Birthday Surprise!

This week Scott brought home a:

Birthday Box from Grandma Prisk!


Inside were all kinds of goodies.

Cards...

Balloons...

Warm Fleece Hoodies...

Cute rag doll and toothbrushes!

Church clothes for 2 handsome young gentlemen...

School books for the eager beaver:).


And lots of Love:).


Thank you mom! We love you and appreciate your birthday box.

36 weeks...

We're in the home stretch now. Garrison was born at 37 weeks and Caleb and Kiersten between 37 and 38. I sure hope this baby doesn't decide that he/she enjoys being inside too much to come out in the next couple weeks. It's been a blessing to deliver early, with each one healthy and quite content to meet the outside world:). Here is a picture Elyssia took of me this morning:

Here are a couple pictures of various family members enjoying our first successful homegrown watermelon:

These last couple pics are just because I thought the girls looked really cute this morning:).

Elyssia was all dressed up to go and play with a friend today and Kiersten wanted to get dressed up too:). She was very sad when they left without her. Thankfully the brothers asked to build a Lego house and included her, which has helped to take her mind off sister being gone.

Unexpected Visitor

This afternoon I opened the door for a bit to let in some fresh air. Apparently that's a bad idea. It also allowed an unexpected visitor to make his way into our house. Not a mouse this time. It was a SNAKE! Now before you totally panic, I'll tell you that it was only a gardener snake(not sure if that's the right spelling). It's been years since I've seen one though and I was walking through the hallway when I saw it move. It went into our bedroom and I headed off to find something to scoop it into. In my younger days I would have picked it up, but I'll admit that I'm a lot more squeamish these days, especially when I'm pregnant. Elyssia was upset that I put it outside. She wanted to keep it and show Scott. I quickly told her no. If she wasn't willing to pick it up, then it definitely wasn't staying.

Our house was quite peaceful today. Scott and Garrison left early this morning to go to Castor for his Grandpa's funeral. Elyssia spent most of the day reading, after she'd completed her schoolwork. Caleb, Kiersten and I went on a LEGO and game pieces treasure hunt. We've been working on it for over a week now. Today it finally paid off. We had at least 6 complete games put together. We had a game night tonight before bed and the older two seemed to really enjoy it. They both won a round of Candy Land. Then I tried playing Mancala with Elyssia. I couldn't remember all the rules, so went online to print them off. We decided to wait for Scott to play that one again. Next it was Richard Scarry's Treasure Hunt. The older two reached the ferry and crossed before I arrived. Then we played Memory. The older two tied, which made them both happy. It seemed to be my night to lose:). I don't mind... Oh, we also tried to play Connect Four. It was Caleb's first time and he refused to let me put my pieces in to block him from getting 4 in a row. That kind of defeated the purpose, so I think I'll play that with Elyssia next time. The LEGO search went quite well. I think that we're still missing 3 or 4 mini figures and a couple accessories, but we've found a couple dozen that were taken apart. A lot had fallen under the beds when the kids fell asleep while playing with them. We also had to find a lot of hands and heads. We have a certain little boy that delights in taking them apart and leaving them that way. We've now resolved to put them up high. I know that he likes to climb, but the idea is that he will now ask to play. We can then play together and put them back when we're done.

They were good little helpers and we managed to keep the house mostly clean, while doing one complete load of laundry. It was a bit cool outside, but sunny and beautiful, making it a really nice day in my book. 3 are in bed and Scott and Garrison should be arriving sometime in the next 30 minutes. Til next time...

You will be missed!

Early this morning Scott's Grandpa (Paul Neilson) passed away. I've really enjoyed visiting with him over the past 8 years. I remember the first time I met him. It was like I was talking to my own Grandpa. Their voices sound a lot alike and they had quite a bit in common. I'm thankful that our kids had the chance to get to know him a bit over the years. The other night we were playing Scrabble with Preston and the comment was made that it was funny how Grandpa would end up winning, almost by accident. My grandpa was the same way:) He played it for the first time about 10 years ago. He thought he wouldn't be any good at it. Once we showed him the basics, he ended up winning!
Thankfully Scott's family is very good at passing on family stories/history. Our kids will hear about him for many years to come and if the Lord doesn't come before they're grown they will be able to pass on those stories to their children. There are family pictures with him and also at least one video of him with Garrison. It sure is nice to have these memories to treasure. We'll miss visiting him on our trips to Castor, but will look forward to a reunion in Heaven:).

