Crazy Day

Yesterday was just such a crazy day, it deserves being preserved. I have to start on Monday because that is when I found out that Matt was working late on Tuesday. That actually solved a problem for me as I was not sure how I was going to be in two places at the same time. Anna leaves on the bus for pre-school at 9:10am. Meanwhile, Grace had a dentist appt at 9:00am which we had to leave by 8:35 to get there on time. So, with Matt being home, I was able to have him send Anna off to school, and keep Rebecca at home while Grace and Sarah and I went to the dentist. Brendan had a late start as he didn't get all his homework done the night before and was trying to finish his math without dripping syrup from his pancakes on the papers. He finally got out the door at 8:20 and I had 15 minutes to get myself, Sarah and Grace into the van and on our way.... oh, and Sarah was still in a dirty diaper and her pajamas! We find the dentist's office (we had never been there before) and made it on time for the appt. Since we had never been there, there was a mountain of paperwork to fill out, and you always have a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when the first question they ask is if you have dental insurance! 20 minutes later, we hear that Grace needs a filling on a tooth that didn't form properly and 2 extractions. Her baby teeth were really small, and her adult teeth are really big, so they are taking out the two baby teeth on either side of her adult teeth to make room for them to fit properly. Who knows what we will have to do when the next set of adult teeth come in. Of course we have to book another appt to have this work done - today's visit was only $55 - and thank goodness for dental insurance because we only paid $12. BUT.... I asked for an estimate for the extractions and fillings..........$400.00!!! Yikes!!! Hopefully the insurance company will want to cover most of that. Anyway, moving on. I get Grace back to school by 10am, go home, get Sarah down for a nap, do some cleaning, get lunch for Rebecca, Anna gets home from school at 12:45, get her some lunch, get Sarah some lunch..... I think I even got to eat something in there somewhere since I didn't get a chance to eat any breakfast. I load everybody back in the van and go and get Brendan from school at 1:40 so we can get to his doctor's appt by 2:15. We made it on time, the doctor was on time (Yeah!!) and only a few screaming fits from Rebecca while we are there. We get home just in time to pick up Grace from school at 3:30pm and go home to get the homework started. I made supper, fed the kids, cleaned up (they even helped...with a little prodding) and then to the church by 6:45 so I can meet with a young man I have never met who is turning 12 and graduating from primary. I sign his goal book and his certificate and hand that over to the bishop, leave Brendan there for scouts, arrange for him to get a ride home since Matt is working late and I don't want to pack up the girls again at 8:30pm. Take the girls home, get them ready for bed, and collapse.......... Don't worry, I am still alive. I get to do it all over again, and again, and again.......

Oh, what a beautiful morning!!

I had such wonderful morning today!! I went running this morning at 6:30 - - the weather was just a bit chilly, but the sky was clear, and the few little clouds that were tinged with a gorgeous color of pink were breathtaking!! I went for a 5km run and only had three 2-minute walks in between. I ran up over the overpass on 66th street and gave myself a little break and walked across the bridge, ran to Ellerslie road, walked back up 66th for a few minutes, back up the overpass, walked across the bridge and then ran home. 5km in 32 minutes!! I surprised even myself. It was such a beautiful morning, that I hardly noticed the running and just enjoyed being outside. My kids were all in a great mood this morning, and we had breakfast and scriptures without any major commotion. We got Sarah a new booster seat with a tray on it that just sits on a chair, so she was sitting up at breakfast with the other kids eating a pancake too!! I was surprised to see her picking up the pieces and putting them in her mouth - that is the first time she has been able to do that. Crazy how fast kids grow up!! Brendan and Grace got off to school and the little girls played together quite well while I cleaned up the kitchen, made all the beds, and started the laundry. I am quite grateful that I have had the motivation to change a few habits. I think it started when my sister Rachel came over one day while I was folding about 8 loads of laundry. She had heard a little quote and shared it with me: "A load a day keeps Mount Washmore away!" I think I really took that to heart and have really been trying to keep up with the laundry and housework a little every day instead of having mammoth cleaning and laundry days. So far, so good.....they say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so I am well on my way. It is easy to do something when the benefits show themselves so quickly. Here's to many more wonderful mornings!!

Where the heck is Gordondale?

I now know where Gordondale is, something I did not know last week. Matt's Grandpa moved in with his son (Matt's Uncle) Kim who lives in Gordondale. We asked Grandpa how to get to Kim's house and he said just turn at the mailboxes and we are on the top of the hill on the right hand side. Well, since the only thing is Gordondale is a Church and some mailboxes - it wasn't too hard to find!! Gordondale is about 30-45 minutes north of Grande Prairie, so about 6 hours north of Edmonton. It was a long drive, but we had a really good time.

We were just going to put up our tent in the yard, but Kim had his trailer right there in the yard and told us we could sleep in there. I don't know if I can ever go back to a tent!! Just having a bathroom available in the middle of the night is priceless!! We were lucky enough to visit right when they were butchering their chickens. Grandpa had lovingly raised these chicks, and then had to say goodbye when he chopped their heads off - Grace thought that was a little gross!!!

