The Simpsonclan

Mt Washington

2011-02-05T08:50:00.001-08:00

On New Years Day it was so beautiful we decided to head to our local mountain and go sledding

Painting again

2011-02-05T08:33:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago a I decided I wanted to paint my house again, I seem to go through this every few years, so I gave my best friend Kelly a call. Kelly is a colour consultant and painter. So she spent the morning with me and my kids picking colours for my living room and kitchen. I am so in love with my new paint colours, Kelly is amazing at what she does. She worked with my personality and my existing furniture to make my place look awesome.

Benjamin Moore Paint

BM HC 164 Puritan Grey

BM 2130-10 Black Bean Soup

Before

My kitchen is one of my favourite places right now because of how sexy it feels with the black paint. Every season I will be changing the accessories with something like yellow for spring and red for Christmas.

Benjamin Moore Paint

BM 2127-10 Twilight Zone

Before

JJ’s first day of Pre-School

2010-10-25T10:30:00.001-07:00

Our little man started pre-school this year!

Sean stopped by on his way to work so we TRIED to get a picture with JJ but as you can tell that didn’t work

Katie was really excited about the school idea poor Katie May can’t go till next year.

JJ’s best friend Cohen is in the same class as him

And this is about when JJ started to get a little freaked out

He finally came in. I think it was just a bit overwhelming for him

Cohen looked a little freaked out too.

The boys make it look like we were sending them to jail or something.

JJ and Cohen’s backpacks

This is when they seemed to calm a bit when they saw all the toys.

A picture from outside the door.

Katie’s 2nd Birthday Party

2010-10-25T10:12:00.001-07:00

My littlest one turned 2!

Painting

2010-08-20T16:10:00.001-07:00

Cathedral Grove

2010-08-20T15:58:00.001-07:00

On the one rainy day of Sean’s Holidays we decided to head to cathedral grove for our first time. It was really fun to get the kids all dressed up in the rain gear but it wasn’t really needed once we got in the trail are because the trees kept up dry.

every time JJ saw a tree on the ground he got really excited and made us all stop and look

Katie started showing us all the fallen trees too

Victoria petting Zoo

2010-08-20T15:46:00.001-07:00

During Sean’s holidays we headed down to the Victoria petting zoo for the day with the Gaboury’s

I love this picture of Katie and Mikalya

Mikalya holding Katie to see the hamsters

Not really sure what Katie and the goat are looking at here

My little princess thought the brush was to clean the floor.

Tea Party

2010-07-26T10:49:00.001-07:00

One of Katie’s girlfriends had her second birthday party on the weekend and it was a tea party theme. These are just some sweet pictures of my princess at her first tea party. JJ also went but he acted like Katie’s bodyguard instead of participating in the tea party.

My little Princess

JJ making sure Katie was okay

JJ and I

Katie refilling her tea

A little later into the party when all the kids were playing around in the yard Katie and JJ came back to enjoy some tea together. I love how great they play together when they are at other places. I dream about these times when we are at home but they are usually fighting and screaming at each other.

The Results

2010-07-05T10:05:00.001-07:00

I have worked out for 30 days straight and the results are are in! I have lost a total of 6 inches in 30 day. I haven’t lost a pound but that doesn’t really bother me as long as I have lost the inches and clothing is fitting me better. I can now fit most of my pre-pregnancy clothes and they look pretty good on. I also wore a pair of pants from grade 11 the other day, of course they were a bit tighter then they were in grade 11 but still looked great. I'm really proud of the work I did in the past 30 days and can’t believe how fast it really went. I also feel awesome I have way more energy, sleep better and my back doesn’t hurt at the end of every day. Now that I have completed the 30 days I don’t plan on stopping. I'm just going to mix it up a bit with the workouts and maybe mixing in more yoga.

The bottom picture is a collage of day 30 it reminds me of all the hard work I did to get here and the pay off.

This is my workout Journal for the last 30 days

Day 1	June 6	1 time
Day 2	June 7	2 times
Day 3	June 8	2 times
Day 4	June 9	2 times
Day 5	June 10	1 time and walk
Day 6	June 11	2 times
Day 7	June 12	1 time
Day 8	June 13	2 times
Day 9	June 14	2 times
Day 10 Level 2	June 15	2 times
Day 11	June 16	2 times
Day 12	June 17	1 time and yoga
Day 13	June 18	2 times
Day 14	June 19	1 time
Day 15	June 20	2 times
Day 16	June 21	2 times
Day 17	June 22	2 times
Day 18	June 23	2 times
Day 19	June 24	1 time and yoga
Day 20	June 25	1 time
Day 21 Level 3	June 26	1 time
Day 22	June 27	2 times
Day 23	June 28	2 times
Day 24	June 29	1 time and walk
Day 25	June 30	2 times
Day 26	July 1	1 time and yoga
Day 27	July 2	1 time
Day 28	July 3	2 times
Day 29	July 4	2 times
Day 30	July 5	(will be completed at 12 today)

After the first week it doesn’t seem so hard to fit in a 20 min workout everyday. I found a way to even fit it in twice on most days just at different times of the day. Some days I was really not in the mood to do it but I pushed myself and by the time I finished the 20 mins I would feel better then I did half an hour ago. You almost have to make it like brushing your teeth just part of your every day routine.

