Amazing how a few short days can bring so many different things! It started with Friday, we drove to Lethbridge to go and look at some vehicles. In an attempt to not run our van into the ground before we can afford to replace it, we decided to do something a little different than we have been. Our van right now is still in decent condition, but with me driving it to and from Pincher every day, we are really starting to run up the km's on it, not to mention it's costing a small fortune in gas. Our other vehicle is a very old truck that we bought off some very kind friends who helped us out by letting us buy it when we were in a tough spot, it also is costing a small fortune in gas and is just getting too old and having too many recurring problems to justify continuing to fix. We did our research and after discussing with our insurance broker, came to realize that even with insurance on 3 vehicles that are more fuel efficient will save us $ in the long run... That being said, we set a dollar amount for the purchase of two new to us vehicles and set out looking a few weeks ago. We have already found a small car that, as long as it passes inspection this week with no serious issues will become mine! I drive the 4 kids that are in school full time, and it's so rare that we drive all 5 kids anywhere or all 7 of us go anywhere, we are going to save the van for those occasions and use the car otherwise.
Friday was more specifically to replace the work truck. Dave had an idea of what he wanted and had been looking at a specific truck, which when we got there...wasn't there!! We went to talk to the salesman and in the process noticed another truck and inquired about it. We were impressed with his honesty as he explained to us that the truck we had driven there to see ended out having more problems than they had originally thought. He then told us about the truck that was still there. He told us about the issues it did have that needed to be fixed, which were relatively minor, and that he thought we would be happier with this particular truck that was cheaper, newer, and way nicer, it's decked out! We took it for a test drive, and were sold. Thank goodness for the internet at the touch of your fingertips, some quick research on a few different sites showed us we were getting a fantastic price for the features on this truck....we pick it up later this week! So exciting :D We are really happy with National Auto in Lethbridge and when it does come time to replace our minivan, we'll definitely go there first!
We also had someone do something especially kind for one of our kids on Friday...it warms my heart that there are still kind, generous, honest people in this world. Having 5 kids means we can't always do all the things we'd like to for our kids, having someone do something so nice and kind and generous expecting nothing in return....I don't even know how to say Thank You!
Then today showed a bit of the dark side of the world we live in. We listed Dave's old truck on kijiji, it's an honest ad, the truck needs work, and I expect that whoever buys it will haggle us down, guaranteed, and will likely use it for parts. We got a response right away which surprised me, the truck is 21 yrs old! Then, the 'buyer' agreed to the price of the truck sight unseen, weird right? Then he wanted to send us $ for it, right away...wouldn't give his name....would send a 'mover' to get it...could he send us extra cash so we could pay the 'mover' for him?? That was enough for me, again, internet at my fingertips, what a glorious thing! A quick search through Google told me what I suspected was true, this was a scammer. They send $ that looks legit, pick up the vehicle, get it registered and sold again, and by then the bank has figured out that the money was no good, and you are stuck paying it back. For us, we figured it out before any damage was done, but it made me think of how many people would get so excited and fall into this trap, then get stuck having to pay it back. Some people in this world are just sick....
That's the excitement in our household right now! The kids are all back in school, 4 going full time now. The littlest in preschool 2 days a week which he is loving...Dave and M survived a dad and son trip to BC for our nephew's wedding. We are back into craziness full time! I'll post some pics once our 'new' vehicles are in the driveway!
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Selena
That's right. I'm awesome!
J's birthday is coming up at the beginning of September. Usually for their birthday, they get a sleepover with a friend or two, family dinner, and then a night out with just mom and dad. We normally take them to a nicer restaurant, one we can't afford to go to all together, and then they get to pick a movie of their choice, maybe we'll do some shopping if we have time.
This time, there was a concert that J really wanted to go to, and two days before the sold out concert, they released a few more tickets and we scored some! This resulted in a very excited soon to be 11 yr old. Dave was already doing security for the concert so we only needed two tickets thankfully.
M had been at camp for the previous week and he actually just came home Friday afternoon, I didn't expect he would want to stay home that night so we had a girl a few streets over come and help Seraiah babysit her brothers. Turns out he didn't go out after all, but that's ok.
our tickets she could hear Selena rehearsing....OH my goodness, just so exciting!!
