Somedays...

Somedays I:

don't want to load and unload the dishwasher, only to have to load it again
lose my patience on a regular basis (read, every 3 minutes)
am shocked by the amount of laundry a family of 5 can generate
don't care about dinner and the kids eat popcorn (or poptarts or cereal or um icing, with cupcakes)
say no simply because it is easier than saying yes
feel so close to God
am so not who I want to be
take my kids on amazing adventures
remember that it's not all about me
struggle with anger
get very frustrated with everything
am so filled with joy and happiness that it spills onto everyone
am a good friend
miss having my best friend around
feel lonely and sad
get tired of always picking up/putting away/cleaning
laugh so hard at my kids, cuz they are really funny
eat too much ice cream and brownies (especailly when I've just made a batch!)
long to be closer to God
remember to read my Bible
forget to apply what I've read to my life
waste too much time on the computer/in front of the t.v
am a photographer
am a sewer
am a teacher
am a referee
forget the reason I do all this
don't care that my house looks like the toy box has puked
it drives me NUTS
long for my kids to be older
wish they could stay little for always
grow weary
just want to hide in my room and have the world go on without me
have so much fun with my family
worry too much
get tired of saying the same things over and over and over again
remember what this life is all about

Weekend Fun

We got a WHOLE lot of rain Friday night, complete with an AWESOME thunder storm (and if I hadn't been busy, I would have been out taking pictures in it), on Saturday, Troy was helping friends put up siding on their house and the kids were tired of being inside so (and here's the part where the lots of rain comes in) I took them to the dirt hills at the end of our subdivision. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves!

This is what happens when you don't realize that

mud is slippery when wet
This is what bottoms look like after

A Girl is...

Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head

and

Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot

- Allan Beck

Alexandra spent a looooong time the other day wrapping Owen up, singing him songs and attempting to 'Oen uppies'. She did, at one point, have him by the arm and leg and was, I think, attemping to give him an airplane ride but I'm not really sure (I told her at that point that she needed to be gentle and I would set him in her lap but he was too heavy for her to pick up!). What did Owen think of all this? He LOVED it. He was giggling and smiling. He thought it was great that his big sister was actually playing with him.

LOOOOOOONG Post w/no Pictures (sorry!)

What a day. Despite its business today was actually really good. I left the house at 8:30ish and didn't get home till almost 4pm! I took Alexandra swimming again and then hung out at a friends house as her house is slightly closer to our boys' school than mine and we were headed back there for 2:40ish to take part in the Terry Fox Walk. We walked to swimming so that meant walking home from school with Anthony (as we were there taking part in the walk). It was quite the feat and I am SURE that there were people driving by in cars that thought we were a homeless family (no disrespect meant, and a feel for people that have to take everything with them all the time). If I had been thinking clearly by the time we got home, I would have pulled out the camera and taken a picture but worlds will have to do!
so picture this:
1 mom, 1 (2 child) Chariot filled with: 3 umbrellas (it was supposed to rain but didn't), 1 pair of rubber boots, 2 raincoats, 2 child-sized backpacks, numerous jackets and blankets (it was COLD when we left this morning), a cell phone, wallet and movie, 3 plastic bags filled with; towels, swimsuits, dirty cloth diapers, and a pair of pants that had pee and juice all over them. The Chairot also held the two older kids (who were buried under the blankets, jackets and backpacks). Because the 2 big kids were in the stroller, Owen's infant carrier sling was attached to the outside and I was wearing him in a sling on me.
We really were quite the parade walking by. Oh yeah, did I mention that there is something wrong with one of the back tires!! Thankfully the custodian at Anthony's school had a pump and I managed to fill the tire and THANKFULLY it held the air until we got home (cuz that really would have been a sight, me pushing an empty stroller while trying to corall/herd childern!!)

We made it home and as I was getting Anthony a snack, I asked what he did at school and if he learned anything today.
His response: "Bakugan Battle Balls Momma! You do this and this and then they TRANSFORM!"
My response: "Say what?! How did you learn about that?"
Anthony: "G________ brought them today cuz he was the special person."
Me (cluing in): "Oh so it was show and tell"
The things they pick up on and that interest them!

Fall is here. I love the changing colours of the leaves and the crisp smell of the air. I love that I need a jacket (and hat and mitts) in the morning but by afternoon a t-shirt is just fine. I love the smell of people's wood stoves and the fact that this is a time of year where I tend to bake a lot (so I can warm up the house!). I love the fact that I get to watch sunrises in the morning because I am up before the sun. Anthony pointed out one today. I was finishing getting ready and he comes running into the bedroom saying "MOOOOOOMMMMM!!! You HAVE to come and see something. It is just SOOOOO cool. Come ON!" So I followed him to the window and there was one of the nicest sunrises I have seen in a while. The clouds were still greyish and the ball of red was breaking through creating a neat lighting effect. God is SO good. What a way to start the morning off. As my eldest and I were watching the sunirse for a few minutes I said; "Didn't God do good this morning?" and he said "He sure did Mom. It's pretty." Yes sweet boy, it definately was pretty and it helped to start my day off right.

