Skating

Moses has been in skating lessons since January. He has learned so much and I am so proud of his effort. Not as proud as he is; if you ask him he will tell you that he is the best skater in his class and that he thinks he should be on TV like Jerome Iginlia (neither of which are true, but you've got to admire his confidence). At the end of the year they do a little performance to all the parents. Moses wasn't too thrilled about having to wear a costume. He was being moody and difficult until Scott showed him how many people were there and told him that they all had paid money to watch him (only stretching the truth slightly as they were in fact going to watch him even if they truly paid money to watch their own children skate). After he told him that he got very excited and put on his best performance! It isn't much, but when you consider he has only been going for half an hour once a week for about 7 weeks and hasn't a drop of natural athletic ability he does pretty good! (He is the last one...yes the one that is carried both ways!)

You can click HERE to watch the video on YouTube.

We had to go in on a special day to have this picture taken. At the time Scott and I were both so, so sick. Trying to be a good mom, I hauled Moses down to the rink to get his picture taken. Moses HATES having his picture taken, doesn't like borrowed costumes, and said his hat was too itchy. I had a fever over 100 F (38 C), a bad cough, and only half my voice. I was in no mode to fight him. The poor photogrpher didn't know what to make of this pouting kid that wouldn't smile no matter what tricks they tried. So this is the picture from his first ever Claresholm Skating Carnival!

Now that Moses is a skater (using the term loosely), Scott can take both boys to the rink at the same time as he did this last Family Day (a holiday here in Alberta on the 3rd Monday in Feburary). It's nice to see a picture with Moses happy!

Creepy..but not Crawly

Berlyn is officially creeping. She loves getting into whatever the boys are playing with at the time. And if they aren't around at the time - any Hot Wheels car will do.

 Click Here to watch the video on YouTube.

Has it really been 5 years...

Moses turned five this month. Not only does this mark his half a decade birthday, but it marks half a decade I have spent as a mother. Has it really been 5 years?! 5 years ago I did the hardest thing I have ever done for the first of three times. And we were blessed with a 5 lb 13 oz Moses. I remember when his entire torso would fit in my hand. Now his head doesn't even fit in my hand! Life really is a miracle and it has been amazing to watch Moses grow.

 Some of his first admirers.

To celebrate his birthday, we had a dinner the night of his birthday with our family and Grandma and Grandpa. Then we had a birthday party the next Saturday with some of his friends. On his birthday we made him wait until that evening to open his gifts. He was so patient waiting all day that I finally gave in and let him open them before dinner. BIG MISTAKE... HUGE! (to be read in your best Julia Roberts, Pretty Women voice!) He didn't eat a thing. Not even cake. He just wanted to play with his toys. Guess I should have seen that one coming. He got exactly what he wanted - Hot Wheels Trick Tracks. It was fun to watch him open his gifts. He literally screamed!

The cake looked really cool and was a hit with the adults. It was a chocolate cheesecake with candy bars all over it (sooooo good). But Moses and Kael didn't really like it. It was cheesecake after all. I tried to warn him, but he insisted this is what he wanted.

 Playing with some of his new tracks!

His party was fun. We set up all of his tracks and let the kids put them together. It was actually a little hard for Moses. He is a little OCD and likes to have specific cars go with specific tracks and he likes them to go together in a specific order and he REALLY likes to be the boss. I was proud of him for finally letting the other kids do what they wanted to do. I know it was hard for him. I think next year we will plan an activity that isn't at our house and doesn't involve using his own toys. It might be less stressful for poor, OCD Moses.

  The Pinata was a lot of fun! What little boys doesn't love to hit something:?!

 

Happy Birthday Moses! I'm so glad we have you in our family. You are a great big brother and a wonderful son. I am so proud of you and all you have learned in these last five years. I can't wait to see what the next five years bring!

Hot wheels... Beat That!

Moses loves his hot wheels! In fact, he is a little obsessed with them. When he isn't playing with them he his talking about them. When he isn't talking about them he is thinking about them. And in his free time he loves to watch you tube videos of them. There are videos of kids setting up and playing with their tracks, but there are more videos of hot wheels commercials. Like the one below.

Here is the link for facebook viewers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ__Jn7H9bA

And here is a video of Moses reciting that exact commercial from memory. When we told him he was watching too much YouTube he said, "No I'm not. I just memorize really quickly." That may be true, but it was a long, slow January!

Once again, here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUyNLr8j-8o

January always seems like such a "blah" month for me. You take down the Christmas decorations, and then what. Absolutely NOTHING - that's what. I should always plan a vacation for January or something because it is always so uneventful and goes by so slowly. And it is always so, so cold. This January was no exception. It was cold, and seemed to me to drag on for so long. But now it is over and these are the only pictures I have to show for the entire month. At least my kids are cute, that brightens my day and makes the absence of summer sun a bit more bearable!

 

Moses Teaches FHE

So Moses is growing up, and he sometimes asks if he can teach the lesson for Family Home Evening. We tried it once and it was a bit of a gong show. So I kept saying no for a long time after that. Finally, I gave in. He planned it all on his own because it had to be a surprise. He gathered the visual aids and even planned the activity. The end result is much less of a gong show, but still pretty funny! And there were a few good points that he made - we should all Choose the Right!

PS. NO IDEA why he named his little toy "playboy".

New Lens

I just had to play around with my new lens and get a few pictures of Berlyn in her Christmas best. 

Berlyn is always my most willing subject, but I managed to trick Moses into playing with Berlyn and snapped this one. I told him I needed him to help me make her smile. He thought he was helping me and not being in any pictures - if that was dishonest it was worth it to get this shot!

When I look at these pictures, or any of my pictures really, I see so many things I wish I would have fixed or adjusted before I pressed the shutter. I'm beginning to think I will never really feel like any of my pictures turned out exactly the way I wanted them to. Maybe that's just part of learning...

Merry Christmas!

With a family like mine Christmas couldn't be anything but wonderful. We really tried to spend time together doing lots of fun Christmas things. And here are the pictures to prove it!

 Making the Gingerbread House...

...and Eating it!

 Who loves fondue? I do, I do! As Moses said that night, "I love taking healthy stuff and covering it with junk food!"

 I think he has been taking photo posing lessons from his dad - Moses has mastered one of Scott's classic poses.

 Moses doing the "Hokey Pokey" at the Glenwood Christmas Eve Dance. He hasn't quite figured out how it works yet. Here he is standing right smack in the middle of the circle!

These last two pictures were taken with my new camera lens I got for Christmas. I can already tell how much it improves my pictures. You can now expect great things from my future posts. :) I can now blame every bad picture I've ever taken on my old lens - it's not me, it's the camera!

Merry Christmas!

While we were taking this picture, the site director for the Care Centre stopped and asked us what we were doing. He stated his opinion that some people might find our Christmas card offensive. Off course we took the picture anyway. Although we do realize that some people would find this offensive, we think our friends  and family know us better than that. Of course we know that the center is a real place that does good work for many people. Scott even has patients there. We aren't making fun of them - we are making fun of ourselves. I'm sure you all know us and know that we are probably the craziest family ever!

So have a crazy good Christmas and an even loonier New Year!

No Dinosaurs Allowed

These signs have appeared all over my house. Just in case a dinosaur were to show up, they will not be allowed in the fridge, pantry, bathroom, or up the stairs.

Notice how the T-Rex actually has short arms and just 2 fingers. We get the dinosaur anatomy correct around here!