We are still HERE!!!!!

I dont know why I've been feeling guilty lately about not keeping up this blog. I hate journaling....maybe that's why. I figure that if it's important enough to remember, than we will. I know that's not really true but whatever.

Life has just been crazy busy this past month. Spring is finally starting to arrive here in Red Deer.....we seriously get the most snow of anywhere in Alberta, I hate it. But it's half gone on the grass out front, so that is pretty exciting.

The kids are busy in school and Tatum especially keeps herself busy with all of her extra curricular things she is doing at school. She joined the art club, badminton club, she just finished up basketball and hmmm, there was something else but I dont remember(must not be that important, right....haha)

Ryan refinished my Ireland Table for me.....just fixed the top of it so now we are using this as our dining room table and I love it!!! I wish that I would have thought to use it a few years ago!





I am busy teaching Zumba three times a week and starting courses to get certified to be an official group fitness instructor. Who knew a year ago that I would be teaching latin dancing and loving it!! Weird how life works!

Wow, that's all I have for ya today..... I haven't blogged for a few months and when I do, I talk about the weather! Pretty sad!!!

Happy Love Day!

Valentines Day was awesome this year! My day started off with chocolates, followed by a delivery of the most gorgeous flowers I've ever recieved! The kids got some fun little things from us....they felt loved. I was mailing a parcel at the Coop and saw some single stem roses for sale and decided to get them for my sisters I visit teach! It was so fun to deliver them and tell them that are loved! It made my day! I made Ryan a cherry pie and went to his work and covered his car in hearts that had a special note on all of them.....I know, gag, right!!! The best part is that all of his co-workers park right next to him...so they all saw it!!! I think the heart that went over best was the "You are super supportive...in a non-jock strap kind of way"....Haha, love that one!

I am so blessed to be surrounded by people that love me! And yes, Ryan's cards are the best...how many other gals get a handmade 3D card on Valentines Day???? I'm such a lucky girl!

Sorry, No pics.....

Just a quick update on what we are up too! I have no pictures....sorry, boring, I know but life has been a little busy to get the camera out!

Ryan - Got severe pnuemonia over Christmas...actually when we were visiting my sis down in Utah. We rushed back home....17 hours of straight driving for me and got him to the doctor. Thank heavens..a few more days and he would have been admitted to the hospital! He is just busy as ever at work. There are lots of projects that he is excited to design and complete which makes work a little more fun for him. He still plays hockey every week and coaches Keegan's soccer team. Oh, and who can forget his nightly chats with Tatum and his nightly handball games with Keegan. Poor guy, those kids tire him out!

Tatum - She just turned 12 and is in Young Womens. We have an awesome group of beehives in this ward that were so welcoming to her! She loves going to activities every week and feeling so grown up! She is trying to get started on her family history work and get some names that she can take to the temple to do baptisms for. She's super excited about this! Her first ward temple trip is in three weeks! She is on the jr. basketball team at school, plays in the band and is part of the Art Club. She is such a joiner....I love it! She has been babysitting a ton for the past few months and is saving her money for her own laptop! She is halfway there already!

Keegan - Keegs is big into soccer right now. Ry coaches his team and at the first of the season, they stunk, big time. Now, they are the TEAM TO BEAT! He's got about 5 weeks left of that. He loves his schoolwork and is so anxious to get his assignments done.....he just loves to learn. I hope that sticks with him. He is working on his cub badges and only has about 15 more to do....then he will have every cub badge!!!! Such an accomplishment.....it's been a lot of work for me!! Haha!

Scoutt - She is a new sunbeam in church. It's so strange with her in the big kid primary now. She seems so little. I think it's because when the other kids were in Sunbeams, they were the oldest....she is the youngest one in primary! She loves getting her fill of cartoons everyday and we try to break that up with dancing, playing with her Littlest Petshops and baking anything we can think of....she loves dumping all the ingredients into the mixer!

