Super Mario, Taylor Swift, and other weekly updates...

This past week I noticed this snazzy little Mario costume on our town "Buy and Sell" facebook page.   I snatched it up faster then white on rice (as my Dad used to say?) and Nate has been wearing it ever since!   

  

At first, I thought he'd just have a little bit of fun and then grow bored with it, just like all the other things I buy for him.   I should have known that wouldn't be the case when he went to bed the first night insisting on wearing his costume.   Mustache and all!   

And when he woke up the next morning?   

The first thing he asked me to do was freshen up his mascara "stache."  haha

For THREE days he wore this costume!

He wore it when I took him with me to go visiting teaching.

He wore it while running around the cul de sac at 7:00 am.

He wore it while we had lunch together at Dave's.

And he wore it while I shopped for paint at Home Hardware.

It baffles me that he doesn't feel insecure sticking out in a crowd as much as he does, but it would appear he is totally in his element!

Just for kicks (as I was taking pictures of him) I told him it was time to take the costume off and not wear it anymore.   (Well...at least not until closer to Halloween for goodness sakes.)   He hung his head down, drooped his shoulders, and started to cry.    Dang, he looked cute!

It's been an interesting week around these parts.    

Abby and Sam have struggled to get back into the school routine, as both of them are in classes this year without any of their friends.  It's brought some heart wrenching moments, for real,  as I've listened to them explain the loneliness or nervousness that they've felt each day.   That said, it has also provided a lot of opportunities for conversation as we've tried to come up with various ways that they could reach out to others.    By the end of this week, Sam was feeling much MUCH more comfortable with his class, and Abby has managed to organize an upcoming "Taylor Swift Party" with 8 other girls, so I think they are figuring things out well enough;)

Speaking of which, this "Taylor Swift Party" has me half rolling my eyes and half wanting to support it due to her new found grade 5 insecurities.    So far, she has spent three afternoons with a few of the girls as they've held very in depth "planning meetings."   They have finally concluded that the party will be on Friday and will go as follows:

Taylor Swift Party

3:00-3:15  -  wait for everyone

3:15-4:15 - make microphones

4:15-5:15 practice favorite TS songs

5:15-5:55 Snacks

5:55-6:45 makeovers

6:45 - 7:45 Sing-off in the backyard

7:45-8:30 board games

8:30 - 9:00 - "talk about life" and "like... just hang out."    

Sigh.....

I'm starting to sense that I am in for quite a year. 

  

Sam had his first cub activity ever this past week, and LOVED it!   

They went out to a nearby farm and learned to saddle up a horse, ride it and drive a team of horses.   He came home with wide eyes and all sorts of stories, and he said his cub teacher (Sister Creed) is so awesome because she likes snakes!  He fell asleep reading his 300 page cub manual, and woke us up at 6:15 the next morning to see if we could go in to Lethbridge to buy him his uniform.     This afternoon, we spent about an hour working on a goal in which he needs to work on the skills of answering the phone, answering the door, and taking messages.    For practice, I got on the cell phone and would call him on our land line so that we could role play the whole phone etiquette thing.   

This is how it went down:

Attempt #1:

Phone: Ring Ring....

Sam (using his best Gollum impression):   Helllo,... my precious!!!!!!!!.........

Attempt #2:

Phone: Ring Ring....

Sam:  Hello, this is Sam.

Me:  Oh, Hello little boy, is your Mom there?

Sam:   No, she's gone.

Me:  Oh, you are home alone?  Well thanks for telling me this.  Is it okay then if I come and kidnap you?

Sam:   No, but you can take my Sister.

Attempt #3:

Phone:  Ring Ring....

Sam:  Hello, this is Sam.

Me:  Oh hi, is your Mom there?

Sam:  She can't come to the phone right now, can I take a message?

Me:  Yes.  Can you tell her to call me at 653-0000

Sam:  Yes

Me (after a long pause):  Okay thanks.  So, you'll tell her to call me?    

Sam:   I will, but I didn't write down your number so just call her back another time.

Sigh....

At the risk of sounding redundant - I'm starting to sense that I am in for quite a year.

Jessica has (in typical Jessica fashion) wormed her way in to the affection of everyone she spends her days with and she continues to love everything about the Whole World!!  haha.   So far, the biggest dilemma of her days seems to be "who she's going to invite over after school."   

She does come home every.single.day with a backpack full of worksheets, crafts and exciting things she's made.   In the midst of my "after school cleanup" I find I'm always throwing it in the garbage, and an hour later she is always asking me where it is?   

I keep telling her that I always put her school art work in her "Memory Box."  

(So far, it's working;)

John and I had a manic episode last week where we just up and listed our house for sale. 