We ran to Costco quick to grab a snack and went back to wait in line, man that place gets hot in the summer!! Once inside, we were happy to see that our seats were pretty good. I opted for first level as opposed to some floor seats that were available because I was concerned she wouldn't be able to see very well, and I'm glad I did!
From where we sat we had a clear view of the stage, we could actually see Selena, we didn't have to look at the screen at all! We grabbed some popcorn and pops, which of course we promptly spilled as people filed past us to their seats, what a sticky mess! J had fun playing 'where is daddy now' as he did his security thing, she thought it was pretty cool later on once the music was playing that he was right at the stage as all the screaming tweens tried to mob Selena lol.
As the opening act started...Carrie somethingorother....J looks at me and says alarmed...'I thought this was a Selena concert?!' I supposed I should have explained to her the concept of the opening act. After the first girl was Emblem 3, a boy band that set off shrieks that made me more than slightly deaf, of course at the point my cellphone died so that was the end of pictures for the night. While watching this boy band, I did feel old as I really just wanted to tell them to pull up their pants...I have to say though as for Selena, it actually wasn't a bad concert, it was entertaining and the music was not too bad, I did recognize a few of the songs. J bopped happily along to the music, waving her light-up microphone thingy she got from the concession and dancing in her seat. For one night, Dave and I were the coolest parents ever.
J was wearing this neon orange top that really glowed in the lights, and she was so thrilled when they flashed her face on the screen, it totally made her night!
Going back to that spilled pop though, once the concert was finished, we went to get up and join Dave, and were stuck solid to the floor lol. Thankfully my hubby was watching out for us as always and had some of the other security people earlier bring us some bottled water, we used what was left to unstick ourselves! We took J out for a quick dinner after the concert then the two of us drove home, Dave was dj'ing the next day so he stayed the night at his friends house. We didn't get home until 1am and I was happy to see the older kids held down the fort just fine while we were gone, it's the longest we've ever left them alone to babysit their brothers, so it was nice to see they were well taken care of and the house was in one piece while we were out of town for the day. I think this could be the start of a lot of fun for the kids as I'm already looking for the next concert to take one to!
J's birthday is coming up at the beginning of September. Usually for their birthday, they get a sleepover with a friend or two, family dinner, and then a night out with just mom and dad. We normally take them to a nicer restaurant, one we can't afford to go to all together, and then they get to pick a movie of their choice, maybe we'll do some shopping if we have time.
This time, there was a concert that J really wanted to go to, and two days before the sold out concert, they released a few more tickets and we scored some! This resulted in a very excited soon to be 11 yr old. Dave was already doing security for the concert so we only needed two tickets thankfully.
M had been at camp for the previous week and he actually just came home Friday afternoon, I didn't expect he would want to stay home that night so we had a girl a few streets over come and help Seraiah babysit her brothers. Turns out he didn't go out after all, but that's ok.
We got ready to go, she was just bouncing the whole day she was so excited, and went to the Enmax to pick up the tickets. This was her first concert, and quite frankly it was only my second! My first was just this past spring at the Eric Church concert, lucky bugger!! While we were waiting to pick up
We ran to Costco quick to grab a snack and went back to wait in line, man that place gets hot in the summer!! Once inside, we were happy to see that our seats were pretty good. I opted for first level as opposed to some floor seats that were available because I was concerned she wouldn't be able to see very well, and I'm glad I did!
From where we sat we had a clear view of the stage, we could actually see Selena, we didn't have to look at the screen at all! We grabbed some popcorn and pops, which of course we promptly spilled as people filed past us to their seats, what a sticky mess! J had fun playing 'where is daddy now' as he did his security thing, she thought it was pretty cool later on once the music was playing that he was right at the stage as all the screaming tweens tried to mob Selena lol.
As the opening act started...Carrie somethingorother....J looks at me and says alarmed...'I thought this was a Selena concert?!' I supposed I should have explained to her the concept of the opening act. After the first girl was Emblem 3, a boy band that set off shrieks that made me more than slightly deaf, of course at the point my cellphone died so that was the end of pictures for the night. While watching this boy band, I did feel old as I really just wanted to tell them to pull up their pants...I have to say though as for Selena, it actually wasn't a bad concert, it was entertaining and the music was not too bad, I did recognize a few of the songs. J bopped happily along to the music, waving her light-up microphone thingy she got from the concession and dancing in her seat. For one night, Dave and I were the coolest parents ever.
