Friday February 12, 2010

It has been another busy week around the Sager Home. Tuesday I went over to Diane's house.I have been wanting to learn how to knit again. I used to know a bit when I was younger, but could not remember any of it. So Diane was willing to have me over to her house to show me the basics of knitting. She said we would als teach me different ways ince I get the basics down, and also how to follow a pattern. I brought Maiya and Tyson with me.They had fun and LOVED her cats. I got home just as the kids were getting home from school. Who knew an afternoon of knitting could fly by so quickly and be so fun and relaxing. It was another night of swimming lessons and cubs. Wednesday I spent most of the day out on visits with Rose. We visited some of the ladies in the church who had just recently had babies, as well as a b-day visit. It's a lot of fun getting to knw so many people. Damian had gymnastics right after school, Grant got McDonalds for dinner on the way home, and then the girls had to head out to Activity Days. They did a Valentines activity. Caleb came over to hang out with Grant and Meg, Charity and I went out to the mall together. I absolutely love the fresh fruit smoothies they sell at one of the shops there, I wish I could remember the name of it. Sooo good! Thursday I went to Valene's house to hang out and let the kids play together for the morning. Got home just in time for Catcher to go to school and then headed out to Jennifers house to do some visiting teaching. The kids came home from school and there were TONS of money jobs available for them because I had been neglecting the house a little over the past few days (you'd think it would stay cleaner because we weren't around much, but this was not the case). The house looked a whole lot better, and the kids were very happy for the cash after all of their efforts. Now it is Friday. The last day of school before their week long break. They all brought their Valentine's to hand out at the school, and had their parties. I left to go do the rest of my visiting teaching with Stephanie today. We went to visit Andrea and Lawren today. When Grant gets home he will be taking the older kids to the movies to see "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" while I go over to Alex`s house with the younger kids to babysit so they can go out on a date. The kids are very excited to have a bit of a breather from school. I will have to keep them busy so they don't drive me crazy!

Saturday February 6, 2010

Today was a primary activity for the kids at the church. The activity was putting together little bracelets and making cards for the children in Haiti. I was explaining to Maiya about why we were doing this activity. I explained what had happened, and that we were trying to do something small to help out. Maiya ran to her closet and grabbed 2 dresses. She said that she wanted to wear 2 dresses to the activity, so that she could share one of her dresses with one of the girls from Haiti (she thought they were going to be there). She said that the girls in Haiti would like to be dressy. There were lots of kids there, and they did so well with the bracelets. They were also accepting donations of tshirts, waterbottles, mini first aid kits, sandals etc. I think it's so important for children to be doing things like this. Serving others is something I have always enjoyed doing, and I want my children to be able to learn about how important service is. I have thought of trying to do one service project a month together (obviously that would not be the only time we would be helping others, but it would be nice to have one specifically planned to do as a family) We shall see what we can come up with.

After the activity, Kaitlyn got to go swimming with some friends. The other kids just played around and Damian got to play his videogames. (I only let them play for one hour each on the weekend. Damian had already played his 1 hour yesterday, but he won the reward for being the child who did the most money jobs during the week. His reward was 1 hour extra of videogames.) Tyson however, found more trouble to get into. He wanted to have a drinkof juice, so I gave him one. 2 minutes later I found he had spilled it all over the floor, and was slurping it up...*I am shaking my head right now*
Catcher had Ethan over to play, and Damian had his friend Julian over. Grant and I went out on a date tonight. First we went bowling together. I am such a terrible bowler. We played 4 games and I lost every single time. My worst loss was 134 - 41. I was the 41. Seriously, that was probably the worst game I`ve ever bowled in my life, hahaha!! We had fun though. Afterwards we went to Mr. Mike`s for appetizers, and then off to wal mart to get some snacks for the rest of the evening. I had just bought Grant the Simpsons season 20 DVD`s. So we went home to relax and watch a few episodes. It was a fun night.

