Our little troupers....

So its a tall order for a 3 and 5 year old, but their job at the flip is to entertain themselves for sometimes long stretches of time....like today--we arrived around 9am, stopped for lunch for an hour or so to head to the nursery for flowers and then back to the flip til around 6.  They did well, for the most part......but they do find some pretty crazy fun adventures together...here they are playing with a salamander....look how impish elliot looks hey?

I like to think this is building their relationship...and i didn't get it on camera, but chris and i picked up a little plastic trike that was WAY too small for Isaac...yet, he insisted on tearing down the backlane on in and then having elliot push him back to the start!  Don't worry...Elliot got a turn too....so the oldest doesn't always have to be the bossy one (right carrie??)

Do you see how wonky Blogger is these days??  I need to find a new server ASAP.....i will never be writing here anymore based on the headaches it is to upload the pictures.....

Landscaping Crazies......

 

It was a super long day at the flip....chris and i are really wanting this baby done and put to bed!!!  I am hating blogger and their new format for laying out pictures, so here is the best i can do with the before and after shots.....the after shot isn't done, we still need to attack the local river and grab a truckload of river rock to fill in the rock river....but you get the idea....

It's exciting to lay barkmulch!!

Can't you just imagine yourself sitting here looking at the apple tree with a glass of iced tea in your hands?

It was a good day......

Isaacs drop off at school this morning went as per usual....Elliot, however, was a different story.  He is fine getting out of the car, grabbing his lunch box, even saying 'see ya!' to Isaac....but approaching the door, he seemed to do a bit of a freakout.  Arg!  I wasn't late yet, but this definatly wasn't in the morning plans.  I shut the door and left for the van, leaving Elliot crying on the other side of the door....normally i would leave, knowing he would be fine.  But I noticed that Myrna had to leave her 5 kids in the circle to deal with Elliot who was crawling on his tummy toward the door......sigh.....i went back and got him...but mommy wasn't happy.  We ended up having a calm talk in the car and he agreed to give it another chance....he hops out, marches straight into school and doesn't look back. (insert: wha?????)  Sheesh, chris says its just a stage, MIL says life is a stage....so there we are.

Jazzercise this morning with Michelle.  I love jazzercise, it makes me happy happy.

Picking up isaac from school, we ran into a mom who i want to be friends with....we talked, it was good....

Tried to be good mom and took the boys skating...though i detest the cold....isaac has been practicing for over a week to be ready for his class field trip tommorow to the skating rink.  He is a great skater.....he was practicing skating backwards today....it was rad. He was happy last week when his old friend Alex was there......sigh...made him so happy.

I let the boys help me make dinner tonight--Yam and Ginger soup.....had a ton of carrots in it, mixed it with some plain yogurt--it rocked.

After Chris got home from work, we all piled into the van and the camp truck and headed to the local river to collect a truckload of river rock for the rock path at the flip.  We had an hour of daylight left, chris and i collected big rocks while the boys played in the river bed.......

Right now, i am listening to Isaac and Elliot playing hide and seek together......

We are Beasts with the gravel pile!!

Yes...this is the final beauty shot of the back yard!   From muddy grass bog to pretty gravel paths.....Sigh! We are almost there!!!

Does this look comfortable?

My chiropractor would have a blast with the way this kid can sleep......

And so we run........

This is a found shot that reminds me of the road we run.  I have been running for 3 weeks now....please note there is no dogged hills in this shot, but believe me...there are hills on our route.

E and I met each other almost 10 years ago when i worked at the radio station...she ran the swankiest (is that a word?) day Spa and she could do killer nails!  We both have been busy the last 5-6 years raising boys - she has one 'upped' me with an extra boy on her team, a sweet little 18 month old, and nope, i don't have a huge desire to catch up, i will just live vicariously through her!  But 3 weeks ago, i spotted her in the back of my jazzercise class and (as i have been known to do as i look for new potential friends...), i walked up to her after class and asked if she would be my running partner!  (Side note, this morning i told her i was sorry i ever talked to her that day.....but, i also have to add that this was said to her on a wicked hill!!).

