Capital Sawatzky's

Nadia's 6th Birthday Party

2011-03-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

In February we celebrated Nadia's 6th Birthday. She had a few friends over and we had a Littlest Pet Shop party. We played "fill your kitty's water dish" game.

...and they pretended they were frogs and played musical lily pads. They didn't really get the objective of the game and all ended up on the 1 remaining lily pad! So funny.
We also played "rabbit, rabbit, cat"! And they didn't really understand that one either, but everyone was laughing so hard.
The girls decorated cupcakes. I drew out 3 animals they could create out of the decorations. Nadia decided to make a mouse cupcake.
And this year I finally remembered to use the special plates and I even found candles that go into a cupcake. This was a very fun party and the girls had a blast too.
We gave Nadia a little guitar for her birthday, and Daddy has been teaching her to play. She's doing really well. Although the concept of practicing to get good is a little hard. But I'm glad she's trying.

PS. I guess I'm not very consistent with updates. Sorry! Weeks fly by so fast these days.

FINALLY!

2011-01-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

No we are not with the Lord, and we are not on some kind of extended holiday, although I wish. We really just got busy and forgot we even had a blog. But I've been inspired by the crafty hand of Liz Sawatzky to carry on. Or in this case, start up again. So for our first post back from a very long break I'd like to share our most recent family photos.

We spent Christmas with Tim's family and it was such an awesome time. While we were there the amazing Juanita graciously offered to take new family photos. And they turned out really well, especially since we had 4 dogs with us. Unfortunately the photos with all of us and the 3 dogs didn't turn out as well as with out the dogs. But I'm very happy with the photos!

So I think I'll keep up with posting now. It will be random, but that's all I've got people....

Welcome Tucker

2010-09-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, where did August go? For us it just flew by. And then the time came to finally bring home the new addition to our family. The last post was all about our crazy decision to add to our family. We finally decided on a Miniature Schnauzer and picked out a very cute male from a local breeder. This last week he turned 8 weeks old and it was time to pick him up and bring him home. By the way, we named him Tucker if you hadn't heard.

I (Tim) went to pick him up Thursday evening by myself. We thought the chaos of the family might be a little much for the new pup. When I got there, the breeder had totally forgot I was coming but even though it took a little longer, I was able to pick him up and take him home.
For weeks we had been excited about the puppy, and at the same time, dreading the first night. Would he whine all night? How would he adjust? Well I had a good feeling right from the car ride that we got a good dog when he calmly went into his crate and lay down and slept all the way home. Then bed time came and we put him in his crate right by our bed. He started to whine a bit so I channeled my inner Cesar Milan, gave by best "tssst" and used my energy to calm him down. I'm not really sure what that means yet either, but it sure worked. He stopped whining right away, slowly sat down, then lay down, and then fell asleep, in about 30 seconds. Then he basically slept all night long, with one successful potty break.

Tucker has been a wonderful dog so far, two days in and we have yet to hear him bark. We went on a walk today, and he did great, even past the neighbors with two Husky's barking at him. The kids love him, even if Colin is still a little freaked out that Tucker will bite him. We praise God for such a good dog, I know it's early, but he has the temperament that we were really hoping for, and when we picked him out he was only 2 1/2 weeks old.
Potty training is going well too. Only a few accidents and Tucker is slowly learning what to do when we get out there. Most of the training that needs to happen now is with the humans in the house. I think we are slower learners, and Anna keeps freaking out that she is not the pack leader yet (thanks Cesar). I'm sure there will be more in the next few posts. Keep checking in, maybe we will do another post before October. Maybe.

We're expecting!!!

2010-07-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

We've been thinking about a puppy for a while now. And quite honestly, I Annalisa, has never really liked dogs until a few months ago. When I'm convinced that God changed my heart, because even after reading about how to properly train a dog, I still really want one!! It has to be a God thing.

After researching about what type of dog and energy levels, we've decided on a miniature Schnauzer! Yesterday we went to look at a breeder about an hour out of Edmonton. I was just going to look, but Tim fell in love and we put a deposit on this adorable little guy! He's only about 2 1/2 weeks when we chose him. And he'll be ready for us to bring him home about the end of August!!!

Here are some adult schnauzer pictures. These are adults that came from the same breeder.

(our puppy's tail is docked, I think this one has puppy tail mullet...)