Me - I started teaching Zumba at a club here in town. It's going really well and I enjoy the challenge. I am still primary pres. which is getting a little old but getting hugs every week from those kids, sure makes it worth it! I am busy with my craft club every month, baking treats for the kids' school classes, ryan's soccer team etc. etc. Oh, and running kids around like crazy. The other day Ryan filled up my truck and a few days later I thought, Geesh, didn't I just get gas? The tank was on half! Ugh. Oh well! I'm trying to enjoy the little moments with my family and really treasure the time that we have together. I am reminded far too often that we really dont know what will transpire in life and I dont want to have any regrets that I should have done more with my family. I not perfect at it, but I'm trying.

Well, that's it, I guess. Hopefully I can dig my camera out and take more pictures next time......we'll see!

Proud Moment!!!

I got my first paycheck for teaching Zumba today!!! I am seriously so proud of this. It's kind of silly but when I look back a year ago, I never dreamed that I would be doing anything like this....ever, EVER, EVER!!!! This paycheck represents hours and hours on end of practising every day and so much hard work and MAJOR COURAGE!!! I love teaching Zumba!!!! I start my new job teaching in a week or so at a club here in town....wahoo!!! I'm sure my first paycheck from them will be exciting too!!!

Skills!!!!

Whoosh, do those boys have some skills.....well, on the ice anyways. We headed up to Edmonton today to watch the Oilers skills competition. We had a great time, minus the frigid weather, the back of my hair getting soaked in beer, and......the frigid weather. Oh, it was cold up there today! Tatum and Keegs have gone before but this was a first for our little Scoutty. She was amazed with it all....for about 20 minutes and then she just wanted treats! Haha....that is so how she rolls. It was so fun to see all the players and cheer for them!!!! This is becoming a yearly tradition for this family which is totally fine....I mean, it could be worse.....it could be the Flames, enough said!!!

Our new little sunbeam!!!

Scoutty is a sunbeam now.....she has always been a little ray of sunshine but she officially a sunbeam at church now! She was not too happy about being in sharing time and not being able to sit by me. She kept getting up and following me around and I would have to make her go back and sit on her chair. She cried and kept asking her teacher when snack time was. By the end of sharing time, she realized that she would have to go with her teacher so she held her teachers hand and went to class. It was such an exhausting day for her and I......and when she was being naughty and we put her on her bed, we went back a few minutes later and found this.....

Remembering Back.....

I was just looking through my blog and came across this post that I did 4 years ago. It made me smile since in this, Keegs was 6 and so attached to his frog, using it as a pillow and last night when I went down to check on the kids before I headed off to bed, what did I find? Yes, you guessed it, Keegs was sleeping with his frog as a pillow. So, four years later, we still have not broken him of his love of frogs!! Here is the post from four years ago.......

Sorry if I'm boring everyone to tears with my everyday outlook on life.......but there is so much going on! Today my baby turned 6. Man, am I getting old! We went to the movies today and had his favorite dinner, taco soup, and finished off the day with a game and some cupcakes. He's having his "real" party next week. I just took this picture of him because his most favorite thing is frogs. The frog that he sleeps on, he's had for a year and a half and the thing is totally mutilated, but man, he loves it. After all the things he got for Christmas and his birthday, he still just carries his frog around everywhere! Hopefully we can break him of that before he gets married!

Keegans Christmas Concert

We went to Keegan's christmas concert last night. The school that he goes to does an amazing program every year....by far the best that I've ever seen. The music and acting was so fun and the best part, we were out of there in under an hour! Merry early Christmas to all the parents!!!! haha!! Here is a picture of Keegs with his friend Ryan in their matching suits(Ryan normally doesn't have a grey mark on his face.....stupid red eye thing).

