Happy Thanksgiving!

So today we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving! I know that seems a little odd for all of you Americans that check in on us, but oh well. We had a fun day spending it with Grandparents and family eating lots of good food as well as helping my in-laws paint their house. The next door neighbors had a fire in their garage a little while back that ended up doing some damage to their house, and to top it off they couldn't match the siding they had because it was too old. So lucky them new siding and roof! I will have to put up a picture when it is all done! I have to say that I am all turkey'd out. I am glad that Christmas is still a couple of months away otherwise I don't think that I could handle it. We also celebrated Rawley's birthday again. We had one at my mom's house on Saturday when we celebrated Thanksgiving with her and my brothers and the rest of the gang. And of course the official one with just our little family on his exact birthday. All in all a great Thanksgiving for us. I always enjoy time spent with the people that we love. I love the fall, I think that it is my favorite time of year. When the leaves change color, the air is crisp and cool and running through the crunchy leaves. Here are some pictures of our adventures from the weekend!

The first of 2 cakes. A hairy spider!



Running through the leaves.Emmy had the time of her life raking up leaves but the rake was a little big for her!


Wall-E for the Wii. Rawley was so excited! Thanks Grandma and Papa!



Shake and go Doc Hudson from Uncle Brock and Auntie Tasha.


The second cake. A ghost cupcake cake. It was my first attempt, but I think it turned out okay!
Eve from Wall-E from Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks!


I don't know what will happen in future years, but I know that multiple birthdays will probably not go over to well with the other kids. We will have to wait and see! All in all a great holiday and I am very glad that the chaos in our house is over till at least next week!

Happy Birthday Little Man!

So I am a day late with this post, but it was kind of a hectic day! Between running errands, dropping off and picking up Hadley from school, and swimming lessons, we were able to celebrate a little for Rawley's big day! I cannot believe that he is 4. When did he grow up? He had grown taller and thinner, become more of a boy instead of a crazy little boy. He is much more sensitive which is cute but can be kind of annoying too. He should not be the one running to his room to cry, I would expect this of my girls yes but not him. At least he isn't taking it out on them with his fists. I have done a good job at teaching him that part (not to hit girls). Wednesday I joined him at preschool to celebrate his special Birthday day! He sure loves having his special day a preschool. Here are some pictures from our little family party!

Clothes of course!
We went a little crazy with Wall-E, but he loved all of them!

Hadley had to make her own contribution to the gifts. She made Rawley a Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer.



I wanted to mention his big gift which was a new bike. He has long outgrown his tricycle so we felt it was time to get him that big boy bike. He was so excited, and we have even been able to use it a couple of times.

Bliss!

Why can't life always be blissful? I can truly say that I had a very blissful day yesterday. My kids did everything they were asked to do, they went to bed on time and without complaint, they didn't fight or argue with each other, they were kind to Emmy and included her in their play. I was able to have time to myself, as well as accomplish all of the chores that needed to be done. Oh yeah did I mention my kids did theirs all by themselves. What Bliss! Now I have to ask myself the question why can't these days happen more often?

We were also blessed with an unusually warm week last week. We hit highs that were warmer than a lot of the days we had this summer. I was able to spend some much needed time outdoors with Rawley and Emmy while Hadley was at school. I did however find out that Emmy is FEARLESS! There is nothing that she will not climb, or attempt to climb. Which is kind of scary in a sense. But then again after I found her on Hadley's desk I should have figured it out. She did have a great time on the slides at the park and once she got the hang of it she was off and running all on her own.






All Rawley wanted to do was swing. He was constantly asking me to push him higher and higher. He was as high as the tree branches and still giggling with delight!



Emmy has also found a new favorite thing to do! I new that it was going to be sooner or later that she figured out how to open the wipes box, and now I have to hide it on the shelf or else this happens.

Finally Finished!

We finally have a yard again. Between tearing up the sod to put in underground sprinklers and finding the perfect bushes for our flower bed, I am glad that we can say Done! Although the backyard looks pretty much the same as before, it looks ten times different from when we bought our house 2 years ago.

This is what the house looked like when we first bought it. Minus the car. Although the front door did go quite well with it. Bright Blue!


This is the front minus the Cedar Bush, Spruce tree and one other bush you can't really see in the picture above. We added the stone around the flower bed and found these mini cedars for some color.



The door is now white, but that will be changing soon as well.


The side yard and boulevard, it used to be all grass, but we took that out because it was too hard to water. And added the stones and boulders, plus the cement curbing around the bushes.

The horrible back yard. Notice the 3 different colors of paint on the fence. Scary!! The path was alright but we needed the room for play stuff (which we don't have yet) for the kids.

Pretty much a blank slate. We have plans to put in a shed, plus hopefully a swing set and who knows what else. There is plenty of room that's all I know.

Chaos!

Today was the beginning of the end! Not really, Rawley started preschool today. He was so upset when Hadley started school and he didn't. I have spent the last week telling him over and over that he would start really soon. The day finally came and he could hardly contain his excitement. I signed up to bring the snack since I was staying with him, and I thought that would be a nice way to start the year. This of course also begins the never-ending taxi service that I will now be providing for both of the older kids. Emmy had better get used to that car seat because she will be spending a lot of time in it from now on. I also put Hadley in the Lunch program at the school so I don't have to pick her up more than once a day. This was a smart decision! After 1 day I was beat. Now I can at least relax a little more and not have to constantly worry about being there on time to get her. She loves it too so that is a plus! Her friends are there, and they have a lot of activities available for the kids to do after they have finished their lunches. We will have to see where the year brings us. Swimming lessons start in a couple of weeks, thankfully I decided to stick to one activity at a time. Otherwise I would have to title this post "Pure Chaos".

Waiting till school starts.


Playing with some of the toys.


Handing out the beach balls in the gym.

First Day!

I thought that this day would never come! After a long and lazy summer I am glad that school has begun again. Now I can get back to work! It seems that the older my kids get the more time I spend away from home. Hmmm how exactly does that work. I thought that I was getting more time to myself! Hadley had a great day back. She has a super nice teacher and lots of kids from her Kindergarten class. She has already become Ms. Independent. So much for the clingy first child. I was hoping that she might feel a little anxious about school this year but yet again, she eased right back into the regular routine. Now lets hope that I can keep it up!

For my Grandma

I am truly saddened by the passing of my Grandma Hillyer. Even though we were all expecting this time to come I wish that I would have been able to have her around for a little while longer. She has been a fighter in her 89 years of life, but yesterday she was rejoined with her sweetheart. I will always remember the crazy hockey fan cheering on her beloved team the Calgary Flames. She never missed a game! And her contagious laugh! I think that is where we inherited the uncontrollable giggles that always erupt at the wrong times. She was a friend, a listening ear, and was loved by everyone who knew her! I know she is happy where she is now with her husband, parents, siblings and friends. We love you Grandma!