Holiday's of 2010

2010-07-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

Well holidays are just wrapping up and they were amazing. Our family decided to go for a site seeing holiday in the beautiful town of Canmore, AB. Here is a brief commentary of the holiday, with pictures, because if you are like me, I just look at the pictures anyway.
First stop, Calaway Park. Our kids love rides, and Calaway Park, during the Stampede anyway, is very empty and they have a lot of great kid rides. There was no waiting for rides, it was a beautiful day, and Nadia loved the free fall ride the best.
Then it was off to Canmore for our first night there. The next day we wanted to check out the beautiful sights that the Rocky mountains have to offer. Takakkaw falls was our first stop, which is technically in BC if you are looking it up. It is incredible, if you've never been, you gotta go. When you add up the upper and lower part of the falls, it totals almost 1300 ft high. It really is spectacular, and at the base of it is a huge hill of rocks that you can climb up to get closer to the main falls. As soon as Nadia figured out that we could climb these rocks, I (Tim) could almost not keep up to her. What a girl, we went so high up, Mommy and Colin were little specks at the bottom.
Then we drove off to Emerald lake, which again, was beautiful. and then to the Natural Bridge.
After this, we were very tired. So we went back to the Chalet. The next day we went to Johnston Canyon. But when we got there it started raining, so we decided to drive back to Banff (where it was nice and sunny) and see Bow falls, take the Gondola and hike around, and then do some touristy shopping, you know, for fudge. Mmmmmm, fudge! Another full day.

The next day was beautiful, and although we were tired from all the sight seeing, we wanted to use this beautiful day to see Johnston Canyon. Wow, was it worth it. Johnston Canyon is a short walk to the lower falls, and a much longer one to the upper falls and ink pots, the short one was all the kids would do, but even that is amazing. What a beautiful place God has created.
After this, we went to hang out at lake Minnewanka. We had never been there and the kids didn't want to go because there was no playground. Then they found out we could throw rocks into the lake, and they loved it. Nadia got a little to brave and stepped into the water with her shoes on, and since her shoes were wet, she decided to go in a little deeper. With her pants now wet, we took her shoes and socks off and rolled up her pants. Then she waded out into the lake and then stepped on a rock and fell over. She was soaked, and yet she still wanted to be out there. Boy does she love the water. Even freezing cold glacier fed lake water.
The next day we were tired, so we took a relaxing drive up through the Kananaskis country. There is a gravel road out the back side of Canmore that cuts through the Kananaskis. It is a beautiful drive, we saw sheep and lakes and streams and mountains, and Anna made me stop to take pictures of flowers. Finally we stopped for a picnic lunch at the Lower Kananaskis Lake. It was amazing to just hang out with no-one else around, throw rocks, find shells. We even saw a couple of bears splashing in the water across the lake. It was really cool.
The next day, we were tired and spent most of the day in the Chalet, which by the way was nice enough for the price, but was not the nicest, or cleanest place. But it suited us just fine for the week, and for us non campers, it was great.

The next day we decided to go up through the Kananaskis again, and were we glad we did. The first time we saw some mountain sheep, but this time we actually saw a Moose and her calf. we sat there for about 5 minutes watching and taking pictures (from the car of course). We were about 40-50 feet away from them, and the kids loved that.
Then we found another lake and just played at the lake for a few hours. Then we came back to Canmore and shopped and walked around the town. it was a lot of fun.

But our time in Canmore was up, so we headed for Calgary to see the zoo and have a visit with Uncle Lorne and Auntie Audrey and the family. Thanks guys for letting us stay in your beautiful home, and for being incredible hosts. Nadia loved the lake that they live on and went swimming for the first time in the lake (yes I know, she's 5, it's a little pathetic that this was her first time swimming). We also caught a fish from their lake, which Lorne reluctantly filleted for us (it was delicious by the way, thanks Lorne). And we had a wonderful time at the zoo.
Well, it's a long post I know, but that was holidays, well almost. stay tuned for a little more excitement in the next edition of, the CAPITAL SAWATZKY'S

Tim

Colin's 3rd Bithday Party

2010-06-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

During the week, Tim bought a REAL soccer ball for Colin's party. So before the party we gave it to him and they had a blast rolling it around the kitchen. It was a hit!

We played 'pin-the-tail-on-Blue". I suspected that Colin peeked because he got it right on, and now that I see the photo, it's pretty clear...silly Goose!

Colin's reaction when he put the tail on Blues back.

