A special mothers day post

A small tribute to my Mom. 10 things that remind me of my mom while growing up at home (in no particular order):

~ ABBA (She would always have ABBA records playing when I was younger, and the coolest dance moves. So fun!!!)














Hugga Bunch (This was one of my most memorable b-day parties with a Hugga Bunch theme. My Mom has always been awesome with themed b-day parties. I remember thinking the Hugga Bunch place cards were the best thing ever)








Crayons. I still to this day think that my Mom is the best at colouring with crayons. She would always colour with us when we were little. Outlining the picture in dark lines of whatever colour she was using and then lightly and neatly colouring in the inside. Loved her colouring.










Those wedding pom poms. I remember my Mom opening up a ton of these wedding pom poms back in the day, and we would sometimes help her. My Mom decorated for a lot of weddings and events. I always thought it was fun helping her set things up.










Harmonicas. My Mom always loved to play her harmonica. She enjoys music and also tried learning the piano. She would often try to play the songs we would sing together for family home evening. While we would laugh sometimes at her attempts to play when she didn't know the song very well (which made us all go off key, or she would say "wait, let me try again.." leaving us singing the same song forever) but I found it very comforting and a fond memory.






Richard Simmons - Sweatin' to the Oldies!!! This totally brings me back to the days where my Mom would be doing her exercises in the livingroom. We would all enjoy joining in on some exercise sessions with Richard Simmons. We all thought he was hilarious, and the songs were fun. Hahaha!! Gotta love his stripey speedos!!

Granola! This was my all time favourite breakfast food growing up. I always loved when my Mom made it for us. It smelled so good in the house and was WAYYY better than porridge (which was the breakfast we mainly grew up on). My Mom made the best granola ever!
















Anne of Green Gables. This was one of my Mom's favourite movies and books I think. I remember watching this movie often when I was younger. I think I was in love with Gilbert Blythe back then. It's been a long time since I've seen Anne of Green Gables. Maybe I should watch it again!










Country Items. Especially country animals like cows, chickens, pigs. Tons of antique things like old fashioned irons, sewing machine, barrels etc. adorned our house.
















St. Patricks Day, and any holiday really. My Mom liked to make sure that every holiday was decorated nice and fun for us. Lots of fun cut outs. The style of cut outs in this photo are exactly what I remember. My Mom always made sure there was lots of green including green food on this holiday. Every holiday was a fun, well decorated party :)














These are pretty random thoughts, but definitely things that I like to remember about my Mom from when I was growing up, and I thought she might be interested to read some of the small (yet big) memories I have of her. There are many more that I could list, like special notes under my pillow, notes in my lunches sometimes, making barbie houses out of cardboard boxes and fabric etc., yard sales, flea market trips..and I could go on and on. I have an awesome Mom and I hope she knows how much I love her and appreciate all of the things she did for me and my brothers and sisters growing up.

Sunday May 10, 2009

Wow, I am sooo bad at doing this everyday. I get too busy, but hey...at least it's something. Lots of things going on this week. I can't even remember everything that went on this week. Some of the things that this week included was me going to a bookclub. My sister has a book club. We just read "The Hiding Place". It was a woman's account of life in concentration camps. It was a very good read. Next on the list is "Persuasion" by Jane Austen. Kaitlyn has joined floor hockey and has been going every Tuesday and Thursday. I had a photoshoot on Wednesday. It was fun. I got to do it during a sunset. So nice. I have been working on my new website this week. It is still not finished, but it is close. I love it so much more than my other one. It is sagerstudios.com.
The kids had Friday off of school this week. Poor kids, I made them clean the house with me for the whole morning. It needed to be done though. They played outside for most of the afternoon. Grant and I went to the Adams house on Friday night for a games night. It was fun. Kaitlyn got to co-babysit again with Leah Moore (a 12 year old from our ward). Saturday morning I went out garage saling. I got a kids basketball net, a little doll table and chairs set, some books. McKenna and Damian had friends over in the morning. Grant took Damian and McKenna to gymnastics in the afternoon. They are really improving. After gymnastics, we went to Alex and Josh's house for a barbecue. Yummy!! I watched her kids while they went out on a date after that. That brings us to today. Mothers Day! The kids already gave me my mothers day gift last week (typical of Grant. He just can't wait, haha). Grant had gone through all of my makeup and wrote everything down and then went to get backups of all of my makeup. He also got me salon grade shampoo and conditioner, a series of books and some chocolates. I am spoiled :)
Nursery went really well at church today with the split classes again. The kids all made me cute cards with handprints on them. Grant made me some homemade pizza and breadsticks for dinner. So yummy!! What an awesome family I have :)

