A couple of pictures...

Patience and Nathan play hockey together. Patience got this little hockey stick for Christmas. Jordyn got a Diego one, but she's not as much of a hockey aficionado as Patience is. When Nathan was in California a couple of weeks ago, he found a smiliar stick, but a Shark stick, of course. So he and Patience play in the hallway pretty much on a daily basis. Here she is "in net." Notice how difficult it will be for Nathan to score?

Nathan really really really wants to get Patience into hockey. He says she'll make a great defender based on her ballet class.

Here's Jordyn very focused on feeding Danica's dolly. Danica got this baby doll for her birthday and brought it to our house yesterday. All three girls took turns looking after this very realistic baby (it must weigh at least 5 pounds, and feels pretty real when you're holding it).

It's been very cold here. Like minus 10, or 20 F, however you think of temperature. We woke up this a.m. to about 4 inches of snow, and it was still falling. But because this is a Provincial Exam day, schools were open regardless. Except for the preschool. The girls can't understand why I won't let them play outside... It reminds me of the time when Val and I begged and begged and pleaded to go swimming in my grandparents' outdoor swimming pool...in March or some silly month like that. My mom finally broke down and let us get in while my grandmother ran a hot tub for us. Yep, it wasn't much fun and we decided maybe we didn't want to go swimming anymore after about 60 seconds or so!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

I couldn't think of a catchy title : )

Last night Sean had four friends from school over for a small birthday party. These are the same four who came over last year. They are all a year older, but not any quieter! But at least I am a year smarter and demanded that it would not be a "slumber" party like he had last year. Don drove the guests home at 10:00 although they were all so wired and hyper I'm sure sleep was a loooooong way off. Oh well, at least they were at their own homes : )

You can go back to my January 2007 entries to see this same shot last year.

This morning I took Patience to "ballet school." She did great! As she told her dad when he asked how school was, "It was good! I didn't knock anyone over!"

After ballet we went grocery shopping. Both girls are napping right now, and Patience is going to Danica's 3rd birthday party this afternoon. Let's hope she doesn't knock anyone over there, either. As far as I can remember, this is her first birthday party!

While Patience and I were gone this a.m., Don showed Dylan how to change electrical outlets. We wanted to replace all the outlets in their new rooms from offwhite to white, to match the white trim. Dylan was able to do them all! I told him it was a good skill to have, because someday his wife was going to want to change all their outlets to suit her fancy and he could either do it himself for $20 or he could hire an electrician to do it for around $500. He said that since he would be busy working, he would just teach his wife to do it herself! That's my boy. Chivalry is not dead...

Nathan has three provincial exams this week and Dylan has two. They both have Thursday and Friday off, but Don has work scheduled for both of them, so it'll be a "working holiday." Oh well, they can both use the money so it's nice they have a source for work.

That's all for now!

Cathi

iPod update...

There is only one person on this planet who could have taken that iPod back to Best Buy because it was within the 30-day purchase period: Don.

Technically, it wasn't even in the 30-day period because we purchased it on the 19th, but Don reasoned with the manager that it was a Christmas present so it wasn't opened until the 25th, etc.

I told Dylan he had used up all his good luck and to not even bother playing the lottery any time soon!

iPods no longer work...

...when you put them through the washer and dryer.

Two in a row!

Amazing, I know : )

Today was pajama day at Patience and Danica's preschool so here they are all ready to go with jammies and their Max and Ruby stuffed animals:

I have a picture of the two of them awhile back on this blog holding the same toys...they sure have grown up!

Tonight is Cadets and Sean would like Don and I to go watch the Colors Parade (where they march and raise the flags, etc) because he is now officially a member of the guard and will be marching (hopefully in unison) with them.

Recently I made homemade syrup! We were running low, and I remembered how my mom always made her own. Sure enough, Google will bring up hundreds of recipes and it's easy as all get out! I did have to buy maple flavoring, but I can make for 80 cents syrup that would cost more than $3 to buy. Oh, and the kids think it's better than the store-bought stuff...bonus!

First entry of the year...

Pretty embarassing considering it's the 21st today!

