A good kind of medicine

This summer, we had a bit of a run of colds between the two kids. There was about a week or so where they would get medicine each night before bed. Night time medicine, of course, because while you're drugging your children, you might as well make them sleep.

Anyways, the two of them got better, and therefore did not need their medicine every night. But if you know Sarah, you know that she is in to habits. Like really into them. As in, will NOT move on to the next step until she gets what she 'needs'. That, and she's persistent and can be loud. Not necessarily a good combination. Back to my point...

Little miss bond takes her Dora cup of water with her to bed every night.

She would insist on medicine, but didn't need it.

So,

Travis told her that he put special placebo medicine in her water. So special that you can't see it or taste it, but it's there.

So for the next few nights, "Daddy, is my special placebo medicine in there?"

Oh yes, Sarah, it is.


Now that. is creative parenting.

It worked for a few days, anyways -- until she caught on -- it's hard to stay ahead of that girl :)

On the up side....

The kids are in bed by 7:30. It's been a while, and it's nice.

Burn!!!!

This morning, I got up for my 8 am shift (after Sarah was up twice, it was super stormy outside and I was on call, so read: not a very good sleep), showered, got ready, and was in my car on my way to my Sunday morning Starbucks treat when the radio said, "It's a-quarter to SEVEN after we've turned the clocks back."

Crap.

Could have been in bed.

I can't believe that I just did that.

Please do not call child welfare on us.

From our weekend down in Winthrop at Thanksgiving. I was a good sport while the pictures were being taken, but 'Mom the hammer', or 'Mom the stopper of all things fun and illegal' stopped all the fun before it went on too long. :)

Monkey see, monkey do.

In keeping with wanting to do everything his big sister does....


ps. he just sits there. Nothing happens.

A beautiful day for the park.

Well, it wasn't today, though it's turning nice...

Last week Makenna and Jenny came down for the day and we went over to the park for some fun before it gets tooooooo cold!

My big girl on her big girl swing.

A visit from Grandpa

Grandpa Bond suprised us with a visit the other day.

He brought his fancy red car, his very first car, in fact, that he ever bought. "The Healy" is almost a part of the family. It's been in all of the boys weddings to some extent, and there are various pictures of the kids (carefully) climbing around in it.

Ben could hardly believe his good fortune when he got a turn to ride (even if only around the block).

And though it was a hard lesson for her to learn, Sarah did a very good job of (eventually) sharing her car seat (for a brief time) so Ben and Grace could each take their turn.

One of the reasons why I am not cleaning the bathroom right now.

Yes, this is Sarah sleeping at the bottom of the stairs.

I had told her to go up to her room for quiet time, and I guess this is as far as she made it.

Ben is sleeping on our bed (for round 2 of his nap), so both the bathrooms are not going to get the attention they needed this afternoon.

Darn.

(I am not the type of person who 'vaccuums when the kids are sleeping'. What is that saying again..... never wake a sleeping dragon, oops I mean child?) By now I know better.

My new Costco card.

I will smile every time I use it.
:)

I knew it!!

Well, I didn't know it, but I was sure!

Angella and Matthew welcomed their 3rd child, a beautiful baby girl, Emily Dian, on Wednesday afternoon.

It was a very cool day for me.
Angella was scheduled to be induced that morning.
Tuesday morning, at her doctor's appointment, her membranes were stripped to get labour started. We got a phone call at 10:30 that night, asking for the spare bed to be made up because they were heading to the hospital to get checked out and didn't want to go all the way home if they were sent away. I slept fitfully all night, had 3 dreams about this baby (2 that it was a girl, and one that it was a boy), and ran downstairs in the morning to see if the bed had been slept in.
It hadn't.
So, I was off to work at 7 am, and of course ran up to the maternity ward to check in.
No baby, and no contractions.
So I went to work, and checked in on my break.
No baby yet.
Went back to work, and came upstairs and had my lunch with Ange.
No baby yet.
Went back to work, and ran up before I went home, and peeked around the corner to see a little pink cap cuddled up to her mom. I got to meet little Miss Emily before she was an hour old. So very very cool.

