Sunday December 6, 2009

So this morning we all must have been so tired. We all ended up sleeping in late. I started getting the kids ready for church, but then realized that our street had been plowed down to one lane and had blocked off many driveways, and our an was still covered in snow. We would've been pretty late for church as it was, so we decided not to go today. The kids spent the day playing together, and actually getting along. They played some board games, and painted etc. It was McKenna's turn to open the advent calendar. The slip she chose was "Re-enact the Nativity", so we did it tonight for Family Home Evening. Grant read about the birth of christ, and the kids got to act out the characters. It was quite the little show, haha. Kaitlyn was Mary. Tyson was Joseph (Catcher was supposed to be, until someone mentioned that Joseph and Mary are married...then he refused,haha) McKenna was the angel. Damian was a wise man and Maiya and Catcher were the shepherds. The kids stuffed dogs were the sheep, and the big stuffed pony was the donkey. When it came time for Joseph to lead Mary to the stable with the donkey...Joseph (Tyson) refused, and wanted to ride it himself (as pictured). We just used a bunch of material that Kaitlyn had in her sewing box for the robes and headpieces and the boards from Tyson's bed to make the stable. Maiya's doll was baby Jesus. Maiya was so funny. She was wearing her pjs under her costume, and she kept saying "Mom, I don't want to wear my pjs underneath....everyone will see" and I was like "Who's everyone? It's just our family" haha! Anyways, it was fun!
So I've decided to make up a new little program for my kids. It's going to be a booklet full of goals for them to achieve. I'm calling it "The School of Life". I am putting in sections for different things I want them to learn and achieve. They can choose whichever goal they want to work on, but they must be always working on at least one goal. Some of the things that I have come up with to put in the booklet are things such as Responsibility (which would include things such as doing chores, homework and such without being asked) Spirituality (things such as saying prayers, reading scriptures, listening in church without being asked) Cooking (different levels of achievement) Service (doing different types of service in the home, church and community) Cleaning (learning to do own laundry, cleaning bathrooms, dishes etc) Financial (learning to earn money and learning how to budget it) and there will be other categories, but I just need to work out how I am going to go about it. I am going to be giving them badges when they earn them for the different categories that they complete. I hope it works out once I get it organized. I think it will be very motivating and encouraging for them as long as I can be consistent with it.

Saturday December 5, 2009

Well, Grant got home at 3:30am. He said it was pretty crazy driving home. He got stuck in a few snowbanks, and also stopped to help some other people who had gotten stuck. Needless to say, he slept in until about 11am or so. Nobody pulled the slip out of the advent calendar today, because it was already decided that we would watch the christmas movie that Dad had picked up. We watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". The kids spent the day playing with friends outside (because they're crazy, haha...it was sooo cold outside). They also brought some friends inside to play. I worked on a script I was writing for a christmas Murder Mystery party. Grant had to go back into work today. About the only good thing about his double shift yesterday, was that he got $500 in tips. We were supposed to go to our ward christmas party, but we didn't end up going because we just couldn't get out of our driveway, let alone our street. That's 2 parties missed because of this yucky weather. I hope others were still able to make it to the party, because a lot of work was put into it. I felt bad not going.

Friday December 4, 2009

WOW! I woke up to very bad weather today. It was extremely windy and white out conditions from all of the snow blowing around. Grant had to drive in to work today. What a nightmare for him. He said there were cars in ditches everywhere. While he was at work he pulled a double shift because the highway was closed. The wind was so strong and the roads so bad, that two freight trucks blew over. Just crazy! The poor kids had to walk home in this blizzardy weather. I was so sure that Catcher would just blow away cause he's still so small, but they made it home safely. Today was Damian's day to pull a paper out of the advent calendar. He pulled out "Watch a Christmas Movie". Unfortunately, Grant had gone out to get a movie and treats, and then called from the cell phone saying that the roads were too bad, so he had to just keep going on to work. So we decided to choose another advent calendar thing to do, and do the movie tomorrow. Damian chose reading some short christmas stories. It's always a nice feeling to have all of the kids around listening to stories together. (Of course Tyson was fairly disruptive, but hey...he's two!) Pretty much we had a day inside just doing our own things. Unfortunately, Charity's christmas party was cancelled because of the bad weather, but she is rescheduling it for another time.

