Swim Lessons

Danika is on Spring Break for the next 2 weeks so we put her in swim lessons with her best friend Lize. They have been loving it and have been so confident having one another there for support.

This little girl has really struggled with water and has refused to put her head under, we really wanted her to be comfortable in the water before summer starts!

It sure has been a struggle keeping this ones clothes on, while she watches her sister swim. We promised a couple of chances to swim after her sister!

This is Danika's third time in Salamanders... third times a charm right?

The little girls watching there big sisters

Already putting her head under confidently! Yay!

Best Friends

An added bonus is that I get to have a coffee with Caroline every morning... I have really been enjoying this, and looking forward to it!

Project Bunk Bed *Completed!*

We are putting the girls in the same room together so I have been on the hunt for the 'perfect' bunk bed for quite some time. We are working with a very low budget for this room so buying a new one was not an option at this time as they run anywhere between $600-$1000 for a new, solid wood, *white* bunk bed (Plus mattresses). And so my search of a used one began.... I replied to A LOT of ads online and every single bunk bed was already sold by the time I heard back... and I checked EVERY day. Apparently bunk beds are in high demand. So as soon as I saw this solid oak bunk bed, with custom made ladder and 3 solid drawers underneath I quickly replied, and we got it!! Steve drove to Victoria to pick it up and we got the bunk bed, mattresses included for $200.00 ... I know, I was kind of grossed out by used mattresses as well, but they were rarely used and I just bought plastic pee covers to protect them... they were clean, without any stains.

So... my vision- beautiful WHITE bunk beds for my little girls room. Steve took the bunk bed apart and so began my 'little' project. I got all the necessary supplies, and began. I first of all sanded all sides, then spray painted the corners with Kilz, then rolled on the rest of the primer. I sanded it again, then had to put on 3 coats of white paint, on both sides!!! I did this project in the garage and by the end of 2 weeks I was so frustrated by the dog hair and dirt sticking to my beautiful white paint. After sanding it down again, trying to get rid of the debris, I began to apply the polyacrylic minwax (it protects the surface) and was soooo close to giving up as it was not going smoothly. During this time we painted the girls room and took everything out of it, so I moved the bunk bed, piece by piece into the room to finish the 3 coats of minwax. You are supposed to let it harden for a week before using, but we put it together right away, as I was SO DONE! Anyways, here are the pictures of this lovely new addition to our home. I am very happy with how it looks... from afar! As up close you can see some remaining dirt, dog hair and for some reason the clear coat when yellow in spots... but oh well! From a distance she looks beautiful! I got the bedding from Jysk, and it was on super clearance and the girls LOVE their new bunk beds and bedding.

I also had lots of fun picking out there new room color, I am loving the blues right now and this color is so refreshing and happy. It was the first larger room of the house we have painted and makes me want to paint the rest of the house so badly... but that will have to wait!

Bunk bed pre-painted... I love that it has removable side rails on the top and bottom, and that it is pretty low

New Bunk Beds FINALLY completed!

Oh and did I mention I am also painting a solid pine dresser and book case for the girls that we are getting from some friends??? Sometimes this money saving mission seems like more work than its cut out to be but I really feel like I worked out all the kinks in this project and that this next project is going to go much smoother... I'll let you know how it turns out!

First Trip to the Dentist

This week the whole family had trips to the dentist. The girls had there very first ones... oops! But there has never been any complaints and we take good care of their teeth. So anyways I realized we received free dental for the girls, so I took advantage of that and brought them both in. Danika was extremely nervous and did not want to go first, so Adessa hopped onto the seat, all eager until she saw the tray of 'tools' and quickly scurried off. I had to sit with her, but she did AMAZING... seriously. The dental hygienist was so impressed with her, especially for a 2 year old. She sat still, opened her mouth wide and picked berry polishing stuff. The hygienist would spray her mouth with water and she would use "Mr.Thirsty" to suck it all out. She did so well! The dentist told her her teeth were perfect! Thank goodness.

Danika was very brave as well and after seeing that Adessa survived and that the tools on the tray were not in fact 'needles' she was fine. She picked mint flavor and enjoyed the whole process. The hygienist was amazing and made the girls giggle lots. Danika has 2 of her adult teeth poking through behind her bottom front teeth, but nothing is wiggly yet. I was nervous about that, but the dentist confirmed that they would fall out soon enough... I feel like my girl just got all her baby teeth... and now she is going to lose them!

