Christmas!!

We had a nice quiet Christmas this year! Not say that I don't miss being around lots of family. I missed that a lot. In fact anytime I would call home or someone would call me I could hear laughing and games being played! I wished we could have been there too. Needless to say we did have great Christmas just the 4 of us. It all started Christmas Eve at Sharisse and Aron's. They claim that they just needed a Mary for the nativity that's why they invited us!! Really they just can't get enough of us!! It was lots of fun we started off the night making homemade pizza's, eating wings, and yummy spinach dip! We were all so full. I made fruit pizza for dessert. ( thought that I would stay in the theme of pizza for that night.) Then we went down stairs to try and burn off are supper playing dance dance revolution... well that lasted not too long then we played the make a movie game which is tonnes of fun! Emma couldn't get enough of watching herself on the TV! We opened pj's, and then I attempted to put Tobin to bed. Well that was a fun mess to clean up! My children have a tendency to throw up if they get too worked up...well Tobin got really worked up. It was really nasty. After the clean up, he got new pj's on. We just kept him up after that. I think it was his way of telling us he didn't want to miss anything. We attempted acting out the nativity(so much for inviting us just for Emma) she really wasn't much of a willing participant. I guess acting probably won't be in her future anytime.

We hung for a while and sang some songs and then Me and Travis and the kids headed home so

that we could go to bed and Santa could come. We got up around 8am and came up stairs. Emma was pretty excited that Santa actually came! She has talked to him several times on the phone and not always because she has been a good girl! Anyways we opened presents and then we had a breakfast that included quiche, buffalo sausages, homemade hash browns and orange juice. It was really yummy!

Christmas was lots of fun the kids had a good time and we ate lots! Hope everyone had a great holiday!

Makeover's and First Birthdays!

The other day I let Emma use my makeup to give me a makeover! Boy did she have fun. Then of course it was my turn to give her one! We were so beautiful by the end. She even gave Travis a make over... his was much more masculine though!

Tobin turned 1 on the 19th of December. I can't believe he is already a year old. It seem like I just brought him home from the hospital. OK maybe not when I look at how big he is but it really has gone by fast! For his birthday we went swimming with Michele and her kids. We had a lot of fun then we went home and had supper. Then it was time for the cake. It took him a few minutes of squishing the icing between his hands... I think he needed to get a feel for what he was going to be eating. Once the first taste of icing went into his mouth he was off. He thoroughly enjoyed his cake. And we all enjoyed watching him eat it.

For his birthday he got new bath tub toys from mom and dad

and new really cute shoes from short grandma and grandpa!! That's what grandma and grandpa are called around here. We have short ones and funny ones! Emma cleverly came up with that! Anyways we had a great day and love Tobin so much. He is trying to walk and is starting to let go of things and take a few steps. He is getting braver everyday! His favorite place to sit is on the couch anywhere that Emma is sitting! And he makes sure he is right on top. He does climb up there all by himself. He is full of energy and makes lots of funny faces. Tobin has 5 maybe 6 teeth now... honestly I haven't put my finger in his mouth for a few days. Sort of a dangerous thing to do! He loves waving bu bye and saying Dada. Those are a few of the things that he is up to at the age of one. Happy Birthday Tobin we love you!

We Have An Artist!

Another week has gone by and not a lot has happened other than the fact that I really havn't left the house. Like everyone has been talking about it has been stinkin cold. As much as I don't like staying in our little house, it's much warmer than going outside! I think it got down to -50 c for a few days. Thats just deathly cold! So me and the kid have just hung out at home and watched a lot of movies, colored and well one day we did go over to Mindy and Dustin's.

I went over to Mindy's to help her with her growing business. It was a lot of fun and I actually really enjoyed helping her. So of course I took Emma with me because Kyla is one of her best friends and she needed to get out and play. We left the girls upstairs to play while we worked on the letters. Well... Emma came downstairs to show me how pretty she looked! At this point it was only on her arm and I got mad at her and told not to color on her. So probably another 20mins went by and down she came again. This time it was not just on her arm but all over her other arm, face, neck, and pants. It was red and green so at least she was festive! It was one of those moments where you are just not sure if you should get mad, laugh or just take a picture. You can tell by her face in the picture that she in not too sure what's going to happen to her. Moral of my story... don't leave 3 year olds unattended for a long periods of time!!!