Sneak Peek!

I thought it would be better to decorate the cake a couple days early and freeze it, rather than staying up til midnight on Sunday night. Here's a sneak peek at the results:

Now we just need to hide her presents and make up clues, treasure map, etc, to help her find them:). The weather forecast is calling for pretty cold temperatures next week, so it might not be the best idea to hide them outside.

The cake is safely in the freezer and all the little munchkins are asleep in their beds. It's been a long week, but we managed to get through most of Elyssia's school assignments, plus a bit more so that she could have Monday off too. Looking forward to a nice weekend.

Relentless...

Last night I ended up on the couch. It's getting to that point in the pregnancy where it's hard to get comfortable and two little munchkins making their way into the bed certainly doesn't leave much room for stretching. Soooo, it usually means a better night's sleep. Not so, for last night. I hear little chewing noises. Not. another. mouse! There has been one every night for 6 nights now. I don't know where they're getting in, but I hope we find it soon. I looked around for another sticky trap, but could seem to locate one. I'm not surprised, since we'd already used 5. Well, the Lord helped me to remember where I'd stashed one downstairs and after placing that in the vicinity that I kept hearing the mouse I laid back down and tried to sleep. Thankfully I got about 3 hours. I woke up to hear chewing, but this time it was the mouse trying to get off the sticky trap. Praise the Lord, one less mouse running around!

Another praise is that I called for a Dr. Appt yesterday and actually got an appt for this afternoon. That is unheard of around here. Usually it's at least 6 weeks wait. I missed my last prenatal appt, so wasn't assured of another routine appt. Anyway, the biggest blessing is that my Dr. is back at work. I get to see her and have her deliver:). Sooooo happy about that.

One last note. After making the laundry detergent I decided that baby wipes wouldn't be so hard. They're actually super easy and take so little ingredients, that I should have started years ago. They do feel a bit different than the store ones, but maybe using a little less oil in them would change that. There is also room to experiment with scents, depending on what kind of baby wash I buy. So, another successful experiment and money saver tried and found worth doing long term.

It's test day for Elyssia, so I'd better go and make sure everything is ready downstairs. Praying for a nice day and enjoying the sound of the rain falling outside.

I finally did it!!!

After thinking about it and how much it would save, I finally did it. Scott brought me home the Arm and Hammer Super Washing Soda and that was the last ingredient I needed to make the Homemade Laundry Detergent. Breaking down the cost would be pretty hard. I think it's actually going to be less than a dollar per batch. Each batch is supposed to last for 90 loads! Compared to the minimum of $6.97 that I usually pay for the store bought stuff that maybe lasts for 36 loads, I'm gonna have to vote for the homemade stuff. I used Ivory soap, recommended by a friend:). It took less than 30 minutes to make and I now have a HUGE pail of laundry detergent. Just thinking of the savings on our grocery bill makes me smile.

Now if I can only get up the courage to use cloth diapers...

I actually have to say that I'm really not up for that one. Although I prefer to use Huggies I have made the switch to NoName diapers. They cost about $20 for a large box and all the other brands seem to have gone up to $40 or higher for now. I will keep my eyes open for sales and buy the other kind when it goes on sale, but I couldn't justify spending that much more for the name brand. Thankfully Kiersten hasn't developed a rash from them and is almost done using diapers. We shall see how the new little one does.

We're always looking for ways to save and a couple weeks ago I learned how much I should be paid for my barber skills. $10 for each of the boys and at least $20 for Scott. I'm gonna have to say that spending $40 a month on haircuts would definitely not be my idea of wise spending. Thanking the Lord for Bro. Kiesel teaching me the basics of hair cutting and all the time I have while the boys are little to practice:). Overall I've liked how most of their haircuts have turned out. It helps me not to feel so guilty for paying $30(with the tip included) on my haircut about twice a year:).

