Monday, December 31, 2007

Hola!

Just wanted to give a quick hello to all. We are in San Miguel, mexico and it is absolutely beautiful! It has been quite exhausting with Kai on the plane and then the bus and moving here and there but we are settled here for 3 days so he is loving that. We are especially loving that he had a normal night sleep last night!!! woohoo!! They should have to do 'Amazing Race' where each group must take a 17 month old, then we'd really see some crazy emotions from the groups!
We are having a great time. The weather, company, buildings, cobblestone, art work, and food is AMAZING. Can't wait to show you all of the cool pictures we got!

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Christmas with the Chapmans

Tonight we were at the Chapmans for dinner and presents...Gary was in charge of veggies and made a great sweet potato souffle, yam fries, and savoury corn pudding. All the food was awesome.

Kai and grandma...boy, he has become more and more attached to Bubi. Also, lets just say his appetite is back in full force. Wow.

Kai wanting to play tinker toys with the big boys...

For our family, there was just one present under the tree and it was for Kai. Here he is with his super snazzy tricycle. He can't reach the pedals yet but by the summer he should be fine. He was pretty excited about the bell, the streamers on the handle and the storage bin in the back. In the meantime, it has a handle that we can use to push and turn the handlebars.


To all my faithful readers, I'm off!!! Hope you have an excellent Christmas break and I'll talk to you in the New Year!



Monday, December 24, 2007

Dekens Christmas

Too tired to write much but want to get it down before the Chapman Christmas tomorrow. We had an amazing dinner and apparently I won `best dish' for my citrus rum glazed ham:) It's weird to see our family expanding in so many ways with little ones and fiance's, boyfriends etc., I love it! Church is always the hardest part as we are all sitting there without my mom but it was truly a wonderful night for the group of us.
Kai opening gifts. He wasn't so into it but he LOVED his new little wagon, he was pushing it all over the house. I loved watching Ani and Kai play together, truly warms my heart. She bosses him around and he drives her crazy by not following the rules, but, they love eachother.

Usually I let Gary cook for family stuff because he loves it but I kind of insisted on doing this one on my own:)

Below, Jackie and Tyler:)

Ani in her cute dress

Bon nuit.
Seriously, just one more post tomorrow and that is it!

Morning Adventure


The ham is in the oven so I have a few minutes to blog before the festivities tonight (dinner, church and presents with my side of the family). I know I've been blogging a lot these past few days but I will be unable to blog for over a week so I have to get it all out of my system!
This morning we went out to get Gary's grade 8 salmon aquarium set up. This entailed Gary jumping in the super cold stream to get the optimal water for the salmon fry...the things we do:)
We went to the school to set it up. Here's Kai in my classroom with a science 9 textbook...he wasn't really into the learning. He just wanted to push a cart up and down the hallway. He also found a basketball which made it all worth it. He did help Gary with the aquarium by giving him all the rocks:)

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Revised Tradition

Happy 23rd birthday Jackie!!

Every year for our birthdays, we always have our favourite meal. For Jackie, this was always KFC. This year we went healthier and Gary made some Pad Thai and some funky spring rolls with peanut sauce. Then, as usual, we went bowling. This year, Trisha got the highest score, then my dad (who knew he could bowl?!) and then me!!! Please note that my dad only beat me by one point.
Kai found the whole process very facinating and kept doing his `touchdown' imitation. He was running all over the place and having a blast!
Opi kept the younger ones occupied
Everytime a ball came back up, Ani did a happy dance
Gary teaching Kai (sorry its out of focus, we got a new fancy lens today and Gary changed some settings on me..have to figure it out!)
The very nerdy Dekens team

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Peas and Bank you!

So cute, he's got himself some manners! I love it. We have to get him to say it, but it is so cute. I hope he will eventually say it without us asking:)

Friday, December 21, 2007

A blog about Gary...mostly...sort of...well, he's mentioned!

Tonight we went to grandma and grandpa Chapman's house where Kai was enthralled with the `choo choo'. Grandma has a huge Christmas village set up with a snazzy train that goes through a tunnel.