We are all ready for Christmas and look forward to having a relaxing Christmas with just us. We love having family around but this year we just don't have the space for anyone and Travis has to work. Next year will be a lot easier to have people come up and stay!

We do have are news letter done we just need to mail some off and send the rest with Dustin and Mindy. Hope everyone is staying warm. Put on your slippers and pour yourself a mug of hot chocolate.

Christmas Hustle and Bustle!

Well December has officially begun for us. It only took me a week into the month to get the tree up and decorated. I must say my house looks lots better with the Christmas decorations than it did before. We have had a busy month already and it is just starting!

Last weekend we went out to Kevin and Michele's house for our family Christmas party. It was lots of fun. Emma had a blast dressing up. She came out in about 7 different outfits... the yellow sparkly tutu and body suit was a definite favorite that's for sure. We did a white elephant exchange... Sharisse was the luckiest this year meaning( she got my present!!! Lucky girl!) It was an electric plunger! Everybody needs one of them. Travis was the second luckiest. He opened up 4 boxes of leftover Halloween chocolate bars. Just what we need when were trying to get ourselves into shape!! We had a good time and look forward the party every year!

The next day was the Syncrude Family Christmas Party. They always have some kind of performance like a magician or puppeteer. This year was a magician. He was really good but I think the adults were more entertained than the kids! Then it was off the eat good ole hamburgers and hot dogs!MMM! After that we went to visit Santa. I really thought that Emma would go and sit on his lap this year but... there was no way! She didn't want to get close to him. We finally convinced her to sit on the stool in front of him. We put Tobin on Santa's lap and well... I think the picture speaks for itself! Oh ya lucky me got to be in it too. The kids get really good presents every year too. This year who ever bought the gifts couldn't have been more on! Emma got a barbie princess throne, it came with earring, bracelets, rings, and a necklace. She loves it. Tobin got a Winnie the Pooh toy that makes lots of noise. It was perfect for the age that he is at. And they both got a balloon that really seems to be the high light of the day!

That evening Travis and I were off the the Syncrude Adult Christmas Party. Like always tonnes of people I have never seen and a few that Travis knew. We just go there for the food. We actually left and went to a movie after dinner. It was a good night.

I think for the most part the parties are over and now I need to do a little Christmas baking. Me and Emma made some sugar cookies that turned out pretty good! I'm still searching for a really good sugar cookie recipe... does anyone have one i could try?

We are excited for Christmas and look forward to all the joy that comes with this time of the year... even the cold weather... I guess!

Our House

Well here it is! This is the house that we are going build. We are still waiting on the final architectural approval and permits but, one day it will happen. I seems so far away right now and sometimes it feels like it's never going to happen.

We have been trying to get into the Christmas spirit. I took the kids to the Santa Clause parade last Saturday. We froze are butts off but we did see Santa Clause. Was it all worth it...umm Emma got to wave to Santa. Honestly I won't be doing it again unless Travis is with me. Tobin pretty much cried the whole time. Or wanted to be held... and for those of you who have held my son before know that, that is not an easy task considering he weight. Thank goodness Sharisse and Michele were there to help me with him.

This weekend is going to be a busy one. I'm planning on taking some pictures for you all to see. We have a family Christmas party on Friday and then Saturday is Syncrude's family Christmas party and the adult party in the evening. I'm hoping for some good Santa pictures of the kids! Emma told me that she wasn't going cry! I guess we'll see. I will have pictures of are Christmas tree soon too.

I would take more picture of my kids but lately all Emma will wear no matter what I do is just her panties... has anyone told her that its winter out side!!! Then when I actually force her to wear something she insists on just wearing a princess dress. Does anyone else have this problem?

Funny Looking Y's

The other day me and Travis decided that we should all get are eyes checked. I needed more contacts anyways so we figured we would get Emma's done too. Every time I would tell her to pick something up she would look all over and act like she couldn't see it. Well... she can't do that anymore! I know she can see just fine. She was a little scared at first but once the eye doctor got going she was loving it. She told her every letter. Even the funny looking Y's that were actually T's but she did great!
Emma and Travis came out with perfect eyes... me well mine keep changing on me, at least one of them did!