Life is good and I am praising the Creator of seasons and sunrises tonight as I tuck little ones in and attempt to clean up the mess that has exploded in the front entry way (all that *stuff* that was in the stroller is now at the bottom of the stairs in my entry way!!)

And the Winner is....

A blogger friend came up with a wonderful title for my blog. I saw it and instantly knew it was the one I wanted. The new title of my blog:

Rambunctious Joy!

It is Perfect. And I am very grateful to her creative talents! There were many good suggestions, some emailed to me and some facebooked and others commented. So thank you to all who took the time to comment and think up a name on my behalf!!

Name that Blog....

Alright folks....I need your creative energies cuz mine have been sucked dry. I am looking for a new title for my blog. I got bored with Troy, Katarina, Anthony, Alexandra and Owen. And seriously, it's rather lame ;) SO please help me name my blog, I would really appreciate it!! There are no cool prizes or grand anouncements, just the priveledge of getting to see the title you thought of when you come read my blog (how cool would that be??)
SO...click on the comment spot and come up with a title!

Thanks

Neat-O!

For the next few days, the airforce and something (coast gaurd maybe?) are doing training exercises in and around our city. Which is SUPER cool cuz my kids get to see the really neat helicopters and things UP CLOSE. I'm talking SUPER close, as in if I jumped, I probably could have touched it (well....maybe not THAT close but I could definately read the writing on it...even the small stuff and I am basically blind!). The helicopters and planes are really low flying over the next few days as they do drills and training exercises. It was really neat to watch.
I heard the helicopter before I saw it so I hollar to the kdis to come outside and see, turn around to see if they had listened, and there is Anthony standing outside in a t-shirt...(just a t-shirt)pointing at the helicopter (incase his sister couldn't see it) I'm sure my neighbours saw more than they bargined for had they been looking out the window. The 6-year old I babysit had come by and he and his friend thought it was the funniest thing that my son was standing their bottomless, I could hear them laughing as they scootered around the block!!! Boy am I glad to be a source of entertainment for the neightbourhood this evening :P

Party Time

Since Anthony's actual birthday was on a Wednesday, we had his friend party on the Saturday. Here are the pictures from that day. Anthony really really wanted a Superhero birthday party, so I had the kids come 'dressed as a superhero' (basically a cape).

Can you tell what he's feeling?!

Playing Pin the Mask on the Superhero

(ignore my artistic ability!) This would have been a great shot if I could have got everyone looking!!
Up the wall, down the slide, through the tunnel, ride the car, rock the horse and...
....fly like a superhero.

It was the Superhero Training Course!

I LOVE watching kids when there are presents involved! I'm not sure they could get any closer Monster Cupcakes


Maybe blue icing wasn't such a good idea....

I LOVE small community pools. I took Alexandra swimming again today and because I had the car so we could stock up the fridge and cupboards again, (it was starting to look a little like Ms. Hubbard's cupboards) Owen sat in his carseat at the edge of the pool and I got to play with my middle child. It was SUCH a blessing to me. 


It is rare that her and I get time together where it's just the two of us and we can play together. I left the pool so happy and content. It probably helped that when Owen woke and started to fuss, the lifegaurds took him out of the carseat and played with him (did I mention that Alexandra and I were the ONLY people in the pool?).


I love days that fill me up to overflowing. Even shopping was great. Today was filled to overflowing with little gifts af grace and I am one VERY thankful Mommy. Here's hoping that your days are filled up too.

Good Morning Sun....

Happy Morning Everyone!!

I hope that your days are starting off calmly and filled with love for the ones waking up around you this morning. Last night Troy and I went out to the Elk Dinner and had a fabulous evening of GREAT food, good conversation (no little people interjecting their 2 cents worth) AND we were even the highest bidders on one of the silent auction prizes!!! (and we NEVER win anything!) We are now the owners of 2 The Chill (a soccer team) seasons tickets and 2 The Chill hoodies. I was (unreasonably) happy after winning! Could have been that it was late and I was really tired by that point!!

The post is random and probably going to be all over the place so please bear with me. The following pictures are from Anthony's birthday. We celebrated as a family on his actual birthday (Sept 10) and that's when these pictures were from.

Anthony wanted a superhero birthday and requested a Batman cake.Opening presentsHis Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles playset.

Life has been happening quickly. There is (surprisingly) less than a month until I get to take the kids and visit my family in Toronto. SO excited. I will also get to see my bestfriend and her new little boy (well, by new I mean 2ish months). Well, kids are clammering for breakfast so I must go and feed the animals. There are some days when I am SURE that I am a keeper at the zoo!

Happy friday!!

Literally Hours of Fun

A little of everything...

