Party in the Park

Because July 1st falls on a Sunday this year, our town decided to hold it's Canada Day festivities today.  My mom and dad came over for some barbeque and then we all headed down to Lion's Park to check out the fun.  The kids were amazed at all the activity going on and both got to go in the bouncy house for the little kids.  Emma had a blast jumping, but Ben wasn't too sure about the whole thing.  He wanted to be in there, but he love all the bouncing.  They weren't impressed when they had to get out, but we were able to distract them with the little area with animals to pet.

They both loved the bunnies!

The best part of the evening for them was the swings though!  They would have stayed there the rest of the night if we'd let them!



Pool Time

We set up the kiddie pool and the kids have been having a blast!  The lawn is getting lots of water, as their favorite thing to do is fill a cup and dump it out!  Lennard and I had to sit back and laugh when Ben discovered that it was lots of fun to dump the water on Emma's head too... though Emma wasn't a fan! 

Say Hello To My 'Little' Friend!

For months now, every time we've gone in to Costco with the kids, they have been enthralled with the huge teddy bears for sale.  Each time we pass them, they had to give them hugs and kisses (numerous times).  It was quite entertaining, but I really didn't think we needed to spend money on such a huge stuffed animal.  Well, we finally caved today.  The kids were SO excited!  They kept leaning back in the cart to lay on the bear and on the way home, we had to pull it out of the back so that Emma could 'hold' it!  As soon as we got it in the house, they were climbing all over it and giving hugs.  It was so fun to see!

P.S. - This was taken a few days later (on the 29th)... as you can see... they still love it!

One More Thing Off the 'To-Do' List!

It's done!  Well, almost done. (We've got to cut the posts down to the right height.)  We got the rest of the fence done today!  What a good feeling to have another project done!  We even got the gate installed!  I love knowing that the kids can play in the backyard now and they can't 'escape'! 

We've still got a lot of landscaping to do, but we're one step closer to getting our backyard to where we would like it to be!

Cardston Kids Marathon

Lennard was asked again this year to set up the bucket truck so that a photographer could get some pictures of all the people running in the Cardston Kids Marathon.  I have gone in the 'marathon' in the past (you run the last km together), but this year I didn't feel like I would make it there and back, so we decided to cheer the runners on instead. 

We showed up early as Lennard was getting set up. Of course, Emma wanted to get in the bucket with daddy, and when that didn't happen, she wasn't very happy.

The kids both thought it was great fun to run into the street before the race started, so by the time the kids got to where we were, they were both watching from inside the truck!  Ben loved hanging out the window and yelling, "Go, go, go!".

Not a great photo (all taken on the iPhone), but it shows Lennard up in the truck with the photographer and a bunch of the people running!  Such a good idea to get everyone up and moving!  Maybe next year I'll be in better shape so I can participate!

Catch Up

It's amazing how fast the time goes by.  It's been a very busy week.  On Monday, after Lennard got home from work, my mom and I headed down to Cut Bank for a quick grocery shopping trip.  We didn't get anything major, but I managed to get some good deals on things that I was completely out of in our food storage.

Tuesday, Lennard was busy with meetings at work and then attended the Town Council meeting, so we didn't see him much that day.

Wednesday, Lennard started coaching boys rugby for the Summer Games.  As soon as he got home, we headed out to my mom and dad's to visit with my sister, Rachel, and her family for a bit.

Thursday ended up being a bit crazy.  It was my turn to host our Book Club and, though I thought I had everything planned and under control, I quickly discovered how quickly things could turn wrong!  Each time I had a room clean, the kids would come behind me and destroy it!  Then I made a quick trip with the kids to the store for the last minute ingredients I needed for the dessert I had planned on making, and (of course) they didn't have what I needed.  By then it was too late to bake something else, so I was a bit of a mess trying to figure out what to do.  To make a long story a bit shorter, I finally found a substitute and made it work.  It actually turned out great and it was a nice evening visiting with everyone... it just made me wish I was a little more organized and a little less frazzled beforehand!  To top the evening, Emma decided that she didn't want to sleep with all the fun going on without her, so she ended up being the entertainment!  She definitely kept everyone laughing!

She got a hold of one of the gals 'lip-stuff' and loved putting it on herself and everyone else!

Friday, we made a trip in to Lethbridge.  We got a mini-tour of the new Bishop's Storehouse Complex.  We would have loved to have gone on the entire tour, but by the time we got there, it was past dinner time and almost bed time!  Not exactly the best time to keep kids quiet and still!  It all worked out though and we were even able to visit with Gloria (the social worker we worked with for Emma's adoption).  She was excited to see Emma and how big she is getting!