We are all done are Christmas shopping, thank goodness because things are going to get crazy soon. Now we just have to wrap them all. Oh and I'm going to be putting up my tree in about a week. I have been holding off as long as I can so that I don't have to worry about my son pulling the tree over. I should invent baby Christmas tree barricades extra sturdy ones for larger babies!

Give Away

Everyone likes free stuff so go check out the free giveaway at my sister in laws blog. Click here to go there... www.theburntdaisy.blogspot.com she has awesome home and childrens decor.

The Real Lot

I posted a picture back in July of the lot we were going to buy. Our plans changed several time from build on that lot to just looking for a house already built...(that never worked out because we could never find anything that we liked and then when we found one that we liked it was way too much!) We are now back to building and are hopefully done with all the paper work! We are hoping to have a basement the beginning of December. We have picked out all the colors of the exterior and are super excited. I think it's going to look really nice.

The lot goes all the way to the fence.

The colors of our house... but picture it with black windows instead of white and a black garage door.

We are all doing good. We are renting a super small townhouse in Abasand while the house is getting built. I remind myself everyday that it is only temporary. I think I've been a little on edge and so have my kid because we are constantly on each others toes. I go crazy because I can't seem to keep it clean no matter what. Smaller places don't always mean it's easier to keep clean. There just isn't the room to put stuff anywhere! We will live through this!!

Me and Travis have started back up with volleyball. It is so nice to have something to look forward to once or twice a week to keep us sane! Other than that we have just been trying to get settled into this place.

Emma is well... she drives me crazy right now. I think we have hit the terrible 3 1/2's. She never asks nicely for anything. It's always a fight and she won't help me carry anything EVER!!! She won't eat her food at meal time and insists on having a snack 5mins after a meal. Time outs are happening like crazy, and I don't know what else to do with her. Don't get me wrong I love her and we do have good moments through out the day, I just wish that happened more often. She is very creative and loves to color and draw. She knows her letter really good and spells out the name of every store around her when we go shopping. She has definitely turned into a little spit fire lately but we love her lots.

Tobin is getting so big. He is now 28lbs at 11 1/2 months. I know huge. He just cut 4 more teeth and has the rosy cheeks right now to prove it. I caught him standing in the kitchen today for about 6 seconds. Oh the day he starts to walk...my whole house will be terrorized!!! The boy is so busy and into everything. I barricade around my treadmill so that I can actually run and he is busy the whole time trying to climb over it. Last night he actually climbed out of the tub by himself. He is just rough tough happy little boy. I love him to death!!

I'm going to try really hard to keep this up to date at least once a week. I need to take more pictures. This will be my new years resolution!!!

Happy Halloween!

I know I've been taking my time getting this updated but we have been a little busy believe it or not. Since my last blog we have moved and are settled into our temporary place. It's really small and not easy to find a spot for all are stuff but it will work.

We had a great Halloween, my niece and nephew were baptised on Saturday. We were blessed that day with a wonderful snow storm that had us at a standstill for over 2 hours. It should have only been about a 5min drive to the church that morning but was really long. The hill we were stuck on was shut down because of 2 jack knifed semi's one on each side of the highway! I love winter up here. We did however make it to the church for the baptisms without any dents on are vehicle which is more than I can say for some.

That evening we went over to Dustin and Mindy's for some trick or treating. Emma has been waiting since last march for this. Almost every day she would ask if she could go trick or treating. We all bundled up and went out. Tobin fell asleep in the stroller half way through the night ( he was really into it!) Emma and Kyla had lots of fun and got tonnes of candy! We had a good time even though we had to walk through the blizzard for trick or treating!

SOLD!

So most of you have already heard that are house finally sold! We are just waiting for everything to be finalized. We have to be out of are house on the 29th of october. Now I'm just packing and packing and packing. We have also been looking for a place to rent while are other house is being built. I really thought that it wouldn't be that hard to find a place but I know now why I hate renting!!! It's so stinkin expensive. We looked at a townhouse in thickwood the other day thinking that it would be just right... 3 bedrooms and a basement that we could store everything in. I found out today that it wasn't just me that was thinking about the townhouse and how well... it was pretty gross. I kept telling myself it was only temporary!! Mmm that wasn't really working! So tonight we went a looked at a basement suite. It was ok, there was somethings that were better, like the kitchen but it was pretty beat up. Monday I'm going to look at another place... It is newer and is a walk out basement suite, it costs more so we are hoping that we can cram all are stuff in it and in my sister in laws garage! Otherwise we will be looking at a storage unit! Wish me luck!

