Forgotten Camera Returned!

I had forgotten my camera at Rachel's after celebrating little Jonas' first birthday!  I now have it back as well as all the pictures from that day!

It was a lot of fun celebrating Jonas' big day with family!  He really is a sweet little guy and always so happy!  I love how Calum and Liam are close in age and the same with Armin and Jonas!  I hope they will always be close and want to spend time with each other as they grow up.  Rachel is a little afraid that when our boys come spend time with her boys in the city that it could get expensive, but when she sends her boys out here it will be so cheap to just let them out of the house to explore all the farm has to offer!  Hopefully we can find a happy medium somewhere along the way!!  It might not be too expensive since all the kids had a blast running through the sprinkler and splashing in the little pool they had set up in the backyard!  Even Armin got in on the splashing and didn't even seem to mind getting splashed right back!  It was a gorgeous day, the food was yummy and the company even better!

On our way home we did stop and get an ice cream cone and once again Calum fell asleep eating it.  We were much crueler this time though, every time he dozed off we would say, "Calum, eat your ice cream cone!" And his little hand would jolt up towards his mouth and he would eat some more.  He ate over half of his cone this way, and even managed to take the wrapper off all while half asleep!  At one point he also started licking his hand thinking it was his ice cream.  I video taped him for over seven minutes and when I finally asked him if he was all done he took one more lick and then passed it to me, and not even a second later he was out cold!  This is the second time he has done this, and it was just as funny the second time!

Summer "Fun"due!

While Charles and Kirstine are visiting my sister and brother-in-law all the way from Scotland and Emry and their daughter Emma became fast friends we decided to have them all over for dinner!  I wanted to do something fun as well as something that wouldn't heat up the house too much with all the added bodies...I thoght about it for quite awhile and finally in the wee hours of the morning while trying to get Armin back to sleep an idea came to me...Fondue!  We had fondue one New Year's Eve with Buck and Arren and it was lots of fun, I remember saying that night that we should do this sometime in the summer when there is more variety of fruit available and much more affordable!  So yesterday we did just that!  It was fun getting together and visiting, learning more and more about Scotland while developing a bond of friendship that will hopefully last a lifetime!

Cheese Fondue

Mark, my Mom, Buck and Arren

Arren, Charles and Kirstine 

Chocolate Fondue

Emry was so excited to show Emma her room and even made a safety pin friendship bracelet for her, when she gave it to Emma she gave Emry a huge hug in return!  I love the way they talk and the words they use...Armin was sitting in his highchair next to Emma at dinner and started to complain, Emma came up to me and said she thought he would like some crisps because he was pointing at her plate and whining!  It took me a minute to come up with what she wanted and then it dawned on me...chips!  Charles usually says the Scottish word and then the English so we know, but nine times out of ten we know what he is talking about!  Like when he says bonnet, he means hood of the car, or boot...trunk of the car.  Emry says she wishes she talked like Emma, and I told her that I bet Emma wishes she talked like her!  I am glad Emry has a friend from a different country and I hope they will always remain close!  It was a really fun evening and I am thankful we have the opportunity to spend as much time with them as we have!

Emma and Emry

City Sleep Over!

The kids and I went to Calgary to spend some time with my dad for his birthday!  We had a lot of fun!  We spent a few hours at the zoo yesterday with both my mom and my dad, and even despite the heat it was a lovely day!  When we first got through the gates we saw the 45 minute line up to see the penguins and instantly I said we would pass on that exhibit!  But my dad said we would save them for our way out!  We made our way through the African Savannah, and then onto the Rainforest, the gorillas, and the monkeys, then to the playground, the elephants and the tigers.  We then had the yummy lunch I packed...egg salad sandwiches, carrot sticks, sugar snap peas, frozen juice boxes, peaches and super yummy carmelitas!

This turtle was roaming around all on its own, and was really quite fast! 

After lunch we decided we were all exhausted from the heat and made our way to the penguins.  I am so happy we decided to see them and even more happy that we decided to save them for last...the temperature in the Penguin home was a beautiful 7 degrees!  I could have stayed in there all day if it wasn't for the fishy poop smell!

I loved this statue, it was really quite sweet!

I find penguins quite fascinating, and so super cute!

Grandma Debbie and Armin

This picture truly is priceless!