The girls were ecstatic to both get to pick new toothbrushes and toys out of the treasure chest. I took them on a special date afterwards because they were both angels, and Danika was totally bummed that they didn't get to go back to the dentist for a long time! So I thank God that went so well!

Steve and I signed up at the Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo for dental, as right now we have no coverage. We went for the assessment a couple of weeks ago and both were called in for appointments on Friday. We both had got x-rays and are thankful to report that neither of us have any cavities... its been 6 years for me and 11 for Steve since we have seen a dentist. And they were thoroughly impressed by our teeth! We both spent 4 hours in the dentist chair, first with a student and then the hygienist re-did it all. It was a long day... and we have 2 more of those. The total cost of treatment, including x-rays was $30.00. But sometimes I wonder if I actually save money... its like this project with my bunk beds. It has turned into quite the long process, for trying to save a few dollars, I don't know if the time is worth it!

Bowling

Every Monday night we meet with a group of friends from our church for life group. We decided that every few weeks we would take a break from studying and do something fun! This was our first time and we tried out bowling, must of us couldn't remember the last time we bowled, so there was lots of laughs!

First round was girls vs boys... we got beat pretty bad!

Chrissy was a superstar bowler!

Second game was husband vs. wife... so funny!

Mark with one of numerous strikes of the night (playing with the camera focus)

Caroline, Alycia and Charlene

Bruce and Cristina- They have 3 kids. Cristina paints furniture- she is my inspiration for taking on my bunk bed, dresser, bookcase redo project!

Alycia and Stevie G... Alycia knows her husband doesn't smile for photos, so neither does she! Stevie is our church's youth pastor and full-time program director at Camp Qwanoes in the summer

Just getting to know Charlene and Keith, they have a 1 year old little girl and 11 pets at home... they are both vets!

Mark and Caroline!

Me and my man... sorry for beating you at bowling honey!!!

We LOVE Green Smoothies!

I have found a great love for my Magic Bullet to make these wonderfully healthy little 'treats' for the girls. We have been drinking them often and I feel so good about them!

I pack the cup half full with spinach, add one banana, a little bit of water, a few ice cubes, a few strawberries and a tablespoon of either flax or chia seeds. Grind it up and the girls slurp it down and ask for more. To make a purple smoothie, we've added blueberries instead of strawberries. I would highly recommend them, they are delicious!

Adessa loves mustaches... so made one of her own!

Adessa and I had been having them for a few days, but Danika was a little skeptical

This one loves them...

And this one asked for more!

Mother Goose

Every Thursday morning I take Adessa up to the Crofton school for Mother goose songs and stories. Its a free program put on by the Cowichan Valley and Adessa loves it. However if I try singing the songs at home Adessa 'shhhh's' me and tells me 'only at mother goose!' What a girl!

She is the life of the party at mother goose, pretty much from the time we get there she quietly sneaks in questions of when is snack and everyone just laughs as my girl is quite preoccupied with 'snacks!' She is also one of the only kids that sings along to most of the songs and everyone just giggles because she belts it out, totally off tune, but SO CUTE! Last week when we were going around asking kids what is on old mcdonalds farm, and after all the kids said different animals, Adessa whispers "a cookie..." everyone laughed pretty hard.

When we are at home all day Adessa will often request to do baking with me. It is her new favorite thing. She always requests muffins, and I think she figured out that if she helps me bake she gets to snack on the ingredients. I have been having fun with her, and love that she can help out with baking!

PLEASE can we go to Disneyland?!?

How is it that I survived my childhood without going to Disneyland?

Apparently "every" child in Danika's kindergarten class has gone to Disneyland or has a trip planned in the near future, and they come back sharing stories of meeting the princesses and walking in their castle. So very often Danika asks me to PLEASE go to Disneyland... sorry sweetie, not until you and your sister can remember it! However, I think this was almost just as good... their amazing babysitter just recently returned from a trip to Disneyland and brought 'it' back with her---

Princess charm bracelets for both the girls

Meagan and the girls with their goods. She got pictures of all the girls favorite princesses and Ariel's autograph for Danika

Danika checking out the princess (I think she said something along the lines of- 'that doesn't really look like her...")

My girl, who really NEEDS to meet the princesses! :)

We had to pry this out of her death grip, and the next day I took a hammer to it (!) and the girls get a sliver at a time. Because I *know* I would never be able to get this little girlie to stop licking once she got started!

Thanks Meagan for spoiling my girls, they adore you!!!