Happy Friday

Wouldn't this be lovely hanging around your neck with the initial of your own kids? I have again been spending (wasting) a little too much time on Etsy and finding such amazing things. There is so much creative talent out there and so much of it in the way of stay-at-home moms. I can't help but find it inspiring.
Anyways this necklace is from BellaButtonDesigns and she has so much more great stuff. I may have to put something on my birthday list. I know there are a few Mom readers out there and I just had to share this. This site also has some beautiful stuff. A very nice gift for a special little girl too, I think.
Speaking of birthdays, we celebrated Tony's this week. The big 3-8.He managed to come home from work early nice and early so we went and pulled all the kids out of school and took them for lunch. They were thrilled. The day continued on with normal stuff - art class and dentist appointments. We bought him a new game so after dinner we played it. Learning a new game with all the kids impatiently waiting to play is always interesting but we pulled through. The game was a success and I think we'll enjoy playing it a lot. Ticket to Ride for anyone who's looking for a great family game.
Okay, I'm going to go work on the Disney album for 45 min before I have to go get Taggart from preschool. This 2 hour window of time goes far too quickly.
Happy Friday to all!

Why didn't I think of that?

As I was poking around my favorite Etsy shops for all kinds of handmade goodness I came across these camera straps. I actually considered ordering one for a brief moment before realizing how absolutely simple they were. It took me about 20 minutes to whip this one up with some leftover scraps I had from other projects. Now while I am pleased with myself for saving the $22 + shipping, I can't help "why didn't I think of that?". I could be selling these for $22 a piece. Anyways, this one that my Nikon is currently hanging on is making me happy.

And this girl always continues fo make me happy. She is turning into such a beautiful girl. And she's crafty enough (the art kind, not the sneaky kind) to compete with me on a serious level. She is always making, gluing, painting, creating and gifting me with all kinds of lovely things. This afternoon she whipped this beauty up before running out the door to play with a friend. That's a lot of very's. Her hair got braided last night and today it was wavy. Daddy wasn't home to see it so she made me take a photo to show him. That smile is for you, Daddy.

No rest for the weary

What should have been a day full of rest and rejuvenation for Tony today was rather a tackling of a to-do list that never ends. After coming off a crazy busy week at work and working somewhere of a 20+ hour day on Friday he should have been sleeping standing up but instead he leveled my oven(I've been cooking crooked for years), fixed the printer, bought Cooper a new hockey stick, drove and picked up Nana at church, and managed to build two very cool sling shots for Cooper and Hudson(idea from this book). I'm thinking that if he would have sat down too much he may never have gotten up again so better to stay moving. Thanks for a productive day.

Saturday sillies

Another uneventful blogging week. I was trying to figure out if our week really was that boring or if it was me having a hard time seeing the beauty in the little things. I think it was a bit of both. January is a bit of a dull month, isn't it. All the excitement of Christmas is over and the sometimes mundane routine of things is again into full swing.

So anyway, this morning the little things again brought me joy. The camera got pulled out and I have some blog material. I hope that this means I've turned a small corner out of the January blahs.

This is the remnants of this morning and last night.  A trip to the public library meant all kinds of new books to read and DVD's to watch. 

As I was tackling my house cleaning that I have neglected for the last week they found all kinds of things to keep them busy.

The limbo 

 

Which turned into a dog pile. A tangled mess of legs and feet.

You would think that Reagan had a little friend over for dress-up

But.... no. Tony will love that I posted this and Tag may not be too happy about it either in a few years. But it really cracked me up, especially the Santa hat and the way his little Curious George underwear showed through the pink tutu.

 

Here's to more silliness in our life.

Too much to say

Again, I have been away from my blog for far too long. The computer seems to be fixed - finally. It was a long and painful journey but we all made it.

So, again, after a break this long there is far too much to cover so I won't try. But yet I have a hard time leaving too many things out because like I've said before, if you don't blog it did it really happen??

So before I get into the highlights of the past few very bright sunny days I want to start with some less recent stuff, but just as good.

Like I said, the sun has come out and almost all the snow is gone but we had a lot of fun while it lasted.

This first photo brings me to an idea I had for this year. At the end of each month I will blog my favorite shot of that month and then at the end of the year I figure I will have the makings for a great little 'highlights of the year' book. This one is definitely in the running.

When you don't feel like bundling up and heading into the snow but you still really want to play in the snow. Bring in some snow and build this little guy in the comfort of your kitchen. Isn't he cute?

Cooper and Taggart have really been getting along lately and here are a few shots of the two of them - both snowy and not.

Conversations in the snow, when you just need to lie down.

Okay, now for the more recent stuff. This weekend the sun came out and it's been so good to send the kids out to play without bundling them in snowsuits first.

Tag and I hung out in the front yard this afternoon before the kids got home from school and he had a great time building jumps for his motorbike in the little pile of snow that still remains.

After school the rollerblades came out for the first time since last fall and the boys played hockey. What I love about hockey out in the yard is that it seems to attract others. At one point I looked out and there were two other boys from the neighborhood playing as well. New kids just walking by, saw the game and asked to play. So love that. So good for the boys to get away from their ipods.And this last one is for nothing more than to show off this groovy outfit Tag was sporting this weekend. So good to be four.

Snow Day

That's right - our first day back to school and they declare a snow day. I was promised two hours of peace and quiet this morning and now it has been snatched from me. And to make it worse I found out after I'd already had my shower so crawling back to bed was a little out of the question. So hear I sit, able to blog at 7am as all my children still sleep peacefully, completely unaware of the joyous news they will hear when they wake.

