Snow.....Yep we've got it!

We woke up to quite a dump of snow this morning. Riley she was in her glory! She loves the outdoors and is a huge help, she was the one that got our butts moving to go shovel our driveway after breakfast. The snow is still coming down so I expect she'll be really happy to go out again around 3PM and shovel for the second time today. I can't remember the last time we had a dump of snow like this, all at once. Its not so bad when its the weekend and you can just hunker down play games stay warm and keep the driveway clear. Addison likes being outside, however she gets mighty frustrated with the deep snow! Its cute to watch her.....trudge two steps, fall down, take 5 minutes to stand up, trudge two steps, fall down.....well you get the picture :) All I'm saying is Florida sounds mighty fine right now :)

What a week!

This has been a week of getting back into the routine of regular life. We are back to clean eating and schedules, early to bed and early to rise.

Our big news for this week is that Howard is in the process of starting a business. I am so excited for him and what it will eventually mean for our family! He will still be doing the same thing (industrial electrician) however now he will sub contracting to the company he works for. The nature of the industry is that when its busy its crazy busy and that will remain the same, however we hope that within the next couple years that once summer hits Howard will be able to stay home for the whole time the kids are off school. That would allow us to travel to see our families and camp etc. So needless to say this was a week on the phone with our accountant, bank, insurance company, car dealership etc. It also mean I will be doing the book keeping and paperwork for our company. I look forward to the challenge and learning a new skill. Howard hopes to have his new truck up and running by the first of February.

The boys are falling back into the school routine fairly easily. Riley is struggling immensely! Almost everyday I leave her at Kindergarten she cries and we have to pry her hands off of my jacket, hand, neck etc. I thought we would be past this by now, however it has gotten worse since the holidays. For me as a mom it is heartbreaking to watch. Funny enough she loves school! She is fine seconds after I leave. I am not sure what to do with her... we have tried everything I can think of! This week we started a prayer box that she decorated herself, anytime she has a worry, she comes to us and we help her write a prayer on a piece of paper, she puts it in the box and the idea is she now has to let it go and give it to God. I am hoping maybe this will help. I have never met a child with such anxiety at such a young age. She tries to control everything....its so sad to watch. So if any of you have any ideas on how to help her I am open to suggestions!

Addison is doing well she seems to be happy as a clam, although she has certainly missed her brothers and sister this week. Addy also had another first this week......the first time swimming in a swimming pool! I know how lame that we are finally going swimming! She was quite apprehensive for the hour we were there, but you could tell she really wanted to let loose and have fun, and just wasn't sure if it was safe to do so. By the end of our session she didn't want to leave so we will certainly have to head back to the pool soon.

Happy New Year!

2010 was a year that will go down in the history books of our family. It was a year our family grew from being a family of 5 to a family of 6. This was the year we met our precious daughter Addison face to face, and brought her home forever. It was a year of great adventure, for Howard and I. We travelled across the world, we learned to lean and trust in the Lord more than we ever had to in our lives. We learned the power of a whisper and the rewards in obeying His call far outweigh the "what ifs" and also that God has a incredible plan for ourlives, a role for each of us to play, and that He isn't finished with us yet! It was Riley's first year of Kindergarten, and we watched the boys grow and mature in leaps and bounds. My sister had her first baby a sweet little girl named Sydney. On the whole we had a year that was blessed beyond compare.

As we head into 2011, I look forward to it with excitement and hope. I was trying to plan out what the year would look like, and then I started thinking are these plans mine or Gods? I wonder what it is that God would have our family do this year? So this year I really have no clue what it will look like! We have some career paths that may change soon for Howard, and hopefully some family holiday's, but what else? I guess we can only wait and see!

I put together a little video of pictures of some of our favourite moments of 2010.....its LONG! So I don't feel bad if your not into watching it :) When I look at these pictures most of them leave a huge grin on my face, and it leaves me feeling thankful for all our family has been blessed with.

And because I love you friends, family, blogger friends and "lurkers" I pray the Lord will use you this year, may He write fantastic words in your story words that may terrify you if spoken to you today, words that He and only He would be powerful enough to speak into existence and faithful enough to see to fruition. I pray that you will be brave enough to obey His whispers and walk in the path He has made for you. I pray He blesses you and your family beyond your wildest dreams. This is also what I am praying for our family.

Christmas Day 2010

Christmas morning started late at our house. And can't ever remember a Christmas morning we woke at 9:45 ever! But it sure was nice to sleep in! The biggest and best gift of the day was having all 4 of our children home with us, they are all happy and healthy. It was a wonderful morning and I had to keep pinching myself, we actually have 4 wonderful, beautiful, smart and loving children. Wow! So much love and excitement in one little house!



This is one of my favorite pics of Addison, as she started unwrapping her present from behind and had no clue what it was! Then she came around front to get a good look! Addison wasn't really into opening presents at first, she was happy to play with her Kai Lan toy she got the night before. However with some encouragement she got into the spirit!

