Still standing

So everyone in the house has been sick, except for me, Ben and Braden. Apparently this 'sickness of Christmas 2005' just hits you like a ton of bricks in only about an hour, so it could all change soon. It's like being a sitting duck. When is it going to be me?
I am the only one left.

Another new member of the Bond family (soon)!!

Congratulations to Travis' brother Chris and his new fiance Christine!! They got engaged on December 23rd (I think) and are thinking about a wedding in the summer (I think again!). I have no pictures of the two of them, but will post one as soon as I get one.
Christine is a really wonderful girl, and she and Chris make a really good pair. Travis and I are really looking forward to getting to know her better as she joins our family. You know that she must really love Chris alot because she endured THREE video cameras on her when they came over to announce their engagement. Poor girl.
Only in the Bond family.

Knocking us off, one by one.

This has been an interesting holiday so far. We have had a wonderful time with Travis' family, and it has been busy and full of non-stop action. Sarah took, oh, about 6 nights to get settled here, and finally decide to sleep through the night, and Ben is still working on getting his sleep sorted out. This makes for a VERY tired mommy and daddy, but oh well, isn't this what the wonderful world of parenting is all about?
Anyways, we've been experiencing the 'russian roulet' sickness here. There have been a total of 9 adults and 4 kids here, with Chris' fiance Christine coming and going. It all started the 23rd with poor Grace barfing the whole night through, and then into the day. She seemed fine after about 24(ish) hours. Then on Christmas day, it hit Kevin. More barfing all night, and a total day in bed. It has hit Joan, then Shirley, then Travis, now Bruce, and Christine. The rest of us are nervously living here, wondering who will be next. Grandma and Grandpa Daly left yesterday unscathed, and I can't blame them for leaving while they can, but it just increases my odds of catching whatever the heck this 24 hour bug is.
Although I hate being sick (obviously), the thought of spending the day in bed is not so bad right now....

Meet the newest member of the Bond family

Today we bought a car. We've been needing a second vehicle for a while, so we thought that while we were down in Vancouver, we would have a look because there is so much more selection here..... right? We wanted a four door, 5 speed honda anything, but as it turns out, there are not many of them out there. Any car that we would find and like, we would run a check on it on the internet, and it would turn out that it had been in accidents, or the odometer had been rolled back. We're actually so surprised at how common that is. Anyways, we had to settle, so, meet Granny. She will be very reliable, and hopefully last a long time, and is actually quite nice, if I could just get over the colour of her and the whole granny-ness of her. oh well. We were joking that we could trade vehicles with Travis' grandparents, and get a sportier car. In fact, all of our grandparents drive sportier vehicles than this one. But, it will get us from A to B, in record time with that peppy V-6 engine.

Now here's the best part.

When we got our truck, and went to insure it, the dealer pulled out the licence plate DCK 499. Um, excuse me, do you have anything other than DCK? I don't know about you, but it brings to mind the word 'dick'. Maybe it's just me. But it's not just me, when we brought it back to the Bonds, and being that there are 4 boys in the family, we heard about that one for A LONG TIME.

Today, as we were sitting there, and the insurance dealer was once again pulling out the plates, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw....

DNK.

I'm not joking.

No, really, are there ANY other plates that we can choose from? No, we were told, but you can choose the number if you like. Really, though, WHO CARES about the number? What are the chances of one family getting DCK and DNK for both of their cars. I can't believe it. And Travis works in a middle school. The kids will really love that one!!

Off to the coast!

We are off to Coquitlam tomorrow (sometime) to have Christmas this year with Travis' family. We are going to pack that house full of people and have a wonderfully crazy Christmas with 2 2-year-olds, and 2 babies. One of the things I'm most excited for though, is that the adult-to-kid ratio is about to increase from 1 adult per 2 kids to 1.5 adults to 1 kid. Gotta love that kind of math!!!! I can sense some serious shopping and coffee times coming on! Lots of visits with old friends, and have I mentioned the hockey? I might even make it to a game or two. So then, I may be absent from this blogging scene of ours for a little while, but I will check in when I can.

Now the packing starts.....

Hungry bear

It's only taken 8 1/2 months of nursing Ben for Sarah to notice. Bear is hungry, so she thought she'd feed him. From her tummy, of course, because we all know that's where the milk comes from.

This is the cutest part, I hear a little voice say, "Don't bite!"

Now THAT is an example of kids repeating what they hear!

