Going back in time to do a little catch up, May 2008

• In May 2008 we went up to Canada for Esther's wedding to Russ
• Caleb graduated kindergarten
• I was busy making teacher gifts, cards, rings, etc.

The kids in their matching outfits, at the family dinner.

Singing to the tune of We Are a Happy Family.

I love Esther, she loves me,
We love Russ, yes sir-ee,
He loves us and so you see,
He can be part of our family.

The cute newly married couple.

The siblings


Visiting my side of the family at Let's Play.

Caleb with his Kindergarten teacher, Ms Kmetz.

The teacher's gifts I made.

Note pad, matching pen & bookmark.
In a bag with york mints, mentos and a card.

Chunky rings

First Snowfall

I woke up this morning to this glorious sight! I haven't seen snow in so long. When we lived in Alberta I would often get a blizzard on my birthday. A first snowfall is so much better. Brad got someone to watch the kids overnight so we can have a night away together. It's going to be a great day. Happy Birthday Kristi, Happy Birthday MaryAnne, Happy Birthday Roberta, Happy Birthday Steve, Happy Birthday Tina and all others who share my birth date!

Grand Howl

Caleb is so excited about joining Cubs. He is often heard walking around the house reciting the Grand Howl...

Akela we'll do our best!
DYB, DYB, DYB, DYB!
We'll DOB, DOB, DOB, DOB!

Seija's even picked up on it. Her version is a little different though. It goes...

Oh Caleb we'll do your best!
DYB, DYB, DYB, DYB!
We'll DOB, DOB, DOB, DOB!

News to Share

Since the last time I blogged....

we sold the house...,

we moved to another country...,

Brad started working (hooray!)...,

the boys are back at school again and also started piano...,

Seija started preschool and gymnastics...,

Actually, my list could go on forever and that's the main reason I haven't been blogging. Life is sometimes too crazy! But now I have something that should definitely be blogged about.

I'm posting about my son Caleb's baptism, last Saturday, September 19th.

I am so proud of the decision he made to be baptized. He is such a good example, for his siblings, for me, for everyone. He always makes good decisions, he obeys his parents, he is kind to everyone, he's a hard worker and an all-around great kid. I'm so happy he is in our family!

We were pleased to have so much family come out for the baptism. My parents flew from Florida to come, and Brad's family (his Dad, Mom & Step-dad, Lindsay & Patrick and family and Ashley) flew & drove from Alberta. Thanks so much for coming guys! It meant a lot to us and Caleb.

My parents with Caleb

Brad's Mom and Step-dad

Cousins

Staging

I'm keeping busy this month with trying to get my home ready to sell. All the decluttering, cleaning and staging of the house was suppose to be done by today, but that goal has been wisely pushed back. :-) We still have a ton to do to make our house look presentable.

Thanks to my Mom & Dad, we got drapes for the living room & dining room. My Mom also spent a lot of time making pillows for our window seat while she was here.

Then I continued to keep her busy, making my children scripture bags. They all look so cute, that if I hadn't picked them out myself I wouldn't have imagine that they are made out of place mats.

Brad's Mom and Bryan were also very giving. We got new bedding for our children's beds and new furniture for Seija's room. Although as you can plainly see we still haven't gotten the missing piece for Seija's bed. Poor girl is still sleeping on the floor.

So far, some of the big changes we've made in organizing our furniture are: 1. The boys room is now just Matthias' room,

2. The TV room is now Caleb's room,

3. The formal dining area (which was empty) is now our music area, and

4. The living room is also our TV room.

I've also finished decluttering Caleb's room, Matthias' room, Seija's room, our room, the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bathrooms. I just have the office (which will be a huge progect), the pantry area and bit more of the garage left to do.

Not only have we been organizing our space, we've also been decorating each room to stage it for selling. Staging the house has been my favorite part of this whole thing. I have many projects in the works which I will post as I complete them, but here are some things that are finished.

Our bathroom linens/decor are now in the main bathroom.

Our bathroom got new tiling and than some new decor. I reused a basket I got for Christmas to make the hand towels look nicer.

I made a centerpiece for our coffee table that actually matches the colours of our couch. Since it is an ugly, odd coloured couch I was impressed to find the bowl/decorative balls (thank-you WalMart).

I also made a centerpiece to go with the colour of the drapes in our Kitchen.

I keep hoping to find more time to blog, but life continues to get busier instead.
If any of you know someone wanting to buy a home in San Antonio, give us a call!

I Speak Canadian

This is just a random post, to help me get back into the blogging world (I really, truly hope!!!).

Throughout the years we've lived here, there have been times I feel like I speak a completely different language. I would say something, then I get these blank stares, so I repeat myself. Then still have people staring saying things like "What are you talking about?".

You'd think after 2 1/2 years, I'd have picked up on all the different Canadian English / US English words. But just in this last week I've had two such experiences.

A group of us were discussing a snack for an activity. I suggested something easy like rippled chips and dip. Then came those blank stares, and after a long pause, the question. "Is that kinda like Lays?" Well, I wanted to make it clear that it wasn't any flavour of chips - Lays has many varieties - because the flavoured ones don't go so well with a dip. "No, it's the plain chips with the ripples. You don't call them ripple chips?"

Apparently they are just called Lays (or Ruffles).

So last night as I was grocery shopping, I bought a bag of ripple - Lays, ruffles, crinkle cut, wavy, ridged, whatever you want to call it - chips, Walmart's Great Value product, and what are they called!?! You guessed it...

Ripple cut chips!!!

Then tonight, as I was researching some furniture prices. All I could find were store, after store, after store (after store) with prices shown in Euros. Surely there are stores in the USA that sell this! So I went to the Ikea store, because they have good prices, and there they were. Tons of bedside tables with USD prices. So why was my google search only showing up with Euros????

I figured it out! It took longer than it probably should have (but it's late, I have a good excuse). Bedside tables are not called bedside tables - go figure. They are called night stands. I was just trying to throw myself off a little by looking up Ikea first. Of course they would call them bedside tables!

I've Been Tagged

I got this message on my blog a short time ago and I knew I needed to get my act together: "Tilane, it's been so long since your last entry. I have done the unthinkable and tagged you in a world wide blogosphere game of randomness. :) You can thank me later, in the meantime I hope you'll join in the fun! XO"

Hahaha! I love it! Thank-you Daria! Sorry I made you stoop to tagging me to get me going again!

Daria posted 7 Random Facts about herself here and now it's my turn.



Seven Random Facts About Me
1. I didn’t like reading (anything) until five years ago, and now I absolutely love reading.
2. I’ve birthed all three children without any epidurals (not by choice).
3. I’ve had a bathtub fall on me.
4. I’ve had stitches twice. Once was very uncommon, the result of #3. The second is considered the most common hand injury… from cutting a bagel.
6. I went to five different elementary schools.
7. I like to try new things. Even if I LOVE something I’ve tried, I get bored pretty quick and move on (Jack of all trades, master of none - that's me).

Now for the unsuspecting souls whom I will tag...
1. Ashley
2. Martha
3. Kalina
4. Kari Dawn
5. Jill
6. Nicole
7. Squishy Burrito