During the day

It's actually REALLY nice having a kid at school all day. Don't get me wrong- I do miss Abby throughout the day. Sometimes it makes me sad to think that somebody else is getting to spend more time with her then I am. However, the full day routine is far less hectic then the half day routine we were accustomed to last year.

Abby comes home full of accounts of her grade 1 size adventures, and finally, FINALLY she has her own desk! This kid is loving life right now.



Batman on the other hand, has had to find other ways to keep himself busy during the day. He misses his older playmate, and never leaves the house without taking a long three essentials. His mask, His Cape, and his School backpack. I'd like to say he's ridding the world of havoc...but at times it feels as though Batman is plotting to do the opposite of that!



And this little girl is completely oblivious of most changes around here. As long as Jess has a pile of pennies to count, or can help me in the garden she is as Happy as a Lark. She's taken a liking (ok an obsession) to Cameron Falls in Waterton, and insists that it is HER waterfall. Aside from her persistant nagging during the day questioning "when are we going to her waterfall," she's a pretty fun little thing to have around.



John is back to teaching and has a full course load this semester and maxed out class sizes. Volleyball season has officially begun as well. I think he will enjoy it all even though it is his busiest time of the school year. I thought of finding a picture of him to post- but felt instead that an absence of a photo might be more desciptive of his existance around here:)

We miss him.

But I'm determined to handle it much better this year then last.

Really, I am.

Well that didn't take long!

Considering we have spent an entire summer sleeping in, and making up our own schedule I expect today to be a bit of a shock to us all. Surprisingly we all were awake and going by 7:00 am. Probably the earliest we've all been up in a couple of months.

We hit the ground running and I actually felt proud of myself for pulling off a celebratory bacon and egg breakfast for the "first dayers." As we sipped our orange juice, I felt very hopeful that maybe we'd adjust to this whole routine thing after all.

Then I looked at the clock. 8:00. Already.

Lunches to make, hair to curl, annual photos to take, was John going to walk? Drive? oh catch a ride with us! Ok that meant I had to pick up the pace. Now, only 10 minutes to stuff those lunch bags, make the beds, clear the table (but only of the perishable food- everything else would have to wait), family prayer (ok actually we forgot that part this morning), find Sam's shoes and out the door.

5 minutes late

Abby was one of the last to arrive. She didn't care though. (She should just get used to it anyways)

She DID care though that I didn't let her walk home with her beloved cousins Ava and Mya.

One angry girl.

Lunch.

Dentist appointments.

One cavity

One fight over the bubbles from the dentist.

Supper late on the table.

Thrown together family home evening

quick snack

John's mandatory half hour hyper time with the kids that convenietly must occur right before bed time.

One book.

Lights out.

Wow. It sure didn't take long for things to go right back to normal around here!

I hear Monday is a Holiday.

I really need a BREAK!

The end...and the beginning

Today is officially the last day of summer holidays for us. Yeah I know that school doesn't start until Monday and the weekend isn't over yet- but could Sunday really ever count as a holiday? Not unless they call off meetings if you ask me. This has been a great summer. Last year we travelled a LOT, went to Disneyland, and saw LOTS of family. This year in contrast we stayed relatively close to home, and did a lot on our own.

Back in June I made a list of 20 things that I wanted us to do before the summer was over.

We did 19 of them!

This past week we've tried to cram in some "lasts" of our favorite things:

Last trip to GLACIER

We've tried to get to know Glacier a bit better the past couple of months. I'm loving it more and more. We've fished there, watched bears, and walked around Swift Current Lake. Last week we drove over Logans pass to the south end of Glacier. There is a beautiful hike there called Trail of the Cedars. Despite the long drive to get here, it was worth it.

The forest consists of HUGE cedar and Hemlock trees, and is home to one of the prettiest waterfalls I've seen ever. Another bonus- the entire hike is stroller friendly. So really it isn't even a hike, so much as a Trail.

Oh, look at that...hence the name I suppose.

The kids played for a long time by the river, before we picnicked and headed home.

