Saturday January 30, 2010

Drayton ended up sleeping over last night, and Charity took Maiya home with them after her date to sleepover with Presley. They had a blast! It's so great when cousins get along so well. I dropped off Drayton at his house late in the morning (along with Damian since he was invited to come play for a bit), and picked up Maiya. Meg and Caleb were waiting at Charity's house for me to come and do a small photoshoot for them. Meg is around 7 months pregnant, so she wanted some belly pics and some with her and Caleb and their dog Sammie. It was fairly cold (-8 I think) and completely grey, but we managed to get a few good shots in. (Way better than the shots I have of me standing in the Wal Mart parking lot near my car showing off my belly. I wish I knew a photographer back then...) Afterwards, we came home to defrost our bodies, hahaha! We just chilled out for most of the afternoon, and Kaitlyn had her friend Nikki over. Then it was time for me to get ready to head out. Kaitlyn and McKenna were our sitters. They love babysitting.  Grant was at work so he just met us at the restaurant. I drove Valene and Derek. We went to Joey Tomato's to celebrate Morgan's b-day. The dinner was soooo delicious!! (as are most meals that I don't have to cook).

It was Grant and I, Morgan and Sue Kyle, Tyler and Carrie Adams and Derek and Valene Siakaluk. We always have a blast together, and this time was no exception. Afterwards the girls went home while the guys went out for their movie night. They went to go see a movie called "The Book of Eli". A fun way to end the weekend!! (oh and in this group photo, I just stuck a picture of my head in there because I was taking the picture. Morgan was trying to find someone who would take the pic, but I reassured him that I would just photoshop myself in, LOL!!! So here it is)

Oh, and what would a post be without another random Tyson sleeping picture. I love it when theyfall asleep wherever they are! So cute!

Friday January 28, 2010

Busy seems to be the norm around here, but we've been having a heck of a lot of fun. Just a quick update today,  and it will be very random and probably out of order as my brain is feeling tired and not allowing me to recall things easily, LOL! (Oh, and I have the perfect picture for a random posting...Tyson sleeping amongst his favourite things in the world....his CARS! He grabbed a blanket out of the closet, layed on the floor pushing cars around, and then fell asleep where he was...so cute!)
We've started up with our "Preparedness by Degrees" booklet in Relief Society. I am very excited about the program and have already selected some of the goals I will be doing. We had a "kick off" for this program. We played Jeopardy using the categories in the book. It was a lot of fun, and I got to be the host (though I did not dress up like Alex Trebek, but was tempted to wear at least a tie in his honour.....I didn't though!) Damian has been really doing excellent at his gymnastics this session. He just passed level 2 and was just beginning level 3. A couple of weeks into it, the coaches said that he is finding it way too easy, so they have bumped him up to level 4. He is with the same class until the session is done, but they have tweaked his routines to be at a level 4. Way to go Damian! Kaitlyn is very excited about how her swimming lessons have been going. She's been having trouble getting past level 4 because of the front crawl, but just got her mid session report, and it looks like she's got it figured out and will most likely be moving onto level 5. Way to go Kaitlyn! Kaitlyn just joined the Student Senate (most people would know it as a students council), and I'm very proud of her for that. She has so many interests and ambitions. She always amazes me with the things she accomplishes. So many goals and aspirations. She inspires me! I came up with a menu plan (again) for a month and this time wrote out each plan by weeks, typed out recipes, and made grocery lists. Now the trickiest part is to make it work and stick to it (I've tried in the past, and have been mediochre in my efforts). The girls had Activity Days this week, and had the missionaries come in and give them the chapel tour. They enjoyed themselves. We had the Gibb family over for dinner on Sunday, and Grant made his awesome stir fry that I love!!! It's my new favourite food! I've been working on some photography projects lately that I've been enjoying. Grant has continued to be an inspiration to me by going to the gym frequently during the week. I am seeing the results. I went to my friend, Valene's, house last night for a girls night. It was "The 12 Days of Love". Each of us brought things to pool together to create the 12 days before valentines for our husbands. It was a ton of fun, and Valene is the perfect hostess for anything holiday related (well the perfect hostess for anything really). Tonight I am babysitting for Charity and Jesse so they can go out on a date.See, I told you it would be a random posting....

