A Saturday Outing

First family shot at Indian Battle with the timer. Pretty windy up there in the top of the coulees.

 Andrew and Sam and Luke on an adventure.

Daddy and Isaac.

 The boys doing some mountain biking on the trails.

Our Annual Road trip to Edmonton

Can't get any more prairie than this...

 or this...

or this. This is what it looks like from where I live on the drive to Calgary. Miles and miles of land and big open sky.

Baby Emma travelled so well.

I was teaching Andrew how to read a map on the way.

Lots of bike rides.

Emma meeting her cousins.

Painting rocks.

Dress up.

Freezies.

Uncle Dwayne's famous pancakes.

Climbing trees and reading.

Quad rides.

Campfires.

and even real diggers in the yard to watch.

Swimming at the local pool.

As usual we had a blast in Edmonton once all the adults recovered from strep throat. The weather was hot and sunny and the kids burned so much energy playing outside everyday with their cousins. Us mama's are getting the chance to relax more and more on these trips with the kids getting bigger and entertaining themselves so much more. Thanks Uncle Dwayne and Auntie Trixie for always welcoming us with open arms and for starting the summer off so great.

Andrew and Noah's Pool Party

Beach Babe Mamas.

Auntie Mel has her hands full! I can relate to that!

Andrew's learning how to swim under water.

Andrew and buddy Noah who were born a day apart. They sure are opposites in looks.

We booked the town out door pool for the boys birthdays and what a hit. Moms, kiddos, grandparents, aunties...there was so much room for everyone and no mess at home.

Both boys were spoiled rotten with gifts.

It was a bit of a gong show but we tried to keep it simple. Freezies, watermelon and cupcakes were on the menu.

This year Andrew got a ball glove and baseball, books, drawing kit, swim trunks, lego, childrens story Bible, balls, and lots more.

All About Andrew @ Seven!

• he loves to read books. Chapter books to be exact, sometimes  way over his reading level but hey, it's good to challenge yourself right. He even argued with the librarian this year about the level he was at, and said if he didn't know one of the words he would just ask mom.
• he makes friends wherever he goes. Girls or boys. In the neighborhood, at soccer, at playgrounds, during swimming lessons and at school he often played with kids even in higher grades.
• he loves sports and although he is small he seems to have a natural ability to be play any sport  and be decent at it.
• he loves Lego and has been really good at it for quite a while now. Already at 4 he could follow the instruction manuals to build sets that were for 8-12 year olds. Our families collection of Lego is huge thanks to having 4 boys and a Daddy that loves it too.
• he is a great big brother and is always looking out for his siblings. Just last week at Uncle Dwayne's and Auntie Trixie's he came running to me freaking out and said "come quick mom, come quick, there are bees everywhere by the playhouse and we need to get Isaac away from there. Hurry hurry!" Sure enough there was a wasp nest. We saved Isaac but mommy got stung.
• he loves Emma and wanted a little sister really bad before Emma was born. In her first week he actually picked out an outfit for her and said I think she will look so pretty in this mom.
• he is a rule follower for the most part and likes to remind his siblings of the rules too.
• he has just learned how to swim under water and is super excited to be taking lessons this week and next.
• he loves, and dare I say, idolizes (in a good way) his big cousin Kevin. Kevin is the coolest with his awesome truck and dirtbike, and his hunting guns.  He always takes the time to explain things and pays lots of attention to our boys.
• he is very thoughtful and always makes cards and pictures for people. Last week he wrote a song for Emma about her crying and the other day he made a "I'm sorry", card for Sam regarding lego building stuff.
• he really enjoys church and we have been told that he just might become a minister some day. He will, and has numerous times burst into tears because I wanted him to wear a Sunday outfit that didn't consist of his tie. He has also requested a suit for Sundays. On Sundays he is very particular about finding the songs we are singing, and also about writing chapters out of the Bible during the sermon.
• he recently has started saving for a quad and is very eager to work for his earnings. We've been spreading the word in the neighborhood and people are starting to come up with tasks for him. He's content with waiting and saving for an entire year if he has to. He must get his patience from his father.
• he is a serious kid but also a very enthusiastic kid. He gets so excited about the littlest things.
• he is very neat and orderly. He likes organizing things (wonder where he gets that from?) and lines up an animal book set we have by number order on the bookshelf.

Emma - 2 months old

All 6 of us on an outing to Henderson Lake. The boys bike the loop while Isaac and Emma get pushed in the bikecart while Mommy rollarblades. Sticking with tradition Emma gets to go to lots of parks and go for lots of walks in the bikecart.

