around...now I know you all would like to argue with me about that but since it's my blog, I can say that ;). They were so cute...yesterday morning I was getting ready for church and I could see them sneaking around and whispering and just as we were ready to leave they presented me with their treasures. When I unwrapped my gift I had to laugh....a month or two ago I was shopping with the boys and as we walked past a jewellery store we stopped and looked at this collection of beautiful crystal jewellery and figurines. I told them how I beautiful I thought it was and how that would be a wonderful Mother's Day gift. Well...a good thing to remember from now on is that kids really do listen and take what we Mommy's say very much to heart. When Trev took them shopping they were very determined in what they wanted to get me...their was no changing their mind :). So I received a beautiful crystal necklace for Mother's day. They were soooo thrilled to give it to me. Sweet boys.

Then of course they each presented me with their hand-made mother's day card they had each made at school. And you know what? Those cards are just as precious to me as any piece of jewellery they could have ever given me. I have looked at those cards several times today and they put tears in my eyes. You know...it won't be very many years of my life where I'll receive 3 of those sweet cards at one time. Seth is already 9 years old...in just a few short years he's going to be "too cool" to make his mom a Mother's Day card. And his was soooo cute....it was a little book with about 5 pages of things that are special about his mom. I realize more and more that I just have to treasure these years...they are going to speed by much too fast.

So I loved my Mother's Day. My boys made me feel like a queen. I hope you all had a wonderful day full of warm and squishy feelings too!

My new dishes

2007-05-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

My dear friend Maddy asked to see the new dishes I was talking about so here's a picture. They're a really rich cream colour with a "crackle"-like finish. the dark colour is a dark chocolate brown. They're a really close match to our table which I don't really like but I'm hoping that in the near future we'll be able to buy a new dinette set and I'm hoping to find something in a dark finish. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I only bought 8 place settings and I want to do an additional setting in another colour. I bought a set of red dinnerplates....and I'm not too sure about it. Might be a little too bright and flashy for me ;). What I'd really like is some dark chocolate brown dishes but I haven't seen any anywhere. If anyone knows where I could find some....PLEASE let me know! In the meantime, I would love all of your opinions on the red set...just leave it in the comments. Tell me what you think :).

My Sentimental Son

2007-05-10T23:09:00.000-05:00

I've had the same dinnerware set since we got married...almost 12 years ago. I've always loved my dishes but they're definitely showing wear and tear. It's stoneware so almost every piece is chipped and it's starting to look pretty bad. So I've been looking around for a new set and found one I really liked but held off on buying it. Well, this week it came on sale so I just had to go and get it...just trying to be thrifty ya know ;). After a couple of days of having the boxes sitting on the kitchen floor and the boys bugging me to take out the dishes I finally did it tonight. I took all of the old stuff out of my cupboards and set it on the table and my beautiful new dishes took their place. After I was done, I looked at my old dishes on the table and thought "they're actually not that bad...do I really want to get rid of my old dinnerware?". Seth was with me in the kitchen and he's looking at the dishes too and says "are we really getting rid of them....I grew up with those dishes". That made me smile. What 9 year old boy gets sad over dishes?? :) Then I told him they were actually a wedding gift...Daddy and I got them from Grandma and Grandpa and Seth says "my Grandma and Grandpa?!" It was then I realized that I was kind of attached to these dishes as well and I told him I felt really bad getting rid of them when they were a wedding gift from my parents. Well!! Then Seth says to me "why don't you keep one of each to remember". Of course!! Why on earth had I not thought of that?!? After he said it, it seemed obvious that I would keep one place setting as a keepsake. Honestly, if he hadn't suggested it I probably would not have thought of it and I would have kicked myself a thousand times later on. My sweet sentimental Seth...what would I do without him? So now I have one whole place setting set aside and I will have no regrets giving away my old dinner set. Thank you Seth!!

Little stinker!

2007-05-07T23:11:00.000-05:00

So my little Jude turned 10 months this weekend and with this milestone came the obligatory unrolling of the toiletpaper roll. Now that he's caught on to the crawling thing he definitely keeps me hopping. He is such a busy boy...I don't remember the other 3 keeping me this busy. Ha ha....yeah right!! I think those years were so wild that they're just a blur in my mind. :)

And just look how very proud of himself he is. Mommy's taking a picture so this must be really cute, right? He's such a funny little guy...he brings a lot of laughter into my life. I love him to bits!!

However, his new ablity to get around and stand up everywhere has unfortunately led to 2 accidents in the past 2 days. Yesterday he stood up in Samuel's closet, reached for the musical aquarium (which is really quite heavy) and it fell and smacked him in the face. He cried so hard and ended up with his very first bloody nose :(. Then this evening, I put him in his crib... which is the one place I know he'll be safe and not get in trouble. So he's standing in there shaking his head back and forth as hard as he can, laughing and being his kooky little self when he slips and cracks the top of his mouth on the crib rail. OH...MY...WORD!! Did it ever bleed!! I held him against my shoulder for awhile and when I pulled back to look at him, blood was pouring out of his mouth. It was horrible. It just kept bleeding for about 15 minutes. I felt so sorry for him. The other 3 boys were all in the bathroom with us trying to help out in any way they could. Ahh...it's a tough stage...sooo busy and absolutely no understanding yet. I hope he's a quick learner ;). Anyway...that was my Jude's adventure of the day...hopefully tomorrow will be an injury-free day. Good night!

A bit of food for thought

2007-04-26T14:43:00.000-05:00

Today I got another one of those "forward" e-mails. Now I don't always bother to read them but this one had a little story and I quickly skimmed over it. Right at the very end of the story was a line that caught my attention and I thought what a LOT of truth summed up in one little sentence:
"Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than by the things you acquire."