Monday May 4, 2009

So I missed a few days again, oops. Where's my comittment here?? It was a gorgeous weekend. Saturday I woke up and went yard saling. How awesome! Spring is for sure here when there are a bunch of yard sales. I went to quite a few too. I got some comics for Grant, and a couple of games for his PSP handheld game system. I got Maiya a bunch of clothes for a decent price, and I got a fun looking toolkit full of tons of play doh accessories for $1.00 that I got for the nursery. Kaitlyn, McKenna and Maiya all wanted to go with me. So they came along. Loved it! Like mother like daughters, haha! Grant went to the movies at night with Caleb, Shawna and Tyler. They went to go see the "Wolverine" movie. Meg came and hung out with me, and brought Sammie (her puppy) along with her. He is just the cutest thing. We were going to go take some photos that I had in mind, but Grant had accidentally taken my keys with him to the movies in his pocket, so we just walked in the dog walk area and took a few shots. On Sunday we got ready for church. I changed the way that the nursery was going. This week I split it back into the 2 sides. It was soooo much easier and way less stress. After church we went to Nose Creek Park to have a picnic with the Sherlocks. We had bought some KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) the night before and brought that, potato salad, macaroni salad, and juice. Alex made some cupcakes for dessert. It was such a nice day for a picnic. The kids especially enjoyed themselves. They love hanging out with their cousins. We stayed there for quite a while and then came home and had family home evening. We just sang a few songs, and Kaitlyn read us a story from "The Friend".

Now onto today. This morning after we got up and sent the older kids off to school, we decided to go to Costco to go pick up some things in bulk. I was so excited, but let me tell you...I did not see much of a price difference. Everything seemed to be on par with Superstore (which is our grocery store of choice). We didn't end up getting anything. I got a few groceries that we were needing when we got home, but I am going to do the actual grocery shopping tomorrow. Grant went off to the gym again. He is enjoying it. I spent the afternoon outside with the kids. It was so nice out. I just sat there and read my book while Catcher, Maiya and Tyson rode their bikes and played on the slide etc. Damian brought home a small evergreen tree today that he is supposed to plant and take care of. He was so happy about it. Our neighbour, Mrs. Goody (an elderly english woman) gave Damian a big pot to put it in and some soil. I am so happy that we have such a good neighbour. She is always so helpful and nice to my kids. At about 6:30pm the kids all came inside for baths and dinner. I pretty much left the house to itself this weekend, so there was (and still is) a lot of cleaning ahead of me. I did a bunch tonight, but I think I will go read a bit and then head off to bed.

Friday May 1, 2009

Yesterday I forgot to write in my blog. I will give a little recap of yesterday. I went into slight phanic mode in the morning because I was still in my housecoat, just showered, house messy when I get a call from my visiting teachers reminding me that they are coming. Aaahh!! Needless to say I rushed around trying to get myself decent and the house in less chaos, haha! I have 2 new visiting teachers. Vanessa Olsen and Charissa Sabey. It was nice to meet them. I don't know them that well, other than their children from the nursery. After they left, I got Catcher, Maiya and Tyson ready to go to Chuck E Cheeses. We went with Carrie and Sue and the kids. The kids had fun as usual. We are becoming regulars at that place. We went out for lunch together afterwards and to check out Old Navy. It was fun :) we got home just in time for the kids to be coming home. Kaitlyns final school concert was cancelled because of a pipe needing to be fixed. The schoolyard was flooding. They rescheduled for Tuesday. When Grant got home, I went out and got us some subs and we just chatted and watched Dr. Who for the night. It was nice and relaxing.
Now on to today. Today was a pretty laid back day. It was really nice outside (well, nicer than it has been lately). The kids played outside a lot today, and rode bikes and stuff. Tyson is loving being outside so much. Not much happened today that was significant enough to really note. I will add a quick snapshot from today when we were outside.

Tuesday April 29, 2009

This morning came all too early. I just wanted to stay snuggled under the covers. I was sooo comfy. Alas, I had to get up to get the kids ready for school. Grant went off to the gym today again in the morning. I'm glad he's enjoying it. I loaded up the van with all of our recycling. We haven't made a trip to the recycle depot in a while so there was a lot to load. It was nice to free up some garage space (only to be filled in a week, haha). I spent some time outside with the kids today. Still a little chilly, but definitely a whole lot warmer than it has been, and really sunny! Tyson is especially enjoying the outdoors since I pretty much kept him in all winter except for going to the van (and he probably doesn''t remember spring and summer last year very well, he was too little). Grant bought me a new lens today for my camera (YAY!!). It was the Tamron 28-75mm 2.8. I am very excited to try it out! He also got a family seasons pass to Calaway Park. So we will use that a lot in the summer! The kids are very excited about it. Grant left in the afternoon for a meeting. He had 2 previous interviews with a place called "Town Shoes" and they emailed him saying they had a position for him. So he went to meet with them and they said he could have the Store Manager position there. I am very happy for him. I know he will do well, and I just hope it will be good for our future. Kaitlyn joined the floor hockey team at school today. She starts tomorrow! I love floor hockey, and street hockey (but not ice hockey, I stink at skating). Well that's about all I have to say about today!

