Fall Is Here!

Recently we have had a really mild Fall. Pretty hot actually. So the kids were still wearing shorts and t-shirts. But last week Fall came and it was so cold in the mornings. It was actually pretty cold during the day too. So sad! I am going to miss summer, we had some fun times!

Nothing says Fall more than canning. I did quite a bit of canning this Fall. One day my mom and I canned Salsa all day long. But we got it done, and it's pretty delicious! We both got over 20 cans each. It was a success. I didn't take any pictures at all. Oh well!

Renee and I canned some Apple jelly and syrup a while back. I kept telling her it was easy and she didn't believe me, so we did it together. Then she wanted us to can Red Pepper Jelly. So a couple of Friday's ago we decided to do it. We had all our stuff ready and I brought it over to her house. The boys had fun playing, while we canned! We did two double batches all together. It was fun doing this together. We only had one mishap right at the end. We boiled over a pot and it made a HUGE mess on the stove top. It smoked us out too. We had to open all the doors and windows to air the house out! Other then that, everything went pretty smoothly!

Renee is really good and took a picture of all the ingredients. I don't think of doing something like that!

Sterilizing the lids.

Getting the bottles ready to sterilize.

Cooking the jelly, lots of stirring involved!

Renee looking all domestic stirring the jelly!

Our big mess that we made!

This is why I don't take these pictures!! My picture of the finished product!

Renee's picture of the finished product.....looks much better!

Wacky Wednesday came around this year and all my girls were excited to dress wacky. Of course, Cadence goes ALL out! She just cracks me up. I don't know where she gets it from, because I definitely wasn't like that at all! Neither was Richard. I still don't like dressing up! They had fun with it!

My crazy girls! They all have different pairs of shoes on! Love Cadence's pose in this picture. Notice her braids sticking out, I put some pipe cleaner in them. She loved it!!

They all put their shirts on backwards, but Cadence went a step further and did everything inside out too. I put four braids in Brianna's hair and one braid in Abbi's and one pony tail! As you can see Cadence went and added bows and flowers and the tiger climbing up her leg. She cracks me up!

I came into the Kitchen one day and caught DJ drinking right out of the milk jug. I was getting after him (trying so hard not too laugh because it looked hilarious). He just looked at me and said, "Just like dad!" Oh, that's where he got it from!! Ha ha!

I caught him in the act!

He had to finish off the jug!

Cadence has been asking for a while to get her hair permed. I finally said yes. I told her she'd have to sit still for quite a while. She said she could do it. So my hair dresser came to our house and did Cadence's hair. It looks super cute on her. She loves it and so do I. Abbi wanted her hair cut, so we finally got her hair cut too! Brianna told me she was happy with her hair.

This is during the long process! She only freaked out a little when we were rinsing off the curlers. She kept saying there were spiders on her head. She was being serious too!

Her cute curly hair. She had a little mishap on the trampoline and hurt her knee. She was on crutches for a couple of days!

Abbi's long beautiful hair!

Just before she got it cut. It was so long!

Her cute short hair cut! She loves it and it is so much easier to wash and brush out!

Last Wednesday it was really chilly out. The girls were so excited to see the frost outside. It was funny to see them running on the grass and then checking out their foot prints! I told DJ that we were just going to stay home. And that's what we did. It was so nice, to just relax and get some things done. DJ kept asking me to make cookies. We needed to run to the store to get some chocolate chips. But when we got there and I showed him the chocolate chips he said no and told me to follow him. He kept putting his hands apart and saying "Dis tootie(meaning cookie) mom." He raced around to the cookie aisle and put his favorite cookies into his little cart. Silly goof! He just wanted to buy cookies! Oh well, I made cookies anyways because I knew the girls would love to have home made cookies when they got home from school and they did.

While I made cookies DJ played with his cars. I made him a track all over the living room and kitchen. He loved it. Played for a long time. I made it out of duct tape! He thought it was great! Before the cars, he went outside and played out there for a long time with the mud and water. He came in all wet, muddy and cold! Silly boy! He really plays so good by himself! He is usually in his own little world, so cute to watch!

Crazy boy playing in the mud. He kept bringing his bucket to me so I could put some water in it!

Then he'd go out and pour the water into the mud bucket!

Then he came in and played with his trucks and the duct tape road!

Love listening to him talk to himself when he plays so so cute!

