Strawberries and Celebrating Gary

First off, my very patient husband agreed to quickly photographing the kids again to get one with Koen's `normal' face.  Koen may have earned 7 chocolate chips for his relatively good behaviour.  I was then able to order a Wood Snap of them at 50% off with 2 hours to spare:) 

Lest you think our kids actually behave, below is what most of the pictures looked like.  Nya escaping with her tongue hanging out and the boys wrestling behind her.

And because she's one of the cutest little people in my life..

{Although Father's Day is tomorrow, we are celebrating it with Gary's extended family, and to me that means it's less about Gary and we don't really have time to just celebrate him with church in the morning.  I don't mean to make it sound negative, it's tricky with three dads (Gary, Dan and my dad)...do you run around like crazy celebrating all three?  Who misses out?  This year, my dad misses out.  Sorry dad, you are great!   

So, although Gary doesn't really care about having the day to celebrate him, we did a family activity.  Gary will still have to wait for tomorrow for his gifts:)    We went to Krause Farms here in Langley for lunch. I should note that our van was in the shop (yes again) so we had a very cozy ride in our car.  Good to know that it does fit a car seat and 2 boosters!}

{Here is Koen on the brink of a meltdown as he REALLY. NEEDED. HIS. WAFFLES. Oh, I should make note of the hats.  Our family is pretty much transparent.  We are as white as it gets.  I don't love putting sunscreen all over their faces and would prefer this dorky hat.  $2 for the boys hats and they are reversible. And dorky.}

{Nya just being cute}

{Kai is the only one in our family who does not like whipped cream. Crazy kid.}

{We engulfed our waffles.  Nya shared with Koen.  If you are interested, it is open from 8am-6pm I believe? and the waffles with strawberries and whipped cream are $6.95}

{We walked through the garden area.  You can actually purchase a vase  and pick flowers if you like....}

{The petting zoo area is now more animal friendly and you can't go in there and pet them.  You can look at them though. }

{Then the boys picked some strawberries.  It was going to be a bit of a disaster with Nya in there so I took her into the store.}

{I may have enjoyed my first ever wine tasting!  $4 to try 5 kinds and then if you buy a bottle of wine, you don't pay for the tasting.  I bought a bottle of apple wine.  The other ones were waaaaaaaaaaaay too sweet.  I think one day, Gary and I will do a wine tasting tour on bikes or whatever, that sounds fun.}

{It was during this photo above that Gary misplaced his mastercard.  We did not realize this until we got home and called Krause and they couldn't find it.  So, we cancelled it.  Then Krause called us back three hours later and they had found it!  Too bad we had cancelled it already,  I really appreciate them calling us.}

{Apparently Nya loves the sand.  She walks about 90% of the time now but when she was in the sand, she kept just flopping on to her belly and swimming in it.  It was so funny!}

{Someone is ready for the beach!}

I did also have two photo sessions today which I should work on right now.  Busy day! 

 I did just want to say though, that we really enjoyed our time at Krause Farms.  We've been every year but they've really improved it, and well, maybe it was just the sun and the strawberries (or wine!), but it was a great day.

I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating Father's Day tomorrow.  You should see the card I made Gary, well you will, I'll blog it.  And Kai picked out a pretty nifty present for him :)

Love, Louise

Need a Giggle?

Happy Friday everyone!
Love, Louise
PS This is what happens when I ask Gary if he can swap Koen's head from one photo  onto another :)  I really want to order a large print of the vertical photo (previous post) but Koen's face is just too ridiculous.

PPS On the topic of Koen, he used to always go `Woo woo!  Koen knows everything!' but after realizing that he didn't know the difference between weeks and days and also realizing that we shouldn't brag, he's always saying `Woo woo!  Koen knows some stuff!' in his sing songy voice.  It's pretty cute.

Road Trip and Summery Cuteness

EEK!!! My countdown says 19 days until holidays!!  I'm so giddy!  We are going to Whistler for several nights with my whole family before we go straight to the Philippines. 

 How am I feeling about our big trip?  The only thing I am nervous about is Nya on the airplane.  She likes to move.  All the time.  Does not sit still. Hopefully everyone is okay with that at 3am?  Oh boy.  It would've been better with her at 6 months OR at 2 years of age.  I will expect the worst and we'll see what happens.  It's not like it's just a 6 hour flight...it's 16 hours.   I still have at least two weeks worth of work and I'm working soooooooooooooo hard to finish as early as possible so that I have time to figure out what we need and how many suitcases (and their sizes) and all that jazz.   I already spent way too many hours figuring out a bathing suit for myself :)   If only I had time to work out to actually look how I want to in it...oh well...one week of working out should do it right?! ha.  

