Camping

The last weekend in May we went camping with friends at Bow Valley Campground near Kananaskis. We had a great time and great weather. Here are a few pictures from that trip:

This past weekend we went to Drumheller, but cut our trip short. It had been raining the day before and everything was so muddy, resulting in us being cooped up in the trailer. A muddy dog, muddy kids who want to play outside and a 24 foot trailer can make for a long weekend. We went to the Tyrell museum and Reptile World as planned but then packed up and came home. Here are a few pictures from Reptile World:

We are really enjoying our trailer and are looking forward to many camping trips this summer, including a 10-14 day trip to Yellowstone National Park and Great Falls, Montana this July.

Viva Las Vegas!!!

We are so excited to be taking another trip to Vegas- but this time with our best friends, Dee and Layne.

We leave on our 7th anniversary, September 7th and stay until the 11th. We are very much looking forward to spending a few days without children, just relaxing and seeing the sights.

Chris came home one night and said that he heard on the news that trips to Vegas were super cheap right now because tourism was low at the moment. We checked it out and were surprised to see how cheap it was! Flights, 4 nights and 4 days at the Excalibur for about $450 per person including taxes!

We'd been wanting to go back (we had so much fun there the first time) so we decided that this was a good opportunity to take advantage of the sales. We mentioned it to Dee and Layne and were thrilled when they decided to come too!

Back to work!

Well, today was my first official day back in the classroom. Actually, it was just for a morning, which was a nice way to ease back into it. I decided in April to return to subbing a few days a month, but it took me until last week to actually take my paperwork into the office to get put on the list. Yup, that's how excited I was about it! Haha

I worked this morning at one of the middle schools in Airdrie in Resource (special ed). It was basically the same job that I had left when I went on mat leave, just at a different school with different kids. It was great.

My boys were safe and happy at Dee's place. I had no qualms about leaving them to return to work knowing that they were in Dee's loving arms. I know that Dee loves my boys like they were her own and our kids get along like siblings...including the fighting! :) We've got our little business plan- me going back to work benefits both of us financially. Yay!

I think I am really going to enjoy subbing again. Its funny, when I was subbing in Ponoka, all I wanted was a position at a school. Now that I have had a position, all I want is to sub! Subbing gives me the flexibilty that a contract didn't, it gives me time to spend with the kids- the reason I like teaching, which my contract didn't do as much as I would have liked (too many meetings and hours working on paperwork), and it allows me to leave at the end of the day with no work to be done at home! I get to go in, do the job and leave without all the extra hours of work and without the politics of being a part of a school staff. Because there are ALWAYS politics.

Over the course of my morning, I was asked by 3 different people (including the principal) if I was looking for a full time position in the fall, particularly in resource. As tempting as the paycheque would be, I'm just not wanting to work full time any time soon. I feel that I missed so much of Luca's days when I was working full time. I was really torn. My boys will only be this young once and I am determined to be there as much as I can to enjoy it all.

I love being a stay at home mom, but being in the classroom again reminded me that I am more than just a diaper changing, meal cooking, house cleaning mom. I am also a teacher, a job that I really enjoy. It is nice to get a bit of time to pursue my interests away from my kids a little bit too.

Our new trailer!

I am a little behind in posting this, oops.

As you may know, in the past we have had "junker" trailers that got us by, kept a roof over our heads. I'd like to say "kept us dry", but last summer that actually wasn't the case. Poor Luca woke up in a puddle of water that had been dripping down onto him all night. Chris did fix the leak and it would have done us another year, but we ran into another dilemma.

There were really only 2 beds, and we knew that the boys would never get any sleep if they were to be sharing a bed. If they were older, it wouldn't be a problem but a 3 year old and a 13 month old? That spells trouble. Last year Chris and I each shared a bed with a child, but that wasn't going to last forever.

This spring we decided that if this summer's camping trips were going to be enjoyable, that we would need to look at getting something a bit larger, with a better set up for beds.

We had been looking on Kijiji for a while and other advertising sites and did some research on what we might like. We finally decided on a layout that we thought would work for us- bunks for the boys and a queen (preferrably) bed for us. Not more than 27 feet in length including the hitch or it wouldn't fit in our driveway. Anything else was gravy.

We knew our budget and began looking within that budget. We found a few trailers fitting our needs by private sellers. We did some looking at dealerships but discovered that the layout that we wanted was very desireable and when dealerships did get them in as trades, they went out again very quickly.

