Ward Christmas Party

At our annual Ward Christmas Party this year our kids had lots of parts in the program!  It was so fun to see them up there proud of what they were doing!  Calum and Armin both sang "Gingerbread Christmas", Calum was a baker and Armin was a gingerbread man.  Myrna made him the cutest costume!  Then Calum was in a skit about the ghost of Christmas past, present and future, the Activity Day kids wrote it themselves.  It was cute! The boys also sang "Once There Was a Snowman" with the Nursery kids. Emry was Mary in the Nativity with the rest of the youth.  She played a beautiful Mary!

After the program was finished we sang Christmas carols to call out Santa!  This is always a huge highlight for the kids!  Armin was right up there and sat on Santa's knee, he told him he would like kittens for Christmas!! Hopefully he's not too disappointed, we do have a cat who is pregnant and will likely have her kittens in the next couple of months, maybe we can convince him Santa was a little late!!  Calum wouldn't sit on Santa's knee but he did stand there and talk to him.  He also had to run outside to see if his sleigh was on the roof.  When he didn't see it he told me it wasn't Santa, but one of his helpers.  He noticed one of the dad's in our Ward was missing and had himself convinced he knew who Santa's helper was.

The meal was yummy as usual, the roast beef and gravy were to die for!  We weren't asked as a Ward to bring any desserts, that was a bit of a bummer!  I always love seeing everyone's best desserts spread out on the table!

My dad and my mom, Mark and Owen came to the party.  I was so happy to have them there!  I love spending time with my family and enjoy their company when we are together.  Another Christmas event marked off!  The School Concert is tonight and then we are finished with outings!  Christmas will be here before we know it!  I love this time of year, the busyness of the season.  The songs, the lights, the food!  Such a wonderful time of year to remember the birth of our Savior!

The Sounds of the Season

I just absolutely love this time of year.  The lights, the sounds, the smells!!  Everyone seems a little more kind to one another too!  Just a magical time of year!

Emry and Leah have been singing together a lot lately.  Their voices blend so beautifully together.  Jared has been accompanying them on the guitar and that too sounds so beautiful!  They sang for the Senior's Centre last night as entertainment for their Christmas Party.  There was such a special spirit about them.  They sang "What Child is This", "Silent Night" (my absolute favourite) and "Away in a Manger".  All three gave me goose bumps.  There is something about singing about the birth of our Savior that touches deep within my soul.  Such a wondrous night to have the Savior of the world born to bring us hope and peace.

I look forward to listening to the girls sing, they truly are filled with the Spirit of Christ.  And listening to Jared play the guitar is wonderful, I think it is my favourite instrument to listen to acoustically!

Again, such a magical time of year!  My favourite time of year!

Basketball

Last night Emry had her first Basketball game!  Though they didn't win, or even come close, they had fun and tried their best!

Emry was definitely a little timid but she started to move around and get open more by the end of the game.  She wasn't quite sure what to do with the ball when it was given to her and couldn't get rid of it fast enough!  Her skills will continue to grow as she practices more and her confidence will also increase as she asserts herself more.  It was nail biting to watch my girl out there on the court!  You don't realize just how vicious girls can be until you see elbows flying back and forth landing in someone's face!! OUCH!

Emry is number 15

Emry is having so much fun with these girls, something she just doesn't have in Champion.  She is playing on the Vulcan team because Champion didn't have enough people to make up a team.

I look forward to watching the rest of her games and seeing her grow and mature with each one.

6 Years Old

Today is Armin's 6th Birthday!  WOW!!! Where has the time gone?  He is our spunky one, so full of life and energy!  My dad has nick named him Knucklehead, to which he really is one!  Whenever Grandpa Glen calls him one Armin always replies with "No, you're the knucklehead!"  I love this boy to pieces, he is always so charming, a real ladies man!  Jared asked me the other day how I stay standing without a backbone, especially when it comes to my boys.  I don't know how or why but I am wrapped around this little guys littlest finger, he knows just how to get a yes out of me!

Poor guy is definitely suffering from third child syndrome, we barely celebrated his birthday!  We are doing nothing today, except running Emry around to basketball and Young Women's.  We did have a mini family birthday celebration for him on Sunday.  Grandma Puzey, Grandpa Glen, Auntie Arren and Uncle Buck and Lily were all able to come and help him celebrate!  We had his favourite, ham and cooked carrots, and Myrna brought whipping cream scalloped potatoes and buns! A super yummy meal.  We had a very plainly decorated cake and ice cream for dessert!  His poor cake was nothing like I usually do but he didn't seem too bothered.  He was spoiled rotten with Lego, his absolute favourite! 

