29....no, really!

Well, I'm 29 now. For real! Not with any years experience or anything. And let me tell you, I'm glad to be here... I almost didn't make it!

Last week I had severe bleeding and had to have emergency surgery and a blood transfusion. Thank goodness for modern medicine! After leaving the girls at my parents for a sleepoverI went in to the hospital for the second time around midnight last Sunday night. After waiting in the waiting room for three hours I finally got a bed... then they did nothing (except take more blood - I felt like a pincushion!) until 12:30pm. That's twelve and a half hours of doing nothing while I was bleeding to death! (Well, they did give me some estrogen around 4am, but that did nothing.) What is wrong with our health care system that they'll let someone lie there for that long and do nothing! They finally got around to giving me an ultrasound, and from there they rushed me straight to the OR where they cauterized the problem areas and gave me 4 bags of blood. My hemoglobin should have been around 120... it was down to 50. This all happened as a result of the miscariage I had back in May, but at least that means it's not some random occurance that's likely to repeat itself.

But anyhow, I lived to tell the tale. Many thanks to all who helped out and prayed.

Grandma's Dresses

Hi Grandma!

Thanks for our nice dresses you made us! As you can tell by our messy hair, we had lots of fun playing in them!

We love you!

Rachael's Tent

Grandma made me a tent! I saw one with her on Sunday and it was lots of money so Grandma said she could make me one instead! Thanks Grandma, I love it!

P.S. - I'm feeling much better

Three Hills Holiday

Our vacation to Three Bumps, AB (actually Three Hills, but coming from BC the hills are more like bumps) didn't go exactly like we planned. We got there on Saturday around supper time and the girls had fun roasting wieners for supper. The next day was Canada Day and Rachael and Kaitlyn wanted to find something fun to do so we went to Drumheller. Drumheller is paradise for dinosaur lovers like Rachael. There were dinosaurs all over town, including the Worlds Tallest Dinosaur! We got to climb the 105 steps and see the view from his mouth. Lots of fun.

The next day we went to see our dirt for the first and last time. Huh? Yes, last September we bought some Three Hills dirt, thinking we might be crazy enough to possibly move there and build a house. Fortunately we came to our senses and decided not to. But we still had to get a picture of us on our prairie dirt while it was still ours. We sold it the next day.

We went swimming on Tuesday, and that night Rachael got sick. She was a bit feverish when I put her to bed, but I was hoping she was just warm because of the heat. No such luck. Of course, being on holidays, we had no medicine with us, so finally at two in the morning Darcy went to Mac's to find some. Wednesday evening I took her to the ER and they said she had strep throat, even though her throat wasn't sore. They sent us home with some antibiotics and Tylenol. But, Thursday night we were back, this time overnight. And the next day. And the next night. We didn't get out of there until Saturday morning. Not what we had planned for our holidays.

At least she was better for Saturday, the day of Jeremy and Christine's wedding. They had asked me to make a "fake cake" out of cardboard with a crazy wedding-topper. Christine wanted it all lopsided and crazy. It was fun to make, and turned out not too bad, if I do say so myself!

We left Three Hills on Sunday, but we had promised the girls we'd go see the Dinosaur Museum before we left. We had originally planned on going on Thursday, but someone just wasn't up for it then. So we walked around the museum for an hour and then headed to the airport to catch our flight.

Not the vacation quite the way we planned, but Rachael's on the mend so it's all good.

Playtime at the Playground

What would school be with out recess in the playground? Kindergarten gets out of school right when the older kids go outside for recess so I let Rachael play with her friends until the bell rings for the kids to go inside and eat their lunch.

Rachael's favorite playground activities are tag (especially before school), sandbox and lately they've started up soccer every recess.

Sometimes Kaitlyn will go play; sometimes she just likes to hang out with Mom.

Only 4 More Days Of School!

The classroom is starting to look a little bare with all the art work coming down. It must be the end of school. Rachael had lots of fun in her first year of French Immersion and she's looking forward to going to school all day next year in Grade 1.

Oh, my goodness! Did I just say Grade 1? That's way too big! We keep asking her if she can stay little for a while longer but she doesn't go for that.

The eight Kindergarten Kids in Rachael's class sit at tables while the grade one's get desks. And there's always lots of carpet time.

Kaitlyn has loved going to school almost weekly to help out in the classroom. Most of the time she'll simply watch what the older kids are doing, but once in a while she gets involved. She's become the resident-little-sister of the class. At least I'll still have one little girl at home to keep me company. At least for one more year.

Sports Day

I know this will be hard to believe, but - the weather man was wrong! Again! All week the forcast for Sports Day was sunny, and then this morning he changed his mind, because it sure wasn't sunny when we woke up! But, seeing as this is the last Friday of school, there wasn't really anywhere to postpone Sports Day too, so we had it anyway.