So, it was off to the private sellers.

On May 2, we found our trailer. We are so excited about it. We know that we will have many good trips in it.

It is a 1998, 24 foot Fleetwood Wilderness Lite.

It has a queen bed in a seperate bedroom. With sliding doors for privacy. It is an actual queen mattress, not those uncomfortable foamy cushions that you normally sleep on in a trailer.

There is a roomy "living" area with storage, oven and stove and a large fridge and seperate freezer. There is also a dinette and storage above the dinette.

If we needed extra sleeping space, the dinette and storage above it convert to beds as well, so we could sleep 6-8 people if we had to.

The boys' bunks are at the back, and Luca quickly laid claim to the top bunk. Also at the back of the trailer is the bathroom with toilet, sink, tub and shower. Luca was pretty pumped about the little tub!

It also came with an RVQ, the BBQs that attach right to the trailer and run on the trailer's propane. There is also an outdoor shower with hot and cold taps.

We are so excited to take it out this weekend on its maiden voyage (with the Graham family, anyway!). We are heading to Bow Valley Campground in Kananaskis with some friends from Crossfield. Unfortunately, after we had bought it, all the weekends up til now already had prior commitments so this is our first chance to go out with it.

We are also heading to Drumheller the following weekend, Ponoka for a family camping weekend with Chris' family on Father's Day weekend, and then are planning a trip to Montana and Yellowstone National Park July 5-16 or so. We look forward to a fun summer of camping!

Six Unimportant favorite things

My aunt tagged me in this little challenge, so here goes my list. I am assuming that "unimportant" things means in the large scheme of things. Sorry about the lack of photos, blogger was being a bit tempermental tonight.

1. My bathtub. There is nothing like soaking in hot, bubbly water with the jets on and a good magazine. Actually, a magazine is not even necessary. The soothing water and silence is often enough.

2. My shelves full of books. I absolutely love books and love to read. I don't crack the spines on my books and I don't crease the pages. I am extememly particular about who I lend books to and all borrowers must endure my speech on the "rules". I know, I know, I am a bit anal retentive.

3. The smell of fresh cut grass. Need I say more?

4. Bed. I love to snuggle in under the covers to read a good book or watch tv. Our bed is just soooo comfy, it is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in our house. Of course, there are other fun things that happen there, too! ;)

5. My "zero gravity" lawn chair. It is so nice to be able to recline in a lawn chair to read. I find it extremely uncomfortable to try to read while sitting straight up.

6. Our annual zoo pass. Seriously, I think I enjoy going regularly more than the boys do!

Now I am tagging these people to complete this challenge. Leave me a comment here when you do it so I can go check it out!

Tasha at Shawn and Tasha Tompkins

Dee at Deirdre and Layne

Lilah at Keeping up with the Poltzs

In honor of Mother's Day

Check out this great video. I wasn't aware of my achievement til my friend Jackie sent this to me. Thanks Jackie!!!

Isn't that great? I loved it, especially the breaking news at the end!

My mom sent me this in my email and I thought it was so cute. Motherhood sure isn't always glamorous (ok, who am I kidding? Almost never glamorous!), and not always respected, but is sure does sound good with a fancy title!

JOB DESCRIPTION
A woman named Emily renewing her driver's license at the Transport office was asked by the clerk to state her occupation.
She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
"What I mean is," explained the clerk, "do you have a job, or are you just a...?
"Of course I have a job," snapped Emily. "I'm a Mum."
"We don't list 'Mum' as an occupation...... 'housewife' covers it," said the clerk emphatically.
I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our local police station.
The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar."
"What is your occupation?" she probed.
What made me say it, I do not know... The words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations."
The clerk paused, pen frozen in midair, and looked up as though she had not heard right.
I repeated the title slowly, emphasizing the most significant words.
Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire!
"Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?"
Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, (what mother doesn't), in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out).
I'm working for my Masters, (the whole bloody family), and already have four credits, (all daughters).
Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree.?) and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it).
But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money."
There was an increasing note of respect in the girl's voice as she completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.
When I got home, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 10, 7, and 3.
Upstairs, I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt I had triumphed over bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than
"just another Mum."
Motherhood.....What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door.
Does this make grandmothers "Senior Research Associates in the field of Child Development and Human Relations", and great grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates"???
I think so!!!
I also think it makes Aunts "Associate Research Assistants".

