Breaking the pattern

Married 2005
Elijah born 2007
Lillian born 2009

Unless something crazy happens in the next two hours, we're not having a baby in 2011. Besides the fact that it's a neat pattern that fits well with my brain, I'm okay with that.

Looking forward to the new year when we have another little girl in our family picture.

Time outs

We have a time out chair in the corner by our bedroom. Time outs have worked relatively well for our kids. Lillian still kind of thinks they're a fun thing her older brother "gets" to do.

She has taken to giving her dolls time outs. She informed me that they were there because they weren't listening. Wonder where she's heard that before...

(In case you're wondering about the look on her face, it's her stern face because she's punishing the dolls.)

A little journey into Elijah's artistic talents

This is a picture of our house. It includes all of us including the baby in mommy's tummy. I realize it's a bit small but the bottom section is the basement, including drawings of our treadmill and goldfish. There is a kitchen table on the main floor with peas in it.

First snow of winter

The snow was finally sticky enough to make a snowman.

Happy Halloween

We went trick or treating tonight. However, these pictures were not from tonight. Lillian was actually a monkey and Elijah... well, he was sort of the fierce pirate you see in this picture. Except he had just woken up from a nap so he wasn't so fierce. And he wasn't so costumed. Actually, all he wore was a pirate's hat. At least people are kind to kids and were still willing to give him candy. He did perk up considerably once we were pretty much done trick or treating.

Nothing more fun than a bubble bath

How can you not smile when you hear the giggles of your children as they discover the joys of being covered in bubbles?

Anything better than this?

What more could a mom who reads want? A snuggle on the couch with her boy as they both read books that they love.

26 weeks

I figured I should take at least one picture of me with a baby belly.

November 17th

For those of you that want to do something with me on November 17th I will respectfully decline. You see, I'm busy. I'll be attending a Jets game with my fine husband.

(Now all I need to do is figure out how to stay up past my usual bedtime. The game starts at 7:30...)

Weekend at the lake

First weekend in October and it was beautiful out. The kids had a great time at Auntie Anne's cottage.

How we save money...

Just purchase two $1 spray bottles at Dollarama and have your kids wash your vehicle for you. It entertains them AND you get a cleaner vehicle.

Birthday party fun

When you're six months pregnant and have kids who have birthdays pretty close together, you go for the path of least resistance. What that meant for my kids and their friends was a night at the Steinbach Aquatic Centre.

Why it's good to see what your kid is playing on the computer...

This is apparently Elijah's latest discovery and favorite game.

http://www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Games/PenguinWhacker.htm

It's called Gory Penguin Wacker. You may or may not want to check out what my almost four year old is playing.

Pretties

Lillian loves her pretties. Offer to put pretties in her hair and she'll ask for more. She also snagged this purse from my mom on Friday night. She has been walking around with it ever since. It was quite a sight to see her walking through Walmart with a purse that was pretty much as big as her.

First day of pre-school

First day was a success. He had a good time playing with a castle and helped a boy with some toys. Looks like we've got a fun year ahead.

The van

We're heading to pick it up on Friday. After some thought and a little consideration, we've purchased a 2006 Toyota Sienna. Unbeknownst to us, we have purchased a Swagger Wagon. (Feel free to cruise You Tube to see the various commercials.) Good times. I am now officially a mom.

It starts at a young age

Lilllian has taken over Elijah's computer which he never uses because he has taken over our computer. That kid can navigate a computer in a way that scares me. I still remember sending my first email (It was 2004. Computer lab (a.k.a. room with four computers) at Sahel Academy in Niger. I think it cost me a dollar.) I'm about to take bets on how long it will take for me to start asking my kids for help on the computer.

This is sad

I just realized that my last post was over a month ago. That is sad.

So here we go...

Let me be the first to let you know that Elijah and Lillian will be getting a sister in January. We went to the ultrasound yesterday and all appears to be good with Little Holland.

We have been enjoying the great outdoors this summer. We tilled up a garden and the kids have been loving the opportunity to eat a fresh tomato just like an apple. They make a mess of things but they sure have fun.

