Last Day O'May

Here we are at the end of May and it's been my quietest blogging month yet this year.  At the same time it's been one of the busiest months of my year! 

What's been happening:

-Victor and Melissa are still with us and will be until the end of June.  It's going alright but I am certainly going to enjoy being back to just 'us' once they leave.  They are good kids but unique in many ways and do require a lot of  'mothering', driving around and supervision.  I feel like my time to my own family is compromised...so I'm quite glad this is a temporary arrangement.  Melissa is going through grad week right now and her parents are here in town this week.  Thankfully they are driving her to all events!  My kids are also tired of sharing a room and look forward to things settling back down to normal.
-We had a flood in our basement last week when the toilet overflowed.  It was very upsetting as it seeped into our media room carpet.  Keith had to rent an industrial cleaner to deal with the carpet and heavy duty fans to dry out the floor and walls.  It's not quite back to rights yet but it doesn't look like there was any permanent damage.
-We enjoyed a great night out with the Jones and Unrau peeps at Jake's Grill in Lynden last weekend.  I had beef brisket for the very first time and I promise you it won't be the last time!  It was the tenderest beef I have ever had and the BBQ sauce was amazing!  I highly recommend checking this place out.  Aside from the great food, Keith and I so enjoyed the respite from our five children and decided we must do this on a more regular basis.
-Nate has not been too successful in finding summer employment so he is going to be a volunteer at our church's daycamp program for 2 weeks in July.  It will be great experience for him and will boost up his resume for next summer. 
-We dithered for a while but have decided that we will be taking an International student this fall for the entire school year.  With both our kids going to MEI next year, we wanted a way to help pay for the tuition short of me getting another part time job!  It's a bit exciting and nerve-wracking too!  Our student will be from Inner-Mongolia and he's 16 years old.  From his application it seems like he would be a good fit into our family.  Time will tell though and we do have a chance to 'give him back' if it doesn't work out.  Of course, I'll be blogging all about our experience.

I think that's all for now.  Bring on June and bring on SUNSHINE!

1976

June 1976

3 years old

Impersonation Day

The dress up days come fast and furious as the school year comes to a close.  This past Friday it was 'Impersonation Day'.  Students were encouraged to dress up like a teacher, famous person etc.  Nate chose to impersonate his PE teacher, Mr. Wiebe. 
We also had Jesus, Menno Simons (google him if you don't know who he is!) and Anne of Green Gables in the house.  A very fun day for the students!

Free? Not Exactly.

We have been buying Nathan's contacts online from Clearly Contacts.  They seem to have the best price around and it includes free, fast delivery.  They had been emailing me several times over the past few months about an offer of free eye glasses.  I had trashed them until I noticed that Nate's glasses were sitting more than bit crooked on his face and the frames were a bit lame and out of date.  I remembered this free glasses offer and decided to order some online.  After inputting his PD measurement (??) and prescription measurements (I had to do this one by memory!) and selecting frames I was all ready to order these FREE glasses.  Well, since Nathan's presciption is so strong I had to get ultra thin lenses as the 'coke-bottle'  look isn't so great and would not fit these frames anyhow.  That was not free but when all was said and done these glasses cost significantly less than if I had gone to the optometrist to buy them.  They were ordered Monday night and were sitting on my doorstep Tuesday afternoon.  Pretty good for no charge shipping.  Nate really likes them and I think the updated look really suits him. 

This is all good practice for that inevitable day when Keith and I will need glasses in our old age!

Property Virgins

Property Virgins is a show I enjoy on HGTV...when I get a chance to actually watch TV! 

Back in 1996 we purchased our first piece of real estate.  We had been renting an apartment for the first 18 months of marriage but were pleased to find we qualified to buy a brand-new condo which was very close to both of our jobs at the time.  We sold Keith's car for the down payment and plunged into home ownership.  It was a very nice 1100 sq ft, two bedroom place.  It was plan to stay for five years and then move to a house.  Little did we know that we would be victims of the 'leaky condo' fiasco.  We ended up staying there 10 years as we chipped away at a $20K repair bill.  Yeah...that sucked!

