Fall

On request of my girls, enjoy some fall leaves for a while.

Not My Child Monday

There is no way that my son pooped in a Thrift Store today. When I mean poop I do not mean in his pants, or undies or diaper, I mean on the floor of the store. My kids would never do this. I would never take my son out AGAIN in just pants and bare under there to a public place. I would NEVER be so bold as to do this because he already had pooped his ONE time today, he was safe. Paul and I would not look in horror as my son's poop lay on the floor in the middle of the store and try to clean it up as fast as we could as not to let on what just happened. There was NOT a little girl there telling her mom in a loud voice "There is a boy pooping!" Thankfully there WAS a bathroom 3 feet away, with paper towels, cleaning supplies and garbage cans. We were not thrilled at this find, thanking God that we were in a store with cheap pants to buy for him as we needed to throw both his pants and slippers he was wearing. We DID NOT leave the store... after buying a few things... with the garbage bag from the bathroom with the evidence in it, take it to our car and leave no explanation to the clerks. WE WILL NEVER GO BACK.

milk out the nose and some feet

Have you ever had the experience of shooting milk out your nose while laughing? Well, I have, but this story isn't about me, it is about my son. I learn so much from my kids and I have learned so much about the human body. Did you know that if your biggest sister holds you upside down when you have milk in your mouth it will come out of your nose eventually? I didn't either.

On to feet. My friend Deb has started her own business and wanted some pictures taken for her new website. She is an Esthetician and she comes into your home to do treatments. I think she will do great at it, and it is a great idea! So, yesterday we had another friend of ours who has great feet come over to model for the shoot. Here is a taste of what you may see soon on Stay Home Gorgeous Esthetics.

Mind Wanderings

I think fall is here... we have been waiting for today all week. 2 days ago it was 32 degrees, yesterday was high 20's and REALLY windy. Today, fall is here, it is 15 degrees and for the next 2 weeks looks like it might not hit above 20. So, in honour of summer ending, what did we do yesterday on the windiest day of the year... go to the beach. Yup, it was short lived though as we stood there on the shore, the only ones out there, being pelted by tiny grains of sand on our bare bodies. The waves on the lake made it look like the ocean. We packed up the kiddie pool, put toys away and are settling in for another fall.

I am getting excited about fall, school starting, leaves changing, food eating. Fall here is nice, but real short. Even the years that we don't get snow it still gets frozen and cold around halloween. The girls too are excited about school starting again. I am also excited to have J Man all to myself for the whole school year. This is his time to grow and explore all on his own, no girl's allowed!

We are heading for Fort Steele today, spend some time outside, it is still a bit windy but not as bad as yesterday.

Babies are also on my mind, I have know of 5 people all to have had their babies within a few weeks of eachother. Their newborn faces are all over blogs and facebook, they are so cute and I am nostalgic for the days of our kids at that age. I love newborns and the joy they bring, I love to watch them grow and see who God has made them to be. All this teary eye musings have not been helped by my job of going through all our photos and videos since 1999 which are being transfered to my new computer. Yes, I got my new computer, and I love it. I haven't had much time yet to play on it but I know it will be fun.

Well, off to paint some of Cici's nails, them perhaps get their brains back onto some math and printing, then Fort Steele.

Water and Sun

We have been having a great time with my parents visiting us, which has included lots of fun entertaining their dog! He loves to swim so we have spent lots of time at the creek with him.

Sometimes getting to a safe part of the creek has meant some "river crossings" which was lots of fun for all of us as you can see by Cici's face!

We also love to go to Fort Steele, and I am sure you are tired of seeing pictures of us there but these were fun, so you don't have a choice, here are more for you to look at!

Cici found this parasol in one of the buildings and borrowed it for the day, she was thrilled and got many compliments on it!

On a side note, for those who don't know, the tallest peak here is called Fisher Peak and Paul climbed it a few years ago.... he may never do it again!

Waiting

Waiting is hard. I am waiting a lot lately. Waiting for school to start again, waiting for answers to questions, waiting for my son to wake up so we can take my parents dog swimming... But of all the things I am waiting for, my new computer is at the top of the list. We check everyday on where it is, will it be here today?? I can't wait to get it set up, get editing my photos properly, seeing all the fun I can create with it! I am waiting, and since it may still be a few days away, I will wait some more.

Not Me Monday

Last night we DID have some people over for a late dinner. We put the kids to bed early so we could dine outside as just adults.

