Dexter is here!

the 2 little ones are sleeping and the 2 big ones are watchinga movie...I should shower, but alas I'm putting in the weekly entry I wanted to start doing.

So after having labour pains on and off for half the pregnancy...Dexter arrived the day after his due date. I went in the morning of his due date because the contractions were 5 mins apart and I thoguht when it was time I would go quickly ...but alas it was not the real thing so I got sent home, and for all you who have been sent home -you feel like you've been punished. I went in again 18 or so hours later and he came in under 2hrs, when they told me I was 6cm, I said "so does that mean I can stay?" the nurse looked at me stupidly of course you are staying... so funny. I gave Dale a big high 5.

Ah Dexter I was quite unsure of the name, but Dale Loves it. It is just so manly...well he is going to be a man someday...so I went with it, and the more I look at him the more it fully suits him. He is such a good baby he's been around for 10 days now and he gives me 3, mostly 4 hours at night. last night I got a whole 5! what a difference it made I told the kids good news mom won't go back to bed after breakfast today! I'm so naughty but at this time in the game it's survival.

Dale and I went to a basket ball game with all 4 on wed. The team Dale used to play on before life got so crazy. first outing with all 4. we were driving home and we stopped to get some timbits....Dale and I were so tired and we were thinking...what were we thinking 4?? Well we can't turn back now! But No really we are thenkful for aour children each one of them. It's just a LOAD of blessings all at once. Al little overwhelming but when I have the right additude, I really enjoy my children. It's just trying to channel that additude on a daily basis.

Well the little wee one is stirring, and I better wake Aubree up before she pees the bed. She's 2 and decided she wants to potty train which sounds great but it's just the timing that's all. She refuses to wear diapers. so there's no turning back now.

TTFN

well cosidering I haven't done an entry in over a year I thought I'd give it a stab. I took a huge hiatus. i thought I would never blog again, because i was comparing myself to some of the other great women out there who remember to snap a picture and the house in the back ground is always clean...not that I hold that against any of you - it's admirable. I felt discouraged, then I thought what the heck! I'm going to do it anyaways.
My due date is tomorrow.
baby number 4 is coming! do I feel ready? what does that really mean? ready. no. but at the same time I am so excited to meet this little guy!( yes it's a bo)! to see what he looks like and to hear his little boy cry...I'm really anxious to be able to sleep withought aches and pains too. It's been hard pregnency because at 27 weeks I got put on modified bedrest, I wasn't suppossed to travel for 3 weeks and lift anything, including my 2 year old. So greatful for my amazing ward that helped out during this time. the meals, the cleaning , and even the company while I was couped up out here on the acerage. I have a feeling the the magnitude of 4 kids is going to hit me hard. We'll see.
I'd like to atleast get a post on here once a month, we'll see.
Here are some photos done in the fall of the family.
>

still busy

-Canning cherries I haven't eaten those in years! I did them with my friend Kellie. I was worried they wouldn't seal but she said when she went to bed that night she could hear them one by one POP, POP yes! success! hope they taste like I remember like when when I was a kid and we would have cherries and Ice cream for dessert.

- I didn't take that job driving those kids in the morning the money wasn't as good as I thought. I'm glad but not glad. Glad because the thought of getting up at 6 am every morning was no that appetizing. But not glad because the incentive would have gotten my family into a better routine. with naps, and bedtimes etc. Now I'm going to have to discipline myself. I'll let you know how that goes.

-My calling. I like it, but I have a new found respect for anyone who works in an RS presidency. There is just so much to be aware of in a ward! I am really liking the blessings that have gone along with this calling though. I feel part of something and humbled, and happy in my calling and duty as a mom. I think I was going through a rut for a while there where I was finding things hard. and my grumpiness with my kids and husband was showing it. Lately my attitude has changed even though not much has changed. just this new calling. I guess I'm striving to do more of what my HF asks of me and it might just be as simple as that. It's too bad that serving in a calling is what it takes to get my butt in gear but that seems to be how I operate. I need to be put in some sort of responsibility to smarten up does that make sense?? now I'm just rambling.

- Jonah and Geneva are enrolled in Gymnastics. I waited in line for almost 2 hours to get them into a 10 week class. What we do for our kids I tell ya! It's funny they didn't even know what they were waiting in line for. So I lifted them up and showed them inside the Gym and I said "I need to pay for the class so you can learn Gymnastics" and about every 10 minutes Jonah would then ask "Mom when are we going to start the Elastics"?

-I got the renters in. Really It should always go that smooth: I met the old tenants at 7, we did the walk through, the place was immaculate, I gave them back their damage deposit. I said goodbye and good luck to them, then phoned the new renters they arrived in 10 minutes just enough time for me to weed the front yard. We did a walk through he gave me what he owed me and I said "here's you keys" I was back home by eight! Let me tell you it was not that smooth the time before! I am so lucky!


No post is complete without a photo. Here's the kids both sick with fevers. This the day they were supposed to start swimming lessons. Bummer!

Anxiously Engaged

Here's what I've been up to:

- Went down to my SMITH family reunion the beginning of this month. I didn't take a single picture.. I was too sidetracked. it was excellent. It was so good to be on "the farm" I was reminded on how gorgeous it really is. All of my cousins are fabulous and am so proud to have such a cool family and what's even cooler is that they all married such great people too!. I have a great husband he just let me visit with all of them while he packed up the whole tent and stuff.