Brendan and Matt came home covered in chicken blood, but they had a great time - and we got a couple of chickens for our freezer for helping out. It still amazes me to watch Grandpa work - he is 90 and is still going strong!! We are excited to go back next year when Grandpa is planning a family reunion -- at least now we will know where Gordondale is!!

Grace's birthday party

It's hard to believe how fast time flies, but on August 24, Grace turned 6 years old!! I don't know how that is possible since she was just born last week it seems. Of course a lot of things have happened in the last 6 years, so I guess I have to accept reality and let her grow up......just a little bit!! Grace's birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we had a big family dinner and then the next day she had her party with some of her friends.

It was a fairly nice day, so they had fun playing outside in the playhouse (best buy this year!!) and in the sprinkler as well. I had them help make and ice the cupcakes - they had fun loading on as much icing as they could!!

Then they decorated princess crowns for a craft. It turned out to be a really fun party!!

Pictures

Catching up..........

Well, I have been properly chastised (thanks Mary Lou) and it seems like I need to update my blog. It is still a new thing to me, and I will catch on soon......hopefully : ) Anyway, summer has really seemed to speed up as we have been able to do more things. In July we camped in Wetaskiwin and went to the airshow. It was fun, and interesting at the same time. We had seven kids with us - yes - 7 - it was not a typo!! We had our own five kids and then two foster kids with us too. We had a tent for Tyler (he's 6 feet tall and thought he could use his own space), but the rest of us piled into our tent, and then our niece Makenna decided that she needed to be in there with our girls too. So we had nine people in our tent. I think the girls were a little excited as they didn't fall asleep until 10:30 and then we were serenaded by Becky until 11pm - that girl does not like to sleep, but at least she can sing on tune! We had a great time at the airshow even if it was stinking hot!! We were all glad they were giving out free water. It sure was fun to have this fun little family reunion - thought I think it should have lasted a little longer.

Well, that was July in a nutshell. In August, we went to Cherry Grove. This little town reminds me of the little town that I grew up in. If you didn't know it was there you would completely miss it!! Seriously - you drive down the highway and you can see the community hall and a building that used to be a store, but isn't anymore.........that's it. But when you get behind all the trees there is a lovely little town. Well, people and a church anyway - what more do you need. It is only about 10 min outside of Cold Lake, so they go there for everything they need. It was the 75th Anniversary for the town, and since Matt's family was one of the main settlers and there are still quite a few members of his family still living there - it was a bit of a Hatch reunion as well. Matt's grandpa moved up there when he was 15 with his mom and dad and 8 brothers and sisters (three more came up there too!!), so there are a few relatives!! We had a great time, even though it rained most of the day Saturday, but we found out our tent was waterproof anyway!! We camped in the rodeo grounds and Matt decided that we should put our tent back into the trees..........I must admit that I didn't think it was a great idea as we were being eaten alive while trying to put it up, but when the winds and the rain came and we had a great shelter, I actually swallowed my words and admitted that he chose a great spot to put the tent!! We had a great time visiting with Matt's Dad and step-mom and his sister. The kids had a great time and since all the meals were taken care of with our registration fee - all the more better for us!! They fed over 800 people for dinner on Saturday night and then the last count showed 530 at church the next day!! I did not envy the primary teachers, but it was a nice 2 hour break for us!!

We bought a membership at the Space and Science Centre this summer and we have gone three times already this summer. The kids love it and they are learning things at the same time (I can only hope). We are going camping again next week for a few days. It has been very hot this week, so hopefully we can keep that up at least until we are back!! I was able to travel down to southern Alberta to see one of my good friends from high school last weekend. It was a long drive, but my girls did well. I only had to take Rebecca and Sarah and Matt kept the rest of the kids for the weekend. Other than spending most of a day putting my house back in order and doing the huge piles of laundry - I would say that Matt did a great job. He even marinated and BBQ'd steaks - WOW!! Now if I could only get him to do that when I am home....... hahahahaha!!! Yup - still laughing!!

Well, my lengthy post is now done - I guess you all get all or nothing from us!! Maybe we will write again soon.............

Summer fun

Today playgroup was at Avonmore playground. It is a great park as there is a lot of things to play on and there is a wading pool too. We arrived at about 10:30 and stayed until about 2:30. The kids all had a great time. Brendan had a book with him and was reading quite a bit - it is sad to see that playgroup does not hold the same fascination as it used to for him, but at age 11 he is starting to grow up. He did have fun playing a bit though. The girls all had a great time - there was a big group of kids there from a daycare and the girls made some new friends. Other than Rebecca face-planting in the sand it was a fairly stress-free day. Thank goodness for playgroup days!! Sarah tried out the sand and the water on her toes and she seemed to enjoy that too. I took the kids over to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone after we left ($8.50 for 5 kids cones - gag!!), and other than Becky being covered in ice cream (totally expected) they enjoyed those too! Brendan decided that Sarah needed some too - I asked him if he gave her some and he said "Only little bits". Oh well, there's no turning back now - she will be destined to love ice cream as much as all the others!!