Author unknown..................but very smart


Happy Mother's Day!!!

Levi's first birthday party!

I'm 1 today!





Invitations





Luca helped make the cake

Happy 1st Birthday, Levi!!!!

This day last year started out like any other. Luca and I got up and had breakfast and got ready for the day. My plans were to go to Airdrie to get Chris some work shirts for the summer (he only had long sleeved dress shirts, mostly). So, Luca and I headed into town to get some shopping done.

We came home and had lunch, then it was off for a nap for Luca. Surprisingly, I wasn't tired this afternoon (I had napped ever afternoon for quite a while before this), so I watched a movie. It was the first afternoon that I would stay awake. Little did I know that I would be up a lot of the night with a newborn!

At 5:15pm, Chris called to say that he was going for some drinks with the guys from work as it was the last day for a few of them that were heading to school for a few months. I told him that I had had a contraction a few minutes prior, but we didn't think much of it as I had been having contractions off and on for a week now.

Within 15 minutes, there was another contraction and then another. After a little while, I called Chris back to say that he didn't need to hurry, but that he should come home. He was just going to finish his meal and head this way. That was fine by me, as I thought we had tons of time.

Within a few more minutes, I called back and told him to leave now and to hurry. My contractions were about 8 minutes apart.

I reached transition and was laying on my bathroom floor between heaving into the toilet. Luca was quite concerned that I was going to make a mess!

Chris arrived home at 7:15, got Luca strapped into his car seat and me into the Jeep between contractions. They were coming hard and I couldn't talk through them at this point.

Just before 7:30 we were on the road, only to have to wait for a train before we could leave Crossfield. Chris drove confidently (but fast!) and I watched the clock and timed contractions.

I don't remember a whoe lot about the drive except for at each town that we passed, I would think "Didsbury....40 minutes......Olds....30 minutes......Bowden.....20 minutes........Innisfail.......15 minutes......Gasoline Alley......5 minutes.

We arrived at the hospital at 8:30, with my contractions 2 minutes apart and lasting about 90 seconds. Pat and Joanne were there to meet us and to take Luca home with them.

Chris got me into a wheelchair and pushed me upstairs to labour and delivery. When we arrived, I managed to tell the nurse "They are 2 minutes apart and strong. I want an epidural!"

She got me to go to the bathroom and then would check me. As I emptied my bladder, I felt the baby's head move down into the birth canal. I couldn't get up. At this point, there didn't feel like there was a break at all between contractions. It was just one constant one. The nurse and Chris managed to get me to the bed where I was to be checked.

At the same moment the nurse declared that I was 9.5 cm dilated, my water broke and I had to push. There was no holding this baby back!

2 pushes later, at 8:44pm, with only Chris and a nurse there, Levi Allan was born! The poor nurse only had time to get her gloves on to catch him. We had been at the hospital for 14 minutes. They didn't have a chart for me, and barely knew my name!

He was perfect! At 7lbs 7oz he was exactly a pound smaller than his big brother was. He had so much dark hair, and beautifully colored skin. His head was perfectly round, afterall, he didn't spend much time in there to get a cone head!

Chris managed to get this photo, my all time favorite picture. This is just seconds after birth, the cord still attached. You can see the nurse passing the scissors over to Chris to cut the cord.

We were so shocked to have had a baby that quickly. On the ride to Red Deer, I knew that I was in the advanced stages of labour, but had no idea how advanced! I honesltly thought that I was about half way there. We had no idea that Levi was so close to being born on the side of the highway! Thankfully, I had a full bladder that I'm sure kept him higher up!

Luca was a bit nervous to meet his new brother, but seemed excited too. Or maybe he was just interested in all the gadgets at the hospital!

We were thrilled to come home as a family of 4.

I can't believe that the year has passed so quickly. Levi is crawling; so very close to walking, says a few words (Mama, Dada, Hi, and Lula for Luca), and is a happy little boy. He loves to follow his brother around and tries to do everything he does.

The next year is going to be busy and fun- I'm looking forward to it!

Happy Birthday, Levi! We love you!

Photo blog

Here are some photos from my new camera over the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Daddy and Levi checking out Easter eggs

Luca hunting for eggs


First family photo in quite a few months

Luca at Nona and Papa's

Finding eggs at Auntie Jay and Uncle Brock's house

I just love those lips!

