One year older and wiser too

Here is to a new school year, back to regular routines and off to new adventures.

Kathryn is off to Grade 7. She turns twelve next week. HOW. IS. THIS. POSSIBLE? She likes her clothes and has her own style. She likes to be dressed up and doesn't have any qualms about wearing a skirt or dress to school. She is enthusiastic, and a bit sassy...but show me a 12 year old that isn't. She is your typical big sister, in that she is great at keeping her younger siblings in line...well great at trying, they don't like to listen very much. She is definitely a leader, both at home and in her class at school. She is excited to be playing volleyball again this year and looks forward to playing basket ball in the new year. She is super excited to be joining Young Women's. I love this kid. She is my best helper and I can count on her to get things done. I just can't believe she is twelve.

Tansley is off to Grade 4. She is super excited to have a male teacher in the school this year. MRES got a new principal, Mr Allan Rancier, the first male teacher the school has had for a long time. Tnasley gets to have him teach her half of the time. She thinks that is pretty cool. The first thing she told me about him was that he always wore awesome shoes. Tansley is an awesome big sister. She loves to take the younger kids for walks or up to the park. She loves math class. One day when I asked her what the worst part of the day was she said math class, because it was too easy and that she liked it better when it was trickier. She's growing up and I just can't slow it down. I love her, each and every bit of her.

Kymberly is in Grade 2. She loves school. She loves to learn everything. She loves everybody and everything. She is an excellent reader and loves to read every day. She wants very much to be like her big sisters and do everything that they do. This sometimes doesn't go over very well with the big sisters. If only they could understand what a huge compliment it is too them. Kymerbly has a tender heart and often expresses concern for her classmates when they have had a hard day at school. She is often making cards  to hand out to make people feel better. She honestly just wants everyone to be happy all of the time. I love her to pieces.

Oh my boy James started pre-k this year. He was so excited to start school. The first day was just an orientation day and only 1.5 hours. When it was time to go he was disappointed that it was over already. They have changed the rules this year and a parent doesn't have to sign him in in the mornings, so he is free to walk to school with his big sisters and I'll still be picking him up at lunch. As much as I love the idea of not having to look presentable at 8am, the idea that he doesn't need me to walk him to school, was a little heartbreaking. How can he be old enough for this? I worried that he would be OK on that first day, but I knew that he would be, I mean, look at him? On his first full day when I picked him up, we walked home hand in hand as he told me about his new friends and the toys he had played with. He never holds my hand. Like never ever. He has always wanted to run out on his own. That day, I wished we lived more than just two blocks from school so that moment could last just a little bit longer. My little man is growing up, soon he'll be a young man and heading off to new adventures at the big school....oh man. Just. Stop. Now.

Little Miss Ella is my only little one at home all of the time. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. Her words are just exploding right now and she thinks knows that she is cute. She loves shoes and is always stealing everybody's shoes. When she gets them on her feet she'll say "pretty?" She also LOVES to be outside. and when it is cold and wet and mommy is too much of a wimp to get all dressed up to go outside too play...she gets very very mad. She loves babies, and puppies and kitties. In fact, yesterday while we were outside and I was working in the garden she followed our cat, down the driveway, down the sidewalk, across the street and down two houses and into someones yard, all in a matter of just a few seconds. I had called after her as she walked down the driveway, and when I went to get her, she was nowhere to be seen, I gentleman driving by saw me looking and calling her name and told me he had seen her following a cat in to the neighbours yard. What a turkey. But even so, I love her and love watching her learn so many new things every day.

I seriously have the best job in the world, being a mom to these 5 rascals is amazing. They make me smile, they make me cry. They challenge me, try my patience and test my limits. They love me, encourage me and never give up on me. They hug me and kiss me more times in a day than one could possibly count. And even though they are growing up, I know they still need me...at least to read them stories at night.