I DID NOT beam with pride at my parenting skills when our guests came over and commented "Wow, your kids are in bed, I don't think I have ever seen this before, they are quiet in bed, not running all around!" I replied that yes they were in bed, J Man asleep and the girls reading quietly, I DID NOT give myself a pat on the back for being such a great parent.

About an hour later I DID NOT see a Cici face poke out from our bathroom window spying on us, and I DID NOT hear the flowers in the bathroom crash to the ground. As I went in to investigate, I DID NOT see both girl's up and DID NOT see Beaner with a bloody lip that her sister had just given her. I was NOT humbled at all and my cover of perfect parent was NOT blown.

Chips Down

All my chips are down, and it is all Cici's fault.

After a very successful baking time this afternoon with the girls (we even learned some math while we baked), anyway, I asked Cici to take the Big Costco bag of chocolate chips downstairs to put away. Well, I heard a big sound, and then an Uh-Oh, you guessed it. Chips down. Chips in her Hoodie, Chips on the stairs, Chips in the laundry room, Chips everywhere! We helped her clean it up and where able to save some of them. At least I have some yummy muffins in the oven to make up for it!

A Fun Sunday

I had a fun day today. Wanna know why it was fun? Maybe I won't tell you and just keep you guessing. Ok. Here it is.

We did a switcheroo with the Cranbrook church today, we went there, did the music and preaching, and Wayne and family went to our church. It was fun and interesting. The kids did great, they were about the only kids there, and the rest went great too. Paul got a compliment on my signing which went like this..."Wow, I would have moved across country to just to hear her sing!". Paul had told the story of why he moved across the country to marry me. It came from a very nice senior man.... still got me all flushed!!

Next, lunch at McDonalds. Enough said.

Then off to Fort Steele for the rest of the afternoon. We petted animals, watched plays, petted more animals, had a snack, petted more animals, watched more plays and rode the train... and then rode it again!

Came home and am now enjoying a romantic glass of chocolate mint tea... oooo... and to top it all off, I might have a date with MacGyver in bed tonight.

There is my Fun Sunday.

We're Home!

Yup, we made it home and Kimberley welcomed us in style! We almost hit one of the triplet fawns just around the corner from our house, we chased a big Buck from our yard and we had a thunderstorm while we unpacked! We checked out the damage the deer did to our gardens ( I think we came out pretty good) and woke up this morning to rain. Funny we didn't see rain or for that matter clouds the whole time we were gone!

Today will be a Pj day as we unpack and get back to life as normal.

It is great to be home, sleep in our own beds and play with all the toys we missed. Cici also returned home to some letters from her friend Kayla who lives down the street. I think she wrote Cici everyday we were gone!

Well, I am gonna make some tea and start the huge job of finding places for everything we crammed into the car!

Bumper Boats

When we were on the Island we took the kids with Paul's brother and sister in law to the bumper boats. We first thought that 5 minutes on them was a big waste of time.. what fun could you have in only 5 min? But when you are in a boat and getting sprayed in the back, the head and face, 5 minutes is an eternity! It was so much fun and everyone got REALLY wet!

Bye Bye Fluffy

This is Fluffy...

He met his fate earlier today and we thought it was fitting to lay him to rest...

The only thing we had was a matchbox...

He didn't quite fit...

Everyone was involved..

He was placed gently into his final resting place...

And lovingly covered with our love...

Bye Bye Fluffy.

More Vacation Fun

No, I have not dropped off the face of the earth, I have been busy having fun! Here are some highlights from more of our trip.

We have spent lots of time at the beach, especially on the Island with Paul's parents.

The girl's spent all day collecting crabs and playing with them... I will get to what the boys did with the crabs later...

Here is the sight when we arrived at the beach.... crabs, thousands of baby crabs.... all those black dots, well, you guessed it, crabs!

To say that Jude was terrified of them is an understatement, he spent the first hour at the beach screaming and crying and sitting in a chair with his feet up! Paul wasn't too fond of them either but put on a brave front for J Man... well, sort of, I caught him looking a little worried in the next picture!

We also went to a lake for part of our big family reunion, Papa took Cici on a Seadoo, so much fun. I was glad not to have seen my baby girl take off across the lake doing 80km!

My parents have gotten a new dog, his name is Tucker, he is still a pup and learning quick, the kids had so much fun taking him swimming.

What would holidays be without a huge campfire and Smores!

Part of our trip has been in Portland at my cousin's house. They have an amazing place, we had so much fun with them, and they have chickens which Jude thought was great to chase!