Writing On Stone

Ken's grade 5/6 field trip to Writing On Stone.
Guided tour to see the Writing On The Stones.

Tag a longs on the field trip. I took Andrew and Sam along while Grandma babysat Luke and Isaac for the day. Jared and Asher who are both going to be in Sam's kindergarten class next year went along as well.

Some of the writing.

It was 40 degrees in this exact spot.

The kids then ventured onto playing capture the flag in the hoodoos and had much needed water fights.

Tubing and swimming in the river. It was so much fun for the boys to come along and for me as well. Now we are done with school and moving on to summer plans!

Luke at 3

Welcome little Luke! June 17, 2008


Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Luke at 3!

loves to ride his new red bike

• 
  
  loves to play with cars for hours, he lines them up and parks them and drives them on the "bumpy's" on the couch


• 
  
  still sucks his thumb when he's tired and sleeps with his white knit blankie that Aunty Mel made him


• 
  
  loves his big brothers and in the last few months has learned to play quite well with them


• 
  
  is very affectionate and often the first to give out hugs


• 
  
  he likes to roleplay being a lion and a tiger and has actually bitten people while in the act


• 
  
  he has many intense facial expressions and his body language is pretty cute


• 
  
  gets along really well with his cousin Simone but is a bit of an introvert with other kids


• 
  
  he's very possessive with his cars


• 
  
  is extremely ticklish and giggles like crazy


• 
  
  loves shoes


• 
  
  loves his cousins, his aunty's and is quite fond of his Uncle Pete


• 
  
  loves to throw rocks in puddles, lakes and the river


• 
  
  still has spiky brush cut type hair


• 
  
  He loves to eat eggs and has even eaten a boiled one, shell and all


• 
  
  has great eyes so far and spots the moon through the day and always points out airplanes


• 
  
  is usually the first one up every morning


• 
  
  is quite polite and says excuse me when he wants your attention over and over with increasing volume and expression until you answer him


• 
  
  hated the church nursery but now sits in church with Mommy and Daddy and Andrew and Sam


• 
  
  learned how to ride his bike with training wheels in one day


• 
  
  loves to paint


• 
  
  is so gentle with animals and even bugs


• 
  
  he bikes so fast on his bike that the training wheels almost fall off


• 
  
  loves playing hockey and passing the soccer ball


• 
  
  is never satisfied with one of any kind of treat, he always wants two cookies or two candies


• 
  
  is very strong willed and stubborn


• 
  
  Luke fits perfectly into our family and is very loved by all of us. It has been a great three years and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with this little man.
  
  

Luke's Bug Party!

Prep work for the party. Andrew and Sam helped get things ready.
This was Luke's bug cake which the kids went crazy over.

I borrowed bug stamps from a friend and stamped all of the goody bags. Inside were plastic bugs, bug candies, a ladybug craft and bug stickers.

We had craft time where we colored a ladybug picture. That took all of 5 minutes.

I hid plastic bugs in the back yard and the kids had to find them. They spent probably an hour playing this game. It was so cute, after I hid them the first time and announced they had to find the bugs, the little neighbor boy Adam came running up to me proud as could be and handed me a real ladybug that he caught. So cute.

Simone and Adam hiding the bugs under some grass.

Cake time.

Yummy!

All of the little bugs at the party were thrilled with their hats we made them.

How old are you Luke? That doesn't look like three fingers to me.

Saying thank yous for the presents.

I don't know who had more fun at this party me or Luke? I had some assistance from a few people managing the little ladybugs. Things went great, nothing broken, no crying, no fighting. It was awesome. Luke got his bike for his birthday from us as well as some dirt bike gloves for riding his bike, money, books, cars, a awesome monkey chair, jeans, a cars carry case, a DVD, a cars t-shirt, and play dough kit.

Happy Birthday to me!!

So I was totally spoiled rotten on my birthday. Ken and the boys bought me a sewing machine, a food processor and I got a list from Ken typed out of 101 reasons why he loves me. I also got money, cute dip bowls, a new bracelet, wine and that beautiful bag that Tracy and Mel made for me.
and....this amazing kitkat cake that Tracy made for me. Isn't it beautiful? Tracy is my little Martha Stewart friend. Not afraid to tackle anything. Her and Mel inspired my recent desire to get a sewing machine as well.

Ang and Pete were planning on taking Ken and I, and Tracy and her hubby out for appetizers for my b'day. We were heading over to Paul and Tracy's house to get them and I was lured into the house and into their garage where all of our friends were waiting to surprise me. The stinkers planned a surprise party for me. I was quite surprised and felt so special and so loved by my husband, friends and family out here. What more could a girl ask for? I am so blessed.

Ladiesfest 2011

Isaac waiting for Mommy at the finish line.

Cheering squad plus Ken. Nothing is better then having family cheering for you at the finish line. Last year when Mel (Sis in law) and I ran it our husbands met us with the kids and two babies ready to be nursed. Crazy eh?


Here I come. 8km race finish line. This was the 4th time I ran this all women's race.

2007 - 44:19

2009 - 42:37

2010 - 41:53

2011 - 40:39

I was 19/669 women and in my age category( 30-34) 5/101 women.
How is it that I get faster the more kids I have? Is it from chasing all these boys around? Maybe it's from running away from Ken? He says it's from chasing him? Who knows...All I know is that I love running. I never imagined I'd be doing something like this at my age or even at all. I'm so addicted. I'm blessed to also have a husband who likes to be in good shape, as well as sister in laws and some great friends. We all motivate and encourage each other to test our limits and to go for it.


