Thursday, November 1, 2012

Halloween Fun

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween. We sure did here. We decorated the garage up and made the kids come through there to get their candy. I think quite a few just passed by because they thought it was too scary. But we still had around 200 kids. The best we ever got in Edmonton was 15 I think. We had a curtain across the garage door with a split in it, and a sign saying "Enter if you Dare". Some just didn't dare I guess. Then they came in and we had black sheets all over the walls blacking it out, with spider webs all over, and bones strewn about. Gravestones on the floor over some mesh stuff Aric had. We made a Grim reaper type thing hanging on one corner. Of course there were black lights lighting everything up. We had a strobe light going and music.
The kids came in and we made a little corner that they went to wit a table and candles. There was an upside down pot made to look like someones was under the table with their head in the pot to jump out. There was sign on the table saying knock for candy. When they did that, Aric turned the smoke machine on and then entered from behind a curtain behind them. 
He had a lot of fun!!!
 I do wish I could've helped him, but I took the kidlets out trick-or-treating with Chiho. Sylas slept nicely in the bottom while Naomi enjoyed going from door to door in the stroller. I eventually stopped taking her out of the stroller and just took the bag to the door for her. She was so cute saying trick-or-treat. She had a blast!!! Her cheeks were so cold and red, but that didn't matter to her.
So following are photos of our Halloween over the last few days.



Naomi gutting her first pumpkin. She had lots of fun.


The final product. I set the pumpkin up for the photo, and as I grabbed the camera she turned it so she could see the face. So proud.


Take 2. It took a bit of convincing to get her smile once I turned the pumpkin back to the camera. That's why her smile isn't as enthusiastic as usual.


Chiho working on her first pumpkin ever. I think she was a little grossed out by the insides.


Final product, and so proud.


The pumpkin family. L-R:Chiho, Aric's double decker, Naomi (including the eyebrows she insisted it have), then mine.


Halloween dinner is not complete without a charred hand and eyeballs!!!



Our "Super-Pooper Buddy Man". HE was the star of our Halloween party.


Naomi playing with our new mask. There is a wig I bought too, but she wouldn't go near it!!! But she put this on freely. Weird kid.


My little chicken. Everyone loved her costume as we went door to door.


The adorable duo. I just love these guys. They are the cutest Superman and Chicken I have ever seen.
Hope you enjoyed everyone, and mom and dad... see you in 25 sleeps!!!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Holy cow time flies by!



I can't believe it is  almost Halloween, already. My last post was a couple months ago. I think stuff has happened. I'm not really sure as I can't remember. I guess the pictures I go through will jog my memory.
Well we are definitely in our home and we are comfortable in it. People in our ward always comment on how they are amazed that we have pictures and stuff up on the walls already. That's funny as it is one of the first things I do, to make sure that I feel at home.
Well we have an exchange student living with us, from Japan. Naomi sure enjoys having Chiho around. She is constantly following her around when she is home. If Chiho has friend over, Naomi is right there in the middle of things demanding them to "watch me!"
Chiho and Naomi

Chiho has had some good experiences so far. We went to the Zoo one Flex-Friday. (A Flex-Friday is an extra day off of school because the kids and teachers go an extra 17 minutes a day, and then they get an extra day off every month, we love it.) Anyway we went to the Zoo and then to Peter's Drive In for lunch. While at Peter's Prime Minister Stephen Harper showed up!!! Here is the proof
Chiho was so excited when we explained who he is. And for those who have no clue still... he is the equivalent of Barack Obama. We were all flying pretty high after meeting him.
 Chiho has also had some firsts at our house. Here she is learning how to remove the fat from beef before cutting it up and freezing it. She had quite a bit of fun.
Chiho likes glasses as much as I do. Se has many pairs that wears, but only 2 have prescriptions. She likes to put them on the kids and they are so stinkin' cute in them. My little book worms


































For those who may not know, Aric loves his super hero t-shirts. Knowing this, Aric's sister Casey has sent us some little onsies for Sylas. Our little super buddy is so cute in them


  Green Lantern
The Flash              

 
Naomi is 2, and I can't believe it. She talking so much, and starting to become pretty bossy, which I'm trying to nip in the butt. She is also such a polite little girl, most of the time. She is cute most of the time, but we have definitely had our share of meltdowns and tantrums. Here are some photos of the stinkbutt. She has such a pretty snile, when I'm able to catch a natural one on camera.

Car rides are fun to Calgary



Hangin in mommy's bed

Just looking beautiful ( auful is how she says it)

Modeling her princess dress she got from Auntie Ruthanne

We love mirrors

She loves getting into and playing with my make up.

I"m not sure when she did this, but I found it and made her help clean it up. Look closely at the wall.


We didn't make a huge fuss over her birthday this year, as she is 2 and doesn't know what is going on anyway. The day before her birthday is Uncle Kyles birthday, so we had BJ and Kyle over for dinner and cupcakes.

