Crazy summer!

Well so much for being faithful to blog. Oh well I guess that's the way it's going to be I am unable to make it a habit.

The summer was great! Went out to SK for 3 weeks, camped at Twin Lakes, and Shaw's Point (Slave Lake) and camped with Darryl by the river where he's working near Dawson Creek. So much fun, so GREAT!

Now it's fall...time to settle back into routines. Blah! It seemed to start so early this year! David started school August 31, Emily starts Kindergarten tomorrow (the 8th). It's going to seem so weird to only have one kid at home two days a week. But so much easier to get the mail, go to the store, the possibilities are endless! Seeing as I will have some "free time" I've signed up for a photography course! I'm hoping I will be able to work on it a little each afternoon while Oakley has some "quiet time". I'm looking forward to it! I will have a photography diploma when I'm done. It should take me about a year to complete.

10 K Survivor!

Today Twyla and I ran together for the first time. It was so much fun..let me rephrase that...it was enjoyable, nice to have someone to run with, to talk to while running. It didn't feel like we were in a race but just out for a run. We ran 10 km at the Heritage Race here in Peace River. It took 1 hour and 22 minutes, less time than I thought it would. I had told Darryl about 2 hours so he and the kids didn't show up until after we were already done. :( We (I say we because Twyla was nice enough to stay running with me at my SLOW pace) ran 5 walked 2 for the first couple intervals and then we did 10 and 1-2. We were the last in our age group to cross the finish line, but we finished. I DID IT! Makes me realize I really should be pushing myself harder when running during the week. It was so nice to share this experience with my sister, my oldest, truest friend.

Adjustments

The Winters' have now been living with us for about two weeks. The transition was easier than I imagined it would be. You never know what will happen when you add 3 more kids and 2 more parents. So far Talena and I have been sharing the cooking/cleaning details. That's all good, who doesn't want help with their house work?! She was even nice enough to slay my laundry giant! (Thank you) I'm not sure what she thinks of living amongst my clutter, but for now it seems to be okay.

We have all sat down and made sure we were all doing okay, and talk about any issues. Seems fine for three out of the four, Darryl can never stay on topic! It's not that he has problems with the living arrangement. He has problems with other aspects of life that he has to talk about when we are talking about our families! I love him, but his thought patterns are SO different than mine!

Hmm...it's 8:13 the kids are in bed, Darryl's not home from work yet, the dishes are waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher...but here I sit at the computer enjoying the solitude if only for a few minutes; I hear his truck pulling in the drive. Time to feed "the man", maybe I can convince him to watch a movie after.

I can't believe it!!

It's been coming for months...I knew EVENTUALLY this day would come. It has finally arrived, or almost. What am I talking about? The basement, it is 98% complete!! Let's just pause there for a moment....ahhh (deep breath, in and out) All that remains is the bathroom; grouting the tile then sealing it, installing the shower, and hooking up the plumbing. There are still things to be done at a later date the drop ceiling, the theatre room, and carpet. But I am not thinking about those things now. So let's just forget I've mentioned it. FORGOTTEN. Done. The basement is so close to done Jason and Talena will start moving in this weekend.

You may not understand why I'm so excited about the basement completion. Let me explain. For the past, let's say 6 months, give or take, my husband has been building walls, dry walling, mudding, and taping. "Big deal?" you say. YES! It is a big deal! He works everyday from 7-6, then quickly eats supper to return to the basement until WAY after I have gone to bed. Fine for a few days, but months and months, made the kids and I wonder who this "dad" character really was. We remember him vaguely, he's home but not really home. I am looking forward to this weekend. Darryl doesn't have to work and doesn't have a "project" that needs his attention. I will savour the moment, because I KNOW it won't last long. Did I mention the deck? The basement wasn't even complete, and I'm finding sketches of deck plans on the table! Next it will be the yard...when oh when will I have my Darryl back?

Four Weeks.

I am looking down at my previous postings and it says updated four weeks ago. The reason being? My computer was in for a new Mother board, that took 4 weeks to be repaired! Jason was nice enough to let me use a laptop from work, but I didn't want to use it for everything. So, as a result my blog has fallen behind.

My biggest encouragement is the fact that I finally have weight loss results to report! I am down 9 pounds!!! I'm so excited, I can see the difference in the mirror. I've been feeling more energetic for weeks but still looked the same. I was starting to get frustrated, because I want to look the way I feel. This is a start, almost 10 pounds!! Mary Beth has me doing a very fun workout. I use a deck of playing cards, each suit is designated to a specific exercise. What ever card is drawn off the deck determines the number of that exercise to do (ie 4 of Hearts means 4 squats). A face card is 1 minute of cardio and an Ace is a rest. I really like it, it keeps the workout from becoming the same old same old. I am up to 36 cards out of the deck; I started out with 26. I go through 36 cards for lower body (squats, walking lunges, crunches, and leg lifts) then shuffle the deck and 36 for upper body (rows, bicep curl/overhead press, crunches, push ups). I am feeling stronger. I can do all my push ups "boy style", from my feet. Yay! It's coming!