Saturday (after waiting longer than we would have liked to), we finally got the holes drilled for the fence between us and our neighbors.  We got all but one of the posts cemented in and four sections got the upper and lower 2x6s installed.  It's at least a good start! 

While we were waiting for the guy to come drill the holes, we changed Emma's crib into a toddler bed.  I have been extremely nervous about changing her bed, as I liked her being somewhat 'contained'!  Amazingly, she has done great!  No issues yet (knock on wood!).

Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day.  Emma and Ben gave Lennard a card with their handprints on it (which was great 'fun' to make!).  I gave him a tub of chocolate chip mint ice cream!  I was quite disappointed that not one person mentioned Father's Day at church!  I don't think I've ever been to a ward that they haven't at least wished the dad's a Happy Father's Day!  That evening we took ribs out to share with my mom and dad for dinner. 

As for today... we have got the other pole set for the fence (Lennard had to leave one out so that he could get into the neighbors yard to cut a tree down - which he did this morning).  We've got the upper and lower 2x6x installed on all but two sections (that we hope to complete tonight).  Lennard also had a dentist appointment to have his teeth cleaned, I saw the chiropracter and then Lennard went to coach rugby this evening!  It's been a productive day, which feels good... but I'm exhausted!  I'm looking forward to getting this fence done so that I don't have to be constantly chasing the kids back to our yard!

Lennard hard at work!

Emma and Ben watching daddy work from the dining room window.

Healthy!

A few months ago I took Ben in to see the doctor.  I don't really remember what he was sick with, but while the doctor was checking him out, he happened to ask if anyone had ever told me that Ben had a heart murmur.  Of course no one had, so I was a little concerned.  He asked me to come back in a couple of weeks and have it re-checked.  We ended up being on vacation right then, so when we got home (and Ben was sick again), I took him in and had the doctor listen to his heart again.  He decided to send him for an echocardiogram, just to make sure that everything was okay. 

I was fine with that, until I received the phone call telling me when his appointment was.  They then proceeded to tell me that he would have to be sedated and be fasting... so NOT fun for a little boy that loves his milk first thing in the morning!  I was so sick to my stomach thinking about Ben having to go through any kind of medical procedure.  I tend to be a 'tad' over protective at times.

Anyways, Thursday morning came and, amazingly, Ben did quite well.  He slept in until almost 7:00 (unheard of normally!).  He sat nice and quiet in the van all the way to Lethbridge, even while Emma fussed and whined for 'treats' that we would give her in front of Ben (we'd already fed her breakfast, so she really didn't need anything else!).  We were great until we got to the waiting room and then he started asking for milk.  We managed to keep him distracted and doing pretty good for the first half hour of the wait, but then the wait went on and on and on!  After over 45 minutes of waiting (our appointment was for 8:45am), I finally questioned one of the nurses.  She explained that because Ben was being sedated they were waiting for a nurse and that they were all busy right then...  grrr!  Ben really started getting fussy because, by now, he was not only hungry, but it was nap time too! 

Finally, at 10:00 we were taken to a room.  The guy doing the ultrasound then came in and said that Ben should have already been sedated by then and that we'd 'missed the window' for getting the ultrasound done!  I was ready to tear someone's head off by then!  Both Lennard and I looked at him and explained that we did NOT want to have to come in another time.  They finally figured out their schedule and the nurse came in to give Ben the stuff to sedate him.  They warned us that with some kids the sedation has the opposite effect... well did it ever!  Ben screamed and fought for 45 minutes before he finally was sleeping.  It was horrible! 

The actual test only took 15 minutes and then they wanted him awake before we could leave.  It was so frustrating to have to try to wake him up after working that hard to get him asleep!

I didn't take any pictures during the actual ultrasound, but snapped one just afterwards as he was sleeping so peacefully!

We eventually got him to wake up so that we could leave.  He kept looking at us and saying, "Home".  We headed over to Mindy's to pick up Emma and we were on our way home!  He was pretty wobbly on his feet and had a VERY long nap when we got home!

Today I went in to get the results from the echocardiogram.  The doctor looked at the report and said that there is nothing wrong with his heart!  He has a functional murmur, which is basically an increased blood flow through the valves.  Even though I didn't think that there was anything majorly wrong, it's a relief to know that he is completely healthy.



Family Musical Number

Today I had the opportunity to sing with my siblings in church (missed you, Rachel).  My mom played the piano and my dad played the violin. It's been YEARS since we've done this and, even though I was nervous, it was a fun experience.  I loved the few times that we were able to sing together for practice and sort of re-live our past.  We used to sing together lots when we were growing up, and it's just as much fun now as it was then!  It was quite the task getting everyone together in Mountain View and make sure that all the kids were taken care of while we were singing.  There were 16 of the 19 grandchildren there!  (Cub & Rachel weren't able to be there as it was his graduation from med school this weekend.)

