Year in Review

2010 was a good year. A huge year. So much happened in 2010.

January 1st we started potty training C, and he was quickly "trained". It's hard to believe that was only a year ago....

February the Olympics came to Vancouver, we joined family to watch a local torchbearer run by, and John and I got to spend the day in Vancouver soaking up all the Olympic fun! We sold our house - and began the process of looking for a new house.

March 1st we moved into a condo while continuing the new home search. I turned 26, and John, baby girl and I took a quick trip down to Tulalip to do some shopping. John quite his job in Richmond, and took a new job in Abbotsford. No more commuting!


April - We bought our house, and started gutting and renovating. Huge job. We celebrated Easter, N's 1st birthday, and C's 3rd birthday!

June- We moved into our renovated house, and continued to make it our home. I started working a few shifts back at work.

July - We hosted two Japanese students for 3 weeks. Lots of trips to the beach and parks were made. We made use of our deck with friends and family, and ate lots of Popsicles and freezies, raspberries, and strawberries. (according to my pictures archives...) John and I celebrated our 5th anniversary.

August - John quit his job, and we decided to pursue the limo/bus business full time. We took a family trip to Mayne Island. The kids and I also headed to Mayne with some friends! I canned pickles and peaches with my mom, and C spent a week in Princeton with Opa and Oma.

September - John and I spent 3 nights in Penticton celebrating our Anniversary (a little late), and the kids stayed with Opa and Oma! C started preschool at Wind & Tide - one of the best decisions I made to transfer him there. It is such a wonderful place, and he loves it!

October - We celebrated Thanksgiving with family, and were so very thankful to welcome a healthy BOY cousin into the family. The kids dressed up and enjoyed Halloween =).

November - John went to Florida to pick up the newest addition to our limo fleet.

December - I (finally) finished the kids new playroom in the basement. We celebrated Christmas with family and friends. School concert, trip to Van Deusen Gardens, hosted a Christmas Eve party, and headed to Princeton to enjoy some snow and relaxation!

And now the New Year is here. Remembering 2010 and looking through the photos makes me a little sad to see it go. We were so blessed this past year.

That being said, I am also looking forward to settling into all the newness that 2010 brought. Enjoying our children, our home, and growing our business. Slowing down and taking it all in.

Happy New Year to you!

Baby Ethan

Here he is!

The newest member of the family.....

Born Oct. 27th,

7 lbs and 7 oz. of perfectness =)

So, let's count....

that makes 4 nieces

and 4 nephews!

And a boy and girl of my own.

It doesn't get much better than that.

a load a day

I am a once-a-weeker when it comes to the laundry scene. However, I'm starting to re-think my methods. For a couple reasons I guess. First of all - the once a week method means many many loads in one day. And supposedly no washer is made for load after load. It is bad for the machine. First time I had heard of that - but hey. I guess it makes sense. And, well I love folding laundry and putting it neatly in the hamper, I don't love putting away in the closets and drawers. Maybe having just a little bit to put away at a time would combat that.

Then my sister informed me of her new load a day system and since I had never seen her laundry area so perfectly clean, I thought. Maybe I should give this load a day method a try.

So I'm curious.....what do you do?

young to old.

Today when I got home from work, it was a quick dinner, and then John was off to work. I was so tired today. I don't usually find it hard to keep my eyes open during the day - but today......oh, it was just one of those days. Unfortunately 18 month olds and 3.5 year olds don't like to just sit around after dinner and relax....so I tried to keep them occupied to the best of my ability. Off to the bath they went, and then after multiple nude laps around the house it was pj time and bed time. Ah. With very little difficulty, they went to sleep. Thank goodness. I don't think I could have sanely handled a lot of "difficulty" this evening.

And then I realized. I'm getting old. Not because of the tired part, but because of the next part. I tried to physically force myself to just leave the dishes alone. Just leave them there - all messy all over the table, and clean them up tomorrow. Yup. That's right. Just leave them there till tomorrow at 6am when I will get my wake-up call. But I couldn't do it.

A few years ago, I would have had no problem leaving them there. But slowly it has happened. Year after year, day after day, I have become this person. This wife and mother and woman, who can't handle a table that hasn't been wiped down after dinner. Or can't help but pick up 10 random toys/socks/shoes/books/fill in the blank while walking down the hallway. Who makes the bed every morning, and meal plans. And all of the sudden I feel so "responsible". Sometimes being an adult is so surreal.

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.