Thursday December 3, 2009

So today's advent calendar slip was chosen by Catcher. He picked out "A Specialty Hot Chocolate". So we made them one after dinner with whipped cream and a cherry on top. It was sooo good. I'm getting ahead of myself though. So the book club party last night was such a blast. There were quite a few people that showed up. Usually we have a group of 5 that show up for book club (which is nice), but last night we had about 10 or so. I brought some of the blankets I had been working on tying to tie them there. It was so relaxing, I swear I should take up knitting, I would probably love it. The blankets are supposed to be for teens in the homeless shelters (it's a relief society project). We got to hear some nice short christmas stories and a couple of the ladies sang "Oh Holy Night" sooooo beautifully!! There was tons of great food, and it was fun just chatting.

I spent the morning today cleaning around the house and talking to some guy the Brick sent out to check on our couches ( we were trying to deal with our warranty) . Grant came home early from work because it just wasn't busy at all today. Grant went in to the school to see Catcher's teacher for the parent teacher interviews. It was so nice to hear such good things about him. Catcher is pretty goofy and silly at home. He loves to be the funny one. The teacher said that he isn't like that at school at all. She said he is well mannered, well behaved, focused and likes to take his time to do his work nicely and properly. She said he is very popular in his class, and that everyone notices when Catcher is missing. She said they will point out "Catcher's not here today" but they don't do that for other kids who are not there. So that was nice to hear, that he is doing well and is well received by his classmates and teacher. Tonight was our wards Relief Society Christmas Party. I brought Kaitlyn and McKenna to help do the babysitting for anyone who had kids. They LOVED doing that. It was a nice evening with a good turnout and lots of good food (always important to have good company and good food, haha). I got home around 11:30pm after all of the clean up.

Wednesday Dec. 2, 2009

Today was quite the busy day. I got the kids off to school this morning and then had to go to the store to buy a bunch of ingredients to make 3 trifles for the Relief Society Christmas Party that will be happening tomorrow night. I've been editing pictures again and burning more disks...soon I will be all caught up with my photoshoots (which will feel so great). I am trying to get a few christmas projects done that I have on the go as well as mailing off christmas cards. This week has been busy in general. There is a party going on every single day this week. Monday was Kaitlyn's spa party, Tuesday was Alex's baking party, Tonight I am going to a christmas party for the book club that I am in, tomorrow night is our RS Christmas Party, Friday is my sister Charity's family christmas party, and Saturday is our ward christmas party. I can't complain though, since it's a fun busy.

Today for our advent calendar Maiya picked the paper. We made gingerbread houses today after school for our christmas countdown. The kids were very excited! They are really loving this advent calendar idea. I forgot all about parent teacher interviews today (thought they were tomorrow) but luckily my kids reminded me and I was able to make it in time. I got home in time for Grant to leave to take Kaitlyn to swimming lessons and Damian to gymnastics. Now I am just getting a few things done before I head out to the Book Club Christmas Party. I'm looking forward to it. Instead of reading a book this month we were all to bring a short story or poem about christmas to read together and enjoy some good company and christmas treats.