Chocolate Easter eggs....my demise!

I had (yes had) been doing so well, eating right, exercising regularly. I was on a roll. Then with mom here last week, the renos downstairs, and the Easter egg hunt "for the kids" I'm in need of a good kick in the pants! I'm sure I ate enough chocolate eggs to last a year!! The ironic thing is that morning I had run 8 km. Calculating calories burned with calories eaten I think I broke even. That's not the point of running, to be able to eat more! NO!!! LOL Mary Beth will come on Wednesday then I will get re focused!

Speaking of, I should get off my butt and get moving. Hmmm...how 'bout a nap?! No, to the treadmill.

Busy week!

I have really enjoyed having mom here the last week. She stayed here for 4 days and then moved over to Wes and Serena's. It's so nice and comfortable to have her here to chat with, and just be together. It sucks they (mom and dad; and Twyla) live so far away. The only negative about having mom here is that mom loves to bake, not good for the diet program. LOL

Over the weekend Oakley developed croup. So, finally on Monday I took him to the hospital, we ended up staying overnight. He was really struggling to breath, and was very pale. Now on Thursday he still has a cough, but thankfully his cheeks are rosy pink.

David has been taking swimming lessons at school this week. I'm so proud of him, he got to skip level one! The Lifeguard said that after the second day he could do all the level one requirements. I can't wait to see if he will get his level two today!

Birthdays...

Well our crazy birthday "season" is over. It's not just a month it's the months of March and then including my birthday April 1st.

This year my birthday wasn't celebrated with cake and candles, but a nice quiet dinner with Darryl in Grande Prairie, and then to the airport to pick up my Mom! We left the kids at home with Jason Winters. Mom's flight didn't come in until 10:30 pm. We left home at 6:40, got to Home Depot at 8:45 had a look at showers for our basement. At around 9:00 we got to Mr. Mike's for supper. It was a late meal, but it was uninterrupted time just with Darryl. I didn't have to cut anyone's meat, ask them to sit down, or take them to the bathroom for the third time. Darryl's time the best gift I could have received. Thank you Darryl.

Picking my mom up at the airport on my birthday was an extra special treat! She hasn't been here since October. It's so nice to have her company, the kids like having Grandma around; she also just made yummy muffins.

Speaking of Mom, I'm here at my desk with my back to her, I am going to enjoy each moment with her.

My Hunny...

This is my husband, my lover, my best friend. Today he turns 34. He is amazing. Not only does he have a GREAT body, beautiful blue eyes, and a fantastic smile. He is loving, gentle, caring, funny, hard working, smart, and a great dad. Everyone who meets Darryl likes him right away. He has a way about him that makes people comfortable, he'll either tell you a funny joke he's heard or tease you like you've known each other for years.

When Darryl and I met, I thought he would make a great friend. The day we met we were playing beach volleyball giving each other a hard time. At the end of the day my summary was "a great guy like my friend Dave Dube". Well 10 days later we were dating. Then about 5 days after that he started talking about marriage. YIKES!

When the time came for Darryl to meet my family I knew he was the right one. He fit into my family better than I did! He was able to tease my sister and passed the test with my "brother with the guns". My Grandma Burdick said that sitting across from Darryl reminded her of sitting across from Lynn, my Grandfather that I never met. After we were married one of my dad's old friends even said that Darryl reminded him of my dad at 20.

We have been married now for almost 12 years. I still fall for that impish smile and twinkle in his eye when he's done something and waiting for a reaction. I love watching him with our children, giving them all hugs when he gets home or leaves for work.

Darryl has impressed me many times in our years of marriage. The way that he can play volleyball, his pride being ACAC champions 2 years at RDC. When we met he didn't know anything about mechanics or building or fixing things, now he can fix just about anything. He's proved to be very handy, and able to learn anything. He's gone to college twice receiving honours or close to honours each time. He is a very hard worker, I never have to wake him for work. That also makes him a good provider, it wouldn't matter what job it was he would do it if that's what it took to provide for his family. Just recently he made a change from welding to QC, the learning curve was STEEP. He has proved himself more than capable, it's great to hear from his superiors that he is doing an excellent job.

I never really had a list of traits that I was looking for in a husband. I knew that I wanted someone like my dad. I pray that Emily is watching her own dad and seeing what a great man he is and will look for someone like him; and that my boys will grow up to be like him.

Darryl, I don't know if you'll take the time to read this or not, but I love you so much. You were a really nice guy when we met, but grew into an amazing man. Happy Birthday!

