Soccer Highlights

Riley is in his third or fourth year now? of organized soccer. He has really done well and enjoys it a lot. We've only missed one practice due to the rain, but otherwise it has been great weather. He has a dedicated coach and another helper there on occasion, which makes all the difference as to how well he enjoys it.

I just got him signed up for a soccer day camp for the first week of July, which he's pretty excited about.

Liam is in soccer as well, but it hasn't been going so well. They have nearly 100 kids ages 4 and 5 who listen to one coach and then they break into small groups to practice what he showed them. Liam's little team has no small-group coach, so it is just kind of mayhem and a definite lack of enthusiasm. It is unfortunate, because he had SUCH a love for balls and soccer when he was really young, but I think he got sick of waiting on the sidelines and can't be bothered now. I guess we'll just wait a few more years til he's ready again. I think he needs to do something more like gymnastics or something. We'll see. I'll have to take a few pictures of him anyway, before the season is over.

Shea's digger party!

They are kinda out of order, but you get the idea. There are more posted on Facebook. We had a busy day, starting with soccer at 8:30am and then shopping around to find some diggers for on the cake and all the party food. Lots of prep and cleaning and then the party started at 4pm. We only had our parents and Luke's family this year, so 14 of us. We did the usual bbq, cake, presents, and the kids had a great time in our big hole of a backyard, digging. We also played the annual water balloon volleyball game which was great fun. Shea was in a good mood, and had a fun time. So the party was a success!
Hugs to all the fam that couldn't make it!

Bye bye baby...

Today is bittersweet for me. My baby is TWO!
Happy Birthday Shea-Shea!!

Ella Report!

Here is the latest email from my brother....who was down at Vancouver Children's hospital for Ella's follow-up appointment/MRI yesterday...

"The neurosurgeons said, "you can tell your family that she had the BEST possible outcome for the procedure." Basically, she exceeded all of their expectations with the ventricles actually shrinking in size so much that there is now room around her brain for it to grow into. It was pretty cool because the doctor showed us both the pre-surgery MRI and the one from today side by side on a computer and he was able to scroll through different layers of the brain and show us how everything changed since the surgery. We could even see the hole that they made in the floor of the 3rd ventricle! So, praise God and thanks for praying for her. We'll be heading home tomorrow as planned with another check-up scheduled for late September.
-Luke, Pam, and Ella"

SO AWESOME!

Happenings

Today was the first one of the year we spent at the beach. It was a beautiful day and the water was much warmer than I had anticipated as the ice only melted off it weeks ago! The boys were swimming and everything. I was unprepared and the bigger boys both got their first ever sun burns. I had them wear their hats, so it's mostly on the shoulders and I'm hoping they won't be too sore. Don't you find the sun is so much stronger than it ever was...I never wore sunscreen from what I remember. Shea wasn't scared of the water and walked in right to his neck, though I don't think it was completely on purpose!

This week has been a "wild" one...the other day I came home and heard a loud scratching noise coming from behind the T.V. I went downstairs and heard running through the ceiling! Are you kidding me!? We had some unwanted guests move in! Initially I thought squirrels, then mice, but tonight we SAW the little squirrel bugger run into his entry hole, grab a baby squirrel and bring it outside! YES, a BABY! They are freaking having babies inside our walls!! We are full- on squirrel hunting now. We rented a trap, we have poison set out, glue paper, mouse traps, ultrasonic pest annoyer things (you plug them in and they radiate a high pitch squeal that they apparently hate). The problem with squirrels is that you should try to trap them, rather than just poison them and let them die in your walls and rot...how's that for a pretty picture. It has been really frustrating as they aren't the easiest to capture! So wish us luck...these things could bite through our wires and cause some major damage! I hate being invaded.

I took family photos for my sister in laws family. They had their whole gang together and wanted a group shot. We had some difficulties as my poor little niece was sick and wouldn't look at me, let alone smile. So I can't say it was a true success, but we made the best of it.



So this week I'll be party planning as Shea celebrates his 2nd birthday on the weekend! WOWzers. Party pics will be up next...or maybe dead squirrel ones.

Although Liam is a tad overwhelming with his affection and "hands-on-approach" to life (you don't say)...he has been SO adorable to watch with Shea lately. He LOVES Shea. He always has, but Shea is starting to return the adoration and they go about looking for eachother to play with. One night Liam had slept overnight at grandma's, but Shea went to his bed first thing in the morning saying, "Mim?? Miam??" wondering where he could be. They will venture off to the basement or hide in a dark closet together or dance to their favorite tunes in the living room. It is interesting how different their relationship is in comparison to Riley and Liam. Since day one, Riley and Liam had such a competitive reaction to eachother, and still do. With Shea it has been only love from Riley and Liam.

Demo deck #1 complete. check.

So today we (mostly Greg) finished the demolition of the side huge dance floor deck. It just looks like a nice dirty hole to you, but there was a lot of work involved! We managed to get every screw and nail out of every board in hopes we can re-use some of the wood. I put a pile of pictures on Facebook as well.
So we're on our way. Now to rip down the fence and move a few plants so we can level out the area. I don't know when we'll do that.

Here's the boys...(in case a hole doesn't interest you!)

To cleanse...or not.

I gave my 3 boys a bath tonight. We're not the family that baths the kids every night before bed. I usually do baths once a week, but usually twice or more for the boy in diapers. Though lately the boys are covered in muck from playing outside and come in smelling like wet dog, so we're bathing a little more often.