Competitive Edge?... Not Really!

We took Tobin down to the mall today for the baby crawl. It's a competition for baby's between 6 and 12 months. Since Tobin is such a speed demon around the house we figured that a little healthy competition wouldn't hurt!! We signed him up yesterday and could only make the waiting list. Getting to the mall early had it's benifits though. There were some no shows so Tobin made it in! They actually had some really good prizes... 1st place- $1000 RESP, 2nd place- photo shoot, 3rd place- $500 shoping spree at Please Mum, 4th place- $200 mall certificates, and 5th place- $50 mall certificates.

We did go down very hopeful!! Travis took him to the starting line for heat #5. I went down to the other end about 16 feet away and tried to get his attention. The judge shouted GO and the babies were off... well sort of. Some other baby decided that my cell phone looked way better than the toy her mom was waving at her. Tobin sort of just sat there. Then he turned his back towards me and started picking at the duck taped lines on the carpet. He really had no interest in crawling today! Not much for competition at this age... we'll have to try again some other time. I was going to take some pictures but then he never even did anything just sat there and looked cute! Even the annoucer couldn't take her eyes off of him. She actually announced at the end that Tobin won!! Maybe for sitting and looking cute! Anyways he was a little stinker but that's ok we still love him even if he is not much for competition!

Summer Holidays and Updates!

Well summer is drawing to an end... at least up here! Leaves are starting to turn and before we know it the snow will be here. We had a great summer this year. It started off with my 10 year high school reunion. It was fun to see everyone and how much they have changed, and how there family's have started to grow.

Then we were off a couple days later to start are drive to Victoria. My Dad, Mom and little brother Denim came with us. We decided to do it in 3 days, are first stop was Spokane Washington. We decided to go down throught the states because there was less windy roads and mountains, we were pulling are trailer behind the truck. Anyways we camped in Spokane at sort of a crappy little campground. Everyone let me know it too!! Nobody else stepped up to book campgrounds ( at least it was only for 1 night!) Next stop was Port Angeles. Yes for all you Twilight fans that is the place they go prom dress shopping!!! I was only about 45 mins away from Forks... unfortunately I never made it there. We caught the ferry to Victoria early the next morning.

We spent 6 great days there. Thanks so much to my cousin Kami and her family for showing us a good time and feeding us 3 or 4 nights while we were there. We went crabbing 3 of the 6 days... it was so good. I learned that I like Thai Green Mussels!! We walked around Beaconhill Park, went to the inner harbor, Travis got to go Salmon fishing in the ocean, Emma got to go to the beach and totally loved it (she threw sand in her hair everytime we set foot on some sand!) and I got to go kayaking in the ocean and jig for some super ugly fish! It was lots of fun and we really want to go back in a few years.

On are way home we drove back through B.C. which was a WAY prettier drive than through the states! We had a great time. When we got back we spent some time with family and made it to cornfest in Taber. It was so much fun but really tiring. It's good to be back and have the kids on some kind of schedule again.

Updates!

Travis is back to work as usual!!! He says he enjoys his job about 10% of the time! Sounds great. We have also had are house up for sale for a month... lots of showing and no bites. That's ok because we really have been up in the air as to what we want to do. I know last you all heard we had a lot picked out and a house that we wanted to build... well we change are minds a lot!! Anyways we started looking around for a house just to buy but have now realized that there really is nothing that we like that's with in are price range!!! We have found a house that we are just waiting on the price of... I really do have a feeling that it's going to be too much!! Are other option is to build that house on a cheaper lot some where else. I'll let you know how all the house stuff is going when we finally come to a decision.

I have been hanging out with my kids, watching them learn a grow everyday. I'm trying to finish a baby blanket for my sister that is scheduled for a c-section in a week! Not a whole lot going on with me!

