The Fitzpatrick Family

Raph's telephone conversation with Gabe

2009-12-15T20:11:00.000-08:00

This is part of a conversation Gabe had with his Dad when Raph called to say he was on his way home from his hunting trip (the last one of the season) at the end of November:

Gabe - "Hi Daddy, did you get a deer?"
Raph - long pause "No, no deer."
Gabe - incredulously "Did you bring your gun?"

Christmas Tree

2009-12-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we went to a local Christmas tree farm to get our tree. Gabe and I had been the day before with his class for a fieldtrip to get a tree for his classroom which his teacher will donate to a family in need next week. That night at dinner he was telling his Dad about the lookout in the middle of the farm where he had seen a "weawwy big twee". So our mission was to chop down that tree when we got there. This is Declan, Daddy and Faith looking far and wide for the "weawwy big twee" and this is Gabe pointing to the tree right in front of the lookout!

This is us looking all through the trees for the perfect one because Gabe's tree really was big and we have a small house.

Here is the perfect tree that smells really good! If you look really closely you'll notice Gabe testing the tree saw blade to see how sharp it really was. This was not noticed by his parents at the time. Hopefully no one reports us to Social Services.

Here's Raph posing with his "kill"! They also had 2 ponies, chickens, a rabbit, 2 donkeys and free hot chocolate. All in all it was a really fun time!

Faith's "Best Day Ever!"

2009-12-15T19:29:00.001-08:00

Well, it is hard not to "blog" about hunting only because it has become such a huge part of our life. Raph starts planning hunting trips early Spring, then spends the summer thinking and making sure he has all the equipment he needs and then the "season" starts in September until the end of November. I have a very small window of opportunity for any renos around the house or even just talking to him about anything other than hunting! It is more than just getting the game for Raph, he loves the opportunity to travel to the Interior and just get out in the woods. I myself prefer to just listen to the stories of his travels in the woods rather than joining him. The kids on the other hand absolutely love going out with him. This was the first year that any camping trips with the kids involved Raph taking them on excursions on the quad and in the Fall they each had a chance to see animals. This particular trip with Faith they saw a buck and Faith insisted that Raph shoot it (he was holding out for a big buck but decided to make a memory for Faith instead). As you can see by the smile on her face she had a great time with her Dad! Needless to say, after all the learning she does with her Dad out in the woods she got an "A" in Science on her report card!

Gabe's first loose tooth

2009-10-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Well, it does seem a little early but he finally got a loose tooth! Gabe had been waiting for quite a while for his teeth to get loose. Unfortunately for mommy, it happened when daddy was away. I do not like pulling teeth - I consider it not one of my jobs but I had to step in and suck it up. We put the tooth in a little bag to show daddy when he got home which was about 8 days away so needless to say the tooth is now completely missing. We are planning on writing a note to the tooth fairy so we can still get some money.

Kindergarten!!!

2009-09-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally made it ... 3 kids in school! Gabe started Kindergarten this year and is loving it! He is usually a little apprehensive to go in the classroom and I am told to stay by the door for a few minutes but once he's in and indoor shoes on he is good to go. They go to the gym right away so basically life could not be any better! The gym is his second favourite place at school, the first being the playground. He is almost as tall as his teacher, Ms. Woo, a very petite lady. She tells me that he is doing great and everytime she needs to leave the room he politely says "I'll be in charge!". He has a tendency to gravitate towards the most haywire kids around him and his new friend in class is a little boy with a mohawk - to which his father's response was "of course he is". He loves telling us about his day at dinner time when Daddy is there - I am not allowed to hear about it until then. It's a good start which makes my life so much easier!

Faith's Dance Recital

2009-09-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Faith in her dance costumes this year. The first one is her acro and the second was her ballet. She had awesome performances this year and nailed all her limbers (hand stands into back bends and then back up again). I love her ballet teacher (I danced with her when I was younger) and she choreographs beautiful ballet routines and of course I thought Faith was the brightest star (could be a bit biased though!).

