LINK

here's the facebook link to all the photos. They're pretty cute, check em out.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=576567&id=772160580&l=2c04c9defc

Family Photos

This is my favorite of all!


Ok, you all know my kids are insane! They run, never walk, and faster than anything we could hope to keep up with. They never stop, they're always moving, and jumping, and going. It's great, and we love it, and it's so much fun, but when it comes to taking pictures, especially with someone who is completely unprepared as to the crazyness of our family, it's definatly not an easy thing. Which is why it's crazy of us to even think about trying to get family photos done. However, we did. I mentioned it in a past post, but we finally now have all the photos from that day. I'm posting some of my favorites. We went with Vicki Pallan, who was really nice, however for our personal needs and crazy kids a little under experiance imo. We have a session booked in January with a different photographer, hopfully she'll be able to get more of the four of us. I look at our photos of the four of us, and I can physiclaly see us fighting those strong willed little ones. If anyone has any suggestions as to what we can try for better results next time I'm all ears. But for now, here are the best ones from this try.

Happy Birthday Jamie!!

So tomorrow, December 1, is my wonderful husbands 24th birthday. He made me promise that I wouldn't post on Facebook, and also that I wouldn't do anything on his birthday like a blog post. BUUTTT he failed to include the days before or after his birthday :)

I just want to take this time, really, to celebrate him. He is an amazing young man. He works hard, he plays hard, he's just all in and 100% amazing. He is sweet, and caring, and so funny!! James always makes me laugh, and smile. He can cook, he can dance, he can run and jump and play with our toddlers and have more fun than they do. He's a good friend, my best friend. He lets me talk as much as I want, sometimes, and takes me for drives when I beg just to get out of the house. He lets me pick the movie on date nights, and encourages that I get desert. Not to mention he can make the best ones ever. I dont even know how I'm going to surprise him with a treat tomorrow as his would be 100% better than anything I can come up with.

I love this man. He is amazing and wonderful. Thankyou Jamie for spending the past 5 years with me, and giving me your forever.

A great Idea!

For a sweet holiday idea, check out magicsanta.ca. You can make a very personalized card for anyone that you love. It's a great site, and the video is fantastically done, and very magical and christamsy. Our kids loved it! Thanks James for the idea :)

I did it!!!

Yesterday, November 24, 2010 at 12:30 pm, I did it!! I finsihed my 50 000 words for Nanowrimo. I honestly can't believe that I actually did it. I never finish these sorts of things, and so this time it feels almost sureal. Things get in the way, time runs out, life moves on. But not this time. I wrote the minimum of 1667 or more everyday, averaging about 2000+ words/day, and I did it. Early even!!! I am so excited. The novel itself is not finished yet, by far. I still have more writting to do, and then of course revision, and then more revision, and then editing, and then another revision, before I might even consider it being "finished". But I feel great about this, one huge giant step in the right direction.




I was asked by someone if I would recommend Nanowrimo to anyone trying to acomplish a similar task. And I would have to say, absolutely. Free yourselvs!! Give way to a month of literary writting abandon, feel free to suck!! Forget PERFECT and just write. There were 100s of times where I would say I don't really like this part, or it's not flowing here like I want. But instead of going back and trying to fix it, to make it PERFECT, like I always do, I just plugged on ahead. That's the idea, forget the mistakes, forget the junk writting, just get the word count done. All of that will still be there in the end. I promise :) And also, forget the nasty pile of dirty dishes, and the toys on the floor, and the crumbs that everywhere, and the laundry that needs folding. It's just one month. If you can't honestly give those things up, then be prepared to be staying up late. There are days where the minimum word count is hard to get. Where it feels like pulling teeth every single word that you type. And sitting here, thinking about everything else, is not going to help. Doing everything else certainly won't. Nanowrimo is about a month of forgetting everything and writting. Of course, I have kids, so I can't forget EVERTHYING!! But we bought some Grilled Cheezes from M&M meats, 1 minute grilled cheese in the microwave, you know, things like that. There are ways to make life easy with little planning and little effort. But now that I'm done I really have no excuse to leave those grose dishes and not sweep the floor. But then again I just wrote 50 000 words. So I'm feeling pretty darn great about that :)

November!