Wednesday February 2, 2010

Today was mainly taken over by hair. I got the kids off to school this morning, and then headed over to Meg's house to get my hair done. She did a great job! Ever since I went blonde my hair soaks up all colour, so I have to often fix the colouring. I am trying to grow my hair out a touch to see how I like it. I don't think I will ever go long again, maybe down to my shoulders, but that's about it. Meg has set up her own salon in her basement. It's pretty cool. I took a few pics of it to add here. Grant was off today, so he stayed with the kids. After I got back, I took Damian to gymnastics. It's pretty fun to watch him. When we got back from gymnastics, Grant had dinner ready. What a great end to a nice day!

Tuesday February 2, 2010

So on Sunday we were 30 minutes late for church because of my crazy "mom brain". I would put something down and it would literally disappear right before my eyes. It was so annoying. I was starting to think there was a little fairy thief of some sort in my house trying to make me late. After church we had the Sherlock family over for dinner. I guess it has been a little while since we have gotten together because Damian had said to me that morning "Don't they care about us anymore?"  and I was like "Who?" and he said  "The Sherlocks, we never see them anymore". So Grant and I decided to have them over. How sad that he thought that. It was fun having them over. Monday was back to the school routine....and we slept in until 8:20am...OOPS!!! I darted out of my bed waking up all of the school kids and rushing them out the door for 8:40am. I am so surprised we were able to pull it off in 20 minutes. I then got ready to go out with Rose Hudson to do some Relief Society visits. We had some wonderful visits. I enjoyed myself. Catcher went over to play with Ethan for the morning, and his Uncle Josh walked them to school. Grant headed out to the gym after I was done. Later in the afternoon, a nurse came to the house to do some medical things (blood samples, urine samples, blood pressure etc.) for our insurance company (hence the pic of me and the needle). I wonder what the nurse thought about us taking pics of getting bloodwork done....she probably thought we were nuts, and I don`t blame her.
Today was a tinkering day. A little of this and a little of that around the house. Not too much going on....that is until I get on the phone. I don`t have a cordless phone (long story) and so I just use our back up phone (the cord phones, where you are basically attached to the wall the whole time you are talking). So needless to say, this is a great opportunity for my children to get into trouble. I was talking to Meg, and as I got off the phone, I came out to find that the couch had been pushed into the hallway (we have hardwood floors and our couches slide easily on it). Tyson had done this. I moved the couch back, only to find Tyson in the middle of the kitchen floor playing in his very own "rice"box. Good Grief, what a guy! Look at him smiling at me....

After school we ate a quick dinner, did some chores and then it was time to take Kaitlyn to swimming lessons and Damian to Cubs. I was glad to get home. Grant just bought an Ipod touch, which he was very excited about. I believe he was slightly influenced by Tyler, Morgan and Dereks cool toys. I have to admit, they are pretty cool!

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?!

December 30, 2009

This morning began with getting everyone up and ready, as well as myself. Grant went off to the gym for a bit and then we all took a trip to the Cross Iron Mills Mall. So many good sales on right now. It is so big there though, and takes us 2 hours just to walk around the whole mall. I had gone with the intention of looking for a new pair of jeans, but shopping for clothing with kids is not an easy feat. I spent the entire time going to places like Chapters (in the kids section), Toys R Us, the playplace, dollar store and Claire's. So obviously my kids were in charge of this trip. It was fun though. At about 1pm we left the mall and went home to grab some lunch. We then got ready to go over to the rec centre to go swimming together. We also had Drayton and Reese come along to swim with us. It was fun, but not so fun going out into the bitter cold of winter with wet hair. Even the water in the pool seemed a touch cold. I couldn't seem to warm up completely while I was there. I should've hung out in the hot tub, but I was with the little kids. After swimming we had to quickly head home, get the kids some dinner and get myself ready for a date. I had made lasagne in the morning, thank heavens. So it was only a matter of throwing it in the oven. Charity came over to babysit for us. Grant rented the movie G-Force for the kids to watch with her before bed.
Grant and I left for our date at 5:30pm. We went to East Side Marios (one of my very favourite places to eat). It was packed, but the food came surprisingly quickly. We got free movie tickets with 0ur meal. It was a very satisfying dinner. The garlic bread and salad that they start you out with, could seriously be it's own meal. It is sooo yummy and filling! We headed over to the theatres after dinner to go watch "Sherlock Holmes". It was CRAZY packed!!! We decided to take the quick line where you pay with your debit card, or we would have missed the movie. So sad though. We have 6 movie passes to that theatre and we didn't get to use them because we went in that line, so we had to pay for it.
I really enjoyed Sherlock Holmes. It was a fun movie. What a great date and what a great husband!!