I say we just "up and did it" but really we've been thinking about doing so for a while.   We still debate whether or not we ever could really leave such a great location, but for the time being we are going to forge ahead and act like we can.    This shift in our plan has motivated me to tackle some of the projects I've been putting off, and on Thursday I tackled the dreaded crawlspace!     At first I was just going to organize and arrange all the boxes and you know,  make everything look nice.    Instead, I went through every.single.box scouring through each and every item and then (after sending much of it to the same place I send Jessica's school work) I re-boxed the rest into a much more organized fashion.  

  The whole process did my Type A heart a lot of good, though I'll admit, I had no idea John had received so many love letters from his former girlfriends!  And what boggled my mind even more then that - is that I have actually moved those letters from house to house with us.  THIRTEEN TIMES!!!  haha   

Don't worry - I didn't chuck them. 

Every one of John's precious memories were safely put back in a box titled -

"John's memories from High school/Mission/and those Empty and lost years before he found ME."

Summer Exploration

This past year John and I tried to explore some new and fun places in Waterton and Glacier with the kids.   I also had the chance to take a Wildflower Photography Course as well.   (I LOVED that!)

Below are some of my favorite photos.

Baring Falls:

 Close to Sunrift Gorge:

Many Glacier:

On the way to Baring Falls:

Pink Spirea at Lunch Creek:

Spring Thaw in Waterton:

Cameron Falls:

Sticky Purple Geranium in Waterton:

 View of Waterton:

Field of Fireweed:

 From the Prince of Whales Hotel:

Lady Slippers in Waterton:

 Prince of Whales in the Springtime:

 Red Rock Canyon:

A beautiful sight!

One night this week, shortly after we'd (finally) gotten all of the kids in to bed, I stepped out our front door about to start an evening walk, when THIS is what I saw!

It was the best rainbow we'd seen all year, and for a long time for that matter.  

I was so excited that I ran around the house, waking up every kid and telling them they had to get up and come outside.    It didn't take long for the kids and I to hop in the van and drive to the temple, (leaving John wondering what had happened to "bedtime.";)

But this is worth waking up/staying up for, no?

As Free as I thought it would be

The dominating story of the week is that our little guy, our youngest, (...our last!) has finally decided to say goodbye to diapers.     It's about time too, as we've only spent the past 10 months asking him when he was going to learn to go potty like a "big boy!"   Every time we asked him though his response was always, "ummm...at fwee firty"  or   "umm...maybe in sixty fifty ten."

(Apparently now that he's figured out the whole bathroom thing, we should begin to teach him the concept of time?)  

Truly though, this is a big deal for me.   When I say he is "potty trained" I mean he is - done!   I never have to ask him or nag him, he doesn't need pull ups, or anything on at night.   In fact, I have gone so far as to completely rid myself of every last diaper (including the ones that graced the bottoms of dolls and stuffies;) leaving no remnant of them anywhere in sight! 

For 11 years I have added diapers to our weekly or monthly shopping trips.   For 11 years I have had to ensure that everywhere I went I had diapers and baby wipes in tow.    For 11 YEARS I have had to designate a certain garbage in our garage to "the stinky ones!"   

And for 11 years I have wondered how this moment would feel. 

I truly feel free.   There are just no.other.words.

Oh and for the record, I did a little estimated calculation this afternoon and figured that John and I have spent approximately $5277. 36 on diapers and $922.68 on wipes over the past 11 years!    YOWSERS!  

(Oh, and sorry for the underwear pics, they are totally uncalled for, but I figured after my last post- these ones were quite mild;)

Reinstating Bedtime

Oh my goodness, where has summer gone!!!

Like really, where has it gone?

Perhaps (when I next have time to blog) I should recap all of the highlights of this past summer.   Suffice it to say, the past two months have been Busy (note the capital B), fun, new, rich and so, so full!

On Tuesday my entire family headed off to school. 

 Well actually, not my entire  family as Nate is still home with me.    (Perhaps, when I next have time to blog,  I should share the obligatory first day of school photos and blog about the fun adventures Nate and I have during our days together.    There's just no time for recording all that fun stuff right now.  It would appear that we are all sort of trying to find our way through this new thing called ROUTINE!

This biggest adjustment for the kids has been the implementation of a bedtime again.  

Bed time has always been a bit of a gong show, but now it has morphed into  a TWO HOUR long Gong Show!

"Bedtime"  has once again become the time of day when John (if he's home) chooses to get the kids hyper... Jessica needs 25 books read to her... Abby begins to lament the fact that "someone who is 10 years old actually has to even have a bed time"....  Nate makes a million trips to the bathroom... and Sam parades around the house wearing underwear on his head.    