I decided that this day was a perfect soup day. So I made some cheddar potato soup. I got the mix from the farmers market a while back. It was pretty yummy. Perfect for a cold day. I made some toasted cheese sandwich to go with them!

The yummy plate of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!

Boiling the water before I put the soup mix in!

Ta da....supper is served! So yummy and easy!

On Thursday I decided to make a run to Cutbank to do some grocery shopping. So I got all of us ready. The kids were up early that morning (all of them). So I decided to get up and exercise and shower. I even had time to give all the girls a shower and get them dress. Oh yeah, I was on the ball that day! Doesn't always happen, because my girls are usually still sleeping by 7:30am and I have to wake them up. But on this day they were all up at 6:15am, not sure why! Oh well! Happy to get my exercising over with early! ha ha!

I dropped the girls off at school and came back to the house to pick up Richard. He had a quick job to do in Del Bonita. Since it's right there at the border he came with us. So he stopped and did his job first. DJ and I visited with a really nice older couple while we waited! Then we went to Cutbank. Of course, we had to hit JC Penny's first. Love that store! Got a few things then we went to Albertson's and got our groceries. Then we ate lunch at Pizza Hut and then came home. DJ was so tired, he slept on the way home. I carried him in and he was still sleeping. Crazy boy. It was a good day.

Renee called me that night saying she needed to get out of the house. So we decided to go for a job. We are both determined to eat better and exercise more. So much easier to do when you have friends on board too! So we ran about 4kms. It felt awesome! We did it again Friday night too. I am determined to be good on Thanksgiving weekend. I am in a weight loss challenge and I don't want to gain anything. If I do I have to pay $1 a pound. How's that for motivation?! So far so good, I've lost 3lbs. It's a 12 week program and today is week 3. I go in tonight for my weight in....wish me luck!

On Friday we woke up and Abbi told me she wasn't feeling good. I didn't take it too seriously because she said that then went and played. But then she came back and told me she threw up. So I got her a bowl and settled on the couch with a movie. Poor girl was miserable all day. She just kept throwing up. But then by that evening she was perking up. It was a nasty flu bug. Which Brianna caught on Sunday evening. Oh the joys. So we just stayed home on Friday and I spent all day cleaning up barf. Fun! Hence, why we went out running again.

Man Am I Getting Old!!

So on September 14 I turned the big 3 - 5. Oh my, that seems so old, especially when I feel like I'm still in my 20's!! Ha ha! I woke up with a super big headache. Not the best way to start my birthday. I was getting the girls ready for school (it was a Friday), when Richard came into the kitchen. He said to me, "I'm only going to say this once, then I'm turning around and walking out the door." I looked at him and said, "Oooooookay!". Then Richard said, "Pack up and get the kids ready we are leaving in 1 1/2hrs to go to the zoo for the day!" Then he walked out of the house (to do a few jobs quickly). I was shocked!! So the kids were excited and we got all ready.

So we got ready and when Richard got back we were off. The ride there was just a little CRAZY! I was beginning to question our decision. The kids were so excited and bouncing off the windows. DJ was screaming I mean singing his heart out. We stopped and got some lunch in Vulcan and I about bit the lady's head off. Some people make me mad. Then to top everything off, some ladies yelled out to me, "Good luck!" Probably because they watched us put all the kids back into the burb and pass out food, drinks etc. Anyways, I wasn't impressed at all. Didn't help that was in a very grumpy mood (because of the pounding headache). I ate my food, took some drugs, grabbed my pillow and slept the rest of the way. When I woke up I felt 100% better. Good thing, because we were at the zoo!

We decided to just hit the animals that all the kids were dying to see. Of course, we saw the ones in between but we didn't try to see ALL the animals. It made it alot more enjoyable. The first animals we saw was the penguins. The girls have been dying to see them all summer long. We got there and there was a bit of a line up. We looked closer and there were 2 people stuck in the rotating doors. They couldn't get out or in. This door usually moves around automatically. There were no workers around. So Richard walked up and forced the doors open and got the people out and we got in!! Ha ha! Then they shut the exhibit down for a bit so they could fix the door. We were in though. So it wasn't very crowded. The kids loved watching the penguins. Actually, I did too! They are funny mammals to watch.

Brianna, Cadence, Abbi and DJ standing in front of the penguin exhibit outside. You can see a few penguins behind them.

The kids were so fascinated with the penguins!

The very cool looking penguins!

