Davis Family Log

Ladies Retreat

2012-02-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

We arrived home last night from a weekend at the Sister Triangle ladies retreat. It was a very good weekend. I came home very tired, but also glad I had the opportunity to go.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a success and to all the ladies who made my life just a bit richer!

HA HA

2012-02-18T11:19:00.001-07:00

Found them. And some folks say prayer doesnt work!

I've lost my keys

2012-02-18T10:40:00.001-07:00

Little bo Mommy has lost her keys and doesn't know where to find them. Leave them alone and they will come home??

Came in last night with the kids and set the keys somewhere - we have exhausted all the usual places so now its just a waiting game... Well that and Ishould likely givet he house a good cleaning to see if we can't locate them somewhere.

Sheesh! STUPID KEYS!

Wes is busy looking, I'm bloggin (hee hee), Mari is finishing Wes' Iced Cap, Bronwyn is in the bedroom listening to Gavin who is giving a concert, a recorder concert. He was sent to his room to preform, until he improves of course, at which point he may be allowed out, maybe...

So wish us luck. The keys just have to be around the corner.

What is love?

2012-02-14T09:31:00.003-07:00

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Random thoughts & a request

2012-02-06T13:59:00.001-07:00

We had a super refreshing weekend. Just a super lovely time. The kids played really hard.

Wes wasn't feeling well so he stayed home Saturday. He has been working so hard that I think he was plain worn out. He was back up and running by Sunday morning.

On the house front we will hopefully be having the framing, heating, plumbing and electrical inspections this week. I am so excited to be onto the next phase. And hopefully DONE!

I know many of you who have hung in and continue to read our blog are people who pray. So I now have a request. My sister-in-law, Pam, had a cancerous lymph node removed. They were super pleased with the surgery and with her quick recovery. She is now undergoing a treatment that helps reduce the risk of the cancer spreading (just in case there were some tiny bits still left in the system). I am sure I am not doing the details justice.

I am asking if you could pray for her and for their family. We are so confident that she will do well and that her general great health will play in her favour. The treatment sounds as though it can be very hard to go through. So please pray that she will have good results and that she will remain cancer free.

Your prayers have given us strength in our dark days and I continue to thank you for caring for us.

February 2nd is Lavine's birthday

2012-02-02T08:54:00.001-07:00

It is ground hog's day. Today. Which means, I think of my Grandma. And so far today, I think of her a lot.

She was and is one of the weightiest presences in my life. Her personality could not be contained in a few descriptors. No. She was someone who walked with people. She held relationship at a premium. She understood its value.

She was tough. Really tough. Funny. Really Funny. She was kind in her own real sort of way.

I loved her very much. But more importantly I am thankful for her. For her example. For her life. For her passion.

Miss you Grandma.

Upcoming event

2012-01-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to speak at the Sister Triangle Ladies Retreat at the end of February.

I have been working on the subject matter and trying to come up with something that will not bore them all. I hope I'm on my way. Of course, I have tried to discuss it with Wes when the house is finally quiet, usually when we are in bed. He has drifted off to sleep, doesn't bode well.

The biggest obstacle I have at this point is my shocking decrease in brain function. Hmmm.

What would you say to a group of Christian ladies?

I've lost my motivation

2012-01-23T17:39:00.003-07:00

I put it down somewhere and I have no idea where to find it.

In other words, I have been very tired today. Normally Monday is my "productive" day. I usually get a lot done, not today! Nope.

Tomorrow will be better, I hope but I'm not sure as I'm too unmotivated to even make a plan - ha!

The weather is much better this week. The glitch of ugly cold winter last week has subsided and we are back to the lovely mild winter we have been enjoying.

Family news:
Gavin is growing again - must stop feeding him.
Bronwyn has her dance recital this weekend. She is very excited about that. She was excited cause she was able to show off some of her dance moves in her class at school.
Mari, well Mari stuck her tongue to the metal rail outside. None of our kids will be doing that again soon.
Wes is working super hard on the house. It is coming nicely, although I'm getting anxious to see some visible progress - you know like drywall.
Me, did I mention I'm tired today. Well, I am. Tomorrow will be a better day - it always is. If I could find a way to get our blasted children to stop coming to bed with us at night it would likely help.

Here's to a great night sleep for you and me!

The return of the routine

2012-01-09T09:52:00.001-07:00

So here we are the first day back at school. Back to setting the alarm clock, making lunches, drop offs and pick ups. The break was lovely. It was wonderful to not have my day driven by the school's clock. I loved the time off, but...

It is nice to get back to the routine. To have the day broken up into tangible chunks of time. So as much as I resent the 'school schedule' it is also rather helpful. I find that I am more productive and can accomplish more when I have time lines. Having chunks of time in the day without three kids under foot also contributes to productivity.

Not that I am too concerned with productivity. My neighbors girlfriend was visiting with me one afternoon on her way in. I was doing yard work and was frustrated with how little I was accomplishing with all the help I was getting.

I laughingly said, "It has been almost seven years since I have actually completed a task, or accomplished anything." She laughed politely and then pointed at the three kids and replied, "Looks to me like you have accomplished a fair bit." I stopped and said, "Well, yes."

But that did give me pause for thought. Why yes, I do accomplish a lot.

This Christmas break we enjoyed our two weeks off and we played really hard. Really hard! And that was great.

Now it is back to business, time to get things done.

Post Christmas fun

2011-12-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

The kids have been having a blast playing with all their new toys and gifts. They have been crafting and reading and drawing.

Yesterday I took them to Toys R Us so they could use some of their gift cards to get a few things. I picked out something I thought Mari might like and ohhhhh has it been a hit. It is a little make-up kit with a mirror and all sorts of make up. She played with that yesterday for hours. By the time she was done she looked like a radish! She took a look in the mirror and said, "Wow!" With excitement. I looked at her and said, "Wow," too, just with a different tone of voice.

I think I took a picture I'll try downloading it tonight.

The kids are enjoying the slow relaxed mornings of holidays. I have a feeling we will all miss that when school is back in.

Wishing you all the best of the season.

Annual Christmas Card

2011-12-20T15:37:00.007-07:00

Best wishes of the season from our house to yours.

May God bless you in the coming year.

The Davis Christmas weekend

2011-12-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

So we aren't terribly great at getting into the Christmas spirit as early as other folk. This year has been no exception. We all got the stomach flu last week so that slowed it down a bit more than usual.

This weekend we made up for our lack of festivities.

After a play date with school friends we went out to Airdrie to take in the Festival of Lights and a nice dinner with Grandma Joan.

Saturday we were able to get to go to Grandma and Grandpa's and finally do the ginger bread houses, some tobogganing, help set up their tree and just generally have fun.

Sunday Wes & Gavin went and picked out our tree. Then we had a potluck with our church friends. More tobogganing. And another potluck with another group of lovely friends.

In all that I managed to cook for both potlucks and get the laundry all caught up.

Whew!!

We are very excited for the Christmas break. I just love not having to comply to a school schedule and I think the kids are very ready for a break. They are also very excited about Christmas. Oooh busy times.

Budding photographer

2011-12-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

We got Bronwyn a little camera for her birthday and she just loves it. She takes pictures of everything. I thought this shot was pretty cute and decided to share it.

Self diagnosis

2011-11-28T19:39:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I am very fond of self diagnosis. In fact, it is in general what I let guide my general health.

I have been examining my symptoms today and I struggled to figure out what was wrong. Then it struck me! Like a bolt of lightening. I have PMSD. You may not have heard of it before, and I truly doubt you suffer from it, it is extremely rare. It stands for Post-Mari Stress Disorder.

Is it bed time yet?

A bad hangover

2011-11-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

It feels today like Calgary has woken up from a wild party and is suffering a bad hangover. Everyone is assessing the damage of yesterdays wind storm.

I arrived at the school with Gavin this morning and as I crossed the street chatted to two other parents, both of whom had trees downed on their properties. We lost the top of one of our trees. We weren't home but our wonderful neighbor came and collected the branches for us. Now we just have to figure out how to dispose of them. There has also been a huge amount of siren activity this morning.

But, the shocker is what happened downtown. In all my years living in Calgary I have never seen anything like these pictures. It looks like Edmonton after a Stanley cup win.

I am very curious how my friends who work downtown managed this morning. I am also very thankful for the emergency crews who will have worked through the night helping. It isn't the worst natural disaster that could happen, but it might rate among the strangest I've seen in a while.

Hoping this note finds you all safe and sound.

Everyone needs a helper

2011-11-26T16:58:00.000-07:00

Oh and do I get help! I've had several helpers through the years, but the youngest is by far the most enthusiastic. Its nice for Mommy to have help, as long as she also had a good night sleep (ha ha).

Winter red cheeks

2011-11-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

Oh these kids are so kissable!

So far today they have emptied the craft bin and glued a lot of stuff together. Mommy cleaned up. Opened a book store, emptied out their book shelf and hauled them to the living room, made money, had signs, stamped things... Mommy made them return the books to their room and dreads helping them clean that up. Helped me wrap a few Christmas presents. Mommy managed to stay sane and still wrap in my usual obsessive compulsive manner. Not easy. Wrestled them all into snow pants, coats, toques and gear. They played for a bit, while I shoveled the deck and took pictures. They decided it was time to come in and ordered hot chocolate with marshmallows and popcorn (marshmallows were in the hot chocolate not the popcorn - just to clarify). Mommy obliged and filled order. Next??

Wes is working, hopefully he will be home soon, I'm having a hard time keeping up.

A bit serious

2011-11-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

I have thought different times about sharing this - since many of you have asked about it. But, it seems a bit serious and I am working pretty hard these days to not be serious at all.

This is part of the speech I gave at the Cardiology retreat in Edmonton. I have not included the whole thing because frankly it was long, and also some of it was specific to the families who participated and I don't feel comfortable sharing without their knowledge.

Here is what I will share. The following was the beginning of the speech.

Let me tell you a story.

It is a cliché but still very true that life is a journey. We are all, every one of us on a journey.

