special time with Great Grandma

Two peas in a pod - Amy and Samara


Trying very hard to get a group shot!!
At least Rhett seems to be over frowning at the camera!



A special treat at Grandma's house - decorating their own ice-cream!
Grady was sleeping, so he doesn't know he missed out on this!




Last week the kids had their spring break so instead of staying home and catching up on housework and other projects we decided to go for a drive! We spent most of Friday with Grandma O in Red Deer. We picked her up for lunch and spent a couple hours in the mall ... and then back to her place for cookies and ice-cream. Then we picked up Amy and we went to McDonalds for supper (or more like a play since my kids don't know what to eat there)! Then we went swimming ... but Grandma opted out of this part of the day! It was a bit chaotic but fun all the same ...and Grandma said she enjoyed it. However, I do need to talk to her and see how long it took to recover :)

company time

Up here in the North overnight company is a novelty. So we felt pretty lucky to have company 3 weekends in a row! I sense a long dry spell coming up! It was frigidly cold, but we had fun anyway. For the family day long weekend Devin and Shauna and family and Leah joined us. And I can't forget to mention that, a certain friend turned 29 while she was here ... I'm sure that is what it was - so now we're the same age! Ha! Unfortunately I never thought to take a family photo ... so you have to imagine what they look like, because they were in fact here.
The next weekend, even though the pictures are opposite, a very popular guest stayed with us - and his parents! However, I see as I'm looking through photos, that I never took any pictures of Gavin's mom or dad, or uncle Rob or Scott - who also stayed with us at the same time. Oops! I guess they'll have to come back so we can have another chance.

skating fun meet

On Saturday Samara skated in a fun meet, where they test figure skating skills and everyone comes away with a medal. There were a lot of skaters there, including her second cousin Allecia, who ended up in the very same group as Samara. Even though they were competing against each other it was nice because then we had the same schedule and could spend more time together. Grandma came to watch too, so that was a help in managing the rest of the crew :) I didn't realize until we got there that Samara invited her school teacher, and she came! She also had a school friend and her family come and cheer her on! It was a fun day, and she came away with a sliver and bronze medal in her two events so she was more than a little excited about that!

similarity?

at times I can see resemblances of Grady in Gavin ... what do you think?

baby gavin continued

So, we made it to Tim and Carla's Wednesday night around 10:30 Saskatchewan time. About 10 minutes after we made it in the door Rhett managed to squish his finger in their brand new recliner chair! The result was a swollen finger tip and a purple fingernail. After our grand entrance things went a little smoother! Gavin didn't seem bothered by the extra noise and activity as he was passed around, and passed around and passed around again. The main items on the agenda, other than meeting Gavin, was to get a room ready for him and re-arrange the living room to accommodate the new furniture. I wasn't sure the bedroom project would happen, as it was a room full of other stuff! But it did happen, and turned out very well in my opinion - green and brown with blue accents. Was kind of nice to see the crib again! Now they have a dresser and some cloth baskets for the shelving unit ... so these photos are already outdated! The living room project was fun too - a major transformation there with a nice new couch and chair ... and a new glider since we were there. We were spoiled by Tim's mom and her provisions ... casserole, chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, brownies and snowman sugar cookies. She must have thought we were big eaters ... so we had to eat and eat! We also had a few photo shoots with the little man. on Sunday he was so adorable in his big boy clothes! Was fun to pass on a pile of baby clothes - and reminisce how small and cute my kids were at one time! Now we've almost been home a week, and Carla tells me he's grown already. I don't think the trip gets any shorter .. but until next time ... we love you baby Gavin!

baby gavin

I don't have time right now to post about the trip to see baby Gavin ... and his family. I will let this do for now, enjoy! Stay tuned for the rest of the story!

belated birthday blog

I guess before any more time slips away I should share a few photos of Grady's 3rd birthday party. I still can't believe my baby is 3! I sort of feel like I've missed out a bit on this fun time ... always being preoccupied with a younger baby when the other kids were this age, or maybe I'm just losing my memory! Grady is an entertainer ... but not always on purpose! He enjoys a good reaction. This is is latest favorite joke: "guess what?" supposed to respond "what" ... then he responds "nothing, tee hee". He thinks it is the funniest joke around and keeps it up for a long time ... which isn't always funny!
I almost forgot about the cake saga. The night before his party I made a lemon cake in the truck pan, because he wanted an orange truck cake. However, I forgot to tip it out of the pan after letting it cool. So in the morning I had a very stuck truck cake. It didn't resemble a truck after getting it out, so I ran to DQ at the last minute. Not much selection I'm afraid, but he picked it out so he was happy with it and it saved me the hassle of decorating! The lemon cake got used in a trifle, so the rest of the family suggested I wreck a cake again sometime!