Park Play

2010-06-28T17:35:00.001-07:00

We had our big garage sale this weekend so after we survived that we decided to go to the park for a day of fun

Sean teaching the kids how to dig

Jordan was so proud that he could climb this weird ladder thing fast like the big kids

Mikalya Cohen and Aislyn on the tire swing

Jordan and Katie Loved the teeter-totter

Kelly being a big kid

This one took some concentration

“Hi Buppy”

for some reason my daughter doesn’t call me mommy she calls me buppy we don’t know why but when you ask her where mommy is she points at me and says “Buppy”

The Gaboury’s on the teeter-totter

I think these are my favourite pictures of Sean and Jordan

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred

2010-06-21T07:52:00.001-07:00

I have decided to workout! I have a few reasons that have made me come to this realization but I think the main one was when I had to run over to a friends house (just over one block away) for an emergency and thought I was going to need an ambulance half way there! I actually had to stop running and walk while someone was relying on me. It ended up not being that bad of an emergency so the fact that I wasn’t super fast didn’t effect anything but it sure was a wake up call. Then not long later one of my girlfriends started a group on facebook about doing a 20 minute workout DVD. I joined because it made it a bit easier then going to the store and trying to pick out of the million workout DVD’s and it’s good support and motivation to see other people surviving through this workout along with me. So as of June 6th I have been working out EVERYDAY and on most days twice a day. the days I have only done it once were because of the weekend or if I'm going for a 6km walk with Kelly. I'm really excited about picking a workout and sticking to it. After I complete the 30 days I plan to keep doing it about everyday just once a day instead of twice. The other main reason I have decided to workout is because I’m tired of wanting that toned body I have been wanting since forever. I have always been too busy and never had time for a workout and then kids made that life even busier so I decided no matter what life will always be busy and I will always have excuses so I’m just making it a priority to fit in a 20 min workout in my day. The other great thing about working out is that I'm finding I have way more energy so when I spend 20 min of my time on the workout I feel like I’m actually gaining more time in my day.

Day 1 picture was taken on June 6th and day 10 on June 16th. As of today I am on day 16 just over half way done.

I know it’s not the nicest pictures but I decided to take them and post them as my motivation. On day 10 I had lost an inch on my tummy and an inch on mu butt. I have also gained a pound? Sean says this is muscle :P

Spring 2010 update

2010-06-09T15:33:00.001-07:00

These pictures are from a walk we did with our friend Kelly and her kids Mikayla and Cohen

Katie was locked in the stroller here because this little one has no fear and will run straight into the water.

Sean with Mikayla and Jordan. Our little man Jordan walked the whole way.

The view of Nanaimo

Jordan and his buddy Cohen. It’s really great because they live one block over and the boys are 3 days different in age. We signed them up for preschool together.

On the ferry coming back from our visit to the mainland

Trying to get a nice picture with my little man

My princess!

The kids dancing

JJ’s 3rd Birthday

2010-04-29T19:02:00.001-07:00

Our little man celebrated his 3rd birthday earlier this month.

Helping us make the cake

My mother made another wonderful cake

The kids and I trying to get a good picture with both of them at the same time. This is currently not possible if they both sit on my lap at the same time they start fighting over someone’s leg touching the other leg and then they start pushing and shoving. FUN.

The little princess

Opening presents

Cake time! Jordan was a little funny during the birthday and after the guest left he came down with a fever. Doesn’t it always happen like that on their birthdays. It was a strange cold or whatever it was because he had no other symptoms besides the fact that he was really tired and then it was gone within 24 hours.

Sean and I got him an easel. They loved it.

And my parents got him a trampoline

Easter

We took them to butterfly world on his real birthday. You can see in the pictures he was feeling a lot better.

Enjoying the Deck

2010-04-09T16:54:00.001-07:00

Since having the new deck completed our family has basically lived on it. We were hoping to hold off on getting new furniture till later in the year but because of how much the children wanted to be on it sitting on the ground wasn’t very comfortable. Our old furniture leaked rust out of the legs and we didn’t feel comfortable having that on our new deck so we now keep it in the backyard as our downstairs table and chairs. I have been looking for the perfect set ever since we decided that the old set wouldn’t be coming back upstairs. We decided that we wanted something more relaxing for the patio because we found we were never eating outside with our dinning room table directly beside the deck. Then I found this set both Sean and I loved it and it’s the cheapest out of all the sets I have looked at. My favourite part is the colour I know it’s a little out there but we love it :) My mother-in-law didn’t personally like the colour but we do. It so far has been exactly what we were looking for something relaxing that also didn’t feel like it overcrowded the space. I love to take my book and sit on the loveseat while the kids play.

Jordan feeding the puppies from the deck

Sean relaxing and cooking dinner :)

Kids playing :)

This is my view from my kitchen window. It’s so great how I can finally get some stuff done in the kitchen while the kids can play outside.

Pics

2010-03-29T18:46:00.001-07:00

The princess and I dressed in our pink jackets

My little princess found a heater vent and decided to stand over it. She absolutely loved it

My Special little guy :) Get’s his fashion sense from his dad

New Deck

2010-03-24T13:25:00.001-07:00

At the end of summer last year Sean was going down the deck stairs and went through one of them (he didn’t fall or anything). So we knew we were going to be re-doing the stairs when spring came. We had a plan when we moved in to re-do the deck but the plan was for about 5 years down the road. After I realized we had to do the stairs earlier I had been thinking about it all winter and decided that we would just go ahead and get a new deck too. The reason is because I didn’t want to fix the steps only the be torn down in a couple of years because we were planning on expanding the deck. It’s no completely done in the summer Sean and I will be painting all the wood white I think. Not fully decided on that yet.

Sean and his dad taking down the old deck

My new deck!!!

Olympics part 2

2010-02-24T09:36:00.001-08:00

On Saturday Sean and I made a last minute decision to pack the kids up and head to Vancouver for Sunday to participate in more Olympic fun. It was such a beautiful weekend and we only had laundry planned for the day anyways.

The Torch

Our picture with the torch in the reflection.

Katie May running around after she had her nap in the stroller

Pointing at the birds in the sky

JJ showing off his gymnastics

Jan/Feb 2010 pictures

2010-02-24T09:23:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update

My little Princess in her diaper hat

Getting ready for Gymnastics! I come home from that place more exhausted then the kids.

The kids just before we start Gymnastics

We went to the Library to watch a kid type of concert.

The kids and I watching Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

The mom group I help organize had a big party for everyone. These pictures are just before it started. I got a little busy after and forgot take more pictures

This is my little princess when she gets a little mad at me. She is a little drama queen just like her momma :)

Christmas 2009 and more :)

2010-01-18T19:58:00.001-08:00

JJ and Katie got colds just before Christmas but we were very lucky that they were over them in time for Christmas day.

Playing in JJ’s hamper and Katie under the kitchen Learning tower

Katie likes to eat her food directly off the floor instead of the clean container.

