Where do I even begin??!!

Let me start of by saying that I tried to blog while we were gone, but it wasn't working, the computer and we only had working internet at 2 of out 5 spots.

We had the most amazing time, honestly, it was awesome. Our first real family vacation in a very long time!! We were gone for 12 days in total. We surprised the kids and left Friday after hubby got home from work. They thought we were leaving early Saturday morning! They were soooo excited, I wish I would have videoed it. We drove about 6 or 7 hrs and stopped in Fort McLeod for the night, and slept in our vehicle....ya, we won't do that again. I think I only got 3 hrs of sleep. The kids fell asleep about an hr before we stopped...but as soon as we stopped they woke up, ya, at nearly 1 in the morning, all 4 kids were awake in the back seat. My darling hubby crashed as soon as he put the truck in park! So here I was with 4 wide awake kids at 1 in the morning. I tried to fall asleep for well over an hr, and was almost in tears at one point cause I was mad at myself for not planning on getting a hotel room. But if I were to do it over again, I think I would do the same thing, it was an experience, one that we had to experience in order to decide never to do it again with 4 kids!! We all eventually fell asleep, and at 6am were ready for our second day of our journey!! By the time we reached our hotel room in Abbotsford, we were in the truck a total of 27hrs!!! We were ready for a 'break'!

We had an amazing trip, no one got sick, even though hubby started the trek with strep throat. We all remained healthy and no one was severely injured, a scrape here and there was it. We had fun hotel rooms, almost all with kitchens! We did well with eating out too. That is a big kicker for money, besides gas. We managed to eat out once a day for over half the trip, 7 days, and for 5 of the days, we only had 2 meals out.

I could go on forever, we saw Orca's, a few Grey whales, sea lions, 3 bald eagles, on the ocean. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium, a Roughrider away game, enchanted forest, skytrek adventures, had supper at my husbands cousins restaurant in Banff, went to Drumheller and climbed the largest Dinosaur in the world, walked on a suspension bridge, went to the most amazing concert I've ever been too, Chris Tomlin. It was so much fun. I can't even begin to choose what pictures to share....maybe I will make an online photo album or something, I will let you know!!

Tuesday we get back to our regular scheduled day to day life, and dream of our next vacation.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all, safe travels!!!

Honesty!!

I hafta tell you, I read a lot of blogs, sometimes I skim over what people write, sometimes I actually take the time and read it. I read one blog posting tonight that I wished I could write like. Maybe not so long winded, but I wish I could write so, Honestly!! Here is her blog, My Charming Kids

There is a part especially that stood out for me:

"I think that sometimes, many times, exceedingly often, for one reason or another, we think one thing in our heads, but say quite another with our mouths. Sometimes we aren't totally honest. And please don't get me wrong. That can be a good thing sometimes.

And there are other times when not being frank and honest can also be beneficial, if it protects boundaries you have set for yourself.

But other times, you just grow sick of having to watch what you say. Sick of not being totally honest. Like me. Tonight. And the irony is that even though you catch flack for not being honest, you will also catch it when you are honest. It is a completely stupid no-win situation and that's why I'm crabby! I've put a zipper on my lip and have refused to spend every minute of every day defending the stupid freaking lies that some people see fit to spread about me. I have focused on the fact that I am comfortable in who I am. That my husband loves me. That God has redeemed me and it is His opinion of me that ultimately matters. I have tried to take the high road, show my maturity, not stoop to anyone's level and refuse to get involved in unnecessary drama. I have been hurt, back stabbed, and ridiculed and have made the decision to fugetaboutit."

There are things I choose not to write about in my blog, if I'm having a bad day, or having a personal struggle with certain issues in my life, or if I'm just not in a good mood, but sometimes I wish I could. Or sometimes I wish that being honest doesn't hurt so much. I have always been a non-confrontational person, they (confrontations) really make me sick. There may even be things in my life right now, right this very instant, I am struggling with, or that has brought me pain deep inside. It makes me sad to think about it. I wish I could be honest, I wish that when I was honest, it didn't haft hurt so much. All I do know that God knows my heart and has redeemed me and it is His opinion of me that ultimately matters!!

One last Hurrah!

