SCHOOL's OUT FOR SUMMER!!!

FINALLY!! Oh Ive been so excited for school to be out this year! I survived my marathon days of driving almost 3 hours a day to transport kids to and from school. We are saying good-bye to our school and will start at a new school in the fall...one that is way closer! I drove the route so much my van just automatically went there whenever I got in it. If I was not on my way to the school I really had to concentrate to go a different direction. It was really on auto-pilot. The girls did an excellent job in school this year...and hurray..they all get to move up to the next year! So next year we are in grade 5 (Emily), 3 (Stephanie), & 1(Paige)! Wow! We are looking forward to a relaxing summer and spending lots of time with family! We love lazy Montana summer days!!Yeah!!

Happy Summer everyone!!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY EMILY!!!!!

I cannot believe Emily is 10 today!! Wow...where did that time go??  

Here are 10 things we LOVE about Emily!!

1. Emily's middle name is Grace. We chose this middle name specifically for her because we waited soooooo long for her to join our family...and Grace means 'a gift from God'! We were so thrilled when she finally arrived and we felt so blessed to have her!

2. I love that Emily has such a great attitude. From the beginning her life has been a struggle having to deal with lots of doctors, interventions, MRI's, medications and the ever dreaded Growth Hormone shot every day.  But she is a trooper and rarely complains and she knows she is little miracle and was blessed early in her life!

3. I love that Emily loves to read! She is a little bookworm and ALWAYS has a book handy.  She reads in the car (lucky girl) and at night she has 5 or 6 books she is reading through. Im not sure how she keeps that many stories straight in her head..but she explains to me that the stories are all different..why would she mix them up?  Well...I think that is a talent..because Im a one book at a time gal.

4. Emily loves her dad! He is so sweet with his girls!  She always is asking if  Dad is working or if he will be home tonight..because then she knows that she will get time with him! She loves to read about the Human Body with him and she has a large book that I always catch them reading through different subjects. She is very inquisitive and reads the encylopedia as much as she reads her stories!

5. I love that Emily loves her younger siblings. She will always try to include them in whatever fun is happening.  She will read together with Paige, play barbies with Steff and snuggle James. She adores her baby brother..and rushes to his add whenever he calls! We have even caught them snuggling in bed together!!

6. Emily loves her extended family! Cabin days and Whitefish days are her favorite times of year because she gets to see Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles and COUSINS!!  She loves them all and talks about them all the time!  She knows details about each one and remembers what anyone has told her or taught her.  She cannot wait for JULY! She may already be packed!!

7. I love that Emily loves school! She is a great student and works hard in her subjects. I hope this will continue throughout her learning years!!  She loves to learn new things!

8. I love that Emily loves to cook and be in the kitchen! I will often find her reading cook books at night! I think she has cooking in her genes!  She gets so excited about new recipes and new desserts! She always always asks what is for dinner! 

9. I love Emily's sweet disposition.  She always has a cute smile on her face and is always happy!

10. I love that we have enjoyed Emily for 10 years! We consider ourselves so lucky that she is with us and doing so amazingly well. Her life could have been so different and we are thankful every day for the little miracle she is in our lives!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY EMILY!!

WE LOVE YOU!!

Special thank you to Christy for her yummy chocolate raspberry dessert recipe! Emily was so excited when she saw it...She loves raspberries!!

SOLD!!

The girls always fight over who gets to hold and tend James. Paige usually loses out to the 2 older girls. So on Sunday, Paige was helping me get James dressed and I asked her if she wanted to watch James while I popped in the shower! Her face beamed with excitement and I thought it was great timing because Emily and Steffi were busy elsewhere. So I popped in the shower. When I came out...James was gone!! I asked Paige where James went....she answered, "Oh I sold him for a candy necklace!" Apparently, Steff came by and realized that she wanted James so a quick temptation of a candy necklace and she bought James!! I couldnt stop laughing. So in the car to church I was asking Paige what she would do if a stranger came up to her and offered her a candy necklace for her brother...would she take it? NOOOOO was her answer. I then asked her if she would sell him for a hundred dollars....NOOOO. Phew I was thinking. So then I asked her if she would do it for a thousand dollars......YES!!! So we then had to discuss that James was NOT..under any circumstances... for sale!!

