Sara is Smiling

Happy New Year?

Is it too late to say that?

We celebrated the new year in Phoenix. It was unseasonably warm even for Phoenix. We had a BBQ, swam with the pool lights on


and then partied til midnight! Well, sort of.
While the kids were in the pool I changed all the clocks two hours ahead so we rang in the new year at 10pm rather than 12am. Oh yes, I'm sneaky. But the kids were determined to stay up til midnight and I knew that was a bad idea (and I was too tired!)

First, before the kids got too tipsy with excitement, sugar and fatigue, we set our goals and made predictions. Quincey and I are big time goal people.. not resolutions. There's a difference.
I won't share ours, but here are some of the kids'.

Charlie:
Learn Dad's dance moves.
Make a thousand dollars!!
Burp the ABC's.
Be the strongest kid with the longest hair.
Be a pilot for West Jet.
Her prediction was: Another H-B baby. (over my dead body)

Max:
Get a hockey goal.
Red Belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Go to a sport's game.
His predictions: Sun's going to be destroyed.
Night will never come. (a little contradictory to the first one)
Farts will stink 500% more.
Rachael (the babysitter) turns into a Cyborg.

Eloise:
Love Hello Kitty even more. (I don't think that's possible.)
Make friends with nice girls and boys in kindergarten.
Predictions: Ruin the moon (clearly influenced by big brother)
Quinn will say 12 words.

Next on the agenda: Twister.
Since there are too many of us, we took turns challenging each other.

Yup, Quincey is wearing a suit. Always in a suit. Playing twister with the kids on new year's eve on vacation.

Dispite photographic evidence to the contrary, Charlie did not get drunk.



We played Just Dance-Abba version on the wii which was way too much fun. (I have video, but I'm too lazy to edit and upload it right now).

Then we toasted the new year.




(that's the wonderful Rachael who was there with us)

I have a very good feeling about this year :-)

The Fam

The only family photo we've ever taken.
And let me tell you..it was a CHORE to get.
It took two days of trying and failing, and this was the only shot I have.
Plus, how did I miss the fact that Quincey is wearing pajama bottoms??
Maybe in another 8 years we'll try again!

While we were trying, I got a nice shot of myself with Q and me and Charbear.

Halloween 2011

I love this picture!
So typical!


This year we timed our fall trip to Phoenix so that we'd be there on Halloween. Co coats stuffed under our costumes! No freezing noses or toesies!
It was a different experience. People sat out on their driveways in lawn chairs with big bowls of candy. There was much more of a community feel from this because as you took your kids around you'd linger and chat with your neighbours. The weather was so warm that it was a lovely evening stroll intead of a chore that you hope will be over as soon as it starts.

The kids looked great in their costumes. I ordered them from a site that doesn't ship to Canada. I've been wanting costumes from it for a few years now, and I finally had my chance!

Max is really into martial arts right now. He just earned his green belt!


Viking Warrior. You can't see the cape very well, but it's all fur lined. She also had a shield which we couldn't find when I was taking a picture.

I've never allowed my girls to be princesses for halloween. They can be princesses the other 364 days of the year, but not halloween. I made an exception for this dress. :-)

Quinn was (is) a monster. When I was thinking of costumes, this seemed only natural. :-)

Peace

Hot sun. Floatie. Kids playing around me. And a diet cherry coke. :-)


And oh yeah..it's November. Life is good!

True Story:
Me in the pool: What's all that white stuff under the water???!!?
I pull my wet sunglasses off to investigate: Oh...it's my legs. :-(   :-(   :-(

The Sad Life of a Lonely Stick Bug

We were at a Tiger Splash show waiting for it to start when we noticed a stick bug was hanging out with us. We'd never seen one before and it entertained us during the wait.

Rachael was determined to pick it up, and it was more than willing to climb into her hand, but everytime it did she'd let out a little squeal and flip it off. Then she'd try again. The Tiger Splash turned into the Rachael show.

Once the show was underway we turned our attention away from Sticky, although I kept tabs on where he was because I didn't want him to crawl on me :-)
Afterwards, the kids wanted to know where Sticky had gotten to.
I pointed him out. They started over to see him WHEN............................
A lady walked by and CRUSHED HIM. Right before our eyes!
The horror!

Rest in Peace, Sticky.
Thanks for keeping my kids occupied while we waited. I'm truly grateful :-)

Done aaaand done.

