He sits!

Brock is our best sitter! He loves it and is doing great....a couple of rolls to the side when he gets a little tired or stretches too far. Zane and Rhett are thrilled that he can sit and play now!

Home

We made it home last night....and before I tell you what I came home to (it helps build the suspense don't you think?) Here's a quick review of what we've been up to for the last 2 weeks!

- Saturday 26th - Zane's soccer tournament - he was THRILLED with his medal after playing 3 games and we had to bring it with us to show all the grandma's and grandpa's

- Auntie Kizzy came up and was my life saver. We never would have made it down without her! She and Cliff switched vehicles in Calgary so Cliff could take some appliances home to his parent's new house....and spent all day Saturday helping them move

- Kizzy, the kids and I left Sylvan after Zane's last game and headed south to Raymond. Met Cliff there. Missed my 10 year reunion because I was still traveling

- Hung out Sunday....Brock tried chocolate milk and attacked the cup. It was pretty funny.

- Monday Cliff and I took Brock, met up with Kizzy in Lethbridge and did some shopping. New suits for Cliff and some new stuff for me. I caved and bought new clothes. Sigh. Went mini golfing with the kids and grandma and grandpa and Auntie Kizzy. Rhett would putt, pick his ball up, plant it 2 inches from the hole and putt it in. Lots of fun and laughs.

- Tuesday Cliff golfed with his buddy Mark Nielson in Magrath. I read and the kids jumped

- Wednesday we did the parade (lots of fun of course - read lots of candy and Brock sleeping for most of it) Traditional Robinson family BBQ, family counsel on preparedness and really fun family pictures with Rhonda. We're soooo excited to see them! Keep checking her blog to see the preview when she's done editing.

- after pictures we packed up and headed to Taber to spend some time with Cliff's family and extended family who were visiting from Utah and Washington. They have kids the same age as our kids so they had lots of fun playing with cousins for a while.

- Thursday the kids went to a movie with Auntie Kristie and a bunch of the relates. Cliff and I got to leave all 3 kids home with Grandma and Grandpa and went for Chinese food at the Regent and a movie with Preston and Kristin Porter. It was fun and a nice break. The kids were good so that was a relief.

- Friday, Saturday and Sunday we just hung out. It was great. I read a lot, the kids played and we just enjoyed being with family.

- Sunday we met up with my parents in Coaldale and Cliff headed home in one of their vehicles and we headed to Raymond.

The rest of the week the kids played outside as much as they could, terrorized the house, and had lots of fun. They made a friend a couple of doors down (he was visiting his grandparents as well) And it was a new experience for them to have a friend that close! I had to make a trip to the dentist to get a tooth fixed, had a great dinner with Kizzy and Lish and read 9 books over the course of the 2 weeks. It was a great vacation.

And now we're back to real life. And this post has taken me from Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon to finish. So, back to the beginning.... I came home to a disaster. Yep, a big one. Cliff decided to surprise me with tiling the shower in our only bathroom. It looks fantastic....but wasn't close to done when we got home on Saturday....and still isn't finished because we ran out of grout and haven't been able to match it yet. So while I was happy about my surprise I was upset at coming home to a major mess and only being able to take baths. Yuck. I really don't like baths. Maybe I could learn to like them in a big jetted jacuzzi tub, but not our little tiny one. Oh well. His heart was in the right place and I've told him a couple of times that I don't want any major renovations as a surprise any more! Brock and dad just hangin' out after church in Raymond.

Brock trying out the chocolate milk in daddy's cup. A definite hit.

Rhett and Zane at the parade with Auntie Lishie's dog Moe eyeing their candy.

Brock and Rhett tackling Grandpa Dooley

Zane and Rhett trying out the sprinkler air hockey....Zane loved it....Rhett liked the idea but not the cold water!Zane showing off how tough and cool he was by standing in the really cold water!Rhett looking grimy and hot from a day outside modeling his 2 hat look. His Canucks hat was filthy gross so I bought him a new one to wear while we washed the other. He then started to wear both of them.

I have lots more pics but this post is already huge and the kids want a snack! Enjoy.

Brock at 5 months....