The zoo was as fantastic as it usually has been, and I really enjoyed spending the day with my dad on his birthday!  After the zoo we headed back to his place where he made Emry and I a really yummy wasabi sesame crusted salmon, and for the boys he made Kraft Dinner!  We then all went out for ice cream at Dairy Queen, went back home, put the boys in the bath and then eventually got everyone to bed!  It took quite some time for them to fall asleep because of the foreign city noises, and once again the horrible heat!  Calum finally fell asleep around 9:30 while I was laying with him.  Armin around 10:30 after I rocked him for half an hour, and Emry probably around 11, after I laid with her too!  Dad and I watched the Stampeders play the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and I actually enjoyed the football game after Dad explained the rules to me.  Calgary even won in overtime!  Dad and I were still going strong visiting at 1 in the morning when little Armin woke up.  I rocked him while Dad and I moved out to the balcony and continued our visit, and then when we realized it was just keeping Armin awake I moved back inside and continued to rock him.  I had him asleep a few times until I would try and lay him down and then we had to start again right from the beginning.  I repositioned myself on the couch to laying down and cuddled Armin up into my side, he seemed so tired and so cuddly but only if he had  Dad's plastic screw driver, hammer and wrench cuddled into him, and the truck they all belong to secured tightly in his little hand!  It made it quite uncomfortable.  I finally got him to sleep on his little makeshift bed on the floor beside the couch where I was sleeping at 3:30am by crouching next to his bed and gently rocking him, almost as though I was still holding him, but having most of his weight actually on the bed!  And I thought sleeping on little plastic toys was uncomfortable!!

Trying so hard to fall asleep at Grandpa Glen's.

Dad told Armin that this basket would be his bed for the night, he looked perplexed for awhile and then climbed in! 

7:00am came way too early!  But it was still worth it...the kids had a blast at Grandpa Glen's and were beside themselves with excitement from the city sounds and bright lights!  The kids and I packed up and we headed downtown to pick up the boys passports!  It took no time at all to get to the Harry Hays Building, I even drove right to it without having to turn around because I actually went past it!  Leaving was a totally different story!  I wanted to go back the way I came and literally couldn't because it was a one way street!  We did eventually make it onto Macleod Trail ( a totally different way then I originally came but I knew where it would take me) and safely to the Shawnessy Walmart!  Driving in Calgary is a little unnerving, no matter how many times I do it, there are so many cars, so many signs and so many buildings!  I think I would actually be less distracted talking on my cell phone!!

I had a great time with my Dad and really enjoyed visiting with him, something we haven't had the chance to do for quite some time!

Oh, the best news of all this past week...Calum is officially potty trained!  On a whim we decided to start Monday afternoon.  He has done so well with very few accidents and I was brave and didn't even put him in a pull up while we travelled.  He is now even saying that he has to go instead of me making him go every so often!  I am so proud of him, and knew he would get it eventually, he is definitely one of those kids who has to decide on their own that they are going to do something and not be told what to do!  I am sure all the pee and poop prizes he has gotten has also contributed to his success, but either way I am so proud of him!

Not A Care in the World!

The other day I just couldn't stand the heat inside our house anymore, there did seem to be a slight breeze outside but for some reason it was not coming through our windows!  So I headed out with Armin close behind!  He loves to play in the dirt with his tractors, so I took the local paper out with me and sat on the step while he played!  Emry and Calum were absorbed in a movie in the coolness of the basement so we left them alone!

While I was reading Armin would dig a little then he would get up and wander around.  I would look up every so often to keep tabs on where he was.  He was never too far away so I just let him explore, he was always within my line of sight.  After a few more paragraphs I looked up again and he was exploring the shelter break for the cows, just in front of our house, still not that far from me.  So back to reading!  I don't know if the article I was reading was super exciting that I forgot to look up after my usual few paragraphs or if he is just super sonic fast, but the next time I looked for him he was on the road heading south towards Bach's!  I left the paper and before I broke out into a full fledge sprint I made sure there were no vehicles coming from any direction, and I couldn't spot any for miles so I walked as fast as I could after just having surgery to catch up to him!  Once he realized I was on his trail he started to run!  He really is quite fast!  When I caught up to Armin he was actually sitting in the ditch because he was trying to follow Gibson into the field and got tangled up in all the grass!  Thank goodness, because I may not have ever caught up to him!  He was walking as though he had no care in the world about where he was going or what dangers may lie ahead!  Once I got to him I looked at the clock to see what time it was and realized Jared would soon be home so I gave him a call to tell him the latest antics of this boy!  He happened to be on his way home from checking the cows and was just coming over the hill at Bach's.  He caught up to us as Armin and I were walking into our yard.  When Armin saw him he wanted to ride the rest of the way with daddy, so Jared pulled him onto his lap and let him "drive" the car up to the house!  Armin was beside himself with excitement!

The white dot to the left of the road, where Gibson is standing, is Armin!

Armin safely rescued from the tangles of grass!

Heading home!

