Been Busy Lately

You probably all thought I'd disappeared...

But actually, I was just a little busy.

Busy remembering.  Busy celebrating.  Busy hosting family.  Busy having fun.

Let's recap.

First up was party time.  It's not everyday your boy turns 5!!!  He had his ultimate dream birthday party-- Safari Kids Zone.  There were lots of crazy kids, lots of energy burned on the jungle gym, lots of food consumed... and one happy birthday boy.

Moving along.

I've also dealing with an independent almost 2 year old who wants to do everything herself.  The left picture is "I can put on my own pajama shorts"... and the right picture is "I can put on my own shoes".  Sure wish I had a picture of the many instances of "I can blow my own nose"-- so many innocent rolls of toilet paper unrolled and destroyed in the process.

My sister and parents were out visiting over the past week... we hit up a couple of the local spray parks in the area... and tried out one of Caleb's birthday gifts.

And we had some family time today walking along the river enjoying the peace and quiet-- while trying to keep the kids from falling into the river and biking off the side of cliffs.

This week's going to be busy too... busy preparing for next weekend when we throw the kids into the truck and head out of town on the ultimate road trip.  A 16 hour drive?  Can't wait!

Busy Busy Busy

Life's been busy these days... but busy with good stuff.  That's what happens when the sun finally decides to come out-- you find yourself hosting pool parties, shopping for popsicles, coordinating BBQ's, cleaning the deck, washing mountains of towels and bathing suits, heading to the lake, applying endless amounts of sunscreen, packing picnic lunches, and bathing exceptionally dirty children before bedtime... so much good stuff.

And... we've also be slowly making progress in the kitchen.  It may not look like much to you... but the addition of TEN drawers and a lazy susan is pretty exciting to me.  My un-renovated kitchen had a measly 3 drawers-- 1 small drawer and 2 teeny tiny ones-- I now have 10 and am having trouble figuring out what's going to go in them!  And might I add-- my husband decided to give me the expensive soft close drawer glides-- and glide like a dream they do...

Just found out today that the countertops/sink are being installed on Saturday!  I can hardly wait to have new countertops in my kitchen-- I've been dreaming of them for so long now...

Oh, and I bought another 10 pounds of fresh strawberries and have been freezing a ton and making batch after batch of strawberry fruit leather.  I inherited my mom's food dehydrator and have introduced my kids to a delicious treat from my childhood-- home made fruit leather.  They LOVE it.  The first batch was ready just in time for breakfast and we may have consumed a whole lot of it first thing this morning-- just can't stop eating it...

The next batch is in the dehydrator right now and smells as good as it tastes!

MIA

I may have been missing... but life has not been lacking in the action department.  Quite simply, wedding preparations trump blogging... and laundry.

Here's a quick recap.

1.  Emerson got the flu... although she's not really acting sick.  The only tip off was the fact that she was refusing to eat food (never happens) and the random huge pukes she managed to pull off.  These pukes were followed by cute, barf faced, grins.  On a not so great note... my area rug in the living room is in pretty dire need of a steam cleaning after said pukes.

2.  I've been spray painting up a storm-- possibly for an event that may be taking place tomorrow????  I can't tell you!

3.  I made some awesome pinch pleated curtains.  No time to take pictures.  Will blog about it soon.

4.  I successfully convinced Caleb to wear flip flop sandals (the ones between the toes).  After 5 minutes of struggling to get them on his super ticklish feet I got one on.  He started screaming that they were hurting his toes.  Somehow I managed to get sandal #2 on... then I told him that they were super special sandals that would make his feet super fast.  I got him to run several laps around Old Navy.... and then he was sold.  The magically fast sandals totally did it for him.

5.  I may or may not have made close to twenty chalkboards... why?  I can't say :)

6.  I got my hair done after the longest stint of bad hair ever... I had been counting down the days with such excitement... I almost put up one of those countdown to baby tickers on my blog... but not for a baby (of course) but to countdown the days until my new hair.

