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Try as he may, Keith will never catch up to me.  I am happy to pave the way though.
Happy Birthday to my guy! 

xoxoxo Always.

I am Partied Out!

This week-end marks the end of birthdays for a little while.  Good thing because I am plum worn out.  I've been fighting a nasty cold coming up 11 days now and I never seem to get enough rest to recuperate properly.

We had Nate's belated birthday party with his buddies.  Due to his birthday usually falling during spring break and a lot of his friends being on vacation we have to post-pone it.  He had his closest friends over for pizza, bowling, a movie and sleep over.  His friends are such nice boys...Nate picks good friends!

This afternoon I had the family over for a combined party for both Chad and Keith.  My April loves had a lovely lemon cheesecake.  And now we are good until September!

Playful!

Heather has a very playful spirit.  This makes each day a surprise....not just for me but for other staff members (who fall victim to her pranks!).  Take a look at what we got up to yesterday!

 We even had our custodian in on our fun!  He's such a good sport!

 Ta-da!  Our beautiful master piece.  I wish I could have seen the look on Jeff's face when he saw this!  (he's our VP)

Noodles

I just made my two 'new' kids very happy.  What did it take you might ask?
A case of these:

Cleaning Baby

This wasn't so long ago...yet again seems very far away now!  These babies have a funny habit of growing up.  He still enjoys his bath time but in the tub rather than the sink.  I do believe we were in the midst of bathroom renos at this time.

Spicing It Up

My new children asked me to purchase this for them.  I called it Korean Ketchup.  They put it on EVERYTHING!  Okay, well not quite everything but most everything.

Chad's 'Friend' Party

One of my downfalls as a mother is that I do not like planning or carrying out birthday parties.  I know that some moms find this utterly delightful but I am not on that team.
Keith was wonderful and planned most of the party for me.  He prepared and referreed all the games and activities.  Because I was so under the weather last night with a head cold he also made the birthday cake and the party favors of candy apples.  Thankfully, Melissa was Keith's assistant and I just laid on the sofa while they did all the work.  Now that's my kind of birthday party!
The sun shone brightly today which was perfect since I didn't want all those boys inside.  We were able to have the entire party outdoors.
Here is a photographic summary...

 Melissa really enjoys being with Keith.  I think she misses her dad a lot.

 They made some fabulous creations

 Most impressive!

 The Lego cake turned out well but the color of the icing wasn't quite the blue hue we had envisioned!

 Keith organized 'Minute 2 Win It' styles games which took up the entire afternoon.  The boys all seemed to enjoy them!  This one was pulling  Kleenex from a box....trying to get them all out in a minute.

 Oh and guess who got to cleaned it all up!?

 Folding a paper airplane with one hand was another challenge.

 Putting together a cereal box puzzle proved to be very puzzling for Justin.

 Victor dominated with chop sticks in this challenge!

This involved standing a pencil on end using straws as chop sticks!

And the grande finale was cake, present and whacking each other silly with pool noodle light sabers that Keith made for all the boys.

So, another successful party under the belt.

Chad was very happy so it was entirely worth it!

How Things Are

Well, it's only been three days but so far things are going well with our guests.
Victor is very comfortable here and he's really a nice kid.  Him and Chad get on like a house on fire.  They already have nicknames for each other and have played many air hockey games. Victor has exclaimed more than once:  Man, I love this family!  He must be enjoying having 'brothers'!
Victor and his sister, Melissa are also very sweet with Liam.  Liam is pestering them to death so their patience is appreicated.
Melissa is a very quiet and private person.  I've gotten her to laugh and smile a few times but it's an effort.  They are close siblings and I can see they really look out for one another.
It's early days yet but if every continues in this manner, I will be most pleased!

Our Chad-a-lacka!

It appears that my little boy is having a birthday today!  Now that he is 11 years old I suppose 'little boy' no longer applies.  I suppose since his feet are a size 10 mens that also indicates no more 'little boy' either!

Chad is like a little puppy.  He needs lots of pats on the head, lots of affection, lots of affirmation and plenty of cuddles.  He's ultra sensitive to critisim and drinks up praise like water.

He's a great kid, super smart, creative and we do love him to pieces!
Happy Birthday Chad!

Take Me Back

My cute little boys.  I can't believe how time has flown.

Five Becomes Seven

Our family is embarking on new unchartered territory.  It's a bit of a long story but to summarize we are having two MEI students come and live with us for a month...possibly until the end of the school year.  Mom is in a rather desperate situation as her husband who runs their business on the Island is quite ill and she needs to go and take care of him.  She asked MEI if there would be a family who could take in her kids while she does this.  Keith and I were asked and considered it carefully.  We decided we could do this as we have plenty of room and it would give us practice for  having an international student we are considering for later this summer! 

So another son and a daughter (!!) will be arriving today. Victor is in grade 7 and Melissa is in grade 12.  They are Canadian Koreans.  They seem to be very nice kids and I hope we can make them feel a part of the family.

I am excited, nervous and......eeeks!  Am I crazy?

This committment involves a lot of extra driving due to the amount of extra curricular activities they are involved in but thankfully it's all fairly close to home. 