My mother gently reminded me that it was Sean's 13th birthday yesterday, so surely I could at least post a picture? Of course...here is Sean guarding his birthday cake from Jordyn:





Notice how he's holding her hand in an attempt to guard his oreos?

So, other news about Sean's birthday: he got pancakes for breakfast, lovely gifts including an MP3 player, more software for his FLY pen, office supplies and cash from Grandma and Grandpa Lee, candy from Nathan and Dylan, and cash from Grandma and Grandpa Murphy. He's going to bank most of the cash, and buy a Nintendo memory card with the rest.

We went to church yesterday, and then came home to homemade pizza and a play date with Sean's good friend Daniel. Dinner was crepes, and then we had this lovely cake with ice cream for dessert.

On other subjects, Don and I spent a lot of time this weekend painting Dylan's and Sean's new bedrooms in the east wing of the house. They turned out really well and we're hoping to have them moved in next weekend. We're just priming and painting the trim and doors right now. I'll post pictures as soon as we're done.

Here is a picture of Jordyn with her clown nose that Don brought home from his trip to California last weekend:




And here's a picture of Patience and Jordyn all ready for bed recently:




Patience started ballet classes on Saturday. It's a Parks and Rec class for 3-6 year olds. It's very cute and very funny to watch the girls "dance." I had to explain to Patience after the class that ballet is not a contact sport. The teacher had all the girls "dance" to the music and all the other girls danced in a clockwise direction around the room. Patience danced counter-clockwise. With her eyes closed, because she thinks that is how ballerinas dance. That's probably how Angelina Ballerina does it on t.v. Anyway, it looked like a game of pinball, with little tiny girls in tutus getting flattened by Patience the Huge. The other parents thankfully didn't seem to hold it against her because a) their tiny daughters didn't seem to get hurt, and b) it was so darn funny. I told Don he's taking her next week.


So, yeah, the renovations are taking most of our spare time and money.


Nathan is working hard to get back on track with school. He promised (again) that he was all caught up in his classes and was passing them all. But this time I told him I needed written proof from his teachers before he sets foot on the basketball court. On a bright note, Nathan is really getting set up to join the Coast Guard. He ordered a set of books that will help him get through bootcamp and he's been doing a lot of online research. I think he'll do well regardless because he's in such awesome physical shape, he's got his Sea Cadet background so much of what he'll learn there (seamanship wise) he'll already know, and he's used to living with strict rules and people who will yell if the rules arent' followed. In fact, he'll probably feel right at home.

Dyland and Nathan are in their last week of school fo this semester. Dylan is working hard to improve his science grade by 2 percent to bump him from a B to an A.


I'll post more later. I promise!

Our Photo Montage...

Enjoy!
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=48e68526e63d9fb8ef7391&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

December Update

Hi All! Thanks for your patience as I'm so slow at updating. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. The first two are a couple of big trees that we sold out of the yard this year. I'm glad I'm not involved with setting them up and decorating them!









And here's a shot of Patience taking a nap. Everyday I make her a nice "flat" bed on our couch with her fleece blanket, her bear comforter, her pillow, her night-night, and her babies. She usually sleeps flat. Today I came into the living room to find this:




I hope she doesn't wake up with a crook in her neck!

We've been busy getting Christmas shopping done. I've been out late shopping with Dylan one evening and Nathan last night. Some stores are open 24 hours which is crazy, but I have to admit, helpful too. Last night I officially finished my shopping. I know I'm done because I spent almost every cent that was in my wallet. Yep, right down to the dimes. I'm sure the cashier was not impressed, but at least my wallet was much lighter.

Now I'm wrapping things and putting them under our undecorated tree. For the past several years, I haven't decorated a tree with our own ornaments. I've always patiently waited for the farm to close and then I'd (meaning Don) bring in a tree that Waneta had already decorated for the yard. I just had to plug it in and we'd have instant Christmas. This year we wanted to use a tree that Don had grown himself down at Radnai's (our lease property). It's a beautiful, tall Noble fir. And it's a good thing it's beautiful, because we can't find our Christmas tree ornaments or lights! I'm sure they're around here somewhere, but until we find them, our tree is naked. With the exception of the snowman ornaments that the girls made last week.