This radio controlled car/truck was all Nathan could talk about for months....glad we were able to get our hands on it! the darn car/truck goes 50 km/h!!!! He has been having a blast with it out on the sidewalks :)

Josh loved R2D2...and I believe the droid is "guarding" his room as we speak! When I go in to put laundry away his alarm will go off! lovely!

Addison and her "nicey cream" there is no ice cream in our house! Just "nicey cream" Our girl is all about the pretend play. Anything to do with babies, shopping, cooking or cleaning our Addy girl loves it :)

Yet another Barbie for Miss Riley roo! Oh and the closest thing we could find to a french beret! Thanks alot Fancy Nancy! lol!

Nathan is all about the show Myth Busters! So my parents scored and ordered him some "Myths he could bust" We are really loving the marshmallow gun! lol!

We had a wonderful day. My parents arrived in the afternoon, and we had a great visit and turkey dinner, then we went for a walk to test out the new car Nate got, and a snowboard Josh received. It was a perfect low key kind of Christmas.

Christmas Eve 2010

We had a lovely Christmas Eve this year. The day was a laid back lazy kind of day eating party food leftovers and getting ready for the Christmas Eve service....Unfortunately my Dad was really sick, so both him and my Mom were unable to come down on Christmas Eve, they did however join in the afternoon on Christmas day, and I will blog about Christmas day later!

Our family enjoyed the 4PM service at our church, and to be honest I had moments where I had a chin quiver and tears welled up in my eyes. To have all 4 of our children home with us and Addison nestled into my lap during most of the service is a precious memory I won't likely forget. The kids all were well behaved and enjoyed the candle light service. We headed straight home to make dinner and open a present before it got too late.

Here is Howard and the kids before church.


And the kids and I :)

Our 4 little munchkins!

Once we arrived home we were surprised to see that Santa had dropped in and left an early Christmas present for all the kids. This was the first present we have ever seen Addy open. She was very particular how she opened it!

And it took much concentration.

Sweet! New Jammie's for everyone! Although Nate is getting wise, as he asked don't we get PJ's every Christmas Eve? Hmmm you think? It only took you 11 years to realize it! lol!

We also let the kids open their gift from their siblings as we didn't have alot going on that night. I love this look on Addison's face...she was so excited to see "Ni Hao Super" that's what she calls all things Kai Lan.

Funny thing about this gift.....I grabbed it in September as it was on super discount.... well it is in French!!! Ha! So now our sweet girl is learning English and French! lol!

The boys picked out these Barbie's especially for Miss Roo! I thought it was sweet, I had no say in it and Howard let them each pick one for their little sis.

This year has been the year of, lets shake, feel, look, smell and figure out what the presents are. Especially for the boys. So they decided to "trick" each other and wrap their gifts in a "fooler" box, Josh got Crackers!

Whoops! Nope a video game :)

Nate got Lucky Charms!

Nope! Also the same video game!

After opening presents we played with our new toys and snuggled all of the kids into bed. Howard and I stayed up to ensure the boys were asleep, and watched the Nativity movie that came out a year or two ago. Neither of us had a chance to see it, and we both thought it was really well done. Once our movie was over we got to work! And stuffed stockings and brought out the presents. However our boys were still awake!!! That was about 12:30 AM! They were ushered back to bed and finally fell asleep, and wonder of all wonders slept in until 9:45 on Christmas morning! Hallelujah! More on that later!



Here are a couple pics of the girls before our party on the 23rd. They are sitting at the front door waiting for our guests! So cute!

My two little helpers making punch.

Riley wanted me to curl her hair, so while Addy was napping we set up a salon in my ensuite complete with hot chocolate for my client. She sat really still for the whole process and we chatted and had a grand old time. Here is a picture of her hair once we were finished.

I will blog later about Christmas day. Hopefully :)

Merry Christmas!

Well we survived the party, as did my house! And had a wonderful time visiting with good friends. I have more leftover food than I know what to do with! And the kids had a blast. Addy kept saying after each guest would leave " No night-night!" She just wanted to stay up and party all night long!

Our family hopes you have a very Merry Christmas! And that you all have a chance to spend some quality time with your families. Thats what we plan on doing.

3 more sleeps!

Well we are pretty much done! All we need is the turkey and then I am finished! Yay! Tomorrow night we are having a party, and I am quite looking forward to it. Although there will be something like 20 kids so that should get good and wild! lol!

My Mom and Dad will be heading over to our place on the 24th for a couple days of fesitivies. My sister's family however will be sadly missed. I must say, that now that I am a aunt it is harder to be away from our extended family, Sydney is already 4 months old and I haven't even met her yet!!!

Finally I had to share what Josh said to me today as it was hysterical!!! So on my wish list was a pair of Frye equestrian boots. I really didn't think Howard would even consider them as they are quite pricey. But boy how a girl can dream :) Anyways Josh says to me today "Mom you know those boots you really wanted?" I reply "yes." Josh continues " You know, the stir fry boots? They were all sold out. Sorry" My response as I am laughing so hard I am trying not to pee my pants is. " Its ok sweetie, I really didn't need stir fry boots!" As my kids get older I hear less and less of these faux pas, and they are so darn sweet!

Heres to hoping your "stir fry" boots aren't sold out :)