7.  Doug and I kept the kids up 4-ish hours past their bed time last night due to wedding prep in Vancouver.  They managed to remain quite pleasant during the event, fell asleep in the car, and transitioned relatively well into their beds upon arrival at home-- although Caleb did try to punch me when I tried to make him go to the bathroom.  They had their revenge though... Caleb wet the bed at 2 am (guess the late night potty attempt didn't work-- couldn't hear the tinkle over the screams) and Emerson greeted me this morning with a crib full of puke-- along with a smiley face... of course.  Well played children, well played.

8.  The kids slept in until 8 am this morning.  Hooray!  Although I still haven't quite recovered from last night.  I couldn't figure out for the life of me why my vision was so blurry this morning... then I realized I was wearing both my glasses AND my contacts.  Oh gosh.  Time to put pot #2 of coffee on...

No pictures today folks.  The kids still aren't wearing clothes... I am still in my bathrobe (Caleb calls it my special dress) and I may or may not be rocking day three of my salon styled hair.  But, time to get dressed, pack up the kids and hit to road!  We've got stuff to do before tomorrow... let me tell you!!

**PICTURE UPDATE**

Okay... so I pulled myself together and hit the road with the kids this morning.  We had place to go and things to do!  And because they were sooooo stinkin' cute, I just had to snap a couple.

You better believe Caleb wore these sunglasses to Superstore.
And whoa, check out that wolverine hair.

And wouldn't you know, 2 minutes after leaving my house I hear Eme grunting in the backseat.  You better believe she pooped her pants.  Big time.  I tried my best to change her in the front seat of the car in the Superstore parking lot, but it was EVERYWHERE.  Luckily I had an extra sleeper in my purse.  Guess it pays to never clean it out...

And wouldn't you know, she threw up her lunch.  I'm beginning to think that the little pockets at the bottom of bibs are not for catching food... nope, it's for catching puke.  So the score is... Eme 3... Mom 0.  No wait... she also broke my sunglasses while we were waiting in the checkout line... looks like I'm 0 for 4.

Prepare yourself for a Wii-diculous post

Don't tell me I didn't warn you.

Here's a little recap of our weekend.  It was Wii-eally exciting.

1.  I taught Caleb how to use the computer.  He has 2 bookmarked tabs with games that he can play (CBC kids and Boowa & Kwala).  He's quite excited about it.  At first I was going to hook up our wireless mouse for him to use, but then I remembered how experienced he is with our ipod.  It can still be a bit tricky for him, but he's picking it up quickly!!

It takes EXTREME concentration for him to move the arrow across the screen...

Doug and I took the kids to Red Robins for dinner.

We were extremely disappointed to discover that they no longer have Dr. Pepper on their menu.

The boys took in the bike show this weekend.

For some reason this picture scares me just a little bit.

Progress was made in our bathroom.  Doug put up a new toilet paper holder (the old one fell off since the previous owners had only screwed it into drywall).  He called me into the room to see it.  I was very excited.  Actually, I shouted: "it's BEAUTIFUL!!!!".  Bet you didn't think you would ever be reading about something like this on a blog.  Ever.  

As of this weekend our downstairs office is FINALLY finished!  Those bookcases were a real pain.  Literally.  I learned a pretty tough lesson last week-- I should never attempt a painting project on my own.  I was getting really anxious to have it finished, so I put the kids down for their naps and spent a few hours painting one afternoon.  Usually I'll just help Doug with the painting by doing the taping and by working on the baseboards-- anything that doesn't require me to lift my left arm above shoulder height.  But that afternoon I was so desperate to get it finished that I pushed myself a bit too far.  The next day I could barely lift my left arm-- and it was like that for THREE days.  Never again.  Doug finished things up in the room over the weekend and we started to move our stuff back in.  More pictures to come shortly!

As you may have guessed, we bought a Wii for the kids... and Doug.  We took some of the kid's Christmas money, emptied Caleb's piggy bank (he takes all the pop cans to be recycled with Doug and gets to keep the money) and headed out to Walmart to pick up a Wii.

