Kendra's Scraps

Kye turns 6!

2012-01-19T12:16:00.000-08:00

I thought I might as well just scrap these photos before I posted them! It was an awesome day. I was a little worried about all those boys with sticks but they were all great! It went by so fast and was so much fun!
K.

Christmas Layouts

2012-01-16T12:45:00.001-08:00

I am trying to get my Christmas scrapbook layouts finished because otherwise it will never happen! So I sat down and just got to it! Pre-made pages really help!
K.

panoramic!

2012-01-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

So I noticed our photographer, Jim, doing this technique and I thought I would give it a whirl. Basically you are creating a panoramic picture by stitching a handful of photos together. It's kind of tricky though particularly with continually having the sections in focus. Panoramas aren't new but I noticed Jim doing vertical panoramas and that I haven't seen before. Anyways, I definitely need more practice but it was kind of fun and I'm pretty sure I will be trying it again. It's funny because I used to have a camera that took panoramic photos when that was really cool back in the 90's!

K.

Merry Christmas

2012-01-03T11:18:00.001-08:00

Since I am drowning under the entire years worth of video files I am going to be quick and just share my favourite Christmas shots without going into too much detail. We spent Christmas Eve at home and Christmas Day at my sisters house.

It was kind of a whirl wind. Luckily I had found time to decorate before leaving for Hawaii, so aside from wrapping a couple of last minute gifts we were ready to roll.

Favourite gifts this year included, you guessed it, Lego, as well as Badger gear for Kye and Art supplies for Mackinon.

The smallest gifts were the most loved. In the bottom of their stockings was a custom clone. Which in case you don't know, are much sought after star wars minifigures that have been individually customized with decals and paints. I still can't believe Santa pulled through on this one! Judging from their faces the boys were pretty shocked too!

Daddy was quite please with his new set of tools. A much needed present to ensure our bathroom reno gets completed with the least amount of frustration! Stay tuned on this one, we are getting close to the big reveal!

And a huge hit was Grandma Beej's gift to the boys, a rod hockey game that had been Aaron's when he was a boy.

This is a chatimal that Owen got for Christmas from Grandma Mo. Actually they kind of look alike and whatever you say to it, the chatimal will repeat back to you in a chipmunk like voice. It is so hilarious!

And not one, but two Star Wars Minifigure Dictionaries, courtesy of Auntie Robin. Why has it taken us so long to realize that getting the boys identical presents is so much easier on our sanity levels!

The boys spent hours playing in the window with the Lego Holiday Village. Unfortunately, Hurricane Owen came through and it was flattened by the end of the night!

Christmas Day was spent snuggling Owen since he was under the weather.

And playing lots of Wii and also the new 3DS's the boys each got. Apparently Uncle Dale makes a pretty good couch!

And of course, it's just not Christmas without an all out wrestling match!
We were blessed with the most wonderful little boys, but couldn't just one have been a girl?
K.

Making a Batch of Reindeer Food

2012-01-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

I can see this becoming a family tradition!
K.

What did Ruffy get for Christmas?

2012-01-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

Of course we couldn't forget about Ruf. He was a real good sport about wearing the little christmas hoodie we got him even though it was quite snug, his hair is quite long now so next christmas we will have to get him a haircut so that it fits better!

But he loved, loved, loved his little bone pillow. Even when it was wrapped up under the tree he would drag it out and start chewing on the wrapping paper. He didn't do this to any of the other gifts just his, so it must have something on it that he smells like dog nip!

It has become his favourite toy and he drags it around everywhere!

The boys have developed a game where they throw it and how he carries it back to them determines if he is naughty or nice!
K.

Lego Christmas Jammies

2012-01-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist these little Lego Man shirts I found here http://www.etsy.com/shop/madebymorganwiebke?ref=seller_info Aren't they awesome! I paired them with pajama pants from Old Navy and then added a personalized Lego Minifigure made to look like each boy, I made these myself. Pretty cute, huh? And the boys were thrilled with them.

When we go to Lego Land sometime in the next two years we plan to wear them. Hopefully we can make it there before they grow out of them! We have been having LOTS of pajama days over the holidays since both boys have been a bit under the weather on and off so they are certainly getting their use out of them!
K.

Surfin' Santa

2011-12-21T13:00:00.001-08:00

Couldn't resist posting this one!
K.

Coming to a Mailbox Near You

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Our Christmas cards will be late this year, I just couldn't resist waiting to use our Hawaii photos for it. Better late than never!
K.

Mele Kalikimaka!

2011-12-20T16:55:00.000-08:00

Aloha! Here is just a little teaser from our Hawaiian vacation. We are very jet lagged and caught up in the Christmas Spirit so it will take me awhile to post everything. But for now here is one of my favourites from the photo session we had on the beach. You can see more of Jim Dierkings work here.
K.

HOCKEY

2011-11-23T13:54:00.001-08:00

Yep, the boy loves hockey! He wants to skate all the time. He wants to watch hockey games on TV. He drags pages of hockey cards around the house and studies them. He wants to have a Hockey birthday party with a "Epiton Oilers" cake. Boy am I in trouble! If only he weren't so darn cute in all that equipment!

Notice that little tongue poking out!

K.

Family Skate

2011-11-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

Wyatt and Kye are really into skating this year. So we decided to go skating together as a family. There were a few wipe-outs and it was pretty cold, but everybody had fun. Even little owen liked being carried around the rink!

K.

SaskLegoBoy

2011-11-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

Check out Mackinon's new youtube channel! He would love it if you subscribe to or "like" his videos.
K.

Cold November Days at Home

2011-11-12T15:47:00.000-08:00

It has been really gray and cold and a little bit snowy lately. And though outside is kind of depressing, we are enjoying staying snuggled up at home. Well, Aaron not so much, since he is working on our bathroom reno, and in an old house like ours, that is not a fun task! I help by holding things and making snacks, and lists, and Aaron crazy!
The boys are quite content to hang out in jammies playing Lego and watching movies. Right now they are into customizing their lego clone troopers.
Mackinon is actually making little videos of himself reviewing his creations and I am going to help him start a youtube channel. So I will let you know when we get that up and running. It's pretty cute stuff.
And Kye, when he is not doing whatever big brother is doing, is having a blast on the tiny bit of snow we got last week. He sleds down this tiny slope in our yard and woo-hoo's and does crazy twists and jump moves and little dances. He has spent hours out there dragging around Aaron's big snow shovel. He is ready for winter even if the rest of us aren't!
K.

trick or treat

2011-11-12T15:30:00.001-08:00

OK, I know I'm pretty late with this one, no excuses!
Mo and I carved pumpkins with the boys and their cousins, Wyatt and Owen, and I ended up carving 5 pumpkins myself! The only kid that was into it was Kye. He loved it! He spent an hour at least on his, and he didn't want any help, scooping guts and seeds or carving. The other boys were too busy playing to be bothered with it and little Wyatt tried, but as soon as I cut the top off his and he peared in and saw the pumpkin guts he turned green, and said he didn't think this would be for him. He has a bit of a weak stomach like his Mama! That was quite comical.

For Halloween the boys wanted to be ninja's. Actually they wanted to be a red and a blue ninja (Lego Ninjago) but I didn't have any luck with that so I ordered white with plans to dye them. Luckily, I tested the dye on a tiny piece of fabric first, they turned out pink and purple! The boys were pretty content with being white after I showed them the samples! It has kind of become a tradition for Aaron to dress up with the boys and this year was no exception. He even flew back early from Vegas to make sure he would be there. He was the Sensei, of course!
It was a pretty cold evening but the boys still managed to come home with a mountain of junk! I stayed home and handed out the caramel apples, which are becoming increasingly popular. I gave away all 26 this year. Next year I'll have to try to make more. Ruffy was hyped right up by all the kids in costumes, I restrained myself from getting him a costume, but next year I'm sure you'll see photos of him dressed up too!
K.

Uncle and AUNTIE!

2011-11-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Well, all of our teasing and hounding has finally paid off because we just got the news last night that we can start calling Gena, Auntie! Congratulations! We just love you guys! And Kye is totally looking forward to "eating tasty things at the weddin'" and you can probably count on a little dance show as well!
K.

off to the races

2011-11-06T08:54:00.001-08:00

I completely forgot about this handful of photos from September, so I thought I would post them now. Seems kind of funny doing summer photos when the world is covered with snow this morning! Oh well! Aaron sponsored one of the Lime Zero cars this summer so we went to check them out at the last race of the season. The boys loved it, though we didn't stay quite 'till the end. It was a school night, so it would have been pretty late by the time we got home. We will definitely try to go again next season.
K.

the bridge

2011-10-30T08:17:00.001-07:00

I wanted to get a shot of Mackinon out at the old bridge so that I could hang it with this one that I love of Kye.

