Gymnastics

Waiting with Mikayla for gymnastics to start Warm-up

(this is called the dog...see the tail wagging?)

The beam

Trampoline

Seat drop on the trampoline

Monkey bars (she LOVES these)

These bars are just above my wasit

I know, bad angle but Owen was in the backpack.

Her feet aren't actually touching the floor. her legs were at close to a 90 degree angle from her back.

Warm-down with hoola-hoops

(started with balloons then she saw the bigger kids get hoops so she needed one too!)

Again this week, Alexandra had SO much fun. She was thrilled to be there and just loves to do all the skills.

Thankfully there was no melt down (screaming hissy fit) like last week....although the bribe of getting popcorn at home might of had soemthing to do with that!

Spring....Where are you?

It's March 31 and there is a snowstorm going on outside. A. SNOWSTORM. Not just a light little dusting of snow, but a full out, wind howling, snow blowing storm. And we are supposed to get close to 15cm. . .

SO, here are some pictures from this weekend when it was warm, sunny and NOT snowing :) Enjoy your spring day (at least those of you who get spring before June!)

"Baking"

Saturday morning was really cold out so the kids and I spent the morning making salt dough ornaments. We will spend next week painting and glittering and decorating them. Maybe get a wire wreath and then attach them to that for our front door. We shall see how ambitious I am feeling!

2 cups flour
1 cup sat
1 cup water

Mix flour and salt. Add half the water, stir, add rest of the water. Knead untill smooth (about 10 mins). Roll out dough, cut out shapes and bake.

I bake mine at 200 for about 1.5 hours and then let them sit in the oven until the oven loses all its heat. (The instructions say 350 for an hour but I find it cooks to fast and the dough bubbles and the edges go brown.)So yesterday, I baked. And seriously, I use the term rather loosely!

I think a better description of what I did would be:

Opened the packaged Took out the frozen, pre-formed cookies and placed on sheet.
Put cookies in oven, took out of oven 10 mintues later and set to cool.

The ONLY reason (other than I am lazy) that I have pre-formed frozen cookie dough in my freezer at all is because one of the gr 8 students at Anthony's school lives in our area and came knocking on the door to sell us some cookie dough as a fundraiser for their gr.8 grad trip to Toronto. I figure why not?

They were good cookies and I still have 36 more to bake!

i heart faces -pout

This week, the theme over at i heart faces is pouting. We get A LOT of that going on here from our sweet little girl. This picture was actually taken this weekend when she didn't want to come in from outside! Thankfully it wasn't followed by a screaming fit like they sometimes are!

Head on over to i heart faces and check out the other pout pictures (it's also pet week) and consider joining in on the fun.

All over the place

Owen's not feeling very well today. We were out at a playdate and had to come home cuz the poor little guy was throwing up. He NEVER throws up (well, aside from the baby puke when he was an infant but that doesn't really count). He fell asleep in the car on the way home so rather than waking him, I just carried the whole carseat (one of the big ones) into our room and let him sleep. SO thankful he slept for an hour and half. He has had a little food and is now back to sleep agian, after having a bath to get rid of the sour milk smell (yummy!) but he thankfully has not thrown up again. He is just really warm and not himself :(

The big kids were GREAT today. There was no whining or fussing or fits when I told them we had to leave (and they LOVE it Ryleigh's and Hugo's). They just got their jackets on and went right out into the van.
Sweet Anthony was so concered about his little brother, wanting to know if he was going to be alright and asking why he was sick. And then as he's climbing into his seat behind Owen "Mommy, is Owen gonna throw up again? Cuz that would make me want to throw up." Ah....life with a sympathetic puker lol!

So we played play dough and stickers and I gave the big kids a bath (cuz it's been a while....) and fed them popcorn, cheese and raisins in front of the t.v. Happily they are all resting now. I promised Anthony a movie night tonight if he actually slept (or was at least SO quiet I thought he was sleeping) during rest time. So I think we are going to be stopping at the movie store when we go pick Troy up from work. There and McDonalds (Troy is out again tonight and I'm tired of making dinner for me and two kids, who don't want to eat anything but cereal anyway...unless it's french fries from a fast food place!)

Today I am still praying for Baby Stellan. Head over to MckMama's blog to read how he is doing. I know they would apprecaite your prayers. My heart aches for this family. I cannot even beign to imagine all they must be feeling right now. Sometimes I wish there was more I could do, but I have never met them, they don't even live in the same country as me. So I will pray, because that is all I can do. But praying is not a little thing.