Frogging in Hammond

2009-09-18T22:09:00.000-07:00

The favourite past time of this summer has been hunting for frogs in the ditches on our street. As well, they head out in the back field to catch snakes and for the first time a vole (kinda like a mouse). Raph picked up a fish tank he had at his parent's house and brought it home for them to put all their wonderful catches in. They are only allowed to keep the frogs or various other creatures overnight and then let them go the next day. Currently, there are 7 frogs in the tank. They have actually become quite good at catching frogs, hence the large amount at the moment.

Raph is actually the biggest kid out of all of them. He had scratched up legs all summer from all the blackberry bushes he "had to" forage through to get the frogs. He's a pretty cool Dad in their eyes!

Kettle River Trip, July, 2009

2009-09-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

Our big camping trip this year was again to the Kettle River, although this time we found the best spot EVER. It was free and right beside the river. No packing up beach stuff and hiking from camp to the river. Also, it was close to where Raph hunts every year in November so he was able to do some scouting and take the kids on quad rides - which is one of their most favourite activities. Here are some pics from the trip ... Faith was practicing her quad driving skills.

This is the main reason I love camping at the Kettle River - hot sun and lounging in the water. Next year I will purchase a better floaty that has a drink holder!

It was Declan's 7th Birthday while we were away so I packed cupcakes for everyone. He waited for a long time to turn 7. All his friends' birthdays are at least 4 months earlier and so it becomes a long wait for his turn!

Our Maggie. Her and Buck (didn't get a picture of him this time) had a whole bunch of kids to throw the buoy for them in the water - hours of fun!

We bagged Gabe's cast for about the first 2 days and then I couldn't stand the smell anymore so I just let him get it wet. Needless to say when we got home to get the cast off there was a bunch of sand in it!

In Declan's hand is a little lizard I found floating in the water. They made a home for it in a bin for about a day and then let it go. Notice Blake making arm farts - this is apparently a right of passage for 7 year olds and a noise that we heard from Declan all the way up to Rock Creek (yes, it is a 6 hour drive). And when he wasn't making the noise his hand was in his armpit ready to make the noise at any given time!

I am standing in camp taking a picture of the beach. It was the best spot EVER. There was also a back eddy in the river at this spot so you would just float around in circles for hours.

This is our trailer and the men playing horseshoes. The only downside was the amount of horseflies, wasps and mosquitos - but then it just gave Raph something to do - the death count was quite high!

This is Amanda Deakin, Gabe's future wife possibly ... or at least it seemed to be heading in that direction ...

Our beautiful Faith.

It got a little hot in the trailer.

The bed that Faith and Declan are in was made by Raph to accommodate all 3 kids but the Gaber can be a bit of a wild card so after 2 nights he got his own bed.

The Gaber with his ladies - Kate and Amanda.

Tomorrow wasn't any better

2009-07-14T23:24:00.001-07:00

So, the 5 year old decided to ride his bike into the ditch - he claims it was an accident - the jury is still out on that one. It's a greenstick fracture and should heal in 2 to 3 weeks. Notice the happy face ... that will quickly disappear when the realization of what "no swimming" actually means. On a side note, he was not actually in my care, I was at the orthodontist with Faith. Note to self, do not leave evil kaneeval with the neighbours.

Well, tomorrow will hopefully be a better day.

Taking away all their fun

2009-07-13T23:22:00.000-07:00

Last night the 7 year decided it would be fun to take a hockey stick and lacrosse ball (these types of balls are very hard) and put the 5 year in net without any protection and take shots at him. It was the 5th shot that hit the 5 year old's belly resulting in absolute mayhem ... needless to say that is no longer an acceptable sport around here.

Today, the 7 year old and 5 year old decided it would be fun to play hockey on the trampoline. The 4 year old neighbour came over and joined in the fun. It lasted all of about 3 minutes when the 4 year old neighbour got a stick in the nose resulting in absolute mayhem ... needless to say that is no longer an acceptable sport around here.

I can't wait for tomorrow!

A Conversation with a 5 year old (he's getting smarter!)