Tuesday December 1, 2009

Yesterday we had Kaitlyn's b-day party. We decided to do a "spa" party. My sister in law, Meg, came to help me out. Grant took the kids out to Chuck E Cheese while we had the party. 8 girls showed up as well as Kaitlyn and McKenna which made for 10 girls, and it was surprisingly quiet. It must've been all of the pampering and the spa music (there just happens to be a spa station on Sirius Satellite that we used). The first thing we did was to put plastic shower caps on the girls heads to protect their hair from the facial masks we put on them. We let them lay down and put cucumbers on their eyes while the mask was setting. After their masks the girls took turns getting their hair and nails done. Meg did their hair and I did their nails. I found these awesome nail stamps and jewels that I used on their nails. Meg did a wonderful job with their hair. We had a fondue pot full of chocolate for them to dip fruit in, and pretzels and marshmallows. We had rice krispie squares and cupcakes and I made shirley temples for them. The girls had a lot of fun. We didn't even get a chance to do the make up, but some of the girls did it on eachother. Kaitlyn's friend did hers and overdid it a little with the mascara, but they had fun. For their loot bags, I gave little spa kits with a nail file, eye mask, lip gloss, scrubbie and body lotion/shower gel. Kaitlyn got so many nice gifts, and later after everyone had left, she decided to use a few of her gifts. She had a nice luxurious bubble bath, and included some bath salts, then used her new bathrobe that she got, and her skincare set to take off the make up and cleanse her skin. She just loved everything about this party. Today (being Tuesday) I went over to my friend Valene's house to hang out for a bit and to take the inside tour of her gorgeous brand new house. She has it decorated so beautifully for christmas. Today was the beginning of our christmas countdown with the awesome advent calendar that I got to make at Super Saturday. We put pieces of paper in each little container with either something to do or something to have. Tyson, being the youngest, got to pick out the first slip of paper. Today's advent calendar strip was for a box of Ovation chocolate sticks. So each of the kids got a few sticks of ovation today. Alex had her baked goods sampling party tonight at her house. Her stuff was so yummy! I could've eaten a ton, but alas it was for sampling not indulging, haha. So I ordered some stuff (mmm...mini cheesecakes). It was fun.

Saturday Nov. 14, 2009

So I completely neglected this blog for quite a while there, but I would like to get back into it. I'm not going to give a full recap about everything that I missed because that would take FOREVER!! I will give a brief overview. It has been an extremely busy fall for me. It has been full of tons of photoshoots, a wedding shoot, volunteering in the kids classrooms at school, I got called into the Relief Society Presidency at church and have been busy with that but finding it a nice change, taking kids to lessons (Damian is still in gymnastics, Kaitlyn and McKenna in swimming), Damian started cubs this fall and goes with his cousin Drayton, Grants parents came for a visit with Marcus who just got off his mission, Damian was baptized, a couple of birthdays, Activity days for the girls, going on dates, going out with friends...Lots of fun!!

Last night Damian slept over at his cousin Drayton's house, and then stayed for all of Saturday. I invited the Penner kids over for a movie night tonight. I figured since I would have 3 of them, I might as well take Elle too so that Charity and Jesse could go out on a date. All of the kids had fun together. I rented the movie "UP" and junked them all out with chips, popcorn, pop, and cookies. After the movie the girls went off to play WAR (card game) and the boys went downstairs to play on the gymnastics equipment. I worked on editing some more photos and some other projects that I have on the go for christmas. Grant worked a double shift today, so I didn't really see him at all. I hope he's not too exhausted tomorrow.

Tuesday September 8, 2009

Well, Catcher had his first real day at school today. He went for one hour last week with half of his class to get to know who his teacher was and see his class etc. Today was the first day to just drop him off and leave though. He was quite excited to get going this morning. He goes to afternoon kindergarten. Maiya, Tyson and I went to the school with Catcher. We saw Ethan for a few minutes (and family). He was waiting for his first day too. After leaving Catcher at the door (he was so cute, and he is so tiny) we went to get the van so I could drop off Maiya and Tyson at Charity's house to play while I went out for a photoshoot. The photoshoot happened to be for a family I used to know back in my Whitby days, The McMahons. We did the shoot at the park. It was nice chatting, and seeing familiar faces. After the shoot, I picked up Maiya and Tyson to go get Catcher from school. Next week the older kids will just be bringing him home from school, but for the first week I want him to get the hang of things and for pick ups to run smoothly. He said he had a great day. His teacher seems really great, and I appreciate that. It makes such a huge difference when you have a great teacher. We got home and then got dinner ready (and signed the dozens more papers that come from kids being in school), and then it was off to the rec centre. Kaitlyn and McKenna had swimming lessons. We just stayed in the viewing area and watched. Tyson had a blast chasing this little girl about his age, back and forth for almost the whole time. He will be sleeping great tonight. The girls did really well in their lessons. I was impressed with their attempts at diving off the edge. They did pretty darn good. After swimming, we went home and got everyone ready for bed. Busy day but fun! Oh, and on a side note....Maiya now has a boyfriend, haha! She told Grant on Sunday that Carter ( a boy in the neighbourhood that she plays with alot) is her boyfriend. So funny. I think that just means "Best Friend that's a boy" . She loves to bring him freezies and muffins. Anytime he is out, she wants to call on him and is always saying "Can I bring one for Carter?" when I offer them a snack. So funny.
So the pictures I am adding of Catcher and Ethan (his cousin) are not from today, but Thursday last week when they went to the school for their first hour. They are so cute!!!