Birthday Party BBQ

We celebrated three July birthday's at Buck and Arren's yesterday!  Because of their horrible car accident last year Arren felt like Lily didn't really get to celebrate her birthday, so this year it was more than celebrated, it was a memory imprinted forever in her mind!  Lily's Auntie Jess planned a super fun treasure hunt for the kids that involved digging for a clue, doing a three legged race for a clue, having a potato sack race to get a clue and finally finishing with breaking open a pinata!  The birthday girl got to go first with three hits and then she chose her best friend Megan, who then chose her sister Hannah...there were five kids left to give it a hit but the flimsy little zip tie snapped before they had a chance!  No worries, the candy that was inside quickly replaced the thought of getting upset for not being able to hit it!  We had barbecued hotdogs, salads, fruit and vegetables.  And I brought cupcakes for dessert!  I was so happy Arren was too busy to bake a cake, because I love making cupcakes and Lily was so happy with her choice of birthday cupcakes...Monkey's!  I tried two new recipes and one was definitely a hit, the Key Lime Blackberry...so yummy that I am going to make more this week, so Jared and I can indulge!  The others were a Lemon Raspberry, and they too were good, but not my favourite, I didn't like the icing, I didn't find it be that sweet.  The recipe called for shortening as well as butter, the shortening did add substance to the icing and it held up really well, but I just didn't find the flavour all that spectacular!

The girl in the yellow reading the clue is Emma, Emry's newest friend!

Buck and Arren also happen to have friends visiting from Scotland, super nice people!  They have two daughters but only their youngest one, Emma, came with them.  She is nine years old and her and Emry hit it off like they had know each other for years!  Emry came up to me a little after we had gotten there and told me that Emma can speak English, very well, and that she can understand everything she says!  Emry came up to me again after we had eaten and told me "Emma is awesome!"  They became fast friends and will hopefully be able to spend a little bit of time together this week.  I told her to make sure and exchange addresses so they can always keep in touch, she was beside herself with excitement at this idea!

It rained quite heavy off and on while we were celebrating and Calum and Armin both did not seem to be bothered by the rain.  They would both walk out from under the protection of the pergola and casually walk around, getting themselves totally soaked!  Everyone got quite the kick out of those two boys!  As we were getting ready to leave Emma pronounced that she was the driest of the bunch, Calum answered with "I think I am the coldest!"  He was bundled in a towel walking away from us, we didn't even think he was aware of the conversation going on, but I guess he was!  Calum found the dress up box and to our surprise he didn't come out in a dress!  Instead he was Darth Vader, only he decided to "improve" the costume and added a hook to his hand!  I guess he thought it made Darth Vader a little more menacing than the light sabre!

My mom was looking through pictures of herself when she was a toddler and came across a picture of what could literally be Armin!  She then found a picture of herself when she was eight years old and it could be passed off as Emry!  It is crazy how much our children resemble their posterity!  It is quite fascinating actually!

My mom at a year old!

My mom at eight years old!

I had a wonderful day yesterday with family.  I am so thankful we all live so close to each other to be able to get together as often as we do!  I am thankful for my mom and my dad and for the love and support they give to me each and every day.  I am thankful for the integrity they have instilled in me and I hope I am instilling that same integrity in my own children!  It was a wonderful day of celebrating three wonderful people in my life!

No Dull Moments!

We have had quite the week, especially with the heat!  I hate to say this, but I am not a heat person, in fact I hate it, I seem to be extra grumpy when the temperature rises above twenty five degrees celsius.  I feel sorry for my kids because they get the brunt of my grouchiness.  It also doesn't help that I am practically an invalid with my not so minor surgery!  I keep forgetting I can't pick Armin up until I am in the middle of picking him up.  I feel completely healed expect for the nasty oozing incision dropping down from my belly button, although it looks as it should through this healing process.  However, with this unwanted misery does come a silver lining...I have wonderful friends who have insisted on making a few meals for us this week, all meals that do not require us to turn on an oven, we have had pulled pork sandwiches, pizza from the local joint in Vulcan and tonight a summer themed cold dish!  I am so thankful for the church I belong to, for the way we all seem to stick together and help each other out.  I insisted that I was totally fine to make meals for my family but I was told it was the least they could do to help me out!  It has been greatly appreciated and will always be remembered!

With this down time Jared has been in the house a little more than usual after work helping me get the kids to bed, and when he hasn't been able to be in Emry has done an exceptional job getting the boys in the bath, jammies on and Armin into his bed!  I am extremely blessed to have the family I have, and I can't express my thanks enough for all they do for me!

