Christmas is quickly approaching and I must say we are excited about it.  I managed to get all my Christmas shopping done 2 weeks ago; so we are just awaiting for the wonderful day to come.  Not only will Christmas come and go but so will 2011. 

As I sit and reflect what all happened this year I must say it wasn't a dull one.  After my last post we had a wonderful summer in which consisted of lots of camping;  unfortunately it ended abruptly on July 30th.  This was the day our precious little Jeffrey had fallen into a fire pit at Ridge Park.  As a mother I feel awful to the thought of that even occurring, but yet we see that he was being watched over in that awful circumstance.  It could have been worse.  We could have had a flaming fire instead of coals and he could have easily burned his face instead of just his hands and belly.  I will always have that awful memory to remember, but gratefully Jeffrey will never recollect that tragedy for all he will see is that he had something tragic happen to him.

To this day we are still dealing with the aftermath of that horrendous day.  It took 8 weeks for his hands to fully heal and his belly took 11 1/2 weeks.  From what I understand if it takes longer than 3 weeks to heal you will have a bad scar.  I don't think the doctors  we saw really knew how deep his burns were or else we wouldn't be having such a problem with the scarring. 
Jeffrey has been very accommodating to what has happened.  Because his index finger on his right hand has such a bad scar he can't use it he uses his middle finger to do those fine motor movements. 
We are going to occupational therapist's to try and straighten that finger and help soften the scar tissue but it seems to be a temporary fix. Surgery may still be necessary, we will know more in the New Year.

Our fall has been a busy one between coming and going to appointments and just being busy with our family.  Despite all that, our family has become closer and my older children are a big help to our little Jeffery since he can't do everything for himself.  Timothy enjoys being the big brother.

This fall our kids have been in various extra curricular activities.

Tim enjoys going Cubs and even Judo.  I have also noticed how musically inclined he is, for at school he plays the recorder, and every Wednesday he goes to Piano. 

Elizabeth also goes to piano and does well once she gets the hang of the new song she needs to practice.  She's also involved in clogging and ballet which she enjoys but also looks forward to the end of the week so she can have free time. 

Naiomi is enjoying kindergarten and loves to try new things.  She is learning phono-graphics to help her learn how to read.  She is also trying Ballet / Tap combo.  Both girls are learning a new dance for their year end concert in May. 


















Sophia has been her busy self.  She loves to do anything and everything.  She amazes me though she loves to work hard.  We currently have been going to speech to help her overcome the sounds she can't produce.  We are currently working on her "f" sound and she is responding really well to the classes with Ginger as well as the activities at home. 




And finally Jeffrey.  He is a real talker.  I have seen him grow so much in the last couple of months.  Not only with his adaptability with his current circumstance but the things he can do and say.  He is my amazing little toddler.  At times I want and encourage all my children to grow so quickly but at the same time I don't wish it so I can enjoy certain  moments.



Even with all the activity of our family we have taken on a big project.  We are completing a big renovation to our home.  
Our old sun room was falling apart and rotting so we decided to just replace it with a room and a basement.   We managed to build the structure and waterproof it but we are losing stamina and momentum to get the inside done.  At one point we were working hard all day long with our regular day to day things and then ending the day with more work on the addition. 
With winter now settling in we have been giving ourselves a bit of a break.  We can't work 24/7 all the time.  With Christmas break almost here we are hoping to get some more things done.





So needless to say with all the events of this past year and all the challenges it brought we managed to grow and be strengthened; we have grown closer as a family and have learned to overcome great challenges.  We look forward to a fulfilling 2012. 

Merry Christmas!

Birthday Weekend!

    Well, I promised to write every week, so here is the update.  This past week has been better in getting back to regular routine.  I even managed to sew 5 capes for a lady whom I work for.  She sells capes for those who can't put on their own coat with sleeves.  She promotes mostly to those in extended care. 

