Halloween Stuff

The boys dressed up as scarecrows for school. I think they look more like farmers myself!

Carving pumpkins with Dad. My role is to take pictures. That's it!


The boys design and Keith carves. I think that they look great!


Even Liam got in on the festivities. He's as cute as a bug!


Only Chad was interested in heading out trick or treating this year. We managed two cold hours out there before we came home to unload the booty. All chewy and sticky stuff to Nathan while Chad keeps the chips and chocolate.

Halloween is done for another year. It was nice that Keith was home for a change. He gets fireworks patrol on Diwali instead.

Going to head to bed now with the sounds of firecrackers ringing in my ears and a tummy full of 'junk'!

Nerds

Yesterday was 'Nerd Day' at school and I forgot. Marci forgot as well. Heather was not impressed!

So Marci raced home and came back with outfits for us both. Pretty good for a last minute get up! School spirit is alive and well at MEI Middle School!

A side note on the Bella saga. I got an email this morning from W telling me that she got in contact with the new owner Troy. Troy said that for the first two days Bella wasn't very nice to him but she's turned the corner and letting him pet her. Apparently she's already the best of friends with his 6 month old kitten 'Princess' which makes me really happy.

Sounds like I can let out a HUGE sigh of relief.

Thank you for your kind comments. They helped me so much.

Heart Broken

My emotions are a mess right now. I generally try to keep the 'tone' of my blog positive but there has been a situation that has made my heart hurt badly these past several days.

It has to do with Bella. It's a bit complicated but by typing it all out here I am hoping to possibly find some relief and even closure.

We originally found Bella via our neighbor who I will name 'W'. W worked part time for a local realtor and he was needing to re-home his cat due to allergies. We took Bella and W said that if it didn't work out that she would re-home the cat for us as she does this 'on the side' for people. I had no reason not to trust her about that. She has lots of pets so I know she's an animal lover.

Well, after things not working out like we had hoped I contacted W and asked her if she would maybe ask around for a new home for Bella. This was on Friday afternoon. On Saturday she emailed to say she had found a home for Bella in Vancouver and she would take her in on Sunday. It was fast and we were relieved to have found her a home so quickly. We knew if it dragged out it would be harder on the kids.

So the cat was delivered on Sunday and I looked forward to hearing how it went. I emailed W and no reply. I emailed again...no reply. I knew she was home...I can see her house! I was getting really agitated at this point as I felt very very responsible to make sure this cat was re-homed properly and was happy.

I knew that my other neighbor friend had driven into Vancouver with W and so I emailed her instead to ask how things went. This is where things got very very bad.

I found out several things that made me really upset. First of all W sold my cat on Craigslist for $35 and secondly the cat was sold to to a man who recently got out of jail and lives in poverty in a slum-like apartment in East Vancouver.

Please before you judge me YES I'm sure an ex-con can love a cat as much as anyone else but can he afford to feed her (and his current cat) and take care of her properly? This is NOT the type of home I envisioned Bella going to. We would have kept her if we knew this was the alternative!

After hearing all this I needed some sort of peace of mind Bella was doing okay with this new living situation. So I asked W for this man's email address (I knew she had made the delivery arrangements with him via email) so I could at least ask him how things were going and to let him know if it wasn't working out we would drive out and pick her up. But W won't give it to me and my hands are tied.

I've never felt such frustration in my life. I know it's 'just a cat' and I can't believe that I feel so so upset by all this but I do.

As it stands now there is nothing more I can do but just hope and pray everything will be fine. And it very well COULD be fine...it's the not knowing that is hard.

So tonight I'll shed a few more tears for my poor kitty. Lesson learned: If you want something done right just do it yourself.

When It Was Four

2002 Family Photo

My how things have changed!

Who Likes Mondays?

Me, I do. That's who.

Did you know that every Monday my mom has us all over for supper?

Some might say I'm spoiled.

I say that my parents really value getting together with us on a regular basis so we feel connected and keep a good relationship.

The boys really benefit as well and have such a great relationship with their Nana and Grandad. This is something I didn't get with my grandparents.

I'm very thankful for this.