I'll keep you all posted on the adventures that lay ahead!

A.C.T. Presents ~ Snow White

This spring's production was 'Snow White'.  Not exactly the Disney version but close.  It had to be amended to fit 37 actors!  It was well done...as always.
Nathan was one of four mousekateers and even though it was a fairly minor role he played it with excellence. Freddy the director always says "There are no small parts, only small actors"!
Snow White was beautiful and I'm sorry I didn't get her photo.  She could definitely make it in Disneyland.  All the little girls that attended the play in their own princess costumes had their pictures taken with her after the show.
So, there goes another season and since Nathan is so passionate about A.C.T. I'm sure we'll be back for the fall season as well.

In the lobby they had all the actor's bios and instead of a write up about themselves they were to finish this sentence:  When I am 30.....

This was due to the fact it is ACT's 30th anniversary!

Nathan really doesn't want to be a plumber but he told me he didn't know what to put down so just randomly made something up!

It was very entertaining to read all the kids write ups.  Most had very common visisons of being married and starting a family by age 30.  I would have thought that was all very passe to this modern generation and was pleased to see it.  I think it shows these kids come from happy homes and they want that for themselves one day.  It's a fantastic group of kids and I'm so pleased Nathan has found his niche.

Take Me Back

I believe this picture was taken at Harrison Lake in June 2003.  Nathan had just gotten over the worst flu imaginable.  He didn't eat for about a week.  As you can see he's positively skeletal!  It was very worrisome and were glad to finally be able to get some meds to settle his tummy so he could eat again.  As you can see, Chad is healthy and hearty and oh, so cute!

Easter Weekend!

It's been a while since I've posted but I have very valid reasons.  Some I will share with you now and others in an upcoming post!  We were so thrilled to have Keith's sister Suzanne and her little family come and stay with us five days over Easter.  I finally got to cuddle and love on my little nephew and spoil his parents silly. 

Keith and I just couldn't believe what a little man, Barrett is.  Light as a feather after lugging around huge three year olds such as Liam.

I think I made eight loaves of Paska over the last week!

 I hosted Easter dinner for Keith's side of the family.  Tyler and I took care of all the food and I must say we were a good team in the kitchen! 

 The second cousins really enjoyed hanging with Chad!  Liam wasn't quite as enthralled.

 We cooed, oogled and ahhhh'd over little B as much as we could.

 Some of us really enjoyed all the Easter goodies!

 Sleeping cutie!

  And yes, there were crying moments because after all that's what babies do!

 The new family of three....or four if you count the dog!  Tyler and Suz are great parents...naturals for sure. 

And an Easter egg hunt that the boys still enjoy very much!

Well, I suppose now that Easter is here I can log onto Facebook.  I did it.  Forty days and no Facebook.  I probably could give it up now that I've been away from it so long but must remain online so I can keep up with my gorgeous little nephew!  Hopefully I can exercise a bit more self-control and limit my time on it more wisely.  That's the goal anyhow!

Take Me Back

I had decided that for my 30th birthday I wanted to go skiing...just like old times.  Kori's parents drove us up to Hemlock (just like old times).  Keri, Kori and I had skiied together as teens so many times.  Our moms would tirelessly drives us up to the slopes and sit in the lodge all day as we skiied.  What great moms we had!  We each had our own ski equipment (saved for and bought with our own money) and had fabulous neon ski jackets!

We enjoyed skiing that day very much.  It made us feel 16 again...until the next day when our muscles screamed at us!

Year 1 Anniversary

We have been in our 'new to us' house for one year now.  It's felt like a year....we've experienced each season in this home and are getting to know it better.  Summers are nice and cool on the main floor and basement.  The upstairs is horribly hot.  Winters are toasty warm on the main and the basement is even warmer but the upstairs is freezing.  The house is quite sound proof and it's not often I hear the rain or wind during the night.  All in all a good house!  We have accomplished a lot in making the house 'ours' but I feel we do have a long ways to go yet.  The bare walls abound and there are many empty spaces that just need something...but I don't know what!  All in good time, I tell myself.  Patience!
Here is some of the transformation thus far....

 The entry hasn't been changed dramatically but the floral faux stained glass applique was removed and the paint color updated and of course the new baseboards.

 The family room was painted and received a new sofa set and area rug.

 We found a home for the two bald guys (our invaluable moving help!!!) and patched up the grass.  Keith worked very hard to install his hot tub, build planters and extend the patio

 The livingroom/dining room received new carpet and paint and 2-inch blinds.  The empty walls are crying for a decorator's touch!  Oh and unlimited access to a bottomless bank account.

 New carpet and paint for the entire upper floor, more 2-inch blinds on the landing window and new baseboards.

 Keith did a beautiful new wood trim between the living and dining rooms.  I can't wait to get a new buffet in the space in the dining room.  One day!

 The man cave already had decent paint and fairly new good quality carpet so we didn't do too much there.  Just a new sectional and it's one of our favorite rooms!

Future projects include getting our office/computer room in order.  Making a guest room with a proper bed and some yard work is really needed. 
It feels like home and we love it.