Happy New Year

Just a quick note to say have a Happy New Year and we wish you all the best for a happy & healthy 2007! We're just staying home tonight. Miles is on-call so we're having a mellow eve - fine by us! Stay safe :) Here's my contribution to fireworks.... much better in person!

Innocent enough???!!!

OK - I am SOOOO stumped! I've never been so confused in all my life and have definitely never been in this situation because I know everyone (almost) and meet connections of connections in the strangest places. When I got home yesterday, there was a Christmas card from my former employers in Port Alberni and inside was a Christmas card/letter, that they forwarded to me.... only I have no clue who these people are? The address label says Mr & Mrs. William/Elizabeth Innocent and they are from South Hadley, MA (postmarked Springfield, MA, USA) - it's addressed to my maiden name at my first address in Port. The card, in their handwriting reads, Dear Louise, during this holiday season, Bill & I are thinking about family and friends near and far away. We hope that you are well and enjoying life. We hope to get to the island soon - perhaps our visits will coincide. Love, Betty & Bill (there's also a newsletter that states info about their jobs, kayaking, a car accident etc. and at the bottom it's typed "Much Love, Betty & Bill, Skippy & Princess") I called my mom and she thinks it's a joke, which is something that we considered too but??? If anyone knows who these people are please enlighten me. I will post an answer if I find one :)

PS: after checking out some Massechucetts info (on-line) the places and events in the newsletter seem legit...

More Christmas Pictures

Picture One: The centerpiece that Ethan made at school. (See the little green presents? Well I had to re-wrap them after Jackson opened them! Little brothers!!!)

Picture Two: Jackson on Christmas night... sleeping after a hard day of play, with his new pal, "Woody". Thanks Uncle Angus! It's a much loved gift!!!

We just got back from a couple days of visiting with Miles' family in S'toon & R'town. The boys had fun playing with their cousins and their cousin's cousins! (got that?) In total there were eight little boys in the house... the oldest two are 5! Think of the sports teams we can put together in a few years :)

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Here's a different idea for pumpkin lovers - a little more "pizzaz" than the traditional pie! (Even Liam loves it! This morning he had a healthy turkey bacon strip at Grandma's house and he tossed it on the floor...so he's a reliable source in the taste testing dept.) Oh - in total it needs 5 eggs and 2 1/4 cups of sugar. Also - my graham wafer base stuck, so you might want to lightly grease the pan???

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

STEP ONE:

2 CUPS CRUSHED GRAHAM WAFERS

1/2 CUP MELTED MARGARINE

1/2 CUP SUGAR

STEP TWO:

8 oz. CREAM CHEESE

3/4 CUP SUGAR

2 EGGS

STEP THREE:

2 CUPS PUMPKIN (14 oz. can)

1/2 CUP MILK

1/2 CUP SUGAR

1/2 TSP SALT

3 EGG YOLKS (SAVE WHITES)

STEP FOUR:

1/2 CUP SUGAR

1 PKG. GELATIN

1 TUB OF COOL WHIP

Combine wafer crumbs, margarine & sugar. Press into a 9X13 inch pan. Bake at 350F for 5 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar & eggs until very creamy. Spread over crumb crust. Bake for 20 minutes until top looks firm. Cook pumpkin, milk, sugar, salt & egg yolks in double broiler (or microwave) until thick. Dissolve gelatin as per package instructions and add to hot pumpkin mixture. Cool. Beat egg white until stiff. Add 1/2 cup sugar. Fold into cooled pumpkin mixture and spread over cooled cheese topping in pan. Top with Cool Whip. Serves 12 to 15.

Christmas Morning!

Merry Christmas!!!! We had two boys crawl into bed with us around 7am but they were content to just hang out, so it wasn't a super early morning! (bonus!) At 9am, we started opening stockings and presents - Liam was insane with throwing stuff around and robbing everyone else's piles so eventually he went back to bed! Awhile later we heard an almighty crash and realized that the little inmate had jumped jail! Thankfully he was relatively unharmed and we didn't have spend Christmas in emerg with a broken arm or anything :) We were all very spoiled! I'm off now to make a pumpkin cheesecake...tonight for supper, our friend, Rhonda is joining us.

Christmas blessings from our home to yours!

Christmas Eve

Well we had a fun Christmas Eve, fonduing with friends! All went well - no fires!!! The house did stink from oil, for awhile but nothing that a couple open windows couldn't conquer! The boys got to open some new pj's and slippers and off to bed they went! One more sleep....