We're gearing up for fall when Elijah starts pre-school. He's getting excited about it although he doesn't really know what it means. He does know that he got a new backpack and a new pair of shoes that help him run really fast.

I leave you with these kind words from my son.

"Mommy - you have a big bum."

Out of the mouths of children comes true honesty?

The reason I go through this

...is because I get this at the end.

Yesterday Elijah got the chance to drive behind Daddy on his big bike. He was so proud to be able to ride.

Meanwhile, Lillian was having a bath. Once her bath was done she wanted to know where Daddy I was. I got her dressed and this is her wandering down our street saying "Daddy? Daddy?". She even has her little doll tucked under her arm. It was so cute.

Does it suck to be sick? Absolutely. But I always try to remind myself not to complain. Nine months for this? Totally worth it.

Play structure

First, let me say that I'm kind of annoyed. I didn't realize that something got changed on my settings and I couldn't post because of it. I clicked ONE THING yesterday and all of a sudden I'm good to go. Grrrr...

Second, I will let you enjoy my children enjoying the beginnings of the wonderful play structure that their dad made for them. This picture doesn't include the swing portion but you get the idea. I am so excited to be able to let my kids go in the backyard and have a ton of stuff for them to do.

(I did tell Trevor that it's been so much work it's a good thing we're having a third kid to make good use of it.)

Cousin Arthur

Trevor's sister Rochelle and her husband Danny had a little boy in April. Elijah and Lillian have had two different reactions to their new cousin. Elijah is tender and loves to hold him. Lillian, well, you can tell from the picture that she hasn't quite mastered the art of gentleness.

The joy continues...

So baby #3 is set to arrive in January. The past month or so has definitely not been my favorite. I am sick and tired.

However, we are blessed to be able to have another child.

It's the pregnancy that's just not fun.

Posting problems

You might think that I haven't been posting recently because I've been busy. You'd be wrong. Don't get me wrong. I've had stuff to do. I haven't been posting because my computer isn't letting me post due to some error that came as a result of an update. Sigh... Thanks for your computer mom and dad.

Our Chin Friends

We got together with our Chin friends today. (Just to clarify - even though they're from Burma, they say they are from Chin.) They were kind enough to bring Lillian a dress. His mother, who is still back in their country, made it. It is beautiful. The embroidery on it obviously took some time and it's amazing how well it fits her. I don't know that a dress could have been measured to fit her better.

Lillian was playing with her doll and the dad (or papa in Chin) put the doll on her back in the same way that they carry babies. Lillian was quite proud and wore it on her back for quite some time.

Friends like this make the whole world smaller.

Good way to start the day

It's good to be thankful

"I thank the Lord for my big muscles"
- Elijah, 3 1/2, while posing to show his big muscles

Making a Rocket

A few months back we had to get new carseats because of a minor accident we were in. (Thank you MPI for replacing our completely not damaged carseats at no cost to us.) We threw the boxes in our sunroom to deal with later. It has since gotten warmer and we have been spending time in our sunroom.

These boxes have now become rockets.




This is Elijah and Lillian painting the rocket. We did this several days in a row. Pure joy for both of them.

The lesson learned of course is that kids are happy to play in a box. No need to purchase expensive toys. But we still do. Because kids are happy with those too. :)

Good Bye Cleaning Lady

Good bye Cleaning Lady.

It is with a bit of sadness that I bid you farewell. Believe me, I have enjoyed coming home to the smell of Mr. Clean permeating my house. I have enjoyed the clean floors and the washed dishes drying on the counter.

The thing is, you're not me. And, I'm a little bit cheap.

I love the thought of a clean house without any effort on my part. The thing is, I pay you a good amount of money to do that. I grew up with good thrifty Mennonite values and I always want to get my money's worth. If you're coming to clean my house on Tuesday I stop cleaning up after my self in order to get the full value of the service that you are providing me.

I don't like living that way. I like taking the two minutes to pick something up and put it away. I like the feeling of being relatively organized - that you could enter my house at any moment and it would look lived in but not hoarding-ish.

