Day to Day

Well as of late we have many options going through our mind as to what direction we want our family to be heading. Justin has been persuing the idea of returning back to school in the fall. With that in mind the position of his job at Lafarge is in question also. He recently asked for a raise but isn't sure if he would work part time there and do studies at the college or get a job with less of a commute to be able to spend more time on his studies and with us. Then the thought of no school and just working as much as he can at Lafarge to make as much money as possible. With that, we as a family, would travel to Mexico in the new year for a short term missions trip to see if that's what we would like to persue longtime and if it is do-able with little children. Then the thought of moving back to BC has been lingering in our minds. Having two children and no family to share them with has taken it's toll on us all. But living in Kelowna is out of the question strictly for the reason that it is TOO expensive. Living on the coast might be an option as long as Justin could get a good enough job for the time being. But the pace of life and allergies are what have driven us out of there in the past. So with the best option for us being to continue to live in Edmonton brings more questions of uncertainty: Our van is going on 15 years old and is starting to show it's age and 300, 000 km's. As of right now we need a new rad, breaks, tires, air conditioning needs replacing and the heating system in the back of the van also needs replacing. So do we put money into it and hope it will keep going but not drive it out of town because we wouldn't trust it? Or do we save for something newer that's reliable and really good on fuel? That we would be able to drive to Kelowna or the coast of BC for very little money. The latter option seems to make more sense but that means more money right now and a longer commitment on Justin's part working long hours at Lafarge or another well paying job.
For myself these days have been a time of unknowing and unsettleness but also a time of prayer and getting into the WORD. We don't want to rush in any direction without the doors being clearly opened.
Mattias is growing like a weed everyday. He is rolling over from his tummy to his back and is trying to crawl. Sam doesn't let a single thing go unnoticed. He is VERY perceptive with what's going on and being said around him. I will spell something out or just say one unobvious word to Justin and Sam will pick-up on what we are talking about. His words are getting more and more precise. The things that he comes up with just make me chuckle. The other day I had explained to him that Mama and Papa were married and that we sleep in the same bed and that Papa was my husband and I was Papa's wife. He looked at one of our wedding pictures and said, "Mama wife? Mama Papa wedding picture?" I said, "Yep, that is a picture of when we got married and became husband and wife." Sam looked at me with his shoulder's slouched and said in a sad tone, "Sam needs a wife!" It was hilarious! And then the other day Justin took Sam to see the Stanley Cup in Sherwood Park and while waiting in the line, Sam got to know a little girl. They held hands, hugged, and Sam kissed her on the cheek. When Justin told me this I wasn't sure what to think. I just laughed and thought, "well here we go, this is the beginning I guess" He is such a character with so much love to give and brings us such great JOY! Mattias too is such a character. He is real "go-getter". He is constantly trying to do things himself. When I give him his bottle he insists on holding it; he tries to stand and crawl and sit. It's like he's trying to catch-up to Sam. And he is always smiling. He'll have the soother in his mouth and he'll start smiling at me and I can see it in his eyes. His whole face lights up and he has the cutest little dimple on the right side of his mouth. He's a boy who definately knows what he wants. If he's hungry, cold, bored, tired or any other baby irritant, he immediately starts to cry. And every cry is very obvious with what the problem is. And once you've fed him or put him to bed he is quiet. A complete opposite of Sam. It is so fascinating to see how two children can come from the exact same parents and be sooooo completely different.

Jolly Mattias

Our dear Rhythm

How cute!

Mattias (4 months) and Sam playing in Sam's room on a cloudy, rainy day.
(if you have notice not as many picture's of Sam it's because he doesn't like getting his picture taken these days...who knows? Him just expressing his almost 3 years old self I guess)

Sunny days...once again!

Well we have settled into somewhat of a new routine once again. Mattias sleeps 12 hours from around 9 pm until 9 am. And throughout the day he's sleeping about 5-6 hours with his naptimes. Sam starts talking the moment he wakes up and stops talking when he goes to sleep at night. Every other day he seems to be testing us. Those days are long and tiring but the days in between are filled with much joy. Our summer sunshine has once again returned which is nice for Sam. We bought him an inflatable pool and a whale sprinkler. Here we are required to do backyard yard maintence and to water the lawn. So letting Sam run through the sprinkler gets two jobs done at once. Justin and I are growing restless with the routine's of our society. Work, work, work....money, money, money! It seems the more we work to make more money, the more we THINK we need more things. It's a giant cirlce that is hard to get off! But we have with only buying what is NEEDED and keeping track of absolutely everything that our money is spent on. With feeling this way about society, has only reminded us how much we would like to do mission work in third world countries. Where we can expose the boys to how the majority of the world lives. And that we need to use our earthly riches to bless others because we are able. We are able financially and physically. So when the time is right, we will be travelling to Mexico for short-term missions. We will try it out with two children and see if it's feesable and then look at the possibility of a long-term assignment. But in the meantime Justin has applied at Grant McEwan College here in Edmonton with the hopes of continuing and eventually finishing his BA. No matter where we end up, it will be beneficial to have some education under his "belt".Those are thoughts and possibilities we have been exploring as of late. We will keep you posted.