Like I already said, I love this boy to pieces!  He is our last, our baby and boy would I like him to stay little forever.  But at the rate he's growing I don't see that happening :( He is adventurous, kind and sassy all at the same time!  He knows just what to say to have his mommy lay with him at night or get him chocolate milk.  He has a temper like the Hulk but can instantly calm down too!  He gives the best hugs because he can wrap his scrawny monkey legs right around you!  He is our sweet little Armin and I wouldn't trade him for anything!!!

Chocolate Making and Valdy

This past weekend was another busy one!!  It started Friday morning with me taking some of the Grade 5/6's to a volleyball tournament in Vulcan!  I was so happy Kym, who I have been coaching with, was also able to come!  The kids had lots of fun and did really well.  All our practices paid off!

Friday afternoon Myrna and I got a good start on the chocolate making before Char and Lalainia came.  We got all the caramel's cut and dipped, some of the cherry rolled and dipped, and the Olympia crème rolled and dipped! We stopped for supper and then continued on until 9:00pm!! The next morning we were up and at it by 8:30am and with the help of Rachel now too, we were able to finish rolling and dipping by 1:00pm even with stopping for lunch!  It went so smoothly and we got so many yummy chocolates made for Christmas!  I love this weekend, the older kids always put in a little bit of time helping out while the younger ones play!  Armin and Cadence had loads of fun chasing each other, usually around the kitchen but the sounds of their laughter was worth having them under our feet from time to time!  Calum had so much fun with Bowen, Emry, Blake and sometimes Armin playing Minecraft!  We had enough handheld devices for them all to log on and play together!  And if Emry wasn't helping us or playing Minecraft she was outside with Ashton doing some exploring!  A great weekend spent with family is always good for the soul!!!

That afternoon, after Jared dug up our carrots and potatoes from the garden, I helped him, or watched him rather, put Christmas lights up!  We still have a few more to put up but it looks so nice!

After all this we still had a Valdy concert to take in!!!  Lalainia, Jason, Dave, Char, Leah, Blake, Myrna, Emry, Jared and I all went into Lethbridge to see Valdy perform at the Folk Club!  He was amazing as usual!  He is such an entertainer and can really captivate the crowd!  He had us singing along to his familiar tunes while he played his 1951 Martin Acoustic!  It was a late night home, especially after taking the babysitter we got for the boys home, but a great night!!

Sunday, I had the worst headache, even worse than I had had most of the weekend.  So the kids and I didn't make it to church that day, oops!!! Calum actually had to wake me up and tell me it was after 10 and wondered if we were going to church!!  It was a good day to catch up on some much needed rest after our packed weekend!

Monday I took Armin to the city so he could pick out a present with the money Grandpa Glen mailed him for his birthday!  As soon as Armin opened his card and I read it to him he said, "Thanks for the one hundred bucks Grandpa Glen!"  He picked out the Lego Firehouse, a set he's been eyeing for quite some time!!  We have gotten a good start on it, he has all the vehicles built!  We will work away at it between going here and there for Emry's basketball practices and Calum's Activity Days and Karate!! 

I can't ask if it will ever end because we have only just begun!!!!!!!!

A Few Things

We have had a busy November so far!! It started the last weekend of October when I took Jared on a little getaway for his 40th Birthday!  We went back to some little cabins near Canmore, we had stayed there for our Anniversary a few years back.  They are so quaint and cozy!  We did a little looking around,  had a wonderful afternoon nap (not something we can do on a regular basis with kids around wanting our attention!!), went to a movie (the new Jack Reacher) and went out for dinner!  It was just what we needed to rejuvenate!!

The next weekend we decided to take a spur of the moment road trip to go and pick up some cattle feeders from a man in Alderflats (straight west of Red Deer). We decided to find a hotel with a water slide and took the kids!  Jared carried onto Alderflats while I stayed at the hotel with the kids so they could swim some more without being confined to a squishy truck!  Buck let us borrow his truck if we brought home some feeders for him too!!

 

 

Remembrance Day was quickly upon us, the kids have a ceremony at school which is always so touching!  Emry plays the trumpet in the band, and loves it!!!  This was to be her first performance.  The band started with O Canada and later played You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban.  They did a great job!  A few students read poems they had written specifically for Remembrance Day, they all did fabulous.  We stood for 2 minutes of silence to honor those who have fought for our freedom.  Overall, a great service dedicated to those men and women who so bravely fight to keep us free and safe.

 

The next weekend we decided to take the kids to a University Basketball game.  Emry sat and watched the entire game and really got into it!  The boys played non stop in a bouncy house that was set up for kids, and they had a blast!  It was a good game, the Pronghorns won too which made it even better!!

