We're homeschooling.

Say WHAAAAAT? You're going to homeschool your kids?! All of them?!

Yup.

I'll let the shock sink in............................................................................. :)

I have always admired and respected homeschooling families (they are superstars!) but I never EVER in a million years thought I would be one of them. Like. Ever.

Well, never say never.
Ha!

If you know me, you know I process by writing.
So naturally when something big happens to our family I feel the need to write about it.
Plus, by writing about our decision to homeschool I can let everyone know what we are doing without actually having to personally tell everyone.
I'm kinda emotional these days.

Our decision to homeschool was wrestled with, weighed upon, and soaked in over a year of prayer. So many factors went into making this huge decision. And while I know that this is exactly where we are suppose to be for this season, I am still sad.

Change is never easy. Saying goodbye to seeing your best buddies everyday will not be easy. Leaving an amazing school that we have considered family for the past six years will not be easy.

But God.

I know He will meet every need. He will fill our children's hearts. He will guide us and mold us and go before us.

This new season will be exciting and wonderful and stretching and challenging. And we are all going to learn SO much- it's gonna be awesome.
Looking forward to a brand new adventure in the fall!

xo

Summer so far...

Summer is so lovely.
It's a time to slow down.
Reconnect as a family.
Enjoy one another.
Play.
Lounge.
Rest.

And we have been doing all of this.
Here is a little of what we've been up to so far this summer!

Our littles had their very first campout. We had planned on putting the tent up in the backyard, but since it is crazy sunny when our babes go to sleep at 7pm we quickly came up with a new plan to set it up in the basement.

The kids LOVED it!
We set them all up and turned on a movie for them. Kinda like a drive-thru type deal. They all though it was awesome.
Once the movie was over and it was lights out there was A LOT of giggling. And a few trips upstairs to tell us this that and the other. More giggling. A few fights. And then finally we pulled our crazy three year old out of the tent and up to her bedroom and guess what happened? ......silence..... apparently she was the one keeping the other two going! What a little monkey!
Oh well! They all had fun that night and all three of them had a great time playing in it the next morning :)


We've also enjoyed a fabulous day at the zoo!


This next one is one of my favorite pictures (even though it's blurry!)
I am proudly shooting in manual mode and am still figuring out the settings, but I just love both their expressions. Sibling love- can't beat it!


The Dinosaurs are my son's favorite part. The exhibit is really cool. The dinosaurs move and make noises as you walk by them. They also have buttons that you can press and make them move and growl. (dino's growl-right?!)
But we discovered our littlest does NOT like the dinosaurs. Poor thing. She was quite scared. She kept saying that they were going to eat her :)


And finally- a project.
My little guy is obsessed with StarWars. Obsessed I tell you.
So we had some fun this afternoon making these lightsabers! (you can find the tutorial here)
He adores them! He even went to sleep with one of them :)
And lucky for us they were FREE! My dad had a huge package of pool noodles in his garage (that he bought like 20 years ago when we were little and never used!) that he said we could have, and we had the duct tape and electrical tape on hand.
Love that when a project ends up costing nothing!

Hope you are enjoying your summer so far too!
What has been your favorite part?

Spoiled

This past Sunday we loaded up the three munchkins in the van and drove a few hours north to visit the craziest (you'll see why in a second) mall in Canada.
Santa spoiled us again this year by sending us for a fun family vacation to West Edmonton Mall.

This year we were extra spoiled and stayed in the famous Fantasyland hotel (which is located right inside the mall.)
Oh, the convenience of staying right in the mall! Definitely a huge bonus when it came to the little ones naps!

We stayed in the "African" room and to say that the kids loved it would be a HUGE understatement, and I have to admit, Chris and I thought it was pretty cool ourselves!


Don't you just love the leopard print carpet :)
Oh, and check out the tub. So cool. The kids had a ton of fun having a bubble bath in that huge thing!

Ok.
Now, onto the crazy mall.....