-Been busy with my new calling going to meetings, thinking about it. I'm the 1st councellor in the relief society. It is a little more work than I expected but that's okay extra blessings right?. I never knew how hard it was with organizing visiting teaching until I was behind the scenes! Now is the time for me to put that out there! do your visiting teaching! wow is it ever important!

-finding renters for the house, showing the place every mon, wed. fri at 7 for the last month, luckily we found someone so they are coming to sign the lease agreement today!

-We had Geneva's 3rd Birthday last saturday we had rented a jump castle from friends in our ward. We made it a joint birthday with Bethany her parents own the Jumpcastle. It was a donation item at the scout auction so we though why not bid on it for Geneva's birthday? we just invited families out..wow what a good turnout! I sure like having a big backyard! and the treehouse that Dale has built or is building is quite the piece of work! still needs a roof though but it it coming along.



-Having playdates with friends, (mostly the Tollestrup kids), Jonah and Tagg are such good buddies! Berkeley and Geneva too, but Jonah is obsessed with playing with Tagg, they are actually going over there today.

-Visiting Grandma Shaw it is such a relief that she is doing so well in the nursing home I was worried about her.

-trying to "keep up" with laundry and housework

-I just signed up to be an epicure consultant www.epicureselections.com. If you don't know what it is it's a Canadian company that sells dip mixes spices and cookware. I never thought that I would be into that stuff, bot the product is so fabulous i couldn't help myself. If there is anything you need, or if you want a catalogue just get a hold of me!

- I also start a new job September. I get up at 6 am and get my kids in the car and go to someone else's house and get their kids ready for school and drive them. sounds crazy but the pay is good. The pros outweigh the cons, I might actually have a schedule and a routine in my life come sept.




So I am so busy. But I find that it is a good thing. LIfe is stressful. I have a son that gives me a run for my money. I have to threaten to take away his toys to get him to do anything and then follow through on my threats.I think it just might be a 4 year old thing, yesterday I took away his bike. I feel like I am the meanest mom, but they all say consistency is the key with parenting.

Sometimes I see on people's facebook status that people say they are bored. that is such a foreign concept to me. I don't think I have been bored since I was a child... No I take that back when I was newly married, and Dale was working security anin the evenings I got bored. Which looking back now I could've done so much with that time!!! scrapbooked , sewed...taken a pottery class, Photography class, learned french dedicated more time to studying the gospel.... all that stuff I can't find the time to do now!

Summer Baycation

So we made the trek all the way down the province , down 3 states to Tooele Utah. what a trip!
here are some of the highlights.
-We stopped at Water Valley AB to stay at the Napier Hotel to stay with John, Wendi, an baby Shae so nice so relaxing they live in a little utopia. acreage with a like just across the road. lots of trees. we hung out at the lake had a bonfire. enjoyed good food and watched the kids play. so great to catch up with the Napiers! they are one of those lifelong friends.
-Had to party with the Rosemaryites on Canada day, boy do they know how to party!. I learned what mud bogging is, talent show, magic show, good food, We also got to visit the homestead where James Eastman grew up a gorgeous Ranch the kids loved feeding the horses!
-Went to my first real rodeo! pretty fun! got to see some real live cowboys.
- on this 1 trip we found out that Aubree, is allergic to penicillan,
- Jonah got sick down in Utah with some virus called Pharyngitis, it lasted 5 days(thankful that I got the travel insurance) then on the way home Geneva got it, then when we got home Dale got it! fun times. It's basically a sore throught accompinied with a high fever for 3+ days.
- I got to shop a bit. I got a new dress and Dale watched me try on clothes at target I think he was tolerant with this because it was out 7th anniversary.
-Utah is hot
- got to see new baby Andrew (Drew) Aaron Blum be blessed he is such a well behaved cute baby!
- We made our way back up north and made a stop in Calgary. we were going to just continue on home, but it just so happened to be Kid's day at the Stampede. we couldn't pass that up so we went even though Geneva was sick. thank goodness for my new double stroller! We love hanging out with the Kearls!
Oh i still haven't figured out how to post photos properly on this dang thing! I downloaded them chronologically, but they showed up the opposite! and how do you put comments on the bottom of them? because photos are just a bunch of gibberish words in the create section. anyone care to help me figure it out???

I love our backyard!

That is the biggest highlight of us moving to this other house can't say I'm a huge fan of the house here but, as Marilyn would say this yard is skookum (rad). Dale is going to build a big ol tree house right in the middle of the yard. we have a fire pit, lots of trees( kids call it the forest) I guess 5 trees and up is considered a forest, and room to play sports. we played badminton the other day with Logan and Sarah Shaw (the other one) it was awesome I haven't laughed that hard in a long time playing with a pregnant lady and the wind and sun factor made it for a very funny game. I can estimate that we will be spending most of our summer back here.

the fisher price camera

we bought this fisher price camera for Jonah's birthday. It's not the best quality, but it sure is fun for the kids to click away with. here's a few of their snapshots from the past month....