Say Cheese!

We made it! 

I have been so ready for Christmas for so long this year (gift wise) that time seems to be slipping by!  Mardi thankfully had a dentist appointment yesterday so we decided to throw in a picture with the Ol' Guy too!  This is the first year that Jack was totally ok to go and sit on Santa's lap!  No parent in the photo this year!  I am so proud of them both...they played with the elves while I stood in line for the hour and they never once even looked for me!  They are at such a good age now, I had to call them to get their attention when I had made it to the front of  the line.  Even after their picture was taken Jack wanted to go play again!  Those Elves at Chinook ROCK!!!

Merry Christmas to you all!  Only 3 more sleeps...4 more for this household!!!  hehehe!

Thank Goodness for the Tree!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Other than this brightening up the downstairs there are no signs of Christmas around here!  Our house is starting to look like it is inhabited by our jehovah neighbors!

We are so looking forward to Wednesday when the weather is supposed to warm up and we are able to climb a ladder and hang hundreds of christmas lights, hunker down a sparkling snowman in the front yard and set up a bunch of old cedar post nailed together with some old barbed wire and leather reins wrapped in lights that cost me entirely too much money!

Thankfully we did spend a evening letting the kids decorate the tree!

I loved Jack's branches full of tinsel and christmas balls!

And I love how these two could not stop from goofing around long enough to get one good picture!  How good would it have been anyways ~ with Jack missing his pants and Mardi's self-hairdo!

Crazy kids...remind me of their FATHER!

80 Years Young!

Today is a milestone of a day for my Papa!  Today he turns 80!  Here he is holding my inconsolable son when he was a baby!

When I think back at all the fun we have had over the years I realize just how lucky I am to have him as a grandfather.  He was just 47 when he became a grandfather to me ~ pretty young still!  Not only am I lucky to have him in my life this long but my children are so lucky to have him in their lives too! 

This man has 5 children, 10 grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren, all who adore him!  We are so blessed ~ here's to 20 more years Papa!

Love you!

Halloween Birthday

Finally this year we decided to have a Halloween birthday party.  Mardi's birthday is on the 28th so for us to wait until her 6th birthday to have this themed party is kind of amazing!  We figured it would be a great idea seeing how Halloween fell on a Saturday this year and the kids would just be hanging around all day waiting for it to be late enough to go trick-or-treating.  So the party began at 1 and lasted until 4pm ~ it gave the kids an excuse to wear their costumes all day, and fill up on sugar before the evening commenced!

So Mardi was "Hannah Montana" for the day!  She loved the wig and the makeup!

Here were some of the kids...there was a smaller table beside this one for 4 more halloween-ers!  My these parties are getting bigger!  Everyone likes to reproduce apparently!

And here was my "curling rock" cake... or my attempt at a pumpkin!  Either way it was delicious...if I do say so myself!  So glad the 6 candles didn't ignite Hannah's wig!!!

Then it was time to hit the streets!  Jack finally put on his ghost costume!  However I didn't make the eye holes big enough and he got to experience the roll of a blindman on our trek around the block!

Hannah even made an appearance on our street!

New Countdown Has Begun!!

7 more sleeps! 

I am so excited to go scrapbooking next weekend that I can hardly contain myself!  It has been a whole year since I have taken a weekend away from the norm ~

and I am READY!!!

Dropped a few bucks at my dear friend Haley's store today

(so glad that she has lost that feeling of throwing up her baby!),

organized pictures to paper tonight

(23 bags ready to be made into lovely pages!)

and tomorrow I will chose layouts for those 23 bags. 

The ONLY way I can possibly get that much accomplished is to be super organized...

game on!!!

Can't wait to scrap with all you wonderful ladies this weekend  -

KIM - remember you must get over the scurvy you are carrying

or Haley will kick you out into the hallway to sleep

(and I will not be stopping her)! 

We will miss you Kacey and Kaly -

but when those babies are old enough to leave

I am sure you will once again join in the fun!!!

Blairmore here we come!!!!

The Countdown is ON!

