Little Toewsies

Like White on Rice

2012-01-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

Another LONG day with 3 kids at home. I was on the fence about whether to send Micah back to school yet, so when Keziah woke up with a sick tummy, it was an easy decision to keep them both home.

After playing 2 games of Clue Junior, sticking stickers on paper, driving cars down the side of the toy-box into an empty laundry hamper, refereeing a wrestling match on the trampoline and letting the kids watch WAY too much TV, I came up with a great idea that kept Silas busy the entire time I was making dinner. I found a few nearly-empty bags of different kinds of rice and a few random raw macaronis and created Silas' own private rice table.

We're talking hours of fun. Why didn't I think of this before?

Well, there is a downside to every fun thing, isn't there? Playing with rice in a bucket does not mean that it will stay there...

Fortunately for me I have a weird enjoyment of the "ding-ding-ding" of rice getting sucked up the vacuum cleaner, so it really was a win-win situation for all of us...

Cabin Fever

2012-01-21T13:18:00.000-08:00

Those 2 words pretty much sum up my entire week. The snow itself wouldn't have been so bad and wouldn't have kept us too house-bound, but a sick 7-year-old definitely has kept us all sticking close to home.

Here's the low-down on how the week transpired:

Saturday/Sunday:

- Micah starts showing the tell-tale signs of pink eye, which means cancelling 2 fun events with school friends on the weekend.

- We start giving him over-the-counter polysporin eye drops.

Monday:

- It's snowing. A lot.

- School is on though, and we manage to get Keziah there (though I regret it later when the snow keeps coming).

- Micah is feeling good despite his red eyes, so the boys and I have some fun in the snow.

Tuesday:

- School is cancelled.

- We play outside until Keziah gets snow in her boots and drops into a crying, floppy pile on the road. We barely make it back to the house alive.

- Micah's eye drops don't seem to be helping and he starts getting fevers and flu-like symptoms.

Wednesday:

- School is back on but I decide to keep Keziah home anyway since Erik needs the van and it looks like a blizzard outside.

- I spend a LONG day inside playing referee between Keziah and Silas.

- Micah is feeling lousy and watches TV for about 8 hours straight.

Thursday:

- Micah wakes up with eyes crusted over for the 4th night in a row. I make a doctor's appointment for later that afternoon.

- I manage to get Keziah to school and drag the boys to Superstore since my fridge and freezer are empty and we've been living on hot dogs, applesauce and beans for the last couple of days.

- Micah lays in the cart for the duration of the shopping trip and doesn't even want a free cookie from the bakery.

- We see the doctor later that afternoon after waiting an hour. Find out Micah's one eye is pretty infected and get a prescription for stronger eye drops.

Friday:

- School is cancelled again on account of freezing rain.

- Silas has been begging to go outside since Wednesday. I go out with him for 15 minutes while the older 2 watch from the window.

- Micah has a TWO-hour meltdown between supper and bedtime. Can't remember the last time he's been so worked up about something. I end up laying with him in our bed until he falls asleep.

- 8:00 pm: Erik and I finally sit down for an evening of TV.

- 9:15 pm: I wake up from a deep sleep and notice Erik snoring from the next couch. I turn off the TV and walk with eyes half-closed to my bed.

Who would've guessed a week at home could be so... exhausting.

Good news is, Micah seems a bit more like himself today. His appetite is slowly coming back and him and Silas had a good wrestling match this morning. He just finished a game of Tiddly Winks with Keziah and is gladly heading outside to build a snowman with Grandma. His eyes still look red and goopy so he's probably going to be house-bound a wee bit longer.

But, here's hoping that next week brings healthier kids, less weather drama and a few days in a row of wearing something other than our pyjamas.

BC has 4 Seasons After All

2012-01-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

The other morning we woke up to winter.

It started melting as soon as the sun came up - perfect snowman-making snow. I headed out with the boys (including cousin Caleb).

We all agreed that the pine branches made good snowman hair.

After the snowman was built (and then thoroughly pummeled to a pulp by 3 rowdy boys) we headed to the front yard for some more fun. Like snow soccer.

Then it was time to head inside and warm up with some cookies and hot chocolate.

Keziah joined in on the treats even though she had decided to stay inside instead of participating in the snowy fun (an inside girl much like her Mama...)

Turns out that little bit of snow was just the beginning. After another dumping today it looks like we'll get to have winter for a little while longer...

After School Play

2012-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

What is it about the inexpensive entertainment like empty wrapping paper tubes and hot wheels that trump all the new Christmas gifts in the next room?

Whatever it is, it kept these boys entertained for awhile.

Meanwhile, Keziah had more feminine pursuits.

A "new" thrift store umbrella served as the perfect place for her doll-babies to find some shade (with that fluorescent light fixture overhead I don't really blame them).

But before I knew it, Silas had abandoned the tube-car-sliding and wanted a space to play like Keziah's. So, I hauled out his new Ikea bedding, scrounged up an empty laundry hamper to be his doll crib and swaddled his monkey...

And even if I do all of that for 15, 10 ... 5 minutes of quiet play... It's always worth it.

Last Year's Loose Ends

2012-01-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

I've been missing in action on the blog-front the last while, so by way of a quick catch-up, here's how we finished off the year 2011...

We celebrated.

With Keziah's Rainbow Party behind me and the Christmas season in full force, I was all about simplicity when it came to celebrating Micah's birthday this year. In the end, we were able to do a joint party with one of his friends from school who was also turning 7 in December. And renting the ARC gym for 2 hours was the perfect way to entertain 20 kids (most of which were boys!)

The birthday boys:

There was face painting:

(Can't remember what Micah was supposed to be - all I know is that even after washing his face, it was slightly tinged-green and jaundiced-looking for church the next morning...)

The bouncy house (cousin Caleb can barely contain his excitement!):

And double-presents :)

The other mom and I agreed that we might have to make this December double-birthday party an annual thing!

We danced.

Well, one of us danced. Keziah did awesome at her ballet recital. The beach-ball-themed dance wasn't quite as heart-melting as last year's performance but still very, very cute. It was her maturity level and ability to cope with the chaos that was significantly improved from last year (imagine a hundred girls backstage all coming and going - me leaving her in the midst of the chaos {in the care of a stranger} so I can sit with Erik and watch the recital...) She did have a break-down right at the end when she couldn't find me right away, but all in all, a positive experience!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the actual performance. I'm still trying to figure out the capabilities of my new (to me) camera and whether taking pictures of moving targets in dark spaces is even possible...??

We worked.

Erik "took 2 weeks off" over the holidays, but the quotations imply that he still mostly worked during those 2 weeks. But at least he was working on things at our house instead of someone else's :) Him and his dad spent several days replacing all the old windows in our house.

Micah helped a little bit too.

It's nice to know they're more energy-efficient, plus we now have opening windows in places where we didn't before - like these 2 smaller windows on either side of our big picture window in the living room.

Erik also replaced all our old electric baseboard heaters. The advantages? They're white instead of dingy beige, more energy efficient, and also a lot smaller than the old ones (which means one baseboard doesn't have to take up an entire wall and limit furniture placement options).

We hiked.

We took a day trip to the Othello tunnels...

Sporting her new scarf and Hello Kitty earmuffs that she got for Christmas...

This kid can't get enough of his "di-wego" boots even though they're about 3 sizes too big...

2 thumbs up!

Silas could've thrown rocks into this river for h-o-u-r-s. His fingers were almost frozen solid and we still had to tear him away from those rocks.

We skated.

Skating with 3 wobbly kids is no easy task. Even with the help of those push-bars, Erik and I got a pretty good work-out helping our kids around the rink for an hour.

We upgraded.

Another project Erik did over the holidays was build a bottom bunk for Silas. We took Silas out of his crib a few weeks ago and it was time to give him a big boy bed of his very own.

Loft bed/crib combo before:

Bunk bed after:

When we eventually have more bedrooms for these kids, the boys will probably be together in one room with the bunk beds and Keziah will get her own room with a loft bed. For now, Keziah and Silas are sharing the bunks, as the bedtime routine seems to work best if those 2 don't have any direct visual sight-lines to each other...

Phew, now that I've tied up those loose ends, it's time to fully embrace 2012.

Happy New Year everybody!

Christmas on the Farm

2011-12-27T19:57:00.000-08:00

We were all up before the sun on Christmas morning...

... ready to take part in the gift-opening festivities - gifts from us as well as from Granny & Grandpa Harder were waiting to be unwrapped!

Time to start opening...

Silas was so pumped about the dollar store cell phone in his stocking that he had to try it out while it was still in the box...

A new book left him a little less impressed.

New slippers!

A pretty new skirt from Granny :)

Silas getting his first glimpse of his big gift - a rock n' roll Elmo...

Even Mommy got some gifts :)

One of Micah's favourites - the magnifying glass in his stocking (once again, from the dollar store...)

A little chocolate for breakfast - a la Kinder Surprise. (Thanks Granny!)

Mmmm. Chocolate.

Daddy helping with toy assembly.

Then it was time for Mommy to help the kids set up the Marbleworks set we got for Micah. This was a big hit with all the kids.

Another popular gift has been Elmo.

He is pretty cute.

But not as cute as this little "rocker" who sure knows how to get down while Elmo is singing.

Yay for Christmas!

We hope you all had a good one too!!

Teacher Gifts

2011-12-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

This year I opted to make homemade teacher gifts after finding a recipe for homemade vanilla brown sugar body scrub, which contained 4 simple ingredients.

So after school last week I solicited the help of the kids to make our sugary concoction.

Vanilla Brown Sugar Body Scrub (www.bystephanielynn.com):

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup sunflower oil (this oil doesn't have a strong scent like olive oil)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

I doubled-and-a-halved this recipe since I had to fill 5 small jars (which I found at the dollar store).

Not only did it smell delicious, it was also quite edible! I had to keep telling the kids to stop eating their teacher's body scrub!

Then it was time to make the Christmas cards...

While the kids worked on that, I created some labels out of cardstock & scrapbooking paper.

I tied on a spoon with some wire ribbon (all from the dollar store) and our teacher gifts were complete!

