Eight is Great.

Anson had a birthday this weekend. We had a party with family and a friend party for him. This year only a couple of friends came which was nice.

Doug and his friend Bryan took the boys out for a quad ride.

Grandma made a soccer cake for the family party. For my 19Th birthday (I think) Doug made me a soccer cake. I'll have to try and find the picture so I can share it.

Anson is a great kid. He works hard, but knows how to have fun and is a joy to have around. I love him very much.

That time of year again

This summer went by so quickly, it is hard to believe that the boys are back at school. This summer when I was working Anson and Cameron went to a kids program that was at the school. So we basically had the same routine as when they are in school which was kind of nice. I was able to have some time off work and we took a family trip (I'll get to posting on that yet) and I was able to have time with them at home.

Anson's first day of grade three. He seemed less nervous then he usually is on his first day. Maybe because he knows all the kids in his class.

Cameron's first day of grade two. He is my little social butterfly and just loves going to school.

Have you been to Hawaii?

We were so blessed and encouraged at our Bible School class reunion. The guys had a lot of fun golfing and us ladies really enjoyed relaxing while soaking our feet. The kids had a blast doing a treasure hunt. Together as a group we had a Hawaiian theme night. We were also able to sit by a camp fire and have a time of praise and prayer.

The group that was in attendance for the Hawaiian party.

Doug's birthday was the next day so we had cake for dessert.

The youngest two at the party.

A new fashionable way to wear a lei.

Brandon looking pleased with his purple lei. Though I must admit that he didn't keep it on very long.

My Soccer Stars

On Saturday morning Anson and Cameron had a soccer tournament. It was so nice to have them on the same team this year. Their team was undefeated until the last game when they lost to the other town team in the dying minutes. Anson was the goalie when they scored their only goal, he was pretty disappointed. After the game one of our friends went up to Anson and Cameron and said some encouraging words to them. I'm so thankful for godly friends who take an interest in our boys lives.

We're Proud of you Anson!

Good job Anson, on getting student of the month. May you always strive to be the person that God created you to be, and stick up for what is right even if it isn't cool.

It's Birthday Month

The weather outside has been unseasonable warm, and on one of such day Doug, and I were able to go golfing with some friends. It was a lot of fun.

After golfing we had a BBQ out on the river. There were three September birthdays in the group so we had some cake.

Anson also celebrated his 7Th birthday this month. The football from Micah was his favourite gift.

I had an awesome birthday this year. I was extremely blessed by the thoughtfulness of my family and friends.

It's the best! Like always.

It's so hard to believe that it's back to school already. Where did the summer go? The boys were pretty excited about going back. Cameron especially. When the boys and I were packing up their supplies and labeling them Cameron repeatedly told me that he loves school. And when I asked him how school went on the first day he mentioned that it is the best like always. It sure makes it easier to send them knowing that they enjoy it.
Anson is always a little more nervious on the first day because he feels like he should know everything already.

Cameron - The social butterfly, couldn't be more excited about school and this year he gets to go every day.

First Missing Tooth

I mentioned in a previous post that Anson had a loose tooth. Well with a little help it finally came out. All he had to do was take a pair of pliers and yank really hard and it came out....

....actually we just used some dental floss. The tooth was pretty loose already, so it just took a little yank.

We're Moving...

...well at least that is the rumour that is going around town. I heard of it first from Jamie, she had been at a Mom's group and was asked by two of the moms if it was true that we were moving. Apparently they had heard it from a very reliable source. When Jamie told me about this I just kind of laughed a shrugged it off. But then a few days later one of the mom's of a boy who is in Anson's class, called and invited Anson and Cameron over to play one last time before we moved. I was at work when this happened, but Doug got to the bottom of it and found out that Anson had announced to his class that we were moving to Regina. Anson told us that he was only joking, but he didn't mention that to the class.
So I just want to set the record straight and let everyone know that we are not moving. I have another job interview tomorrow, and we are in the middle of doing renovations to our house so we will be sticking around for a while.

Wild Hair Day & Pulling Out My Hair Day.

This morning while I was helping Anson get his wild hair ready for wild hair day at school, Brandon quickly climbed onto the table, (which is not much of a surprise because that happens daily) unfortunately I have not learned my lesson of cleaning off the table right a way, and Brandon dumped most of the raspberry jelly (which never did set properly) and rubbed it all over the table and himself and while he was at it, he helped himself to Cameron's leftover toast.
So proud of his sticky mess. Talk about wanting to pull out my hair.
Anson's wild hair. Not much you can do with short hair, but he liked it all spickey. I actually thinks he looks kind of cool.