My boys snuggling before their nap

Sam insisted he didn't need a nap...

Papa put him down so he was just chillin' in the chair

The new locks

Well today I went and got my hair re-permed and cut differently. When I had gone last weekend, I told my stylist I wanted what I ended up getting today. I am super happy with the results!And now with it being shorter, the boys won't be pulling on it and it won't be tied up all of the time. And with the thickness of my hair and the length it was, we were going through the shampoo. Now it won't take as much shampoo to wash it and won't take as long to dry. I am super psyched!

My guys...aren't they cute?

Samuel Rhythm 32 & 1/2 months (2yrs & 8 Months)

Sam loves to help me in the kitchen. Here he was helping me make a teryaki marinade. He spilled some on the counter and felt it necessary to lick it up off of the counter.

Mattias Elijah at 15 & 1/2 weeks
Mattias always has smiles for his papa!

Money not well spent!

Over the past few years my hair has been getting progressively staighter and more straighter. They say your body goes through changes every seven years. So that and having two children have both contributed to my new doo. So after alot of procrastination on spending so much money on a perm, I finally made an apointment to get a perm and a new haircut for last saturday. So I arrived at the salon at 10am. After much coffee, talking and bathroom breaks I was finally finished with my new short, curly hair....well so I thought. I bought three hair care products from the salon that guaranteed my perm to last about nine months and paid for my perm and cut....ouch, financially that is! After SIX hours in the air conditioned salon, I stepped out into the heat only to see a blue parking ticket attached to my windsheild wiper. Apparently that shopping center has a 2 hour parking limit. So I marched back into the salon and asked them what was up with this ticket. The manager gave me some lame excuses and gave me the number of the landlord to get the ticket dealt with. (What was I supposed to do, in between rolls and chemicals go out and move my van....apparently!) Anyways, I drove off sort of annoyed but glad to be coming home. I walked in the door vamished from sitting for so long with no food in my tummy. Justin looked at me and said, "I thought your hair was going to be alot curlier!" I looked in the mirror and saw that my hair looked no more curlier then it had before I went to the salon and if anything, looked straighter. So after some food and packing up the boys we drove back to the salon to complain but they were already closed. So after playing phone tag, I have re-scheduled my "free" re-do for this sunday at noon. I asked the manager if it was going to take six hours again because I just don't have that kind of time to sit in a salon. I have a husband and two children who I would like to visit with and take care of. She responded that if I had a different stylist it should take 3-4 hours and no more. So I am having it done by someone else, hopefully this will be it. The whole experience has irritated me so much. It doesn't seem to matter how much we spend on things, buy the cheap or what we think the better more expensive, we always seem to have to return it. Whether it be a brand new KIA or a stroller or a perm, it doesn't seem to matter! Oh well, at least they are going to fix it for "free"! Although my time has got to be worth something.

Who's who?

Everyone keeps telling me how much Mattias and I look alike. So today I took a look at my baby photo albums and well....here's the proof. Now, I know it's obvious who's who because of the quality of pictures but it's fun looking at the similarities between Sam, Mattias, and me.
I should have used the scanner but didn't feel much like hooking it up to the computer. I would have posted a baby picture of Justin but we don't have any here with us.

