Day 3 and Day 4...

Well here we are once again...napping on the couch. He just does not want to nap in the car anymore and he absolutely refuses to nap in his room!

Yesterday...



Today was difficult because he actually did fall asleep on the couch however Scott and Jack were also sitting there. So I thought I could actually try to move him to his room. You know, to be more comfortable! Well, bad call because as soon as I laid him down he woke up and despite my "arguing" with him and laying down with him for 1/2 hr, he just refused to sleep. So I gave up and told him he could come out. Well he came out to the livingroom with Kitty headed straight for this chair and 5 min later he was asleep! ARGH!

Here are two pics from today...

George's new friend...

For his birthday George got a gift certificate for Build a Bear and I finally got a chance to take him last week. I had wanted him to get the monkey. George had other ideas and wanted to get this cat. He pointed to the cat and asked for cat so I guessed that he wanted the cat instead. And I presume he really liked the cat and it stuck out to him because my dad has an orange cat named Tiger. Being that we just got back from visiting my dad, this was fresh in George's memory. So, a cat it was...George kindly named him Kitty, lol.

This new friend of George's "follows" him everywhere. In fact, he's even managed to go on a few van rides too. George has gotten quite attached to Kitty and in fact, none of us can really get a good look at Kitty or hold onto Kitty before a grumpy George comes and snatches him away! LOL!

I've tried to get a few pics but as you can probably guess from looking, George doesn't like us to see Kitty's face either! So, the one pic I do have of Kitty, isn't such a good picture of George, LOL!

Just a reminder...

to those of you visiting. We'd love to hear from you so don't forget to sign our guestbook. The link is in the right hand column underneath our photoalbum link. ;)

Under Construction...

If you happen to pop in here and see some "weird" layout or strange colour combinations, please keep in mind that it's because we're under construction. I thought the other layout was too boring with the grey background. So, I'm currently trying to change things around. Thank you! ;)

Asleep on the couch...

AHHH! Asleep on the couch...2hrs before dinner, because he wouldn't sleep during his daily "sleeping drive". He did this yesterday too. Sure hope he doesn't make a habit of this now!

the night sky...

this is a picture I took earlier as it was getting dark outside...The boys were looking out the window and pointed out how interesting the cloud looked.

Our trip to Princeton, BC...

Our trip to Princeton, BC was a good one. It was great to see my dad again. Even though he was in town for George's birthday, I do miss him living so far away. :(

We last visited him the year before last and had decided that we'd try to visit him every year. But last year he was in town during the summer so we never went. And even though we saw him in June, we had already planned the trip and all of us we're looking forward to going so we decided to still go.

We left Friday (Aug 3) at 2:30pm, went and picked the boys up from day camp...spent forever in traffic and got to my dad's at 8pm Friday night. Without major traffic he's still a good 3.5/4hr drive away so it wasn't too bad I suppose. The boys were set with their portable dvd player and their Nintendo DS Lites (again, lol!). George slept for about 1.5 hrs during the trip. The rest of the time except for an occasional whine which is acceptable I think after being cooped up for so long, he was really well behaved.

Saturday...My dad took us all out for breakfast and with it being such a small town, he said the best place for breakfast was the Sandman Inn. So, that's where we went, lol. And I do have to say that it wasn't too bad.

We then decided to go to Downtown Tulameen as it was Tulameen days so we went to the parade that was happening down there. It took about 20 min to get there...and although nobody got sick, I'd like to add that I don't advise driving 20 min down a long winding road after having a big breakfast!

The parade was "ok"...Everyone in it was having fun so that's what made it really great I think. Oh and the boys liked it when everyone threw candy at them. Apparently it's a thing that happens. It was quite short and not too "fancy" but we live in a big city so we're used to quite elaborte ones I think. The boys enjoyed it though and George loved it when the firetruck driver turned on the siren for him, lol.

Afterwards we walked down to Otter Lake. It was such a beautiful sight. Stupid me never thought to take a pic either, despite having my camera with me! AND I just realized that now! ugh.

We then went back to my dad's and Sam took the boys on a bike ride through the old train tunnel and trails. I started a book...the first one I've read in oh...I think probably 4 years! I miss reading and I guess that caught up with me because even though my book was really good, I did finish it Sunday morning.

Sunday...Princeton has a new spray park (HA, I say new...but I should really say...Princeton now HAS a spray park, lol) so we went to check it out and although bare compared to what you might see over here, the boys had so much fun. Sometimes simplicity is a good thing! ;)

It was quite hot out so it was a perfect day for the boys. And Sam and I were shocked to learn later that it was actually 40C (104F) but with no humidity, we never would have guessed it to be that hot. We thought it was probably 28C or so.

After playing at the spray park for awhile we all walked down to the Tulameen river. BEAUTIFUL! The water was so clear and again the boys had alot of fun. I think that was probably their first time "in" a river. Last time we went up we didn't go in...staying a day longer this time was better all around.

