Tadpole Hunting

Today Steve had a few hours before a meeting so we decided to take everyone for a walk up to Crofton Lake. Steve took the girls for me last week and they found a pond with tadpoles in it (not a good experience... Adessa fell in!!!) So we went up there to catch a couple! It was a good 3 hour walk there and back, and Danika did so great! She is such a good little hiker!

Picture from the first time Steve took the girls... did I say how much I love this man?

This was right after meeko dipped his tail in the water and ran by spraying them... there were a lot of screams! Throwing rocks into the water... I love the peacefulness and calmness of the lake

Our favorite thing to do here... throw rocks into the lake

Weekend with the Burdge's

We have been spending a lot of fun time with the Burdge's and making some fun memories. Thursday night this wonderful family went to Vancouver, stopped over at Ikea and picked up my bookcase that I have had my eye on for a long time! They even came over to drop it off and set it up!! Now that equals some good friends!!!

Saturday Steve and Meeko headed out early and picked up Chris to go gold panning. Unfortunately they did not find enough to buy me any new diamonds... but they had a good time! Sharon picked me up and we hung out all afternoon at her place. Two little girls were dropped off late afternoon as they were having a sleepover and Danika hit it off with them instantly. They had a great time together, and Danika made a couple new friends! When the boys got home we snuck away to watch a movie we have been waiting to see! We both read the book "Dandelion Dust, by Karen Kingsbury" which was awesome and a crier, but the movie was quite slow and disappointing!!

Today we went to church, then drove up to Victoria to head to the Royal BC Museum. It was so awesome! Danika LOVED the mammoth. At one point Sharon and I were going to run up to it and get a picture taken with it, but Chris sternly warned us that an alarm would go off.. he scared us pretty bad, in the end we did set off the alarm, but it was one of the kids... not us!! Danika thought the mammoth was real and told me he wasn't moving because he didn't want to hurt us, and then the rest of the day kept asking if we could go back.. we didn't and I felt bad! It was a very neat place. After the museum we walked over to the Old Spaghetti factory for dinner. It was such a beautiful day and wonderful to see all the cherry blossoms on the trees.. tulips and daffodils bloomed and actual warmth. The girls both did really well today, and Adessa was sooo fun! At one point as she was walking around we all were looking for her and I got to the panic stage yelling her name, and here she was hiding between two displays with the biggest grin on her face... what a little stinker!!!

On the way home we stopped and picked up an ERGO baby carrier for Adessa. As we really want to start hiking again and the back pack we have is just too heavy for her. So I am really excited to give this a try... Hiking here we come!!!!

Danika catching daddy picking this guys nose.... real mature!

My beautiful girl

Waiting for the train to come... Sharon told me it would pick me up and give me free popcorn, I was sadly mislead...

Steve and Chris with tools...

Family pic in front of the stuffed sea lion

The mammoth

Danika was in awe.. she didn't take her eyes off of him... he was even growling!!

End of the day, racing towards the fountain

Our men with our children... brings a smile to my face!

Sharon and I strolling... I love this girl!

I have really been lacking on my blog updates... but that is because the sun has been out and we have been keeping quite busy! It is so nice to have the sun shining, see the buds coming out and hearing the lawn mower roar to life! It makes me happy and so energized!

On Monday night Danika went for her first sleep over without her blankie and pillow.. her 2 most beloved possessions. She did so well. We had some friends come out for a few days and so we had a big dinner party at the Nagtegaal farm and Danika's 2 best friends were having a sleepover and asked if Danika could too. We said yes, but only if she could last without her favorite items. She bravely said yes as her big brown eyes welled up with tears and her lower lip quivered. I held her tight and prayed with her and she said she could do it.

In the morning when I went to pick her up I asked her how it went. She told me it was good, but that she woke up at night and cried quietly so she wouldn't wake anyone up. I was so proud of my big girl!

The Party Girls

Steve put up a swing on our plum tree in the backyard

Adessa getting into the craft cupboard, thought this picture was pretty cute with her plumber crack

My wonderful friend Sharon left this beautiful gift and card for me after visiting one day, it was such a nice surprise. It is so nice to feel loved!

My girls helping me make milkshakes one night after their baths

The area behind our house has now turned into the area we throw Meeko's ball for him. It all goes fine until someone walks by...

Adessa rewarding him for bringing us the ball... he is a really good fetcher

Danika was busy doing her artwork while Adessa and I played catch, I was amazed by this picture!

Snapshots of our past week

This past week the weather was pretty nice so we had the chance to get outside and play at the park and do lots of chalk. The first half of the week, Adessa was sick with the 24 hour flu. It started Monday night. But I didn't think too much of it as she has been coughing and puking. So I still took Danika to school. Adessa puked a couple more times, but seemed totally herself. So I ventured to get our groceries... bad idea! I feel stupid even writing this! I was about halfway done, with a pretty full shopping cart when Adessa started puking, I tried to catch it, but it just kept coming, and covered the shopping cart and floor. I didn't know what to do. Part of me thought, "oh I should just go quickly pay for these groceries," and the other part of me thought, "RUN!!!" I did the latter. I felt horrible, but I just didn't know what to do! Needless to say, once we got home, Adessa was back to herself... running around like crazy (she literally puked as she was running... and kept going!) So I deemed that she definitely did have the flu and that we needed to stay home.