Scrapbook Calendar

Here is a slideshow of the scrapbook calendar that I made my parents for Christmas :) It only let me upload 11 of the 12 photos though, due to size!

Christmas Calmness!

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace.
Dr. Phil proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you've started and never finished."
So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a bottle of Kahlua, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos and a box of chocolates.
I also crawled back into bed and finished sleeping. You have no idea how freaking good I feel!

Ethan & Ellie

Last night was Ethan's SCHOOL Christmas concert, titled the "Nutcracker". Ethan's class had to participate in one of the opening songs, about a battle between soldiers and mice and then they (kindergarten class only) did the "Waltz of the Flowers". They had flowers around their necks and were paired up... with four boys and seven girls, the ratio is uneven but Ethan got to dance with little Ellie - a sweetie with a head of curls! He actually danced too - it was so cute!

Christmas Baking!

Well - sad to say but this has been my only attempt at Christmas baking! I even used a bought mix & just added the water, butter & egg. Decorating them was fun though & I'm sure Ethan's class will appreciate how cute they look! One more day of school & then it's Christmas Holidays!!!! No routine :)

PS: even though Christmas baking is highly over-rated (sorry Martha Stewart), I DO accept donations if anyone has extras!

In Memory Of....

In Memory Of... my flowers! My dear hubby brought home flowers on December 7th for me - beautiful red roses & gerbera daisies! My dad had had surgery that day & Jackson had been a turkey ALL week... so he knew I was having a stressful week! Very sweet :) Anyways, yesterday, I changed vases, saved the three daisies that were still thriving and set them out again. This morning, as Liam was contained in his highchair, I came into the kitchen to find him playing with the vase and criminal evidence on the floor! No investigation needed - suspect was caught GUILTY & was very proud of himself! He somehow wiggled his highchair (on wheels) close enough to the end table and was quite pleased with his find! Oh well - I got to enjoy them for almost two weeks...

PS: for those wondering how the Christmas tree is surviving... not too bad! E&J rotate ornaments on a daily basis ("so Liam can't reach them!") and yesterday, Liam got a toy golf club caught in the lights - he pulled the tree over as he tried to free his club but thankfully I was right there & intervened with heroic measures! Cheers!

"Wee" Three Kings

As you see (previous post), Ethan was a wiseman for the church concert... well Jackson wore Ethan's crown ALL morning while Ethan was at school, so I thought I better let Jackson create his own crown to avoid a nasty battle! As Jackson happily put stickers on his prized crown, I realized that the part I cut away would make Liam a crown! I got to decorate that one and Ethan was quite clever in declaring that "Now we are all kings! Three kings!" Liam beamed when we gave him a crown too! Jackson wore his to the swimming pool even, when we went for Ethan's lessons this afternoon :)

Better early than late!

On Saturday, Ethan had another hockey game & when I checked the schedule, I'm SURE it said 11:55! Miles asked me again before we left & I said "11:55".... when we got to the arena, the board said 12:55 so I was NOT very popular! There's not really anything to do for an hour in that area, so we just sat on the bench and waited... and waited! I didn't tell them about my college info night in 1991 when I dragged poor Julie Lech with me to the orientation one WEEK early! No wonder the huge auditorium was empty!

Winter Beauty

Here's a picture of a branch just outside my front door. I thought it looked so pretty with the snow on it! That was a couple days ago though... now the streets are a mess, the snow is dirty and vehicles are even dirtier! But anyways - thought I'd share a "pretty moment" with you, while it lasted!

The Dress Rehearsal

Tonight was the children's play at church, titled "The Dress Rehearsal". It was very cute, with the Bite Size class - right up to the teens! Jackson was a shepherd and kept us quite entertained. A few weeks ago, he started talking about the "exercises" that he had to do for church. I asked his teacher what exercises they were doing and she said they had some actions for their song, plus they were "wiggling"! Ethan's class were wisemen & women and they made their own crowns. After I helped get Jackson ready, I went downstairs to take a picture of Ethan, leaving Liam and Jack to play in the classroom. When I came back to get Liam and head to my seat... Liam was no where to be found! He WAS there... I just didn't recognize him since someone put a shepherd costume on him too. I left him with the class to see what would happen but he was delivered to me before the play started! He was sooooo cute! At least I got pictures of him! At the end of the eve, they were all given candy bags and I've just finished the debate of... "you may have your mandarin orange before bed but NOT the "Double Bubble!" Hmmm... gum in the sheets!?