If you could stop for a moment and use your imagination, draw a picture in your mind.

You see before you, not a conference room, but a vast landscape. There are hills, valleys, forests, rolling fields of grain. This landscape is riddled with pathways. Focus your mind on one particular pathway. On it is a woman, who looks very much like me, perhaps 20 lbs. lighter, I can use my imagination too.

This woman is walking along slowly, she is pregnant and she is pulling a wagon. In this wagon are bags. Some are large. Some are small. Some look as though they hold rocks, some are lighter looking. Step by step she carries on her path.

She gets some news about her baby. It is not good news. She pauses and you notice there are suddenly more bags added to her wagon. These bags hold her burdens. Burdens of uncertainty. Burdens of worry. Burdens of fear.

Again she starts to move forward one foot at a time.

Her husband joins her. Instead of making her burden lighter this actually adds to their burdens. They have new issues that they share together. Concern for their marriage. For their other children. Financial worries.

Friends come by and encourage them. Some say things like, I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t face this. How will you do it?

The woman replies, "We have no choice," and puts one foot in front of the other.

The due date approaches and the couple finds themselves on a steep uphill slope. They look at each other in despair and wonder if they will ever reach the top of the hill. They lean forward and pull with all their might. Unexpectedly they have a bit of relief.

She glances behind and sees their parents and family. She sees them pushing hard on her wagon and that of her husbands, while still pulling their own wagons.

They reach the top of the hill. It reveals a world of uncertainty.

Before her is a large shallow body of water. There is no other way to go, they must wade through it. She gently puts her foot forward and takes the first step. As she steps further in the lake the water gets murkier. She can’t see the bottom. She has no idea where her foot is going to land. She feels confused and unsure. The bottom of the lake is uneven and she stumbles as she moves forward.

Beside her paddles up in a canoe a group of people. While they all have their own wagons too, they have made it their mission to search and help those lost in the lake. They throw this woman a rope and one to her husband.

They paddle forward and slowly guide the unlucky pair. Storms blow in. The wind tosses the boat around. The woman and her husband cling on to the rope with all they have. It is all that is keeping them on the path.

The people in the boat may want to take the burdens away, but they can’t. If they try to reach and pull away the woman’s wagon they will not only cause her to drop the wagon, but they will lose their own. They have to work as a team and keep their own focus.

The group in the canoe hunker down and work together to keep the boat on a straight course. They each bring special skills and talents to the team and together they are much stronger than they would be as individuals.

The winds blow. The rain pours down and they hold a steady path. The woman looks up and realizes the crew has wagons that they have to balance while guiding them through this storm. Her heart is filled with gratitude; she has no words to express it. She and her husband keep a tight hold and hang on as they take one step and then another.

They reach the other side of the lake. In her case the results were positive. So off they continue. Parting ways with the heroes in the boat. The path is still very rough and there is still much uncertainty. They cross paths with other parents. They journey together, supporting one another. Realizing their own blessings and celebrating with the successes of others. Some parents loose children. The woman feels sad beyond belief for their suffering and does what she can to support those families as they continue on. These families have to carry on too. No matter what the outcome everyone still travels on, one foot at a time.

Some paths are harder than others. There is always someone suffering more. And yet she hears other parents say things like, “While I would undo the problem my child has, I would not undo the things I have learned.” She agrees and feels a deeper and wiser view on life.

People come by and say things like, ‘Is she all fixed now?” The woman smiles and gives her practiced answer, “No, she has been jerry-rigged.” She understands that people who haven’t been through this don’t understand much of her life. It is a lonely journey. A surprisingly lonely journey.

She puts one foot in front of the other. There are many new burdens that come as she goes. The burden of the time required to organize and manage all the treatments, appointments, consults. All these details need to be managed. The weight of her burdens causes her to give in places she can give. She starts to cut her own hair. Unable somehow to make time for a haircut, that one extra detail is just too much to manage.

She never relaxes, never sets down her burdens. One foot at a time she makes her way.

She makes her way on her journey. She carries on. No idea what the future holds. No crystal ball. Just hope for the future and thanksgiving for what has already transpired.

Now let your eyes zoom back out and you see the wide landscape again. The landscape riddled with pathways. On each pathway is a person with a wagon. A person with unique burdens, unique struggles, unique joys, and a unique life. One of those people could be you.

This is my path. My burden. My struggle. My joy. This is my life.

I hope you also see yourself in this story.

Little story

2011-11-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

The older kids are at school, Mari is napping and I'm about to have a bite of lunch and then hopefully do some raking in the yard - again!

This little interchanged happened yesterday.

Bronwyn was in need of my help and was whistling. As I walked by I asked if she needed help. She said she did. She then added, "Mommy, here is a great plan. When I whistle you can come and know that I need your help."

Wow. Bronwyn. This is .... something alright.

Trick or Treat

2011-11-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

The kids had a blast running, and I guess there was a lot of running, around the neighborhood. It was hard to get decent pictures - they weren't in the mood to be still and pose for Mom.

I had a rather boring night on the home front. We had a few kids come to the door this year. The worst turn out ever actually. I think kids got word of the lady handing out toothpaste on our block last year and stayed away - scary!

Hope you all had a safe and enjoyable candy collection night!

Happy 7th Birthday to our boy

2011-10-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

It seems hard to believe that Gavin is already seven. Just the other day I was looking at him and he seemed such a big boy. Not a big boy, but a Big Boy. Sigh. But then he was cuddled up on my lap this morning and he will still always be my baby!

I started this blog when Gavin was almost two. So there are no baby pictures of him. So here are a couple. The nurses put a little decorated hat on him since he was born on Halloween. Technically it was his first costume.

The other picture was taken a bit later, he was such a smiley wonderful boy. Oh, dear, I am making myself nostalgic, I better stop.

The day Bronwyn had an accident and I became a shop-lifter

2011-10-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

Mari and I walked to get the kids today from school. It was a beautiful, if slightly chilly, fall day. Mari, for the second day, did not have a nap. I hoped that she would fall asleep in the stroller, which unlike yesterday, she did today.

Bronwyn came out of the school first. As we waited for Gavin I asked her if she had to go to the bathroom. No was the answer.
We walked up the road and decided to go to the dollar store, just slightly out of our way. We made our way to the back of the store where the napkins and party plates and supplies were decked out. Gavin was advising me on which style he preferred for his party. I placed some plates and napkins on top of the stroller. At that point Bronwyn started making squeaking noises and spinning in a circle.

I turned from the party details and asked if she had to pee. She said, No. But she was grabbing at herself as she spun in a circle. I said in a rushed way that I would ask to use the bathroom if that was the problem. She shook her head and then started to cry. A large yellowy puddle was now all over the floor. I was MORTIFIED! I took off my coat and tried to mop up the mess. I took Bronwyn's school water bottle dumped it on the semi-cleaned mess and then wiped it up again.

Gavin was still, somehow oblivious to what had transpired, discussing which plates he would like. I declared we would come back at another time, for now we had to just go home. We had a good little walk to get home and I wanted to go before it got any colder, Bronwyn would freeze. And since I now didn't have a coat, so would I.

I informed the man at the till and told him I tried to clean it up. He said he'd go get a mop, no worries these things happen. He helped me with the door. I back out and stood in front of the door to talk to Bronwyn to see if she wanted her tights removed. The man reemerged and asked if I had paid for the items, pointing to the stroller.
I gasped and handed them back to him quickly saying NO! So sorry!

There, it would appear I have started my criminal career. I'm not very good at it, I'm afraid.

The big party

2011-10-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

We had Mari's birthday party today. It was good fun with great friends and family. Mari enjoyed it thoroughly. She really understood what it was all about and just relished in it. Her party was after a pot luck lunch, and she would normally have napped. But, she was eager and excited for the party and she just kept going.

Shortly after everyone left I put on a movie so the kids could have some quiet time. She CRASHED. The little partier pooped out.

We had a busy weekend, but it was wonderful. God has blessed us so richly.

Our sweet girl is three

2011-10-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

It just seems like the other day that Mari flew into our life. And suddenly she is three. Wow!

I think my favourite thing about Mari is that I'll hear a big bang and look in its direction to find Mari standing there shocked. She quickly says, "Wasn't me." Or, "It was Ganna's fault (or Bonna's fault - depending on who happens to be within her site.)"

Kooky little girl.

Tenth Anniversary

2011-10-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

It is our anniversary today. Ten years ago today Wes and I tied the knot. Regrets? Nope.

I love my guy. I love his crazy optimistic, artistic, stubborn ways - even if they lead us down strange paths. Wes is, in short, a good man. Together we are working on building a life. A life, hopefully built of faith and love.

We have three wonderful children. Who all act just like their father when they misbehave.

I may not always feel comfortable in my life, but I am truly thankful for everything the Lord has done for me. He has blessed me in wonderful ways. I count among my greatest blessings my husband.

Sentimental enough?

To piano and back

2011-10-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

October is Davis month

2011-10-05T15:19:00.000-07:00

Wes and I got married in October.

Two of our three children were born in October.

We brought Bronwyn home for the first time in October (well the day before October).

Bronwyn's third surgery was the beginning of October (again just before but the recover was in October).

I love the smell of the leaves. I love the colours. October always feels like a new beginning. A fresh start.

I love it.

It has been a while

2011-09-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

I realized it has been a while since I last posted. September has been a blur of activities, appointments, crazy new endeavours and regular family stuff. Not sure I can keep this pace up all winter, so wish me luck on that one.

Wes is proceeding with the house and the weather has been (cross our fingers and pray for continuance) in our favour. Dry and warm.

The kids are busy, in fact tonight they were down right warn out. Early to bed, is what Mamma decided.

Me, well, I wasn't very well on the weekend, not sure what it was, maybe a massive panic attack, maybe hormones, maybe...

But all is right with our world at this moment and that is sufficient.

Davis weekend

2011-09-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend. Oddly enough we worked on our house this weekend. Not sure how it happened but I'll take it!