Seven

2011-12-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

Seven years ago, I became a Mama for the first time when Micah Josiah Erik was born into the world!

Micah's life has changed significantly in this past year, from going to half-day kindergarten last year to full-day grade one at a whole new school this year. This transition was not easy for him but I'm proud to report that we are finally managing the morning drop-off without any complaining, tears or clinging to Mom.

His teacher tells us that Micah is very detailed - something that we've discovered as well, especially with his drawings. Micah's also excelling in reading and seems to be able to read everything in sight!

Micah is still very snuggly and affectionate (though he doesn't realize his own strength and often jumps at me when I least expect it... and believe me, I can be tackled to the ground quite easily). I've noticed that he is getting better at being a respectful and kind big brother, quick to tell me how much he really felt like punching Keziah but stopped himself ;)

At our church, someone put together a video of the elementary-aged kids talking about what "joy" is and showed it this past Sunday during the service. Micah's definition of joy was "that my sister asked Jesus into her heart a few weeks ago."

So sweet.

Micah's present this year was Super Mario Brothers for the Wii.

He was pretty pumped.

Opening his birthday card from Granny & Grandpa Harder (and wearing his new watch from Grandma & Grandpa Toews):

The kids were all dressed up this morning for their school Christmas concert and they even let me take a picture of all three of them...

Happy 7th birthday Micah... We love you!

In Love

2011-12-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

With this little bit of mint-chocolatey goodness...

I found this recipe for Mint Oreo Truffles a few weeks ago and it immediately got my attention. So, when I was thinking of something to bring for our Life Group Christmas party this week I decided to give them a try.

And they did not disappoint.

Unfortunately I could not find any Mint Oreos. I did my shopping in Aldergrove that day, and after Safeway came up empty, I decided to head to the (very shady) Extra Foods downtown. My expectations were pretty low and as I scanned the cookie aisle for the minty oreos, I was feeling defeated.

But then I spotted something different and I figured that it just might work:

President's Choice Candy Cane cookies.

I had to try one at home of course to make sure they tasted at least somewhat similar to a mint oreo, and it was actually really good!

So, I gathered all the rest of my ingredients:

- 1 box of mint-flavoured oreo-type cookies

- 1 block of cream cheese

- 1 bag of white chocolate chips (any white chocolate will work, but I realized later that I should've bought a bit more)

- 1 tsp peppermint extract

- green food colouring

Also - vegetable oil (or in my case, canola oil) may come in handy to help your chocolate melting phase (more on that in a minute).

First, crush a few of the cookies and set it aside for your topping. I crushed 4, but I probably could've gotten away with just 3.

Then crush the rest of the cookies. I used my handy dandy food processor:

Add the block of cream cheese and combine until there are no more chunks. The recipe suggested adding a few extra oreo crumbs (if you have them around) because the consistency is really soft and creamy. I was planning to do this, but totally forgot. My truffle filling was really soft, but the truffles were also insanely delicious, so the extra crumbs weren't missed at all.

Next, roll the filling into nice little balls.

And next comes the tricky part. Maybe not tricky for others who are more experienced in the art of chocolate melting, but it turned out to be tricky for me.

This step involves melting the white chocolate. I used a bowl inside of a pot as a double-boiler. My chocolate was melting beautifully and then all of a sudden it turned into a thick and chunky mess - definitely not fit for dipping my very soft truffles.

(At this point I had already added the peppermint extract and green food colouring, still hoping the chocolate could be salvaged somehow.)

So, I googled something like "save my chocolate!" and found this link, which gave me a quick education about what I did wrong. I didn't realize that the teensiest bit of water (including steam) coming into contact with chocolate can cause it to seize or that melting the chocolate over boiling water is actually too hot and can over-heat it... So, I had obviously done at least one of these things wrong. The website suggested adding vegetable oil to try to salvage the chocolate. I had some canola oil in the cabinet, so I figured I had nothing to lose at this point.

And lo and behold, it actually worked! It turned the chunkified mess into a texture that actually was dip-able. It wasn't quite as smooth and silky as the chocolate should've been, but it did the trick.

In the meantime, I had also decided to put my truffles in the freezer so they could harden. I would actually recommend this step whether your chocolate gets ruined or not since it made them much easier to dip.

After dipping each one, I put them back on the baking sheet and sprinkled them with the extra crushed cookies right away before the chocolate hardened. (It was at this point that I realized I didn't have enough melted chocolate for all of them, so I have some extra filling balls waiting in the freezer for another occasion).

And let me tell you, these little babies are d-i-v-i-n-e.

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-05T13:01:00.000-08:00

Our family experienced a first on Saturday. We went to a local farm to cut down our own Christmas tree. This, after the last few years of heading to Home Depot and picking up whatever they had left on their parking lot... A better experience and cheaper too! All trees were $25.

The only thing that would've made it a little better was some freshly falling snow.

That would be the ideal tree-cutting-down weather, don't you think?

But according to Keziah, it was already TOO cold.

When we finally found our perfect tree (a Douglas Fir, I think it is), Erik and Micah worked together to chop it down.

Then we tried to figure out how old it was - and we figured about seven years.

Same as Micah :)

Then it was time to get it set up at home...

We put on some Christmas music and pulled out some Christmas treats.

And we got down to business doing some decorating.

Micah is getting tall enough to help with the upper half of the tree this year.

Standing on furniture helps.

The finished product.

Now I guess all I have to do is wrap up some presents to put underneath!

Keziah's Rainbow Party

2011-11-24T10:27:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure Keziah's been planning her 5th birthday party ever since her 4th one was over last year. And she's changed her birthday theme several times over the past 12 months. As November crept nearer, she was really leaning towards a princess fairy theme. But since we've done either princesses or fairies for the last 2 years, I hoped to convince her to change her mind. After she saw a few of the rainbow party ideas I had pinned on Pinterest, she started to see my vision and get excited!

There were so many great ideas, but I decided to pick just a few ones that were do-able. The first being this rainbow pennant banner. I used scrapbook paper that I already had on hand (thanks to the big Costco pack of paper I bought several years ago) and used this free printable template to trace them. I bought some ribbon at the dollar store and then stapled the paper on in a rainbow pattern. Very easy and super cute. I think I'll hang it in the kids' room now that the birthday party is over.

With the extra paper from the pennant banner, I had an idea for the invitations. (This was an idea I came up with on my own - no Pinterest needed, thank you very much!)

I cut up the coloured paper into strips and glued them onto a piece of folded card stock. Then I free-handed a cloud shape on a piece of white card stock, glued it on the paper and cut any overhanging edges. It was a bit time-consuming since I had to make about 10 for all the little girls Keziah had on her list of party guests.

But I think they turned out pretty cute! I purposely didn't worry about cutting the strips all the same width or lining them up evenly (which was also nice since Keziah wanted to help with the gluing and she didn't have to be too careful). I think it turned out better that they were intentionally a bit crooked.

I also let Keziah address all the envelopes. I suggested writing all the names in rainbow colours and Keziah decided to draw a rainbow on each one.

I found a really cute idea from here for rainbow cupcakes. I made the cupcakes (using rainbow bit cake mix of course!) a few days ahead of time and then froze them. On party day, I died my white icing sky blue, warmed it up a bit in the microwave and let the kids help me with the cupcake dipping. This technique is SO easy that they were able to do all my cupcakes and they all turned out great!

Then came the decorations. I found these sour rainbow belts at my new favourite Dollarama in Aldergrove. I decided to try to make the clouds out of marshmallow cream because it seemed like it would make the clouds extra fluffy and creamy. But it turns out that marshmallow cream = a BAD idea. I should've just stuck with white icing (and I would've had plenty leftover from the icing that I already had, except that I had died it all blue), but you live and you learn, right?

After making a few cupcakes I quickly realized 2 things.

1. Marshmallow cream is really sticky. And I had about 5 different spoons and knives going to try to get the goopy stuff where I wanted it on the cupcake.

2. My rainbow belts were too long. I ended up cutting about an inch off of each one so they wouldn't droop. (But that was OK, because the kids and I were happy to eat those extra inches :)

The finished product:

Another downside to the marshmallow cream was that by the time we got around to actually eating the cupcakes, it had all sort of melted down the sides. Of course the kids didn't notice one bit - and I was just happy I'd thought to take some pictures before they got all melty and drippy.

Rainbow goody bags.

Party snacks.

Another idea I found was a rainbow drink. The week before the party, I made different colours of ice cubes from Kool-aid packs (omitting the sugar that it calls for).

Then you just serve them in a clear cup with clear pop and let the ice cubes melt and make the drink all rainbow-y. It's also nicer than just food-colouring because each ice cube had a different flavour as well.

I also decided to make rainbow fruit skewers. The kids LOVED these. I forgot to take a picture of the ones that I made. (Honestly, they got gobbled up so fast I didn't really have a chance!) But this was my inspiration picture (from here).

Erik totally thinks I went overboard with the party. Like, how much do 5 -year-olds really care about whether their drink and their fruit and their invitation look like a rainbow?

I know, I know.

But I just couldn't really help myself :)

Five

2011-11-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

My sweet little Keziah turns 5 today.

She's done a lot of growing up in this last year. A year ago she was still at home with me every day, all day, and now she's a full-time Kindergartener! During her few short months of preschool in the spring I felt a little leery about how she would handle full-day K. At one point I was very sure that I would wait another year to put her in. But I decided to go for it, and she's doing better than I expected. Other than the odd Friday afternoon konk-out session - where we'll find her passed out in random places around the house - she seems to be adjusting well!