And one day I hope to do the same for my kids when they are grown and have flown the coop.

So, that is why Mondays are a GOOD day for me!

So Long Bella

We're a bit sad but our time with Bella has come to a close. The fit wasn't quite right between our home and Bella. It's hard to know a cat's personality until you've lived with them for a few months. We've come to realize that maybe our home wasn't the best for her. She needs a lot more stimualtion than we were able to provide her. She's the most energetic cat I've ever met! Also, Liam tormented her to no end and it was getting ridiculous! No punishment ever deterred him.

The main kicker was that Bella would randomly attack Keith. You might laugh and say: But she's de-clawed, how's that possible?! Well, she bit him quite hard on more than one occasion. She would act like she was okay with him for a few weeks and then just sort of go weird on him. She was part Siamese and they do have a touch of psychotic personality...I am convinced.
She hated being picked up and wouldn't sit on anyone's lap which again, was just her personality but we would have enjoyed her liking that.

To be honest we even feel a little bit guilty about all this. Perhaps we didn't think it through enough before we took Bella in. Our lifestyle is just crazy right now and how the heck did we think we could devote any time to a cat with our comings and goings. Sigh.....lesson learned.

Other than that, she was very sweet and the boys are quite sad about it. They do understand why we must re-home her which is good.
Her new home is in an apartment on the 15th floor in Vancouver (she'll now be a city cat!) and she'll have a 6 month old kitten to play with.

From this point on we will have to enjoy other people's pets as we won't have one of our own again for the foreseeable future.

The Electronic Babysitter?

Liam likes TV now. It took a while but I persisted. I don't give two hoots what 'they' say about toddlers watching TV. At the right time of day that TV (and a few favorite DVDs) is a HUGE sanity saver for me!

Little Punkins

It had been a few years since we took the kids to the pumpkin patch. Nate and Chad had outgrown it somewhat but now we are back. Liam needs to have some good childhood experiences too!

We started out heading towards the Apple Barn. In years past we had always, always gone to Willow View Farm but decided to switch it up a little. Let's just say we were not impressed. The whole thing at the Apple Barn is very commercialized. You have to pay to do ANYTHING and it's not cheap ($28 per family!). The crowds were insane so we basically walked around for five minutes and decided to return to Willow View. What a good decision! There were no crowds and prices were more than fair. The only 'extra' you pay for is the tractor ride at $2 a head (minus Liam). You can enter the petting zoo for free and anything else you'd like to see and do.

Willow View still has that family feel there and we've learned our lesson about straying from it!

Liam enjoyed wandering about in the pumpkin display. He was overwhelmed (in a good way) with all the sights and sounds around him.
Trying to help Daddy pick up a pumpkin. Too heavy!

Liam loves animals and thought that feeding the billy goat was pretty cool!

My boys are growing like weeds!

I could hardly believe that Nathan is almost 5'4"! Won't be long before he shoots up past his parents.

Liam was beyond thrilled to get a ride on the hay wagon. Right now his favorite DVD at home is a 'Mighty Machines' show all about farms. He's pretty keen on tractors and being able to sit right behind one was exciting!

Bumpity bump bump...off we went on a s-l-o-w trip around the fields.

Of course one of the main purposes of the trip was to select some pumpkins for carving. Everyone was quite pleased with their finds.

Here Nathan is dreaming about pumpkin pie and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Keith and I sat up front on the wagon with Liam but N & C thought the back of the bus would be much more fun. I snuck in a picture of them when they weren't looking. Chad seems to be straining under the weight of his pumpkin!

Thankfully the rain held off and it was a great day out with the kids.

To Celebrate Mom

I had my parents in on Sunday to celebrate my mom's birthday. Aren't I a good daughter? Well, I'm her ONLY daughter so it's all up to me, it seems :)

I would have loved to have made something more exciting than chicken and potatoes BUT my mom is on a very restricted diet due to digestive issues and cannot do ANY dairy whatsoever. Add to that is that fact my dad doesn't eat red meat (due to kidney stones) and it becomes more challenging to make a meal! That being said it was tasty and she enjoyed it.

So in lieu of birthday dessert (name a dessert without dairy?!) she had a second helping of salad and we stuck a candle in it. One just had to make due with the present circumstances!