I even took all five of my kids and went shopping on Friday.  The kids had a P-Day so I took advantage of it.  We went to Superstore for groceries, Dollar Store for birthday stuff, Costco for bulk food, and Canadian Tire for things in the house.  The were extremely well behaved and amazingly enough I wasn't stressed when I got home.  People did look and comment, but I just said I give them lots of pep talk and I do it frequently so they know how to behave in the store with one parent.

    We had a wonderful birthday party on Saturday for my Naiomi.  She requested a princess Aurora birthday cake so I did my best to make it look like her.  It took me about 2 hours to accomplish that.  Then we got ready for the party.  We had lots of cousins and friends over.  Some games we played were sleeping beauty with an apple, kiss the frog, paint nails, and freeze dance.  It was fun watching all of them participate.  Then we had cake, ice cream, and presents.  Jeff and I even indulged into the cake despite our protein diet we have been on.  Of course our two floor sweepers, Charlie and Rosie, were there to clean up any cake that fell on the floor.   I think everyone was done in at the end of the day, including me.

    Sunday was a busy day as well.  I curled all my girls hair so they would look pretty for family pictures later in the afternoon.  We received a phone call from Walmart inviting us to have pictures done because they were giving us a free 10x13 if we booked in 30 days.  Since we haven't had a proper family picture of all of us since Sophia was a baby we thought it was time.  Surprisingly enough everyone cooperated.  Since we were there we had Walmart take photos of Tim, Elizabeth, and Naiomi for their school picture.  I will have to post them when it comes.  I was very pleased with how they turned out. 


     Well that was our week and now we have begun another one.  What's in store?  I don't know, but we are ready for it.  I must say though I have been enjoying spring finally, and so have my kids.  I just hope it stays.  Well until another week.........

Thought it was about time.

Today I thought I would try out blogging.  It will give me a good excuse to keep a family record.  So far it is actually fun.   I would like to share some of the events that have transpired recently:

Mach 7th will be a day to remember, as my Father-in-law lost the battle to cancer.  We made the long 9 hour drive to Armstrong, BC.  The children travelled really well, thanks to the DVD! 

We were then greeted by lots of hugs from Christa and Ryan, with her four, Aaron and Sandi, with their two, Grandma Sandi with her daughter Megan, and Dave's sister Marge.  And of course the Stacy's.  We were happy to be all together despite the circumstances  and help plan a beautiful funeral service for Dave.  He will be sadly missed; but thanks to our belief system we know we will see him again one day. 

We have made our relationship closer with our extended family through this trial and look forward to creating more memories with them under better circumstances. 

Before our return trip home we acquired two extra bodies.  Charlie and Rosie, two shitzu pups, which are now apart of our family.  They have adjusted well to our family and are loved by all of us. 

The pups love to sleep with Jeff and I or Tim and Naiomi.  Charlie and Rosie love to play with all the kids everyday.  We have two cats, Tiger & Baby, that live with us too.  Tiger came with the house when we bought it from my Grandma and Baby we adopted after our little kitty Sara was hit by a car last February. 

The cats don't seem to mind the dogs too much..... well..... Tiger is not to impressed!  They seem to be figuring out each others boundary.

When it comes right down to it we are pretty happy to have all four animals apart of our family.

We have been home since late Tuesday night and now have been trying to get back to our normal routine.  It has been different but we seem to be adjusting.  The kids have had a good three days  back to school.   Tim's friend Ben had a sleep over last night, which was fun for the two of them.  The other kids had fun too.  We made popcorn and Sophia, being a busy girl, dumped half of it on the floor and stomped on it, which made a large mess. 

In the morning we decided to make homemade waffles with fresh strawberries and whipping cream. 

And I might add, Jeff and I both have been enjoying the impulsive purchase of our new Mac book; which lead me to try out our new blog. 

So that brings us to today.  Today is almost at an end so we are ready to close our day and start a new week.   I promise to try and update weekly or as big events take place.  Thanks for wanting to be apart of our family.