We'll see how this works. In theory, I think it's great to have someone come clean your house every two weeks. In real life, it ended up being not so great.

So, Cleaning Lady, I will miss your cleaning ways but I will enjoy the "extra" money in my bank account.

Weekend at Auntie Anne's Cottage

All last week Elijah was excited about the weekend we were about to have at Auntie Anne's Cottage. He was counting down sleeps (as much as he can count) and kept talking about sleeping on bunk beds. And we had a wonderful weekend.

The kids played outside a ton. They went sledding and swinging and quadding and ice fishing. They built a fort and dug holes in the snow. At the end of the day they were TIRED. Always the best for a good night of sleep.

Always gotta get a McDonald's shot in.


They both loved the quad.


Poor Lillian. Hand me down snowsuit from her big brother. He was a little bit bigger than her at that age. (Did you realize that icicles are full of bacteria and shouldn't be eaten? That's what my expert husband tells me.)


Eating icecream with Elijah's cousin.

Why I love my house

Two of dearest BFFs made major house decisions this past weekend. One sold a house. One bought a house. And I, well I still live in my house. My house which I still love. And here are some of my reasons:

1. The Space - We essentially tripled our living space and we are all happier for it. (Elijah needs to release some energy? Let him run around the couch. Lillian is sure to join him.)

2. The Yard - I will admit that the flower gardens were a bit overwhelming last summer. I'm pretty sure that having removed half of them I will enjoy my yard even more this summer. I am also thrilled with the plot of land that we tilled up in the fall so I can once again have a garden. I missed having a garden this summer. I love being able to go outside and get fresh ingredients for supper.

3. The Garage - When it's -45 with the windchill? I get to park inside. I don't think that needs more of an explaination.

4. Two bathrooms - There are now four of us that use the toilet. Nice to have a second one. This has become particularly important since the fourth member of the toilet using group in our house is 17 months and really just enjoys the experience of sitting on the "Special Seat". It's not so much about actually utilizing the services that the toilet provides.

5. Location - Close to work. Close to the mall. Close to the grocery store. Close to several play structures. Close to schools.

6. The Layout - Back when we lived in the old house we had two children sleeping right outside our bedroom door. Lillian was born and was sleeping in a basinet. It was convenient to have her close by when she woke up at night. Elijah had his bedroom upstairs and he started to come down the stairs at night. The stairs were pretty steep without a railing so it was just a headline waiting to happen. Now they're happily living in their own rooms just down the hall.

7. The Windows - There are lots of them and they are relatively new. There is something wonderful about natural light. It just makes me happy.

8. Our Sunroom - The funny thing about this is that we didn't even look at it when we looked at the house the three times that we came here before we made an offer. Didn't even occur to us that we would care. We spent a lot of time in there this summer. It actually became the place where we ate most of our meals and spent a lot of time playing. We even put a couch in there so it became a cozy little place to read a book.

9. The Untapped Potential - There is room to work with this house. There are so many projects yet to be started. Having said that, we can live in it happily just the way it is. That's nice.

10. No Crazy Mortgage - We can live here comfortably. No crazy mortgage payments that make us house poor. Sure our property taxes are four times as much but it's a small price to pay for this much joy.

Yup. I really love this house.

My surprise photo

I randomly went into my pictures and selected an icon of a picture. The first one ended up being a picture of Lillian in the bathtub. (You know, the one that all parents take but shouldn't share with the world.)

This is picture #2. More clothes so likely a better option. Lillian was dancing and singing to some music in her head. (And also transporting Elijah's shoe around - as you can see by it sitting on the table in the background.)

They learn our tricks so fast

My trick to getting Elijah to do something has been to give him a choice. If he doesn't want to wear pants, I give him the option of two different pairs. That way he's had the chance to pick and I have a son wearing pants.

Lately Elijah has been doing a lot of mixing in the kitchen. He is always in need of more 'gredients. Today he wanted oil for his mix. I told him that I wouldn't give him oil. He came up to me with two different measuring cups and asked me which one I wanted to put the oil in. Seriously? How do they get so clever?

