Riley is 9!

(Check out the decor in the background...we're having a "Rockstar" party this afternoon!)

Christmas in the city

We just got home from 3 nights in the big city. We stayed in Heather and Christian's apartment on the corner of Homer and Davie St., right in Yaletown. It was literally right in the middle of a bunch of high rise apartments. We felt like quite the country bumpkins! It's quite a fun place to be and to walk around.
Now we are home sweet home. I'll leave you with more pictures to tell the story...

Merry Christmas!!

So much to say, so little time...
I'll leave you with pictures, and catch you later!!

Here we are already, at the countdown to Christmas, with the boys finishing up their school this week. It's been so busy with concerts, parties and things to do and buy.
Wow. Christmas is expensive this year!!
Here's a photo of my finished booties...

I have a few more things to finish up and other things I hope to make.
I got my wainscoting painted white, and the walls filled, sanded and primed the big spots...

I know. I know! It looks even more boring than before...but just you wait people...it's going to be great. I'm thinking it might not get done til the new year, as I still haven't found the perfect fabric to match the paint to, but it'll happen.
I'm just sipping on some Candy Cane green tea. I've been drinking a lot of tea lately, as my throat is starting to feel yucky and I REFUSE to be sick this Christmas! Everyone around me is snotty, but I will not go down!
Speaking of tea, my friend Lisa bought this for my birthday, and it has been great...

For loose leaf tea, on-the-go!! It makes a great gift idea too, if you need one!
Anyway...there was my babble with pictures for the day...hope you enjoyed it!

the big girl in the back

So my "Core, cardio and more" class ended two Mondays ago. I took last Monday off, and then this Monday, I braved a new gym with a friend and joined in her one hour step aerobics class!
Oh my word, I haven't done step aerobics since the 80's. Ok, well not quite, but let's see...an official class (I guess the Wii fit doesn't count), since 1998. That was the year I lived in Mexico and was working out almost daily at the Gold's Gym. I was the big white girl in the back who sweat like a dog and was trying my best to keep up.
My friend had warned me that her first time was almost pointless, as by the time she'd get a step, they'd be onto the next move and she felt like she was behind the whole time. I actually did ok!? There were a few moves I had to pretend I knew what was going on, but most I could handle with relative smoothness. However, hiding a beet red face was harder. Not from being shy either, but from pure over-heating. I don't sweat right, my face gets hotter and hotter, and it looks like I may just explode. Embarrassing. Oh well, I survived, and I'm sure it'll only get easier from here on in.

On the weekend we did a lot of setting up. Got bunks for the two younger boys and set them up (taking down two other beds and moving one over to the next room). Big improvement!! And then we got our Christmas tree and set that up along with the nativity set, my lights and garland in the kitchen, the little bell chiming guys, the stockings, wreaths, etc. I Love Christmas!!

Back to knitting

The winter has indeed come, with plenty of snow and cold. The boys love it, and actually, it was such a busy summer, that I don't mind staying inside and working on my room, baking or the odd craft here and there. Come February, I'm sure I'll have a different opinion of the snow and being stuck indoors!
Most days, when I pick up the boys at the school, they first take a few spins down the hill with their GT's. Today we stayed for two hours, met up with the cousins and then they came home with us for dinner.
One thing that started up again, is my "Knotty Knitters" group. A few friends and I get together once a week to work on our latest knitting projects and ask Pam our many knitting questions! I often have to call her up or go online to figure out what I'm doing! I just finished my first knitting item of the year...a little bootie for my niece. I have one more to go and then I'll take a picture for you. I love doing booties as I can finish them in two or three sittings and get back to normal life again! Knitting for me is like reading a good book. It gets really hard to put down! It's like you just have to do one more row as it's getting so good!! You can't wait to see how it's going to turn out!!
I've tried some new recipes out of a new book I got for my birthday. One was a chicken pot pie with phyllo pastry on the top! And tonight I tried a BLT salad made with cherry tomatoes, bacon, homemade croutons and a buttermilk salad dressing! Yum. I took a pic of the pot pie...I'll post it later.
Still slow going on the room. It is basically a blank canvas, waiting for some paint. Hopefully I'll get started this weekend.
Ok, so I'll catch up on the photos soon. Right now it's time to heat up my buckwheat bags and climb into bed with them!

