Christmas

I'm not really sure what to write about Christmas this year. It was the usual: We all got together at my parents' place, there were too many gifts for my kids and just enough food to keep us all happy. Except this year all 3 of my boys were sick, with my husband surfacing just long enough to open most of his gifts. Fortunately, the rest of the family didn't send us packing.

So, because I have no witty stories to relate, I'm relegated to sharing pictures of my kids with their "stuff". Enjoy. 

Our first Christmas tree and Avery's first Christmas. I must admit, it was fun to finally put all my ornaments up on a tree. They've been waiting for over 10 years...



Nothing to do with Christmas. Just my boys, having fun. And I love the expression on Avery's face.

Basketball has now been added to the list of sports played in this house. Thank you Uncle Mike and Auntie Tara!

Grandma and Grandpa gave Lane a plane, motorcycle and race car that are put together with screws. It came with a regular ole screwdriver and a drill - my tool-loving boy was on cloud nine.

 

Showing off all the new toys. Minus the airplane - that's grandma's.



Grandma showing Avery how his new toy works.

 

Lane trying out his new tools on Auntie Tara. My apologies, my dear.



Lane and his girls. Need I say more?

And that is that. Christmas 2011. It is now 2012 and I'm supposed to be thinking about all the things that I want to change this year. Fat chance. Not that I don't have things I'd like to change and not that I'm not doing them or don't want to talk about them but I'm in the middle of potty-training during the nicest weather I've ever seen for the first week of January. Forgive me. I resolve that the next time I potty-train one of my children, it will be during the coldest cold snap I've ever done seen so that I won't feel like I'm missing out on life. There. I said it. And now I can go do my dishes because I just can't seem to stay ahead of 'em.

Here I am!

Contrary to what you may believe, I did not fall off the face of the planet after going camping with 2 little kids. Life got a little interesting, that's all.

Interesting, as in we got a phone call that my husband was accepted to tech school and we had 2 and half weeks to get ready. School was 5 hours away, we had a house in the middle of renovations and plans already made for what our fall was going to look like. Oops.

Getting ready to move.
Boxes, boxes and more boxes but Rachel and Lane seemed
to still be able to find a spot to read a book.

Four months later, my husband has finished his first semester at school. He'll tell you it was the hardest thing he has ever done. I'd agree. He spent a lot of time at school and there was a lot of stress in our house. But he managed to pull off an 89 average over 30 credit hours. I'm so proud of him.

We have moved five hours south. (After living apart for 2 months. Not recommended. Will not do again.) Our house is in the process of being sold. And we are mostly settled in to our new digs. It was a big change for me to move from a small town (approx. 5000 people) to a small city (approx. 30,000) where I knew no one. I'm surviving. And so are the kids. For the most part. Just don't ask me about my oven.

Camping with 2 kids

Camping with 2 kids was an interesting experience. I know the word interesting is over-used but I really can't come up with a better all encompassing word. It was interesting. 

Some things were really fun: Going to a coffeeshop with my husband and no kids. Eating s'mores and bush pies cooked over the campfire.

Some things were really annoying: Mosquitoes. Need I say more?

Some things were really tough: Trying to get two kids to sleep in a tent during a thunderstorm.

Some things were really worth it: Watching my toddler watch his grandpa race. The kid caught on to a lot of what was happening.
Watching my husband cook over a fire. He has so much fun doing it... and it helps that he's good at it too.

Helping Dad eat a candy apple.

Watching the swim portion of the triathlon. We actually found my dad in the throng of swimmers.

I think this kid had the best view of all of us...too bad he couldn't commentate for us.

While his brother had the best view, this kid definitely had the most comfortable seat. Wrapped up with mom. No complaints were heard.

Grandpa swimming. Do you see him? He's the one with the white swim cap.

Finished the swim and starting to get ready for the next part.

Walking to his bike after the swim.

Almost ready to head out for the bike ride.

And he's off! (White shirt, yellow bike)

Coming up to the finish line.

Feeling good after the race. He said last year this race was the hardest thing he had done. This year the race was "fun".

Cooking pancakes over the fire.

Taking "pictures" with his dad's headlamp.

It was a good weekend but I'd be lying if I told you I'd like to go camping again any time soon.

Getting cuter!

Here's the cutie at 4.5 months:

He loves his big brother and is entertained by any stories the big one tells him. Loves to giggle along with whatever silliness his brother is up to.

And he weighed in at a whopping 19 lbs. No wonder that silly car seat was awkward to carry.

Time to line up!

My oldest has entered the stage of life where things must be lined up.

Especially his toys.

Or, more importantly, toys with wheels.

A visit home

My youngest sister graduated from highschool the end of June. Which meant it was time to PART-AY at my parents' place. My grandparents from BC flew out and my aunt drove my grandma down from Saskatoon. My other sister's boyfriend even came out from Steinbach for the celebration. It was a full house and a very hot one. Graduation always seems to be one of the hottest days of the year.

Regardless of the heat, we had a good time visiting with everyone and taking part in the fun things to do at Grandma & Grandpa's house.

Auntie Amy borrowed a "guitar" from the neighbours for Lane to play. He knew exactly what to do with it!

Grandma Friesen playing with Avery.

Avery hanging out with Grandma Cherie.

Lane and Auntie Amy with Uncle Mike's bike. Lane is enthralled with motorcycles but apparently only from a distance.

My sisters set up a "dinner for 2" for my birthday in my parents' sun room. My family watched the boys while my husband and I got to eat dinner by ourselves. It was quite the treat!