Then we headed over to the elephants. On the way we saw the flamingo's. DJ thought the pink birds with one leg were funny! The elephants were all out and walking around. It's fun to see them move around. They kept flinging dirt up on their backs. DJ thought it was so funny! We sat there for a while and watched the elephants.

DJ showing me the pink flamingo's. You can see his cool Tiger hat we got him.

Cadence showing off her balance skills and standing like a flamingo!

Brianna showing us the elephants!

Everyone was hot and decided to take a seat, have a drink and watch the elephants.

Abbi, Cadence and Brianna watching the elephants walking around. There was a worker at the far side of the building randomly spraying water from a water hose and the elephants would walk into the spray and stand there...they were hot too!

The kids playing on the elephants statue and Richard watching the elephants! Ha ha!

Of course we had to get a picture of the pregnant elephant!! My 3 cute little girls, cooling down with a Popsicle!

DJ wanted to see the tiger. He kept talking about them, and we even bought him a "tiger" hat, because we forgot his hat at home. It was warm out and we didn't want him to get a sunburn. He kept asking about the tigers. We got there and the tiger was pacing back and forth in front of the cage. DJ kept following it back and forth. It was really cool. He loved it.

Brianna and Cadence watching the Tiger pace back and forth.

DJ and Cadence running after the Tiger!

Of course, we had to go to the butterfly gardens next. All my kids love going there. Me, not so much, because it's way too hot and stuffy in there. But we went in and walked around. They loved all the butterflies flying everywhere.

Me and my girls in the butterfly gardens!

Then off to see the hippo and giraffes. My kids thought it was hilarious that all they could see of the hippo was his big butt. He was sleeping and that was the view we saw! Of course, the kids loved seeing the giraffe too. And we saw the lions. It was right at feeding time, so it was kind of cool to watch that.

DJ and Abbi loved looking at the big fish in the hippo tank!

DJ actually looked at me when I took a picture of him!

DJ climbing the fence to get a closer look at the Zebra's!

Cadence, Abbi and Brianna watching the Giraffe eat from the tree!

By this time the kids were all complaining that they were hot and tired. We did see a lot of other animals in between the others. I just didn't get pictures of them all. We decided to go back to the penguins one last time. It was at the perfect time too. They were feeding the penguins too. So fun to watch. There was a lady in with the penguins talking to us and explaining more about the penguins. It was fun to watch and listen too.

We saw this lion statue and the kids wanted on. So I took a picture!

Love this picture of all 4 of my kids on the lion's back!

Listening to the lady talk to us about the penguins while she randomly threw a handful of fish into the water. The penguins went crazy every time she did! Funny to watch!

Could watch the penguins all day! So funny!

Cadence got a kick of the penguins swimming under the walkway to the other tank. It was a pretty cool set-up for the penguins!

We then stopped at the gift shop where the kids were able to each pick out a stuffed animal. They were all excited about that. Of course, DJ picked a tiger. He loved it. All the kids loved their animals. It was the perfect note to end on. So we left!

Here's the girls with their newly purchased stuffed animals! Brianna with an owl, Cadence with a penguin and Abbi with a snow leopard. DJ refused to be in the picture with his tiger! Oh well!

We drove to downtown Calgary and the kids were able to see the big buildings. Richard had the bright idea to take them up to the Calgary tower. We found a parking garage and started up. Then he slammed on his brakes when he realized that that we weren't going to fit under the bar. We had cars behind us, so we had to back up on the wrong side of the lane. It was kind of funny! So much for that idea. So we went to find someplace to eat.

Richard took us to Red Lobster. First time of ever going and it was delicious. Loved the whole experience. It was a fancier restaurant then what we normally take our kids too. But they did so good. They loved the experience too. I had lobster, of course, and it was so good. Then our dessert came and they sung happy birthday to me! The kids thought that that was great. It was a fun and yummy dinner. We were getting ready to leave when this lady came up behind me and asked to speak to us. She told us that she just wanted to tell us how good our kids are. She was very impressed and wanted to let us know that we have a very cute family and our kids are so well behaved! Good thing she didn't see them earlier that day!! ha ha! But it was the nicest thing to say and made me very proud to be the mother of my awesome kids!

Me on my birthday with my delicious birthday dessert!

Yummy is all I got to say!