2009-06-25T21:51:00.000-07:00

Mommy: Gabe, were you the one that made a huge mess of my nicely made bed?!?!
Gabe: No
Mommy: Are you sure? Who did then?
Gabe: It was bad guys that sneaked into the house and messed up your bed.
Mommy: Ummm, I didn't see any bad guys today.
Gabe: There were tiny bad guys.
Mommy: Really?
Gabe: And invisible.
Mommy: So, tiny invisible bad guys sneaked into the house and messed up my bed?
Gabe: Yes, Mommy.

Our Poet

2009-06-25T08:52:00.001-07:00

Faith's last Language Arts unit in school was Poetry. She worked really hard on her poems and they turned out amazing. Her teachers were so impressed with them that they wrote a comment about it in her report card (if you see report cards these days the teachers pretty much just fill in the letter grade blank and that's it!) It said "Faith's passion in poetry was evident as her poems were written with eloquence and creativity." That's our Faith - creative to her very core - could care less about time management or organization! Her teacher also organized a Poetry Cafe where the entire class read 2 of their poems and parents were invited to attend. It thought I would type out the 2 poems Faith read aloud:

Spring is here let's go and play, let's have some fun outside today.
Plants and flowers are sprouting out of the ground look at the trees from town to town.
Roses, daisies, tulips and more, I look at the garden and see more and more.
I run, jump, swing and play and have fun outside all day.
Nature is beautiful take a look around, don't you see it sprouting out of the ground?
Gardens are growing in my front yard and down my street you can see them from far.
By Faith

Nature is all around us we see it all the time trees grass flowers animals
If you sit in a meadow or a field you will see all the things Nature can do
Bumblebees suck the sweet golden honey out of the beautiful colourful flowers
Butterflies flutter in the bright blue sky
On a mountain you see beautiful sights and that's a part of Nature
Fish, oh the colourful fish, swim in the ocean blue
Sitting here thinking seeing birds flowers trees and more is a wonderful thing
The peaceful wonderful Nature grows among us, it's a wonderful thing
Without it the world would be hard to live in, the world would not be the same!
By Faith

The Willow Tree

2009-06-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

It's kinda funny that Gabe took this picture the other day of the willow tree in our backyard that was chopped down yesterday. I thought I should preserve some memory of it for Faith by writing about it here. She has a hard time with change (possibly a McLeod trait?!?) and when we cut half the branches off last summer it took days for her to recover. We decided that we would get rid of it because it had grown quite large and VERY messy for our small backyard. We warned Faith in advance and she seems to be okay so far. I was a little sad too because it was one of the reasons we bought the house, although it was half the size back then. We will miss the shade it provided but definitely not the mess!

Crabbing on the North Shore

2009-06-15T22:36:00.001-07:00

So a couple of Sundays ago we went with our friends to Cate's Park on the Northshore to do some crabbing. It was a beautiful day and the tide was out for most of the afternoon and it is a really big park with a huge playground. The kids had a great day at the beach and we caught 32 crabs. I got a lot of exercise walking kids back and forth from our spot on the beach to the dock to get in the boat. Next time I think we will pick a closer spot to the wharf!

That's a 100 quart cooler Declan (or as his father refers to him lately "hippy dude" - he won't let us cut his hair) is standing next too with all 32 crabs.

This is the crab feast at the end of the day. Yummy!

Our Track Star

2009-06-11T15:07:00.000-07:00

Faith was at her very first track meet today and it was very exciting. Her events were the 4x100 relay and long jump. Her relay team came in 10th overall and she was 2nd for all the Grade 4 girls ( I don't have an exact number but there had to be at least 40 girls). I'm pretty sure she has wings! We are so proud of her for even participating because if you knew how much she hates running ... Her relay team did awesome - because they are only grade 4's they didn't get alot of attention from the teachers but they practiced themselves after school for the event. It's a good introduction for them for the next intermediate years.

Guess who discovered my camera???

2009-05-13T22:17:00.000-07:00

He figured out how to turn it on and take pictures.

