For Anders

Happy Birthday, 5 Year Old!!We finally got to Anders' birthday, and then Laars is complaining that it isn't his today.  Anyways, we were treated to a visit by Gramma S, and my aunty Lorna (from Saskatchewan).  The children loved having them around because they were fun, interested in the children's activities and successes, and brought lots of sugar!

Anders of course was interested in gifts and food.  He picked pizza for his Birthday meal, which we haven't eaten in months so it was a real hit with everybody.  Us bigger people especially liked the Portobello mushrooms with taco seasoning to make a Taco Pizza.

He received Cars stickers, and an altered shirt.

The checkered shirt I altered from a size 7/8 to fit Anders whose a size 5.  When he opened the gift he said "Oh, that shirt" and tossed it away.  But when I convinced him that it would fit him, he tried it on and is now thrilled that he has another CowBoy shirt to wear.

And he got a bandana, the green one in the top photo.  Plus we got him new jammies that he's been wanting for a long while since he out-grew the old ones.

And celebrated with ice cream sundaes, as was his choice. 

Happy Day for a Happy Boy.

Sweeping Strokes

Danaka's "Window"

Gaelyn's "Sea Animals"

Danaka's "Art of Science"

Mitchell's "Ancient Scripts" (Viking Ruens, Hebrew, & Hieroglyphs)

Anders' "Animal Letters"

Gaelyn's "Animal Letters"

Maret's "Run Away Spunky" book

Spunky the cat in a rain storm

the proud author and painter, Maret

Calves & Cows

Laying in bed, cuddling with Anders in the morning I was telling him some names of the different parts of his body.  Things like knee-cap, shoulder-blades, calves and shins.

Later, he points at the back of his leg and tells his dad that that is his Calf.

 He points to the front and says "this is a Cow!"

Hours Upon Hours

A Boy's Imagination + K'Nex =  some military contraptions


PS.....December Photo Project (DPP) was officially over with
on the 25th, but here's a picture for today, anyways.
I enjoyed doing the DPP, although some nights it was a
bit of a chore, especially when I was ready to bed down
with the Littles.  (Sometimes I didn't upload till the next morning
because bed was better.....ahhh, confessions, now I can
enter 2011 with a lighter heart!)

(DPP) Tumble

Underneath there is the oldest sister, lovingly attacked by the 2 little brothers.  

Lots of fun and alot of noise.

(DPP) Big Sis Little Bro

Mix together Big Artistic Sister with 4 year old Little Brother and some colourful nailpolish the other Sisters just got from Santa's Early Elves and you have Happy Faces!

(DPP) Give Me the Woolys

Laars chews his fingernails, stressed by the whole situation.

Twinkle Twinkle (DPP)

Everette and I were invited for an impromptu chorus of Twinkle Twinkle.  Note that Anders is The Star which is a princess gown that Aunty Joanne sewed and he's holding it upside down.  Seems to work for an instant Star!

I was surprised by the (attempted) harmonizing going on here.

Cowboy

He wears this outfit almost every day now, and sleeps in it whenever its clean. 

The horse beds down somewhere else, but he wants to sleep and even dine with his hat on.

This is the cutest cowboy around, and steals my heart......and always will unless his horse starts dropping messes around here, then I'll send them both out to pasture.

A Bouquet

Out with the boys in the backyard to swing, dig in the sand, and teach Anders to throw frisbee, and I couldn't help but bring some flowers into the house.  Thanks to Anders for helping mommy cut the beauties.

'Twas a better picture for the day than the one of Laars' fingernail as today he lost his second one.  We were grossed out as it hung precariously from a little piece at the base, but he lost it somewhere's in the house today.  I think I like the looks better now with no nail, then the loose one pried up at a 45 degree angle waiting for its final accidental tug to disengage it.  Glad its over.  Like I said, the flowers are a prettier sight.

Lazy Sunday

Mom was returning to her condo today so we did some clean-up and uncluttering to make her transition back-home-now-with-9-extra-people-in-her-space hopefully less traumatic!  She said she had a great month away, and sounds like they had a great time at a family get-together in Drumheller this past week.

White Rock has their Farmer's Market on Sundays basically just outside my mom's condo building, so Everette and I frequent there when it opens at 9am.  The breads look incredibly tempting, and I sampled a chocolate cake that is made without butter or oil but uses beets (yes, the veggie beets!!) and my!! was it ever moist and yummy, very chocolatey but not real sweet.  Mmmmm!   (Natasha, you should learn to make one!!)  There's lots of people selling stone fruits and Chilliwack corn but very little of it is organic.  We purchase our organic produce from an Abbotsford vendor and get huge lettuces for $1.50!!  I'm impressed.

