just a note

Just so you know, the timing of the blog is off. So, no, I was not up at 5:40am writing this blog. It was an hour later.

Mornings

In the past week my kids have been waking up way too early. They have been waking up between 6:15am and 6:45am. But usually it is more towards the earlier time. Why, I don't know. So, this morning my body automatically woke up to check the time around that time. It's so tiring. I also have a cold and so when I wake up I start coughing and can't stop. I hope these early days are over soon. They were sleeping until 7:30am and even that was good with me. Well, we will see what time brings.

The invitation

Here is the invitation for M's party. It was pretty fun to make, but took a bit of time. The lettering inside took the most work, but it's not that interesting so I'm not posting it. Anyways I just wanted to put it on here so people could see.

The Birthday Party

Today we had M's 3rd birthday party. It was a lot of fun. I was a little disappointed that more people couldn't come, but it was good anyway. I had fun planning it and putting it together. The theme was Tractor Tom. We used to watch the show all the time until CBC took it off the air. We had a tractor tom cake, pigs in a blanket(mini smokies wrapped in biscuit), a hay search, homemade horse on sticks, pin the tire on tractor tom and just lots of playing. There were only 3 other kids plus a baby, but M seemed to have lots of fun. I got a lot of my ideas from the internet. I think the funnest part for the kids wasn't searching through the hay for lollipops and toys, but throwing the hay around afterward. We used hay bales for sitting on. I wished I would've had more time to put it together today, but it all worked and I think it looked good and was fun. I think M's favourite time was opening the presents. He couldn't wait until the end, so we did it at the beginning.

My poor little girl

Today little M was sick. When I got her this morning her mattress was covered from top to bottom in vomit. Poor thing. We didn't know that she had thrown up until I went to get her this morning. I thought maybe it was that something she ate had hadn't agreed with her stomach. So, we went out to do one errand and then pick my mom up to go to the zoo. As we were driving I glanced back and noticed that she had thrown up, but she hadn't made any noise. I guess she's a silent one when it comes to this. So I pulled over and cleaned it up as best as I could. The only problem was that I never bring a change of clothes for her, so she was stuck wearing big M's extra clothes. I was beginning to wonder whether we should even go to the zoo because she wasn't feeling good and it was getting so late. But, we went and we all had lots of fun. When we got home they both had good naps and I thought she was better. The evening brought more vomiting for her. Poor thing. She ended up having 3 baths today. She is sleeping and went down well. I just hope that whatever this is, passes. It's always so hard to see your kids sick. So, with all of this, I have been doing laundry all day and it still hasn't all gotten done. I hope that nobody else gets whatever this is.

Questions

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? No
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? When my grandma died
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING Not really
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? some sort of chicken
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 1 son, 1 daughter and another one on the way
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? I don't think so
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No. I thought of it when I was younger, but I don't think I'd do it now.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Oatmeal Crisp with Almonds
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Usually
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Not as strong as I used to be.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? cherry cheesecake
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?Their clothes
15. RED OR PINK? Pink
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my legs
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my friends in general
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? I don't care
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?orange capris, no shoes
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? French fries and chicken nuggets at the zoo
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? the fan blowing
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? red
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? Fresh morning air in North Van, sea air, and fresh baking
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? my mom
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Figure skating
27. HAIR COLOR? Dirty Blond
28. EYE COLOR? Green
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No
30. FAVORITE FOOD? Indian and comfort foods from growing up
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Toy Story
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? green
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer
35. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Cheesecake
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? No clue, probably nobody
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Most people
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Nothing right now
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Nothing
42. FAVORITE SOUND? Waves, My kids laughing
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?I don't know
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME??? Bali, Indonesia
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Baking, if you call that a talent
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Swift Current
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? Don't care, it's just neat to read them