Going back to that spilled pop though, once the concert was finished, we went to get up and join Dave, and were stuck solid to the floor lol. Thankfully my hubby was watching out for us as always and had some of the other security people earlier bring us some bottled water, we used what was left to unstick ourselves! We took J out for a quick dinner after the concert then the two of us drove home, Dave was dj'ing the next day so he stayed the night at his friends house. We didn't get home until 1am and I was happy to see the older kids held down the fort just fine while we were gone, it's the longest we've ever left them alone to babysit their brothers, so it was nice to see they were well taken care of and the house was in one piece while we were out of town for the day. I think this could be the start of a lot of fun for the kids as I'm already looking for the next concert to take one to!
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Friday, August 16, 2013
Here they are!
Technically, these were done as Dave's birthday present. His birthday isn't until the end of September, but frankly, that time of year is pretty iffy around here weather wise...as our wedding would so tell. No snow in 10 years on Thanksgiving weekend...except the year we got married, naturally.
All 5 kids together.
Of course, getting these pictures done turned out to be more difficult than anticipated....as mentioned in the last two posts. Even more so one we got there. Trying to get pictures taken of the silliest, most active 3 yr old on the planet is no easy task, and he was buzzing like a bee that night! Despite that, I think we did manage to get some good pictures, I'm so pleased with how they turned out! I always have a sort of picture in my head as to what the end result might be like, and if it turns out even close, I'm happy!
As anyone with siblings knows, it's not all roses growing up with brothers and sisters, especially with so many of them. We have a wide age range from oldest to youngest which can make for a unique situation in our home. The two littlest boys simply adore their big brother, a feeling he returns despite sometimes getting a little frustrated with them, but it was hard to get a good picture of the three of them together.
I like J's attitude in the one below...so her lol!
The two girls are in the middle of a
Here is the real reason we had these pictures done; Grandma. Everyone just adores Dave's mom, and it's hard to imagine there ever being a world without her in it, but we realize one day, just like us all, there will be. What better way to appreciate Grandma than to get some photos done just to honour her. I hope she likes them as much as we do!
Of course through all of this, I can't stop singing the praises of our photographer Kristina. She is simply so talented and seems to really enjoy what she does. She is also extremely patient, something that suits her trade well.
Oh Jeshie. This pic to the left is him blowing raspberries into his sisters hair! It's been a bit of a thing for him lately.
If you notice that in most pictures Jesh is being held by someone, it's because we are attempting to physically pin him down so he will be IN the picture! Usually the job fell to Dave, but Grandma tried too.
Dave and his Mom <3
We call this one...Oh Jeshie!
Ash and Grandma
Feels like just yesterday we met but also like we've been together forever!
We really love how the over/cast cloudy sky added to these pictures, what a cool effect you couldn't plan/pay for if you wanted!
Well, that's it for today! Way too late for this lady. I hope that one day these pictures serve the purpose for which they were intended, to give everyone some great memories of their family and all the people that are in it, and I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we do!
All 5 kids together.
As anyone with siblings knows, it's not all roses growing up with brothers and sisters, especially with so many of them. We have a wide age range from oldest to youngest which can make for a unique situation in our home. The two littlest boys simply adore their big brother, a feeling he returns despite sometimes getting a little frustrated with them, but it was hard to get a good picture of the three of them together. I like J's attitude in the one below...so her lol!
The two girls are in the middle of a
love/hate relationship with each other at the moment, they are fighters. At the end of the day, they really do love each other and I don't know what they would do without the other, something I think one day they will figure out on their own...I hope. someday. They sure did like taking their picture together though!
I always like to try every few years to take a picture with each parent with some of the kids. I'd like to think somewhere in the future the kids will like to have a photo with just a few of us...call me crazy I guess. Again, it was way easier to get pictures with the girls than with the boys. Poor M was so patient! I was impressed!