Present time with Aunty Krista and Cousin Nadia

Playing with the car video game Aunty Krista got him.

Christmas Eve presents from Grandma and Grandpa Cousins

I really don’t know what JJ is doing in here

The Christmas tree after Santa

The new kitchen Sean and I got them for Christmas

JJ got a peddle train for outside

A piano got added to the music corner

Sean and his famous turkey cutting picture

JJ helping set the table

Another picture of how I feed my children

I took the kids outside to play the other day because it was so warm and beautiful out

First Snow day of the winter 2009

2009-12-15T13:40:00.001-08:00

We finally got our first snow day this winter yesterday. So when Sean got home we bundled the kids and took them outside to play in the front yard. This is the first year the both my kids loved it, last year Katie May was too little.

December so far!

2009-12-13T18:58:00.001-08:00

This is our tree half decorated tree it started out full but the kids have been tossing around the bottom half of the ornaments around the house :P

This December has been a full December for our family. At the beginning of December I had the opportunity to become the Organizer of Nanaimo Moms Group. This is a group with currently 64 members and will be growing. It is a great opportunity for me as I love to meet new people and make friends. This has made my calendar a little busy because the old organizers of the group left suddenly so I had to jump in and quickly teach myself the website. I have also had a wonderful amount of support from other members of the group and have a few of them on the organizing team.

On our way to the Party

Waiting in line. He’s so cute

Attempt to see Santa #2 went just as good as #1

And JJ was just having way too much fun to waste time seeing Santa for a second time

Santa did bring them some early Christmas gifts.

This last weekend has also been a very busy weekend for us. It was Sean’s Saturday on then we held our annual Christmas party with a bunch of my mommy friends and their husbands. That was a great party it was an ugly sweater party which made it so fun. The next morning we had a mommy group Christmas party for the kids and they played so hard Katie May passed out on the ride home. After nap time we headed over to one of Sean’s co-workers for another Christmas get together which was also a ton of fun. Now I'm getting ready to relax. Tomorrow I have an Organizers meeting with all their kids, Wednesday I have a Ladies night in at my place, Friday is Sean’s work party and then on Saturday we are planning on going to the Christmas train depending on the weather.

Santa Picture 2009

2009-12-02T09:28:00.001-08:00

The Santa picture went a little different then I thought it would this year. I really thought it would be JJ that would freak out this year because of how shy he is but it turned out our little one who usually doesn’t mind going to anyone didn’t really like Santa. We also found the Santa a little weird and the picture lady was telling us that Santa doesn’t like it when they cry it stresses him out. Okay I thought crying kids was part of the job but then half way through the whole process she told us he didn’t like the crying because just before us he had a little boy fall off his lap! I think he should have taken the day off if he was stressed out from that poor guy. In the end we got a picture of Jordan looking serious like normal and Katie freaking out. I think she must have sensed that Santa had dropped a kid before her.

I love this picture with her little tummy showing.

Family picture 2009

2009-12-01T10:30:00.001-08:00

On the weekend we went out to do our annual family picture.

This is the picture we chose for our Christmas card. We decided to go with the Ocean and ferry in the background because we now live in Nanaimo

setting up the decorations

2009-12-01T09:56:00.001-08:00

We purchased a pack of new ornaments for this year and maybe next year till the kids no longer toss them around the room. They are the plastic ones they still look cute.

Katie really enjoyed the set up.

My parents got Jordan the Polar Express movie so it kept him interested during the furniture changes.

We set up the tree in the middle of the bay window it looks so beautiful.

The Polar Express has become his new favourite movie.

The stockings on the new fireplace :)

I haven’t got around to taking a final picture of the set up I do plan on doing it.

Fireplace

2009-11-11T14:00:00.001-08:00

For the last week we have been working on updating our fireplace. It wasn’t bad but it just didn’t match the rest of our house. It was actually the exact same fireplace and mantel that Sean grew up with when he was in high school.

The Finished project. I love it and am really excited we got it finished before the holidays.

Olympic Torch

2009-11-01T20:08:00.001-08:00

The Olympic Torch started running across Canada here in Vancouver Island which was pretty cool. We had the privilege of seeing it run beside us while we were all decked out in our Olympic gear my mom picked up for us the other day.

The start of the celebrations

Coke gave us these flags and some really cute Olympic cans of coke.

My princess in her Olympic hat

My special little man in his Olympic gear

The spot we decided to pull over in was perfect not too many people around right on the route of the torch.

Here comes the torch!

He actually waved at the kids which made them feel really special.

There it goes.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T19:54:00.001-08:00

We carved the pumpkins earlier in the day on Halloween to get the kids excited

This is Katie’s little pumpkin just like her!

JJ didn’t really like the pumpkin carving thing. He was really upset with us when we started cutting the pumpkins he started crying on the floor till we were done and he could see the result. Poor little guy thought we were killing them.

My little princess was a sweet Butterfly

My scary Dragon

getting ready

Grandma Cousins

JJ took some of the candy from our bowl first. I think it was a practice run

My Loverboy

Our family picture with the kids trying to get away so they could start the night

finally leaving our house

Look how cute they are!

Jordan did really well he walked the whole way around our little neighbourhood. At the first two houses he hid behind me till he realized what people were giving him. He also picked up on the trick or treat thing but would say it before people would come to the door. One lady who thought he was cute told him to wait while she left to get a special treat and you should have seen JJ he was saying where she go looking around the corner for her. Katie came the whole way too but we put her in the stroller after the first few houses she just walked all over the place and tried to just go in the houses. Our house got over 70 kids which we weren’t expecting. We actually gave out almost all our candy poor Sean wasn’t happy about that.

The finished pumpkins.

