My Birthday Boy

 James turned one on Thursday. When we headed to bed, my hubby gave me heck for not blogging about his birthday. But you see, we didn't really do a whole lot on his birthday because daddy was working and didn't get home until after James was in bed asleep. So I didn't blog that day because I was waiting for today, the day that we were going to celebrate his birthday with family and friends.
What a wonderful day. The rain held off...mostly, and the kids were able to play outside while the adults visited inside. It was just so much fun. How very blessed my boy is to have so many people that love him. Life truly is grand! We had a total of 15 adults(17 with Daniel and I), 2 teenagers and 13 kids(17 with my four) in and out of our house between 2 and 7pm. It was crazy at times. but I love crazy when it comes to having family and friends over. We visited, James opened presents with the help of the kids, we ate good food and shared some yummy cake. It was AWESOME. Thanks everybody for coming and playing!

OK, so the rest of this is written to my boy, and for my boy....

Baby boy, when we found out that we were going to have you, we were told that you would join us somewhere around June 12th. As time went on, our doctor seemed to question this date and sent me for another ultrasound. At that time we thought that I was about 28 weeks along. After our Doctor reviewed the ultra sound report he moved your due date up by 3 weeks(May 24th). In a matter of minutes I had gone from 28 weeks to nearly 31 weeks, shaving nearly a months off. At both of our ultrasound appointments your dad and I thought we had seen things that would indicate that you were a boy. But we didn't actually want to know. Dad didn't want to risk being told that you were going to be a boy, and then being disappointed if you some how ended up being a girl, and besides, we like the surprise. I was pretty convinced from what I saw that you were a boy, but I dared not speak the words in case I jinxed it.
You did not come into the world on May 24th, but because your sister before you was 10lbs 13oz, our doctor took pity on me and had me induced on the 26th. You were anxious to join us and did not keep us waiting long. You came into the world at 9lbs 9oz. It was a good thing we didn't wait until June 12...you would have been really huge!

Oh, your poor purple face!...But daddy is so Proud!

Oh what a wonderful year it has been. You are such a delightful little big boy. You are so content to just be. You love everybody. All you have to do is smile at you and you'll smile the biggest. cutest smile right back. Your sisters love you so. They are always right there to help you out....this may or may not be the reason that you didn't start crawling until just this past week. Maybe it's just because you haven't ever wanted anything bad enough to try to get it. But now that you have figured out this crawling thing...I think I may be in for a bit of trouble.
You are so precious. I just want to hug and kiss you all of the time. I can't believe that it has been a year already. You are still my baby boy....and probably always will be. You may be the size of a two year old these days, but you are just my little baby boy. Please don't grow up too fast....but if you do, at least I know we'll have fun together. You make me smile everyday! I am one lucky mommy.

Michelle would be so proud of me.

So while I was in Spokane, I thought I'd take the opportunity to visit a makeup store that my SIL suggested I visit. She has inspired me to want to know and do more with my makeup collection...which is very limited. So I looked up the closest Sephora store. It was located in a mall that was not within walking distance from our hotel so we made a special trip just so that I could check some make up. Originally I was going to just buy the Urban Decay primer potion. But after looking around...and Kathryn getting bored of me looking around and wanting to go do something else. I finally decided on a eyeshadow set from Lorac with six shades that I knew I could work with and it came with it's own primer and brush. The lady that was helping me assured me that the primer was a really good primer. It wasn't Urban Decay, but still she felt that it was good product. I had to trust her, because I was totally out of my league. I also bought a basic black eyeliner from Urban Decay, that is so smooth and creamy. It's a dream. I spent more money on those two items than I have spent on makeup in total in the past year...maybe two. I tried out the purpley shades the very next day and loved it. I was so pleased with how well it lasted through out the day, and was immediately glad that I had made the purchase.

The colours are actually nothing like this picture shows. They are gorgeous.

After wondering the mall a while I came across a fun store called Icing, it has jewelry an other fun stuff, it also had it's own line of make up. I knew that it wasn't going to be the same quality as the set I had just purchased, but it was on sale for 50% off, making it $10. It too came with it's own eyeshadow base and two eyeliners(which I don't like. they are hard and don't go on very easily). I bought the set because it was an economical way for me to play with colours that I've never played with. This picture doesn't show the colour very well at all. They look a lot brighter than they really are. I tried out the green and brown and loved it. I used the primer that came with it and was also pleased with how well it lasted through out the day. I'm apparently smarter than I thought I was at this whole makeup thing because both times I had success and really liked the look. I think that I'll be set for awhile. On average I really only put makeup on once a week when I go to church and every once in awhile another opportunity presents itself. I may have to start putting makeup on just because so that I can try out all of the new colours I have and figure out what I like and what doesn't work.

