1st trip of the year

This past weekend was GORGEOUS!  Beautiful.  Sunny.  Warm.

We spent a large part of Saturday morning debating whether we should head east to St.Mary's or west towards Waterton.   In the end, St.Mary's won out because we needed to get home sooner to attend the adult session of stake conference.    

It has been awhile since we'd been out here (the fall really) and the kids went immediately to the "bridge" to catch minnows.   Sam caught his minnow in a matter of seconds and did what he always does with his minnows.  He put it in a water bottle full of pond water and brought it home as a new pet.  (I believe he named it "fatty?")   

The dam was open which meant for a fun time looking for fossils below the spillway.    Of course we didn't find any, (some people do-but never us;) but the kids had fun just the same.    

I pulled out my flower twicher for the first time this year and was able to identify two new flowers that I'd never before seen.        

When we all got bored of playing along the shore, we stopped off at the playground for awhile before heading home.   It felt so good to be in the sun and all outside together enjoying each other and nature.   I instantly began looking forward to Summer Holidays with more intensity then ever!!!

Summer can't come soon enough!

S'mores and Such....

It's been a LOVELY week here!  No snow...;) .... a few little showers.... and lots of SUN!!!!

On Friday evening we spontaneously decided to have a wiener roast in the back yard.    It wasn't really spontaneous seeing as the kids had watch our neighbour have one the week before, and jealously declared that "they had more fun next door then us!"

   (Clearly I had to remedy that and work a wiener roast into the schedule;)

To throw it absolutely over the top - we had Jewel and her kids over, because really, that is all it takes for my kids to be happy.    

My niece May showed us that if you put a wiener on a stick in a wavy way it will stay like that once it is cooked!  haha

We enjoyed some S'mores after (of course) and had a great visit!

Speaking of S'mores - Here's a fun little recipe sheet I found online that is full of great variations for S'mores.  I'm looking forward to trying some of them out pretty soon!

Birthday Fun

There is an awesome elderly couple in our ward, who have really taken our kids and adopted them as their own, in a lot of ways.  They often attend the kids’ recitals, choir performances, and sporting events.   And they are constantly surprising them with fun little things like stacks of loose leaf paper and craft supplies.    This couple is so Nice!   

This past week Jean stopped me and asked if she could perhaps borrow our kids for a couple of days as they needed some help with their yard and garden.  She insisted that she wanted ALL of the kids to help, and I immediately jumped at the chance to volunteer my kids and hopefully return some of the kindness that they've shown us.  So, on Tuesday, after school, all four kids walked to their home but not until after I’d lectured them good and long about the importance of working hard and serving others. ;)    The kids came back that night with lots of stories about all they'd helped to plant, and they'd even promised to return on Thursday to do it all again!

Thursday rolled around and I was feeling kinda bummed that I’d committed my kids to help on this particular day.   It was my birthday, and with the kids being gone, it was starting to feel a little bit boring.   John suggested that he and I take Max out for dinner to celebrate, which I was willing to go along with, because hey- what else were we going to do?   I’d  much rather have had my kids with me on my birthday but I could tell John was trying to take the initiative and spearhead something, so I wasn’t going to argue with that;)  haha.    Shortly after picking Max up, John swung us by the Gladdings house as the kids apparently needed me for a second.   When I went up to the door, the kids all jumped out (dressed in aprons) and welcomed us in for a “Surprise Birthday Dinner.”   It was awesome!!!   

Jean had put each of the kids in charge of an aspect of the meal - even Nate!    They’d made spaghetti, fruit salad, garden salad, garlic bread, and homemade chocolate fudge cake.   Yum!!!   We ate and visited, and listened to the kids share (in great detail) all the tasks they had to do in order to pull this off.   





 It was so sweet of the Gladdings to arrange this, and to spend two days planning things with our kids, and I was so happy that I got to spend the evening with them after all!  

  Happy Birthday to ME indeed!!!!

Piano Recital

There are certain milestones that we reach each year, that serve indicate to me that summer is near, the kids' annual piano recital being one of them.

Always, around this exact time, I find myself swarmed with evening soccer/baseball games to attend, nightly homework for the kids to complete despite the fact that we've all mentally checked out,  field trips and more!  It is always such a welcomed thing for me, when the piano recital rolls around as it means there is one night...one precious night  when we are all together.  Just sitting.   Just listening.  I LOVE it!  (In fact, I think I enjoy listening to other kids' performances as much as that of my own.)    

