How much do we LOVE family pictures!!!!

We finally did it! It's been three years since our last family picture was done. Family picture time is stressful for me. I stew for days before about what everyone can wear. Giving up on the fact that I can't wait until I loose a few pounds. The weather was perfect and the trees where beautiful. It was time! So I posted a few of the good ones on facebook but I wanted to share on here what we actually went through.

Every time we set up another pose Reid would RUN! We would grab him, and bribe him with candy, but he wanted nothing to do with family pictures! I am just grateful that we got a few where he wasn't screaming.

So we got the "running away" shot

We got the "I don't want your stinkin' candy" shot

We got the "Why me" shot.

This is the "you can't see me" shot

and finally the "I'm going to scream until you let me go " shot.

I ended up taking 479 pictures to try and get one worth putting on our wall, and I kid you not, MOST of them Reid is working one of these poses. I am still working on which one we are going to actually use so I won't post the perfect pose yet but it's done and please don't make me do that again for another three years!

Fourteen years

Fourteen years ago I was living in a whole other world. I was so young, so unsure of myself and so single. I left an abusive relationship to protect my baby. This little baby changed the course of my entire life. He is my hero! He gave me strength when I had none. I did not have the strength to leave on my own but I could do it for my son.

This year I feel so very overwhelmed with love and gratitude for the events of my life that have led me here. Justin coming into my life was probably one of the single most important events of my life. Although his life hasn't been easy, I am grateful that he is my son. I believe that the more work we put into something the more we treasure it. Justin has pushed me to my very limits. I have found more strength in myself by being his mother. I love him so very much and wish him the best of birthdays!!

Bed time favorites

I (for the most part) love reading my kids bed time stories. And there are a few that come and go, but in our house there are a few favorites that we read over and over. So much so that I usually just use the books so the kids can look at the pictures, I know the words by heart. Both of these books I have read to all of my kids. They have been a reliable constant for the kids all through their lives.

Today I was reading to Reid for bed time and I had a memory of me reading the same beloved books to Justin and Mckay when they were very little.
I would have to do bed time by myself because David was working nights at the time. We would sit on the floor against the wall. Mckay would sit in my lap, and Justin would sit very close beside me. We would usually start with "Are you my mother", and by the time I was half way through "A fly went by" Mckay would be asleep. Very rarely would he make through both books. I remember Justin's little voice as he would name the animals that were chasing the fly.
I think now as my kids are getting older and we are entering teenage-hood there are somethings that I would love to hang onto to remind me that they were cute once and these books are it. I love these books and will treasure them as a major part of my kids childhood.


"I sat by the lake, and looked at the sky, and as I looked a fly went by"

Please share if you have books like these that you love to read to your babies.


This last little while has been hard as I have been in pain almost constantly and sometimes it is hard to be happy about much. Today I have some relief and feel like I need to follow suit with a friends blog and mention a few things I am grateful for.

~I am grateful for friends who get it

~I am grateful for friends who make me laugh so hard I pee .... I mean cry

~I am also starting to be grateful for physio... he makes me cry (it's a good thing he is kind of cute) but he is making me better and better is good

~and lastly I am grateful that bedtime went smoothly tonight

Just keep thinking of summer

Today I am doing my best to forget that there was snow in the forecast for this morning and just be grateful that it's still just raining. But really this summer we have had way too many cold, dark, wet days and today is no different. So I'll talk a little about what we did do this summer on the few warm days that we had.

When we went to Cardston to visit my parents, I wanted to take David to Waterton. We never in our 13 years of marriage have managed to get to Waterton so I was determined rain or shine I was taking him this year! The weather was supposed to be cold and rainy but we packed up the kids and went anyway. When we got there it was like the clouds parted just for us and the sun was shinning and it actually got hot for a while. I was so happy for the beautiful day. The kids were a little bent out of shape that I didn't take shorts along just in case but I let them play in the lake jeans and all!!

We had a great time just walking around and enjoying the mountains and the beauty that is Waterton.








So instead of looking out my windows at the rain and cursing my back for letting me know winter is coming by it's constant shots of pain, I will just look at my pictures and wait for summer to return.

Muddy Wavey

We love our new puppy! Waverly has been a great new addition to our family. She plays well with the kids. She goes outside to do her business. She sleeps well through the night, and stays well in her crate. BUT...



She loves to play in the mud. With all this rain we have been getting there is plenty of it. She comes in like this almost every time she goes outside. She is getting very used to having a bath a few times a day to get the mud off.

My girls

I have my days when I look at my kids and feel a twinge of sadness that they are growing up so fast. But not on days like this...


































My girls love to help when we are baking or even just making supper. So much so that they can pretty much do it on their own. Last night they baked ginger cookies for Grandma and Grandpa. And only made a little mess ;)

Good for my reputation

This morning as my kids were getting ready for school I got a phone call from my wonderful friend and neighbor Maria. She told me she was driving her kids to school because it was raining and if I wanted her to take my kids as well. I was very grateful to her and sent my kids out the door.
A few minutes later Maria calls me laughing hysterically. She tells me that as Abby was getting out of the car, she said;

"Thank you so much for the ride, it is good for my reputation to be seen with the teenagers."

I had no idea that my six year old HAD a reputation and that she knew that there are things you can do to improve it!