Sunday!!

We went to Qwanoes after checking out Warmland on Sunday....we love qwanoes. It has such great memories for us, of the start of 'us', of old and dear friends, where we were married...and now its a place where we walk with our children who are wonderful.

Typical view of my family.....in the car!!

My crazy boys......

When i was first hired on at Qwanoes, i painted this whole playground--including the merry go round!! good times (as Smacky would say!!)

One day my boys will go here and love it as much as we did.....they will go to alot of camps! (obviously ;-)

Partners in Crime....

We normally have nice mornings around here....with the sun coming up so early, the boys are up by 7am...Isaac goes upstairs or plays his reading/counting games on the computer...Elliot starts yelling 'mommyyyyyy....peeeeeee'....so i have to get up, get him out of his crib to pee and then he goes upstairs til almost 8 so chris and i can sleep for an extra hour.

Right now though, its 1/2 hour before we leave for preschool and they are driving me ABSOLUTLY CRAZY!!! So much so, that i have thrown both of them into their room to contend with eachother til we leave. They both resisted at first, until they realized that every time i went back in there, i was still 'mad, not-fun mommy'.....so, now they are reading quietly.

Whoop, not reading quietly anymore, I just went back in there because elliot was shrieking (a stunt he pulls when he wants me back in there for attention..)--so i went in, (still 'not-fun' mommy mode) and isaac is telling him "be quiet elliot, come sit down!!

I love that isaac is a good brother for elliot....if anything, elliot beats up on him and isaac cries out for help.......sigh...it's neverending, isn't it? (eh Niki??)

Spider BOYS go camping....

Isaac and i hamming it up.....he likes to check out the shots after it clicks....to this one, he comments "now THAT is a KEEPER!!"....hilarious...

Here they are practicing camping!As i type this, they are playing 'quietly' in the tent....they are under the impression that its bedtime but they can play a little before falling asleep--i am thankful they are still to young to realize it's only 6:30!! Chris is back working at the flip tonight--but this morning we moved the "incredibly-heavy-thankful-my chiropractor-didn't-see-glad-i-am-working-out-lots"-type appliances!! They were SO gross......it was pretty fun though to throw them around and let them roll down the hill towards the trailer.....

Top of my game.....

So, what you can't see is how incredibly burnt my chest is!! You can see how burnt my lips are and you can see the top of my burnt chest a little......but the sun was out in full force today and i am NOT complaining, i am shouting with glee!! (and a tiny bit of pain...but whatever!)

This morning was Jazzercise with my new friend Kim....so fun with someone you know!! Then lunch with Nancy and the kids. And then a long long walk with Jinny (both of us had the youngsters while their older siblings were in preschool), and then a quick play at Mike and Christies' house----so its been a busy day!

We were STARVING when we got home, so i happily go to the freezer and pull out my moms yummy homemade noodles and the frozen meatballs i made last night at 'community kitchens'....and we had an amazing meal--all ready in like 5 minutes!! I am feeling on top of my game today......it's good....and it's really, one day at a time....isn't it?

A word that starts with "UG"

So, we have been working on a few things with both boys lately and i will start with Elliot.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009---Earth Day...also Elliots first speech pathology consult! Very exciting since finding a speech therapist is near impossible in this region for some reason...but there was a cancellation and we took it! Elliot was miserable when we got there--lots of tears, whining...but after a few minutes, the dr. engaged him in a few games and we made Isaac stay as quiet as possible (NOT an easy task!) .. and Elliot thrived being the one playing the game on his own and getting the individual attention. And so it begins......he could sign, repeat most of her words so that you could recognize them....it was cool and encouraged us.

Elliot has also toilet trained himself--seriously! He hasn't been in diapers during the day since the beginning of March...but we are all still struggling with his #2 issues! The issue being he freaks out and tries to run from it! And when it comes out (we don't often make it to the toilet), he screams and screams til its all cleaned up....sigh...it sucks. Its SO stressful, on him yes, but on me too!! My heart rate increases, i know that a meltdown is coming when he starts to run around and pace and whine.......hopefully it will click soon.

