Thanksgiving

On the way to see family we had a great stop in Calgary visiting friends that we cherish dearly. A couple that we appreciate and yet see so little. It was wonderful to watch our sons play together running around the farm, playing with toys and chasing the dog. Thanks Marya and Devin for letting us crash your house for the night!!
Kyla wasn't so sure of this cat but little did she know the next day she would be in a house with 3 of them. She is definately a dog lover!!




We had a great family time this Thanksgiving. Thanks to Marianne for allowing the families to invade her domain. Or should we really say Thanks to the cats as all 3 were over come with children in thier space if not chasing them.








The kids had a great time outside. Boys riding bikes, throwing leaves and just playing!! (Don and Ray did take the boys mini golfing but I don't have photo's of that.)
Kyla was outside there too and went for a nice walk with Grandma - first time they had seen Kyla walking!!

Thanksgiving dinner...Supper is always a challenge in our house so why would Mark be any different here!! Auntie Marianne came to the rescue and had a race with him. Poor Marianne had the torture of her own childhood being at the kids table the longest and now as an adult she is back at the kids table!! We love you Marianne!!!











This following photo was taken by a up and coming photo expert!! It was taken by a 5year old!!
Thanks JOEL!!



Well that is our summary of Thanksgiving. It was a memerable experience. Another year gone by and THANKS to all our family and friends for being apart of our lives wether!!

October Update

It's been awhile since I last updated this blog and I appoligize. I guess that means life has been busy here. Among my work 3 evenings a week, Ray working all day and coming home to be Dad with the kids by himself, playgroup & take-a-break starting at church, Mark's Preschool, and trying to have a family life and see friends the time just flies by.

We went apple picking which provided us a lot of apples for free but after 16 jars of apple sauce, 8 pies, 4 crisps, there is still a box full of apples to do something with...










Mark's first day of Preschool...








Some how we find those quiet moments and capture them on film.
THERE WAS NO ADULT INFLUENCE IN SETTING THIS PICTURE UP!!
Here Mark and Kyla are both reading thier Bibles on the kitchen floor. Mark was matching his Bible pages with Kyla's.

PIRATES BEWARE!!

CAPTAIN MARK HERE TO PLAY!!
Pirates are a hot topic in this house. Not too sure when it all began but in the last few months it's been very HUGE!! Maybe from Peter Pan, or Dora when we went to the live show and Mark saw the Pirate piggies stealing the treasure, when we went to visit cousins Joel and Josh and got swords and a treasure chest from McDonald's and went to a Pirate birthday party all dressed up like Pirates. Many stories chosen from the library have Pirates in them and now the latest and most fascinating toy in the house is a Pirate ship donated by friends who are done playing with it!! It has 5 pirate men, a large Pirate ship with a cannon that shoots 2 cannons rolling across the floor, a small row boat the Pirates use to get closer to the treasure or save people with and binoculars that the pirates use to watch for people. At first with the pirate men shooting I was not so impressed but when I talked to Mark that we don't shoot people he said "but mom it's shooting blueberries at you, so you should open your mouth to catch them their delicious!" Oh, the joys of innocent play!! We have tried so hard to not have guns and the sort in the house for play but it is so hard with boys they use anything as a sword or gun even if it's just their finger and nothing else.
Boys will be boys as the saying goes!!
Ahy ahy captain and tally ho!!

The hole

Here is the actual hole size now that Ray has framed it in, removed the 5 studs and rewired the lights and fan. A lot more work this time but all completed within a weekend so very impressive. Next comes the molding just like the other hole. It really brings a new look to th room and hopfully we'll get a nice picture for the other wall in entrance way. It has been great to look throught the whole to say hello to peole coming in or goodbye as guests are leaving without all standing in a small enterance way!
Sorry I didn't take the picture until now. This last weekend Ray was gone on the men's retreat and I tried overcomming my fear of heights and painting the entrance way but I couldn't complete it and left 1/2 of it still for him to do. I don't know; something about being home alone with the kids sleeping, climbing up a ladder when I am already afriad of heights! I just couldn't do it. Also, each time I seemed to move the ladder the kids woke up in nightmares so it really wasn't worth all the up and down to try again for a second coat. Ray will just have to do it himself some time. So for now here is the update so you don't think we just left the wall with 2 small holes (hey Mel!!)

Another whole in our wall!!

