Happy Halloween!!

Ok, so I didn't find my dream costume...it was alright. I had really wanted a costume to wear to school with Riley (cuz I was volunteering again), but I ended up being the only adult dressed up at all, so good thing I didn't go overboard!! I found this kitty headband and my friend had a tail, so that was that. Meow.
Here's Riley and I on our way to school.

He was a knight at school and ended up being Darth Vader at night along with Liam the puppy. The past few years, we've joined our friends in various neighborhoods to go around together. This year we decided to do our own hood alone. We brought our sled for Liam to sit in. Every time he finished at a house, he did a huge belly flop onto the sled and looked like an actual dog laying there on the sled. He got a lot of laughs, as usual. Liam always liked to have a huge conversation with the people in each house. I'd give him the hint..."what should you say?". Sometimes he'd remember TRICK or TREAT, but usually he'd say..."I'd like to have some of your candy." And a few times he'd ask for some to give to his daddy!! He made everyone laugh and looked so cute in his puppy costume with his bright rosy cheeks. I didn't take pics, but G took some video...it was darn cold!
So we're left with loads of candy to last hopefully from now til summer, or not.
Hope you all had fun!
P.S. Happy 1st birthday Helena!

Happy 25th Anna Banana!

My "little" sister is 25 today. Poor girl has to spend her day driving home from the "Hoof" while her hubby drives another truck back for my dad. It's snowy out there, so I hope the trip goes well.
Anna and her little fam moved back to Salmon Arm just over a year ago, and we're happy for that so we can see them more often. I also chat with Anna on MSN at least every other day. Hoping that we'll get lots of time in the near future to do crazy things together... like syncro swimming or something.
Happy day and hugs to you!!

So long

Boo hoo, my friends are gone. They came back last night after two nights away to visit Michelle's mom, and then left this morning to home and their hubbys. Michelle is on the left...I am holding her baby Matthew. He is a little honey who puts his hand on his face as he sleeps...never seen that! It's precious! And her cousin Ang is on the right, with her baby girl Katelyn, who is only a few weeks younger than Matthew. She was already trying to talk and is extremely ticklish. She has 3 lucky big brothers at home who will be happy to have her back.
So we had fun...they are the easiest two to entertain and had rented their own car. We did a bit of shopping and went out for cheesecake, but nothing too crazy. It was good just to be together. Thank you SO much for coming to see us! I hope to visit them again soon. Our last visit had been in July of 2003. Wish we all had those laser beam machines to zap ourselves around the country.

2 years!

Feeling chatty I guess...I've been the blog-queen today.
It's been 2 years today, since we moved into our first home! I can't believe it's been that long! But then, this is what the boys looked like at the time....