New Friends

Our latest family adventure has been getting involved in the host family program that our church has. It connects families with recent refugee arrivals to Winnipeg.

Last Sunday we got to meet our family. They are originally from Burma. They seem to be a very nice family. They have kids around our kids ages.

It was interesting to see how the kids interacted with each other. The little boy was so enthralled with all the toys that Elijah had that I'm not even sure that he realized that Elijah was there. Lillian and the little girl were just precious. At one point they were walking down the hall hand in hand. (It was all I could do to not go run and get my camera. Figured I should wait until at least the second visit to haul out my BFF.)

I anticipate that we will have many misunderstandings as they speak limited English and we don't speak Chin at all. But I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited to expand our world to see how other cultures live and experience life.

They're coming over for lunch on Sunday. At least I think that's what we arranged based on our limited language abilities. Guess we'll find out Sunday.

Elijah has the flu

It's not my favorite. I slept in his bed and then on his floor last night so I could provide a handy dandy bowl when he needed it. We spent the entire day watching TV from our couch in the living room. Wasn't exactly my plan for such a nice winter Saturday. Here's hoping that we get some sleep tonight.

(On a side note: He did feel well enough to mention when Lillian lifted up her shirt to point at her belly that it was actually a beer belly. If you've seen her belly lately it's kind of hard to argue that. She's so darn cute.)

Zoom

There it went. Another week.

It was good. Work was busy. Looking forward to being able to take a few days off once the busyness of February dies down. (Just as a side note: You don't have to wait until the end of February to do your RRSP deposits. I'm just saying.)

I changed my template to remind me (and you) that spring and summer really do exist and are just around the corner. That will be the extent of my comments about the weather.

Yup. We're doing okay.

Looking for a bargain

You gotta start them young if you're going to get them looking for deals in flyers.

Homegirl and a Baker

Lillian has been putting things on her head a lot lately. She found Trevor's hat and wandered around the house with it on. I found it funny - a soother and backwards cap.
Elijah has been doing a lot of baking lately. And by baking I really mean taking a bunch of ingredients (such as flour, cocoa, corn meal and spices) and putting it in a bowl. Lillian has been enjoying it just as much as she watches him from the side of the counter.

My Little Snow Angel

Entertaining themselves

Someone asked me at work today if I go home and crash every night. They wondered how I "survive" as a working mom. I actually had to pause and consider this because I think I survive the same way any other mom survives. I get up in the morning, get my kids ready and go about my day.

One thing I have learnt lately is that you have to take each moment for what it is. Impatience does not motivate children to hurry. (It actually doesn't motivate adults for that matter either.)

I am so happy to say that my kids love their daycare. The care that they get there is genuine. I have no doubt that my children are sincerely celebrated. I am also happy that Elijah's phase of not wanting to get out of the car to go to daycare was also just that - a phase. His latest phase is hiding behind the door when we get in the house. Then I have to go "look" for him. It's a thirty second effort that brings him joy.

And as the kids get older they are more able to entertain themselves. Elijah's has been enjoying a lot of Wii lately. Here he is playing MarioKart.

It warms my heart every time I see one of my kids reading a book and so it was with pleasure that I took this picture of Lillian. (I also really enjoyed the intense concentration involved in pressing the button to make the noise come out of the book.)

Time

A wise person told me recently that we become impatient with our children when we are dictated by time. When we have time to allow them to be curious about the world and exert their attempts at independence, it is much easier to be patient.

And so I have been practicing.

Time to head to work. Do I spend 10 minutes fighting with Elijah about his desire to play MarioKart on the Wii (thank you E and H for introducing this latest obsession to him) or sit down and race with him for the same amount of time?

Time for bed. Do I fight with him for half an hour about the need to have him sleep in his own bed or let him sit beside me in my bed while he sits like me and "reads" his book like me. (You turning your page mom?)

I heard someone talk about spending too much time on trying to improve on who you'll be in the future. Spend your time doing the best that you can right now at what you're doing right now and your future will as a natural result be improved.

Happy new year friends. May the perspective of time help you to enjoy the moments in your life a little bit more.