The little red car

2009-04-22T11:46:00.001-07:00

So on Monday Raph brought home a little red car and asked me who had been the best kid that day and he was going to given that kid the car. Of course it was Faith who was not the least bit interested. The boys were then told that if they were really good (cuz I was about to adopt them out on Monday) that one would get the red car. WOW, what a change in a couple of boys! Declan was even sitting at the table making up his own math questions and answering them for "extra homework". I just have to mention the car and Gabe stops whatever bad behaviour he is currently involved in (please take note that this happens frequently throughout a day). So far I have not given out the car because that would ruin all my fun!

Easter Weekend

2009-04-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

So, I realize that I have now been "blogging" for more than a year now because I think I started with Easter pics last year. I have not been as consistent as I had planned but I don't seem to be carrying my camera around as much as I normally do.

These are pics from what seems to be becoming our annual Easter camping weekend. We are pretty much guaranteed that it will be a little bit sunny but mostly rainy. We go with our neighbours and the French's and play bocci ball and walk down to the lake. It is never really warm but that does not slow down the boys from taking a dip in the lake. This lake is very large and usually pretty cold in the summer time so you can imagine how cold it was. The sun was out so Gabe figured he would dry out on a rock because it did not even cross my mind to pack beach towels! Easter Sunday was an absolute downpour so the kids got pretty wet hunting eggs and Raph and I were soaked from packing up. At least we have the trailer and not a tent!

A 3 hour tour

2009-02-18T21:42:00.000-08:00

We had a Pro-D day today so the kids and I decided to go for a bike ride from our house along the dikes to the Pitt Meadows Airport. Faith packed us water and a snack (and bandaides just in case) and off we went. We left at 11:00 am and arrived back home at 2:00 pm. Now, normally this particular bike ride would take a normal person 45 minutes but you add 3 kids - one of which might as well be walking his bike - and you can double your time easily. There is waaay to much to see along the way - a new bridge, an Indian reserve, 2 wharfs on the Fraser River, many forest "dirt bike" trails, the actual Fraser River to throw rocks in, not to mention all the rocks you can fit in your pockets, planes and helicopters, float planes doing touch and go's, ships being built ... it's exhausting!! I'm just glad it was February and all the bugs and critters were hybernating otherwise it would have taken 4 hours. I should also take this time to mention that the Gaber rides Faith's old bike as a hand me down from Faith to Declan to Gabe. This bike is 7 years old and he rides it with great gusto albeit slow. I have been constantly telling him to "hurry up Gabe!!" until Faith tried the bike for fun the other day and said, "this bike is hard to ride!". On closer inspection the back brake has been stuck to the rear wheel. Poor Gabe has been pedalling as fast as he could and getting yelled at for being too slow and it wasn't even his fault. After work today Raph fixed the bike and Gabe tried it and was so excited about how fast he can go now!

Joan's issues with a breast cancer ad

2009-02-18T21:31:00.000-08:00

This is my mom passionately talking about a breast cancer ad that really "irks" her. The one that says "cancer is hard, walking is easy". As you can see Dad is completely enthralled in her ranting.

As well, Johnny was on the edge of his seat.

Great Gran's Birthday

2009-02-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

Here is Great Gran with her mob of Great Grandkids - minus 2 (Taylor and Jazlyn). It is definitely not easy trying to get them all to look the same way at the same time. Not even a 10 year old can do it! Notice that brassy 3 year old blowing out the candles :) It was the second fun afternoon for Shaylah and her "other cousins" at Great Gran's in a month.

Faith's 10th Birthday party

2009-02-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

Well, Faith turned 10 this year. Hard to believe it ... although not that hard when I look in the mirror and see all my wrinkles :) She invited 9 friends and they went swimming and came back for pizza, presents and ice cream sundaes. Unfortunately she started getting a fever about 3/4 of the way through the party but had fun nevertheless.

Declan's VIP visit

2009-02-18T21:01:00.001-08:00

So, because Declan is a summer baby we got to choose a week in the school year for his special VIP week. This is a week where he is the VIP all week and has someone from his family come in and visit his classroom. He asked his Papa to come and talk about what he did in the Navy and how he builds submarines now. The kids in the class loved the visit and are looking forward to the fieldtrip to Papa's work to see a real submarine!