Emma is my little proper princess!!! At least in front of people. Grandma's just couldn't get enough of Emma's simple "Yes" to all the questions that she was asked. She loves dressing up and eating snacks. I threaten her at dinner time that if she doesn't eat her veggies that she is going to get scurvy!! She really doesn't want it!! We also found out Emma's reaction to her Daddy being cheap! Travis and I were talking in the truck... I mentioned that because Emma likes princesses so much that she probably is going to want pretty expensive wedding. Travis responded with a "who's going to pay for it!" I turned around at told Emma that her dad was going to be cheap when it was time for her wedding. Emma burst into tears and started bawling. It was so funny.

Tobin is now sitting, crawling, and trying to stand up. He cut 2 teeth while we were on holidays... it was lots of fun confined to a trailer while it was all going on! He is almost 8 1/2 months and is already a little tease. Tobin is about 25lbs (trust me my back can tell!) He is a really busy little boy and I can tell he just wants to run!

We are all doing great and had a good summer.

Spray Park 2

Sharisse enjoying some sun!!

Ava looking so cute.

Me and my kidlets!

Tobin all tuckered out!

Spray Park!!

One of the best things about Fort McMurray is the spray parks around town. There are 4 of them around the city! We decided to venture out today to the other side of the city to the waterways spray park. It was so hot today about 32 degrees C. We lasted about an hour and half and got too hot and decided to call it a day. Unfortunatly I never did get any of the kids actually in the water. First off Emma didn't want anything to do with the water and second there was some really great parks to play on. Today the park won out. I realize now that I never even got a picture of the spray park in any of the pictures! Oh well... they really do exist!

Presley in Pink and Jaycie in blue... with there momma Mindy.

Kyla... Mindy's oldest daughter.

Let The Building Begin... Soon!

Okay maybe not right now but hopefully it will all start soon. Just to let you all know this is what my blog is probably going to be about for the next hopefully only 9 months or less. We are going to be putting up are house for sale here very soon. I'm actually kinda sad and will miss my little house. Mostly just because it is the first house that we have bought. It's been a great starter house but we are most definately out growing it. We do have house plans picked out and are just waiting for everything to be approved. We do have a lot reserved and are almost ready to buy that. I'm getting really excited and can't wait to actually get started... once there is a hole in the ground where that giant mud puddle is maybe it will become real!

Summer Begins!

We just got back from are first week of holidays. It was great. We went to Waterton first to break in our new trailer. Jody and Damon met us there and camped for 2 nights with us. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather. Then we were off to Raymond for July 1st. We hung out with lots of family and ate tonnes of good food. After Raymond we went out to Taber and took the kids swimming. It was actually Tobins first time swimming and I didn't even have my camera with me. We had lots of fun and will be home now for about 4 weeks then it is off to Victoria for a couple of weeks. I love summer.

This is what a man will do for ice cream!!!! BRRRRR!!

Nothing beats skipping rocks on waterton lake!

Tobin loves being outside!

This is what a 14 yr old will do for ice cream! Go Denim!

Look at that form! It skipped at least 14 times!

How To Get a Kid to Eat An Apple!! & And Other Random Pictures

Today I was talking on the phone with my mom. Emma came over and was bugging me for a snack. I told her to go and get a muffin off the counter. Apparently muffins aren't snacks! I haven't been to the grocery store for a while because we are going on holidays this Sunday and I'm trying to use up what we got. So anyways my mom told me to make Emma an Apple Bird. Its amazing she ate the entire apple.
I haven't put up any pictures of the kids for awhile. Emma is still very into dressing like a princess... only she comes up with her own outfits. The outfits are very pretty! Tobin is my big boy. He had his 6month shots yesterday. He now weighs 23lbs 2oz. We actually had to go and buy a bigger car seat for him yesterday because he is too big for the other one. He has started on solid food and what can I say ... He loves it. It feels like I just had Tobin and he is already 6months old and the size of a toddler! I love my kids so much.

Happy Father's Day!

I just want to say Happy Father's Day to all the great Dads out there. I'm so greatful for the Dad that I have and the example he has been to me through out my life. I remember going on fishing trips with him and loving to just hang out and be with him. He has taught me so much and I thank him for that. I hope that my kids get to have some of the same experiences that I had with my Dad with there's. I also hope that they will get to have some fun times with there grandpa that I had growing up. I hope that they realize how wise there grandpa is and can have a great relationship with him. I love you so much Dad!