Here is the real reason we had these pictures done; Grandma. Everyone just adores Dave's mom, and it's hard to imagine there ever being a world without her in it, but we realize one day, just like us all, there will be. What better way to appreciate Grandma than to get some photos done just to honour her. I hope she likes them as much as we do!
Of course through all of this, I can't stop singing the praises of our photographer Kristina. She is simply so talented and seems to really enjoy what she does. She is also extremely patient, something that suits her trade well.
Oh Jeshie. This pic to the left is him blowing raspberries into his sisters hair! It's been a bit of a thing for him lately.
If you notice that in most pictures Jesh is being held by someone, it's because we are attempting to physically pin him down so he will be IN the picture! Usually the job fell to Dave, but Grandma tried too.
Dave and his Mom <3
J and Grandma
Ash and Grandma
M and Grandma
S and Grandma
Feels like just yesterday we met but also like we've been together forever!
We really love how the over/cast cloudy sky added to these pictures, what a cool effect you couldn't plan/pay for if you wanted!
Well, that's it for today! Way too late for this lady. I hope that one day these pictures serve the purpose for which they were intended, to give everyone some great memories of their family and all the people that are in it, and I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we do!
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Pictures
Any one who knows me knows that I'm pretty simple, I love to cook/bake, red wine, and my family. I also loooove pictures, taking them, looking through them, and having them taken of my family. I think documenting our everyday life as well as having actual professional pictures done is important. Especially since losing so many pictures of my older kids to our flood a few years ago, and the fact that I know how fast these kids are growing up and soon enough they will be moving out and starting their own adventures and we won't always have everyone together or be able to get pictures of all of us, I want to get real family pictures done of us whenever I can. I also want them to reflect our family as it is and what is going on in our lives at that particular time. The last time we had pictures done, we did them with my sisters family. This time, we had Grandma join us.
Dave comes across often as being a bit of a harda**, it only takes a little bit of scraping the surface to realize he's all bark, no bite lol. He loves his family very much even if he's not always very good at verbalizing it. Dave loves his mom to the moon and back and fact is, she's not getting any younger. He lost his dad some 20 yrs ago and due to fires and just life in general, he doesn't have many pictures of his dad. So as a very early birthday present, I hired a photographer to do some photos of all of us and Grandma.
Seems simple enough right? Not a chance.
Rather than wait until his birthday when the weather is much more unpredictable, we decided to do them at the end of July. Then life started to happen. First, it started with J, who got the black eye of all black eyes. She has this terrible habit, has been doing it since she was little, and silently stands behind you, I swear she doesn't even breathe. For such a loud kid, when she is behind you she just goes into stealth mode. So one day at the pool, she went into stealth mode, standing behind her very big brother while playing water basketball. For those who know J, the disparity between her height (she's very little) and her big brother (who's very big), is a lot. So as she stood behind him saying nothing, he brought his elbow back, and caught her right in the corner of her eye. Hard. It started turning black immediately. By the time she got home, she already had a good shiner going. By the next day, it looked like this:
Dave comes across often as being a bit of a harda**, it only takes a little bit of scraping the surface to realize he's all bark, no bite lol. He loves his family very much even if he's not always very good at verbalizing it. Dave loves his mom to the moon and back and fact is, she's not getting any younger. He lost his dad some 20 yrs ago and due to fires and just life in general, he doesn't have many pictures of his dad. So as a very early birthday present, I hired a photographer to do some photos of all of us and Grandma.
Seems simple enough right? Not a chance.
Rather than wait until his birthday when the weather is much more unpredictable, we decided to do them at the end of July. Then life started to happen. First, it started with J, who got the black eye of all black eyes. She has this terrible habit, has been doing it since she was little, and silently stands behind you, I swear she doesn't even breathe. For such a loud kid, when she is behind you she just goes into stealth mode. So one day at the pool, she went into stealth mode, standing behind her very big brother while playing water basketball. For those who know J, the disparity between her height (she's very little) and her big brother (who's very big), is a lot. So as she stood behind him saying nothing, he brought his elbow back, and caught her right in the corner of her eye. Hard. It started turning black immediately. By the time she got home, she already had a good shiner going. By the next day, it looked like this:
Friday, July 26, 2013
Bad Blogger
Clearly I am a bad blogger. The reason I started this was so one day we could look back and see what was happening in our life...and life got in the way so I kept meaning to post but never doing it!! After yesterday's events I thought perhaps it was time to start posting now and again...