When Danika gets sick I lay a towel on the couch, plug in some movies and give her a bucket, and she lays there and is so cuddly. Not so with Ms. Adessa. Being sick didn't slow her down. However she was quite irritable and didn't know what she wanted, but one thing is for sure she did not sit down and watch a show!

This will be Danika's Kindergarten class next year. It is right behind our house, a brand new school with its own views of the ocean!

Ms Adessa on the mend

Danika and Lize helping me make banana muffins in their aprons (it was St.Patrick's day, note the shamrocks!)

Eating the fruits of their labor!

End of the week Sharon came by for a visit and the kids played play dough

Me in the kitchen

Adessa happily eating her "yo-yo" (aka... yogurt)

Saturday I was not feeling very well.. came down with a bad cold after my sleepless nights with Adessa! So we went out to Mesachie Lake to the Burdges resident. It was so nice and restful. The kids played great, the men went outside to play with Chris' new quad and built a trail behind the house and I curled up on the couch while Sharon took the kids for a walk. She is such a great friend and we all have so much fun at there house!!! : )

On a side note--This week Adessa ate half a stick of chalk and a couple of handfuls of dirt.

Desser

Weekend

The weekend was nice. Saturday Steve worked for most of the day and then in the evening we went out to the Burdges for dinner. We ate a lot of yummy food and then went our separate ways from the men. Us ladies headed upstairs to hang out with the kids while the men went outside to shoot off rockets .... Steves first time!Sharon and I were both super tired and it was nice to sip tea and visit while the kids played around us. I really noticed how much Adessa has changed. She was super happy and occupied herself a lot. Mind you she still wanted her mommy, but she wasn't screaming and crying for me and it was really nice. She is growing up so quickly and I love that we are outgrowing some stages with Adessa, and entering new ones! We also tried our hand at a game of scrabble... the board proved what we already knew... we were just too tired. Can you tell...??? Sunday morning we woke up and decided we needed to do something fun as a family so we got on our swimsuits and headed to the busiest place on a Sunday morning.. the pool!!! There was a swim meet and it was PACKED! But we decided we made it that far so we mine as well go for it. We actually really enjoyed ourselves and the kids had a blast. We then went out for lunch and Steve and I walked out commenting to one another how that was the best dining experience we have had, post Adessa! We really hope we have turned a page with our little monkey and that it is here to stay!

Then last night we had a babysitter and went to see Brian Doerksens 'Level Ground' concert. It was an amazing evening of worship and hearing testimonies. We were so refreshed by it and so glad we went!
Today was pretty low key. Steve emptied our backyard of all our spring trimmings (aka hacked off our apple, plum and pear tree!) and the girls and I had a couple play dates. Sharon surprised us by bringing lunch and delicious cookies to go with our coffee. When Sharon arrived we heard little "hi's" coming from the closed bathroom door, so you can imagine my suprise when I opened the bathroom door to this face...does she look guilty to you....

TOTALLY GUILTY!!

It got in her hair and after 2 baths it is still quite greasy! I have been reading up on getting vaseline out of clothing and it has been a full night process!!!

Beach Day!

Yesterday after a nice, yet quick cup of tea with Sharon the girls and I went for a walk with some friends down to the beach. I have been so exhausted lately with zero energy and it was nice to just get out and play... and have a good laugh! We walked to the beach where we could have dogs and I let Meeko run off and explore, he was such a good dog on the walk, he heeled right behind me and then when I called him to go, he came running... I was so proud of him!

As soon as we got to the beach I took the three girls to walk across the beach... bad idea!!! We got about half way when the girls started screaming! They were stuck! and as soon as I stopped and turned around I realized I also was stuck! It was like sinking sand, Danika's feet came out of her boots and she was blood curdling screaming, I was trying to get my feet unstuck and help Danika while Nicole (a friend i was with) grabbed Adessa and moved her to 'safety' but she tried to step and fell on all fours, also screaming, while Iyanna (Nicole's daughter) was stuck in the mud! I was killing myself laughing because it was such a gong show, and can only imagine what we looked like!! After this initial experience we stuck to the side and had a great time.

Adessa picking up the crabs... she tried to put one in her mouth!!!! I was mortified!

Nicole and I sitting after the rescue

Danika the big girl flipping over the rocks to find the big crabs for Iyanna

The crew

Adessa STILL putting EVERYTHING she finds in her mouth! Oh what do I do?!

The endless exploring at the beach!

Wish I was here...

This past weekend was the baby shower for my sweet little nephew, Max. When my sister sent me these photos, I cried. I haven't cried a whole lot about moving here this past year or so, as we have a beautiful home and have made wonderful friends. However when I look at pictures or hear what I have missed, or see how big my own girls are getting, I get very sad and lonely. I miss our family sooo much. I miss being able to get together just whenever and going over on Sunday afternoons to just hang out and visit (the things I used to take for granted!) I miss showing off how big Danika is getting and milestones Adessa is hitting. And now I have a little nephew who is growing by the day, and I am missing it all. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, especially the weather, as it is a 25 degree difference in temperature at the moment. But sometimes I wonder... is it worth it???

Max and Ella

My gorgeous mother and sister

He's getting so big!

The Sue Sylvester look... love it!

Beautiful mommy

The amazing napkins at the shower... had to post this!!!