Ok, and so a few friends have been talking about how they met and married their hubbies…so I thought I’d share my story. It may get rather long…
In the summer before grade 11, my parents made the choice to move our family from small-town-Smithers to the sunny Shuswap in Salmon Arm. I was excited for the change of scenery, but it was a very hard transition. I was just shy of my sweet 16, which was when I could officially start dating. I had many friends in my small Christian school. I was known and had great relationships, so it was hard to leave.
My father was to be the new associate pastor of Greg’s church. His mom introduced us on the very first Sunday. I didn’t see him much that summer as he was working a lot and busy with his friends. That fall we ended up being in the same homeroom at my new highschool. There was only one locker between his and mine as my last name was E and his was D! This was a fate I guess, as other than homeroom, we never shared any classes. We chit chatted our way through most of grade 11, saw eachother at church and in youth group and he was always super friendly. He was so fun, confident and at ease with himself, that I truly admired him. I was quite the opposite, feeling very much loneliness as the new kid, with not much in common with the “city kids”. I watched Greg date a few gals, and started to get a few more friends of my own as the summer was approaching. We flirted like teenagers do, but wouldn’t really admit our feelings. One day when Greg was dating another girl, my brother had the bluntness to pull Greg aside and say…”don’t you get it, you’re wasting your time with ___, even though Sarah likes you!?” (he couldn’t understand why G would waste his time with anyone else I guess!) So Greg ended up breaking off with the other woman (ha ha) and we started to flirt more seriously. We didn’t want to hurt his ex’s feelings, as she was still a friend, so we took it slow. On the May long weekend, when I was 16…Greg drove me home from a youth event and asked me something awkward about whether I wanted to start dating him. I said something lame like “sure” and squeezed his hand and then got out of the car. We were slightly shy still, to say the least. It took us a whole month to get up the nerve to kiss, and we were a happy couple and everyone was happy to see that we had finally got together. So we dated for the next school year and graduated as a couple. The fall after graduation, Greg took off to Briercrest. I waited at home to save up a bit more money before I went to college myself. We still were dating exclusively, as well as we could with the distance between us. In January I was tired of waiting around Salmon Arm, and decided to move up to Smithers again, to work with my friends. The distance was getting a little much, and I knew I wasn’t ready to marry Greg, and was tired of keeping things going while we were in such different directions, so I broke it off with him. It was really hard. There wasn’t a real solid reason why I wanted to break it off, and we still loved eachother. Anyway, fast forward a bit…life went on, I went on to Prairie Bible School with my friends from Smithers, Greg continued on at Briercrest and then worked at the mill in Salmon Arm. We saw eachother on and off during the summers, but things were rather awkward. I graduated from Prairie in 97 and came home for the fall again. Greg was working at home and we started hanging out again. Neither of us had dated anyone in our 2+ years apart. I thought he was different, as I’m sure he thought of me too. We had experienced our own colleges and had many different memories and relationships. But true love prevails, and in the fall of 97 we started dating again. I think he was more worried than I, that things wouldn’t work out. Somehow I knew that one day we would end up married. I never had met anyone I had loved more than him. If you know him, you’ll know why.
I had already made the decision to spend 6 months in Mexico on a missions trip from that following Jan to July. It was a hard goodbye, as we parted again for what we hoped would be the final time. I had a great time in Mexico, keeping up consistently with Greg via email and phone. During that time, Greg moved to Calgary to start up his schooling at DeVry. He came to the Vancouver airport with my parents when I flew back home in July. It was a happy reunion. We started talking about us and our future together right away. He had to return to school while I was in Salmon Arm, and the phone calls/emails carried on. In September of 98, he drove home from Calgary with a ring in his pocket and asked me to marry him. We were so happy. The months flew by, and on June 26, 1999…we said our vows in Salmon Arm. We immediately moved to Calgary so he could finish up his schooling, and we’ve been here ever since.
And…though we don’t get much time alone anymore!!…he’s still my Greggy…how do I put it. I still get that butterfly feeling when I realize that he’s mine and I get to be his wife. I am sooo happy with him.
I thought of putting a serious wedding photo in here, but this is more what you would see if you saw us...

Proof

Yes, I do in fact bake with my boys. Today we made some gingerbread cookies. Rileys' teacher sent home a recipe for it because they've been talking about the gingerbread man in class and figured we'd all enjoy making some at home. Have you ever baked with a 2 and 4 year old? Not pictured above are two little boys in matching plaid aprons covered in flour with dough all over their mouths. Sticky little hands. Mommy telling them to "STOP eating all the dough!" Trying to roll the dough out fast enough so they can stamp out their shapes and get them on the tray in one piece. It ended up being a lot of mess and a lot of work, but the boys did enjoy themselves. But I think I'll let them bake with grandma next time.
Phew.

Gooby baby

My kids were found on flickr and their pictures were put on http://www.goobybaby.com/ (with my permission, of course!)...check it out.

Picture time...

Here's a great bouquet from Michelle and her dad. Michelle and Ang are visiting with Mich's mom for a few days and will be back on Friday to fly out on Saturday.


This is "grandpa Horton" (Mich's dad), holding Katelyn, his neice's daughter and Matthew, his grandson. Both these babies have been staying here this week...they are only 3 weeks apart.