Birthday Time

Yes, today marks big M's 3rd birthday. It seems crazy that he is that old already, but at the same time he has grown up so much and so it seems obvious that this time has come. It's amazing how much they grow up from being a tiny, helpless infant to being a child who can carry on a conversation with you and have their own ideas of what they want to do.
We love him so much, he is so much fun and brings so many smiles to our faces. I don't know what I would do without him. He's always full of giggles, loves singing and playing guitar and loves playing outside. Obviously this is a challenging time as well, but right now I just want to say how thankful I am for him.
It's neat with this birthday because he understands so much more that THIS is his birthday. Every year I know it gets better with that and it's so neat.
On Sunday we are having his birthday party, which I hope he has fun and feels special. He is SO SPECIAL and we love him so much.

a great Father

My husband is a great father. The kids love him so much and are always so excited when he comes home from work. I know that big M is sad in the mornings when he sees that daddy is gone already. We all appreciate him. I appreciate when he takes the kids and gives me a bit of a break and they love it when he does this too. A few weeks ago D had the opportunity of taking care of the kids all day Saturday. At that time little M was especially clingy to me and since that time and a few extra days he had off last week she has come to want her daddy more. It is very cute.
Yesterday we didn't do too much to celebrate father's day. We gave D a gift, Ticket to Ride, which he was surprised by. We went out for lunch to a mexican restaurant, had a nap and then headed off to my parents place for a rainy day BBQ. Thankfully the rain decided to lift when my dad went out to BBQ and then it poured from then on.
Speaking of my dad. He is a great dad too. He is always very helpful and caring. I love him very much and appreciate him.
Dad's have such a big role in their child's lives even though they aren't around as much as the mom usually is.

There's nothing like dirty, happy children...

We went camping last night. Just for one night, at a local provincial campground. I love camping. Making fires, eating stuff you only eat because you're camping. I noticed that sleeping in a sleeping bag on a thermarest doesn't hold much appeal for me anymore. The kids had a good time. They got to play in the park and eat junk food and stay up late, I mean, what more could a kid ask for really? The weather was pretty good. It was freezing overnight though. I was wearing all my clothes, the kids had blankets and towels and whatever else we could throw on them. Ah, camping...
On a different note, I just had 7 consecutive "work free" days. I got some time off for bereavement because of my wife's grandmother passing. It has been really nice to be home with my wife and the kids. I miss them. I wish I didn't have to work, but somehow I don't think that's really doable... unless we moved into a cardboard box... hmmm.... Anyways, back to the grind tomorrow, the handyman thing's gettin' kinda old.
On another different note, our soccer team is doing actually fairly well in the outdoor season. I missed a good chance at a goal tonight, but I'm not really that good, so no surprise there. I do enjoy playing, and every game I learn a little bit that helps me the next time. I play defense and I think I'm getting the hang of it, beyond "try not to let them score". There really are a lot of things going on that one must pay attention to, even if it doesn't look like it from the sidelines.
Oh well, I suppose that's my token blog post for this quarter. Perhaps you'll hear from my again before the snow falls!

The Beginning And The End

This past week was a very hard week. Last Friday my grandma went into the hospital and my parents phoned and told us that we better come and see her because she wasn't expected to live long. So on Saturday my sister, brother and myself drove the 2 1/2 hour drive to Swift Current to see her. It was really hard to see her like that. It was especially hard because 2 weeks before that she had been in the hospital here and looked so much better. She was released from Saskatoon to go back home and live on her own again. So this latest news was quite shocking. Well, I won't make this long, but I just wanted to let everyone know that my grandma passed away on Wednesday. This Saturday was her funeral. It was very sad and just strange to think that she is not here anymore. She was a great woman and I spent lots of time with her growing up (she lived across the road from my family). I will miss her.
On the other end of things. I wanted to let everyone know that we are expecting our 3rd child. I am 3 months pregnant now and the baby is due December 12. I've been feeling fairly good. I was extremely tired at the beginning, but now that seems to have passed. Thank goodness! I also have problems with varicose veins and with every pregnancy I've noticed it earlier. I'm not looking forward to wearing the special stockings that I have to wear in the summer. But we are looking forward to having this baby. I think it gets more exciting as time passes. I heard the heart beat the other day so that is cool and just nice to know that the baby is doing good.