Today is my birthday!!

Yay me!

I have had a great couple days getting spoiled by my family. I always find birthdays awkward when you're older, as you kind of want to be "celebrated", yet you feel weird announcing that you want any big party or anything!!
I won't complain...this year we had a fondue with my brother/his wife and my parents, a shopping day for G and I (without kids), dinner and a cake with my in-laws, a little party with my knitting buddies and cake again there, lunch out with a friend, skating and dinner out with my boys and parents, phone calls and facebook notes galore. Ya. Pretty spoiled.

Thanks all. I love how you love me.

Akk!

Haven't progressed very far with the room. I have poured hours and hours of time however, looking through web images at all the different shades of teal and options for my walls. I'm caught between wanting pale and wanting something more bold and vibrant. I am stuck! And it's not like I can go browse through Home Sense or Urban Barn and pick out some artwork or something for inspiration in this tiny town we live in!! I should probably hit the fabric store, because I have wasted enough time with this online research.
Sometimes too many options can be a royal waste of time!
I have a history of making rushed paint choices, and really want to be happy with what I pick! So on the search continues...

My life as a stripper.

I've FINALLY gotten to my long neglected bedroom. It was never hideous, but it has always felt like I'm staying in someone else's decorated dream bedroom, not my own. Someone who really loved the 8o's, with the dusty rose and stripes.
Anyway...it already looks so much different. I can't say it looks nicer at this point, but different. I have been stripping off wallpaper the last two days and am almost done. It's going better than I thought it would, and the walls are in better shape than I imagined they would be. Bonus.
I'm dreaming of all sorts of colors and ideas, with the focus on keeping the room bright. I like cool colors. Right now I'm leaning towards making the wainscoting a bright white, as well as the ceiling and molding. The upper half of the room, a robin's egg blue, and the bed white with bright orange pillows. Black and white curtains and accents, with the current black iron bed...
SO exciting!!!

(http://redbirdcabin.com/2009/06/03/interior-design/perfect-robins-egg-blue-paint-color/)

Babies!!!

My sister-in-law's are both pregnant!! Bri (and Glen) are due at the end of December! and Heather (and Christian) at the end of May!!
Yay!!
Hard to believe that my "baby" is 3 1/2 already! We're sure glad that the aunties are doing their part to give our kids more cousins!

Photo booth is still fun

An oldie

Odds and ends
Originally uploaded by mar55

One of my mom's pics of Claire and Riley. I would guess they are about 4? (4-5years ago!)

And look at them now!!

(they're so...umm....old, with superpowers).

The glue

Today I finally went out and printed off 65 photos out of my million on my computer. I do try my best to pick out my favorites from the last few months and print them to either frame or stick in a book.
I ended up sticking these three just like this in a three-banger frame I have above the couch. It looks quite cute.


As G said when he saw it..."You got Riley, then you got Liam, and then you have Shea...the glue that holds those two together."
So true.

Happy Halloween!!

Do you know how difficult it is...

...to take green face paint off a 6 year old??!

Ha ha!

I used mineral oil and almost got it all off (after about 15minutes). He looks a little under-the-weather, but otherwise we did ok. I'm not sure he'll let me ever paint his face again though!

Hoping for some better pictures soon (that my dad took) of us on the treat trail today.