After dinner we all gathered 'round the TV to watch our beloved 'Amazing Race'. It was a great evening!

Since We're On the Topic

You can 'take me back' to Dundoan, Ireland while you are at it.

There is so much beauty in this world to see. I want to see it ALL!

Sometimes even twice :)

Ladies Who Lunch

We all had the half sammie and soup. I had yam and apple soup (so good) and they had the turkey chowder. We may or may not have had dessert. There is no evidence.

To celebrate K & K's birthday we ladies took a little trip out to Aldergrove to have lunch at Milsean. Have you been there? It's a cute little shoppe with all sorts of 'this and that' for sale along with great sweets made on the premises. They also have a small eating area in a lovely sunny solarium. We had a very nice leisurely lunch together. Thanks to you both for the date!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom

Lis

Busy Lizzy

Nana

Nathan, Chad, Mom, Oma

She's unique, quirky, one of a kind and we love her!

Thoughts on Pastry and Tweens

My parents brought us a huge box of lovely orchard fresh apples from Keremeos this past weekend. As much as I love to eat them fresh, I wanted to get some yummy baking done as well. I found a recipe on one of my favorite sites and thought it looked easy enough. Oh but no....it did not work out for me. I never seem to get pastry to turn out right. My apple pie in a pan turned out to be a regular apple pie.

It looks okay but we'll see after we eat it tonight for 'pudding'!

On another topic completely, Nathan arrived home from school yesterday asking me how he could earn some money. Apparently there is a book fair happening at his school and he's got his eye on a set of books he'd like to purchase. Of course there is never a shortage of work around here so I told him he could earn $10 by mowing the front and back lawns.

Nathan is a recent graduate of the lawn trainee program and it hasn't been his favorite chore but he does it well. Our mower is a heavy and cumbersome thing...poor kid gets quite the work-out on our sloped yard.

He already earned the other half of his desired sum by babysitting on Monday night so Keith and I could go and see a movie. By the way....'The Social Network' is a good one. We recommend!

I was pleased that Nathan asked me how he could earn money rather than asking for it straight out. It's good for kids to know the value of work and payment for a job well done.

Take Me Back...

...to Silver Strand. I will go back. I will!

Special Girls

Special in more way than one, you might say!

Happiest of Birthdays to Keri and Kori who I'm proud to have known for 24 years now. I wish you both the best year yet.

Thankful Heart

Oh Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good, His Love Endures Forever!

Thanksgiving Encore

Thanksgiving with Keith's family.....was good! Liam was the centre of attention once again as he got his belated birthday gift from Auntie Suz and Tyler. A new starter bike!

He loved it from the start and zoomed around the house as much as he could. It's one of these modern bikes with no pedals. It basically teaches kids balance so from here they can go straight to a bike without training wheels. I'm all for that!

Liam enjoyed 'pinning' (no 's' in Liam's vocab yet) the wheels just as much as riding the bike!

Busy in the kitchen. Lois made us a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings. It was great!

Suz and Tyler. My kids look forward to calling him 'uncle' one day. Maybe soon you two?!?!?

I made two desserts for the evening. Triple Chocolate Treasure cake...first time I made it. Very good and very rich!

And Pumpkin Toffee tarts. Yummy!

If I want any photos with me in it, I've got to take them myself!

Grandma thought that the bike was just her size! As you can see it's not too far off :)

Because of the late hour Liam was getting really sensitive and clumsy. He kept falling off the bike and getting mad so we took it away. Then the crying really began in earnest.

But dessert makes everything better and soon he was happy again!

Whee-oo! Whee-oo!

A trip to the fire station is ALWAYS a highlight for Liam. He is very, VERY fond of all things 'fire truck'!

Bookworm in Training

At the moment we are just working on 'volume' control while we are visiting the local public library. Liam's exuberance can get rather noisy!

Towards Independence

Funny, how Liam's desire to do things 'all by myself' does not transfer over to his older brothers! Although Nathan willingly makes his and Chad's lunches each evening, I know he wishes mum still did it for him. And to be honest, I still do on occasion.