In the car we told Caleb what we were about to purchase.  He seemed pretty excited.  Then we told  him that we could stop at McDonalds for a snack afterwards.  Screams of excitement, dancing, and high 5's took place.  If only we would have known that a happy meal and toy would have been sufficient.

Once at Walmart, I was quite dismayed surprised to discover that the bright red Wii was the one being put into our cart.  Apparently it's the only one that comes with the Super Mario Brothers game.

But now that it's in my living room I really don't care.

What I do care about is the fact that Caleb can beat my at golf on Wii Sports.

As I was saving the pictures used in this post to our computer I titled the album:

"Wii really need to get a life."

A Week of Lasts... (at least for now!)

Well, well, well... I must say I was quite surprised to discover that there are people out there who still faithfully check this blog for updates! Thanks for the comments everyone-- I shall try my best to not let this blog die!

This past week was a big one for our little family-- Caleb had his last day of daycare, and I had my last day of work and am now a lady of leisure on maternity leave! Let's just say that things are going to be quite a bit different around here now that we actually live at our house... not just keep our stuff here :)

Caleb was quite excited about his last day, because I promised that he could have a party at daycare. We've talked about it for weeks... on Caleb's last day, Mommy would come in the afternoon for a party, she would bring cupcakes (aka "pup"cakes in our house to those who are still learning to talk... Caleb... if you're wondering) for Caleb to enjoy with all of his friends, we would pack up his backpack, say goodbye to his teachers, and then he would stay home with Mommy everyday. Well, that day finally came! Doug was around that afternoon, so we both went to his daycare to surprise him. We snuck into the room while he was playing a game with the other kids-- when Caleb turned around and saw us he was SOOO excited!! He yelled, "Mommy... it's time for my party!!" and ran to give us huge bear hugs. The party went as planned-- although I decided to bring timbits in place of the cupcakes and iced caps for the adults (that's what happens when you're a working mom... baking = finding the nearest drive thru... with coffee). As can be imagined, the timbits were a smashing success-- 2 year old heaven. Caleb said goodbye to all of his friends and gave hugs to all of his teachers. I must say, I felt a little bit sad for him at the end when it was time to leave... he's been there for quite a while now and has had fabulous teachers. I could tell that he felt a bit of hesitation when it was time to say goodbye. But... Caleb is quite excited for this new chapter in his life... he's now a stay at home kid.

Timbit time...

Realization time... you mean I'm not coming back?

The next day was my last day of work. It was a good day-- but it felt so strange to pack up my office, clear out my inbox, quickly try to bring people up to speed on the last minute projects I had been working on... so different from the last time I went on maternity leave! My co-workers threw a great little farewell party for me... and gave me an awesome gift. When people have asked me what I plan to do with my time off before the baby arrives, I tell them that I plan to lie in my backyard on a fabulous chaise lounge chair and relax the day away!! A great plan... although I was still missing the lounge chair. Not for long! At the party, I was presented with a gift card to go out and purchase that all important lounge chair-- something I plan to do quickly in light of the upcoming week's forecast.

The best part of my last day occurred when I arrived home that afternoon. When I walked through the front door Caleb and Doug were waiting with a mini-party for me! As I walked through the door, Caleb yelled... "Mommy! You're all done work!" Then he pointed to the "party" and said "Ta Da!!" Doug felt that Caleb needed to learn about the importance of celebrating the accomplishments of others (not just his own) so they picked up timbits and ice caps for me, flowers, and a balloon-- as Caleb decided that it was something I would REALLY want (funny... I'm not the one playing with it). We had our little party, went out for dinner, and went to bed early :)

And now we relax! And play at the park! And wait for what's next... in just a few weeks things will be changing around here again!!

It's been almost a year...

