Thanks y'all

It ended up being a quiet day at home. Riley is still feeling lousy, so we had our own little party here. I've been busy on the phone though, and we'll make up for the party another year!
Thanks for all your kind wishes.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Hey All, it's G here and I have commandeered my Wifey's blog to let you know that today is her 30th Birthday. I am one of the three Hounds that "The Fox and the Hounds" is based on. Anyways...Happy Birthday Honey — The boys and I love you so much and we hope that you have a great day today. To the rest of the loyal readers here...stop by and post a comment for Sarah.

Oh that.

Last night I was watching the late night news as it was talking about how with wind chill it would be in the -40's today!! YIKES! I don't know how people are walking to school in this weather like I would be (but Riley is sick). They were saying that skin exposed for only one minute at those temperatures will freeze!! I was imagining myself bundling the boys up in all our outdoor gear plus sticking them in a sleeping bag on top of the sled while pregnant me pulled them up the street. Hmm...I don't know if it would work. Hopefully it warms up by the time Riley is feeling better.
Anyway...it brought on some stories in my head of previous cold days in my life...
When Michelle and I were at Prairie Bible College, there were some mighty nasty cold days. (It's located in Three Hills, a few hours north of here.) We had this volunteer position at the hospital where we went to feed some elderly ladies. That's kind of a story in itself! Anyway...one day we had to bring a new volunteer with us to show her the ropes. She was this quiet little thing. Of course it happened to be freezing cold out and we had to do the 10 minute walk all bundled up like penguins. I remember we would occasionally force our mouths out of our scarves to small chat with her and figure out who she was and how she was enjoying school etc. One time when I looked over at her, I noticed her nose was looking a little weird!? Ya! Like one section of it was changing color from the usual skin tones to more of a dead grey color! I quickly looked over at Mich and gave her the eyes as to say...are you seeing what I'm seeing here? We sorta kept quiet about it and kept looking over at her as we were talking to check out the nose situation. We were starting to get those nervous giggles like we get at funerals or in church when we should be doing anything but laughing. I don't know who it was, but finally one of us piped up..."UMmm, your nose is looking pretty cold...does it feel ok?"
"Oh that". She said. Then she filled us in with a story of how her nose actually had frostbite when she was a child, and it always changes color now when she goes out in the cold. Poor thing. But man, Mich and I were relieved to find out we weren't witnessing frostbite occurring right before our eyes.
I was thinking of this whole story when I was in bed last night, about 5 minutes after I had said goodnight to Greg. I started to giggle out loud and so of course he wanted to know why. I was laughing so hard as I was telling it to Greg...my quiet laugh where all you hear is my tonsils flapping. I could barely finish the silly story cuz the tears were streaming down my face and my stomach was hurting. (Everything is so much funnier at midnite and when you're pregnant!)
And I was also thinking of this old watch I had when I was about 12 years old. It was one of those watches that would never die and I wore it everywhere everyday. It had a nice beeper on it, and a light and everything. One day sadly, on my way to school, it dropped somewhere and was lost. I backtracked a few times to no avail. Then one day, like over a week later, I was walking back from school when I heard this familiar beeping noise! My watch! It was calling out to me!! I bent down near the ground to listen for it and there it was about an inch under some ice...my favorite watch! I got a rock and literally had to chip it out of the ice! Yeah! It was on it's second life. Then eventually the strap broke off, but I still carried the face of it around in my pocket. One day I couldn't find it yet again and figured it must have dropped out of my pocket. I didn't grieve too long...but I swear, it was like a ghost watch, cuz I would hear it beep from time to time when I was out sledding, but could never find it when I checked my pockets. Then one day I was doing up my skates in the basement and heard this beeping noise coming from the dryer. I ripped open the door and it was beeping in there. I stuck my ear close to every clothing item and finally found it down in the hem of my snowpants. I guess the pocket in my snowpants had a hole, and the watch had fallen down through my pocket all the way down to my ankle. Ya, weird. It was life #3 for that watch, and I think it's still ticking somewhere down in the basement.