Last Symphony by the Water

And the first for that matter too. Because we are such a dignified and classy bunch...(ahem...or because we have a super talented nephew) we were treated to a nice little concert on the shore. John's sister and her family have been living in Waterton for the summer, and we all joined them on their last evening out there, before they moved back home for the school year.

Blah...the school year. They'd probably still be here if it weren't for that blasted school year.

Anyways, my nephew Caleb has been studying the cello for a few years and it was a real treat to sit on the edge of Waterton lake and hear him perform in such a pretty setting.

Caleb played as the sun set, the sound drifted over the water, and the younger kids did everything BUT listen. It was a perfect evening.

Last trip to Waterton

Ok lets be honest, there is no such thing as a last trip to Waterton. Seeing as September is my favorite time in Waterton- we'll likely go within the next week. But this did mark our LAST HIKE of the summer! I'd never done Bears Hump before but have always wanted to, so we thought we'd give it a try.

The hike, though it isn't long, is more uphill then I expected it to be. The kids did great though! Each of them carried their own backpack, and their own snacks. Every once in a while I'd throw a rock in when they weren't looking. You know- to build character and all that.

None of them whined ...or complained!

Neither did I for that matter. I have to say though- I love that in our 8 years of visiting Waterton together- we waited until I was 32 weeks pregnant to finally hike this one!

The view was breathtaking and the chipmunks...were abundant! The kids sat forever like statues waiting for a chipmunk to come nibble the morsel of snack in their fingers.

I have never...NEVER seen them sit that still. And for so LONG!

We finished the hike and enjoyed one last visit to BIG SCOOP and a walk along the shore. The town site was packed tonight!

Perhaps everyone else is trying to enjoy their "Lasts" out their as well.

So that is what we've tried to CRAM into our last week together. As sad as it makes me to think that this awesome family summer is drawing to an end, I can't help but feel a bit of excitement for what waits ahead. The beginning of school, beginning of routine, beginning of the harvest, and the beginning of a few big changes for our family.

No matter how you look at it, the end or the beginning...it's pretty darn great!

Waterton Photos

I've been working on some pictures of my cute neice and nephew. I think that Waterton is by far my favorite place to take photos! More are posted over on Not quite picasso!

Building a Potato Pit 101

Because I know the burning question that everybody has right now is how to build one. Or maybe instead what you're asking is "What is a potato pit?"

Also known as a root cellar, vegetable pit, or ...BOMB SHELTER (jokes...sorta), it's a handy little storage place for most root vegetables. John grew up with two pits in his backyard and to this day we still drive over to my father-in-laws to steal a fresh garden carrot in the middle of winter! What a treat!

Well this week was the week for us to make our own. It really wasn't as hard as I thought it'd be.



Step 1:

Find yourself a handy man (preferably a handsome one) and marry him before he realizes what he's done.

(If it's too late for step one - don't worry. Anyone can dig!)

Step 2:

Define the area that will eventually become the hole in your yard, and begin shoveling!



Step 3:
Don't stop shoveling.

Even when you have a 2 year old leaning over you asking, "Whatchya doing Daddy?" 100 times. Still, don't stop!

Step 4:

You must make sure that your pit is precisely 6 ft deep. That matters. I don't know why- but it does. Your walls will need to rest on the bottom of the pit and still be above ground by about 8 inches.


Count on the scantily clad "fairy person" to inspect your work several times throughout the process. (It's amazing how much a 6 year old THINKS she knows!)

Step 5:

Beam with pride when you finally reach the required depth and you can chuck that nasty shovel aside.

On a side note: Have any of you ever seen the movie HOLES? We were living that. Except for the fact that it took three days to dig this hole, and my husband is not a delinquent teenager receiving punishment. He actually CHOSE to do this. But I did play the part of the "warden" very well.


Step 6:

Perhaps one of the trickiest parts of this project come when you must find a way to lower the 6 ft structure of walls that you've pre-built down into the pit.