We Heart our Missionaries

We have the best elders in our ward right now. We all adore these boys! They are so fun to be around and we're super excited that they are here for christmas. We had them over for dinner last night.....made them exactly what they wanted...sweet and sour meatballs and teriaki(that is not spelled right but I'm too tired to think about it) chicken. We always get the missionaries gifts at christmas so on Saturday, we went on the hunt for the perfect gifts. As a tradition, we always get the elders white tube socks with the Oilers logo on them. Sadly, this year we couldn't find them so we had to settle for Oilers t-shirts. We gave them a massive bag of Dinosours...you know those sour dinosaur candies?? anyways, they loved it. The kids wrapped their gifts up a million times and in a million different boxes so it took them forever to open them. It was so fun. Then Elder Brich(who is known in this mission as a yo-yo master) did some tricks with his $70 yo-yo. Now, I thought the boy was crazy to spend that much on a yo-yo but when we saw what he could do with it, I was ready to go buy one. Wow, it was amazing! We are so blessed to have such great young men serving in our ward.....it makes our traditions of gift-giving to the elders just that more fun!!

Tatum

Tatum is just finishing up her semester of fashions......for those of us who are old, it was called Home Ec back in the day! Anyways, she did lots of little projects but her best project of all was her pencil case she made. It turned out really cute and she is so proud of it! Great Job Tatum!!!

Keegan, The Cub....

Keegan is just over half way through the cub program. He works so hard at completing his badges and earning his stars. He loves it and not to mention, he has amazing leaders. We are so proud of him for all his badges that he has earned and for how hard he works.

Christmas Time is Here......

Our tree went up on Sunday!!! I know it's early but when christmas day is here and past, my tree comes right down so we just enjoy it early! We headed out last night for FHE to buy our christmas ornaments. We started this tradition years ago and it's become one of the highlights of christmas. Everyone that comes to our house, gets a "tour" of our tree and whose ornaments are whose. This year, Tatum picked a sparkly Eiffel Tower, Keegan went with a motor boat(he gets a motorized something every year), Scoutt changed her mind a gazillion times but ended up with a high heal boot(girl after my own heart), Ryan got a mushroom, cause that's just funny to have a 'shroom on your tree and I picked out a massive diamond ring(yes, I know everyone is shocked at my choice, haha). It was so fun last night getting our ornaments up on the tree and reading some christmas stories before bed! It was a great way to kick off the christmas season!

What is all this white stuff????

When we woke up this morning, the ground was covered in fluffy white stuff! The kids were so excited. I really dont care either way...... So many people on facebook were airing their "feelings" on the snow and I'll I have to say is...Come on people, you act like it's a surprise and a freak act of nature that we got snow in November....remember, we do LIVE IN ALBERTA! Haha! Anyways, the kids headed right out after school today to enjoy the little bit of snow before it melts over the next few days. Even Scoutty was pumped! And the best part.....all of their snow gear fits from last year....whew.....that's a relief!

Gross, Gross and more Gross......

You would think this was all about something really gross.....like boogers everywhere or smeared poop on the walls.....nope.....just Halloween Candy. The kids went out last night for about 3 hours...even Scoutt! She lasted until the end, running house to house with the big kids. When we got home, they dumped their candy out and started sorting through it. It didn't look too bad when I took this picture but by the time they had sorted through and put them in large ziplock bags, I figure there if someone went out and bought the halloween candy that they had, they would have spend a few hundred dollars. There is soooo much of it and I'm already grossed out. Oh welll......thank heavens it's only once a year! Happy Halloween!

Scoutty's Three!

We had a fun little party for Scoutty this past weekend. We had asked her who she wanted to come and she said, Grandma and Grandpa and Bruce and Peggy.....she's so funny. We had both sets of grandparents over, the neighbors, the bennetts, Michelle and Patrick and Tatum's friend Sophia. Scoutty totally was not into the whole crowd and all the attention but she perked up when she caught on that all the presents there were for her.





Scoutty has been a little ray of sunshine in our lives. She has the funniest little personality and says that funniest things.....like the other day when I was using the "facilities" and when I went to use some toilet paper, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, do you need some help to wipe? I dont mind....". Even now, that's one of the best parts of our day, getting Scoutt out of bed in the morning, just to see what crazy thing she is going to do that day. We love her so much and are truly blessed to have her in our family.

Just for Grandma Sharon.....

Tatum's homework......just for Grandma Sharon

Mommy, I's all grown up!

Scoutty got into someone's make-up today.........and yes, she told me that she's all grown up now!

Sunday Afternoon Fun!