Tuesday September 1, 2009

Well, the summer vacation officially ended today with the kids going back to school. We had a great summer full of tons of fun. We made a few trips last week to send off the end of summer. We made one last stop to Lake Sikome. We love it there. We also went to Calaway Park with the Sherlocks and Gabrielle's (my nieces) first b-day party. We went to Drayton's baptism on Saturday and had the Peirsons over for dinner on Sunday. Yesterday we made a trip up to Big Hill Springs Park to go on a hike and play in the mini waterfalls. I will miss the summer, but feel as though I am ready to tackle another school year. Kaitlyn is in her second year at middle school (Grade 6). Her Uncle Josh just got a job at her school as a teacher for humanities, so she thought that was pretty cool. She saw him a couple of times in the hall today. McKenna is in her last year at her school (Grade 4) and next year she will move on to Middle School. One of her best friends from church (Isabella) is in her class this year. So she was very excited about that. Damian is in Grade 2 this year, and said he had a nice first day. I am really hoping that my kids all have good teachers this year and classmates and that they enjoy their school year. Tyson was there to see the kids off this morning in nothing but his diaper. He cried when they left (but I think it's because he didn't know where they were going and wanted to come to). The kids all sounded like they had a good day today. Catcher doesn't start school until Thursday. I hope he will love it. We also got a membership to the Rec centre, so hopefully we will get a lot of use out of it swimming in the winter. The girls wanted to take swimming lessons, so hopefully this will help with them practicing what they have learned more often, and the other kids gaining a love of the water.
Well, I am off to bed. Another school day tomorrow and I need to get on a schedule again.

Monday August 24, 2009

Today was the day for changing hair. In the afternoon, we went over to Caleb and Megs house for Meg to do our hair. Meg is a hairstylist and she is just starting her own salon in her basement. She just needs to finish having a sink installed for washing the hair in. So exciting! Kaitlyn wanted to have her hair hilighted with a bit more blonde. She is already blonde but it is getting to be more of a dirty blonde as she gets older. So Meg hilighted her hair for her and did a trim and a few long layers. I LOVE it! She did such a good job, and I think it looks great on Kaitlyn. I had my hair blonde for the summer, but wanted to go dark again for the winter. So I got mine dyed black (my hair sucks in colour after it's been blonde, so a really dark colour was necessary so that it fades into the colour I want.) Tyson even got a trim because his hair was starrting to grow over his eyes! Caleb watched the kids and took them to the park and stuff. What a huge help. Sammie (the dog) has gotten bigger, and is still adorable! We had pizza from "Little Caesars" together and then got ready to go. We left Caleb and Meg's house at 7pm (it usually only takes us 20 minutes to get home) and I wanted to avoid the new mall traffic on the deerfoot highway, so I went a new way down country hills...a detour to avoid all of the crazy mall traffic that holds you up for about 30 minutes....well to make a long story short, my little detour ended up being a 1 hour and 20 minute scenic drive. I got lost...again! I don't know how I do it, but I get lost so very easily. I ended up calling my Mom, and Shand and Caleb also helped direct me....good grief! How embarassing! We finally got home at 8:30pm. I didn't mind the drive, but was a little embarassed that I got lost so close to home. Needless to say, as soon as we got home, the kids got ready for bed and that was our day. Grant was working so he wasn't with us (we also would not have gotten lost with Grant around, lol.)

Sunday August 23, 2009

Today was stake conference. We were able to have it in the new Airdrie Chapel which was nice. They broadcast it from the stake centre in Calgary. Not too much to say today. After church Grant made a nice dinner. Caleb came over to eat and hang out with us (Meg was going to come too but had some things to do and her brother was over). We just found out some wonderful news, that Meg is pregnant. How exciting! It will be fun to see her and Caleb as parents. The dinner Grant made was sooo delicious! We had chicken, corn on the cob, roasted potatoes and fruit& yogurt parfaits. Kaitlyn made a dessert for us all by herself (with some guidance). She made a cookie pizza. She was so proud, and it turned out so well. She is really maturing as of late. It's so fun to see them grow and progress. This week's plan is to cram a ton of summer fun into one short week before school starts again.

