So Proud!

I recently entered my Dad into a contest on the HGTV.ca website.  It was a DIY contest with the winner getting 1200.00 worth of tools from Canadian Tire.  Before I go too far, he didn't win but he did get an honourable mention and a gift card for Canadian Tire. He has a huge long list of DIY projects including the mason jar pendant lights in the photos, but the most recent one is the concrete countertop for their kitchen.  I have added a few photos here for you to see, but the link for the contest winners is http://www.hgtv.ca/blog/archive/2012/06/02/hgtv-s-may-2-4-diy-contest-honourable-mentions-part-i.aspx

 This one above is taken before the epoxy was added.

Congrats Dad, I am proud of you!

Backyard Fun

Last fall Aaron started building a sandbox from a blog that we found. He completed it last fall but we didn't get sand into it in time to use. Now that spring is here we finally went and rented a trailer and filled it with sand. Luke has been very patient and was thrilled when we finally were finished it. If you want the link to the blog click here .

We also purchased a cedar playhouse from Costco early in the year and we have also completed that and have it out.  In my mind this should mean hours of entertainment outside without any boring (for me) trips to our small playground, as well as a chance for me to relax outside and drink a cup of coffee, we'll see, so far so good. We were able to catch a few pictures before it started raining.

A Hoot of a Party

Today Sam turns 1!  I say it with every birthday my kids have, but I can't believe it!  It seems even more so with Sam.  How can he be one?  It feels like time has just escaped me.  I guess this is a good reminder to enjoy every moment. Just an update on the boy himself. Sam weighed 9lbs 4 oz at birth and he is currently 26lbs and 2'6".  I know this sounds huge and it is, but he has plateaued in growth.  He was at this same stage at 8 months. He isn't walking yet, but could if he wanted to, it is all about confidence. He is overall very serious but as you can see, when he smiles it can light up the room. Finally, it is now apparent that he is not a quiet child either. Like his sister and brother he can make himself heard to everyone!

On Saturday we had a birthday party for him. We had a great time and he was a very spoiled bday boy. Happy Birthday Samuel.  We love you!

 This is a kiss by the way. 

Sam, A Year in Pictures

Luke is 3!

Yesterday Luke officially turned 3. I cannot believe it. We celebrated with a construction themed birthday, or as he called it, "his digger party". It was rather fitting since we had the decorations inside as well as out. The town is putting playing fields behind our place so we have a huge construction site behind us to watch all day. Here are a few shots of the party. Just a note that Luke and Katie stayed at my parents over night the night before and Luke was officially shot before the party. He lay on the floor or couch for the first 30 minutes and just scowled at everyone. Gotta love 3 year olds!

Sadly, our crew photo was missing 2 of our little workers.

Easter

Recent Times

Spring has finally arrived "technically" and I am very quietly going to say I think it may actually be true. I am hoping the forecast of snow tomorrow is wrong. For me, not much is more springy than pussy willows. Thanks to my parents and Katie, I have 4 bundles around the house. They make me happy. It has been nice enough that we have been making a point of walking to pick up Katie from school. This has been good for the kids but I think maybe a little more so for me. It is a good walk and gets us out for about an hour walk each day.

Life as a whole has been going well. The kids are growing... so much and so quickly. It happens so gradually each day, but when you look back at photos from even a few months ago, it is amazing to see the changes. Here a few shots of the boys that we took recently.

Awwh!

As a parent, there are those days that they just need to cry themselves to sleep... and you know that they need to do this is on order to learn or in this case relearn how to fall asleep without being held. Well, Sam did eventually fall asleep waiting and crying for me to come. He just didn't lay down before doing it. I so badly wanted to pick him up and cuddle him after seeing this. Oh and yes, I did lay him down.

Family Day Weekend

One benefit to living in Alberta in February is the long weekend for family day. We definitely used to weekend to the fullest this year. The weather was beautiful (as it has been almost all winter) so we were able to spend time outside. On Saturday we went out to Sylvan with my cousin and his family and some good friends of ours here. We spent the first part of the afternoon skating on the lake and then drove across the lake back to Aarons parents. The guys walked out on the lake and spent a bit flying some airplanes and then we finished the eveing with supper and watched to fireworks put on by the town from the comforts of the living room. It was so nice to get out with friends and I had a great time as did everyone I think. We spent Sunday and Monday much the same. Unlike so much time lately, we had three days with no pressures and were able to truely relax and have fun.

Valentines Day

Katie was so excited this year for Valentines Day, and by that I mean just about bursting. Just a quick shot of her before she was allowed to dig into her stash from school.

Cooking, Cooking and more cooking!

Yesterday my Mom and I prepared 51 meals to be frozen. Yup, you read that right. A few years ago I heard about the once a month cooking idea. At the time the work required did not seem like it was worth it. It wasn't that bad making supper each night (even though I don't really enjoy cooking). However, with 3 kids and the all too fun 4-5:30 time of the day, we were eating out more and more. It seemed that some weeks (or more) I just couldn't seem to get to the grocery store, naps overlapped or I was just too tired to cook. Living where we do, the options for eating out basically boiled down to fast food. I don't mind eating fast food once in a while, but I don't want it a staple. I want healthy food for our family. While killing way too much time on pinterest I was reminded of this idea. Long and short was that I came across the book The Big Cook. I was able to take it out of the local library and talked my Mom into doing it with me, since she is working again and doesn't always want to cook at the end of the day either. We (or actually I) chose 12 recipes to prepare. Each recipe makes 4 meals, although we made 5 out of 1 and 6 out of another since we had a bit extra of the ingredients. I will admit that this does take a bit of prep work with the grocery list and shopping. I purchased all the meat at costco and then shopped around for the best deals on the other items. It all adds up and initally you wonder if this is the best way to go. It came to about $270.00 for each of us, but divided up into 51 meals, it comes to about $10.50 per meal. Try feeding a family of 4 to 6 (what each meal serves or more) for that. Now, you do need to know that you need to add a vegetable or rice/potato to many of these meals, but that doesn't add a lot of cost and that is always the easy part. We began working about 10:15 and were done by 6:00 including meals for the kids, supper, running Katie into town to school and picking her up, taking care of the other 2 and septic problems with trades people coming by throughout the day. I will keep you posted on how they turn out, but from what we could taste they were amazing. As a whole the meals are uncooked and you bake them in the oven, slow cooker or BBQ.

So heading into the week, I no longer need to ask myself what I am going to make for supper, but what do we want to eat for supper. My freezer is full of my half of the meals and I am set for the next month. We had a blast doing this and I highly recommend trying this with some friends if you feel short on time or energy at the end of the day. Happy Cooking!