Bedtime mayhem

We have had a steady routine with our kids when it comes to bedtime for YEARS! Shortly after 7pm, we get them into pj's, work on their Awana, their reading, brush teeth, stories, hugs, kisses and lights out by 8pm. Pretty regular...doesn't change much other than when we have company or something. I am still a little over cautious about their lack of expertise and usually I am the one brushing their teeth for them. But it is typically the worst hour of our day (dinner time is a close second). It is so stressful to be nagging them to pay attention (to their reading), to listen to instructions (GO PEE, do not play lego right now) etc. I think the problem is increased by the fact that we try to wrangle three children between the two of us in a tiny area of the house. It hasn't worked to stagger bedtime hours, as our oldest needs the most sleep, and with sharing bedrooms, the kids wait for eachother to come or can be woken up by the other. Thankfully we are quite strict when the lights are out and the kids will usually fall asleep in minutes. But both G and I flop onto the couch every night at 8pm as though we have just come out of a bull pen. It's tiring. It's daily. It's not much fun. I'm sure this is just a crazy phase, and I will laugh about it in a few years. Right?

Right?

Whoa the demands...

I tell you. I am not overly involved in much right now. But BOY is our life busy. And stressful. Especially between the hours of 7-8am and 2-9pm.
This is something I came upon the other day...thought it was funny...

The Toddlers Creed

by Dr. Burton L. White


If I want it,
IT'S MINE!

If I give it to you and change my mind later,
IT'S MINE!

If I can take it away from you,
IT'S MINE!

If it's mine it will never belong to anybody else,
No matter what.
If we are building something together,
All the pieces are mine!

If it looks just like mine,
IT'S MINE!

If it breaks or needs putting away,
IT'S YOURS!

Hittin' the pumpkin patch!

We like dressing up

People may think that I am a Halloween enthusiast...but I am not. Well, not exactly. I don't like the history of the "celebration" and why it even exists, but I do love the dressing up part. I wish there was another day that was just solely a day to dress up. Forget the candy and all the evil stuff. I trick-or-treated maybe two or three times in my childhood, as it was a mostly frowned on activity in the church. We did have harvest parties and did fireworks and apple bobbing though. But I always wished I had some of those cool costumes that the kids on the streets were wearing. We usually made up our own outfit (if we dressed up at all), like a princess, Little Red riding hood, an indian, and a popcorn vendor. I know my mom has pictures of the first two which I'll have to drag out and scan in for you to see.
I've had fun finding or making costumes for the boys in the past few years. I keep my eye out for clearance sales after Halloween and at the thrift stores. This week is bag day at our thrift store, and so I paid less than $2 for that elephant costume for Shea! He'll probably be a chicken for part of the day, and an elephant for the rest! We have quite the tickle trunk of costumes that the kids will play with on a regular basis. (Click on those links above to see our other costumes from years past.)

Hiking around the lake
Originally uploaded by Sarah Dzines

Happy Thanksgiving!
We actually had our big turkey dinner last weekend with my parents and brother and a few friends. Today we had G's parents over for a big dinner of pulled pork (on my MIL's homemade buns) with carmelized onions, mandarin and pecan salad, corn on the cob, and cornbread stuffing. It was pretty tasty!
I hope you're all having a good old-time sitting around a table with people you love and sharing an insanely large dinner.
So thankful for so many things.

Blonde-ish

So I took the leap and went for major blonde foils put into my hair. Unfortunately I couldn't get it as white-blonde as I had imagined and had pictured in my mind...but it is getting there. I think where the hairstylist went wrong is by putting too much of the caramel tone in my hair which completely overtook and reminds me what I looked like with that old Sun-in product!! I should have avoided it completely and gone straight for the white and not bother for a second color at all which I had asked for.
Anyway...kinda fun and new.
Oh, and I had to add...in my comments after the stick it in yer ear post...my aunt had said in regards to Liam shoving a seed in his ear... "I think it's something that all kids have to do to get to the next phase of their life! Kind of like cutting their hair." Well...if you click on his school photos, to enlarge them, you might just notice the chunk of hair out of his front bangs. He cut them in school in the first week. The way he told us what he had done was absolutely hilarious. I wish I had a video of his story telling, as he had actions and was completely laughing his head off as he described himself wiping the hairs off his nose in hopes that his teacher wouldn't notice. :) Yes, so with that and now the foreign object in his ear, I guess we're onto the next phase. Phew. What next!?