Last time we were out there he refused to have his photo taken and spent the whole time throwing rocks off the side! So I paid him. Yep, I am not above bribery. His cost are going up though, it cost me 15 bucks!
K.

Great Grandma & Grandpa

2011-10-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we attended a party for Aaron's grandparents. It was their 65th wedding anniversary. I really can't even comprehend that! They are just so sweet and the whole family turned out to celebrate. It was really neat to see the photos in the slideshow of each family member through the years. Makes me daydream about how our little family will expand over time. Amazing!
K.

m&m's

2011-10-24T11:51:00.001-07:00

Aren't these little owls the cutest! I found this idea online and I knew I wanted to make them for the boys' classmates. Luckily they were pretty simple and only took a couple of hours to make, unlike most of the crafty projects I decide I should do and then regret about half way through!
K.

Happy Turducken!

2011-10-18T09:12:00.000-07:00

We were very excited to get an invitation to Thanksgiving from Uncle Chad and Gena. So we headed up to Calgary for the weekend.
Kye's Kindergarten class had made Turkey hats the day before and they were so cute we decided everybody needed one! He also made this lovely centerpiece.

We named him Mr. Turducken.
We spent the weekend doing a little shopping. I mean you can't go to Calgary and not go to The Lego Store, Pottery Barn and Ikea! The boys got off easy because Gena and I dropped them off at Shakers Family Fun Center while we toured through the Ikea. I think Aaron was regretting not monitoring my shopping since later, when he had to pack up the vehicle, we actually couldn't quite fit everything in! Anyways, they had a blast playing all the games, riding go-carts and trying laser tag. Aaron took these photos on his phone.

Nothin' like a little Dance, Dance, Revolution!

And Kye tried out the climbing wall!

Later when we met up with them they convinced us that we had to join them for some laser tag.

I spent the majority of the time chasing them all around trying to take photos in the dark. Occasionally I would grab my gun and shoot it, but it didn't seem to be working, it didn't have a little red laser dot when I pointed it so I showed this to Aaron while we were hiding behind a wall and he just gives me this look, grabs my gun and turns it around, apparently I had been shooting myself the whole time!
After that we headed over to Olive Garden for an early supper. You must get there early, and by early I mean 3 'o' clock, or you will be waiting for hours to get in. It is so worth it though!
On Thanksgiving morning we headed over to the brand new Airdrie skatepark. It is absolutely amazing! Mackinon was on cloud 9 the whole time.

Unfortunately, Kye Guy had a bad wipe out the first 5 minutes we were there and so he was pretty cautious after that and just wanted to play on the playground nearby.

The playground was brand new too, and had some of the craziest equipment I've even seen, really different things with a rubber coating covering the ground, so very bouncy. He loved it. Uncle Chad loved the cushy-ness as well being that he totally wiped out and twisted his ankle. I was nice and didn't take a photo of that!
Then it was home for some dinner prep and card playing.

And don't forget the monkey piles and wedgies!

I will never understand boys!
Uncle Chad had special ordered a Turducken, and if you're not sure what that is, I will tell you. It is a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with stuffing. Uncle Chad assured us that it would be Epic, and oh yes, it was!

Maybe the Turducken at Chad and Gena's will become a new family tradition! If only we could start calling her Auntie Gena!
K.

harvest

2011-10-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

I took these photos over a month ago now, and I am just getting to them! I'm starting to get a bit backlogged! Oh well.
We went out for a couple of combine rides and the boys just love it, of course I had to drag my camera along!

Of course, Aaron is never as receptive of my photo shoots as I would like, but we did manage to get this one.

Big brother did not enjoy the photos at all except for this one, something about big tires gets any boy to smile! Do the DC high tops give it away that they're not really farm boys?

After our ride, I dragged the boys out into some tall grasses and had them play photographer. I just set it on auto for Mackinon so that is why they are so dark and blurry, but I still love them cause my Kye Guy is just so darn sweet!

I got smart after that and set a tripod up for Kye so I could have everything set properly for him and all he had to do was push the button. Pushing the button is always fun, posing with your mom when you think it is embarassing even if you're out in the middle of no where, not so much!

Can't you tell, he is just barely tolerating me!

K.

up late at the scrapbooking retreat!

2011-09-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

I am going to try to get a couple layouts posted, but the wifi is pretty sketchy so we'll see how it goes!
K.

1st day of School :(

2011-09-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Yes, the dreaded first day of school has come. And not just any first day, but Kye's first day of Kindergarten. It's taken me a long time to be able to write this post and I finally decided to just get it over with. So don't they look cute holding their new Star Wars lunch boxes!

I kept telling myself to hold it together but after putting the boys to bed the night before everything just welled up, Aaron didn't know what to say so he just listened to me blubber and sniffle and blow my nose and other pathetic things. It's different for him because he generally doesn't see them during the day since he is working, but for me, my whole being has revolved around these little people. I managed to suck it up the next morning and actually I was excited for them. I love school stuff and new clothes and all that goes with the 1st day. You can tell that Mackinon has been through this a few times now and the eye-rolls were plentiful!

We went to Mackinon's 3rd grade class first. His room is upstairs this year with all the higher grades so that is a bit intimidating. Luckily we were there early enough that none of his friends could see me completely embarasing him with my camera! I even got a hug out of him.

Then it was on to the Kindergarten room where we found Kye's spot and had a look around. He did not seem nervous but happy and just wondering what to do first. Then, Mackinon came in and he must have been a little nervous because he gave me two more hugs out of the blue! He decided to stay and play with Kye until the bell rang. He and I had had a little chat the night before about looking out for his little brother, and he has been really great, letting him play with other Kindergartners but if he sees him by himself going and including Kye in their big boy games.

It was getting to be time to go so I quickly got a friend to take a photo of Kye and I together. By the picture you can't tell how my heart is hurting. I left the building and started walking home by myself. And that's when it hit me. I had no little shadow following me home.

It was pretty much an awful day. I even had to take another shower to wash all my sadness away before going to pick them up after school. They both had a good day. Kye brought home a handprint with a heart glued to the palm and a drawing of his family. Just what I needed! And all Mackinon would say is that Grade 3 is long! I managed to hold it together until bedtime when Kye chose a storybook called Linger, and for any of you Mom's out there who's kids are off to Kindergarten, this is a book to read with extreme caution. It is a beautiful book that is really written for Moms and by the second page I was blubbering again and having trouble speaking. Kye just looks at me with this look of "what the heck is wrong with you" and says, "why are you crying, Mama?" and I said, "because it is a sad book, can we pick something else?" and he says, "No". So I struggle through one more page and then he stops me and says, "It's OK Mama we can pick another one." And so I laughed at myself because it is so silly and to show him that I was Ok. But really I'm not.
K.

BMX

2011-09-11T15:37:00.000-07:00

The boys are just crazy about BMX, so we made sure to hit a couple of skateparks this summer. Aside from two popped tires there were no major incidents. I make sure to hold my breath and look away if necessary. I have found that if you are not looking they will be fine! It is all about 'getting air' and outdoing eachother! So far they are imagining themselves to be doing more dangerous things than they really are so that is good, I am all for imagination!
K.

Sunshine

2011-09-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

Truly I can say, I love this family. They have a true sense of what is important in life and their sunshine is infectious! For more of their photos check out www.thatmomwithacamera.blogspot.com
K.

Surprise!

2011-08-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Aaron and his two brothers had a surprise party for their Mom who was turning 60. She was surprised to say the least! We booked the basement of her favourite restaurant and had all of her family and friends waiting inside.

As we were waiting for her to arrive, and were getting ready to yell, "Surprise". Kye said, "I think she's going to pee her pants!" Well, she probably just about did! You could tell it took her a minute for everything to register and then of course it was lots of laughs and maybe a tear or two. Gotta love it! And the food was awesome of course, chinese, so even Mackinon loved it. And of course some wrestling and mischief with Uncle Chad!

There was something about a chicken ball flying through the air....
Anyways, Happy 60, Grandma Beej!
K.

swimmin' lessons

2011-08-23T17:59:00.000-07:00

Kye and Mackinon both took 2 weeks of lessons in Shaunavon this year and they really enjoyed it. Mackinon got his Level 3 and Kye passed Crocodile. Mackinon really came a long way and is now attempting dives and has a good start on his front crawl. Kye of course, will do anything brother will do, so he is also doing the front crawl! The weather was pretty good, with just one day of rain, though Kye still needed a warm tub after every lesson! And the highlight? The salamanders of course, one morning there were 9 in the pool!

K.

Vegas, Baby!