- is 14.4 lbs
- rolls from tummy to back
- rolls up onto his side from his back
- has found toes
- DROOLS over everything!
- is only nurses a couple times a day
- sleeps good
- laughs
- sits on his own for a few minutes before toppling
- prefers his Bumbo for sitting
- loves to jump
- chatters all the time
- likes being outside
- hates his car seat
- gets mugged on by his brothers all the time
- is very interested in big people food
- has tasted chocolate milk, ice cream, whip cream, juice, strawberries and water melon...not in that order
- LOVED the chocolate milk, juice and water melon. First taste of strawberries thought I was poisoning him. His expression was soooo funny.
- attacks a cup when you try to give it to him - grabs on and pulls towards mouth very quickly
- starting to recognize his name
- is kinda in between bottle sizes....4 oz isn't quite enough and 8 is too much
- still eats a ton and slowly starting to chunk up
- will chew on anything that his hands can get into his mouth
- is a fabulous baby
- only cries when he's hungry or tired...unless he's in the car seat!

Endings, Middles and Beginnings

I know I JUST posted, but I wanted this to be a separate blog.
Tomorrow is Zane's last day of Kindergarten. How did that happen? It really doesn't seem possible that a whole school year has come and gone. When he started he knew a lot of the things he needed to and that knowledge has been improved on. His printing has come a long way from the beginning of the year, his reading , yes I said reading, gets better every week. His love for school is undiminished after a year of Kindergarten and he's very excited to start Grade 1. Wow. It's sometimes hard to believe that this wonderful, smart, confident and friendly kid is mine. Who he is today is due largely to me. (I'm not trying to be cocky....I know lots of other people influence him to, but if we're honest I've been the biggest influence so far). And that's really humbling. I'm so proud of his accomplishments and of his confidence.
Saturday is the last day of soccer. The final tournament. It's been fun to watch him play and learn and improve every week. He's really thrilled to be out there on the field just playing the game the best he can. I hope it's always like that for him and not always about the win. (We don't keep score in the league he's in). I've been really impressed with all the coaches and kids that we have played with and against. It's been a great season but we're ready to wrap it up and be done.
We're getting geared up for some time with family. Cliff will be with us for the first week and then it will just be me and the kids visiting. This visit has an ending and a beginning too as mom and dad J move from their home into their new home. It's exciting and a little bittersweet too. The kids all grew up in that house, Cliff lived there while were dating, and it's the only home that Zane and Rhett know Grandma and Grandpa in. There was always lots of room to spread out in the old house and the new one we'll be a little more on top of each other. But change is good.
Summer feels like a middle to me. We're ending some stuff like school and soccer but not starting new things like school, piano lessons, playgroups and stuff like that until fall. Also, Brock is in the middle of stages. He's learning and changing every day. He's in the middle of a little baby and a big baby and by fall will be moving onto things like crawling and solids and things like that. So I'm excited to enjoy the summer. To enjoy the middleness of our lives right now and anticipate things to come. I hope we get to all the spray parks we want to, jump on the tramps as much as we can, see as many cousins and family as possible and make as many memories with friends that we possibly can.
Last weekend as we were helping mom and dad clean out their basement we came upon a couple of boxes that were still there from us. And one of them had old journals of mine....from before high school and through high school. I read a couple of them. Some of it made me laugh, some of it made me cry. Some made me sad because I can't believe how much I've forgotten! But mostly I'm really happy that I did that and that I have them now to look back on. (Although there are definitely a few years that need to be edited before I want anyone else reading them...or maybe I just need to be a little older so I don't care. I think I was a little too detailed some times! ) But for all the memories - good and bad - I'm grateful that they are recorded. And it makes me realize that although a lot of the time I don't feel a lot different than I did 14 years ago, I really have grown up a lot and I'd like to think become a better person. I wonder if I'll think the same thing in 14 years when I read these blogs?
And one more fun tidbit...Zane was playing with Brock Tuesday night and got him giggling really good. Usually you still have to work pretty hard with the tickles to get him going and then it's short lived but whatever Zane was doing Brock thought was hilarious! It made it even funner that Grammie and Grandpa Dooley were here for the night as well so they got to see it!

