This is what i get when i volunteer.......

Yes.....this is a laminated set of cue cards and pictures for Elliots kindergarten class.....Yes, it goes from my kitchen straight through to the other side of the house to their livingroom!!!

So....my friend Rach Christie came to visit today and got roped into helping me....not sure she will come back to visit any time soon again!!  But this was a very big job!!! 

Mops, Plays, and Blizzards.....all good!

The day started out with some fun at MOPS....met a few new moms who were cool, however, the downside is the games they play to 'break' the ice!  Luckily i was sitting next to a mom, well, i was sitting next to Nic who LOVES these games and was jumping out of her seat to play before the instructions were even done {always loved her youthful enthusiasm!!}...but the mom next to HER was up my alley and was all over the sarcastic quips with me while the game was going on....awesome!!

After MOPS, it was time for the boys to do piano with Malea, and then the part they were both looking forward to was up:  Isaac and Evan got to play all afternoon together at the day camp at the arena...with NO moms!  They had a blast....here they are on the ride back into town.

 And Elliots long awaited afternoon play with Jinny!!!  He has been asking every day when he could go to Jinny's....I have never seen him so persistent ... but he had a great afternoon too.

 After a 'waffle wednesday' diversion to Baan Do's stir fry for dinner with rentons and zalinkos...it was time to head over to see the play that Max and Marty were in.  Max was a crow and Marty was a tree!!

 i love these next 2 shots...check out andy's zoolander....

 and now check out JL's.....aren't they perfect for eachtother??

 DQ blizzards after??  Of course!!  Buy one get one for .99 {oop carrie...you didn't read that!!}

 The 'princess' and the 5 little boys......

It was a good day......

Todays Trail.......

Yesturday was a hike up the mountain.....today was a trail run......we are back on the wagon folks.....

i mean, look where we all live.....get outside.

Climbed a mountain today......

Yup....me and two great girlfriends.......oh right, we also dragged up our 8 kids too....no biggie.

All the kids did fantastic......the secret besides amazing moms?? 

Skittle Breaks

 This eagle circled us for a few minutes.....it was so beautiful and close that we could see the detail in its tail feathers!!  It circled long enough for us to wonder if it was looking at either our muffins or our small children!!

BDE....

If i were a kid....actually, even as an adult, i would totally classify this as a BDE......

Best Day Ever.....

I mean, it started out as 2 boys to one excited instructor ALL DAY at the arena day camp!  NO other kids showed up!  So with a ratio of 2:1....they ice skated, colored, did crafts, played games....

They had a total blast!!

Then it was off to see the Lorax....very cute show...thrilled that i had a coupon,

otherwise it would have been WAY pricier!!!

As soon as the movie was over, we crossed the parking lot to meet

some good friends at Montanas for some ribs!!!

 Always so serious these 2....learned a story about Brett tonight...

about an early morning run to the tuck store in questionable attire.....

 Question:  are the ice creams tiny? or are we just GIGANTIC!!!

who knows?

 Brett has absolutly no issues with personal space, yet.....my husband does......poor guy!

Needed to race back to camp so chris could play ball hockey....we played 20 questions on the way home, the boys are quite good at it! 

We are pretty excited for easter this year....we are spending it with the Tennants up at Mount Washington.....snowshoeing, tubing....maybe do a little boarding?  We will see....fear and cost hold me back...and they are 2 totally mutually exclusive things....if we had money, i would still fear breaking something and rendering myself useless!! {NO comment there dad!!!}

It was a long....very good day....but i need to go to bed....i will have 8 little boys in my home in a little over 12 hours!! Need to be well rested for THAT!!! ;-)



i don't miss THIS stage....

Funny how quickly you forget brutal stages in your kids lives.....but we

 lived through a long one where this was Elliot!!!  Here he is on our family holiday back in 2008.....we were in vegas at the time and i am so glad that i snapped this picture because oh MY did it ever capture what he was like for much of that trip.......

 And believe it or not, THIS was one of the highlights of the vegas trip!!  When he finally fell ASLEEP!!!  I remember it clearly...the sweet relief of quiet and only the chaos of vegas in the background!!  Isaac and I shared a mother-huge chocolate dipped strawberry that cost $7 for the one, and we shared it in front of the Bellagio fountains while listening to 'my heart will go on' while the fountain water show played.....it was quite the moment!!  {i may have cried a little: moved by the music, or sheer exhaustion and happiness that there was no crying?  We will never know!!}

Oh Elliot!!! We love you little monkey!! 

Spa Night Continued.....

As fun as it was to laugh and giggle last night.....as i lay in bed last night running the evening over in my mind, i felt a little bit sad.  We all don't get together very often....and when we do its fun, but i didn't really get to chat and really catch up with anyone last night.  I wanted to know how things are going with kim and her new little baby, how Ashley is doing with her photography business, how lana is doing commiting to full time work as opposed to the part time, how Malea is doing aside from being a fabulous teacher to my boys.....

Note to self: make a deliberate effort to find these things out soon.....yes, we can have fun...we proved that!!  Now I want to log some real time......

