Sunday, March 31, 2013

Oh Happy (and Sunny!) Day

I was shopping for some new shirts last night (I decided it's much easier to buy new clothes than to try to lose 10 lbs right now..usually I can do it but not right now) and thought, `Oh, I should get Gary some back to school clothes!'.  I totally thought it was summer holidays.  It's just sooooo crazy warm and sunny and I feel like we have been hanging out as a family for FOREVER.   So ya, our Spring Break has been wonderful.  I wouldn't have minded if this 18 C weather came while we were on the island but I'm sure glad it showed up this weekend. Awesome.
Kai is a mini Gary. Sports. Sports. Sports.  Here is he is checking out the standings for March Madness.  I do hope he keeps being obsessed with sports because that kept Gary out of trouble when he was a teenager ! 
We went to Gary's  parents for the Chapman Easter dinner.  The kids loved their Easter egg hunt which provided them with enough chocolate to last a month.  They have a hot tub that the kids always go in as it's a kid friendly temperature...Nya just had to go in so she just went in her clothes.  She loves the water more than the boys ever did, that's for sure!
Nya with her gramma.  She likes gramma because gramma wears necklaces to play with.  I have to say that it has taken a long time (7 years!!!) but I now feel 100% `normal' when she is with the kids.  I no longer feel a sense of resentment (that word is too strong but can't think of another) in the sense that I wish that MY mom that could also hold/play/be with the kids.  I can't explain it but if you've been there, you know.  I am thankful for Gary's parents and the role that they have in our lives.  They love our kids.  Dan, Gary's dad, even chose this shirt for Nya to wear when I was dressing her. So cute :)
Nya loved her first egg hunt although we quickly replaced these eggs with plastic ones as every single thing goes in  her mouth these days.  What age does that stop? One?  I forget.

On Saturday, the kids went to my niece and nephews birthday party.  Their birthdays are 2 weeks apart so it worked to combine them :) 
{I did pictures of them this week as well as two other families.}

Then, my sister Jackie (a Public Health Nurse) came over to give us our Hep A vaccinations.  We got the prescription through our doctor and they could have given it to us in the office but it was much easier to have Jackie come and do it.  By the way, this saved us $200+.  Had we gone through the travel clinic, we would've had to pay a consultation fee AND the price of the vaccine is double there for the kids and 25% more for adults.  We are going to get the kids their boosters in 6 months so that they are good for life.  Might as well as I'm sure they will do more travelling!   I know we could have gotten way more vaccines but that is the only one I feel we need. 

{Mentally insert photo of Kai freaking out about the immunization.  Poor guy.}

In the afternoon, we all went to my sister Maria's house for Easter Dinner. It was perfect!!!  They have a great yard so all 11 kids could just roam around and play.  I had decided to make a ham and turkey which was a little crazy and we ended up finishing the ham in the bbq so we could get the turkey done in time.  So good though and enough leftover meat for the week!  So glad my husband is so good in the kitchen!  I had a really good time hanging out with my family.  I like Gary's too, don't worry.  We are so blessed to be surrounded by so much love.  And seriously, all the little `babies' roaming around??? So cute!!
The bad news for the holidays is that we brought our car in and had to pay $800 in repairs plus another $250 or so that Dan is doing for us (thank you Dan!!).  Our car is only worth $1200.00 but it's worth it to keep it running well for another two years, in my opinion.  I just don't want to invest another $10,000+ into another vehicle right now, especially with our big trip coming up.  We will be replacing our van and our car in about 2 years.  My car is ugly but man, it has been great.  I've had it for 12 years and it has been so dependable.  It's been great for Gary driving to and from work.  
After church and Nya's nap, we went to Brae Island in Fort Langley.  We were wearing shorts, sandals and sunscreen.  So awesome.  I just carried Nya on my back and gave her a stick to play with.  She is just a little ball of giggly cuteness.  She is so happy and I think Gary even melts a little when she waves and giggles at him saying `Dada'.   Seriously, she brings so much happiness to us all, the boys LOVE her and have all the patience in the world for `Cutie'. 

We did two geocaches and then the boys were able to go in the water and Nya went straight in too.  The Fraser River is not warm but she did not care.  It made for a messy but happy kids.

She now has 4 teeth! The top 2 are half way through and this means that she is waking up at 3am each night (along with an 11pm feed and then getting up at 6am for the day).  I'm tired.  One day I'll sleep!  I've decided to give her one bottle per day.  I do feel that I need some freedom.  So, tomorrow we start!  If we lay her on the ground, by herself, when she's thirsty enough, she'll take it.  We just have to ignore her and leave her alone. 

I am very ready for Kai to go back to school.  Sometimes I think that I could homeschool them and then a holiday comes around and we are all together and the boys start fighting.  If you have two boys who are both very `boyish' and physical, you know what I mean.  Koen is such a pesky monkey and knows how to drive Kai crazy (Koen will often say `Koen knows everything!! Woo Woo!!' and that drives Kai CRAZY).  Kai reacts physically to him.  They are both physical.   When they are on their own, so easy.  Together, sooooooooooooooooooooo frustrating!!!  And yet, they are best friends and can be so good together.  It's payback for all the fighting my sisters and I did when we were teenagers. 

I hope you all had a good Easter weekend.  It was good reflecting on Easter with the kiddos each day and listening to Kai sing `Oh Happy Day!' numerous times.

Love, Louise






2 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a great Spring Break! I am so glad that you share the relationship between your boys (and your feelings of frustration at times with the physicality, etc.)... it makes me feel not alone.

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  2. Nya is getting SO BIG!!!

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