Sam was really, really nervous to do his piece.    (He played "When the Saints go marching in" but it sounds so sophisticated to call that a piece, doesn't it? ;)   He was sitting beside me doing deep breathing exercises right up until the moment his name was called.     

 He did a super job, and he even remembered to bow after, so I was really proud of him!

Abby is a great piano player, who would be a lot greater at it if she'd just apply herself and practice a little bit.    It's coming along for her, and she is very good at it, but she just doesn't try at it, and this bothers me.  I feel so proud of her and the level that she is at, but I suppose she doesn't always hear this amidst all my yelling at her to get practicing!    Sigh... I'm really looking forward to the day when she comes to me and says, "Mom, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to create beautiful music."  Someone tell me that day will come.
I'm truly clinging to that hope;)  




Sam has expressed a desire to continue practicing throughout the summer, and I suspect this has something to do with the fact that his wonderful piano teacher has tried to tell her students that they will "get out of it what they put in."  I decided to offer these two a little financial incentive if they continue to practice  and develop their skills over the next couple of months.  (When I ran this by Sam, he was thrilled and is looking at it as a summer job.  When I told Abby about the plan, she cried.  haha.)

Wish us ALL luck!!!

Garden Time

Last weekend (May long weekend to be exact) was one of the most productive weekends we've had in a long time!  (and I LOVE feeling productive;)   

The forecast didn't look good for the later half of our holiday and so John and I knew we'd have to rush to get the garden in ASAP!    As soon as John got home from work he started up the rototiller and got to work!    

(John loves it when I make him pause and pose for a photo.   He absolutely never finds it annoying;)

This home we are looking after is a beautiful home, but the yard....the yard is AMAZING!   

On the north side of the house there are two garden boxes.    In the longer one we planted onions, beets and carrots.    In the largest garden box we have planted corn and beans.     Oh, and peas!  Because is there anything better then fresh garden peas?  

(in case you are wondering...no there is not.) 

This year we allowed each of our kids to plant any plant/vegetable of their choosing.    (For the most part they've planted their chosen veggies in little individual planters, but Sam here actually got a small section of dirt right next to the asparagus.    

Sam planted 4 pea plants, 2 tomato plants, and broccoli.   (I'm particularly excited to see how the broccoli turns out;)   Abby, Sam and Jess stuck with peas and a beautiful blue flower that I forget the name of.   They're definitely partial to peas!;)

These are two haskep bushes that we salvaged from our old home.  I wasn't sure if they'd survive the transplant- but low and behold they did!!!    They'll do well here this year, (I hope) and may even produce some berries,  but this won't likely be there final resting place. 

 I plan on transplanting them one.more.time! ;)   

Here is the awesome Raspberry patch!  John and I thinned it, removing all the old canes and weeding among them.   This was a week ago.  If you could see it now, you'd see bright beautiful bushy leaves all over!   There is nothing more beautiful then fresh raspberries!  (well..except perhaps fresh garden peas, but that's already been mentioned;)

This photo makes me happy because it shows the make shift sprinkler system that John rigged up for the garden.

Now all we have to do is hook a hose up to the hose that is wrapped around that cart and both gardens get perfectly watered without having to move around any sprinkler.     John's a genius!!!  (We're pretty sure the owners did it this way too, but that doesn't diminish John's genius in any way.)

The kids keep asking to have a hot dog roast, but I never quite seem to want to deal with campfire smoke!  

This is the other half of the back yard, and it is fairly easy to weed and maintain.   I originally wanted to sell our trampoline and not have to deal with one at all, but John persisted, and in the end, it fit on the back patio perfectly.     

We're definitely looking forward to many lovely summer evenings!!!

A Birthday Surprise!

A few days ago I got a text from my Brother inviting us up to his place for a Barbecue.  It was Heather's birthday on Friday and he was hoping to throw her a surprise party.   Of course I was impressed at his effort to keep this all a secret and to plan something special for his wife, but it wasn't until we were all standing on her doorstep that I realized how potentially awkward this could be.   