A Wicked Good Time

On Wednesday last week Kathryn and I took off for Spokane, leaving Daddy with the three younger kids. We went with my mom and dad. The reason for our trip, to go see the Broadway musical Wicked. We've only been waiting for about nine months. We bought tickets as part of a group that a good friend of mine put together. As a result we were able to get the tickets for a wicked deal.

We had so much fun! We stayed at a hotel that was right across the street from where Wicked was playing. We were right down town close to nearly all the shopping you could ever want(except the Sephora store). We walked everywhere, spent plenty of money and enjoyed jogging/walking in River Front Park every morning. What a beautiful place! And to top it all off  Wicked was simply....well WICKED. Kathryn loved it. She had never seen anything that big and glitzy. She was simply in awe. I loved the storyline, about judging people based on their appearance. "Are people born wicked? Or is wickedness thrust upon them?" If you have a chance you should go see Wicked when it comes to Calgary or Edmonton this summer...that is if tickets aren't already sold out.

 It was so fun to have Kathryn with us. Everything was new for her. She felt like a big kid, because she was the only kid with us. She had Grandma and Grandpa's attention 100%. Not to mention that she had me all to herself. All in all it was a wicked four days. And Daddy survived with the kids...but that's his story to tell.

A tribute to Skyreach, By Kathryn

Good bye old friend.

 

Today I say good bye to my favorite kitty(shhh...don't tell the other two). Nearly nine years ago Daniel and I made a trip to the Saskatoon SPCA and picked out our very first kitty. He was solid grey. Daniel named him Skyreach, after the building where his beloved Edmonton Oilers played. Skyreach was a playful kitty. He loved to attack your feet under the covers, or jump out from behind corners and attack your ankles.

The only place he'd sit for his first car ride

While I was pregnant with Kathryn he used to curl up on my tummy. When Kathryn was born he would curl up on my lap next to her while I nursed her or just when I was holding her. When she was learning to walk he would jump out from behind corners and grab her around the waist. It always knocked her down. She'd yell at the kitty, get back up and start again, only to be knocked over by the kitty again. It was hilarious. When he was a kitten, he always slept on Daniel's pillow just above his head. When he got bigger he started sleeping on a hip, either mine or Daniel's whichever one was available. To this day, that is where he would sleep.

Skyreach with Kathryn

If you patted the bed, he'd come running from wherever he was and jump up on the bed and make himself comfortable. He could not resist the sound of the bed being patted. Skyreach was affectionate. He loved to sit on your lap and purr and when he wanted to be petted he was sure to let you know with a persistent nudging of his head to your hand until you gave in or tossed him off your lap.

Stretching after a nap

Skyreach was the best kitty to have around kids. He put up with EVERYTHING. In fact, he often simply asked for it. He has been ridden like a horse, sat on, rolled over. He has had his ears pulled, his tail pulled, fist fulls of hair pulled out and his tail bitten, and he just takes it all. When he's had enough he'll let out a little whine and then run away, but he always comes back for more. He LOVES to be around our kids, but when other kids came over, he would go and hide under our bed until they were gone. I guess he figured that because they didn't belong to him, he didn't have to put up with them. When we added a new kitten to our family about 5 years ago, Skyreach wasn't all that impressed with the new energetic kitty, put he tolerated him. Ranford always wanted to play wrestle with Skyreach. Skyreach would ignore his taunts for awhile, and then he would put Ranford in a headlock with his front paws and kick his had repeatedly with his hind paws. It was HILARIOUS! Ranford was just like the little brother teasing the older brother. Ranford never gave up, he just kept coming back to wrestle over and over and Skyreach would kick his but over and over. Over the years Ranford got fatter than Skyreach, but Skyreach could always kick his butt.

Couch Gargoyles

Skyreach or Niles?

When we adopted Niles and officially became the crazy cat house. Skyreach didn't even seem to notice that a third cat had been added to our family. Maybe it was because Niles was almost his identical twin.