Wes had the fellow who is removing all the excess fill and dirt from the property in Wildwood bring a load to our house. We have these huge flower beds Wes constructed earlier this summer and since in some places they are over 2 feet deep I didn't want it to be filled with expensive topsoil. So we had a mound of dirt to move around.

Thankfully Dad has a tractor. He helped us with the moving. The kids were most upset that we moved their big dirt mountain. Not in their plan. In fact, after the fellow dropped the load the kids busted out of the house to play on the mound for quite some time. Dinner was late that night. The next day the neighbour kids came and joined ours. Apparently a big pile of dirt makes you very popular. After the dirt play they squeezed in some time for crab apple picking and snack time. My kids had picked crab apples the evening before and they were eager to share their extensive knowledge.

We also had one of our Sunday potluck get togethers and had the neighbours over for a barbeque. Crazy busy weekend. But a lot of fun.

Wes managed to find some free top soil on Kijiji and made a couple trips. Which means I can actual start doing some planting. This was all work that I was afraid wouldn't happen thanks to the new house venture. So I am very tickled with all this progress. We might not be the worst looking house on the block forever - yeah!

School mornings

2011-09-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

Mari has been pretty choked lately. It seems life is exciting and busy for... everyone else. She throws a fit when I get Bronwyn ready for ballet. I have to let her dress in Bronwyn's old shoes and outfit to make her happy. I thought, last week, that she'd like to come watch the girls. But that was a disaster. She was having none of this watching business. She wants to be IN the class.

This morning I was running Gavin over to the neighbors as it was their turn to drive the boys to school and Mari insisted on coming with me.

In some ways being the youngest is hard work. Hang on baby girl, your turn will come, soon.

Davis family adventures

2011-09-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Life just doesn't seem to be slowing down. The kids are busy with school. In fact, Gavin was sick on the weekend so I kept him home today but he must go tomorrow. It is picture day and we must commemorate grade two even if he looks washed out and miserable!

Wes' new adventure has us all hopping. He has purchased a house to fix up and sell. I'm a ball of nerves to say the least. Our Irish friend Shaun helped him take down two huge spruce trees on the weekend. Shaun had a landscape company in Ireland so he knew a fair bit more than Wes, such a relief for me. There were a few mishaps but there was no serious damage or injury - again Whew!

I've been busy making phone calls and getting things sorted out today. Wes almost has the plans ready, he hopes to take them in tomorrow for approval. We are getting closer to really getting moving.

I'll be keeping a blog for Wes on the adventures of this new little house. If you wish to follow along here is the link - Rehab this House.

I have big plans here too. I want to make some head way at home. Get a bit more done on our front yard project. Get some dirt for my back garden (I was promised this in the spring - not to sound bitter or anything). I want to put some curtains up in our room and maybe even, and I can't believe I'm saying this, hang a picture or two. In fact, there are boxes I have never unpacked under my bed. So maybe even find homes for that stuff. But, I expect even though I may draw up lists and make detailed plans my projects will end up at the bottom of the pile. That is where they always end up.

I am so excited for Wes, this is something he has wanted to do for a long time. I am confident he will do a super great job. And he promised me when its finished he will do some of my projects. Hmmm - we will see.

The fall is always a time for new starts and new adventures. It is also my favourite time of year. Bring it on!!

Return of the routine

2011-09-07T20:30:00.000-07:00

The Davis house is busy getting back into the swing of fall. School days. Piano lessons. Ballet. Potty training Mari (that's likely only going to happen this fall). Wes busy with a soon to be new venture. Me running behind everyone trying to keep up.

The kids are quite happy but very tired. The new rigorous schedule has made them a bit tired and a bit cranky, but I expect this won't last for long.

Bronwyn had a check up today, with our new doctor. Our previous family doctor has changed direction and has reduced his practice. So we are now seeing a young good looking South African doctor who juggles (he gave the kids a bit of a demo). I think the girls think it was a trade up. So far he seems pretty thorough and he showed by his questions that he actually read through Bronwyn's chart and history. Id rather not be breaking in another doctor, it is comfortable to stay with a doctor who understands you and your family, but here we are and I hope it will be an easy process.

Don't plan on visiting me in the next little while. I have decided to temporarily stop cleaning my house. I wont ignore it forever, just on strike for a while.

We are busy and mostly happy and we hope and pray that you are too.

First day of school

2011-09-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

We got Gavin off to school for his first day of grade two. He was very nervous but brave.

Bronwyn had to wait until after lunch. She was so excited. She kept asking me to give her lunch so she could get going. She is so impressed with herself, she feels such a big girl. Mommy is managing too, barely.

When we dropped Bronwyn off all the students lined up. After a couple seconds I looked around there was Mari in the middle of them back against the school wall, ready to go. She was most upset when I forcibly moved her from her spot.

It is my hope that today is a big success for both of my kids. Regardless of what happens we are pretty darn proud of our little munchkins.

Catch up

2011-09-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy. Gerrie and Elaine came for a visit. The kids had a lemonade stand among many other adventures. And that was the end of our summer break. Sigh!

Maybe because I'm 40

2011-08-30T19:57:00.003-07:00

I got myself an ipod for my birthday. And to my surprise I brought it home opened it up and it didn't have a manual of any kind. No operating instructions. So I had no choice. I had to hand it to my six year old and ask him to show me how to work it.

So I'm now 40

2011-08-17T16:53:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday. I'm 40.

Not sure what that means. Doesn't upset me at all. Age never bothered me. I don't feel as though I have wasted my time on the earth thus far. Although, catch me most days and I'd scream that I never get anything accomplished, but in the big picture I know those things are usually not terribly important.

I looked in the mirror, trying to decide if I am old enough to have to start wearing makeup. I always felt like young women shouldn't wear makeup since they really don't need it. The bags under my eyes would make me think its time, but maybe that is just the sleep deprivation that comes with having kids at the age of 40. Maybe 50 is the makeup cut off.

My parents are making a lovely lamb roast for dinner. Jon came (Cindy and kids are away) and Wes is on his way out too. Makes for a pretty special evening. I love lamb.

A friend emailed and said she wants a report on what I plan to achieve in this next year, being a momentous year and all. Hmmmm. I always have plans, but I'm not much to stick to a strict schedule. If I was being married to Wes has beaten that out of me. So, shoes for school, ballet shoes for Bronwyn, a new bike for Gavin... these are on the list of to dos. And I have already accomplished two of the three today.

One thing I have learned - set the bar low and you will be more likely to achieve it. Not sure that is the kind of life lesson I should be sharing.

I don't have particularly deep thoughts on this Big day. Guess I'm happy I made it to 40. I'm excited to see what is next in life.

Time to eat? MMMmmmm.

A few pictures

2011-08-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the birthday girl and a picture of the cake. Bronwyn was very specific that she wanted a pink cake with a crown on top. Because it was pretty simple I decided to try using fondant. I bought it - didn't feel up to trying to make it. Don't look to closely. It worked but fondant is likely a more technically demanding icing than I should use, so my inexperience shows BIG TIME.

Bronwyn had her yearly cardiology appointment this morning and she is doing... AMAZING. We are so so so blessed. Dr. Harder said she is the most amazing case of HLHS that she has followed. We are thrilled by her success and are keenly aware of how much worse our lot "should" be.

Gavin is busy playing Mario, he is still in his pajamas. I was hoping to have him go play with one of our neighbors this afternoon since he asked to do that yesterday, but he seems unwilling to get dressed. So there you are.

Mari is (and I'm crossing my fingers as I type this) hopefully having a nap. She doesn't always nap lately. But she can't make it without one, so it makes for a messy late afternoon nap. Seems every kid goes through this. She also does something most other kids do - "Why?" ALL THE TIME.

I frustrated her the other day. I was putting her in the car and she wanted to do her belt and I said, No its too hard. She asked, Why? I said, Because. She said, No me. So I said, Why? She looked up and said, Huh? I said, Why? She replied, Why? I said, Yeah, Why? She said, No. I said, Why? She said, No you why, me why.

The summer is unfortunately winding down and I am starting to make lists of all the things I need to do for school and all the other activities. A rather long list. The one thing about making lists is that if you have no ability to make them happen they just frustrate you. Hmmmph.

Bronwyn turns five

2011-08-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

So our wee girl Bronwyn is five today. I will post some pictures when I get the chance. She was very excited and had in her words, "the best birthday ever."

I can't help but take a trip down memory lane on my kid's birthdays. I am always stunned at how much they have changed and grown.

I guess the visit to the past is a bit more emotional for me when it is Bronwyn's birthday. So much of what has become 'our journey' as a family dates back to her arrival. It is hard not to be quite sentimental about it. In fact, there was a time when I didn't dare think about whether she would even make it to her fifth birthday; let alone be starting kindergarten in a normal school as a normal kid.

I can't take this kind of a trip down the roads of our past without being very aware of the hand of God in our lives. Have we struggled? Yes. Has it been hard? Yes (frankly, harder than it has looked) Has God provided? YES. Every time we have needed him, maybe not in the way we expected, maybe not when we expected, but Yes he has, and our cup has run over too.

It is hard to explain, just as it would be hard to put words to your own journey. We could swap details about our individual stories, but the real value in life and living it is in all the bits that fall between the cracks. The way your soul and heart change through trials. I guess what I can say is that I am today a richer person than I was five years ago.

God has blessed us. We are thankful. I wish in a way I could go back into the past and tell my former self that everything will be OK and that she will be a beautiful five year old one day. But then the journey wouldn't have been quite the same. So I look to the future with wonder and hope.

God bless and keep our lovely sweet girls and our best boy.

Tired out

2011-08-03T21:01:00.004-07:00

The kids started their swimming lessons yesterday. I was able to book a class for Bronwyn and one for Gavin both at the same time, but it is a bit on the early side. It has worked out great as one of the mom's from a couple streets over has her boys at the same time so I have someone to chat with. Her son is in Gavin's class in fact - very nice coincidence!