......I suggest this is a good time to just head to the beach with some cousins and let your husband handle it in his own miraculous way.

Heaven knows how, but the kids and I came home to this!




Step 7:

Complete the building of the walls, build a ladder (don't FORGET THAT), and insulate the roof and the top of the walls.

Step 8:

Build a handy dandy trap door, and enjoy how complete it finally is. Sit down and wonder what happened to the week.



Step 9:

Wrap your mind around the fact that you now have a whole yard full of CLAY that your kids can NOT stay off of. Don't fight it! It's likely there to stay for a while.

Step 10:

Be infinitely grateful to your handy man for giving you somewhere to put half your garden in the Fall!

See? Just like I said. Easy peasy.

Unless of course....

...you talk to my husband.

Bad and the Good

John and I recently watched the movie "The boy in the striped pajamas." We'd heard from lots of people how great yet sad of a movie it was. It is a story of a young german boy who resides close to a concentration camp and befriends a Jewish boy who is trapped on the other side of the fence.


I don't know if I've ever watched a movie about the Holocaust without being moved and saddened by the torture some people had to experience. This movie in particular was difficult to watch as it in large part portrayed that period in time from the eyes of young kids. Children are naturally so naive and innocent and that provided such a stark contrast compared to the adult world and ugliness they really lived within.



Our book club this month is reading The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Again an account of a family during the holocaust. Only this time it is a family of watchmakers in Holland who made it their personal work to save and hide Jewish people. It's a true story and unlike the movie above it left me feeling a little bit of hope. They risked their lives to help 100's of people and in the end they were found out and sent to a camp themselves. Corrie Ten Boom was the only family member who survived the camp, and she spent the rest of her life speaking to others about her experience and all that she learned during that time.

It is an incredible journey in which she comes to accept God's hand in all things, and helps those around her feel comfort even in misery. The book is full of lots of suffering and lots of ugliness that could only come from such an ugly time. But it is also full of goodness.

Selflessness.

Courage.

Faith.

Her message was simple.

"When we are feeling poorest- when we've lost a friend, when a dream has failed, when we seem to have nothing left in the world to make life beautiful- that's when God says, You're Richer then you think."- Corrie Ten Boom

What's under your bed?

I have a theory that "you can tell a lot about a person by what is under their bed"!

Do you agree?

For example, underneath my half of our bed lies an entire closet full of folded up clothes waiting patiently for the far distant "post pregnancy" days.

What this tells you about me: Well...that I have nothing good to wear right now, I suppose.

(For the record: Under John's half of the bed? Probably a set of scriptures!)

Well, a couple of weeks ago John and I took the kids to my Brother's house. We stayed with them for one night before travelling together to Drumhellar for a day of fun. Heather made us the yummiest Indian dinner (two different curry dishes) and then the rest of the evening was spent visiting and ...investigating.

For the record- I am not a snoop! (Despite the fact that I'm the daughter of a Private Investigator, not to mention a "little sister" to the T), I was NOT SNOOPING!

Chad called me up to his room to show me some of his watches. ....he likes watches. As I sat on his bed, next to Heather he proceeded to pull out the following:

What does this tell you about my Cop Brother?:

The watches) Either he has an obsession with watches OR he is an entrepreneur at heart, and a skilled user with ebay. Perhaps a bit of both. Because really who else has half a dozen un-opened watches under their bed? (By the way- he'd probably be disappointed if I fail to mention that this watch can tell you how far above sea level you are with exact precision, has a thermometer AND full auto EL.)

The machine gun?) You could also come to the conclusion that my brother is borderline maniac! That's pretty much the conclusion that I came up with until my brother pointed out that the gun has the required safety locking mechanism on it.

Oh good. ...he could be a maniac, but luckily he's NOT a reckless one!

The Rifle) After seeing the machine gun, this had far less effect on me. In fact it kinda tugged at my heart string when Chad reminded me that this was the very first rifle Dad ever gave him. Awe.

My brother is a sentimental old chap.