So JD and I had a great thought on Friday that we should step up to the plate and host Thanksgiving for his family this year.  It has been over a year since his Gramma passed away and that was also the last time we all got together.  So Friday evening we started calling everyone, and as of 4pm today we received the last confirmation - everyone is able to come!  It is not a whole wack of people - 15 adults and 6 kids.  Still too many to sit at one table, too many to use my dishes, too many to use my silverware too!  But none the less we are all gathering here to do a little catching up!

JD's cousin and his wife had a baby oh - 10 months ago and the baby gift is still on the shelf downstairs where is was 10 months ago!  Thankfully it is already wrapped and only had to get a quick dusting and carried upstairs!  So that is one member of the family we are looking forward to meeting on Sunday!!

I just finalized the menu as well - phoned my MIL to book her extra costco table, folding chairs, set of dishes and extra silverware!  I can only imagine Jack's wife calling me one day asking me to come for dinner - and "oh can you bring an extra table, chairs, plates and silverware?"!!!  Good thing she already knows I am nuts - that saved a long conversation tonight!  Obvioulsy I should have asked for more stuff on my bridal registry....8 years ago!!!

Anyways we are really looking forward to Sunday!

Now just to get the groceries tomorrow and finish cleaning the house....gotta run! 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Oh What a Wonderful World!!!

Oh yes I am singing!!!  Today my best friend was repaired....

                                                                       

                                                            

                                                                 

my dishwasher!!!

Oh I know, Kimberly, whatever!  I am once again in heaven!  After 3 weeks of hand washing my damn dishes we are finally back in business!

And to top that great news off, my kids are in bed (7pm) and my husband got called back to work

(too bad for him, good for the old paycheque!). 

So here I sit in the silence before I go and iron the necessary clothes for school tomorrow. 

Oh I LOVE my LIFE!!

What a Wonderful Day!

Wednesday was the first day of school for Jack! He was so excited!! Us too! Once he was safely deposited at Kids Are Special this is what we turned around to see...

So what to do....hmmm....

Go to Colossi's for coffee! It was wonderful! No kids to correct or order for - just a room full of Moms (and one Dad! ) hanging out and sipping some Joe!

Then home we went so I could do farm books - yay!

The 2 hours flew by and before we knew it it was time to go and pick up Jack.

He had a wonderful day at school and now had only one request...

bubble gum ICE CREAM!
So back downtown we went!




One happy little man!
Hope he doesn't expect this treatment every day after school!
Guess we will see tomorrow!

10 Randoms ~ What I Learned This Week!

Well the first full week of school is officially under our belts! Here are a few things I learned this week...


1. As much as my daughter has always LOVED school - I think that the 5-day-a-week routine proved to be too much for my little girl!

2. I too am not a fan of the 5-day-a-week routine! For almost 6 years we have had our own routine:sleep when we want, go where we want- whenever, eat whenever, pretty much take the day as it comes.....well not any more hunny!

3. Laundry has never been a time issue. Now Mardi needs her clothes ready for each day - unlike preschool and kindergarten we don't have a day between classes to figure out what she is wearing!

4. As much as I enjoy the one on one time with Jack this week has shown me that because he enjoys it so much too it makes it harder for him and his sister to be in the same room after being apart for 5 days!

5. My daughter now enjoys us attending stuff at her school. Last year she barely could squeeze out a smile and a wave when we would show up for presentations (mainly because she saw us way too often), this week she couldn't wait until we came to the flag raising ceremony on Friday morning. Ahhh I think she may miss me!

6. She is way more independent! This year we are sending her to school on the bus, unlike last year when it was all I could do to convince her dad to let her ride the cheese wagon home!

7. I am thoroughly enjoying the new sleep schedule. The kids are in bed by 7:30pm and not up until 6:15am! I love having the evenings to myself (as their father is on their schedule too!)!

8. I have to admit I am apprehensive when it comes to staying home..because I have to. I am used to picking up and going places at a moments notice and especially when my hubby has 6 days off in a row every 2 weeks. This will be a learning curve for both of us!

9. I never realized how ready my son is for school too! Last year he never thought about it, but this year he wants to go...apparently I am not as stimulating for him! I will be happy for him to go too - he needs to play and fight with other kids, and he needs to have his "own thing".

