Who is moms favorite....

Friday Night Lights.....

The day was pretty chill around here today....walked the kids to the bus, tidied the house.....headed out around 2 to pick up the boys......Elliot made this sweet fathers day 'tie' for chris for fathers day, and on our way to the car, he holds it up and starts swaying his hips around, laughing saying 'bonjour!! je suis Monsiour Mengual!"....haha...the principal happened to be standing there so we all laughed and tried to get elliot to pose with the man he was mocking....he wouldn't.....but isaac would!!

Then it was off to walmart to meet nic and the girls!  We got pictures done at walmart of our kids---ooh....fun right?  yeah sure....i mean, i take a ton of pictures of my kids anyways, but there is something about a professional background and a sweet shot of your kids.......$15 well spent i think!  I will post that picture on June 29th when i get it back!!

 A 7$ sonic shirt that little Elliot wants for his birthday!!

 We may, or may not have been in walmart for too long tonight......

 At home, it was time for dinner......they got to eat at the window and watch the cops pull cars over.....they all arrived around 5:30ish and its 9:30 now.....its been fun to watch....watch cops pull out beer from cars/trucks and watch guys blow into breathalizers...but at one point before the breathalizer got pulled out....one cop i saw lean over and make a guy blow for him to smell his breath!  (wha!?  i am thinking...don't you have a machine for that?).....

 The view from our kitchen window......front row seats...

Rach is here now, and read 'the Gruffalo' to the boys:

 And chris brought work home......

Aww....the cop car out in front that was administering the breathalizer just moved his car....guess he didn't like us watching from the window and having isaac shout out his little peanut gallery comments......i told him to be a little quieter...but maybe it was all the finger pointing that he was doing and i wonder if the cop heard him ask "Do the cops get to keep all that beer?"

It's a valid question....i thought.

Thursday? What happened to Monday?

Thursday was a busy day as i sit here friday morning thinking back......i wrote a long email to my mom last night encapsulating my day, play by play....so i don't feel like doing it again...but in summary, the boys got off to school with chris driving them (again!)...i stayed in bed til 11 working on emails, facebook and the phone trying to recruit people to come to camp to volunteer a week......its a tough sell in this time of life when the people that I know, and who i would go to first, all have full time jobs and/or kids...and a week of summer holidays is quite precious.....but we continue.....and we will see success this summer!!

Cleaned the house for the rest of the day......was rewarded at 2:30 with an iced coffee from neighbor of the year....thank you very much also for calling me cinderella when you walked in.....i most definatly thought i would be paying someone to clean my house by now....as i worked my high power job somewhere swank......so alas,  even though i don't have this:

 

I wouldn't trade where I am for the world.....

Mark 8:36

For what shall it profit a (wo)man, if she shall gain the whole world, and lose her own life?

i like this:

So, on that note of moving on....and enjoying the 'present' time with my family:

I had to pick up some eggs from the local petstore {don't ask}.....the boys and i got distracted by the fish tanks....ahh...fish tanks....good memories as a kid.  Actually one of my first memories of fish {and blatant disobedience} was that of a purchase of a Black Moor goldfish:

i wanted one, really bad when i was younger...not sure how old, but old enough to get $5 for a weekly allowance.  The black moors were $4.99...and i was supposed to always save 10% of my allowance.....well, that week i spent my whole allowance on this gorgeous fish.....and dealt with angry parents.....they got over it....and i loved that fish.

So, when i see my kids looking at the fish...knowing never in a million years would mom offer to buy them one...I did.  And amazingly they agreed on the fish {perhaps they knew if there was too much bickering, i would leave and just get in the car, fish-less...my kids are smart that way.....}

They took turns holding it on the way home....we agreed on a name: OTTO

{from this childhood favorite book ever!! i still have my scribbles in it from when i was a kid}

Isaac thought ahead of how he could be the one to hold the bag when it was time to show his friends...elliot was just happy to hold the bag:

 Introducing OTTO:  he sits by our door and watches our comings and goings.....

he will be quite entertained....

 And then it was time for homemade noodles.......

Merrin and her sweet fiance came over around 9 to stay over.....kids were asleep....it was a pretty low key night....great day all round......i am a lucky girl.

Our little life....snap shot of our day....

Not sure how to title this post, so we will just see where it leads! I will start at dinner, my new favorite!!  TACO SALAD!!!!  Love! Love! Love!   Spontaneous dinner with Zalinks since we had too much food, and they, well, lets just say you couldn't smell anything cookin' yet.....so they came over and crashed on our couch with us while the kids played outside......

 After dinner, i needed to get some form of exercise in to get my double points for the day! 