I'm thinking of making it an activity for the kids to make up some sort of decorations, like stringing popcorn or cutting out snowflakes, or something!

Patience had her Christmas party at preschool today. It was cute and fun and there were lots of sibling babies there. Two sets of twins, including my friend's twin boys...one of which I got to hold : ). Now she's on Christmas break. The boys have to go to school tomorrow and then they're on Christmas break for two weeks.

Saturday my mom will be flying up to the PNW, but is staying with my sister until Christmas day. We're hoping my dad will be able to spend Christmas with us this year as well. It's been ages since we've been together at Christmas time...probably around 10!

More later!
Love,
Cathi

You know you've waited too long to post when...

...you almost forgot your password!

Okay, I'm short on time (as usual) so I'm just going to post a month's worth of pictures instead of writing a big newsy post, k?



Don and Nathan with matching (kind-of) beards...





Patience and Jordyn warning you that Christmas is coming right up!




The magnificent 5, a la Christmas card....





Patience and Madilyn, the cutest baby ever (since Jordyn)






Jordyn and Madilyn, with my dad, at Thanksgiving...

Tomorrow evening I'm co-hosting a bridal shower for my friend's daughter. Then on Friday Lee comes (thank the Lord) right in time for our all-hands-on-deck weekend. I'll try to post more next week when Lee's here...as he tends to free up some time for me : )

Halloween 2007

I tried to actually write something to go along with the pictures, but Blogger wasn't letting me! So, here is a "back view" of the girls in action:

At the first house, Jordyn wanted nothing to do with these unknown people who answered the door. She turned around and buried her face in her daddy's chest. But when she heard the rustling of the candy wrappers, she peered around, and when she saw the bowl full of candy, she did a 180-degree turn around. Suddenly, she was extroverted and happy. And able to say "trick-or-treat" and "thank you!" Jordyn has a new favorite sport, and it is trick or treating!

Howza Bout a Little Update?

Sorry I haven't blogged in such a long time. I know I'm always a little annoyed when I visit someone's blog for, oh, the 50th time to find that they still haven't updated. So I thought I should get my rear and gear and let you know what's been going on around here. Maybe it'll be contagious and others (Heather) will do the same...

First major news in the Murphy household: Jordyn will definitely be the baby in our family. That's right, five is enough and we are now incapable of producing anymore Murphys. Which is unfortunate considering how cute and bright they all are. P.S. Don is fine, recovering quickly, just walks a little funny.

Now, onto less momentous news: the office is coming along nicely. It's all framed, wired, and sheetrocked. Don is currently doing the taping and mudding, which is a slow and dirty job. He did buy the primer for the next step and we're going to look at paint colours later this a.m.

Nathan is busy at school and cadets. His classes are keeping him busier than he'd prefer, as his teachers this term have these incredibly high standards for student work and are sometimes encouraging Nathan to do work over to get a higher mark. While Nathan feels this is unnecessary, Don and I encourage him to take advantage of the opportunity, if you know what I mean. This weekend he had range practice, next weekend he and Sean return to Quadra for a weekend of sail training. I hope they have good weather there. He is busy directing a one-act play and is getting frustrated at the lack of commitment from his actors. He might even can his leading man and take that part himself.

Dylan is at school 10 hours/day most days. Starting with jazz band or Senior Chamber Choir at 6:45, and ending with volleyball practice or games that sometimes end at 6:30. We see little of him, but we know where he is and what he's doing, so it's all good. He's also swimming on the school swim team this year. It's a short little season, but apparently they're going to have an incredible relay team so he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. He continues, somehow, to get straight A's in the very few hours he has left in the day. We're looking forward to his first band/choir concert of the year on Nov. 30.

Sean is getting hit with the reality of school. His teacher, Mrs. Cuthbert, is making it her personal responsibility to make sure all of her students are ready for Secondar School next year. So, Sean has homework every night, as opposed to...never. He's doing well, though, in all of his subjects. He's playing trombone in the elementary band and is on the Grade 7 volleyball team. That season ends soon, and then there's a short break until basketball starts up. Sean is still enjoying cadets and has joined the Guard, which means he marches around with guns on the parade square (real guns, not loaded). They practice Monday nights, and thankfully Nathan is willing to drive him there because Nathan has work that he can do at the Cadet Training Centre during that time. I'm going to really, really, really miss Nathan (and his car).