Baby Wipes

When my friend Michelle came up for her visit, she brought along her own homemade baby wipes. I was so intrigued...who knew you could make your own!? She told me how she did it, but I didn't write it down...so I just googled it and found some recipes. (Michelle...you'll have to tell me if this is similar to what you do...)

You will need:

* 10 cup air-tight container (eg. cylinder rubbermaid, w/lid)
* Bounty paper towels
* 2 Tbsp. of baby oil
* 2 Tbsp. of baby bath (your favorite)
* 2 cups of water

Cut a roll of paper towel in half, remove center cardboard, mix liquid ingredients, pour on top of paper towels (that are already in your container), pull first towel up.
Let them sit for about 1 hour so all the liquid has enough time to absorb the entire 1/2 roll. You may ask, why Bounty towels?? Well it seems that Bounty expands when wet and the others seem to shrivel up. Remember do not shake the liquid, it will foam up. Each roll of towels makes 2 containers of wipes, which lasts approx. 3 weeks.

I am sure this will save us all a load of money, and it can be argued that this is way healthier for your baby because of chemicals found in regular wipes. You can also find it helpful if your baby reacts to certain scents, by using your favorite brand of goats milk baby bath (that's what we use here) or other organic products. This would also make a great baby gift for a friend...buy the container and towels and include the recipe (this is how Michelle got into it).
Let me know if you try it!?

Brrrrrr naked

I like saying that. Or another term we use around here...."IT's AS COLD AS A WiTCHS' TITTY."
It is. I think it's like -28 with wind chill making it around -33. Our house isn't really all that warm even though the heater has been running all day. We've got a lot of windows that aren't the best quality I guess.
It was a bit of a cranky weekend. Riley ended up getting sick now, after all his friends and Liam had it, he held off til now. He is actually pretty reasonable and snuggly when he's sick. He only has a high fever which makes him nice and chill-axed. He also gets quite philosophical and will come up with some deep questions at times like these. It is Liam though that drives you batty. He somehow senses that Riley is weakened, and he's like an animal, taking advantage of the fact that he suddenly has more power than his big brother.
Greg has been working like a banchee. He has this big project deadline for tomorrow, so he's been up late or working whenever he gets the chance. I'll be glad when that is done, as I'm sure will he.
I decided to take Liam to church with me, so that Greg and Riley could catch up on sleep without the Liamster pouncing on their faces. I was teaching SS, and turns out Liam would not stay in the nursery and they had to bring him into my class sobbing. That was fun.
So now I'm getting caught up on dirty dishes, floors and laundry before I brave the upcoming loooonnnnngggg week. I won't be sending Riley off to school. Too bad I couldn't send Liam in his place and tell his teacher...have fun!!

Out for dinner with a toddler

...isn't that fun? We had a 30 minute wait for a table, so we went next door to a coffee shop so we didn't have to stand in the busy lobby. We finally went back for our table and still had to wait for a good 10min. to get our order taken and a few more til the food arrived. This is where all your talent comes in...how creative are you at passing time with toddlers? Yes, they had crayons and paper, but that doesn't last long with a hungry 2 year old. We had to move all the shakers and sugar packets to the next table over, because they were close to being thrown at nearby onlookers. Who doesn't know what I'm talking about. When the food arrived, we wolfed it down, because it was practically bedtime already and we didn't want the meltdown to happen while we were still at the table. I have a bit of indigestion. But it is always fun to have someone else cook you a meal that doesn't consist of just a burger and fries. At least once every 3 months, it's worth the effort.

Little hunnies

These boys are going to be tall dark and handsome when they grow up!!

Have any of you heard of Shutterfly?? It's an online photo spot where you can make cards and order prints etc. It is American, so can be a little expensive for shipping and all that. My friend from the States ordered some cards for me, made with my photos, as a baby gift when I had Liam, and they were really sweet. If however, you are interested in just making online e-cards to send out with your email Christmas letter...you can make cards on Shutterfly and then just copy them.
I'll show you some examples...made with those pics above...