Pumpkin patch and extras

2009-10-20T08:51:00.001-07:00

On the weekend we took the kids to the pumpkin patch It wasn’t raining which was nice but it had rained the day before. So we all dressed in comfy clothes and boots then headed out. JJ didn’t really have a nap that day only 1/2hr so he was a little grumpy to start. You take a hay ride to where the pumpkins are then purchase your pumpkin and get a hay ride back. Of course JJ is a VERY big fan of trains and all that reminds him of trains. JJ believed that the hay ride was a train and once we stopped to get our pumpkin he wasn’t very happy. So Sean picked out two pumpkins and we ran as fast as we could to get back on the hay ride so JJ could be happy again. Poor little guy didn’t even care about the pumpkin patch experience all he cared about was the ride.

as you can see in this picture my kids are rebels they are both acting cool and not waiting in the designated waiting area :P

Katie picking her pumpkin

This is our attempt at getting a nice photo at the pumpkin patch with me. JJ wasn’t happy to leave

JJ looking for the hay ride as we were leaving

These are just some pictures of our everyday life and the little surprises I find the kids doing. Katie wanting to start knitting like mommy and JJ eating my lip gloss.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-10-13T11:01:00.001-07:00

This was our first Thanksgiving in our family home. We have had thanksgiving in our townhouse before but that wasn’t really the same because it wasn’t where we planned on for a long time. This is the first Thanksgiving of lots to come in our home.

The Learning tower we got the kids so they can help us in the kitchen. The stool was becoming a problem with two kids because they would push each other off and if I need them to move it was a little unsafe. This thing is great they can see everything and are at a great height to help. The best part they also can both fit in it with out a fight.

The new kiddie table it has a little bench so when they have friends over they have more seats.

JJ then decided they needed more popcorn puffs then the bottom picture is him doing his I don’t know hat happened face.

JJ eating the turkey

Our beautiful dinner!

2009-09-18T09:05:00.001-07:00

Katie on her real birthday

Our beautiful children they really don’t like to smile for the camera

This is this morning Katie climbed on the table and JJ found his bath towel

This is why she had bumps and burses before her birthday

Jordan found his Halloween costume yesterday in the closet so we had to put it on. Of course it is super hot in the house but JJ had to wear it. In the top picture JJ was spinning

I didn’t put her pants on because it was so hot in the house yesterday. JJ wouldn’t let me take his off.

Kaitlyn’s First Birthday

2009-09-13T20:10:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend we held a Royal party for our little Princess. It was a princess/tinkerbell theme. The party was perfect like always thanks to all the help of my parents. I could have not done it with out them, my mother once again made a beautiful cake and had to transfer it all the way from Langley to Nanaimo. Our little princess invited all of her Royal friends and family

Opening the present from mom and dad. JJ loved the doll house too.

My princess just after her nap before the party starts, she needs some cheezies for energy!

In her party dress! What a perfect little princess.

Greeting another princess

Opening the traditional gift from Grandma and Grandpa Cousins.

She looks great on her pink bike I'm a little nervous.

JJ and dad watching Katie open some presents. He still wasn’t really awake yet.

Katie finally getting a chance to play in her doll house

Katie getting back on the bike

Group picture

A princess with my little princess driving her car in the background.

JJ finally let Soul have a chance to ride the train. Not a very long ride but at least someone else got a turn.

More of Katie’s girlfriends

I love this picture of Jordan and Katilyn in the background

Jordan on the train again.

Another one of Katie’s girlfriends she has become a popular little princess.

Jordan took a break from the train to show off his first birthday present

Our princess going for a dip

Soul the little prince

I love the sunglasses

Such a cute picture

The amazing cake

Our only family picture the entire day

Let her eat cake!

Of course JJ got a few presents for Katie’s birthday and I'm sure it will have to be that way for a long time to keep them happy and feel special.

Our trip to the mainland

2009-09-01T20:11:00.001-07:00

In the middle of August we packed up our family including our dogs and headed for a weekend on the mainland. This trip is something we will probable get around to once a year since the price of the ferry with a car is expensive and two kids and two dogs is a lot of work. Besides all the work and missing naps for ferry rides we had a great time.

Only one thing that really reminds us that we never plan on moving back to the mainland is the traffic. We hate the everyday traffic and the insane rush hour traffic. Also the road rage some people have, Sean pulled into starbucks and a lady followed him in to yell at him that he cut her off. She wasn’t even buying anything just followed him to yell. Poor Sean that was as soon as we got in.

Apples, Apples, Apples

2009-08-31T12:13:00.001-07:00

When we purchased this house we knew it had a few trees outside the front but had no idea they were apple trees. In total we have four apple trees and all are a different type of apple. These trees have also inspired me to grow some blueberry bushes and have a vegetable garden. Jordan loves everything I have grown in the garden, every time we go outside he looks for food he can pick and eat. He also eats at least one apple a day. So far I have made an apple pie, brown apple betty, and an apple crisp. I have also frozen a ton of apples so I can make desserts all winter long. I am on the hunt for some really good apple recipes so if you know of any pleases email me.

The first tree looks like they will be ready in late Sept, the middle tree was the first tree ready in early Aug, the tree on the end is going to be ready any day, and the last tree you can’t see was ready mid Aug. The apples on the banister are from Katie taking a bite of them on the tree

Our little princess picking more apples.

This is my apple tree that should be ready any day now I can’t wait.

This is just the kids playing the other day. JJ was putting a hat on himself and loving it while Katie was playing in my lipstick drawer. If you look close you can see how well she put her lipstick on for the fist time.

Port Alberni

2009-08-31T11:55:00.001-07:00

We took a trip to Port Alberni to ride a real steam train. JJ loved it of course and Katie May enjoyed the ride too.

Purchasing the tickets

Waiting outside the station

Our little Princess

The kids looking at the trains

I had to hold her hand because she kept sitting down and playing with the ground for some reason

Family picture. Look how little Katie May is!

Here comes the train

I love how excited he was here. He keeps making us watch the pictures on the computer and getting just as excited over and over again.

The ride

Jordan chasing around some poor little bunnies

Playing in a tree

Jordan wearing the mans train hat, it was so nice of him to do that for Jordan.

The ride back

Snowbirds

2009-08-13T08:01:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we headed down to the funeral home after Sean was off work to watch the snowbirds. Jordan found them interesting at times but he got a little impatient at the beginning so around the time they started he was a little tired. It was also Katie’s bed time so I had to hold her while taking the pictures. I'm impressed that I got some good ones. She was pulling on the camera as I was clicking and I only had one had so using the zoom wasn’t really an option.

