Back to School

Well I have to say the first day back was a success!!! I attended the kick off assembly and it was nice meeting the additions to the staff!! Calum even looked happy to be there! ;) though at bedtime he did say he didn't want to go back in the morning, I think reality was hitting him!!!!  Emry isn't in the same class as her best friend or with either of her cousins but she really likes her teacher!!! Yay!!!!! But they are on a new bus route which does include ALL their cousins, I'm happy about that...cousins make the best of friends!!!!

Armin was super pumped to go to Kindergarten, though his face in the picture showed otherwise!!! It was only half a day, a practice day! When I picked him up he told me he hates kindergarten because it was so short!! Next week he will get the full day and we will see if he says he still hates it ;)

It's hard to believe Emry is in Grade 6!! She is growing into such a beautiful, caring young lady!! Calum is in Grade 2, I'm excited to see how he grows this year!!! He is already such a big, rough and tumble kid, I can't imagine what the year will bring!!!  And our baby is in Kindergarten...wow!!! What am I going to do with my new found freedom? Get caught up on house work and do some crafts I've been putting off because of curious little hands!!! 

The night before school started we had a yummy dinner and a fun back to school family home evening lesson!! We talked about putting on the whole armour of God and what each piece of the armour represents! They seemed to get the idea and came up with things that might make their armour come off...lying, hitting, being disrespectful...we had an object lesson with an orange and a bowl of water. With the peel on the Orange it floats in the water, as we took some of the peel off (the armour) it would start to sink. As we take our armour of God off (truth, righteousness, spirituality, faith) we too start to sink. We talked about how we want them to try as hard as they can to always wear all of the armour of God and do the best they can and be the best examples of our Saviour that they can! A great way to start off a new school year!!!  Jared gave each of the kids a father's blessing and then it was time for baths and bed!!!!  They were all too excited to sleep, but eventually sleep won and our house was quiet!

Trail Ride With Grandpa

Gilbert, Emry and Lily went on another trail ride with Grandpa Glen this summer! I'd like to say it was the second annual trail ride but it may in fact have been the last!!  

The day started out early with the kids riding with Buck and Arren to Calgary where they met up with Grandpa.  From Calgary they headed out to Bragg Creek where they were paired up with the best trail horses around...or so they thought!!!!

It was a gorgeous, hot August afternoon, perfect for a ride through the trees!! The horses were matched to the kids size and ability and off they went!! The horses this year seemed a little flighty compared to the horses last year!  While on the trail Emry's horse got spooked by a deer and took off with her on top! This made for a very unstable ride causing Emry to fall to the ground.  Lilly's horse was right behind Emry's which meant her horse had to step over Emry, and as the horse went over a hoof caught Emry in the head.  She was bruised up pretty good with a scrape down the the length of her arm, but other than that all was okay.  Thank goodness she was wearing a helmet!! Dad said it was the scariest thing and worst feeling in the world watching his granddaughter be thrown from her horse and trampled by another.  He said it was bad enough that he doesn't want to chance anything like that happening again! 

Despite the excitement, Emry got back on her horse and rode it the rest of the way back to the stables.  It scared her enough that she no longer wants a horse of her own but hopefully not enough to not ever want to ride again.

I do like how my dad takes the kids on these adventures, it teaches them so much and creates a special bond with him!! 

Cousin Time

This past week Myrna held the first annual Puzey Family Reunion.  Every family came and either slept in her house or pitched a tent in the yard!  Our boys were beyond excited to sleep in a tent for a whole week with their dad!! And since we don't have a tent big enough to fit all five of us I graciously opted out and slept in our very comfy bed!!  Emry bunked with Grandma on the couch in her sitting room except for the last night, Jared set up her own tent!  Ashton and Bowen slept in a tent together and Liam and Jonas tented with their dad!  It was very late nights but full of many lasting memories!!

Each morning we met for breakfast, one day it was cereal and toast, another was french toast, english muffins with egg and sausage, and pancakes another.  For lunch we had homemade pizzas, sandwiches on homemade bread, and grilled cheese sandwiches...one day we packed a picnic and took it to Little Bow where we enjoyed it on the beach!  Suppers were sloppy joes, sandwiches on the boat, ribs and steak, fire roasted hot dogs, and barbequed hamburgers!!  Myrna went to a lot of work before hand to ensure we had such yummy food!!  It was so much appreciated!

The week started on Sunday where everyone met at our church and Myrna, Lalainia and Rachel sang in Sacrament Meeting, they did such a beautiful job.  We had Jason's delicious ribs and barbequed steak for dinner and visited while the kids played.  Tents were set up and everyone went to bed in anticipation of what the rest of the week would entail!

Monday morning we had Ashton's famous pancakes and after the kids all tye dyed a shirt to wear with fond memories of the week they had!  Lunch was homemade pizzas and then time to get ready to go the lake for some boating fun!