December 27 + 28, 2009

This is lumping the past 2 days into one. We went to church yesterday morning (the 27th). The kids all got to sing at the front of the chapel. After church we went home to put the turkey in. We were expecting family for dinner. We were celebrating with the family on Grant's side who live here in Alberta. Garth and Sarah came at 3:30pm and brought their puppy Russia with them. What a sweet little dog she was. So cute! Sarah and I took Russia to my brother, Caleb's, house after the kids got to see him. We just thought it would be easier because some of the kids are afraid of dogs and there would be a lot of people in the house. So Caleb and Meg were kind enough to help us out. She was such a sweet dog though. When Sarah and I got back, dinner was almost ready. The Sherlocks had arrived while we were gone. We had a very yummy dinner with Turkey and roasted potatoes, thanks to Grants mad kitchen skills) and some vegetables thanks to Sarah and Garth and some caesar salad thanks to the Sherlocks. They also brought a pumpkin pie for dessert, but we didn't end up getting a chance to eat it. All of the cousins had a fun time being together and us adults had a nice time chatting. Garth and Sarah and their girls slept over, because they live a few hours away. Garth, Sarah, Grant and I played the Quiz game that I had bought Grant for his PS3 and had snacks and chatted until 1:30am.
We woke up in the morning and had a fun day of visiting and playing together. Alex and Josh and their family came over mid morning to come hang out for a bit as well. It was a fun time. Everyone left to go home after lunch. Kaitlyn then went swimming with her friend, and Grant went off to the gym. I am feeling just a wee bit tired after the holidays, but it was a lot of fun this year. Tonight, I think I shall relax and not worry about the state of my house. I think I deserve some down time for myself...

Christmas 2009

The kids never wake us up too early on Christmas day. We were awoken at 7:30am to go start the day. The kids all really enjoyed their gifts. We try to only give them 3 or 4 gifts each year. I took a few pictures of the kids with one of their favourite gifts...
Here is Kaitlyn with her cooking supplies and her Dr. Who tardis piggy bank.

Here is McKenna snuggling up with a book with her new webkinz kitties.

Here is Damian with his new Hamster that he named Fluffy.

Here is Catcher with a part of his Indiana Jones lego set.

Here is Maiya drawing on her easel. It is getting well used.

Here is Tyson with his car garage and car. (He is obsessed with cars).
We had a relaxing christmas day at home, playing games, putting lego together, and our own Christmas dinner. I also did some cleaning up to get ready for our company that would be arriving on the 27th. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas :)

Christmas Eve 2009

So I neglected my blog for a little bit there, so I am just going to do a small recap in pictures of bit of our Christmas. On the 23rd Charity had her annual family adult christmas party. It was full of loads of games, food, gifts , family and fun.
On Christmas Eve day, I went out shopping at the mall by myself for bit in the morning. I just had to get a last minute gift for Grant. I ended up finding myself some great deals on shirts as well (they had some boxing day sales going on early). When I got home, Grant needed to go out and get Damian's christmas present as well as some things for christmas eve. While he was gone, I did the advent calendar activity with the kids, which was the present game. I wrapped a gift with several different wrappings. There was a task to be done to open each layer. So everyone sits in a circle with 2 dice. They start rolling trying to get doubles. Once somebody gets doubles then it's their turn to work on the task. Once the task is completed, whoever finished the task gets to open one layer of the wrapping paper. Then you move onto a new task, until you've unwrapped each layer of the wrapping paper. Whoever opens the last wrapping gets the present. The tasks were things such as, colouring a picture, reading a book, doing a puzzle etc. The kids had fun. The present at the end was "Indiana Jones Lego II" video game for the PS3. They were very excited about it. When Grant got back, he brought McDonalds for dinner the kids worked on some food crafts (like how Tyson made himself comfortable lying on the table to help?) The kids got ready for bed and then they got to have christmas eve treats while watching "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (Grants favourite movie of all time). After that, the kids went to bed and Grant and I put the presents out for the morning...