Thank you Matthew and Angella for letting me share that day with you (or stalk you at every chance I had).

You have three beautiful children who are so blessed to have you two for parents.

Love you!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, it's been another busy weekend. The best part about having our parents close by on a weekend like this is 2 turkey dinners!

We went down to Winthrop, WA on Friday night, and came back Saturday night, and in the meantime wandered through that little town ( I had to add to my pottery collection), checked out the museum (see background in picture), and topped the day off with a turkey dinner produced from a trailer. Travis' mom is pretty amazing.

We came home, and I worked all day Sunday, and then we were out to my parents for another turkey dinner (yum!) and let's just say it was chaos. The kids had a great time at their Nana and Opi's, and Makenna was there too so there was lots of running, playing, fighting and screaming. Everyone else seemed a bit overwhelmed by the noise, but sadly, it's pretty standard for us. Fortunately they were worn right out and we enjoyed a full night of sleep.

So that's about it.

I'm off to work again for the evening to hopefully enjoy some peace and quiet, and then the week starts again.

But I am reminded again for all that I am thankful for: the love of God, my family and friends, good health and a great life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

the PNE

This past August, we went to the PNE in Vancouver.

Because of the kids, we went in the afternoon for supper, and thought we'd stay for as long as the kids would last. Turns out that they did really well -- cotton candy, whales tales, corn on the cob, mini donoughts, juice and pop help out quite a bit! :)

We met GiGi andPapa for dinner, saw some kind of kids talent show on the big stage, watched some dirt biking show, super dogs of course, and took a walk through the big barn yard.

One of the first animals we saw was this clydesdale horse, who was, um, getting excited (look closely at the picture -- and this was only about half mast). Travis thought this was quite hilarious, and insisted on a picture with the kids in front of the horse (note his big smile). It was pretty funny watching other people come in through the doors and see the horse.

Anyways, Sarah takes one look at the horse, and says,

"Look Daddy! He has a penis just like you!!"

"That's right, honey!" says Travis

"Um......not quite......" says I.

:)

Mr. and Mrs.

Well, its done. My brother is a married man.

Strange, but true.

We just got back this afternoon from our whirlwind trip up to Edmonton, and it was a great time. Tamara was a beautiful bride, and Donny a handsome groom, and Sarah was a fantastic flower girl. She did great.

She and Makenna could hardly stand themselves in their bee-u-ti-ful white dresses, they floated around the place -- well, floated and jumped and ran. Jenny gave them their first 'up do's' , and they were princesses indeed.

Their job as flower girls involved the traditional tossing of rose petals on the ground before Tamara walked down the isle. It actually took a fair bit of convincing to get Sarah to understand that it was ok that Tamara walked on the flowers, and that they were supposed to be on the floor. She was supposed to leave them there, it was her job to do it, and she was supposed to empty her basket out. I wasn't sure for a while at the rehersal if she would actually do it, but Saturday came, and Travis and Jenny stayed with the girls at the back to get them started, and I was up in the 2nd row, camera ready. As the girls walked down the isle, I started to cry and take pictures at the same time (which is not so easy, by the way) and as Sarah emptied her basket, she turned around, surveyed her completed job, outstreached her arms and said,

"Ta-da!!!!!"

I think she enjoys being the centre of attention. (but we sort of already knew that).

Uh oh.

Anyways, the two of them stole the show, that is, until Tamara walked down the isle.

Seeing my brother all grown up is a bit surreal. He's 8 years younger than me, and was only 9 when I essentially moved out of the house. It feels like I missed out on a bunch of years, but as he's growing up, I'm getting to get to know him better. As a brother, as an uncle, and now, as a husband. And, I'm liking it.

Congratulations, Donny and Tamara, we love you guys, and can't wait to see what's in store!