How many people do you know that would want to host a party, with no warning, on your own birthday?!    It's not necessarily my idea of a great birthday, but I am mildly antisocial.  Heather obviously was just fine with it, and after we sang Happy Birthday - the party began!!!   

It's really a shame that I did not photograph all of the food, but really, I was just too busy eating.   

Chad (and Heather really) had spent 23 hours smoking brisket, pulled pork, roast, sausages, and making baked beans, corn bread and bacon wrapped stuffed potatoes!!!   

HOLY COW, there was so much yummy food!

I ate so much that I actually felt like I couldn't move very well.  At one point my Brother was offering to take anyone interested on a ride in his new car, and I jumped at the opportunity, (but not really, because I couldn't move) simply because it would mean that I could continue sitting down.   In my eyes the options were:  go for a ride and digest the COW I'd just eaten, or stay back and help watch kids and clean up?     decisions...  decisions....

So, here is the new car that my brother recently bought (and obviously I use the term "new" very...very loosely;)    Around his home it is simply referred to as the FURY, and it is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.    This was very similar to the car that my family had growing up and I wholeheartedly believe that this car rightfully should stay in that era!  haha

(hey Chad, the 70's called and they'd like their car back!!;)    

In truth, it was a more enjoyable car ride then I expected it would be, though that may have had more to do with the passengers then the actual car itself;)

They recently installed a third seat in the back (yes they actually invested in it;) which faces backwards.    Abby and Mya had a lot of fun trying to get drivers in vehicles behind us to smile!   

When we weren't violating all sorts of traffic laws in the Fury, we were enjoying birthday cake, visiting, and playing Mafia with the kids.    All of the adults act like playing this game with the kids is so tedious, but I think we all secretly love it. 

The party wrapped up around 9 that night as many of us began our travels home.  (Nothing says "Happy Birthday" quite like a trash and dash, right?)    It was such a fun evening, and so nice to be able to visit with my family.    

In fact, (if Heather's up to it) I think we should do it again next year!!!! 

Track & Field Day

This past Wednesday Abby and Sam participated in their schools track and field day.   

This is always a big deal for the kids, and Abby spent a couple of evenings leading up to this day practicing down at the track with John.    (Track and Field was originally scheduled for Thursday, but got moved up one day because of the fore casted rain.   Abby was quite upset about this, as it meant she lost an entire evening of training with her Dad.   In her eyes, there went her chances for 1st place!;)

 In years past, she's not really cared how she's performed and so it was nice to see her try this time around.    She placed 5th in High Jump,  and 1st in her heat of the 100m, but I could tell that she'd wanted to do better then she had.    At one point she came running up to me, her eyes brimming with tears because she'd missed the call for the "ball throw" event, and as a result never got to compete.   That happened to be the event she was most excited about, so I felt bad for her.    

Here she is running against one of her best friends who happens to be f-a-s-t, so really, I think Abby held her own pretty darn good!    

And then there was Sam.  

Poor, poor Sam, couldn't quite manage to place in any event.    He put his whole heart in to it, and was always so disappointed each time he wasn't listed among the top five.    Throughout the day I could tell he was becoming increasingly discouraged with himself which only effected his performance negatively.   No matter how much I tried to build him up, he'd always come stand beside me after and say,  "See mom?  I guess I'm just not good at anything."  

Of course he is good at lots of things, and I tried to remind him of his awesome baseball game the night before when he'd caught more balls and outed more opponents then anyone else, but sometimes it's easier to focus on your weaknesses then it is your strengths, I suppose.   

It was a tough day for me as I went back and forth between the two cheering and consoling.  I wish our kids would just believe us when we tell them they are amazing!   Sigh....

And then there was this kid, who never seemed to need any attention that day.  He pretty much spent the day playing on the playground and eating whatever junk food I was willing to buy for him.  

Blue Teeth and Band aids.  Love it!!!

He has started randomly pretending to meditate sometimes, and I'm pretty sure it's a direct result of both John and I taking up yoga, though the whole rock/balancing act was a little unexpected;)   

Namaste, little one!!! 

It was a beautifully warm afternoon, and I loved the fact that my kids spent the entire day outside being active!    Unfortunately, to celebrate- we all went to Dave's for french fries and ice cream, so a lot of good that fresh air and exercise did, but the fries were DELISH!

The countdown to summer officially begins!

A hit!