Patience is three and 1/2 now and is pretty much ready to take on the world. She loves preschool. She loves swimming lessons with Marianne. It's hard to believe that four sessions ago she spent most of her time sitting on the side of the pool (in timeout) crying, because now she's belle of the pool, showing all of the other kids how to do what Marianne wants them to do. She has her swim lesson on Tuesdays right after preschool, so when she gets home she's tired and starving. Last week she ate two entire peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before she even came up for air. Then she willingly had a nap. Tuesdays are good : )

Jordyn is now the age that Patience was when I had Jordyn. I cannot imagine having a newborn right now. She is starting to have more and more words, and of course she is very capable for such a little person. For example, she was able to open the gate we have at the top of our stairs. So we padlocked it. We didn't even try to get an easy-opening lock...she'd have that figured out in no time. (The combination is zero-Jeremy Roenick-Kyle MacLaren; guess whose lock it is?) Despite her hyper-busyness, she's doing really well and we all love her to pieces. Even certain older brothers who used to not have the time of day for her are coming around and calling her sweet nothings while carrying her around like a baby. She's getting under his skin, that's for sure.

I am busy. Among other things, I am trying to be deliberate about our food around here. It's the one area of our budget that I can control, so I'm putting more time and energy into the planning and procuring. I'm going to be posing about some great leftovers. I'm trying to eat out of the freezer as much as possible this month because we are getting a quarter beef in late November, early December and I need to make room for it.

We've had a ton of rain lately, but today dawned bright and sunny (still cold, but that's okay). We'll be able to go out and play today...the girls will really appreciate that.

The best news I received lately: Lee is coming back : ) I'm always pretty sure that he won't re-up because let's face it: December around here with all these kids and the farm is not a lot of fun, and it's a lot of work! But he thankfully comes back, year after year, to help and keep me sane. What a blessing he is in December and always.

Okay, that's about it, except for photos which I haven't taken in a long time.

Love and hugs,
Cathi

Affirmation...

I love when you hear something wonderful, something you really need to hear, in an unlikely place.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting with Nathan's and Dylan's teachers. Mr. Thompson, Nathan's English Literature teacher said this,

"Nathan and my son (also 18) are both character men. But my son is a character, while Nathan is a man of character."

What's Up...

Basically, nothing! Which is kind of nice, in a relaxed, boring sort of way...



Tonight we're having our 4-H awards presentation. Once that is over, my 4-H commitments will be officially over for this year (phew!).



We had a huge ham dinner on Saturday night, so now I'm using up leftovers. I'm trying to have a pretty clean fridge when we leave for Merritt for the weekend.



Tonight is sweet-and-sour ham sandwiches. I made up this recipe (remember, I'm trying to clean out the fridge) and so far it looks pretty iffy. Lucky for me, my boys are usually starving and not picky at all, so it'll get eaten up regardless.



Tomorrow I'm making turkey wraps, using up the rest of last week's turkey. Wednesday it'll be clean-out-your-fridge soup and then Thursday we'll leave for Don and Waneta's.



I am reading a new book from the library: Frugal Luxuries. So far so good, although I'm only on chapter 2.

Tomorrow Patience starts her new session of swim lessons with Marianne. Wish me luck...I'll get the challenge of keeping Miss Jordyn occupied during her lesson : )

All of the kids are doing well.

Cheers,
Cathi

Lights, Camera, Action!

Well, today is the big shoot. Warner Brothers is filming the Christmas special for their Supernatural series at our farm. They came out Thursday and Friday of last week to build the set, then had 24-hour security here over the 3-day weekend, and today this farm is busier than our busy weekends!

For those of you not familiar with Supernatural (like me), it's a series about a couple of hunky guys who are like ghostbusters...trying to figure out the good guys and the bad guys, the good spirits and the demons. In this episode, the hunks think that the Santa of Santa's Village (our farm) is a serial killer. You can see why this isn't exactly a family show...