The beautiful flowers my wonderful husband sent me while he was away last week.

My little man

Growing up so fast!

Luca and his best buddy George

Our mini vacation

Ok, so not so much "ours" as mine.

Chris had some meetings in Edmonton on Thursday and today. When he told me about them about a month ago, I sort of jokingly said that I should come. Mostly because there is something about staying in a hotel that I love. I don't get to do it very often and Chris does, so he thinks that I am silly.

Anyway, somehow my little joking comment turned into "Why not?". We made a call to Pat and Joanne and they were able to babysit, so it was a go!

I had been excited about it for a while, but a bit apprehensive, too. I hadn't yet left Levi overnight. Luca was 15 months before I left him overnight and it was tough. This time it wasn't nearly as tough. I don't know, maybe having 2 kids and really, truly needing some time to myself is what did it. Or maybe knowing that they were in completely capable and loving hands helped too. I think it was a combination of both.

Chris came home early from work on Wednesday and we were leaving Crossfield by 2:30 that afternoon. We marveled at how strange it was to be driving and having an uninterrupted conversation. And not having to point out to Luca every tractor, semi truck and farm animal that we drove past. We almost didn't know what to talk about. The comfortable silence was nice, too.

We arrived at the hotel just before supper time and checked in. Our room was very spacious and had been recently redecorated. I was really excited about the king size bed. It was a Sleep number bed, which I was excited to try out. (My number is 25, btw. I like it really soft). What I didn't know is that getting out of a soft sleep number bed is pretty much like getting out of a waterbed. Not so easy. Humorous though. So, after fiddling around with the bed settings we headed out for dinner.

We had chinese, which was ok. Not great, not bad, just ok. We then went to the movie, which is another big treat for us. My grandma had given us a gift certificate for the theatre for Christmas and we hadn't had a chance to use it yet. We saw "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage. I have a theory that all of his movies are weird and I usually don't like them, but the preview for the movie looked good, so we thought we'd give it a try. And it was good. Until about 20 minutes before the end. I won't ruin it in case any of you wanted to see it, but the ending killed the whole movie for me. I was really into the movie until the ending. It was just so....stupid. Oh well.

On Thursday Chris didn't have any meetings until after lunch so we slept in (until 8:30!!! Big deal when your kids usually wake up around 6:30!), had leisurely showers, watched some daytime tv and just hung out.

It was my Auntie Linda's 50th Birthday on Thursday so her and my cousin Amanda picked me up and the 3 of us went for lunch. It was a nice visit, and I don't get to see them often. We then went back to my Aunt's house where I shopped in her store and got myself a new Louis Vuitton purse and a Coach purse for a fantastic deal. After my grandma arrived, they dropped me off at Chapters.

This was what I had been really looking forward to and it was the hilight of my trip. If you know me, you know that I love to read. A bookstore is one of my all time favorite stores to just "be" in. I was thrilled to be able to browse for as long as I wanted without children. It was a glorious hour and a half (I could have spent longer but Chris called to say he was done his meetings). I came out of there with 7 new books and only $50 poorer. I got 4 books for myself and 3 for the boys. It was great.

Chris picked me up and we had appetizers at Kelsey's before going to another movie. This time we chose a comedy, "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. This one was much better than Knowing was. It was funny and a bit of romance with a twist. It was fairly good.

We awoke to room service delivering our breakfast. Mmmmmm. Another fun thing about hotels- room service. Its a treat that you don't often get, so I appreciated it. Especially not having to cook my own food!

This morning while Chris was in his meeting I had a long shower and got ready for my date with my friend Carri. We went to the mall where I did a bit of shopping for myself and had a nice visit. It was short, though as Chris was done a bit earlier than he thought he would be.

Chris picked me up and we went in search of a new camera. We were sold on a new Panasonic 10.1 megapixel, 18x optical zoom. Very similar to the Olympus that I led to an early death, but newer, so faster and with a few more options. As I type this, Chris is playing with all the gadgets on it.

We then headed to Tokyo Express and had one of our favorite "fast food" meals- teryaki chicken and rice bowls. Mmmmmm.

Then it was time to head home to see our little munchkins, with a quick stop in Wetaskiwin to get my vinyl lettering from Jessica that I had ordered at her party.

The boys weren't quite as excited to see us as we were to see them, I think. I guess spending a few days with grandparents beats mom and dad.