In this last year - especially in the last few months - I've seen her come out of her timid little shell. She lights up when she sees her little friends at school and seems to have found a new comfort zone in her Kindergarten classroom. One of her teachers told me that she actually takes a little bit longer to get her work done now because she's chatting more with her friends during class - but after her very shy and quiet start to the year, her teachers agreed they would let her continue for a little while before reprimanding her for talking when she should be working :)

Keziah is definitely cut from the same cloth as I am - she loves quiet activities and would rather spend time inside than outside. Despite having 2 brothers, she is a true girly-girl. Our mutually favourite activity is when she "does" my hair. I get to lay on the couch or my bed while she clips every single hair-clip into my hair and then proceeds to take them all out and start again :)

A very significant thing happened just last week when Keziah decided she wanted Jesus to live in her heart. While we were in the van one day, Micah started talking about what it would be like to see "bad guys" in real life. I explained that bad guys are just normal people who make bad choices. We talked for awhile about choices and Micah announced that he wanted to choose to "follow God and go to church." I commented that that was a really great choice. Keziah was quiet during this whole conversation, but at that point she piped up - in a very sad voice - and said, "But I don't even know how to ask Jesus into my heart!" So, that night she prayed with Erik and I, and decided to become a Christian!

Fast forward a few days later to Saturday - the day of Keziah's rainbow-themed birthday party (of which I will post pictures soon!). Before eating breakfast, Erik asked if anyone wanted to pray and Micah said that he wanted to (which definitely isn't something that happens every day around here). His prayer went like this:

"Dear God, thank you that it's Keziah's birthday party today.

Thank you that Keziah asked Jesus into her heart.

Help her to grow into a godly girl.

Amen."

We were so touched by his thoughtful prayer and both commented to him about how special it was, to which Micah cheered, "Woohoo! I'm the champion of praying!!"

I guess humility is next on the list of character traits to teach our kids??

This morning we gave Keziah her birthday gifts.

The first was a Belle dress-up dress.

And the second was this silver heart necklace. I bought it from my mom who sells Jolica jewellery - which is all hand-made by artisans in developing countries and sold using fair trade principles. I thought it was a special gift for a special 5-year-old girl.

Happy birthday Keziah - we love you!

While We're on The Topic

2011-11-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

Of home improvements, that is.

Here's a couple other minor (but kinda major for me) improvements that have taken place over the last while...

Some of you might remember the lovely artwork that the previous owners left us to cover the gaping hole of the fireplace in the living room. If you don't remember, no worries, you know I've got a picture to remind you.

Here's a close-up in case you couldn't get a good look with all those moving boxes in the way.

Well, it got a bit of a facelift by way of some white paint and a roller. I took a moment to appreciate the artistic work that went into the custom made half-circle. But it was a brief moment. And after a couple of coats of paint I felt so much better about displaying it in the fireplace hole.

By the way, this room has the same paint colour that was here when we moved in, but it looks so much better with the repainted board and some different accessories. I'm definitely ok with this colour (and not looking to do any more brick painting in the near future, thank you very much).

Unfortunately as of a few days ago, that same fireplace hole is now filled with a big old ugly piece of styrofoam. With the colder weather, we're discovering many areas of heat loss in our house - this being one of them. The good news is, styrofoam boards don't come in floral painted designs. So, it's white.

I can live with white.

And I realized that I never gave a proper before and after of our sun room - which serves as our dining room.

Before:

After:

I've heard lots of positive comments about the floor and I've definitely come to appreciate it. I just don't love all the wood tones going on in this room. I would love to paint the paneling out someday. I also have had my eye on some white chairs for our dining room table (that Erik built himself). Right now we're using Erik's parents chairs since they don't have room for them in their own living space.

And along the interior wall of the sun room, we have this bank of cabinets and countertop. Not super stylish by any means, but on the other hand, VERY functional. These cabinets are packed with stuff.

Before:

After:

Please don't overlook the most significant improvement to this room, perhaps the most significant improvement to this house... well, for sure the most significant improvement to the sanity and mental well-being of the mother and main kitchen cleaner-upper in this house! Yep, that would be the lovely stainless steel dishwasher.

So pretty. And so, SO helpful.

Kitchen Reveal (better late than never)

2011-11-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

The kitchen is officially complete!

The makeover had a hesitant start and was met with much opposition (ahem, my husband), but I pushed forward, finding encouragement from those who assured me that they would do the same if they were in my shoes (Rosanna, Andrea, Elissa... thank you!)

I've been itching to share pictures but have been waiting oh-so-patiently until the makeover was totally complete. Finally, I am ready to share the finished product!

First, let's jog our memories and look back to what the kitchen was like when we first moved in...

On first appearance, most people were pleasantly surprised by the original kitchen. The white cabinets are pretty and the space is big. And for this reason, even I was hesitant about whether I should really go to all the effort of painting. But, upon closer inspection you would see that the paint colour on the walls (and above the cabinets) had a bit of a pink-ish hue, while the brick backsplash gave an 80's vibe to the space.

The whole jagged-toothed grin from the fireplace-wall was anything but welcoming.

And a close-up of the brick. Just because.

And we can't forget the red wall. I tried to pretty it up by putting my little knick-knacks up on that white shelf, but it wasn't really helping. The fire extinguisher to the right of the closet wasn't doing much for the space either. Erik and I agreed we could still have it close enough to be safe without having it bolted to our kitchen walls.

So, I took a deep breath and the project began. Erik strongly suggested that I should prime the brick before painting it. I questioned him on this slightly, especially since the bricks had already been painted (which meant I wasn't dealing with raw {and porous} brick). But, being the submissive wife that I am, I acquiesced.

I can't remember how long I painted that first night. All I know is that I zoned out while listening to the movie Julie & Julia playing in the background from the other room.

And I wasn't getting very far.

I was still working at getting into a good brick-painting rhythm at this point - how much paint to get on my brush and exactly which wiggling technique would work best for getting in between all those deep grout lines. About 1 hour in, the fingers on my right hand were starting to cramp.

The next day I continued on for awhile and was getting more and more overwhelmed at the realization that I was going to be painting these bricks THREE times over - with 1 coat of primer and 2 of colour...

So, that's when I made an executive decision. I informed Erik that, whether he agreed with me or not, I was only going to prime the black bricks. I figured the other bricks were light enough to go without primer, and because they had been previously painted, they would take the paint better. And even though it wouldn't have mattered (because my mind was already made up), I was thankful that Erik agreed.

That meant that my priming was almost done. I only had a little more black left on the main fireplace wall, and just one row of black bricks around the kitchen in the backsplash.

So, with priming complete, it was time to move on to colour. In my original post, I was pretty confident I would go ahead with Oriental Ivory on the walls, but I decided to take Elissa's advice and put the paint chips up against my cabinets for a day before deciding. It definitely made a difference, and after doing this, I realized I preferred Shadow Dream after all.

As the first coat of colour went on the brick backsplash, I was feeling excited and optimistic. Anything was an improvement over the splattered beige and salmon I was dealing with. And my brick-painting skills were improving - I knew just the amount of paint needed on my brush and I was perfecting my wiggle-the-brush-in-the-grout-line technique.

But as the colour dried and darkened, I had that sinking feeling of just really not liking it. At all. It was like mint ice cream. A lot of mint ice cream. And the colour looked even more intense on the backsplash because it was under the shadow of the cabinets. It seemed a little tacky (which, by the way, was not the look I was going for). I went to bed feeling discouraged and wondering whether tinting the colour lighter for the second coat would make it look better.

The next day the family was at our place for Thanksgiving dinner and my sister-in-laws helped me determine that white on the backsplash would be a better choice. Luckily, I had a half-can of off-white on hand that matched the creamy cabinets almost perfectly. So, another deep breath and I began to paint over all my hard work from the day before. Erik thought I was totally nuts at this point. But, once again, my mind was made up. And as soon as I saw the white going over top of the mint ice cream, I knew I had made the right move.

I wasn't sure what to do about all the brick on the fireplace wall, but since it was already half-painted in Shadow Dream I really didn't have the courage to change it at that point. I figured, if anything, I would paint all the walls with Shadow Dream for the first coat and then lighten my paint (perhaps by mixing the white and Shadow Dream half and half) for the second coat.

When it came time to roll paint onto the flat wall sections (which, by the way, felt incredibly fast and easy after painstakingly brushing all that brick, let me tell ya...), I fully expected to get the same mint ice cream feeling. But, as it dried, I actually really liked it. It was totally the soft and creamy blue-green that I had been hoping for from the beginning. It made me realize how different the exact same colour can look on 2 different surfaces.

Here's a comparison picture of Shadow Dream on the bricks and on the adjoining walls. Don't they look like 2 totally different colours?

One small time-saver that we discovered as the project evolved was that if we focused on only painting the grout lines with a paintbrush, we could roll the surface of the bricks with a thick roller (the kind used for textured ceilings - don't ask me for the technical name). But the best discovery was that, in the end, primer on the black bricks and only ONE coat of colour on all the fireplace wall bricks was all that we needed! What a relief after imagining the hand cramping that would've ensued from three tedious coats...

But, even with the extra work that I saved, I was still pretty done with the whole brick-painting saga. I admit there is a teensy tiny part of me that still wants to go back and paint the fireplace wall in the creamy white to match the backsplash... But, I'm drawing the line. Because if we end up renovating this house, I expect this wall will be one of the first to go.

And, much to his credit, Erik changed his tune and totally jumped on the kitchen-painting bandwagon. And he was very helpful despite his initial hesitance. He even dismantled the gas fireplace and repainted the whole thing in black.

In fact, after all was said and done, he may or may not have suggested that some new baseboards would really finish the space off well. Yep. I called it from the start. He couldn't resist the home improvement vortex.

The red wall transformation was definitely the easiest and fastest part of the process, but I think it was also the highest impact. The whole room felt instantly bigger and brighter. But that one wall stood empty and stark until this week. I was waiting for Erik to make me some coat hooks. I wasn't expecting anything too fancy - just some flat moulding with some hooks screwed on. But Erik took it a step further and fashioned these babies for me.

They look almost too pretty to hang stuff on.

And even though Erik warned me not to take any pictures until he could cover the screw holes, I did anyway. (Seriously, how many of you didn't notice those little screw holes until I mentioned them just now??)

With the rest of the wall, I debated putting up a frame gallery, but in the end I had Erik put up the white IKEA floating shelf that we already had.