Politely smiling for a picture.

 
She finally understood the blowing out to the candle concept this year.
The video following is for you mom.


Birthday morning, she had to make sure every scrap of paper was off the present being unwrapped. She had fun unwrapping everything.
She ended up with a kitchen set, a stroller, a nursery for her dollies, some books, playdough, coloring books... I think that was it. I can't remember now.
Photo shoot in the basement


Now Sylas is growing like a weed too. He turned 6 months old on Friday. My how time flies! The kid is over 20 lbs and wear 9 month closes, and has been for a while. He has been chosen to be his daddy's classes baby. Meaning... his school participates in a program called Roots of Empathy program. It is to teach the children about differences and such in children and to help teach them that empathy. Sylas is a month older that they like to have a baby start, but he is the teachers baby so they made an exception. So about once a month we go in and the kids observe and watch the kid grow. They make predictions for what they think he will be able to do next time. we have been once so far, and it goes until next may.


Our little musician

Mr. Attitude


So that's it in a nutshell. We are alive and we are are enjoying life. Stay tuned for a Halloween update.





Friday, August 24, 2012

We are finally settling down.

Well we are in and starting to settle. No pictures yet as we are still arranging and re-arranging rooms. iT has been a crazy summer and not a whole lot of recreation has been had. But we have had some, and the pictures will show you what we have been up too.
Well we got everything packed and moved in a few trips. Turns out we have a lot of stuff!!!We had the van loaded to the top, the truck that Aric's mom brought, the other truck, a car and the 20' uhaul. Yet I still needed to go back to Edmonton to get another load in the van. Boy our last move was way easier with no kids!!!
But we got it all, and then some now. Our house is full already!!!!


We have done many trips to Calgary already getting this for this house. Here Naomi is holding Sylas' hand as we drive. She loves her brother a lot.



Our future little missionary. He is so handsome in his outfit that our friend Kara gave him.



My cousin Joanne stopped in one day with her family as they were heading to Calgary. Her youngest, Claire, is a week younger than Naomi. This hug seriously lasted about 5 minutes. They just wouldn't let go. It was so cute.



I'm such a big fan of Kijiji. I sold a lot of things to buy my double stroller we got, we have also bought a new table and chairs. Here Sylas is enjoying his new bumbo chair. He is such a big boy. It seems to me that he is developing faster than Naomi did. But I'm sure that time is just speeding up.



Gnomers has started to want to hold "it" a lot lately. She definitely needs supervision in this. But she just loves to show off her skills and her love for him.



A couple of Sundays ago I go the idea to straighten her hair. Wow did that ever make her look grown up. She is such a beautiful girl. She must take after her father in her looks.
 



So we have got a roller. He has decided that he wants to roller A LOT! I had to look up when the rolling and such happens. Front to back is fairly normal for this age. But back to front is usually around the 5-6 month mark when they start to sit up by themselves. This guy has to been doing this for 2 weeks now, and her isn't 4 months until this Sunday! What a big boy.



Playing with mommy's eyelash curler. She's got the right idea.




Now our little "vacation" this summer was heading to play at Joanne's house in Brooks. They have a boat and they took us out on the lake for the evening. Oh so much fun was had by all. The following is the proof of Aric's braveness, and Naomi's for that matter.

 Getting suited up in the life jackets. She didn't fuss in it like she usually does at the swimming pools.

 Our big boy all suited up and ready to go. Man, he hated that thing to begin with. There were many tears shed by this little man. It some time, but  actually got him to sleep finally. The rocking of the boat kept him quite happy after that.













We wedged the car seat between the chair and the the window. Here he had woken up from a nap to show us he was happy and comfy.



















 Enjoying the breeze and getting ready to watch daddy go for a ride on the knee board.

 


 Wahoo! Look at him go. He quite well for never having done it before.



Naomi and I even took to the water on the tube. Here we are pictured in the center with Brenna and Cammi on either side of us. Every once in a while I heard a little "weeeeeeee" coming from the little body in front of me. Apparently her expression didn't change much, but she enjoyed it.




 The little girls enjoying the ride. Naomi is such a little ham!




Our big girl enjoyed her ride so much, she wanted to go again. This time she went with Tamaran behind her, adn then Brenna and Cammie again on the sides. She was so brave that she even let go many times to wave back to us when we would wave to her.




Our happy little man enjoying his pink play center.  I'm sorry that there are so many, but he has such a great smile.




 Naomi has a special little room for herself. It is under the stairs and it even came with a little Naomi sized couch. She has even taken a few naps in there if we are down there and nap time comes.


Well we are gearing up to add another to our family this year. No, we are not pregnant again. We will be hosting a Japanese exchange student for this academic year. We are getting excited for this new challenge. She will be joining us on the August 29th. So if anyone comes to visit us, you no doubt get to know Chiho. Well that is all for today. I hope this has found you all well and enjoying our little family as much as we do.