I made the mistake one night of taking a picture of Sam in one of his sillier moments, and it turned into a full on photo shoot.  (ie:  every time I opened his door to ask if he was going to bed - he was striking some crazy pose... with underwear on his head!!) 

  This particular one kinda scares me.

This one made me laugh.

Eventually though, the kids do fall asleep 

But not after a LOT of goofing around, a lot of angry (albeit ignored) threats, and a lot of tears.

Eventually...they all get so tired though (from all that procrastinating I imagine) that they just sorta drop like flies into a deep slumber.    

7:00 am comes awfully soon around here now!

Gladiolas

I love love LOVE August.   

For this reason alone:

Waterton in three days

A while back I entered a little photo contest that (I swear) few people must know about;)    I was lucky enough to win in a couple of categories, and one of the prizes was a two night stay in Waterton.    

This past week we cashed in on that prize and spent a few days there doing all the things we love about Waterton.    

First up, as soon as we arrived, I made the kids pose for some Family Photos.   

And-They LOVED it!!!  

Now, when I say "they loved it" I actually mean they whined and cried and complained the entire time, carrying on as if it was the biggest injustice ever to have to have a family photo taken.    In all fairness to them, we did just recently snap some family photos, and we will likely in the future take more family photos, so it's not like I have a shortage of family photos or anything.    I may have a slight addiction to taking family photos that borderlines compulsion, which I suspect stems from a childhood of no photos and precious few documented memories.   (I may need counselling.) 

  Still, It had been a few weeks since our last picture, so what was the big deal?

We took 11 shots of this exact photo just trying to get one where Sam was actually smiling.   And the more determined he was to not smile- the more determined I became to keep the pictures coming. 

Unfortunately, just when the kids thought it was over, after we'd gotten back in the van and started heading towards the hotel, I saw a great little building with an awesome cedar shake wall and instantly liked that backdrop better.   (What?   I changed my mind, so sue me!)

All heck broke lose then as the kids flat out refused to cooperate.   To make a short story even longer I'll just add that we all sulked, tears were shed, I lamented the fact that no one was wearing the clothes I'd laid out for them, and I bribed our kids with money to fake a smile.   

And this is the picture that resulted!

Here we are:  One big happy family, about to enjoy our holiday together. 

  

Despite it all, we do look relatively happy so it's all good. 

 But let the record show, that on this day, and at this moment, if I'd been given the choice to a) keep taking my families photos or b) light myself on fire - I would have chosen the latter.    

And that's all I'm going to say on the subject.  

So now that I've spent that much time blabbing about the gong show that was the first 20 minutes of our trip- let me get on to the good part!

The rest was FABULOUS!

We checked into the lodge around four and immediately headed out to hike Bears Hump.  The kids did incredibly well and John and I were impressed with Nate's determination to walk the entire time without any assistance.    His little legs struggled with each high step, but he did it!   

(I know, another family photo.  I need to be stopped)

One morning, we also hiked in to Crandell lake because the kids wanted to do some fishing there.  Because Cameron Road is closed, we had to hike in from behind and it ended up being an adventurous hike for sure.   Turns out, they'd been having bear problems in the area and had actually banned all campers who were using anything less then hard walled trailers.     There was an unusual amount of warning signs along the trail cautioning us that there was a "bear in the area."  John and I kinda laughed at the obviousness of the signage and continued on the path.    

Within minutes, we were stopped by this black bear and her cub.    We backed our kids up carefully and expected the bear to continue on her way.    But instead she continued to walk towards us.    So....we backed up until she was outta sight.    And....she continued to walk towards us!   

I'll admit, I found her aggressiveness (well her lack of fear of us) to be somewhat unnerving, but I couldn't help but take advantage of this photo op:

John eventually did scare the bear and her cub away (he's so brave;) but by then the rest of us were already back at the van, shaking in our hiking boots.   The kids and I wanted to be done with hiking for the day, but John told us to stop being wusses and continue on.  John's determination to get to the lake could be compared to my determination to take a family photo.   

There was nothing to do but continue on.

It was another great hike and the kids were definitely tired after.  For the rest of the stay we spent our time playing in the splash park, swimming at the pool, walking around the town site and fishing below Cameron Falls.    Sam LOVES fishing below the falls!

I absolutely LOVE being in Waterton at night.   It has a whole different feel at night, once half the people have gone home, and the other half start winding down.  

I tried to steal away each evening just so I could enjoy the ambiance a bit.    