Shovelling Snow

2009-01-27T20:52:00.000-08:00

So, after picking the kids up from school, Faith and Declan head in the house and Gabe says he will help me shovel the driveway. I open the garage and he grabs the large snow shovel and proceeds to shovel pretty much the entire driveway. I worked on the sidewalk and then we both worked on the bottom of the driveway into the street. All the while I am amazed at how hard he is working and telling him what a great job he is doing. When we finally finish he leans on the snow shovel and says, "We're done, can I go play now?" Seriously! How many 4 year olds do that?

A Recent Conversation

2009-01-05T16:04:00.001-08:00

After a recent trip to the grocery store with 3 kids this is what went down in the Van on the way home:

Mom (at a very high octave): "You kids are THE most disrespectful, horrible, embarrassing ... blah, blah, blah ... yadda yadda yadda ... " (you get the picture)

Children: (loud crying can be heard) "It wasn't my fault! Gabe made me do it! Declan made me do it! Faith made me do it!"

Mom: "Okay, let's just take a break ... everyone go to your happy place."

Faith: (crying) "I can't, my brothers are in the way!"

Mini Me

2009-01-05T15:54:00.000-08:00

I was trying really hard to get a picture of Gabe and his Skipper Papa to show where Gabe gets his"bedroom eyes". We are also convinced that Gabe has inherited his Skipper Papa's personality. Gabe is now a great story teller just like his Papa. There are many stories from Skipper Papa that you are not really sure are true or not! Also, it can be very hard to punish a 4 year old that thinks every naughty thing he does is hysterical. When you listen to stories from Skipper Papa about when he was a boy - for instance dropping the family's house keys down their well - these are naughty things that he still thinks are hysterical - and he is 72! We are in for some good times!!

Some random Christmas pics

2009-01-05T15:37:00.000-08:00

Crazy amounts of snow!!!

2009-01-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

Here are just a few random shots of the snowfall we've been having in our beautiful BC. We BCer's are not used to this kind of snow but it has been fun for the kids! It's the Great White North, eh!

Raph has been shovelling massive amounts of snow and is seriously considering a snowplow for the quad - could make it a little easier!

Neighbourhood Pranks

2009-01-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

The Saturday before Christmas our neighbour, Adam, was away for the day and Raph had an excellent idea. Adam had 2 reindeer decorations in his front lawn that were just begging to be strung up! We had some logpole pines in our backyard that we set up as a hanging post and strung up one of the reindeer. It's kinda funny cuz at night it lights up too! It is still up and just adds to our neighbourhood, especially when we are all outside beside the firepit in the front driveway!

Toboganning Redneck style

2009-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

Our street very rarely gets plowed when it snows so it makes for very fun afternoons. Just take one quad, a long rope and add as many sleds and kids as you can and drive up and down the street until dark. The Gaber prefers to sit on the quad with his Dad. Any day that Raph is not at work Gabe will wake up in the morning and sit beside him in bed and say "Today is sure a good day for a quad ride Dad".

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

2008-12-15T21:28:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-15T21:07:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-11-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-10T11:18:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-10T11:16:00.001-08:00

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

2008-10-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-17T21:03:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving at Glimpse Lake was a blast this year!

A rare sight

2008-10-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-17T20:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-07-21T22:30:00.001-07:00

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

2008-07-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

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.

Allouette Lake

2008-07-21T22:04:00.001-07:00

A couple of Sundays ago we went up to Allouette Lake with the Pahnke's and Deakin's for the day. Chris shuttled everybody and their massive amounts of gear to the beach from the boat launch so we didn't have to bring our boat - which was probably a good thing because Raph might have just left us and the boat there. Summer Sundays at Allouette bring out every boat in the lower mainland. The kids got a chance to do some innertubing and knee boarding - thanks to Chris!

The inner tube made for more fun that just being towed behind the boat.

This is Declan having his turn.

This is the Gaber having his turn - not sure he could really see above the inner tube!

Faith did some inner tubing and this is a shot of her knee boarding.

Sandbars

2008-07-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

The tides were huge this past weekend at Birch Bay and we took full advantage of them - running the dogs, building sandcastles, collecting shells, chasing seagulls and flying kites.

