they grow up too fast

this afternoon Norah, who usually wants my help climbing up the ladder on the backyard slide, rejected my attempted assistance by saying, "self!" To which I [dad] replied, "you want to do it yourself?' And she said, "yes" My little girl...

Bishop who ate his boots...

or not!

Today was Holy Trinity's 75th Anniversary. Busy weekend at the church, a tea and bbq on Saturday, then a big service today. The Bishop was out for the service too. Packed church. Pleased to say that of the 7 kids under age 7, ours were the best behaved. :) Then a lunch, mom and the kids left early so the girls could nap and we still didn't get home until 1:30. Then the Bishop stopped by for tea before heading home. Ruby decided to munch on his shoes, which the Bishop found hilarious, especially given the family history. He was also thrilled to see that we were showing our daughter how to show 'proper reverance' for his position.

So who needs a bishop to eat their boots, when you can get a priest's kid to do it for you!

Busy week

Glad to be home. Busy week here...well, actually busy week *there*. :)

Took the kids to Saskatoon for the Children's Festival. They loved the show they went to, Music with Marnie. Lots of dancing and jumping. We walked around and saw some of the tents, but it was really cold and windy. Isaac totally refused to even think about getting his face painted. "Nobody is painting my face mom, ok?" He did enjoy the huge globe ball that was there, and the science guys who were trying to start fire with chemicals.

Norah got a mosquito bite that day. Which, normally wouldn't be big news, but this was. She appears to be allergic to mosquitoes. Ended up taking her in to see a doctor for the huge swelling on her foot (where she was bitten), which seemed to be getting infected. So we now have 2 kids on antibiotics. Norah, unlike her sister, enjoys the meds though.

The kids got to go to the Fun Factory. That could have easily been a horrible experience, given the 3 school groups there at the same time. But it was good. Loud, but good. Norah and Ruby enjoyed the "under 2" area, Isaac just enjoyed everything. And then they all napped. Lovely.

The drive home today was very smooth too. So thankful our kids are good travellers. We use the dvd player less than I thought we would too, which is even better :)

sick Ruby

Night before last, Ruby was up *all* night screaming. Turns out, the cold has turned into a double ear infection for her. Nice. Very little sleep for us all that night, but now that we're getting antibiotics into her (and probiotics too for her tummy), all is looking up. Today, we are off to S'toon for the Children's festival!

Vote, vote, vote!!!

Go to CBC Hockeyville and vote for our town! By midnight on June 7th. Make our town Hockeyville!

Field Trip!

This is certainly an exciting week for our kids. Last night was the Stampede parade. Norah loved the marching band, Ruby the horses and Isaac the candy. Yep, they throw candy at all the kids. Norah traded her freedom for a lollipop in the stroller...which she shared with Ruby. Yikes! Her first real solid, and it was a yellow lollipop! Only a couple of licks before we noticed...

Today, Isaac's preschool had a field trip to the bakery and the fire hall. Dad took him (while Mom got to stay home and wipe the little sister noses) and got some pictures. Apparently he was really excited and had a hard time being still for photos.

Those are his eyes on the far left, very focused on the donuts being filled with jam

Just had a visitor stop by...

Dorothy came by with a couple things for Rob...and a dress she made for Norah! After she saw Norah admiring Avery's Dora pattern dress, she made one for Norah too. *heart* Norah is in love with it. There were HUGE "tank yous" and hugs from Norah.














Dancing with the very twirly skirt.

All 3 in one picture!

Stayed home from church today, snotty noses all round. Managed to get a few shots of all 3 kids. Isaac wanted to hold Ruby, and Norah joined in. Isaac is turning into a huge camera ham, making lots of faces.

Today's treat

after watching an episode of "This is Daniel Cook", Isaac wanted to dip strawberries in chocolate. So we did. Fun!
















The finished result - waiting for after dinner tonight!

Ruby - showing off the sitting

as if today weren't exciting enough...