This is my BFF Tracy who I convinced last week to run this race. It was her first ever race and she did so awesome. I'm so proud of her! Based on her results and her feedback, it looks like we will be doing this together again.

She also has four boys and still finds the energy to run and work out. Surprisingly I feel great still, tomorrow (day 2) will likely be a different story!

Sam's practice Kindergarten Day

Sam got to go to kindergarten for a whole day last week and meet his teacher and classmates. He was counting down for a week or two prior. This little boy is so excited to go to Andrew and Daddy's school next year. The last two years he has been in preschool two mornings a week at a different school. He couldn't quite comprehend why he couldn't go to Daddy and Andrew's school where Aunty Ang works and all of his cousins go. Sam has been getting assistance with his speech the last two years and will continue this year in Kindergarten.
At the last minute we decided to go to the bus stop and catch the bus. Two other boys he knows were catching the bus that are going to Kindergarten as well. He was quite excited. Of course his mama had to be there with the camera in hand hugging him and seeing him off. These boys will likely be so embarrassed of me in a few years time.

Of course I had to quickly stop by the school and peek in on him.

Big class this year of 14 kids. 12 boys and 2 girls and what a lot of personality in that class. Should be a fun year! Sam came home bursting with excitement and full of stories about the day.

Teacher thank yous.

The last few years I always wonder what to give teachers as a thank you for all of their hard work. Being married to a teacher gives me a whole new appreciation for these people who spend so much time with our children each day. They not only have the task of teaching them what's required to learn academically but also life skills. They are huge role models in our kids lives. They work on moral training, discipline, manners, listening skills, respect and so much more. It's hard to come up with an idea to express my gratitude. I decided that the kids should be involved in thanking them so we made flowers out of egg cartons and painted them. I picked up some vases at the thrift store and we put it all together. Andrew also drew a picture for his teacher, and I wrote down a conversation that him and I had about the highlights of Kindergarten. I then added a thank you card from Ken and I, and bought a $5 gift card to Tim Hortons. Ta da. Done. I think it's special to add a personal touch to a thank you gift and to let the teacher know how they personally impacted our child's school year. Now to get busy on Sam's teachers gifts. He had a speech therapist that came to our house weekly, a speech pathologist that worked with him bi-weekly and a main teacher in his class along with three aids. Yikes...that could get expensive. Good thing we eat a lot of eggs around here!

Andrew graduates!

Andrew graduated from Kindergarten last week. He was really shy. The whole time the teacher told stories about him he smirked. He does this thing when he is nervous, he sticks his tongue into his cheek and goes from cheek to cheek with his eyes as huge as saucers. It is so adorable.
Here he is getting his certificate.



The teacher took turns asking each student what they wanted to be when they grew up. Apparently she had asked them the day before to prep them and Andrew said he wasn't sure. Again at the ceremony he wasn't sure. One of the mom's in his class commented to me later that knowing Andrew he would have to think long and hard about what he wanted to be, and whatever he would choose would probably be what he would become. He is quite serious and would most likely take this question seriously. I told him that it was fine that he didn't have an answer, that he should just enjoy being a kid for now.

Some of the highlights of Kindergarten were getting an icecream cone that was all chocolate, even the cone was chocolate. His favorite thing that he learned was making crafts and painting. His favorite friends were Noah and Nathan. Favorite fieldtrip was the corn maze and the Veurink farm because the baby cows were so cute.

Alley find!

So this is the results of the ladder I found in the alley during Spring Clean up. I was hoping to put the magazine rack in the bathroom but it doesn't fit. I just may have to start reading magazines in bed now.
Nice little shelf secured to the wall. My kids haven't even tried to climb it yet, thankfully.

One Thousand Gifts

I started reading a great book that was given to me as a gift, and what a gift it is. Ann Voskamp is the author and it is called One Thousand Gifts. The idea is to show your gratitude to God in the everyday blessings you receive. In the meantime you experience more joy than ever discovering all of the amazing blessings that are right in front of you. I only started counting this week and I'm already finding it's hard to write everything down.

Here it goes,

1. bug spray


2. huge blue AB sky speckled with white fluffy clouds


3. a friendly man in the grocery store who takes time to smile and chat to everyone despite how rushed we all are


4. a helpful young employee who went above and beyond by putting the tube and tire together for Andrews bike


5. a common occurrence. Ken calling me at 12:55pm (lunch break) to see how my day is going


6. the smell of lilacs, fresh flowers and freshly cut grass


7. a cute elderly couple grocery shopping together discussing their purchases


8. friendly moms to chitchat with at the park


9. caterpillars in a jar on our counter making a cocoon, soon to turn into butterfly's


10. encouraging discussions in the front yard with my neighbor while we watch our kids play together


11. hot bath and book


12. watching little boys play soccer and trying so hard


13. bike ride with the boys to see sheep, goats, turkey's and a lama


14. a cute little Chinese boy who came running up to Luke, Isaac and I in the mall today and started jabbering to Isaac and kissed him on the forehead. Isaac just smiled away.


15. 3 very excited boys to see their grandpa when he stopped by to drop off wood


16. a new bright cheery apron


17. 8km run in the sunshine and no bugs!


18. late night heart to hearts with my best friend in the whole world (Ken)


19. 3 snugly boys crawling into bed with us at 7am sharp and one in his crib jabbering away across the hall


20. a strong healthy body