Let's just start with the ginormous pirate ship right in the middle of the mall.

Yup.
Crazy.

The kids had so much fun pretending to be pirates, and throwing pennies overboard into the water below!

ARRRRRR!

And if a pirate ship isn't enough, well, how about a huge water park, filled with tons of water slides and a huge wave pool.

This was a big hit with all the kids, although they definitely need to turn up the heat in that place. It was freeeeeeeeezing standing in line for those slides! Our poor baby girl was shivering so much that we spent quite a bit of time wading in the kiddie pool and soaking in the hot tub :)

This craaaaaazy mall also has a huge skating rink down one of the halls. We didn't go skating, but really enjoyed watching.
This picture is taken from the "senior" skate time and I have to say it was so inspiring to watch all these sweet seniors gliding around the ice.

There was one lady in particular that must have been in her 70s twirling around the ice and doing crazy spin after crazy spin.
I couldn't take my eyes off her. She just looked like she was enjoying herself so much and it was more than awesome to watch her doing something that she so obviously loved.
(Chris thought I was crazy for taking random pictures of complete strangers, but I wanted to remember watching them! I hope to be doing something that I love when I am older too!)

Now, if a giant pirate ship, a water park and skating rink aren't your cup of tea- no problem. There's plenty more crazy to come....

How about an underground aquarium?

Uh huh.
Crazy.

Penguins, fish, sharks, sea turtles, crocodiles, sting rays.
This was probably our baby's favorite part. She was so cute when she saw the penguins. She was squealing loudly and pointing excitedly. I wish I could have frozen time in those minutes watching the excitement in her eyes. Just precious.
Our big boy got to touch the sting rays and other squishy sea life. This was also very exciting!

And our two year old. Well, she was most entertained by climbing all over the rocks. Yup. Busy little bee, that one. She also LOVED the penguins. I am sure she would have sat there watching them for the rest of the afternoon, if we had let her.

Alright, now, you'd think the journey through the mall would be over but there is
STILL MORE CRAZY.

Try... an indoor amusement park.

Crazy.

The kids all enjoyed riding the rides and playing the arcade games. Chris and I had to fight over who would go on the yucky fast, spinney rides with our big boy and Chris lost, so he got to ride the "fun" rides with the kids.
It's so sad. I used to LOVE rides. The faster, the more spin, the better. But ever since having kids I can barely watch the rides without my stomach turning :(

So, there you have it.
That mall is pure cRraZY.
Crazy fun.
Crazy exciting.
Crazy busy.
Crazy awesome days spent together as a family.

And to be completely honest after 3 days.....
I.AM.EXHAUSTED.
:)

Looking Back

This past year has been amazing.
Full of changes.
Some exciting. Some sad. Some wonderful. Some hard to take.
Looking through all our pictures and reading through the last year of blog posts over the past week has been so much fun!

Some of these pictures made me laugh out loud, as I remembered the stories behind them.
Some of them made me want to cry as I see how much our little family has grown, even in the last 12 months.

One of the things I am most excited about accomplishing in the past year has been the discovery of my inner craftiness.
I remember as a little girl loving all things crafty,

and yet somehow over the years I had lost the desire for it.
That all changed this year.
I received my very first sewing machine from my lovely husband
and awesome Dad,
as an early birthday gift in July.
And I love it.
LOVE IT.
I love sewing, and 'modgepodging' and really, all things crafty and hope to continue to do even more in the next year!


One of my goals for 2010 is to tackle the land of quilting.
I already have an idea for my first quilt.... stay tuned.... :)

I am also very determined to learn how to knit/crochet. This has been on my "new years" list for a few years but I am quite determined that with a new decade comes a new slate.
I can WILL do it!

As I mentioned, I've spent quite a bit of time reading through my last year
of posts this past week.
Specifically the ones about my faith.
A lot has happened this last year.
I love the fact that I can look back and see just where my heart has been over the course of the year and I love the fact that I can see where God has moved me.
Where He's still growing me.