And today we found The Cranberry Lady and sampled 2 of her cranberry dressings on slices of apple.....and bought both of them.  Had the cranberry-orange on todays salad and it was yum, too!

Of course, I took the children swimming as is the daily practice while here at Gramma's.  Anders has been swimming now without a life-jacket for a week.  He's a busy boy doing somersaults under water, and spinning 'like a space ship', and trying to swim without holding his nose, and talking under water and asking, "Mommy, did you hear me?"

Laars is completely confident now with his life-jacket where 3 weeks ago he didn't even want to venture in the water, and if he did he certainly didn't want to let go of his Protector.  Now he lays on his back being a Starfish, and tries his awkward attempt (in bulky life-jacket) at a front stroke, and wants to collect 'n spit out that chlorinated water at his siblings.  Great fun!!

Laars is always wanting to 'Be a Baby' after a bath or a swim so this Mama wraps him up in a towel and snuggles for awhile.

I hope he doesn't grow out of this too soon!!

Hanging with the Fam

Rauchelle had a couple days off from work so she was able to spend 3 days and nights with us here at my mom's condo.  And it just so happened that Layne also had 3 days off, overlapping Chelle's, so she was able to come back out here from UBC to spend her time off with the family.  We always LOVE it when we can have all the family together in one place.

We didn't keep overly busy at all.  Actually, very low keyed.  Played some games, watched some movies, had tea together, played with each other's hair, got/gave foot massages, had some Spanish lessons, went for walks, picked berries, all those lovely interacting things to do with those you care about.  And we ate, and cried, and shared our thoughts and love. 

It's been great.

So here's just a few pics (I forgot the camera!!) from the past few days.

Granville Island

This afternoon we drove out to UBC to pick up Layne after her

morning of teaching ESL and we headed to Granville Island.  We found an organic grocer there at the Public Market and stocked up on Pink Lady's, nectarines, strawberries, cherry tomatoes and pears and sat outside by the marina in the sunshine and devoured our nutritious lunch. (Later followed by not-nutritious apple-fritters and a humungous raspberry bran muffin).

 We wandered thru the stores a bit, especially over at the Kid's Market where the Toy Store is, and listened to the Bucksters outside of Bridges and the Bakery.  I didn't see the magician but much of the family did, and from the crowd that gathered it was a sensational show.

We found another park for the children to play at for a couple hours in the city as we enjoyed some short snoozes and chatter before driving Layne back to her temporary abode and an evening for her of getting paid to watch a movie with the ESL students! 

New Looks

Anders got a mohawk.

Laars didn't

And Mitchell lost his.

While the boys did something with their hair, us girls did something with our toes and fingernails.

A New Look for alot of us.  Plain and simple.

To the Fort

In celebration of Banff National Parks 125th Birthday, some Canada Parks were offering free admittance today, so our family headed over to the participating Fort Langley Historical Site

where we spent 4 delightful hours and got ourselves some sore legs and very wet children.  Enjoy the pics.

An HBC (Hudson Bay Company) flag

A fun puppet show the children loved about Biodiversity and a spider coming to appreciate its own unique characteristics.

Children always love the animals.

Inside a soldiers' tent.

Inside a Cooper's barrel.

Inside a picture!

This hung on the wall beside a bed.  They would keep their candles in this metal box to keep the rats away.  After all, the candles were made (attractively for rats) with animal fats!

The fellow in the middle was a great story-teller, imagining he was the captain of some voyageurs traveling by canoe from Fort St James to Fort Langley with a portage at Hell's Gate. The guys on either side were 'acting out' what life for them might have been like being voyageurs.  Here they carry 100 lb packs of pelts on their backs, using straps around their foreheads.  Their bellies would be wrapped time and time again with fabric (up to 40 feet long) to help support their abdominal muscles to prevent ruptured hernia's and spilled guts!

Up on the fort wall, on a corner with a view of approaching Indians.

I think Gold Panning was a big hit for the family.

But Laars preferred to float 'boats' of bark in the overflow of the sluice box.

Anders enjoyed all the different furs.  This one was a grey wolf.  

 

This other fur was from a Timberwolf, much bigger.

The children almost always enjoy a coloring opportunity.  Here Maret and Tov are coloring eagle heads to make hats.

Another successful unschooled day.  Anders asked, "Can we come here tomorrow?"