Before long Emma will be too big for the infant sling.

 Guess who started smiling at 3.5 weeks. I am serious too, that's earlier than most babies but she was all smiles every day when Daddy came home from work and picked her up. Instant smiles for her Daddy.

I love this outfit on her. What a little sunshine!

 She's starting to grab and reach for toys.

Enjoying the shade/sun in the backyard one Sunday afternoon.

Emma at 2 Months:

• weighs 12'7 and measures 23 nches long
• is sleeping through the night 9:30ish till 7ish. (Thank you Babywise for making me wiser.)
• is smiling everytime someone talks to her.
• cooing like crazy and even giggled the other day. It's still hard work to giggle though.
• loves going for walks in the bikecart with big brother Isaac while the older three bike ahead of us.
• is a great nurser and is growing like a weed
• has more hair clips/ headbands than most 10 year old girls
• is loved so much by her brothers ( Andrew has even made her a bracelet out of pipe cleaners)
• has had a million pictures taken of her already
• sleeps on her tummy
• gets tons of attention everywhere we go....I think it's the hair!
• is nicknamed Baby doll and sunshine
• gets books read to her all the time even by Isaac
• has had a visit from Nana and Papa and Nannie at 3 weeks old.
• spends a lot of time in the bouncy chair and on her playmat
• hardly ever cries
• is all eyes for her mama and watches my every move
• is such a blessing and makes me smile everytime I look at her!
• I'm still kinda in shock that we have a girl!

 



Lists 2012 - List # 24, 25, 26

Lists 2012 - List #24 The Best Things about being outside

• sunshine
• fresh air
• birds chirping
• physical activity
• playing with the kids
• parks and playgrounds
• watching soccer
• swimming lessons at the local outdoor pool
• seasons
• skating and sledding
• snowshoeeing
• smells like ocean, the forest, fresh soil, mowed grass, lilac bushes, campfires
• sprinklers and the kiddy pool
• spray park
• fishing

List #25 - Things to do this summer

• spray park
• spend a week in Edmonton with Dwayne and Trixie and kids
• spend a week at the cabin
• have Nana and Papa come for another visit
• get back in shape
• zoo
• have lots of campfires
• spend time with friends and family
• kids swimming lessons
• plan Andrew's 7th birthday
• do something special for our anniversary
• read lots of books with the kids
• save money for next summer's adventure to NS
• back to school shopping
• crafts with the kids
• hopefully connect with friend's Melinda, Tyler, Samuel and Malachi
• sat farewell to our great neighbor friend's and meet new neighbor's
• take the kids to Waterton and bike the trail

List #26 - Things I love about Canada

• 4 seasons
• variety of landscapes
• national parks
• Nova Scotia
• ocean
• mountains
• history
• culture
• friendly people
• medical care
• freedom
• people's pride in living here

June Celebrations!

Happy birthday Mommy and Luke and Happy Father's Day Daddy!

BFF Tracy always makes me an awesome cake. Gotta love the banner. We both are big into pinterest these days and getting great ideas and recipes from there. For my birthday I got 2 pound weights, an 8 pound medicine ball, a Jillian Michael's weight workout video and a blender. Ken for Father's Day got some much needed new clothes and a new shaver. It has been gift central around here lately even with all of Emma's gifts. We are very blessed and spoiled rotten!

Luke opening family gifts. Dominos, soccer ball, lego dirtbike set with truck and trailer, suitcase, spiderman hat and motorcycle.

Oh yes and a spiderman fishing rod.

We had a little party for Luke on Monday with his closest friends. Travis Petker (neighbor), Simone Harthoorn (cousin) and Seth VanderHeide(buddy). And Sam was there and Isaac and Emma were sleeping.

Opening presents in the backyard. Wac-A-Mole game, model car, money, a hose ball for in the backyard and a spiderman transformer car.

Thank you hugs!

Then we did some biking. Luckily we are in no shortage of bikes for friends to share.

I didn't make a fancy cake this year but oero cookie pops. I did have a chocolate cake mix made with whipping cream so he could at least blow out some candles.

Yummy.

It started raining out so we headed to the boy cave and played for a while. Seth and I enjoyed some air hockey. He was kicking my butt!

Luke had lots of fun and so did I, it's neat seeing how much these kids have grown even since last years birthday party. We gave a cookie pop, a bug net and a box of smarties as goodie treats.