I'm kidding really. Even though going back to school really would be in everyone's best interest an extra day of lounging around with no where to go and no schedule to keep is not so bad. Photo taken yesterday on our snowy day walk in the trails - I love it. The way they are all just sitting in the snow on the bank of the creek like it's a beautiful summer day. So funny.

Happy Holidays - part two

Two blog posts in one day?!?!? Could I be trying to make up some ground perhaps?

Okay - back to business.

Boxing Day - As I look at the photos of this day I notice that this day brought with it a few frustrations. We again headed out to the snow. Reagan and I (mostly I) were determined to build a snowman but the conditions were not right and the snow was very hard to pack. We persevered though and did end up with a little guy complete with carrot nose, stick arms, dead rosebud eyes(they were available), and dead flowers stems for a very hip hairdo. Unfortunately you'll have to just take my word for it though because we didn't get a final photo.

Next on the agenda, trying to sew something on Reagan's new Hello Kitty sewing machine. It was so cute and held so much promise but it failed miserably. We did manage to get a little wall pocket thingy sewn up to hang in her room but we both decided it was not worth the time and effort and frustration to try again. Costco will be getting it back.

The day was not all bad though - actually mostly good. Lots of hanging out and eating of course. And this sweet moment:

Dec 27 - The Braun Christmas. Here are the highlights:
Our lovely hosts - my brother Henry and my sister-in-law Pat. Such a yummy dinner. My big brother Willi in the far left corner. They live in Edmonton and I heard at some point throughout the evening that the last time they joined us for Christmas was 1990 so it was high time to have them with us.

We have the littlest kids so we always get to go first in the buffet line-up (wink, wink)

Our dear parents. Dad was really not feeling well with the flu but he managed to give me a good smile. A foosball tournament. A good dose of Evie - My niece Erin's sweet little girlMy favorite photo of the day

Dec 30 - my Mom's 84th birthday. We invited all who could come to our place for appies and birthday cake to celebrate. The cake was black forest and I made it myself. The cake was good but the photos are terrible because in my hurry to put the cake down in front of her, sing Happy Birthday and grab the camera to take photos all at the same time I snapped away without checking settings. Obviously they weren't correct. Nonetheless, I think it still captures the moment. The joy that the littlest ones always bring the oldest ones. Happy Birthday Mom.

New Year's Eve. I would have been quite happy to ring in the new year at around 9:00 and then soak in a tub before hitting the pillow. But the kids were determined to see it to the end. The best part of the night was definitely the chocolate fondue.

Wishing you all a blessed 2009 and thanks to all those who check in to our little world every now and then. Here's to the year ahead.

Happy Holidays - part one

have taken a lot of photos this month - a lot! And since I am still, yes still, figuring out how to tkae good pictures not all of them coming out of the camera looking great. Therefore I have a lot of editing to do. And while I could just leave the photos as is and be able then to watch the progress in my photograhy skills I am just not able to do that. When I know what I can do to a snowy photo that always turns out too dark and gray with just a couple clicks in Photoshop why would I leave it looking too dark and gray. But of course a couple of clicks per photo when I have 100+ to go through tends to take a bit of time. The reason of course, for all this photo talk is to try and explain my absence from this blog over the last two weeks. But I am happy to announce that I completed my editing process of my December photos last night at around 10:30 and now they are blog-ready so here it goes...

I have titled this post part one as I have a feeing it may get a little long and the normal stuff that goes on in this house may pull me away before I come to the end. Part two will follow shortly.

Christmas Eve: this year was different than most. Normally Mary and her family spend the day with us and we celebrate Nana's birthday for half the day and then switch gears to Christmas for a turkey dinner and presents and all that stuff. But this year Mary and her family were picking pineapples and riding the surf in Maui so we changed things up a bit. Since Nana always gets just half a day to celebrate her birthday we decided this year she should get the whole day. It started as it always does - with all the kids climbing on her bed to bring her tea and toast and presents. We love that tradition. The rest of the day was mostly hanging out, playing games and then heading out into the great Christmas snowfall of 2008 to sled and throw snowballs. (This last sentence could almost wrap up the whole of our holidays but there are a few highlights in there so I will go on.)

Santa stopped by (our friendly neighbor)My favorite of the day. Warming themselves by the fireplace after they shedded all their wet snow clothes. We ordered Chinese for dinner and Tag loved the chopsticks - I think he kept eating just to keep using them. Then we quickly made a few sugar cookies and the kids spent the evening decorating them for Santa. Nana got a rice krispie treat cake with a candle in it.We ended the night with the traditional gift of new pajamas and Tony read The Night Before Christmas and I read the new book (I buy a new book for every Christmas Eve), Olive the Other Reindeer. Then we nestled them in all snug in their beds and headed to bed myself.

Christmas Day: A perfect White Christmas. I am hopelessly a kid when it comes to snow and eventhough I know it makes it hard for people to get around (a little eye rolling here) I still love it. So all day I just kept looking out saying "I can't believe all this snow".

Anyways, Christmas morning was just as it should be. Wide-eyed kids and wrapping paper all over the floor. The best reaction was from Cooper when he opened his i-pod. He has wanted one for so long but we have always downplayed it, saying he is too young, blah-blah-blah, but this year we thought he was ready. He had completely given up on getting one and was so genuinely surpised (and thrilled) when he opened it. Tag got the Cars computer that he wanted, Hudson spent most of the day building the Lego Ferrari he got and Reagan baked things for us with her new EZBake stuff.

Lots of installing batteries, putting together new toys, figuring out and playing new games, and of course eating. Good stuff.

Oma and Opa came to spend the evening with us and Tag had to show them his new computer.