Tuesday April 28, 2009

Today the kids were soooo excited to discover we had a fish. haha! You can see how desperate they are for a pet. Tyson was pretty fascinated by it. I didn't really want a pet, but I guess fish are really low maintenance. Though I kind of wonder how long he will survive. Today I got in the shower while Tyson was having a nap and Catcher and Maiya were playing videogames to keep them occupied. When I was finished my bath, Maiya came to me with the little bag of fishfood and said "Mommy, I fed the fish". I was like, "Oh no". It's a Beta and they only eat 3 pellets a day. I went to check the fish and it wasn't on the shelf above the counter anymore. Catcher told me Maiya climbed onto the shelf and brought the fishbowl down. She then brought it over to the tv to sit with them and dumped half the bag of fishfood in the water. Grant had to go get a net from the store (since it didn't come with one last night) so he could clean it out.
Grant went to the gym again today. He's going to be in much better shape than me soon. Today was my friend Sues b-day. So Carrie and I made up a basket of stuff for her and some cupcakes to celebrate. Then we took her out for lunch. She wanted to go to McDonalds (she had her kids and Carrie had one of hers, so they got to play in the playplace there). It was fun going out together, and I think it made her day. Damian got to go swimming with his class today which was fun for him...and GUESS WHAT?? It snowed AGAIN!! Sheesh!

Monday April 27, 2009

Spring, Oh Spring...wherefore art thou spring?? In case you haven't noticed, I would really appreciate a REAL spring right about now. Amidst it all though, the tulips are still making their way through the wintery ground. That is a welcome sight indeed. Grant was gone all day and night today. He left at 9am to go to the airport. All airport employees had to go to a meeting there for the day. Grant said for the most part it was boring, but at one point they all received a $5 card to go use at one of the places in the airport to check out customer service. Grant used his at the book shop there. He also said they had Beta fishes at the meeting that they gave to the people there. Grant said he picked a white one.He named him Lionel Richie, haha! I have yet to see it since he has not come home yet.(I will post a photo of it to this post tomorrow) I am not up for pets, no matter how easy a fish seems, so I told him as long as he kept it clean and fed then it was fine. At least they weren't giving away birds or something, hahaha!! After the meeting he had an hour to grab something to eat and then he started his "real" shift, and will probably be home at 2am. What a long day for him. Catcher has not been feeling great today. He has quite the nasty cough, and runny nose. I blame it on the "up and down" weather. Maiya, Tyson and I went outside for a bit today to ride bikes. It was sunny and warm enough, then about 30 mins into our play, it got cold and started snowing again. Good grief!! Carrie came over just as we were finishing dinner. We had to put a basket together. She came just in time to see Tyson smeared with onion dip all over his hair. We had some veggies with dip, and I guess he thought it would make great hair gel. Such a messy little guy. Needless to say, a bath was in order. He seems to absolutely NEED a bath everyday!!! Well, I spent the rest of my evening going through photo files and such. Now it's time for bed, YAY!!!

Sunday April 26, 2009

Today was a LONG day at church. I went in to set up the nursery and whoever was last to put away all of the toys left it in a huge unorganized mess. It took me forever to get everything together again. A lot of the people who were supposed to be in nursery were not there, therefore leaving me, Morgan and Bro Miller to comtend with 23 kids under the age of 3. It was choas! Hopefully we will be getting more helpers soon. I got to leave nursery halfway through to attend a joint meeting. It was a nice break, but sitting down actually made me realize I was tired and I got so sleepy. After church I went home and got things ready to have the Siakaluk Family over for dinner. Always fun company to have. It was funny because it was pretty warm throughout the day and I made subs, salad, veggies and dip to feel more springish...and then partway through our meal it started snowing again!!! How crappy is that?? It is going to be May this week and it is SNOWING!! It was nice having Valene and Derek and the kids come over. My kids had fun playing with them, and as usual we love Derek and Valene and their antics and humour :)

Saturday April 25, 2009

Today was quite the busy day. I got to sleep in a little. The kids spent part of the morning relaxing and playing videogames etc. Their favourite game right now is a spiderman game for our PS3. It's a new game. I had an appointment at the eye doctors today just to check and make sure that all of the infection is gone, and yay it is :) I also have 16/20 vision which is even better than 20/20. Yay again :)
I got home just in time for Grant to take Damian and McKenna to their gymnastics class. It's fun watching the new things they learn. Maiya is feeling a lot better today. The swelling is starting to go down, and I'm pretty sure her nose isn't broken. It was a very weird day, weatherwise. It was sunny, then grey, then snowy and hailing, then raining, then sunny again and then hail...and on and on. Crazy! I picked up the babysitter at 6pm because Grant and I were going on a double date with Carrie and Tyler. Kaitlyn was very excited, because we now let her co-babysit. She gets to be second in command. I think it makes her feel older, and she probably loves the treats and movies :) We then picked up Carrie and Tyler and headed over to Shamrock lanes to go bowling. Let's just say that I REALLY stunk at bowling. I had fun anyways. Then we went to Calgary and had dinner together at East Side Marios. I just can't get enough of their food. Especially the garlic bread and caesar salad. YUM!! After that we headed back into Airdrie and stopped at Dairy Queen for some dessert. It was such a fun night!!!