Emry has started basketball, she has to go to Vulcan to play, but that's okay because she is loving it!  We are a little more busy than we were last month, but again its a good busy!  The kids are happy so that makes me happy!  I love my little family and all they do to brighten my day!



Halloween 2016

I HATE Halloween, I have never been a big fan of dressing up and trying to find costumes for the kids is always such a chore.  This year their costumes were much easier!  Armin wanted to be Captain America, easily found at Walmart!! Emry didn't know exactly what she wanted to be but she found something at the Spirit Halloween store, she chose to be Robin Hood.  And Calum wanted to be Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls!  I was able to find exactly what he needed at the thrift store!

Calum's Grade 3/4 class

Emry and her friend Hayley the Hotdog

Lily the Cat and Dipper Pines

To start the festivities we carved our pumpkins.  Calum never disappoints in this department.  He hates the gunk inside the pumpkin so much so that he almost always throws up!  Armin and Emry got right in and dug the guts out of their pumpkins!  Jared helped them carve their designs, and the ending results were cute!

 

Halloween night the kids were so hyped up!  6:00pm couldn't come fast enough!  Finally out the door and into town we went!  Some streets in Champion had houses with lights on for almost the entire street so we let the kids go for it!  After a few houses they met up with Gil and Lily and did a few streets with them too!  Its always so fun to go with a big group!  Jared and I followed close behind in the van!  We were even able to watch a bit of a video!!  My kinda way to go trick or treating!!!  We only let the kids go around town for an hour then we went and did a few farms!  I could not believe how much candy they got for only a couple hours of trick or treating!

When we got home the kids dumped their bags out and went through all their candy.  Emry sorted hers by chocolate bar or hard candy!! Armin put his in neat piles according to kind of chocolate bar and Calum, well his was just one big mess!!!

So it was another successful Halloween!! The kids had a blast and if I am being truly honest I enjoyed it too!  I love seeing my kids have fun!!!

A Case of Writer's Block

Lately I have felt like my posts are lacking.  I'm not sure what but something is missing.  I try to get in all the details but the passion I have for writing just isn't there.  Our family has been very busy lately, I'm not complaining, its a good busy.  But I do feel pulled in many different directions.  Last night after piano I just wanted to crawl into bed but couldn't quite justify it because it was only 6:00pm!  We had a simple supper and sat around reading or playing games.  Once Emry got home from Young Women's the fighting started...I so wasn't in the mood to deal with sibling rivalry so I sat there while it played out! Jared, in all his wisdom, got them playing a game of charades.  What a great idea.  It stopped the fighting and they even had fun together.  The sounds of laughter filled our home right up until it was time for bed!  I marvel at how easy it was to redirect their attention elsewhere.  Jared is such a wonderful father, he knows our kids inside and out, and when I think they are being whiney or fighting too much he asks them what's bugging them because there is always something underlying when kids act out!  See, such a good father...I wouldn't have even thought of that if it weren't for him!

Jared's 40th birthday is coming up...I can't believe he's going to be 40!!! Where does the time go?  There are days when I still feel like I'm 18, just moved out on my own and then I look around and see all that we have accomplished.  Three kids, a house we built ourselves, good jobs, cows, the list is quite literally endless!!  Jared and I are going away for his birthday, some much needed time to ourselves!  I'm so thankful we have such amazing family to help us out when we go away!  We know our kids are going to be well looked after!  We will breathe in the crisp cool mountain air and refresh ourselves for another week of running around!

Running around....I wrote earlier that I feel pulled in many different directions, we've really only just begun!  It does amaze me how our schedule is working out, we still have just enough time to sit down as a family for supper even though there are a million and one things going on.  I love seeing our kids enjoy school and their after school activities.  It makes me proud of them for finding balance in their lives.  I marvel at how well they have taken to school, how well they listen to their teachers and their behavior at school.  I am proud of our kids and I hope the know it too.  I know I am not doing all I need to do to teach them at home, but I hope what I am doing is enough for them to know they are loved and will always be safe.

I'm grateful for the ability I have to write, to read and to learn each day!  I'm thankful my parents were able to give me the opportunities I needed to develop these talent's.  And I'm thankful I am able to give our children the same opportunities.  I have been writing something I am thankful for each day this past year.  It has taken a lot of commitment and I know I have grown because of this experience.  Sometimes at the moment I am not able to see what I am grateful for but at the end of the day when I sit down and look back over my day I am able to see the blessings in my life.  And each day there are many, sometimes its hard to write just one thing I am grateful for.  Life is a blessing, being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a blessing.  I am so blessed to be married to a kind, loving and compassionate man, to have three beautiful, healthy children and to live in a country where freedom abounds.  In a world of chaos living where we live is truly a blessing, one I think about a great deal...WHY am I so lucky?