Sam later went for a bike ride and after telling my dad where he went to, my dad said "oh yeah...that's a good 10miles you know" *faint*

We then had a great supper. Dad made a moose stew and the boys loved it. They've had moose before but never in a stew. Also on the menu was salad and garlic buttered buns. YUMMY!

Monday...time to pack up and go home...after going out for breakfast. Again to the Sandman Inn. So we left around 12:30pm and got home at just after 5pm. *sigh* I stupidly gave the boys each a huge bottle of gatorade (I didn't want them to have pop, they didn't want water and the ESSO station didn't have small bottles of gatorade) so 3 bathroom breaks were needed...of course we needed to make our usual stop at Tim Hortons too. And there was an unexplained major traffic problem in Chilliwack which caused us to come to a complet stop about 4 times. *sigh* Oh well, tis what you get when you come home on the last day of a long weekend. LOL! Was all worth it though.

p.s. yes those are deer crossing the street in the first pic of the slideshow. Sorry the pics are so small. I'll update webshots when I get a chance.

George is now driving...

Well here we are. Mom and Dad thought it was time George earned his licence therefore they "dragged" out Scott and Jack's ole motorized car.

Now...Sam and I had talked about bringing it out and wondered if he was ready but hadn't actually got it out to see considering he's just turned two! And while I suppose he didn't do too badly, he really does need practice as driving requires steering as well as putting your foot on the petal!

And if you know George then you know he LOVES cars so needless to say this was a big hit! He had SO much fun he could hardly contain himself. He'd drive for a minute, jump out, run and hug someone and then drive again, jump out, run and hug someone. Too funny!

Here's some pictures...

pictures...

Here are a few pictures from our camping trip...because despite having the link to our photo album on the side, I realize that the blog looks boring with just typing!

3...Can this be?

Here's another one...

We went camping last weekend. All weekend, Thursday-Sunday. And didn't have trouble finding a spot to camp in Cultas Lake at all. Know why? IT WAS RAINING...THE WHOLE ENTIRE TIME (ok well, except for a few hours the first and second day)! LOL! The sun actually came out for a few hrs when we first arrived which gave us such high hopes that the weather would remain good. But that was shortlived as about 2 hrs after we were finished setting up, the rain started.

We did manage to have fun anyways though. We allowed the boys to take their Nintendo DS Lites and portable DVD player. We also brought up a generator so that powered the DVD player when needed. We have an awesome tent which stayed completely dry inside. YAY! We also put up a tarp so we had a sitting area and we had our easy up tent that went over the picnic table. So despite the horrible rain, we all stayed fairly dry when outside, except George. But that was his own doing, lol!

George was so well behaved during this trip. He never wandered off and if he did it was because somebody was leaving and he wanted to go too. But he was good when told to come back. He also kept busy playing around our site. We brought cars and trucks for him. As well, he discovered the last night we were there, that a bucket is great for playing with in steady streams of water flowing off the tarp! He got soaked that day but happily played for an easy 1.5 hrs!

This was such a great family trip that we've decided we want to go back next year in hopes that it doesn't rain. We originally planned to go to Golden Ears and camp with some friends of ours but at the last minute changed that to just being by ourselves. And in the end, we're pretty glad this time that we did that. Maybe next year...or next year we'll maybe go twice. :O)

Can this really be?

Two posts in one month? Yay for me. ;O)

The last time I wrote, I mentioned that the boys were taking swimming lessons. Well, a few lessons in, they had a request. If they passed and moved onto the next level could they each get a "prize". Uh...sure, I suppose. So, come report card day we found ourselves going to Krispy Kreme donuts (Jack) and EBGames for a Pokemon game for Scott's Nintendo DSLite.

Not too bad, however I signed them up for another two weeks (which ended on Friday) and they had requests again! And although I was sure Jack was going to pass, I hadn't much faith Scott would because this was Scott's first time in Level 6 and he has not usually (if ever!) passed on the first go. As well, starting in Level 6, they swim for 45min, not the usual 30.

So, on the last morning, I was trying to prepare Scott in case he didn't pass. I told him that maybe he should think less about his passing reward and more about a reward he'd like for trying so hard. He was like "ummmm...nope...I don't want anything else." So I was thinking oh great...we're going to be fighting about this one later, lol. Well, that'll teach me...we got their report cards and Jack passed into Level 2 and Scott PASSED into Level 7!! I almost fainted! I am so proud of them both!

So, off we went later that day to get Transformers-Autobots and Transformers-Decepticons for their DSLites.

And here we go again. They trying to negotiate another deal as they're taking a two week break and then they're back for their last set of the summer. Not sure I want to make any more deals after spending $300 on lessons (total for both )and around $100 for prizes. LOL!

