First Day of PreKindergarten

R on his first day - boy was he excited! He did so well too, and the anticipation was worse than the actual for this mommy.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Some pics of the kids enjoying life the last couple weeks...R on a hike when we camped this weekendK enjoying birthday balloons (I can just hear her saying "YEAH!")A loving her new tiara, the twincess that she is (it was a bday gift from Mommy and Daddy)

Wordless Wednesday

Someone was having fun with PhotoBook when Mommy wasn't looking!

I want one!

Came across this website today - love this picture! Actually, love what it is of...
The Favorite comment on their blog was this - "Chutes and Ladders, 3D edition." Love it!

Wordless Wednesday - Gotta new camera!

Now I can take better pictures of my 4 favorite people!

Christmas Letter 2009

December 2009
Merry Christmas
I just wanted to include a quick update letter with this family picture. 2009 has been a good year. R turned 4 in October, with A and K now 18 months as of the end of November. Time is flying by. I am loving being at home with them and being able to spend all day watching them grow, and become their own people, seeing their personalities shine through and know that I will be there for it all. A and K are constantly on the go – just started walking well, everywhere and into everything. They are both cuddlers, love people, though K is a little more outgoing. A’s favorite pastime is eating – she will eat constantly if you let her. For a while they were two pounds apart in weight, but since solids have come into their lives they are now at half a pound difference. K especially loves to sing, for the past month or so “Up above the world” from “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” has been in her head, though it comes out like “Up up ba da wah, up up ba da wah…” again and again. So cute.
R has been involved in swimming lessons and music lessons this fall and loving every minute of it. He loves music and his favorite carol right now is “Joy to the World” which he calls the “Kevin song,” because as we all know it says “…and Kevin and nature sing…”  He and Daddy try to go swimming every Friday night at the Cochrane pool and the girls and I join them sometimes. We also go to Mom’s group with a few friends of mine every other Wednesday – we have 7 kids now between the three of us, so it is a bit hectic in the house at times, and so much fun. I have also been attending a Ladies Morning Out at Center Street Church on Thursday mornings, so we are a little busy at times.
I started working out with a trainer in April – I had hurt my back after the girls were born and needed someone to show me how to do exercises properly and just get into shape – I had strength, just no endurance as Christine says it. I also got accountability this way and Christine is awesome. She comes once a week still and we have adapted my routine several times as I develop endurance. I am proud to say that I can now do pushups, with my knees up on an exercise ball! For someone who could barely do 5 “girly” pushups before this is HUGE!  I also did a running class that ended last week and found that I enjoy running, especially by myself. There is something about getting away from everyone, my heart pumping, the music going in my ears, with my feet hitting the pavement in rhythm that makes me feel good.
This year I have been working part-time in my home doing advertising for a company called Melaleuca – The Wellness Company, which I have loved as I am able to work around my kids. We absolutely love the products that they manufacture, so wanted to share that with other people.
M is still working at MW Energy Corp, going on three years in January. They cut back to 1/3 of the staff that they had last January and M is one of those that stayed. Everyone picked up the slack, pitching in wherever it was needed and they have made it through these tough economic times well, starting to produce once again this fall and it looks like things are going nowhere but up and up. It is nice that he is working back in the HR role now that he was in before all the cutbacks. He was able to go to Missouri at the beginning of October to see their sites there and talk with the employees, put some names to faces and see what their needs are for health care. MW has been an awesome company to work for, very much a family feel and we have been blessed to be employed by such a company. M is able to help out in making it a great place to work and that feels good.
One of the blessings that have come from MW is that all the staff was given every other Friday and some other days off this summer (wonder who the fabulous HR person who suggested that was? And the great president who agreed to it – thanks again, B! ) and we were able to not only get in a trip to M’s parents place with a surprise birthday weekend (mine) just the two of us to Seattle, but 5 camping trips as a family – Drumheller, Bow Valley, Glacier National Park, Waterton National Park, Boulton Creek – and three overnight trips for M – one solo hike, one kayaking trip and a group glacier hike. Our kids learned to enjoy camping and boy, did we ever have things down to a science. And yes, we were in a tent – you read it right – three kids, two adults, one tent. Our tent is HUGE and it is so great for our family. We will definitely be doing it again next year. We also went to Las Vegas, baby, the last weekend in October for the U2 concert. It was on our bucket list and what better place to get a good deal than Vegas. We enjoyed the longest time away from the kids since R was born in 2005. Thanks to my parents for taking care of our kids during our trip to Vegas and M’s parents and sister for taking the kids during our trip to Seattle. We are so blessed to have awesome family!
Well, that is all except I wanted to let you know that the family picture was taken at the Calgary Zoo, one of our favorite places to visit, in the Transalta Rainforest. The gorillas’ home is there and they are one of the animals we enjoy the most – we also LOVE the hippos and giraffes. This summer we (the kids and I) visited the Zoo every week for almost two months with our good friends the Lows. It is so much easier to get along and keep entertained when you can RUN, isn’t it?  (For the pictures, if you got the vertical one I am holding A and M has K, and in the horizontal one, I am holding K and M has A.)
Hope you all have the most wonderful of Christmas seasons and the very best of everything in the New Year!
Love from K, A, R, M and R
(Sometimes you have to shake things up and sign off from youngest to oldest. Yes, I am older than M, but it is less than 6 months, so no teasing about cougars, OK? )