I told JJ that they were making the McDonalds symbol for him because that was where we were going to get him some fries after :)

And just a cute picture of my little man. He is going through a little thing right now where he will not keep clothes on. Then yesterday he came to me with these pants and wanted them on I just loved how he looked I had to take a picture. Not long after he was naked again :P

Camping

2009-08-05T08:37:00.001-07:00

We attempted a campout in the back yard on the long weekend. We decided to go this way so if we needed anything it was close by. Also little Katie May got to go to sleep at her regular time in her crib while we brought the monitor outside.

Sean setting up the tent

The kids playing while Sean set the tent up

Jordan loving the tent

Sean making a hot dog stick

I Love this picture of JJ with the corn in the background

collecting firewood

We let the dogs on the grass so we could have the full camping experience. They normally have the electric fence so they can’t come on the grass only in the dog run area.

Jordan and his dad around the camp fire

Eating his hot dog cooked from the camp fire

Relaxing in his camping chair with an apple

Reading books

Starting to get a little excited about the stars

The last picture is just before we decided it would be a good idea to actually sleep inside. JJ just got way too excited from all the stars he was not going to sleep. As soon as we got inside to his bed he passed out. It was even better then real camping.

update

2009-08-05T08:20:00.001-07:00

Our little man is the pickiest eater I have ever seen but at least now he has become picky to the point that he only eats fresh fruits and veggies. I really can’t complain. His favourite food is tomatoes.

This little girl is the complete opposite. She will eat anything she can get her hands on. I really never got a chance introducing her to certain foods before others because anything JJ put down she had in her mouth.

Jordan’s typical lunch tomatoes cucumber and a few extras.

During that heat wave we had the kids just hung out in diapers and underwear inside most of the day. This is how I found JJ watching Cars in his room.

Katie's First Steps

2009-07-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

Our little Princess took her first steps today! Again the first thing I did was call daddy to tell him the news. She has been doing it all day so when I finally got the camera out she was a little tired and only did a few on camera. She has started about the exact same time as when her brother started, only 3 days different in age. That means I'm gonna be a very busy and tired momma.

Rainbow

2009-07-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

Here are the rest of the pictures I was talking about in the last post. They are from our famous Nanaimo Bathtub weekend firework show. They are actually from before the show when we went for a walk to the park, got some cotton candy and relaxed on the SANDS funeral home deck.

JJ’s favourite slide

Grandpa and JJ going down the slide

Jordan’s very first time having cotton candy. He ran the entire way back to the funeral home after eating a bit of it. Can you say sugar high?

I may have taken a few too many pictures of the rainbow but it was the most amazing rainbow I have ever seen. Unfortunately the odd raindrop came down on my lens so it had a few speckles at times.

Look at that!

In this picture you can see the clouds lit up from the lightning on the mainland

It was a little difficult and every time I looked away the lightning struck but I got a couple of pictures of it.

This last picture is of the same area. the top is with the lightning and the bottom is just after.

2009 Nanaimo Bathtub Fireworks

2009-07-26T08:39:00.001-07:00

Last night we had my parents over and went to the funeral home to enjoy the famous Nanaimo bathtub fireworks. It turned out to be one of the most amazing firework shows I have ever seen. The mainland was having a lightning storm at the same time we were having our fireworks so it looked like part of the show. The video is 10min long but it is seriously the neatest thing I have ever seen so if you have the time watch it.

I also have some pictures of a beautiful rainbow that happened before the storm but haven’t had a chance to go through them yet.

Sean’s project

2009-07-15T17:25:00.001-07:00

Before

After

The day we decided to purchase this house I new the front was missing something. So I sat down and drew on the MLS picture till I thought of adding an adorable little porch. Sean fell in love with my idea for the house and we decided it was one of our main things to do to this house. This is Sean’s week of holidays so his goal was to build our porch which he has just completed. I can’t believe how much I love it. It has made this my dream home, I never want to leave. I have always wanted that cute little house with the porch in the front that you can sit at and enjoy your morning coffee or just sit and relax. It also has my little red door :)

This is where we sit back and relax. In a few years when we have a bit more money we plan to make the whole bottom a wooden deck.

Looking out at my front yard with the cute little apple trees.

Solids?

2009-07-09T19:51:00.001-07:00

not much to say about these pictures, they speak for themselves. I just can’t believe how much our little Katie May eats and how she will eat anything. Very different then her brother who I'm not even sure how he is alive with the amount he eats. Anyways these pictures are of Katie May stealing her brothers grilled cheese.

She is constantly eating and if she doesn't have food in her hand she is on the hunt for it. I can not believe how different they are.

I'm sure glad someone enjoyed the sandwich I made.

Canada Day

2009-07-01T20:25:00.001-07:00

Today we took the family to Parksville for a parade with Thea and her family, one of my girlfriends from the Nanaimo mommy group. JJ did great he just sat beside a beautiful girl and clapped the whole time. He also kept pointing out to her the big trucks especially the yellow one. I'm just impressed that he actually stayed sitting the whole time. I thought for sure that he run up to the cars but he stayed, I think it was because he was in love. For some reason our little man Loves little girls, they are usually blond and must be at least 3 years older then him.

JJ got a whole bunch of treats. At one point he actually caught something! I think it was a mistake.

Our little princess watching.

This is a picture of the girl making sure he didn’t get too excited and run up to the people in the parade.

The Table

2009-07-01T20:12:00.001-07:00

We did it, we finished the table. Man was that a ton of work but it came out great. We sanded then painted, then sanded again and then stained. After all that we finished it with a top coat to keep it a bit safer with the kids. I decided to paint it the white colour because I just love how elegant it looks, I figured to keep it looking good I would give it a rustic look so when my kids damage it you wont really notice it. I like to do things kid friendly so I don’t worry all the time about them being kids and destroying things by accident.

And I always have to add some cute pictures of the kids as they are always finding a way to look adorable while I'm working away.