I found a few things around the house to stick up there, including a picture of Micah and Keziah's feet that my sister took a few years ago. And my new favourite idea from Pinterest - putting pretty scrapbook paper into white frames. I would love to find a wallpaper in this pattern!

So now, after that very lengthy preamble, here is the kitchen before and after!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Excavating

2011-11-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

When we bought our property, we weren't big fans of all the extra buildings, fences and "stuff" around the yard. So, for the last 2 months, things have been slowly improving.

Back in September, Erik's dad almost single-handedly dismantled the old pig pen...

Most of the material could be burned, but there was a lot of concrete and cinder blocks left at the end which has been a bit of an eyesore.

The area became our unofficial fire pit with plenty of burning fuel! You can see "the pile" in the back left.

The kids were pretty pumped about finding pieces of wood to toss into the flames.

After the old fence posts were removed and everything was burned that could be burned, we were still left with a mess.

Cue the excavators!

The smaller one in the back is living at our farm these days. We're storing it for a family friend, and it's come in handy for many jobs already. But, we hired the big one to come in for a day to do some more heavy-duty jobs.

It was like a live episode of Mighty Machines.

Now we have a nice clear space to put our garden in the spring.

He also dug up some old sidewalks around the shop. And we got rid of some fencing and a brick pillar in this spot.

This space (the back side of the shop) was previously un-usable because of animal fencing and other paraphernalia. Now it's a nice clear space.

We're liking the feeling of some cleared land...

Another area of the yard that's been slowly improving is this little section right behind our back deck. What you're looking at here is a dog cage made from chain-link fence that's been nailed to several trees (including that short stumpy one in the front).

Erik tore down the fence quite easily and then Micah got to work chopping down the stumpy tree with the backside of Erik's work hammer.

He actually spent about 3 hours one day working on this and made quite a bit of progress. But then Daddy & Grandpa had to come in to give it the final push-over.

After which we were left with a slightly shorter stump for a few weeks.

That is, until this past weekend, when Grandpa pulled out the little excavator to dig it up.

Now, the space is chain-link fence and tree stump free.

It's Tool Time

2011-11-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

It's that pumpkin carving time of the year again. And in true Toews style, we got the job done with some help from Erik's power tools.

I mean, how handy is a hole saw (with various sizes) for making perfect holes in a pumpkin...?

And after trying some traditional knife-carving on Micah's jack-o-lantern design, Erik thought to himself, why struggle with a knife when you can use a drill and a skill saw?

I don't think pumpkin carving will ever be the same at our house...

Yesterday I snapped some pictures of the kids before they went to school.

My princess.

My monkey.

My elephant (watching the excavators that were hard at work on our yard all day).

(btw - this elephant costume has gotten a LOT of use. Micah, Keziah & Silas have each worn it at least once before!)

Since there wasn't much happening on our street for trick-or-treating, we headed to Doug & Elissa's for the evening.

After a wardrobe change on Micah's part, we got a picture of our motley crew of trick-or-treaters... (posing beside our power-tooled pumpkins).

Unfortunately Micah started dragging his feet about 20 minutes in, and Erik brought him back with a fever and a headache :(

But the other three got to enjoy a few treats before bedtime!

Now there is a LOT of candy and chocolate in the house. I think I may have to hide it from myself...

She's Broke

2011-10-28T15:49:00.000-07:00

The tooth fairy that is.

The teeth in this boy's mouth are dropping like flies.

And the tooth fairy is getting lazy.

Let me rephrase that, the male half of the tooth fairy is getting lazy. The other morning Micah woke up to realize that he was given the same little ziploc bag of coins that he had received just a few nights before. For a different tooth.

Yeah, you can't pull too many fast ones on this 6-year-old.

In other news, this is how we found Silas last night when he was supposed to be sleeping.

I'm thinking it might be time for a big boy bed...

Starbucks in the Oven

2011-10-21T15:49:00.001-07:00

'Tis the season of all things pumpkin flavoured and I certainly haven't held back from trying out all sorts of fall pumpkin goodies. The first recipe on my pumpkin to-do list was the Starbucks-inspired Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes:

My finished product may not look as good as the picture above, but they definitely passed the taste test. (I opted to skip the caramel drizzle).

And since I ended up buying a whole tin of espresso powder in order to have 3 tbsp's worth for this recipe, I could make them a few times over yet.

They were delicious! Now, if only they fell into the healthy recipes category...

On another note, I recently learned that mini cupcakes/muffins actually fit perfectly in an empty egg carton. A great idea for gifts.

You could even decorate the outside of your egg carton and tie it up with some pretty twine if you're so inclined...

(image found here)

The second recipe I wanted to try was the Starbucks Pumpkin Scones:

Mine turned out pretty well, except for the icing part. There is a white glaze and a brown spiced icing which was supposed to be a bit thicker for drizzling, but mine were both pretty runny and, once again, not at all like the impressive picture above. But, it really does come down to taste, and they were pretty good!

Also on my pumpkin baking list was pumpkin cheesecake bars (they were so-so) and pumpkin muffins (a big hit with the kids - made these twice so far).

I have to admit, I'm getting a little bit pumpkin'd out.

But, there is one last recipe I'm interested to try. It's called pumpkin pie dip and it promises to not only be addictive but actually kind of healthy too since it's made with greek yogurt. (A tad healthier than the apple dip I've been making with cream cheese and loads of sugar... )

But first I think I'll take a little break from pumpkin. If it's true that "you are what you eat", I won't be surprised if our whole family is round and tinted orange by the time it's Halloween...

Potty Humour

2011-10-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

Potty training has begun. The candidate is prime, but the trainer (yeah, that's me) is having a hard time being 100% devoted to this process. We've had a few successes, but Silas has great bladder control which makes for fewer teachable moments throughout the day. And life still needs to go on for me and for the rest of our family so I can't always be "on" Silas at every moment. The afternoons kind of go downhill after he naps (in a diaper) and then we pick up the kids (also in his diaper) and then I just kind of let it slide since the older kids and dinner prep and all those other things are keeping me too occupied.

But the kid cracks me up. The first time he went successfully in the potty he thought it was hilarious...

Fireside

2011-10-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

My most favourite thing so far about living on an acreage is having evening bonfires. The fire ban was lifted at the beginning of the month, so for the last few weeks we've been having fires at every opportunity.

Let's just say there've been an awful lot of hot dogs and marshmallows consumed this month so far...

We've been enjoying a string of clear sunny days that are finished off with crisp, clear fall evenings. And if we've learned anything from living in the lower mainland, it's that we'd better enjoy them now because we all know the rains are coming.

Our life has become a fine line between country and city living. Our fireside was accompanied by the honking of Canada geese, the howling of coyotes and, of course, a few low-flying airplanes and a helicopter (all equally entertaining for this bunch).

I think Keziah still had some supper on her face...

And the only way to end off a fall fireside?

S'mores of course.

What I Did Last Weekend (Point Form)

2011-10-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

1. I had a birthday.

I turned 32 on Friday. In this stage of life, birthdays pass by in a blur, a busy day among every other busy day... But it was good - and special "luve" notes like this one from Micah made it extra special :)

2. I painted. A lot.

The kitchen project isn't quite finished yet. But it's getting close!

And on a side note, I totally sucked Erik into the painting vortex (just as I predicted!).

More pictures will come, but here's a glimpse of how it's been going:

After painting the backsplash in the blue-green colour I had chosen, I didn't like it at all and thought it looked pretty tacky. So, I painted over it with an ivory to match the cabinets. I'm still planning to paint the other walls in the blue-green but haven't felt totally happy with the colour choice. Anyway... I'll have to devote a whole separate post to that once it's all complete!

3. I pulled out the potty.

Let's just say a certain little boy is getting over his fear of the potty and a certain mommy is getting over her chronic procrastination... There has been no success yet, but there also hasn't been much time devoted to this. Hopefully soon I can put my energy towards this next endeavour...

Maybe when the painting is done.

4. I ate turkey.

We hosted the Toews family Thanksgiving dinner at the farm on Sunday night where we all squeezed into our sunroom-slash-dining-room for turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie. And then we ended off with a bonfire to enjoy the rest of a warm fall evening. The perfect kind of evening where the grown-ups visit around the fire while the kids run around the yard, chasing cats in the barn and trampoline-jumping under the stars, and claiming they're not tired enough to go to bed even when 9 pm rolls around... Which makes us all thankful for holiday Monday to recover :)

Hope the rest of you enjoyed a happy Thanksgiving weekend!

The Fine Art of Dawdling

2011-10-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to figure out how to make the school mornings less chaotic at our house. It doesn't matter how early we all wake up, it seems to take the e-n-t-i-r-e time to eat breakfast, get dressed and get out the door. There are 100 excuses in the book to keep these kids distracted from just doing what I'm asking them to do...

Micah is still having a tough time with school. Some mornings seem to go OK while others are filled with whining, excuses, tummy aches and teacher-peeling-him-off-of-my-body kind of good-byes at his classroom. Today was one of those mornings and I drove home feeling frustrated and discouraged.

Yet, every afternoon when I pick them up, Micah is in good spirits and eager to share about his day. So, I'm learning not to let the morning frustrations get to me. Instead I'm trying to enjoy my 6 hours with just ONE child.

And he's a handsome one.

I needed an updated photo of Silas for his child dedication coming up at the end of the month, so we headed out to the "backyard" for a few poses. I had a "he's-really-growing-up!" moment as I snapped some pictures.

One of my favourite thrift store finds ever has got to be this blazer/sport jacket combo. Thankfully Silas loves wearing it too :)

(And, come to think of it, these Gap jeans and Converse shoes were also from the thrift store!)

What are you doing on the ground Mommy?

With all the school drama I've nearly forgotten my next big challenge:

Potty-training this little elf...

I've learned a few things about dawdling myself.

In grown-up words, we call it procrastination.

I'll start potty-training...

eventually.

It's Time for a House Project

2011-10-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

It's uncharacteristic for me to post 2 days in a row. Maybe I'm making up for lost time. Or maybe I've got a lot of ideas in my brain. I think spending time browsing Pinterest is bringing something out in me - all these home decorating projects, great ideas, and new recipes to try...