So the things that have been happening that have made life not so dull this last week have been too funny to say the least!  Last Saturday on our way home from little Jonas' first birthday party we stopped at Dairy Queen to get an ice cream cone.  As tradition would have it Calum started to doze off right in the midst of eating his cone!  As the cruel parents we are, Jared and I  would remind Calum of his cone when we would see him start to nod off!  I video taped him for over seven minutes, he even took the wrapper off the cone and probably ate over half of the cone while pretty much asleep.  I finally asked him if he was done, and he very sleepily handed me his cone, not even half a second later his head turned to the side and he was down for the count!

The next not so dull moment happened at supper the other night!  Tanya had brought supper out for us complete with a package of orange kool-aid!  While Emry was pouring herself some she spilled, we of course were a little annoyed at her lack of skill but she took charge and quickly cleaned it up.  Next Calum spilled his juice, again we were annoyed because of the sticky mess we were going to have on the floor, but again it was cleaned up and dinner continued on as usual.  Well, not 5 minutes later Emry spilled her juice again, thankfully it all ran into the middle of the table with no mess on the floor.  Well, poor Jared had about enough and asked Emry if she was two, because apparently only two year olds spill there juice!  As Emry was going to get more paper towel Jared happened to bump his glass of orange kool-aid and it too spilled all over the table!  All we could do by this time was laugh!  We couldn't stop laughing in fact, and dinner turned out to the highlight of our day despite the mess!

Last night we all drove up to Okotoks to get the boys their passport photos since Calum's had expired earlier this year and Armin didn't have one.  We have planned a little get-a-way to Kallispell at the end of July and had just enough time to get them before we go.  Well, on our way Armin decided to make this aaaahhhhh sound, quite loud and quite piercing!  Well, Emry thought it was cool and decided to join in, next thing we knew Calum was also making the aaaaahhhhing sound!  It was incredibly loud, but again all Jared and I could do was laugh since talking to each other was next to impossible.  Calum decided he wanted us to join in too, so there we all were stuffed in our little jetta making an aaaahhhhing sound in unison!  It at least made for a memorable ride!  Once at the passport photo place Calum was so over excited that it was really hard for him not to smile, he succeeded but not without looking slightly devilish!  Armin on the other hand was a totally different story, really though how do you make a one and a half year old not smile for a camera!  He was sitting so cute on the stool, with two blocks underneath him to make him taller!  His arms were casually hanging by his sides and his legs dangling below!  Jared would show him how to hold his lips and even help him out by forcing his little lips together, Armin would do it only not while he was looking at the camera!  After a good fifteen minutes they finally quit and the photographer looked at the pictures to see if any of them would work! Thankfully there was one!

We have had quite the fun this past week, without spending any money or having to go anywhere!  I love my little family and despite this little hiccup of not being able to "do" anything, I am so extremely thankful for what I have in my life and for the wonderful people who surround me!

Heat Wave...Plus 29!

Rachel invited us to go to Little Bow with her and Myrna today, and because of this wicked heat wave we are in, I readily agreed to go!  It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast swimming and playing in the sand.  I decided to bring Gilbert and Lily too, since it was my little sister's 29th birthday and I thought it would be a good present for her...I didn't offer so she could hay though...the joys of getting older, time really doesn't stop for us!

Emry was a sand monster! 

Calum wanted to be a sand monster too!

I think these two will be best pals!

We got lots of sun and once the grown ups had enough we lured the kids away from the beach by getting them each an ice cream cone!  They did have a blast and as predicted Armin fell fast asleep shortly after we turned out of the park.  Once at home I had to ice my cupcakes to take over to Buck and Arren's where we were all meeting for supper!  My mom made spaghetti and perogies and brought them over and we all ate outside under John and Roxanne's beautiful pergola!  It was a great night, and I think Arren had a great 29th birthday despite the fact she was raking all day!

The birthday girl...29 years OLD!

 Armin brought his little chair over to sit beside me and when Lily came over to where we were sitting he got up and got her a chair and put it right beside his!  What a little gentleman!

Mom, Mark and Emry

Calum was hooking Papa John up because he was a bad guy!

I tried some new cupcakes and they turned out to be a huge hit!  I made Peach Cupcakes with a Peach Cream Cheese Frosting...so yummy!  I really love making cupcakes, I find it so rewarding, especially when Lily asked me if I could bring these same cupcakes on Sunday for her birthday and my mom asked if I would bring the Salty Caramel Cupcakes I made for Emry's birthday on Sunday too!  We are having a BBQ at Arren's on Sunday to celebrate my mom's birthday, Lily's birthday and my dad's birthday!  Nothing is more rewarding than when I am asked to bring a repeat cupcake!  I was thrilled!