Anson's 6th Birthday

We celebrated Anson's birthday with a party of 13 boys. We had not planned to have that many, but he had taken the liberty to invite a few extras. At least he told us about it, apparently when his uncle was a boy, he had a few extra boys come home on the bus with him to his birthday party without his Mom knowing about.
Opening up his gifts. I was so glad that Doug came home from work early to help with the party. I don't know what I would have done without him. Anson had a lot of fun at his party. Next year he will only be allowed to invite seven boys.
After all the boys went home. Grandpa, Grandma and Auntie Janelle brought over supper and we kept partying.
For his birthday Anson received a Bible from Grandpa and Grandma.
He also gets to go to a Rider game in October. I must say that he is a blessed boy, and I'm blessed to have him as my son. He is very percious to me.

Back to School

Well it is that time of year again, but this year I have two boys heading off to school. It is sad really how quickly time flies by. Anyway can you tell who is a little more excited to be going to school? Cameron had been whereing his backpack for three days before school started. Anson loves going to school and was looking forward to going back.
It was pretty exciting and special that Grandma got to come with us on the first day of school.
Cameron was pretty proud that he go to choose his own locker. Of course he chose a top one (the one right above his head)
Cameron was excited about the whole thing. This is where I left him. I hardly got his attention long enough to say good bye. Later on when I peeked in on him they were all sitting around in a circle and he didn't even have a clue that I was there. It sure makes it easier on Mom to 'let go' when they so excited about something.
Anson has a little harder time with change. He was close to tears. I think mainly because things are so different from last year. He is down a different hall, and because he is in a grade one/two split he hardly has any of the same kids in his class. And not to mention he gets to sit in a individual desk this year. Anyway I'm thinking that once he gets comfortable he'll once again love to go the school.

I know that I'm really excited about this school year. I was talking with the vice principal of the school this summer and she mentioned that they picked Anson for this class because he is so keen on learning and that he would do well learning some of what the grade twos are learning. Also with Cameron enthusiasm, I think that this is going to be a great school year.

Swimming Lessons

Cameron working on his starfish float. Now he just needs to learn to do it without any help.
Cameron blowing bubbles under water. He has improved a lot since his first lessons a few years ago. Last year after his teacher asked him to do something, Cameron responding by saying, "Don't ever tell me that again." He still has problems listening but is getting more comfortable in the water.
Anson bravely jumping off the diving board. He was a real fish in the water this year and did really well in his lessons. Anson usually works hard at what he does.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Those of you with children will agree with me that kids come up with the cutest sayings sometimes. I often laugh at the things they come up with and think that I will remember, but I soon forget. Anyway so before I forget I just wanted to share some with you;

Cameron asked to have his jacket zipped up and said "I'll be mighty grateful, Daddy if you zip up my jacket." (Keep in mind he is four)

Today Cameron hit Anson. I told Cameron to say sorry.

Cameron "I'm sorry"
Anson "You have to say my name too"
Cameron "I'm sorry, Anson"
Anson "That's OK"

Life would be so boring without children.

Life Lately

Brandon is 11 months old already. Today was a really good day with him. He napped really well and didn't whine. But I must say that the past month has not been so great. He has been cranky! I blame it on teething, but unfortunately he doesn't have any teeth as a result yet. Brandon is a very busy boy. He loves to go through my cupboards, as you can see in the picture above he helped himself to some Cheerios (he doesn't even like Cheerios anymore). He stands by himself for a few seconds and has tried to take a step, so I don't think that it be long before he is walking. (Both Anson and Cameron were walking by this age) Brandon no longer eats baby foods, he likes to eat what we are eating, his favourite food seems to be pasta, and of course he loves bananas. I can't believe that in one short month we'll be celebrating his first birthday.
Granny G (Doug's grandma) came for a visit last week. The last time she was here Cameron was a baby. It was great to see her again.
Sick day - This is how Anson spent his day. Unfortunately he had to miss school because he was sick. It was hard for me to see that Anson was not feeling well, and I wish so badly that there was more I could do for him to help him feel better. I just hope that tomorrow he is himself again and that no one else gets the bug that he has.
On Sunday our church had their annual sleigh and chili social. The weather was gorgeous, and we all had a lot of fun. I feel very blessed by our church family.