So, the project on my brain these days?

Here's a hint:

I think I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna paint the kitchen.

I debated just leaving it be - because who really knows how permanent all of this is, right? But the motivation struck me last week and I decided I'd better go with it.

I'm just anxious to see what this kitchen could look like with this brick all painted out one colour. Anyone who's seen Young House Love's dark-and-dingy den to bright-and-airy living room transformation should know what I'm talking about.

(Does anyone else feel like they're being stared down by 2 black eye holes a jagged-toothed mouth?)

Up close you can see the black, white and salmon-speckled loveliness.

And don't forget the other wall of my kitchen:

I've decided I'm just not a paint-one-wall-bright-red kinda girl. It gives me a kind of unseasonal "Christmas" vibe that is really only suitable for a couple of months a year.

So, yes. I'm ready to see it go.

This part of the house also tends to be the drop-off area for shoes and backpacks and purses and sweaters since we usually come in the house through the sun room (which is just through a doorway to the left of the window you see above) and there is currently no place for all that paraphernalia to live. But Erik - who has, by the way, washed his hands of this entire painting-the-kitchen idea (though I'm secretly hoping he'll be sucked into the painting vortex once I get started) - is on jacket-and-backpack-hook-creating duty. So, we'll have some places to hang everything once it's all painted nice and pretty.

So, back to those paint swatches...

The colours probably won't look true in this picture, but maybe you can envision the colour family I'm kind of going with:

I had it narrowed down to 4 possibilities (which I highlighted above). I left the swatches on the counter for about a day and gazed at them every time I walked by. After several walk-bys, I eliminated 2 more and now I'm down to 2 options - Oriental Ivory and Shadow Dream (from ICI Paints).

If I were basing this decision on paint colour name alone, it would be Shadow Dream all the way. Really, doesn't it just sound so lovely? Oriental Ivory, on the other hand, is really throwing me off. It makes me think of some fancy-pants carpet. And it gives me a red-orangey kinda feeling. But, if I can get over the name, I really think Oriental Ivory is the one. It's got a bit more green in it while Shadow Dream has a bit more grey-blue.

Erik is trying to keep me real by continually telling me how much work I'm getting myself into (besides continually reminding me that he will be taking no part in all of this). So I'm trying to be realistic about how long this is going to take me (anything done in a house of young kids has to be done in stages - I've learned that much over the years).

So with that said, it's about time I get my butt in gear.

Lions & Tigers & Bears

2011-09-30T13:36:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo last weekend.

It was likely the last warm day of Indian summer before the shorts get packed away until next year. A perfect day for a stroll and some animal sightings...

Doug, Elissa, Caleb & Emerson joined us for part of the morning...

... and rented this great quadra-cycle to help them get around (since Elissa is still recovering from a knee surgery).

Of course, the kids all fought over who was going to get turns on the big bike.

Silas wasn't quite sure what to think when his turn came around.

And what good would a zoo post be without a few pictures of the animals?

Sleeping grizzly.

Micah thought howling at the wolves might wake them up.

Didn't work.

The boys of the family waiting for the lion and tiger feeding.

Boomer the lion was pretty excited about his horse meat.

Sweetie the tiger acted a little more nonchalant. Like a true cat.

All in all, a great day was had a the zoo...

Going Green - Part II

2011-09-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

To continue with the green theme, I decided to try a new recipe the other day. A few weeks ago I saw a tip while browsing Pinterest that said you can substitute 1/2 the butter (or margarine) in cookie recipes for the same amount of avocado.

So, I decided to give it a whirl.

I'm sure you could try this with any cookie recipe, but I decided for my first go I would google an actual avocado cookie recipe. The first one that came up was this one and it promised to be so good that I wouldn't be able to eat just one!

The recipe intro on the blog included a bit of a disclaimer: "I’m pretty sure that this still doesn’t classify them as healthy or part of your five-a-day and I’m sure that some of you are thinking ‘what’s the point- if you’re going to eat a cookie, eat a cookie’."

But then it goes on to say that sometimes it's the little things that count. And especially as a mom with young kids (some more picky than others), I'm always looking for ways to add healthful content to their food intake. Avocado is one of the best foods around - and the idea of replacing some bad fat with some healthy fat? Bring it on.

Oatmeal-Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1/2 cup butter softened (I used margarine)

1/2 cup peeled mashed avocado (I needed a whole one to get 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut (I opted to add 1/2 cup of rolled oats instead)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional - I didn't use them)

1. Beat the butter/margarine and sugars until smooth. Add the mashed avocado.

If you have any little helpers around, they might enjoy the mashing process.

Margarine and sugar... meet avocado.

The mixture was tinged slightly green after we added the avocado. I took a taste at this point and could faintly pick up on the avocado. But only for a moment until all that sugar took over in my mouth :)

2. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix thoroughly.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the avocado mixture and mix well. Stir in oats and coconut. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts.

And, you might ask, how does avocado cookie dough taste?

Still delicious.

Just ask my assistant.

4. Drop into tablespoon-sized balls onto a baking sheet.

I found it helped to press them down a little so they baked wider rather than rounder. The recipe says to bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes, but I probably did mine for a little under 10 minutes.

The end result? A delicious and kind-of-nutritious, slightly yellowy-tinged, after-school snack that the kids were happy to eat.

I even shared them with the moms at ballet and I believe they passed the "yummy" test... Now, who is brave enough to try this in your favourite tried-and-true cookie recipe?? Please do and let me know how they turn out!

Going Green

2011-09-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

When we were in Mexico, we drank spinach/fruit juice from the juice bar every morning at our resort, and it was really yummy. Ever since, I've been thinking of incorporating more spinach into our diet.

So, yesterday I concocted a spinach smoothie. It was a delicious success.

I'm sure it would be yummy with many different combinations of fruit, but here's what I used:

- handful of frozen peaches (since I just bought about 30 lbs of them last week...)

- one banana

- handful of spinach

- juice from 1/2 lemon (only because I just bought about a bazillion of those too...)

- little bit of water to add some liquid

Then everything went into the Magic Bullet...

I decided to add a bit more stuff about half-way through because once it was all blended it only filled up 1/2 the cup. So, in went another handful of spinach, a few more frozen peach slices and some more water...

And there you have it, a deliciously healthy, naturally-sweet, thick and creamy smoothie. The frozenness of the peaches added a cold, thick, slushy consistency that was amazing. And I really think that little bit of lemon juice was a key contributor to the yummy factor.

Even Silas was a fan - getting some good helpings of fruits and veggies under his belt early in the day.

I'm feeling more and more inspired to consume less sugar in this house and more healthy (but still delicious!) meals and snacks - particularly things that will appeal to the kids too. So, if you've got something up your sleeve that fits those criteria, please pass them my way!

Bye-Bye Summer

2011-09-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, of course the summer sped by.

It gets faster every year, right?

But, at the same time, I feel like I got to enjoy A LOT of summer weather this year. We missed out on the lousy early summer in BC and enjoyed hot sunny temps in Manitoba almost every day, not to mention our scorching week in Mexico back in June. And when we returned to Abbotsford, summer seemed to follow us here. We've had those warm, warm September temps that seem to be the pattern around these parts...

The hot days make for perfectly warm evenings. Evenings that are great for biking down our quiet street where we get our fill of farm animals to see (and smell): sheep, cows, horses, and even llamas.

And warm evenings that are also perfect for family get-togethers...

Including birthday celebrations.

But the last couple of mornings we've awakened to that fall crispness in the air. And I gotta say... I love it.

Makes me get excited for jeans and sweaters and hot soup and pumpkin spice lattes...

And watching the trees change into their autumn attire...

So, with that said...

Bye-bye summer.

And hello fall.

School

2011-09-08T22:21:00.000-07:00

School started this week... and with it, some big adjustments.

For all of us.

Because our school closed last year, we had to choose a new school. Even though a lot of our friends also moved over to this school, it's still a challenge - a new place to "figure out" (for the kids and for me), bigger class sizes (which translates into more volume and chaos, especially on the playground at recess), and new teachers.

Micah is in grade 1 this year. This is also the first year that he has to stay for the entire school day.

Little Miss Keziah is in Kindergarten this year. Even though she is 2 whole years younger than Micah, they'll only be 1 year apart in school (because we held Micah back). This means, however, that Keziah will also have to go to school for the entire day... {sniff}

Keziah has a gradual entry so she won't be required to stay for the full day until next Wednesday. She's doing great so far (but she's only had to stay for 1 hour at a time at this point). I'm a little nervous about how that's all gonna go down...

I'm even more nervous now after how Micah's first few days have gone. He did great the first day (which was a half day), but after his first full day yesterday, he was all teary and kept whining that he didn't want to go back to school. Of course, we made him go this morning (after I peeled him off of me in the parking lot) only to get a phone call at lunch that he wouldn't be able to make it through the day. It doesn't help that his best friend has also been having a tough time. The two of them were waiting together in the principle's office at noon... both in tears :(

After talking with Micah, and talking with his (amazing) teacher on the phone, we made a deal. Micah will go for just the mornings for the next few days, but then on Wednesday we'll try to do the full day again (since Wednesday will also be Keziah's first full day). Micah seemed to agree with this idea and I'm hoping that his own "gradual entry" will do the trick.

I'll tell you this though - one adjustment that has been easy to make is the driving time. A 20-minute commute down to 4?

Wonderful :)

Improvements

2011-09-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

We've been in our house for over a week now. It still feels pretty strange. There are still a lot of boxes and piles around here. But there are some improvements happening too.

Say good-bye to the palm tree toilet seat.

And hello to this eco-friendly, low-flush (and may I add, nice and white?) toilet.

We could just leave the palm tree one out on the lawn... Maybe plant some flowers in it?

It would go nicely with some of the other motif around here.

Anyway, back to the real bathroom...

A little familiar artwork also makes it feel much more homey.

And the kids bedroom went from looking like this:

To this:

Much, much better.

I feel like I can breathe when I go in there.