2011-08-22T15:55:00.001-07:00

Apparently we aren't the only crazy people that go to Vegas in summertime because it was packed! It was 105 degrees, I think that is like 42 farenfeit! It only cooled down to about 32 at night, it was hot like you've never felt. This was our second time to Vegas so we were trying to take it easy and just relax, but that is easier said than done in Vegas, it's not really a relaxing place. We mostly hung out at the pools at our hotel, Mandalay Bay, totally the place to be.

We did some shopping and Aaron was even a good sport about it! We saw the Jabbawockeez and they were awesome, went to a crazy piano bar and the house of blues, and of course we ate lots and lots of tasty meals.

It was just a quick weekend gettaway but it was really fun, as for the gambling, we each put a dollar in these Star Wars machines, but no luck, we just couldn't pass them by!

K.

more camping

2011-08-22T09:46:00.001-07:00

We were only home for a few days when we turned around and headed back out camping to Elkwater and Cypress. I should mention that Kye lost his second tooth the day before and he managed not to swallow this one! We were driving and all of a sudden he shouts, "I lost my tooth! I thought it was a Lego piece in my mouth but it was my tooth!" He was so excited and proud of himself.

Anyways, we had a great time in Elkwater, our favourite thing to do there is bike, they have all these awesome trails and boardwalks.
Of course we put in a day at the beach as well. Wyatt is so funny because he just loves to lay and roll in the sand. I loved his little face with the sandy beard and eyebrows.

Then it was off to Cypress where we did the usual Cypress things like mini-golf, the beach, the pool, eating ice cream on a daily basis. We had lots of awesome campfires with crazy stories and songs. We went geocaching and found 3 very good caches and almost got lost on the way back! Kye had a few incidents on his bike, it seemed like anytime we biked somewhere he wiped out! He scraped up the same elbow 3 times the poor little man, he just doesn't have slow-down in his vocabulary! We hiked around the lake every night and I even managed to get in a few lane swims, yay me! We also got to witness the Hillbilly Hustle and started to make plans with our friends the Thienes' on who would do which leg of the race for next year, but then we could barely get our butts back up to our campsite so we decided, maybe not! I also paid the boys $5 for a little photo shoot on the dock, well worth it!

K.

swimming hole

2011-08-21T15:32:00.001-07:00

We found this really cool little swimming hole at Farragut State Park a few years ago and decided we definetely wanted to go there again, so one hot afternoon we headed over. It is kind of a little inlet on the side of the lake. It's not very deep, with sand and trees and mountains surrounding it. It is very beautiful and peaceful.
There were lots of families enjoying the area but not crowded at all. The boys had fun trying out their snorkling equipment and having waterfights.

There is also a family of ducks that live there and the mama will bring her babies around hoping for someone to throw them bread crumbs and she let us get pretty close which was so cool.

Of course Kye got cold pretty quickly.

But Mo loved the snuggles.
Got some nice photos of the boys too.

Love this place, it is like something out of a movie, it is so tranquil with the blue/green water and mountains.
K.

jedi on the forest moon

2011-08-12T20:02:00.000-07:00

These little Jedi Knights were battling hard in the forest on Endor. Master Mackinon was teaching his Padawan all his tricks even the youngling Ownie One One was found to be strong with the Force!

K.

Ahoy, Mates!

2011-08-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

We drove down to Couer'd'Alene and bought tickets for a Pirate Cruise on the lake. It was a great compromise because this way the adults got to take in the view of all the mansions on the lakefront (ok that was me, really), while the kids were entertained. And entertained they were! When we boarded the ship the boys were decked out in pirate bandanas, beads and eye patches

and we all got into the 'rum'! The dad's were much more agreeable when they found out the boat had a bar! There were four actors dressed as pirates who stayed in character for the whole hour and a half and they took the kids on a search for treasure complete with a sword fight and canons booming.

It was really funny and even the adults were laughing, there was even a pirate dance party. And they saved the best for last (thank-goodness), they gave each kid a sword and there was complete mayhem for the last 5 minutes of the ride with kids attacking the actors as well as each other!

Even little owen, who can be quite the surly little pirate, enjoyed himself!
Here are two more favourites from Couer d'Alene.

K.

silverwood 2011

2011-08-12T16:31:00.001-07:00

Of course our summer wouldn't be complete without a trip to Silverwood Theme Park and this year we had great weather for it.

We went back and forth from the theme park to the water park and I think the water park was more of a favourite this year, especially the lazy river. Kye liked this the best because he could sit on top of someone in their tube and have only his feet in the water so that he didn't get quite so cold. He is a hot tub guy, even in summer!

And everybody liked pulling their tubes in to the swim-up bar for slushy drinks!

At first Mackinon thought it was very funny to push people over in their tubes, until he was leaning way over in his tube trying to push Uncle Jody over and he completely flipped himself forward into the water! HE came up sputtering mad, sure that Aaron had dumped him. It took about half an hour for him to get over it and I still don't think he believed his Dad was innocent!
But it's pretty hard not to have fun at a place that looks like this!

It was even better this year because Kye and Wyatt were just barely tall enough to go on the waterslides. The best is definetly the group waterslide, I thought maybe I could take photos of us with my water camera as we were going down the slide, but that proved to be impossible, I was too busy shrieking. Aaron thought he could do it, but apparently that didn't work either, I have photos of lots of yellow and blue blur!

The theme park was fun too, especially all the sugary treats and we even managed to find jedi double lightsabres when it started to get dark, they were good for many hours of entertainment on our trip! There was even a mini one for little Ownie One One!

And Kye figured out that it was more fun to spray the riders than to ride the rides! At various rides you can put a quarter into a water gun machine and spray the people on the ride. Well, after last year, Mo came prepared with a whole roll of american quarters and while his dad, brother and cousin were on the bumper boats Kye and Uncle Jody went nuts with the water guns, you could just hear Kye screaming, "More Money, Uncle!, More Money!" Mackinon, who is just a little bit stuborn, ended up completely soaked trying to spray his brother back!

Nothing says 'Family Fun' like soaking your loved ones!

Mo took this photo on our way back from a train ride that goes all the way around the park, it had started to rain a little bit and a rainbow appeared, it was almost 9 at night so getting pretty dark but I managed to edit it somewhat and I think it turned out really cool!

on the beach

2011-08-12T13:58:00.001-07:00

After leaving Creston we headed down south to a cool little beach town called Sandpoint in Idaho. We spent the afternoon playing in the sand and water and Robin and I managed to sneak away for a little while to explore all the awesome shops along the water. There was a cool drawing program going on where kids from all over the USA could draw illustrations for a story and then they would be compiled into an online book so Mackinon was busy with that for quite awhile since he loves to draw. The little boys kept busy by getting buried in the sand, they are quite the pair!
K.

mountain climbing

2011-08-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

So when we got out to B.C., Papa Norm had a little mountain adventure planned for us. Luckily we were able to drive most of the way to the top. Not that driving was any less of an adventure being that the road was used for logging and not really meant for scenic tours and lets just say driving along the side of a mountain is not for the feint of heart. I was quite relieved when snow blocked our path and we couldn't go any further. The boys thought seeing snow in summer time was hilarious and you just can't have snow with out a snowball fight so they were quite entertained. It was realy quite beautiful and you can see the town of Creston way down below in the valley. Aaron was even good enough to hunt me down some mountain wildflowers for me to press even though he is horribly allergic and his eyes had been weeping for days by that point, how romantic is that!

keeping cool at cabri park

2011-08-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

We spent the July 1st weekend at Cabri Park and met up with Aaron's cousin Ryan and his family. We spent the weekend trying to keep cool and luckily Aaron's Auntie Celia was more than willing to let us use her boat. The boys weren't so much into the tubing this year, but instead loved to explore whatever small strips of sand we could find, and had cannonball contests off the back of the boat! Gotta love that brown river water! Here are some of my favourites from that weekend. Because we were on the boat I took along our little point and shoot which is kind of nice because then Aaron can take some photos too. I also find that if I leave my big camera behind I can relax more and not be constantly thinking of photos I could/should be taking, I guess I've become a tad bit obsessive!

K.

toothless

2011-07-19T11:54:00.001-07:00

Yep, it's official, after weeks of this tooth hanging on a thread it finally decided to come out. Unfortunately, Kye swallowed it. We were eating breakfast at Cabri Park on July 1st when we noticed it was gone. Kye was not upset that he had swallowed it, he was just relieved that it was finally out and that there was no blood in his mouth, which he was quite worried about! We didn't have to worry about the tooth fairy either since the boys' Great Uncle Don played that part pretty well. You see last summer Mackinon had a loose tooth while we were camped at Cabri and while we were sitting around the campfire one evening, Uncle Don, who may have had a few beverages, told Mackinon that he would give him $50 bucks if he pulled it out. So Mackinon sat there and worked on it (it really wasn't that loose) until it came out and fell into the grass in the dark! So then we had a bunch of men with flashlights searching through the grass, and yes, they did find it and Mackinon got his $50 bucks! Fast forward to this summer and another missing tooth and what you do for one, etc. etc. you get my drift, and Kye is $50 bucks richer. The tooth fairy is really not all that impressive after that!
K.

markers gone wild!

