First Goal!!!

My Davram scored his first goal in soccer tonight!!! I'm so proud of him and really hope he continues to improve in his skills:) He is already showing how much he has learned. I missed seeing his goal tonight, which makes me sad, but I know that I'll see his next one! Way to go, DBB!!!

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day this weekend...and this year I've actually been thinking about it alot more beforehand than any other year. I was in charge of the Young Women's mother day activity this wednesday. We decided to do a spa night for the moms. It was alot of fun! We were able to watch a conference talk from Elder M. Russell Ballard called "Mothers and Daughters". It is a really awesome talk and really made me appreciate my role as a mother and daughter. It also helped me to really think about the examples of motherhood that I have had in my life and what a great responsibility I have as a mother. I am excited to continue nurturing my children and helping them to become the great and wonderful people I know already live inside them.

I also am going to attend the Time Out for Women conference...I am really looking forward to spending some time with my mom and my sister and celebrating being a woman and a mother. It is reassuring to know that I am not the only one who struggles with life and all the different things that happen in a day. I love to hear how different people deal with their trials and how they have been able to overcome some of the hardest things. The conference always helps me to remember to turn to my Heavenly Father when I need help.

Unfortunately Davram is sick:( It is always hard to watch your child be sick. It's nothing serious...just a little stomach flu...but it still hurts my heart to watch him suffer(even just a little). I'm hoping that no one else gets sick...though that is highly unlikely.

I want to let my mom know how much I love her and appreciate all she has done and continues to do for me...she really is the best mom in the world...and one day I hope to be as good as she is!

It's been a while:)

It really has been some time since I posted anything...so here goes...

It's a new year...the snow is finally starting to melt...and then it snowed again...and now it is melting again. The kids are loving all the big puddles that have come from all the melting. It is fun to see them run through the puddles in their little rubber boots. It is my favorite thing to do each year at the beginning of spring.

Davram has been doing really well in school. Had a spelling test the other day(first one)...and he got 100%! Not that I am surprised...he is the smartest five year old I know:) I went with his class to the Telus World of Science, which he loves. He really loves to learn new things. I bought the kids a dictionary for kids and that is the book they pick almost every night for story time. And then they tell me all the cool things they learned from daddy:) He has really gotten into Lego lately. Everything we do revolves around lego...it's fun to watch him create new things for us to play with. He is CTR 5 now, which means he is the big man in town and takes Alannah to her class each week...which is so cute to watch, as they head down the hall holding hands:)

Alannah is all registered for preschool and so excited to get started. She asks me every time I take Davram to school if today is the day. She started Sunbeams and loves going. She loves learning all the new songs in Singing Time and loves the fact that she is old enough to go somewhere that Davram goes:) That girl loves her big brother so much. We discovered that she is allergic to Heinz ketchup...she gets a rash wherever it touches her skin. We tried other ketchup and she is totally fine, but Heinz makes her breakout...crazy. Alannah get to have some really good quality mommy-daughter time when Davram is at school. When Elijah is sleeping we put in a princess movie and just girlie it up...I love it:)

Elijah is a terror! He is the cutest kid you have ever seen, but he runs me ragged. He gets in to everything and wrecks everything. He broke a key off of Andrew's laptop this week. Two weeks ago, he tried to feed the fish some lego legs and a marshmellow. He is really goofy and makes me laugh constantly...and is really starting to talk in phrases. My favorite is "thank you mommy" and "night night daddy"...so cute:) Davram and Alannah love making him laugh and involving him in all their games. They have a hard time when he becomes destructive, but that's easy enough to understand. We all love him, but really hope he gets over his destructive violent tendencies that he has shown so far:) He is in nursery now, which he doesn't like to go to...he cries every week and because of our callings we have to leave him. The workers are so awesome in there, and they are usually able to get him to calm down and he has fun. We are hoping that he will start to be happy to get dropped off soon:) He is really in to Toy Story...we watch Buzz first thing everyday...and then usually at least one other time in the afternoon. So crazy:) thankfully there are 3 movies so there is a little variety.

Easter is this coming weekend. The kids are pretty excited. We have been trying to teach the kids what it is really about. I am hoping that Davram and Alannah understand that it isn't just about bunnies and chocolate. They do pretty good about Christmas and they are sort of understanding what we have been telling them about Easter, so hopefully it will sink in and stay with them:) So happy Easter to all!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas to all!!! I can't believe this year is almost over...it has gone so fast!

Davram has started kindergarten...he loves it so much! He is learning to read and write. It is hard to believe how big he is becoming...sometimes I wish I could stop time and keep him just how he is now. Alannah has been taking her dancing class and is doing so well. Her Christmas recital was today and she knew all the steps. And just to make the show a little more exciting she decided to lift up her dress right in the middle of the dance...hehehe...she's so cute! Elijah is entertaining. That kid just loves to get in to everything...he is keeping me on my toes. Just today he managed to climb onto the computer desk and knock our 24 inch monitor off and onto the floor...he is only 18 months old!!! yeah, good times:) But when he looks at you with his big blue eyes and his mischievous little grin you just have to love him:)

We finally finished our basement this year...we have loved being able to have a giant sized playroom for the kids and all their toys. The kids love having so much room to run around and spread out more. Hopefully we will finish up the bathroom and the other bedroom soon. Though it took us four years to finish the playroom...so we'll have to see, right??