We played some soccer in the park out front. I was too busy cheering to remember to take a picture of Colin kicking the ball. So here's the best I got. (Imagine...me sidetracked by talking. LOL)

We were going to make cupcakes and decorate them, but (we were running out of time) and Tim wanted to take Colin out to see if they could find a cake he liked. They convinced the cake making lady to whip this up for him, while they waited.

Colin called it his "sand" cake, we just added some of his toys!

The boys about to rip into the presents. Thank you all for spoiling Colin with such fun presents. He loves them all.

Fun with metal

2010-06-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

Well as Annalisa posted a while back, I got a new toy. I mean, not a toy, a very useful and practical vehicle. But as you could probably see from the pictures, it did have a little rust on the front fenders.Sure it doesn't look bad in this picture, but it's not acceptable when I think I could do something about it. It's easy, I'll just grind down the rust to the bare metal, and fill it a bit with Bondo, and paint it. So off I went, I took off the black plastic mud guard and the rock gaurd inside the wheel well, and started grinding. Although it was fun, it didn't quite go as planned.

As you can see, there was quite a lot more rust than I had anticipated. However, this was only a problem when large chunks of rusted metal, sort of, fell off in my hands. At this point, my 5 year old daughter walked in to the garage and asked, "what are you doing dad?" then she saw my handiwork. Although this really should have been odd to her, since I have never done any type of bodywork, she calmly said to me, "Oh, dad, you know what you should do. Get a piece of metal, cut it to the right size and put it in there, and then paint it white." Then she calmly walked back to the backyard to continue playing. I thought, you know, she's right.So I went in search of someone to weld a piece of metal in for me. I couldn't quite convince my wife that this would be a good time to purchase a welder, so I needed someone else. I went to a body shop. The first guy said "these fenders are shot, it's not worth fixing them, you need two new fender." How much? "$1700. Hmmm, let's see, I paid $2750 for the truck, $1700 seems a little high. The next place would give me two painted fenders for $500. That's better, but I have to install them, oh, and I don't have $500. OK, plan B.

So I had to buy an actual grinder, and a rivet gun, some sheet metal, Bondo, and paint. After some figuring, some trial, and error, buying the wrong primer that pealed off three layers of paint. I think I got it looking pretty good. Sure, it will probably rust in a year or two, maybe then I'll buy new fenders, but for now this will have to do.

Just for Tim!

2010-05-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

This was Tim's highly reliable little car. I loved driving it. He thought it was a girl car. So he finally decided we need more room to haul and found this.

A 94 Nissan Pathfinder. The kids checked it out while Tim was putting the back seats down. Nadia declared that it's like a camper it has so much room and now we can go camping. Uhhh...ya! Or not. I personally think driving it is like pulling an invisible mountain, but Tim loves it and it's his vehicle, so there you go.

Just a few more years

2010-05-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well it seems my wife has given up posting, but I took this video with my phone a few days ago and wanted to show anyone who is left reading our blog. This is possibly a future comparison video of then and now. Or possibly wedding material. It's pretty cute anyway. Enjoy!

April

2010-04-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

April flew by! At Easter we had a baptism. Tim's second. In our new 'trough' baptismal tank.

Matchers

After clothes shopping for Mommy. I guess it's exhausting for him too.

My handsome little sidekick chef. Isn't he SO cute.

Nadia's new bike. I found a yellow girly one on Kijiji that I couldn't pass up, but it turned out to be too big for this year. So we got her a boy bike that Colin will use next year. She's become fond of her bike. She just loves to ride.

I went on a field trip with Nadia's pre-school, to Muttart gardens.

Lady bug eyes...ladybugs have 200 eyes!!!

They each got to release a ladybug...so cute.

Grandpa and Grandma are back in Canada! YAY!!! Thanks for a supper great visit!

March Visit

2010-03-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

We recently went out to visit my Grandparents and parents. My Mom made us many wonderful meals and took us shopping...twice. Colin had a meltdown the first time and we had to come home. Here's my Grandma watching Strawberry Shortcake with the kids.

The playground near Opa and Oma's was a huge hit.

Opa was very patient with Nadia while she learned to climb around the ropes.

Opa! About 20' up.

Colin is so proud of his new umbrella!

The kids where more interested in climbing on the "rocks" than looking in the aquariums.

Nadia and Colin play "fishy" at home. Colin came up with the game, and it's expanded. They wrap up in a blanket and scoot along the floor. They carry things and take naps and eat in there. It keeps them busy for hours sometimes.