I am hoping this weekend to be able to get outside and take some pictures. Just random pictures, playing with the camera. I haven't had much of a chance lately but that's o.k. Spring and summer and nice weather will come and then there will be lots of oppourtunities for picture taking out side.

Well, I am off to find lunch seeing as I have been up since 7ish and have yet to eat :) The popcorn the kids had is looking really good right about now!

Spring in Northern Ontario

It was raining out a little this morning but it's just been one of those days where we HAD to go out. I am pretty sure we would have gone out even if it had been freezing cold or hailing. There is still snow everywhere, despite the rain we have gotten over the last two days, but there are spots in our backyard where the grass is starting to get green. Just a little and ever so slowly, but it is most definately there. That is very exciting.

Yes, they are in their winter jackets and splash pants and rain boots. It's chilly but the rainboots keep their feet dry a lot better than the winter boots do.

The kids had an absolute blast splashing in puddles and playing with their umbrellas.

My Little Gymnast

O. My. Word

Alexandra has 1) NO fear and 2) a talent for gymnastics that I didn't realize.

She did AWESOME today. Tried everything, including the handstands, seat drops on the trampoline, and the thigh-high (on me) balance beam!

This kid floored me. The balance beam station has three beams, one that sits on the floor, one that is about as high as my ankle and the other that is thigh height. Where does she go first? The tallest one. Climbs up on it with NO help and wanted to RUN across. Her coach convinced her she should try walking first!

I didn't even realize she could balance on one foot, let alone balance on a mushroom shaped stool on one foot.

I am SO happy we put her in and I think we will be continuing to put her in until she lets me know it is somethingshe no longer wants to do.

The BAD part abuot today? the 25 mintue screaming, hitting, on the floor tantrum that occured when it was time to leave (and the class was an hour!) Ah well, it means she had fun and used up all her energy!

I will post picture next week. I took my camera, but we got freezing rain last night and the parking lot was a skating rink so I opted to not try to balance me, Owen, ALexandra, a baby backpack and the camera. So next week there will be pictures!

And I just heard a crash so I think I need to go see why Dora is no longer holding her attention!

News. . .

Today has been interesting, filled with news fromall over. There have been many emotions and events and I am finding myself wondering, but at the same time thanking God for all He is and all He is doing.

Baby Stellan (MckMuffin), from My Charming Kids is in the hospital today. His heart is causing him trouble. Please pray for this family. Head on over to MckMama's blog and read what she has to say. She does a much better job of explaining what is going on then I ever could.

I also found out today, that a dear friend has just bought a house AND.....her and her husband are expecting TWINS (!!!!!!) the beginning of Sept. I am SO thrilled and excited for them. I am filled with joy and know that they will make wonderful parents. I know the road ahead will not always be easy, but I am SO SO SO happy for them :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Just another reason why it is hard being so far away from some of my friends. I would love to run over and give her a hug or bring her a meal or take her dog for a walk so she can sleep. But 1400km is a little long for a day trip!

MOPS this morning... nothing went as planned. But it wasn't a bad thing, just different. The moms that were there spent the time just talking. Connecting in a way that we haven't really had a chance to do. It was a good thing that *nothing* that was planned happened, for this morning was restful and spent cultivating some friendships.

It's freezing rain out right now. And that doesn't really bother me. The roads are slippery, my driveway is most definately a skating rink but we aren't going anywhere so it makes no difference to this little family.

Tomorrow Alexandra has her first gymnastics class. She's really looking forward to it! Oh and big news....She is fully potty trained!! SO VERY PROUD of that little girl right now (lollipops do wonders)!

Anyway, I am tired and it is getting late. Off to watch some t.v with Troy and sunggle up in my warm bed.

i heart faces - No Flash

This week, over at i heart faces the theme is *no flash* so if you have a picture that has been taken without a flash (of anykind) and it includes a face, head on over and add you picture to the growing number on their site.

This week, my picture is of my friend's little girl Mikayla on her 3rd birthday. (Her hair is staticy as she was sitting under a bunch of helium balloons.)

Trying to get a picture...

This is whathappens when

I sit on the
floor to take

pictures!

Nearing the End of Break

This evening, after an early dinner, Troy and I took the kids out to DQ for some yummy ice cream and then, because it was still early, we decided to drive to Mission Island to see if we could see any deer. And DID we EVER see deer. There were at least 20, probably more, just wandering peacefully along the road and in the bushes. It was so cool.

I am amazed by the fact that their legs are SO tiny and skinny but they can jump like anything. I love that. And every single one of them, so very different in appearance. Some had mostly white faces, some had brown or black markings. You don't notice those things from a distance, but these deer, well, if I had opened the window, I could have petted it. And yes, I am kicking myself for not bringing my camera, but when we left the house, we had no intention of driving anywhere but for ice cream!

