A Green Thumb!

Just this year a friend from the Champion area started up a greenhouse.  When I heard this I first assumed that she was just bringing in pre-potted flowers and selling them, but she actually set up a green house.  It is on the highway on the way to Little Bow Park and it is beautiful, it is called Long Coulee Growers!  She has an amazing selection and very reasonably priced!  I finally went out there this past Wednesday to get a few flowers to spruce up the farm!  I am not much of a gardener but I love doing it, and I hope one day I can devote more time and effort to gardening.  Anyway, after supper that night things just seemed to work out perfectly!  Armin actually went to sleep for his evening nap at 6:30, the kids sat good and ate a remarkable amount of supper, and I was able to get the dishes done and left overs put away in record time, the only thing that wasn't in our favour, Jared was still out working on a service call (he actually didn't get home until 10 that night!)  I decided since the weather was quite mild, and the kids were behaving exceptionally well we would go out and plant the flowers I picked up!  I found Emry her own shovel and told her what to do, she went at it like a real pro!  She did an entire pot all by herself, and it looks beautiful!

Calum too had a blast, much to my dismay!  At one point in the evening he took off his gum boots and trudged all around the farm, oh he also had no socks on!  When we were all finished planting Emry put the leash on Gibson and started walking him around (he does so good with Emry, she leash trained Martin when she was 4!), Calum decided this looked like fun so he wanted to try.  There of course was a fight over who was going to walk Gibson and by this time I had had enough of the bickering so I raised my voice quite loudly at Emry and told her I was really angry!  Jared may tell you a different story...Just before all this bickering started Emry had called Jared to see where he was, she forgot to hang up the phone after their conversation, he listened for about 10 minutes!  All I can say is I am thankful we live on a farm, where no one can hear our banter!

The bottom of Calum's feet were absolutely black!  Guess where he went as soon as we got in the house...Yup!  The shower!

Emry took the pictures of Calum and Gibson, she is also quite the little photographer!  All in all it was a really fun evening, it would have been even more perfect if Jared could have been there with us too!  I love my children so much and I am so thankful for their active spirits, they have fun together and always make me smile!

Worn Out Boy

Tuesday I took the boys to Lethbridge to run some errands for Jared!  Before we reached our last stop I looked in my rear-view mirror to check on Calum, he was being a little too quiet, and this is what I saw!

I was sure he was sleeping, especially since his book was backwards, but not entirely convinced!  And after I accelerated when the light turned green I again looked in my rear-view mirror, and this time I knew for sure!

Unfortunately he fell asleep at 4 in the afternoon, so we were up with him until 11 :(

Track and Field

And so it begins!  Emry's very first track and field day!  She did so well and was such a good sport!  The majority of her ribbons were second place, she actually placed second in her first five events!  She thought it was so cool that she had all blue ribbons, she didn't care that she didn't win first!  It was so much fun watching her, she loves anything to do with gym so today was a perfect day at school for her.  She cheered for all the girls in her group, and it didn't matter what they placed she was so happy for them!

Watching these girls cross the finish line was so cute, every single one of them would stop as soon as their foot touched the white line!

Emry place second for the 50, 100, and 200 metre races, she ran the 200 metre in 52.28 seconds!  She also placed second in High Jump and Ball Throw.  She placed first in Long Jump, for jumping 1.75 meters, and she also placed first in the Relay Race.

One event she did that I didn't remember from when I went to school was the Obstacle Race!  She had fun doing it and the Junior High kids helping out had a lot of fun putting it together.

Emry placed fourth doing the Obstacle Course

Despite the weather it was a great day, and I was so impressed with Calum and Armin, they both behaved themselves better than I thought they would, I think they must have realized it was Emry's day to shine!

A Boy After My Own Heart

At six months old I started Armin on solid food!  We started with the standard cereal, which he loves and was more than ready for!  Just over a week later we tried avocado, he absolutely devours this!  I love avocados too, so he truly is a boy after my own heart!

When we had Emry and we lived in Carmangay we only had access to three channels on the t.v., and at night when I would nurse her I would watch the infomercials.  I would come to bed after feeding Emry, in the very early hours of the morning and tell Jared about what I saw on t.v. and plead my case about how badly we needed it!  I am an absolute sucker for infomercials, I would always joke to Jared that if I had my credit card and the phone right beside me while I was watching we would be poor!  Well, since we have moved to the farm we have had the priviledge of having three hundred channels!  I find I only watch the home and garden channel while I am nursing, and instead of having a half hour long commercial selling something, there is now only a ninety second long commercial, still enough time to sell the product to me!!  From the time Armin was born I would sit and nurse him watching HGTV, and every night a commercial for the Baby Bullet would come on, and every time it did I wanted it that much more!  I finally gave in to commercial buying, and I love it!  So far I have only used it for the avocado, but I think it will be put to great use, and when Armin no longer needs it I am going to try to blend other stuff with it since it also came with a big blender!