We then took off for home. It was a fun filled day and everyone was tired. We got home around 9pm. I loved my birthday. My birthday present was the ski that I bought earlier in the month. I was totally fine with that. I loved spending my birthday with my family. So much fun!

Crazy Kids That I Have!

I need to write down some of the crazy things that have happened lately. They are all kind of random so I will just make a list!

1. I was helping Cadence after school with her words. We were sitting across from each other when I noticed a new tooth coming up behind her baby tooth. I said, "Oh Cadence I see something in your mouth!" (not sure why I said it like that). Well she proceeded to FREAK out. She started spitting and was taking her hands and frantically swiping at her tongue. It was very comical. I finally yelled, "NO CADENCE IT'S A NEW TOOTH!" She stopped and looked at me and laughed and said, "Oh mom, I thought there was a bug in my mouth!" Oh my, what a girl! Her reactions kill me!

2. This past week DJ was having trouble with his balance. I didn't really clue in till later, what was going on. We were sitting down for lunch, just DJ and I, and he was talking to me and then he was gone. He fell off his chair. Then later that day, he was playing with play dough and the same thing happened, he was there playing and the next thing, he was on the floor. He was so sad. He kept telling me, "Me no sit on chair, me sit on floor, me no fall." Then we went bike riding and he was peddling away leaning really hard to the left, I had to catch him and pull him up right. I took him to the doctors the next day and sure enough he has an ear infection on the left side. Poor kid. The doctor had a little chuckle when I told him why I was coming in. He said, "I guess him falling off chairs is a good indication that something isn't right." The funny thing is DJ was refusing to sit on chairs after this. He sat and ate on the floor one afternoon. I finally talked him into sitting in either mine or his dad's chair (because they have the arms). He will only sit there. He does NOT want to fall! Poor kid!

3. One night the kids were all in bed. Cadence came up saying she wanted a drink, I told her no. She went back to bed and about 10 minutes later I heard some giggling and she came back up to tell me that something exploded. I was a little confused and asked her to explain. She said, "I was hungry and thirsty and was looking everywhere, and found DJ's lunch box and took his thermos. When I opened it it exploded everywhere and it looks like throw up." Oh boy. So I went down and sure enough DJ's thermos had an old chocolate milk shake in it. We had lost it, but Cadence found it. It was so disgusting. She was sitting on her bed and it exploded across the room and splattered all up the wall, on the floor and all over her blankets. Yuck! The funny thing is Abbi and Cadence thought it was hilarious. I couldn't really get mad, because they were cracking up so bad. It was kind of funny! That's what I get for saying no to a drink! Sheesh! Oh Brianna slept through this whole thing. Even with the lights on and her sisters killing themselves laughing! I guess she is used to the noise!

4. Lately every time DJ accidentally (or not) toots he always smiles and says, "Sorry my bum burped!" It cracks me up every time!

5. One Friday, before school started, things were a little crazy around the house. I was trying really hard to get a few things done. Like clean out the trailer and clean my house. I got the house cleaned and floors mopped and was cleaning out the trailer. The kids had been bugging me all day about doing something fun. So I told them that we'd go swimming after supper. Some kids were driving me crazy and when I was talking to Richard on the phone he asked to talk to Cadence. She calmed down and talked to her dad. I went back out to the trailer to quickly finish up. Came in and Cadence ran up to me and said close your eyes, I have a surprise for you. So I did and she led me into the kitchen. I opened my eyes as she yelled SURPRISE! I was shocked. She decided to make us supper, BUT, as she did it was a huge disaster in the kitchen. She set the table and put honey sandwiches on each plate. It was so sweet, but I didn't know what to say, because there was literally honey EVERYWHERE. It's that really runny stuff that you squeeze out of a bottle (came from the trailer). It was all over the counter tops, all over the chairs, all over the floor and all over DJ. Apparently he helped and he was covered. They were so excited. I thanked her for making supper. I asked her to come ask me next time. She looked at me and said, "But dad told me to surprise you." Oh I see where the idea came from. Later I told Richard to please let me know what he said to Cadence. I cleaned everything up but the floor, so he could see first hand how sticky it was. Someone could get stuck to the floor!! Oh the joys of kids.

6. DJ really wanted to play with Brianna one morning. Brianna had just woken up and was laying on the couch and she kept saying no. DJ was very sad and came and sat beside me with his arms folded and said to me, in a very sad voice, `Me wove (love) my nana (Brianna), but nana no wove me.`It was so so cute. Brianna jumped up and said, ok DJ lets play. He smiled big and bright and they went and played. What a boy!