What do you do on Sunday afternoon, when the weather is warm and breezy, the sun is shining and it's a wonderful day? The answer is easy........







Play Polly Pockets...of course! We bought a huge bin of Polly's at a garage sale a while ago. Over the past few weeks, Ryan has been gone tons...Fort Mac, Saskatoon, Calgary etc...all staying a few days at a time. Last week, when I was about to officially go insane, I remembered the polly's and decided to pull them out and let Scoutty play with them. What a smart idea on my part....but no one is surprised right now by my genius, are you? Anyways, Scoutty loves them soooo much and haha, so does everyone else. This was our sunday afternoon activity yesterday. Even Ryan got involved for a while, dressing the polly's on Scoutt's insistance. Of course, he and Keegan had to throw a football around for a while after that, just to feel like men again!!!

It's been a crazy few weeks. I'm working towards teaching Zumba in a few weeks. I am heading down to Billings to do the certification and then practicing on some very willing guinea pigs(friends) here before I start charging people to come take my class. It's so much work. I've been doing hours of choreography every day and practicing tons. It's so much fun though.

The kids are busy busy in school. Tatum has started playing the flute this year and she's pretty good already. Maybe that's because her NAZI mother insists that she practices every day for 15 minutes. She is trying out for the volleyball team right now! Keegan starts soccer again in a week and he has amazing coaches this year...yes, you guessed it...it's Ryan and I. Ryan really wanted to do it but since he's gone so much, I got sucked into it. It should be fun!

It's that time of year again.......

This is the third year that I have blogged about the Dawe Run! Tatum has done it for three years, Keegan it was his first time. Unlike the miserable weather they had last year for it, it was warm and sunny and the kids were coming through very HOT! Keegan placed 16th overall and Tatum was 27th. They both did awesome and are very proud of themselves.

We're still here......

Summer has flown by....not the best summer that we've ever had and I'm glad it's over and we are back in the routine of work and school. I crave routine and I like my space from the kiddies....so I can quilt and do a few things that dont require running kids all over the city.

Tates has started Jr. High...I hate having a child that old! The first day of school I walked her to the front doors and we waited together for the bell to ring. There was a group of boys standing next to us using all sorts of foul language and talking about totally innappropriate things..... It made me sad to leave her there. After the bell rang, I got into my car, said a quick prayer that she would be okay and remember everything that we've taught her about being a good girl and then I cried all the way home. It was not a good day for me.....great for her though. She made some new friends and is super excited about her options for this semester.

Keegs is in grade 4. He got the teacher that he wanted and some of his good friends from last year are in his class. He's happy to go to school!

Scoutty is happy having the house back to herself. She loved having the siblings home during the summer but she loves her space and her Mommy time.

I've been coming up with things to keep me sane here in Red Deer. This has been one of the most challenging places that we have lived and man, we are struggling with it but we know that we are here for a reason, so we're sticking it out and trying to see the positives. It's pretty hard most days but once in a while, something great happens and makes the struggles seem not so hard.

Ryan is busy as ever with work but some good things are happening there. He's been biking to work alot lately and he is loving that.

Other than that, life is just chugging along, somedays at a snails pace and other days, way to fast for my liking but we are enjoying the ride.

Driving Miss CRAZY.....

To celebrate the end of school, we headed out to Sylvan to test out our mad driving skills on go-karts. The kids had so much fun. Keegan, who we thought would be a holy terror in the cars was actually being quite cautious. It was the other the dingdong that was crazy.....Tatum had the pedal to the metal all the way!! Scoutty lasted about 3 laps and then she had had enough. For hours after her ride, she kept telling Daddy that she likes Mommy's car better(my actual real car) and that's daddy's car wasn't fun. It was a great way to end off a wonderful school year for the kids!

If at first you don't suceed....TRI, TRI again!

The kids did their first triathlon today and yes, they are going to try it again next year. They did pretty well and had so much fun and are super pumped for next years race. They enjoyed the morning with tons of their friends that were doing it too. Keegan won a prize afterwards......it made his day! Any guesses what it was? Something that ANNOYS THE CRAP out of me? Drumroll..............yes, another watch. Seriously, their were tons of prizes and that's what he got? If you dont know what I'm talking about, I'll have to do another post on Keegan and his watches. Anyways, they loved every minute of it and we're so proud of them. Because, unlike them finishing the race, I would have drowned in the pool!