This past week my father in law re entered our lives after being away for a little over a week.    He does this sometimes- just disappears to spend time with other kids and grandkids.   (The nerve!;) 

At any rate, we were thrilled to see him on Saturday night and hear about his adventures and the fun things he got to do.   Once all of the highlights had been told, he shared with me something that he observed my sister in law Sarah doing.  She prepares several days worth of salad and stores it in separate jars, one for each supper time meal.  

Salad in a Jar!

In.a. JAR. People!!!!

I instantly got on Pinterest to see what this madness was all about only to find hundreds of recipes and "how to's."   What cave have I been in all this time?    

I remedied this the very next day by chopping, slicing and dicing everything I could find in my fridge and stuffing it all into a jar.  One for each day of the week.   Now, all we have to do is dump a jar into a bowl and add anything else to it we want.   (Hard boiled eggs...almonds...croutons...tomatoes...the sky is the limit!!!)    

I love it, and so do my kids!  For two nights in a row 3 out of 4 kids have actually had salad!   And all because it was in a jar first?   Who knew?    

I personally just love how they look in my fridge.  They are almost too beautiful to open up!

Sometimes I just go to the fridge to look at them and feel happy.   

Speaking of Happy- Sam has been a happy man this week.  He started Coach Pitch this week and pretty much has the most awesome team ever!  His coach is his Uncle Kendall, and on his team are very familiar (albeit younger) buddies: Dane, Ollie, and Porter.    

Of course I'm obligated to say that I love going to Sam's games and supporting him, but it helps when some of my favourite Moms are there as well, you know?  ;)

Our family enjoyed watching Sam so much that we headed back to the ball diamond later that evening for a family game.  Our old neighbour friend Katie was at the park and joined in the fun, which was nice! 

I've been thinking a lot about Mothers lately, what with Mothers Day coming up, and I've been feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the woman in my life.  I know, and have known, some of the toughest,  bravest, and most faithful Mothers out there, and for that I am so thankful.     I'm glad I get to learn from the Best!!!

Hope every Mother feels as lucky and blessed as I do!

Recap

My last journal entry was one month ago, (a whole month!), and I'm afraid that I am a little unsure of how to catch up now.  So, I decided not to.   Suffice it to say, our lives are uber exciting and full of all sorts of interesting events, and you're just going to have to take my word for it!

Luckily, I did clean off our camera and found a couple of little gems on it that reminded me of some of the fun:

Several weeks ago, my brother in law Kendall was nominated for a Teaching award, and shorty thereafter, him and Jewel attended an overnight conference in which 20 teachers in Alberta (fellow nominees) all gathered.   Ava, May, Brooke and Dane joined us for those two days which added a bit of excitement to my kids' otherwise boring school week.  (First sleepover they've ever gotten to have on a school night and they were thrilled!!)   The night Kendall was being recognized in Calgary, May and Brooke were singing in the year end Spring Choir concert down here.   Again- Abby was especially excited to get to go "with" her cousins that night.   Don't they look so sharp!   

(This concert marked the end of choir for this school year, which means I get to sleep in now twice a week!  Hola!!!)

Our ward Primary had a party the weekend before Easter, and several couples in the ward were asked to be in charge of a room that depicted an account/experience in the Saviors life.    One room was devoted to his ministry, the last supper, the atonement, etc.   The kids were divided into groups and went on a "Walk with Christ" as they moved from room to room learning about his life on earth.    

John and I were asked to be in charge of the Nativity.   We did our best to make the kids feel as though they were in a barn as we retold the story of the Saviors birth from the perspective of the Innkeepers.    It was a neat primary activity, and as I watched them that morning come and go and move through the halls, I have honestly NEVER seen those kids so reverent.  Ever!!    

It was a great way to kick off the Easter Season.

My kids have discovered Studio C on you tube.  (Never heard of it?  That's probably a good thing, you'll be smarter for it;)    Abby in particular LOVES the BYU group and has probably watched every silly skit they've put out yet.   John and I have had to intervene and limit her time on the computer as a result;)     The "Shoulder Angel" skits are definitely my kids' favourite ones though, as you can tell by Nate's reenactment here:

Nate has been my good buddy during the days.   I recently decided to get off Facebook and low and behold that little act opened up much more time in my day to snuggle and cuddle with this little guy!   Who knew?!  haha.  