July 4th at Birch Bay

2008-07-10T22:28:00.001-07:00

It's hard to capture the full effect of experiencing July the 4th down at Birch Bay but I tried taking a few shots. There is nothing in Canada that can compare to this. People start lighting fireworks off at about 7pm and it goes until about midnight. For awhile there were so many going off at the same time you could not talk to each other for all the noise. Faith lasted until 11:00 but the boys passed out in the lawn chairs at 10:00.

Fishing for bullheads at Birch Bay

2008-07-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

So Raph brought a couple fishing rods down to Birch Bay so the kids could try their hand at catching some bullheads. A great pasttime I enjoyed doing with my cousins when we were growing up. I have many fond memories of fishing off the rocks on the beach with weiners and then when the weiners would run out we would cut up one of the bullheads and use that for bait - probably a suggestion from our mothers (who by the way did the same thing!). This particular weekend the tide was up to the wall so the kids were able to fish right off the wall every night. Gabe waited patiently all day long to fish - although I guess asking every 10 minutes if he could go fishing is not really patiently waiting. It quickly turned into who could catch the most fish or the biggest fish and they had their Dad working hard casting the lines and taking out the hooks.

Raph had them well trained to "watch the bobber".

This was by far the biggest bullhead which Declan caught and was very impressed with himself.

The latest on Faith

2008-07-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

Daddy's pretty girl now has blue braces on her teeth. Mommy wanted her to be absolutely perfect so she got braces to pull her top jaw forward now while it is still growing. She was not upset to get them - however the retainer on the bottom teeth have caused her great grief! She is a trooper and adapting very well.

June was busy!!!

2008-07-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

So, it has been a while for any blogging but as anyone with kids knows - June is probably the busiest month of the entire year! We had Faith's dance recital, more Lacrosse than I care to talk about, many fieldtrips and fun days to wrap up school, throw in a few birthday parties, Sunday School and some daycare kids and every day on my calendar was booked!!! Here's a few shots from June ...

Gabe's preschool fun day had a bouncy castle with a slide which was way cool!

The funnest part of the Hammond Elementary fun day is the tug of war between the different classes. Declan's kindergarten class beat the Grade 1's but Faith's class lost their tug of war with the other Grade 3 class :(

Declan got to go to a PoCo Saints vs. Victoria Shamrocks game and go out on the floor with the players for the name announcements and national anthem. During the breaks between periods Declan's team got to play their own game. He had his lacrosse ball signed by some of the players after the game in the locker room. He was pretty excited about it - or as excited as our very serious son can get!

Declan got a trophy after one of his games - the Crazy Cat trophy which was for the hardest working player of the game. He got to keep it for one week until the next game.

Dancing and Great Gran

2008-06-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

This weekend was Faith's dance recital. She had 2 dances - Ballet and Acro - which we did record on video but they are too long to put on the blog. Believe me when I write that she was the most talented beautiful dancer up there (not that I am biased!) We did however capture a rare moment of Faith dancing with her Great Gran in the parking lot on the way home. I think Great Gran missed her calling!!!

No More Training Wheels!!!

2008-06-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

I took Gabe's training wheels off his bike yesterday on a whim and he had a complete meltdown and begged me and his Dad to put them back on (of course we denied this request). Today he decided he was brave enough to try again and after a few trips up and down the street he was a pro! He then decided that he was ready for "tricks" (demonstrating a popawheely while he was telling me this) and I asked him very nicely to perhaps leave the tricks until tomorrow.

Declan has lost his first Tooth!

2008-05-28T22:48:00.001-07:00

So, last week Declan was eating dinner and bit down on the fork and immediately started crying saying his loose tooth hurt. This is Daddy checking and telling him that it needs to come out - which took some convincing because unbeknownst to Mommy he had asked me awhile ago if it hurt when teeth come out and I had answered that "yes but only for a little bit". Apparently Daddy thought this was not a good answer to have given him.

This is after he finally agreed to have it pulled out.

This is the shock and pain of it coming out.

This is still the pain and disbelief that his father just yanked his tooth right out of his head.