Not even close to being a Wordless Wednesday

M and I started watching "My Sister's Keeper" tonight. I have had it from the video store almost a week now and have not had the courage to watch it yet. I read the book by Jodi Piccoult for book club - it is still my favorite pick of the books that we have read. I knew, knew, knew that it would be a tear jerker for me - it has proven to be just that so far. My DH looked at me about 15 minutes ago and said that we needed to quit for tonight as he couldn't do anymore tonight. I had to clarify if it was because he was tired or emotionally wrung out. He said "Both - I have kids, two little dollies at that." I think any parent cannot help but be emotionally connected to this story, we all put ourselves in the place of both the mother and the father - what would we do if, God please never my kids, but if something like this happened to my child? To my little A Bean...
Or my K Bear...
Or my R-A-Roo...
I think I would rather die myself. I love this little people so much and would go to hell and back for them, probably fight for them until my last breath. It's what we parents do.
And then I think, "How blessed am I? How blessed am I - that I have three beautiful, HEALTHY children? Thank you God, thank you so, so much for everything you have given me."
Now I am going to go say good night to my kids. Hopefully they don't wake up, though if one does, it'll give me an excuse to cuddle them back to sleep. I may cry on them though...

My Bebes

A few weeks ago I read a post of Dixie's that hit home to me. I have been struggling lately with the fact that I am not going to have any more babies. My little girlies are the last and they are truly becoming little girls rather than babies very fast. They will be 18 months in less than 1 week! I cannot believe how fast time has gone!! I thought though that I would celebrate my babies and post some pics of when they were born. Hope you all enjoy...

A long, exhausting labour, but here's my little boy!

Daddy was so overjoyed and emotional that he cried for the first 10 minutes.

Our first family picture.

Little man the first day home - he ended up being in the NICU from Wednesday until we brought him home on Sunday. He LOVED having his hand right by his mouth or cheek for the first few months.

Me and my baby girls - much easier labour this time and they were good in spite of being 5 weeks early. We were doubly blessed.

PROUD Daddy - two girls to protect.

I don't know who was more blessed, me for having my mom at the delivery or her for getting to be there. Two little granddaughters to add to the grandson - how lucky for a lady who thought she would only ever have two grandchildren! :)

Baby girls in the NICU where they got to spend the first 2 weeks of their lives feeding and growing. (A on the left and K on the right)

Finally home on June 11 and they can cuddle together in the same bassinet. (K on the left and A on the right) Looking back at photos, they looked SO different right from the start.

Wordless Wednesday - U2 in Vegas - You think we were happy to be there?

For some reason the right side isn't showing, so if you want to see it all, just click on the pic.

A Boy and His Dog

For the last year or so, R has been very attached to his stuffed puppy, which was given to him by Auntie J when he was born. He calls the dog Rover Doggy and has to sleep with him, makes up stories for him. At times I have to discipline Rover, because "it wasn't me, it was Rover." In fact Rover has been put in time outs by his pint-sized master more than once. When we were getting together everything for family photos, I had to put Rover Doggy in the bag as well, because if there was an opportunity, I wanted to capture their relationship on film for posterity. Heather did a great job, didn't she?

Some of my favorites

Guess Who's Walking!?!

She started walking yesterday! The past while we have been walking both girls around the house holding ONE hand of theirs and they have been doing great. Up until now K has done everything first, but yesterday I tried letting Beanie (A) go and holding my hands out to her and she walked 4 steps all by herself. I celebrated hard - YEAH, A! GOOD FOR YOU! YOU WALKED, ALL BY YOURSELF!! She was so proud of herself and we did it over and over.
I had something that I had to run out for right at supper, so M was cleaning up when I got home and I told him about the walking and he stood her up right away and reached out his arms and she started walking towards him. He, being the sneaky daddy that he is, kept backing up, making her go farther. She probably did 10 steps and several repetitions before tuckering out.
I haven't gotten her to do it yet today, but I am sure it will come. K does not have interest in it yet, thinks crawling is the easiest and fastest way to get around, but as soon as she sees her big sister going, I am sure she will start too.