On nights like this I like to sit outside the theatre and listen to the live entertainment, or walk along the shore and watch the shadowy figures of others still playing in the water.   My favorite thing I've done though is  sit along the docks staring off towards the Prince Of Whales Hotel.   It's pretty dreamy.    

Speaking of dreamy.   This BABY is pretty dreamy;)

Ben, Marilyn and Blythe came down to Waterton for one night as well and we sure enjoyed their company!  Blythe is the most content and pleasant baby, and I bet her parents will never have to pay her to cooperate for a family photo.        

It was a great few days.    The kids swam, played at Pass Creek and flew kites together before we reluctantly called it quits and headed for home.   

It was a perfect end to Fabulous Summer!

Good bye Big Red

Back in July the AC on our van went.    No biggie, I know.  

Three days later- our hot water system sprung a leak.    It leaked for two weeks, (while we were on holidays and while we had company after) forcing us to function for the most part with cold water only.   

Four days after that was fixed - the AC on our van broke.   AGAIN!!!!   

Honestly, I swear I've spent my summer either playing with family or sitting in the lobby of our favorite Mechanics shop.    (Which isn't really a bad way to spend a summer if you ask me, because as I waited I was able to watch Dr.Oz;)

Just as John and I got everything fixed (and then fixed again) and thought we were done with repairs - 

"Big Red" started to make an awful, sickening noise, and I knew instantly that this wasn't going to end well.    We took it into our mechanic (who didn't seem at all surprised to see us again;) and within no time at all it was determined that there was nothing anyone could do.  

Big Red was dying.

The mechanic kept saying something about an oil pump breaking down, spewing oil all over, limiting oil pressure and wrecking the engine in the process?   Does this make sense to anyone, because it didn't really to me?   

What I did know was that we had a few precious miles left on the thing, but it's time was uncertain.   So we drove the poor thing out to "Coopers" so that Big Red could join the likes of other junkyard vehicles who had "lived a good life."

(I had to follow John closely behind just in case he didn't make it.)

I actually think John was kinda sad to see it go.   

I mean, don't get me wrong, I was sad to see it go too.  
This truck was my Dad's, and believe you me, he put a LOT of money into it:)!  haha
There's a lot of good memories with this truck:   My Dad driving driving it around Calgary... all the little cousins playing in the back...and all the days John would come whipping into the cul de sac at crazy speeds as if it was really a sleek camaro he was driving.
Oh and my personal favorite memory....that time John drove home in reverse because the e-break wouldn't disengage.

 ....sigh.  Yup...it's been a good good truck.

I think John and I were both about to burst in to tears we were so sad to say good bye.


But then the man who owns the junk yard gave us a cheque for $100 and we were like, "HELLO!"
We only bought this thing for $1!    Booyah.
(cue the victory dance!!)

Here's to making 100% profit!!!

AND....while cleaning out the truck, we found this handy dandy fanny pack.

I'm just sayin, it kinda helps to soften the blow!

   

Good bye "Big Red."   Goodbye!

Road trip!

A few months ago, my siblings and I decided that it was time to schedule a little reunion, and this time around we wanted to do something a little bit different.    So...we looked around, considered our options, and (thanks to a great find of my Crystal's) we finally found a great little home that we all could vacation in together. 

So, last Thursday, John and I loaded the van to the roof with enough bedding, water supplies, food, and luggage to see us through a year.  And then we packed the kids in.   As you can tell, they were so excited!

"ROADTRIP!!!"  

We began our journey around 5:30 that evening, and approximately 13.5 minutes later we arrived at the vacation home.   A beautiful 5 bedroom cabin perched happily overlooking the St.Mary River not too far from Magrath.   ;)    

Everyone arrived at staggered times that first day, but it didn't take long for us to start doing what our family does best.  Eating...and playing!

The kids LOVED going down to the river and wading in the water, playing in the sand, slinging mud, and even fishing.    I myself actually never made it down there.    I'd discovered a book on one of the shelves called "I am Hutterite" and I'm afraid reading that just seemed to take up all my time.   tsk tsk

On Friday the Dad's and a couple of the nephews drove a few miles down the road and did some shotgun shooting.    My Father in Law met up with them for that, and apparently Max is quite the eagle eye, even at 70!!!

The kids played so well together, and I love that we never really have to referee them or worry much about them.    The older kids are great examples, and the younger kids make us all laugh.   

 I love this group so much!

It's been a whirlwind of a summer, and it seems as though we have spent the past couple of months going from one party to another!   John and I totalled up how many kids there are in both of our families combined and the total number is 41!  (25 kids on John's side and 16 on mine)     

Over the past three and a half months we have been able to see and play with 37 of them!!!   

It's  kinda felt like one big prolonged family reunion!

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family!!!!