In case I haven't said it lately(and because Thanksgiving is coming soon) I'm really thankful for where the Lord has placed us. There have been some rough roads, but the Lord has helped us to grow a lot as a family(and not just numerically or physically:). He's given us more opportunities to work with our hands and appreciate the feeling of being productive and making the most out of what He provides for us. I don't see us being who we are now if we'd lived in Oak Harbor or stayed in B.C. There was certainly a lot more fruit growing in our yard, but not the freedom of living out in the country. Enjoying the sunrises and sunsets that the Lord has created and just appreciating the simpler things in life. Not really having the Jones or the Smith to compete with:). Yes, the winters around here can be very long, but it certainly gives us the opportunity to be more creative, in order to get through it together as a family; not to mention that it sometimes gives us MORE time as a family because Scott doesn't work in certain temperatures. So, overall, even in the not so good times, we have much to be thankful for.

Now, off to help some little ones with school work and chores...

Officially 2!

The Finished Product!

Bright Eyed and ready to go at 6:30!

Her favorite gift was the cards:).

Holding her card while doing the Noah's Ark Puzzle from Ms. Sharon.

Garrison "helping" her with the Pooh Lego from the grandparents.

Showing off the backpack, hairbows and candy we gave her.

The "buppy" from Uncle Preston and candy!

The sour Laffy Taffy made for some memorable faces:)




Happy Birthday Kiersten!

We Love You To The Moon And Back!

Making Memories

More than a month ahead...

Having dual citizenship sometimes means extra perks:). One of those being that we can celebrate Thanksgiving twice: once for the Canadian side and once for the American. The Canadian Thanksgiving celebration is coming up pretty fast. We'll be driving to Alberta after church next week and celebrating with the family the next day. This year I'm thankful to celebrate this one because traveling in November when the baby is due, possibly just born would not by my idea of fun.

Today is the last day of baby"Kiersten" being a one year old. She's proudly saying "two" when we ask her how old she's going to be. Her vocabulary continues to grow daily. This week she was saying "nuggle me?" Or "hold me, I scared", with a super cute scared face. When I asked her why she was scared she said, "Cabub chase me!". She's getting quite good at identifying colors and LOVES to play outside. I'm going to attempt making a "kitty" cake, since those and "buppies" are her favorite animals. I've got some pretty cute pics of her all dressed up for church this morning, but will have to post them when I get home, since I left the camera at the church. A cute story about our "almost 2 year old". We have her cover her eyes when it's time to pray before a meal. She doesn't like holding hands because sometimes the sibling closest to her squeezes too tight. This week when we started to pray she said in a sing songy voice, "pray, pray pray, I pray". She looks at us afterward and says, "I prayed!" In devotions she was the sea captain for Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey and she said "Drive, drive, drive." Then when Caleb a.k.a. Paul was preaching, she said "I preach, preach, preach:)." I love the age that they discover they can say almost anything. She loves to follow Caleb around saying, "Cabub naughty, no no Cabub". I guess we've used that word a time or two:).

Today we had a special blessing. There is a family that we've been praying for and all except one of them came! The one lady had come 2 weeks ago for the first time and this week she came with her husband, daughter and 2 grandkids:). Our kids really enjoyed playing with them, although Kiersten wasn't sure about sharing the rocking chair and doll. She followed the little girl around saying, "baby!" She was very excited to have someone smaller. We're praising the Lord for answered prayer and it was another example of answered prayer for the kids to remember.
We were also blessed with 3 monster zucchini and 4 dozen eggs. I'll have to post pics of the zucchini before I shred them. They could seriously be used to fend off a bad guy, if nothing else was available:). We're told not to leave our cars unlocked when we go to town in the summer time. You'll come back to a car full of zucchini cause no one else knows what to do with the abundance either:). Thankfully it can be shredded and it freezes well. It can be used to bulk up breads and cookies and I was given a yummy sounding recipe in the same bag, so I'll have to try it sometime soon.

It's almost time to head back for the evening service, so I'd better go for now. Praying all our friends and family have had a nice weekend too.