Cookies and Veggies

Yesterday R and I made cookies. I decided that I wanted to try to make the Chocolate Chickpea Cookies that my friend A had made before and enjoyed. Getting veggies and protein into the little people gets harder all the time. R really wanted "Black cookies" though, so I knew I would have to put cocoa or chocolate into the batter to change the color. They turned out really well- I am enjoying them so much (too much, maybe? :) The only regret I have is not getting a picture of R and I in process and afterward he didn't feel like eating any. The girls enjoyed them a lot though and we got some great pics of them eating their cookies.

"What choo talkin' 'bout, Mama?" (Love this face- think I'm going to REALLY love it in about 12 years!)

Always a smile from K-Bear!

K decided her cookie wasn't enough, let's eat R's that he didn't finish. Then, she thought it looked better ON than it tasted! :)In case you were wanting to try this recipe yourself, here it is. The cookies are SO delicious and very moist. I actually gave half a dozen to the neighbour girl when she stopped by today, because I was afraid of them going bad before we finished them.

Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies

Makes 24-26 cookies
Jessica warns: If using a standing mixer, partially cover the bowl with a dish towel to keep the chickpeas from flying out. I used a Tupperware measuring cup that has a splatter guard, so there was no problem.

• 1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup trans fat free soft tub margarine spread or butter
• 2 large egg whites (I used 1 egg)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 15oz/450g can chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 2 cups (12 Oz) semisweet chocolate chips (I used a mixture of chocolate and butterscotch chips as I was low on chocolate ones)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (I used quick oats)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (I halved this)
• (I added one melted chocolate square to get the darker color)
  

1. Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line 2 baking trays with non stick parchment

2. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the sugar and margarine with a wooden spoon or on medium speed until smooth. Beat in the egg whites or egg and vanilla, then the chickpeas and chocolate chips. Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed until a thick dough forms.

3. Drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the baking sheet, spacing the cookies about 1 inch apart. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 11-13 minutes, do not over bake. Leave on cookie sheet to cool and then transfer onto wire rack until completely cool. Do try one in the process of cooling as the gooey chocolate is wonderful in the cookie.

4. Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.

By Jessica Seinfeld from Deceptively Delicious

Can't wait till you get home!

I put the link to Heather's post of our family pictures on my Facebook status and my aunt commented about this one, "Wow - you have those kids trained to look the other way when the two of you are going to kiss!! Cute photo!!"
I guess we do it often enough that it is commonplace to them and nothing to stare at. Funny thing is, though Mommy and Daddy kissing may be boring to them, it still manages to thrill me!

2009 Family Pictures

Our friend Heather took pictures for us again this year. (You may remember our pictures from last year when the girls were 4 months old.) It was on Thanksgiving Monday when it was more than a little cold outside, so our plan for fall pictures in Bowness Park did not work. Heather came up with the idea of us going to the Zoo instead, and we decided on the Transalta Rainforest where the gorillas are. She has many photos to edit for the many photo shoots that she has been doing this fall, but she did get some of our family pictures done, so I thought I'd share them here.
Not sure why R is making faces all the time in the photos. And why none of my kids decided they wanted to smile. :) A especially looks SO serious.
I love the pictures we hve so far, can't wait to see the rest. I am so happy that Heather was able to take them for us and being able to think outside the outside box and find a great, unique place to take them! It is really nice to have family pictures yearly and chronicle the changes to the people in our family. Kids grow up so fast and I don't want to forget how we all looked together.

The QTs

One year ago today...

...we found out our lives would forever be changed with not just one addition to our family, but two. We have had quite the year. We put our house up for sale, then took it off the market. We renovated our house, I got as big as a house, I got high blood pressure and was in the hospital for 10 days, the girls came 5 weeks early and spent 2 weeks in the NICU at two different hospitals. We had people come an help us out after the girls were born (THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!) We took a vacation when the girls were 8 weeks old. R turned three! I started a new business and am working on that.
It's been hectic and at times I feel like I have bitten off WAY more than I can chew, but God has been faithful - I always manage. I have an amazing husband who really works with me with the kids and I know loves me and the children more than anything.
So I am thankful for the blessings God gave, the "bonus" that we got. Here they are today...

If you want to read the post from when we found out last year, you can go here. If you watch the video, turn the sound on... the song makes it all the better!

Christmas Slide Show

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas... ours was good, though so many gifts in one day was a little overwhelming for R. He was a little crabby by the end of the day and figured that everything was all about him. It took until 10:30 for him to go to sleep. We had my family come over here as it is easier with the kids to have naps and go to bed at home. Mom and C brought food and we all chipped in to get the meal on. It was a good day!
I figured it would be easier to share all our Christmas photos if they were in a
slide show. ENJOY!

Have a great week between Christmas and New Year's. We are lucky this year - DH is off until the 5th! We saw M, K and their boys yesterday and we have quite a few plans for this week - starting with today, a movie day! So far we have watched "Horton Hears a Who!" and we are on to "Ratatouille" which R got from DH's parents for Christmas.