10. And finally I have learned this week that my kids are growing up too fast. Yes I love the fact that we are diaper free and we all sleep through the night now but with that comes these new experiences that I find myself not quite ready for. These two sweet children are my babies and I am finding it hard to let go. I have always said that my favorite stage in their lives was the "newborn" stage - I absolutely loved that they were totally dependant on me for everything. Now they are growing up and needing less of me and deep down that sucks. What I have worked so hard doing for the last 6 years is walking out the door to catch the school bus and although I am so proud of them and how they have grown into such great kids, I kind of want those years back. Treasure every moment because the bus will be arriving at your house before you're ready too.

One Down - One to Go!!!

The carseats are a little emptier today! Next week they will be really empty!! Much to Jacks' dismay his school days don't commence until next Wednesday!!

Here is my big Grade One-er! So excited to go today - I am so excited for her too! She loves to socialize! I told her she had to eat all her lunch because her brain needs the food to help it think....her response was "yeah like when I am trying to think of new games to play at recess"! Oh dear...

Here she sits, at her desk! Surrounded by BOYS (her favorite distraction)! That is going to be a PROBLEM - I am sure she will get moved - if not today - tomorrow!

Great Day with the Family!

Kids are loaded and excited to be going to Calaway Park (they've never been there before!)!
Didn't take long to start having a blast!

I am sure we hit every ride they could do ~ twice!

Dad even jumped on a few - had to fold those legs up a little though!!

We had a fantastic day! Definitely going back next year - thinking about the yearly passes for sure!

We're Back!

Well our camping weekend was fantastic! The weather, however, wasn't so wonderful! Inches of rain lead to a lot of time under tarps! As soon as we pulled the trailer into the campsite the rain started. It did let up a couple of times and the sun actually shone through the trees on occasion, but when my son awoke on Monday morning here at home the first thing he said was "sun?"!!! He hadn't seen it in so long he was shocked!

Tarp central! Making stew!
Washing the loader!

Trenching the water away from the sitting area! The cooler full of rain water - emptied 4 times!
She doesn't like her marshmallows cooked - just slightly warmed!
Playing in the rain! That tote was also filled and emptied 4 times!

We're Outta Here!

The Official Return to the Reunion starts today! We are making our way west to the Livingstone campground for a weekend of laughs with all the people we grew up with! Even with the nasty forecast ahead we are still pumped! That rain is nothing that a few tarps and layers of clothes can't fix! See you on Sunday night! Have a great weekend too!

what date is it???

Oh I wish we were camping this week too! I just realized that school starts for Mardi on August 31st and I am now regretting my wish for the summer to fly by (only because of the constant bickering between my two offspring!). I am looking forward to 5 full days of her in school however that really limits our activities on JD's days off. We won't be able to pick up and go wherever whenever we want - although I see in the first 3 months of school she has atleast 2 days off a month! Thank gawd I am home and not having to worry about childcare!

Better run and get those school supplies before the mad dash from the rest of the mothers out there! Thankfully we have at least one more camping excursion planned before school rings the bell!!

Enjoy your summer - only 4 weeks remain!!!!!!

Our Years at the Water Park!

We are so fortunate to live so close to the water park here in High River! It has been a great way to pass the day and my kids love running around there. Where else can you go for $1?? This was Mardi 3 years ago - hmmm running?? So unlike her!!!
Here is her today! Still lovin it!!

This was one of Jacks' first appearances at the park - 6 months old!!

And here is the little shit today!!! So funny! Hopefully there will be lots of sunny days to waste away there this summer!

Nothin Like Camping With Friends!

What a wonderful weekend we just spent around a campfire with friends! Although last weekend was fun - camping in my parents yard ( little white trash like), there is nothing better than our friends and their kids playing together! We don't seem to take the time anymore to be together - everyone is so busy in their own lives and it is wonderful to set aside a weekend for just us!

All the kids got along amazingly well - with exception made for the siblings! Glad to see everyones kids are the same!! This weekend there were 8 kids at any one time running around and the oldest being my daughter at 5! Fantastic!

Here are some pics! Enjoy!