2011-07-19T10:43:00.001-07:00

Need I say more?

Apparently he wanted to make himself look like Darth Maul from Star Wars, not bad really.
They all have to do it once, this reminded me of when Mackinon painted himself brown, see below.

At some point, you just have to laugh!
K.

quad buddies

2011-07-19T10:10:00.000-07:00

So lets go back to June, I know I am a little behind in my blogging! It is always hard to keep up in summer. I take more photos in June-Aug than I do the whole rest of the year! Anyways, back to June...
So we spent one Saturday afternoon at the motorbike hills with the family of one of Mackinon's best little buddies, Jax. He had just got his own quad so they were very excited to go for a ride. Needless to say, they loved it, they rode for hours touring around following each other over bumps and through the dirt. It was so nice for us to have friends to share the hobby with.
K.

summertime clickin'

2011-07-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

I had such a great time photographing this family on their beautiful farm. All of the locations we used were within walking distance of their home, just amazing! You can see more of their photos on my photography blog, here.
K.

while you lay sleepin'

2011-06-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

You may have heard this new song on my blog. It is called I Wish You Love and I loved it the minute I heard it. The words are "while you lay sleepin' I just sit and stare and pray you're dreamin'".
From the time my babies were born I have spent hours and hours just watching them sleep. It didn't see to matter what else I should have been doing it was like I was transfixed by their little faces and the smell of their sweet baby breath. That is my heaven for sure. Even now that they are bigger I have a really hard time prying myself away from their warm little sleeping bodies. I try to savour it and breathe them in while I can. So when Kye fell asleep on the rug the other day for an uncharacteristic afternoon nap I jumped at the chance to capture his peacefulness.
K.

pine cree

2011-06-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

We have been out at Pine Cree Park just for the day, twice now. We have yet to make it with the trailer though, the weather just hasn't cooperated and Aaron has been way too busy. Normally we do our first trip there so that we can make lists of everything we have forgotten and then go and get them since town is only 20 minutes away. It was beautiful both days we were down there and the boys just played their little hearts out, riding bikes,

splashing in the creek,

sliding down a dirt hill,

eating junk and exploring. This past weekend we met Mo, Papa, Wyatt and Owen there for the afternoon

and the boys had great fun building forts

while Owen was content just to eat anything he wasn't supposed to be eating, you know, like rocks, dandylions and already-been-spat spitz!

What a kid!
And I actually managed to get a good photo of Papa with each of my boys!

We are so lucky to have a place like this so close to home.
K.

Playday 2011

2011-06-14T10:22:00.001-07:00

It may have been a little cooler than expected but that didn't stop them from having a great time, especially in the afternoon when the events were things like blindfolded pudding feeds and water balloon catching! Kye and I went to watch and Kye absolutely loved it, I made him go home so we could let the dog out and put on some warmer clothes and it was a big fight to even do that. I am thinking he is going to love Kindergarten, knock on wood!

K.

jeepers creepers, where'd you get those peepers?

2011-06-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Yep, those are my eyes, and up until a few weeks ago they didn't really work all that well. Aaron thinks I'm blind as a bat and I pretty much am at -5.25, or 20/400 eyesight. I asked my optometrist what 20/400 actually means and he explained it like this. If you were standing 20 feet away from something and can see it perfectly you have 20/20 vision. For me, from a distance of 20 feet I see the same thing as though I were 400 feet behind that 20/20 person. Yeah, kind of puts it in perspective, doesn't it. I used to wear contacts 24/7 but after having Kye I just found that they felt really awful and I couldn't stand them for more than a few hours so I resorted to wearing my glasses again. There are so many negatives about wearing glasses that I am not going to list them here. Naturally, I would be thinking about laser, right?

The problem is that I am kind of squeamish about things like needles and the such so the idea of somebody lasering my eye was quite disturbing. Well, I finally got enough courage to go for a consultation to see if I would be a good candidate for laser surgery, and before I new it in only a few short weeks (so that I had less time to back out) I was having the procedure. I just tried not to think too much about it but the day before I started to get pretty freaked out.

Aaron was able to take me to Regina for the procedure while the boys stayed at home with Grandma Mo. We got to the clinic early and so we sat in the waiting room while others were being led through the procedure. They did 18 people the day I was there. The worst part was that you could hear the laser. It is only a few seconds but it kind of sounds like a key being cut. Not good.

Finally it was my turn and I was standing at the front desk going through the post operative instructions but by the time we got to number 3 on the list I just started to feel nauseous. I told the lady and she quick got me sitting down, then all of a sudden it just felt like all the blood was draining out of my body and beads of sweat broke out all over me. I have never fainted, but my sister Robin faints quite a lot and she said that is what happens to her before she blacks out. Luckily, I didn't actually faint and with some water and cold paper towels it went away within a few minutes. I sure felt ridiculous though and Aaron was looking at me like what the heck is wrong with you. Needless to say they then gave me 2 ativan and I felt much better, a few minutes later it was my turn and once I got into the laser room I was able to deal with things and keep myself under control, it was the whole thinking about it that had me all worked up, once it was actually happening I could get through it.

It really is amazing. You lie down and they sort of swivel your chair back and forth between the flap cutter thing and the laser. It is extremely bright but because you have a device holding your eye open you cannot squint or blink and they are squirting freezing drops and lubricating drops onto your eye constantly which is a pretty weird sensation when normally you would blink them away. When it is all over they even give you a DVD of your eyes being done and thank goodness it didn't include sound or you would have heard me repeatedly asking whether I had enough freezing drops in my eyes. I tell you, if I had seen that movie beforehand I would never have been able to go through with it but actually you can't feel a thing, it's pretty easy stuff.

So then the flap is cut and then they use a kind of tiny pin looking thing to flip it back, all the time squirting it with drops. When they do this you lose your vision, and they say, "Ok, it is going to go black now." And sure enough it does. Pretty freaky, right? Then they swivel you under the laser and suddenly you can see this circle of green dots with a red dot in the middle and they tell you to stare at the red dot which is actually kind of hard because for some reason I wanted to look at the green dots! Then the lasering starts and it makes the awful key cutting sound and it smells just a little bit like burnt hair, gross, I know. Then they flip the flap down and kind of brush it with a glue like substance and squirt it with lots of drops and keep brushing it down which is weird cause it's like somebody using a paintbrush on your eyeball and then it is on to the second eye. The whole thing took maybe 10-15 minutes.

Then the girl was like, OK you can sit up, and I could see. I'm not kidding. It was hazy, like there was a sheer curtain in front of me, kind of like walking through a dream, but I could see. And so I just started laughing. Then they take you and tape these ridiculous clear eye shields over your eyes so that you can see but you basically look like an alien. Then you must wear sunglasses over top. Very cool. You have to wear the sunglasses for 48 hours and then whenever you are outside for 2 weeks and you have to tape the shields on each night. They were so uncomfortable and I think I scared the boys a bit when they would see me in my alien get up.

Then it was off to the hotel where I had strict instructions to sleep for 6 hours, wake, put drops in, eat, take sleeping pills and sleep until morning. So much for going out for supper and a little shopping! The next day we had a check up appointment where my vision was measured at 20/30 and then we were free to go home. I was already so amazed with how well I could see. It has been 3 weeks and my right eye is 20/20 and my left is 20/25 and still getting better. I had a little bit of ghosting or double vision from my slight astigmatism but as the swelling goes down and my eyes heal it is disappearing. It is totally awesome, everyday I just smile from things that I can see and keep thinking I have to go take my contacts out or put my glasses on and then I just laugh cause I really don't! It's weird but amazing. I was thinking about posting the movie of my eyes being lasered but I don't want to deter anyone else from doing it so I won't. So if you are considering it go for it, if I can do it, anybody can do it, it was well worth it.
K.

soccer season

2011-06-07T15:50:00.001-07:00

It's been a little squishy, but that hasn't stopped the boys from totally getting into soccer this year. Kye just loves being the goalie and beating the goalie!

And Mackinon is stoked to be one of the oldest on his team with his best buds Justin and Jax.

He even scored his first goal at soccer practice last week.

Now that is saying something, since he spent all of last year running in the opposite direction whenever the ball came near him!
K.

water, water, everywhere!