Fond memories remain of bringing home our babies here and sharing laughter with friends and family!

We always give our place a little way when we drive by what used to be 'home sweet home'.

Wedding Weekend

The much anticpated day of Bethany and Gordon's wedding had finally arrived.  We were all scrubbed and spiffied up within an inch of our lives.  It was time to head to the 'big city' for the wedding.  Since it was a 2pm wedding, we headed out just after noon in case of traffic.  We didn't want the kids to mess up their clothes with food so we opted for milkshakes instead of burgers!  Along with a few granola bars, this filled up their tummies nicely for a while.

 Liam was a dream during the ceremony.  SO well-behaved.  Now this was due to Keith being smart enough to have his IPod all charged up and ready to go with Angry Birds.  Liam happily played that for the entire time.

Sherbrooke MB Church in Vancouver is the Klassen home church.  My mom went here when she grew up and got married there as well.  All but one of my aunties and uncles were married here too.  Bethany's family is the only one attending there now but it was great to see here getting married here in the tradition of the family.

 It was raining pretty hard so we didn't get as many family pictures as we would have liked.  Thankfully Andrew managed to get one of us all!

 After the wedding ceremony we had time to kill before the reception started.  We had booked a room at the hotel where the reception was being held so we headed back there to swim.  'We' being the boys of course.  Moms who have dolled them selves up with make up and hair products do not swim!

 I just love my cousins!  Teresa & Erin.

 Erin, myself and Kim.

 It was very handy that the boy cousins were all seated together at the dinner.  They enjoyed being away from their parents and we enjoyed sitting with adults and having good conversation!  Of course we had Liam with us but he was PERFECTLY behaved.  Again...thanks to games on my phone and Keith's IPod.  He really was a pleasure to have along.

 Cut little wedding favors.  Sweet Tarts!  I'm not a big fan of candy but these are yummy.

 The new Mr and Mrs Bartel!  They are going to live in Lethbridge after their honeymoon. 
Exuse that black smudge on her dress.  I dropped my camera several days ago and now something is damaged in the lens.  Sigh....probably time for a new one.

 The boys were quite into this whole wedding business.  They asked so many questions and really enjoyed the whole day.  I'm glad I got this picture of them with Bethany.  She was born when I was 15 years old so she always seemed like my 'baby' cousin but I must admit this means she's all grown up now!

And a rare captured moment of us all dressed up.  It was a pretty great day! We were pretty tired byt the time the dancing began so we herded our brood to our room for what we thought would be a good night's rest.   Unfortunately the over night stay in the hotel wasn't as nice.  Liam had several nosebleeds in the night which kept us up.  Nothing like stressing over bloody hotel linens!  Eeeeks.

Cutting Expenses

It certainly isn't cheap getting haircuts for boys these days!  You're looking at between $15-$20 per kid for a decent cut which can really add up over time.  I'm thankful that Keith is a willing barber and he's really good at it too!  He cuts his own hair as well which saves us even more as he likes his hair very short and cuts it every 3 weeks or so.I figure we save around $500 a year. 

 No, this does not include the 'queen' of the family.  I still get my hair professionally cut and highlighted several times a year.  It all evens out!

I Lied

I do believe I may have told one or more people that I would never camp again.  Well......this summer I will be camping at our favorite spot.
It's the only holiday in the budget this year and the boys do love it so, off we go!  I think that Liam will be pretty low maintenance at his ripe old age of 3.5. 
If if rains, you'll be hearing my whining for all eternity.  Please be sunny!!!!

Blooming!

 Well, spring has sprung around these parts.  My time for blogging or even taking pictures so I can blog is rare.  You'll just have to take what you can get.  My mom has been like a busy worker bee in my garden.  This has been a wonderful gift as I just don't have much spare time to be planting this spring.  We shopped together for the plants and she did all the hard work.  Mom...if you read this, I truly thank you!

My front yard looks spectacular (if I do say so myself) with all the blooming shrubbery.  All the Scotts turf builder this spring has made our lawn a very deep green.  I hope the people who live across the street enjoy the view! 