I love Southland Leisure Centre, they let Mari splash around in the kiddie pool while her siblings are in lessons. So she gets to have a swim time too. I have to follow her around which is a bit boring, but that is where the nice neighbor comes in handy.

The kids are loving their lessons, but they are tired. We have also crammed in a fair bit of play time with friends as well.

Oh, and we went to Superstore this evening to buy a new barbeque. I have been saving the gift cards from their buy over $250 in groceries and get a $25 gift card promotion all winter. And their barbeques were half price. We basically only paid the gst on our new barbeque, well that and the few other bits and pieces that we got tonight.
By the time we got to the check-out, waiting for someone to help us was the hardest part of the adventure, I decided we should go through the self check out since we had a big barbeque in tow. Mari was losing it, so Wes took her out to the van. I then started to wonder how to I get a cart with two kids and a barbeque out to the van. Oh, and once I'm at the van, how do we get the barbeque in it. Hmmmm. All things we should have considered.

The nice gal at the self checkout helped me ring in the barbeque as I had no idea how to do it. Now I had to start doing the other bits and pieces, which after some struggle I figured out. Nothing like trying something new when you have kids around. Then I pressed ready to pay. OK, scan the gift card. Oh, its beeping. OK try again. Wait for attendant, oh... OK. Um, can you help me again. So the nice girl takes over my payment options and helps me out of my current pickle. So glad she is so capable.

By now Wes has come and taken the other two children out to the van, which I presume is close at hand, cheekily parked in a handicapped spot by the front entrance. As I try to leave the dolly with the barbeque starts to give me grief, in fact I have no idea how to use the bleep bleep thing, it wasn't its fault. The nice gal tries to help me again but this is beyond her expertise. Thankfully a young man knowledgeable in the ways of dollies walks by and assists us, in fact, he offers to help me to my car. Good man.

Now how to get it in. Wes empties the van of all the bikes etc, but it still doesn't fit in the back.We get creative and we get the box in and we are off. I take a seat in the very back with Gavin and worry while Wes drives home safely.
Once home Mari is no longer in tears, in fact, she is perched on top of the barbeque box, insisting that is where she wants to sleep.
Average night out I suppose. Don't stare!!

Gavin's extra tooth

2011-07-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

Gavin has an extra tooth. Well, should I say had. It was a baby tooth just hanging out in his gums. It was discovered when the dentist did some x-rays. The little tooth was in a bad spot and was likely going to cause damage to the adult tooth.

Today he had surgery to remove that little tooth.

He was very brave and so was Mommy. I don't like general anesthetic on kids, but he did great.

The actual surgery took 10 minutes. We were on our way home an hour and a half after his appointment.

Certainly not the surgical drama we are used too. And it was weighing on my mind. But now, it is done.

Thought we'd have a boring summer

2011-07-26T12:03:00.007-07:00

We had few plans for this summer, so I thought... we'd be bored! Sheesh - was I wrong.

We have been so busy. Crazy busy. Playing with friends, birthday parties, Grandparents to hang out with and a few wee road trips.

Busy times.

The pictures are from a little trip to a farm near Calgary that was doing an open house. We went with Jolie and kids. Also from our trip to Drumheller yesterday to visit with Ali and her family, we crashed their vacation. But... we had fun doing it!

We are done the birthday parties for a couple weeks or so. Bit of a break on that front. Whew!

Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are.

Roasting marshmellows

2011-07-15T15:30:00.006-07:00

Sticky fun!

Jasper again

2011-07-15T15:16:00.005-07:00

Sorry to break it up like this, but we took a ton of pictures.

The next day we all went to Athabasca falls and I felt more anxious than you can imagine with the kids. It is very safe, big cement walls and fences, but still, yikes the height and water made me nervous. Mari and Gavin drove to the falls with Mom and Dad and apparently she had them all laughing. She was very concerned and upset because the water "falls." She didn't want the water to hurt itself. I think now, after seeing it she'll have a better idea of the concept behind water falls.

The afternoon was shopping in Jasper. Auntie Pam and Uncle Tom gave them each a bit of money to spend in Jasper, so they were excited to do that. Then we drove to lake Annette for more water play in the sand. And I finally relaxed. It was a safe distance from all highways, parking lots, the water was calm and fairly shallow at the edges. Whew! A few moments of peace.

Gavin built elaborate canals and just enjoyed that so much. The girls tried to play "Save Mommy," but Mommy plays rougher and they ended up getting sloshed around in the very cold water, not exactly what they wanted.

We did all the things we set out to do and we managed to avoid most of the rain. It was a great vacation and the kids are already asking when we can go back.

Jasper

2011-07-15T14:59:00.006-07:00

We had so much fun in Jasper. They were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. The little cabins we were in, were just by the Athabasca river. The cold, fast rushing, terrifying Athabasca river. It amazed me that things that didn't scare me before were now very scary, because I had kids to watch.

We stopped at the sand dunes, on the Jasper lake side as the water levels were too high on the Talbot lake side.

The girls were enjoying a game of "Save Grandma." It was sooo fun and Grandma was a great sport. Gavin and Grandpa explored along the beach and had a few scientific discussions. Better Grandpa than me!

We stopped up the road for a picnic at the east end of Talbot lake. We spotted a gorgeous male elk with a full rack. Pretty special site.

Wes and I took the kids up from there to Miette Hot Springs. Mom never did like the road and they declined. It seemed warmer than I remembered. The kids loved it. Mari wanted to go back to the "hod pool." Bronwyn wanted to bring Grandma back, she was having a hard time understanding why the drive up would bother her.

The rest of the evening was spent goofing off at the cabin.

Good fun, tiring day!

Sherwood Park

2011-07-15T14:53:00.006-07:00

We rolled into Sherwood Park with a great deal of excitement. My kids just think their big cousins are SOOOOO cool.

I just can't get over how quickly time flies. It just seems the other day when I would pull up at their house and see three little head (roughly same ages as my kids) bobbing in the window excited to see their Auntie. Now, I'm rolling up with three bobbing little heads who can't wait to get in to see their big cousins.

We did lots of stuff while there. Swimming, playing, lots of vidoe games for Gavin, nice meals, and lovely visits. Good time in all.

We are home

2011-07-15T14:49:00.003-07:00

We arrived home last night. I had planned to do a quick blog post but unfortunately I left my brain somewhere around Canmore. Still haven't found it, but I'll do my best to soldier on. There are something you can just do without, this seems to be one of them.

The kids did great yesterday - it was a long driving day. We stopped quite a lot and a couple stops were long ones - so the kids could get a break from the car. So it took us about 9 hours to get from Jasper to Calgary. When I was in University I would often drive through the park to go home for visits, it usually took me about 6 hours from Calgary to Hinton. But I had a better bladder then, and I didn't have three kids, nor a husband who has to stop and take a picture of every single mountain.

We had a lovely trip. I'll post some pictures and explain our adventures.

Road trip

2011-07-09T08:54:00.003-07:00

We are off on a road trip.

The kids and I are going first to Sherwood Park to visit with Josh! Mari talks about Josh all the time - so its Josh's house! But we are all very excited to see everyone even if there name isn't Josh.

Then we are headed to Jasper to meet up with Wes and my folks. Should be fun if it doesn't rain the whole time.

I'll be back in a week or so armed with lots of pictures.

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T15:39:00.004-07:00

Great excitement in this house for Canada Day. We watched a bit of the early festivities from Ottawa. The arrival of Prince William and Kate. Nice that they could join the party, but I'm afraid to say Kate seems to have stolen the show.

Gavin seems to think (and I blame this on the school earth day celebrations) that you should celebrate Canada day by walking around the neighborhood picking up garbage. While I think this is a great idea I'm not willing to do it on a day when we are having company. I promised him we'd do it one day soon.

We are having the MacKenzie's and our Irish friends the Peoples over tonight. Should be fun. Wes worked today, but is home now - whew!

I worked too. I have literally been on my feet all day. Hope the food is good - that is the best outcome.

Hope you all have a wonderful Canada Day - whether you are a Canadian or not! We love the world here.

A couple extra pictures

2011-06-29T20:11:00.004-07:00

I have a couple neat pictures of the kids, thought I'd just add them on for fun.

So whats been happenin'?

2011-06-29T19:47:00.008-07:00

It might be easier to ask, What hasn't been happening. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. I knew it would be, but sheesh, I'm tired now.

Since I last blogged (an actual blog entry), a visit from Mike & Andrea and boys, a zoo field trip with Gavin's grade one class, we've had the last class of piano, windup barbeque with a group that we meet with and fellowship with once a month, the last baseball game, the last ballet class, a dance recital, a baseball windup get together, several play dates, several barbeques with friends, several Sunday get togethers with family, a visit from a Alex and family (who are in Houston now), we started ripping up our yard, a couple backyard picnics, a year end party for Gavin, and finished grade one. And I'm probably forgetting some things in the mix.

Mommy has come close to mental collapse, but be rest assured I am still hanging on! By a thread yes, but hanging on.

We beached with good friends today (lovely time), had a play date with our Irish friend Amy and had our first outdoor meal of the season. We have been using the barbeque lots, but it hasn't been nice enough to eat outside. Tonight we did.

Life is good at the Davis house. Crazy but good.

I have been busy taking pictures, but not downloading them. There are so many I can't even begin to start to pick. So I'll post them all - all 180! Ha ha - just kidding. Of course I have to pick. Hmmmm. This may take a while, after all my kids are soooo gorgeous.

I'm feeling almost a bit punchy. My head is still spinning from the busyness. My son has become accustom to a rather action packed schedule and is showing signs of running his mommy ragged this summer. Wish me luck. I tried to convince him tonight that we could have a couple days to just veg and relax. In fact, maybe I should enforce an all movie day, we could pull out the sofa couch and watch movies in bed all day. Hmmm. Not sure that would fly. Tomorrow we are watching a friend's daughter for a couple hours, I'm using that as an excuse to not run around doing tons of things.