These are a few of my favorites over the year.
Each one reminding me of His goodness.
Of His love for me.

Hide and Seek

Enthralled by Your Beauty
He Met Me
The Rain

Looking back over the last year has been fun.
I love the fact that I have documented our family and my thoughts here on this blog and truly appreciate all the friendships I have made along the way.
Thank you for your encouragement, and for sharing in this journey with me.

Looking forward to 2010, I hope to spend more time....
Cuddling my kiddos and hubby!
Baking yummy treats in the kitchen.
Sitting at my sewing machine creating.
Curling up on the couch next to my hubby, knitting beautiful treasures.
Tackling the world of photography.
Opening my eyes to the everyday opportunities God has before me.

Happy 2010 everyone!

Cake and the Magic of Facebook

A few months ago I was able to reconnect with one the sweetest people I've ever known.
My dear friend Christina. We went to high school together and sadly lost touch shortly after that. But then through the magic of Facebook we've been able to catch up on lost time!

Christina is one of those people that just lights up the room. You know the kind.
She can make anyone laugh and always has a smile on that pretty little face of hers. The girl has got the BEST sense of humor.

I get her sarcasm and her sarcasm gets me!

She is an amazing Mommy to her three little munchkins and has the biggest heart- EVER.
She also has a wonderful husband, and theirs is marriage where the love between them is so genuine. So real. You can just feel it.
I am so blessed to know her and be a part of her life once again.

A little while ago we decided to enroll in a cake decorating class together. We both enjoy making cute homemade cakes for our kids birthdays and figured it would be tons of fun to do this together, and hopefully pick up some mad skills in the process.

Tonight we started our first class. I am SO excited to take these classes with her. She makes me laugh and I know it is just going to be a blast to learn together.

After our class I took a picture (bad quality- I know, it was just on my cell phone) to document this momentous occasion, and promised Christina that I'd make her famous on this here blog.
:)

So, everyone- Meet Christina!
Ain't she just a doll?!
And check us out. Can't you just feel the excitement?!

Christina, I love ya and can't wait to see how our little cake adventure turns out :)

She's Leaving on a Jet Plane....

Today I'm sad.....my sister flies off to Europe tonight for a month. A MONTH! That's a lifetime in my books!

She's off on an exciting backpacking adventure with her best friend.

Up until now I have been living in the land of denial, not really believing that she would actually go. Now I "knew" that she was going, but decided that my heart would be safer if I convinced myself that this day would never actually arrive.
You see, my sister and I are close. She is a teacher and so I usually have her all to myself during the summer, as most of her friends and her boyfriend all have to work.
So, the thought of her being gone for this long is just hard.

And, on top of missing her, to say I was jealous would be the understatement of the year! She gave me her itinerary yesterday and just listen to a few of the places she will be over the next month....

London, England
Dublin, Ireland
Bristol, England
Paris, France
Barcelona, Spain
Berlin, Germany

Oh, the beauty she will see.
Oh, the adventures she will have.

I can't wait to see all her pictures!

This afternoon we went over to say our goodbyes and even though she put up a good fight I managed to get a couple shots of her....

Ain't she purdy!
And, check out her 30lb backpack.

Tam, I'm going to miss you SO much!
Have a fabulous time......and BE GOOD :)

Two Wheelin'

This weekend was very exciting for our big boy.

The training wheels came off and after a few trips out with Daddy our little man quickly learned that practice does indeed make perfect :)



p.s. sorry for the poor camera work...I was paying more attention to my little guy than the camera. oops :)

Choo Choo!

My kids love going for walks.
Now that the weather is nice, we have been getting out everyday.

We usually just take a walk around the neighborhood and sometimes make a quick stop at the lake, for the kids to play at the park.
The kids always want to go in the direction of the lake. On the way there, there is a house that my kids have dubbed the choo choo house.

Here's why:


*All Abooooard!*

Isn't that the coolest hedge you've ever seen?