2011-06-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

This pair of mallards has taken up residence across the street from our house on the Courthouse lawn or shall I say lake. You know you have a problem when! Is it any wonder that water is coming in our basement? We have been busy trying to stem the flow with minimal success. We have now decided we must dig down to the foundation at the front of our house, re-membrane the wall and put in some drainage tile and an external sump pump for these types of high-tide occasions. This is all well and fine except that it must be done by hand because the water pipes flowing to our house just happen to reside right where we need to be digging! On top of that Aaron has limited time trying to balance work with farming, neither of which are benefiting from all this water! Let's just say it has been a long, wet spring and things aren't really looking any better for summer! But hey, if those ducks have babies, man that would be cute!
K.

Kye's Playschool Graduation

2011-06-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

It was bittersweet at the end of the month when our little man graduated from Playschool. He is so ready for Kindergarten but at the same time I will really miss walking into our little Playschool. I was president of the Playschool Board this year and though we definitely had our challenges I found it really rewarding and have made a great friend of our Playschool teacher Miss Sue. Both our teacher and helper are amazingly caring people and I will miss seeing them each week.
The graduation was really nice with the kids performing a few songs and the teachers getting a bit sentimental, then I had to speak and it was absolutely awful as I was an emotional wreck and Aaron said no one could even hear what I was saying! Oh, well, the teachers heard me and that is all that matters, thank goodness it is over with! Then it was time to wind down with a make-your-own-sundae party. Now I am putting on a brave face and it's on to Kindergarten!

K.

Lego Cupcakes!

2011-06-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

So I found this really cute idea for Lego themed cupcakes on the Internet and I decided to make them for Mackinon's class for his 8th birthday. I mean how hard could they be, right?

Well, I should tell you that I have never been much of a baker. Crafty? yes, Creative? yes, but anything involving baked goods and icing just isn't my thing, so to take this on was a bit out of my comfort zone.
I found the yellow fondant at Michael's and read the directions carefully. It wasn't quite as yellow as I would have liked but that was fine. It rolled out pretty easily but because I don't exactly have a cookie cutter in the shape of a lego minifigure's head I had to use a knife to cut the approximate shape and then sort of molded it into what I wanted. This was a nightmare! It took 4 hours! You can see that Mackinon seems to be smiling and pretty satisfied with the end result, but that was just a show to make me happy. To top it off, the yellow fondant is actually lemon flavoured and it was absolutely awful. I even had to send a note warning the kids that they might want to actually remove the decoration before eating the cupcakes. I think I'll just stick to letting Auntie Robin make the cakes from now on!

K.

happy birthday, LEGO style!

2011-05-03T16:03:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of Mackinon before we went into the store, you can see the intense anticipation in his eyes. It was more like, "Just let me in that store and stop taking pictures of me, Mom!"
Given the option of a typical birthday party with friends or a trip to the LEGO store in Calgary(Canada's only), Mackinon chose the latter. We decided to go a month early since Aaron is so busy in May. Auntie Robin, Uncle Jody, Wyatt and Owen came too and Uncle Chad and Gena helped us celebrate as well.
Once in the store, is was contained mayhem with children and their parents trying to maneuver in a store that obviously needs to be about 10 times bigger!
The pick-a-brick wall at the back of the store was a major attraction.

You can choose to fill a small or large cup with various bricks from the wall and if you spend $75+ you get a free small cup. We got 2 free cups in the end!
It was pretty overwhelming with all the displays to look at and all the excitement. We were kind of like deer in headlights!
The boys had fun at the make-your-own-minifigure station, (these were their goodie-bags)

and checking out all the different displays including none other than the Lego Death Star, a $500+ set that the boys have been drooling over.

Aaron once tried to convince me we should get it for them for Christmas, are you kidding! We already spend an ungodly amount of money on Lego! I think secretly Aaron would like the Death Star for himself!
Mackinon was in Lego Heaven taking it all in and was jiggling up and down he was so excited when we told him we would buy him the Turbo Tank. He also had money from his grandpa to spend and Uncle Chad let him pick out a gift as well so we were pretty weighed down with Lego by the time we were done. They put it all in a gigantic Lego bag that he could barely carry and then we got to drag it around the mall with us!

After leaving the store he was still grinning to himself with this far-away look in his eyes and he says he wants to do the same thing next year for his birthday so it must have been good!
We spent the rest of the weekend watersliding and building Lego in the hotel room, and trying to keep Owen from eating and/or destroying it!
Here are a few more favourite shots from the store.

K.

trackside

2011-04-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to check out some stock cars up-close. Aaron sponsors one of the cars so he was invited to come to the test & tune afternoon. The boys got to meet the drivers of the Lime 0 team, crawl in the car through the window and watch them test out thier cars on the track. We plan to go back and watch a real race soon. Mackinon, especially, was very excited with it all. It was a bright afternoon but I managed to get a few good shots in on the shady side of the car, you know me, everything is a photo shoot!
K.

happy easter 2011!

2011-04-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

Wyatt, Owen and Mo came over this week to help us decorate some eggs and get ready for the Easter Bunny! Owen stole the show this year. He was sooo excited that we were actually allowing him to do something that felt a lot like trouble! He would grab an egg and smash it down into the cup of dye! When we took them out to show him he would go, "oooohhh!" in this kind of exited, growl voice and before you could stop him he was smashing another egg into the dye! Nonetheless, egg salad will be on the menu for some time.

spring?

2011-04-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

It hasn't looked much like spring around here yet, being that it is the end of april and there are still snow banks in our yard! At Kids Corner at the Library I did a spring craft, little boats made out of milk cartons, and lets just say we had some leftovers! We made about a dozen little boats and Kye was happy to take a few on their maiden voyage in the puddle out front of our house. Hopefully, other signs of spring will be along shortly!

it's all about the hair!

2011-04-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

This is certainly true for Kye. Recently he has decided to sport a new look, the faux-hawk, he also does spiky-all-over, caeser and just flat, depending on his mood. It's so cute the way he studies himself in the mirror, and if he likes it he'll say to himself, "I look awesome." On his first day with the faux-hawk we were walking into his playschool class and he looked up at me and said, with a shrug, "the girls are going to fall on me." Oh, yes, they are!

more scrapbooking

2011-04-11T14:44:00.003-07:00

I spent a day over the weekend scrapbooking with some friends. Slowly, I think I am getting caught up!

K.

back to scrap

2011-03-25T21:31:00.003-07:00

I am trying to get back into the swing of things scrapbooking. Here's some recent
pages.I always have trouble getting the christmas pages done. There are just so many of them. So I cheated a bit and used 4 quick pages I found online. Well worth the money in my opinion!

K.

Music Videos

2011-03-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

OK, so finally I have compiled a music video for you. I just clipped in bits from various songs to save you the agony of watching them all. Almost daily, Kye entertains me with one of his 'shows' complete with costumes that he chooses himself. He also likes to wear his big brother's shoes that are a couple of sizes too big! I made him the little guitar because I thought it would totally work with the head-banging and he gets really into it. And don't ya just love that little butt wiggle, beyonce's got nothin' on him! If you come over for a visit you will have front couch seats for the live version because he's not shy about entertaining guests! Turn the music off in the sidebar before watching the video.

K.

the force is strong with this one

2011-03-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Click stop on the music playlist in the sidebar to get the full effect of the video.
This little video was sent to me by Papa Norm and it sure did hit close to home! Kye actually does the very same thing, he tries to force things around the house, so far he has only had success with Mackinon's bedroom door. Because we live in an old house the door will close by itself if you put it in the right position so he will proudly tell you, "I can force Mackinon's door you know." The boys loved it and have watched it over and over. The little guy in it sure does a good job considering he uses only his body language because his face is covered with darth's mask.
K.

Enjoying the Winter

2011-03-01T07:05:00.000-08:00

For the February break we headed out to Creston, B.C. and this was truly the first time we have actually been able to enjoy winter. Between all of us being sick at one time or other and the crazy cold temperatures we haven't done much of anything like sledding, skating or even snowball fights.

So finally we were all able to enjoy the white stuff. We spent a few days at Papa Norm's and we found a little hill that with the help of a tractor we turned into a pretty good sliding spot complete with jumps.

We also went to the leisure centre and the kids just loved the pool, lazy river and hot tub. We even found Creston's skate park which is right beside the leisure centre and though it was covered in snow we had to go and check it out.

Mackinon even had me take photos of it so he could plan his moves for next summer! Then it was off to Schweitzer Mountain at Sandpoint, Idaho.
We spent three full days skiing.

Yes, three full days! I did not expect that. I thought we might do a half day here or there, but no, the boys loved it! And by day two I could not keep up with them anymore.

I was skiing as hard as I could (which is quite comical) to get ahead of them and snap photos but I just couldn't do it they were whizzing past me before I even had the camera out of my pocket!