Nadia was all excited about getting a ride on the Bobcat with Opa, in her new dress and everything!
Colin was none to sure about the bucket! I'll admit, we were really close, seeing there where 3 of us in there, instead of 1. But he really loved it. He still talks about Opa's digger.

Some of Opa's art

The ravine, Opa is trying to stabablize and build a little city down there. He's got the road and drainage, now he just needs a few buildings.... :)

Opa found a little motorcycle on their property and saved it for Colin, who loved it right away. He plunked himself down in the cold, damp gravel and started driving.

The toy we got for Opa! Apparently, Opa and I are too gentle. We couldn't get it off the ground, until Rueben came and showed us how...full throtle to the ceiling! Then we had some fun with it.

Happy 67th Birthday to my Dad! We love you and we're glad we got to celebrate your birthday with you.

Nadia's 5th Birthday party

2010-03-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

I allowed Nadia to invite as many little girls as she could name, forgetting that she has many little preschool friends. So the list was 12 invites. Praise God that only 7 could make it! They were very good and we did have a full agenda, but it was a little crazy with just Tim and I making it all happen. It was super fun though! We started off with decorating hats.

The final product. We just curled ribbon and taped it on.

Then the girls made their own pita shell pizzas! It was really cute to see how excited they were about making their own pizza. The girls ate, we played stick-the-princess-on the-castle and then they all got dressed up as princesses. And then we played sticker hunt in the basement.

Next was decorating cupcakes. And for the second year in a row, I forgot to put out the princess plates for the cupcakes. But I did remember the candle and the "happy birthday" song, before I let them devour the cupcakes.

Daddy made his own creation too. Nice smarties honey! Couldn't have done it without Daddy's help!!!!

The girls sat in a circle and opened all the gifts. Nadia was this excited for all of them.

Nadia wanted me to read the cards. Honestly, Colin listened the best! Notice how he's looking at me, just after I said, "Okay, let's all listen". It was a ton of effort, but it was supper fun and Nadia LOVED it. I'm so glad it went smoothly. And I can't believe our little girl is so big.

finally motivated

2010-02-11T19:26:00.000-08:00

So we're skipping ahead to February 2010! Here's what got on camera in the past month. Colin LOVES the new popcorn maker. If I would let him, he would make popcorn all by himself, all day long!
Grandma and Grandpa came to visit before their 3 month journey into the South...aka Sabbatical. Nadia and Colin soaked up every moment.

What should I say...

Colin made a huge mess, so I made him clean it up! He did a really good job. He's a strong little man. He's usually in underwear these days...he doesn't want pants.

The kids played play-doh for hours this afternoon! Awesome! They played so well together.

Nadia said she was colouring this picture for a friend...and then she gave it to me. Awww, she melts my heart.
What I usually see when I peek into Colin's room to find him.

He loves working on his Handy Manny motorbike

Day 5&6: Kitchen Reno (The final push)

2009-12-31T21:49:00.000-08:00

Here are a few before pictures we had. Gives you an idea of what it used to look like.

And...the afters. We will be getting a black stove and filling that open void with an over the range microwave. Lighting is my favourite part. It just creates the atmosphere...or finishes it off. So we had a lot of fun designing where the lighting would go last night.
The fixture needs to be raised up, but we need to find the worlds smallest Allen key to do it. So we'll be on the prowl for that tomorrow. My kitchen stuff is all back in, and it's fully functional. Now I just have to buy groceries!

There was another trip to Ikea, there was stress, the final days! ...I think it's neat that we put together this kitchen in 6 days, and God created the whole world in 6 days! It makes our effort pale in comparison. But I still think we did good. Hats off to Tim! ...again!

Day 4: Kitchen Reno

2009-12-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

Tim wanted me to put in the new "throne", which he installed yesterday. There it is! And that's the new bathroom colour, I just did the back bit before the we put the toilet back in...that's all I had time for, we haven't prepped the walls in there yet.

Today Tim and a friend worked very hard and got all the cabinets in, counter top on and sink and tap plumbed, almost. The drain needs to be connected tomorrow. So it's starting to look like something! It's not finished of course, so stay tuned.

There was a trip to Ikea, there was dust, the fourth day!

PS. I have a 'new to me' black stove that will replace the white one and we still need to find a OTR microwave....on Kijiji of course.

Day 3: Kitchen Reno

2009-12-29T14:26:00.000-08:00

We are so thankful that a friend graciously came to install our lino. Mark did most of it with Tim helping, and in the end Tim did the last bit of the landing by himself. Which is good because now he knows how to do lino.
The new lino. This photo shows the colour a little better than the next one.