One Last Summer Hurrah and an Answered Prayer

Friday after the kids were out of school, we packed up the van and head out on one last camping trip. We had planned our last camping trip for a couple of weeks before at Gold Springs Park, but it had rained all weekend and we ended up canceling our reservation. We were totally bummed and really wanted to get one more camping trip in to finish off our awesome summer. We didn't want to spend too much time driving, and being that it was the long weekend, all the conventional campgrounds nearby were completely booked. So we decided to venture out to the exotic destination of Del Bonita and camp out at the local campground. Daniel and I stopped by the Wednesday before on our way home from the temple. I noticed that the thistles were pretty bad especially around one of the swing sets, so I made a note to bring garden sheers and gloves. When we arrived Friday afternoon, I put Kathryn to work right away clearing thistles while I got the tent set up. It was a beautiful afternoon, with just a little wind. Being the smart mom that I am, I knew there would be plenty of space for flying kites so I brought a bunch of our 60cent kites that I had bought earlier in the summer. They fly amazingly and are really easy to get up in the air, so the kids did that while I was setting up camp.

Once camp was set up, we just took some time to take in the beauty that was all around us.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and planned to make smores for dessert, but had to wait a while for the wind to die down before starting a fire. And just like magic at about 7pm the wind stopped, and we were able to enjoy some tasty smores.

Before bed we all sat around the campfire and read scriptures together.  The kids headed to bed around 9pm and I stayed up with the fire a little longer. I headed to bed at 9:45, the earliest I've been to bed all summer...or like in forever. At 11pm some car headlights shone on the tent, to single the arrival of Daniel, a surprise visit! After he arrived the wind really picked up and I said, "well I guess we'll get to see how our new tent holds up in the wind." 

Saturday was a beautiful day, it was warm and a little windy. Daddy headed off to work and we got ready for a lazy day of outdoor fun. After breakfast was cleaned up, we headed out for a nature walk. I came prepared with masking tape so that we could make nature bracelets by wrapping it around our wrists with the sticky side out. The idea is then that you collect bits of nature and stick it to your bracelet. The girls and I all collected things like flowers and pretty leaves, James collected rocks and a single dandelion. Such a boy. The rest of our day was spent with flying kites, playing clue, teaching Tansley how to do a sudoku, folding a cutting construction paper, having little naps, swinging, playing on the slide eating food, and generally just having a great time enjoying the great out doors. 

For supper I had planned to do a wiener roast, but it had been windy all day and I wasn't sure it would be a good idea to have a fire. But just like magic, at 6pm the wind died down and we started a fire. We sat around the fire eating hotdogs and smores. Ella was tired and fell asleep in the chair eating a hotdog. We kept the fire going strong until after we had read scriptures and sent the kids to bed. By then Ella had woken up and her and I sat by the fire until the kids got settled and were sound asleep, then we too headed to bed around 10pm. Again in the middle of the night the wind howled and I prayed we'd be safe and the tent would hold up.