Isaac....hmm..where to start with Isaac? He likes to talk right now....constantly! And he always checks to make sure you are either listening or watching him. This gets tiring at the end of a busy day when you have a few things scheduled OTHER than watching or listening to HIM. But he is sweet and he tries hard...i need to try harder at being more patient and loving to my little guy who is learning and observing every little thing around him! The latest thing is his observations. He will make a comment about somebody and often it is a negative observation, so we have been working on teaching him about 'differences' and that you should not say negative WORDS about people because it can hurt their feelings.

So, this morning at breakfast, he comes over to chris and whispers in his ear: "Daddy, that man who is sitting beside me, starts with with word 'UG'"

Fits to a tee!!

There is a fellow blogger in the okanagan that i follow because i love her insight and her kids are adorable and her struggles with juggling all that we moms have to juggle, often make me laugh.

But this morning, i read her post and thought, now THAT.....wow...is ME and encapsulates so well something i have recently gone through with a very good friend, who is no longer a good friend, but i continue to struggle with, almost daily, because i miss her.

Click here to read that post.

Welcome to the Sticks

i think its funny that i post all these family memories, stories of my sweet, sweet boys, and other 'life in general' posts..and what gets the most recognition and comments is the picture of my pie...go figure.

One little tidbit from life lately, before i launch into cleaning the kitchen and flopping onto my couch for the rest of the evening, is this: the one time, EVER, don't catapult myself out of bed in the middle of the night because caleb is barking, Chris gets to see a big bear on our deck! The only reason i got out of bed was because i heard this huge thing gallop across our front deck and launch itself off to get away.....SO not fair.....i only normally ever get to see scavenging racoons! Except that one time, i thought i heard something late one night, opened the door and 'HELLO BEAR!' I screamed like a little girl and slammed the door. Ah-the sticks......

HAPPY EASTER!!

Traditional Easter Egg hunt at the Burdges again this year....and no rain! It was actually quite beautiful out!
Here is Chris reluctantly cuddling with me before dinner.....thats my hood if you were wondering if i had developed a humpback.

This was Elliot throughout the day....quiet and looking down to unwrap something!! I knew this from past experience, so he ate real well all day and then i just let him loose at the Burdges...less stress.

Again....view number #2:

Fiesty great-grandma!

Fiesty Uncle:

The attempt at a group shot:

It was funny, chris found a real worm and was holding it in his hand in front of Elliot and was pretending it was a jelly worm and was going to eat it....elliot completly LOST it and screamed like a little girl as it approached Chris's mouth! He's like "I CAN"T TALK!! But you should NOT EAT THAT!!!"

Good day all round......Happy Easter.....how blessed are we??

COUSINS!!

Last summer, Isaac and Elliot had their cousins Wren and Ava move from vancouver to the island!! Its so exciting to be able to see them whenever we want and not just on special holidays! So, here are some pictures from our Friday afternoon....

All in their Christmas pj's from Auntie Laura...i love that Oscar got one for Christmas too and he was still 'inside'!!!

My wish today.....

I wish that i had more friends who lived close by to come by for fresh lemon meringue pie....It's not as fun to eat alone......but i will do what i can!! I'm curious if the boys will like it......

Buzz takes on Preschool!

The thing i love love love about isaac is his lack of concern to what others may think! I definatly take lessons from this little guy who has been so determined to wear his buzz suit to preschool, that finally he brought me the phone and said 'why don't you call my teachers and see if its ok?" Resourceful thing, isn't he? i have NO idea where he gets that from?! This is his little friend Joshua.....he doesn't really talk about anyone else at school, but Joshua's name comes up everytime i ask him who he plays with. However, whenever i drop him off at school, there are usually a few kids that will surround him for a few minutes initially to look at his moose shirt or to hear if he has anything interesting to say that day! And today he showed them how when he pushes the red button on his sleeve, his wings (arms) pop out!

