A Tag from Meghan

Ten things I did this weekend:
1. painted a bedroom
2. helped a friend move
3. saw Trent and Vicky
4. had friends over to stamp
5. organized some paper
6. saw ultrasound photos of my new NEPHEW
7. watched Holly play hockey
8. went to church
9. watched the kids sing in the choir
10. slept

9 things on my agenda this week:
1. go to work
2. finish putting bedroom back together
3. take Annika to soccer
4. take HOlly to hockey
5. buy new lamps
6. get Taylor to a concert she is singing in
7. clean my living room
8. scrapbook
9. visit a friend

8 shows I've watched last week:
1. Dora
2. ER
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Big Shots
5. Without a Trace
6. CSI
7. Survivor
8. House

7 things I cooked last week (very very funny)
1. sandwches
2. coffee
3. more sandwiches
4. tea
5. seriously...I dont cook.
6. Sorry, aint gonna cook
7. so I cant seriously put anything here for last week

6 things I read this week
1. Memory makers
2. genetics text
3. Complete book of Cat Breeding
4. Complete book of Dog Breeding
5. Introduction to Animal Science
6. Understanding Horse Nutrition

5 Reasons to be happy today
1. Bedroom is painted and ugle border is gone
2. Friend almost finished moving and starting new part of life
3. Kids are all healthy now
4. got some money in the bank for Christmas = less stress
5. keeping really busy makes me happier

4 things I need to buy
1. 2 lamps
2. 2 shelves
3. wood trim for a room
4. door stopper

3 people I saw this weekend
1. Trent and Vicky (they are a unit)
2. Tonya
3. Leanne

2 things I am thankful right now
1. that we have no serious problems with kids or life at the moment
2. That i have a house to paint and money to do it

and one more thought:
size really does matter. You should see how BIG my new bed is!!

PS Im tagging
Vicky
Mother
Allison
Ann
Marjorie
Nik
Diane
Nancy
and
Alison

The second Part of the Birthday Party

The day after, when everyone had survived the storm and gotten their power back, we had the second installment of Annika's birthday party, the Family and Friends segment. lol
Friends and cousins and Nanny and Grampy came to see Annika the day after her birthday, for some cake and icr cream. they played outside for the longest time, playing road hockey and then in the back yard.
Opening some very nice thoughtful gifts :)



Now Annika IS the present, she climbed right inside this big bag!

Blowing out the candles again :)
Helping to cut up the cake...

The birthday Crowd!

Annika's new Birthday Clothes

we usually get Annika a new outfit to wear on her birthday. this year I picked alone and decided on this cute skirt and shirt that suits her so well! Cute, little 5 year old! Im very glad Annika got over her illness in time for her birthday!

Annika's Birthday Parties

After seeing Holly play hockey 2 times on Annika's birthday, we headed off the to movie theater to celebrate Annika's birthday! We let her invite a couple of friends to go see the Bee Movie :) I think I was as excited as she was!
she invited Chloe and Angeline, and all of her sisters, including Katelyn lol.

Before the movie.
We were lucky to get this in before Post tropical Noel came howling into town and made everything chaotic!

Annika wearing the attendants "Bee" antenae. So cute!

Everyone waiting for the movie to start!
The kids were incredibly good, watching pretty much the whole movie and only getting restless towards the end. There were a lot of jokes above their heads, and that made it entertaining for the parents. :) There were a couple of slow parts and the kids were awesome! The movie was really very good, unviolent, very funny :)

Colouring sheets after the movie :)

Opening presents :)

And blowing out the candles :)

Annika and Angeline and Chloe got to tour the projection room. Im not sure who thought that was more interesting, them or me? They were pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing :)

After we ended the party and had supper, we headed off to Riley's birthday party at the pool. He turned 6 the same day Annika turned 5. :)

it was one very long day for the kids, and one very long night for the mom and dad as the storm moved in and kept us up and worried most of the night. Glad things turned out ok in the morning!

Holly Plays Goalie

On Nov 3 (Annika's birthday...I will not forget soon how hectic this made the day) Holly got to play goalie for the first time. She wasnt afraid at all...in fact she was so excited she barely ate!
Here are some random shots of her playing goalie :)


Coach Dad shooting on her...

Getting a little instruction...








Always in a good spot, dad says!