Saturday August 22, 2009

Well, it's been a busy summer, and I've tried my best as far as blogging goes. We have had a lot of fun this summer, and I am sad to say that our summer is almost over, then back into the routine of school etc. Recent events include a family picnic (with my bro's and sis's and parents etc), going out to the movies and dinner with Sue and Carrie, Lake Sikome with the Sherlocks, Prairie Winds splash park, girls night, date with Grant to Baby Tooth Bambino's for dinner and going to see the new Balzac Mall that just opened, fun in the sprinklers, and the list goes on. Lots of fun, friends, family and memories. I'm too tired to dish out more details, but figured I should post again. A few side notes to post..Kaitlyn has been developing her interest in cooking. I have been letting her help me cook dinners and bake. Who knows, maybe one day I won't have to cook, haha! She's been doing really well and is eager to create her own recipes. Damian's baptism is creeping up on us. His 8th b-day is on Sept. 17th and we will be having his baptism on October 17th (Marcus will be home from his mission and will be able to attend with Grant's parents who will be flying out). McKenna is enjoying the freedom of summer, and has chosen to go into swimming lessons in the fall instead of gymnastics. Kaitlyn will also be taking swimming lessons. Damian is going to continue on in gymnastics though. Catcher is excited for his first day of Kindergarten coming up very soon. He will be in afternoon Kindergarten (his cousin Ethan will be in the afternoon as well at the same school, but a different class). Maiya is very eager to grow up. We've been giving Catcher a little more freedom here and there to grow up and feel like a big boy, and Maiya is insisting she be able to do all of the things the big kids do. Tyson is a bit of a tornado at the moment (his mission is to search and destroy) but he is also such a light in our house. Always smiling and making everyone laugh. He will be 2 years old on September 13th and we will be having a family party for him. Well, I think I will leave my update on this note. I really wish summer wasn't ending just yet, I LOVE it so much!

Sunday August 2, 2009

Today we went to Stirling to pick up Kaitlyn and McKenna from their trip to their cousins house. Garth and Sarah took Kaitlyn and McKenna to their house and let them have a vacation with their cousins for 16 days. They were getting a little homesick at the end, but have many fun stories to tell. They both took swimming lessons while they were there, and had lots of swimming time in the outdoor pool there because Sarah had a family pass. They went on their first camping trip (Sarah's family was having a family reunion), and at the same time had their first time horseback riding. They went to a street dance, saw fireworks, went on bike rides etc. They just love their cousins and had a blast.
We left this morning at 9am to go to Stirling. We borrowed Josh and Alex's DVD player for the way up in the car. It's a 3 hour drive, and it was nice to keep them occupied. We stayed at Garth and Sarah's house for about 4 and a half hours. Had dinner (yummy ribs cooked on the BBQ) and went to the par with the kids and just visited. We got the girls things ready to go and were out of the door by 5pm to head back home. Once again, the DVD player was a lifesaver. It was amazing how many gas stations were out of gas this weekend. Maybe because of the long weekend?? The girls were happy to be back home, and wanted to check out their new school clothes we had gotten while they were away. They had a snack then it was off to bed for all of them.
Yesterday I had another wedding shoot. It was a nice day for an outdoor wedding. It was supposed to rain, but thankfully the rain held off.

Saturday July 25, 2009

Today was a hot one. I really can't complain about it though, because I would rather deal with the summer heat than the dead cold of winter anyday. This morning I got up and went out yard saling. It was very disappointing...nothing great today. I did end up getting Catcher a spiderman backpack for school though. When I came home we decided to take the kids to the splash park to cool off. We called up Josh and Alex to see if they wanted to come and bring their kids. So they came along. The kids had a great time. I love splash parks. They came home cooled, drenched and happy. Grant then took the kids on a walk to Macs while I stayed home to work on editing some wedding photos and Tyson took his nap. Sounds like it was a very hot walk, good thing Grant bought them all Frosters. Afterwards the kids all played outside. Grant got pizza for dinner so we wouldn't have to heat the house up more than it already was. We were going to take the kids to a "movie in the park", but they were getting too tired, so we thought bed was a better choice (especially since we have church tomorrow). They were going to be doing a fun movie in the park on the big screen. They had activities before the film at 7pm. A bouncy castle, playing guitar hero on the big screen etc. The movie was going to be "E.T." at about 10pm which was a bit late for them on a Saturday night. I went over to Carrie's house at about 8 to hang out and watch a movie.