I want to say that life is a mystery, but it really isn't!! I know why I am here...to learn and grow in the gospel, to give service to those in need and to raise a family knowing the principals by which to live.  The only mystery is what am I going to do next? And how am I going to succeed?

I'm thankful for my blog, it is an outlet for me to let my creative juices flow.  A place where I can put down my thoughts without judgement. 

Busy Everyday

These past few weeks we have been busy with something everyday!!!  Being busy is good, it keeps us out of trouble, but it is also exhausting!!

Now that Calum is in Karate we have two kids going two different directions.  For so long it was only Emry's activities taking up our evenings!  Calum has Karate twice a week, Emry and Calum are both taking piano lessons, I have Yoga once a week and Emry has Young Women's once a week and Volleyball twice a week.  And once a month Calum has Activity Day's, oh!! He's also starting a club at school with The Amazing Race theme!!!!!!  We barely have time for supper before one is taking off somewhere!!  But I wouldn't trade it for anything, they love the extra curricular activities, and when they are happy I am happy!

Now we just need to find something for Armin to do to pull us in a whole new direction!!

Thanksgiving

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year!!!  Sunday after church we met at Myrna's with all the Puzey clan, as always the kids were loud but they love spending time with each other playing and chatting.  Us mom's all worked together in the kitchen preparing the meal, and boy was it ever yummy!  I had tried a new salad called Cranberry Fluff!!  It was actually really yummy.  It had chopped up fresh cranberries, cream cheese, whipping cream and mini marshmallows!!  A keeper for sure!

We stayed rather late and by the time the kids got to bed they fell asleep exhausted.  Well, all except Calum!  He started throwing up.  It was a bit of a long night but we made it through. 

The next day, Thanksgiving Day, we woke up to snow, and lots of it.  With the abundance of snow my mom decided to phone all her family and told them not to come for dinner.  Since Arren and I are close we still went over with our families, well minus Jared, Emry and Calum, Emry was coming down with what Calum had so it was best they not infect everyone!!  The meal at my mom's was just as yummy as the one at Myrna's, I was feeling much like a glutton.  My dad was even able to come and celebrate with us, as weird as it was to celebrate with both my mom and my dad together it was also lots of fun!  The kids built a snowman and attempted to toboggan but the snow was a little too sticky for that!  We laughed, visited and just had fun hanging out!

I truly am so thankful for so much, it would be impossible to name them all!  But more than anything I am so thankful for my family.  Jared is such a wonderful husband who does all he can to keep us safe and make us all feel equally loved.  I am thankful for my mom and my dad, my sisters and for Myrna and all my other in laws!  I feel happy and safe when I am with them.  Thanksgiving reminds me to take time and acknowledge all I am blessed with...I am healthy, happy, safe, free and surrounded by those I love, quite literally!!!  What more could I ask for?

Lethbridge Corn Maze

Last week I was able to go to the Lethbridge Corn Maze with Armin's Kindergarten Class.  It was a crisp cool fall day but the sun poked though by lunch and it was gorgeous!!  The kids had an absolute blast petting and feeding all the animals, going down the big slide and running through the mazes.

There are many mazes there, we chose to do two. First we did the kids maze and ended up coming out where we came in...oops. Oh well, we did it again and figured it out!  The other maze we did was the Trivia Maze, the questions were hard and we ended up trying all three paths because we just couldn't get the right answer!  The kids were starting to panic a little in this maze, and were losing interest quite quickly!  It was a little unnerving not knowing how to get out.

The kids were also able to go on a cow train.  Old metal barrels that had been painted like Holstein cows pulled by a kabota lawn mower!!  They had fun riding in circles all around the corn maze!

At the end of the day the kids picked out pumpkins and on our way home we went!  It was just what the kids needed, and the moms too!!  I love this little group of 5 Kindergarten kids, 4 boys and 1 feisty little girl who fits right in. 

Calum's Baptism

Calum was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sunday October 2, 2016!  He was beyond excited!!