Friday April 24, 2009

Today was pretty much a lazy day. I did clean, but only half-heartedly. I don`t really have much to say today. The kids have half days every Friday so they were home early today and they all helped clean up the house and their rooms. I made some rice krispie squares for them as a reward. Poor little Maiya got taken to the emergency room this evening because she stood on the side of the tub and then slipped and fell and smashed her face. Grant picked her up right away. She bled everywhere. Poor Maiya. Grant was pretty broken up about it too. I had to remain the calm one. Kaitlyn and Damian were so worried for her. They cried for about a half hour after she left. McKenna was more like me, the strong silent type. She looked upset, but didn't cry. It wasn't until the other 2 had finally calmed down that she felt it was okay to cry. We all had some ice cream together and watched a movie to take their minds off of it. Grant brought Maiya home, and we are still hoping it is not broken. They couldn't tell because her nose was so swollen, but we were told to check it when the swelling goes down to see if it's broken. I'm hoping that this is not the case. After I cuddled her for a while I left to go to the church for Heritage Night. I had to do a little segment on photography. I was not ready at all. I was feeling so tired, didn't have a chance to change into anything other than the scrubs I'd been wearing cleaning all day. I lost my notes that I was going to bring, so I fumbled a lot. I basically just answered questions and gave basic ideas. It was a nice night regardless though and I got some great ideas from some of the other women presenting things about preserving your history :) Grant and Caleb hung out and played videogames and ordered pizza. Alas, the only photo I have that I can add for today is a photo of something I was selling. I didn't take any other photos otherwise. We are selling our Wii and other stuff right now. Trying to declutter and simplify our lives while at the same time making some money to pay down debt. I should see if I can get a photo of Maiya and her nose to put here tomorrow.

Thursday April 23, 2009

This morning started out fairly early. I usually wake up at 6:45am to greet Natasha (Kaitlyn's friend who I watch before and after school), but this morning she came at about 7:15am. This could've been a 1/2 hour extra of sleep, but Tyson decided it was time to wake up. Booooo!!!
McKenna was supposed to go on a swimming trip with her class today, but it was just too cold (they walk to the rec centre) so it was cancelled. I just can't believe that on Monday and Tuesday it was +20 and then yesterday and today have been snowy, and -7 or so. Yuck! To fight off the winter blues, my friend Sue and I went to Chuck E Cheese with the kids. (Just Catcher, Maiya and Tyson of my kids since the others were in school). Sue had never been before and neither had her kids. So that made it even more fun. It was a great time and all of the kids were well behaved. We went over to the food court at the mall and had lunch together as well.
Grant ended up switching his shift, so he was home during the day. He went and did the grocery shopping and went to the gym while we were out. We are trying very hard to eat a lot healthier in our family, and I am really impressed with the effect it's had on my kids. One of Damian's favourite snacks (for the moment) is oatmeal. Imagine that, the stuff I despised growing up that we ate every morning for breakfast. After school I had a full house. All 6 of my kids, Abby (who I watch after school everyday) Natasha and her brother (their Mom had parent/teacher interviews). Kaitlyn and Natasha had their last choir practice of the year today. They each received a pin for being in the choir for the school year. They were so proud. Well, Grant will get home tonight at 9pm or so. It will be nice to just relax and hang out.

Wednesday April 22, 2009

Yikes. What happened to my daily journal?? It seemed like while the kids were out of school last week for spring break, I just didn't get a chance to do this. I will recap a little of what went on last week during their break. So we had LOTS of kids in our house over spring break. The kids had a "friend" day where they were able to invite one friend each over. I had 10 kids in the house that day. Not to mention Kaitlyns friend Natasha stayed with us over the break during the days. McKenna went to her friend Isabella's quite a bit that week. Kaitlyn had a sleepover with her friend Natasha. Grant took all of the kids to chuck e cheese. I took Kaitlyn and McKenna to go see the movie "17 Again". Lots of outdoor play and parks. Tons of sorting and spring cleaning for me. Meg came over one day while Grant and Caleb went to the movies, to show us her new puppy, Samson (Sammie). He is a little golden retriever/lab. Such a cutie. The kids LOVED him. Even the kids who are usually nervous of animals (McKenna and Catcher) warmed up to him a bit. Now they want a dog, but there's no way I am ready for a pet at this point. On Sunday we had the Adam's family over for dinner. That is pretty much all of the hilights I can remember for now. Oh and yesterday Grant got a gym membership. He wants to work on his health and physique :)

Today has been a fairly slow day for me to get going. It has gone from some gorgeous temperatures (+20) down to a chilly +2 today. Yuck!! I knew I shouldn't hold my breath for full fledged spring in Alberta just yet.