By the end of the day we did a coat of primer on the kitchen walls, and 2 coats of colour. Lino in the kitchen, back entry plus stairs and bathroom.

There was sweat, there was exhaustion, the third day!

Day 2: Kitchen Reno (Sunday)

2009-12-28T21:50:00.000-08:00

After church, we started up on the renos again. Tim removed the yellow toilet, cut and lay the subfloor for the bathroom and did the second coat of mud on the kitchen.

My quasi kitchen. I am so very glad that we have an extra large hallway, which has become my kitchen.

The other half of my "kitchen" where the magic happens. :)
There was sweat, there was tiredness, the second day!

Day 1: Kitchen Reno (Boxing Day)

2009-12-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

Tim was eager to start ripping. It actually only took about 2 hours to rip it all out and then we started on the subfloor.
Yay! It already looks better without the cabinets and with new subfloor down.

And the other side. We (mostly Tim) got the drywall mudded first coat. There was blood, there was sweat, the first day!

Christmas day

2009-12-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve the kids and I made a manger craft. They had a ton of fun making it. The top one is Nadia's, and the bottom one is Colin's.

Christmas day was awesome. The kids slept until after 8am. We had a quick bit of Croissant and then Daddy read the Christmas story. Then the ripping began!

Colin was like a cartoon, paper was flying everywhere! He loved ALL his presents! Even the clothes.

Nadia as a princess.

Playing, playing. playing!

Daddy playing barbies with Nadia. They are so funny.

Christmas morning was so beautiful, with the frost and the clear blue sky.

2009 recap

2009-12-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

Well, I have never sent Christmas cards or written update letters before. When we first got married, someone said to me don't start something you don't want to keep up for the rest of your life, so I decided to forgo the Christmas card tradition. I know....I'm SUCH a rebel!

But I received a Christmas letter this year that inspired me to think about what God has done in our lives over the past year. So here goes:

One year ago Tim was working as a cabinet delivery guy and we where fervently praying that God would prepare a place for us and lead us in that direction. On Nadia's 4th birthday we came for a visit to Castledowns, here in Edmonton. We were expecting a call to ask us to come back to candidate, an extended interview over an entire weekend. Instead the call was asking us if we would like the job as Lead Pastor. We felt so strongly that this was God's plan for us, and a year later I can definitely confirm that it certainly was!

We started packing and praying even harder that God would sell our house before we left. We tried to sell it privately, and had many potential buyers come to look, but no offers. 1 week before we left SK we decided it was time to get a real estate agent. That night we got a call on the house. We passed them to our agent and kept on packing.

That load up and cleaning was the smoothest yet and as we rolled out of Birch Hills, we were exhausted and wondered how long it would be before our house sold. The next day we drove to Edmonton, and received an offer as we were en-route. Praise God for selling our house!

We stayed for 2 months in a basement suite while we looked for a house to purchase. We only secured the renal by the grace of God, 1 week before we moved. He wanted us there for that time and we loved it.

We looked for a house for about a month. One day when Tim's parents were visiting, we asked if they wanted to go house shopping with us. I arranged a few with our real estate agent. And it just so happens that one of those houses we saw was the one we put an offer on. It has just dropped in price by 25 thousand and was now in our price range. God arrange it so that we were the first to make an offer and he accepted with in an hour.

We moved in and a few days later celebrated Colin's second birthday. We had tons of fun in our backyard this summer. The previous owner even let us plant our garden before we moved in, and he took us out for lunch..."on the house" he said. Since then we've been visiting people, getting to know people, and renovating our house. It's such a pleasure to renovate a house that is sturdy and well built.

Nadia started Preschool this fall and she LOVES it. And Colin has learned to play by himself while Nadia is away. Our kids are growing and changing so much and I praise God for them. Nadia is such an artist, with crafting, music and putting on shows. Colin is our joker. He's always making jokes and being funny. I'm so thankful I can stay at home and watch them interact and grow. What a privilege.

Tim and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this summer! We can't even believe it. We have been on quiet the journey since we got married and I wouldn't change one bit.

Christmas fun

2009-12-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

At playschool, Nadia made a reindeer hat, a decoration and this....tree?!?!? She took a lot of care decorating it. I love the eye lashes on the eyes of the reindeer hat!

The Christmas tree.

Eating the Christmas tree. She was kind and shared with Colin.

Lately, the kids have been playing so nicely together. They were having a tea party with Nadia's miniature Strawberry shortcake things.