Monday December 21, 2009

Well.....this morning Catcher woke up with a barking cough. Oh dear....!

So after we got our morning started, I took him over to the clinic hoping to get the same medicine that Tyson got on Saturday. We went in and came out 3 hours later. The clinic beds were full and it was at a stand still for a long time. I considered just going home, but the cough hurt Catcher's throat, so I stayed. Catcher did so well. He sat there for the entire time, not making a bit of a fuss at all. I think I was way more bored than he was. He got the medicine, and it helped out quite a bit. We then went home, having spent the entire morning at the doctors. I had promised Maiya she could go out when I came back to buy Kaitlyn's present (she drew Kaitlyn's name in the draw). So Maiya, McKenna and I went out to look for something for Kaitlyn. While I was gone, Alex (my sis in law) had brought over dinner because she heard about the kids being sick. How nice is that?! I then came home and realized that I had forgotten dish soap and an album. So I went out again, this time Kaitlyn came. She brought a bit of her money with her. She has been so good at saving it, but decided to spend a few dollars on herself for a treat. She decided she wanted to get some lunch for herself at the McDonalds in the Wal Mart. She even offered to buy me lunch as well. She is so thoughtful. She had even said.."Maybe if I don't buy myself McDonalds, then I could buy each of the kids a milkshake". I told her that was a very thoughtful idea, but that she should treat herself for once. I ate with ehr, but paid for my own meal, I didn't want her wasting her money on my lunch. She was so very proud of buying her own meal with her own money. It was nice to sit and eat out together. I got the things I had came for and then we headed back home. Grant had to get ready to leave for work by this point. We ate dinner and then had The Sherlock Family over for a Christmas movie and treats! We watched "Mickey's Christmas Carol". Our advent calendar slip for today was supposed to be "making a snowman" but the snow wasn't good packing snow and the kids didn't feel like playing outside today in the cold. It's too bad, because our friends the Siakaluks had given our family this very cool Snowman kit with a hat, scarf, buttons and nose that would've been fun to do our snowman with. We'll have to see if we get another chance to use this fun gift. So we decided that an indoor movie with popcorn, chips, cookies and hot chocolate was more appealing for our countdown today. It was fun!

Sunday December 20, 2009

This morning showed just how exhausted we were. We all (every single one of us) slept in until 9:30am....which never happens! The kids got ready for church. I unfortunately had to miss it because Tyson needed to stay home. I always love going to church on the Sunday closest to Christmas. There are always lots of musical numbers, and I love hearing them. So Christmassy!!

There is a major event today....KAITLYNS BIRTHDAY!!! She officially turned 11 years old. She was so pleased about this. We had her party earlier with her friends (the spa party) and we had given her our gift early (some Dr. Who books, a comfy blanket and some make up) so we didn't have a gift for her today. I did make some cupcakes while she was at church though. Grant made a delicious dinner (French Onion Soup, Southern Fried Chicken with Milk Gravy and mashed potatoes) and we had invited Meg and Caleb over to enjoy it with us. Kaitlyn got lots of birthday calls from Grandparents and family. She was feeling very special. Maiya came home from church feeling sick and lying around for most of the day in and out of sleep. Oh dear, another sick one :(

Oh, and for our advent calendar today it was.....dart tag! Grant had bought a bunch of nerf guns that come with vests and goggles for the kids. They went downstairs and turned the basement into a good maze. They had barriers set up (using mattresses and gymnastics mats). So fun!