Sledding for the First Time

Kids make things magical.  I am not a fan of the snow, not even a little bit but today we decided to take Catie sledding for the first time and we had so much fun it worth all the trouble.

First we bought a cheap sled and bundled the girls up like marshmallows

And headed outside.

Frosted Mini Wiebes.

We walked to a hill really close to our house, Catie in the sled and Eden in this awesome wooden sled my Mother-in-law found.

Here's her first trip down with Daddy, once she reached the bottom she immediately shouted, "Let's go again!"

I had pretty low expectations for Eden's behaviour.  I expected to spend a few minutes with Brad and Catie and then I'd go home with mad Eden, leaving them to continue.  It looked like that was exactly what was going to happen until she surprised us by falling asleep.

She spent the rest of her time here, fast asleep and missing a shoe.

I even took a couple turns down the hill, though my skill was much worse than Daddy's and we always ended in a gentle crash.

Climbing the hill.  We were very impressed that Catie pulled her own sled up every single time.  When she got too tired we came home.

Crashed at he bottom of the hill.

It wasn't long before Catie was ready to go down on her own, she loved it every time.

Climbing yet again.

There are these moments you plan in your head.. family outings that are magical and memorable and perfect and 9 times out of 10 they end in disaster and chaos and are nothing like you thought they'd be.  This was one of the exceptions.  We had a fantastic time, Eden slept, Catie laughed, the weather was beautiful, everyone was warm enough and we'll go again for sure.

Cousins

Catie has 6 cousins on the West side and all of them are boys.  Half of them can't be bothered to pay attention to the boring girl that doesn't do anything but the other half sure loves her, none more than her cousin Gage though. 

We walk in the door and he immediately asks, "Where's Catie?"  If he comes upstairs after playing and doesn't see her I get the same question.  He loves to tickle and kiss her and can often be found where she is.    He commented multiple times on how cute she was and was constantly petting her head.  My favorite quote from him was when he said, "She's so cute, where did you find her?"

I put her on the floor at one point and the three boys crowded instantly around her.  There's nothing like cousin love and I hope her and her best cousin Gage continue to have a special friendship.
L

Memories of Jennifer

In celebration of my sister's birthday I thought I would pay tribute to her via blog…

A few memories

• Jell-O Popcorn (lime was always a favorite flavour)
• Listening to Chicago on the road trips down to Idaho
• We used to share a room and tickle each others back. I would always fall asleep and she'd have to wake me up so I could continue.
• Cream Puffs
• Pickles… occasionally we'd have pickles with dinner and together the two of us could polish off a jar
• Playing ducks and geese in the snow in the backyard
• When the neighbor kept stealing my bike she came up with the great idea to tie it to the tree

She's creative, smart, amazing with her kids, and a great writer.
She has a fun sense of humor and I'm sad she doesn't live closer, I wish we got to spend more time together and that we knew each other better as adults. She could teach me to make yummy re-fried beans and those bread bowls she makes and could answer all of my baby questions. I'd take her cupcakes and insist she play on our softball team.

Happy Birthday Jenn, I miss you!
L

Easter Weekend

This was a much needed break… the first couple months of the year always seem extra long and this year it was even worse.

The weekend included lots of time with family, some card playing, super yummy food, chocolate, playing catch, nephews, a day of pajamas and candy. It was pretty much perfect.

It also included a few exciting big decisions about the future to be shared at a later date.
L

Thanksgiving and the Foods I Skip

My brother James is a chef, and not just a run of the mill chef, he makes these incredible dishes and is fun to watch and is really good at what he does. A couple of years ago he managed to make it home for Thanksgiving with his wife and we ate ourselves silly.

Unfortunately there have been some side effects from that one year.

The dinner was especially great. James had improved on Grandpa's stuffing so it was even better than usual. I'm sure there was pecan pie and all sorts of vegetables and the usual turkey and potatoes. I definitely did not stop at pleasantly full.

I don't know who decided it was a good idea but that weekend also included Ribs. These weren't just any ribs though, they were fall off the bone, juicy, yummy ribs, and probably the best I've ever had.

These two meals were eaten very close together.

All would have been fine had I not been hit with the worst case of the flu I've ever had.

To this day I can no longer eat ribs or stuffing.
L

Nearly a Week Late

Brad and I headed down to the big Magrath Celebrations last weekend and I was excited to show him what I grew up with. It's always a big event and lots of people come back to town for it so there are familiar faces around.

The day starts with a parade at 11:00 (best start time ever) and then there's beef on a bun for dinner. We skipped it as we were still on South Beach. There's also a program in the park and then in the evening there are fireworks. They close the weekend with a massive bonfire and an outdoor dance that is largely attended by high school students.

I think Brad was most impressed with the fireworks. You sit at one end of the football field and they set them off at the other so you're super close. As a result each firework is huge and louder than you've ever heard before. It makes for a unique experience.

Click on the slideshow for pictures and more info about the weekend.

L

Afterglow

I am in a seriously great mood. I even initiated a conversation with Betty (my really awkward co-worker) that turned out to be very normal. The cause of this mood? Well today's my birthday so to celebrate last night all of my Calgary friends and family got together for a game of softball.