The boat was a huge hit, Armin finally rode the tube by himself and Bowen even gave it a try.  We couldn't get Calum off of it and any chance one was available he was on it!  Cora tried water skiing and got up on her first try!  She looked great out there!  Leah and Emry spent the whole time in the water talking and doing handstands!  Liam built a sand city, and the little girls loved picking up rocks and touching the sand!  Ashton, Bowen and Blake had water gun wars, while the adults visited and watched all the fun being had!  Taking three trips back to the docks to get everyone off the beach made for a late night but we saw a beautiful sunset and enjoyed the hot weather well after dark!  We also said goodbye to Jason and Jared Hague as they had to get back to work!

Tuesday all the tye dye shirts were ready to wear and they all turned out amazing!  We had lunch and got everyone ready to go into the Champion Pool where the kids swam for a couple of hours!  After, everyone was famished and we had a quick supper before heading into Vulcan to watch a movie at the CRC!!  All the kids watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, while eating popcorn and drinking pop!  After the movie was over Char stayed with the older kids to watch Man of Steel while we took the little ones home to bed!  Another late night!!

Wednesday was another day spent at the Champion Pool and painting memory boxes!! That night Emry, Ashton and Bowen watched National Treasure 2 while the little ones were put to bed.  After the movie they all went out to see the meteor shower and were rather amazed!  Another very late night, but so worth the memories!!  Rachel got her nail paraphernalia out each day to paint our nails...which was a real treat!

Thursday, the hottest day of the year at a whopping 37 degrees, we packed a picnic and headed to Little Bow where the kids played on the beach and swam!  It was soooooo hot!!  Jonas had a blast playing in the water.  Ashton and Bowen brought blow up boats and took the kids for rides to the dock!  It was quite an adventure getting to the lake!  I got a phone call from Lalainia just before I headed down the hill into Little Bow out of cell phone reception!  She told me Myrna had a flat tire and they were still in Champion.  I dropped of my van full of kids with Rachel and Char at the beach and headed back to town to pick up Myrna, Lalainia and their car full!!  They had the lunch so it was rather important that they get to the beach!!  After a very hot and exhausting day at the beach we headed home  where the kids made caterpillars and we had a wiener roast!  Cora had a game planned for all the kids and despite Calum's tears for not winning they all had a blast!  Char had a yummy smores treat for everyone, a waffle cone filled with mini marshmallows and chocolate chips of different flavours, milk chocolate, butterscotch or peanut butter! We watched a rather unique sunset, a bright red sun setting in the haze of smoke!

Friday was another day at the pool, a glow in the dark jelly fish craft and a barbeque with Jason and Jared Hague back!  Everyone packed up and headed home after a week filled with lots of fun and many memories made!  The cousins had so much fun playing together and they all seemed to play with each other at some time or another!  I look forward to next year and I love that the cousins are close and hopefully always will be.  I know having these yearly week long get togethers will help immensely!

Dance Off!!

Yesterday morning I went to get the boys dressed for church and as I came up to them they were having an altercation over who would be player one on the play station. I was expecting screaming and hitting to resolve their dispute and instead I see Armin put his remote on the table and yell, "DANCE OFF!" And so that is what they did...Calum put his remote down and they had a dance off...to what music I'm not sure but they danced to the same beat and after a few minutes of dancing to the music in their heads Armin declared he was the winner!!! They both picked up their remotes and were ready to play their game. I'm not sure if Armin actually was player one or not but the issue was resolved and they played on as if nothing was wrong before their dance off!!!!

Silly boys...yet very inventive! 

Weekend with Grandpa

This past weekend my dad offered to take our kids for a couple of nights!!! It couldn't have come at a better time, I so needed a break!!! I was able to get our entire house clean before they left and enjoyed it for three full days!!!!  The kids had a great time with Grandpa, they went to a Petapolooza, rode the C-Train and the city bus. 

They rode the elevator to the top of the Calgary Tower and walked out over the glass platform to look down at the street below, and they went to see the movie Pixels!! A fun filled weekend!!! 

Walking up to the tower Calum had great big tears running down his face, he was so scared to go up the tower!! After a little coaxing and some time to get used to the idea of how high the tower was Calum warmed up and even stood on the glass platform.

 Dads friend had also gone with them with her two grandkids which was a huge hit!! Calum instantly connected with her oldest grandson who happened to be just a little older than Calum, and Emry loved her two year old grandson. Emry also really liked Deb and told her she'd like to have her as a grandma!!!!  Armin loved sitting on the glass platform and looking at all the "ants" below!!!!

The weekend was lots of fun and the stories continued right up until their eyes shut for the night!!! 

Jared and I were able to get quite a bit of work done at home while the kids were away!! We hauled bales home off one piece so we could move the cows there to graze. I mowed our yard while Jared cut the barley to bale later this week.  We went golfing in gale force winds at Keho and then enjoyed a yummy dinner at Earls!!! Sunday was quiet and I so enjoyed our church meetings without having to constantly break up little fights!! Our dinner after was yummy, we barbecued pork chops...so juicy and tender!!!! It was really quiet without the kids, almost too quiet!!! But a welcoming quiet, I desperately needed that to recharge!!! Thanks so much dad!!!!