We've been a little busy

Just a little insight to what we've been doing around here lately. Other than boring ordinary living our life we believe in child labour, especially when they are begging to help out, because pulling out staples is SO much fun!



We are getting closer to the finish line with this house. Next will be the upstairs bathroom. We have a basement full of supplies now Frieso gets to find time to get things done. Apparently we now need to finish the basement room. SO that means move the shed over, build a new BIG shed for the tools that take up all the room in the basement. Finish the room in the basement, move boys downstairs, move Ainsley over one room. This all needs to be done in time for May. Just when you think you have life figured out and a rough plan in place... So we're going to be a little busy at our house so if you need some practice in putting up walls, laying down floors, painting, tiling etc... and have some time to donate to our cause you're welcome to come join the party.



and though this is totally different. Look at what I did this morning at the church. It was supposed to be a round cake but Korben decided to eat mine last night while it was cooling so I was just going to observe the class. Luckily someone did two cakes and took pity on me. I learned a lot, I now will have to do much better cakes for my kids. Though I may need to invest in some good decorating supplies. It is much easier when you have the right tools. Frieso says that a lot, that may be why we have a basement FULL of tools that now need a new home.

Boo!

Logan was pretty excited we were able to find an astronaut costume

Korben said, mom lion scary

Ainsley was irritated with her ladybug hood but she looked to darn cute!

Well it wasn't too crazy. But Halloween has come and gone for another year. I spent all of October preparing for the ward party and am pretty disappointed in the turn out. But we had to remind ourselves that a chinook rolled in so it wasn't as cold as last year. But still it wasn't just trunk r treat around the building I planned a party. Note for next year, this may not happen. I even got Frieso into a costume but Korben wasn't feeling good so Frieso left early. Logan said it was the best halloween party ever. Thanks hunny at least you're good for mom's self esteem. So I have A LOT of snacks left over since I was planning for a WARD party, well we are trying to get our food storage built up. Chips and pop - Check! Popcorn - Check! At least my kids will be happy when there's nothing else to eat. Luckily the boys had some parties at school, though we didn't trick or treat the neighbourhood and Logan keeps asking if we can. Like on Tuesday he asked, I'm like uh no you don't get to pick a random day and ask strangers for candy. Hence why I'm not a big fan of trick or treating the neighbourhood. We just live in a scary world and especially this year. You don't know what was coughed and sneezed all over those candies, oh here little astronaut have some chocolate and a little H1N1. No thanks! We'll just keep our germs to ourselves. I've decided we're going to hibernate this winter, with all the craziness about H1N1, we'll just stay home and keep to ourselves.
Well I'm getting bloggers block, must not have been a very exciting or frustrating month because I'm not feeling like I need to unload on my blog. Life has it's routine which works for us. Korben is having a few behaviour issues that we're hoping to be able to get worked out soon. It's funny I talk to other mom's and there kids have the same issues but with Korben we bring in specialists. Oh well hopefully he'll learn to not want to kill his sister if she touches his toys. I've applied for some extra services and also the disability tax credit. Didn't know about his last year, the gov't is willing to give us money; they aren't really advertising this very much :D That would be a nice help, we could take Korben back to brain gym he hasn't been for a few months and he really needs to go but the budget isn't brain gym friendly right now. So let us now if you need any plumbing or water treatment or really anything done around the house. Frieso can fix practically anything.

Words of Wisdom

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5 Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ''In five years, will this matter?".
26. Always choose life.
27. Forgive everyone everything.
28. What other people think of you is none of your business.
29. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
30. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
31. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
32. Believe in miracles.
33. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
34. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
35. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
36. Your children get only one childhood.
37. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
38 Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
39. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
40. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
41. The best is yet to come.
42. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
43. Yield.
44. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Which one do you need add to your life?