And on that note, Ben successfully took a bottle from ME today!!! :) 

The whole family!

 

The KVR Christmas train

On Sunday, the whole Peters family went on the KVR Christmas train, complete with Santa, carol singing, and even snow. Well, it didn't actually snow while we were there, but there was lots on the ground, and it was cold!! It was our family Christmas day, so it was really fun to be all together, and we had a great day on the train, and enjoyed lots of food at home, and there was even presents for the kids at the end of the night. Oh yes, and a birthday cake for all the missed birthdays this year -- we covered all the bases! Anyways, the first picture on your left, you see a typical family picture. That is just about as good as it gets. At least I look good, anyways!! :)

The next is Sarah and Ben's first Santa knee sitting experience. You can see that it didn't last very long either!







To be continued in Coquitlam.....

Tamara's first candle party

On Monday morning, Tamara had her first candle party. We tried to round up some people to be an audience, and though it's so busy at this time of year, a few managed to come, and we had a great time. Tamara did really well. I think her first party was a great success! 

Christmas 2005, The year in review!

Welcome to our Christmas letter 2005. I realize this is a bit of a different way of doing things, but I thought that it would save some paper, save some clutter around your house, and force you to look at all my past stories of my kids, all in one go!
We've had another busy year. We've had a kid, we've moved, we've rennovated -- I could just resend 2003's letter. :) It has been different, though. Busy again, but fun.
We started the year living in our 4-plex (the 'plex' as we so lovingly call it), with Karen working like crazy to get her 600 hours to qualify for another maternity leave, and Travis working full time at a middle school in town, KVR. Sarah was keeping us busy as usual, and it was a real juggling act to have me (Karen) back at work and Sarah cared for, but with alot of help from our family, we managed just fine (thanks Shirley, Jenny and Mom!). I finished work at the end of January, and got to enjoy the next couple of months with Sarah, and started to get ready for the arrival of our new baby.

Benjamin Evan Travis Bond joined our family at 12:14 am, March 27th, Easter Sunday morning! He came fast and furious, though a week overdue. He had a bit of a rough start to life as he was born with a low platelet count, but after a couple of days in the hospital, and some follow up, he's as healthy as can be, and you'd never guess that he had a problem.

He is such a blessing in our family, this little Ben. He is such a happy, content baby. I never knew it was possible!! He has slept well from the start (though we're still having issues with making it through the night), and loves to watch everything going on around him and just take it all in. He's got 2 teeth with more on the way, and seems to have an empty leg, he eats so much! He's a real momma's boy, but I just love it, and enjoy it as much as I can, because he'll be out on that dirt bike before I know it!

Sarah is as much a spark as always! She is just over 2 years old, and loves to talk! She is really coming up with new things everyday, and is just starting to talk about the past (meaning the summer, oh so long ago), and loves to give me a play by play of everything that happens around her. She has really taken to drawing, and will actually sit STILL for a period of time if she's doodling on her etch-a-sketch or at her easel. She keeps us busy, but is so fun to have around.

Travis spent his winter and spring months working on his masters degree, but we were happy when the summer came because he (we) got a break from both that and teaching. We also moved in June into a house. We have the whole house to ourselves, no one in the basement, so that has been such a treat. We have lots of plans for making it our own, and are looking forward to taking our time making them happen because we plan to be here for a long time. No more moving!!!!!

We spent lots of time this summer at the water park and the beach. Sarah learned to LOVE the water, so much so, that when the fall came and it was too cold to go in the lake, she was quite upset (understatement). She still talks about the beach, and we all can't wait till it is warm enough for us to go back. We've done a lot of work in the back yard too, Travis put in irrigation, we've leveled out the yard and reseeded, so come springtime, it will be ready for play!

The end of a long, hard day.

We took a family trip at the end of summer out to Alberta for my old friend Lisa's wedding, and were able to see lots of friends along the way. It was a really great time, made better by the portable DVD player that we had along with us that made the hours and hours in the car go by so much easier!

This fall, Travis found himself back at KVR Middle school, in a full time position, which gave him continuing status meaning no more time on the sub list. This year he is teaching subjects that he has taught before, and we can really notice how that positively affects our family because we see Daddy alot more! His masters program started up too, and now we have less than a year to go (and counting!!).

I have really enjoyed my time at home with the kids, and though it's been....busy... because they are both so young, they are growing up so fast, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am having to start thinking about going back to work in the new year, but if all goes as planned, I won't have to work that much.