Need to post

2011-06-26T08:34:00.003-07:00

I have pictures, I have lots of news to report, I likely even have a deep thought or two. What I don't have is time. Give me a few days to get through the next crazy couple days and then - VOILA, I'll be back.

Another Saturday

2011-06-11T08:52:00.003-07:00

Gavin is happy this morning because his baseball game has been cancelled because of rain. Now he can stay home and play wii with his Dad. The world is right for him.

June has been so busy its crazy. I think we need a day of rest any way, so the rain isn't completely unwelcome. It will keep me from feeling like we have to start on our yard projects too. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have nice weather, but we are all tired and may as well see the plus side.

I have some pictures I need to post, from our water play yesterday, yes it was finally warm enough to have outdoor water play. But, that will have to happen later, I'm too lazy to get up and get the camera.

I should be cleaning the house, the busier we are the more of a wreck it is. But, not sure I feel like doing that either.

I'm a rebel.

Saturday morning thoughts

2011-06-04T08:37:00.004-07:00

I'll blame this post on the fact that I haven't had my second cup of coffee, nothing really works until I do.

I just had this conversation with Gavin:

Gavin - Mom, do you know what I would do if I was in a hot air balloon and it was falling to the ground.

Me - No, what would you do?

Gavin - I'd go down and scream.

Me - That is likely what I would do too son.

Yesterday I was trying to get Wes on the phone and couldn't get him. He'd set it down somewhere and he couldn't hear it. He does this fairly frequently, I don't find it annoying at all.

Anyhow, I left him a message and it went like this:

There once was a good man named Wes.

Who often put his wife to the test.

When he wasn't home.

He'd not answer his phone.

And that would be my husband WES.

So, see what happens when you don't answer your phone honey. It results in poetry that we will both regret!

Off to have my coffee. Hope your day is less rainy than ours.

Catching up

2011-06-01T09:06:00.005-07:00

I have been so busy trying to get a few projects done outside that the interior of our house has fallen apart. So today is fix it day. Laundry, tidying, making appointments, updating the blog, dishes etc.

On top of the projects we had Bronwyn's picnic, Gavin's ball game (first one this season the whole family has gone to), piano, dance, play dates with friends, school...

This morning the girls are very busy. Bronwyn is expecting her imaginary friend Lipstick to come over. I am supposed to change into something prettier, apparently Lipstick has high standards for an imaginary friend. Mari has been working at a puzzle, it is a bit advanced for her, but she has been piecing it together. Not in the proper order and perhaps with too much force, but she has been occupied for almost an hour doing it, so who will complain?

Hope your Wednesday is as productive as mine.

Rainy week

2011-05-26T14:31:00.007-07:00

What I was planning on doing as soon as we got back from Edmonton was getting at the yard work and planting. But...

I am facing indoor tasks; you know the ones I have been putting off all winter while dreaming about what I'm going to plant in my tiny garden. I did get a couple things done today and now I am busy hovering over my oldest child as he does his home work. Not sure how long he will drag this out.

Bronwyn is almost done her preschool. Tomorrow is her last class and on Monday she has a picnic. I am hoping for less rain on Monday!

Gavin is on the home stretch too. We are all tired of school and ready to be done, although not sure what I'll do with them once we are done. I think we'll just veg out for the first while.

I best stopped typing and start nagging, or this will never end.

Tired out

2011-05-22T15:53:00.003-07:00

I am TIRED. We arrived home fairly late last night (9:30ish) sent the kids off to bed and collapsed.

The speech went well as did the remainder of the day. It was fascinating and I am impressed and proud of the people on the cardiology team at the Stollery. What they are trying to achieve and how they are going about it is admirable. I didn't need more evidence to prove to me how valuable they are, but I got it any how.

The kids had such a wonderful time visiting all their cousins. In fact, they are also pretty low key and tired today. Ha ha!

I will post picture later, today just a quick update.

Thanks for all the encouragement. I really do appreciate it.

A bit preoccupied

2011-05-18T12:25:00.007-07:00

I have been a bit preoccupied lately. We are headed to Edmonton tomorrow. I was asked to put a presentation together for a cardiology conference being held on Friday.

I am nervous! I am not only supposed to speak, but also participate in the balance of the discussions through the day. There are 4 other parents that will be there also. I am excited and totally worried that I won't be able to concentrate or talk intelligently. I deal with wee people all day and a room full of adults having adult discussions is rather intimidating. I guess as long as I don't put anyone in time-out, I should be OK.

I will let you know how it goes. I have included two pictures of my little heart patient. How she started and where she is now. I'll share them with you too.

It has been a long and interesting road. Doing this presentation has forced me to be reflective and to dwell on much that has transpired. All I can say is that I am proud of my family. As I look back at our journey they have each been so great in their own way.

Wes. Well, Wes is our rock. He may be quiet but don't under estimate what he does for his family. He is steady and strong!

Gavin. Wow, Gavin has been so flexible and easy during many stressful times. He really is a joy of a child.

Bronwyn. Sigh, couldn't have asked for a tougher and more resilient little girl. She amazes me.

Mari. YIKES. Mari wasn't around for too much of the drama, but she has brought levity and yes, more drama into our lives.

Me. I do the best I can.

I am blessed. So so blessed. Not only to have my family, but my extended family and friends too.

Most of all, I am thankful. God has given us rich blessings and we thank him.

So, wish me luck!

Happy Mother's day

2011-05-08T08:45:00.002-07:00

I have the best Mom in the world. I love her very much. Betty is the world's most fun Grandma too. I don't have a words to express how wonderful she really is. Happy Mothers day to my Mamma!

Wedding thoughts

2011-04-29T17:51:00.001-07:00

It is supper time. Wes has taken the kids out of the house, to get something to eat. Mommy is not cooking tonight and the kids were making me crazy! So Daddy to the rescue. I may not admit it to him often, but I am married to one very fine man.

So I am watching clips from the royal wedding. It reminds me of my own. I mean, who wouldn't think of their own wedding at such a time. Although, I think I could have used a bit more money to throw at our wedding. I mean, if I had at least a million (not the lofty 70 million I heard estimated for Will & Kate's), just a measly million, wow, what we could have done. It makes our day feel a bit shabby. There wasn't even a crowd waving at us as we drove down Deerfoot after the wedding. Humph!

Bronwyn was watching a wee bit this morning before the kid's shows came on. She thought the bride was very pretty. I replied, "That young lady there landed one very large fish!" I thought internally, and she landed a very large responsibility and public life too. I wish her well with that.

Oh well. My memories of my wedding are wonderful and I am so happy with my life. I don't live in a glass palace, a real blessing when you come down to it.

I do wish them well and I truly hope they have a happy marriage and life together. After all money and position can't buy you happiness, although... it could speed up the renovations (I'm kidding!!).

A life long dream

2011-04-21T07:33:00.003-07:00

Well, a life long "I'd like to do it."

My mommy group, as we call it, got together last night. I thought it would be the normal eating and visiting, but Julie pulled out a craft. NO NOT A CRAFT! To my delight it was all the necessary tools to do traditional Easter eggs. I have always wanted to do this and never had a chance. In fact, I felt rather smug because I knew it was something that Wes would also love to do, but for once I got to do it first!

At one point I said, as we sat around a table waxing eggs and visiting and laughing, that this is what all the old country ladies were likely doing a hundred years ago. It made me feel connected to history, even if it isn't my own.

I love these gals. I feel privileged to spend an evening with such a group of intelligent, passionate, and talented ladies.

April is a blur

2011-04-19T08:18:00.004-07:00

So far April has just whizzed by. I'd love to say its because we have been busy playing outside in the sun. But instead we have been outside building snow forts and shovelling. There has been much whining and crying over the weather, the kids haven't loved it either.

I have taken a few pictures. So here is the recent history in photos.

It is what it is!

2011-04-03T12:13:00.002-07:00

So, its April 3 and we have almost a foot of fresh snow. By fresh snow, I mean that the snow from the rest of this blissful winter did not completely melt before the new stuff arrived. Well, there you have it.

Wes braved the roads yesterday. I was actually going to go out and I could not get the van off the side of the road. So I came in and asked if he could run my errands for me. He is such a good man and obviously a better driver than me. We got several inches more after that.

We had our new Irish friends, from a block or two over for supper. It was a wonderful night in.

Today we just did not have it in us to go out. So we stayed home. Gavin is still not doing so good. I see improvement by times, and then he seems to decline again. I will likely keep him home tomorrow. If he goes to school and has a hard time I am concerned it will set him back. Better safe than sorry.

I got out in the beautiful sunshine though. I went out and shoveled our walk (again), and several neighbors, including one of our elderly neighbors, who lives on a corner lot and it did not get any shovelling yesterday. Heavy heavy snow. So that counts as both my exercise and my good dead.

Bronwyn and Mari and I made spy cupcakes. Spy cupcakes are just coffee cake muffins with a special ingredient (a touch of powdered ginger) as a truth serum. When you eat one you have to tell the truth. A great spy tool.

We delivered some of our cupcakes to the neighbors while Wes push a poor delivery guy out of the deep snow. Then the girls had a snowball fight with Daddy. Mom tried to get photos, but the girls thought it was pretty funny to throw snow balls at the camera lens. And my butt. And they even tried to jam snow in my boots.

Gavin is sleeping now. I am hoping he improves. Maybe we can still have a quiet movie night with the neighbors, we will see. He did have a better night. The first in 5 nights. I actually got 7 hours of sleep. That is probably why I feel better about everything today.

It may be seasonably snowy, but I got some sleep. All is well.

In case I wasn't already grumpy

2011-04-02T15:03:00.003-07:00

We woke up to this.

Yeee haaaww!

Sick little boy

2011-04-01T12:59:00.002-07:00

I have a sick little boy on my hands. He has two, "very infected" ears - the doctor's words not mine. After the third sleepless night in a row, I buckled and got him in to the doctor.

It wasn't our usual doctor, but another from the same clinic. Bronwyn was really pleased with him. She said, "He looked really cool." Oh. There you are.

