Wouldn't it be nice if there were 3 photos?

We went to Church last Sunday for the Sunday School Christmas pageant and I took the opportunity to dress the kids in Christmas attire and they looked so cute! I wanted to take a picture of each of them by the Christmas tree before we left and here are the kids that co-operated so nicely for me. So now you know who my favourites are ... the Gaber felt it was not necessary to be agreeable with his Mother at that particular time. Later in the day at his Grandma's house he stood still for her camera for approximately 3 seconds. She was not aware of the Gaber Law which clearly states that you must be absolutely ready to take a picture of him when he decides to stand still otherwise you have to wait until another holiday.

Christmas party at the PDC

So Raph's work threw their first Santa party for kids of the workers at the Product Distribution Centre. They had cookie decorating, colouring, ornament decorating and a tour of the warehouse with Santa who also handed out presents. Raph and Santa brought us around the warehouse and showed all the kids the forklift, the cardboard crusher, cherry picker and the line they use to pick orders.

The line was particularly fun as you can see it created a nice rollercoaster type ride for the kids.

The shrink wrap spinning machine was a favourite ride for the kids. I am really just naming the machines with my own words because I have no idea what the real names for them are! They kids all had a great time and I suggested that perhaps they should rent out the warehouse on weekends for birthday parties!

Happy Birthday Dad

Dec. 4th was Dad's, or better known as Papa, birthday and he and Nana came over for cake. The kids had made him cards and we tried to get a nice picture of him with the kids but not always easy! Faith of course will sit nicely and smile pretty and is very photogenic. Declan will sit still but refuses to smile. And the Gaber never sits still, very rarely will even join the photo op and always gives a goofy look on his face. Nana gave Papa a record player for his birthday and so ensued the discussion about how we used to listen to music on "records". Amazing that I am so old that there are things when I grew up that my kids have never even heard of the word let alone what it means! Papa is looking forward to having the kids come over and listen to his records.

Before the rain came....

Before all the rain started last week I took Gabe and his friend Alex to the park to rake leaves and jump in them. He had a good time and now everytime we drive by the park he looks to see if the pile is still there.

Haloween pictures

Pumpkin carving is one of the favourite pasttimes about Haloween for Faith Declan and Gabe (that is after trick or treating, of course). Raph's idea of pumpkin carving requires power tools.

We had a horse rider, a hippy and a knight and unfortunately due to my inability to use a camera properly - you can't see that Raph has a knife stuck in his head on the top of his toque. Something the kids and I found at Walmart and made him wear trick or treating, which he did happily because he is such a good sport :)

Another converation with a 4 year old

Gabe: What you doing, Mommy?
Mommy: I'm opening up a can of tuna for dinner.
Gabe: Can me see?
(this is where I show him)
Gabe: Yummy!
He then runs out of the kitchen yelling at his brother,
"Declan, we having cat food for dinner!"

Words of Advice from a 4 year old

A recent conversation between Gabe and his Daddy upon returning from 9 days of moose hunting:

Gabe - "Where's the moose, Daddy?"
Raph - "I didn't get a moose."
Gabe - "No moose Daddy? I thought you went hunting. Is he in the truck, Daddy? Did you get a deer?"
Raph - "No."
Gabe - "Did you get a Elk?"
Raph - "No."
They then go outside to unload the truck and Gabe proceeds to search the entire truck for a moose and each and every rubber maid and storage container. After the truck is empty he walks up to Raph and says:
"Silly Daddy, next time you go hunting get a moose, Daddy, ok?"

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at Glimpse Lake was a blast this year!

A rare sight

This is Gabe at the very beginning of his most recent soccer game when the Coach asked if he wanted to play Goalie. He said yes and put on the shirt and gloves and stood in goal. The kids came running at him and he actually stopped the ball. Then all the kids ran to the other goal and when they headed back towards Gabe he took off. Left the game completely and never came back. It is all about baby steps in U5 soccer.

Greatest Mom Ever!

My kids love to build forts ... all the time ... drives me insane because they don't know how to fold blankets and put them back properly. This, I suppose, is probably one of those "small things" that you are not supposed to "sweat" about - but I do. Anyways, one Saturday night when Raph was away hunting they built a fort and wanted to sleep in it. I decided to let go of my need to have things in their place and let them do it. Their fort was pathetic so I built them this magnificent and huge one and they loved it. Slept all night in it. And, of course, I cleaned up the mess the next day.

Soccer Season 2008

So both boys are in soccer this year which is now the start of our life with 3 kids in activities all at the same time! Declan is back into the sport he loves with the same team and coaches from last year and so far Gabe is opting to watch his team from the sidelines ... Mommy will now be the one taking Gabe to his games so Daddy doesn't blow a gasket. It's all good .. he's only 4 and the exposure to the game is the most important part right now .. right? not just participation .. that's what we'll keep telling ourselves. Oh well, at least he looks good in his uniform!

