Luke's New Bike.

What's daddy have in the back of the van? Just look at Luke!
Brothers are pretty excited too.

Ken's $30 find on Kijiji. Luke's probably spent on average 5-6 hours a day riding this bike in the last week. This is an early birthday present so that Luke can keep up with his big brothers.

Sister's/Auntie's/Nieces/Nephews/Cousins Day at the Park

Mama and her boys.
Sisters minus Trixie. Yikes I look like an albino.

Isaac being spoiled by his cousins.

Happy little boy in the swing.

The boys had so much fun with their cousins.

Sweet Tara Lee.

The grand finale of Spring Break was a park day at Indian Battle with my sister in laws and kids. We had a weiner roast, played at the park, went for a walk and enjoyed the sunshine!

Cabin Fever

cab-in (kab'en)- 1 a small, often roughly built house; hut

This is the dictionary's definition and I guess to an extent, this is true of my in-laws cabin. It was built with the help of many hands and continues to develop character from the many people who use their gifts and talents to make it a special place. This cabin has become such a special place to us as a young family. It is a getaway from the everyday busyness, a getaway from the phone ringing, the tv, and the internet. Unfortunately, it is not a getaway from the telemarketers, they still manage to find you hidden between the snowcovered mountains. I think one day we got 5 calls from telemarketers.

Anyways, thankfully Ken's Mom and Dad are very generous and love to see their kids make use of the cabin. Sam said while we were there that it was his favorite place in the whole wide world.

The boys constantly ask when we can go there again and how many sleeps we can go for.

Ken and I, and our boys have the best of both worlds. Access to a cabin in the mountains and access when visiting NS to ocean front cottages at Nana and Papa's and at Nannies. I do wish we were closer to NS so we could spend more time at the cottage with our whole family making more favorite memories. Next summer...hopefully. Andrew will soon be turning 6 and hasn't been to NS since he was 2. I can't wait to get there to share the experience and to see their faces light up with excitement as they explore the ocean and beaches. Okay..okay..back to the mountains. On Spring break we went to the cabin for 4 nights and 5 days and had lots of fun. I snap pictures like crazy trying to capture it all. The fresh mountain air, the tasty mountain water and the smells of the trees make you feel so alive.

Huge piles of snow plowed up next to the cabin. One of our little mountain climbers is on top.

Going for a walk to the creek. We didn't get a picture on the famous log this time because it was buried in snow. Yikes, that's a lot of snow. The creek was buried as well so we didn't really see it or have a chance to throw rocks in it like we usually do.

I love this picture of little Luke with the huge mountains all around him.

We had an Easter egg hunt and a scavenger hunt.

Boys and their toys making noise.

I thought about putting Isaac in there as well but figured he might be in trouble with these three excited boys. Sorry mom, it's not bubble bath, it was from a little tiny bit of shampoo I used to wash their hair. It caused lots of bubbles and lots of laughter.

Isaac and I went for lots of walks.

Guilty and busted. We did watch a few movies, Peter Pan and the Black Cauldron, but that was it. Maybe 3 hours in total over 5 days.

We did some sledding on the 30 foot piles that they had plowed up. They were perfect hills for the kids to walk up with their sleds.

We built a snow fort.

and we roasted marshmallows.

Andrew made Isaac his first roasted marshmallow. Isaac was quite eager to try it out. After the fire I hurried the boys inside for a bath while Ken and Isaac hung out by the fire. I guess Isaac was jabbering quite loudly and it was echoing between the mountains. Hopefully it didn't cause any avalanches. It was a great time as usual and now we look forward to going back again in the summer for a few days. Ken's quite excited to buy some fishing gear this summer and to go fishing at the creek with the boys. Thank you so much Mom and Dad for allowing us to use your cabin. We agree with Sam, " the cabin is also one of our favorite places in the whole wide world."

Just another Day at the park...

On Tuesdays and Thursdays when Andrew and Sam are at school I've been taking Luke and Isaac to the park. Sometimes I think about when I had only one boy, or only two, or only three, and my mind sometimes draws a blank. It was such a short period in between kids that I didn't have much time getting used to being a family of 3, 4, and 5. Now we are a family of six and this is the longest stretch since we've been married that I haven't been pregnant. Seems strange. But I am certainly feeling blessed and enjoying us being a family of 6.