This is Michelle with Matthew, Dorilee with Kierra and myself with Liam.


This is Riley with Caleb...Tim and Dorilees little guy. They got along really well and were laughing at eachother most of the night.


These are the costumes I found for the boys...


So while I was out not finding a darth vader costume for Riley (and he happily settled for that knights costume), Greg stopped on his lunch break and found the final one at Toys R Us. So the lucky kid has two options of what to wear...or to wear one for school and the other at night.

Sea Turtle

Riley has had fun the past 7 weeks in his Sea Turtle Class of swimming...his first independent class. He did really well and has been going underwater like a true fish. He got his report card yesterday and his completion sticker, so on we go to Salamander.

Happy Birthday Pam!!

The birthdays are thick around my fam in Sept/Oct/Nov. Today is my sister-in-laws birthday, so a big ol' happy day to you!! She is the busiest mommy on the planet, so I can't imagine her resting and enjoying herself. Well...she's probably the type who is happiest when she's moving full-speed anyway, so whatever you're doing today...I hope it's fun ...many hugs.
I've had a full house the past two days with my friend Michelle and her cousin Ange and their two cutie babies. Though the boys are being their loud and crazy selves, it's been good to have some adult conversation mixed in there.

Bla blog

Sorry folks, I haven't had much to share with the world at large these days. Though my life really is not as dull as it may seem!
One of my best friends is coming tomorrow!! WHOO HOO! I am really thrilled about that and can't wait to giggle like a school-girl.
Tonight I went to see my friends Tim and Dorilee play with their band at a church in Cochrane. I was so happy we went as it was a great worship time, was child-friendly, and a great way to spend a Friday night. I met these two at Prairie Bible College before they were married...then they played/sang at our wedding, and now they are famous! Check out their site. They've been living in New Jersey for a long while, but we've been in touch now and again. So happy to finally touch base with old friends.
I volunteered with Rileys' class again today. We made applesauce. I am suddenly inspired to get out my starfrit and make loads of apple danish bars. Yumm. If you don't have that recipe, you need it.
The weather is crappy and wet. Hoping that it warms up a tad in time for Halloween. I still need a costume, any ideas? Last year I went as a man, and Greg was a woman! The boys were Batman and a mummy. This year Riley wants to be Darth Vader. I'd love to be something totally crazy...maybe I should rent something from one of those crazy shops. I think the best outfit I saw last year, was an adult sized Winnie the Pooh. I'd like to be something that my kids would never forget...just like this one year when I was at my grandparents during halloween, I still remember answering the door and one of the neighbor dads was dressed like this massive ape. Won't ever forget that. I think I ran screaming cuz he was so large. That same year, I must have been 6 or so...my family had me dressed as a pumpkin in one of those nasty homemade costumes of an orange plastic bag stuffed with newspaper. I just remember the whole night I was leaking crunkled paper out the bottom.

Almost better

Liam is doing alot better. We took him to a doctor tonight, and he says all looks fine. His eye doesn't seem damaged at all, he doesn't seem to be in pain and it doesn't prevent him from sleeping or anything. Thank goodness. He just looks like a toughie.
Riley is doing great in Awana...earning his Skipper patch already. He loves his swimming lessons and we just started a great library reading/finger play/singing time on Tues/Thurs. We're a busy little gang.

The morning after...

It looks much worse today...not as swollen, but very colorful. Doesn't seem to bother him much. We may need to get it checked out to make sure none of the bone is broken.

Big Owwie

Ya. Ouch!

Poor Liam was standing up on his chair by the table, reaching for something, when he fell and landed on a stool nearby...right with the corner of his eye. His face immediately swelled up to grotesque measures. Of course he wouldn't let us put any ice on it, so it just got large and yucky and is slowly turning blue. This picture was taken about 3 hours after the incident...I'll have to see how it looks in the morning. Poor little guy didn't whine for too long. Unfortunately the timing was a little crazy as we were preparing dinner for our friends who arrived 10min. after it all happened. Actually it was a good distraction for Liam to have his best friends here and soon he was talking about crashing pumpkins. We went to the pumpkin festival held out at the place where we bought our sod from. They had a huge attendance of people and at least 50 people were carving pumpkins in a huge greenhouse area, and there was a petting zoo, a park, wagon rides, and best of all...the crashing pumpkins.