She lives close to my MIL, which makes Elliot happy....so he and i have both really been enjoying our tuesday and thursday morning runs.  This morning, as our kids all happily played at Margs, we looked at eachtother at the bottom of their driveway (i think both of us were scared of what the other would say..) but we asked at the same time "Where to?"....and i think we both knew the answer, and didn't want to know the answer!!  Did that make sense?  Yup--it was the morning to test ourselves to see if we could do the 10km loop including the killer hills.  She had never done it, and i was so unsure of my knees--but guess what?! It was amazing!

I think partly why it was amazing was that i have a partner who is a bit of a better runner than i, so she pushes me, but she is also terribly interesting to talk with, that makes the time fly by. 

I am stiff and tired tonight....but its so good.

Thoughts from a coffee shop....

It's wednesday morning.....my morning off...the day i look forward to alot for these reasons: i can run random errands quickly and child-free, i can clean my van (again, quickly!) and then i can sit in  starbucks with my latte and laptop and relax!  I currently have just over an hour and a half left.....i have been searching for a new blog host since am not happy with the changes that blogger has put through--like now my pictures are so hard to upload and place on the page.  Notice my last post?  The pics are all over the place and the writing is also all over the place--no fun!  I want to be able to jot down the thoughts, upload the pics, and go!!

But i digress about silly things....Here is where its at these days:  Chris and i have been enjoying our boys so much lately to a point where its scary!  The whole "having kids is like walking around with your heart on the outside of your body" kind of scary.  Can you love your kids more with each passing day? This jumped out at me this morning:  Psalm 127: 3-5 (NIV). 

3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth.

5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.  They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Jesus must love me, otherwise, how would i have gotten so lucky? 

Before and After Shots.....

We rented a turf cutter today and cut a path through the back yard of the flip.  What was before a wet, muddy bog....now has a beautiful pathway of crushed roadway.

Isaac helping me with the wheelbarrow! 

Nothing like a huge pile of freshly delivered gravel to ignite a little boys happiness and willingness to play outside on it--for hours!!

Spiderman and Batman

Lewis came to visit and it was a good day for Batman.....

Our little Skater Boy.....

The difference between yesterday and today is quite astonishing.....the difference that 3 hours can make!  We skated for 1.5 hours yesterday after school, and same amount today....and he is a different skater.

He can get up from a fall with no help today (yesterday he crawled to me or the brace), today he skated from one end of the rink to the other without the brace and fell only twice (yesterday he used the brace the whole way and still fell), and today he showed me how he drags his back foot to try and stop quicker!! 

We were fortunate to have the Inch's in California pass down Charlie's hockey gear 2 years ago when isaac was 3 1/2 and i remember thinking ' he will NEVER fit into that huge gear!'....and here he is!

I was genuinely freaked for about 5 long seconds....

Chillaxin' after a weekend of organizing.....

I am enjoying our new entry way addition! Having trouble seeing what is new? It is hard to tell since it looks like it belongs there!! Rona was having a clearance on some random furniture and i think we totally scored because it fits the space perfectly! Jazzercise was a blast this morning.....my friend Aja came with me so that was fun. Now we are home and as you can see, Isaac and his favorite little friend from school is over. He and Rocco get on well....so, its nice to have him over for the afternoon.

Not much new to report...we worked hard on the flip this weekend, i spent the day yesturday organizing the boys playrooms and getting ready for the week....baking, cleaning, you know, just the life of a domestic goddess! (hah!) But life is sweet right now.....its nice not having much to report.

Think he needed new shoes?

Making Progress....though its hard to tell!!

Homes with wet basements don't sell quickly, do they? This is the basement of the flip that was last on the long list of things to finish before we could put it on the market.....There wasn't alot fo drainage, so he jackhammered that drain ditch into the floor and worked his genius with various drainage ideas. And voila....all done, just awaiting it to dry out and put concrete over the tubing to make the floor smooth again.

And this is what i did.....hard to tell that this looks better than it did, but you have to believe me! 2 ugly concrete pads were jackhammered and i pulled them all out, carved out all the dead sod to make a path from the front yard to the garage. Its almost ready for some fresh pathway gravel. Stay tuned for the after shots--can't wait to take those!

Oh, and that horrible fence, you ask? Its coming down this week!

Dinner Tonight...

My favorite No Knead Bread!! Cauliflower Soup with Coconut Milk....

Success.......

The reason that i don't make puffed wheat cake.....but yes, isaac did a piece before bed.

i want to talk about this man.....