The morning started early, with the first semi rolling into the farm across the street at 4:30. By 5:00 there was a traffic jam. Whey I finally poked my head up and looked out my bedroom window, I could see tents everywhere in my driveway and side yard. There is a huge tent for the extras to hang out, a nice concession stand (everything is free), a whole little city in my yard!

Across the street at Krause's, where there are at least 20 semis (good thing he enlarged his parking lot!), there is an incredible catering truck where we all had breakfast this morning (including Storm). Everyone is coming home for lunch today, and Sean is staying home this afternoon to watch the shooting. Nathan took Dylan to school and then came home to have breakfast and watch a little. It's an amazing undertaking for one day of shooting. They even have live reindeer here!

The nice thing is that they're paying really well to use our farm! In fact, Don's office renovations are courtesy of Warner Brothers!

Cheers,
Cathi

Office

Most of you have been to our home and have seen Don's office. For those who haven't, Don currently works from home in a tiny little space that's hardly even a room...it's just a large hallway going from our house to the laundry room and then down to his parents' suite.

Not only is the space not very usable, but it's difficult for Don to work (or have phone conversations) due to the consistent noise level of our house. Six people just cannot be quiet that often.

So, we are undergoing a major home renovation! Don is, as we speak, outside renovating an 11.5' x 14' foot room that used to hold a lot of crap stuff of Waneta's that is now either at the dump or at their new home in Merrit.

He's re-framing the walls to add power and networking wiring...lots of outlets, etc. He's building a large closet to hold all of his business stuff. He's putting in lighting fixtures and laying laminate flooring. He'll paint a beautiful eggplant color on the walls, with a white ceiling, doors, and trim. We'll get white office furniture from Ikea (love that place!) along with an area rug, some artwork, etc., and voila! A usable office space away from the happy chaos of the house.

I'm really looking forward to it. Oh, and as for the space that is Don's current office, we're turning it into the family computer room. Every computer in the house will now go in there, so we won't have computers in bedrooms, the kitchen, etc. Ahhhh....

Menu Planning Monday

Here is my menu plan for the week. I know you were dying to hear this...

Monday-Thanksgiving leftovers (yes, it is Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, so we had a turkey with all the trimmings tonight)

Tuesday-Catering Truck (Warner Bros is filming a Christmas special for one of their serials here and we are able to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the catering truck!)

Wednesday-Breakfast for Dinner (I'm thinking french toast and bacon)

Thursday-Wraps (using turkey, of course)

Friday-Pizza

Saturday-Ham

Sunday-Gourmet Ham Sandwiches

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

Nathan celebrated his 18th birthday on Sunday with a new Sharks cap and jersey. He can wear them to the game on Friday!

I attended my last Flippers executive meeting last night, handing over all of my files and information to my predecessor. It feels very good, even though I know I'll be getting calls this year to help her out.

We have 4-H club awards on Friday the 15th, and then my commitments there are done as well. What will I do with all this time on my hands? I'm thinking maybe getting involved in cadets somehow, as all three boys are there now. Will letcha know.

Our Grandparents Went to Hawaii...

...and all that we got were these (very cute) bathing suits!












Tonight after dinner Don said he was taking the girls swimming so I could have a break! He got them all suited up in their new bathing suits from Grandma and Grandpa and off they went....

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to take a good picture of both girls. When Jordyn can stop being in perpetual motion for more than 2 seconds it will get easier...

Ahh...do you hear the silence? It really is golden!

Papa Loves Me, This I Know...

...for my t-shirt tells me so!

Guess who couldn't resist these t-shirs when he saw them at the art & wine festival?

And Jordyn and Patience love their papa, too!

What Does An 18-Year-Old Say...

When he receives 2 Opening Night Canucks vs. Sharks BOX SEAT tickets for his birthday?

Nothing! He's speechless!

Last night we gave Nathan his birthday present early, so he'd have plenty of time to choose who he would ask to go with him. This morning he said he'd "narrowed it down" to about 5 people!

He said, "This is probably the last time I'll be an opening night Canucks game, where they play against the Sharks, in these kind of seats..."

DUH!

Thanks to my brilliant husband for procuring these tickets. It'll be a game Nathan never forgets.