James is 4 months old!!!

James 4 Months Old Today!!

Wow...4 months today! I love this fun stage where everything is so exciting and new and you can see his reaction to everything. I had him in the tub the other day. Previously he has hated tub time..so I decided to bring him in my tub with me and he LOVED it! He moved his arm and made a splash. Then you can just hear the wheels turning as he is trying to get his arm to do the same thing to make that splash again. And in no time he was splashing and kicking hard! It was so sweet! We stayed in until the water was cold. It was a fun moment for me. He greets everyone with huge smiles and just loves attention! There is no lack of attention for him...if he makes a peep everyone goes running to get him! Such a fun boy!!

And she's OFF....

Last week, Paige's cousin Hallie learned to ride her bike with no training wheels. She was over to play the other day and saw that Paige's bike had training wheels. She told Paige how excited she was that her bike no longer had training wheels!! Paige quickly said...'Well, mine are coming off Monday!' I was sure to mention this little conversation to Mike who has been dying for Paige to get rid of the training wheels. But she went thru a little paranoia phase where she wouldnt even get on the bike! Well...it has been so rainy here and there has been very little bike time. But today when Mike got home..the rain had stopped for a few minutes...so off they went. In no time at all...Paige came running in for me to come and see her ride! Sure enough she was doing it. She still needs a little work on stopping tho. So thank you cousin Hallie for the extra motivation to ride!!

PS If you look carefully in the picture above...you can see the pineapple house!!

Piano Recital

The girls had their end of the year piano recital and both girls did a great job! Emily played Skip to My Lou and Lavender's Blue. Stephanie played Hickory Dickory Dock and Indian Dance. The Indian Dance song caused a bit of trouble between Steff and me. One day she was practicing and I was helping her and she was just soooo frustrated that she could not get her hands to do two totally different things. There was yelling and knashing of teeth to say the least. The next day something snapped and she had it..and she hasnt stopped playing it since. We all have been dancing around like indians! A big thank you to Christy for teaching them soooo patiently all year!! They have LOVED having her as a teacher!!!

Lovin' Baby James

We have hands down declared James our best baby EVER!! Wow....every day I am just amazed at how patient he is with us. We cart him around everywhere...in and out of that car seat! The girls haul him around and he just grins! We all fight to get him out of his crib in the morning because he greets us with huge smiles and giggles! I am so thrilled to be able to enjoy him every MOMENT! He is growing and changing every day..I just want to freeze frame him because he is changing way way way too fast! He has been figuring out his hands in the past week. He loves to suck on them and just the last few days we have been giving him little toys to play with. It is so neat to see him figure out how to use those hands. He also LOVES to kick! We call it 'doing the bicycle'. We are getting him ready so he can bike with dad. He just kicks and kicks so hard and then giggles. I tried to get a video..but Im having technical difficulties and then he stops as soon as I get the camera rigged up. I will keep trying.

IT's JUNE!!!!

JUNE

I LOVE June!! June has always been my favorite month of the year! It is full of excitement! In Calgary June is bursting with the new colors of spring! I love to open the windows and let the fresh breeze fill the house! It also brings afternoon storms when the sky turns dark blue against the new green of the trees. It is the month when spring ends and SUMMER begins! The nights are bright as the sun sets later and later (it is light till 11pm way up here in the north). It is full of excitement as the school year draws to an end and filled with end of the year activities! Yes..we are in school until June 25th! When Mike was in school it meant the end of one year of training onto the next so lots of changes in our lives occurred in June (Exams, Graduations and lots of moves)! It is the month we welcomed our first baby girl...Emily! It is the month we celebrate Fathers! We also have lots of family celebrations in June...including Amys birthday and Peter and Amys wedding anniversary and soon to be Kylies birthday...who is coming on Friday! And at the end of it all...I get to turn a year older! And then comes July...another one of my favorite months...July is usually spent in Montana with lots of family!!! LOVE IT!!

What is your favorite month of the year???