Sensored!

Kid's say the darndest things! A few months ago, my sister-in-law was at the mall with us & she took Ethan with her into La Senza. Upon entering the store, he looked around and said, "oh - it's all for boobs!" A couple days ago, he was talking to my mom on the phone (after being to Disney World) and he told her that the Little Mermaid had "shells for boobs". I explained to him that the shells were like a bathing suit - "well where are her boobs then?" Hmmm.... a boob-fettish at five?!?

The wheels on the bus...

Today was Ethan's first school bus ride! (other than field trips) We don't qualify for the bus route because we live too close to the school BUT our next door neighbor gets to take the bus - go figure! So yesterday, I called the transportation office and they consented to letting him ride the bus in the morning if he went to the neighbor's house but I still have to pick him up at noon. One trip to the school is much better than two, so I'll be grateful for the morning ride! My dear hubby humbled himself and took the camera for me... he wasn't impressed but I did really appreciate it! The kids all get assigned a seat & I guess, much to Ethan's delight, he's at the back!

Oh - and this one's going out to my 2 1/2 year old nephew, Todd... the wheels on the bus go ROUND & ROUND not up & down :)

Squeaky Clean!

Thought I'd better add another picture here or you might forget what my kids look like! Just kidding :) Here they are in the tub on Sunday morning, getting all nice and shiny for church! They used Ethan's sculpting shampoo and made some creative hair-do's!

Seasonal Thoughts

The boys each have one of those chocolate calendars to countdown Christmas.... just now, Ethan asked if he could have a chocolate from his "Advil Calendar" after supper! I told him it was an ADVENT calendar but then got thinking that I could sure use an ADVIL calendar! My parents have those little containers that you can put all your pills in, for the week but wouldn't it be more fun to have them in a festive calendar for the entire month?! Now there's a thought!

You've Got Mail

I was so excited to go to the mailbox today (right outside the door actually) and get a whack of Christmas cards! Yay! It was so fun to look through them and read the newsy letters! Thanks everyone! Mine are still coming....

A Christmas Parcel

Today we received a Christmas parcel from my Granny in Victoria. As I opened it up with Jackson, he saw the box (Pampers) that everything was in and asked, "is it Pull-Ups"? I left the presents in the box, thinking that it's probably not too safe to put anything under the tree until Christmas (because of dear Liam) this year! So... I went down to put the clothes in the dryer and when I came back upstairs Jackson (& maybe Elizabeth) had opened about 1/2 of the presents! Now I get to re-wrap & guess what went to who! Aaahhhh! Don't anyone tell Granny - she won't think it's funny :)

Small things amuse small minds!

Tonight after supper, the boys each grabbed a roll of paper towel (purchased at Costco last night) and for whatever reason, we started tossing them around to each other in the living room! We almost had a lamp and fiber-optics angel fatality at one point but we all had a lot of fun and the boys thought it was hilarious! (so much so that when we told them it was time to stop, they didn't really think we meant it!) So.... if you have children or grandchildren yet to buy Christmas presents for... paper towel is a great toy! (and cheap) If you don't have a Costco membership, I'm sure any brand will be just as fun!

Finally!

In the midst of snow, someone finally showed up to put railings on my deck! I helped him sweep the snow off & I anxiously await the finished project. We bought a 10X10 deck package on May 24th at a Rotary "Live Home Improvement Auction" (a company donates a service or a product and then our money goes to a charity, while they get a tax receipt). Anyways Y-Homes never showed up until mid-August to look at the deck, came back mid-September to start and then left it until Halloween when I called for the fourth time and said, "look we're going away and hate that our yard is exposed to the neighborhood!" They came over, assured us it would be done by the time we got back (they had been here but still no railings). So... last week I sent off a "nice" little e-mail! There was no reply to it (or the phone calls for that matter) but yay someone is here! Oh... here it is a few hours later.... he was here for maybe 1/2 hour, put three posts up and left for the day! Our existing deck was kind of an "L" shape and was put up two years ago, right before we bought the house. The lumber was all new, even though the workmanship was not fabulous. We asked them to keep the original deck and then we wanted the 10X10 to be lower, but snuggled into the "L" to make one big square. This has been such an ordeal, you'd have thought that we asked them to build us a house on a deck budget or something! We also bought an exterior door from this auction that we still haven't seen yet.... how 'bout NO MORE auctions for this family! Maybe next year I'll have some deck pictures to show you!!!

