Fall Photos

If you are interested in seeing the latest photos of the kids - check out Stacey Malleck's blog! It has been added to my sidebar.

Enjoy!

Because it's been a while...

I will update. Maybe just for the sake of an update. And I'll try to make it as interesting as possible =).

I am finished day 1 of working 4 days in a row. I know I know, it isn't that much, but I still find it a little bit more of a challenge to make sure dinner is prepped, or in the crockpot, or that I at least have a faint idea of what it might be before I head off for work. Because when I come home after 5, the last thing I want to do is try to figure out what to make for dinner! Having the mornings at home with the kids is great though. And boy, we have lots of morning time together since their new wake up routine is 6:30am. Sigh. Too early for my liking!

Today I bought the House & Home magazine, which happened to have a 2011 Ikea catalogue in it as a bonus!! That alone pretty much made my day, and I saved it for work where I got to browse through it with no kid distractions. I have so many great ideas...and such a hard time spending money on all this decor stuff.... even though I absolutely love it. Sigh.

I'm loving our house so much (even though I have a huge list of things I want to do =). It's such a great layout for our family - the kids play downstairs all the time, which is so nice! And C rides his bike in the culdesac every sunny day with the little neighbour boy. I think he was out there almost the whole afternoon today, with John working on some vehicle in the driveway. ha.

Making the basement area with the fireplace into a cozy family room is one of my top priorities. And I don't think it will take too much effort. Paint mostly, and some reorganizing. I figure the more inviting I make it, the more we will want to go down there. Actually, the rest of the family is down there a lot. I guess I should say the more I will want to go down there =).

N is walking 100% of the time now. And I am so happy. Having a crawler for 5 months really takes it's toll on pants! She wrecked so many pants. And now she can wear dresses and skirts and walk around. Dresses and skirts don't really work on a crawling baby that well.....
Her talking is getting better everyday. Yesterday she added the words stuck and tickle to her vocab. Probably the cutest thing she says right now is husha...while begging for my hand, wanting to do ring-around-the-rosy. Last night before bed I was sitting with her in the chair in her room, and she kept looking up at me with the saddest face saying mommy! Husha, Husha! Pleading with me to play a couple more rounds. Those babies sure know how to pull at your heartstrings...

There you have it - lots of random ramblings. Until next time...

First Day (kindof).

After much thought and consideration,

along with some stress and mommy worrying,

I made the decision to withdrawl C from the preschool he was at all last year
after I took him back on the first day - and he clearly didn't want to be there.
This had been going on all of June, and I just passed it off as nothing.
But figured when he went back in September, he would be ready to go!
But the teacher that he loved had moved away.
And none of his good friends were in his class anymore.

I thought it would be so hard on him to take him out of the routines that he knew,
and try something new.

So off we went to his new preschool.
And he never turned back. He was so excited!
And I knew right away I had made the right decision.
It wasn't the easiest (or the cheapest) decision
(as the old preschool is not refunding Sept or Oct tuition!)
But I am so relieved that he is happy.
And I can see him having a great two years at this new preschool.

My little guy.

Penticton

John and I headed to Penticton for a few days after dropping the kids off (well, C was already there) at their Opa and Oma's house.

I have many highlights of our trip - but didn't take a ton of pictures.

1.) Sleeping in. It was fairly difficult actually. It has been a long time. But I did succeed. The weather was dreary, and I think that helped.
2.) Going to the bookstore. No time limit. Just looking. Paging through books. This is something we both love, and after finding a few books each, we were satisfied.
3.) Going on a scenic drive around Skaha lake, and looking at all the beautiful houses right on the water.
4.) Coming across a sign for the Painted Rock winery, and stopping in to do some tasting.

This is a picture of the vineyard from across the lake.

An unbelievably gorgeous location.

Us in the vineyard

Rows of grapes high above the lake

Loaded full of deliciousness.

5.) Stopping in at a condo show home and checking out the local real estate market.

6.) Finding a restaurant we liked so much, we went two nights in a row =).

(and they had a Thai Green Curry that was delish).

The Hooded Merganser (right on the lake).

7.) Going in the hot tub everyday.

8.) Walking through downtown Penticton and going in all the little shops.

9.) Having nothing to do.
10.) Knowing our kids were having a great time without us!

I actually feel like this was a true "vacation". And it was lovely.

Kids.

....my almost 31/2-year-old-

lover of all things trains and trucks,

riding his bike,

inquiring about everything,

and giving out hugs and kisses....

and my little 17 month old.

With a ready smile and an easy-going nature,

she can play endlessly,

loves reading books and calling for her daddyyyyyy!

Though some days seem long,

and I question if I've taught them enough,

played with them enough,

fed them well enough,

or shown them how to be caring and kind,

I know these days are moving quickly.

And I'm so proud they call me mom.

Week "off"

As we are down to one kid around our place this week - I have gone on some sort of a "fall-is-coming" frenzy. I'll show you what I mean in pictures.


This is the front entry to our house. The interesting thing is - no one uses this entrance, except the mailman (and it is a man, and I don't know the gender neutral term =).Everyone has to come to the back of our home where our driveway and parking is off a lane. However, this looked awful. As you can see. And I like to the think the mailman is so grateful for the improvements.

Before: After:

Took off the hideous screen, painted the door, frame, and post.

New lights, door handle, mailbox, and house numbers.

Still not sure about painting out the brick. Thoughts?

The main bathroom needed another coat of paint, and all the trim and the door needed paint as well. Also, a toilet paper holder, towel rack, and a few pictures where hung. The biggest job in here was digging out all the grout above and below the tile tub surround so we could caulk it. The no caulking was driving me crazy - especially at bath time when I was trying to be careful no water was getting in behind the tub.

(not the greatest shot of the bathroom, but she kept sitting there saying "cheese" so I couldn't resist)

Ahhh, the playroom. Really should have taken a before picture of this. sigh. There are usually toys strewn from one end to the other. And I don't have to look at it =). I love the play room. And since the main culprit of toy strewing is gone, it will sit clean for a few days anyway.

And just so I didn't get too bored, my mom and I canned! Pickles and peaches.



Oh, and I ended up working a lot too. Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday (tomorrow). So I have definitely kept busy, and am ready for our mini vacation. We leave Sunday morning. Yippee! More on that coming soon.....

A boy and his toys

....and this is how they sleep.

{almost} every night.