 {THIS is what Nic and Ash and I are doing.....not bad so far...kinda fun and very doable!!!}

So, after dinner {a very BIG dinner...see above pic and picture it in my little belly jiggling all around!!}...i decided i should RUN.....so, i strapped on my new favorite leg warmers {i push them down when i get too hot, but its not fun running when you are cold!!}

...and headed out with Caleb!  My always willing partner!!

As I run alone alot these days, i am trained to listen for noises and watch for black things out of the corner of my eyes....today i saw THIS:

 Yup....i thought it was a bear.....but it was just a garbage can....still freaky though.....but i will NOT let FEAR dictate my actions!!  This was what i was trying to teach Elliot the other day.....FEAR has no place in our life....on so many levels....but today, on my level, i WANT to be outside....i LOVE to be outside....i will NOT let fear make me stay in my house...especially when there are double points on the line!! ;-)  But cramps were so bad the first 15 minutes, but then caleb and i hit our stride and ran in the rain for the final 1/2 hour....and it was so great...no pain....just steady.....

i DID see other wildlife.....which calms me because when you see deer, you will not see cougars...

 When i arrived home, boys were in pj's and ready for cuddles....oh man, this little guy used to lay on my lap just like this, but he was so tiny!!  I love that he still loves to cuddle.....he asked if i had been swimming.....thats how wet i was....

Faker......but so cute.

Reading books before bed....

Getting crazy before bed.....

best dad ever!!!!

Chris is back at work at the shop....i went over to see him earlier because i had found a 48 hour sale to Istanbul, Turkey and asked if this was a place we would want to go in December....normally its around $1500 and it is less than half right now AND from victoria!!.....so it's a great deal, but after a little talking and dreaming, we decided {we make quick decisions together}...that this is not the place for us right now.....but Europe, one day we will be coming to see you!  And our kids will be wearing back packs too!!  Until then...we will make memories in San Diego this year and the kids will be pulling their little spiderman and thomas the train suitcases.......

Go to sleep already!

SO.....it's monday night.

They have had a long day at school... {right?}

They had a long 1 hour bus right home.....{that's long, isn't it?}

They did piano, had a mini-dinner, played outside and played some video games

Then it was time to go to JL's for family dinner....

Adults ate....kids played outside.....

That should have tired them out....{right?}

Well, upon arrving home....they are masters at staying up: snack? bath? cuddle?

At one point, i found isaac building some kind of machine with his Knex...

The last straw was this last request, yelled from the safety of their beds:

"MOM!!  Can you come pray for us?"

Stomping over, i stand in the doorway
"LORD, help these children to fall asleep....AMEN"

Stomp away......

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.....

Up early.....

I made the mistake of sending Chris in the car to drop off the boys at the bus as Rach and I headed out on our bike ride.....i am back....he isn't.
Ten bucks says i will smell ice capp on his breath upon his return!!
{update: turns out he DID just drive the kids to the bus, he just drove right down to work when he got back and parked in a spot i couldn't see!!}

But what a beautiful morning!!

 Sat on our dock for awhile when i got back.....this shot is just from my phone.....don't you just exhale when you look out here?

This shot was from Derek on his way to breakfast.....he thought it was a beautiful day too....i think we are all just so water logged, that a sunny morning sends us over the brink.  We are all excited to have our fearless leader back in his office after a week away.......its not the same around here without him.

 What is today going to bring?

Family bed? Not for us....SEE?!

It was a different kind of Saturday night round these parts last night.....after a long day in town, we got home, did a few chores, boys played their new video games {isaac nabbed 2 pricey games off usedcowichan with his birthday money, paying less than half! And while picking up a few things at walmart, the sweet spirit decided to buy his little brother 3 new Skylanders with the rest of his birthday money!!!  That is $20 people!!  what 8 year old does that??  Even the 5 year old was blown away.....he looks up at his bro after the news and says 'promise?'  as in, promise you aren't lying to me right now??

So, the boys were happy as clams when we got home, and i was happy to climb into bed with a movie....7:30 rolls around when chris got home and smells no dinner....poor guy.....

At 8, i rolled out of bed to a bbq steak dinner with corn on the cob and these awesome carrots with butter and brown suger {NOT what i cook, but they were SO good!!}....i need to let this boy cook more, but i honestly expected to have shells or french toast since thats what he cooks when its up to him.....

I needed to get in my 1/2 hour of exercise, i will NOT lose my to $25 nic and ash!!  So, chris and i played a fun game of pickle ball and did a little bmxing......