Busy

As usual life isn't slowing down any. The month of June has just flown by and we can't believe that here we are in the last week!
Auntie Kizzy came to visit us for a weekend and we had so much fun with her! It was the first time she got to spend any time with Brock and the two of them quickly became fast friends. And Zane educated her on the ins and outs of the Star Wars story line. And the two of us took Brock for a girls night of shopping. It was great to get out and shop with just one....even though it was Kizzy doing the shopping and me along for the ride. I refuse to shop for new clothes until I get back into my skinny stuff. But we had a great weekend together. Living up here, I really miss my sisters. I'm very grateful for the blessing of a close relationship with both of our families.
Umm, let's see what else? I can finally announce on my blog that Alisha and Jay are making us an Auntie and Uncle in December! Everyone is really excited and so far she's feeling pretty good. And Cliff's sister Rikki is having a baby as well...sometime in February so we get 2 new babies to spoil. It will be a lot of fun and we're hoping that one of them is pink!
Cliff's parent's sold their house and bought a new one in Taber. It's smaller and has a lot smaller yard which is perfect since Kristie will be the only one living at home soon. This past weekend we were down for a wedding on Mom J's side and helped with some of the packing and de-junking that needed to be done so they can move this weekend.
The wedding was for Cliff's cousin Ben and his now wife Rebecca. They are the first ones to get married on the Jackson side since we did 8 years ago! They got married in the Lutheran Church and it was a very.....interesting ceremony. The Pastor read a passage that was supposed to be scripture but sounded more like Shakespeare and just went on and on and on about it. And I wasn't the only one with raised eyebrows. Mom J and all the aunts commented about how strange it was too. Between the wedding and reception we went to Uncle Gary (mom J's brother) and Auntie Mel's house. Everyone hung out and my kids were fairly bored 'cause I hadn't thought to bring anything for them to do out in the yard. Zane asked for a drink while pointing to a liquor bottle and I told him he couldn't drink it because it was liquor. He started to point to another bottle but I told him he couldn't drink anything in a glass bottle. One of Cliff's cousins thought that was a clever way to help him distinguish right now. For some people I think it's a big deal to have liquor in the same spot as their kids. But Cliff and I both grew up that way in extended family and I really think the best way to deal with it is to be honest about it. We've talked about the Word of Wisdom and Zane knows that we don't drink liquor or coffee or tea. And he knows that some people in our family do. I hope that when our boys can choose for themselves they choose as Cliff and I have and do. But I digress. Umm, Rhett got carsick on the way from the house to the reception. I had a hard time not freaking out but got everything cleaned up, changed his clothes, and everyone into the reception. Oh the joys of kids! The meal part was good, a little hard to keep the kidlets entertained but luckily we have lots of people who love kids and are more than willing to hold a baby, entertain a 3 year old or listen to a 6 year old talk their ear off! Ben and Becca looked gorgeous and happy....and although it was very different from our wedding, and from what I want for our boys we had a good time.
Sunday we packed up in the late morning and headed to Raymond to spend some time with my family for mom's birthday and Father's day. Dad was stuck in the States but the rest of us were there. And as we pulled up Zane says "Grandma got a trampoline!!!!!" "Can we jump on it mom?" He was so excited. I knew about it but Grammie wanted to keep it a surprise. Their reaction was a lot of fun. While they jumped Jay and I got strudels heating up, we ate, and headed out to play on the tramp for awhile. It was a lot of fun!
And now we're getting ready to head down for a couple of weeks of fun with everyone!

Have you ever....

heard your own words come out of your child's mouth without any prompting?

We were driving home from a friend's party this evening and had to pass in front of the lake. And there were people IN the lake...it's like 15 degrees Celsius today...definitely not lake weather in my mind. Anyways, I didn't comment but Zane piped up from the back

"Honestly people! It's not even summer! "

Then he looked over at the Big Moo and noticed the summer lake toys out

"Floaty toys? What are they thinking? It's not like it's summer!"

By this time I'm biting my lip and hoping I'm not going to make it bleed! It was so funny to hear him talk like that because I KNOW he got it from me! And I agreed with him....except maybe the floaty toys. You can buy them at any time and save them for a nice hot day. Oh my son. You make me laugh!

Brock at 4 months...

- can roll from tummy to back
- drools EVERYWHERE!

- talks and babbles....loves to have conversations with you

- is a tight wad with his giggles right now

- his eyes sparkle when he's happy

- his brothers love to smooch on him

- sits in his Bumbo pretty good now

- still likes to be swaddled up to sleep

- goes hot and cold with his soother

- is smaller than the other two

- looks like Zane did at this age

- is growing and changing so fast

- usually sleeps 6 hours to start the night off

- still loves to stand all the time

p.s. for those who noticed the pants REALLY don't match...he just had shots and sore legs...needed something comfy and spacious. His jeans just weren't cutting it.