Friday July 24, 2009

Well today was another bit of a catch up day. Grant took our recycling to the recycling depot this morning and ran a few errands of his own. I cleaned out the garage for a good portion of the morning, while the kids played outside in the yard. Damian spent most of the day hanging out with his friend Noah. My friend Carrie came over for a few minutes to see if I wanted to go to the movies with her and her kids, so I took Damian along. We went to go see the movie G- Force. Damian sat with her boys and some friends they brought along a few rows up from us. Grant took the other kids to Mac's to buy Frosters while we were at the theatres, and they also stopped at the park. It's weird getting out of a movie at 5pm. It always feels like it should be later when you come out of a movie. When we got home, Damian went right back outside to play with his friends. I left at 6:30pm to go babysit for Josh and Alex. They were going out on a date to go see Harry Potter. The kids were so easy. Alex had put them to bed just before I came, and they stayed in their rooms and fell asleep pretty much right away. Gabrielle woke up for a bit crying, but not a big deal at all. I got to watch tv for once, yay! We don't have tv at home, just Dvd's. I prefer it that way or else I would get addicted to lots of shows and would just want to sit around watching tv. It was nice as a treat though. I watched "What not to wear" and "Style by Jury". I loved both shows. They are makeover shows, and it is always fun to see the transformation in people. It was fun :)

Thursday July 23 , 2009

Today was a mall day for us. We got up and headed over to "Once Upon A Child" first (my favourite second hand childrens store, they have the greatest stuff). I was like a kid in a candy store in there. We were doing part of our back to school shopping for this year. It seems like everyone hit a growth spurt at the same time, so a lot of clothing was needed. After spending about 1 and 1/2 hours there, we headed over to Market Mall to find all of the things we couldn't find at once upon a child. We stopped in the food court for lunch first. Grant treated us all to those spectacular milkshakes that they sell at the "Marble Slab Creamery". They make the best and creamiest milkshakes ever. (yikes, I'm drooling). Then we went off to my favourite childrens clothing stores (Old Navy, Childrens Place and Below the Belt) to hunt for more clothing for the kids. I also got myself a couple of pairs of jeans and 2 hoodies. (If I am wearing one thing when I am buried, I want it to be a hoodie, lol). We went to Toys R' Us last of all. (It was our meeting place, because we split up when I went to look for jeans for myself). I got the boys each a "popgun". They were these cool looking vintage wooden guns with a cork attached to a string that pops out and makes a popping noise. They were only $2.50 each and the boys LOVED them. We headed home at 5:00pm (7 hours later, WOW....all of the kids were so good) and had dinner. We gave Kaitlyn and McKenna a call to see how they were doing (they are still at Garth and Sarah's house). Poor Kaitlyn said she is suffering from a sunburn (lots of swimming), but said they were having fun. It was a fun and productive day. (Oh, and just so everyone knows, I don't usually take pictures of my kids with the shopping bags, but as we were going inside, I thought I should take a quick one to represent today)

Wednesday July 22, 2009

This morning I woke up and wanted to clean up a bit before my sisters came over....well, it must've got me very motivated. I got a lot done in a short amount of time. I had a ton of energy and motivation for some reason. Charity and her kids came over around 11am, and then Chelsea and her kids and Shawna and Michael (my cousin) came over at about 11:30. We lotioned all of the kids and packed them in the vans. We went to the splash park in Airdrie. It was the perfrect day for it, because at 11:30am it was already 26 degrees. The kids had a blast playing in the water, and I kept surprisingly cool by keeping my feet in the water and chatting with my sisters. It was nice to catch up. After being in the water for quite a while, we went to the park right behind the splash park and got out our picnic. We had muffins, watermelon, cantelope, chips, juice and cookies. We found a shady spot and just chatted while the kids had fun playing in the park. Chelsea and them came over for a little bit longer at my house while Charity went home to do a quick clean before they went over to her house. The kids spent the rest of the day playing outside with neighbourhood kids, while I went back to my cleaning frenzy. I got a lot done, and am just sitting down to catch up on my blog and relaxing with some ice cream. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera, so no pics. Maybe I'll snag one from my sisters at a later time.