More wholes in our walls!! Ray has been wanting to do two windows in our walls all along and I have been hesitant. Once our first whole in the wall was done I loved it. It brightens the whole living room. After going to a neighbor complex that is currently under reno's and I saw the half wall from the living room to the entrance way I realized Ray was right and it would look great. So we knocked out another whole in our wall yesterday. Wiring will add a bit more time to the project this time but I am very excited.

Mark loves to say "Surprise" to the people coming in the front door!!

Skateboard Park

Mark has been wanting to go to the skate board park ever since we moved here. He loved seeing cousin Joel riding his skateboard in Winnipeg and when we came home was eager to convince us he wanted to do that too. He doesn't have a skateboard so that was an easy no. Plus he's so little and there is always big kids on it. So far we have avoided it. This week was break through for Mark and actually it was pretty fun to watch for me too.
Mark took his bike on the park and went down into one of the bowls. Head to toe protection thanks to Grandma Joan with elbow and knee pads he is up and down and riding around. The kids are all back in school so going to the skateboard park in the morning is always empty and Mark has the whole thing to himself. Once another 3 year old was there and Mark was excited to have a buddy - Jack! Too bad Jack doesn't live around here and has only been there the once. Mark has really gained a lot of confidence on his bike this summer. From March when we bought it and he couldn't even use the petals till now he is doing tricks while riding around the park - no hands, feet on the handlebar base and now riding in the skateboard park. What a difference. It's a daily activity for sure and his favourite or at least what he asks for the most is going biking with Daddy on his bike.

1 Step, 2 Step, 34 Steps!

Kyla took her first 3 steps the day before her birthday. For the last month that's all she has choose to do 3 or 5 steps. We could help her by holding her hands and she would do more. Or if she was pushing her stroller and baby or the walker she would do more but not without the help. Then last Tuesday while Ray was home with the kids Kyla took 34 steps with no help! Yeah!!! (the life of being a working mom I miss stuff). So she was exactly 13 months old when she started walking. Now she gets up and walks everywhere. Crawling is still faster if she's racing Mark but we love to see this little body walking all over. Mark has been a hoot to watch. As we sit and encourage Kyla to walk back and forth to us Mark wants to try too. He'll walk back and forth to us all wobbly like Kyla and want the same cheering. He'll fall just before getting to us just to be like Kyla. We've had such fun.

Camping in early fall

The summer is over but it's still hot here and we can still enjoy the 30+ weather while it lasts. Hard to believe it's September and we're camping with kids. Grandpa and Grandma have a trailer so there was many times in there. Also having showers available and a store just down the path for icecream or coffee in the morning for Auntie and Uncle helps too!!. Definately fun spending time in the mountains and on the lake (beach really and kayaking) with family.



Mark had his bike along and thank goodness he did, as he was on it even before breakfast was ready and all the way until nightfall. Even better when cousin Kaden came and had his scooter to ride with. It was special to know this is somewhere my family went camping as a family and where Ray's family went and still goes.



Just as we were leaving the campground we made one more stop on the way home. The Kokanee Salmon are in full stage of sponing and moving up the river. There were hundreds of red, large salmon. Most were the length of Mark's arm- fingers to shoulders. All fighting their way up the river and even splashed us once. Mark's favorite part was seeing all the dead fish - gross says mommy!!

I'm sorry!!

After a phone call last night, something I read today hit me hard. "Few of us will be recorded in history books after we leave this world. But all of us will leave behind memories with our families and friends. Those closest to us are watching our responses to [life and God] through times of testing and blessing" -Dennis Fisher-..."Some people-problems may never be resolved. It takes two to quarrel: it takes two to reconcile. If you do your part and the problem remains, there is still a plan to follow. Don't let resentment or retaliate with the weapon of silence...Let God work out the problem" -Dennis De Hann-.
Let me just say this: I am sorry to those who I have offended. You know who you are. Family does come 1st in my life (God above all but that is without saying). Some times our actions or words are misinterpreted as it's hard to be sensitive to everyone all at the same time. I try to live the best way I see fit, but because I am human at times I fail miserably.
For some of us it's been a hard, emotional year (other's longer). As long as we know we are family and truly care about each other we should be able to accept each other despite our failures and support each other when needed.
Distance adds something to each of our relationships but that is why I had created this blog in the first place. This blog has been a link for us into the lives of many special friends and them to us and many family members especially because of the distance. Let it be known that I truly appreciate your impact into our lives and hope that what is written here or said/done in person is never meant to hurt but rather it has been a blessing to keep in contact. If I have offended you, please take this as an applology. Life is too short and we need each other.