They had brought in this huge crane, and would haul up these pumpkins that were around 300 pds or more, and then they would drop them from the highest height of the crane! Not only that! They had an old beater car right perfectly placed below for the mammoth pumpkin to land on. They had a countdown, and they shot off fireworks out of the car, and then CRASH! the pumpkin seriously pushed the roof of the car right down to the floor. Poor Eli and Liam were crying their eyes out due to the loud noise of the fireworks! It was hysterical! Maybe my friend Andrew will post some pics about it as my camera battery died at the time!
Anyway...great fun...Liam and Eli talked about it the whole course of the dinner time. And then we finished off the meal with some Burnaby Blackberries in a Fruit Crisp...my favorite.

Another "title"

Ok, so now my new title at Rileys' school is "Room Parent". I've volunteered to be the liason between the teacher and parents of Rileys classroom. Basically I do a lot of phoning, but also I get the priviledge of getting to know all the parents and teacher well, and get first dibs on where I want to volunteer!! I wish I could be in the classroom on a weekly basis, but with having a toddler at home, and taking another in soon...it won't be as frequent, so this position will increase my involvement. Tommorow is my first time to be in the classroom and help make stone soup. Yumm??
So, my mind isn't resting much at night. In case you haven't heard, we are MOVING home. We are just tired of waiting for the "job" and the "right time", and are aiming to head back to Salmon Arm in the summer. No big plans, it'll all depend on the sale of the house and purchase of another. We've talked about moving back home since shortly after we had Riley. It obviously never happened. Now my parents and both siblings are there, as well as Greg's parents...so the pull is getting stronger. You've read my post before of all the things I wish for my kids, and I feel like my family is missing out on their early years which makes me sad. SO...it's a huge faith leap. It will be hard to check out of the city and kinda give up on the life we've led as a couple thus far. It will be easy to get settled in with church and family there, but will be totally different than our life now. We don't have huge job plans, but pray that it'll all sort itself out as we give it over to God. So, I'm thinking way more ahead than I need to, but that's how I am.

Spell it out

In my ever-present attempt to make all moments little learning opportunities for my ever-growing boys, today was a good one.
Riley was "reading" to Liam what was on his paper..."TOooooo JAaaaXSON FffrrrROM RILEeeeeY"...extra slowly so that Liam for sure would understand. For some reason the next sentence ended in the word NOT and so I appropriately asked, "How would you spell NOT??" NnnnnaaaaaaahhhhTTttttttt. (That's me, sounding it out.)
"I don't know mom, but I know how to spell TV!"
"Oh, good."

Whatever. I try.

Happy Birthday Levi!

He's 2! And very handsome, isn't he.
We had lots of fun at Jungle Mania for his party. Can't believe he's in the "terrible two's" already.

On the road again...

Yup, we're doing the 6hr trek back to Salmon Arm again for Thanksgiving. I always hate the ride, but am happy once we get there. Lots more pictures to follow (finally...lately life has been a little dull!).
Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY !

Happy Birthday AMY! Our very first neice is 7 today. She was just a belly bump during our wedding and was born just after we were married. We always raced home to see her as every moment we were in Calgary gave her opportunity to grow up on us. She was our intro to the babies of the fam and was such a good baby to get us all keen on having some ourselves! I've missed a lot of her big achievements and feel bad that she's sorta "lost" among all the new additions to the fam. But she'll always be the first and hold that special spot for us all.
Hugs to you and see you soon. (Maybe dad will read this to ya!)

Octobery

It is C O L D! Thank goodness for peppermint tea, a hubby with a good heater, and a hot tub at our nearby pool. It's only October...and today I was searching through the winter touques and mittens. Argh. I don't like being C O L D.