Christmas Gift Exchange 2008

The adults have a $25 limit and the gifts must be flat...think CDs, DVDs, giftcards, portraits (if you drew Mom's name), etc!

John buys for Jake
Edith buys for Valarie
Pat buys for Lindsay
Lee buys for Kelsey
Dave buys for John
Val buys for Don
Don buys for Cody
Cathi buys for Edith
Cody buys for Nathan
Jake buys for Dave
Lindsay buys for Cathi
Nathan buys for Lee
Kelsey buys for Pat

The kids also have a $25 limit but the gifts can be any shape : )

Dylan buys for Hailey
Hailey buys for Patience
Sean buys for Madilyn
Patience buys for Jordyn
Jordyn buys for Sean
Madilyn buys for Nick
Nick buys for Dylan

We'll open the gifts at Val's on Christmas day. Have fun shopping!

Dad & Edith's Wedding Montage

Compliments of Valarie! She did a great job, not just on this montage, but on the wedding itself. The wedding was sweet and simple, surrounded by friends and family. We love, love, love Edith and Cecilia, and are so happy to have them in our ever-expanding family.

This is Nathan's message to my dad on his feelings about Edith and their sunset-years wedding:

"SCORE! Congratulations, Grandpa, on your overtime game-winning goal!"

Dad & Edith's Wedding

Good wishes for the bride and groom.

Madilyn showing off her latest talent!

Cathi, Lindsay, Nick, and Madi. Madi wanted Nick's paci in the worst way!

Dad and Edith.

Edith and the girlies.

Edith

Dave with his namesake.

The girls loved the cat!

Dad and Edith with the kids.

Dad and Edith with the daughters.

Dad and Edith with the grandkids (and great-grandkids!).

Dad and Edith.

Toasts all around!

Dad and Edith with Val and Dave.

Dad and Edith with the Richeys.

Dad and Edith with Don and me.

Dad and Edith.

Thanksgiving 2008

Cody and Nicholas.


Dad and Edith.

Dad, Cody, and Dave at the table before we ate.

Jordyn playing with the toys Edith brought for the girls.

Lindsay and Nick.


Nick naps on Cecilia (Edith's friend).

Edith and Dad with Nick.

Dad and Nick.

Edith and Dad with Nick.

Stretching your food dollar

I've had an epiphany! In an ongoing effort to cut corners, pinch pennies, and stretch dollars, I've just come to the realization that bowl dinners are much more cost-effective than plate dinners. Think about all the meals you eat out of a bowl and how little it costs to make them: soup, chili, stew, shepherd's pie, etc. Making sure you have "bowl food" twice a week in your menu plan could significantly reduce your grocery bill : )

Busy Tuesday

Yesterday I did get my two breaks: Don took Jordyn bye-bye and then the girls did have preschool. But from there it got dicey. Both boys had after-school activities, followed by a band concert last night, so there was about 30 minutes for Dylan and Sean to eat dinner, get dressed, etc. I made a veggie stirfry and people just ate when they could fit it into their schedule.

I ended up going to the concert with Nick. I chose to sit at the highest row of the bleachers, as I thought he would be the least conspicuous up there. I neglected to remember how heat rises. Especially when you add in the body heat from a couple hundred people. By half-way through the concert I had stripped both of us down to our bottom layers and he did really well. At the end, half-way through the Senior Chamber Choir, he expired. I had to walk down all those stairs holding a fussing/crying baby while the director introduced the next song. Thankfully I didn't trip and as far as I know I didn't get angry stares from people for interrupting the concert...probably lots of thankful ones, for keeping the auditorium quiet.

Fast forward to 9:30, when the concert was over and cleaned up. Sean reminded me that tonight was the time to pick up camp forms from cadets. I asked if we'd have another opportunity to pick them up? He didn't know (shocking, I know). So, we drop Dylan off and then head out to cadets in hopes that we make it before everyone leaves. We made it there by 9:45, when the CO was just leaving in his van. He stops and gives us Sean's form. I am thankful because I know how much summer camp means to me Sean.