November photos are up :)

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15819313&l=b431ef6117&id=772160580

Snow Day!!

Winter has come early!!! By about 2 months. It's Nov 20 and we have snow!! And I really mean snow. Not those fake fluffy rain flurries that fall but never stick. We have actual, real, crunchable, throwable, play-in-able snow. So I packed up the kids, layers and all, and treked out to the park. We even took our our tobogan, which proved to not be so great on the small little hill we had at our disposal. But we had fun. I pulled the kids on it through the snow. David made lots of snow angels. The snow wasn't great for packing, so we couldn't make a snowman, but we made a snow mountain. And then the kids squashed it. Highlight of the day! lol These are great kids :) We had so much fun. And now, I'm tuckered right out. They're still good to go, but then they didn't have to push a buggy, two kids, all their gear, and a tobogan to and from the park.



>

The Road Less Travelled

I love to walk! I am so very fortunate to live in a beautiful part of town. Out here it is quiet, and pretty, and there are so many different places to walk. I'm also very lucky to have an amazing stroller. More on that another time I hope, but this buggy is seriously amazing.

One of our favorite loops is a 1-2 mile hike around the highfield farms out here on the peninsula. The view is amazing. The road is beautiful. And the walk is all up hill, which is great for my glutes! This is one of my favorite routes to do. Thanks to Corrina who discovered it. She knows all the best ways to go walking. I love when we go together, she always takes us on a new route.

Our walk



Walking alone, through the paths we choose, I always think of the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. I realise that the poem is a metaphorical referance to life and choices and concequences instead of simply just walking along a path, but I still think of it, every time.

Our view



Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

1. The Road Not Taken


TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20

My Beautiful Happy Family

On Friday we had family photos done. Or we tried to anyway. Our kids are so busy, that going anywhere and getting them to stop is a huge challange. We found a really wonderful lady to do our photos, Vicki Pallan http://vickipallan.wordpress.com/ . Here's the sneak peak, I think she did a great job! We had a fun time. We headed out to Royal Roads, where there's lots of scenery and nature and beautiful architecture. We payed extra to head into their italian gardens, which gives access to something like 42 acres of gardens as well. It was beautiful, we had a great time. My hair started firzzing out by the end, but oh well. Thanks Vicki, and thanks James for aranging the day off, and Thanks Mom for working on your birthday so we could go.

Half Way There...

It is November. For those of you who have not yet caught up on my updates, I am doing NANOWRIMO. You can check them out at nanowrimo.org. National Novel Writting Month, 50 000 words over the 30 days of November. I have been told that I am crazy, brave, but mostly I've heard wow what the heck are you thinking! 50 000 words, I cant even do 1000. Really it's not just 50 000, it's the small steps, the gradual increase of words. Approx 1667 words / day will get you 50 000 in 30 days. 1600 is not so much of a big deal. Grantid with two kids it can take me all day sometimes, but so far it's been pay off. I am 28 000 words and 57 pages into my novel. I am in the middle, and I am stuck. I have my beginning, I know my ending, and I know what I want in the middle, but now that I'm here I'm stuck. I dont know how I'm going to go from what I want into making it into my reality. Again, A+ in procrastination. I am on here afterall :)

Remembrance Day

**You'll have to stop the music to hear the video.

Every year since Jeff has been in the army, we've gone down to watch him march on Remembrance day. We also stand in the exact same spot. (Well accept for last year, when he was in Afghanistan). I feel greatful to be able to go and watch as they parade through the streets of downtown. Jeff is in the Scotish Regiment, which is like a parade unto itself. They have their own band, a dog! And this year, most if not all of the people in the regiment are Afghanistan veterans. Thank you to those brave souls.


Remembrance day through the years :
2006


2007



2008

The Veterans from WW1 and WW2 : Thankyou thankyou thankyou thankyou


2009 : Jeff in Afghanistan


2010

The medels you see them wearing here show that they've served in Afghanistan. Our modern day veterans.

