Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!!

How did you celebrate?Our day started out a little later than planned so we missed the parade. So we headed down to the beach to take in some festivities. It was quite a work out parking a couple of blocks away and then pulling Adam and Ryan in the wagon with the rest of our stuff and carrying Anthony in the Ergo. We spent most of out time playing at the park on the beach. These boys love play structures. They love to climb and slide and of course, run. They had some inflatable, bouncy toys set up on the beach for kids to line up at and take a turn.A couple of times I thought I had lost Adam, but he was just over at the inflatables, butting in line and taking turn after turn. Adam also found someone with a ferret on a leash and came over to tell me he had found a mouse! <- having never heard the word ferret before, Adam did not believe me that it wasn't a mouse.After having asnack on the beach, we packed up to come home for a nap. Before leaving the beach vendors though, we bought a big bag of kettle corn to take to the lake later that night.While the boys napped, I was busy making a dessert and loading the van up to go visit grandpa out at the lake where he was camping. The boys love playing in the dark sand out there (although it makes quite the mess!!) and this time they had a picnic blanket supper instead of eating at their little table and chairs we usually bring out for them but didn't bring this time.Thanks to Sandi's CSA garden, I made a strawberryand honeyberry crisp for dessert. For supper we had smokies, potatoe salad (again with some fresh ingredients from the CSAgarden) and chips with dip. After supper Brad helped his Dad launch his canoe out into the lake and grandpa took a little spin around and tested everything out.We had quite a nice campfire going but we were pretty full from dinner and barely touched the marshmellows or the popcorn. The campfire was not only how we cooked dinner, as it got later and later, it was a source of heat, light and entertainment.Brad used a plastic serving tray to fan the flames and make the fire "explode".Brad also used his dad's "fire poking stick" to stir up the embersand give us our own little fireworks show. Some of grandpa's camp neighbors had brought along their own fireworks and were just waiting for it to get dark before they set them off. Here Adam and Ryan sit on grandpa's knees waiting for the fireworks to start. We had great seats pretty close to the launch site.One of the last fireworks! I wanted to try to get pictures or even video but Adam was a little afraid of the fireworks once they started going off. They were his first fireworks show though. Ryan has seen fireworks though and so he enjoyed them again, but he did find them "very loud".

You may have noticed Ryan's new hair style. On Tuesday, Brad went to get his hair cut and he took Ryan along for some one on one time. We decided it was time to cut his hair a little shorter and lighter for summer. After their hair cuts the boys went to the marina and looked at the boats (and saw a fox hanging out on the rocks) and then shared an ice cream at Clarks.

Remembering 2009

This year has been a different year. I went back to work part time in the spring during the day and then in the fall at night. Brad moved to a new, larger store where he now has his own space. We had many visitors. We said goodbye to some things and hello to some new things. We got a big surprise and we improved our yard. We are looking forward to 2010 with much anticipation. Here are some of our favorite moments from 2009- in no particular order.

Visitors, visitors and more visitors-we had many visitors this year, both family and friends. Some stayed for a while, some just for a couple of hours. Any visit is a great visit though! Here is a picture from just before the Seattle Melanchuk's left to go back to Seattle. It was great to see them again!

Summer vacation- Part of Brad's vacation this year was taken while his brother was here. We met them just outside of Edmonton and took the kids to Millenium Place in Sherwood Park. Here, our boys play with their girls at the Lions Park in Cold Lake while Darryl and Amanda played tennis one morning.

The new store- Brad's work changed locations this year. Here is a picture from Grand Opening weekend. If you saw the store just two weeks before, you would never have believed the transformation. Having seen the hours that Brad put in, and knowing he was not the only one putting in those hours, makes it a little more believable but still pretty remarkable. Brad especially loves his own office at the new store. Ryan especially loves that it is next to McDonalds.

A BIG surpise- In early November, we discovered I was half way through our third and final pregnancy. Baby boy #3 will be arriving mid to end March of 2010.

Christmas 2009- Christmas is always a favorite time of year. It's busy, but it's enjoyable. Especially when we take the time to enjoy the childlike things and re-experience them through the eyes of our boys.

Summer projects-Here you can see two projects Brad spent the rest of his summer vacation working on; a fence and a sandbox. I think Brad likes the sandbox as much as the boys do.

Goodbye Bug- Hello Saw Stop- We finally sold the bug in the fall. Part of the money went towards the purchase of a table saw for Brad. Google SawStop and watch the video. It is an amazing piece of machinery.

New car seat-Adam graduated to a forward facing car seat this fall. He loves it!

Pre-Christmas visit-Here is Adam on the way to Edmonton to pick up my mom who came to visit us at the end of November for two weeks. Ryan was especially excited to visit with Gran-Gran, but for Adam this was probably his first real memory of my mom since he was just a newborn when she was last here.

A new camera-A birthday gift for me from Brad, I am enjoying getting to know the ins and outs of my new camera. I'm especially excited to use it more and share more pictures this year. Especially chronicalling the end of this pregnancy and the birth of our last baby.

Ball Popper

Brad bought Adam a playschool ball popper for Christmas, but Ryan loves it so much that Adam hardly gets a chance to play with it alone at all. A couple of weeks ago, while Ryan was napping, I got out the ball popper and let Adam enjoy some fun with it all on his own.