Miss Emily

I am sitting here at my desk listening to the imaginations of two 5 year old girls, Cadence and Emily. It's so funny how they play, each telling the other what to do or say. Right now they are playing ponies. The other day they turned a Hungry Hungry Hipos game into Hipos that had to protect their eggs. They played there for about an hour, putting the "eggs" out and then capturing them all again....oh the ponies just kissed....LOL

I wonder how Emily will change once she starts Kindergarten in the fall? She is so sweet and gentle. She has a desire to be liked by others, and to have the same things as her friends. I told her the other day it doesn't matter what others think but so long as she is happy with herself. That could be a hard lesson to learn. This conversation started because David didn't like that she had stuffed a neck warmer down the back of her bathing suit to look like a bunny tail. It looked very cute, and was a pretty smart idea.

What I also find interesting about Emily is that she loves to craft but lacks the attention to do an "organized" craft for very long. If left on her own she will create her own designs or whatever for hours. But when we do organized crafting she doesn't take the time to color it carefully or completely, and after 2 minutes forgets to cut along the lines. I am hoping that Kindergarten will help her learn to do her best work.

The fall will be interesting with just Oakley here at home, I will miss the chatter of Emily. On the other hand I can't wait to see all that Oakley will teach me about himself.

Computers!

Here I was planning on blogging regularly, and then my computer went on the fritz! Grr!
Oh well, I'm up and running today.

I have just started meeting with Mary Beth, a friend of mine that is also a personal trainer. I need someone to be accountable to. She has set me up with a weight training program and a diet to follow. I'm really excited! I've been running regularly and still not losing any weight. I will be meeting with Mary Beth once a week, until I feel like I've got this under control. Then we will meet less often until I reach my goal. I will keep you posted on my progress.

So, I've made this choice to get into shape in the month of March. So what? you say. Well March seems to be "birthday month". We have Darryl and Emily's birthdays and then about 5 other friends and family's birthdays. How do you go to a birthday party and not eat cake? Well I will be challenging that tonight as my kids are invited to another party.

This past weekend was pretty busy. We went up to Manning on Friday night to watch Sarah's skating carnival. For a kid that used to trip on a line on the floor, she is doing very well! Emily now wants to do skating, she said to me "They're dancing." I don't think she had ever seen figure skating before. I would like to get her into something to help her build some muscle and hopefully help her balance.

After the skating David stayed for a sleepover with Seldon. It's neat how well they get along for being 3 years apart. The weekend before Tim and Shelle had been down but the boys didn't get to see each other, both were complaining. I hope that relationship stays the same as they get older. They primarily play x box together, but they seem to really enjoy each others company.

Tim and Shelle brought David back the next day so we had Wes and Serena and kids over too. We pot lucked the supper, we had a TON of food! Pizza rolls, chicken fingers, chicken wings, french fries, veggies and dip, shrimp rings, fruit and dip, cake and pie...I'm sure I've missed something! We were all WELL fed! We then played Killer Bunnies, and then a late night of Rockband. That was only Saturday.

On Sunday we went to Church, I taught Sunday School, and then straight off to the pool for Cadence's Birthday. More cake and swimming left us all pretty wiped out. The boys fell asleep in the van, "the boys" includes Darryl. Emily and I went inside and watched some T.V. about two hours later I finally went out to the van and woke them up.

Today is Monday, and it's a P.D. day, David, Emily, Cadence, and Thomas are playing Hungry Hippos. I'm sure the day will be full and fun, then tonight....more cake!

Chocolate Whipped Cream Fight!

Today I was going to post pictures of Emily's party, but instead I decided to post the pictures of the food fight that went on between Kelly and Rebecca. Just in case you missed the story here's the summary from my "Party Day" post:

"Also this evening we went to a 40th birthday for Kelly Berreth. We wrote on the card, "Sorry to hear about the passing of your youth, but you're not dead yet. Here's to another year, hope you make it all the way through. P.S. You keep up pretty good for an old guy." It was a fun night, mostly visiting, and eating. Miranda made black forest cake from scratch, yummy! The night included a chocolate whipped cream fight between Kelly and Rebecca Joe, and then a snow fight inside and out. I thought that Darryl and Kelly were going to throw her in a snowbank. She did however end up outside with only one shoe on."

When I got to the camera Rebecca already looked like this.


Rebecca hadn't won yet, and she wasn't about to give up. The fight continued...



What is Kelly running from? Who's around that corner?



The battle rages...

I think they called a truce (at least with the chocolate whipped cream).