The getaway was a really nice break for me, and I am home rested and rejuvenated. I better be, Chris informed me this morning that he has to leave tomorrow morning for a week.......

I guess my little vacation couldn't have come at a better time.

Date Night!!

On Saturday, we had a much needed date night. We went on a double date with our best friends, Dee and Layne. It was absolutely fantastic!

Chris and Layne went into work on a Saturday to do some "housekeeping" stuff- welding some shelving units for the shop area. Layne made a deal with their GM Jeff that in exchange, they could take their wives out for dinner. Jeff agreed, but probably should have put a price limit on the meal....probably would have been cheaper for Rigwatch to just pay the guys for their time.

This Saturday work happened way back at the beginning of January, but it took quite a while to try to get babysitters on the same night. The four of us almost never get to go out together because we are either eachother's babysitters or we can't get sitters on the same nights. We often spend time at eachother's houses with kids in tow.

Finally, March 28th was the agreed upon day. My mom came to watch the boys for us, and Donny came along with her to play with the boys. Luca and Donny had another sleepover in Luca's room. They are such cute little cousins! Dee and Layne were able to have Layne's mom watch their kidlets. Another hurdle that had to be overcome to go out was that Dee needed to get Jack to take a bottle. She worked at it last week and was able to get him to take one, so she was able to go out for a bit.

I (and Dee) was so excited to get to dress up and go out. If you are a stay at home mom, you know that there are so few reasons to dress up in everyday activities. I used to dress up when I was teaching but the effort seems to be lost on my boys.


Here are Chris and I all dressed up and ready to go out. I'm showing off my new shoes.

We had reservations at a place in downtown Calgary called Divino's. It is a wine and cheese bistro. Chris and I were a little bit skeptical when Layne made the reservation, but it turned out to be an absolutely delicious meal.

When we arrived, we started with glasses of wine. I don't really like wine, but had the server recommend a mild one to me and it wasn't bad. I didn't love it, but I did drink most of my glass. It really did taste better paired with my meal though.

The we all shared a platter of the chef's selection of cheeses. I can't remember what it was that we tried, but we tried 5 different cheeses that I wouldn't have otherwise tasted. Probably ever. I know what I like and I like what I know. I have a hard time trying new things. So, this was a big night for me as you will find out. Anyway, I digress. The cheeses were fantastic, served with a little whole grain loaf of bread and some Rosemary Fig jelly. Mmmmmm........

Our appetizers arrived looking and tasting scrumptious. I ordered Gnocchi, which was absolutely delicious. Chris had a very large plate of mussels, Layne had calamari and Dee had lobster and scallops. If you know me, you know that I do not like sea food. I will eat tuna from a can, but that's about the extent of it. But everyone was commenting on how perfectly cooked their appetizers were, I had to try. I tried Layne's calamari and was pleasantly surprised. I had tried calamari before, but it was quite rubbery and I just couldn't get past the texture. I guess that's the difference between an upscale restaurant and an average restaurant. I had tried lobster in Cuba and didn't think it was too bad, so I tried Dee's lobster, too. It was delicious, as were her scallops. And this is only the appetizers.

Our main courses left nothing to be desired. Layne and I both had bison striploin, cooked a perfect medium with baby roasted potatoes, greenbeans and to die for onion rings, stacked in a neat tower. My entree was spectacular. I can still taste it.

Chris ordered baby pig rack, which was served with roasted potatoes and green beans as well. I didn't taste it but his commentary assurred me that it was mouth watering. Dee had grilled salmon and risotto. I tried both and wasn't too big into the salmon (it tasted too "fishy" for my liking), but the risotto was amazing. Creamy with a nice lemon grass flavor. Delicious.

After all this food, there was still dessert! I had a raspberry tart, served with raspberry sorbet. All I can say is that it was a perfect end to a perfect meal. Layne had caramel chocolate cake and Dee and Chris both had carmelized lemon cake. Of course, they all had much fancier names than that.

It was such a great evening. Great food and conversation with our best friends. And having the meal paid for didn't hurt, either! :)


AND....Chris and I are going to Edmonton on Wednesday evening for 2 nights sans kids! Chris has some meetings that he has to attend on Thursday and Friday, so we thought it would be nice if I went with him. Pat and Joanne are coming to our house to stay with the boys. It will be my first time leaving Levi overnight, but I am ready for it. I am just so excited to have some time alone with my husband to go out for dinner, see a movie, maybe do some shopping and just spend time together without the responsibility of kids. Should be a great time!