So there you have it. A pretty fair synopsis of my Brother as you may not know him.

We had a wonderful time with him and his family in Drumhellar. We saw the dinosaurs (the replica kind at least), did a couple of geo - caches along the way, walked the suspension bridge, stopped off to gawk at the amazing decor in the Bass Pro Shop outside of Calgary and wrapped up the day by pigging out on amazing Vietnamese food. We tiredly said our good-byes after all of that and headed to our homes.

It wasn't until a few days later when I was cleaning my son's room that I came across the little drawer under HIS bed. This is what he's been storing:

What does this tell you about Sam?

There is a very distinct possibility that my son could turn out to be very much like his Uncle.

And that wouldn't be such a bad thing either.

In my daughters eyes...

I LOVE to paint! It's one of the very few hobbies that I have actually stuck with over the years despite my "miserable"ness at it.

Take singing for example. It didn't take long for me to realize I couldn't sing.
So- I don't pretend to.

Sports? I was on a basketball team for 1 week. I knew when to give up.

But Art. I love. Despite the fact that I don't know anything about technique and have no natural skill there is something about it that I don't want to give up on.

That said- it has been exactly 9 months since I even touched a canvas or my pencils...or anything related to sketching.

These were two paintings I did last year. How many have I done this year? ZILCH!

It does nag at me a bit. You know, that feeling you get when you know you are neglecting something you love.

Well Earlier this week:

Abby was travelling in a van with some of her cousins and they all were sketching and drawing little pictures together. At one point Abby showed her drawing to her Uncle Chad and Aunt Heather, to which they kindly replied,

"Wow Abby. That's really good. You are going to be an artist just like your mom!"

Now I have to say I really think that Abby could have responded to this in a plethora of ways. A simple "thank you" would have worked; or even a not so humble "yes I know" perhaps.

Instead Abby said this, "Oh my mommy doesn't paint anymore. She's forgotten how to. ....SHE ONLY DOES THAT WHEN SHE'S SKINNY!"

Are you kidding me? Maybe I only paint when I have free time. Maybe I only paint when there aren't three kids pulling on my leg. Maybe I only paint when there isn't 1800 sq ft of garden to weed! Maybe I paint when I'm not nauseous from growing a baby!

But nope- in my daughter's eyes....it's because I'm too big!

Well in an effort to prove Abby wrong I sat down this afternoon with my sketch pad on my lap determined to get back into it.

I got this far before before packing it all up.

I think my tummy is in the way!

One 4 year old boy...

That's right- Sam hit the big...um 4 this weekend! Due to the fact that he has been waiting anxiously for this day for weeks and even MONTHS...the past couple of days have been spent in party mode. We felt the need to stretch things out a bit and make it last for him. You know, a little family party here, a cousin party there... that kinda thing.

Tonight definately took the cake (ha ha) when his local cousins came over for dinner! Sam was so excited to get a "party" all for him that he shaved 3 TIMES before anybody arrived!

We had a great evening with our family - who happened to spoil him ROTTEN! Each and every one of them!

We cleaned up once everyone left, bathed the kids and hurried them off to bed. Sam's eye lids were so heavy it didn't take long before we was sound asleep. The sure sign that he had a good day.

I watched him sleep for a bit and reflected on earlier days when I used to cry and wonder "what was wrong with this child!" He was so busy. So crazy and always into mischief. That was then, back when I was still a "new mom" and all I'd ever had experience with to that point was his sister!

Somewhere along the line, I've started seeing all those things about him that once drove me crazy as strengths. Gifts he has that will help him to be successeful one day, and in the mean time...

just make us laugh!

In short- he is just 100% ALL BOY!


And a pretty great one at that!

Because it's so much FUN!

We just got back from a GREAT trip to Drumhellar,and I'll share some pics tomorrow. During the drive I continued to edit more photos of my sister in law Sarah. It's been so much fun!


Really I wish that I could inherit some of my in-laws genes for myself!

Keeping Busy

Only a FEW precious WEEKS left of Summer!