Took Owen to the pool for the first time today. Boy oh boy, he did NOT like the little boat I took for him. Thankfully Alexandra is good enough in her water wings that I could hold Owen while playing with her. She was happy to slide down the little slide the whole time we were there so it made watching her easy!! And both the little ones fell asleep on the way home in the srtoller. Which, was sort of good but now it is nap time and Alexandra is watching (whatelse) Dora becauase she slept for an hour earlier. That's fine though. She is happy and content looking at Anthony's bible and watching t.v and I am (whatelse) blogging :)

This morning started off awful. I don't even know what has wrong but everything was just rubbing me the wrong way (the fact that it took Anthony 45 minutes to eat the breakfast that HE picked out, the fact that Alexandra INSISTED on uppies the entire time I was trying to get everyone ready and out the door for the school bus) but, thankfully the 30min walk to the pool was wonderful and I managed to put everything back into perspective and have actually found my happy side again (I'm sure my family will be THIRILLED to hear that)


Tonight Troy is meeting with our pastor to talk about leading a Bible study (or Grace Group as they are called at our church) and I think it will be a really really good thing for him. I know he is nervous and a little scared because it takes him outside of his comfort zone but I have found that God often calls us outside of our comfort zones so that we can be challenged and forced to rely on Him in ways that we haven't in the past. I am excited to see where this leads and am praying that Troy will actually decide to lead (or co-ead with a friend) the group despite feeling nervous about it.


Thursday Troy and I actually get to go out on a date! We are leaving all three kids at home (with a dear friend of mine and I will pay her back by watching her kids one tnight) and enjoying a nice dinner out. So happy about that as it is very much needed seeing as the last time we were out without kids was 3 days before Owen was born (We went to see Prince Caspin)

Anyway, I will leave you with a few pictures of Owen at almost 4 months:Yes, his eyes really are that blue

Gross!

The kids and I were baking a number of things the other day. I had turned around to the cupboards to pull something out that I had forgotten when I hear:

"Hey Mom! Where's a camera when you need it?"

(that could be a sign that I take too many pictures of my kids but.....), the camera happened to be sitting on the counter so I grabbed it and caught this....

What is this? This, would be my oldest SUCKING the left over butter off the foil wrapper.

He also tried it with the shortening after but didn't like it as much!

What WAS I Thinking?!

Oh yeah, I remember. I was thinking I wanted 10 minutes of peace. 10 minutes to do the dishes and whip up a batch of icing for the cupcakes and brownies we had made (together, least you think I am a 'bad' mother for ignoring my children!) earlier today, 10 minutes where I didn't have to listen to my darling oldest childern SCREAM (at the TOP of thier lungs) "ALL DONE MOMMY, NO NAP! ALL DONE!!" AND "BE QUIET SISTER!!! BE QUIET. IT IS NAPTIME SO BE QUIET!!!"

SO what did I do??? I sent them outside into the backyard (by themselves), made sure the gate latched behind them so I didn't have any little escapees on my hands, and told them that they were to "Play NICELY with eachother and Mommy will be out soon."

Well......soon (read 15 minutes) came and went and I didn't really hear much of anything from the backyard, just enough sound that I knew they hadn't climbed the fence (or attacked eachother)or anything crazy like that, so I continued to tidy up the kitchen, lay Owen down for a nap and tint the icing a nice shade of blue. And that's when I heard it (about 15 /20 minutes later).....

shrill giggles and screams and belly laughs.

What the heck is going on out there????!!!! SO I go to my bedroom window to see what EXACTLY my children were doing and what do I see?

This.....

this is what mischief personified had been doing for the past 40 mintues while Mommy was busy inside....... (but it was SO worth it and they were SO happy and I SO didn't even care!) And yes, they were DRENCHED (and they then proceeded to play in that puddle of water er, sand!)

Growing....

...by leaps and bounds!

Anthony's First Day

Seeing as this was Anthony's first 'offical' day, I thought I would post the pictures from last week when he got to go in.

Anthony was SO funy this morning, he gets all ready for the bus, opens the door and says:

"It's alright Mom, I don't need anyone to wait with me, I'm big now! I can wait all by myself."

Nice try kiddo!

I'm cool Mommy!
Here comes the bus!

The Bus driver is LAUGHING here because by this point,

I had asked him to turn around and wave about 10 times...

does it LOOK like he is listening??!!

Getting off the bus at school

The End of Summer

For the last two years, on Labour Day weekend, the kids and I (and this year Troy, he happened to not be working) head out to Hymers Fall Fair. They have a blast and start asking in about May if it is time for that fair yet (well, Anthony, seeing as Alexandra was too little last year to remember it), "you know the one mommy, where I had cotton candy and walked on stilts."

Hey, if that's what Anthony remembers, then that's what we will go back for (every year). I think traditions are really important for kids, it helps to create memories that they can remember as they grow, something for them to look forward to and, maybe one day, do with their own kids. Anthony surprised me this year, we walked into the fair and he immediately asked if he could get "a vegetable to paint mom, you know, like I painted black last year" Thankfully I knew he was talking about a gourd, so yes, we bought him a gourd to bring home and paint (this years looks MUCH nicer than last years black blob!) The stilts


Alexandra and Mikayla having tons of fun!
(yes, we do a lot with this family!)



Anthony had a wonderful birthday today. He was SO excited with the presents he got that he ACTUALLY spent close to 3 hours playing with them by himself. He was just so happy today, it was a very nice change from Monday where all of my wonderful children were well...they were driving me over the edge with their I don't know what it was! SO yesterday and today were MUCH MUCH better than Monday and I am so thankful for that.