Santa

We visited Santa yesterday and the kids loved it. It was a big relief that even fletcher was happy to sit on his knee this year. As we were walking up, Santa and Mrs Claus were exclaiming "oh look how big they are this year" which Griffin took note of... And later excitedly told me that "they remembered me from last year!" Sunny was a bit confused as to why she didn't get the toy she asked for right then and there... And Gibby and Fletcher both told Santa they just wanted "treats" for Christmas. 

Kindness Day

I didn't realize Medicine Hat had this annual event until now.  It's called "Random Acts of Kindness Day" (rakdaymh.com) and is supposed to encourage communities to be kind and complete random acts of kindness throughout the day to unsuspecting citizens. In return, you're asked to "pay it forward" and pass the kindness along to someone else.  It was such a fun day!

We planned on going to one of the firehalls and delivering coffee and cookies to the staff there.  After that, we boarded a city bus and rode it around for over an hour and handed out more cookies and some bus passes to the riders. The kids had a great time and learned all about how fun it is to be kind.  I had to explain to Griffin that it is important we be kind everyday... just extra kind on kindness day.  He promptly asked me "if tomorrow is rudeness day?" haha.

Here are some pics from the day.

Family Photo

Griffin needed to bring a recent family photo for a school project the other day.  I figured it was a good opportunity to take a new one of the fam.  The plants in our backyard were really pretty colours so I set up a blanket back there and started taking a few shots of the kids.  I was trying to get them warmed up for the family shot while Troy got home from work and showered.  I thought we could practice smiling and looking at the camera.  These are some of the shots I got... and I was really doubting we'd ever get a good family one!

 Ok, everyone look at the camera!

Ok, look at the camera and show me your happy smiles!!

I SAID, look at the camera and show me your happy smiles!!!  

(I have never seen those faces on the girls before!)

After several of the above examples, I got this one :)

And then, a miraculous shot! This was take #1 with the self-timer. 

My conclusion: my kids dislike when a camera has a person behind it.  Self timer is the way to go!

Halloween 2013

I don't work Thursday afternoons so I was lucky to be able to attend Griffin's kindergarten Halloween party.  It was pretty cute to see! 

He was some sort of Power Ranger robot mega-something-or-other... I'm not sure he even knew the correct name - but he thought it was pretty cool.  I can't seem to convince him to let me make his costumes anymore, but I'll try again next year.  All he wants to be is a store-bought superhero these days!

They had a little school dance for the K to grade 2's.  Griffin and his friend Mason were the most serious "chicken dancers" I've ever seen!

Class photo. 

And the little guys were clowns this year.  Inspired by their goofy personalities and the shoes I ordered online that were waaaaay too big and looked like "clown shoes".

No one suited his costume more than this guy!

Sunny once again decided she didn't need a nap that day.  As you can tell, her mood was slightly affected (she started crying the minute I finished her makeup)

 Gibby was my only clown with makeup still on after trick or treating.  She was very careful to stay in character :)

Clownin' around. Don't worry, Sunny cheered up the minute the first treat went into her bag ;)

The Hot Tub

So one unique feature of our house is that the basement came equipped with a big old hot tub. I will never understand what would possess a person to put a giant hot steamy bucket of water in their house, but I have always been tempted to try it out.  Unfortunately Troy (aka the realist) has always been quick to dismiss my crazy ideas - stating obvious facts such as "mold will grow in the walls", or "our whole house will smell like hot tub", or "the kids will drown", or "what if it leaks???".....   famous last words....

So the realist was in a good mood on the weekend and I convinced him (relatively easily I may add) to test out the tub.  After several hours spent filling it up and figuring out what was what, we discovered a nice pool of water forming on the floor underneath the hot tub.  Aaaahhhhhggg... I hate it when he's right! It turned out some tubing let loose... followed by a small leak in a seam... followed by a leaky pump.  BUT, it's all fairly minor (haha) and the thing got the water hot so I figure that's all that matters.  We kept water in it for a couple days so the kids could "swim" and Troy was kind enough to shop-vac the water out from underneath periodically.  I think it will be torn out of there in the near future and maybe refurbished for use outside... where leaks aren't quite as big a problem.  Thanks honey for humouring me and my crazy ideas.

The girls ready to go for a swim...

Griffin enjoying the water - notice his missing tooth on the bottom... that's his very first loss there! 

M&Ms Wedding Day

Last weekend we took a trip to Watrous Saskatchewan to see my big sister get married!  I was a little leary of the 5 hour drive, but the kids travelled really well (especially considering no one napped more than 10 minutes!). It was such a great time... and my sister was so beautiful :)

Mark, you were handsome too! (and your family was sooooo fun by the way!)

Little flower girls...

Mila and our dad

Isn't she gorgeous? And my dad's looking pretty handsome too in his special tux :)

 Another good lookin' couple! Auntie and Mike herding the childrens... 

Nothing like giant lollipops to ensure the fancy clothes stay fancy

I love this action shot of Fletcher. He danced like this the whole time! Such a goof!

They crashed hard... on table linens....

Man I gotta get better at taking more pics. Troy had the camera for the ceremony... then the auto-focus wasn't doing anything automatically... then I had some wine to get me through a couple speeches... then the music got pumping and we just didn't sit down much.  Better to be having a good time then to be busy trying to make it look like we had a good time for the camera I guess!

Every Last Drop...

I've been trying to enjoy every last little bit of summer we're getting.  We had our last camping trip this past weekend to Dinosaur Park... Griff still can't fathom how dinosaurs walked the earth millions of years ago - it was great watching his curiosity in full force!

Today we went down to the river to see if the water had receded enough to reveal our favourite little rock beach.  We were in luck! And that's an understatement.  It was the perfect temp, no wind, and the water was crystal clear.

Griff looking for minnows

Gibby posing

Sunny's shell

Fletch throwing rocks

My First Baby

I took Griffin to his first day of kindergarten today. And let me say I have privately shed many tears anticipating this day.  I'm sure all moms know the feeling. That definitive end to toddlerhood.  And I feel a little jipped that his last couple years as a little guy have gone super duper fast since I've been so busy with his sisters and brother.  So I'm taking the day to wallow a bit... and to reflect on what an amazing little person my very first baby is....

From the minute I laid eyes on him (February 15, 2008)....

 I knew this was a love like no other....

He had to be the happiest baby I have ever met...

He sure knew how to be cute....

Such a little man...

Before I knew it, he was "big" and I was expecting a lot of new "littles"!

Never once has he complained about being the big brother of 3!  In fact at breakfast this morning he suggested we have "just one more baby"...

First day of preschool 2011... and I remember seriously considering withdrawing him cause I was so not ready to have him go!

 First day of preschool 2012

And wow how he's grown! That's my handsome first baby there... who went to school like a champ... and who's mommy sat out front for 20 minutes trying to compose herself and accept this new chapter.  Man how I love you Griff!