I also I'm so greatful for a husband that works so hard and helps me out tonnes. He is so kind and thoughtful. My kids absolutely adore their Dad. He means so much to us. Travis you make us proud everyday. You always put the family before anything else and I love you so much for that. Hope you have a great day. We love you lots. XOXOXOX

We've Come To A Decision!

Over the last month I have been doing some real thinking. Yes we have been saying for a long time now that we want to move out of Fort McMurray and be closer to family. It would be great to be closer to family and one day we still want that but right now we aren't going to be going anywhere. I was think about where I want to be. The weirdest part about that was I couldn't picture us down south yet. All I could think about was staying up here in Fort Mac. So me and Travis made the decision that we are going to be here for at least another 10 years! I know SHOCKER!! I know some of you are like "ya we figured you would be here for that long!!" Anyways we have been looking into building a house. We are out growing this one and kept telling ourselves that if we were here for only 3 more years we could tough it out. Well 10 years is pushing it to tough it out. We are running out of space and if we add another kid in a few years we're going to be really squished. This October we can sell are house. We have been looking like crazy lately into all the builder up here and have picked out a few floor plans. We have some more to check out today. We were looking at show homes the other day and I totally fell in love with a house. I loved everything about it... except for one thing... the price. It was only $959 000!!!!! Of course it was because it was almost perfect! It could very well be my dream house one day. I'll update you more about are house search over the next few months. Oh ya and are Florida trip that we were going to take... well I had to choose a new house or Florida... Ummm I'm not dumb I obviously I'm going to chose the house! Here's to 10 more fabulous years in Fort Mac!!!

Things Kids Say!!

You know how kids say things just the way they are. Well let me tell you 2 things that Emma has recently said. I like how people have written the dialogue like a script so here you go.

Me: Good girl Emma for pooping in the potty.
My sister ( she is on the phone with me): Was it a big poo?
Me: Yup it was a pretty big log.
Emma: It's not a log mommy, it's a poop!

Ya that was pretty funny and is one of her quotes that I don't think I'm going to ever forget!

Then today we were all laying on my bed and Travis had just gotten out of the shower and had on a pair or shorts with no top, he has some chest hair! This is how this conversation went.

Emma: You gots lots of hair Daddy.
Travis: Yup I do
Mom: Ya he's got a lot. Hey Emma we should put pony tails in it.
Emma: No put messy buns in it.
Mom: Ya those are better than just pony tails.

Anyone that knows Emma knows that is her favorite way to wear her hair. Needless to say we never did get any pictures of messy buns on Travis's chest, but it would have been funny to see. From the mind of a 3 year old. She is also quite into her dress up clothes. I found her one day dressed a little swanky too... I got mad at her and told her to put her clothes back on. She had no idea what was wrong with what she was wearing. Try and picture this... She had all her clothes off except her panties and then she was wearing a little black tutu as a skirt then she has this little purple tulle fairy skirt( totally see through) and she was wearing it as a tube top! Honestly I have no idea where she came up with that outfit, it sure wasn't from me!!! Emma and her dressing up are a whole other post! The things they do. On another note she is fully potty trained and has been wearing panties to be now for the last 2 nights dry, her pull ups have been dry every night for the last hmm I don't know how many months. She is great... I love her to bits and there is never a dull day when she is around!

Our Edmonton Getaway

Travis and I went on a little 3 day holiday that was well needed. Oh ya it was without kids. Travis's sister watched Emma and Tobin for us, we were so greatful that she did that for us. We stayed at the Fantasyland hotel in the Roman room. It was really nice. We went to the waterpark, got those aqua massages and saw a movie every night. We also went travel trailer shopping. We hit up 5 dealerships in about 2 hrs and eventually went back to the first place we started. Camping is going to be great now with kids. We tried tenting it 2 years ago and that was it. We decided to never do it again until the kids are older. It was a great trip with out the kids, I was pretty anxious to see them though by the time we got back. I think Tobin got way bigger while we were gone. The kid is getting huge!