We went camping this weekend, and couldn't have asked for better weather! Wow, every morning was glorious, and every evening was just as fabulous! I did end up going to bed earlier than I usually do, which was ok, I suppose. I feel pretty proud to have accomplished something pretty big! I took the trailer out to the Park myself, and set it up all on my own. Hubby stayed and had to work Thursday and Friday and we went out Thursday afternoon. It was sad to not have him with us, first time ever, but I was so glad to have been able to accomplish something I was scared to do. It was fun to spend time with my mom and sister before the men arrived!!
I'd have to say that Sunday morning was one of the best mornings, even though it started of chilly with the fog, and clouds, it turned out to be a fantastic morning, walking to the lake with my mom and dad and sitting and watching people fish. We saw one lady catch a fish, and the kids loved that. The kids played on the park, and we went to the restaurant and had a drink, and then walked back to our site and made lunch with some of the leftover stuff we both had! I hadn't eaten anything since lunchtime the day before, so it was the best meal for me all weekend. These were our neighbours, you'd think they had a few kids around (mom and sisters campsites combined in middle as the common area).

These little guys were most annoying this weekend.

I don't think have anymore camping trips planned for the year, just maybe here and there at our parents for a night or two. I'm kinda happy to pack up the trailer, but kinda sad, the summer went so fast. I'm looking forward to a real vacation, no making meals and washing dishes afterward.

We went to my nieces 4th birthday party on Saturday and this is the card I made for her the morning before we left. The pink flowers are on pop-dots so they are raised a bit higher, and there are 4 of them cause that's how old she was turning (and pink is one of her favorite colours) yes, I do quirky things like that on some of my cards.

First Day of School & our school room!

~I wrote this yesterday, but published it today~

Yesterday was our first official day of school!! Whoo hoo! It feels good to start!

This is view from the doorway, it was Noah's room before we transformed it into the school room! That is why there is the car border.

And the view from the window of the chalk board, which we don't use alot, but it's fun to have! It was actually in here before the room became the school room!

And here is the teachers area, which used to be my stamping area before I created on downstairs in the basement, I needed more space for all my stuff, I don't know how I ever worked in this small space!

Here are my awesome kids in their new threads!! It was so fun shopping for them<--insert sarcasm here

It's going to be a fun school year!!

Good Bye swing set, hello sweetness!!

I've got to start off by sharing some bad news!! Our beloved swing set, that we've had over the past 9 yrs, had lost it's battle with the elements last week. It was only a matter of time, with sometimes 8 or more kids playing on it on a regular basis, and the winter of 6 months or longer, that this day would come. It has done us good!! Little did I know, when I took these pictures, they would be the last pictures taken of the swings in use, a few hours later, a child who will remain unnamed, caused the untimely end to it's long and wonderful life. Onto other news, the fence is done and here is a picture to prove it!!

And a picture of the handyman himself!! Ain't he cute!! (Just putting this out there, I hate his shorts he's wearing in this picture, just hafta make it known)I absolutely LOVE this picture of my baby girl, Breanna!! It's so her personality!! I was taking pictures of the kids in the sandbox the other day, and they didn't know it!! My favorite way to take pictures, actually!And here is one on the new toothless smile! Yep, our last child has lost her first tooth. While we are on the subject, our third child only has one more to lose, and she's done! CRAZY! The same child, lost her first tooth, just days after she turned 4!!!

In my next post, pictures of the new, clean, rearranged school room!!!! I love it!!! We officially start school tomorrow!! We were out getting a few supplies tonight, and of course the new school clothes!! It's tradition now, every year, just as if they were going to public school, my husband wanted to do the whole new clothes thing, and I couldn't object!! Pictures to follow!!

And just on a side note, the hat Bre is wearing, was crocheted by her oldest sister, who it now selling them, along with other things, in her new 'business'! She has 2 customers!! :)

Stay with me for a moment

While I brag up my husband!! He works so hard! He's never built a fence in his life, or a deck for that matter, and he's not scared to try it, and is willing to give it a try. Sometimes it frustrates me, cause it would get done a lot faster if we just hired someone.But all the time he takes, prepping and purchasing, thinking and building, I just gotta love on him. It always turns out fantastic, and we are always proud to sit back and say, ya, we built that, and I know he's proud cause he's always asking for people to come and see it, sit on the new bench or see this or that. It may not be perfect, but life isn't about being perfect. If we tried to make something perfect, we'd be there forever, trying. He he sweeting HUGE this day, we rented a gas powered post whole digger, it was HARD to get through the clay...

Here is a card I made recently for a little girl in Arizona, who has a brain tumor. Her name is Kate, and she is soo sweet! (Click on her name for a link to updates regarding her health)

More pictures of the finished fence to come!!! Soo excited!!