January 19, 2010

It has been such a good start to the year for 2010. We have been having a long lasting chinook, which has given a welcome break from the winter. I have this photo of Grant outside after he got back from the gym. He decided to work on getting the sidewalk cleared and part of the road where he parks his car since the weather was so nice.Alberta is just so weird for weather. Not sure if I will ever get used to the randomness, haha! Shorts in January in Alberta? hmmm....
We had a bit of random sickness in our home last week, but it was so minor and fleeting that it really wasn't a bother. Got together with Sue a couple of times. She's helping me work on a project I am doing. Went out to Dairy Queen with Alex and Kari, then watched the dumbest movie ever "All About Steve". Looked like it could be cute, but alas it was deceiving and was just
plain dumb. Tyson got his hair cut by his Aunt Meg (he was starting to look like a shaggy dog), and I got to go see a sweet little baby last week. I took a snapshot of her, and she looked so angelic. Tiny bit of baby fever, but definitely at the stage where I just like to look at them or hold them, not have one of my own. I've been slowly working on some ideas for my photography, as well as getting my butt back into gear helping out in Relief Society. The kids have been really enjoying playing outside longer. They even got invited over to a neighbourhood friends house for a weenie roast. We've never done one in the snow, so they thought it was AWESOME! We've been doing lots of organizing in every aspect of our lives at the moment. I feel so unbelievably awesome when I feel organized. The kids have been doing amazing with their "program". The house has never been more tidy. It's not perfect, but they have been keeping the majority of the clutter off the floor, consistently cleaning their rooms, being on time out the door for school, and getting some experience with jobs I've never made them do before (like bathrooms and laundry). It has helped keep the stress level down in our house. Grant went for a dump trip today to clean out an accumulation of things in our garage, and tomorrow will be recycling.
A very random post today, but a post nonetheless.

January 8, 2010

It was much nicer weather (for winter) today! YAY! Sounds like it's going to be on the warmer side for a little bit, which is always welcome news. I got Maiya this new dress the other day, and it looked so cute on her. She humoured me, and put it on for a picture. It was nice enough today, that she went outside with no jacket, and felt warm (you know you live in Canada when, LOL). We pretty much had a relaxing day hanging around the house today. The kids had some friends over, and McKenna went to her friend Isabella's house in the afternoon. I went out for dinner with some of my best friends tonight. It was a fun time. It started out with Sue driving over the cement parking block by accident (it was buried in the snow, so she didn't see it). Valene, Carrie and I ended up having to push the car up, and over the curb, hahaha!! We are all muscle, I tell ya :) We got the vehicle over it. We had dinner at a Greek restaurant that I had never been to. In fact, I don't believe I've ever tried Greek food before. It was pretty good! The lights dimmed at about 7:30, and out came a belly dancer dancing around the tables, hahaha!!! Interesting.....

January 7, 2010

So the holidays are definitely over. We went right into one whirlwind of a week. This past Saturday we celebrated my Grandma's 75th b-day at my cousin Crystal's house. There were lots of people there to celebrate. It was nice visiting with family that I haven't seen in a while, as well as ones that I have :)
On Sunday our friends, Sue and Morgan, invited our family over for dinner. It was a yummy fun time. Morgan got to try out his new deep fryer that he got at Christmas, and made us some good fries in it!
Monday its was back to school for the kids. None of them were terribly excited to be going back, but ended up having a great day anyways. The kids have been doing really good with being consistent with their chores each day, as well as doing extra "money jobs" around the house. It's helped out so much with keeping things in order. I've also added bonus rewards for the kids that are consistently on time at the door to leave for school, and that has really helped out with their speed in the mornings. It's been so great!
Tuesday was the beginning of another session of swimming lessons for Kaitlyn. Damian also started back into cubs. We drove Drayton as well, since Jesse wasn't around. It was badge night, and Damian got a badge. He was so excited and so proud. Damian went on a trip to the museum on Tuesday as well.
Wednesday Damian started back into Gymnastics. They moved to a new building, and it is so much bigger. Grant went out to the movies with Caleb to go see Sherlock Holmes again, and I stayed home and watched "Titanic" for the first time ever. It's a pretty old movie, so most people are so surprised that I had never seen it. It was so sad. I cried. Sue was the one who got me thinking I should watch it. She really likes that movie, and couldn't believe that I hadn't seen it yet. I should have had her over to watch it with me, so we could cry together, LOL!
That brings us to today. I went shopping in the afternoon for a few things. I love checking out Once Upon a Child in Calgary, so we went there. I got some awesome deals. I really needed some jeans for McKenna. She just hit a huge growth spurt and outgrew all of her jeans except for 1 pair. So I got her a few pairs today. Tyson and Maiya were very good, so that was a bonus as well. The kids are now watching a movie together while I blog. I am supposed to be going out to book club tonight, which I love going to, but I'm just too tired to go tonight. I probably wouldn't be good company. I feel like bumming at home, and hanging out with my husband. One of those pj nights wrapped in a blanket in front of the tv. It's probably because I didn't sleep very well last night. Oh and a few pics in here of Damian's pet "Fluffy". They were enjoying letting him play on Tyson's garage set today, and I thought the pics were funny and cute. Oh, and a random picture of Tyson when he fell asleep on the couch (I guess I didn't put him down for his nap soon enough, lol)