Wouldn't you know, the first station they went to was the Freezie station. Freezies in the rain. It was a good thought. A freezie at the end of a long fun day of running in the sun would have been very refreshing, but first thing in the morning in the rain wasn't ideal.

After freezing with Freezies they did ring toss and then a water relay race. Again, had the weather been nicer this would have been more enjoyable. But the kids didn't mind so it's all good. It's officially summer now anyway, at least according to the calendar. You might not know it to look outside. There was the Grab-everything-you-can relay, Sack Races, Pass-the-Baton relay and the Shoe Scramble. On wet grass. Soggy socks anyone? The kindergartens got an added bonus of getting to stay at school all day for Sports Day. Who wants to go home early when there's more fun to be had? After lunch the sun did try to make an appearance, and when it did it was quite warm. There were more water-relays, a bouncy-castle thing, more freezies, sidewalk chalk and very fun-looking red bouncy ball things you ride on. That looked like the most fun of a very fun day.

Cute Kids

Nothing really to say in this post. Just took some cute pics of my girls and thought I'd post them. In case you forgot how cute they are!

It's a Zoo Out There!

We picked the one good weather day this week to go on a Field Trip to the zoo! Rachael got to ride on the bus but Mommy and Kaitlyn drove in the car.
When we got there we divided the kids into groups with two parents. We had 5 kids (plus Kaitlyn) and that was plenty to keep track of!
We walked around and saw all the animals, stopped for lunch and played in the playground for a bit. It was more of a zoo in the playground than it was in the rest of the place! I counted 5 school busses plus all the other people so it was a little crowded! Then we hopped on the train for a ride around the park, saw a few more animals and headed back home. Fun times at the zoo.

Kaitlyn's First Hair Cut

Last week I gave Rachael a haircut, and now Kaitlyn wanted one, too. This is how long her hair was before (it's wet):And here's here short hair After. Ok, it's not super short but still.
She likes her short hair. I think it makes her look a little more grown up. But, I guess she is three and a half already!

Smarties

Well, she's taking after her big sister all right. Kaitlyn's only three and a half years old and already she can write her name and about half of the capital letters of the alphabet.
Rachael's doing really well in school. She's almost done kindergarten and then next year she's gone all day to grade one. *sniff* She just got her interim report card and she's doing great - not that we expected anything less. And she's on level 3 reading. She can read quite well in French and English.

What a bunch of smarties!

Bunk Beds

Guess what Rachael and Kaitlyn got???

I'll give you a hint...

...they're real sleepy...

...it's bunk beds!!!

The girls were so excited to get them! They actually wanted to go to bed! (How often does that happen?)

Sleepy Head

I guess Kaitlyn isn't quite done with naps just yet. This first picture was taken a few weeks ago when she just couldn't keep her eyelids open any longer. (And what could be more cozy than snuggling with Daddy?)
These pictures were taken today. "Do you need to have a nap today?" "No, I'm not sleepy." Well, maybe just a little bit. But not too much!
Aren't kids cute when they're sleeping?

Playing it Cool

Rachael and Kaitlyn are playing it cool in their big playroom. And yes, a toy box is for playing in, not for keeping toys in!

We've Moved

So, here they are - the much-awaited pictures of the new house. (This pic isn't the best - we're getting a new roof and there's all the shingles up on the roof!)
The kitchen is small. Not much cupboard space and in desperate need of new countertops, cupboards and flooring. But not too bad. At least it's not all grungy like some we saw!
This is the living room. It's kind of an akward shape but it has nice big windows and a vaulted ceiling.
There are three bedrooms upstairs. The girls are sharing a room and the other room is the office. This is a (not very good) picture of the all-important craft room downstairs! (I'm excited :-)
And the girls love having a huge playroom downstairs, too. Complete with a little fort behind the wall of boxes.

It seems like a good house and we're happy here. Quiet street, double car garage, covered deck, fenced back yard and a front entry that's got room for more than one person!!! (Those of you with cathedral-entranced homes will know what I'm talking about! :-p )

So stop by and see us one day!

Egg-celent Cookies!

Auntie Kendra made great big egg-shaped cookies for everyone to decorate and seven or eight fun colored icings!There were some very creative (and tasty) eggs made.
A finger-licking good time!

Hoppy Easter!

We had a big turn out for Auntie Kendra's annual Easter Egg Hunt. We had great weather for it, too! We were forced indoors the last two years so it was great to be back in the great outdoors again.This year the hunt was held at Auntie Milena's house. There were so many great hiding places that not all the eggs were found! I guess their dog will be finding the rest!
Lots of goodies - lots of fun!

Lots of Lambs

Every year, since the day she was born, Rachael gets a lamb from Auntie Kendra on her birthday. That's because "Rachael" means "Little Lamb." This is the birthday collection.