I always feel like I have left it too long when I take Gavin in, but to be fair to me it was only roughly 48 hours since it began, OK slightly longer, but I couldn't make an appointment yesterday evening. So first thing was the best I could do. I always feel like he's about to turn the corner. Maybe its because I'm an optimist. Maybe its because I really don't like going to the doctor (sorry Ali). Who knows?

So much for our spring break. We didn't do much last weekend, thanks to the stupid weather. As the weather improved, Gavin's health declined. He will get better soon, I am sure, and now the weather is tanking again. I'm feeling rather picked on.

Monday we will be back at it, our lovely vacation a waste of bad weather, sleepless nights and sick kids. GRRRRRRR!!!

Pictures

2011-03-24T21:18:00.002-07:00

Haven't posted pictures in a while, so here ya go. Promise I'll be better!

It feels surreal

2011-03-18T07:57:00.002-07:00

Sometimes it feels a bit surreal to be worrying about whether my kids have rubber boots when there is chaos and fighting in one part of the world and tragedy and loss and devistation in many others.

This makes me feel thankful, but a bit guilty too. I'm not sure that our access to world wide media is always a good thing. I guess it gives us a chance to help where we can. Or just feel helpless when we can't.

But for today, I have a little girl who doesn't have rubber boots that fit, so that is top of my list.

Spring is here.

2011-03-12T14:24:00.002-07:00

Spring is here. Spring is here. Spring is here.

I had all the windows in the house wide open. Until Wes returned with the kids from the library and shut them all, claiming that it was colder in the house than outside. Breath the fresh air! BREATH. Hmmmm.

It is going to be a sloppy spring, but who cares, it is spring.

We had a bit of a slow week. We all took our turn at a mild cold. Nothing major just caused us all to be a bit low key. Thankfully Dad had picked up a bunch of movies from the library. So we had lots of watching materials. On that note, if I have to watch Barbie and the Diamond Castle one more time I may, just may put my eye out with a fork. Maybe!

We are busy cleaning today. Those who know me well also know I only clean when we are getting company. Wes isn't what I would describe as a people person and when we first married resented all the company we had over. So we stopped having so many people. Then he figured out that I only clean when threatened with company. He is now very much in favour of company and the somewhat clean house that comes with it.

I have a few spring projects I'd like to get at. Get rid of toys. Go through the art box and weed it out. Reorganize things. You know SPRING stuff.

I best get back at my work.

Little fink

2011-03-03T12:08:00.003-07:00

OK, Mari is a little fink.

The other day the girls and I went to the grocery store after dropping Gavin off. It was COLD. On the way home Bronwyn asked if we could stop and get timbits. I only had about a 1.50 in my wallet so we stopped and I got them each one timbit. Bronwyn was very specific about which kind she wanted. I got two of the same type.

When we got home I brought in the girls, the groceries and the two wee timbits. I put them up high and told Bronwyn to pull them down and give one to Mari when she was ready. I headed back out to clear the walk. As I returned to the house half frozen I was met by some tears.

Bronwyn explained that Mari had eaten her timbit. I asked her how that happened. She said she got the bag down and gave Mari a timbit, then remembered she had to go to the bathroom. When she came back Mari had also eaten hers.

Mari didn't look very apologetic. She got a time out. I'm not sure she understood what it was all about. I mean, that timbit was just laying there!

Life lesson I suppose.

Purpose

2011-02-28T10:40:00.003-07:00

I often struggle with finding a sense of purpose in my life. I struggle with seeing value in what I do and having that value acknowledged. I guess I struggle with feeling important.

This weekend I thought a lot about this need in me. And I wondered, did Abraham or Moses ever feel like they need to find their purpose, their God given talents, their full potential. From what I can see they didn't. They lived their life, did as God commanded and made a few mistakes on the way. Could it be that simple?

Maybe, I need to just live my life and do what God puts in front of me. As my parents often remind me, I have three little lives (four if you include my good husband) that rely on me. It might not be as glamorous as I'd like, but maybe its more important than I can imagine.

I don't think my job is to play with my kids or make their world happy and trouble free. Rather to teach them to know and revere God. OOOH. Big job that.

So maybe its not about finding my way, but showing God's way.

(I promise I'll post pictures soon)

Life seems busy

2011-02-23T13:14:00.001-07:00

Gavin had a few days off school. It was so nice to have a break. At the beginning of the break we had no plans - none! Yet we were so busy. We saw so many people and had such a lovely time off. I love it when a non-plan comes together.

Just a quick update to let you all know we are fine and well and busy.

Happy valentine's day

2011-02-14T13:28:00.003-07:00

Four years ago today, we gave Bronwyn's surgeon a valentine. He had just 24 hours earlier completed her second surgery, the Glenn. We felt it only appropriate that he receive Bronwyn's first valentine card. I can't get through valentine's day now without remembering this and remembering Dr. Rebeyka. He will forever hold a special place in all of our hearts.

Happy valentine's day to all of you who have touched our hearts.

More technical difficulties

2011-02-11T10:52:00.002-07:00

I have a ton of things to organize and do today. We've had some technical issues with our computer and not so technical issues with the kids. Bronwyn had the flu the other night. She is thankfully on the mend. Last night Mari had a coughing fit that could only be resolved by holding her upright for a half hour or so. Gavin had a series of bad dreams that necessitated screaming at his parents every time his eyes fluttered open.

So I'm tired. Good news is we got a new computer and Dad spent a good deal of time helping us get operational. The one downside is that I haven't been able to retrieve my email addresses. So I have nothing.

If you know me, and want to be in contact via email, or if you think I may want to contact you via email (when in doubt presume I do) please email me. If you don't have my email address leave a comment and I'll make sure you get it.

PLEASE!!!

Thanks.

Different types of technology

2011-02-03T17:18:00.002-07:00

After school the kids and I were in the front yard making a snowman. It is the first time this year the snow has been sticky enough for us to make one. Dratted Calgary and its dry dry weather. We were almost done when an oldish transamy type car (I don't know my cars so I have no real clue what it was) pulled up and a young man in a toque jumped out. It wasn't alarming as I was expecting a visit from a computer tech. I didn't expect him to be 19, but I guess this is how these things go. He was not Canadian born (this matters in this story).

I showed him in to the dreaded dead machine. He looked at it and said, "Wow, this is old." I said, "Not that old, we got it just after my son was born, he's only 6. I have bed sheets that are twice as old as that!" After much inspection he announced that the mother-board was "toasted." I suppose that is tech speak for not working and not likely to work ever again.

As I saw him to the door and asked him to say good-bye to our snowman. He said, "I've never made one, how do you make one?" I didn't understand him at first, it was such a strange concept he was sharing with me. Finally, in my sock feet I went out to the sidewalk and made a snowball and started rolling it to show him how it sticks. I explained that it had to be the "right" kind of snow.

So, I gave him a lesson in making a snowman and I didn't even charge him!

Technical difficulties... sort of

2011-02-01T11:34:00.002-07:00

I am having technical difficulties uploading my little video clip from the video camera to any of the computers in our house!! Grrrrr.

I have also been having technical difficulties with the kids. Two out of the three have been sick since last Thursday. Minus a couple of outings that we couldn't avoid we have been pretty much stuck in side. And its yucky outside, so taking the kids out is difficult even without the sickness factor.

They have today to get better and that is it! I'm done.

Its not that I'm unsympathetic, I'm OK with really sick kids. Its the sort of sick kid that drives me bonkers! So here is to better weather, they say it is coming, and healthier kids. Next step the garlic! I have horrible childhood memories of my mother making us drink garlic laced orange juice. Apparently the orange juice was supposed to mask the chunks of fresh garlic floating in it. Ah, no!

At the time I thought she was CRAZY. Well, in fact, I still do think my Mom is crazy, but for other reasons. I now understand the frustration of sick kiddos. You get to a point where you will do almost anything to get them back up to steam and out of your hair! Yesterday Mari emptied a full kleenex box. Not blowing her nose, I guess just pulling them out so she could have them handy - who knows?

Oh well. They all seem to be a bit better today, well Mari and Gavin are, Bronwyn didn't get it. She rarely gets sick, strange but darn lucky!

World's best husband

2011-01-22T15:50:00.003-07:00

I'll forgive you if you disagree and think your husband is the best!

So I do take pictures

2011-01-22T13:29:00.004-07:00

I just don't download them. Who knew??

The weather has warmed up a bit. In fact, today is lovely. We went for a walk and play in the park and Daddy has taken the older two to the library and skating, while Mari naps. Our house is a disaster! There are toys everywhere. I should be cleaning, but here I sit with my feet up, taking a moment to relax! Woohooo.

Gavin is getting so big. He lost another tooth this week, can't believe how much he has grown! He is doing better with school. Big sigh of relief from Mom.

Bronwyn is doing great. She loves her school and chatters non-stop at home, not that any one else believes me.

Mari is full of beans! Crazy busy. She plays with her meme (baby). She loves her meme. She also loves bahpah (Grandpa). We have to call Grandpa pretty regularly so she can "talk" to him. A lot of hi! hi! and running from mom as I try to grab the phone.

Spring doesn't feel so far away when the day is sunny and lovely like today. I'm soaking it up for now.

I don't take pictures

2011-01-16T21:00:00.002-07:00

Not sure why I haven't been taking pictures lately. Too busy? Too lazy? Too cold? Not sure, just no pictures.

We have been busy with our school routine. This is the blase, yucky time of year for me. Cold and dark. We are just trudging through it knowing there is light at the end of the tunnel. We are holding out for lighter and warmer days.

Memories

2011-01-10T16:29:00.002-07:00

I took Gavin to school today. Wes stayed home with the girls so I could register Bronwyn for kindergarten.

This time five years ago we were just pregnant, not sure we were even telling people yet. We certainly didn't know about her heart problem yet. It has been a long and in many ways exciting journey. Imagine, our wee girl will be in kindergarten soon. Exciting time are still looming!