Lest we Forget....

The eleventh month, on the eleventh day, at the eleventh hour

I have few words that can sum the whole of my graditude to the brave souls who have, and who are fighting for me, for my life, for my freedom. To you, I say Thankyou. Although, it is not enough. There are not enough words in all the languages, spoken by all the peoples of this world. You are heroes, you are the people of legends. Your stories will spread from horizon to horizon, praised throughout the heavens. To me, you are amazing.

President Hinckley said: “Even when the armaments of war ring out in deathly serenade and darkness and hatred reign in the hearts of some, there stands immovable, reassuring, comforting, and with great outreaching love the quiet figure of the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world. We can proclaim with Paul: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come…Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).”



We can remember that “this life is but a chapter in the eternal plan of our Father. It is full of conflict and seeming incongruities. Some die young. Some live to old age. We cannot explain it. But we accept it with the certain knowledge that through the atoning sacrifice of our Lord we shall all go on living and this with the comforting assurance of His immeasurable love.”




He has said, “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me” (D&C 19:23).



"I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?" - Eve Merriam

Soooo...

Remember to turn up your volume! :-)

Alright, so I realise that it's been a while since I've been on here. I had all these big plans of sitting down and blogging every day. I even made a list of ideas to blog about, I'm totally not even kidding.
Blog Ideas:

SUV of strollers
The Simple Things
Hair Bows
A Day in the Life
Hannah and her Shoes
Reading

And it went on just about like that. But unfortunatly I've been feeling a little swamped the past several months. David has started preschool, which is huge! It's only 2 days a week, but it litterally takes ALL day. We have to get up, scramble around all morning making lunch finding "school shoes" making sure his rain pants are not muddy. Then I have to wrestle him to the floor as I brush his teeth, like every other day I might add, not once but twice. Yes twice. I realise this is rediculous, but I feel that if I were going to school, I would want to have nice fresh minty breath. So it's twice. Then we have a fight about what he's going to wear. Yes, David actually cares! Really this revolves around him insisting on only wearing shirts with animals, dogs, or robots, but still, he cares. And then, I have to get Hannah ready. And that, although far more simple that with David, is still a challange. Rising up to her consistantly growing princess needs is becoming more and more, well honestly, fun. I can't help it, she's completely and totally my dolly. She also has a love for shoes. Shoe happend to be her first word, and now, she picks her own. I've got her down to 4 pairs of shoes, rain boots which are pink and purple with butterflys, church shoes, running shoes, and everything else shoes. I personally am a huge fan of Pediped, just to throw that out there. Both my kids wear Pediped, accept for the rain boots. Those we bought from Scallywags on 60% off, woot go me!

Also! I am doing Nano Wrimo, National Novel Writting Month. You can check them out and nanowrimo.org. It is 50 000 words written in 30 days. I am doing well so far, but it's an every day experiance at the moment. And as you can see, I am blogging instead of activly writting. I get an A+ in procrastination.

So those are the 2 BIG things on my list. Written out they feel small, but really they're huge. Writting upwards of 1600 words/day plus preschool, and park dates, and trying to diet and lose weight and be active (which is going well btw but slow *groan*), and try to fit in time to watch Grays Anatomy and make Hannahs bows, and pretend I know what I'm doing with photoshop is kinda alot. I keep thinking I should take up baking, but then I think, mmm I'll just drive to Demitasse :)

Posting a link to the most recent facebook photos, take a look. PS I love comments!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=555722&id=772160580&l=0a608c8975

Blog Changes

Yes I changed my blog around, just a little bit. I know that to many of you this might seem silly, or slightly unncessary. But I have my reasons.

