Started today off by teaching Sunday school at church, followed by making subs at our house with some good friends. From there we went on a hike to the waterfall behind camp Qwanoes. It was a beautiful day with wonderful company and AMAZING weather.. the sun, warmth and good friends make me so happy!

The Nagtegaal family

Hiking across the first bridge

The men with the babies

Caroline and I

Snapshots of the waterfall

After we got home from the walk, Danika's babysitter called and said she had a 'few things' to give Danika. She brought both the girls cute little backpacks from Hawaii and then gave Danika 4 giant horses! Danika was in awe, I love that she loves ponies so much, I just don't know where we are going to keep them all!!!

Saturday

The third flower bloomed today! It is a very neat plant, still not sure what it is called!

Got up this morning after cuddles in our bed with the girls, and made some yummy french toast. The sun was shining and it was glorious!

Went to a five year olds birthday party this morning and Adessa got her fill of chocolate cake!

Chalk on the front drive way Went to the park to get our sillies out after eating so much chocolate!

Best buddies

Meeko in the back of the truck after an afternoon of fun at the farm

Asthma

Since Adessa has been a baby we have always been a little concerned about her coughing. At first we credited to our tiny, moldy cottage we lived in for her first year, but even since moving we have noticed the coughing. Significantly in the past few weeks she coughs to the point of puking. She has done it at a few meals, during bath time and even while playing. I thought at first she was always choking because she eats her food so fast, but apparently not, as this happens during any point of the day. I finally booked her in for an appointment and my Dr figures it sounds like she has asthma. She recommended trying a puffer with a chamber to see if it helps, but she was out of samples, so we just decided to monitor it over the next few weeks. I personally thought she had inhaled some toy (as she still puts EVERYTHING into her mouth!) but the doctor checked and said her airways are clear, so that's good to know! My other question was Adessa's constant hunger. It has been driving me crazy! All day she is at me feet yelling either "teeat or nack!" (treat or snack) as she always seems to want to eat! The Dr told me this is fine, that Adessa is a perfect size.. nice and healthy, and that she is growing like a weed. Adessa and Danika are total opposites in this aspect, and I cannot compare them. She also suggested getting in a lot more protein into her snacks, not just our easy-go to crackers. So that is my challenge in the next few weeks.... getting creative and preparing snacks with lots of protein, and hopefully Adessa's constant need to eat will dim down some, and I can get a break from the constant "teating and nacking!!"

Ending the day with a milkshake party, Steve created one with mixed berries and banannas... quite delicious, the girls loved them!

Adessa chugged hers down so quickly!

JAMMIES!

Yesterday morning we had a power outage (thank goodness my coffee was already brewed!) and so it was a day for pajama's. The girls and I really enjoyed the quiet- with no TV, music, computer or phone to distract us. It was neat and fun to see what we came up with. We made crafts and cards (while adessa colored my floor.. this time thankfully with crayon!) then we played my little pet shop while Adessa repeatedly dunked her puppy into my coffee and sucked it off.. that is until I finally noticed!! : ( My poor coffee! The whole day was nice, just staying cuddled up inside, when outside the weather was going crazy!

Then today was a pj party for Danika at her preschool. It was pretty exciting! After dropping Danika off, Adessa and I went for a walk with friends and played in mud puddles as the sun was shining and warming us up. This afternoon we had friends come for a visit and stay the evening while we made home-made pizza and watched the Canucks game. It was fun!

Danika reading the book I wrote when I was in grade 5 ... it is quite intriguing.

Cutie girls

Steve my pizza flipper!

Danika in her PJ's with her favorite stuffy

My beautiful 3.5 foot flower that finally bloomed... after some loving care!

She makes me smile...

I love owning a home, and particularly love our home. Sure it could be bigger, with an extra bedroom and larger playroom, but would I ever be satisfied, or do you just keep wanting bigger and better??? Anyways the reason I say this is because I love to entertain and have people in my home, and we have never really had space to do so in the past. Last night we had Steves new business partners family of 6 over for dinner that was decided that morning. They have 4 children and the kids played so well together. Then for dessert we had ice cream with some homemade maple syrup(that they tapped maple trees for!).

The past few weeks I have been working on a website for Steve's and Mike's new business and published it last week. I have really enjoyed the challenge of working on it and figuring it out and in a sense feeling useful. I know I am useful to my children and my household, but sometimes it all feels so mundane and I just want to feel like I am contributing something.. anyways all that to say, that it was fun to work on and figure out this website, and I hope to make it better as we go along with Steve's new business. (Did I mention he was starting his own reno/building company?)

Back to loving to entertain... this evening we had 2 different families over, which made 12 of us. There were 6 little girls as both couples have 2 little girls each. So that was fun to see them all together, and they all played so well. Danika was the oldest of them all, so she felt pretty proud! We planned this get together this morning, they brought the food and I made a giant apple crisp. The crisp turned out quite excellent, and it was fun because I was able to use some of the frozen apples from our own apple tree. We love the last minute get togethers because then there is no pressure for everything to be perfect and it is always so relaxed and chill... just the way I like it!

The three middle children having a snack, I didn't get a picture of the oldest 2 or the baby!

SNOW DAY!

This morning we woke up to the snow falling, and it was so beautiful! The girls and I turned on the fireplace, made a really yummy trail mix, which we threw together with whatever we found in the cupboard (shreddies, marshmallows, raisins, popcorn and of course, chocolate chips!) We turned on 101 Dalmatians and cuddled watching a show. But the snow was falling and became to enticing for us! So we bundled up and headed outside with our toboggans!

Adessa with her toboggan pulling her snow balls... very exciting!!

Adessa tried to climb the hill, but it was too steep so she was just silly instead!
Our home from the tobogganing hill, notice Meeko, he soo badly wanted to come and play!
My big girl, running up the hill and flying down all by herself

We love being outside!

We also love tobogganing!

Danika conquering the hill

I walked Adessa up and down the sidewalk with her new toboggan (we bought it at the thrift store for $3.00!)

The snowman Danika and I made while Adessa sat happily in her toboggan eating the snow
Rolling snowballs without any snow is quite hard, but she persevered!

We had no rocks or carrots, so Danika said "lets put horns on it instead!" ...not quite sure what it is!

Steve ended up working late tonight, so after dinner I gave the girls a bath, and while I was getting Adessa ready Danika started laughing hysterically, I went in there to find my little cone head in the bath with her... and Adessa thought it looked fun as well!!! (why does this happen the day I clean my bathroom!!!)

Can you tell she thought it was awesome?!