Fathers Day and Sean’s Birthday

2009-06-26T12:21:00.001-07:00

We celebrated this weekend by taking Jordan to ice skating in the morning and then going to the BC forest museum after the naps. I wasn’t sure JJ would really like a museum at his age but we know he LOVES trains so we thought we would try because it has a train ride and a few trains on show. He had the best time ever. The whole time he was running around pointing at everything and telling us “wow train” Little Katie May had a great time on the train ride too. She just smiled the whole way and chewed on the side of the seat. She got another tooth a couple of days later. The place was really fun for the kids and they have a big area where you can have birthday parties so I can tell that we will be planning one there later in the future. On Sunday (the real birthday and fathers day) we went down to the water and had ice cream just for Sean.

Our little Hockey star!

The trains

Jordan running around to see everything

Driving

The Beautiful Princess

Riding on the train

We don’t feed her enough! JK. Katie teething

Sean and his cake

Happy 31st Lover

Jordan got the whole piece on the fork

Of course we had to go for ice cream on Sean’s birthday

Holidays

2009-06-22T15:15:00.001-07:00

Sean left for his last 2 weeks of school on June 8 so I had 2 weeks with my mom visiting. I am so thankful for her taking those two weeks off so I wasn’t alone while Sean was away. We had a really great time, very busy but it was good. We toured Nanaimo a little, painted my dining room set, played with the kids and started potty training Jordan. I think my mom and I were ready for some real holidays after her stay here. The table looks beautiful I will need to get some pictures of it up so you can see I just haven’t got around to it yet.

This is our walk along Buttertubs marsh

The kids playing in the flowers

More swimming at Westwood Lake

The kids playing in the pool Grandma got them, I think they went in it everyday.

Westwood Lake

2009-06-16T13:49:00.001-07:00

We have been starting to explore Nanaimo recently and have found this beautiful lake about 10 minutes from our house. The kids loved it. Poor Sean forgot to wear his swimsuit because he was heading back to the mainland after our beach trip so he looks a little dorkey with his pants rolled up. The Lake is called Westwood lake, it has cabins, camping, trails, swimming, a playground, and a dog park. I'm still in shock at how close it is to where we live, back where I used to live it would always be a bit of a drive to get somewhere like this. My parents were with us too but they were taking the pictures for us, finally I am in some pictures!

Our little fish Katie May has no fear of the water, if you sit her in the shallow end she will just crawl around the water.

The floaty things on JJ were a little big :)

Me and my princess

Our family enjoying the water

My other fish

I think this picture caught me rolling my eyes at something Sean said, very realistic.

The kids swimming!

Katie kept trying to lean over and play with the water so she didn’t stay in the boat very long.

JJ’s first time on ice

2009-06-04T12:17:00.001-07:00

We took JJ for his first skating lesson last Saturday. As soon as we entered the rink he kept saying Hockey, Hockey! He was a little unsure at first but by the end of the class he was the only kid running on the ice. Our little man was the only 2 year old on the ice all the other kids were 3 years old. I'm just so happy to get our little man in something at his age, he has a bit of energy to burn.

Our little princess watching her big brother

Warm up

Holding on tight to his daddy

Playing with the hula hoops

Jordan jumping on the ice.

JJ looked over and saw that they had hockey sticks, he immediately dropped his hula hoop and ran over to grab a stick.

We think he was in Love with the instructor. He would just stare at her when she would talk to him.

This picture is what the last half of the lesson was like, Sean trying to keep up with Jordan.

Our little man had one fall which I caught on tape. He just got up and kept going after the fall. For the first lessons they keep them in shoes and then later they will try out skates.

2009-05-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Our little princess just started crawling and has now moved onto furniture walking. Every time I look at her she is standing somewhere different. I can't believe it, today she stood on her own for 3 seconds before going slowly to her bum. The only problem is she is the silent type. She quietly goes somewhere and gets into something while JJ really let you know where he was. Now I'm always on the hunt as to where she has gone.

Kitchen floors

2009-05-25T15:27:00.001-07:00

These are the photo’s of the finished Kitchen floors. I am so happy with them I was a little worried it might be a little dark but it turned out perfect. I also got the cabinets on the other side of the kitchen hung. It’s almost done. Just the molding around the cabinets, paint the island, and finish the box around the fan. I also need to get the last door put on. Otherwise I love it I keep going in my kitchen just to stand and enjoy it.

(the missing door beside the oven)

The stools will have black tops and they are used with the old island. It pops up and turns into an eating area or I use it to sit at and bake. I still need to paint the old island, not sure of the colour yet. And I still need the handles on the cabinets.

Update

2009-05-20T20:22:00.001-07:00

Here are some photos of the kitchen updates and the future updates coming this weekend. Basically we just tiled the kitchen backsplash since the last photo’s but we have also removed the lino because we are laying the new cork flooring this weekend. We are going to try to do it on Friday because it is my birthday on the weekend and I would like to celebrate it with out doing any renovations. But if that doesn’t happen new floors for my birthday will be a wonderful present.

These photos are stitched with the windows program that is why the dishwasher looks a little funny in the bottom picture. That one dark area on the floor is what the new kitchen floor is going to look like.

Nanaimo

2009-05-19T13:58:00.001-07:00

On Monday morning we decided to take a break for the renovations and Sean’s school work to enjoy our new home town. Not even a 10 minute drive and we arrived at the Nanaimo waterfront quay. We just spent the morning walking around enjoying the views. We saw people crab fishing, one dad was teaching his son, it was so cute. We watched the planes take off and land, Jordan loved that.

They have the cutest fish and chips place actually on the water along with a little Mexican place.

Fish and Chips

Mexican

It was so nice to actually see my new town. I had never been to Nanaimo before we decided to move here and I had to come over to look at houses. It really is a beautiful place, nice and quite but still big enough I can do all the same shopping I did in Langley. The best part is the traffic and that Nanaimo parkway they built. It actually bypasses all the in town traffic and is a beautiful drive.

We plan to do a lot more Island exploring once we have finished the renovations. For now this was a nice little reminder of how beautiful the place I live is.