Tuesday July 21, 2009

This morning we got up and got ready to go to Calaway Park once again. This time we were going with Alex (Grant's sister) and her kids. The kids were happy to have their cousins come with them. They all did really well, and had a fun time. Tyson wasn't feeling very well. He was fine in the morning, then in the car he was looking sleepy. I thought it was just because it was his naptime, but he was pretty much in and out of sleep the whole time we were at the park. We were going to stop at the mall for a bit after we were done at Calaway Park, but decided not to. Tyson started burning up with a fever, and Catcher was having a minor asthma attack. We needed to get home to give him his puffer for some relief. Tyson went to bed right when we got home. Damian went out to play with his friend Julian. Maiya watched cartoons with Catcher. I cleaned a little and edited a few more wedding pics. Grant had a nap and then went out to get the kids McDonalds for dinner. Poor little Maiya started up with a fever just before dinner. I'm not sure if they are really sick or if it is something just passing through. Catcher spent the afternoon sleeping yesterday and was fine today, so I wonder if this is the same sort of thing?! It was a fun and exhausting day. A short entry because I REALLY need to go to sleep.

Monday July 20, 2009

Today was my errands day. Catching up on laundry, editing pictures from the wedding, printing and delivering photos people have ordered, and hanging out with the kids. In the afternoon I took the kids to a park, just to get them out today for a bit and then came home for ice cream to cool them off. I tell you though...Damian makes a new friend wherever he goes. It seems like wherever we are, he is playing with someone new. Today he met a boy about 10 years old and his older brother about 13 and they hit it off right away and went off to play. Well, not much else happened (unless you want me to begin speaking about Tyson and his crazy toddler antics....for example, pouring a bottle of pop into our sugar can. Yeah, that was messy!!!)

Sunday July 19, 2009

So yesterday I had a wedding shoot. I left at 7am to go to the South of Calgary to meet up with the bride for her "Bride Getting Ready" shots. It's always my favourite part. Watching all of the behind the scenes of the preparation for a wedding. The bride was gorgeous, and I Loved her dress. So beautiful. They were very hospitable offering me breakfast and being accomodating. After, we headed over to a church for the actual wedding. I hate downtown Calgary. I had no idea I would need to pay for parking to go inside a church for a wedding. I didn't bring any money with me. So I didn't buy a parking ticket obviously. It ended up that we were inside the church for 20 minutes in total, and by the time I got out to my van....guess who had a blue ticket waving from her windshield. It was $5.00 for the parking, but since I didn't have the money, I got slapped with a $65 ticket. Sheesh!!! Oh well. The actual wedding ceremonies are always my very least favourite part of a wedding. The churches are always dark, and it is pretty boring (but obviously the whole reason for the day). I made my way over to the reception hall back in the Southwest. We went to a park to take some shots. It just so happens that a golf tournament was happening that day, so it was pretty busy. It was very hot as well. +31. There were beautiful arches though. So nice! Then we made our way to the reception. I was entirely exhausted by this point, but they had a nice reception dinner, speeches, dance etc. It was a nice day, but I was so ready to go home afterwards. I came home and got Grant and I subs. I was hungry. Grant spent the day doing things with the kids. He went to Chuck E Cheese with them, and the mall. They each got a shirt (except Maiya got a bathing suit). It sounds like they had a fun day together as well. It's weird not having Kaitlyn and McKenna around the house. I hope they are having a lot of fun with their cousins.

Today was church. Not a very eventful day. Just went to church, came home and relaxed with the kids. Made tacos and salad for dinner, and had a small family home evening. Not much else to say. I have been so tired lately (must be because I am trying to cram alot of things into our very short Alberta summer).