January 1, 2010

So yesterday was the final day of 2009. I went shopping at the mall by myself in the morning, so I could look for a pair of jeans without being distracted by children. It was so nice. I ended up finding some pretty decent deals. I got a pair of jeans for $15, a fall/spring jacket for $15, and I got some good deals at Aeropostalé for a hoodie and a shirt as well as 2 shirts for Grant. It was a good trip. Then I went to the video store to get some movies for the kids for our New Years Eve Party, and some treats. Grant had to work on New Years Eve, so we didn't get to go to our friends NY's Eve party. That's when I decided to have a fun night for the kids. We threw blankets on the floor and pillows, tons of munchies (maybe a little too many), we played monopoly junior altogether and then watched a Barbie movie. Damian and Catcher weren't too interested, but it was more because I thought Maiya might be one of the first to fall asleep. After that, we watched fireworks out our front window and then went on to watch another movie called "Dragon Hunters". I couldn't believe all of the kids were still awake by that point. There was still an hour and a half left until midnight, so the girls played on the computer on some Barbie site together and the boys played Lego Indiana Jones on the PS3 (except Tyson who just wanted to play with his cars). They almost all made it to midnight. Tyson fell asleep at 11:45pm and the rest of the kids were still wide awake. They got to blow their squawkers out the door at midnight and then went off to bed. The photo was not taken at that time, it was taken at the beginning of our festivities since I thought most of the kids would be asleep by then.
So that brings us to today! Happy New Years Everyone! Even though it is really just another day, it feels kind of like a fresh start. We had a great 2009 and hope to have a wonderful 2010. Grant had to work during the day today. I implemented a new plan in our house today. A plan to teach my children more responsibility and about finances. We have not done allowances thus far with them, but have decided to start doing that. I made it so that they have some basic daily chores that they have to complete everyday. Each day that they complete their chores they will receive their alotted money for the day in an envelope marked with their name. If they complete their whole week of chores without missing a day, they will get a small bonus for that week. We also have extra jobs that we label as money jobs. I write a list of jobs I need done, and how much I will pay the person who does it. They can then look at the list on the fridge if they want to earn a little extra money and we also add that to their envelope. I have encouraged them to seek out other jobs such as recycling peoples bottles, shoveling driveways, babysitting etc. if they want to earn more. At the end of the week we then open their envelopes and count their money. They take out 10% of it to put in their tithing. Then they split the rest in half. Half goes into their spending jar where they can choose to save for something big or spend it right away. The other half goes into their bank account (we will be setting up their own bank accounts sometime in the coming week) and that will be money that is not allowed to be touched until they are adults. We will not be buying them toys or unnecessary clothing throughout the year, except on b-days, christmas etc. If they want anything extra, they need to save up for it. I feel that they will take care of their things better if they earn it themselves. I also told them that they could go through their things and sell things they don't use anymore to make extra money. They already went through their drawers and some toys. They were so excited! We also plan on giving them a budget for school clothes at the end of the summer, and having them discover what their clothing needs are, and to help them figure out how to make their money work for what they need. We only do this for the kids that are 8 and over. For the little kids, we do a sticker rewards chart for now. They can put those stickers towards awards when they earn enough. I have many resolutions that have been in the works before new years, but always feel an even firmer resolve around this time of year. Let's ust hope I can stick to my guns this year. I wanted to be much more organized this year, so that is one of my goals. Anyways, enough about my goals....I'm going to go enjoy some of that stew Kaitlyn made for dinner. Have I ever said that I REALLY love that she has a love for cooking?!