Sunday came, we got up enjoyed breakfast, boiled some water and had sponge baths, and headed off to church in Del Bonita. When we left there was nothing but a slight breeze and nothing to suggest I'd need to worry about anything. We had a very enjoyable time visiting the Del Bonita branch. They don't usually have a primary, but with my five kids and another family with 4 kids visiting "home" they put together an impromptu primary. It was wonderful, and spirit filled. The wind again had picked up, but the day was still pleasant. After church we headed back down to the campground, as we came up over the hill and around the bend I saw it...our tent blown up on its end against the camp kitchen, and flapping in the wind, I was afraid for the worst, but hoped that maybe all we would need to do is replace a few poles.
I pulled up, turned the van off, got Ella out and shut the doors. It must have been quite a strong wind to have blown the whole thing up on its end with all of our stuff in it, including a playpen. The wind was still blowing hard. I decided that I wanted a picture of this because I knew I'd be blogging about it, but my camera was in the tent somewhere, so I went to the van to get my phone. When I got to the van, I saw that the doors were locked and I could see my keys and my phone sitting there in between the seats. For some reason in my haste to check on the tent, I had taken the keys out of the ignition and dropped them there. All weekend I had been so careful not to leave the keys in the van because I had noticed before that the kids had been accidentally locking the doors. Our crappy situation had just gotten much much worse.
We were expecting Daniel later that day, but I had no way to reach him. There isn't any cell service at the campground, but I had noticed that up at the top of the hill you could get a signal...but that didn't matter because the phone was locked in the van. The girls and I got to taking the tent apart and I realized that the tent was in much worse shape than I had hoped. Poles were broken, joints were busted and the tent was torn. Some pegs were still in the ground with the loops or guy lines still attached and the velcro pockets that held the fly to the poles had been ripped right off. The tent was toast. I was sad. It was only our second camping trip in that tent, and we really liked it. With the tent down we began the task of trying to get our stuff out of it. During this whole time both James and Kymberly were in hysterics, bawling afraid of how we would get home and sad because our tent was destroyed. The thought entered my head “we went to church today, why did this happen” and immediately the response came in a very clear voice in my mind “you asked for safety”. I couldn’t argue with that, the Lord had answered my prayer and humbled me for having doubted him. If we had been at camp instead of at church, Ella would have been napping in that tent when the wind came up and tipped it over. I can only imagine the panic that would have caused. While at church the branch president had mentioned that he had noticed us from his place and wondered if we would need help packing up. I had told him then that my husband would be coming so we should be fine. There is only one farm yard that over looks the campground, and it wasn't too far away, I thought about going for a walk to get help, but then decided that we needed to pray first. We knelt together on the grass. I first thanked our Heavenly Father for the wonderful time we had had, for the safety that he had granted us, for the opportunity to go to church in that wonderful branch and be spiritually uplifted. Then I asked that he help us know what we needed to do. To send us help that we needed and bless us with whatever else we were in need of and to calm James and Kymberly and let them know that everything would be OK. I knew before I was done praying that we wouldn't be walking anywhere and that I should get started making lunch for the kids.
 I got the older girls busy folding up  blankets and pillows and putting clothes back in bags and I headed to the kitchen to start making lunch. Luckily I had left the coolers in the camp kitchen while we went to church so we had plenty of food to eat. I had just got the makings for sandwiches out of the cooler when a truck came down the road towards us. Over the weekend many vehicles had stopped in at the other camp kitchen and visited the outhouses or let their pets run, but this truck was coming out towards us. When it reached us there was a couple inside, they asked how things were going. I told them that we were in a bit of a predicament. They didn't have a cell phone, but they'd see what they could do to help. He took a look at our van and after some discussion decided that it wasn't a good idea to try to jimmy the locks on our new van. So instead, they decided that they would take Daniel's phone number and go up the the farm house and use the phone to let him know to bring the van keys and that the tent was down. As they drove away James was devastated that they weren't going to help us, I explained to him, that they were going to go call daddy and that they were an answer to our prayer. He said "No, Jesus didn't come to save us!" I told him that Jesus couldn't come to help everyone, but that he had sent this nice couple to come and help us. That is how he answers prayers, he sends other people to help us. Kymberly asked if she could say a thank you prayer, I told her of course she could, and she offered the sweetest prayer of thanks. Not long after the couple returned to let us know that the call had been made, Daniel had been reached and he was on his way. I thanked them, and let them know that they were an answer to prayer. We had just finished offering up our prayer when they arrived. The lady said "Wow, that gives me tingles". Now all we had to do was wait. While we were waiting the branch president's wife came down to check on us to see if there was anything we needed. We had all the food that we needed and plenty of blankets to keep us warm in the cool wind. So after we visited for a bit, she headed back home. After not too long, my knight in shining armor arrived to save us and help pack up our devastated camp.

Imagine the tent standing straight up on its back end with the roof smashed up against the camp kitchen. It wasn't the way he had wanted to end our camping trip. I had more fun things planned for another night with daddy. But we had fun while it lasted and we were glad to have got one more camping trip in before really getting into the swing of things. It also ended up being a great lesson for the kids, Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, and most of the time it isn't Jesus who comes to help, but just regular folks that he sends to our aid. Now they'll have their own story to share in primary.