Moved to the other team so that she got more shots on her....there was not a lot of activity in her end.


In the end I think Holly thought being a goalie was a little bit boring and she preferred to be out in the action. Her words were "I dont get enough "attention" in the nets" hahahahahah oh well I wont really hope for her to be goalie, there's a tonne of pressure on the goalie. If she decides to be a goalie, good for her. She liked it...but...it was boring hehehe!

Annika Turns 5 years old!

Where did the years go? It seems like just yesterday, we were celebrating 5 years married and were just days away from having Annika join us, and now she is 5 years old! I think of all the dates so far, that one has been the hardest, my BABY is now a 5 year old. NO matter that she is already in school all day, no matter that nothing has changed, she is 5 now! UGH!

on Friday (day before the birthday) Annika was sick and home from school but went shopping with Grammy and got this PINK WIG along with some other toys and absolutely nothing clothing or un-fun. hmmmm.

And here is the borthday girl on her Birthday morning! She was SO tired, they had guests the night before and no one slept too terribly well LOL!
She was trying so hard not to smile :)

Not so cranky looking
Annika has some issues with change. She doesnt like it. This birthday was far better than last year, she cried for days before and half of her birthday, about not wanting to change ages. She LIKED being 3 last year. She LOVED being 4 this year. And had no intention of being 5. Ever. LOL She is accepting inevitable, that we DO get older every year and we might as well celebrate it. But She does not have to be happy about it. Luckily she got out of this Funk and enjoyed the rest of her birthday!

Trick or Treat!

Halloween Night finally arrived! The kids were so excited, only for Christmas do they get more excited!
After the pumkins were carved and supper was going on, Katelyn got dressed up for her night out!



She was the shiniest bat I have ever seen!

Holly finally decided on Dice again although she did have issues with holding the candy bag and wasnt very interested in BEING a dice. lol


Taylor found this mask and decided it was the HAD TO BE mask :) I didnt argue, it was EASY :)

Zoe dressed for the occassion and helped me hand out candy :)

Scott got into uniform to accompany the kids...
And the Trick or Treaters are ready to go!

Off Trick or Treating. Gotta say LOVING this time change delay, it's soo nice and light and still warm when they are heading off to ToT, they could see other kids in costume and seems SO much safer :)

And where was Annika in all this fun?

She'd had a cold all week....And decided around 430 to have a little nap. I didnt try to wake her, she's started runnning a fever and I let her sleep.

She did wake up at some point and realized that she wasnt Tricking and Treating and kinda got a little upset...

But seconds later she was sleeping again....

And after awhile when she Finally took something for the fever she felt a little better and helped me hand out the last of the treats....but still wasnt going ToT. She's been a little sad about that but her sisters and friends all collected some treats for her so she is not completely candy-less, god forbid!

And so ends Halloween for another year, but for the candy!

The Great Pumpkin Hunt

We prefer hunting up our pumpkins, rather than picking them ready made out of the stores. :) We always find some time before Halloween to go get some Fresh from the Field Pumpkins! :)
The patch isnt too far from our house and this year Annika was sick and didnt get to go so Taylor, Holly, and Katelyn all went and hunted their pumpkins!

the kids had to scour the entire field to find just the right pumpkins!

They were a little picky this year, not minding green but really wanting pumpkins that were big and round and not too dirty (priorities!).

Taylor picked one out for Annika :)

Holly found one so large she could not lift it!
Katelyn searched high and low for her prize pumpkin :)

Trying very hard to carry them :)

Annika's pumpkin back at the car :)


Cooperation got the pumpkins back faster! They rolled them alll the way from the other end of the field !

Resting with their quarry!

This long drawn out process turned into 3 days pf pumpkins. MMONDAY we hunted. TUESDAY, we cleaned!

And cleaned and cleaned and cleaned.
Scott opened up all the pumpkins and the kids cleaned out the insides.


they were so disgusted with the guts!



Nasty little pumpkin insides :)

After the kids drew on faces and supervised, Scott carved their faces on WEDNESDAY! Annika's pumpkin was little and very orange with a huge smile!

Holly's had a big smile!

Putting in and lighting the candles isnt easy in wind! Wait til mama does it later lol!

Taylor's pumpkin has a tongue sticking out lol!

and Katelyn's had a big grin.
They are on the steps ready to greet trick or treaters!