I do the kids official yearly portraits every fall. This year we couldn't seem to get it together to get out and do it, but FINALLY I got everyone dressed and organized and out to the park.
Quinn was a disaster. It was tough work, but I got a few (very few).

So here's the grand reveal!
Starting with their individuals:
Charlie 7


Max 6


Eloise 3


Quinn 1


The Gang

We're Back!

and we had a marvelous time visiting my sister and her family in Osoyoos, BC.

She and her husband run a golf course at a resort so we stayed in a great suite there and enjoyed the pool and waterslide tremendously.

We did many things, but while we discussed it on the way home it was unanimous..our favourite activity was the hour and a half horseback ride.

More than the gocarts, the waterslide park, the amusement park, the beach, the petting zoo, the small town summer festival or the hotel pool.
That's Elly and I on the white horse in the front. Layla (my niece), Max and Charlie pick up the rear.
I asked why the horses had to go in that order (I would've preferred being closer to Charlie since she was TERRIFIED at the start), and they said because some of the horses don't like each other so they have to keep them separate. Just like my kids!

None of us had been horseback riding before. City slickers through and through. I even texted Quincey from the middle of the dessert on the back of my horse!
The guide asked, "Would you like me to hold your phone for you??" lol

I must've been 6 or 7 when my sister's friend put me up on her pony and I almost immediately got thrown off backwards. That's the extent of my experience with horses.
I overheard while Max was getting set up them asking him if he had any experience.
"Oh ya," he asserts, "I've ridden horses before. No problem."
I had to interject that his experience involves a pony on a wheel being led around in a circle for 2 1/2 minutes at the zoo so please..give him all the proper instruction.
Despite all the anxiety, we all did well and had fun!




Thanks, Mary, for keeping the baby and making this adventure possible!

Well Hello, Summer!

Sunshine, popsicles, backyard sprinklers and naked babies. Summer is officially here!






Welcome to Elly's new picture face.

This has been going on for months and shows no sign of improvement.
The mud is from the water from the waterslide pooling under the swings.

When she had a bath later on it looked like she was bathing in an oil slick. We had to empty and refill half way through :/

It was a nice day, but not all fun and games. I washed the kitchen floor tile by tile on my hands and knees, mowed, weed whipped, and other miscellaneous chores. Waiting right now for Quincey to bring me some DQ...mmmm...then Monday back to starvation!

Some time with my little ladies.

Working is nearly impossible when the baby isn't napping. Lovely days such as today have been few and far between so we spent most of the afternoon outside. First we had a picnic.
I had salad, Elly had a sandwich, and Quinn had dandelions.

I'm proud of her all natural organic food choices. Not even one yet and she's already forward thinking.

And hey, lookey here:

She's standing! But SHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Don't tell her!
When she notices, she very slowly lowers herself to the ground.
Silly baby!

Sneaking Around

It's quiet. Too quiet. What's everyone up to?
I went sneaking around to check.

Eeeeeeek! The new American Girl Magazine is here!
I had heard this an hour prior, and when I went to find Charlie she was still flipping back and forth through it.
Just a little while ago she carries the laptop to me and says, "Can you fill this out?"
"What is it?" I asked reaching for the computer.
"Well..not much. I just need this information."
Turns out she needed my CREDIT CARD info because she was on the American Girl site trying to order everything she saw in the magazine.
Ha! Nice try! :-)

And what about Eloise...
It's never a good thing to lose track of Elly. You never know if you're going to find a whole canister of baby formula in the toilet (twice now) or an entire bottle of bath soap rubbed all over her body because she's "washing her face" (at least she's clean).
While on the prowl today, I found her on the floor in the kitchen applying half a dozen (at minimum) Hello Kitty bandaids to phantom owwies.


I expected to find Max in the basement playing Wii, but he was in the kitchen too. Up for a hydration break, still wearing his Tae Kwon Do uniform, and then heading back to Mario Cart.


Baby Quinn was hangin with Charlie in the (messy) living room. Doin' baby stuff, crawling around, putting miscellaneous objects in her mouth.

Today she found a big balled up mixture of lint/dirt/hair. She had been playing with it for awhile, and when I tried to pry it from her superhuman baby strength fingers she screamed like I was stealing her teddy bear. So we played with it together for awhile (??) and "don't-put-the-dust-bunny-in-your-mouth" became the Funnest. Game. Ever. She was squealing so much with laughter that all the other kids came to watch.
I love how her laughter makes everyone in the house beam. I KNEW there was a reason I had another baby! :-)