What is this world coming to?

My nine year old went to a birthday party last night. They were going to a movie, I was told that they would be seeing "How to train a dragon 2", but when they got to the movie theater, that movie was no longer playing in the evening so a new movie was chosen. The movie that was chosen was rated PG, when I was a kid that meant that I wouldn't be concerned about my 9 year old watching such a movie. But apparently that isn't the case in this day and age. PG movies now come with language and violence warnings. Here is a listing of PG movies now playing at the Lethbridge Galaxy Cinema:

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Action/Drama
          PG - Violence, not recommended for young children, frightening scenes

Guardians of the Galaxy, Action/Adventure/fantasy
          PG - Violence, not recommended for young children, course language

How to Train Your Dragon 2, Action/Adventure/Family/Fantasy
          PG

Into the Storm, Action/Drama/Thriller
          PG - Not recommended for young children, frightening scenes, Language may offend

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Action/Adventure
          PG - violence

The Hundred-Foot Journey, Drama
          PG

Transformers: Age of Extinction, Action
          PG - Violence, not recommended for young children, frightening scenes

How many of these movies would you take your nine year old to see?

There are 4 other movies playing at Galaxy right now, one is rated G, two are rated 14A and one at 18A. Call me old fashioned, but to me most of these movies should have a higher rating. Since when does a movie with a PG rating require a language or violence warning??? In my mind a PG movie should be OK for kids. If it requires a language or violence warning then it should have a higher rating. Seems pretty simple to me.

As it turned out, the movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" had accidentally been rated "G" on the App that the parent had used to choose the new movie. Not knowing what the movie was about or anything she had trusted this information and taken this group of kids( ages 5 to 9) to a movie full of bad language and violence. Even with it's correct rating of PG, this mistake could have been made because on most general listings it only lists the ratings and not all the warnings.

For me a lesson was learned. I need to be much more vigilant in understanding the ratings of today, and not assume that they are the same as they were when I was a kid. I guess I just don't go to the movies enough.

Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow....

Happy Birthday to ME!!! Yesterday was a day to celebrate! My fabulous day started off with a wonderful gift from my oldest daughter. She had made a new skirt for me(with my help the day before, but idea, concept and most of the work was hers). It ended up beautifully amazing! When James saw me he said "mom! You're a Princess!"

We had a wonderful day at church and after church we got ready to go to Waterton. But first a skype visit with my mom and dad in Ireland! we met up with Jakki and kids in Waterton and decided to hike in to Bertha Bay. It was a pleasant hike, not to hard, but the mosquitoes were plentiful. It was slow going with James and Hudson. We had to keep encouraging them to keep going.

Packing Ella down to the bay. She is such a cute kid. 

Check out this view from the bay! What a beautiful day! Below is Daddy teaching Kymberly how to skip rocks. Every. Single. Rock. on this beach was perfect for skipping.

 Ella enjoyed sitting on the beach and tossing rocks in...some of them may have also ended up in her mouth.

 James and Hudson enjoyed being boys, and doing boy things. Kymberly found a fabulous pinky purple heart shaped rock.

 When we got back to the town site we met up with Lorne and headed to the park and set up to BBQ hamburgers for the kids and some delicious steaks and make some grilled Caesar salad for the adults. SO GOOD! After dinner we enjoyed the black forest cake that Kathryn had made for me. Talk about the perfect setting to enjoy some seriously delicious food!

 It was an absolutely perfect day spent with friends and family, in a perfect place. We ended the day with a drive past the Temple all lit up.

We had driven past the temple last week after our visit to Waterton and James had asked "Mom, does Jesus live there?" I told him that he did and he simply said "Oh". When we drove passed last night he said "Mom, is that where you turned to a Princess?" I chuckled a little and said "you bet buddy". Then he asked "Mom, is Jesus sleeping?" We all had a laugh, but how do you answer that? Kathryn told him that he was too busy helping people so be sleeping.