I thought they were pretty cute! And I always love to teach friends my little online finds of mine! (They also have cute baby announcements.)

Troubles in the kitchen

The other day I was so out of it, that I opened a box of goldfish crackers up, cut open the bag, and was thinking to myself...man, they jipped me...this bag isn't very full.
Only to realize that I had already opened this very box of goldfish the day before, but on the other end. (Try pouring goldfish gracefully into a bowl when both ends of the bag are opened.)
I also tend to ruin those bags that have the resealable zip locks, because I cut the opposite end of the bag. G has pointed this out to me a few times on random bags of frozen corn, or baby carrots. Opps.
I have sort of committed to "seeing what I can produce" in the way of a photo, or a collage, to put on the front of our upcoming church cookbook. I had better get on that. I'm thinking of random kitchen utensils and baking supplies...kinda like that whisk pic I put on flickr. Or to use a picture I took yesterday of an old fashioned pantry....

Hmm....time to be creative here while the sun is shining.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Michelle, I hope you're move is going well!?

The good ol' days

Ok, so last night I dreamt (dreamed??) in short sentences.
I couldn't stop thinking of things that I would add to the list.

So today we went to Heritage Park. Every year they have an event called The 12 days of Christmas which runs on the weekends. It's the only time we've ever gone to the place, and it's a really good time. There isn't a tight schedule to follow, and you spend most of the time outdoors. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, but we were dressed for it.
Here's some photos...








Santa just so happened to be strolling the streets. We caught up to him and gave him 5 and got a quick photo. The boys didn't say much, but as we walked away Riley said..."Now we know what the guy looks like who gives us our presents!"
We took a nice horse drawn wagon ride, ate some cinnamon buns, went through some mazes, went in an old pool hall filled with mini electric trains, played in the hay...just good ol' fashioned fun. Hope you enjoyed the tour.