Tuesday April 14, 2009

Another day of spring cleaning and organizing around here. I've been going through everyones dressers and closets sorting through their clothes, toys, books, movies. Every inch is being covered, so this will probably be going on for a little while. I actually am a huge lover of organizing things. I actually find it kinda fun to sort things. The kids have this week off of school for spring break. Kaitlyn's friend Natasha who I watch during the week came today. Her and Kaitlyn spent the day entertaining themselves with Archie comics, sewing things together (they were attempting to make their own skirts and wristbands), playing UNO with the other kids and I and making up dance routines to music. We had my nephew Ethan over to play today for a while. He just loves doing things with Damian. They have a lot of fun together. McKenna went to Isabella's house today again, and Damian played at his friend Noahs house. Natasha ended up sleeping over tonight. Hopefully her and Kaitlyn don't get sick of eachother since she will be here everyday this week, haha!! Those 2 girls are so funny together. They wanted a snack after dinner......mashed potatoes, lol. Such an interesting request for a snack. Oh, and one fun little tidbit to add...I came into the livingroom today to find Maiya laughing so hard. Tyson was running around in his diaper and Maiya had put a USB cord in the back of his diaper to make him into a dog. She thought it was soooo funny (and I was laughing too).

Monday April 13, 2009

This morning we left the house at about 9:30am. The Adam's family invited us to go to Drumheller for the day with them. In the 3 years of living in Alberta, I have never been to the Royal Tyrell Museum. It is about an hours drive from here (Airdrie). I drove with Carrie and her kids so we could chat, and Tyler drove with Grant and my kids. The "Badlands" were just awesome. I did not get any good pictures of it really, but it was quite a sight. We all arrived at the museum at the same time despite taking different routes. It was a very cool museum. My favourite spots in the museum were the see through floor in the sealife area?? and also the ball room. You could put soft balls in these suction tubes and shoot them at eachother when they came out the other end :)
I think it's amazing how people can take these bones and know how to put them together to make a dinosaur (I guess fossils give clues as to how to go about it). After we were done in the museum we went outside to go eat our lunches. It was soooooo windy. We had to eat in our cars so everything wouldn't blow away and we wouldn't be so cold. After that we attempted going on a hike, but it was just so windy and everyone was in shorts, so it was cut pretty short. It was a fun time! So many cool photo ops, but I didn't really get any great photos .
We went back home so Grant could get ready for work, and spent some time straightening up the house (always cleaning). McKenna went to her friend Isabella's house for a couple of hours. I'm going to spend the rest of my night working on life plans. Never a dull moment here. :)

Sunday April 12, 2009

Well today was Easter Sunday. It was an "interesting" day to say the least. The kids woke up to their Easter baskets set out on the table. Poor Tyson choked on his Easter grass this morning. He was eating one of his marshmallow bunnies and ate it along with a piece of stringy easter grass. The Easter grass got stuck partway down his throat and he gagged, then vomitted right in my hand. We got it out and he was fine. Then McKenna got a sliver from her Easter basket. Catcher slept in and when he came up we discovered Tyson digging into Catchers easter basket eating the marshmallow bunnies and Damian had opened Catchers small gift (a handheld videogame) and McKenna was "testing it out". What a morning, lol. Then we got ready for church. I had pink eye, so I couldn't do my calling as nursery leader. Grant took over for me today so I wouldn't give any of the kids pink eye. It was fun going to classes for a day though. After church we came home and relaxed a bit. I was preparing Easter dinner while Grant had a nap. Another incident to add to our Easter. I called everyone for dinner. The potatoes and vegetables were done. I went to cut up the ham, and only the first 3 pieces were warmed through (the rest was freezing cold, I had cooked it from frozen) So I was only able to give them a small piece of ham and had to pu it back in the oven. My Mom, Dad, Grandma, Shawna, Daniel and Joshua stopped by for a few minutes on their way back from Charity`s house. It was nice to see them. They dropped off some treats for the kids. Now it`s just chill time. I am tired, yawn!

Saturday April 11, 2009

This morning I had the opportunity to sleep in, and guess what??.....I couldn't. No kids to wake me up since I was at my Mom's house, but my body was on a clock and I couldn't sleep in past 7pm. After we all woke up we set up the table with party hats and small gifts for Meg (my sis in law). My Mom made us all crepes...delicious!!! After breakfast we played a few rounds of cards (Speed). Then everyone had to go. Meg had to get back to her brand new puppy (a cute fluffy golden retriever that she just got yesterday), Chelsea had to go help her in laws paint, Charity had to go to a party (paintballing) and I had to meet Grant and the kids at the mall. We did some clothes shopping. It was alot of fun. I got a new spring jacket, 2 pairs of dress shoes (my favourite pictured below), some flip flops, a dress, some shrugs, a hoodie, a tank top and a purse. It was fun. Later when we got back home I went to the walk in clinic. My eyes have been red all week, and I was thinking it was allergies but it was an eye infection. There is a shortage of doctors here, so I don't have a family doctor. I waited 2 hours at the clinic just to get a prescription for eye drops. Well hopefully they will work fast so I don't have to walk around with "demon eyes", haha! It was a fun day, and now time to set out the Easter things. :)