We are heading down to the coast this year to spend Christmas with Travis' family, and Travis is looking forward to watching LOTS of hockey. He and his dad have tickets to the world junior hockey tournament which includes 21 games over 2 weeks, so I think (or hope) they will be hockey-ed out by the new year!
Otherwise, we are really enjoying our lives with our kids. God has richly blessed us, and we are so thankful for our health, and for all that He has provided. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year. We can't wait to see what 2006 brings!

love, Karen and Travis,
Sarah and Ben

Yours, Mine and Ours, otherwise known as Mine, Mine and Mine

We are now over 3 months into the 'terrible 2's' and I had begun to think that they weren't that bad. I went as far as to say to people that the FIRST two years were terrible (haha), but now things were getting alot better.

And they are.

Really.

Except....

We've started to hear alot of mine, mine, mine. She only learned the word about a month ago, before that it was 'yours' even when she meant 'mine'. I guess a little someone is trying to assert her independence, and of course, I like to clarify with her that most if not all of her things are in fact MINE, not hers. And I'm such a big girl because I like to share them all with her. Because that's what big girls do, right? Anyways, often after she declares something hers, we can usually explain to her why it's not necessarily that way, and she accepts it pretty well, no kicking and screaming....... yet.

Can't wait for THAT stage. :)

De-wish-ous

Sitting at supper tonight, enjoying stew from the slow cooker, and fresh scones, we were talking about our day, when from the little blue chair we hear,
'de-wish-ous'
'what's that?'
'de-wish-ous'
'She said delicious!'
'food de-wish-ous!'

I have never had a better compliment!!

Summerland lights up

A couple of weeks ago, Summerland had their annual 'light up' where all the Christmas lights are turned on at once, and the streets are filled with music and food. The girls found a little stage and had a great time dancing to the celtic music that played for about 45 minutes.









The Bond fam 2005.












Mommy and Ben

The Christmas picture fiasco of 2005

Each different outfit that you'll see represents a different attempt at getting JUST ONE picture where they are both looking at the camera and possibly smiling. I actually think that it is impossible.

Not bad for 2 years old

Happy hace

Whale (obviously)

I was pretty impressed and suprised yesterday when Sarah did her first rendition of a happy face. A circle, two eyes and a mouth is not much, but at the same time amazing!

No children were helped in the creation of their drawings.

I just noticed the happy face has a dimpled chin. It must be a portrait of her daddy!

So much spare time....

Well, the Summerland Baptist Christmas play, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is DONE. Four performances this weekend, and they all went really well. For pictures, check out Amanda's link on the right (thebrowns). The acting was fantastic, and the choir did a wonderful job. I'm so proud of our little band that pulled everything together and actually sounded quite good, I think. We came a long way in the last 3 weeks or so when we were only going to play 1/2 the music. We ended up doing the whole thing, and it was FUN!
We also went to Grace's 2nd birthday party on Saturday afternoon, and Sarah was so excited for balloons and cake. She still had a bit of a hard time understanding that the presents weren't for her though.
And, Sunday morning, Jenny and Ken had Makenna dedicated in church.
Now that that's all done.... all I have is time!!! (Hahahaha) :)

Just have to do all the things I've been putting off for a week.... shopping, pay some bills, clean, laundry, Christmas cards, clean, lights on the house and tree, sleep....

And you don't have to be an angel....

to sing harmony.

There are only maybe 4 others who might find that funny (sorry everybody else).

Kim, Alison, Corinne and Janelle, I was thinking of you yesterday.

Briercrest, 1992 and 3. A little dorm room, 2 closets, 2 beds and one long desk. Christmas lights up as soon as it was November, and Amy Grant Christmas.

Love you guys.

The wonder of Christmas

We've enjoyed Sarah's reaction to the beginning of Christmas in the past week or so. We went to the light up in Summerland on Friday, and since then Christmas lights have been popping up all over the place.

"Piddy wights" "ooohhhhhh, mommmmy"

We were reminded of the wonder of childhood, and how magical everything must seem at Christmastime, but also how to I guess appreciate the mundane when we pulled up to an intersection and heard from the back seat,

"ooooohhhhhh, piddy red wight!"

Sarah, that's the stop light.

There all year round.

But you're right, I guess it is pretty.

My orange child

Note Ben's orange tinge. Apparently he eats too many yams and squash. I've been trying to branch out a bit more into the green beans and peas departments, but he makes a face after each bite. I just want to tone down the nose a bit! :)