The list thingy

1. I’m going to try to make this list of 100 things, cuz it seems to be the thing to do.
2. I am extremely tired.
3. I am supposed to be doing my devotions homework for our Bible study.
4. But I’m not, I’m writing out this list, of course.
5. I had a very busy day with my kids, but don’t feel like I got anything done.
6. I am really wishing I had a hot cup of tea but I don’t want to get up.
7. I wonder what it would be like to live with all my friends in the same town.
8. I never was in the same place for longer than 7 years growing up.
9. I never went to the same school for longer than 3 years.
10. I wish I knew my extended family a little better.
11. I love to take pictures. Mostly of people.
12. I wish I could go back to school to learn more about taking pictures!
13. I would also like to learn some other trade eventually.
14. I really do enjoy writing and used to write letters to myself when I was bored.
15. I wrote letters to my hubby (then boyfriend) every day while I was in Mexico.
16. He is my first love…sigh.
17. I went to Bible school at Prairie and thought I was supposed to meet and marry someone there…isn’t that what they teach you when you are little…Bridal college?
18. I loved living in a dorm. I would go back tonight.
19. I was the one who kept everyone awake during the sleepovers in the lounge.
20. I even got written-up by my RA who said I was too loud.
21. I’m usually a very huge rule-follower, aka goodie goodie.
22. Though I did get put out in the hall once in grade one.
23. I really enjoy animals, but don’t intend on having any pets, at least right now.
24. I would get a kitten, but they grow up to be cats I’ve been told.
25. I really hate when people let their animals defecate in my yard.
26. One day I would like a reasonable sized yard with a good garden.
27. I would grow all kinds of fruit and veggies and get really dirty nails.
28. I used to work in a hospital.
29. I was officially titled, a Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant.
30. It was a good job while it lasted but you see I got prego and very unstable so I wasn’t much help!
31. I don’t know what I would do now if I was forced to go back to work tomorrow.
32. I am a PK. A pastor’s daughter. Well, except he just changed careers. But I still would be called a PK, right? Oh oh, identity crisis.
33. I have webbed toes. Not all of them.
34. I love to swim, and the doctor predicted that when I was born.
35. I take water fitness classes and love it all except the bouncing booby part.
36. I would love to jog, but I really wasn’t built for it.
37. I have a big bro and little sis and said I would never have 3 kids, but I can’t imagine 4!
38. I went on the Dwight D. Eisenhower.
39. I have been on two helicopter rides, and it is really quite thrilling.
40. I want to take my kids to Disneyland when they are still young.
41. If I could go somewhere today it would be Hawaii.
42. I am pretty good at baking and love to except for the mess.
43. I wish my house was cleaner but I can’t keep up.
44. I have a hard time getting my clothes into the washer, dryer, folded and put away all in the same week. Usually the clothes sit folded in the hamper for awhile.
45. I never had braces, but I wore really round ugly glasses in gr.8.
46. I would like to be more musical, but it really doesn’t come naturally to me.
47. I would play the violin if I was skilled enough.
48. I loved going to summer camp.
49. I rocked at doing the polar dip.
50. I am half way done this crazy long list!
51. I have a lot of decorating ideas in my head but have never managed to pull them off in my home.
52. I love watching all those home reno shows and moving in or house-hunting stories.
53. I guess maybe I’d be good at showing houses?
54. I want to be a better friend than I am.
55. I teach Sunday school to 4/5/6 yr. olds.
56. I deliver large babies.
57. I have long legs, a short waist, and a small head in comparison to my boobs.
58. I should have worn an extra hair piece on my wedding day to make my head look larger in comparison to my huge dress (oh, and boobies).
59. I wash my face with Oil of Olay foaming face wash every night.
60. I do not use soap in the shower, just shampoo and conditioner.
61. I have very soft skin.
62. My favorite color is blue.
63. I’m not very adventurous in what I wear.
64. I have the same few pairs of shoes and they just don’t wear out. I even have some undies from when I got married, and my hubby has named them cuz they are so familiar.
65. I like eggnog but I don’t really like runny eggs, go figure.
66. I like thriller movies and being scared, but not gory stuff.
67. I think I’d be scared to get on a horse.
68. I don’t know if I can stay awake long enough to finish this.
69. I speak really broken Spanish and not French.
70. I’m almost 30.
71. I don’t know what we’re doing for my birthday.
72. I once had a birthday party where the girls slept in my room and the moms had their own sleepover upstairs.
73. I have a young mom.
74. I haven’t started Christmas shopping yet. But I am listening to Christmas music.
75. I never believed in Santa.
76. I was Hark the Herald Angel in my church pageant. I got the part the week of the show, cuz the guy who had the part suddenly got diabetes and was very sick.
77. It was a “boy” part, but I didn’t mind.
78. I think the baby just kicked me.
79. I am waking up a lot during the night and thinking of baby names.
80. I would like a proper headboard.
81. I love having a laptop.
82. I named her Delilah, when it used to be my hubbys’…cuz I thought he spent too much time with “her”. But she is very addicting.
83. I am really sad that Lost is done for the season as it’s the only show I’m following.
84. I laid the sod in my backyard. The yard is only like 15x14 feet!
85. The roller we rented had no plug to keep the water inside it so it was totally useless.
86. I convinced a girl once that this manure in our backyard was actually edible. It was in a bag, and she totally believed me.
87. It wasn’t pretty.
88. I led my grandma down a really bumpy trail on our new mountain bikes. She fell on some tree roots, but was a real trouper and kept following me.
89. I remember singing The Teddy Bear Picnic song with her when she took me on walks down in the ravine…that was a long time ago.
90. I wonder what my grandkids will remember about me.
91. I keep a diary.
92. I have a diary from when I was 9 and would love to drag it out and share some of it on my blog. I’m sure its crazy hilarious.
93. I am scared of motorbikes. I have only been a passenger.
94. I used to get perms that never worked.
95. I have naturally straight and boring hair.
96. I am worried that one day my hair will thin out to nothingness.
97. I love it when people laugh. I hope you got at least one laugh from reading this.
98. I can’t imagine being overly crazy screaming if I met a celebrity. Although I did touch Bono and it was very special.
99. I am going to be up to 11 trying to finish my devotions.
100. I did it, I did it!!