It was a typical day, I got up and went to work. It was a great day at work where I felt like I accomplished a lot, I love those days. Most people stick their noses up at the idea of working in a cold dairy/freezer but I really enjoy it. I have two staff members who are relatively new to my department and seeing them work together so well just made my day! The only part of my day that was un-typical was I left work early as I had started my day early to do some cleaning in my department, something that ended out serving me very well later on.
After getting home I was tired (having gotten up at 4am) so I sat on the couch for a bit, debating what to make for dinner and how to spend the rest of the day. The little boys are in a big 'mommy' phase and were 'resting' with me...aka climbing all over me with very bony elbowy cuddles lol. Just as I was looking at the clock thinking "I wonder where Matthias is, he should be getting home from the pool any minute now" my phone rang. I had barely answered when my sisters voice says - get to Blairmore, Matthias has been hit by a car.-
I grabbed my wallet and keys yelling to Seraiah she was in charge of the kids, only to realize as I am dialing Dave that I have grabbed the house phone not my cell...back in the house, get my cell, run back out to the car, and my friend Teri is on the phone telling me Matthias was hit in Blairmore, the ambulance is with him, do I need a ride. I probably should have said yes but I was already driving. I hang up with her and try to call Dave, he's not answering his phone so I call his boss....who probably thinks I am a crazy lunatic as I fumble for the words telling him to get Dave to meet me at the hospital. Dave finally calls me and I get him to send his mom to the house to be with the other kids.
We get to the hospital and find out the ambulance isn't even there yet! They got there just after us, and we wait. Gotta love that hurry up and wait. They let us know he is conscious, that's good. Once we are finally allowed in, poor kid is so upset. He's all scratched up and bleeding, his one finger looks like hamburger. They assess him, no apparent neck or back injuries, that's good! He is sent off for xrays of his collar bone which is looking very funky and his hamburgered finger to make sure it isn't crushed. The ambulance tech comes in and tells him it was good he was wearing his helmet or he would probably be on his way to Lethbridge or Calgary. So glad he wasn't being a stupid teenager in that moment and was wearing it!!!
The xrays come back and are ok, that's good news! The nurse starts cleaning up and getting the gravel out of the patches of road rash he has as we start putting together what happened between what Matthias was telling us and what others saw. I guess he got hit in the crosswalk on the back side of his bike. The car ran over his bike, from what we were told he was knocked under the car but the tires missed him, but he was dragged briefly as the car stopped. He is so lucky it wasn't worse!! He's a little traumatized from it all and so so upset about his bicycle, which is totalled. Dave gave him that bike and we can't afford to replace it. (it's a 1200$ bike!) I would assume the guys insurance will eventually cover the bike, but he is supposed to leave for mountain biking camp in two weeks, a camp he will probably miss if we can't find him a bike in time, even one to borrow. It was going to be his first time going to camp for a week and he was so looking forward to it, heartbreakingly disappointed for him.
So the good news is Matthias is ok. He woke up this morning and is stiff as a board. We have to take him to the RCMP station today to make his official statement and follow up with the doc to make sure all is still well.
This also brings me to be so thankful for the small town that we live in, we knew he was hurt right away and we beat him to the hospital. We couldn't see him right away but he knew we were there. In a city we wouldn't have known for much longer. We had two phone calls and two people contact us via facebook right away to make sure we knew what was going on. Also, if I hadn't started work early that morning I would have been a half hour drive away, and of course Dave's boss who is also a friend who didn't hesitate to kick him off the job site and send him to the hospital right away!
Once we realized he was ok, then the fun started, the nurses and hospital staff visiting and joking with Matthias and the use of the injured finger which of course falls in the middle of his hand lol. The nurse remembered us from our terrible terrible June weekend four years ago. We made four trips to emerge that weekend, one with a hurt foot/leg, the next day with a dog bite, then a fish hook in the finger, and the next day all of us from a car accident where a guy ran a stop sign and pegged us off the highway. So clearly bad things happen in multiples for us.. this week it was Jaelle's horrible black eye and now Matthias getting hit by a car, I think we will stay home this weekend!!