Mother's Day....A Bit of a Joke!

I know that not liking this 'special' day makes me an ingrate and a whiner but it never lives up to my expectations.  There is pressure from all sides to please the mothers in your life which leaves no room to please yourself.  So....if Mother's Day vanished from the calendar I would be the first to let up a big cheer!

Excerpt from an online blog from another Mother's Day 'hater':


I long to celebrate Mother's Day my way: quietly, selfishly. I spend every day with my family. On Mother's Day, I just want to be left alone, to do whatever I want, whenever I want, the way I could before I became a mother. I fantasize about sitting on my front porch with a seasonal beverage, and reading in the breeze. I want to garden, but only a little. I want to jog without a stroller. I want to eat a salad from start to finish, with no interruptions, vegetable complaints, or ketchup. I wouldn't mind pushing a button to summon my children, briefly. I would smile at them, feel pride. But then I would want to push another button and send them away again. I wouldn't mind a date with my husband, but preferably to two different movies. In his, some fellow could make clever quips as he kills bad guys, stops runaway trains, and beds large-bosomed beauties. My film would be foreign, subtitled, and evoke memories of my time as a college student overseas. Perhaps we could meet for dinner afterwards, but only at a restaurant where they use real napkins and none of the choices is macaroni and cheese. 

Pooped

It's been quite a week. 

Keith is currently away in Sooke at a fire prevention convention.  Being mom to five on my own is quite a handful!

Things are going pretty well with our new family members.  With each week they become more comfortable with us which has it's good and bad points.  The boys have had a few blow-outs with each other.  Victor is high energy and is always after the boys to do stuff with him.  My kids are a lot more low-key and independent.  They do not enjoy being pestered 24-7.  We've had to have a lot of chats with Nate and Chad about being a gracious host.  That being said, Victor is fairly well-behaved and responds well to correction.  Melissa is low-maintenance.  She texts, uses her lap-top and plays with Liam quite a bit. 

What they both do fantastically well is eat.  I've never seen children eat so much...especially kids with small builds.  I'm having trouble keeping up making enough food at meals.  There have been times when I have to put food aside before I put it on the table so Keith and I have something to eat.  For instance, last night I made 36 pizza buns and within 15 minutes they were all gone minus the five I put aside for Melissa who was at her tutor.  Seriously!!!  My grocery bill is massive.

It's been a big growing experience for us all. 

No other news at this point.  I feel like we are in coping mode which doesn't leave a lot of time left over for fun trips, activities or anything like that.  Never mind that we don't have a vehicle to get us all out together.  After driving them to their activities, sports etc all week I'm just trying to recover on the weeekends! 

We are heading to a wedding for my cousin on the May long weekend that I am looking forward to very much. 

Year-end wrap up and preparing for next fall at school is in full force.  Summer vacation can't come soon enough!  I look forward to re-charging my batteries.

The Big Move

It was three years ago this month that I made the bold move to apply for a new job.  I was on mat leave with Liam and I knew without a doubt that I could not return to the credit union.  It was a hard decision but made with my sanity in mind.  It all worked out according to His plan and I am very happy!
I love telling people at MEI that I used to be call girl.  The looks on their faces is priceless :)

Track and Field

If you were to look for Nathan at MEI, I'd suggest the Tech Ed lab doing robotics or participating in the racing club or even in the library helping Mrs. Harris shelve books.  You just would not find him doing sports....team sports specifically.  BUT....when it comes to sports such as Track and Field or Tennis he's quite keen. 
He recently was at a T & F meet and overall MEI won the entire thing!  He was proud to be a part of that.  His events were hurdles, long jump and triple jump.  I wasn't able to attend due to work but kind friends took pictures for me.

 Now this is one fantastic group of kids!

My handsome young man.

My Girls

Good friends are a valuable commodity.  I wouldn't say I have lots and lots of friends but truly value the ones I do have.  I hope they know that!
This picture was taken during a shopping expidition to Seattle with some of my besties.  It was so much fun.  Shall we go again, ladies?!