making plans

we're going to the big city next week. Hopefully, it's all been thrown off a bit by a death in the church. Anyhow, we're making plans. Hoping to get to a fun-sounding and looking hay maze. Possibly do some portraits of the kids. Haircuts! Isaac's hair is out of control and Norah's bangs are way too long and *I* can't get her to sit for me. Looking for Isaac's winter gear, including a snowsuit, ice skates and a helmet. Fun! And poor dad will be stuck at a clergy retreat, missing out on the fun.

Coming events...

In a case of the shoemakers child not having shoes, we are now making plans to baptize Ruby. Her future Godparents are planning to come and join us for the event.

October 22. It will be 'here'. 11 am service.

Now to figure out what to dress her in...there is no way we can squeeze her into the family baptizm gown.

Sunny Fall days

Ruby discovers getting into the car on her own.












Bad boys, bad boys, what'cha gonna do?

Ruby's on patrol















Run, run! get that ball!








Dig in the sand - the patio is creeping along. Eventually it will be done, right?

a birthday in pictures

Books! She wouldn't look at the camera because she was 'reading'.



















Princess castle! Oh, how fun. Not even fully assmebled yet, but already being played with.
Note the hand belonging to little sister, trying to get in on the action.









Cake! The co-op messed up our order, but she was still happy, even though it wasn't the pink cake we had picked. She is covered in pizza sauce. Pizza, cake, ice cream AND presents? What more could a 2 year old want?





After church on Sunday, more princess castle play. This time, little sister CAN join her.

Happy 2nd birthday, wonderful little girl!

Packages and cards have arrived from near and far. This morning included a run to the Sears depot and the post office. Isaac has completed his first ever gift wrapping job. A cake is being prepared for pickup in the morning. Last minute groceries for a little girl's favourite meal will be done. Nanny arrives this afternoon. Tomorrow, a little girl turns 2 AND starts swimming lessons. It's a big day ahead.

fall is here

We have had our first frost. Brrr. Heat is on, mornings require much coffee and homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal.



Who says Katie has the monopoly on big baby hair in this family?













Why yes Ruby, that is a lot of canola oil you are playing in. 2 liters worth to be exact. That was a fine mess.











But the days are still mild. Norah after church on Sunday.

sad but true

thank you nataliedee.com

We have put together a Christmas wish list for the kids. (click the link to access) Their current sizes are on there too.

There is a variety of stuff on there, including a couple of big items, but hey, it's a wish list, right? ;)

Books are always enjoyed too. However, not big fans of lots of character items, especially Spongebob or Bratz (ick).

planning ahead

Isaac is signed up for skating lessons starting next month. Now we need to get him skates and a helmet. Skating and hockey are huge here, so it's going to be good to be connected there. Isaac and Norah both start swimming lessons on the 23rd. He will be in Salamanders, and Norah will be a Duck. She'll love that. Hers is parent participation, so that won't be as fun for us :)

Last night, I was at an information session for what could be a really exciting development in town - French immersion. They are trying to start up an immersion program in town, with an eye to beginning next September with Kindergarten and maybe Grade 1 as well. We are thrilled that this could happen, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. We've been really struggling with our school options here in town. Isaac already has a lot of the academic skills down for K and beyond. Homeschooling is a possibility, and there is a support for it here...but we aren't feeling fully committed to doing it right now, which would be an issue. Yet, we aren't that thrilled about what we are seeing and hearing about the local schools either, literacy issues, social issues and so on. Immersion would not only open up more doors for our kids, and give Isaac the academic challenge he would need, but would be putting him into a program with other kids whose parents care about their education. All round, sounds like a win/win. Now if only we can get the numbers to support it....we're praying it happens!

2 events from today

Today, Norah allowed me to put a ponytail in her hair. After her nap, she asked me to re-do it. "pretty pohnnie-tail" Very good progression. That was good.

This evening, while I was enjoying a phone conversation with a friend, Ruby managed to dump 2 liters of canola oil on the kitchen floor. She was happily splashing in it, and tried to escape me picking her up, but she wiped out in the mess. That was not so good. (but it was really funny...if very, very messy to clean up)

words

Ruby is starting to really, really copy words. She is mastering some signs too. Today we were 'chatting' over breakfast.
"say mum"
"mum mum mum"
"say Isaac"
"iii-yak"
"say daddy"
"bum"
"let's try again, say daddy"
"bum"

Poor Rob. He's feeling a bit ego-bruised today. Especially since I laughed so hard coffee almost came out of my nose.

clothes!

Oh my. We're going through all the kids clothes for the fall and winter. I can't believe how much clothing the girls have! Seriously, they could easily go at least 2 weeks without needing to do laundry. Then I realise they both have upcoming birthdays. Books! they need books! Even when we take all the shorts out of the dresser, the drawers are still loaded up with clothes. Crazy, but makes us feel really blessed. Now to go through Isaac's clothes with him today....

already?

The daytime temperatures get up to the high 20's, but the overnights drop down to just above freezing. Isaac is back to preschool on Tuesday. The calendar is filling up with places to be, things to do. September breezed in when we weren't looking, and now we are in the middle of the last long weekend of the summer. bummer.