Stuck in

Well Liam is still a little sick. We haven't had to pump him full of drugs every 6 hours like the first day, so he must be on the mend but still is not himself. I hate it when someone is sick. I've heard it to be said that a fever is a good thing as it's your bodys way of fighting back...but I'm always scared when Liam has a fever because of what happened that one fateful day just before he turned 2 at Market Mall. For those that don't know, he had what we think was a febrile seizure...we thought he was dying right in front of us...whole body went limp and we couldn't get any response. The ambulance came and took us in to ER where he came to after some medicine and a long nap. It was the scariest mommy moment I've had yet. Not one I would like to repeat any time soon, so that's why we are so scared any time he gets a fever. Anyway...while Liam sits here trying to recover, Riley is having a hard time sitting around being good! We've unfortunately had to watch a lot of videos and even that doesn't work so hot. Thank goodness for kindergarden in the afternoons.

World wide News

I guess it's time to come clean on my blog and fill you in on my little secret.
Any guesses?? It's probably not too much of a shocker...here's a hint.




Ok, I know, I know. It doesn't look much like a bun. It's all I had in the house at the time and I ended up having to tell my family really quickly (cuz the secret slipped) and I wanted to make it somewhat funny. Anyway...no-one really got it. Are you toasting a bagel? Is there a bag on top of the stove?? I don't know.

It's a BUN IN THE OVEN, by the way.

Or maybe this is a better hint...



I did my very first pregnancy test with this, my 3rd pregnancy. I didn't think I would believe a home test if I did one with the first 2. I took this test right after I went on the roller coaster that day back in September. Since then, I've been exhausted, slightly nauseated and seriously lacking an appetite. YES, though. I'm having another baby!! It's "planned" to be our last, so I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it and am feeling so blessed at how easy a time we've had getting pregnant and having healthy babies.
This morning I had my 12 week appointment, where we were to hear the heartbeat for the first time. I was looking forward to Greg and the boys coming along, cuz G is off work today. But Liam woke up and barfed all over me this morning (nice), so they stayed behind. I called Greg on the cell phone right as the doctor was using the doppler to find the heartbeat. She found a strong heartbeat in no time (heaven!) and it's recorded on our answering machine for us to hear over and over again.

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
So the story begins...I know you all like following prego stories...at least I sure do!!

Happy Birthday to Heather!!

Heathie heathie bo bethie, Banana nana fo fethie, Me mi mo meathie, HEATHIE!!
HAPPY 25th Birthday!! I'm sure you have lots of plans in the big city...you always keep us hopping trying to guess what you're up to next. You're a super fun auntie and lil sister.
Hugs to you from me and da boyz!!

Photoshoot fun

Well, as most of you know, I love to take pictures and especially of little babies. It is not the easiest skill though. I probably do better at still life flower photos. I don't know all the tricks yet of getting a newborn completely placid and sleeping while you attempt to pose them in the nude with bright sunlight blaring on them and a camera in their face!! I need to get a better indoor flash so I can make it look like I have natural light, even if I don't. I offered my "services" this morning to a church couple who had their first little boy. Our other friends live upstairs as well, and so I took a few pictures of their youngest little girl at the same time (above). Challenging, but fun. Here's just a sampler.



I'm still always attempting to take pictures of the boys, but they are ultimately sick of the camera in their faces. Here's a little scowl from Liam...

Picture update

I've been lacking in the picture department lately. This Friday actually, I've offered to take pictures for a friend of her newborn baby, so that 'll add some to my collection and be a little more interesting than the ones taken in the last while.
Here's Liam this morning. His eye is practically back to perfect again, just a little mark on the side and there's a bump in there when you feel it. But I think it'll heal up just fine.