A boring look-at-my-kids kind of post.

The baby doesn't seem like much of a baby anymore. The following pictures were taken when he was about 3 1/2 months old. He was just beginning to sit up and be interested in toys. 

Avery started to join us at meals as Lane has moved up to a real chair at the "big" table. Avery also was introduced to the rocking chair that has a perfect corner for being propped up in.

And Lane started to ask to hold Avery. Which is a feat when the baby is almost as big as the toddler.

But they both seemed to love it.

Concrete, Part 2

The cement truck came to visit Daddy's work again.

The guys were pouring concrete for the floor of the crawlspace. It was a lot easier in some ways because they didn't have to try to move heavy wheelbarrows full of concrete through sand. It was more work in that there was a large area to cover and it involved a lot of raking and screeting.

The weather wasn't quite as cooperative as last time and there wasn't quite as much to see this time. The walls for the crawlspace are up and so Lane couldn't see too much of what was going on. 

But it we still had fun.

Because what boy doesn't like to watch cement trucks?

Birthday Cake

Ever since my brother's birthday the end of May, Lane has been talking about birthdays and birthday cakes and saying "happy birthday". I'm not sure he totally understands the concept of a birthday but he sure is having fun talking about.

Here is Lane playing with his play-doh. He likes to make cakes and cookies and carrots and pretend to eat them.

This particular day he was adamant that he was making Uncle Mike a birthday cake:

 

"See, Mom! Uncle Mike birthday cake!"

Father's Day

Lane and I made our first card together. 

Which means I made it and he coloured it. Lots.

 

It is full of cats and dogs and tractors and spiders--just the way Dad likes it.

Happy Father's Day!

Concrete

My husband has taken a job helping a guy build a house. The hole was dug 2 weeks ago and the footings were poured early last week. The world of construction is new to our house; we're not used to the long days of dad working nor is dad used to long days of physical work. However, we are adapting and enjoying the process of seeing a house take shape. Not to mention seeing all the cool machinery that comes to work on a jobsite. 

Let me back up a bit. Our 2 year old, like most boys, has a fascination with machines. Motorcycles, trucks, trains, loaders, school buses, you name it and we have probably talked about it. Cement trucks (and yes, dad, I know they really should be called concrete trucks) are Lane's current favorite so when the concrete was being poured at the jobsite, I knew I had to take him to see his truck in action. 

He was not disappointed.

Not only did he get to see his dad working but he got to see how the cement trucks works. Right from the truck backing up with the tank spinning, to putting the chute together to pouring the concrete to cleaning out the chute to taking it all back apart. A fascinating process. And a long one.

James has dumped his wheelbarrow full of concrete into the wood forms and is going back for another load. Pushing wheelbarrows full of concrete through sand was not an easy task.

Waiting while the wheelbarrow fills with concrete.

Moving concrete to fill up the forms as it comes down the chute.

A big cement truck; a happy little boy.

Taking it all in.

While my boy would've loved to have stayed to watch all 3 loads of concrete, the baby wasn't of the same mindset. We were able to watch for a couple of hours, after which we were all tired and in need of being out of the sun. A brisk walk home, a couple of glasses of cold water and the start of neverending conversations about cement trucks—a pretty good morning, I'd say.

Ah, the joys of boys.

Simple Cinnamon Granola

I've been wanting to make my own granola for quite a while. I love my bowl of cereal first thing in the morning but the cereal prices here are steadily going up. Besides, homemade granola would be healthy for me anyways, right?

So I've been doing a bit of a hunt for granola recipes. I've heard of enough bad experiences with granola that I was a bit leery about giving it a try myself. I'm not always good at making things that burn easily in a matter of seconds. Especially now that I have 2 boys around to distract me.

But I found a recipe here that looked and sounded easy. And I found myself with a cool morning, content boys, and all the ingredients staring me in the face. Granola it was:

 

Yummy, too!

I haven't even eaten it with milk yet. Nor have I had it for breakfast yet and it is just about all gone. We eat it by the handful for a snack. It's that good. 

And the beautiful part? It's quick and easy.

Don't believe me? Try it out for yourself:

Simple Cinnamon Granola

2-¼ cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (I used Roger's Porridge cereal)
1 cup Coarsely Chopped Nuts (I used peanuts)
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
¼ cup Canola Oil
¼ cup Maple Syrup
¼ cup Brown Sugar
¼ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
½ cup Dried Fruit (I used dried cranberries)

Preheat oven to 325F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together oats, chopped nuts, and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside.

Combine oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves into liquid, about 5 minutes. Do not let it boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla extract.

Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients and mix well to coat.

Spread mixture out onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven. Stir granola and return to oven for 10 more minutes. Stir one more time and bake another 5 minutes until golden brown, not dark.

Cool to room temperature and then add dried fruit. Store in an airtight container and enjoy!

My 3 month old cutie

Once again, I have the privilege of introducing to you my youngest son:

 

His smiles are still a little tricky to catch on camera...

...but sometimes I can get it.

He is interacting more and more with his surroundings. Lane loves telling his little brother about all of his adventures and Avery will listen (or at least look like he is listening) and will even smile at Lane. 

Avery is still a monster in terms of weight; my back is starting to really dislike hauling the kid around. I've got a babywrap coming in the mail that should help me carry him a little more comfortably. 

No matter how heavy this kid is, he is a content child, which I truly appreciate.

And when he laughs he has a twinkle in his eye that will melt your heart.