And the closet isn't looking quite so nasty either. After the purchase of another set of those plastic drawer storage thingys, there's a place to throw all the random toys that didn''t have a home.

Thank you Walmart.

I think the kids are digging their new bedroom too.

Silas continued to sleep in our room for a couple of nights, but tonight we put him in his "bunk bed" (as he refers to it... and I won't correct him) for the first time. It was a bit of gong show but I believe everyone has fallen asleep.

Now to see what the morning will bring...

Erik also took down a few nasty shelves that were remaining in their bedroom and hung some other things up for me:

As for the outdoors, we found the perfect tree branch to hang the swing. And it even does double-duty -- while the kids are swinging, all ripe - but out-of-reach - plums fall easily to the ground :)

And today Mom & Dad T (mostly Dad) took on a big demolition project. It was time for this old green pig barn to come down.

Erik helped push down the final walls...

Now there's a lot of junk to clean-up, but it gives us a more unobstructed view of Mt. Baker as well as better access to the mother-load of blackberries that were hidden behind.

Seriously, look at the size of these things.

Now I should be off to bed. It's the first day of school tomorrow and I need to be up early to pack our first-ever school lunches.

And so it begins...

On the Farm

2011-08-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

Tonight will be our 3rd sleep in the new house. It's still pretty surreal that this place is ours.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of moving day activities, Uncle Doug took the kids on a blackberry-picking expedition. There are enough blackberry bushes bordering our property to keep us picking for h-o-u-r-s. So, if anyone's looking for a good place to pick...

We've also made other great discoveries on the yard. There are several fruit trees - a few apple trees, a pear tree, a yellow plum and a purple plum tree. The plums are in full production right now and are dee-licious :)

Now, onto the house...

The living space leaves a lot to be desired, but it's totally functional for our family right now. Right now there are boxes everywhere and I feel like I'm making very slow progress. Erik's been busy doing outdoor jobs and helping renovate the downstairs suite, so the unpacking and childcare has been mostly up to me.

So, here's the first glimpse of the living space for Erik & I and the kids, which is in the upstairs of the house.

The living room is actually quite spacious even if the paint colours are not quite my style (the walls are either icy blue or dark navy). The only improvement I've made is tearing down the window treatment since I took this picture.

Oh and cleaning up some of the toys :)

This is the back wall of the living room. The brick has been painted in the same lovely shade of ice blue. The fireplace is no longer functioning so somebody decided to custom build and paint that little floral insert...

She's a beauty.

This is our sunroom - a.k.a the dining room, since our table will not fit anywhere else in the house. Right now it looks like this - until Erik can find the screws that fit the table legs onto the table top... These window treatments have since been removed. I wasn't really digging the plaid and floral country motif.

This wall of cabinets banks one whole side of the sunroom. Not pretty by any means, but jeepers - are they ever practical! I've already hidden tons of stuff in there, and there's still plenty of room to spare.

In between the living room and the sunroom is the kitchen.

Yes, there is a fireplace in the kitchen.

And there is also a whole lotta brick.

I took this picture yesterday morning...

And this one yesterday evening. Did I make any progress? A little. The window treatment is gone and I think there are a few less boxes on the floor...

The kitchen's biggest downfall, in my opinion? The lack of a dishwasher. This is the first time in my 10 years of married life that I have been without one. After the amount of dishes I've been doing already in the last few days, I'm not sure I'll last too much longer without one...

Now if you were standing in my kitchen as above and did a 360, this is what you would see on the other side. To the left is the door to the sunroom, to the right is the hallway to the living room. This area was used by the previous owners for their kitchen table, but since that won't really work for us, it'll probably be the home office (a.k.a "random space to put random things").

Now, because we only have two bedrooms in the upstairs for our family of five, we decided to give the kids the master bedroom. It's a large room and it will have to double as their play space since we don't have a lot of room in this house.

I was getting tired of waiting around for Erik to help me move some heavy things, so I took it upon myself to get this area rug in here. Believe me, that thing was stinkin' heavy.

And awkward.

But, wow does it ever make it more cozy... Erik still needs to set up the kids loft beds which I hope will help with the toy storage issue in this room. I'm thinking I need LOTS of shelves.

And this is the mess I'm dealing with by the kid's closet. It's a bit overwhelming - mostly because I just don't know where to put this stuff.

Yes. Shelves are a must.

And here is our one and only upstairs bathroom. The kids were super pumped about the palm tree toilet seat cover. And the previous owners were kind enough to leave the matching shower curtain too...

Yeah. The curtain had to go.

This one from Superstore is a big improvement. The toilet seat will have to stay as-is until we put in a new toilet.

And here is the smallest room in the house - our "master" bedroom. We tried to fit our HUGE Hemnes dresser from IKEA in here and the only way it would work was to have it at the end of our bed - like one gi-normous foot board. The idea wasn't all that bad, but it was just a little weird and awkward. (This picture was taken post-dresser move).

In the end I decided to give the kids the big dresser (after all, they needed one) and create a bit more space in our room - especially since we needed a bit of room for Silas' playpen (he'll be sleeping in here until I'm brave enough to try to put him in the kids room).

And we settled for one of Mom & Dad Toews' extra dressers, which is small but pretty. The bedroom has turned out to be my favourite room in the house so far.

Probably because I don't feel the stress and panic of mountains of boxes when I'm in there.

The consensus between the 4 of us owners is that building a new house on the property might be our best option - though not in the immediate future. So, in the meantime we'll do very minimal improvements. I may decide to paint a few of the walls (namely the navy blue and the deep red) but we'll have to wait and see.

Some more extensive work had to be done in the bottom floor to make it workable for Erik's parents. I'll have to share the befores and afters of that space another time.

Really, it's the outdoor space that is irreplaceable. I don't think it's really sunk in for any of us just what we have here!

So, I hope you enjoyed your first tour of the farm. Stay tuned for many related posts to come! And now that I'm reaching the end of this post, exhaustion has hit in full-force... My ability to write anything coherent is quickly diminishing... So, since I cannot bear to keep my eyes open for 1 more minute, I'm off to enjoy a little down-duvet and memory-foam action...

Moses

2011-08-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

The new kitten has been a great source of entertainment over the past week. Taking away "kitty time" proves to be an effective punishment (especially for Keziah).

But I do have to monitor the handling, especially for Silas who thinks it's hilarious to hear Moses meow while he repeatedly pulls his tail.

But I'm pretty sure Moses is a glutton for punishment...

Or just really forgiving...

He's been put to sleep in doll beds and zipped up in princess snack bags...

And he takes it all in stride.

And when it comes to "cat"-napping, he really is the best snuggler around.

Cabin Makeover

2011-08-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

My summer may have been filled with trips to the lake, fireside suppers, backyard sun-tanning and cousin supervision, but Erik's summer?

It looked pretty different.

6 days a week he drove about 40 minutes (one way) to and from my parents' cabin at Lake Metigoshe where he worked long days on completing the cabin renovations.

Last year was the year of surprises. The renovation plan started off with a "let's-just-take-this-one-wall-down-and-open-up-the-living-space" kind of idea... But anyone who watches a little HGTV knows how those stories often turn out. Erik felt a lot like Mike Holmes as he lamented the bad, bad skills of the person who built the cabin in the first place.

So by this year, the surprises had all been uncovered and mostly corrected, and the main floor was totally renovated. So, it was time to focus on the upstairs (bedrooms/bathroom) of the cabin as well as replace the roof.

(I included these roof pictures mostly for Erik's benefit, since to me, a roof is a roof...)

But it is noteworthy to mention that this little room was an addition. Thankfully it worked out for one of Erik's employees to come out and work with him for 3 weeks. He was super helpful with this whole part of the reno:

Here's another view. The addition is a utility room that holds the water tank, laundry facilities and a bunch of other boring (but necessary) stuff.

New siding for the cabin was one of the things that didn't get completed this summer. It'll be nice to see how it looks when it's all finished on the outside.

We're bruised already from kicking ourselves for not taking just a few pictures of the inside of the cabin before the big demo started last year. But you know how it is when you're anxious to get going with a project...

Lesson learned for next time.

So I scoured my computer for any pre-demo-phase pics. The pickings were pretty slim but here are a couple...

Note the pre-reno ceiling and lack of window casings...

And if you can look past cute 2-year-old Keziah and her marshmallow, you can see the old lino and carpet on the floor...

Yeah, those pictures don't really help too much.

So, let me paint you a mental picture:

70's style everything, various carpets in shades of green and brown throughout, 2 separate and small living spaces on the main floor (the inner one being really dark and mostly occupied by an old, non-functioning hot tub), a narrow and crooked staircase that made you feel a little like you were in some mysterious anti-gravity house whenever you climbed up and down, small wooden windows (some of which didn't even open, I don't think), a very outdated bathroom with camper-style toilet...

The list could go on but I hope you can visualize it in your mind. Just a little bit.

We did start taking lots of pictures in the demo stages, so here are some before and afters:

Kitchen before:

Note the old cabinets and small window. The studs you see left standing are what's left of the wall that separated this living space from the darker, hot-tub room. In the back right was where the staircase was.

After:

Larger window, wood ceiling with pot-lights, IKEA cabinets, laminate floors...

And an open floor plan creating one larger kitchen/living space.

(Now to convince Mom and Dad to put some new furniture in there!)

Here is a before shot looking from the dark hot tub room towards the front living room/kitchen.

The hot tub room was raised up slightly and so we spent hours digging countless wheelbarrow-fuls of dirt out. I can say "we" because I actually helped. It was pretty intense.

Then Erik had to pull out these old wooden floor beams:

After:

Floors are nicely levelled and unified with only a couple of posts breaking up the large area.

A closer look at Erik's handiwork with the posts and beams.

Looking up where the narrow stairs used to be before:

After:

Staircase looking down before:

After:

As for the upstairs, Erik turned 3 teeny tiny bedrooms into 2 more spacious ones. Late in the game, the decision was made that Erik would skip the drywall mudding/taping phase so he could focus on what he's really good at, which is the finish carpentry. So, you'll have to visualize all of these walls after they're painted...