Christmas Memories 08

Just a couple of thoughts about Christmas this year... (warning...this will be a long blog with pictures and video!)






I had thought about asking someone to take pictures (especially of Ryan and Adam) while we were opening presents but since I knew we were going to be recording it I didn't. In the past, I've been able to import movie clips into windows movie maker and take still shots from there and so that was my plan for this year's Christmas morning video. Unfortunately, our camcorder records mpeg2 videos and those do not work with windows movie maker. I've researched converting the videos to make them work but it's just not going to happen this year.

In my hopes for the season, I wanted to be able to take my time, and enjoy it all with the boys while still holding on to traditions and making some new ones. I started early but things always took longer than I imagined and in the end not everything I had hoped was done but it was still a festive year and I have ideas on how to improve things for next year. I am in the process of making myself a holiday planner like the one I made Amanda (and Darryl) for Christmas. I hope it will help me feel more organized and ready for Christmas and able to do and enjoy more.

I took Ryan and Adam to the Fun With Friends Christmas party. It was bitterly cold that day and there were not many people but they had booked the assembly hall at the MFRC (where we have our baby sale) and so there was lots of room for the kids to run around in...which was GREAT! I helped Ryan make a couple of Christmas crafts and I made a couple for Adam as well. Then we had some yummy holiday treats. In fact, I still have to go and pick up my muffin tins that I left there that day.

Brad and I went to his staff Christmas party. Gran-Gran Anita came to babysit Ryan and spend the night, and we took Adam (dressed as Santa) with us. Again, it was bitterly cold. But a fun night. We had dinner at Clarks (yummy!) where Adam managed to spill a whole picture of water into Brad's lap. Then we all went over to the Harbour House for desserts, drinks and a gift exchange. Brad and I took Adam for a quick car ride first so he would fall asleep- which he did! Paul had a new camera and took photos of everyone at the party. He printed them off on canvas and very large for everyone for Christmas. We left with 3 new pieces of tupperware from the gift exchange.

Of course I took Ryan and Adam to see Santa at the mall, have Angel portraits done, and had holiday pictures taken at Walmart. I also took them to the Santa Claus parade. Ryan let me put Adam in the wagon with him to pull them down there. Adam stayed in the wagon the whole time and Ryan got out to watch the parade with me. Ryan walked a good portion of the way home that night. We missed the Rona float catching fire and burning to the ground. Since that held up the parade from getting to the Exihibition Park, I am glad I decided to not go to that and have Hot Chocolate with Santa that night.

Christmas Eve I made a crock pot ham like I do every year. It is one of our favorite meals and I make it a couple of times during the year. Brad's parents came over for dinner and after dinner we all went for a drive to look at the "purple lights" (as Ryan says). There were some nice houses, but far less than I expected and many more had no lights at all. There was one house in Cold Lake North though that was worth the whole trip. WOW! Now that is some spirit! Ryan LOVED it!



Ryan and Adam opened a couple of gifts early. First they opened new Christmas pjs that I knew my mother had gotten for them. The next night they opened clothing that I wanted them to wear to have their pictures taken with Santa- a tee shirt with a santa hat on it that says I believe for Ryan and a red fleece one peice with feet that say "ho ho" for Adam. I did have a gift for them to open on Chrismtas Eve as well but by the time all was said and done on Christmas Eve, it was so late and I didn't think Ryan would react well to opening just one gift. (It was a touchy feely nativity book)














After our meal Christmas eve and our drive to look at lights, we stayed up to web cam visit with Darryl, Amanda and the girls for about an hour.

Then Brad and I finished with the last of our gifts, brought them upstairs and laid out the stockings before heading to bed. It was great to have his mom stay over and help with that.


The next morning Ryan got up around his usual time and we did stockings before having a breakfast of cinnamon buns, turkey bacon and fresh fruit with dip. After breakfast we started to open gifts. We had to take a break to lay out some snacks and for me to nurse Adam and get him down for a nap. Ryan stayed awake for all the gift opening this year and only fought us a little when we told him he had to go have a nap when it was all over. (videos- the best of christmas stockings o8 part 1 and 2)



Brad's Dad had a chicken for us to cook and even made the stuffing. It was great to not have to do that myself...although I do wish he had cleaned and stuffed it before bringing it over and not leaving it to Anita and I to do. Anita made pyrogies and cabbage rolls earlier in the month and froze them to bring to dinner. They were yummy! I had cut up my vegtables and put them in a large tupperware bowl of water earlier on Christmas Eve so all I needed to do was put them on to boil. I had put the bowl out in the garage as I didn't have room in my fridge for it and they froze! Not solid but still frozen none the less.



I encouraged Brad to buy something for each boy from just him this year. His gifts were a big hit! He bought Ryan his first remote control car (which is VERY cool) and a pump action drag racer set which matches the racetrack gran gran and grandpa Jim bought him in the spring. For Adam, Brad bought a ball popper. Adam likes it but Ryan especially loves it and I think Adam just loves watching Ryan's excitement as he plays with the popper.







We also visited with friends. Phillip was home for Christmas and dropped by to visit the boys and I. I hosted playgroup the day after that and then that night we went to Sara and Nathan's for dinner.

We stayed in for a quiet NYE and NYD where we continued our House marathon and ate more of our favorite snacks. Ryan couldn't quite stay awake on NYE even watching his usual Bugs Bunny cartoons before bed in our room, he fell asleep.