Lots to Look Forward To!

My week wrapped up!  

Oh this week flew, but don't they all?  Keith has been so very busy in the garage every spare moment working on pieces for the set of 'A Christmas Carol'.  I have been single-parenting it quite a lot.  But still have managed to find time to get in my power walks each night.  One day I dragged Keith away from the power tools, another night I took Nate and the rest of the nights were spent on the treadmill.  I only exercise to maintain these days since my eating isn't as disciplined as it should be!  Thankfully I thoroughly enjoy my power walks and don't like to miss.  The boys will be at rehearsals all weekend as next week is the big production.  Liam and I are going to put up the Christmas tree (well, that's the plan anyhow!) and go see the Christmas tree lighting and parade at High Street Mall.  Have you been there yet?  I really like that new mall...it's a great addition to Abbotsford!  

 Last weekend, Liam 'helped' me make Banana Chocolate Chip muffins.  I have to admit I wasn't too sad when he lost interest fairly quickly.  I am not so great at sharing my kitchen space.

On my day off, I was out around the lunch hour and got a brilliant idea to meet Keith for lunch.  He was pleasantly surprised by my phone call and we met up for Chinese food.  It was a such a nice time that we decided that we would do this once a month.

I am looking forward to Christmas break already.  I have about 2/3 of my shopping done and have my baking list sorted and my ideas for Christmas dinner pretty much solidified.  The music has started playing on the radio and I'm starting to feel that lovely coziness that Christmas brings.  Liam is singing carols already that he is learning at school and Chad has been playing carols on his clarinet.
So thankful we have Christmas to break up the long winter!

Catching Up & Winding Down

 Hey friends.  It's been a while...sorry!  I'll just bring you up to date with a few snippets of the past week or so.

 Our new electric fireplace was looking pretty empty but I wasn't sure what to decorate the mantle with.  A few days ago I went down the Christmas aisle at Costco and these little owls spoke to me.  I find that it's the 'Year of the Owl' in decor and while I am not generally a trendy gal I just loved these pieces.  And they were very affordable.  They like their new home.  They told me.

On Remembrance Day we went to support Keith and remember the soldiers at the local Cenotaph.  It was a fairly balmy day...dry and around 14 degrees.  Liam was very restless but it was a meaningful ceremony none-the-less and I'm glad we went.

Kori and Heather must have made some secret plans and left me out.  NOT nice!  Actually we find that unintentional matching days happen more often than not in our office.  It's a sign we're all bonded and like-minded!  In case you were curious, Kori is doing incredibly well in her new position at MEI.  I'm super proud of her!

1980's & Nerd Day at work was so fun.  We are all of fairly similar age so we were nice and comfortable with our outfits, mannerism and have fun playing the top hits over the internet.  Like, totally rad!

 Liam is keeping us on our toes and constantly entertained with his hilarious one-liners and funny stories.  He's become quite 'infamous' at school and he's endeared himself to the office staff, admin and teachers at both the elementary AND middle school.  

Ah yes....the traumatized child.  Liam watched the movie 'Charlotte's Web' for the first time and was beside himself with grief once the movie was over.  Charlotte died and Liam could not be consoled.  Poor tender-hearted little lamb.  The same thing happened to Nathan 10 years ago!  

And now for the winding down news.  I have lost my bloggy mojo.  I am finding it rather a chore than a pleasure.  I already post most of my current events on facebook so to duplicate my photos and updates is rather tedious.  My readership is way down, my picture taking is also rather dismal (crappy camera to blame?), my time on the computer is shorter and well, it's just not like it used to be.  I will most likely discontinue regular posting after Christmas.  I will keep the blog open and perhaps will post 'big events' as they happen but the day to day 'stuff' of life will not be recorded on this medium.  

It's been a good ride!  

Feels Good to Give

All ready to drop off their Samaritan's Purse shoe boxes at church this morning!

Reached My Limit

My boys like to drink water and this is a healthy and proper thing to do.  They also like to drink water, leave the cup randomly on the table or counter and then forget which one is theirs.  Then they take a new cup.  Repeat, repeat, repeat.

This had to stop.

The mother ran out of patience with this untidy habit.

My solution was to give each child a 'spot'.  Their cup may live in this spot only and they will only take out ONE cup per day.  

Rinse and re-use, I say!

Plunging Into Debt

We are officially the proud owners of this tank.  It had been something we had talked about for several months now.  Doing the two car thing to do family activities to include William was getting pretty old.  I was also tired of going to church in two separate vehicles.  We can now happily seat eight peeps in one place...this 2013 Pilot is very roomy and fun to drive too.  It's got a few bells and whistles such as a back up camera that have been fun to use.  It's our very first NEW car....the inside smell is lovely.  I wonder how long it will take to smell like 'eau-de teen & child'?

The biggest thing that prompted this to happen over the weekend is that we found out that some issues that our CRV was having, were going to possibly be expensive to fix.  It also needed new tires and brakes.  Now was a good time to trade it in....even if we had to say good bye to our new hitch and roof racks!  

The dealership gave us a great trade in value (shocking) and with $5000 off the price due to clearing out the 2013 stock we timed it just right.

Hello car payments!

'I Learned a New Word Tonight'

This is what William told us as he sat in the fast track section of the ER room on Saturday night.

As he and his friends were walking home from town on Saturday night a car hit them while they were crossing an intersection in a cross walk.  It was dark, rainy and the boys were wearing dark clothes but they did have the right of way.  The car was just accelerating to turn left so it wasn't going too fast...it could have been so much worse.

God had his hand on the whole thing as an ER nurse on her way to work saw the incident, called the ambulance and stayed on scene.  She's the one that called me at home to let me know what happened.  One friend didn't get hit, the other was bumped and William was bumped down to the ground, hitting his shoulder and elbow.  

As we rushed to hospital, the police were still at the scene (not to far from our house) and we were able to stop and get the 'scoop' from them.

At the hospital we were met by the home stay rep from school and she dealt with all the financial and insurance matters.  

After a fairly short wait, William was x-rayed and seen by a doctor.  He's pretty much fine...sore and bruised.  The international grape-vine went nuts and before we knew it another friend showed up in the ER to make sure William was okay and actually had called home to China to tell his parents.  These parents phoned William's parents and caused quite a worry because they didn't have proper information.  Brenda gave this boy a severe tongue-lashing about jumping the gun on spreading information that was not his to spread.  William's mom called his cell directly and I think felt much better after speaking to him and knowing for sure all was well.

So......that was a bit stressful.  William and his friends got a chat from us too about not paying attention when they walk.  Often, they have headphones on and are head down texting and walking.  Danger, boys!

So, what was William's new word?  ADVENTURE!

Halloween '13

 This year's designer collection done by my artists in residence

 A kitty as per his request

 All ready to go out with his youth group to collect for the food bank

Roar!  Ready for some treats!