The kids are going to be sad when we lay the new lino and the screw holes are covered up!

tree fun

2009-12-10T20:18:00.000-08:00

Tim picked up a tree yesterday, and it was a little nostalgic for me. I remember as a kid my family used to go pick out a tree at a u-cut place and then leave it on the back porch for a few days or so. Ours was sitting outside for a while before we brought it in.

I was a little worried though. As the branches where coming down from their frozen wrapped up state, it looked a little grim. Especially since some of the branches fell to their death....the ones that Tim cut off, and only fell once they thawed.

Nadia loves decorating. She said it's her favourite part of Christmas. Then she corrected herself and said presents where her favourite part, but she still loves to decorate. She had a whole system down....it's fun to watch her mind work.

Colin was in awe of the lights. And really wanted to help. He couldn't quiet get them to stay on the tree so I helped him out a little. He had fun though.

I gave Daddy a sitting down job.... Putting the hangers onto the new tree decorations. He wasn't quite as grumpy as the picture makes him seem...

camera fun

phoney snow

2009-12-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

Nadia is on the phone here and I just think she looks like a teenage! She's so cute. I think she was talking to Grandpa! ....notice her much loved monkey slippers.

This past weekend we had about a foot of snow. It was crazy, it snowed for almost 2 days straight! And now we have a winters worth of snow. At least Nadia was happy. She said, "My snow is back". I think she's the only one who is excited about it. She can stay outside forever and not get cold. I'm glad someone is enjoying it.

We have no room in the back alley, so everyone shovels their snow into their back yard. The neighbours, whom we love, even shoveled some of their snow into our back yard! I thought that was weird at first.

snowman family

2009-11-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

We had a ladies event this past weekend where we made our family as snowmen! It was so fun! The kids just love themselves as snowmen. I tried to put lots of glitter on Nadia's and to make Colin's scarf look like a hockey scarf. So far Colin snowman has taken quite a few nose dives.

So what do you think of our snowman family? Pretty realistic?

anxiously awaited

2009-11-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

Well, some of you have been anxiously awaiting photos...and Tim's been bugging me, so here they are. Of course you have to see an in-progress photo. While Tim was doing the hardwood, Colin thought he should get dressed as Bob the Builder and help Daddy. He's a step ahead of Daddy with those safety goggles!

Here's a before picture of the living room. I'll add more 'after' photos later, but for now here's the idea of what the area looked like. It was all a very light coloured carpet....and white walls.

And....after. Although Nadia keeps reminding us that we still need to do baseboards. Geesh, cut us some slack!

We did slate in the entry, and Scandinavian, hand scrapped hardwood in the living room and dining room.

Before: in the dining room.

After! We took out the china cabinet and put up an "art wire". As soon as we put it up, Colin suddenly was interested in doing crafts.

Dampa Dampa visit

2009-11-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit before Halloween. It has been insanely busy since then, so sorry it took so long to post these. Sometimes I just skip ahead to the present, because it's too overwhelming otherwise. So anyway....

We went to Ikea and got Colin a puppy mask, and Nadia a birthday cake hat. Colin let Grandma wear it! :)
Nadia finally let Grandma put her hair in a french braid. Only because I told her the next day when we take them out she would have curly hair. Apparently, she wants curly hair.

Grandpa was the centre of attention. Playing with the kids....they LOVED it. Colin finally stopped calling them Opa and Oma (because they were just here too). Now he calls them Dampa Dampa every night when he thanks God for them.

Halloween

2009-11-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Nadia was a puppy monkey and Colin was Bob the Builder! Colin even enjoyed going trick or treating. Tim said he would stand in front of Nadia at the doors and then just stair at the people after he received his candy. He was quiet mesmerized by the whole idea.

Nadia's 2 pumpkins.

pumpkin carving

2009-10-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

So I just realized that we have a serious lack of posts lately. Just goes to show that we've been really busy. Very good busy...with lots of great stuff.

Yesterday, was the first day in about 6 weeks that there was nothing on the calendar and nothing that had to be done. So I played with the kids and we did some wall prep. It occurred to me that it's almost Halloween so we broke out the pumpkins we grew this year. And I let the kids draw on their pumpkins.

Nadia especially enjoyed getting her hands mucky to get the insides, out. And helping to get the seeds out of the gunk. Colin got right in there too, but picking the seeds out was too much for him. He said, ``Yuck! I just watch.`` And he pulled up a chair.