A great finish to a great day.

BBQ Cookies

So for the past few days Tansley has been asking if we could try to make cookies on the BBQ. So finally today we gave it a try. We used one of our favourite recipes from my 4H cookbooks that I know I have mentioned before, they are the best set of cookbooks ever! I believe I have hailed them as one of the best wedding gifts we ever got.

The recipe:
1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips

Mix it all together

I'd like to tell how how long to bake them for...but we weren't very good at timing them. And likely your BBQ would be different than ours anyways. The first batch I put 4 old canning rings down on the grill and then placed the pan of cookies on top. But this was too hot on the bottom. they burned to a crisp on the bottom and the tops were almost right...but we had kinda forgot about them.

The second attempt, I turned down the temp on the BBQ and tried again, but again the bottoms cooked to quickly. So for the third and final attempt we put soup cans on the grill and then put the pan of cookies on top, and they turned out perfectly after about 8(ish) minutes.

It was a fun experiment and now we know that you can indeed bake cookies on the BBQ, and we'll probably do it again some time.

Starting the summer off right

As soon as the kids were done with school, we packed up and headed out for 10 days of camping. We went with Beth and Mike Clarke and their two kids Dylan and Sydnee. It all started out sunny and warm. We didn't get to camp until 9:30pm. We had to stop a couple of times for puking kids, first Ella, then Dylan. Great start. Great fun.

Our first full day at the beach started out warm, but not too hot. It was a little cloudy but it just kept the temperature just right.

At lunch the Clarke's headed back to camp for lunch and to see if the kids would take a nap. We brought lunch to the beach.The mosquitoes were pretty bad at camp so we wanted to stay at the beach were the mosquitoes weren't so bad. We ate lunch and played some more. When we noticed a dark cloud moving in, we weren't too worried, it looked like it would just pass over us, even when the first crack of lightning struck. As the rain began to fall we thought we would just wait it out in our beach shade, to avoid the mosquitoes at camp. Kathryn and Tansley played Frisbee in the pouring rain while the rest of us sat in the beach shade to keep dry. But then the wind started to pick up and the rain really started to come down and Kathryn and Tansley joined us in the beach shade. We had probably been sitting in the shelter for 20 minutes or so, when the hail started, so we zipped up the door and got all cozy together while James and Ella cried through the noise of all of the thunder, rain and hail beating down on the tent.

What an adventure. After nearly an hour, it finally let up enough to make an escape back to camp...only to find that the window in the tent had been left open and Mine and Daniel's bed soaking wet. We ended up making a trip into Kalispell to the laundromat to dry out our bedding.

Later that day Lorne and Jakki Harty showed up with their crew. And the next day we spent an awesome day on the beach.

 Daniel spent a little time looking for his wedding ring he lost in the lake two years ago...a lost cause.

The next couple of days were rainy and cool. We spent some time in Kalispell, said good bye to friends, hung out around camp and went for a drive to the Flathead tunnel.

 Sunday the weather started to look up, we even enjoyed a beautiful rainbow that evening!

Monday brought beautiful weather and family to play with! Daniel's brother Spencer and his family showed up and we got to enjoy the next couple of days with them. They brought some kayaks and a motor boat. Cousins are always fun to play with!

 All set up to enjoy an amazing Canada day at the beach with family! This day was the most perfect day for enjoying water play! We would have loved to stay and enjoy more days like this!

 Wednesday morning James was up early, and it so happened that Barrett was up early too, so Angela and I took the boys for a walk. We ended up down at the beach, and the boys wanted to play in the water, so off came the PJ's and into the water they went in their undies.

 It was a beautiful morning, but it was our day to say good bye and pack up. No regrets here. It was a perfect start to our summer. We are looking forward to many more adventures this summer. Creating memories in whatever circumstances head our way.

 The obligatory visit to the big green truck in Sparwood.