We get home at 10ish and Nick is wide awake. Second wind has definitely blown in. It takes me nearly an hour to convince him that going to sleep is a great idea.

And then we were up at 6:30. It's going to be a 2-cup morning.

Tuesday

This morning Don took Jordyn to Langley to run some errands. Nick took a nice long nap, which enabled me to clean both bathrooms! I know you're jealous. The nice thing is that Patience and Jordyn have preschool this afternoon so I get two breaks in one day. Life is good. Plus the bathrooms are clean.

Tonight is the boys' first concert of the season. My question is do I skip the concert altogether, or do I leave Nick home with Don for two and a half hours. Hmmmm...not sure what to do.

Well, Nick is awake now, as seen in the above pictures that I took just 10 minutes ago, so I need to go make his life wonderful!

Haircuts

I took advantage of the kids' Pro-D day (day off school) and took Dylan and the littles for haircuts. Patience has been asking for short hair for some time now, as she's tired of getting tangles brushed out of it. Dylan's hair grows as fast as mine, and needs to be cut monthly. Rarely is there a convenient time, between work and after school activities, to take him for a haircut at our $5 place.

Happy 2-Month Birthday!

Two months ago today, Nick was born 5 days before we had planned, and I was at the hospital eagerly awaiting the arrival of my parents!

Not much has changed since then, except that I am now at home eagerly awaiting the arrival of my parents!

Nick's Chore

In a family this size, everyone has to pull their weight, even if they are only 8 weeks old. Nicks's chore: wake up his grumpy 16-year-old brother. If anyone else crawled into bed with Dylan, he wouldn't have found the humor in it, but not even he can resist a warm, soft, chubby baby!

Jordyn the Puzzler!

Jordyn now loves puzzles! She can do e
ven some pretty tricky ones, like this Disney Princess one.

Sleep deprivation has obviously set it!

In my post below, I called Nick a "sister" and "Sean!" Grandma caught one error, Heather the other...

I could go fix those errors, but I think I'll leave them as a testament to how little sleep I'm getting lately...

Mini Mom

It's amazing how content Nick is when Patience is holding him. Last night I prepared lots of veggies for a stir-fry while Patience "babysat" Nick. It was such a help!

Here they are this morning.

Whose little sister is he?

Put Sean down for a minute, and look what Patience does!

Chubby Bunny

See how big he's getting?

Saturday morning cartoons

Chillin' with Sissy

Playtime

Nick spent time on his jungle mat Friday night (or maybe Saturday). He really liked it!

I want his life...

He sleeps in a blue cloud. Whenever he wants. For any length of time he chooses. He eats. People are happy when he gains weight. His only responsibility is to smile at his staff members. What a life!

Seaman Murphy

Here is Nathan's bootcamp portrait. I'm so proud of him...he bought the portrait package (and not even the cheapest one!) on his own volitition. I love them.

I thought I should scan it so I could post it here, but that never happened so I tried just taking a photo of it. I figured out how to turn my flash off which is why you can actually see Nathan's face instead of a bright white spot!

Waneta, I have a copy for you! And you, too, Dad. I'll mail it out soon.

Nathan's doing well in Seattle. He calls us about every other day from a pay phone, and then we call him back because we have free calling all over Canada and the US. Tomorrow my parents are picking up Nathan after work and taking him cell phone shopping. Then he'll be much more accessible. It's pretty unnerving to not be able to talk to your kids when you want or need to!

Sean the Guard

Sean guarded the Senataph in Aldergrove during the Remembrance Day parade and ceremony. He didn't move, avert his eyes, or hardly breathe for more than an hour.

More smiles

Nick on his changing table. For some reason, he loves to lay there. He's quite content when he gets changed, and gives some of his biggest smiles there.

Patience babysits!

I asked Patience to "babysit" Nick while I folded a load of clothes. When I came back, I found that they were "playing" stuffed animals. Nick was quite content : )