I helped Colin a little with his drawing.

Nadia was so proud of her biggest seed, she collected.

The finished product.
Guess which one is Nadia's!

birthday memories

2009-10-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

For the first time in many years my twin brother and I got to celebrate our birthday together. It was a fun day. Rueben played with the kids. Nadia went to play school. We picked up some groceries at Superstore. Including this Black Forest Cake my brother picked out. And we went out for supper at my favourite restaurant, which everyone else loved too. (That's always good!)

This photo is for my Mom. This is how we always used to look in our birthday photos. None too impressed by the time Dad had the focus on the camera just right. And we even lifted the one end of the cake together. Just like my Mom used to always make us do. Don't worry Mom, we still think you're amazing...having to put up with the 2 of us and all.

under construction

2009-10-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

Our blog is under construction. It was feeling a little left out since we've started pulling our house apart. My brother is here and he understands html. In fact his job is to write stuff like that, so we're working on it over the next few days. It's very exciting. I love to design, I just haven't got a clue about the inner working of html. So check back in a few days to see what we've come up with. Just don't expect too much.

harvest

2009-10-02T13:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we woke up to frost on the ground. So we decided it was the day to harvest the last part of the garden. Above is a photo of 1 row of carrots. We planted 4. We ended up with half a Rubbermaid bin of carrots, and that's after we've been eating them no-stop for the past month.

We had a jungle of pumpkin plants in the back of our garden. And I really had no idea how many where in there. Yesterday I was surprised to find 7! And 4 of them are really quite big!

Nadia wanted me to document here smiley face pretzel, complete with eyebrows! Yesterday was a very good day.

the pumpkin patch

2009-09-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

We planted pumpkins at the back of our garden, because Nadia just loves them. I had no idea the soil was so good and the pumpkins took over. Behind Nadia is our biggest pumpkin, at least that I can see. It a jungle in there. I hope it turns orange soon.

you guess!

2009-09-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

We've been using Kijiji a lot....honestly, so that we don't have to pay for and arrange a friend's truck to go to the dump! It's not junk that I put on Kijiji, it's just stuff we don't want, or have upgraded. So this time I thought I would share the results.

Last night I posted 3 items that we need to get rid of. These are the cover photos for each item and I am interested to know what your guess is...what percentage of responses where for each item. (For example: ceiling fan ##%, window coverings ##%, built-in vacuum ##%, to make 100%) And maybe next post I paste in some of the responses I got. Wow! So start guessing!

ceiling fan: free

built-in vacuum with attachments: free

2 window coverings: $100

energy

2009-09-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

Nadia has started play school and we enrolled her in one that is close to our house and parent participation. Which also means the fees are way cheaper. However, the "hand book" for the school, basically outlines how much you will be fined when you don't do what they say. I've been a little taken-aback by this approach. Although I understand the need for it.

Being apart of another non-profit organization, I really cringe at the way they run their organization. All of the written communication is nice, but blunt and based on threats via money. This approach usually just enrages me. But since I chose to put her into the program, I have to live with it. I'm not so much worried that I will be fined. I plan to do my part. But it really drives me mad the way they "talk" or write to us.

So I've thought about how I could approach the president to voice my concern and how they may be able to have better participation if they just change some things. In my mind, I'm re-structuring and re-writing letters and manuals to make them positive, encouraging and inspiring, instead of threatening and demeaning.

So the other day, I started inquiring to find out the facts. And I stopped myself. I just don't have the time or energy or authority to be changing this organization. And then it occurred to me. I have my own organization to worry about. I guess I still have one question. Do I mention how their communication comes across, or just bite my tongue. What would you do?

Oma & Opa's visit

2009-09-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

play ground at the ball field

Oma & Opa came for about 5 days, and it turned out to be the busiest weekend of the summer for us. Tim had a ball tournament, it was Kick off Sunday at church, with a lunch after and Nadia started play school on Monday. Not to mention that Tim has music practice and work while they were here. But we had a fun time hanging out and dragging Opa and Oma around. They were very good sports and are invited back when ever they want. And not just because Oma did all the dishes, by hand (no dishwasher yet).
Opa wanted to get the kids this plasma car because Colin figured out how to use it and steer around tight spots in the blink of an eye. You actually have to wiggle the steering wheel to make it move.

We went for a walk around Beaumaris Lake. I'd never been all the way around and it was beautiful.

first day of play school

2009-09-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Monday was Nadia's first day of play school. Honestly, we've been so busy lately that it kind of snuck-up on us. I only really mentioned it a few times before the actual day. Which looking back was good, because than I only had to answer a million questions as I was closing the door for bedtime, the night before.