7. Abbi loves to drink pop. They don`t get it very often, probably why she loves it so much. One day I told them I would buy them some pop. She yelled out, `I want some root beard`. I kept telling her it was called Root Beer, but she told me she liked it called Root Beard better. Funny girl!

8. Woke up this morning and there was frost all over the grass. Abbi was so excited, she kept telling everyone to come look at the grass, it was frozen. Then she yelled, "I know it was the Frost Man that did it." She ran and grabbed a Christmas book that has Jack Frost in it. She was showing the others and Cadence's eyes got really big and she said, "You mean he's real?" Oh my, it was so funny!

9. The girls brought a friend home to play with after school. They were in the back of the suburban when I heard Abbi say, "Look at my dad's toilet sticker on our window. He has one on his van and I don't know why he put it on our truck." The girls were all laughing about the "toilet sticker". Which is actually the company name on our window, there is no picture of a toilet. Funny kids!

Well there was a few of the funny stories that I could remember. My kids crack me up! Love them so much! I`m sure I will have more stories to write down later!

Abbi, Brianna And Cadence`s First Day Of Grade 1!

Tuesday morning the girls were super excited. They were all ready for school in no time. I wish they`d get ready for school everyday the same way!! Their first day of school was just a half day. Going to just noon. I had plans to take them outside and take some cute pictures before we left for school. We went out and it was pouring rain! Man....way to ruin plans! Oh well, we came back in and took their pictures in the boot room. They were so so so excited and didn`t want to be late for their first day of school.

Cadence already to go to Grade 1!!

Abbi super excited about her new backpack. She insisted on this shoulder slung one! She`s such a cutie!

Cute Brianna already for school.

My handsome cowboy ready to take his sister`s to school!

My 3 Grade Oner`s(I just made up a word!). Can`t believe they are that old! I was having a hard time this year, letting them go!

My 4 cute kids! Of course, Cadence has to make a goofy face!

After pictures away we went to school. DJ and I both went in to take them to their class room. DJ insisted on getting dressed up too. He dressed up like a cowboy, with boots and hats and everything. He cracks me up! So we went in and they hung up their coats and backpacks and we went into the room. The desks were set up as groups of 4. All summer long the girls have been telling me that they were NOT going to sit together, but they wanted to be in the same class. I told them that was fine. Well we walked in and Abbi and Brianna immediately sat down next together. Which is all fine and good, but Cadence couldn`t because there was no room. She was so sad. I had to laugh inside, because they were so insistent that they weren`t going to sit together. I finally got her to sit in the next group beside her sisters. This got changed on Thursday, because Cadence came home crying and crying on Wednesday. She so wanted to sit with her sisters. So I talked to the teacher and she just made their group into a group of 5. So it worked out. Sheesh, have to laugh at my girls. They sure do love being together. I got some cute pictures of them before DJ and I left.

Cadence, Brianna and Abbi standing by their cubby holes, ready to meet their teacher, Mrs. Fischer.

Can ya tell that Abbi was so excited to be there!

Brianna sitting at her desk!

Cadence finally deciding that she was ok (she was crying and clinging to me a little bit)! Happy to see her smiling!

DJ and I didn`t know what to do. He was finally cluing in to what was happening. He was with me all by himself. He was sad to say bye to his sisters, but he sure has fun with me by himself! We decided to do a special lunch for the girls when they got home. So we ran to the store to get stuff so they could make their own pizzas. I set the table fancy and got everything ready. We placed a little present on each of their plates.

We went and got them, and they were all excited to tell us what they did. We came home and the girls were surprised and so excited about the little `party`we set up! They each made their pizzas and I put it into the oven. We had a yummy and fun lunch all together.

They were excited that I used the `fancy`glass plates, compared to their plastic ones!!

Eating their pizza`s and just being happy!

Even though the day started out gloomy and rainy, by the afternoon it was so nice out. So I took the kids down to the fish pond. We took the bikes and they rode on the pathway while I walked along. We also took our nets to catch frogs. We ended up catching 3 of them, and they are BIG! The kids had fun playing with them and then we let them go back into the pond. It was a fun afternoon, very relaxing. So the first day of school was a success! I didn`t cry like I thought I was going too! Love my girls and I can`t believe how big they are getting!!