It's been a fun nine years. To bad it had to end today. While Skyreach was outside sitting our our front step he was attacked by a big german shepherd. He put up quite a fight. But unfortunately it wasn't enough, the dog was just too big. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. I scared the dog away, picked up my nearly lifeless kitty, and felt him take his last few breaths and then I cried....a lot. I've never lost a pet before. Not that I can remember. I know we had cats when we lived on the farm, but I was really young. I miss my kitty. I wasn't prepared for this today. I called the RCMP and they came and picked up the dog, he wouldn't leave my yard and it was really upsetting the girls. Our other two cats were safe inside. But Ranford was up in arms at the window growling and hissing and jumping at the window. He would have gone out and taken on that dog if he had the chance. The RCMP officer returned the dog to his owner and told him what happened. The owner has since called me and apologized for what happened. He wanted to know what I wanted him to do. Did I want his dog put down? I told him absolutely not. The dog showed absolutely no aggression towards me, not when I went out to scare him off my cat, or afterwards when I went out to keep on eye on him until the RCMP came to get him. He just wanted to play, he wanted me to pet his head. I was in no mood. He offered to get us a new kitten. I told him I'd talk with my husband and we'd discuss it as a family and we'd let him know what we decided. I appreciated that he called, apologized, and offered to make it right, the best he could. I don't think everyone would have bothered.

Pretending that he wasn't trying to catch the fish.

I'm starting to feel better. Writing this out has helped curb the initial overwhelming sadness that I wasn't expecting to feel with the passing of a pet.

My first 5K, an amazing accomplishment.

 Five weeks ago I started training to run a 5K race. My ultimate goal is to run in the Milk River Bonanza Day 5K road race this August long weekend. I started out easy. I followed the 5K your way challenge on sparkpeople. Instead of laying out the whole plan here, I'll just leave a link and then lay out the basic idea.
So go here to find the training options. I chose to start out with the jog/walk plan and now I'll move on to the running plan. I could  have just done the rookie running plan, but I wanted to be sure that I'm wasn't overdoing it. After all I don't exactly have what one would call a "runner's body" and I'm really glad that I've done it that way. 

Today was race day. Today I finished my first virtual 5K(3.1mile) race. I made it! I completed the training and I am amazed at how far I have come in 5 weeks.

The first week's goal was to jog for 1 minute and then walk for 4 minutes(repeat 5 times). JOG FOR 1 MINUTE! That just about killed me. Sad, I know. Each week I would jog for 30 seconds more and walked less. Each week I thought I'd never make it to the next week. But at the beginning of each week I was surprised to see that I could indeed run for the required amount of time. Day 3 was always the toughest, and I was sure that I'd never be able to add 30 seconds for the next week. But I continued to surprise myself and now I can pretty easily jog for a full 3 minutes.

This past week the muscles in my calves and shins were so tight and sore. I was starting to think that I wasn't going to be able to race today. Wednesday I wasn't able to finish the last interval of running because the pain was so bad. Thursday I woke up with a wicked sinus cold. The fates seemed to be aligned against me. But I pushed forward. I wont lie. It was hard work this morning. My muscles in my calves hurt...a lot. But I was determined to do this. And do it I did! I wasn't fast. 41:30. But I did it. And I noticed that after I had jogged for 3 minutes, I still had more left in me and I could jog for even longer. This gives me great courage for when I start training to run the full 5K. I'm taking a week or two off of jogging to let my muscles heal. I'll keep up walking and riding my bike in place of my regular walk/jog in the mornings. Hopefully after a week or two my legs will feel better and I'll be ready to start in on the next level.

The only frustration I have in the whole thing is that over the past 5 weeks, I haven't lost a single pound. Not ONE! It makes me angry to think about it. So I try not to. I just keep focusing on the goal at hand, to run a full 5k, and I now know I can do it!

Tansley Kaye is 6 Today!!!

OK, actually she turned 6 on the 4th of May, but I suppose technically she is still 6 today. On her birthday before school I gave here these shoes and this skirt that I made for her the night before out of a pair of old worn out jeans and quilting cotton cut on the bias to make the ruffles(I'll have to post an up close picture to show off the fact that I didn't hem anything!).

I made her these cupcakes that I took up to school to surprise her.

On Friday afternoon we had her birthday party. We invited all of her kindergarten class plus a few cousins and a friend from church. All in all we had 19 kids and 6 adults. It was a crazy fun time. It tried to rain on us at first so we played freeze dance in my living room. When it seemed as though the rain had subsided we went outside to bust up a pinata and have cake.

Quick! grab the candy!!!!

 This cake was Tansley's idea. She wanted a "Picture cake", like a picture you would draw and put in a picture frame. So this is what I created. She LOVED it! She told me it was the most beautiful cake that she had ever seen. So all the work was completely worth it.