It`s flying by- and I'm glad we've had so much fun. Definitely more play then work!

My sister-in-law let me take some photos of her this week for practice. She's a classical pianist and performs daily at the Prince of Whales Hotel in Waterton. It only seemed natural that we take the pictures there.

Pretty Backdrop and a drop dead gorgeous sister in law. I really had nothing to worry about!

I'm really excited to spend a few days editing and trying to learn more about all that.

We also will be taking a little family trip to Drumheller!

Lots to look forward to.

We`re at that point where we are trying to squeeze as much as we can into these beautiful summer days!

Perspective

I'm often looking for the best view of Chief Mountain. Often, during the school year, after picking up Abby after kindergarten the kids and I would just drive. I'd chose any dirt road that headed in the direction of this mountain and try to get as close as I could.

I took this picture a couple of months ago-it's about a 10 minute drive from my house and it's one of my favorites. It shows perfectly the view and image of Chief that has become so familiar to me- since I was a kid really.


On a recent family vacation down to Kalispell, I was surprised to really notice the view of Chief mountain from a different angle.

Do you see that tall narrow peak.

It's still the same mountain.

Yet it's not the same mountain.

What makes the difference is simply - where you are standing.

___________

I think there is a life lesson in that thought. But I'm a little bit tired, and my sweet husband just turned on a movie and sat down beside me. So instead I'll just leave this quote, and hope that it sums up adequately why I feel grateful to be standing where I do in life.

"One of the great blessings the gospel gives us is the lens through which we can see with proportion. Special perspective comes from the marvelous and overarching principles of the gospel." -Elder Maxwell

Farmers Almanac?

We woke up this morning to a chilly, over cast and VERY FOGGY day. It's been awhile since we've experienced fog this dense.

As we gathered our toques and drove down to the local grocery store for the annual pancake breakfast, I couldn't help but think that it felt an awful lot like fall...dare I even say ...winter!

As we were visiting with a couple they reminded us of something that even John's mom had once told us. The farmers Almanac declares that exactly 90 days after a fog you can expect to see ...SNOW!

So I'm recording this now, and I plan to test this theory out.

Don't worry- it's not like it's gonna snow tomorrow or anything!

But those of you in the area- November 6th is the Date!

you might want to have your mittens ready

My favorite time of year

John accuses me of declaring EVERY season and EVERY holiday my favorite, but I have to say that the Harvest really really is one of my favorite things about this time of year.

Check this out- how can you not love this?

So far we are enjoying Chard, onions, beets, strawberries, raspberries and other such things.

This past week we pulled out and froze all of our peas. That's no small job- but it's worth it.

It helps to recruit some child labor...ahem...I mean darling neices who actually consider shelling Fun!

It feels really fulfilling to see our freezer fill up with fruits and veggies already.

The other day John and I came very close to putting an offer down on a home in our neighborhood. We've started to feel the need to expand. We found a decent home for a great price that had plenty of room for us- yet when we faced the thought of a smaller yard we just couldn't do it.

This little garden and property of ours has come to be so dear to us and we can't picture starting over anywhere else. We've decided to build here on the front half, preserving our garden and giving us a much larger backyard. I'm so happy that we get to stay and enjoy this.

For the rest of my life!

Considering the fact that John and I have moved 11 times in our 7 years of marriage- I'm really surprised that I'm actually ok with the permanancy of this decision.

What is wrong with me?

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

It's been a busy week. It has, in large part been spent outside in the yard. Much of our garden is ready for Harvest, many of our flower beds have needed weeding, and there has been lots of work to do.

As enjoyable as I find yard and garden work I do look forward to Sunday afternoons. The one day when I am forced to leave the tools in the garage, forget the "To Do" list and without any guilt - just enjoy.

A couple of years ago, one of my sisters gave me this hammock. Actually it was a sister-in-law but from the moment she gave me this hammock I've loved her as deeply as my own flesh and blood.

Many Sunday afternoons are spent in this very spot!

PS: Thank you Sarah!