Trainer for a Day!

Thanks to my sister's boyfriend, tonight our son got to experience the coolest thing.
He sat on the players bench during warm-up at the Flames game!

Doesn't he look so little?
:)
Here's when he gave high-fives to all the players as they came out onto the ice:


A few of the players even stopped to talk to him. (That made him feel extra special)


He was given an official Jersey and two of Chris' favorite players signed it. Jerome Iginla (the captain) and Craig Conroy....here's a shot of him right after Jerome signed his jersey.

Anyone who knows Chris knows he is a die hard hockey fan. In fact I think for maybe the very first time my husband was actually jealous of our boy :)


Thanks Adam!

Birthday List

I am a list maker. I love, love, LOVE lists. I make daily lists. For just about everything. (from folding the laundry, to stopping at Walmart for diapers, to making an appointment.) I know- super exciting stuff!! I make these lists to help me remember what I need to get done that day( I have a major case of Baby-Brain these days) but mostly I think I just feel like I've accomplished way more in the day if I can look back at my list and see everything crossed off so nicely :)

Ok....so here's where I make a horribly embarrassing confession. Are you ready??.....
I've been know in the past..... maybe.....once or twice.....to finish a task and have gone to cross it off my list- only to discover it wasn't on my list in the first place and so.....DRAMATIC PAUSE......I'll write it down anyway and cross it off......HUGE GASP.......I know, I know I'm what they call CRAZY!! Yikes!

So in light of my list loving I've decided to make a list of 27 things I want to accomplish this year before I turn 28. I got this idea from The Well-Rounded Woman who posted it on the "Works For Me Wednesdays" edition over at Rocks in My Dryer. So here goes....

1. Take a quilting class
2. Clean out my deep freezer
   
3. Organize the basement pantry
   
4. Plan a romantic trip away with Chris
5. Learn to play guitar
6. Finish my son's baby book
7. Finish my daughter's baby book
8. Finish the baby's baby book
9. Start running....(at least 3 times a week)
10. Read my camera's instruction manuel
11. Crochet a blanket
12. Lose 10 lbs.....or more :)
13. Buy some frames to display the kids artwork
14. Pull out the bread-maker and make some yummy homemade bread. (I'm embarrassed to admit I've had it for 4 years and never used it-YIKES)
15. Make some cupcakes (or other yummy treat) and drop them off unexpectedly at a friends house, just to say we love ya!
16. Read a novel a month
17. Get a facial with my sister
18. Go to the spa with my mother-in-law
    
19. Go through our closets and give away some clothes
20. Go through the playroom and choose some toys to give away
21. Take a family trip to Banff
22. Go to a Flames game
    
23. Go to a concert or theater show
24. Cook a turkey in the middle of the week
25. Make a no-sew fleece blanket for each of the kids
26. Plan a monthly date night with Chris
    
27. Spend time everyday with God
    

So there you have it. My list. I'll keep ya posted on my progress throughout the next year. Here's hoping by next august I'll have crossed off each and every one :)

Circle of Life

BANG!!

"What was that?!" Chris asked

"It sounded like someone threw something at our window." I said as I got up to inspect our dinning room window. After a quick glance, I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Hmmmm, I guess not...."

A while later we were sitting at the kitchen table eating lunch and noticed a magpie sitting in the middle of our backyard. He's busy, plucking away at something......GROSS!!- he is actually eating another bird! Right there in the middle of our yard! There he was plucking out all the feathers and then off he flew, carrying his dinner with him.....

After he flew away I sent Chris out to make sure there weren't any leftovers, after all that is where our kids go out to play :(

So, out he goes. He checks out the spot and nope we don't have to worry. He decides to check out the rest of the backyard. When he gets closer to our dinning room window, he notices feathers stuck to it.....and laying beneath is another dead bird! Poor little birds flew straight into our window!!! ( so we really weren't hallucinating when we heard that loud BANG!)