Fireworks

2009-05-18T09:36:00.001-07:00

Last night Sean’s manager invited us to the funeral home to watch the Empire days fireworks. The Funeral home is located right on the ocean so it has the best view. They also just had a beautiful patio installed in the funeral home so we spent the night having a BBQ on the patio and then watching the Fireworks. JJ got to break the rules and stay up till 10pm and Katie tried to sleep in her playpen but woke up just in time for them to start. Jordan did really well for staying up late he just played with some of the other kids the whole time. I was very impressed with both kids during the fireworks. I was expecting them to freak out because that was what everyone was telling me would happen but they didn’t. Jordan just kept saying “Wow!” the whole time and making sure everyone else was seeing this. Katie just watched in amazement. We all seemed to have a really good time just not the best sleep. After we all went to bed Sean got a coroners call in the middle of the night which woke JJ up. He was a little out of it but went back to sleep. Today we might go for a walk around the ocean and just enjoy the day with out any real plans.

Jordan a little shy at first

I love how he sticks his tongue out when he thinks

Sean hanging out

Kaitlyn playing with the cars

Jordan and his dream girl Faith meet again

Sarah held Katie may while I took pictures

He just loved the fireworks

He was going around making sure everyone else was watching them

Kaitlyn watching the fireworks

Little update

2009-05-13T12:20:00.001-07:00

Krista stopped over for a quick one night stay on her way to visit her brother in law last week. It was a very fun short visit with her. It will be nice once we are finished with all our renovations so we can have family and friends over for a real visit. Right now we can’t really have anyone over, all and any free time we get is put straight into renovations so we can get this house finished for the summer. The only time we don’t do renovations is when Sean is working on his school, which he is doing this weekend. He will be writing his thesis this weekend and then the only school left will be his final exams in the end of June. That is another reason we are trying to be finished for the summer because Sean will also be finished school so we will have nothing on our plate but to enjoy the summer.

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We celebrated Mothers day with the boys tiling the kitchen backsplash and my mom and I taking care of the kids while trying to work on my garden. We got a lot done in the garden area which was really needed. The previous owner let all the gardens grow over and turn into grass and moss. We planted a bunch of flowers after removing the grass and edging it. Sean attempted to make my hedges a regular size and shape but had no success. We decided we will use the neighbors Gardner to get our hedges off to a good start. He is pretty reasonable priced if we do the clean up.

These pictures are of how the kids help me do laundry. It was all folded nicely before I cam to find this.

“Jordan don’t bug your sister!”

Friday night Katie May got her first tooth! She had a weird 5 minute freak out in the night which we later realized was her tooth coming in. I thought that was pretty good, only a 5 minute freak out then back to sleep. Hasn’t complained since. She now has both bottom teeth coming up at a regular speed. Jordan was nothing like this with his teeth. The poor guy would have them poke through and maybe a week later they would still be in the same spot or they would go up and down. Not fun for our little man. He got the last of his molar through about the same day Katie got her first tooth. Kaitlyn has been found sitting in her crib a couple of times now. She moves around the house by a weird kinda crawl, but she moves.

These pictures are from when our family came down with a really bad cold. JJ just watched TV in his sleeping bag all day.

Sean and I are finishing up the tile grout in the evening tonight, lucky us. I will get some pictures of the finished product once we are done. I still need to post pictures of our bathroom but have not found a mirror I like yet.

Big brother help

2009-05-06T12:15:00.001-07:00

Jordan loves his little sister Kaitlyn. He is always trying to make her smile and play with him. I could have never wished for him to be as great of a big brother as he has become. He makes funny faces to make her laugh, he comes to get me if she starts to cry, and he even tries to help feed her. Yesterday while I was feeding Katie some peas the microwave beeped so I left her in the high chair to get whatever was in the microwave. When I returned, which was not even a minute, JJ had decided to help me out by continuing to feed his little sister. It was so adorable how hard he tried I couldn’t help not taking a picture. I'm just impressed that she didn’t even mind. Anyways enjoy the pictures.

The Basement

2009-05-04T14:10:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful, very busy visit with Papa and Nana this weekend. They arrived Friday afternoon and the boys got straight to work on building a guest room and dog room. Cindy and I played with the kids the whole weekend and kept them away from the construction zone. It was so great to have her help me keep them entertained and happy. I am so impressed with Sean and his dad, they managed to get everything finished before noon on Sunday. They put up two doors, moved two light switches, put in a new light and switch where there wasn’t any before, built three walls, and insulated the dog room. The basement looks great. before it was just a huge open room now the family room is cozy and we have separate dog and guest rooms. Now I just have to finish the walls with the mud and sanding along with priming and painting. The main thing is that the walls are in place and it works. The dogs love the room. Before we had old dressers blocking them in that area, now they can go in and out all they want and can only dirty their tile floor. How great is that? The guest room is perfect, it’s quiet and away from animals and people. Very private. These were our main priorities when we were looking to purchase a new house. It had to have a fourth room for guest because we knew we will be having family staying over because of how far we moved away. And a dog room where the dogs could go in and out of the dog run as much as they wanted with out dirtying up the entire house. I'm just so happy with the way it turned out and can’t wait to have more people over. Sean loves his theater room now and JJ can finally play in the play room with out running over to play in the dog dishes.

Looking down the new hallway in the basement

Living room. Sean still has all his pictures to hang to complete the room.

Back of family room which is the playroom and bar.

Sean’s dream theater room!

The new rooms!

Dog room and the new light

The guest room

Nana enjoying some time with JJ

Helping put on his boots

The princess playing around her daddy's feet

Sean and the kids after a long weekend of renovations. JJ is learning early.

Renovations

2009-04-27T12:09:00.001-07:00

I can’t believe we actually did it, we got the bathroom almost finished. We got the new floor down, the new toilet, the new vanity sink in and everything is working. It was a lot harder this time because between doing the bathroom renovations we were also taking care of our children with nothing to entertain them but the construction zone we were living in. We ran into a few problems, the incoming toilet value died and needed replacing, and the sink drain had a little leak but everything seems in working order now. We also had to purchase a new vanity which meant we needed a new tap because it no longer fit. We need a bathroom mirror and light still then we will be done. I got the whole bathroom painted last night when the kiddies were asleep. I will get the pictures up once I find a mirror and light. unfortunately this bathroom turned into one of those expensive bathroom renovations with all the changes that needed to be made. But it looks beautiful.