I pulled up my blog today and realized that I haven't posted in almost a year... A YEAR!!! So to quickly recap... here's what the year has looked like in our household...

went to the island with my family where we decided that scooters are a great mode of transportation, Caleb discovers that Cars is his favorite movie and watches it twice daily, decided to apply for a new job, got a new job but kept the old one and took on another one for about 2 months (in case your not following-- did 3 jobs for 2 months... very fun), come home each night to a fabulous above ground pool in our backyard, Caleb becomes a good little swimmer, friends with a buddy for Caleb move into our house for a few weeks while they are between houses-- good times hanging out eating nachos in the evenings, friends move out, had surgery on my shoulder again, 1 week after surgery-- decided to renovate the main floor of our house, moved all of our belongings into the basement, started ripping apart the main floor during evenings and weekends, poor Caleb has to go to bed each night to the sound of demolition/saws/air compressors, a few weeks later, the main floor is finally bare and destroyed, cramped and tired in the basement, got pregnant :), started putting the main floor of our house back together, dishwasher uninstalled and sitting in the middle of the kitchen for 3 weeks, at work all day everyday then working on the house every evening to make it liveable before Christmas and before morning sickness begins, Christmas arrives, the house is livable, morning sickness arrives, leave for Sask for Christmas, Caleb has fun telling the family that he will be a big brother, back to work in January, morning sickness continues and extreme hunger begins, house may be livable but is still not finished, weekend house projects continue, I become less helpful in completing the projects, finally tell my bosses at work that I'm having a baby (the third associate director in our department to have a baby in a year... I get to be the last to announce... fun times), start getting fat, Olympic fever hits Vancouver, parents come to visit, siblings from Sask come to visit, go to John Mayer concert, go to Atlanta for a wedding, keep getting larger, extreme hunger continues, projects in the house continue, Caleb getting bigger and has the vocabulary of a 4 year old, still at work, moving slower, internal temp is rising while the temp outside decides to drop, still working, starting to waddle, house is looking better, baby room is looking cuter, 1.5 weeks of work left, and the sun is shining today...

Here's what we look like now...

Hopefully more posts will continue... in a more timely manner...

I should have more time to blog in the next year... right?

Summer Begins...

Well, it's been about three months since my last post-- let's just say it's been a busy 3 months!! We sold our condo, bought a house, moved twice, I had surgery-- finally we've had some time to enjoy the HOT weather we've had here in BC. Last weekend we caught the Saturday early morning ferry to Vancouver Island. We had a great weekend visiting with friends and relaxing! Caleb was particularly excited about the big boat-- Here we are 6:30 in the morning-- Caleb all smiles as we left Horseshoe Bay...

Look at my boys... aren't the cute?

Caleb spent quite a bit of time digging in the sand at the beach... we all joined in on the fun and spent a few hours digging for clams-- fun to dig, not so great to eat :(

We have really enjoyed our backyard over the last few weeks. When it gets too hot be in the house, we head to the backyard and play in the pool and the sprinklers.

I turn my back for one second, and Caleb takes my coke-- just like his dad.

And this is what I'll be doing all summer-- trying to figure out how to keep plants alive! Having a green thumb is not something I'm known for... but I'm trying my best!

An Update...

It's been a while since my last post, and since I got to work early this morning, I decided it was time for a quick update. Right now we are already in week 16 of this pregnancy. It's incredible how fast it goes by. While it's been fun to experience having a baby, I must admit that I am looking forward to the end already! Yesterday as I was driving home from work I had this incredible realization... in five months, I won't be pregnant anymore! I got so excited for some reason, at the thought that I will eventually have my body back and feel normal again. At times you just forget that this will not last forever!
Fortunately though, I have been feeling pretty good lately. I haven't been that sick in the past few months, and I am starting to feel a bit better every day. I am starting to get my energy back, and I no longer go to bed at 8:30 each night! Now I can stay up to at least 10. The biggest new development is my food consumption. I have never, never, been so hungry in all my life. No matter what I eat, or how much, I can never feel full. At times I almost feel like crying at work, when I just finish my third breakfast for the morning, and I realize it's only 10:00 am, and I have 2 hours to go until lunch! The girls that I work with have been great, they are always bringing snack for me and enticing me into their offices with promises of chocolate and candy. Doug has also been wonderful. He makes my lunch each morning before I head off to work, and has been mindful of my increasing appetite. It's been getting more and more hilarious each morning, as the lunches he makes for me get larger and larger. This morning I thought there was a full bag of groceries sitting on the kitchen table, and then I realized it was my lunch for the day! It's amazing that I don't weigh 300 pounds.
Well, I think that's all I have to share right now. I'll try to put some new pictures on in the next week and continue to give you all an update!
Happy Spring everyone!