Back to Preschool

This is Gabe's first day of preschool. He's smiling here but don't let that fool you ... Gabe is really enjoying his time alone at home with Mommy and preschool gets in the way of that. It is a struggle to leave him at school crying but apparently he stops soon after I leave and he is always excited to tell me what he did when I pick him up. Hopefully he'll grow out of this soon!

First Day of School

Here are their pictures from the first day of school for Declan in Grade 1 and Faith in Grade 4. Mommy's first year with 2 kids in full time school. Must say I am enjoying it! Declan is so far enjoying Grade 1 coming home with lots to tell and saying that he had a great day. Huge difference from Kindergarten which was a struggle for most of the year. Faith is not liking the amount of homework (and neither is Mommy) but we'll get used to it. It's a big year for her to become more independant and responsible for herself. She's taking up a lot of my attention and challenging our parenting skills these days!

First time in a dingy

On our last trip to Birch Bay, Faith and Declan asked if they could play with the dingy. I said yes assuming that they meant swimming with it. They meant rowing around with it. I let them get in the dingy and pushed them out saying don't go too far out. I should have realized that they had no idea how to row because this was a skill I had not yet taught them. It eventually turned into a freak out fest because "It is too hard!" and the tide was taking them down the beach and I was not willing to wade out that far to get them. Eventually they got close enough to the beach that I could reach them and walked the dingy with the two of them still in it back to the cabin where they got out and asked if they could do it again next time we came down. I of course said I would think about it.

Painted faces

My artistic friend, Deneen, painted the kids faces to be like dragons and Faith's face is a Birch Bay sunset with a sailboat in the middle. These pictures don't actually do justice to what they looked like in real life.

On a side note the t-shirt Gabe is wearing says "Every great idea I have gets me in trouble". This was the shirt I put him in for his first day of preschool last year and told the teachers that he came with a manufacturer's warning.

Needless to say we had 3 roaring dragons running around for awhile!!

Declan's Birthday

Declan had his pool party on one of the coldest days in July but all the kids were troopers and went in the pool for at least 10 minutes! He invited 9 of his closest friends and we played relay games to get them warmed up before hopping the pool.

All the boys thought it was great that they could have more than one cupcake at this party! And now Declan has his own soccer/street hocky net so we can challenge the neighbours for some serious street hockey games this Fall!

Kettle River Camping Trip pics

At the end of July and beginning of August we went camping to our favourite spot - the Kettle River in Rock Creek, BC. We went with our friends the French's and had a fabulous time!

Declan became quite the little scuba diver looking for fish to catch in the evening with his dad.

Faith was more of a floating swimmer choosing to look for the fish from the top of the water.

This is a fish that Gabe cast his rod and landed the fish without any help from Daddy. In fact Daddy was on the shore looking for something not realizing that Gabe had cast his rod until Gabe started telling Raph "Daddy, he's jumping!".

This is our favourite swimming spot - it has all the amenities for everyone including the white sandy beach for Mommy! I can close my eyes and put my feet in the sand and pretend that it is the Bahamas!

Lunchtime back at camp.

Declan fishing for the fish he spotted with his scuba gear earlier in the day.

On the way fishing Declan and Raph came across some deer on the trail.

Everyone loving the yellow watermelon we picked up in Keremeos on the way to Rock Creek.

More fishing with Gabe, Dawson and Faith.

Back to Birch Bay!

We spent another weekend at Birch Bay but this time we got to spend time with my cousin Marsalie and her family - Shaylah and the twins (Caelan and Ashlyn). I got so wrapped up in playing with my baby cousins that I failed to take any pictures of them. I got only one shot of Marsalie taking a break on the sandbars. The kids did a little more fishing and Gabe finally caught a "big" fish.

Here's the "big one" and one very proud Gaber!

Alex's Pool

Alex's pool is where we seem to be spending our spare time this summer. Nevermind that Raph and I set up our pool in the backyard for them - there is an inground pool 5 houses down that has a diving board and a slide! Everyday that we are home I am bombarded a million times a day with the question "can we go to Alex's pool?". Alex's parents enjoy having the kids come down because then the pool gets used and my kids (or fish) encourage Alex to swim. The kids can usually spend an entire afternoon into early evening swimming with very frequent pee breaks for Gabe - Alex's Dad thinks the pool has a leak and is always running the hose in it - but I am pretty sure it is the Gaber just drinking all the water!

Yes, that is a 4 year old jumping off a diving board into 9 feet of water. He scares the daylights out of anyone watching him but I have come pretty accustomed to it. This is a pretty tame jump - he is usually doing some kind of spin.

Declan is a really strong swimmer and he is working on diving to the bottom of the deep end.