Soccer Tournament

Anson has been playing soccer most Thursday nights for the past few months. Today his team played in a soccer tournament. They came in last place, but he still had fun and we had fun watching. The picture is Anson playing in net, but he actually played out more. He did really well trying to playing his position.

Heaven bound

I have a question. Do you think that people know if they are going to die soon?...Can they feel it? I always thought that my dad knew, because things were so different the month before he past away.
The reason that I ask is because Anson spent some time at a friend's house a couple of weeks ago and when the Mom dropped him off, she mentioned that Anson had told her that he was going to die soon. When we asked him about it, he didn't want to talk about it. Then today at school one of Anson's classmates told him that the race car driver Dale Ernhart was died. Anson is a huge Nascar fan so he found this quite upsetting and talked about it lots after he got home from school. Tonight after we were done praying we were talking about dying and heaven and he mentioned that he was going to miss me when he goes to heaven. I don't even want to think about one of my boys dying, but the truth is that we are all going to die one day (unless Jesus comes and gets us before than). I'm so glad that Anson has asked Jesus into his heart and that his eternity will be spent in heaven. But I still hope and pray that I have him for many more years and that he will grow up to be a mighty warrior for the Lord.

Life

Last week was extremely cold here and the boys were stuck inside the house day after day. So one day they decided to build a tent with the couch cushions and they all had a lot of fun. I was just happy to get a little peace and quiet.

One of Anson's favourite things to do is play board games or card games. Brandon always wants to join in on the fun.

My life revolves around my boys, so I don't seem to have anything else to blog about ever. Things are kind of crazy right now. Brandon is still teething and has had four rough nights and he is even cranky all day...I need a break. I think that February would be the perfect month to take a mini holiday. It would be so fun to go a way for the weekend with the boys and just hang out and do some swimming. Just to get a way from the everyday....sigh, maybe next year.

Just Boys

Brandon - He is not quite 10 months old yet, but I still wanted to give a little update on him. I took him for his 9 month check up at 9 1/2 months. I was suprised that he had only gained one pound in two months. He went from being in the 55th persentile to the 25th percentile...nothing to be concerned about, he is just our little squirt. Also about a week ago I noticed that he has a little tooth poking through the bottom....his first tooth!

Cameron - It has been insanely cold around here lately and Cameron has a crazy amount of energy that he uses to tease his brother Anson. Cameron is still a lot of fun though, and he definitely makes my days interesting.

Anson - It is so hard to keep him busy enough on his days off from school especially since I can't send him out to play in this cold weather.

I also wanted to mention that I am reading the book by Stormie Omartian, The Power of a Praying Parent. It is so good! (I recommend it to anyone who is a parent) The last chapter I read was chapter fourteen, Instilling the Desire to Learn. As with so many other topics she covered, I found great encouragement in this one...there is such amazing power in prayer. I just want to quote the part that I am going start praying for my boys. It is taken from page 109, "I pray he (she) will respect the wisdom of his (her) parents and be willing to be taught by them. May he (she) also have the desire to be taught by the teachers You bring into his (her) life. Handpick each one, Lord, and may they be godly people from whom he (she) can easily learn. Take out of his (her) life any teacher who would be an ungodly influence or create a bad learning expereince."

Big Shoe to Fill

Here is a picture of Anson with the big shoe that he made with Daddy for big shoe night for Sparks. Sparks is a kids club that our church runs. It is a great club and very enjoyable for the kids...they play games, have fun theme nights, and memorize scripture. By doing these things the kids can also earn AWANA bucks which they can later spend at store night. Anyway Anson loves to go, that is the thing that he looks forward to most in the week.
On Wednesday Anson came home from school early because he was complaining that his head hurt. That morning he had mentioned that he didn't want to go to school, which I found odd because he enjoys going. So when I got the call to pick him up, it all made sense. Cameron has been sick as well, but his is a cough. That hasn't stopped him from teasing Anson when he is resting on the couch, and it seems like Cameron has more energy than usual...which is a lot.
Also the other day Anson's teacher mentioned that he is hardworking and kind to others and therefore is going to get student of the month for January. Later on today at the school's assembly they announce all the students of the month. I'm so proud of Anson, I know that he is a great kid and I'm glad that his teacher thinks so too.