An update...

Hey Everyone!

The past two months have been so incredibly hectic!

Scott was in Tadpole and Jack was in T-Ball. So, we were at the ball field for 4 nights a week. And on Tuesday's Sam and I would have to split up...Sam would take Jack to T-ball and I'd take Scott to soccer practice. George thankfully went to Mom and Dad's for most of those nights as he's a handful and hated going to the games and practice. Then on Sundays, Scott would have a soccer game. And yes, soccer was supposed to end back in March, however the select soccer team Scott was playing on, decided to go until the end of June.

The boys are now out of school. So, in September, Jack will be starting Grade 2 and Scott will be starting Grade 4. And for Scott, it will mean another change as they introduce the letter grades in Grade 4. This should be interesting...time to buckle down on him a little more I think as he's gotten a little lazy with how well he does is work.

George is now finished music class and will be starting again in September. Puddlejumpers again although the songs and dances will be different this time around.

We also had Sports Day last month and although the RED team won (we're Red house)in overall scoring points for the year and Sports Day's total, they gave first place to Blue house. Only because Red house won last year and the year before...and they can't let the same color house win for 3 years in a row. Too bad. ;) The boys were happy with second place though and the ribbons of all colors are Red.

Last month we also celebrated George's 2nd birthday. We really did try to trim down the party numbers however we still had 35 (or more!) people come. It was a great day though and he had alot of fun. And the weather was absolutely crazy! 4 hrs before the party, we had one of the worst rain storms we have ever seen! I'll be sure to post some video (I can't figure out how to add it in here). Then just before his party, the sun came out...it was cloudy for the party then just after everyone had finished their cake, it started to rain! Then if that weren't crazy enough, 5 min after (most) people left, the sun came out again.

After the party Scott had his baseball windup to go to so we went to that. The kids vs parents was a fun game...we got 2 innings done and were praying none of the kids would get struck by lightening as we then started having thunder and lightening. We all decided to quit the game early and the base run was done in the pouring rain. Pizza for the kids was done with thunder, lightening, POURING rain and hail. NICE! Told you the weather was crazy that day!

The boys started swimming lessons today. (and by today I mean Tues...in case your wondering why the date might be wrong...it's taken me a few days to get back here!) They're swimming at an outdoor pool and will be swimming every morning for 2 weeks now.

Later in the month we're hoping to go camping at Cultas Lake. Not much luck in getting a space since most are taken by reservations already but we'll see. Then after that for the BC long weekend, we're going to go and see Papa Chuck. The boys are really excited and it's especially cute to see how excited George gets around my dad. He was in town recently and also came to George's party and that was the first time we had all seen him in almost a year. So to someone who's only two years old, that's especially long!

I really will try and want to update more often. However it really isn't easy when you've got 2 very busy children and a toddler who gets quite "jealous", "curious" or "in need of a hug and won't let go" everytime your even near the computer!

So, on that note...that's it for now, while 2 are at Grandma's and 1 is napping, I'm going to try to head on over to update our photo album which is also in need of updating. Please excuse the mess with that too! Seriously working on it and hope to have it completely updated by week's end.

Is it REALLY almost May?!?!?

OMG! Where does the time go? Can anyone tell me? LOL...Ok, well, I owe you all some updates so here we go...

Rewind back to January...George had his 18 month immunization shots and an appointment with an ear, nose and throat specialist (to see if he should have tubes in his ears). The specialist did recommend it for him (as we were hoping he would!)and he had his surgery in February. It went very well and was over within 10 min. And George did so well, that he has me wondering if the whole experience was harder on Sam and I then on him. And aside from being a little more tired which carried into the next day, he had no ill side effects from the anesthetic. And he has made such progress! He's like a new little boy...he seems happier and he's got more confidence and his vocabulary has increased so much! In fact, he's got at least one new word a day now!

George also started another "semester" of music class which he is really enjoying again. Although he does have some off days as it is a much different class because he's moved up a level and is now enrolled with children up to the age of 3 which can be intimidating sometimes.

Scott and Jack took a set of swimming lessons in February and although neither of them passed their levels (Scott: Level 5, Jack: Level 1 advanced), they both did very well. And doing a set of lessons during the school year was something new for us since I usually only enroll them in the summer. However we felt that Jack needed an exercise activity as he was getting a little too wound up sometimes as he wasn't doing soccer like Scott. And because Jack refused to do the lessons unless Scott did them too (even though they're in different levels and wouldn't be swimming "together"!) we put Scott in even though he still had soccer.

In February, Scott was asked to join a select soccer team and they had their first game. It was quite nerve racking but they won the game, 4-1. Since then they've had 2 more games and won one of them. So 2 wins and 1 loss, with another game this Sunday. He really enjoys soccer and likes the idea of practicing and playing throughout the summer and into the next season as the coaches have planned. We're still a little undecided about him competing at this level as it is quite serious and competitive but he is coping well and seems to be liking the challenge (he's goalie for the first half of the games)and excitement.