After he was all finished eating I left him in his chair while Myrna and I cleaned up after supper.  To keep him entertained I gave him Calum's little airplane to play with.  At one point when Myrna and I looked over he was waving his little hand around like he was flying the plane, he was also making sounds like an airplane!  It was just coincidence but it was so cute!

The Innocence of a Child

Last week a group of ladies from church went over to the Claresholm Longterm Care Centre to visit a dear friend from our ward for her 93rd birthday!  Sister Emma Smith is temporarily staying in Claresholm until there is a bed available for her in Vulcan.  The group of ladies consisted of our Relief Society Presidency, Emma's good friends, Lola and Marguerite, and Kay and Donna, and since we left before Jared got home from work, Calum, Emry and Armin also came along!  I was so proud of our kids, they behaved themselves so well, we stayed and visited for a good 2 hours, we did bring cake and ice cream so I think that helped to keep them entertained!

While we were visiting Emry and Calum were playing with an unused wheelchair, pushing it up and down the short hallway, laughing and having fun!  Sometimes Calum would wander off and play with some of the resident lifts that are stored along the walls, but he wasn't hurting anything or bothering anyone so we let him.  I think the laughing from the kids started to annoy one lady there!  I felt so bad for her and I wasn't really sure how to react to her behaviour.  At one point in the evening she wheeled herself over to our little group and started to swear and yell at us wondering why these kids were still up, why they weren't in bed.  Brenda, being a nurse, told her that it was still early and promised we would get the kids to bed on time.  This didn't appease this lady, Emry was scared of her and honestly so was I, she reminded me of the woman in The Princess Bride, when Buttercup is having the dream before she marries Prince Humperdink!!

Anyway, after more rants by this woman, she even told Emry to stop drinking her water and to stop laughing, the staff finally came and pushed her back into her room.  Emma was telling us that she does this all day long, she is so out of sorts.  It is so sad to see because I am sure when her mind was still healthy she was probably a very nice lady, and probably never swore or cursed to the extent she did to us that evening.

After about half an hour she made her way out of her room again and started wheeling herself over to where Calum was playing with the lifts against the wall.  I was a little worried because she had him cornered, and with her behaviour earlier I was sure Calum was in for an earful and I wasn't too sure how he would react to that.  At home he usually fights us back if he doesn't like what is being said!  This lady, her name is Ruthie, went up to Calum and told him it was time for him to go to bed, he looked at her and very gruffly asked her, "What?"  Well I was sure this was the end of Calum, the tone of voice he used was probably a huge no-no with her generation, I am used to him talking this way because it is his most common answer whenever anyone talks to him.  Well, she surprised me, she put her hands up to the side of her head to show him that she was sleeping, she didn't think he understood her when she said it was time for bed!  

What I witnessed from that point on was truly amazing.  The way Calum and Ruthie communicated to each other was so innocent, like two children talking to each other.  Calum came out from playing with the lifts and started to look more closely at this woman, he noticed her eyes were a little puffy, and pointed at them and asked her, "Your eyes hurt?", he continued to do this with her fingers and her knees.  She would answer him but I couldn't quite make out what she was saying, but it was a lot more subdued than the way she was talking before.  He accidently steped on her foot and I thought for sure she was going to go balistic, but she didn't, Calum bent down to rub her foot and said sorry, she patted his shoulder and told him it was okay.  It was the quietest 20 minutes of the evening for Calum and Ruthie, the interaction between them truly was a unique expereience to witness.  Calum has a heart of gold and to reach out to an elderly woman, not even knowing her is truly remarkable for a two year old.  Most kids would be scared, especially with the way she was acting earlier in the evening.  I am thankful my children have the opportunity to meet people in every stage of life, I find it gives them empathy towards others and helps them understand the trials others face.  I have heard many times how some elderly people can revert back to a childlike state, and I truly witnessed it that evening when Ruthie completely changed when she started to interact with Calum, they truly were on the same wave length, and even though it was heartbreaking to see her in that state it was also rewarding to see what the innocence of a child could bring out in another!

Too Young to Be Rolling Over :(

As soon as we put him on his back he instantly rolls onto his tummy!