Friday April 10, 2009

This morning started out early for me. I could've slept in, but my body was so used to getting up for seeing the kids off to school. So I automatically woke up at that time and couldn't fall asleep again. I decided to go to shoppers to get some eye drops. I'm hoping my extremely red eyes are allergies and not pink eye. Something exciting happened this morning.......I saw my FIRST GARAGE SALE SIGN of the season. I just had to stop by while I took McKenna out to get a present for her friend. There was nothing that I wanted, but I was still so excited, this means it is officially spring to me :) It was another fabulous day outside today. So warm, and my neighbours tree is starting to get buds (mine are always late bloomers). I took McKenna to the b-day party. She had a blast. I spent the rest of the day outside with the kids at the park and in the yard. After Grant got home from work, I got ready to go to my Mom's house. Me, my Mom and my sisters (and sister in law) had a sleepover. It was a lot of fun. Good food and fun games.
The photo is of Meg, Shawna, Charity and Chelsea. They were eating chocolate covered strawberries. YUM!

Thursday April 9, 2009

Last day of school today before spring break. The kids had easter parties at school and Kaitlyn had a school dance. Her favourite part is the "snowball" dances. It's funny to me how her and her friends are getting so much older already. Her and her friends had to put nailpolish on for the dance and straightened their hair, a little lip gloss and making sure they had the "right" shoes. So fun! Kaitlyn also had choir practice after school today. She loves choir. Today I babysat Ethan, Isaac and Gabrielle for Alex while she went to the eye doctor. We mostly played outside. It was gorgeous. I am so in love with the weather this week. Catcher, Maiya and Tyson had fun playing with their cousins. While we were inside though I had taken some photos of my niece Gabrielle. Such a cutie. We sold Grants camera today. We are attempting to pay off all of our debt at the moment. It would feel so great to be debt free. I am really looking forward to photoshoot season which is just around the corner. I LOVE SPRING!!!

Saturday May 16, 2009

This morning we woke up to a gorgeous day. So sunny, warm and perfect for going to the Calaway Park grand opening of the season. The kids were so excited to go. So they all got dressed up in their "trusty" yellow shirts (I figured it would be easier to spot them and keep track if they were all the same and all bright) and off we went. Of course, all that being said, it was extremely busy because of the great weather and the grand opening. We were there right at 10am and there was a huge line going outside of the park to get in. We didn't mind the wait though, it was perfect out. So I obviously knew that those yellow shirts were going to be easily identifiable to me, so I could keep track of everyone, but was not expecting the attention that they brought. As soon as we showed our passes at the gate, the lady said "Awww, look at this adorable family in the yellow shirts. You look like sunshine in the park" LOL!!! Then I had a bunch of people throughout the day asking if ALL of those children in the yellow shirts were mine, hahaha!! I even met one lady while I was in line for drinks, and we had a 2 minute casual conversation..then later on in the day as we were leaving, she said "Did you guys have a have fun time?" and I was thinking, hmm..how does she even remember me?! Then she said "I couldn't miss you guys in your yellow shirts, HAHAHA!!! Wow, I guess we made an impression. Maybe it will be a new trend, and I will have to get them to wear a different colour so they don't blend with the sea of yellow!! Anyways, it was a really nice day for it. Grant played some of the games with the kids. We only let them do this once or twice a season (it gets costly and I also hate bringing home so many stuffed animals each time that just end up in a goodwill pile). They loved them though, and were very proud of their prizes. We brought lots o snacks for the day so we wouldn't have to buy $6 burgers for each kid. It really adds up. Unfortunately we forgot drinks. I ended up waiting in a line for 25 minutes just to get some pop for the kids (the water fountains weren't working, and I didn't discover until later, that there were vending machines with drinks in them) and it cost me nearly $6 just to get 2 for the kids to share. Oh well, it's to be expected at amusement parks. Next time I will remember the drinks...and sunscreen. We all came home with minor sunburns. The kids relaxed for a bit when we got home, and then went back out to play. Grant brought home McDonalds for the kids for dinner. Then I went to the grocery store for a few last minute things for Maiya's b-day party tomorrow. We are having a family party. I dropped McKenna off at her friend, Isabella's house, to play. While she was there, Kaitlyn and Damian were outside and said they saw a fire. I thought it was probably a bonfire, but when I looked out, there were enormous black clouds smoking in the distance. It was a house fire. Grant (as well as Kaitlyn and Damian) went to go check it out. It was a few houses right near Kaitlyn's school. One had totally burnt to the ground. They saw the roof cave and they even saw the car that was in the garage (that was no longer there) melt. He said it was horrible. I'm pretty sure no one was home, but if there was..I hope they got out. It's so sad to see stuff like that. Tonight I will be getting things ready for the b-day party tomorrow and maybe a bit of relaxing. It was a busy day though, and I am tired! It was a fun day spent with the family :)