Tansley sat and opened her cards from all her friends. The idea was that it would be a "Toonie Party". Instead of bringing a present, each kid was to bring a card with a toonie($2 coin) in it and then Tansley would be able to go buy her own present. I love this idea. I win because I don't get a tonne of extra toys to clutter up my house and the kids parents win because it's only $2 instead whatever they would have spent on a present. This is the idea. Out of the 19 kids in attendance only 10 of them were acutally "invited" guests, the extras were siblings of those guests and three of my own children. So if you do the math, Tansley should have ended up with $20, but that is not what she ended up with. No, she had more than double that amount, $48! Lucky girl(she was in heaven the next day at the toys store).

When all of that was said and done, I just let the kids run around for awhile until their parents came to take them all away.

My Joy is Full.

Ever since Kathryn turned 8yrs she has wanted to fast on Fast Sundays. Even while I was nursing and not able to fast with her, she would choose to fast. This Sunday was no different. A few months ago, on Fast Sunday she had told me that she had wanted to get up and bear her testimony in sacrament meeting, but that she was too scared. I smiled at her and told her that I knew exactly how she felt. I encouraged her to practice. We talked about what kinda of things she would like to say in her testimony. We've talked about it here and there over the past few months. This morning while we were getting ready for church, Tansley came to me and told me that Kathryn was thinking that she wanted to bear her testimony in sacrament meeting today. So I found time to quietly talk to her and gently encourage her to do it if she felt prompted.

I started to wonder to myself when she got all grown up. Where did this big beautiful girl come from? How am I lucky enough to be her mother?

At church I could see she was nervous, and that she wanted to stand up. She sat quietly and wrote her testimony out in her little notebook she has in her scripture case and passed it to me to read. It was short, simple and to the point. My heart swelled, and I longed to hear her say the words herself. With 10 minutes left in sacrament meeting, and after making me promise to get up and bear my testimony right after her she finally just stood up quick and walked to the front. "I want to bear my testimony" she says and then starts to cry a little(she gets that from her mother). "I know this church is true." At this point she is completely choked up and has to stop. A deep breath. "I love my family very much." Another pause to gain control, and from the pew Kymberly says out loud "Kathryn, whats wrong?" which makes Kathryn laugh a little and she is able to finish up "I know the things that my parents and teacher say are true." and she finishes it off in the name of Jesus Christ. It was a very good thing that I had to wait while another sister bore her testimony, I was an emotional mess. I could see that I wasn't the only one, there were many in the congregation that were in tears. Through out the remainder of church a noticed a number of people give her a hug and tell her that they appreciated her sharing her testimony.

It brings a mother to tears to hear her first born bear their simple testimony for the first time in public. I think her father may have been having waterworks issues as well, but I couldn't tell through my blubbering mess. I could feel that she really knew and believed what she was saying. They weren't just words that she had heard. They were her own. I've done something right. My daughter has the beginnings of her very own testimony. Something I pray for every night. I want my children to have their very own testimony. I want them to believe, not just because their father and I have told them to, but because they know for themselves. It brings me such joy to see the seeds of faith grow with in them. This afternoon, Tansley told me that when Kathryn was bearing her testimony that she started to cry, because she felt the spirit and that she wanted to bear her testimony next month on Fast Sunday. Kathryn, ever the big sister, started to give her advice and encourage her that even though she might feel nervous and scared, if you just do it, you feel so wonderful afterward.

Today Kymberly had a lesson in sunbeams about keeping the Sabbath day holy. After church Daddy was checking the hockey scores and TV, boy oh boy, did he get an earful from Kymberly. "Dad, you don't watch sports on TV on Sundays!" At lunch I asked her to share with us what she learned in Sunbeams. She told us that on Sundays you don't watch sports or go grocery shopping. But that you do go to church or watch conference. You can listen to Sunday music and spend time with your family.  She listed some other things but I can't think of them. It just made me smile to know that she had learned something today.  Our ward has been so blessed with wonderful Primary teachers, and our children in the ward are surely benefiting. I see it in my own children and the changes in the other children in the ward.

It was a great Sunday, and I have hope that my children are going to be alright in this ever changing world. If we keep doing what we are doing they'll grow up strong in the gospel and know for themselves that Jesus is the Christ. That He lives. That He loves us. That He is the Son of  the Almighty God. And that they too are children of a loving Heavenly Father who wants them, and all of us, to return to live with him again. And through faith on the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance, it is entirely possible for us to be blessed with all that the Father has in store for us, both in this life and in the Eternities. I know this to be true.