For some reason I have felt like the time goes by faster and faster with each child we have had!  It seemed like Calum turned two before we knew it, and now it seems like Armin is growing faster than we can blink an eye!  Armin has been trying to roll over for at least 4 weeks, and has finally gotten it over a week ago.  So trying to roll would put him at just under 4 months to now actually doing it, he is just over 5 months! 

It's hard to capture him rolling in a picture, but he is just too cute to not put these pictures on!

 Knowing this is our last baby I find time going way too quickly.  The kids and I were watching t.v. the other night and a Pampers commercial came on and of course all the babies on it were newborns, and absentmindedly I said I want one of those, Emry quickly answered with I already have one!  I told her Armin really isn't a baby anymore, she just gave me one of her looks!  I absolutely love the infant stage and it seems like all kids come out of way too fast.  I am thankful for the children I do have, and for the amazing personalities they have each developed, and I will try my best to keep them little for as long as I can!  Although, I must admit that I do also enjoy watching them grow up and witnessing the wonder in their eyes when they learn something new it truly is a rewarding experience as a parent.

It's Great to Be A Mom

I am thankful to be a mom, and even more thankful to have a mom!  This past friday I was able to spend the day with my mom making cupcakes, laughing and having fun!

Every year her and a group of ladies organize a weekend conference for youth in Alberta.  The conference takes place at the beginning of November but the ladies also organize a big fundraiser in the spring.  This year their committee tried their first annual Flower Extravaganza!  Each lady had a table they were to decorate and provide dessert for.  My mom wanted to serve cupcakes and she asked me to help her make some!  I showed her how to make the chocolate raspberry filled ones, and together we made a couple of different kinds of icing.  I always thought that buttercream icing was what icing made with butter and icing sugar was called.  It is actually icing made with egg whites, sugar and butter, no icing sugar.  It took quite a bit longer to make than standard icing but it was really good.  We made a strawberry buttercream as well as a caramel buttercream. We made our own version of the caramel buttercream to go along with the newly invented brown sugar pound cake my mom made!  She found that the the cupcakes were a little heavy so we cut them in half and filled them with a vanilla cream pudding, put them back together and iced them with the caramel buttercream that we added cream cheese to.

They all turned out to be really delicious, and I teased my mom that we should compete on the Cupcake Wars t.v. show!  My sister laughed when she heard that there was an actual show on t.v. called Cupcake Wars!

This is what Armin did while we made cupcakes, I don't think we even saw the other kids, they played outside the entire time we were there!

Mom bought this bed for her dog, but he refuses to sleep on it.  Armin on the other hand absolutely loves it!  It really makes him smell like cedar, I won't complain!

To add to the fun I went to the Flower Extravaganza on Saturday night to again spend time with my mom.  It was a lot of fun, all the tables looked so beautiful.  My mom decorated hers with her favourite flowers, pansies, I think her table truly stood out from rest as being the most beautiful!

We were given a demonstration on how to properly plant flower pots using the right variety of flowers and how to care for them throughout the season, we were also shown how to make corsages, and then they had an auction to help raise money for the Youth Explosion.  It was so much fun spending time with my mom.  I am so thankful for her in my life and for the wonderful example she is to me.  She is a strong woman with a big heart, she is very accepting of others and I have honestly never heard her say an unkind word about anyone, or make an unfair judgement about someone!  I am also so thankful for how close she is, and how often our kids get to see her!  I had another great day with my mom yesterday as well, she came with me to Lethbridge to get a few things and then we took Calum and Armin to see my Grandma and Grandpa Scheibner (my mom's mom and dad), we hadn't seen them since just before Christmas.  On Sunday we were able to spend Mother's day with another fabulous mom!  All of Jared's family came home to the farm, we had great food, Chicken Cordon Blue (thanks to mom Puzey!) and good laughs!  Family truly is a wonderful blessing in our lives and I wouldn't change any of them for anything!

I was also really spoiled on Mother's Day!  Emry brought home an adorable package she had decorated on Thursday, but made sure I didn't open it until everyone was at the farm on Sunday!

She painted a plate and put her hand print on it.

She also made me a card with a little poem inside.  The poem said, "For all the diapers that you changed, for all the play dates you arranged.  For all the trips back and forth to school, for cleaning up all the spit up and drool.  Why is there only one Mother's Day?  You could have at least gotten the ENTIRE month of May.  Happy Mother's Day Mom!"

I am so thankful for the beautiful children I have, and though at times they drive me absolutely crazy I know they love me just as much as I love them!  I am sure I drive them just as crazy at times too!