He's mysteriously been breaking out in hives the past few days (and usually just at night) which has had John and I puzzled.   I'm taking him in to the Doctor tomorrow so that will hopefully help us determine if there is an allergy that he is dealing with, or if it is a reaction to something more viral.   It's tugged at my heart a little the past night or two as he's come upstairs all red and itchy and sadly asking us why "his beehives are here again?"   Sigh....    Poor little bug.  

 Despite the fact that the snow continues to show it's ugly face around here, we've managed to capitalize on a few nice days to do some much needed yard work.  We've weeded flower beds, pruned bushes, power raked, fertilized and trimmed edges.   It felt so good to get that all done, and it's got me excited for the upcoming garden season!  It's just around the corner. ...REALLY!!

Happy MAY!!!

April Fools pranks that may or may not have happened, and other highlights of the week!

The kids (okay and I as well;) spent the better part of last week plotting and scheming all the April Fools jokes we planned to pull off ... just as soon as April 1st rolled around.    Sadly, most of our jokes were focused on the new family that bought our house, because their possession date conveniently happened to fall on April 1st!!    I mean, what an opportunity right?   

I initially thought it'd be funny if I called them that morning to explain that we'd been having second thoughts and that we really needed to pull out of the deal.   Given my back and forth hesitancy already displayed, they'd surely believe me, which would only make it that much funnier!

John didn't think so.

Then Abby suggested that we take a lesson from her favourite episode of AFV and stretch saran wrap over every doorway of the house.   How funny would that be as the movers showed up to unload?  

Again, John didn't think so.

Sam then, sticking with the spirit of saran wrap,  suggested that we cover every toilet seat with the plastic.   I had to remind him that these were nice people moving in.  Besides, we were going for "funny" not "mean."   Duh.

In the end, we just turned our house over to the new family without pulling off any pranks at all.     Well...unless you count that time on April 2nd when I dropped the kids off at school and headed home quickly so I could get the garbage to the curb in time for garbage pickup.   I pulled up, entered the code on the keypad, and watched as the garage door roll up.  It wasn't until I noticed that the garage was now full of OTHER PEOPLES belongings that I realized my mistake.   The new owners had officially arrived, and this.was.not.my.home.anymore!!   I closed the garage door and ran drove away as fast as I could.   A little awkward perhaps?  

Maybe I could pass that off as a belated April Fools joke?  haha.    

My heart felt a little heavy that 1st day of April, I'll admit.  I suddenly missed ALL my neighbours all at once, and worried that perhaps we should not have sold it.  Thankfully, shortly after getting back to our "in limbo home,"  one of my new neighbours showed up with a plate of chocolate brownies and I instantly felt much better. ;)

   

Back to the whole "April Fools" thing.  Despite the fact that John thwarted all our plans for pranking, Abby and Jess secretly planned to pull off a few pranks just the same.    Unbeknownst to us, they set their alarm for 5:00 am and covered their sleeping brothers with yarn and confetti before taking pictures.    Then they pulled the ultimate "no no" and hid an alarm clock right by my head!   (They really went for the jugular there, because everybody knows I hate getting woken up during the night.)    

Those little turkeys.   I didn't know whether to be mad or proud of them!!!

 We felt particularly lucky this week because it only snowed once or twice and we are definitely taking this as a sign that spring is here.  (Yay!!!)    In fact, this weekend the temperature must have reached a balmy (albeit breezy) 10 degrees!    haha.    The kids were overjoyed and made us eat lunch on the patio so that they could enjoy the sun.    Granted, most of them still needed their winter coats- but hey- we'll take whatever sun we can get!!

Our ward had a fundraiser dinner on Tuesday, which included an auction.   They had a real auctioneer come this year to help auction off each dessert and it was super fun to listen and watch him do his thing.    This was the dessert I donated to the cause.    It was a "coconut creme de lech cake with a butterscotch layer."  

 And...it was gross.

I actually didn't know that it would be gross.  In my defence, it looked good and the recipe seemed so promising.   When I got home that night though I tasted one of the samples I'd  left behind in my fridge, and it was bad.   Like- "Bleck...ugh...gag me with a fork" bad!     I pity the poor soul that threw down a small fortune for this thing, though I do take a little comfort in the fact that they did got a handful of delightful mini eggs out of it.  (Next year I'll be sure to stick to something more familiar;)   

This last photo- I love.  