This is less than a minute later feeling much better and looking foward to the 5 bucks the toothfairy was going to leave!

Gabe's 4th Birthday Party

2008-05-28T22:23:00.000-07:00

It finally arrived for Gabe! He had been waiting and waiting and waiting for his birthday. I spent many weeks beforehand telling him "soon buddy". It was a party in the park and his girlfriend's front yard - Alex is 3 days younger and so her mom and I did a combo party because most their friends all live on our street. He had the time of his life! Here are a few photos:

This was their carriage ride to the park.
We played British Bulldog and many relay games which the kids loved doing!

Our barbeque Daddy cooked up some hotdogs for the kids.

Present opening was absolute mass chaos!

Gabe and Alex love playing dinosaurs so their cakes had grass and water and dirt and dinosaurs!!

The BEST part of the party was the pinata (this was a very hard word to say for Gabe and Declan for the entire week before the party - Mommy had to interpret it to many people for them!)

We had a surprise visit from Uncle Tim, Auntie Kim and Gracyn for the party.

Gabe took Alex for an ATV ride after all their guests left.

Lacrosse

2008-05-04T23:38:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pictures of Declan's latest sport - Lacrosse. He seems to be enjoying it and Raph is pretty hands on with him - making him practice everyday and helping to coach during the practices.

The colourful fish adorned on our fence!

2008-05-04T23:32:00.000-07:00

Here are the fish that the kids painted. They are on the part of the fence that is close to where the pool gets set up for 5 weeks of the year. I am contemplating a trampoline to take up the space during the other 21 weeks. Perhaps that might help releasing some of Gabe's energy!

The BEST fieldtrip ... EVER!!

2008-04-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Gabe' preschool had a fieldtrip to the Allouette Fish Hatchery today. Faith and Declan had a Pro-D day so they were able to come long too. Gabe has been waiting weeks for this fieldtrip! First, they got to paint wooden fish in the shape of salmon. Faith's came out looking pretty close to the colours of a salmon, Declan's was close but he decided his salmon needed some blue too. Gabe's is very colourful. After painting they sat down with the guide and she told them the life cycle of the salmon.

We then went down to the tanks where they keep the salmon fry and the guide fed them so the kids could see them jumping up at the food. There were two rules: don't put your hands in the water and don't bang the tank and believe it or not Gabe did not break the rules!

Then we walked down to the river where they had a pick up truck with a tank of salmon fry and buckets waiting for the kids to release them into the river. This, of course, was the highlight of the trip!

The kids were told to release the salmon very slowly and close to the water. Declan took this quite literally and had the bucket in the river so that the salmon fry would swim out and then right back in again. It took him a good 10 minutes to finish his first bucket of fish!

Gabe did pretty good, only a few salmon received head injuries from hitting the rocks. I chose not to put his gum boots on as that would only be a licence to go further into the river - however, he was wet up to his knees by the time we left.

We hung their painted wooden fish on our fence in the backyard and they are already looking forward to next year!

Pictures at Allouette Lake

2008-03-25T21:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure but I think she was trying to catch a fish with her bare hands.

Aftering being told "Gabriel for the tenth time stay out of the water!", he found himself a puddle of clay.

It took two trips down to the lake before Declan figured out to stack smaller rocks so that he could finally conquer the biggest rock on the beach.

This is Gabe and Alex in the water. If you look close enough you can see the water is above his boots.

This is Gabe after being told many, many times to stay out of the water.

Maggie swimming for the first time.

Kate French

2008-03-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

This is Katykinz. She is the baby of our group of friends (Keith and Roberta's daughter) but make no mistake ... she can easily keep up with the rest of the kids! Hopefully Roberta doesn't mind that I put her on our blog - but is she not the cutest?

Gabe's Girlfriend

2008-03-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

This is Gabe's best friend, Alex. She goes to preschool with him and we occassionally daycare Alex. She is a tomboy at heart who loves Lighning McQueen, dinosaurs, bugs and pretty much everything Gabe likes!