But that's not the kind of cleanse I was going to talk about.
I'm wondering if any of you in my "blog-network" have done a cleanse. I've been reading about it...."Simply put, our body is filled with a lot of garbage that it digest and just ends up sitting around. This thick plaque clings to the inside of your intestines, preventing nutrients from being absorbed, and literally choking you off from the inside. Right now, many people are walking around with 20 pounds or more of this dense fecal matter tightly packed to their insides.
This fecal matter is a breeding ground for bacteria, and if you don't remove it you can slowly poison yourself. ..." taken from this website.

Ewww. I know. Yuck. Do you agree with that statement?? Do you think our bodies really don't know how to "flush" properly?? This above website includes a recipe for lemonade that you drink for 3-10 days with nothing else, and voila. I think you get to know your toilet a little better. But I'm curious about the benefits, and just the jumpstart on good health and diet changes. Anyone tried it? Testimonies? I may just try it for three days and will be sure to let you know if it's worth it!! Maybe next week. In the meantime...tell me if you do regular cleanses and what kind??

Happy 3rd birthday Callie!

My sister Anna has a cute little blonde haired, blue eyed princess named Callie Jean. Today is her 3rd birthday!

Happy Birthday Cal-Cal! We love you!!

Happy Mother's Day

I had so many good moments today, mixed in with so many usual nasty ones...such is life as a mother! And let's face it, the fact that it is mother's day does not really mean much to a five year old. Liam is so tough these days, that it takes all I have not to lock him up in his room all day. As a dear friend said to me this week, you are building up your "mommy muscle" that you will need for the next stage of their lives, and if you don't get strong and listen to your "Trainer", you will struggle even harder through the next phase. Though the road is not an easy one, I'm trying to live and learn to be a better mom every day. I need to get a bit closer to the "Trainer" though.

The weather has turned nice, and the projects are in full swing around here. I have so many things that I need and want to do, but usually have neither the time, money or know- how to get it all done.
When we bought our house, it had a huge deck on the back and side of our house. It looked like a massive dance floor. It wasn't the safest space as there is this massive hole underneath it, and it has no railings. It was sadly starting to rot and there were gaping holes through the surface. We knew the thing would have to come down sooner or later, so we started this week. We didn't want to make too much of a mess by smashing boards, so we took out around 500 screws and worked our way around.
(Here is a before shot...taken last week.)


(And today.)


(The whole view from the back fence.)


We are eventually going to rip out all the joists, the beams etc. and then fill the hole with the help of a dump truck and top soil, and then plant grass. This will mean that we'll have to move the fence, rip out a row of shrubs, and rip out my hydrandea (and hopefully replant it).
Then we also need to rip out the existing deck and hope to extend it out a little farther towards the pond (so we have room to use a table up there) and I still need to paint that new siding that was replaced last spring!
Yup, lots of work, but it will add to our backyard play space immensely, and will be so much easier to maintain.
Hopefully I'll be able to show you the AFTER shots before the summer is over. I will be needing the wise wisdom and the skills and tools of my brother and dad to pull this one together again. Thankfully Greg and I aren't so bad a ripping things apart!
I don't have pictures of the front yard, but we pulled out a bunch of shrub things that were dusty and old and we need to put in a retaining wall (of wood?) and some new plants/woodchips or something. We also hope to build a little deck at our front entry, over top of the existing cement pad and stairs that turn at a wicked nasty angle, and build proper ones.

I also planted about 100 strawberries this week from my sister in law who has them taking over her yard. Mine were escapees from her garden and picked out of her gravel! I don't really have a dedicated garden spot, so they are sprinkled here and there all over the place. My pond has gone to muck as Shea has been throwing rocks in it left and right, and it's just turning green. I think I may just have to leave it until the projects are over, as it is SO hard to keep him out of there. The urge to throw rocks in water for a boy are just too strong. (Even putting the sprinklers on did not keep him out!) We went down to the lake this afternoon so he could throw rocks into the water. He was SO thrilled!

Anyway, it was a lovely weekend, most of it spent outdoors, with my boys. On Saturday there was 1949 pricing for movies, so Riley treated me to our 15cent movie and 5cent popcorn! We watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Greg and I were able to go out for lunch together on Friday to a Mexican place where we ate out on the sunny patio...so it was our little holiday after a busy week.



((Hugs)) to all you moms out there who read my blog!

oh baby

Today one of my best friends (my maid of honor) had a baby girl! So excited for Michelle and Nathan and big brother Matthew! I really wish that Smithers wasn't so far away and that tickets to fly there didn't cost around $900!! I hope I get the chance to meet her before she grows too much! CONGRATULATIONS!
I always love to hear baby stories, of labor stories and births. There is something about the unknown, the fact that every story is different and yet the same. It encompasses so many emotions of fear, pain, wonder, excitement, adrenaline, love, and is life changing. The memories I have of the three times I went through the "process" are a combination of wanting to forget (the pain, obviously) but not the amazing parts. So glad I had the chance to experience it.
(and also glad I'm done!)
Oh, and I meant to add...(so I'm adding it later)...have you caught that show on TLC about the women who didn't know they were pregnant until they were in labor or delivering a baby!? Wild. I still don't get it. I mean HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW?!