Brad and I put a lot of work into this event, we scoped out baseball diamonds and debated about treats and we even officially booked the diamond. It was the perfect plan until the torrential downpour started yesterday at 4:00! The clouds were dark all day but started getting worse and worse and darker and darker so by the time it started to rain it looked like twilight. The rain came down in these heavy drops and sheets of rain blew all over... it took mere minutes for large puddles to form. It may sound a little silly but I was fairly devastated; I'd really got my heart set on softball.

We quickly made sure plan B was in place, games, treats and cake and then could only wait until it got closer to game time. We headed up to the field early to see how bad the damage was and couldn't have been more surprised! The outfield was sort of damp, not even squishy, it was game on for sure!

It really couldn't have been better. We had enough people for two teams and played a great game, my team even came out victorious! My birthday present this year was a new baseball bat and a pair of cleats and both were great purchases. We ate cake and lots of treats and were eaten alive by mosquitoes, no matter how well we coated in repellant.

Thanks to all who came, it was quite possibly my best birthday yet.
I have a few photos but they'll have to wait until a bit later.
L

Weekend in Review

I spent the last little bit reading others blog entries hoping to be inspired for my own. It’s been such a long time since I posted an entry but I haven’t felt inspired at all. Funny how sometimes every moment seems like a blog entry and other times my life seems so dull I’m sure no one’s interested.

I suppose I’ll just have to go with a boring old weekend recap, despite it being Tuesday already.

On Friday I did something I haven’t done in at least 15 years, I attended a Primary party. I really admire the simplicity of said party. We met at a park where the kids played on a jungle gym, then we gathered them and had a quick scavenger hunt. The kids played some more and then we ate pizza and cookies which was followed by more playing. And that was it. Let me tell you, a Primary party is a whole lot different then a Relief Society party.

After the party we headed up to Airdrie for my Sister-in-law’s birthday dinner where we had a great time visiting with family, ate some really good food and got a few more wedding gifts, people’s generosity never ceases to amaze me.

A standard Saturday for me usually involves some sleeping in and then some house cleaning with some laundry thrown in. Brad comes home at 3:00 so we normally do something in the evening. Well this Saturday I threw my routine out the window and did zero laundry and zero cleaning. Instead I went shopping with another sister-in-law and managed to find the greatest deal! Two pairs of jeans (which I love) for $50. They were buy one get one free and Lisa had a 10% off and a $5 off. Best deal of the day! The evening was really fun, Brad and I went for dinner at Diner Deluxe and then we went and saw the movie Stardust which I would absolutely recommend.

Sunday we had dinner with friends and then played the Game of Life which has improved considerably since I was a kid.

All in all a really great weekend full of friends, family, yummy food and lots of laughs.
I’ll hope for one just as fun this week.
L

Weekend of Fun

Every year Magrath celebrates it's anniversary and my favorite part of it has always been the fireworks. They'd set them off at one end of the football field and we'd lie on the grass at the other. The fireworks go off right above your head and occasionally you'd be lucky enough to be hit by sparks, you're that close!

There are few things I love more than fireworks, so I was thrilled to be able to go to the first night of the Fireworks competition. We were there to see Canada and I'm not sure I could have loved it more. Mom, Dad, Rob and Riley came up and Riley was so cute, he'd clap his hands and proclaim that it was "Awesome". We're lucky enough to have tickets for Tuesday and Thursday as well. While you aren't hit by sparks for these ones they do have the added fun of music, I love the music!

On saturday we went on a Zoo trip, check out the pictures.
It was such a great weekend! I look forward to Tuesday and Thursday.



L

Tickle Bread?

How was your long weekend? Ours was great. Brad and I wanted nothing more than to totally relax and lounge and sleep in late and not have a single real thing to do. We decided the best place to execute this plan was down at my parents house, so after work on Friday we headed to Magrath. Our plan worked perfectly, we slept in late everyday (despite the double bed). We ate eggs benedict for breakfast, my favorite, and watched movies. We ate yummy food including homemade multi-grain bread and chocolate cupcakes with raspberry icing. We even waded in the pool my parents have in the backyard. It’s one of those one for kids but it’s a pretty good size, Brad and I were about waist deep.

Probably the highlight of the weekend was my nephew Riley. It’s interesting to watch how quickly kids change. Only a couple months ago when Brad and I went down we were nothing but annoyed with this little guy. Every morning we’d wake to his screams and he would throw tantrums and cry and was just plain annoying... not the case anymore. He’s turned into this adorable, fun boy that says the funniest things.

He loves to swim in the pool so when the adults are talking it must be referred to as the p-o-o-l so as not to get him excited. He likes it when you read stories to him, he wears cute Superman and Bob the Builder underwear and loves all Thomas toys. I’m not sure it gets any cuter though than when he’s talking to Brad... or as he pronounced it “Bread”. We taught him to tickle this weekend so he’s say, “tickle Bread?”. At first when he’d ask where Bread was we were confused... well I guess there’s bread on the counter, it took us some time to realize that Brad = Bread.

Anyway, here’s to a great weekend spent with Bread and my family, we’ll do it again for sure.
L