Oh yeah.....Scoutty got to run a little race too and won a medal. She also met 7 different mascots and was yelling at all of them..."I need a pound" with her little fist out.....so funny!

Fathers Day

Ryan is having a super stellar Father's Day. He started off the day feeling very manly with his new tools etc. that we got him. Then he got to lounge around all morning with two lovely ladies.....Tatum and Scoutty who both have chicken pox! Poor guy. I felt bad going to church and leaving him at home but the primary was singing in sacrament meeting and I was doing both sharing times......anyways, to make up for it, he got this dinner....






MMMMM, his favorite. He loves mashed potatoes and I make them every Fathers Day because I try not to make them the rest of the year.....they make me gag! And, just because I'm in a bragging mood......check these yorkshire puddings out....they were huge!




I am so blessed to have Ryan as the father of our kids. I dont know too many fathers that will play handball every night on the floor of their sons room, or have nightly chats with their daughter since she was 5! He has bathed Scoutty every night since the day she was born and has given these kids all the attention and love that he can. He is a rockstar in our books and we sure do love him!

Walking in the Rain

Today, Tatum and I did the Walk for ALS. It was pouring rain but it was so fun to walk with our friend Carrie, who lost her dad a few years ago to ALS. It is awesome to have a friend that understands when I'm sad that my dad is sick....just because she has gone through the exact same thing! It was the coldest, most miserable day but our hearts were warm! Thanks Carrie for letting us join you!!! It was awesome!

Window Washer

So, it's spring and the windows are in need of serious cleaning. Does anyone know of anybody that is reputable and inexpensive? We had one gal come over.....she was cheap but her method was a little strange...I dont think we'll have her back. The windows were a little streaky with her way of cleaning.....

JDRF Walk

Today we walked to raise $$$ and awarenes for Juvenile Diabetes. We have a family chalk full of diabetics so this was a fun way to get out and support them! I was going to make tshirts for everyone....cause we're a team right? So we should match.... Well, I never got around to that. The pictures will show you what our team theme was......throw back to the eighties or creepy pedophiles.....I'm not sure which one! We had such a great time together and we raised around $700 and the walk today in Lethbridge raised just over $16000.00!!! That's awesome and makes a cure, just a step closer!!!! We love all the family members that are dealing with diabetes....well, I guess we love the ones that aren't either but the ones that are, we were thinking about you today!!! We love you!

FHE

For family night tonight, we decided that we would have a marshmallow/hotdog roast. This is the first one this year and we were so excited to stink like campfire smoke and fill our bellies with some burnt sugary goodness aka..marshmallows! We got the fire going, without the help of gas(dad) and we were well on our way to having a great evening. Tatum was showing us her mad skills on the trampoline when suddenly, she got off holding her face and running into the house. I saw blood dropping from her face so I obviously quickly followed. She had gone into the kitchen to get some paper towel to mop up the blood. I told her to turn around so I could see what she had done and she's like.."Mom, it's no big deal." She wasn't crying or anything. She thought it was just a little scratch or something. The funny thing was that as she was saying that, she had a huge stream of blood coming out of her mouth. I looked and saw that she had put her teeth through her lip so I told her that she would for sure have to get some stitches and then it happened....the thought of stitches put her over the edge and then she freaked out! Ryan ended up running her over to the clinic and the doctor stitched her mouth up. The REALLY SAD part in all of this, is that when Tates was getting stitched....big tough Daddy just about passed out. He had to be taken to the room next to Tatum's to lie down for a while. And he had his own personal nurse bringing him sugar water and watching over him. Hehe! He'll shoot me that I put this on here but seriously????? The 11 year old is fine and the 34 year old is getting most of the attention at the clinic.....see anything wrong with this picture???? Poor Ryan......blood and needles is definitely not his strong suit in life....good thing he is a rockstar at everything else!