Norah can now climb the ladder to the slide.

even more big news from today

hot on the heels of Ruby's tooth, another milestone. We have a girls room! For the first time ever, both girls are napping, at the same time, in the same room. Ok, so it's not big news like a tooth, but it's a big step here. Hopefully this is the first step to having a real girls room for both of them to share. Now to get painting the walls... :)

a tooth!

Ruby's first tooth has broken through. Somewhere between supper time last night and lunch today, the first one has pushed it's way through the gums. 7 months and one day of age.

Now, here's the sad part. We can't remember how old Norah and Isaac were with their first teeth.

company

that is the word Isaac just read off the Cheerios box. goodness...how to keep up with this!

trip to Ikea

We got to Ikea in Edmonton and picked up a couple of things we needed. Got a guard rail for the bed for Norah. She is thrilled to be in her 'big girl' bed, and is transitioning well so far.









We also bought some fun room divider things to make a closet door type thing for Isaac. It is really annoying to not have closet doors. Really. But he likes this!




















And for the girl's room, we bought some sheer netting curtains. Then with a beaded curtain overtop, we have a fully girly closet! Doors would still be nicer, but this was WAY cheaper! And Norah loves it too.

A little spam...

We are selling off some cloth diapers that have been outgrown. We've got a baker's dozen of Sweet Bambino Small diapers, a half-dozen doublers and 4 small pro-care covers up for grabs. 4 medium pro-care covers will soon be available as well. These are hands down some of the best diapers we have used, very absorbant and easy to use.
Interested?

sitting pretty!

not only has Ruby found her knees and started 'commando crawling', but she is now sitting up very well. This has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for play. Woo Hoo!!

other weekend pics

An attempt to capture 6 kids in one shot. HA!
Not so successful.
L to R
Tyler, Anthony, Isaac, Ruby, Norah, Francis (not his best side)















This is more like what we ended up with.














Isaac and Norah on the bouncer in the yard. Fun!














Isaac and Anthony - great buddies.

zoo pictures

Isaac chasing the chickens. He was SO excited by them.
He kept telling them to "say cockadoodle do!"

Isaac and Anthony on the the train.














Ruby and the bunny in the petting zoo. She doesn't look too certain about it.















Norah and Francis soaking their feet.
She may have been imitating a duck. :)

where to start?

Wow - so much going on!

Let's start at the beginning. We went to Edmonton on Wednesday for a 10th anniversary getaway. Heading into Oiler country during the playoffs....
Kids were fantastic on the drive. Had fun at the hotel - 2 waterslides. woo hoo! Late dinner, which actually went very well considering we ate at what is usually bedtime. Norah bounced up and down and danced to the music while we ate. Thursday, we got our van converted for Rob. Then we all went to Ikea, Isaac enjoyed the kids play area while we shopped. Short list. Then lunch, followed by a car ride to meet up with our vacation buddies.

Got to Kathy's parents home in the early afternoon. We were spending the weekend with Kathy and Greg and their boys, and Corie and Scott and Tyler. 12 people in one house - good thing it was spacious! Isaac and Anthony hit it off from the get-go and were all over the house playing. Then we took the kids swimming. This didn't go so well for our kids, but what can you expect after 2 days of near-perfection ;) Norah found the little slide at the kiddie pool and was all over that. Up and down and into the pool...over and over. The girl has NO fear.

Friday brought a trip to the zoo...on the coldest May day we could have picked. brrr. Lots of fun there despite the shivers. Picnic lunch and fun in the petting zoo until 2 of the youngest in our party find the puddles.

Lots of conversation and fun with the 2 families. It was hard to leave on Saturday and head home. It was so much fun, can't wait to do it again!

Sunday was our church picnic. Again, cold day. We were so happy the rain held off though. Wish the mosquitoes had stayed away. Isaac got a plaque for best Sunday school attendance. Lots of fun games too. Now it's time to get unpacked and reorganized for regular life again!