After this there was a bit of a snow ball fight, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that. It was a bit one sided. Rebecca was about to leave and started to put on her shoe, and found with her bare foot that it was FULL of snow! She then took that snow and threw it at Kelly inside the house. In that time her shoes ended up outside, Darryl might have done that, I don't know. Rebecca then went out to retrieve her shoes. She then found herself with one shoe on and Kelly coming after her. Thankfully he didn't throw her in the nearby snowbank, but she was covered in snow non the less!! Kelly might have won this battle, but I know somehow, somewhere, when he least expects it Rebecca will be waiting.

Emily is 5!!

Well, we had Emily's party on the weekend, but she seems to think she needs another. I've told her 3 times that we are not having a party today; it's only 9am. Could be a long day! Most of the time Emily is pretty easy, although she has her moments when she gets something in her head that it takes telling her a few times before it sinks in that it's not the way she was thinking.



My little princess, the girl between the boys, my sweet Emily, Miss E, Chicken, Chicken Rat....Just a few things I think of when I think of Emily. (When I think of Emily it makes my heart warm inside.)
1. She has such a sweet spirit, most of the time she does what is asked, or even before she's asked.
2. She loves to craft, always drawing, painting, or just cutting up paper to make her "creations".
3. She has been stuck on Jabin for a while now, in case you don't know he is her future husband. She already knows how many children they have agreed to have, I don't know if Jabin really knows this at all.
4. She can go into her room and play for hours, she has a great imagination. Although sometimes that imagination gets her into trouble, she will make up fake injuries when I'm consoling one of her brothers who has really been hurt.
5. I do worry that she gets missed between the boys. David the typical first born demands my attention, and Oakley being little still needs my help. I try to do my best to make special "girl time".
6. She has asked to go on timeout, weird I think, but she knows when she needs sometime alone. She comes back out all ready to go again.
7. She has a pretty good sense of humour started, can't wait to see that develop.
8. She is really good to play with just about anyone, younger or older.
9. This last year has been a killer for Emily, from September until December she asked me about 3 times a week when she gets to start school. She still asks me pretty regularly if David is at school that day. She misses him when he's gone. (I'm not sure how I feel about sending her off to Kindergarten in the fall.)
10. When she smiles really big or is laughing she has a cute little dimple on her chin.



I pray that Emily will continue to have a gentle spirit as gets older, and that she will learn to love the Lord and see how much he really loves her too.

Have a Happy Birthday, Emily!

Party day...

What a fun day! We had 10 girls (Cadence, Brinay, Sarah, Dale, Chloe, Sarah G., Shanae, Shealynn, Victoria, and Emily) ages 4-8 here for 2 hours, the time just flew! Before I knew it it was 3:30 (only 1/2 hour remaining and we hadn't had cake yet!). When they each came in I put some makeup on them so they were ready to enter the castle. Then the girls made necklaces, and tiaras, they played stick the horn on the unicorn, the messy stepsisters (2 teams, each team had to be the first to pick up their messes), and princess favorite things (the classic cookie sheet of items - princess items in this case- and one item is removed and one person has to guess or remember what is missing. We had about 8 games we could have played, but I didn't realize how quickly the time would pass. I thought we might even have a ball, each fairy tale has a dance. Emily was so happy to have a party.

Even David got into it! He helped me by taking the girls coats at the door, and then was the royal photographer and took some really great photos of the party. At one point the some of the girls were waiting for the next craft to start and he started a fun little game with them. He was a great help.

Darryl was the games man, which he always does a great job with, I wonder how things would be different had he decided to become a school teacher. I'm sorry we ran out of time for the games, next time we will have to have a longer party.

Oakley was right in with the games, not understanding the rules but willing to play too. He even played put the horn on the unicorn and didn't complain about wearing the mask to cover his eyes.

I will have to post pictures on another day and talk more about the party, and about my sweet Emily who is days away from 5.

Also this evening we went to a 40th birthday for Kelly Berreth. We wrote on the card, "Sorry to hear about the passing of your youth, but you're not dead yet. Here's to another year, hope you make it all the way through. P.S. You keep up pretty good for an old guy." It was a fun night, mostly visiting, and eating. Miranda made black forest cake from scratch, yummy! The night included a chocolate whipped cream fight between Kelly and Rebbecca Joe, and then a snow fight inside and out. I thought that Darryl and Kelly were going to throw her in a snowbank. She did however end up outside with only one shoe on.

What a fun day. I'm glad to have this blog set up to help me remember these fun times. But it's off to bed now, time change is going to mess things up for getting David out the door in the morning.

Getting this figured out...

I used to have a blog, before they changed to needing a Google account. It took a while but I managed to link my old account to the new one. PHEW!

I know I haven't blogged for a LONGGGGGG time, but I figured it might be good. I don't keep a journal, and really need to keep up with what happens with my kids everyday. They are so much fun. (Speaking of, Emily and her friend Cadence just walked through the room saying they were looking for husbands!) I really need to remember these days, before I know it they will be teenagers.

So, I know I've said this before, but I'm going to try and blog.....