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.

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.

Part - 3

Well for those who may not know, but I think everyone does, we are moving to Strathmore, AB, as Aric will be teaching 5th and 6th grades at Werstmount Elementary. We are very excited for this change in our lives. We will be closer to most of our families. But sadly we will be moving further away from Chelsea. But really any move would have been further away, as we really are close right right now. We went down to Strathmore earlier this month and stayed with BJ and Kyle as we looked for housing. man was it tight finding something as most listing were already taken for August. But we came out on top I think. We are renting a 4 bedroom, half duplex, with a finished basement and single car garage. Lots of storage too. There is a fully fenced yard to Naomi and Sylas to play in (not huge) as there is a garden and greenhouse in the back, with a sundeck. Oh we are so happy with what we found. So come July 28th we will no longer call Edmonton home.

Naomi being the water baby that she is.

Such a handsome little man, even with eczema.

Naomi fell asleep at lunch one day. She did however manage to move her food out of the way before going to sleep.

Enjoying the bouncy castle at our wards July 1st (on the 2nd) pancake breakfast. We thought we would use it before any kids arrived.

Before going to Strathmore house hunting, we spent a night with Ruthanne and Dave in Calgary. Dave pulled out some toy guns and Naomi had a hay day with the noises they made.

Then we spent a night with Graham and Jacqui and the kids. We hit op one of the nearby parks and had some fun. This is one of those park that uses recycled tires instead of sand. Well Naomi hates the feel of those in her sandals. She got onto the park and was trying to get her sandals off while whining "sugar, sugar"

Before we headed to Strathmore we all went to the Calgary Zoo. This was the kids first time. Naomi sure had fun. Sylas had a great nap.

Graham, Eliza, Audrey and Naomi taking in the elephant exhibit.

The devonian garden type place. I couldn't believe she posed so well.

Loving the monkeys.

Learning about fish.

As tall as you might think you are on daddy's shoulders, the giraffe is still taller.

Outside the penguin exhibit that we didn't go into because the line went faster than Sylas eats. So we saw the few that were outside.

Sorry for some reason this one won't stay in the center of the page.

Sleepy boy

 The pictures says it all.

Little stud.

First time in a play center. He's still a bit small, as his feet don't touch the bottom, but it was set higher at the time. But he isn't steady enough yet.

Ok, she loves to go into the fridge and grab things. She came out one day munching on a whole cucumber.

Enjoying a bath?

It's too bright, let me sleep!

She has adopted this battery charger as her "camera". She loves it. I like how kids see toys in the simplest things.

Well I think that is it until we have moved and settled in. I hope these pictures were as enjoyable to view as they were to take. We love you all.