It was a really great place for kids. There is a magic carpet on the bunny hill which is just a conveyor belt that you stand on and it carries you up the mountain. Beyond that are two green runs that are serviced by a junior chair that is smaller and lower which caters to little kids and people just learning to ski, it was perfect for us.

It is also only a $25 lift ticket if you are only going on that chair and kids under 6 were free (yes mackinon is 7 but shhhhh!), so very affordable. I should also mention that along the sides of these green runs were little terrain parks with jumps and also trails through the pine trees. It didn't take long before the boys were brave enough to try these out, me not so much. Even Aaron got into it by 'riding the rail' which I must try to upload a video of that!

The first time he fell right on his butt, but he tried it a few more times and soon he was impressing the boys! The bravest I got was climbing up a 12 foot bank of snow to rescue Kye when he went off into the trees, we slid down on our bums though!

We also stayed right on the mountain which is just so convenient.

So on day 2 when Mackinon twisted his knee at the end of the day we just dropped our skiis off and headed in to our room in a matter of minutes. We had a jacuzzi tub in our room, kind of like a mini hot tub that the boys thought was absolutely the best so we soaked away our sore muscles or lack there of.

There was also an outdoor pool and three hot tubs that we took in twice (well aaron took the boys twice, I only braved it once and that was enough). The pool was hot enough to swim in and so they would cannon ball in and then come running back to the hot tub.

Then one evening for supper we took the boys out to a pub for root beer and wings, gotta love the states!

We played a little UNO while we waited for our wings and the boys found a blast from the past old Pacman arcade game which was so cool, you can't beat Pacman.

The weather was quite good while we were there, only -2 and it snowed like crazy the whole time. We actually all bought goggles just to see through the thick stuff.

I think they got 2 feet while we were there!

On the last day it started to get colder but Mackinon did not want to quit, we had to force him to come in for hot chocolate and at 2:30 when we had booked the tube sliding hill he still didn't want to quit! By the time we got to the tube hill it was getting pretty stormy and for $60 we only managed 4 runs, it was really fun though pretty overpriced. Then it was time to head home and you know you're at an actual mountian when your ears get so full of air on the drive back down, it took a whole day for them to go back to normal! We are definitely looking at booking again next year and hopefully if it warms up we will be able to make a couple day trips to Elkwater before spring.
K.

Catchin' Up

2011-02-28T16:40:00.001-08:00

Whew! What a big sigh of relief to see my blog back up! If you have tried to visit recently you would have seen a page saying that my blog has been disabled. Apparently it was taken down by Blogger because of a filter that marks it as being spam or inappropriate content. I had to send in a form to have it reviewed and luckily it didn't take very long for them to put it back up. So now, I am really behind. Not only have I fallen-off the wagon on my 28 day challenge I also have a weeks worth of ski vacation photos to blog about!
The 28-day challenge was a bust I guess. I made it to day 15 and then we had sick kids and then we headed out to BC for february break, so it just got put on the bottom of the to-do list. On the up-side I was able to read a really book on flash while I was away and so I'm going to practice a bit more with it and I'll upload a couple of those for you. And the Kye Dance Party video is still coming soon just give me a couple of days!
K.

DAY 15

2011-02-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Dance video coming soon to a blog near you!
K.

DAY 14

2011-02-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

Little boy home sick from school on Valentine's Day. Ruf-ruf was glad to have somebody to cuddle!
K.

DAY 13

2011-02-13T17:15:00.001-08:00

DAY 12

2011-02-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

DAY 11

2011-02-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

DAY 10

2011-02-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

DAY 9

2011-02-10T08:28:00.000-08:00

DAY 8

2011-02-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

DAY 7

2011-02-07T12:11:00.001-08:00

DAY 6

2011-02-07T12:09:00.001-08:00

DAY 5

2011-02-05T13:59:00.001-08:00

DAY 4

2011-02-04T18:46:00.001-08:00

DAY 3

2011-02-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

DAY 2

2011-02-02T17:36:00.001-08:00

28 DAYS

2011-02-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

I have decided to issue myself a little challenge for February. For the next 28 days (pretend you don't notice that it is actually Feb.2 today) I am going to try to get better acquainted with my external flash by using it everyday and posting one photo each day to my blog. I probably won't journal about each photo but you will know they are for my 28 day challenge because I plan to convert them to black and white and add a frame to them like this photo. I'm hoping to make some sense of how to get natural looking flash photos because in 40 below weather the only place I can really take photos is inside my house. Want to play along? You don't even have to be learning a particular skill, just try to take a photo each day, it'll be fun and get us out of our picture taking winter blahs. I plan to take a lot of photos that show the little stuff, the everyday stuff, things that I might not capture otherwise.And yes, I will be posting another photo later on today!
K.

Kye's Birthday Weekend

2011-02-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

So as I posted before we had to change our plans for Kye's birthday because he and everyone in our family was so sick. So we changed the date to last weekend. We had originally planned to do a repeat of last year and take the boys to Medicine Hat to the water slides with cousin Wyatt. But at the last minute Aaron overheard the boys saying that they wished we were going to Regina so that we could go to Chuck E Cheese. So unbeknownst (I am sure that is a word!) to them we switched our reservations and also booked a Chuck E Cheese birthday party for Kye. We didn't tell the boys until we were on the road and well you know how that goes you expect them to be super excited but no, they just sat there like oh yeah, except that Mackinon had this little grin on his face and I'm not sure Kye really remembered what Chuck E Cheese was since that last time we were there. The first thing we did was to swing into Toys R Us so the boys could blow their Christmas money. They had been agonizing over the latest LEGO catalogue for the past two weeks deciding how to spend every last penny! We should so have stocks in LEGO! Then we checked into the Sandman where we would stay for the first night since we had a free night to use up. The boys were content to build their Lego and we had a nice supper at Moxie's where Kye thoroughly enjoyed his 'spicy ribs' which in Kye language means chicken wings. Then we thought we would check out the pool but unfortunately there was a hockey team there who thought screaming all at once at the tops of their lungs was the funniest thing ever. The manager came in 3 times in the 15 minutes we were there to yell at them and never kicked them out so we left, it was just maddening. Of course no parents were in sight, we saw them come in at 11:00. Yes, we even got to be on the same floor with the little monsters. And between them and a soccer team it was less than a peaceful night. We were mad and we weren't even paying for the room! The only reason we stay there is when Aaron has a free room to use up and we have had issues there before with the pool being disgustingly cloudy and once there was even a cat howling outside of our door (though that was in Saskatoon). Anyways, not promoting the Sandman. The next day after picking up the Dairy Queen cake (a snowman) we met Auntie Robin, Uncle Jody, Wyatt and Owen at Chuck E Cheese for the big party.

I was not sure what to expect but it turned out way better than I had imagined. It was $17 per kid and we were lucky because we were the only party booked at noon. There were going to be 6 parties at 2:30 and the girl said we we would be much happier with the noon time slot! So the kids went nuts enjoying all the games and then we had pizza and pop and then Chuck E himself came out and did a whole thing with Kye including lots of high-5's, and singing happy birthday and even a little dance party thrown in.

Then it was time for the Ticket Blaster. Kye and Aaron got to go into this canister thingy and we got to watch as paper tickets were blasted at them, and they had to try to grab as many as they could in 30 seconds. It was absolutely hilarious! Aaron ended up knocking a whole bunch of tickets into Kye's crown which worked awesome and when they came out Kye didn't even realize they were in his hat until we dumped them out. It was definitely his favourite part of the weekend. He said, "yeah, that was so sweet!".

Then he opened his presents and we used up the rest of our tokens and cashed in our tickets. We had saved out tickets from the last time we were there and Kye had gotten 300 bonus tickets in the blaster and still we didn't have enough tickets for a decent prize. That is the only thing that disappoints me about these places. I mean it has to cost you a $100 for a $2 toy! This is very hard for Mackinon to understand as every time we have been there he is obsessed with getting as many tickets as he can because he has something picked out on the wall worth 300,000 tickets. It just sucks. So Kye spent 50 tickets on a tiny box of nerds candy and we saved the rest for next time. By the time we collect enough they'll probably be to old to want anything off the prize wall! Oh well, we all still had an awesome time. After Chuck E we checked into the Travelodge where we had 2 poolside rooms. They are actually the nicest rooms we have stayed in with the kids. And the waterslide was great and the hot tub was hot and the pool was warm so bonus!

We ordered out Applebees for supper and we all swam and the kids built a fort out of pillows in the hotel room and everybody was happy.
I think we were all just happy to be out and about and doing things we have had such a sucky winter being sick and stuck inside.
I convinced Kye to pose with me for this computer sketch at Chuck E Cheese since I figured it would be the only photographic proof that I was at the party since I am always behind the lens. I think it turned out pretty good!