 

 

He had met with the Bishop quite regularly leading up to his baptism day.  They became well acquainted and developed a close friendship!  I love our Bishop, he is so caring and compassionate to all members of his Ward.  He spoke such nice words about Calum on his special day.  He said he has a very kind heart and is a good example.  Myrna spoke about baptism and had Calum help her stick up examples of what he promises Heavenly Father now that he is baptized and what heavenly Father promises him in return.  Jason spoke about receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and what that means.  He had a suit of armour for Calum to wear and used the scripture from Ephesians 6 to describe what each piece of the amour meant.  Emry, Cora and Leah sang "I Love to See the Temple" and Ashton and Rachel each gave a prayer.  It was a beautiful service with the Spirit strongly present.  When the Bishop had Calum stand beside him and welcome him as the newest baptized member of the ward, Calum looked so proud. And when the Bishop told him to look at his parents who were proud of the decision he had made he got teary eyed!  Such a tender hearted boy!

I am so thankful for a husband who holds the Priesthood and could baptize our son, a truly special moment for them.  And the blessing Jared gave Calum after giving him the Gift of the Holy Ghost was one from a man full of much faith and love of the gospel.  I am also so thankful to be apart of such a wonderful family who loves Calum as much as I do.  And for my own family coming and supporting our special boy.  Even though they couldn't participate in any part of the program it was so nice to have them there to share this wonderful step in Calum's life.

After the baptism we all headed into the gym for some much needed dinner!! I had made pulled pork and Myrna made buns so we could have pulled pork sandwiches.  Emry helped me cut up veggies and arrange them like a rainbow on a platter to go along with the primary song "When I Am Baptized" and I made a yummy punch too!  It was a perfect easy meal to share with family and friends!

 

8 Years Old

Calum turned 8 on Saturday!! It's crazy how big he has gotten in what seems like such a short time!  Friday after school he had 3 friends come home on the bus with him and we played some games with a Doctor Who theme.  We played BINGO, pin the bow tie on the Doctor, Don't Blink (a form of red light/green light but with a picture of a weeping angel), had mini pizzas and cake and opened presents.  He had a great party and got some cool gifts!

 

We had a Doctor Who theme for his party and I even made a Tardis on the dinning room table!  A Tardis is a time machine in Doctor Who for those who don't know!!

Saturday, the day of his actual birthday we got up early to get ready to go to The Stampeders football game.  We first had to make a stop at Toys R Us so Calum could use the money he got from Grandpa Glen!  He was able to pick out two things, both Lego, the Ghostbusters Car and a Batman set!  Spoiled boy!!

After shopping we headed over to the LRT station to take the train up to McMahon Stadium for the game.  Jared, Calum and I were able to go to the game with Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Mark, Avi, Owen and Maryssa!  We were super excited, it was mine and Jared's first time at a football game.  The team got into formation and we sat in anticipation waiting for their next move.  The kicker ran and as soon as he made contact with the ball a loud BANG rang through the stadium!!  Well, Calum was out of their just as fast as the ball sailed through the air!!  And for the rest of the half we walked the perimeter of the inside of the stadium to avoid any more loud and unexpected sounds!!  I couldn't believe how fast he was out of his seat when the cannon was fired!! It was almost comical, if it wasn't so heart wrenching just how terrified he was, poor boy!!

For the second half I was able to convince him that the loud sounds wouldn't happen anymore, but I was wrong!  The cannon was shot again when the ball was kicked but he managed to hold it together a little bit better!  When the big jumbo tron lit up with MAKE SOME NOISE we told Calum to cheer loud for the team, this seemed to help him deal with the rest of the noise all around him.  After listening to his high pitched scream for a few minutes Mark went and bought him a horn to blow into!  This also seemed to really help!  I'm not sure why he is so sensitive to the noise but it sure did affect him that day!

Back to the game...The Stamps were trouncing the Blue Bombers during the first half and then all of a sudden they were only up by one touch down!  The Bombers scored which tied up the game and then with their field goal kick the Bombers were up by one with 20 seconds left on the clock.  The Stampeders had one try left with no time on the clock so they used it to kick the ball through the field goal, which they did winning the game for them and putting them in the number one slot for the CFL!!  It was an exciting last minute of the game, I'm so happy Calum decided to watch the second half so we could see them win!  He claims they won for him, being that it was his birthday!  After the game we were able to go down on the field and meet a few of the players and hear about how they got into football and what helps them to persevere through the tough times!! Then we were each given a mini football!!

Calum and I saw one of the cheerleaders while walking around so I told him I wanted a picture of him with her, well, he did not like that idea at all as you can see by the look on his face!!!

For supper Calum decided he wanted to eat at Moxie's!  It was so yummy!!!  We had a great day celebrating a great kid!  He truly has a heart of gold and is very compassionate towards others feelings.  Yes, he can be a stinker and pushes the limits but he will forever hold a special place in my heart!  Happy 8th Birthday Calum!