Parishoners bring by produce from their gardens at a fast pace, faster than we can find homes for it. Our kitchen emits smells of rhubarb cake, homemade tomato sauce and carrot ginger soup. We have containers filling up the freezer, and lots more to do. We have cucumbers and potatoes to last for weeks. It is such a blessing, especially when we can find room for it all!

The nights are definitely colder, apparently it was 1.1 the other night. A statistic we have on good authority from our friend who works at the weather station. The farmers almanac predicts a cold, long winter. Right now, though, it is 28 and hot in our house. Hopefully winter creeps in, instead of slamming into us one day.

We are getting prepared for winter's eventual arrival. Kristin is on a mad reorganizing streak, between batches of cake/soup/sauce. A new toy, a label printer, is making the job much more fun. The winter wear is upstairs and tried on. Everyone has boots to fit, but Isaac will need a snowsuit and Norah new hat and mitts. But we're getting ready. Crisp mornings and scraping windows will be a reality before we know it. Even though summer tempts us with these warm evenings right now.

a little after dinner dancing - thank you Jack Johnson

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girls room!

Here are the 'before' shots. Not very exciting. Dark green curtains, blue bins in the dresser that were bought for when Isaac used it.














The dark green armchair, so nice to have, but not so pretty in a girly room.










AFTER
- we didn't paint, and we're not quite finished yet, but it's a difference!






New baskets for organizing things. Now to get a label maker to keep the labels attached...


















New bed linens - thanks to Tammi for helping me pick them, and especially to Lyn (my mom-in-law) for replacing the trim. The empty space on this wall is just waiting for me to paint the girls some 'name canvases', like I did for Isaac. Just to find the spare time...




New curtains, and the pink wall lamp that I hung last night. Norah is over the moon with the new lamp, and decided to 'go to bed' with her books when I took the photo. :) New rug too, and throw pillow on the chair. The chair was supposed to be slip covered, but Ikea did change the chair shape somewhat, and the slipcover I bought didn't fit. bummer. Now the girls have matching bedspreads, and girly curtains. It gives the room a much warmer feel. Maybe we will paint, but not yet. We're also talking about painting Norah's bed, and the toddler bed (not out) to match so that they are the same white. But since we don't even have Ruby fully in the crib yet, the toddler bed is still a ways off.

family!

The next few posts are all from our trip. We had a great time, but it still feels so good to be home again. Lots of pictures!

Visiting with family was so great. It was really wonderful to spend time with everyone, and so great to finally meet Katie. It's not always fun to be so far from family, so it's a challenge to fit 18 months worth of time into 2 weeks. But we tried! How on earth did we not manage to get shots of the kids on the trampoline though?



Ruby, Katie and Uncle Jinx, living it up in Poppy and Nanna's backyard.















All 6 cousins on the couch. Not easy to get them all there, and looking at the camera at once.

Katie, Jack, Grace, Ruby, Isaac, Norah.











Ruby, Grace and Katie. Grandpa Tom in the background, and Nanna on the right. Our last night in town, so lots people came by to see us. It wasn't fun saying goodbye to people. Thanks to Jenny and Joe and the kids for making us feel like home, away from home.








Ruby and Katie, meeting for the first time. Katie giggled, and Ruby tried to attack (hug) her.

dinner with Kristin's uncle, aunt and cousins

Ruby and Rayanne. My cousin K's baby. The 2 girls are 2 weeks apart.







This photo is K and I last September, just weeks before the girls were born.
















Ruby, posing beautifully.













Isaac, Norah and Ainsley rocking out to Music with Marnie. This was after Isaac's issue with his pants, that resulted in him wearing a diaper (better than the dress that was his other option).

the road trip

Rob's view from the passenger seat. Norah was our noisiest passenger by far. The van was so packed on the way home! The kids were great travellers, but the last hour or so on the longer of the 2 days each way was rough. Especially on the way home, that stretch through Jasper park was, well, long. We were stuck behind an RV that was going under the speed limit. Way under.





Mt. Robson, on the way into Jasper park. We saw 2 deer (yawn, we see those here all the time), 4 moose (really close to the road too) and a black bear on our trip. The bear was the most exciting by far. We highly recommend driving through Jasper first thing in the morning, as the sun is rising over the mountains. Not only is it beautiful, but there are way less slow RVs out!

camp day!

We we so happy to be able to make it up to camp for a day. A long, long day. Great to see people, see the changes...yet bittersweet to know it isn't 'our' camp anymore.

Norah at the entrance to the chapel. She was totally dancing to the music, but then wanted a drink. Got the drink, and the camera. She refused to go back in.














Norah, Ruby and the 'camp kids'. They are SO big! I remember when T was Norah's age, that first summer we were permies. Now she is almost 8. Crazy. Isaac wouldn't come out for the pic.














On the boat on the way home. A long trip, started out late, long stop at Sunset Marina, kids hungry. They mostly held it together though, it was so nice to have Cindy on the boat with us for extra kid amusement and picture taking! We left the house at 7:15 am, and got home at 9 pm, with all 3 kids asleep in the van. Good thing we changed them into pj's before leaving Horseshoe Bay.