K.

kye turns 5

2011-01-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, every year on the boys' birthdays I blog about how I am so sad they are another year older and how did that happen and so on. So even though I still feel that way, I will spare you the details!
Kye's birthday happened right in the thick of things when we were all so sick so plans had to be canceled and he had to settle for Daddy bringing home MacDonalds and a McCain Deep and Delicious cake and opening one of his presents. So funny, because every year I go a little nuts on the boys' parties and really and truly he was pleased as punch with this little birthday. He was most excited about his new LEGO castle set and has been playing with it almost daily ever since. We rescheduled our party plans for this coming up weekend so I'll wait to tell you all the details.

Happy New Year LEGO style!

2011-01-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

So for the past couple of years we have spent New Years Eve with our friends the Thienes' and normally we do some sort of winter activity in the dark such as tobogganing, skating or skiing(not in the dark). But this year with a sick kid and -40 temperatures we had to think of an inside activity.

For Christmas the boys got 4 different LEGO games. The idea is to build the game out of LEGO and then play the game. We played 3 on Christmas Day and they were pretty good, our favourite was Pirate Code. So we decided to play the last one, Creationary, for New Years. It is basically the same idea as Pictionary although instead of drawing the item you must build it out of LEGO in the allotted time and then the 'guesser' must try to figure out what it is you have created. Everybody played and it took until 11pm for the game to be finished, there were some pretty good creations and lots of giggles. Then we sat back and watched the Rockin' New Years Eve coverage until midnight when we cracked open the Christmas Crackers that Auburn had brought for us.

It was a nice quiet evening with friends but by midnight Mackinon was looking pretty rough. He had been sick since Christmas Eve and we would find out just days later that he actually had pneumonia! The germs would then sweep through our house even taking down Mo and Papa Norm and later Wyatt and Owen, and put the Fahselt's out of commission for much of January.

It was just plain awful. At one point kye woke up and could not talk and barely breathe so I had myself and both boys at the hospital at 5:30a.m. only to have to go back at 8a.m. to see the doctor at which point my van succumbed to the sub-zero temperatures and the brakes froze on it so I was unable to drive it home. So with both sick boys in the cold van and myself in my pajamas and just being diagnosed with laryngitis (Kye also had laryngitis) I ran down the street to Wendy's house who saved us and took us to get drugs and then finally home to call CAA. Let's just say, not my best day. This is why the blog had no activity for basically a month, we were that down and out! Since Aaron was away during the worst of it, sick himself in Saskatoon but too stubborn to go find a doctor, luckily I had lots of friends to help us out getting us groceries and drugs and picking up kids and dropping off kids and even shoveling our walk. So it seems I have a good long list of favours to repay! Thank goodness for good friends! This is actually the first week that we are all back to normal. So you'll have to be patient while I catch up here!

christmas favourites

2011-01-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some more of my favourites from Chrismtas Day. Highlights were; lego games, watching owen giggle over the motorcyle santa, the lobster and prime rib supper, skateboard wii game, looking at my scrapbooks of course, ruffy finding a friend, owen getting into the salads, making ice cream, kye vs. uncle chad hockey game and having supper at our new dining table that everyone could fit at (though that little wall really does need to come out)!

an Xtreme gift

2011-01-19T08:08:00.000-08:00

After everyone was combed and brushed and ready for the day after Christmas morning we bundled up and went outside for one more gift from Papa Norm. He had built each boy a small ramp/quarter-pipe for their new bikes. Mackinon's eyes just about popped out of his head when he saw them. It was pretty slippery on the snow and the boys were pretty cautious so there wasnt' much actual jumping going on. Come spring though, I think we're in trouble! Daddy decided to give it a go though, much to the boys amazement and giggles. It didn't work out so well. Now Papa Norm has orders for a rail for Mackinon's birthday. Mackinon has dreams of having his very own skate park!

christmas morning 2010

2011-01-18T17:14:00.001-08:00

Now this is the face every parent hopes to see Christmas morning!

This was Mackinon's expression after coming down the stairs and seeing the BMX bike of his dreams sitting under the tree. He was so sure that he was getting it that I didn't know what his reaction would be, but he just couldn't stop smiling and staring at it. Kye liked his orangy bike too by the way.

Of course there were more presents, featuring, you guessed it, mostly lego.

Mama and Daddy didn't do too bad either. We were surprised with a variety of home-made gifts and Mackinon secretly bought me a necklace at the craft fair which he put a lot of thought into picking out for me.

Ruf-ruf just enjoyed the ribbon!

Grany Joan and Papa Norm were there to celebrate with us an Grany Joan captured this one of me in my element. I've only decided to post it because I am hardly ever captured on film!

Then it was on to breakfast. We call it Christmas Brunch, others call it Wifesaver, Mackinon says it is his favourite thing to eat at Christmas, and for the kid who doesn't eat, that is saying something!

All in all it was a pretty great Christmas morning!

Reindeer Food

2011-01-18T07:47:00.000-08:00

At playschool Kye Guy made some Reindeer Food and brought it home for use on Christmas Eve. It is basically oatmeal and glitter. It came with a little poem that explains how it works.

Sprinke on the snow at night,
The moon will make it sparkle bright,
Santa's reindeer fly and roam,
This will guide them to your home!

After we got home from Auntie's house Daddy and Kye spent some time spreading it in the moonlight on the front lawn. It must have worked because there were reindeer tracks in the snow the next day!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

We spent Chirstmas Eve at my sister, Robin's house which is quickly becoming tradition. The best part in my opinion is after supper when the boys open a few gifts, they first must open thier matching Christmas pajamas. We then strip them down in the middle of the living room (except for Mackinon who is now to old and shy for that), and get them into their jamas. Then we 'try' to get a decent photo of them under the tree and then open the remainder of the presents. They just look so cute and cuddly! The only bad part was that this was the night that Mackinon started to get sick on us so we ended up going home a bit early. Here are some of my favourites. I really should have brought along my flash.

Sledding Fun

2011-01-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

Bare with me now, cause our household is just starting to come out of a month worth of sickness, so the blog and photos in general have had to take a backseat. I'm getting to them slowly, slowly!
Over the Christmas holidays we had the chance to spend an afternoon sledding out at Mackinon's little buddy Justin's house. All four boys had a great time sledding down a pile of snow in the yard. Mackinon and Justin lasted the longest and when Mackinon came in he had a scratch on his chin. He told me he hit his chin going off the little snow jump. It wasn't much of a scratch so I told him he would live and to go and play. Well, a few hours later after we got home he comes into the kitchen yelling, "Mom, my chin's bleeding!" Sure enough he had a scrape directly underneath his chin where I hadn't seen it and something must have happened to break open the skin and know he was bleeding all over the place. And here I had told him he would live and to just go play, nice mom, huh! The worst part was that over then next week or two it kept breaking open and so then I was dealing with a bleeding kid and a bunch of bloody laundry!

the lego winter village

2010-12-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

So when the Lego Holiday catalogue came out this season we noticed right away that they are starting a Winter Village Collection. And we knew, being the Lego fans that we are, that we would be replacing out cermaic set with one made of Lego bricks. So far there are only two building in the collection, the bakery and toy shop. They are both pretty cute and one set comes with a little outdoor skating rink and the other a community Christmas tree complete with lights and gifts. They also have a ton of mini-figures which is the big thing around our house, it's all about the 'mans'!
So I added the two sets to my already ridiculous bill at Lego.com and when they arrived we spent a weekend putting them together. They now reside in our front bay window and surprisingly the dog has not eaten any of it....yet! Both boys spend hours playing in the bay window with these sets and we have had to make a rule that the holiday sets do not leave the bay window, we can't chance them getting mixed in with everything else or we would never find them again!
I was coming home from walking the dog when I noticed Aaron and Kye in the window playing Lego in their jammies. It looked so cozy and warm and cute I had to run for my camera and snap a few shots of them from outside. I wasn't sure how the lighting would turn out but I was pleasantly surprised. I think this will make a nice new Christmas tradition.
P.S. Please don't judge me by my dirty windows the boys cannot keep their little paws off them!
K.

Parade of Lights

2010-12-02T18:29:00.000-08:00

The Christmas season is officially upon us! Tonight was the annual Parade of Lights and we were lucky enough to be able to view it from inside this year. Our friends, the Johnston's, have front row seats from their veranda so we didn't have to brave the cold! The Library is hosting a photography contest called A Day in the Life. The idea is that you would take photos throughout the day of anything going on around town. They will choose 24 submissions and create a kind of montage of them. Kye was sick today so I didn't get much of a chance to get out and snap but I did manage to get this one!

winter wonderland

2010-12-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

It was a bit colder than we had hoped for (-18) and the foggy morning had us second guessing ourselves but it turned out to be just beautiful. I had planned out my locations on the weekend so we quickly moved from spot to spot and were done in about 20 minutes and the little guy managed to stay happy right up until we put him back in his carseat! Aren't those big brown eyes just gorgeous? You can see more of their photos here.
K.