I think I'm just so happy to be doing something different.  At dinner every night we talk about the best and worst part of the day.  The best part of my day the other day?  That I had a full cup of coffee. You know, while it was still warm.  That just tells you how extremely boring my life is at the moment.  

This past weekend, my sisters and I (and Nya!), loaded into a mini van and headed to Vancouver Island for my aunt's funeral.  My oma (from Alberta) was on our ferry so it was great to spend some time with her.  

It was not very relaxing as Nya is on the move.  I actually didn't get to `enjoy' the memorial very much as she was over tired and loud.  We just climbed up and down stairs while I tried to hear what was going on.  I was glad to be able to go though and to support my uncle and his kids.  

Apparently auntie Jackie carries a clown nose in her purse?  Why did I take Nya?  Well, Gary had a ball hockey tourney for Kai and already had to take Koen.  Also, I really don't want to mess up breastfeeding with her as I really want to be doing it on our trip.  I'm thinking that will be the only thing to get her to sleep on the plane. 

All of us on the ferry.

We had a few minutes to visit my other oma in her home.  It was such a short visit, I wish it could've been longer.  You can see that my sister Trish is very pregnant.  We get back from our trip the day that she is due.  I'm really hoping to be able to make it there for the delivery as support and photographer.  

And now, for some photos of my cutie pies!! I really want a good picture of them to hang up in our home.  I actually really like this product and want to order a large one of them (they have a 50% off promo right now).  Unfortunately, I'm not sure that we got `the one' that I want of the three of them but it might just have to do!  

I hope you are having a lovely week!!
Love, Louise

Baloball

I went to Costco to pick up one picture and ended up spending about $200.00.  That always seems to be the case.  Anyway, one of the things that I picked up was a Baloball set.  It is also known as Blongoball but I guess there are variations.  It was $40 and usually when I buy these sort of things, I wonder if Gary will recommend that I return it.   Usually I need Gary as a more rational sounding board as I do tend to make some impulsive purchases (yay to Costco for amazing return policies!).   Well, it was a keeper and we played last night and then Koen played bright and early this morning!  We normally play outside but it was before 8 am and the grass was still wet (didn't want Nya crawling around in wet grass) so we played inside.   Totally safe as the balls are rubber so our home and Nya's head won't get hurt. I'm thinking it will be good in the basement this winter too!

{I always wonder what people use so all photos taken with the 85mm lens if curious}

{Nya's job is cheering!  As a side note, we got the Dora chair for free and I was going to get rid of it but Nya just loves climbing on it all the time.}

{Her big thing is pointing right now}

{Koen was playing against his stuffies}

{`You are letting him play it in the house?'}

PS It's good for teaching addition too!

PPS My mental/emotional state is so good right now.  I wish I could be like this always and forever.  I'm sad that I am so affected my hormones these days as I never had this after the boys.  For the past 4 days I have felt clear and calm and happy.  I love this feeling.  However, I know that next week, my hormones will shift again and then will come the stress/anxiety, anger, frustration, etc.  Poor Gary.  Right now I'm so nice and loving and then next week he'll get grumpy Louise again.  I'm going to get some  B complex vitamins today...we'll see what happens.  I've been taking fish oils too.   It's like I'm 14 all over again, and that my friends, is not cool.

Beach

Sunday was awesome.  Usually it's our only day as a family and this week we skipped church so Nya would get a good morning nap and then we went to Crescent Beach.  Something so simple and no cost (except for gas which is about 139.9 now..so nuts) brought us all great joy.

 

Nya loves the beach and the water.  Apparently she also likes the taste of sand.  She even swallowed a shell the size of a nickel so I really hope it doesn't hurt her little intestines.  And yes, she is covered from head to toe.  Us Chapmans are a pale bunch :)

Teaching the boys how  to pick up a crab and how to tell the difference between a male and female (the males have a `V' shape on the underside, females are more of a wide `U'.)

Being at the beach made us all very excited for our trip!  We leave in one month! Yay, it's finally here.  I can start thinking about what to pack and all that jazz.

I love some good shoes.  Not `good' as in pretty but good as in functional and supportive.  I have very bad feet.  I found these Keen sandals at 50% off and I'm a fan.  