In March we carried on with the music, swimming and soccer activities. And during Spring Break we took the boys to Seattle. However if we hadn't already booked our room, we might not have gone as Jack got sick the night before we left. We thought it was just a head cold (more on that later!)but the day after we got there, he was so plugged up and "thickly green in the nose", I found a pharmacy and asked what we could do for him, short of taking him to the hospital for a prescription(which would have been VERY expensive being "the States"!). He suggested a nasal spray for children so I bought that.

I then went back later that day to get Tylenol and Motrin for not only Jack but for Scott and George as well who were now also getting sick and running fevers! So there we were on holidays in another country with 3 sick children. All "doped out" on Tylenol and Motrin and 1 of them is also carrying around a box of kleenex from the hotel room everywhere we went (because the drops started working and his nose was now running "a little too freely"!) Thankfully they never stayed up too late and they slept well each night as I think that helped them get through the next day. And then even though we tried so hard not too...the day before we left, Sam and I got sick too.

Writing all this out has made me realize how "cruel" we must sound...toting them around to see all the sites however with the help of the meds, they carried on throughout the vacation quite well and really were having a good time. I swear! LOL! In fact, everywhere we went, they wanted to go and were even running around every once in awhile. It was quite strange although I should say we probably would have done slightly more activities (ie. Experience Music Project) but we still did quite alot. (We left on a Sunday and came back the next Wednesday) We managed to see/visit the surrounding area of our hotel (which was downtown), The Pike Market, we also road the Monorail to The Seattle Space Centre/Needle, Sam took the boys to the Underground Tour (I stayed back with George as it's 2hrs long and not stroller friendly) and The Seattle Zoo. We also stopped by the big outlet centre on our way home and did some shopping.

And as crazy as being sick in Seattle turned out to be, it was nothing compared to how everyone started feeling 2 days after we got home!

The Saturday after we got home Scott was supposed to play in a (weekend) soccer tournament. However he was so sick he didn't play. Making it only the third time he's missed soccer during the 4 years he's been playing. We thought he was better the next day, a common thought during this whole "sickness" with us all, however all playing did was set him back. So he missed another practice and also 3 days of school overall.

Thankfully the day before we went to Seattle he had his birthday party because he was sick for his actual birthday. He had invited friends from school and soccer to Cliffhanger. It's a rockclimbing centre in Coquitlam. It was very well organized and the children all had such a great time. So, our "oldest baby" is now 9!!

So, here we now fast forward to beginning of April. It's Easter and everyone (except me) is still sick! George is on antibiotics because he has Pneumonia and after Easter, Scott misses another day of school and another practice because he has Pneumonia! So I phoned the dr and got prescriptions for both him and Jack (not taking anymore chances!) filled. Here now current day, George has been feeling better for almost 2 weeks and the other two have been feeling better for just over 1 week now. I thankfully never got as sick as the boys and Sam seems to be feeling better and managed ok without the help of antibiotics.

So now, Scott and Jack are both in baseball so that's 4 weeknights (Scott: Mon, Wed with soccer practice on Tues, Jack: Tues, Thurs), Saturday baseball practices for Scott and soccer games (Scott) on Sunday's. Along with their afterschool activities: Snack Attack on Thursdays and Hockey on Fridays. When does the end of June come again? LOL!

Thanks for reading everyone! I think that pretty much sums up what the boys have been up to the past few months. And now that I've filled you all in, I can work on our online photo album. Which I'll do...sometime this week! LOL!

We now have a Guestbook!

Hey Everyone...

I've now set up a Guestbook for our blog so stop in and say hi...let us know you came to visit. The link is on the righthand side just below our Photo Album link and will take you directly to there. Thanks! :o)

Birth to age 1...

Well, he's 19 months old, so...7 months late but I finally finished a slideshow movie I've been working on for George. It's 5 min long and has music so hopefully you have speakers on. ;o) Hope you like it as I'm quite proud of it. (this is my first one!)

Christmas morning...

Santa brought this for George...

Bed time for George? He doesn't think so...

YAY!

It worked! *faints because I can't believe it* FINALLY! Thank you to the kind person who posted the temporary steps that need to be followed until Google finds a better/easier way to fix the problem!

George dancing...

after six days of trying to upload this video (no thanks to the Blogger/Google "merge") do you think this is going to work? Let's see...

George likes Tim Hortons too...

So, we like Tim Hortons. We especially like the cafe moca's. I was out one day and brought one for Sam and I home along with hot chocolate for Scott and Jack. They are always so hot so we always request a thermal sleeve.

Well Scott and Jack had to share a bit of theirs with George and he refused to drink his hot chocolate until he got a thermal sleeve too! Funny George!