I am also hoping to purchase a new camera while we are in Edmonton (since we can shop without kids), since I dropped mine and killed it. :(

MOPS 2009-2010

As you all know, I absolutely LOVE my time at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and look forward to the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

Earlier this week I was speaking to the coordinator of MOPS for Crossfield and she asked if I would be interested in being on the steering team next year. Of course, I said yes! I had a choice of which position I wanted, as a few were opening up. I was optioned finance, publicity, newsletter or TLC.

I chose TLC coordinator, which means that I will be gathering up meals from the other MOPS moms to distribute to those moms that need some help. This could be moms that have just had a new baby, or those families that are going through tough times. Providing meals is just a small but important way to help families. I will also be giving baby gifts to the new babies born to our MOPS moms. How fun is that? And the best part? Dee is going to be the other TLC Coordinator, so I get to team up with my best friend, too!

I am so excited about this opportunity. In June, the steering team goes on a planning retreat for a weekend to plan the year's MOPS events. I hear that this is a very fun-filled weekend and I am very much looking forward to it!

So, anyone in the Crossfield area (Calgary counts, I think) that is a mom of a child up to 6, come join MOPS in September! It is a fantastic way to meet people, get a bit of a break from your kids for 2 hours and get some advice from other moms going through the same things. (Natasha- This means you!!!)

The power of Google

If you read this regularly, you will have read the poem that I posted a while ago. In case you missed it, here it is.

Anyway, this morning, I received an email notice that someone had commented on it. I opened the message and this is what I found:


"I am the author of this poem, and was just showing my son the power of Google this morning, when we found my poem on your blog! I am so honored that you posted it ... thank-you.

Enjoy your beautiful boys ... my boys are 11 and 10, and my daughter is now 6 ... time flies very quickly with little ones as markers.

All the best,

Bev Suntjens"

Ok- how cool is that?!?!

I actually got the poem from our monthly Crossfield MOPS newsletter and loved it so I had to share. I have no idea where the lady that writes our newsletter got it from, I'll have to ask her.

I just had to share this little tidbit. I thought it was pretty neat. I'm sure her son thought it was neat to see someone else showing his mom's work. I hope my boys would be proud of me.

I just did some "googling" of my own and discovered that Bev Suntjens is a fellow Albertan, from Stony Plain. Here is an article on her written in the Edmonton Journal last Mother's Day. Now I know where Beth from MOPS most likely got the poem from- the Chicken Soup from the Soul book.

This week's blessings

Ok, I must admit that this week I have found it quite tough to see the blessings through the muck. It just seems like it was a long, "blah" week. It took a while, but I was able to count my blessings this week.

- The boys and I spent a gorgeous day at the zoo with my mother in law. Not only was the weather beautiful, but the animals were all active and fun to watch. Going to the zoo never gets old for us, and it is nice to be able to share our enjoyment with others that don't get to go often as we do.

- I am thankful for a washing machine so that I can wash my son's poopy underwear. Ok, ok, I know, that one is a bit tongue in cheek, but I'm trying to find the humor in the seemingly constant lumpy underwear.

-I am thankful for my cousin Michael who through his business was able to hook us up with a fantastic new mattress set for a great price. I had been waking up every morning with a sore back and had been tossing and turning to get comfortable. Last night was our first night in our new bed and I can't remember the last time I slept so well.

-We are also blessed that Shawn and Carrie were coming to Calgary this weekend and were able to deliver our new bed from Edmonton. Without them we would still be a few weeks away from a good night's sleep.

-I am blessed to have 2 beautiful sons. As frustrated and tired as I can become with them, I must never foget how thankful I am to have them. They make my life complete.

The Mother of Boys

By Bev Suntjen

I am the mother of boys.

I play goalie as I make supper.

I can dribble a ball as I answer the phone

and can assemble a train as I nurse a baby.

I am the mother of boys.

I measure a good day not by the weather or

the company, but by the number of bugs caught,

the quality of the sticks found,

and the depths of the puddles splashed.

I am the mother of boys.

Fascinated ears listen to me tell

tales of alligators, dinosaurs and fast cars.

I do load upon load of blue laundry;

the only pink item to be seen is when a red sock

makes its way into the white load.

I check all laundry for reptiles and rocks.

I am the mother of boys.