The new master bedroom has 4 nice big windows and overlooks the lake:

It's a pretty nice view from up there.

The beam detail that Erik created for the upstairs. A ceiling fan will replace the dangling light bulb.

Some quality peel & stick tiles went in the hallway and bathroom.

Erik sprayed the doors to match the trim.

Bathroom:

And this was Erik after his final day of work, exhausted and glad to be packing it in for the final time.

Home (& a new friend)

2011-08-16T14:32:00.001-07:00

This was us leaving my parents' farm early Wednesday morning:

Micah looks like he's already anticipating the way he'll feel after 25+ hours in the van...

After stopping in Saskatchewan to visit relatives, we had a quick 2 night-stay in Edmonton so we could enjoy the mall. A few rides in Galaxy Land, some time in the waterpark, a little shopping and then we were off again, and looking forward to being back in beautiful British Columbia.

I didn't take many pictures on the trip home - other than these few while we stopped at Mount Robson. Erik took a quick catnap in the van while the kids played...

Pyjamas make great traveling clothes.

The last stretch from Hope to Abbotsford is always the worst.

Correction - I think the last stretch of any drive is the worst. And inevitably, for our family, there is always at least one child who has a meltdown during that entire hour.

After almost 15 hours straight of driving? We expected it.

We waited for it.

But... it never came.

The kids - especially Silas - amazed us.

I think we're raising some hard-core road-trippers.

We pulled into Toews headquarters on Saturday evening, happy to be "home" - even though we'll be living out of suitcases and boxes for a couple more weeks until the big move into our new place.

And once we were home, it was time to fulfill a promise we made to the kids....

Meet Moses.

The kitten belongs to everyone, but we knew that Keziah would pretty much take over all pet-sitting responsibilities, including deciding when he shall eat, sleep, play and poop. I call her my "smother mother".

Poor Moses is being a really good sport.

He let her tuck him in this afternoon and stayed there for a long catnap.

And I knew the kitten was a keeper when I watched him sit still while Keziah brushed his fur with a barbie comb.

Welcome to the family little Moses.

The Sunday of Summer

2011-08-06T06:08:00.000-07:00

Our time in Manitoba is rapidly coming to a close and we've been trying to pack in all the summer fun that we've left until the last minute. Trips to the lake have been more frequent and each time my mom and I convince ourselves that all the prep work and clean-up is worth it!

It doesn't take much convincing when you enjoy an evening like this one at Lake William with a few cousins:

Unfortunately in the haste and chaos of leaving the house with 3 whiny kids, my mom and I forgot the bag that contained the plates. But, hey, it's "camping" right?

So, we made do.

I even convinced the kids that the flap in the paper bag was the hot dog holder.

They totally bought it.

Oh - and to explain the bandage on Micah's arm -- it was still bothering him a bit after he hurt it at camp. I had visions of us coming home with another casted arm like last year. But we kept an eye on it and the tensor seemed to help. He hasn't complained about it in a few days so I think we're out of the woods.

In Micah's words, he probably just "spranged it".

When Erik asked who Micah's favourite Manitoba cousin was a few weeks ago, he surprised us by announcing that it was Olivia. They do play together quite well...

Maddy patiently worked on her mission to befriend Silas. And her secret to success?

Rocks.

(My camera kept focusing on the sand in the photos, so I decided to go with it and have some fun with iphoto edits...)

Silas and Judah.

Then a couple of days later, my mom and I packed up the kids and hopped in the van once again. This time for a day trip to Clear Lake (Riding Mtn National Park). Brad & Nichole were camping up there for a few days and I hadn't been to Clear Lake in ages (my favourite camping location growing up).

The kids had a blast at the beach.

Silas had a great time right up until the moment this happened:

And then I was even able to transfer him to this:

Overall, a great day was had at Clear Lake - though we all agreed, it was too short!

Another thing on our must-do-before-we-leave-Manitoba list was to take one more ride in Grandpa's pontoon boat.

So, last night, that's what we did.

We even stopped mid-lake so that Erik and the kids could jump in for a swim.

And practice some new swimming moves...

To me, August will always feel like the "Sunday" of summer. You know -- the second half of the weekend where you're already thinking about going back to work or school (who I am kidding, I haven't gone to a job or a school in years... but I definitely still look forward to the weekend!) In the same way, August marks the shifting of that entire-summer-stretched-out-before-me feeling into the only-a-few-more-weeks-until-this-all-comes-to-an-end feeling.

Thankfully there are plenty more good things to look forward to.

Camp

2011-07-30T10:57:00.001-07:00

We had another first in our family. Last week Micah went to camp for the first time!

Turtle Mountain Bible Camp had a Pee-Wee camp for 2 nights and my 6-year-old nephew Liam was already registered. We talked to Micah about it a few times but he was unsure, and we decided not to push it. Then, when he saw all of his older cousins heading off to camp the week before, he told us that he would like to try to go to camp too.

Since Micah has always been our anxious child, fearful of new and/or unknown situations, I wasn't sure how it would go. I was a little worried when his older cousin came home early from camp the week before due to homesickness. But it didn't seem to deter him. Then, my other concern was that Micah and Liam don't always see eye-to-eye.

But when camp day came, they were best buddies.

Two short nights later, we drove back to pick them up - mildly surprised that we hadn't received any homesick phone calls.

They were still smiling!

Micah told me that he hurt his arm falling off the swing but didn't seem too upset about it. It helped that the camp directors are sort of related to us (their son married Erik's sister) and they made extra-sure that Micah had a great time at camp. He even got a "Get Well" note with an extra treat from the tuck shop :)

Micah also told me that he felt lonely at night and that it was hard to fall asleep, which doesn't surprise me. I think 2 nights was just the right amount of time for him. Any longer and I'm sure his camp experience would've felt too long and lonely.

And I'm glad these two 6-year-olds were able to put their differences aside and enjoy their first time at camp :)

Poolside

2011-07-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Silas has spent some of his hot summer days cooling off in the froggy pool on Granny's deck. He isn't put off by freezing cold water. And true to his "I'm-a-3rd-child-and-I-can-do-everything-that-everyone-else-does," he's become a "jumper" -- off of stairs (like 2 at a time) off of kitchen chairs...

And off the edge of his pool...

Whoa! Was that ever fun!

And true to my "this-is-the-third-child" parenting style, I let the kid jump.

Nomads No Longer

2011-07-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months a lot has been happening for us - moving out of our house and in with Erik's family, traveling to Manitoba and then living with my family.

We've been like nomads; a family of wanderers, drifting from place to place, without a home to call our own...

OK, that's a bit extreme.

But there has been a sense of "homelessness" and the feeling of looking forward to getting our things out of storage and settling into our own space again.

The good news is that as of the end of August, we WILL have a place to call home. Because at the end of August, this beautiful piece of British Columbia will be in the possession of Erik & I, along with Erik's parents:

The four of us started looking at a property to buy together back in the spring and when this one came up, it had a lot of the qualities we were looking for: 5 acres of flat (useable) land, a shop, located on a quiet street, close to the kids' school, close to town... and LOTS of potential. Our offer was accepted the week before we left for Manitoba and Erik's parents' current house sold very shortly after.

(The property includes this field behind the barn - what we will do with this space is yet to be determined.)

The "new" house itself leaves a lot to be desired. It will be a "make-do" kind of situation for now until we decide on permanent changes. But we'll be able to create two separate living spaces that should work for everyone involved - at least for the short-term.

(back of the house)

Here's the space between the house and the barn.

This is the side of the house looking down the driveway towards the street. We're right at the end of a cul-de-sac, which I love.

This is the green space to the west of the house/shop/barn area. I'm excited to imagine the kids playing outside in this space as opposed to this space.

I'll share some indoor house pictures once we move in (let me just say the house wasn't the main drawing card for this property). So, stay tuned as we embark on this new adventure. Hard to believe we'll be living there just over a month from now!

Morning Walk

2011-07-21T11:18:00.000-07:00

Silas' sleeping has been all over the map since we've been here. He started off sleeping well at night and having 3 hour naps every day. That has been demoted to sleeping poorly at nights and having 45 minute naps. And then there was this week when he flat-out refused his afternoon naps.

And the boy is up early. Usually around 6 am.

Yesterday was no exception.

But the temperature read 28 degrees and it looked like there were storm clouds looming in the distance, so Silas and I went in search of some thunder.

After waiting 10 minutes for my camera to "de-fog" from the humidity, I was able to take a few shots of our little walk.

Dee-dee and puppy had to come along of course.

How can I resist this sweet little face...

Heaven

2011-07-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

Today marks another year since Erik's brother Nathan was taken from his earthly family. There's not a day that goes by that we don't remember him or feel affected by what happened on that day. It's forever changed us. It will always be a marking point in our lives. We refer to things in terms of whether it happened before the accident or after the accident. It is an event that is irrevocably stamped in our history. And we still wish it wasn't so.

But there is a bigger picture. A greater story. And as much as I know in my heart that Heaven and Jesus and all of it is real, I think it can still feel very distant and disconnected from the here and now.

But then I read this book. In fact Erik and I both read it in less than 24 hours.

It wasn't hard.

It has really affected me since then... in a really good way. And I love what God spoke to me through it all - that God hears our prayers... that he really, REALLY loves us... and that Heaven is a real, tangible place. More than ever, it makes us want to be there and see Nathan again, but even more than that - to meet Jesus face to face.

I Spoke Too Soon

2011-07-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said I hoped we would avoid injuries like head lacerations this year?

Well... last week Keziah's head met with a windowsill.

And today Silas' head met with the metal base of an office chair.

At least we don't have any broken bones.

Yet.

Fireside Supper

2011-07-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

We've got some more cousins visiting this week. And with the men working overtime at the cabin, we needed an entertaining way to pass the hours before bedtime.

So, it was time to build a fire.

The kids worked hard to gather sticks for the big blaze.

Liam was determined to cut this thick branch with his pruning shears.

No branches were too green for these boys to add to the fire.

Breaking for a tire swing ride.

Then it was time for a supper of hot dogs, chips and pop.