It captures our morning family scripture study perfectly!

Every morning the most stunning sunlight pours through the living room and kitchen windows.

Every morning 3 out of 4 kids are holding their scriptures while laying down.  (They swear they read better that way;)

And every morning Nate builds a giant armchair out of pillows to use as his perch.   

Every morning also consists of frantically made lunches, crying kids who don't want their hair done, the disorganized loading backpacks, and shouts at the kids to "sit UP to read their scriptures for goodness sake!"   Still,  I like the way none of that is shown in this one split second shot.  

  Can we all just pretend this is how mornings always look around here? 

PS:  What a beautiful weekend of Conference Talks!!   President Uchtdorf, Elder Bednar, and Sister Jean Stevens shared some of my favourite messages this year.  Can't wait to go back and read them!!!

71 years and a very snowy week

This past week, John's Dad turn 71 years young!

We had a big ham dinner and celebrated with a Carrot Cake (albeit an ugly one;) and did our very best to convey to him how much we love him.    In truth however, words could never describe just how much we love this man.     

(Of course Nate had to be in the picture.    It's a far cry from last year though when Nate bawled until Grandpa let Nate blow out the candles on Grandpas cake;)

It was Music Festival week here, which meant that three days this week were spent dressing the kids up (often in sunday best) and sending them off to a day of performing.    Abby and Jess did great!   

Sam....?     Well, clearly he loved it too;)

Actually, Sam was miserable the entire day of his performance.   (He literally pulled the whole "This is the worst day of my life" bit.   Several times;)   All because he had to dress up.

  And he didn't even really dress up, he just felt like he was dressed up because his shirt had a few buttons on it, for goodness sake!!

  

All that "dressing up" for festival must have really got them going, because several times during the week the Halloween costumes were brought out.   Jessica wore her little Granny costume for hours!!!!

(I personally can't stand having a bunch of costumes around because the kids always make such a mess with them, but they enjoy it.  And hey- no computers involved!!!)

Speaking of computers - our kids have logged some serious hours on the wii and iPads the past few weeks.  So much so that John and I felt that it was time to reinstate our "no technology during the week" rule.   (The last time we did that - one of our kids learned to read!  Go figure;)   

Needless to say, by Friday afternoon Nate was literally waiting at the door for John to get home so they could "play puters" together.    I think it makes John feel loved to be welcomed home so enthusiastically, even if Nate does have ulterior motives.  

On one particularly boring day Nate spent an entire morning asking me if him and I could go swimming.    There was no way I had time that day, and I'd grown more then tired of telling him so.   I kept explaining to him that "the pool wasn't open" but he obviously didn't believe me (and for good reason. It was a lie.)  Soon he brought me my cell phone and asked me to dial the pool's number for him.   Of course I dialed our home number and when the phone in the kitchen started to ring I picked it up pretending that I was a receptionist at South Country Inn.    Nate sounded so grown up on the other end as he asked me if "he was allowed to come and swim today."     I'd barely hung the phone up in the kitchen before Nate came in sadly proclaiming that I was right - the pool was "broken."

Naturally, I felt a little bit bad.     So I made up for it two days later by waking him up and telling him to get dressed in his swimsuit.   We went swimming right after breakfast!!!  

He was thrilled, and my conscience was soothed;)

Abby and I got to attend the General Women's Broadcast together, which was a first.   

Abby had been looking forward to this all week, and I had high hopes of taking her out to dinner before it began.   Unfortunately we spent a full day at our old house cleaning it and getting it ready to turn over to the new owners, and was lucky to even make it to the meeting in time!

We did enjoy a treat at Dairy Queen together afterwards, as did the rest of the Mothers and daughters in this town.  haha.   It was a party down there for sure!

I was so proud of Abby that night.   She never once seemed bored or inattentive.  In fact, she said there with her notepad and pen in hand taking notes of all the thoughts she heard spoken...and sung.  

It was nice to spend an evening just with her, tough I am looking forward to next year when Jessica will join us.    

It's pretty much snowed every.single.day.this.week.    I'm about ready to take this winter and light it on fire!!   Here's hoping for some warmer days ahead.  I want to get walking!!!!