Season's Greetings!

With 20 DAYS left until Christmas, I thought I'd say a quick Merry Christmas to everyone! We hope you all have a happy, healthy Christmas and above all else, may you remember the real "Reason for the Season!" (Here's a Christmasey picture of us with Pooh bear in Florida!)

Tropical Thoughts....

It was an ok day here today but still a typical day on the prairies in winter! Including myself, I have four jackets to put on, eight mittens and.... well you get the picture! (on days that I babysit... five jackets and ten mittens!)Sometimes this is done several times a day! So on cold days like this, I think about warm places & I thought I'd include some pictures to make you feel warm and cozy inside - or plan a vacation!

Family Day!!!

Today we had Ethan's first hockey game and then we went to Boston Pizza for a late lunch. Ethan was a real trooper, having not been on skates since the spring, but his team is short on players so they never really get a break! The coaches actually stay on the ice while they are playing and encourage/instruct them throughout the game. Jackson loved climbing the bleachers and Liam targeted anyone that looked around his age/size to play with! At BP Liam got to have his very own order of "bugs n' cheese" (bug shaped pasta) and devoured it before Ethan & Jackson even got half way through theirs! On our way home we grabbed Starbucks and enjoyed a leisurly afternoon visiting Chrystal & Brent.... After spending three weeks with daddy in Florida, the boys are thrilled whenever Miles can be at home and beg him not to go to work on a daily basis! (the sad thing is that they tell me I should go to work so daddy can stay home!)

Help!

Here it is, December 1st and I finally got a chance to start putting up my Christmas tree! I got it assembled with lights & a couple ornaments (many more to come when the kiddies are in bed tonight) but I have a huge issue.... a one & a half year old who thinks it's hilarious... like a deep baby belly chuckle... to take ornaments off the tree and throw them back at the tree. I have a feeling that it's going to be a LONG Christmas season as far as the tree is concerned! Should be interesting to say the least! Also for those of you familiar with Veggie Tales, when I was putting the tree up and only had the stem and top on, Jackson told me that it "looks like Junior's dad" - I have since filled in the rest of the branches but for awhile I guess our tree looked like an asparagus!!! Here's to another Christmas "through the eyes of a child!"

My Little Flyer

Ethan has just signed up with with 3-4-5 Fun Hockey League so I'm about to become a hockey mom! (His team is the "Flyers") The season started in October but with us being away for November, they said we could just call them when we got back. Last night we went & bought equipment and tomorrow is his first game. The nice thing about the Fun League is that they get practice and a game on the SAME day (no extra driving) and they emphasize FUN! It will be a learning experience but there won't be pressure on the kids at this level! He's pretty excited!

Suburban!

Well today we brought home our new suburban - it's big, black & beautiful. We didn't really NEED it but it might be better on gas mileage than the trailblazer (different engine) & it will be better for towing the tent trailer. It has a lot of gadgets and is quite loaded - I'm sure we'll really like it (once I get used to a bigger vehicle). We saw the exact same one in Green Bay last year at a dealership & Miles was drooling then, so I knew it was going to happen someday! To me, a suburban brings back memories of carpooling to middle-school with the Berkes'! It was also the Dixon-mobile in Port Alberni!!!

Happy Birthday Greg!

Today is Greg's 33rd Birthday! He is Miles' good buddy from Caronport, SK school days & is currently living in Mexico, with his bride of 25 days! Congrats! This summer he came by for a quick visit...

Florida

Well we've been home from Florida now for about a week & a half so thought I'd put in a couple pictures from our trip. We were away from November 1st until the 20th and went with Miles' entire family. Highlights were the 4-night Disney cruise, three rounds of Splash Mountain at 10pm and relaxing at Coronado Springs Resort! On Disney's island, Castaway Cay, we got to see the pirate ship from the movie, "Pirates of the Caribbean". We also got to dock in the Bahamas for the day!

Let it snow!

In the past couple days, we've been competing with all the snow that the west-coast has been getting... only ours will stick around longer, the temperature will be colder and winter will seem like forever! Despite all that, the snow is beautiful even if dear hubby has to use the snow blower twice in a day! The boys were thrilled to be outside, as we walked to pick up Ethan from school, but when Liam decided he wasn't going to sit in the sled anymore and we hadn't even left the school yard yet, I knew we were in for a LONG walk home! Note to self: pick another mode of transportation! As long as the wind is blowing, it is not pleasant to be outside...'tis the season!