GO RIDERS!

2010-11-29T09:25:00.000-08:00

Even though the end result was not quite what we were hoping for the boys still had fun cheering on their team! Well, the big boys anyways, the little boys spent the evening playing together and Mackinon came into the kitchen at one point and asked me, "Mom, do you even like football?" (Perhaps my reading a novel and building a gingerbread house during the game, gave me away!). "Well, not really." I admitted. But I do think they look cute in all their green gear!(The boys not the players!)

FUNspiel

2010-11-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

Aaron is helping coach the junior curling this year now that Mackinon is old enough to participate and this last weekend they held a family funspiel. We weren't sure how the Fahselt4 would make out with Kye being so little and Mackinon having only had 2 practices so far. They both did great. Mackinon was a bit frustrated that he only managed to get the rock over the hog line twice but he loved the sweeping. And Kye loved the throwing. He was the littlest guy there and he used a technique much like a bobsled racing team. He would start in the hack with both hands on the handle of the rock and then he would push off and run down the ice until he reached the hog line, then he would let go and slide on his stomach. It was quite amusing! Most of his rocks went right through the house so Aaron and I tried to get him to tone down his delivery but that just wasn't as much fun so he continued on. Needless to say we came in dead last, but at the end everyone got to 'pick-a-prize' and the boys each got a small LEGO set which they were thrilled with of course. We all had a really great time and I can see this being the first of many to come. These were taken with my little point and shoot so they are not very good quality but you get the idea!

Grany and Papa

2010-11-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of taking a few shots of Papa Norm and Grany Joan while they were here. Aren't they sweet together!

Our Family Photo

2010-11-08T20:06:00.001-08:00

Well we got it in just in time, the last nice day before the snow hit. You would never know that on this day it was +20 and the next day it would be blizarding, such is Saskatchewan! How did I manage to get a family photo with myself included? Well, it was not an easy task. It involved a tripod, a willing grandma to push the button, lots and lots of scrutinizing to get the focus just right, a Papa telling me how I should be doing things, and a fairly patient husband who was holding his pose while wrangling two small boys and a dog. Fun stuff, I tell ya! Not bad considering. Why go through this craziness every year? Because I am a stickler for tradition and because everyday I walk past our family photos from years ago and they always make me smile, to see how those little boys have grown and changed but are still the chubby cheeked little babes from our first family photos, now that is priceless.
K.

Halloween Apples Tricks and Treats!

2010-11-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

Halloween for us started awhile ago at the Fall Fair. There was a contest to carve the best pumpkin or other fruit or vegetable, so we got our creative juices flowing and decided to do a gourd and a pineapple. They turned out pretty darn cute, but nonetheless we did not win the contest.
Then a week before Halloween we carved pumpkins at Mo and Papa's house.

Normally this is an all-out competition between myself and my sister over who can carve the best pumpkin, for years we have tortured my mother into judging between us and somehow she manages to stay out of it every year. This year the boys were old enough to decide how they wanted their pumpkins carved so that took some of the fierceness out of the competition. There were still a few pumpkin seeds being shot across the room though, before Papa could get them in the oven to roast.
Owen Powen was the funniest, he is not going to be left out of anything anymore so he was in there mucking away and trying to do anything he could to cause a little havoc.

A few days before Halloween I made my (becoming famous) Caramel Apples.

This is the third year I have made them and I must say, I am quite impressed with myself. They are dipped in caramel and then covered with reeses pieces and the combination of caramel, chocolate and peanut butter on an apple is AMAZING! I managed to only eat the remains of the 4 apples that the kids ate, I thought that was pretty good! I made about 2 dozen to give out to friends who came to our door and that was just about right. We normally only get 10-20 trick or treaters, and the majority are people who come specifically to our house to see us, I think the apples are a major influence!
For Halloween, Mackinon and Kye decided they wanted to be Batman and Robin and I had this great idea to decorate their black powerwheels as the Batmobile.

It was not too difficult and they were thrilled with it. Ever since Aaron dressed up as Darth Vader a few years ago, they have wanted Aaron to dress up as well, but he told them he couldn't find a costume in time. Well they were absolutely stunned when he jumped out of the backdoor at them in a Joker costume. Seriously, he did look pretty freaky! I was videotaping and they just sat there in stunned silence. Not a peep from them and then it was like, "Oh yeah, whatever, Dad." No enthusiasm at all, but truly they were both just in shock. It was quite funny! Well, they had a blast driving the batmobile around town and turned quite a few heads. They came home loaded down with junk and Kye ended up puking his all back up in the middle of the night. Great fun!

ultimate scrap weekend 2010

2010-11-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

So I just returned from our annual Ultimate Scrapbooking Weekend in Cypress and so I am absolutely exhausted and my brain can barely function from staying up until all hours scrapbooking my little heart out. I'm talking 14 hours a day of straight scrappin'. It's nuts I know, and to top it off I returned to a house full of couped up boys who had spent the weekend in doors because Kye caught the flu that Mackinon had all last week and now he was puking. I might also mention it was Halloween day and Aaron decided we should put up the Christmas lights. Anyways........I was going to upload the Halloween photos but I just need a nap so you'll have to settle for the layouts I made instead. These are just the digi layouts I made, I also did some pages in the boys' school albums and some other mini albums. In case anyone is interested I am teaching a beginners digital scrapbooking class at the Museum later this month.

2010-10-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

These are some of my favourite people! You can see more of their photos here.
K.

the grandsons

2010-10-25T12:41:00.000-07:00

So Sunday morning Mo and I planned a little photoshoot for her and Papa and all 4 grandsons. Let's just call it a 15 minute powershoot! That's about all Papa could handle, actually he went along with it quite well with minimal grumbling. And that little Owen-powen, I think I may have him figured out, the trick is to completely ignore him! Cause if you want him to do something he will do the exact opposite! His mama is going to be very jealous of that big grin I got out of him.

boys in the field

2010-10-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

The other night we went out to have our annual ride in the combine with Aaron. Funny how things have changed. Aaron and I both remember spending lots of time in the fields with our dads, even having naps behind the seat. Playing in the piles of wheat and chewing the wheat until it turned into what we called gum but was really slimey, rubbery, grainy gobs! Now our kids go out once or twice for their little ride, it just isn't considered safe anymore. But we sure have fun when we do go and the boys both love it. I snapped these shots in pretty much the last remaining field.

brothers

2010-10-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to check out some old houses as photography locations so I dragged the boys along with me. It was kind of impromptu so their outfits aren't exactly ideal, but at least they were matching. They were less than willing, especially Mackinon, he would have much rather sat in the van watching The Adventures of Clutch Powers. But at least with your own kids you can bribe and threaten them and so they came along grumbling. The trick is to get them to leave the 'I totally am annoyed with you' faces behind! I got a lot of those faces. Here is what I came up with, they were a little freaked out by the old house and were worried that 'someone' was in there. I was more worried about skunks or badgers or owls!

wake up call

2010-10-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

The other morning I went in to wake Mackinon for school but thought Ruffy might do a better job of it.
Sure enough he snuggled right in and started licking Mackinon's ear.

Nothing like a little dog breath in the morning to get you giggling!

You can sure see why they call Shihtzu/Bichon's teddybears!

do you recognize this family?

2010-10-21T08:17:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's right it's us! Occasionally, the children torment me until I agree to 'play' LEGO with them. For me this usually involves building a house. It is my specialty. After completing the most recent house, Kye decided it was our house and that he needed to make us out of LEGO people, this is what he came up with. Note, the boys each wearing a shirt of their favourite colours, Mackinon green and Kye orange, Daddy wearing the quading helmet and me sporting the Princess Leia minifigure bikini, not quite sure about the connection there but at least I have some pretty lipstick on!

fall family photos

2010-10-18T20:45:00.001-07:00

I took some more fall family photos the other night. We were lucky to get a beautiful night with very little wind. We got some nice photos of the family but when I tried to get some of the little man by himself, it just wasn't happening. He could say 'cheese' very well for a 2 1/2 year old the only thing was that it didn't make him smile! Obviously he'd been taught that if someone is taking your photo you should say cheese and that makes them happy. So he couldn't figure out why we kept trying to get him to smile as he wandered around saying cheese to himself, like hey, I've already said cheese a million times, now will you leave me alone and let me play with my truck! Oh well, he's pretty cute with or without smiles! Here are some more.
K.