Chris thinks it's because from the outside you can see straight through that window all the way to the outside in the front. Poor birdies didn't know there was actually a window there.

Chris came back in to figure out what to do with the poor bird, meanwhile Mr. Magpie came back for his second course. He was circling around the spot where our little friend lay...... and before we knew it, off he flew with the second little birdie.

I guess one good thing came out of it....now Chris doesn't need to worry about disposing the body.

Yuck!!

I suppose it's all part of the circle of life.....however I do prefer to watch the circle of life on the Lion King rather than in my own backyard!

Goose Attack.

As I was stepping in the door coming home from my doctor's appointment, my son came running up to me, with excitement in his voice:

"Mommy! Guess what!"

"What buddy?" I said, as I tried to get settled, removing my shoes and coat.

" I was playing hide and seek, and I was running up the mountain, and a goose flew me down!" he said smiling.

"What?!" I questioned, not really sure if I had heard, or understood him properly. I knew that he had gone to the lake with his sister and our nanny.....but it sounded as if he had said he got knocked over by a goose?!!

"Yup. I fell and was crying." he said proudly.

"It's true" our nanny Laura said. "He was running up the hill to hide in the trees and a goose flew over his head and knocked him right over!" she said with a giggle.

My son was laughing along, the trauma of the incident clearly behind him, and so I laughed too, trying to picture the crazy scene in my head.

Our son proudly shared his adventurous tale with his Daddy, Auntie, Grandma and both Papas. Each responding with a good laugh.

I guess 1 energetic four year old + 1 crazy goose = a funny story to share with friends and family
:)

SOLD

All conditions have been lifted! We take possession on the 15th of February. We are so happy that everything worked out!

Tire Trouble

Today while driving on Deerfoot Trail our front tire blew out! Yikes! It was quite the adventure.

Both kids were with me and all I can say is that I am so thankful I have a cell phone! I was able to call up my knight (aka hubby, aka Daddy) to come and rescue us.

If I didn't have a phone I would have had to take both kids outside and walk to the nearest gas station (which was probably at least a 30min trek with little ones in tow) Not to mention that today was -26 degrees celsius, and they were saying with the windchill more like -50 degrees celsius!!!

Yes, cell phones are a great invention!!

To buy or not to buy......

Buying a house is stressful!

We have found a gorgeous home in the ideal location. It is walking distance to the lake, our son's new school, as well as both sets of grandparents. This home is full of character. It has four bedrooms, an open floor plan and stunning curb appeal. Perfect right?! Only problem is we still haven't put our home up for sale......

Yesterday we kinda jumped the gun a little and put an offer on this "dream house". At first we were content to offer a bit less than asking, with a 120 day possession. This, we thought, would give us ample time to sell our home. (this was countered at a 90 day possession and more money than we wanted to spend.)
We turned that down and offered more money, and again 120 possession. They came back offering our 120 day possession, but they wanted only $1000 less than their asking price. We decided that this was too much and that we were going to just walk away....... which was a good thing because now we're feeling a little stress as to whether or not we can:

A- sell our home in that time, and
B- get what we need as far as $$

We were disappointed, but realized that it was actually better to not have the stress of possibly carrying two mortgages..........This morning we decided to stop looking and just get our house ready to sell in time for the spring market...well this afternoon, we got a call from our realtors saying that the sellers really want to sell and will meet our 120 day possession, they also came down on the price......hmmm......tempting........

After a lot of talking we decided to counter with a firm clause that gives us a condition where we have to sell our house first. This gives us 30 days to sell our home, and we would have to list our home within 24 hours. At this point we haven't heard back yet. Our realtors are not very optimistic. They think it will be too much of a risk for the sellers to take their home off the market for 30 day while we try to sell ours.

I have decided to just leave it up to God. If this house is meant to be ours it will. If not there will be another one.......however I am still curious to find out whether or not we have to list our home tomorrow. I hope they call soon!!