Bocci Ball

2008-03-25T21:31:00.000-07:00

We had a first annual Allouette bocci ball tournament which Faith make a trophy for. We had lots of help from kids and dogs and Keith and I won the tournament, although Ian and Deneen were trying to upstage us in the picture!

Raph caught some of the action on camera. Notice Declan in the far background (yellow jacket) practicing soccer.

Our ever competitive Roberta getting ready to be beat by Raph and Joe.

Camping Easter Weekend

2008-03-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

So at the beginning of Spring Break I was soooo ready for the chance just to stay home with the kids and sleep in and hang out with nothing to do but the occassional swim lesson .... That lasted until Thursday when I had had enough of Gabe and his unending energy so I called Raph at work and asked if we could pack the trailer that night and go camping with our friends. Keep in mind that Raph is so busy at work right now that he had to work Good Friday and he wasn't getting home until late in the evenings. I was fully aware of this and knew that calling him in the middle of the day at work when he was not completely able to shift gears as fast as I could talk, that I would get my way! :) So pack up we did and headed to Allouette for the weekend with our friends and a few neighbours. We had a blast and Gabe burned some of that energy!

Soccer Jamboree

2008-03-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

Declan's soccer Jamboree was this weekend. He played 2 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday. His team played really hard and you could really see how the kids had improved since September. The all got 2 medals, a plague, a soccer ball and a t-shirt. The Pitt Meadows soccer club is great and he is looking forward to the next season. His team also went to Boston Pizza for dinner on Sunday night.

Saturday Nights

2008-03-16T20:59:00.001-07:00

We love having our friends come over on Saturday nights for potluck dinners and just hanging out. Barry usually always tries to take on a few of the kids but clearly they overpower him!

Race horses or Labs?

2008-03-16T20:54:00.000-07:00

Actually, their absolute favourite past time is racing around the field behind our house. Maggie tries very hard to keep up with Buck!

A Glimpse into the future?!?!

2008-03-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

The other day Gabe was very quiet for quite a while and when I finally found him he was in the bathroom and had covered himself with tattoos. Raph thought that perhaps this was a glimpse into the future with Gabe :)

Spoiled?!?!

2008-03-12T20:26:00.001-07:00

A beautiful almost Spring day and this is where they'd rather be!

Superheros

2008-03-05T13:50:00.000-08:00

For the past few days Declan and Gabe have been saving the world from "bad guys". Unfortunately for us common folk the superheros usually end up just fighting between themselves and destroying the house in the process!

Homework, Homework and more Homework!

2008-03-04T14:21:00.000-08:00

One of Faith's most dreaded pasttimes is homework, which she tries to avoid until the last possible moment of the day. She does it begrudgingly and with a nagging mother that tells her "welcome to rest of your life, Missy!". We are very lucky though that she is brilliant and works very hard!

Big Boy Birthday Party

2008-03-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Gabe was invited to his first big boy birthday party for his friend Trent. It was at Quantum Gymnastics and it was a drop off party. However, Mommy stayed because you just can't trust the Gaber and a bunch of trampolines! He had a great time and this is his friend/neighbour Ashley that came along with us.

Soccer Superstar

2008-02-28T13:38:00.000-08:00

Declan is finally getting back to Saturday soccer games after all the bad weather. He has become a great goalie after his Dad told him to "get his jersey dirty" and he is very determined to get a goal each game (which he usually does!).

He is thinking that he would like to try Lacrosse next. His attitude towards another season of baseball is pretty much "been there, done that, on to the next sport Mom".

Sunday Afternoon Walk

2008-02-27T23:01:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday we went to Rocky Point Park with the French's and just about the entire population of Port Moody. The kids had a great time but the dogs were not too happy about walking on leashes.

Balmy February

2008-02-27T22:51:00.001-08:00

They were sent outside to wash my van but it turned into running through the sprinkler - for about 5 minutes and then they came in to warm up! By the way, this picture was taken on February 22.

Getting Started!

2008-02-27T22:42:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am giving this blogging stuff a go! I am not very computer literate and I never seem to remember to bring my camera anywhere but I have decided to make an effort. Putting pictures in photo albums does not seem to be getting done so may an archive of our life on a blog will do!