This morning, we all woke up at 7am!  Isaac, btw: tried to wait up for me and he made it til 10:30......i don't know where all his energy comes from, but he's had it all his life!!!  I mean, remember THIS!!!???

The local hockey arena had a day camp planned for kids this week (hello strike!!)....so isaac and elliot packed up their lunch and helmets and gloves!!  We arrived at 8 and i suppose all the employees were waiting for the throngs of parents to arrive....but it was just us!! ;-0  Oh man, the kids took off running!!  The curling lounge was converted for the day, there were a pile of games along the wall, coloring books, toys, even a huge movie screen with curious george playing.....they will go skating and/or evening try out curling later too.....the woman in charge of the day says she has boys at home and she is excited for the day......so, i don't think they even said good bye!

I clearly remember feeling so anxious dropping the boys off at places like this (even at this arena, for playschool not that long ago!!).....i love that they feel confident enough now to take off running, excited for the new adventure SANS maman!!!

SPA NIGHT!!!

What a great night!!  After our day...i came back and had a half hour power nap, and at 5:30 i needed to get up and make family members dinner before i left (hello eggs on toast!!)....but i really just wanted to crawl back into bed!!  Sleep when you are dead right??

Well....it was a mix of some pretty fun girls tonight!!!

Here we started out with eyebrow threading that nearly killed Nic and I....but gorgeous outcomes!!!  Right??  It was worth it, right??  At one point, i felt so nauseous like i was going to throw up it hurt that much!!

After threading (aka: torture)...was time for an 'aftershot for nic' (oh man...that was quite the after shot!!) and a Black Jack with Spa Bucks!!

 Black Jack!!! Kelly and Mel both killed it!! Check out the dealer?? Pretty fast eh?

Jinny=intense!!!!

 Love this girl.....

 Kelly getting a little mani!!!

 Jinny, Mel and Malea!!

 Mel got a hemp tatoo and wasn't able to get wet...so she grabbed a drink and still joined us on deck...such a good sport!! 

 "Before Shot" - nic and i had not yet done a roll....but it was about 3 minutes after this shot!!

 We pretty much closed up the place!!

We aren't sure where all the girls went...but whatever!! 

We got to own the pool!!! 

 This one is for you dad....got to give the bunny ears right? 

And at the end of the night.....we pooled our spa bucks with Mel and won the final prize! 

 A whole pile of 20 swim passes!!! 

I think we were up to over 350....the others didn't stand a chance!! 

We have started a monthly (ish) girls night out and each time needs to be planned by one of the girls, tonight was Nics night and she rocked it!!  I am glad it all worked out the way it did.....we laughed alot, and had alot of fun....it was so nice to get out and just be goofy and get a little bit pampered and be with my friends.......

How my amazing Chiropractor got her start......

She did this....hence really admired how her own chiropractor could fix her body....so

she became one herself when she stopped being an olympic freestyle skier.......

Couple of notables on this low key (aka: boring) Saturday!!!

Yes...i said it....a boring day.....perhaps its the weather...perhaps i was just grumpy....perhaps the house felt overwhelming and explosive.....but there were a few highlights on this lowlight kind of day:

Lovely Rachel came over around 2 with a London Fog in hand for me as well as ingredients to make up our own laundry detergent!!  Nothing like a little break in the day!!

First i grated up 1/3 of a bar of sunlight hand soap:

 We melted it and she added a few things and here she is mixing the whole cauldron together!!  And voila -- a really nice smelling, natural (HUGE amount of) liquid laundry detergent!

 This afternoon, i stumbled upon an ad for a free bunny that came with an outdoor hutch and indoor cage....so i gathered up the kids and we went to meet cocoa!!  Sweet little bunny!!!  Oh man, so sweet.....but in the end...it was one hairy mother!!!!  Both Chris and Elliot said no to the bunny.....

So....here is the picture of the pet that never was!  Good luck Cocoa!!

Introducing Kelly!! Dog Groomer Extrodinaire!!!!

Caleb loves Kelly......they had a little bonding time out on the deck this aft!! 

I wish i had a before shot .. but see that bucket?  yup...ALL hair!!

 A little thank you kiss!!!

Movie Night at the Burdges

So...its friday....which has developed into sorta a 'fend for yourself, eat what you want, and we will watch a movie together' kind of night!!

Chris came home from work around 7:30 to discover that isaac had eaten a kiwi, i had a grapefruit, elliot had a banana, and we all tried a little bit of rice with milk and cinamon like my grandma used to make...however, she didn't make it with parboiled camp rice....so it was sorta nasty.....chris made us some rasberry pancakes and we put on October Sky....Elliot was so bored, he searched out his flashlight so he could read books beside chris in the dark while the movie played....and promptly fell asleep around 9ish....

Here are the funny shots post-movie!!!

 oh .... have you ever seen a more beautiful boy?  sigh......i sat there for a few minutes kissing him as much as i wanted and stared at him....he never lets me do that!!  {psst, don't tell him i kissed him....}

 2 fakers....one real....guess who!!!

Friday Nights sorta rule around here.....Jon joined us for a little while, but he got bored and left....ah well!