Then it was home again and chris went back to work again....Paul pulls up and yells 'hey, i have a present for you!'...so as i am walking over to the smurf truck, i say 'you know, Mel says that to me all the time, and then she gives me something that is already mine....'  he suddenly looks bummed out and hands me my milkshake maker saying 'i saw that going alot differently in my mind'......i laughed....i think he is funny.

SO.....back in the house, boys crawl into bed with as is usual when chris works late, we watch 'young sherlock holmes'...the first 5 minutes are actually quite terrifying, isaac finally says 'i think this may give us nightmares mom'....so we turn it off and try 'Muppets take Manhatten', but not before i show them the pics of all of us in NY, maybe we would see something familliar?  But then we got bored and put on Hammy the Hamster on netflix {love this show, its so cute with all the real little animals, sometimes we laugh when we catch the hand pushing the little that the guinea pigs rides in.....sidenote: Leileini would have no problem with this show......

But then it was 10, time to turn off the lights....and this is what chris found at midnight when he turned the lights back on:

Working the Wall....

Chris loathes the wall....

He found out he was on climbing wall today a few days ago...and each day he complains 'aghhh....i don't want to do climbing wall....'

i love my husband, so i tell him i will do it for him.....

so today, i went to work.

Here is my cubicle:

 Here is my boss:

Here is my co-worker....

 Here are my clients......{Kilian and Erica....very hardcore.}

Not a bad day at the office.....

Happy Birthday Nic.....the big 2-5.

Where better to celebrate your "half way to 50" party than at a Steak House??!!

 I often forget that this girl is definatly NOT my age....so much so, that the other day, she and i were chatting at my house making birthday plans {and as a side note, these days, i feel as though i am planning many friends/fellow moms birthdays because they often don't do anything to celebrate themselves....and every birthday SHOULD be celebrated....not mine though, i could care less....but anyways....., i digress}....so, i look at her, and i am like "so what year IS it anyways?  30?"....she looks at me with such horror and says 'are you serious?'.....

i make a weird noise with my mouth as i shake my head violently to show her it was all a big joke....of COURSE she isn't turning 30!  Man...i mean, thats OLD right? NAW, i was totally kidding! Don't you know when i am kidding? 

But i wasn't kidding....i just recovered quickly and remembered my young spring chicken friend.

Its hard to keep track when your good friends range from 25 to 42....you know?

Love you Nic!!! Happy Birthday Chickie!!!

Isaac turns 8 and what a party!!!

The day consisted of Phase I and Phase II

Phase I: Welcome your class {as well as little brothers class too!}

 BONJOUR!!!

For some reason, my camera wouldn't zoom out, so i didn't get a shot of the impromptu singing of "Bonne Fete" to isaac .... it was so sweet, they all just broke out and started singing to him when they got off the bus!  As that finished, elliot ran away, arms flailing, yelling happily, and all his kindergarten buddies followed suit.......it took all us adults a minute to realize that all 5 year olds had disappeared around the building.....and THAT, my friends was a little hint of what it was going to be like with the 5 year olds; herding kittens.......

Kiani loves isaac.....

Gave him a sweet card with 4 twoonies taped inside

(turning 8 after all, he SHOULD get 8 bucks!.....)

But then she annoyed him on the hike and made chris tell her to stop bugging him.....she pretty much made him cry cause she wouldn't leave him alone!  {haha....and it begins......}

 Grade 2/3's split up--1/2 went on a nature hike with chris and the other 1/2 stayed back and did a craft......Elliots class made binoculars, had a snack and went to the park.

After lunch it was time to bring out the ANGRY BIRDS cake!!!

 Mme Smith talks about two incredible boys who had birthdays that day!!!

 There was SO much cake left.....and it took most of the adults to contain the small amount of chaos that went along with serving just under 50 kids cake and ice cream......ps: elliot decided around this time to throw a little tantrum....his timing is so sweet...sigh.  As a reward, he enjoyed a little time to himself out at the pingpong table......

 Then it was time for a little Predator/Prey in the forest!!

 8 year olds, understood....kindergardeners preferred to dance near the boundaries....all good!

 Can't catch me suckas!!

 Not too sure what the caption should be here.....they just really like eachother.....

 Phase I ended, mama and babies had 1 hour of 'bunk time'....here is Phase II

 Rice Krispie cake = AWESOME!! 

Candles, pokemans and their trainers, chucking pieces of cake to everyone = priceless.

 Family and friends celebrate a very sweet 8 year old.....

 Special friends....

 We are missing quite a few before i realized i needed to document......missing tanya, spencer, amanda, dylan and alex.....they all left or hadn't arrived yet.....

 Take a guess at who isn't invited next year?

 Happy Birthday my sweet Isaac.....you are one very loved little boy.....with two very proud parents.