I most frequestly say "Not so rough",

"get down, please" and "Watch where you're peeing".

I get dizzy watching little bodies run

circles around any inanimate object.

I am the mother of boys.

I wipe forever-dirty faces and hands.

At night, I am amazed by the many new

bruises and scrapes.

I join in prayers that thank God for

Airplanes and pirates and

Smarties candies.

I am the luckiest mother on earth.

I am the mother of boys.

Interview with a 32 month old....

Here is a conversation that Luca and I had this evening while I was preparing supper. He answered each question with such certainty, which was so funny, as you will see from some of his outrageous answers. It is so fun to see what little kids come up with.





What does Mommy look like? princesses



What does Mommy always say to you? Blast off!



What does Daddy do? Driving



Where does Daddy work? at Calgary "prolly" (translation: probably)



What does Daddy look like? Ummm....Saturday



What color are Mommy's eyes? (after inspecting them) Broken



Who is your favorite person? Daddy's my favorite!



How old is Mommy? BIG!



How old is Daddy? 7



How old is Papa? He has a chocolate maker



Where is Gramma and Grampa's house? Pa-lo-ka (translation: Ponoka)



What does Papa look like? Blue



What do you like to eat? Red food



What does Mommy like to eat? Salad



What does Daddy like to eat? Pasta



What does Levi like to eat? salad



Who is your best friend? Papa is my best friend. He is.



Do you have a girlfriend? Uh huh, she's at playgroup



What does Loki do when we go to playgroup? goes outside



What does she do outside? Bangs heavy things. (This is sort of true- she "throws" her bone on the deck and it is very loud)



What does Mommy do for you? She puts away stuff and opens things. Uh huh.

Amazing story...

I was reading a blog that I follow of a friend of mine and read this story. It is a woman's amazing tale of emotional survival. Although I didn't meet this woman, just reading her account really touched me. It forced me to remember that no matter how rough one of my days seem, there is always someone out there struggling with deeper problems.

I'm not sure how I would be able to cope if I were in her situation- the loss of an infant, then a husband shortly before the birth of another child. Wow. I can't even begin to imagine the grief.

I believe that some people (or some people's stories) are brought into our lives to teach us something. I don't know what that story was meant to show me, but I do know that it made me think about just how grateful I am to have 2 healthy boys and a healthy husband in a happy marriage.

Take a minute to read this woman's story. It is truly incredible.

25 Random Things about Me

If you are on Facebook, you may have seen this, but not everyone is, so maybe you will learn something new about me....




1. I love the color purple

2. I like to travel but am very afraid of flying. I am always certain that the plane will fall out of the sky. I just don't get how something so big can "float" up there. I try not to think about it.

3. The last flight I was on I threw up

4. I get motion sick easily. When I was a kid I always had my "puke bucket" whenever we went on trips. Even now if I sit in the backseat and can't see out the front window I get car sick.

5. I don't like boats

6. I want to get laser eye surgery but am afraid to

7. I have never broken a bone

8. I wish I had ridiculously long hair

9. I wish my hair was curly

10. When I am pregnant I get a large freckle on my right cheek that goes away a few weeks after the baby is born. Weird.

11. I love movie theatres but rarely get to go

12. I am a sucker for romantic comedies, even predictable ones

13. I love 5 cent type of candies

14. I don't love chocolate. I like it but I can do without

15. If we had a girl her name would have been Jenavieve Lynn. With a J, not a G because Chris didn't want her to be G.G. We would have called her Jenna for short

16. I hate, hate, hate any kind of amusement rides. See #4

17. I am ALWAYS cold. I plan my outfits based on layers. I can often be seen wearing long sleeves in the summer.

18. I like to sleep with socks on. See #17

19. I can not sleep with pj pants on. Too uncomfortable

20. I am very close with my Daddy

21. I like the smell of paint and gasoline. And dirt.

22. Saskatoons are my favorite fruit

23. I wish I was more artistic

24. I am a worrier

25. My biggest fear is tornadoes. I actually have anxiety attacks during the stormy season and it is worse now that we have moved to Crossfield. The storms come off the mountains fast and vicious.

Random Photo Post

Once again, another idea taken from my Aunt's blog....She has such great ideas and interesting posts, I just have to "borrow" them myself!



I randomly opened a file and chose a picture from our many, many photos. So here it is and the memories that go with it:

This photo of Luca and Hope was taken on December 26, 2006 at our house in Ponoka. Luca was only a few days away from his 6 month birthday, and obviously, it had just been Christmas the day before. Luca's first Christmas!