Inefficiency is IRRITATING

I said that to Frieso last night and then realized I should do it in vinyl lettering and put in my house. Even right now the mixer is kneading the dough for bread.
So this week is the Food Drive for the WHOLE city. As activities chair this somehow falls to me for the ward. So far it hasn't been to much of a party. So for the last few weeks I have had mountains of bags and flyers in my living room. Just kidding they were neatly organized and put into bins, the bins were taking up the whole living room. So Sunday was the day to give the routes away to everyone else in the ward because frankly I'm not delivering 13 000 flyers/bags to our end of the city. Fabulously enough I only went home with 5 extra routes which I managed to get rid of to people that were away on Sunday. So being the terribly efficient person I am I sent Korben off to school with Alecia, loaded up Ainsley in the stroller and delivered one of our routes. UGH! I walked and bent over and tripped on people's uneven walkways for an hour and a half. But I got it done! Ainsley had a nice sleep in the stroller once she got over the fact that it wasn't a nice walk, she didn't like the stop and go part.
So we had another route to deliver and so the was FHE for this week, I'm sure it was a record for the number of Mormons all out doing the same thing last night :D So we get to the next route and I realized that where we started was not the most efficient place to start and hence my life's motto was discovered but we trudged through it and I was only slightly annoyed most of the time. Well I guess Korben had discovered that he liked holding the flyers and Logan assumed he was handing them out so Logan grabbed it and delivered it to a house. Korben did not like that so I'm on the other side of the street and I see Korben bolt out of the stroller go up to the house and take his flyer back. That was his flyer and no one else was going to have it. At first I was freaking out because I as across the street and Frieso was still at another house but when I realized what had happened I laughed and had Logan come and help me on my side.
But then I realized efficiency is also exhausting, Mondays I'm always on the go, start and new week with a new list of to do's, laundry, motherhood. It wears me out, so I decided yesterday that I needed some breathing space so time to take the grown-out-of-clothes bins to the store and see how much I can get. I drove down to the south one because the NW store doesn't take much and their store is crowded and irritating. So hopefully today they will call back to tell me they have oodles of money for me. Just so I can turn around and spend it in their store on my kids. So now that I'm sore from all my exercises yesterday and a cold is starting to set in, maybe today we won't try to be SO efficient.

First Day of Grade 1

It doesn't look too different than last year, except that it was way too early in the morning. He was bouncing off the walls. Constantly asking when it was time to go to the bus. I can't handle that much energy that early in the morning. My days of waking up when I'm finished sleeping are officially over. I now must become a morning person. So watch out for some crankiness. Since Frieso starts school next week for 3rd year plumbing and teaching seminary. Mornings are going to be busy, I'll be a taxi driver dropping everyone at their stops, all before 8:00. I'm hoping to send Korben to school with Alecia again this year so that will be one less car ride for Ainsley and I.
Life is about to get on schedule very quickly here, which is just the way we like it. I just wish it didn't have to start so early in the morning.

Big boy, Birthday, Beaches...summer is a blast!

Where has the summer gone? We're already half way through!

Korben has made such huge steps the last few months, his little "fly up" graduation ceremony was very emotional for me. I almost broke down, I was so proud of him. He did like the little ceremony it was loud and echoing in that room but he made it through playschool. I signed him up for the same one in September, 3 mornings a week. He'll do much better in the morning, he is very much a morning person.

Next we had Ainsley turning 1. WHAT??!! Where did that year go? It has been a tough year but man it flew by. I have learned that one year olds don't care what day it is so really Ainsley's actual birthday was no different than any other day, the only difference is she napped more that day, weird. So I didn't stress about it. It was her day and if she wanted to sleep through it that was her choice. Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind spending my birthday that way.

I always love it when 'plan B' works


She certainly enjoyed her cake!


very helpful cousins


hurry daddy, I want to play with it!


Next adventure.... BC family reunion

A full week of cousins, Grandma and Grandpa, no rules...well less rules and the beach!

Logan has been asking about the beach since we went 2 years ago.
we did a lot of playing, hanging out, Fort Steele and A LOT of swimming.











The boys LOVED Fairmont Hot Springs, we will definitely be back. They spent 3 hours jumping in the pool, climbing back out, jumping in the pool and climbing out again. They napped well that afternoon.

Then home for a week, an awful week...the short of it, Korben was awful, I missed judged when I parked the van and Frieso got his tools stolen out of his car. I was so glad when that week was over.

Now this last weekend we were down in southern Alberta with Frieso's family to celebrate his neice's wedding. A little squishy with all of us in his mom's house, but we made the bigger boys sleep outside and that helped. Logan was so excited for Sloane's wedding, what he didn't realize is that we are not her only cousins. She has A LOT of family cousins and she married into a big extended family as well. So he didn't get a lot of time with her. But it was a beautiful day and they are going to at U of C so hopefully we can get together so they aren't starving students all the time :D






Now we're home and looking to a quieter week, hopefully we can get the half bathroom put back together and Frieso can get some more contracts, we could use your prayers or your business. (Anyone need water treatment/plumbing/home renos he can do lots of different things.)

There Bobbi, I made it to the end of your's did you make to the end of mine? :D

Happy Canada Day

not that you can read it but Ainsley's shirt says Canadian Sweetie!


And this is supposed to look like the flag, don't laugh, it will taste good no matter how much of an artist I AM NOT.

Now to get a project done before a BBQ