And, as mentioned in my last post..I have been working a lot.  I don't like complaining about it here because half of my friends/clients read this blog!  The picture above shows Nya with me at one of my sessions last week :)  I don't ever take her with me but it worked out as she just explored.    I LOVE what I do but need to figure out how to do it well while taking care of the kids.  On Monday I hired someone to take care of my kids for 4 hours. I brought the kids away and I was able to work for 4 hours straight and accomplished a lot. The kids also had a fantastic time as she has two kids of similar ages.  Times like that I really wish I had my mom to come for a couple of hours a week so that I could work or run or get my hair cut or just something you know?  Oh well.  I would do daycare more often but then it's not really worth it to be a work at home mom as it's almost what I make per hour :)  Once the kids are in school? Wow...I will have soooooooooooo much time!!!

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Nya gets her Hep A shot today. It's not a fun one but I'd rather that than the alternative...

Love, Louise

This Past Week Which Includes a Ring

1.  On Friday, May 17th, Koen asked Jesus into his heart. So sweet. Our little Koen.  In the picture below, he asked for meat for lunch because his T-rex is a carnivore.  Koen is currently interested in Pokemon (oh my goodness, I do not like Pokemon.  It makes Star Wars look way more awesomer),  and dinosaurs.  His great, GREAT love for Cars is waning.  Koen is the one who tells me that he loves me and wants a snuggle daily.  This kid needs physical touch.  Love my Kokies.

2.  My auntie Nellie passed away on our anniversary.  She was diagnosed with cancer in the fall :( Here is a picture of her from about 35 years ago.  She was always smiling and laughing and had such a soft heart, especially for animals :)  I'm very sad for my uncle and her two kids as I know how much this time really, really sucks.  My sisters and I will be going together to her funeral on the island.

3.  The picture below won't rotate but here is a middle of the night feed/cuddle with Nya.  My favourite cuddle.  She is delicious.

4. Friday was not my favourite day.  I got a phone call that Kai had vomited in a van on the way to his field trip.  He was in Richmond, what did they want me to do?  What?!  Give him a bucket? I don't know, I'm not there.  I assumed it was car sickness (it was) and didn't know the extent of it.  I was worried about him for the next 3 hours.  I couldn't pick him up though because I was on my way to do photos and then while there, I got a flat tire.  Like, all the air gushed out.  I had to call Gary who was subbing a class and he saved the day.  It was very overwhelming with all this going on at once (Kai, photos, van).  Then we had to get the van to Costco to get a new tire (and we just got 4 new tires, who doesn't love spending $500 all of a sudden?).   

{She makes me want to have 7 more babies. }

5. I have been working 40 hours a week all month.  This is without child care.  I am going nuts.  Working in every spare minute in the day and then weekends and evenings until 11 pm.  It's my own fault.    June is much friendlier.  I am hoping to finish all my work in 3 weeks so that I can have one week to pack and prep for our trip!  It is nice having the option to work as much as I want though, so I will not complain.  Soon I will have ONE MONTH OFF!!!! I think I just felt pressure to make up for missing sessions for all of July.  Also, the trip is kinda pricey, you know...about $10,000, so there is this desire to get our savings back up again!

6.  Gary and  I went to the Washington Avenue Grill for our anniversary.  We liked it!  We are going to go out for dinner now once a month.  Hopefully we can swap babysitting with Maria and Kris to save money too!  I gave it an 8/10, Gary a 7.5/10.  We had braised short rib poutine (sounds fun eh? Not as good as the tempura bacon at the Onyx), and then I had lobster ravioli and Gary had the seafood hot pot.  Totally affordable with the coupon book. Oh ya, I had a martini too. Had to, it was half price.  Gary can pretty much make anything as good as many restaurants (in my opinion) so we are very reluctant to say that some food was `amazing'.   I would say that two places we have eaten that have been amazing are Vij's and the Pearl.  The service at the WAG was very good.

{The poutine...didn't love the horseradish aoli as I don't love horseradish.  Should've asked for a different kind because I love aoli.}

After dinner, Gary pulled out a ring box!  Totally unexpected.  Gary does not surprise me.  Ever.  I sort of wanted him to fake a proposal right there in front of everyone.  Inside the box was a pretty blingy ring!  When we got married, I wanted a very simple ring because I'm not very girly. I also anticipated that I would be hiking every weekend or something like that. Ya, what was I thinking?!  So, my engagement ring is very me and I love it but it's fun to have something kinda womanly or blingy or princessy. There's like 40 small diamonds and one big jewel (not sure what it is) in the middle.  Good job, Gary!

{Don't mind my sausage fingers.  Inherited my dad's fat fingers.}

7.  I had sessions 3 sessions this week AND a wedding today so I'm exhausted. Gary won't be home until about 11 pm (he does receptions on his own).  I'm just uploading pictures hence time to update this.

All right, uploading done.  Must go.  Have a wonderful weekend.  

Love, Louise