The kids are changing so much everyday and growing and experiencing new things. It is definitely nice being mostly in control of their little world's. They need us for so much each day and sometimes I have to admit I get annoyed with this when I should be savouring it.

Today for example as I made 3 different kinds of sandwiches, poured three drinks, and listened to them argue over who got what cup, and listened to them challenge me on whether or not they had to finish their crust, then onto me cutting the seeds out of their grapes and slicing their apples, only to hear them complain that I didn't cut the peel off, to not wanting to eat baby carrots because...get this...they were too cold, to a scoop of icecream with banana on top and chocolate chips to arguing over who got what bowl again....do you sense my frustration? So I left in the middle of this and said you know what..."I don't care, I'm not arguing anymore....and you are making mommy very grumpy." I left them speechless in the kitchen to check on Isaac who at this point needed a bottle and had a poopy diaper.

Just another typical mealtime for me and yes I have brought a lot of it on myself. I recall having read somewhere that if you give kids too many choices this can happen. If I would just make their lunches and say eat what's on your plate this would not likely be occurring. So, like them learning and growing each day, I too am growing and learning as a mom. Okay enough with the self pity act. This was supposed to be a post about the park and how much fun we had.

The park has a paved trail that is 2.8km and loops around a man made lake(quite common out west here). So I've been pushing these two heavy boys in the bike cart for two loops. 62 pounds of boys. Great workout...then we stop at the playground for some fun. This particular day there was still a lot of snow on the ground but we were bound and determined to enjoy the sunshine so off we went. I really enjoy this time together. Otherwise I usually would do housework at home while Isaac napped and Luke played with cars, or I would talk on the phone, or check blogs, facebook etc. Much better use of time and all three of us are usually smiling the whole way home.

Sorry that I often post pictures of the same places and actvities but these are some of our favorite places and favorite things to do. Lunch time was frustrating but my wonderful husband came home and ordered me to have a nap which made mommy a lot less grumpy. It's amazing how a quick nap can change everything.

Speaking of talent...check out our creative painters!

I picked up a cheap egg decorating kit on the weekend and this is the results. You are supposed to stamp designs onto the egg but Andrew and Sam felt more like painting then stamping.
Luke looks like such a bad boy with his hat on backwards.

Sunday morning we ate our colored boiled eggs.

Today we drew and painted an ocean and ocean animals.

This just makes me laugh and I can't think of anything witty to write about it. I think it's adorable that Luke is painting in his underwear while standing on a stool with a Home Depot apron on.

We are having so much fun lately and I'm feeling extremely blessed by friends and by our family of boys. They are all at fun ages right now and we get to do lots of fun things together. I love hanging out with these boys everyday. Never a dull moment.

RiverDance

Tracy took me out Saturday night to see RiverDance. I kinda took Paul's place as Tracy's date. He wasn't real excited to watch men dancing in tights.

I didn't really know what to expect, a story? a ballet? Let me tell you, we were not disappointed in any way. What a bunch of talented, gifted people. The music was as amazing as the dancing. It was Celtic type music and dancing which really reminds me of my roots back home. I just wanted to jump up and attempt the twirls and kicks and dance moves myself. I'm sure Paul would've felt the same way despite the men in tights. Tracy and I decide to go all out and dress up and do our hair fancy and all. Quite a change. I think both of our husbands were taking second glances as we headed out together without them. Thankfully they both stayed home and took care of the kids while we were out. Thanks hubby's! and thanks Tracy for such a great time and a new experience!

Enjoying the Little Things

I made a little fort/tent for Andrew and Sam tonight and they wanted to sleep together in it. This is a school night but they are both sleeping soundly so far. Luke and I baked Saturday while Daddy took Andrew and Sam swimming and Isaac slept. These mini egg cookies are already gone. I don't recommend you make them if you are trying to avoid sweets.
My little helper.

Blowing bubbles was a little tricky for this determined boy.

Watching tv together. Don't they all look alike?

Little Luke crashing. I've been cutting his nap out for the last few weeks and he often starts to crash on the couch or in the truck.