The morning of, Nadia dressed herself in her favourite outfit and was SO excited. She did really well during all the chaos of the first day. It was so quiet while she was gone. And when I picked her up she told me all about how fun it was. The only incident was when I was about to close the car door to drive home. She started to cry and said, "It was so short, I wanted it to be longer". I quickly realized she thought this was a one time deal. When I explained it's Monday, Wednesday, Friday for the whole year, she was beyond happy. Which was a relief for me.

So the first day of play school was a hit and she is SO excited to go again tomorrow. Now I just have to programm it into my brain that 3 times a week I have to get up early and get us out the door.

our place

2009-09-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll be posting photos of our house in installments. Here's the first one. Yes, it's the front! The lawn was nearly all dead when we first moved in, so this is a huge improvement. We live on a cul-de-sac and look out to a park with lots of trees. So the view is great and the traffic is very minimal.

because you asked

2009-09-08T20:27:00.001-07:00

Our bunny loves to hang out in between the carrot rows, and nibble on the carrot tops.

Well, a few of you are interested in our bunnies potty habits, so here it is. He does seem to pee in his litter box, which has recycled new paper pellets, not the clay bits like cat litter. We always take the litter box out of his cage when we take him out so he can use it. We even take it outside with us. And he seems to use it there too.

And Lisa was also wondering if Mr. Sniffy could run faster than Shadow. The previous owners had a cat and a dog that he played with and they seemed to all get along. But as for speed...our bunny can really move when he wants. Although I've been impressed by how fast Shadow can move as well, I'd have to say I'm not really sure who would be faster. If I had to bet, not that I'm a betting person, I think I would chose our bunny! :) Maybe I'm a little bias.

When we first got Mr. Sniffy, I felt bad that he just had an open cage with really no where to sleep. So I made him a house out of a diaper box. I'm not sure he really used it as a house, but he sure likes to chew it. But that took up a lot of his cage so I decided that maybe I would try something that didn't have a top. Being practical and thinking about washing down his cage, I decided to try a tupperware with a rag in the bottom. Okay it's the cheap, fake tupperware, but anyway. Dad was really funny. When Nadia told him that Mr. Sniffy likes to sleep in a tupperware, Dad said we should have named him Mr. Tuppy! I'm thinking of changing his name now....

Anyway, if any of you bunny owners out there can give me any tips on litter boxes, toys, food and the like...please comment and let me know your secrets!

fixed

2009-09-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, I heard that the comments weren't working, but with Lisa's help we've fixed them. So go ahead, tell us what you think.

Also, Jen, I will be updating and working on the blog as time goes...the links. But for now just go to our old blog.

Thanks for your patience.

new family member

2009-09-07T14:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we pick-up our newest family member. We found this sweet bunny on Kijiji, and his owner was giving him and all his stuff away. It was quite an adventure going to her house and picking him up. She was actually very attached, but just didn't have room or time for him any more.

His name was bun bun, but that just didn't seem right. So we decided as a family that his new name would be Mr. Sniffy! We actually call him all sorts of things, like Sprinkles and Chewy. But his official name is Mr. Sniffy.

We've had him out of his cage A LOT for his first day, but he just seems to love it. He's very sociable and loves to snuggle up beside me. He seems very friendly and already likes us. We've had many laughs already...I think he's going to be a great pet!

oil country

2009-09-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a double date to an Oilers baseball game.....that's right, baseball. It was hilarious. I really thought they would be a little better, but it was entertaining. We went to Telus Field in the river valley of Edmonton and sat in the stadium, getting burnt by the sun...but only on our left side.

I was very surprised that only 1 Oiler player could hit it over the fence, and a Country Recording Artist severely showed him up by continuously hitting it over the fence! But they were very good sports and did it for charity.

After we got home and had some supper with the kids, we played some baseball in our back yard. Colin hit his first ball tonight and Nadia was just about hitting them out of the yard. Especially after the neighbour came to watch her hit....then she hit 4 big ones in a row. When she wants to, she can really focus!

Nadia loves to help.

This is an actual hit!

So I suppose this is the start of a new chapter in our lives and so I thought I would start a new blog. I've been very uninspired to blog lately, as you can all see by the lack of posts. So let's hope this is the inspiration I needed. So let us know that you're still with us and you found our new site.