Firsts....

Rhett peed on the potty for the very first time today. He also peed on the floor 3 times, but heh, let's focus on the positives. Does this mean that I'm full-fledged potty training? For a few hours every day, yes. Slow and steady.

Brock rolled over from his tummy to his back fully without any help. And so it begins!

(and in case you were wondering....the laundry was clean!)

Star Wars and Frying Pans

My 6 year old is obsessed with Star Wars. Between Lego Star Wars and the 6 movies (he's almost seen all 6 now) he can tell me what the episode is called, what the chapter is called and the run down of the basic story line in that particular setting. It's unnerving. Mostly because I never cared that much about Star Wars before and now my limited knowledge is being tested by a 6 year old with a FANTASTIC memory. After being quizzed for 5 minutes one morning on the ins and outs of a story line I finally sighed and said "Zane, mommy doesn't know as much about Star Wars as you do. I'm a girl and my memory just doesn't remember it as well as yours does". He was SHOCKED! It was actually quite funny. Then the other day he was going to ask me something but said oh, never mind. I asked him what was going on and he said he forgot I wasn't a Star Wars person. Oh, the guilt. But it is still fun to watch and listen to him. He will draw a picture of some scene and then have me spell out the words so he can write down the episode, chapter and story line. We have 2 on the freezer right now waiting for Auntie Lishie. And it is fun to watch him and Rhett play out the scenes (when they're not trying to kill each other). Rhett's always asking Zane to 'pick' him. He wants Zane to assign him a character. Sometimes he's happy with his assignment and sometimes he's not. Zane gets frustrated sometimes because Rhett doesn't always follow the 'rules' of the movie and likes to mix things up - like Chewbacca having a light saber instead of a gun. That's just not done in Zane's world. So we're trying to remind him that it's pretend and anything can happen in pretend and his brother is allowed to make up some of the rules too. But mostly Rhett goes along with what Zane tells him to do and they follow the story line of whatever episode Zane's been puzzling out in his head. I do know the difference between a Force Push and a Force Lightening. Do you?

And the frying pans. Apparently in nursery they have 3 toy frying pans that go with the kitchen and they are the first thing that Rhett goes for every Sunday. He picks them up, tucks one under his arm and carries two in his hand and walks around for the rest of the time with these frying pans. The nursery leaders find this hilarious and keep teasing me about it, wondering what in the world I do with him at home that he's so attached to these frying pans. So Sunday they actually came and got me so I could see this for myself. And sure enough he's wondering around with them. To me, it's perfectly normal. I'm used to him picking up random objects and pretending that they are something completely different and being very attached to them. I told them that he probably has termed them his 'good guys' or his 'ships' and that he just has a great imagination. They still think it's really funny. I think it's great that he can make a toy out of anything.

Life with boys is so different. They play different, they think different, they react differently. But I wouldn't trade them. Even if I do feel like a fish out of water with all the light sabers, guns, swords, and action figures that litter my house these days!

Before I forget....

Brock giggled for the first time Monday night! It was perfect timing too because we are sitting there together. The other 2 had their first giggle when it was just me. The big boys were thrilled and Zane wanted to know how Brock knew how to giggle. Of course he hasn't done it again but we're waiting anxiously! And I weighed him at the health unit today...he's 13-10. I'm not sure if that's good or not...he's 15 weeks and was 8-0 when he was born...so almost 6 lbs - is that a good weight gain? He'll have his 4 month checkup in about a week and a half...they won't do it until after the 8th....so I guess we'll see what percentile he's in.
And the rest of what I had to say will have to wait as some little person is wailing in his swing. Sigh.

Lots of pictures....

So these are NOT in order....I don't have time to try and get them there....but I will write a little under each of them...Hope you enjoy!
Rhett with his 'light saber'. Don't ask me why a bat was pressed into this service when we own 5 light sabers.....

Zane showing off his Jedi Master stance. The monkey robe really adds to the character don't you think?

Zane and Brock. Brock looks like he's in pain but he's really just trying to pull himself up.

Rhett and Brock. Rhett's really been wanting to sit with Brock, hold Brock and have him around a lot lately.

Brock maxin' and relaxin' in the big chair.

How can you not love this face. Oh I just LOOOOVVVE my baby!