It was an awe-inspiring sight and such a wonderful way to end a busy, adventure-filled March break. Anthony and Alexandra were beyond thrilled at seeing the deer. In fact, the deer won over the ice cream sunades....that says something!! We will definately take them back again.

This week has been incredible. It has been filled with family things, and laughter, and *time*. Time together, time to be, time for play. Time to be the family God created us to be. I find that life gets busy and we can get distracted by the *things*, that really are just things. This week, it was so nice to have no agenda, no goals, no real time commitments. We hung out with extended family and friends but there was more than enough time left over for our little family of 5 as well.

And that was the best thing about March Break.

Fix-it-Friday

It's Friday and that means another Fix-it_Friday over at i heart faces.

Here is the before picture:
And here is the after:

Wordless Wednesday

March Break

This week is March Break so both Troy and Anthony are home. It's been a really good week so far. Anthony and Troy spent ALL day Monday ice fishing with Auntie 'chele and Uncle Mikey.

He had a GREAT time, although, when told he was going ice fishing, the first words out of his mouth were:
"YES!! I LOVE the snacks!"

Apparently they pack REALLY good snacks when they fish :) They didn't catch anything, but I really don't think that mattered to Anthony. He was just thrilled to be there. Alexandra was SO very upset that she was being left behind though. She's at that age where she KNOWS when she isn't getting to do the *fun* thing. So I let her play in the sink most of the morning. It's one of here favourite pass-times.

Today, Anthony got to spend most of the day with Troy's mom. He had a good time. The rest of us just spent some really good time together. We went shopping (cuz Alexandra got to choose what we did as she was *left behind* again today). She got a new spring jacket (have one for Myah Angela) and pretty pink shoes (I love Old Navy clearance!) Then we all went out to Uncle Mikey and Auntie Michele's house for a fish fry (and birthday cake since it's 'chele's birthday on Thursday . It's been a wonderfully full two days and the rest of the week is more of the same.

Tomorrow we are attempting the pictures again. . . . And this time, it is Alexandra's turn to play with a friend and leave her big brother at home!

The snow is MELTING!! I spent the afternoon shovelling it OFF my lawn and into the driveway so it would melt faster (yes, I am a little bit of a freak)...but I really really want the snow gone. I appreciate winter, just DONE with it! This week is supposed to be more of the same warmish weather and maybe even some rain!! YAY for spring!

I am incredibly thankful for this week. I am growing and changing and I am at peace with it and I am filled with peace. I am just really content and that, my blogging friends, is awesome.

Maybe..Just Maybe...

It's time for a little Anthony on here!

I apologize for the picture quality..forgot what setting the camera was on, but I just HAD to post this one!

i heart faces -Green

This week at i heart faces the contest is green. There needs to be green in your picture.
So I might have *cheated* just a little. But I absolutely LOVE this picture of my daughter
(despite the fact that it is slightly blurry) so I thought I would enter it!
To see more awesome faces, or to enter yourself, head on over to i heart faces.

A Saturday

* Troy's in Dryden playing hockey

*6:30 wake up call consisting of having curdled milk puked all over me

*not getting a shower until 11:30

*3 kids, 1 mom and an attempted photoshoot.....yeah good luck with that! (They all looked like they were terrified of the guy taking the pictures....we reschedualed but I might attempt my own shoot of them at home prior to Wed)

*sunshiney, warm, mom out in only a t-shirt and vest (didn't even need the vest)

*grocery shopping at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon (just a little INSANE)

*3 PERFECTLY behaved children

*a 2 1/2 year old who walked beside me holding the cart the ENTIRE time cuz her big brother was feeling sick and wanted to ride

*# of freakouts (from mom or kids) ZERO!

*today was priceless!!!

What a better way to spend a saturday? Well, outside in the snow but Anthony is STILL feeling sick and tired and complaining of a sore throat ALL day so I opted not to make him play. Seeing as he's done nothing but lounge on the couch when we have been home. . .not really like him. :(

This week has been a struggle in more ways than one but today, today was wonderful. I was totally at peace with where God has called me to be and with what he is working on in my life, it's not easy, but He never promised that it would be. And I know that the struggles will come back, my stubborn will has something to do with that! But I so desperately needed the respite that today brought. I needed to be reminded that the kids and I can still have fun together. I am beyond thankfull for today.

Can you guess what we spent this morning doing?

Dress-up

Hmm...if the lion costume fits me.... Maybe I can get Daddy to wear it too.or not!