Luca wouldn't be crawling for another month yet, but was finding ways to get around on his tummy and by rolling. Here he is laying on the new toy from Auntie Jessica and Donny- a very noisy, but well loved toy! And you can see a talking Mater (from Cars) under his arm. Little did we know that 2 years later "Cars" would be such a hit for him!

Luca didn't yet have any teeth, his first would sprout a few days later.

And our faithful friend, wonderful protector Hope nearby, as she always was. By this point she had gotten used to Luca being around and was really quite fond of him. She was such a good dog and she is very missed. I'm glad I got so many pictures of her and Luca.

So, that's my random photo post. It's fun to relive some past photos!

This week's news...

Well, this week has been busy and it was a short week!

Chris left after the boys were in bed on Monday night to head to Fort Nelson. He made it to Stoney Plain, slept and then headed out for the day long drive. He hasn't had much cell reception so I haven't been able to chat with him much this week. :( Luca loves to talk on the phone and also likes to leave messages so he has been leaving Daddy some messages.

It is getting increasingly hard for Chris to be away. Luca is old enough that he really notices now, especially in the evenings. This morning at breakfast he was pretty quiet, then he looked up at me and said "Mommy, I want Daddy to come home for supper." It was so sweet and sad all at the same time.

Then this evening we went to Dee and Layne' s for supper. Being that Layne and Chris work together, when we have meals together the men usually arrive at the same time. Luca was a bit disappointed when his Daddy didn't come in the door after Adelynn's Daddy did.

Jessica got her driver's license last week (she's only 23, her learners was about to expire...no big deal! haha) and her and Donny came here this week. They arrived on Tuesday morning and stayed til this morning, Thursday. It was nice to have some company while Chris was gone.

The boys had fun together and Luca had his first real sleepover, with Donny sleeping in his room. I wasn't sure how it would go, I thought that they would be up late fooling around, but they were both tired enough that they fell right asleep both nights. Luca was so excited, he told me that "him and Donny had a sleepover"! I had hoped to get a picture of the boys in their beds in Luca's room, but no luck.

The 5 of us went to the zoo on Wednesday to see the animals and of course, the new Koala exhibit (til September, I think). We had great weather the the boys had lots of fun. Of course, we always enjoy the zoo, as you know.

Last night Levi had his first major injury. Or, actually, what could have been a major injury, but thnkfully wasn't. Luca has now mastered opening doors of all sorts. After supper, in the chaos of cleaning up, I didn't realize that Luca decided to go downstairs to the basement to play. (He was supposed to be heading upstairs for a bath). Well, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Levi loves to follow his big brother around. And he did. Right down the stairs. All the way to the bottom. Around the curve and everything (we have a curved staircase). The poor guy was sitting at the bottom, crying, looking up the stairs like he couldn't figure out what happened. He was ok, apart from a bit of rug burn on his forehead and nose. I was most definitely in worse shape. It's hard on a Mommy to see their little ones hurt. I asked Luca if he saw Levi fall down the stairs, and he replied with a very enthusiastic "Yup!". Guess he didn't really get the meaning of my questioning....

I guess we can be thankful that it was the basement stairs, which have been newly carpeted and are quite cushy and not the stairs from the second story to the main floor as ceramic tile greets you at the bottom of those ones.

Luca also decided this week that he was ready to wear his big boy underwear. I wasn't thrilled with the idea, being that Chris was away and I knew that we had a busy week ahead of us. But, I wasn't going to say no when he was asking. So, into underwear he went. He has done really well so far, with only 2 accidents the first day and none today! Of course, "George" has to go pee, too, when he does. In case you don't know, Luca has a Curious George stuffy that he loves to bits. They are best buds. So, of course, George needs to do what Luca does too. It is so funny to listen to Luca reminding George to tuck his penis in.....LOL

Luca saw Donny standing up to pee this week and thought that was pretty neat, but he told me he wasn't a big boy like Donny yet. Thank goodness, cuz that just seems like a lot more clean up to me!!! And a question for you experienced mothers.....what to do when a little boy is terrified to poop on the potty??? He has a few times and it is quite traumatic for him, he cries and is afraid to go again. Advice???

So, we have had a pretty adventure- filled week. And still 2 more days to go before Chris comes home.... :(