I love this picture because it makes his feet look huge! He's just getting good at sitting in the Bumbo and I'm loving it for working in the kitchen and stuff.

Tummy time!

Chattin' it up with Daddy

Big smiles for daddy. Grr I wish my program was working so I could fix this one up a bit. Sigh.

Talking to daddy.....

Birthday on his actual birthday....we had ice cream sundaes so no candles...

Birthday cake and candles at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's. Birthdays are definitely events in our household.

Birthday party at the park! Perfect day and venue for it! The wind made it tricky to get the candles lit but daddy did it!

The anticipation was hard for him....

Zane's first soccer game...his back is to the camera

Doing a drill in practice. They practice for 1/2 an hour and then play the other team for the last 1/2 hour.

Brock's sunburn from Rhett's birthday party. I wasn't a very bright mom that day...

Zane got a Principal's award at school for doing all the things he was supposed to in a month. This is him and his teacher Mrs. Cocks after getting it.

Zane and the principal Mr. Sanche

Thankful

for the money we pay to have Onstar at our beck and call when we need them. My van battery was deader than a door knob this morning....don't know why. But after a quick call to OnStar they connected me to a dispatcher and within a half hour I had a big tow truck at my house boosting my van. After letting it run to charge up the battery it's all good. And although the service was really great I'm hoping not have to use it again for quite awhile!

8 years....

Ago Cliff and I got married! Wow. It went really fast. And I've been thinking about some things that have stayed the same, changed and happened to us over the last 8 years...

- We've lived in 5 different wards
- moved 9 times
- had 3 different vehicles
- have 3 children
- 2 miscarriages
- managed apartment buildings twice and NEVER again
- I worked before we had Zane and one year after.
- We moved to Red Deer 4 years ago. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.
- we moved to Sylvan Lake 1.5 years ago and have been very blessed here.
- We've held callings - Cliff usually in some capacity with the youth and me with music
- we went to California together for our 6th anniversary and toured through Cliff's mission.
- we bought our first house. We're still here.
- we've made lots of friends along the way...some we are still very close to and some we are not. It's interesting to me how the Lord blesses us with people at different times in our lives and although we are still friends with those people the relationship dynamics have changed. And that's OK.
- made some bad decisions and some good ones
- always have tried to do better
- love each other more today than we did 8 years ago
- are even more committed than 8 years ago
- have learned some things...like I shouldn't expect the house to be clean if I surprise Cliff by coming home a day early when the kids and I have been home visiting.....and being a golf widow every Friday during the season can be beneficial.
- Cliff turned 30
- I lost 65 lbs and gained a lot of it back again while pregnant with Brock
- we've dealt with a lot of stress together and have come out of it closer and stronger
- our first miscarriage was one of the hardest things we've gone through...but we made it together and with the Lord
- We've watched all of our siblings graduate high school, one get married and one get engaged
- we will soon be an auntie and uncle for the first time
- Cliff has always been a worthy priesthood holder and uses it regularly to bless our family
- our house used to stay clean....not so much any more
- we have accumulated a staggering amount of kid's toys, clothes and other things that go along with children.
- we have developed hobbies
- we have loved, grown, and stayed true to each other and I can honestly say that we are happy.
And I think that's a pretty awesome thing to be able to say!

I could go on and on. A lot of things happen to a couple in 8 years. I'm sure the next 8 will go by just as quickly and will be filled with many wonderful things as well as many trials. But I know we'll be together and we'll take it as it comes - together!
Happy Anniversary Hon - I love ya!

3 months....

Time flies and babies get bigger and bigger!

Brock is a little over 3 months now and is funner every day. Some things he's doing now:

- sleeping SO good on his tummy. I'm only up once a night with him.

- drooling over every thing!

- grabbing toys and blankets

- rolling onto his side

- smiling

- almost laughing

- talking like crazy

- lifts his head and shoulders up and looks around

- standing - his little legs are so stinkin' strong and it's all he wants to do when you're holding him

- still likes to be swaddled up to go to sleep

- occasionally takes his soother but nothing like Rhett did. Sigh.

- refuses formula. Another sigh

- usually has 2 good naps a day and a couple of little cat naps thrown in

- does some marathon nursing before going down for the night

- is getting too social while nursing - likes to eat a little and then turn the full force of his baby blues on me and smile and coo. Who can resist that?