Wednesday April 8, 2009

This morning started out busy and pretty much stayed that way the entire day. It started out with me shooing the kids off to school in the morning while making 2 lasagnes. I want to put them away as freezer meals. I was going to make a shepherds pie as well but discovered I was out of onions (it just wouldn't be the same without onions). I steamcleaned Tyson and Maiya's carpets. The carpets in our house get pretty nasty. I'm giving the carpet the full 72 hours to dry this time, so Tyson is sleeping in Kaitlyn's room in a playpen (so he doesn't get into her things) and Maiya is sleeping on her mattress on our floor. I did 9 loads of laundry today and the washing machine gave out (our poor machines seem to be running constantly, I think my washing machine couldn't handle anymore and just up and quit). I could smell the rubber burning, ugh! Well I have a backup washing machine at least, but it still sucks. I got a lot of cleaning and organizing done, but not close to being finished. It's pretty much a never ending task for me. The kids played and did homework after school and then the girls (Kaitlyn and McKenna) got ready for activity days. (It`s an activity at the church for girls 8-11yrs old). They got to do an easter egg hunt tonight. They had a lot of fun. Now I am just finishing up my blog and then off to spend some time with Grant. Busy day, need to kick my feet up :)

Tuesday April 7, 2009

I LOVE the sun!!! I am so happy. This week actually feels like spring. I am very pleased. The weather is warming up and I am so very happy to welcome it :) This morning I had so many plans. I am in a spring cleaning mood. I feel the need to steamclean the carpets, wash the walls and paint. This house needs some freshening up. Alas, I dawdled in the morning and then Grant and the younger kids and I went to go buy spring jackets for the older kids. Yay for spring!! I also got Damian some swimming trunks. He went on a class trip to go swimming at the rec centre today and only had a normal pair of shorts to wear. He grew out of his ones from last year! I then went to pick up a playpen from Charity's house (I am steamcleaning Tysons carpets so I need him to sleep in Kaitlyn's room for a few nights. ) I ended up visiting with Charity for a half hour, which was nice. Boy did my day ever go fast with the errands I had to run. They took up the whole day. When the kids came home they all rode bikes. The photo in this entry is of Damian, one of his best friends Julian and McKenna. I took Tyson out to play with all of the kids and also cleaned the van out. It was getting pretty trashed in there. Well, not a whole lot to say today except that I am so happy for this gorgeous weather and I am soooo tired and ready for bed (and it's only 8:30pm)

Monday April 6, 2009

Today was just so gorgeous out. I am so happy about these warmer temperatures. YAY! This morning I woke up still so tired from the weekend, and the wonderful husband that I have let me go back to bed at 8:30am after I had sent the kids off to school and I slept until 11am. It felt so good. My extremely wonderful husband also steamcleaned the carpet in the boys room, did some laundry and cleaned up the kitchen area for me. I was so happy about that. Seriously, the way to my heart is not through flowers and chocolates, it is through surprises with extra sleep and help around the house :)
I spent the day lounging a little. I wanted to finish reading my book. I LOVED it. I am so happy that Marcia ever started publishing books. They always make me feel so good.
When the kids got home from school they played outside...with no coats!!!! YAY! They were all enjoying riding bikes. McKenna got a garbage bag and went around the yard picking up the garbage that had gathered throughout the winter into our yard. So helpful. I also tried organizing the recycling in the garage. Sooooo much recycling in there. Grant rented a movie called "Bedtime Stories" that I have wanted to see, so I will kick back and relax and watch that tonight. Did I mention that I have the best husband in the world??!! In case I didn't, I do!

Sunday April 5, 2009

Today was General Conference Sunday. Grant took Kaitlyn, McKenna and Damian to the church to watch it, while I stayed home and watched it on the internet with Catcher and Maiya. Tyson had a nap while we watched. I was so proud of Catcher and Maiya. They just lay down on my bed with me for the entire conference and were quiet. We took breaks when the songs came on to use the bathroom or get a drink or snack. Tyson slept the whole time, so I was happy that I got to listen to all of it. It was a great conference. After conference, we all went over to Alex and Josh's house to visit Grant's Mom. Garth and their family had come down for the weekend so we got to see them as well. So all of the Grandkids got in a picture with Nanny (Grant's Mom). It's tricky working with such a large group of kids, but we got a few quick snaps and though it's not the perfect picture, it is definitely a keeper as I don't think we have a photo of all of the grandkids with Nanny. It was nice visiting altogether, and the cousins always love a chance to see eachother and play together. Later after we got home, we all just relaxed. Grant had a nap, the kids played, Kaitlyn fell asleep (she was so tired from last night) and I continued reading my book (which I am really enjoying). We also had family home evening together. Here is a photo of Alex with her Mom and her daughter Gabrielle. They look so great :)

