A much needed giggle

After spending almost 3 hours waiting for our truck to be serviced at Honda today when they told us it would only be an hour and a half I was pretty much spent. The first hour and a half was spent walking down to McDonald's to have lunch and then poking around the dollar store to kill the time. The last hour was spent in the tiny waiting room of the service department with absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, to do. Doing that by myself would have made me a little antsy, doing that with my four children was enough to....well let's just say that I was in need of a big cup of tea when I got home.

But soon after we got home we all got just what we needed to lighten the mood. There was a knock on the door. The kids ran to answer it and it was closed just as quickly. Reagan had a small package in her hand with a giant mess of a pink bow on the top. "For Cooper" she said, "from Avery". Our little five year old neighbor across the street, who apparently has a spot in her heart for Coopster. The funny thing really was the way Cooper handled it. He really thought it was cute, smiling and giggling the whole time he was opening the package (which took some time as we think Avery used a whole roll of scotch tape). "Maybe it's the Lego set I've been wanting", he said laughing. Inside the package was a little note with some scribbles and her name, an Abbotsford Hawks hockey sticker, and a tiny package of BBQ Spits. We all got a very big kick out of the whole thing but the best thing was how Cooper got right to work making her a thank you note, complete with a lollipop attached, and one for her little sister too.

Sometimes Cooper can be a real parenting challenge but what can never be disputed is his heart and his sense of humor. He's got a big one of both. No wonder Avery likes him. :)

These two...

I've spent a fair amount of time with just these two lately. Cooper was at camp and Reagan always seemed to be off with one friend or another so it was just us three. Hudson has always wanted Taggart's attention the most but unfortunately is usually the one to get it the least. So these few times that Hudson had Tag all to himself he really loved it. We are talking about moving Cooper out of Hudson's room and moving Tag in, giving Cooper his own room. They know nothing of this though, as Cooper would absoutely jump all over it. We'll give it a bit more thought but thinking about their personalities , it could work.

Photos taken at Lake of the Woods in Hope. We had a picnic there before we picked Cooper up at camp.

FPOTM - July

This photo absolutely represents this month to me in a nutshell. Reagan with her pink goggles on her head (she hardly ever takes them off) and Taggart with water running down his face. These two are in the pool more than anyone by far and it makes me so happy to know that they are storing up some great childhood memories. So thankful for my part in them and documenting them.

White Rock

Me with my three kiddos (Cooper still at camp) + Mary with her three kiddos (I'm pretty sure I can still call them that :) = a good day at the beach.

Hudson and Jake try their hand at skim boarding. Unfortunately the tide was coming in fast so they didn't have too long to perfect it.Some good quality time for Reagan with Rochelle and Olivia

Playing with trucks soon turned into collecting rocksLots of rocks. I said he could pick out his favorite five to bring home.This is him negotiating with me. He wants them all. Some ingenuity and we have a teeter-totter.Jake and Hudson heading out into the deep blue sea. Hudson's hands up in the air like that really crack me up.This was a conversation about massages, if I'm right, and who was giving one to who.

"Just a little more to the left, please."

Taggart is really putting his muscle into this one.

I know the girls ended the day much more relaxed. Thanks guys - great day!

The youngest child Q&A

Q: Who stuck the chewed bubblegum to our front window?

A: Taggart.

Q: Who unrolled a whole roll of toilet paper and left it in a heap on the bathroom floor?

A: Taggart. (at least he had the courtesy to throw the empty roll in the garbage)

Q: Who unbuckles he seatbelt well before we've reached our destination and stands up in the vehicle, thinking it is wildly funny?

A: Taggart. (he gets in trouble every time)

Q: Who has to go to the bathroom every. single. time. he gets in the pool and then runs into the house dripping wet without even enough time to grab a towel on his way and then leaves a big puddle on the floor?

A: Taggart.

Q: Who can make us so insanley mad and make us laugh in the same breath?

A: Taggart. (thank goodness for him that he's so darn cute)

I'm blaming it on the birth order thing because....well just because I've got to blame it on something.

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Had a great day in White Rock with Mary and the kids yesterday. Will post photos tomorrow.

Weekend in review

Lots of fun stuff happening around here the last few days. So, as I have done many times before, the easiest way to update is with photos. Here goes:
Edit: I don't know why the font size in some of this post is showing up so huge. It won't let me change it. I know it seems like I am yelling but really I'm not.

Friday

We drove into Vancouver to spend the afternoon and evening there with Tony. Taggart had been at Mary's since the night before and we were also picking him up. Me driving downtown isn't a common occurrence so Tony knows that I can always use a little help. Well, he really out did himself this them as he had a bird's eye view of me driving thru the city and easily guided me to where I wanted to be. Somehow he timed it just right to be on top of his building (I really like how we call it his building), the Shangri-La, just as we were driving. The funniest thing is that we were able to look up, way, way up, and see him standing at the very top looking down on us. The kids thought it was pretty great.

So after we parked we walked over to Chapters to meet Mary and Rochelle with Taggart. After we said goodbye to them we hung out there in the kids dept. a bit longer before heading over to find Tony. From there we drove into Stanley Park to play, have a picnic and play some more. My peepsThe water was coooold.Not a very good photo but I still love it because all the smiles are real and that's hard to get.

Throughout the evening Reagan had it in her head that we would be going back downtown later to get a cupcake. We passed the shop earlier in the day and she was determined to make up for a mistake she had made a few summers ago. (We visited the beautiful shop full of cupcakes and Reagan was too overwhelmed to make a choice and ended up choosing nothing). Tony said no way, it was too late, but then proceeded to drive out of Stanley Park and pass right by the shop. I was following him in my truck and Reagan was yelling at me to stop, stop, but I of couse kept going - following Tony. Reagan is now very mad at me and not speaking to me. Tony then proceeds to drive right back into downtown and we find a parking space ($10 - Ouch!), almost run to the cupcake shop (it's 8:50 and we think it closes at 9) and spend $16 on cupcakes (another ouch). But...Reagan has a lovely cupcake with pink frosting and Daddy is once again the hero. Oh ya, and Reagan is no longer mad at me - bonus :)

Saturday

We had a seriously crazy thunder and lightning storm that lasted hours. Pretty rare for our neck of the woods. The air was thick and humid - felt very tropical. The kids (minus Hudson) thought it would be fun to swim in it.Sunday
Don't mess with a man and his lawn.Watering restrictions are pretty tight right now - no sprinkling your lawn at all. But nobody said anything about watering your kids.Monday

Cooper's at camp this week and Reagan went to the waterslides with a friend so I was down to two. Since the temperature was meant to hit 35* we headed to the lake (Cultus Lake). What a strange feeling to be only the three of us. Fun day.

Inspiration

As I poke around the web and the blogging world I am constantly coming across things that inspire me. Sometimes it's something crafty that I want to try, or great photos that make me want to get better at my photography skills, but today I came across something that inspires me to keep telling the stories of our lives. I thought it was worth linking here: Phillip Toledano's Days With My Father. This is just words + photos. This is real life documentation and celebration. It also hits close to home as we deal with elderly parents and how we can so easily forget who they once were. It inspires me to keep telling the stories of my family with more words and less stuff.

Mother's Day 2009