(Liam & Micah)

(Cassidy & Aidan)

And dessert?

S'mores of course :)

Canada Day Weekend

2011-07-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

Canada Day celebrations started with a parade in town.

Expectations were low. But we were pleasantly surprised...

There were horses, dogs, shriners in miniature cars and several familiar characters including Spongebob, Blue, Dora, Strawberry Shortcake and Elmo.

Even Mickey & Minnie came through in their carriage.

Oh. And big tractors.

This is a prairie town, after all.

But no parade would be complete without some candy scrambling!

Silas held tightly to his special bag - a gift from Smokey the Bear. And as per usual, his commentary of events was in full volume. His raspy voice could be heard calling out, "I see Elmo!" "I get da can-y!" "I see da big big truck!" He is generally entertaining for all people who are within earshot - which is quite a few considering his vocal range.

On Sunday we headed to Lake Metigoshe with some of the Harder family to enjoy a hot afternoon at the beach.

The kids bravely donned their life jackets and had no fears about jumping into the lake.

Even after Micah was bit by a turtle and had a bit of a panic attack, he still went back in. And that was actually the 2nd turtle incident that day. Erik got a nibble on his toe as well.

They don't call these the "Turtle Mountains" for nothing.

(Those are Smokey the Bear tattoos on Keziah's legs... just in case you were wondering :)

Silas loved the water.

We headed to the cabin for a BBQ supper. Here is the back view of the cabin where we drive in. This roof will be getting replaced very soon!

Here is some of the work that Erik completed on the cabin when he came to MB and left me as a single-mom for 3 weeks last September.

Here's the same view of the cabin taken about a year ago when renos had just started.

Crowded on the deck... and it was H-O-T.

Then it was time for the annual fireworks over the US side of Lake Metigoshe - celebrating the 4th of July. It's a highlight for everyone, but it takes forever for the sky to get dark enough for them. The kids were up until midnight that night.

Licorice "smile".

Josh.

The ever-animated Judah.

Kailyn - the boat-decorating co-ordinator.

And you all know this girl.

Not sure what the expression is for...

Besides these events, we celebrated Erik's 31st birthday, caught the Boissevain fireworks on the 1st, and did both the worship music and children's feature in church on Sunday morning. It was a FULL weekend!

June in Cancun

2011-07-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

It has taken me nearly a week to finish this post.

I blame it on 3 things:

- slow internet that takes me about 10x longer to upload pictures

- the 5 or so transcription assignments that were awaiting me when I returned from Mexico

- and, of course, 3 children

Enough said.

But now that I have a spare moment, I can sit an reminisce about a week when there was no transcription or children or laundry or cooking or cleaning...

We arrived in Cancun to a rainy and muggy afternoon. The forecast for our first couple of days looked pretty grim. This is what we woke up to on our first morning:

But the rain stopped and we were still able to enjoy the day (sans sun). It was plenty warm enough to lounge on the beach and swim in the warm turquoise Caribbean Sea.

And if I was discouraged about a bit of cloudy weather, I needn't have been. The sun came out for the rest of the week and more than made up for that first cloudy day. By Thursday we were both sunburnt and wishing for a bit of relief from the heat...

We stayed in a beautiful resort called The Royal Sands in the hotel zone of Cancun. It was everything you imagine a tropical resort would look like...

We took a shuttle one day to a "sister" resort near Playa Del Carmen. The hotel was stunning and even nicer than our own, but we agreed that we liked the ocean area at our hotel better - where we had bigger (funner) waves and a nicer sandy ocean bottom.

I think my favourite part of our day at that resort was the hammocks. I need to get me one of these...

(this pale-skinned photo has been brought to you by Winter)

On Wednesday we spent about 5 hours right here...

We were very careful about staying in the shade and re-applying sunscreen since we were in and out of the ocean a lot that day, but my pale winter skin just couldn't handle all those UV rays and I was B-U-R-N-T that night. Erik was too.

ouch.

The next day we had a snorkelling trip planned. I wasn't too keen on having the sun beat on my back and legs for 2 hours, so I bought myself a water shirt and put on the longest pair of shorts I had along. Erik enjoyed making fun of me because as we were swimming I kept my hands over my forehead to keep the sun from burning it even more. I guess the image of me swimming fully-clothed and keeping my hands over my head was pretty humorous.

I decided it was best if we didn't take too many pictures of me that day.

A few photos I took while walking down the Cancun hotel strip...

Erik and I walked to this flea market one afternoon and quickly discovered that we really hated the whole bartering scene. I'm not sure how this push-me-into-your-store technique is really working for them. The more pushy they were, the less I wanted to buy something. In the end, we shamelessly bought all our souvenirs at the mall :) The experience was not quite as authentic and the items were probably slightly over-priced, but the ability to take my time and peruse the aisles uninterrupted was worth it!

Erik and I really enjoyed the culture of Mexico, as it reminded us so much of Peru (where we spent 4 months with a missions team before we had kids). The bit of Spanish that was logged away in our memory banks bubbled up to the surface and it was nice to be able to speak to the locals in their language, even though they could all switch easily over to English. One weird and little-known fact about me is that, for some reason, I take on other people's accents very quickly. Last year when we went to Atlanta, I was speaking like a full-on southern belle by the time we came home. I almost couldn't help it. So, after about 3 days in Mexico, I found it happening again. But, it wasn't that I was suddenly speaking Spanish without thinking, it was that I was speaking English with a Spanish accent.

Imagine Pedro on "Napoleon Dynamite". But me talking like that.

Without even meaning to.

Yes. I am officially weird.

We came across these guys digging up sea turtle eggs just down the beach from our hotel. The locals will watch for sea turtles that are laying and once the eggs are all laid and the mother has returned to the ocean, they'll dig them up and re-bury them in a fenced-in area to keep them protected until they hatch.

It's hard to tell, but there's actually a ton more of them still buried in the deep hole.

This area is protecting several mounds of eggs - each "set" (batch? litter??) was over 100 eggs! That's a whole lot of baby sea turtles incubating under the sand...

Overall, we had a great vacation. Great people, great location, great weather and fantastic food! (BTW - I think my homemade salsa and guacamole is pretty close to the authentic Mexican stuff since we watched them prepare it for us at our table, but I did get some ideas to make a few slight improvements!)

It was good for Erik and I to get away - just the 2 of us. Something about shared experiences really does draw you closer together. After nearly 10 years of marriage, I'm happy to report that Erik and I are still best friends. We had some good laughs during the week.

Especially after "mutual sunburn day".

Ahhhh.... good-bye Mexico.

Me Amo Mexico

2011-06-16T15:00:00.000-07:00

A few days from now, I'm going to lather on some sunscreen, grab a novel and an armful of snacks and park myself right here...

That's right folks.

On Saturday Erik and I get to leave the kids with Granny & Grandpa and fly to Cancun :)

It turned out to be a partially paid-for trip, in fact, since Erik won free accommodations back in April. I let him go on a Men's Frisbee Golf weekend on Pender Island. Erik wanted to go simply for the love of the game and he didn't realize until they were about to play the final round that the grand prize was actually a week in a time-share in Cancun. He silently prayed for the Lord to give him favour in his frisbee throws (grin) and he won!

The great part is that this comes just in time to celebrate our 10-year anniversary (which is actually on July 15th). We weren't expecting to do anything "special" this year since we knew we'd be buying a house, but God provided us with a great opportunity that we just couldn't pass up.

So... Mexico, aqui vamos!

We've Arrived

2011-06-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

The three full days of driving are a bit of a blur, but here's what I do remember:

~ Driving through tunnels. These are always a big highlight for the kids and even warrant the pausing of any DVDs that might be playing.

~ Animal sightings. The most exciting was a black bear and her 2 cubs (which makes 3 years in a row of spotting a bear! ... For anyone who cares.)

~ Tallying up the money spent on gas. (I believe the grand total was close to $500... yikes.)

~ Most frequent phrases from the backseat. "I'm hungry" (most commonly heard about 5 minutes after the last snack was eaten). "Make a bottle... Home!" (heard by the young Mr. Siley-Bear who is sorely in need of intervention for his bottle addiction) and "When are we gonna be there?" (Most commonly answered by "In a little while!!")

But all in all, I can't really complain about the drive. In fact, I read an entire novel on the trip - which seems to indicate that I wasn't doling out snacks, switching DVDs and pacifying Silas the entire time.

We made our customary stop in Revelstoke where we feasted on McDonald's and released some pent-up energy at the park.

It was also the scene of our very first injury. Nothing a band-aid wouldn't fix though.

(I'm really praying that we don't come home with any broken bones or head lacerations this year.)

After a stop in Alberta with some old friends and a stop in Saskatchewan to see Erik's grandparents, we arrived at the farm, ready to settle in for another Manitoba summer.

Sunday morning pancakes - in lieu of Saturday morning pancakes.

(This classic Corelle pattern totally brings me back to my childhood... Anyone else??)

Erik is slightly concerned about Silas' shoe and purse fetish.

I happen to think it's pretty cute.

For now.

Yesterday (Sunday), Erik figured it was as good a time as any to finally take Micah's training wheels off.

Micah caught on quite quickly, There were a few scrapes and a few tears but we're trying to keep him positive and excited about this new-found skill.

On The Road Again

2011-06-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. The van and trailer are loaded up and we will be setting the alarm for somewhere in the 5 o'clok hour for tomorrow morning. In less than 24 hours we hope to be settling in with our friends in High River, AB and then the following night with Erik's grandparents in Saskatchewan. If all goes well, we should be in Boissevain by Saturday evening!

This past week brought last days of school for the kids, including a Vancouver Aquarium field trip for Micah. Unfortunately, he'll miss the last 3 weeks of Kindergarten, and Keziah will miss her preschool graduation next week. She'll also miss her spring ballet recital, but thankfully Erik and I were able to watch her dress rehearsal this past week and snag a video of another adorable little routine - which, of course, I couldn't resist sharing :)

(Unfortunately one or two of the other girls were having a tough time during the performance :P)

Time to hit the hay...

Manitoba - here we come!