Happy 11th Birthday, Tyler!

After a wonderful (but very loud) dinner at mom and dad's, we continued the fun by singing around the piano again.  Things got a little wild with some interesting arrangements by Dave, Melissa and Roger.  I was laughing so hard that I could hardly hold the video still enough to record!  There was some pretty fun dances performed, though the best was Bryan's 'peeing dog' pose! (I tried to upload the video, but it wouldn't go... so sad!)

Emma loved getting to 'hold' her cousin, Spencer!

Mending Fences Between Neighbors

So - we just managed to get our back fence done, and we are starting on another fence!  This time it is between us and our neighbors to the south.  We both wanted to put in a better fence and decided to just go for it and get it done.  It also helped that our neighbor wanted to cut down some trees in his backyard a few weeks ago, so we told him just to let them fall on the fence!  We had to take the fence out anyways, so what was the difference!  We were all a bit nervous to make sure the tree actually fell where he wanted to and not on either of our houses, but it all turned out. 

Since these pictures were taken, the second half of the tree has come down, most of it's been chopped up and, as of yesterday, the fence is gone!  We went in to Lethbridge this morning and got all the lumber needed to get going on this next project. We hope we'll be able to get going Monday! (We'll see if the weather will cooperate!)  More pictures to come!

Kid Talk

I am constantly being surprised at how much my kids are taking in... they are little sponges!  Every single day, Ben is saying more and more words.  Today, I was trying to get him to lay down beside me for a quick nap, but he was giggling and squirming so much that I had to laugh with him.  He would get right into my face and give me a goofy smile and then say, "Move!" When I asked him if he wanted to go for a nap he would look at me and say, "Nope!"  What a funny boy.  He now says: broken, blocks, oh no, all done, noise, truck, hand, nope, move, Emma, whack, heavy, stairs, nap, monkey, shoot, spoon, pocket, nut, close, etc.

Of course, Emma repeats everything I wish she wouldn't!  I'm finding out exactly which phrases I use the most.  Ben was playing with some wood pieces (again) that haven't been glued into the stairs.  I hadn't noticed him yet, but apparently Emma did, because all I heard was her little voice saying, "I've told you, and told you, and told you not to play with those."  Oops... not one of my proudest mommy moments!

Potty Training

On Wednesday last week, I decided to bite the bullet and start potty training Emma.  She has been telling us for almost six months everytime she was dirty, but I just wasn't ready to jump into training her.  I finally jumped in and after she had peed through 6 out of 7 pairs of underwear, I was ready to call it quits!  Then, as she was peeing through the last pair, I managed to catch her and get her on the toilet in time for her to finish peeing.  She looked down and the light bulb went off in her mind!  She went to bed that night (in a diaper) and the next morning was dry!  She then asked to go to the potty... and went!  Since then she has not had ONE accident (I know, I'm totally jinxing myself by writing this!).  She is dry after naps and all night long (though we've still put her in a diaper).  I feel like I am constantly running with her to the bathroom, but I don't want the one time I don't take her to be the one time she really does need to go!  It has been so fun to see her get so excited and clap her hands.  She even congratulates herself on doing a good job!  What a funny girl! 

This is the only picture I have... and of course her hair is crazy... but it was the very first time we put her in underwear.  She was so excited to have pink hearts on her panties!

Note:  I just got Emma up from her nap... the first time I've put her down without putting her in a diaper... and she was dry!  What a big girl!  She won't be very happy that I took this picture when she gets bigger, but I couldn't help it... she looks so proud of herself!

All Fenced In!

The day after we got back from Omaha, we started building a fence in the backyard.  We had ripped out the old one years ago and never got around to putting another one up, but with our two little ones on the run now, we thought it would be a lot less trouble to get a fence put up instead of chasing them all over the neighborhood! 

We got the holes drilled for the posts and then got going on putting in the uprights.

 Emma and Ben loved being outside 'helping' us.  As long as Emma had a container with some screws in it, she was a happy girl. 

 She loved handing brackets and screws to us when we needed them!

She even got in to 'carrying' the wood for the fence!

After the weekend, we managed to get the fence boards all on! 

And after getting the middle post set in concrete and letting it cure for a few days, we finally managed to get the gate completed and the hardware on!  It is so nice to have once project pretty well done!  We've got the cut the posts to the right height and get some caps for them now, but at least we have a fence and it's 99% done!

The finished product!