This is the man who is for me...... My mom says that i don't speak enough about my husband. I tell her sweet things that he is doing, and she booms ' now THAT is what you should be writing about on your blog!' kidding mom, no boom.....but ok, here is a story about something unexpected that he did tonight at dinner. He comes into the room as i am taking all the food from the fridge (keep in mind, we have both worked all day) and he says to me "what can i do?"....ok ladies, there is no better thing they can say, is there?? Sigh....so i soak in his question and finish with 'naw, you are tired, if you just want to keep me company, that would be cool'....he refuses to relax so i hand him a peeler and we make dinner together. I have been married to this man for over 11 years and its not too often this scenario happens, don't get me wrong, he helps when i ask, but to ask ME??? WHOA!!!

Tonight, after an amazing supper of red snapper homemade fish sticks, coleslaw and sweet potato fries, Chris asks if its ok if he takes isaac out for a night just the two of them (see post below of amazing 5 year old)......are there alot of dads out there who do this?

I don't speak often of how great i think Chris is for mainly 2 reasons: i write about things i want to make sure i remember about my children and our life together because their childhood is going to be over so quickly, and second, i don't really want to share on the world wide web how deliriously happy i am to be in this marriage as i like to keep this aspect of my private life private. He is an understated man with a real quiet strength and to write much about him almost takes away from that, if that makes any sense.

But as this man ages, i am still blown away by him....

My amazing 3 year old......

Elliot has turned a corner in the last month and chris and i couldn't be more pleased. This trip that we took and the copius amounts of quality time we have all been able to have with eachother, he is happier! He is more involved and not as quick to cry and freak out when things don't go his way. He and Isaac can play all day together and i overhear conversations of the two of them negotiating their toys...the other day, isaac wanted a toy that elliot did NOT want to hand over! So, isaac comes to me and it was time for a snack and i gave him 2 little cookies, 1 to give to elliot. I overhear isaac asking elliot if he would like a cookie and, of course, the answer is YES!! But isaac says, 'you can have this cookie, but only if i can have that toy!!' elliot practically threw the toy at him to get that cookie!!

Everyday this week he asks if he can go to Nona's house......hopefully we can help that little wish come true soon.

He is just my sweetest little guy.......

My amazing 5 year old......

Chris took Isaac swimming tonight so they could spend some special one on one time together. As they are swimming together, picture this: Isaac standing on chris's back as chris is lying on the floor of the pool (like he is surfing...).

So chris comes up for air and Isaac pipes up "Ok dad....i'm surfing on your back, but when i step on your head, that means BRAKE!!"

Good Night Sweet Boy

Needed to note the new stuffie from his kindergarden teacher, the white blanket he has not slept without since birth, his new Canucks toque from grandma and his new quilt from auntie jenny......beautiful boy.

Christmas at the Burdges

Elliot, as always, eager to eat!!!

All the cousins....opening one of the most special gifts -- beautiful, unique quilts built specifically for each one by the hand of their wonderful auntie Jenny. This touched me....and i think it felt much more important that it normally would since we were away from our family this year during the holidays. We are all just so loved, and these quilts were such a symbol of how important family is.

Elliot cozied right under and yells " NICE AND WARM!!" (well, pronounced 'whawm')

Isaac loves his new camera and just like his grand-dad, loves to harrass everyone with it! ;-)

Me and my 'little' women with our NY pashmena's!!

Seriously....do i not look GINORMOUS??

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

What a trip!

Its over and it was amazing while it lasted. These are some pictures from one of my favorite days. It was Christmas Eve day.

This picture captures how happy these boys were every day of this wonderful trip.

Our Christmas Day....

Christmas day seems like ages ago, but it was a really special day for my little family. These boys jumped on our bed with their stockings at 7:30 and madly opened everything, paper flying everywhere...it was wonderful. Breakfast, more presents, chilling out to play with the presents and then lunch!

After lunch, we had the highlight of the day....a canoeing adventure to hunt for manatees!! It was a 6 mile canoe through the mangroves - it honestly felt like we were in a whole new place...like the nile!! We found the manatees....specifically a baby and its momma! What a gift to be in a space so quiet, with these giants swimming just below our canoe....and it was just us.

It was a very merry christmas.......