During our relaxing time from the bathroom I painted one of my dining room chairs white. We totally love it and now I can not wait to paint the rest of the dining room furniture. I am on the hunt for chocolate brown material to cover the seats in. Just 5 more chairs, 1 table and a hutch to paint. My mom and I plan to get it finished when she comes over for a couple weeks in June. I'm just so pleased at the way the chair turned out. You know when you have an idea in your mind and not sure how it will really look, well it looks better then I thought it would.

Before

After (I have placed on of my place mats on the cushion so you can see my plan)

and just to compare

Our Weekend

2009-04-23T09:29:00.001-07:00

So Sean finished his year 2 exams on Monday. He still has his thesis to write before the end of June and then he has 2weeks worth of exams to write in the end of June. Then it will be over no more school for Sean. For now he has no more homework ever just research for his thesis and studding for the finals. So he is back to the renovations starting with our bathroom. You have no idea how excited I am to do our bathroom. I have been using all the other sinks in our house to brush my teeth, now I will be able to finally use MY bathroom to brush my teeth. I'm just a little weird about brushing my teeth. I don’t like to use other sinks that I'm not comfortable with. When I go to a hotel I use bottled water and can’t wait till I get home. Anyways Im so excited after this bathroom is done I will feel really at home. We have run into one problem already, the sink we bought wont work because of the pipes so I am in a mad rush to find another one I like. Tonight we will be putting the new floor in, it’s the same as the other bathroom and then on Friday Sean will attempt the toilet. Last time Sean and my dad ran into a few problems but they made it through. I just hope it goes a bit better this time. So far the toilet area looks good but you never know. I will leave you with the demolition pictures of my bathroom. Enjoy. The one picture looks a little funny because I used windows stitch to put the picture together so you can kinda see the whole bathroom.

Please don’t mind the bedroom mess in the background, everything from the bathroom got tossed into the bedroom last night during demo.

Park Play date

2009-04-20T19:54:00.001-07:00

Today the kids and I went to Maffeo-Sutton park with the Nanaimo mommy group. The kids had a blast. JJ was such a big boy going down all the big kid slides. Katie went for a ride on the swings then played in the grass most of the time. Sean joined us on this play date because he finished his exams early and his work is right beside the park. Thank goodness Sean came it gave me time to relax with Katie in the grass while Sean and Jordan played on the playground.

My little princess!

Our big boy has to try every toy at the park

Katie playing in the grass

JJ loves the slide!

Easter Sunday

2009-04-14T21:19:00.001-07:00

JJ did his first Easter egg hunt on Sunday morning. He did great but tried to pick up a few eggs at once and he tried to eat some in the wrappers he was so excited. We then went out shopping for Sean’s new lawn mower and got JJ his hockey net from Great Grandma John for his birthday.

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Easter Saturday

2009-04-14T19:21:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful day on Easter Saturday. The kids both got kites from Grandma and Grandpa Cousins so we took them to the beach to fly them. Poor little Katie didn’t enjoy the wind at the beach so I kept her bundled up in the stroller. She missed the whole kite flying.

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Sean and my dad also rented a trailer and got the rocks for the dog run which is so great because now the dogs are almost mud free. They also did a huge dump run from all the Reno's. That has freed up so much room and taken a big weight off Sean’s shoulders. I can’t believe how much work they did. It’s a good thing they had a big dinner to fill them up after. We did our Turkey dinner on the Saturday because my parents were taking the 5pm ferry back on the Sunday. It was our first really family turkey dinner in my new kitchen. We used the convection oven which cooked the turkey perfect. I'm sure my mother had a lot to do with the perfect turkey also. You can see in the pictures my dad teaching Sean how to cut the turkey and JJ was also learning for the future when he invites his mom and dad over.

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Doodlebops!

2009-04-14T13:47:00.001-07:00

We took our little man to his first rock concert the other night, The doodlebops. The concert was on the mainland on Thursday night so we packed up the kiddies Thursday morning and headed to my parents place. during the day on the mainland we picked up Sean’s new wheels from his grandpa :) which means I get my van again! It has been really difficult living here with no car but we just never got a chance to get back and pick up the other one. I'm so happy now! Then we had a visit with my parents and Sean’s family before we headed to the doodlebops.

JJ loved the doodlebops. at the beginning he was a little unsure of what was going on but as the other kids started dancing in the isle so did JJ. We had a bit of a difficult time keeping him near he wanted to go stand at the very front near the stage. It was so neat to watch all the little kids dancing the night away. We thought for sure he would fall asleep on the rid home but he was way to excited. My mom bought him a toy doll from the concert, Moe. It’s too funny in the show they are always looking for Moe and I swear he always goes missing in our house and we are all walking around looking for Moe. Where’s Moe?

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It feels like Spring!

2009-04-07T13:09:00.001-07:00

Our family has been spending most of our time in the backyard over these past couple of days. It has just been beautiful weather. The first day I got a little burnt, I didn’t even realize it was time for the sunscreen but since then I have been lathering the kids and I up. We have been playing in the grass, on the deck and of course on the new playground. At the begging JJ would get really upset when I would take him inside from his playground but he is starting to get a lot better with it now he just waves and says bye in a really sad tone. I think he is starting to realize that it’s not going anywhere. They say it should start raining later in the week which is fine with me I'm just happy we got to enjoy these beautiful days while they were here. Can’t really get upset with the weather it’s Vancouver and April showers :)

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You can really tell that spring is arriving because our grass/moss has started to grow. Poor Sean has no idea what he is in for mowing that lawn. It is a lot bigger then he thinks but I'm sure he will love it when JJ follows behind with his little bubble mower. At the present time we have no mower so our grass will have to wait, lucky Sean :) his mom has offered to buy us our first lawn mower as a house warming gift which we are really excited for.