The Bobcat

A highlight in Mark's week has been his chance to drive in the Bobcat for more than 1/2 an hour. There is a 4 plex beside us going through major renovation. The whole front yard has been dug up for water lines and Mark got to drive with Clayton as he filled in the holes and put the extra dirt into the dump truck. What excitement for a 3 year old. We just happened to be out watching while he was working and Clayton offered to take Mark for a ride. After 5 mins. he stopped and said. If you don't mind we'll just keep working. Mark yelled out "ya mom, we're not done yet". So off they went continuing to work while Kyla and I watched. He hasn't stopped talking about it. Every time the dump truck drives by he says hello to his new buddy Clayton the driver. The site contractor; Ian, and has been incredibly nice to call Mark over to see the demolition of sheds or all the work of these big machines.
We are excited to see another improvement to the area!!

changes

FYI: There has been a few updates, changes and added photo's to a few of the last blogs.

Happy Birthday Kyla

You're our #1 daughter, grand-daughter and neece. Since you're the only one girl it's pretty easy to say that. We all love you and celbrated with you as you turned one this month. Yeah for you. Wow time has flew by. Thank you to eveyone who celebrated with us and for all the great gifts. She loves them and so does big brother.
We had a great party with family in Winnipeg for her and celebrated Grandma and Ray's birthday's too. We also had a fun family and friends party here at the Water Park for our "water baby". Fun picnic and splash in the water. Thanks to all who came out. Here is a few shots of that.

Toronto

Our trip to Toronto was short. We were there for just over 36 hours. Dad got married so that was the reason for the trip in the first place. While we were there Kyla had her second time hanging out with Grandpa as seen here at breakfast.








Us sister's also had some good shopping time at outlet malls which is a must in Mississauga (Birthday & Christmas shopping started!!). Glad all three of us sister's were there, important for all three of us to be there to support eachother. From my perspective very happy Ray was able to come too! Dad I know you wanted us all there and there's no way we could have afford it with out your help so thanks.

So good to see Marianne and have that time with her. Kyla loved the extra cuddles too. We only get to see her twice or so a year so it's always good.
It was also good so see Auntie Alma from Texas which hasn't happened for Ray and I since we were engaged.
While we were there Dad brought out our childhood treasures that had been lost in storage for years. I was able to pass on my treasured Cabbage Patch Kid doll to Kyla for her 1st birthday and was almost brought to tears as we poured over photo albums. For those of you who don't know I lost ALL my childhood photos' (that's 8 Albums of photo's) to a mini sewage flood 1 1/2 years ago and thought those were my only copies. Luckly mom had made doubles of the ones they took. Many are still lost as they were from my own camera but alteast there are some to choose from. My dreams of a childhood scrapbook are not lost after all. Oh the joy.
For Ray and I it was the 1st chance to meet Carolyn and her girls too. There was car decorating and other decorating to be done. Dad I'm sure was glad Ray had come and was able to help with lots of that too.

As for the pictures below; between the wedding and the reception there was some time to spare. As it happened we had been there the day before for the decorating and noticed the driving range beside the Hall. Believe me every wedding needs some wacky thing to happen on it to make it more memorable (right Mel!!). Anyways, we took Dad's clubs to the reception and got a bucket of balls for us to hit while we waited and saved a few for Dad and Carolyn to hit when they arrived. For Marianne and Mel this was a first time ever hitting a golf ball. Marianne I really hope this opens many doors for you and Mel I hope you and Don are able to pick it up some for a date nights. I hope Ray and I will too as this is something I use to do alot before and Ray does now but somehow it's been a "guys thing". We had many wedding guests watching and laughing at us (especially us girls in our dresses - Ray just looked good and shot way better then us) but we had fun and really that's all that matters.

Travel

TRAVEL...It's brings a whole new meaning to the word when you add two children to the mix of the term. I also had "emotional" added to my 'travel experience' (mostly the next trip to Toronto) so that can change things too. It was increadably good to see friends and family and yet increadably hard to say 'goodbyes' again. We had a great time on our trip and love and appreicated all the time with family and friends. I've been asked to decrease my number of words here (but, don't we all have so many per day we need to get out!) so we'll just have to let the pictures say it all. I will say this: THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO BLESSED US WITH YOUR TIME ON THIS TRIP - YOUR INVESTMENT INTO OUR LIVES MEANS WONDERS!!!