So,I'm wishing all a wonderful Christmas season and a fantastic new year!!!

Summer

SO, it's been awhile:) The summer went by so fast I can't believe it is already over. We had a really good summer. Davram, Alannah, and Elijah all celebrated their birthdays, which were lots of fun. I also celebrated my birthday, and Andrew and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary. And most of that happened in the month of June:) We spent a wonderful week in Kamloops at my parents' place. The weather was fantastic and the kids had tons of fun with their grandparents and aunts and uncles. We spent some time at Hat Creek Ranch, where the kids got to go for horse back rides, feed chickens, ride in a stagecoach and sleep in bunkbeds(on the top, no less)...it was a very full 2 days:) Unfortunately, the weather at home was not quite so wonderful, so we didn't get out as much as we would have hoped. We discovered that Elijah does NOT like swimming...every time we take him near a pool, he simple cries until you take him far away from said pool. This is sad for Davram and Alannah since they love swimming and would live in the water if we would only let them. I know I am a terrible parent for telling them they cannot live in the water;) The rest of our summer consisted of outside play, complaining about rain, cabin fever, and talking about what things will be like when September comes around.
And now that September has started, things are a bit different in our home. Davram has started kindergarten...he goes two, sometimes three, times a week. Alannah has started dance class. And swimming starts on the weekend. I was watching Davram today playing with toys, and I suddenly started to tear up. When did my baby get so big? I'm sure at some point every mother asks that question...I'm sure my own mom asks that question still today. But it really struck me today that my first baby is becoming a real boy...and now that he has started school, I will lose a lot of our precious time together. Don't get me wrong...I'm glad Davram loves school and is excited to go, but I am missing his silly giggle and all the fun games he invents for us all to play and how he can take any toy you give him and come up with some way to incorporate it into his game. I love being able to spend more time with Alannah and Elijah, but even they notice that the day is quite the same when Davram isn't here. He is a beautiful, smart, brave boy who I am so proud of...everyone loves him. I know he will do great things in his life...and I hope everyday that I can help him in some way become who he is supposed to be.

April and May...

So it's been almost two months since I last wrote...and here goes!
April went by so fast that I don't even remember what happened. Elijah got 6 new teeth so he now has 8 total. They all came at about the same time so that made for some fun days and nights:) But he has the cutest little smile now, so it all worked out. He loves to eat granola bars...he bounces when he sees the box for them...and it always keeps him happy.


Alannah discovered that she wants to be a Chipette:) She loves to watch the Chipmunks movie(the Squeakquel)and dance and sing along to all the songs. It is really cute to watch. She is also potty trained now...she only wears diapers at night(and even then she is dry some nights). I am so proud of how hard she worked and that she was able to do it so quickly.

Davram is a fun boy...he has been really into computer games lately, much to Andrew's delight:) He plays command and conquer every morning...and has also learned how to play the new starcraft beta this past week. He loves it! He is also finishing school up next week. Today was his last day in class. His next two days are parties where they aren't actually in the school. It's exciting for him but a little sad too...he's getting so big and smart! He's really interested in learning how to spell and how to do math...it's so amazing:)






It's been a really good couple of months...busy but really good. Andrew and I are enjoying our time with the kids...they do so many amazing things in a day that I can't keep track of everything:)

What to do?

I sent Davram and Alannah to Calgary with my mom today. It's spring break and I thought the kids would love the adventure with gramma...and it would be awesome to have a few days for Andrew and I to have mostly kid free:) When they left this morning Elijah was asleep, which means I was all by myself. And the first thing I did was think "What should I do?" And oddly enough, I couldn't really think of something that I would love to do, other than play with the kids...but they aren't here. There are plenty of things around the house that NEED to be done, but nothing that I really wanted to do. And so I thought to myself "how odd". It is funny that when I actually have the time and ability to do something for myself, all I want is to be with my kids:) I know that they are going to have a really great time visiting everyone...they were really excited to go see their aunt and uncle...and to do something with gramma...and I know it will be good for Andrew and I to spend some time with eachother and I'm very thankful for my mom and her willingness to help us out, but I really want my kids to be home soon:) So, we'll see what I get accomplished over the next couple of days...I think Andrew is taking some time off so we can hang out together...maybe we will get some work done on the basement...maybe not, but we'll have a good time I'm sure:)
I also took my van into the shop today cause it has been making weird noises for a couple of months...we thought it was probably a loose belt, and so did the guy when we dropped it off. But when they called Andrew they told us that it wasn't nearly so simple:( Turns our we had an engine leak and a power steering leak...and the real kicker was that our warranty had run out 2 weeks ago. Thankfully they are going to cover the repairs out of good faith, because the problem has obviously existed for longer than 2 weeks. Andrew and I wonder if it is a lingering problem from my accident last summer that wasn't noticed by the body shop. But good news is that the van will be fixed by tomorrow and it will be covered by warranty...I am so grateful for this. I am also grateful for Amanda (B) for helping to see it from this perspective...it is such a wonderful blessing and a small miracle that is helping this to be done this way...what an amazing perspective on something that I was worried about. I am truly grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping my family with this...we have truly been blessed and we continue to be blessed everyday!