Saturday April 4, 2009

My day started out pretty early (as in 7am). I took my nieces (who had slept over) back to Alex's house, and then Sarah, Alex, my mother in law and I went to IKEA. We ate breakfast there. I was so impressed that it only cost $1. Wow eh?! For that you got hash browns, eggs, and sausages. I added some bacon for an extra $1 and gave my eggs away (allergies). Yummy!! We looked around for a bit. I love looking through IKEA. It always has such bright, fun and functional stuff. It ended up that I walked out of there with nothing, surprisingly. When we got back we all hung out at Alex's house. Grant took his Mom to go watch McKenna and Damian at their gymnastics class. It was their first session of CanGym 2. It's been nice seeing family this weekend. Garths family lives in Southern Alberta and Grants Mom lives in Ontario. The kids played outside a lot today. It was supposed to be cold today, but ended up being really nice out. Grant went to priesthood session and after that we went to Sue and Morgan Kyles house with the Adams and Siakaluks as well. Such a fun group. Always a good time and some good laughs. I did not get many good photos at all, because I just didn't feel like taking any at the time. So although this is not the best photo, it had to go on here to remind me of Carrie's interpretive dance as a cat, lol. We played a game called "Would you rather" and she ended up doing this as a challenge. It was hilarious. I wish I had've captrued it better, but I was laughing too hard. Morgan's macarena dance was also hilarious, but I didn't have my camera on me. We ordered pizza, had sundaes and Carrie brought chips with "bean" dip. Yum! Anyways, it was a great time. I get a kick out of these guys. So fun :) I had the Moore girls babysit. Kaitlyn was so excited because it was her first time co- babysitting. I figure when we have babysitters from now on, she can help out and learn the responsibilities of being a babysitter. She's also been practicing changing Tyson's diapers (before I know it he'll be out of those and there will be no more practice babies in the house other than dolls).

Friday April 3, 2009

Just a quick blurb about today. Every Friday the kids only have a half day of school, which is bittersweet. It's nice that they get a bit of a break and an early start to the weekend, but it can also make for an extra long day for me :)
Garth (Grant's brother) and Sarah and their family came down to Alex's house to visit Grants Mom while she is here this weekend. My nieces wanted to come over and play with the kids. So I spent a little of the afternoon visiting with Sarah while her girls and Ethan came over to play with the kids. It was nice for the cousins to get together. They always have a lot of fun together. They are all such good friends, and Maiya loves her cousin Keira (pictured with Maiya). They were eating strawberries together in this picture. The girls (Natasha, Zoe and Meaghan are sleeping over tonight. They love having sleepovers) and Damian is at the movies with Grant, Uncle Garth and Uncle Josh. They went to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" in 3D. The 3D movies are so fun to watch :)

Thursday April 2, 2009

Today was yet another cleaning day. The house gets messy unbelievably fast. It's tough to keep up. You'd think with 3 of the kids being in school that it wouldn't get so messy, but it does. Oh well, the kids are getting older and are able to help a lot more. Catcher and Maiya and Tyson are pretty good when they are home. They have their share of messes for sure, but they pretty much entertain themselves in the day, so it can be relaxing (as well as Tysons nap time, yay)
After school the kids played outside riding their bikes with friends. It's nice to see that they are wanting to go outside again. It doesn't happen as often in the winter. When Grant got home from work he took McKenna and Damian to the open house at their school where the kids get to show off their work that they've been doing. Damian was showing colour changes with dye and a dropper in the above photo. McKenna is at her desk and was showing her art and tests etc. They were very proud. After Grant got home I went out grocery shopping. It was 7:30pm and it took me until 10pm to finish. I don't really like going at night. I get tired doing it then. Also when I walked through the parking lot to my van, it felt like the perfect night to get mugged. It was very dark, I had parked near the doors that they ended up closing at 9pm (they also shut off the parking lot lights on that side) so I got to walk through a deserted, dark parking lot on an extremely foggy night. I couldn't help but keep thinking of the movie "I am Legend" when all of the diseased mutated people come after you after dark, lol. I watch too many of those types of shows, hahaha!!! Grant and I just kicked back and watched The Simpsons after that.

April 1, 2009

Today was a pretty relaxed day. I spent the day, playing with the kids, reading my book, computer and straightening up the house. Damian got to go on a trip to "Aggie Days" today with his school. They go and learn about agriculture. His favourite part was discovering how butter was made. After school I really didn't feel like making dinner (when do I ever?) and so I just ordered some pizza for dinner. Yay for NO cooking :)

I watch 2 girls after school for about an hour before their Mom comes home. One little girl is Abby (one of our neighbours kids) and also Kaitlyn's friend Natasha. After they left, we went over to Alex's house to go see Nanny (Grants Mom) who is visiting from Ontario at the moment. It was nice to see her again. I got this picture of my niece Gabrielle while I was there. She had just gotten out of the bath. So cute! She was so smiley! Grant got home from work (Chili's) at 8pm. He had picked up McKenna's new bike which she was so excited to get. After that I went to go meet Carrie and Sue at the church. We played 21 and Bump (Basketball) and then went out for ice cream (I got a milkshake) and chatted for a bit. It was a nice evening.