Time for the Family Treat

Madeleine helped make the Abelskevers. Eric loves to have help in the kitchen.

We've got two of these great pans

It has been a long time since we've enjoyed these. The kids were so excited and they were devoured quickly thanks to Uncle David's secret sauce!!!

 

 

 

 

End of the soccer season

Orian, Josiah and Justin

Justin's team, the Flames

One of his coaches was Josiah's Dad, Jeff.

The medal

Justin has had an interesting indoor soccer season. He had two coaches: one was so stressed and uptight it made me uncomfortable and the other one could only be to half of the practices.  Justin didn't really seem to enjoy it this year. Was it because of the coaching? The increase in the number of practices? Playing too much indoor and outdoor over the last 3 years?  I am not sure what it was but his lack of enthusiasm, focus and drive was evident.  He definitely had some good times but was ready for it to be over.  We will take a break from it and see what happens next year. I am thinking of having Justin join Madeleine for some spring tennis. We'll see how that goes.

Playdate with Jena

The girls put on a puppet show for the kids and had them in stitches.

Buttermilk pancakes with whipping cream and strawberries with banana/strawberry smoothies for dessert.

This past month Madeleine has been trying to arrange a playdate with her good friend from school, Jena. Well it finally happened!  The girls had a great time together and we look forward to having her over again.

Last Game for Austin

 Austin received his first medal!!!! The older kids were so excited for him. I forgot my camera but Eric took some with his iphone so hopefully I can get those pictures on here. Austin had such a great coach, coach Martinez, she made it so fun and comfortable for the kids.

A very proud moment for my little guy.

A lot like me

 When I found Olivia in the sink, not unusual, it brought this picture of me to my mind.  We are just a few months apart in these pictures.

This is me in the dryer, just like Olivia likes to do.

Sunday at our house

 Madeleine wanted to make confetti. She spent an hour cutting up pieces.

The big throw

I can't remember why Austin was not dressed...

Austin and Olivia were in heaven playing in the confetti. They did this several times.

 This dress was one that Madeleine wore at her age also.

 Madeleine, Austin and I worked on a poster together. It turned into an ocean/tropical picture and Austin learned that he can draw really good trees, octopuses and suns.
  I cut about 5 inches off of Madeleine's hair. It looks so cute on her and there are less snarls to fight with in the morning.

Family Weekend in Banff

I brought bags full of games, books, coloring etc. I am so glad I did. With it being so cold outside we spent a lot of time in the room playing games.

 Eric had a conference in Banff and we all tagged along. My friend Amy and her kids came on Friday and swam at the pool and hung out.  It was sunny but too cold to do much outside.  I coaxed the kids out of the van for a few pictures.

 Justin made a fort by placing suitcases and chairs next to the desk. He has such a good imagination and the other two loved it.

 Livi went a couple days without a nap due to our schedule so on the day we left she got a quick snooze.

 It was a good trip. Lots of good food and fun time in the pool.  One night at 2am we hear the fire alarm go off and a voice comes over the loud speaker indicating they have detected a fire.  You can imagine our tired states and the kids bewilderment. Ten minutes later they announced it was a false alarm. Well, that doesn't help us when we are all in the same room and the kids are now wide awake. Austin took until 4:30am to fall back asleep. We were exhausted!  Not something you anticipate happening.

Olivia was such a happy trooper through it all.

The view from our room. It doesn't get much better than this.  We took our usual trip to the Banff Springs Hotel and indulged in their dessert buffet. So fantastic!!!

Valentines Day

Decorating sugar cookies is always a must.

Trip to Montana

This is the beautiful granite we have purchased for our kitchen counters. It has so much depth to it.

In order for this trip to work in one day we had to ask for a bit of help. Our neighbors, the Fletchers took Madeleine and Justin in the morning for an hour before school so we could get a jump on the day. My good friend Marla took them after school until we arrived home. We are so grateful for their help!

Austin and Olivia spent most of 4 hours here, either terrorizing the place or in the van. They were such good sports.

 This was our big trip to Montana. Eric, Austin, Livi and I took the long drive, which ended up being even longer with road closures due to snow.  We weren't able to get as much done as we had hoped but we did figure out the counters in the kitchen, main bath (soapstone) and in the mud room (light granite). We also made huge progress on the tile in the master bath and picked out the tile for the kitchen backsplash, the mudroom backsplash.  We found a sink for the main bath that should be beautiful.  We had no luck in the gas fireplace department. We might get that up here.

 This is the kitchen with the black mosaic tile, from counter to ceiling, removed. *notice Eric's elk antlers?  He still wants to find a place IN the house. I think the garage is a good spot.

This is the dinning room with the wall paper removed. Much better.