Isaac is a lucky kid because i like Joshua's mother alot, so we tend to get together out of preschool times too!

Buzz and Elliot on his way into school this morning:

Elliot and Isaac and their new little craft corner (new table set up to be introduced soon....but you get the idea!)

Can you believe this sun today?! We went for a boat ride after dinner today and it finally felt like summer may actually come this year!

Wonderful Day

Yay for the sun!! We have finally been able to start playing outside enstead of running the halls!! Today after church we took the boys quading (on the list this week is to get them proper helmets since i can see us doing this on a regular basis).

Chris put Elliot on the front of his quad when we started and he literally bounced up and down he was so excited for the adventure!!

Elliot watching daddy throw a boulder off the bridge into the water below! Very cool for boys, i suppose!

He's about to drop it.......

Can you see the rock??

Trent finally has finished his Jeep! From the ground UP!!! Is that not totally cool? So, we went over today to check it out since the last we saw it, it was in his basement!

Its been such a great week.......seriously! I hope the sun stays!

New Floors

Based on the amount of time these boys spend running these halls.....we figure that floors are a good thing to invest in. They started getting wicked slivers (see below!)....it got to the point where isaac would crawl slowly along on his hands and knees to avoid a sliver! This the "before" shot of the raw wood floorsThe sliver that threw us into action...So, thank you $1.79 sq ft Costco!! Here are the new floors and we love 'em!! "After Shot"

My kind of music video!!

I love this video!! Its like what i want to do with all my girlfriends to our favorite tune!! But in the meantime....Jazzercise will have to do!!

Check this OUT!!

This is what my RAD sister has done in her Coast Guard days! Is she not the coolest thing? Seriously!

Please note the toe control on this last picture....she is so cool!

Todays agenda: New boot camp and New play space

Those were the two goals today! To try out the new boot camp since the one i have been attending the last 3 months has been cancelled due to cutbacks--Christie was finally on board to do bootcamp, especially after hearing how much fun i was having.....but mine was cancelled, so we went to the one at the aquatic centre: still had childminding, still around the $10 mark, but wow, what a difference!!


For 1: The music=Wham????

sigh.....and listening to 'It's raining men' and various other 80's music--don't get me wrong, i love my 80's, i love to dance in my livingroom to the 80's, but i don't want to get my butt handed to me in bootcamp listening to wham!! It did NOT, i repeat, NOT get my mojo going!

For 2: There were no precious water breaks after really really hard sets.....and she would tend to lose count on these sets...she would suddenly be like 'what number are we at??!' I am glad i feel confident enough to stop what i am doing in the middle of a set to get water if i need it....i probably would have felt pretty sick if i hadn't. (Threw that last sentence in there for my mom, don't worry mom...i self-monitored!)

For 3: Maybe i was just being a wimp? Maybe i was just exhausted from Jazzercise from yesturday (which has music that totally rocks my world!!), or that today was the first day of my period? who knows.....it was definatly an off day, but on the upside, Christie and i had quite a few good giggles throughout the morning.

And lastly, it felt quite dangerous. There were a few moves in there that i don't think should ever be in a beginner class--ie: full plank push-up with one leg up in the air--are you KIDDING me??? I feel like i may have pulled a few various parts because i wanted to try, but with no breaks, no keeping track of how many we had done......youch! There was nobody left standing or breathing for that matter, at the end.

The last 3 months have been F-U-N!!!! Felt like gym class, good times (don't get me wrong...still hard, still wanted to throw up at almost every class), but she made it fun. This class was so on top of eachother, it was like working out in a crowded room.

But, onto the spare room news--my company has left and i don't expect any more for awhile...so tonight we cleared out the bed and made a few little 'stations' for the boys. A desk area, a farm area, hmm..thats about it for now, but it's space right?

Tonight we had fresh crab for dinner (thank-you neighbor Ed!) and i can't tell you how my farts are clearing the room.....chris walked into the toy room to check out my work and walked right out saying, 'cough, its nice hon, cough, it just smells bad' (wimp!)