- Puts his pouty lip out sometimes

- starting to stand in his jumperoo

He's such a delightful baby. We love him to pieces!

So as you can see I've figured out how to get pictures uploaded...I just can't run my program to do anything to them. Hence the red eyes and some not great color but I'm working on it. It's better than nothing for now!

Rhett at 3....

is very different than Zane was at 3. I think it's more than personality. I think part of it comes from having a big brother to introduce him to a whole lot of things that didn't exist in Zane's world at 3. Examples: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Transformers.....With these additions from his big brother's world comes a whole new vocabulary that sometimes makes sense and sometimes doesn't. He gets very upset with me when he's trying to tell me which character he is being and I'm not catching on.

Rhett at 3 loves to pretend. His imagination is awesome! And although it seems like we own every toy under the sun -OK maybe a slight exaggeration - he still plays with magnets, spoons, pencils, toothbrushes, etc as his good or bad guys. He changes it up every day or so and I'm kept on my toes knowing which is the good guy today.

Rhett at 3 doesn't eat cake, cupcakes or ice cream in a bowl. He'll ask for it, take a stab at it and walk away from it. He will eat a DQ ice cream cone and points out the ice cream store quite often!

Rhett at 3 LOVED blowing out his candles. It made his whole birthday.

Rhett at 3 is missing his mommy time. He adores Brock....just hates having to wait while mom is nursing him.

Rhett at 3 has absolutely NO patience. Not even a smidgen. We're talking instant gratification and if I tell him no, or yes but he has to wait, he's quite annoyed and usually will whine/cry and keep repeating what it is that he wants. This drives me NUTS when I'm nursing Brock and can't do anything about it. But we're working on it.

Rhett at 3 loves to be outside playing and cries when Zane wants to come in. He doesn't like to be out there by himself.

Rhett at 3 does really well in new situations when Zane is around. Not so good on his own. But we're going to work on that come fall.

Rhett at 3 can be the sweetest, most thoughtful little boy that ever was. He's my little sweetheart.

Rhett at 3 adores Grammie.

Rhett at 3 loves to play on the computer and has mastered quite a few games.

Rhett at 3 is learning letters and numbers. He likes to dance to the alphabet song.

Rhett at 3 asks all day when it's time to go get Zane from school.

Rhett at 3 loves to jump on Grandma J's trampoline.

Rhett at 3 sits good to get his hair cut...most of the time.

Just some of the things I wanted to remember about my sweet boy at 3!

Birthday, Quilt, Grad....oh my!

Wow, I knew it had been a while since I posted but I didn't realize that it had been that long. Sigh. Days and weeks are flying by much too fast. So let's play catch up.

The end of April was spent wishing for nicer weather, getting used to Brock sleeping well on his tummy, trying to find the time and energy to finish Kristie's quilt, playing with friends and all the mundane but important things that moms do. Oh, and doing a bunch of tests because I've been having gall bladder attacks again - minus the gall bladder. Blood work, ultra sound and CT scan later says I'm normal. Doc thinks that I probably have small stones in my liver and get the attacks when one of them passes. So far they haven't been too bad so we're just monitoring it as best as we can for now. The CT scan was interesting as I got there and was informed that I couldn't nurse for 48 HOURS! I didn't know that. So Brock went cold turkey for a day and a half and I pumped and dumped. I said a prayer on the way home from the hospital that he would be able to tolerate that much formula at once and be able to drink it until it was OK for him to nurse again. He did fine for 36 hours and then flatly refused any more. So I started nursing him again trusting that the Lord had blessed him for the time that he needed. The only negative side is that he refuses ANY formula now so if I need to leave him I have to try and pump enough for him. It's limiting but worth it.

May 1st found us celebrating Rhett's 3rd birthday. His actual birthday is on the 4th but we had the party on the Friday so Cliff could be there too. We planned for the park, crossed our fingers and got lucky! The weather was gorgeous, we had lots of friends come and Rhett thought everyone at the park that day was there for him! The kids had a blast running all over the park and playing. We took a break for candles, cupcakes and presents and then it was back to playing again. I went to the dollar store and got a bunch of buckets and shovels for the treat bags and they were a hit! A success all around. When you ask Rhett how old he is he'll tell you 3 but hold up 2 fingers. Quite cute! And I was a brain dead mom and forgot to think about the sun so Zane got burnt, I got burnt and even Brock got a little sun burnt. Grrrr. Rhett has been living with his hat on - it comes off for prayer, bath and bed. That's it. So he was spared the sun burn. Oh well. We all lived and they weren't bad. Just a little red reminder to bring the sunscreen out.