Back at 'em

2011-01-04T21:06:00.002-07:00

So we are back into the swing of things. Tomorrow Gavin will be off for his third day back, while Bronwyn will be back for her first. Dance started up tonight. Gavin's piano will also start next week. So slowly we are getting back into the swing.

I have been tired, but it does feel fairly good to get back to a routine. I LOVED our time off, but well, this is now and I may as well be as happy as I can with it!

January is shaping up to be a busy month, but not crazy busy like December, just nice steady busy. I am determined to make some time for myself. We'll see how I do. I had big plans for September but that was pretty seriously derailed by Mari's inconsistent nap times. Here is another kick at the old can.

I am happy though. Life isn't always easy, but it is always full of joy. I don't like getting up at the crack of dawn (7:00am), but I love sitting down with my girls for a relaxed breakfast after delivering Gavin. I don't like the hassle of running the kids to all their various events, but I love seeing how much they love and respond to these fun activities. Life is, as always, a two sided coin. For today, I am choosing to see the lovely polished shiny side. Tomorrow may be a different story. But, even when I chose to see the ugly side, the lovely side is still there, I have just forgotten to look for it.

I am sure that 2011 will bring the Davis house much laughter, joy, tears, anxiety, drama, wood (there is always wood coming in and out of this house), love, ahhh, mostly love!

God bless you all in 2011, may you feel the warmth of God's love.

Winter fun

2010-12-30T13:38:00.003-07:00

We have been enjoying the time off from school. We are trying to pack in as much fun as we can, while still kicking back and relaxing as much as we can too.

It has been mostly warm, today is cold though. Too cold to go too far.

Hoping everyone has a wonderful and safe new years eve.

Gift giving

2010-12-26T15:27:00.002-07:00

I always feel fairly introspective after Christmas. I guess all the dust settles and I have time to think.

Every year I struggle with the huge number of gifts that our kids get. I bought small things this year, we have such a small house, the size of a lot of toys just plain scares me.

This year as I was cleaning up the wrap and all the extra packaging I reflected on how I am often more excited about them opening their gifts than they are. It makes me so happy to know that someone I gave a gift to really enjoyed it. I truly enjoy the process of giving gifts. I was awake many times the night before Christmas, just excited about all the fun the kids were going to have.

Do we have to much stuff, yes! Do our kids get spoiled, yes! But...

Maybe they have to learn the joy of receiving a gift. To truly enjoy a gift you have been given. To be excited and joyous. I realized that maybe that is the first step in the process of learning that giving is better than receiving.

It is the same with grace. It is something you have to learn to receive, not earn. Once you fully understand grace you can understand how to give it. The joy of it!

Family Christmas card 2010

2010-12-22T09:24:00.003-07:00

Merry Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. I promise I'm not nearly as stressed and uptight as I look in this picture!

Please drop a comment and let us know how you are doing. We'd love to hear from you all.

God's blessings on your house in 2011.

The tree is up

2010-12-20T11:39:00.002-07:00

I will post pictures later, maybe when Mari naps. But for now, just feel secure in knowing that the tree is up at the Davis house. I threw out about 6 balls that didn't manage to make it through the "consumer toughness" testing that my kids decided to put them through.

There are even wrapped presents under the tree, I may be horrible about getting the tree up early, but I am no slacker when it comes to presents and wrapping. I saved one gift for each of the kids so the other kids could help me wrap it up. So we did that too.

Here's to hoping the tree is still standing by Christmas.

Tomorrow is our big Daddy's (Wes's) birthday. Bronwyn asked me recently why adults don't have birthday cakes. That is what I told her on my birthday, I'm not making a cake for myself! I assured her that we could make a cake for Daddy. Maybe I should decorate it with toy story stuff or dinosaurs. Oh no, I know, I'll get a model house and pull some of it apart so it can look like its being renovated! That's it!

I best go get these starving tree decorators some lunch. They have worked up a real appetite.

We are here

2010-12-17T21:29:00.004-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, it has been busy. I truly think time speeds up as we get closer to Christmas. The mother of all deadlines.

We are well and good. The kids had their last day of school today and they are counting the days till the big day. I have to admit I'm pretty excited too. Looking forward to all the festivities.

Christmas really is more exciting with kids. I used to think when I was a kid that it was so exciting that I couldn't stand it. But, little did I know that my parents were probably more excited. I think the planning and knowledge of whats to come, and the expected excitement of the kids makes it truly great. That is why people love Christmas. On that note, we hope to get a tree this weekend. We'll see how it goes.

I am looking forward to a lazy week next week. I have a few kids to contact for play time with Gavin over the holiday. But, I kind of hope he gets good and BORED. Maybe he'll be happy to go back to school.

As Wes and I plan and scheme for the future I am often reminded just how truly blessed we are. Our riches are great and our world very wide. I am thankful for all of this.

Now, next project is to get a family shot for our blog Christmas card. Wish me luck!

Getting in the spirit

2010-12-07T19:48:00.004-07:00

This was a sort of Christmas kick off weekend for us.

Friday we watched our littlest neighbor for an hour or so. We did cookies and decorating. I put the icing in baggies with a tiny hole for it to squeeze out; thinking this would make it less messy. At one point I caught Mari with the bag in her mouth squirting icing straight in her mouth. Apparently that was more efficient than squirting icing on the cookies and then licking it off the cookie.

Saturday evening we trekked out to Airdrie. Taking in the festival of lights along with the warm and gracious hospitality of Grandma Joan has become a bit of a family tradition. She treated us to a super yummy meal (and healthy if I'm not mistaken) and then we bundled up and made our way to the park. There were fire works, a little train (a dressed up golf cart thing - but the kids don't care), hot chocolate and lots of great lights.

On the way back to Joan's, Gavin exclaimed, "I loved ALL of it!" It was a warm and fuzzy evening. I know this will be a warm memory for the kids.

Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa came with us to Oak Park and then back to our house for lunch. I had planned on taking advantage of the extra hands and having Grandpa take our family photo. I had dressed everyone in somewhat matching clothes before church and had big visions of getting the job done. On the way home from church Mari fell asleep. Just as she was waking up, Bronwyn, who wasn't feeling well, fell asleep. So... no picture. At least we all looked good. Heck, I even put on make up!

After my folks left we made some salt dough decorations for Grandma and Grandpa. It involved, rolling, stamping out shapes, cooking, cleaning (Mom), setting out paints (Mom), painting, cleaning (Mom), setting out sparkle glue (Mom), liberally applying sparkles to anything that didn't move fast enough, cleaning (Mom).. bath to remove all traces of sparkles from three little kids, (Dad supervised). And this is why I am not a crafty mom!! Keep moving people it wasn't pretty.

Monday we went to Langdon to help Grandma put up her Christmas tree. Or if you are Gavin, we went to force our Grandfather to play Wii.

See - could we have been more festive. I am so exhausted by it all that I think I'm done. We have done our bit. Unfortunately the kids are now asking "When can we have a tree?" In fact, Gavin asked me, "Mom why do we have to wait until the day before Christmas to put our tree up?" Making it sound as though we have been barred from early access to Christmas trees. One day son, you will understand.

Oh, and for the record we don't have a single decoration up yet. Not one. Just ask my mom what Mari does to them and you'll know why!

Fun Friday

2010-12-03T09:47:00.003-07:00

Gavin is home today and Monday. Bronwyn has school both days, although I may have her skip Monday so we can "do" something together.

They are all happily playing for now. I wonder when that will end. I found some pictures on my camera. I haven't been taking very many these days. We just seem to be busy all the time.

With the older two busy with their schools and activities, Mari and I spend quite a lot of time together. She is so cute when she plays. I love watching her. Bronwyn would play "pretend" some but not like Mari. She is more about her imaginary friends and chatter chatter chatter. Mari, plays with her dollies, talks to them, feeds them. I love it.

She really doesn't talk much yet, but she still gets her point across. Life with Mari is one big game of charades.

Bronwyn is well, she has been tired this week and I have been a bit concerned about her, but she seems OK.

We had Gavin's parent teacher interviews last night. It was great. He has such a lovely teacher, I really like her. The only issue we have is with getting him to school. He is a good student and cooperative in class.

Deep Freeze

2010-11-24T22:15:00.002-07:00

I haven't been blogging because, my fingers were frozen? No, I just haven't had the time, but here I am lucky world!! Back for another short report on our goings on.

This week has been a bit of a shake up in the Davis house. Wes has been taking Gavin to school. After a rather bad end to last week, Mommy is done trying to convince, cajole and force her oldest to go to school. Its Daddy's job now. He can do it for a while. After all, if Gavin refuses to go in what is Daddy going to do, take him to work?

So, the girls are enjoying the mornings of sleeping in and not braving bitter cold. Its a bit of a relief for me too, less conflict in my world is a good thing.

Today I was the volunteer for the morning at Gavin's school. It was fun. I discovered what a weird bunch of pickles grade oners are! Ha, its not just my kid - they are all like that!

Bronwyn had dance yesterday. Nearing the end of class I could tell that she had to go to the bathroom. There was only a minute left, so I just took her out. When she was done, I tried to get her to put her winter stuff on. She FREAKED out. She kept crying, "All I want to do is dance with the girls." I thought she'd understand that class was just about over, but no. All I can say is that I sure learned my lesson!

What has Mari been up to? Sheesh - got an hour! Lets just say she is a mischief and a goof ball.

I haven't been taking pictures. I'll try to get some in the next little while and post something worth looking at.

It has arrived...

2010-11-16T15:33:00.003-07:00

So my prediction that this is the year that we finally evade winter is, well, wrong! Winter landed last night. Unfortunately and in typical Calgary style it came suddenly. So there was rain, freezing rain, slush and then snow.

How do I know this? Since it happened in the night? Well, I can tell by the layers that I shovelled this morning. By the way shovelling is man's work!

Luckily I didn't have to use the van until this afternoon and there was time to figure out how to get the van doors open. They were frozen shut.