Playing piano with grandma

And now for the Gary portion!!! Gary got some birthday money today (long story:) and so he went out and bought a special camera backpack sling bag that he has been yearning for. I encouraged him to get it now, before we go on our trip. It's nice because its fully padded and can hold a lot of stuff (great, does that mean we're buying more lenses and stuff?!). I like that it has a raincover as modeled by Gary as he checks himself out in the mirror.

It nicely swings from back to front as modeled by Gary again:)

Please note his haircut, it will look good in a couple of weeks:)
Last night I got nervous about our trip.

What am I nervous about? (I am the worry wart in the family, but someone has to be!)
1. Kai going crazy on the plane (by crazy I mean wanting to run around and not able to and therefore screaming and hitting me)
2. Kai not being able to nap while traveling and therefore getting GRUMPY.
3. Kai not being able to sleep in the hotel room with us, it will be way too exciting for him.
4. Missing our plane by sleeping in/not being able to take our playpen for some reason (that's just me being ridiculous).
5. ONe of us getting sick before we go...OR while we are there

What am I most excited about? (in no particular order)
1. Seeing another part of the world with Gary, we haven't done any trips together (other than Ontario/Quebec, driving to Alaska and ten million hiking trips).
2. Hotels!!! I love staying in hotels and we NEVER do.
3. Kai playing with his buddies Bennett and Micah for over a week! REALLY excited about this.
4. Hanging out with friends and laughing and eating food:)
5. Taking fun pictures
6. SEeing some very cool towns
7. Warmth.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Cousins

My sister Maria came over with Ani and Izzy this morning. Ani and Kai played wonderfully for a couple hours and could of kept going! I took a few pictures while they were here...

Maria and Izzy

All 3 of 'em

Ani and Kai wrestling over Bubi!

Contemplative Ani

Maria and Izzy

Sharing Cheerios at the kids table...

Sisters
Oh ya, I should probably mention that last night I went to the Dublin (a pub within walking distance) with my 2 `little' sisters, what a great little place, I loved it! Felt good to get out and hang out with my sisters once Gary got home. I also cut Gary's hair but maybe I'll post a picture once it grows out just a bit:) Finally, I got some amazing gifts from my students. Really, really amazing. Very thoughtful. As I was writing this, Kai pulled his carseat across the house and decided to pull up a seat and watch me. What a goofball (PS he should be napping but slept in because he was up all night...oh boy).
Just after I posted this, I had to add the last picture...someone really wants my attention...he's got the remote which he knows he is NOT allowed to play with! Gotta go!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

One...Two...Gee!

So cute, I said `one' (when putting one leg in his pants) and then he said `two' and we said three together (but his was `gee'). Wow, where did that come from? We did it 3 more times to make sure it wasn't a fluke. *Please note it hasn't happened since this morning* THis afternoon he watched an episode of Dora. He has never sat and watched a show for me EVER! He even said `Dora' and `backpack' without me saying it first! I'm glad that something can get him to relax for a bit!
He was not so cute yesterday. We went to care group and he refused to sleep there so he was up until 10pm. THen, he woke up crying/screaming at 1:30am. He has done this a few more times over the past few weeks. He wakes up crying like he's scared (and he was cold which doesn't make sense because his room is always at 20 degrees). He is not easily comforted by anyone or anything. He kept saying `Mmba' and I have no idea what it is. I guess he woke me up at a bad time because I was the grumpiest I have ever been with him. Usually in the night I will go in and calmly soothe him but he wasn't being soothed and I didn't know what was wrong. I yelled at him. I thought maybe that would shock him out of his crying. It did not. Wow, I was mean. We went downstairs and watched Treehouse where fortunately there was a racoon on that looked close enough to be a dog. It was called `Crazy Quilt'. Who watches that stuff at 2am?

I went this morning to bring material away to get my bridesmaid dress made. Hopefully it turns out well! Lynette's wedding is just 5 days after we return which stresses me out a bit. It will be a hectic time as well because Gary will be in a bball tournament.

I've been LOVING work lately. So nice knowing that Kai is having a good time without me and I can go and do my teacher thing. Def. loving the part time, so perfect for me.

