The Love Of A Big Sister

My heart just over flows watching these two kids! Adrianna has been so encouraging trying to get Eli to ride his bike. This morning they were out working together, the big sister trying to teach and encourage the little brother that HE CAN DO IT. In this picture she was patiently waiting for him to gain balance, I guess I should have videoed it rather then taken a snap shot - then you would understand. She sure makes me wish I had a big sister but I have incredible younger sisters instead!

Gardening News

It's been three weeks since we planted our seeds and look how well everything is coming up! To the left are the herbs (cilantro, parsley, lemon basil and basil) and to the left are some of our tomato plants.

I just planted beans and peas a couple days ago (indoors to get them started AND it gives the kids an opportunity to help care for our growing plants). We're still getting frost so I'm a little leery about planting outdoors yet even though I've been told both the beans and peas are hardy.

The strawberry plant and chives are from last year and they've come back BEAUTIFULLY! I can see the chives are going to have lots of flowers and going by the flowers on the strawberry plant we'll have more strawberries then we did last year!!

When Les was on holidays we brought in a truck load of dirt (actually I think it was more cow manure then dirt) so the plants have a home waiting for them! I'm reminded over and over again DO NOT plant before the May long weekend so I'm listening.....it's hard when its so beautiful out I just want to get my little tomato plants snug into their home BUT these are seasoned gardeners who know what they're talking about so I'm trying to listen to their wisdom!

6 Bike Riders & A Boy That Runs

So the story continues and I have seriously begun to question my parenting skills even more........ however no damage seems to be taking place so I think we continue on the path we're going.

Last night we went for our promised nightly bike ride (remember to entice Eli to ride his bike) BUT this time he had a friend and Adrianna had a couple friends with us - thus the 6 bike riders. He happily (which totally still shocks me) ran along red faced panting like a dog that desperately needed a bucket of water.

Is it working you might ask? Actually I think it is! Tuesday afternoon he had Adrianna and her friend teaching him and he made progress - 4 pedals all on his own he was sooooo excited. He's so close we can all taste it including himself!

Park Or Water?

We decided to play at the park again today but when we got there the river seemed a lot more enticing. Needless to say I had two very wet children but happy children on the way home!!

Three Bike Riders & A Boy That Runs

Recently Adrianna took over my bike so her bike went to Eli and Les's bike went to me. We've been wanting to start bike riding as a family for sometime now but were short one bike, however, that's NOT the only reason. Eli refuses to ride a bike. We've tried pleading, threatening, bribing, etc but to no avail nothing has worked. He has gotten on it and he's sooooo close and knows he is but still isn't all that interested. Well....we've had enough. So we delayed no more and picked up a bike for Les today and went for a bike ride. What did Eli do? He ran and boy did he run!

Off To Space!

We spent the day at the H.R. MacMillian Space Center in Vancouver. We had a few detours on the way there. Just before getting onto Hwy 1 Eli got a bleeding nose, there was blood all over him. A quick stop to a gas station to clean up and we were back on the road! Then as we were nearing our destination Eli kept complaining he was itchy (something he had complained about a few days before but forgot about), ends up he had some hives - from what we haven't figured out. So again a quick stop to pick up some allergy meds and we were on the road again! Of course we completely forgot about the Vancouver Sun Run but luckily didn't get too detoured besides by this time we were use to the detours!!

The space center was lots of fun! We learned about the stars, made our own aliens, learned about the colours of fire and what gases cause them, etc. Probably the highlight was the virtual voyage motion simulator to mars. Such a fun day!!

Points = Free Things

I love my Save-On More points, especially when I can get an item 1/2 the original points! The latest point purchase was this.....


My old digital Kodak camera was starting to act up and Les's Digital SLR camera is VERY nice but it's bulky, this is so compact I can slip it into my purse and no one even knows!

Day Trip To Bellingham

With Les on holidays we decided to play tourists and headed across the border to check out Bellingham.

Our first stop was to the Bellingham Railway Museum (Eli is pictured running the Lionel model railroad exhibit). We then drove the scenic Chuckanut Drive (State Route 11), which was absolutely beautiful! Then it was back up to Bellingham to do a little shopping before heading back home.

The only hiccup was the border on the way home. The border guard didn't seem to believe us when we said we only spent $40 in a 7 hour period of visiting the US. Needless to say our trunk was searched and he checked out the kids backseat. Good thing we're honest folk!

Hummingbirds A Plenty!

Last week the kids and I hung our hummingbird feeders and we've had plenty of visitors (the most since we've moved here)! It's so fun to watch these beautiful little birds and it reminds me of my grandparents, they loved to watch the hummingbirds and so many of their windows were adorned with feeders. I haven't been able to take a picture yet but hope to!

Easter Monday & The Temple Site

Today we had a fantastic time with family! We spent some time with my sister Trish in Walnut Grove while Les had a meeting at head office then we all headed to my brother and sister-in-laws place for a casual Easter Monday dinner (no camera = no pictures). On the way to their place we drove by the Temple. It was cool to see the statue of the Angel Moroni and the the granite more then 1/2 way up the walls.

Tie-Dyed Eggs

After coming across the Silk-Dyed Eggs entry on Our Best Bites blog I just had to try this crafty idea myself!

I started with three silk ties

And this was the outcome - AWESOME

I can't wait for next years Easter egg tie-dying event!!

Sunshine!

The kids are officially on spring break (for a month)! We spent our first afternoon in the beautiful sunshine at Maple Ridge Park where the city recently did a major upgrade to the playground (its incredible). In this picture the kids were trying to figure out how to get off....it moved every time they climbed over one of the humps and when other kids were behind them climbing. VERY fun!!

Pre-Garden Work

This morning our pre-garden work was completed! The kids and I got the tomatoes planted and waiting to germinate indoors along with some flowers and herbs - parsley, coriander, lemon basil and basil. I look forward to May when we'll be able to transplant these to the outdoors and finish planting the remaining of our seeds - beans, lettuces and peas.

Chocolaty Peanut Butter Goodness

Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Cake

I found this recipe at Gourmet Mom on-the-Go. I thought it was good but a bit too sweet. However, when mentioning this to Les I was quickly informed that there is no such thing as too sweet! Needless to say it was a huge hit and devoured quickly!!

This Made Me Feel Inspired

I could listen to this over and over and over again and have. Create - A message from Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Messages like these remind me that I can be anything and do anything.....I'm inspired!

Grade 2 Concert

Yesterday I had the honor of attending Eli's grade 2 concert. They put on quite the show! In this particular song they were singing about different countries, something they just finished studying about (Eli had picked out Russia as his country).