A wonderful time with cousins...we love watching the boys together and how they interact with Kyla...
Great time with Grandma...










Fun times with Uncle and Aunties...











A great time with friends... believe it or not this breakfast picture has people from all over the world. We were just missing 2 special people for this reunion.








Fun times with cousins (and one girl friend) out for a picnic supper and a great game of beach ball volleyball and bocce with Mark as the tunnel to throw the balls through. Mark and Kyla were having fun in the sand while we tried to volley and for Boccee depending on how much you bribed Mark he even helped you win the game by moving one yellow ball closer to the other yellow ball or how about that blue ball near the white ball Mark!! Good thing he doesn't quite get the rules yet but in a year or two and he's the one trying to win I don't know how changing the rules will work so well. Thanks guys!! It was good to see you there. We sure miss out on all that "hanging out" time with you being so far away.










Our Toronto trip will be on the next blog and that was a harder trip to describe.

New Car

Mark having a blast washing our van here. Both him and I were in our bathing suits and he had the hose and I had the soap water. You can just imagine the fun we had. Obviously he aimed at me (like shown here) more than once. I think the neighbours cars/van got 1/2 washed too. At one point he was on my shoulders to hose down the top of the van. Very Fun!! It was very refreshing in the heat of the day.

New Car time.... We all bug Ray more then we really should but it's sort of true. Ray likes to have a different vehicle every few years. We can't even say it's for one specific reason. There is alwasy different reasons. Sometimes it the cost to fix it, maybe gas costs has something to do with it too. Ray hates vans (or any car for that matter) that you can't do simple work on by yourself. This time I think (just my opion) is that we know we are done having kids and don't need a mini van anymore so it's "cooler" to drive a regular car. We looked at many stationwagons but a sadan has been the preference. When we found this car it was perfect. We can fit 2 car seats and a person (like Grandma when she visits every few months) in the back or a 3rd carseat for the rare times of friends coming along. Trunk space is great and for those long trips or camping we could use a car top carrier. I love it too. My favorite is the dual heat controls. It wasn't a selling feature but sure a bonus. We feel like Ray could be in a T-shirt and I would be in a jacket next to him on some of our long trips.

So what did we get you ask.... a VOLVO. 1994, 5 cylinder automatic. It has some things that need to be worked out but it was good trade in for our van. Also very improtant. I didn't want car payments after just getting rid of the van payments when we moved here. Anyways, I think we both like it. Even if we do trade it in 2 or 3 years (which we may but I pray we don't) at least a VOLVO will hold it's value better than a Dodge!!!

Water kido's

SPLASH, SPLASH!!! Enjoying the water this summer has been a huge hit for our two water kids. Since the weather has been mid 30's it is understandable and we are happy to be in the water too. Glad to live only minutes walk from a water park and a 10 minute drive to the lakes. Many suppers at the beach. Kyla has been an amazing water baby. Where ever she can splash - bath time, in the water park, in the lake, backyard pool, puddles, helping mom washing dishes, or washing hands in the sink. Even at the water park with fountains spraying down on her she just keeps crawling through or at the lake with older kids splashing her she has a great smile on her face. She has discovered the toilet too so the trick has been to teach Mark to alway close the lid or the bathroom door (and for us to remember too) hense the hand washing after splashing in the toilet. Mark is sitting on one of the fountains here which is rare for him to be sitting down at all. He is always running and loves the water slide and using the water guns to spray others. He has become a lot more confident in the lake this year after all of last years experience at Grandma's cottage and swim class. His favorite still is Paul and Myrna's pool as he refers to that all the time where he learned to jump in the water.

The Dora photo's

Sorry the photo's didn't show up the last time. I just realized it. We sure loved it, and it's a great way to introduce preschooler's to live theatre. We were surprised that Dora and Degeo were not in full costume.

Off to the movies...