It was also Stake Conference weekend and the evening session for adults was a panel discussion about preparedness. They had 6 members of the stake at the front who were the 'experts' in certain fields of preparedness either because of their actual work or their current calling and after some brief comments opened the panel to questions from the audience. It was very different. What I got out of the whole thing was that there are many resources within our stake that we aren't aware of and if we have concerns about something we need to take them to our RS pres, Elders Quorum Pres, Bishop, etc and if they don't know the answer they can find out for us. I was a great big chicken and did not venture out Sunday with three kids by myself. Cliff had to work in Calgary and I just wasn't up to sitting with 3 kids by myself not knowing if I could leave the 2 older ones with someone I knew to go and nurse Brock and logistics like that. The kids were bears all morning so I was glad I had made that choice!

Monday was Rhett's actual birthday and we got a great surprise...Grammie S was able to come up because Grandpa Dooley had a load to Red Deer! So me and the 2 little boys went and picked her up in the afternoon and Zane was surprised that Grammie was there after school to get him! We also had our good friends the Allreds over for ice cream sundaes and candles and happy birthday for Rhett again. Birthdays aren't just a day in our house it seems. They're more of an extended event. Anyways, with Grammie here I was able to get Krisite's quilt almost done...just the binding had to be hand sewn.

Zane started soccer on Tuesday. It was so fun to watch him. He did really good for his first organized game and his team came out tied. They play the width of the field and have one regular field split into 4 different games. They play 3 on 3 and about 3 minute shifts so everyone gets lots of playing time and ball time. He plays Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of June. And he LOVED it. And of course he slept super well that night. The rest of us froze (minus Brock who was either nursing or in the snugly) and we were really glad that soccer was only an hour!

We left Thursday afternoon for Barnwell for Kristie's high school grad. We stopped in Calgary to eat and feed Brock, tried to do a little bit of shopping, carried on to Lethbridge, dropped Grammie at her truck and carried on to Barnwell. It was a long trip but the kids were troopers.

Friday Cliff went golfing with his Uncle Roy in Taber and I took the kids to show off at mom's work. Kristie watched the big boys in the afternoon while Cliff and I did a bunch of stuff in Lethbridge. We got to see his Grandma and Grandpa Jackson (grandpa's in the hospital) and they haven't seen Brock yet so that was really nice. And we also hooked up with his Uncle Gary and Aunt Melanie who we haven't seen in 5 years because they've been living in Ireland. It was a busy day but a lot of fun to see everyone and get a good visit in.

Saturday was Kristie's grad and was spent going back and forth to the different parts of grad. Auntie Rikki watched the big boys for the morning exercises and Auntie Kizzy came and picked them up for the evening part. I finished off the quilt in the morning...took pictures but still am having program issues. It's on my radar, I promise. Anyways, Kristie looked gorgeous - I wished her dress was a little more modest but that was her choice and it definitely made her look all grown up.

And then it was all of a sudden Sunday. We went to church in Barnwell, saw a lot of good friends, had a fabulous mother's day dinner, hung out with family and then packed up and came home.

I have a list a mile long of things I want to do but I'm trying to categorize them and focus on one thing a day instead of trying to do too much in one day. And I have finally got back on the weight loss wagon. I've flirted with exercise over the past 12 weeks, and have had a few good eating days but I wasn't completely committed and any little thing swayed my resolve. Not the way to lose the weight - I know - I've been here before. So I did a lot of thinking and decided I needed some added incentive to eat good - that's the part I'm most struggling with. And I came up with a fabulous bribe! For every day I stay on points (I'm doing the same Weight Watchers system I did last time) I get $1 to spend on fabric! There is a fabulous Jelly Roll (which is a bunch of pre-cut and matched strips rolled up together for those of you who don't quilt) that I've been eyeing up in a store in Lethbridge. Yep, it's gonna be mine. So far so good. I even baked like a mad woman today and resisted the cookies. That's HUGE! And how did I bake do you ask? A little bit of planning and a LOT of luck!

Hopefully it won't be so long until I post again.....I'll try to pencil it in more often!