Here's an Update!

As you can see, these are not the pictures of our new house that I promised. Doug and I have been so busy over the past week that our house is still in a state of disarray. However, I promise that once everything is all sorted out those pictures will be posted!! Since it's been awhile since I have updated the blog with pictures, I thought I'd give you all a brief recap of the past few weeks. As many of you have observed from my sisters-in-law's blog, the Toews' family has had fun hanging out this summer, especially with our cousin Chris. Most weekends we got together and partied! The boys usually ended up playing baseball in the field while us girls ate a wide assortment of treats! Here are the girls cooling off in the "cold tub" during the recent heat wave, good old cousin Chris, and a girl's party of our favorite snacks.
This past week Doug and I celebrated our second anniversary! Monday was the big day, so to celebrate we went out to The Keg for a special night out after work. On Saturday we then headed up to Whistler for a little getaway. We had a great time shopping and sightseeing. That area of BC is gorgeous! On our way home we stopped at Shannon Falls and did a little hiking. We also stopped at a beach along the Sea to Sky highway for a rest. However, we couldn't do any swimming due a recent oil spill in the area. It was still a gorgeous place. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.
Well, that about sums up the past few weeks. Today (monday) Doug and I, along with Erik, Jamie, and Micah are going to head down to the Washington to Deception Pass for a little beach time. Hopefully we can also stop for a few Krispie Kremes and a little Target time as well (I know the boys will be down with the doughnuts and Jamie and I will be anxious to do some shopping). Don't you love long weekends?

Doug and Elissa in 2006... So Far!

Hey Everyone! Doug and I have decided that we would like to share with you some of the things that have been going on in our lives. It is so hard to keep in contact with everyone, so we thought this blog could be used to post some pictures and information about what we have been up to lately, and hopefully it will help us stay in contact with some of you a bit more easily. Here's 2006 (a recap), thus far.

In February, Doug and I had to opportunity to go on a one week Caribbean cruise with some friends of ours from Abbotsford. We had an amazing time dining out, sitting by the pool in the middle of winter, and exploring all kinds of beaches and exotic locations. We stopped at Key West, Florida, the Grand Cayman Islands, and also in Cozumel, Mexico. It was kind of a spontaneous trip, but we were so glad we took the opportunity to relax and have fun together.

Here we are in Mexico posing in front of our cruise ship!















Here we are in Grand Cayman.
The water was as amazing as it looks!















At the end of April I happily finished up my last classes at UCFV, thus ending my career as a university student (for now)! It was a huge relief to finally finish that chapter of my life, but it is a bit intimidating to begin looking for work. So far, I have not found a job yet, but there have been a few good leads. Hopefully something will come soon, but until then, it is kind of nice to have a break from the stresses of life.

The beginning of May marked an exciting time in the Toew's family, a wedding! Doug's youngest brother Nathan married a wonderful woman named Rosanna, giving us another sister-in-law. Doug and I had the opportunity to be a part of the wedding party, a huge honor for us. It ended up being a beautiful wedding and a fun weekend of reaquainting with friends and family from far away.

For the bachelor party Doug and Erik (the oldest
Toews' brother) planned an afternoon of paintball.
Here are all the boys.















Here's a new look at the Toews' siblings (minus Kristi).















Here's Doug and I, dressed up in our finest!



















That's it for the update! We'll keep you posted!