So we have introduced Mark to the movies twice now. We were not sure when it's again appropriate but really I use to do the mom and baby shows in Winnipeg quite often so really Mark has been to the movies lots (he was just under 1 year old that's all). Anyways, Curious George was his 1st movie (that he'll remember) and Cars which we saw yesterday was the 2nd time. We have been collecting movie coupons from cereal boxes, granola bars and anything really that has them - well that's not totally true as there are some products I just refuse to buy from their lack of nutritional value so we look else where. Anyways, we had free adult admission tickets and about 8 coupons for concession (which really is useless as you can only use one at a time) so we gave 1/2 of them way. We knew Mark's cousin had not gone to the movies yet and figured he might really love it too since their almost the same age so decided that if they would take Kyla we would take their kid.
Boys and cars really you can't go wrong. Although I know some girls who could tell you more about cars then I could - Marianne always puts me to shame with how much she knew about them. I was just proud to change my own spare or spark plugs, fuses and those sorts of things that went regularly on my old car. But with all these new vehicles you can't do anything yourself - oh yeah and I have a husband who knows way more about cars that I can even imagine so why would I even bother. I think that's why we are not keeping our mini van for much longer as some things you just can't do yourself and it's painful to pay someone to take care a some things so small that he's use to doing himself. Oh and he LOVES to buy cars or so it seems as we can't seem to keep one longer then 2 years. So if the later isn't the reason it's been about 2 years so it's time to go car shopping. Anyways, that was a long tangent and back to the movies about Cars we went.

So off we went for the kid swap and low and behold they have coupons too!! 2 free kid combos and a free kid admission. We got to the theater and since our nephew is under 3 he was free and Mark used the kid admission and we used ours. The boys each got their combos - popcorn, juice and a candy and we got a medium popcorn ($3 off) and medium drink ($3 off) and all together for the 4 of us to go to the movies it was less then $4.!!! The movie I thought was just over an hour ended up being just over 2 and so with 2 kids there were 3 potty breaks a lot of spilt popcorn on the floor and a lot of talking. Good thing there was mostly kids in the theater for this one as you might hear "hey Mark look at that!!, wasn't that funny!" or or "Mommy those cars are going fast!!" and in unison "Wow that's fast". Well, Ray and I had a good time and I love Pixar movies as they are cute, clean and perfect for the kids but the adult jokes all throughout are totally enjoyable too. Definitely one to buy in our books. Glad we were able to share this special moment with our nephew (a 1st theater experience for him) and glad we got to go so cheap!! Now our actually date night tomorrow we won't feel bad about spending a little money as we saved so much yesterday.

I guess we haven't told you about our other theater experience lately. We went to Dora the Explorer and the Pirate Adventure. Thanks to the boy I take care of and his mom they and his Grandma took us and Mark's cousin and 2nd cousin to go see Dora for FREE. The Cancer Society gave her the tickets and the 9 of us went. The 4pm show was perfect timing as we were able to go out for supper after too and thank them for the great experience. The kids all got flags although some adults might have wanted them too and Dora got all the kids waving and participating. Surprisingly Dora and Diego were not in costume but Boots, Swiper and all the others were in those big foam outfits. They put on a great show and fun for everyone. All the kids were standing and dancing, waving their flags and singing along - so were we adults too. It was great to see the kids are old enough now that when we got home their were able to tell the whole story of all that happened. I think Mark's probably seen the show with the same story 10 times or so, so that might help. But they did a good job making it age appropriate - potty break and everything instead of calling it intermission. It might not have been worth $40 but for Free it was totally worth it.
We got some pictures but both Alison and I were spoken too by the security lady as we obviously missed the "no photo's please" signs posted all over the place. Honestly I didn't until we were leaving and I saw how obvious they were - some how I just was focused on Mark and were we were going I didn't see them going in. Anyways, if I didn't take them I wouldn't be able to show you all and Mark wouldn't have a picture to remember it by.

STRAWBERRIES!!!