It was a typical day, I got up and went to work. It was a great day at work where I felt like I accomplished a lot, I love those days. Most people stick their noses up at the idea of working in a cold dairy/freezer but I really enjoy it. I have two staff members who are relatively new to my department and seeing them work together so well just made my day! The only part of my day that was un-typical was I left work early as I had started my day early to do some cleaning in my department, something that ended out serving me very well later on.
After getting home I was tired (having gotten up at 4am) so I sat on the couch for a bit, debating what to make for dinner and how to spend the rest of the day. The little boys are in a big 'mommy' phase and were 'resting' with me...aka climbing all over me with very bony elbowy cuddles lol. Just as I was looking at the clock thinking "I wonder where Matthias is, he should be getting home from the pool any minute now" my phone rang. I had barely answered when my sisters voice says - get to Blairmore, Matthias has been hit by a car.-
I grabbed my wallet and keys yelling to Seraiah she was in charge of the kids, only to realize as I am dialing Dave that I have grabbed the house phone not my cell...back in the house, get my cell, run back out to the car, and my friend Teri is on the phone telling me Matthias was hit in Blairmore, the ambulance is with him, do I need a ride. I probably should have said yes but I was already driving. I hang up with her and try to call Dave, he's not answering his phone so I call his boss....who probably thinks I am a crazy lunatic as I fumble for the words telling him to get Dave to meet me at the hospital. Dave finally calls me and I get him to send his mom to the house to be with the other kids.
We get to the hospital and find out the ambulance isn't even there yet! They got there just after us, and we wait. Gotta love that hurry up and wait. They let us know he is conscious, that's good. Once we are finally allowed in, poor kid is so upset. He's all scratched up and bleeding, his one finger looks like hamburger. They assess him, no apparent neck or back injuries, that's good! He is sent off for xrays of his collar bone which is looking very funky and his hamburgered finger to make sure it isn't crushed. The ambulance tech comes in and tells him it was good he was wearing his helmet or he would probably be on his way to Lethbridge or Calgary. So glad he wasn't being a stupid teenager in that moment and was wearing it!!!
The xrays come back and are ok, that's good news! The nurse starts cleaning up and getting the gravel out of the patches of road rash he has as we start putting together what happened between what Matthias was telling us and what others saw. I guess he got hit in the crosswalk on the back side of his bike. The car ran over his bike, from what we were told he was knocked under the car but the tires missed him, but he was dragged briefly as the car stopped. He is so lucky it wasn't worse!! He's a little traumatized from it all and so so upset about his bicycle, which is totalled. Dave gave him that bike and we can't afford to replace it. (it's a 1200$ bike!) I would assume the guys insurance will eventually cover the bike, but he is supposed to leave for mountain biking camp in two weeks, a camp he will probably miss if we can't find him a bike in time, even one to borrow. It was going to be his first time going to camp for a week and he was so looking forward to it, heartbreakingly disappointed for him.
So the good news is Matthias is ok. He woke up this morning and is stiff as a board. We have to take him to the RCMP station today to make his official statement and follow up with the doc to make sure all is still well.
This also brings me to be so thankful for the small town that we live in, we knew he was hurt right away and we beat him to the hospital. We couldn't see him right away but he knew we were there. In a city we wouldn't have known for much longer. We had two phone calls and two people contact us via facebook right away to make sure we knew what was going on. Also, if I hadn't started work early that morning I would have been a half hour drive away, and of course Dave's boss who is also a friend who didn't hesitate to kick him off the job site and send him to the hospital right away!
Once we realized he was ok, then the fun started, the nurses and hospital staff visiting and joking with Matthias and the use of the injured finger which of course falls in the middle of his hand lol. The nurse remembered us from our terrible terrible June weekend four years ago. We made four trips to emerge that weekend, one with a hurt foot/leg, the next day with a dog bite, then a fish hook in the finger, and the next day all of us from a car accident where a guy ran a stop sign and pegged us off the highway. So clearly bad things happen in multiples for us.. this week it was Jaelle's horrible black eye and now Matthias getting hit by a car, I think we will stay home this weekend!!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Family Pictures
Not really a post...here are the pictures we had done :D
We really love how they turned out! See you Soon! ~J~
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