The mad rush of everyone getting pictures done for Christmas is done so we are now a little less busy? Although, Gary's still got bball and we have to start thinking about what to pack! How does it work with only 3oz of liquid on the plane? DOes that mean Gary can take a 3oz bottle and I can take one too so that Kai gets enough milk?

Finally, I know someone mentioned to me when my mom passed away that although my mom wouldn't be here for me and my kids, hopefully I would feel my mothers words and memories while I was mothering. I really have felt these moments. This is especially strong when I wash Kai's hands. Isn't that strange? I remember that my mom would usually let the water run long enough so that the cloth was warm when she wiped our hands...I always feel like my mom when I wipe his hands. Also, I've realized that I clear my throat like she did. She did it very quietly and quite often and I've realized that I've been doing it a lot lately. Does everyone clear their throat a lot? Maybe its because I'm post cold...I don't know. Just brought back some memories. I still am sad that my number one fan is gone. My mom would've said today `How was it bringing the material away? Can I see the pattern? When will it be ready? Oh, that will look great on you' and now, I have no one caring about the little things. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I'm just saying, that if your mom is still around, make sure you appreciate how much she really, truly, deeply cares about all the little things going on in your life!!!

Friday, December 14, 2007

Kai in Black and White

This morning, while waiting for the laundry in the basement, Kai let me take a few pictures of him...so, here he is! It looks terrible on the yellow background on this blog but whatever...he's cute:)





Thursday, December 13, 2007

On the mend

I'm almost at 100% health again!!! Woohoo!! Still productive coughing but oh so close to healthy. Gary is almost there. Kai is a little more congested and still has some digestive issues, BUT, we are getting there! His new words; bye, hi, get-choo (from I'm going to get you!), peas (please), baba (banana), peez (pizza). I find myself really loving him more and more each day as I'm getting to know him better. Did I mention that we cut Bubi (his blankie) in half?! I didn't like him dragging around a big blanket and this is in case we lose one, there is a back up. He watched it all happening and was okay with having 2 small Bubi's. I felt a little sad about it for some reason, but all is well. Only one more week of work and then we are almost off to MEXICO!!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Date

Gary and I have not been on a date (just the two of us...aka without Kai) since August 15th. Isn't that ridiculous?

Breakfast with sisters


This morning we all went to IHOP for breakfast...the joys of having sisters that work shift work, on mat. leave and a student:)

Kai at his first attempt colouring. He basically just put dots everywhere and then tried eating the crayons...didn't last long. He actually ate a lot of food! Yippee! Hopefully his appetite is back. He had lost almost 2lbs in the last week because he was sick.

With auntie Nutty and Jackie

Ani; so proud of her new hat:) Kai; wanting to take off in the parking lot.
We took him to the pet store and he LOVED it. Well, until a bird bit/pecked at his finger and it bled. He didn't like the birds anymore. Big fan of the puppies though....so tempting:)

Monday, December 10, 2007

Mom's 55th birthday

Today mom would've turned 55. We are getting together as a family for dinner. I'm not sure how you celebrate someone's bday once they are gone but mom never liked a big fuss made over her birthday anyway. Below is a random assortment of pictures of mom, I could've added a hundred more but here are just a few...

The only picture I have of my mom pregnant with me

Up at green lake a few years ago

Doing mom's hair. I always wanted to be a teacher and a hairdresser. At least I get to cut Gary and Kai's hair now!

Mom pointing out a whale while on the boat.

Mom and 3 of us girls

After a nice dinner out

We all donated blood in my mom's name so she could get to 50 donations (she could no longer donate at that time).

Mom and Jackie

Mom and dad when they were dating as teenagers

My mom at about 15

Me napping with mom (Maria wasn't allowed to nap with mom because she moved around too much, I was a perfect napping partner:)

Me drinking tea with mom

The whole family up at Whistler

Mom and dad on the boat

Massage train...hey, my turn!

Hawaii

After the birth of the first grandchild, Ani. Probably the most beautiful, precious, and memorable time for us as an entire family.