The Strawberry season is upon us and there is strawberry signs all around. It makes me want to eat them all day long. What can you do with strawberries?; strawberries on ice cream, strawberry milkshakes, strawberries over cereal (cheerios works best), strawberry pie, strawberries and cream Frappachino at Starbucks(this morning!!), Strawberry jam (thanks mom those 16 jars won't last long), strawberry and rhubarb crisp or pie or plots, strawberry shortcake (ah the memories or childhood toys and all her lovely friends- those were the best smelling toys ever!). There's got to be a million different things you can do with strawberries besides just love eating them by themselves. We had a great time picking strawberries while mom was here. Actually we were having trouble finding a place to get strawberries as everyone else seemed to have the same idea and the patches were getting all picked in the morning so by the time we were ready to go they were closed for the day only to open the next day and so on. We spent 2 1/2 hours making French style creapes (spelling???) only to find there were no You Pick strawberry patches open that night so we went to a Picked For you place just to have some. You can't invite 4 people over for supper and have the 3 of us and 2 o r3 kid's with no strawberries so off we went and got some. Later that night mom had some friends from out of town call her back and invite us to the place were they were working (a strawberry patch of a family member of theirs). This nice couple comes out to help out her sister for the strawberry season. I think she does it to benefit from her sisters large supply of strawberries. She and mom had a great visit while they were picking and her all about the tons of strawberries they pick and jar to take home with them. My mind wondered back to a great strawberry picking experience I had with some of my girl friends. I am sure they will never forget it either. It happened a few years ago (in my family you can say it happened a few vehicles back) and it will be a strawberry picking experience never to repeat. The few of us girls all wanted strawberries for jam or just eating. So I offered to drive and off we went to a patch in a nearby town. I think the town was suppose to be about 1 hour away. Well, we got onto a dirt road just off the highway heading in the right direction and just as we went over the railroad tracks we heard the loudest 'bang' noise and thought - "strange I've never heard that before" and as my car slowed down I realized something for sure was wrong. We got out of the vehicle and realized my clutch had just went and that was the end of our chances to get strawberries that day. We called for a tow truck and while we waited we debated how long the walk would be to the patch as we had just seen the sign for it up ahead. We picked wild flowers and roamed in the tall field grass, sat on the road and just talked and waited. The tow truck fit all of us girls inside and the vehicle was brought back into town. Once at the auto body shop we walked over to get a cold drink and a phone and ended up in some dingy pub that none of felt comfortable in so used the phone and left. Decided to wait at the nearby donnut shop for John (I think or was it Cory? ) to pick us up. Anyways, to end the story it was the most expensive strawberry experience I had. $1500 later and no strawberries we decided that someone else should drive and we tried it again a few weeks later. Those were the best tasting strawberries ever (or maybe I just thought so, as there was so much effort just to get them). Thanks girls those are memories I treasure and laugh at and appreciate those moments we had together!!

Entertained

Keeping my own kids entertained is usually not very hard and having another one every morning sure adds to the mix. The imagination of a three year old is usually pretty entertaining in itself and the two year old is great at making the time more energize. When the boys and Kyla are playing the topic of play is always changing. The living room at one moment is a ocean with sharks and everyone hurries onto the couches so they won't drown. The very next moment there are lions roaming the ground ready to pounce anything and everyone that is moving. Rescue hero's begin fishing finding all sorts of toys and objects and all of a sudden a dance has begun as they found music under water and the room is spinning as they turn round and round. Kyla is sitting watching it all or right in the middle depending on how overwhelming it all is. Chairs become buses and we are off on trips to visit places. Flashlights come out and we are camping in a forest looking for animals. Camping always involves owls no matter where we are. And all this is in just one small living room there is so much more once the playroom downstairs(bedroom for night) or the backyard is is explored.
If you think this is not entertaining enough the are many outings we also entertain. Parks are a regular outing to meet up with 15 or so other kids on Tuesdays, our last Thursday outing was to McDonalds which is always a favourite especially when friends met us there. Our other most recent outing involved the simple task of taking bottles to a recycling depo. but it all changes as you talk it up and make the most of it. We collected all the bottles and took a trip on the magical "wagon" a version of the "magical school bus show". Once we were there the boys lifted the boxes of cans onto the counter and the lady counted the cans. Counting it again the boys chimed in and everyone smiles to hear and see the fun. There were forklift to watch and smashed cans to see. Bags and bags or bottles all squished into big squares and all wrapped up. The process is quite exciting at a 2-3 year old level. The machines were probably the most memorable part of it all those.
Rainy days to some may seem like a bore but in this house baking is always a must. If you have to wash the floor why not make a mess first and then do the clean up when it really needs it. First hands need to be washed and that in itself can be fun and messy (depending on the level of supervision needed as some days they can be well behaved and others it's a game) water can fill the sink. So it's time and out comes the mixers and the boys are so excited to play baker "just like Daniel Cook" they say. Each taking a turn to pour the ingredients into the bowl and each taking a turn controlling the mixer. They may get covered in flour a little or a lot depending on the level of fun. Some may think we are crazy to add baking to the mix, but I think it enriches their lives as they learn things go together to make a snack and counting, taking turns are all part of it. They also learn the rules of baking; like taste testing comes only at the end and if fingers get licked they need to be rewashed and that ovens are hot and can only be used by adults, and so on.

So that is a small view into our morning life. Full of fun and entertainment. There is so much more but that's for another day.