Here's the two crazies...aren't they looking older? The two of them eat more than I do and are growing. I think Liam is getting more of a neck and chin. He's busy laughing at the camera for some reason and talking his head off as usual.

Here's some artwork by Riley...

His Star Wars drawing (his favorite thing to draw)


His first drawing of a house

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY GREAT FRIEND HEIDI HO...in the great white north. I wish I could have been there for your party night with the girls!! It's been great talking to you lately ... many many hugs and 30 big ol' birthday bumps!!

The process of elimination

I don't know if you have accumulated much in the past, but every year, our storage room gets more and more packed. It is the one blessing in disguise of moving, that you are challenged to sort and decide..."Is this worth moving? Have we even opened this box in the past 2 years?" We have been in our house two years, and I know for a fact that we have a bunch of boxes sitting down there that we haven't touched. Some stuff though, is hard to part with. And some stuff you just can't part with...ie. baby clothes, camping supplies, gift wrap, Christmas decor. I now have a different outlook as I go through my days lately, with the prospect of us moving in the summer... do I really want this?? I really would love to get down to the stuff that we really need, which I highly doubt will happen, but a girl can try. I need that lady from the show, Neat, to come and help me out over here. I think I'm a far cry from being titled a "pack-rat", but I do have a hard time parting with things that are sentimental or usable. I usually find that if I part with something that I rarely use, let's say a red belt, wouldn't you know it...the next year I frantically am searching for it for a costume and wondering what I did with it, and then argh! I realize I've parted with it and will have to go buy something else. Murphy's law or something. Or Greg and I have kept over the years, old jeans and sweatshirts to take camping...but do we ever bring them out...no, we use our regular old clothes and trash them. That sort of thing.
Anyway...wish me luck in this process of eliminating. We really do, in our culture in general, have SO much!! I mean really, who needs 24 non-matching mugs? or 15 bagged out sweatshirts?

Snow, mandarins and cooking

These are truly some of my favorite things about the winter months. I don't enjoy the cold, but I do enjoy the snow. I especially enjoy the snow because my boys enjoy the snow and have already spent a good many hours in their snow gear...eating up the white stuff and getting me to pull them on the sled. (Unfortunately we don't have many hills close-by.) This winter Riley is finally capable of putting his whole outfit on, right down to the mittens, so that has made life a lot easier on me. It's hard enough to get squirmy Liam to sit still long enough so I can get his boots on. I spent probably an equivalent of 2yrs of my life sledding (if you'd add it up). We had no end to snow up in Smithers where I was a kid, and we'd go sledding every day that there was snow. Even as a teenager, I'd sled down our steep street in Salmon Arm and dodge the cars that would come around the corner. Anyway, Riley is totally all into the snow and we look forward to teaching him how to downhill ski this year.
Have you finished a box of mandarin oranges yet? We are on our second box and they are so yummy. Liam would start and finish a box of oranges in a single sitting, but we try to keep him to at least one a meal.
Now that the weather is cooler, I also have been cooking/baking a lot more. It is much more appealing in the winter months. Our church is working on their very first cookbook, so I have typed out a pile of recipes. I also sent them to my friend Angella who has added some of them to her other blog Recipe for Disaster. I will have more to add as soon as I can get them typed out. Most of you who know me will recognize the recipes as they are common ones used by our family. I'm on the meal-team for my church, which makes meals for those who have just had a new baby. So today I made up Quiche Lorraine, Mandarin/almond salad, and peanut butter cookies. It smells so good in here...like when we go home and mom has been baking. (Happy Birthday to mom D!)
Last night Riley got to have his first sleepover at his best friend Jaxsons' house. When I got off the phone and told Riley that he was allowed to go...I was all ready to jump up and down and be excited with him, but he stopped smiling and got all serious and said..."Mom, I'm quite sure they will give me back in the morning." (So much like his dad.) And as we dropped him off, and Greg was walking him up to their door...Riley says, "Dad, you can stay at the van. I'll go on my own." Yes, very independent.