#1. Safety. I'm a stickler for safety. Before I had children, I was never afraid of anything. I could jump off a diving board (just the 1meter but still!), ride in a car without a seatbelt, speed, eat burning hot food, even jay walk! Yes I used to be a jay walker, that's one more thing you now know about me. However, ever since I took on the worlds greatest job of being a mom, I've been seeing danger in everything! I just can't help it. I look at a stair well and I see my children plummeting to their deaths. I see a pool and I imagine them drowning. Speeding cars, crashes, even open windows! Yes I may seem a little extreme, dramatic, over imaginiative, or what-have-you, but I'm stuck on the old saying "better safe than sorry". We have the safest car seats on the market, the safest car, the safest sippy cups, the safest flame retardant pajamas. You name it, we have it. Kids running with scissors, that doesn't happen at our house. Even the talk of something sharp sends me the image of vast quantities of blood squirting everywhere.

#2. Change. I needed a change. I love change. Well, let's be fair, some change. Big change I don't mind, moving, renovations, big hair cuts. But my kids, they're a little less flexible. For small children, safety comes in the framiliar. So in our family, big changes, like new babies, have found us with vastly regressing toddlers. Baby talk, re-diapering, not sleeping, weight loss and often illness. So when our family deals with a big change, I get the short end of the stick and have to pick up the pieces in the every day. So no, big change with kids, not fun. But this, my blog, something just for me, I can change.

#3. I wanted to do something more. I started this blog so that I could start writting again. Well I didn't really get the results that I was hoping for. I live a great life, and I have a great network of famiy and friends, and good people all around me. I want to write more! More about me, my life, the things that I love the most (I'll give you a guess as to who and what they are), and my experiances in the day to day with them. So I've decided to step it up a notch, take a new spin on things and actually start writting in my blog. I know, craaaaazy!! But I'm excited. So here's to a fresh start, at least within the boundaries of my blog. Who knows, exciting things might happen :)

Baby it's HOT Outside!! :)

I LOVE summer! With two crazy little toddlers, sunshine and fresh air are the only two things that make life bearable. We've been heading to the beach, the park, the backyard. You name it, we've been there! We pack a picnick lunch, play all afternoon, and have dinner as we head home. The best part, by the time we're at the door, both of these babes are asleep. HEAVEN! :)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=443301&id=772160580&l=89c3adfe4c

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=443280&id=772160580&l=8373e5214a

Some of the best gifts come in teeny tiny packages...

Tuesday James and I went to the new Langley Temple. It was the first time for both of us heading over there, and we didn't know quite what to expect. Both of us have only ever been inside the Seattle Temple, and we knew that it would be very different, but we still didn't have a good idea of what it would be like.

The temple itself is very small. The plot that it's on is also very small, so the gardens aren't very big and there isn't much sight seeing to be done there, unlike the much larger temple in Seattle, Bellview, I think? Anyhoo...

We had gotten there rather early, hoping that there would be a nice place to sit outside, think, walk around. There really wasn't much to see, or do, or walk on. We toured the grounds for about 10 minutes and that completed the entirety, and at this point we were feeling a little let down in all honesty. The temple was just a baby little temple, and the grounds being newly planted were nothing to write home about (yet).

Once we were inside, our opinion immediatly changed. It is one of the most beautiful buildings that I have ever seen. The teeny tinyness is completely outweighed by the amount of detail that went into it's design. From the floors, to the ceilings, to the walls, even the door handles are designed with stunning details.

I can only say, that I am very much so looking forward to going back to OUR temple, our beatiful, amazing, little temple. And that I am so very blessed to now have one that is so close we were able to take a day trip and be home for bed time.

Fathers Day

Ok so slightly out of order, but I wanted to say something anyway.

I love fathers day. Growing up, I never had the chance to celebrate this special day with only a mom. Now that I have my own family, and a husband who is a wonderful father to my little babies, I am so very thrilled to celebrate this very special day.

Fathers are such a wonderful and amazing gift, that sometimes we take for grantid. They are loving, hard workers, who put themselvs at the bottom of the list, always. The dad in our family is very much loved and awed by our kiddies, and on this day especially, treasured.

Thankyou James for all that you do. We love you!

Check out the rest of the photos here :

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=441232&id=772160580&l=28292d67b4