This morning, I had to break in to get Gavin's car seat so he could go to school with the neighbors. The only door that would open was the driver side. So I got in and crawled over the front seat to the back. As I did this my butt touched the visor and I got stuck in the rear by the poppy I had tucked up there (so it wouldn't POKE ANY ONE).

So winter has arrived. Today is our busy day. So I get to do all our running around in the snow. Yeah!

Loose ends

2010-11-13T21:14:00.003-07:00

I'm feeling a bit restless this weekend. Not sure why. My husband is likely right, it probably is just my "hormones."

I'm just sort of bored and feeling lacking in purpose.

I think we get going at such a pace that when life settles down for a moment or two I don't know what to do. And I have time to sit and look around... at ALL THE PROJECTS THAT NEED DOING! Then I feel overwhelmed and get up to find something else to do. Vicious cycle!

I've been trying to get Christmas organized, get photos etc uploaded and presents ordered. I try to do about 90% of my Christmas shopping on line. I'm not much of a shopper and I dislike crowds. The Internet is great for avoiding people, except Facebook, its littered with them.

I sometimes, while I am doing dishes (usually while I'm doing dishes) wonder what life would be like if we lived in Africa. Poor in Africa. I imagine myself trying to find ways to wash the one cooking dish I own so as not to use up any precious water. It would be like camping, except most places we camp around here have access to potable water. Then I think about how much STUFF we have. And how much of it is necessary. Very very little. That usually get me thinking about going through the kids toys and weeding them down, and OTHER PROJECTS THAT NEED DOING AROUND HERE!

I realize I'm rambling. But that is OK with me, if I wasn't rambling on here, I'd be sitting on the couch doing puzzles or making lists of ALL THE THINGS I NEED TO DO!

Sigh.

Falling back

2010-11-08T20:50:00.003-07:00

The dreaded time change happened this weekend. It is so hard on the kids. Today Bronwyn fell asleep after school. You wouldn't think that shifting one hour would take such a toll on them, but it sure does.

They were up very early on Sunday morning, their internal clocks not being at all aware of the shift that happened overnight. So I took advantage of the extra time and the nice sunshine to get a few pictures before heading off to church. Mari is not the most cooperative. The other two are more than willing to pose, but, well... Gavin likes to have action shots, you know, of him throwing a football at the camera! Bronwyn loves to pose, it just involves a lot of odd faces and strange hand gestures. I don't know, all I ever did as a kid was stick my tongue out at the camera. At least I was predictable.

Speaking of predictable, I was thinking today that it is likely less difficult to wrestle an alligator than get Mari in her car seat. At least an alligator is predictable, Mari not so much. But, you say, alligators bite, well so does Mari!

I really feel in my bones that this is the year we will skip winter. I just know it! It won't come! I'm so sure of it. Just keep the great weather rolling in.

Parental discipline

2010-11-04T21:21:00.002-07:00

Gavin has taken to "disciplining" us when he is unhappy. Today he told Daddy, when Daddy corrected him for not listening in the bathtub, that he would take away one of his privileges. "I'll take away your truck." I guess he is struggling with the difference between a privilege and a necessity, since Daddy needs the truck to work and feed the family.

He told me earlier in the day, when I refused to continue reading with he and his sister as they were fighting too much, that he would call my Mom and Dad and tell on me. This didn't cause me to shake in my boots. I asked him what they could do to me. He said they would make me stay at their house for a week. Well now! That would be punishment indeed.

Or course Bronwyn started crying because she didn't want Mommy to go away for a week.

He is trying to exercise his authority, he just needs to do some fine tuning on his methods.

Little story

2010-11-02T08:24:00.002-07:00

Gavin is at school and the girls are just playing around. Mari has a little block of wood and is pretending it is a microphone. She can really belt it out!

I just wanted to tell this little story. Thought Bronwyn's many fans would get a bang out of it.

The other day Wes got up early to go to Rona to order some windows for a job. He asked me to help him find the car keys, since they weren't where I normally leave them.

We searched and searched. I was really distracted and frantic, not being able to find them. I sent him off with my spare key, and I continued to look for my keys. Bronwyn was the only one home with me since the other two went with Daddy. I was walking around muttering about needing to find my keys.

Bronwyn offered to help me find them. I thought that was so sweet of her and thought it might not hurt. So I started wandering around again looking for my keys. She came and took me by the hand and led me to the kitchen. She pulled up her little chair to the counter. I said, "Where are you looking?" She pointed to my green junk bin. I said, "Honey, I would have never put them in there." She nodded and said, "Try there." So I started digging. I was just proclaiming that they weren't in there either, when I saw a metallic flash and quickly grabbed my keys.

I turned to her with great surprise and said, "How did you know they would be there?"

She looked up at me with a beaming smile and said, "Because I put them there."

Hang on to your hats

2010-11-01T10:32:00.001-07:00

We had the busiest week.

Bronwyn had her Halloween party for preschool on Monday. Mari tagged along and had a blast.

Gavin had a party on Friday at school and that was exciting too.

Saturday was his birthday party. The good news is no one called the cops in to shut the party down. A bunch of very excited young kids = a whole lot of noise! It was great fun. Gavin wanted a pirate party and was pretty specific about what he wanted for a cake. I looked and looked and looked for a little pirate boat. But couldn't find one. I know that now when I go shopping I will find three or four in each store. GRRRR!!

Wes helped me out and together we made a little boat. I did the bottom part he took care of the sails. Team work!

I was barely standing by Sunday morning, but off to church we went and then for lunch with friends and then home to get ready for trick-or-treating. Wes took the kids while I stayed home and handed out candy. One for the cute kid at the door, one for me, and on and on.

Today, I am working very hard at doing as little as I possibly can. That is my goal. I may have to do the dishes, but for now I'm putting that off.

Hope you all had a candy filled weekend.

Time seems to fly by...

2010-10-24T19:52:00.003-07:00

This weekend seemed to take about 15 minutes from start to finish! I guess that is a good thing. We had a super great weekend, happy, healthy kids. It was productive and enjoyable. All the good things. We even carved a pumpkin yesterday, or a Jangoliner, as Gavin calls it (a confused Jack-o-lantern).

I'm tired tonight, I had so many things I wanted to blog about, but unfortunately now that I have the time my grey matter has fallen short and is offering up squat!

So here we go into a new week and all the surprises that it holds.

Big bad birthday bash

2010-10-17T21:01:00.003-07:00

So we celebrated Mari's birthday yesterday. It was a fun affair. Things got a bit out of hand in the back yard. Some how, Jon and Scott ended up supervising all the kids. Not what I'd recommend. Good news is no one got hurt!

Mari was so excited. She seemed to get that all the presents were for her.

She loved her cake. Bronwyn decided she wanted Mari to have a monkey cake. I thought it was because we call her a little monkey and even Monkeydoodle. But when I asked her why a monkey cake she responded, "Because she looks like a monkey." She'll make a fine big sister. Right Aunt Mary?

The pictures aren't very good, and there weren't many as the battery died mid party. Oh well, she's the third child her expectations can't be too high.

Mari is two

2010-10-14T19:35:00.003-07:00

The little monkey is two. She is a joy and a surprise everyday!

Bronwyn's first field trip

2010-10-13T21:23:00.004-07:00

Bronwyn's preschool went on a field trip today to Butterfield acres. Its a little petting zoo/hobby farm (ish) place. We met at her school and took a big yellow bus all together. She was so excited about the bus she barely cared where we were going. She had to bring a lunch, which she proudly held for most of the trip. What a big girl!

They did a pumpkin search and decorated the pumpkins. A hay ride was included as well. She enjoyed her day so much.

It was a pretty special time.

In other news. Today is our anniversary. Nine happy years! I love my husband, he turned out to be a pretty good catch.

Thanksgiving has come and gone

2010-10-12T15:46:00.002-07:00

We had a very busy thanksgiving weekend. We managed to get in yard work, house work, church, a turkey dinner with friends at our house, a turkey dinner at my folks house, and a movie night.

Whoosh! A lot for one weekend.

We have a busy week ahead of us now. Bronwyn is going on a flield trip tomorrow for preschool. She is SO excited to ride a school bus! So excited! I'll have to remember my camera. Mari can't come, there is limited space, so Mom will come babysit. I think they will have fun together.

Hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving. It seems that when we stop to really count our blessings and be thankful it is overwhelming.

Side tracked

2010-10-07T22:09:00.003-07:00

I was on the way to having my most productive day ever. I was at Walmart by 10 am, with the girls. Which is huge, considering I dislike shopping and I dislike Walmart shopping even more. I had things that needed doing and I was going to do them. I had a plan to come home and do some really ugly jobs, like filing.

I told Bronwyn we could stop at the Tim's just passed the checkout counter and get a Timbit and coffee (coffee was for me). My cell phone rang, something my cell phone never does.

It was the school, Gavin was sick, could you come and get him, after talking to him. He cried when he told me he was sick. So there I was crying in the line as the teller asked if my sick child was in grade one. How did he know that? He told me he had a younger brother in grade one. I questioned whether that was physically possible, but it is a new world we live in.

Anyhow, I had to race home and get the boy, and then go by a Tim's as promised, so Bronwyn wouldn't have a fit. Home we arrived. I managed to do some pretty basic cleaning chores, but other than that NOTHING! So much for my ambition. Ahhh. Gavin was much perkier this morning, but I'll still keep him home tomorrow as he wasn't perky enough.

Wonderful day

2010-10-02T20:49:00.004-07:00

The weather has been exceptional. I had intended that we would do a bunch of yard work and clean up, but we decided to go for a walk instead. After our beautiful walk we took the kids to McDonald's. They wanted to go there, for the toy of course. I had a thought, isn't it a bit ironic that McDonald's uses toys to get kids in to eat there food. And IKEA uses food (we love their cheap breakfast), to get adult in to buy their furniture. A pattern here!

I downloaded a bunch of pictures again tonight. And I found a ton on my little camera.

We have a lot going on, visiting etc again, too much to mention. But we are enjoying fall.