Crazy days

Well now that we are settled into our new place we are starting to notice that we have some guests that are staying with us but aren't paying any rent! We have a bit of an ant and "wood" bug problem. The wood bugs hang out in the bathroom or anywhere where there is moisture and the ants, well...they just go wherever they please. So today I came up with a "natural" ant killer consisting of cayenne pepper, baking soda, and vinegar. I made it in a spray bottle and spray them whenever I see them. It kills them instantly. We have notified our landlord so hopefully soon the exterminator will be popping by to do some serious killing of the bugs. Other then that problem we are enjoying our new home. And I am kinda surprised how much I enjoy this area of Edmonton. It is an older area but on the most well-kept and we are really close to shops, parks, and schools.Sam is really starting to catch onto things. Yesterday he was watching "CBC Kids" in the morning. He likes this one show they play called "Poko". Anyways, once Poko was finished there was a skit done by one of the hosts of CBC Kids. She was doing a magic trick with a hat and her hands while saying, "hokus-pokus, out of focus!" By the time I realized it was on, it was too late. Then moments later Sam was saying and doing exactly that, what he saw on tv moments before. Now I don't believe in magic and think it crosses over way too many "lines" that we try to stay far away from.(if you know what I mean?!) Anyways it was a clear reminder to me how impressionable my little Samwise is. His first five years are apparently the most important years of his life. During that time is when his foundation is being built. Now with the Lord's help, close family and friends and loving parent's help, I hope his foundation will be strong and secure. Justin and I can only do so much, prayerfully, but what an opportunity and responsibility. Man this parent thing is the hardest job I have ever had and ever will have. I just want to do it right!

Our two beautiful boys

Our little trooper

Mattias had his first set of shots today at 8:50am in Sherwood Park. That ment an early morning rise at 6am for the boys and I as we had to drive Justin to work in order to have the van. After an hours drive we stopped at McDonald's for some breakfast and a much needed coffee for myself. (Yes, I will admit it;I drank the coffee purely for the stimulating benefits. Drug, no?) After a rude encounter with an elderly lady volunteer and a bit of a wait, they made me hold him down while they inflicted pain on him. I think the whole experience is always harder on me then the boys. He
cried for a few minutes and that was the end of that. He was more concerned with his 9am feed then anything else. After a good bottle in the waiting room at the clinic we were off to the Sherwood Park Wal-Mart for some miscellaneous items. Then we picked Papa up some lunch, drove it to him at his work and then arrived home in time for Mattias' next feed at noon. Sam and I had lunch and snuggled and watched a little tube while Mattias rested. The day started a bit busy but is ending up being quite relaxing. Yesterday our picnic was a great success at the park near our home. And to our surprise there was also a pool sort of thing there for kiddies to play in. Sam acquired a yellow, Leon's furniture, "hot wheels" type, moving truck. We had some ant visitors during the picnic and a spider that thought he was welcome to climb on my arm. I think my sudden flick ended his short little life here in Edmonton. The last of the deep cleaning of our new suite and unpacking is almost near. We have just the living room to complete, pictures on the walls, and the "fun" decorating left to do. As of the last couple of weeks, Justin has been working really long days. He leaves before the boys and I are awake and gets home pretty much as Sam is going to bed for the night. But as we often hear, "make hay while the sunshines." But in Justin's case it's, "sell concrete while the sunshines!" It is taking some getting used to not having my sweetie around but we see light at the end of the summer tunnel. For now it's up to me to "keep my cool" with the constant care of our two boys. The pressure's on for me being a "single mom" for the time being. Not to discredit Justin's efforts once he does finally arrive home in the late evening but there are 24 hours in a day. And sometimes it's a LONG day. All in all filled with many joys and I wouldn't trade it for any job in the world.

Styles and smiles

Well Sam's luscious curls came to an end on Saturday afternoon. We have never had his hair cut short simply for the fact that we didn't want him to look like every other boy and we loved his "orange" curls. But Sam has MY thick hair and with the summer heat it was starting to get a bit annoying. In the morning he would awake with a sweaty neck from his hair. Plus we were flying through the tearless shampoo because of how much we were having to use to clean ALL of his hair. The other day when Sam and I were at Save On Foods an elderly lady came over to Sam and said, "my, my what beautiful red hair you have!" Sam responded, "no red hair lady, ORANGE hair!" Then she said,"wow you sure are pretty!" Sam forcefully said, "me not pretty! Me a cute boy!" It was so hilarious. Mattias on the other hand looks to be inheriting Justin's hair. Or lack there of I should say. You can tell by his hairline and forehead. Just as cute as his papa none the less. Today we are off to the park near our new home to have a picnic lunch with Sam, Mattias, and myself. Sam loves going for picnic's. As do I because there aren't many dishes to clean up and it is such a relaxing time for me. Mattias usually sleeps the entire time in the stroller and Sam plays in the sand. (There is always sand at the playground instead of gravel or bark mulch) I bring a blanket, Justin's shower radio, and a good book and kick back on the lawn while Sam plays in front of me. It is relaxing and a nice way to spend an afternoon. Usually not much reading gets done because I usually end up chatting with other mom's and watching Sam closely!

Our new "love shack"

Our new kitchen