Trick or Treatin' Fun in the morning!

Here's how our day has started so far! Here is Samuel in this cute little Old Navy Pumpkin shirt I picked up for him last year for 50 cents.After Samuel's morning nap, we made our way over to our mall for trick or treating! Many of the stores were participating, so lots of treats to be had for the boys.Once we finally finished at the mall, we headed over to McDonald's for free cheeseburgers and free small drinks for those dressed up! You can see all of us dressed up... however Jayden's costume is just off his top half so it doesn't get full of ketchup and Elijah is missing his hat. You'll see complete costume photos from our festivities yet to come!

Pumpkin Carving

This morning we carved our pumpkins!


Jayden's not sure about
the pumpkin guts









Elijah does his best to scoop it all out


we used his new "My Safe Cutter" from Pampered Chef to cut out our jack-o-lantern...which Elijah loved doing

I did a bit of a Martha Stewart idea... instead of a face.

Dress Up Time, Sammie too

When playing downstairs in our rec room/play room, Elijah loves to put one of the few hats we have for dress-up on. And he likes me to wear one, and Jayden to wear one (which he hates) and today Samuel even had to join in!Samuel is wearing a Cat in the Hat hat
and Elijah has the Fire Fighter hat on... you can't see me b/c I am taking the picture, but I have a construction hat on!

(I had to do a post, since it's been a bit... sorry it's not so exciting!)

Crayola: The Art of Childhood

Week #6: Colour Nature Walk
Get exercise and strengthen your kids' observation skills by enjoying a nature walk and looking for all the colours of the rainbow. While outdoors, collect leaves and twigs. Have your child use these natural items as paintbrushes when you return home and paint a collaborative mural. Urge your child to paint what was seen.

Ready to sing some pumpkin songs?

As promised, here are some simple simple songs about Pumpkins... perfect timing as you've probably just visited the Pumpkin Patch (if you are so lucky to have one in the vicinity) or you've just picked out your perfect one from the Superstore cardboard bins! Whichever way you do it, all the same pumpkins! So enjoy and do entertain your lil' ones with some tunes:

I'm a Little Pumpkin (tune: I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little pumpkin orange and round
Here is my stem, there is the ground
When I get all cut up,
Don't you shout!
Just open me up and scoop me out!


Pumpkins are Growing (tune: Frere Jacque)
Pumpkins are growing x2
In the patch x2
Look at all the pumpkins x2
Orange and round x2


Did You Ever Pick a Pumpkin? (tune: Did you Ever See a Lassie)
Did you ever pick a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin
Did you ever pick a pumpkin to take home and keep?

Here's this one or that one,
A skinny one, a fat one.
Did you ever pick a pumpkin to take home and keep?

Yes, I picked a pumpkin, a pumpkin, a pumpkin
Yes, I picked a pumpkin to take home and keep.

I put my arms round it
And shouted "I found it!"
Oh, yes, I picked a pumpkin
To take home and keep.

10 Little Pumpkins (tune: 10 Little Indians)
1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little pumpkins
4 little, 5 little, 6 little pumpkins
7 little, 8 little, 9 little pumpkins
10 little pumpkins all in a row (sitting on the floor; growing in the patch)

Crayola: The Art of Childhood

Oops, it is high time for another one of these ideas for you... maybe this one will be primarily for Laurel, since she has children old enough to maybe do this!!

Week #5: Our Favourite Recipes
Think about your family's favourite foods. Have your child write a recipe book, illustrated with pictures that show how much of each ingredient is needed. Make photocopies to share with relatives (Christmas Gift!).

Happy Birthday Nitchy!

(now the whole world knows your nickname, but you don't mind!)

Today Anita, my dear friend since moving to BC in 1987, turns 28!
Happy Birthday to you! See you on Wednesday! This photo was taken August 2005... both of us pregnant (although we didn't know Anita was yet) at our hotel in Portland for the Women of Faith conference.

(hey it would be fun to have posted a pic of her and I from grade school, however I didn't have a digital camera back then... yes, I do have a scanner, so we'll see what I can come up with!)

Playdate with Sharon and Quinn

Paul, Sharon and Quinn are out for a visit in BC this week, so Sharon and Quinn were able to come over for a visit today! Sharon is a good friend of mine from high school; we've kept in touch all these years with her in Alberta since '98. Quinn is 10 months behind Elijah in age, so they had a good time playing together this morning. Quinn explored the whole house, it was very cute!
Nice to meet you Quinn and Sharon, thanks for squeezing us into your schedule this week! It was great to see you again!

Imagine 91 years old?!

Here are my Grandparents LAST year at their 90th birthday party! Tomorrow my Grandpa turns 91 and a couple weeks ago my Grandma turned 91! Imagine that?!
Happy Birthday Grandpa and Grandma!
Remembering that these photos are from 2005...
Grandpa was still able to hold Elijah long enough for a photoGrandma and me (pregnant with Samuel)

Tribute to Pamela!

First of all, if you are an animal-rights person, don't read this post!!!


So my good friend, Pamela, is a YWAMer in Wyoming. She sent me an email today that I want to share with you... I am just so proud of her!!! (click her name to see what else she is up to... Pakistan Missions she just returned home to...)
"Sunday (October 8) I went up to hunting camp (three hrs on horseback - 10,000ft). On the way up near hunting camp we spotted a herd of elk. Once we arrived at camp (2pm) one of the guys stayed back (he didn’t have a tag) to set up while Brett and I took off after the elk. We couldn’t see them as we looked in the area we thought they went. On the tree line we saw an older 5 point (5X5) elk grazing. We were across the draw(ravine) so the shot was a little far for me. We snuck/slid (this summer the area we usually hunt burnt up so the ash and moisture made it slippery) down the mountain and up the other side in hopes of sneaking up on him. Once we got to the place he should have been, he was gone. We heard him going down hill into the timber. Looking through the timber and burnt trees we saw the herd moving away from us. Clouds were starting to come in so visibility was low, but we moved up around the mountain to cut them off. Soon after they spooked and started to go up hill. We kept going up hill to try to cut them off before they went over the next ridge. I was getting discouraged because I thought we wouldn’t be able to cut them off. I kept going and when we got in view of the ridge, there they were! Brett glassed to see which was the biggest one and found a small five point. He was grazing and slowly moving up to the ridge line when I got him in my scope. I was about 100-150 yards away with low visibility. I wasn’t breathing hard, just extremely excited that I was in a position to shoot my first elk! I didn’t have anything to prop my gun on, so I put my elbows on my knees trying my best to steady the gun and pulled the trigger. He went down but I got him in the gut so he got up again. Brett was congratulating me on shooting my first elk, meanwhile it’s taking off. I shot him again this time in the shoulder. He went down then got up again and limped to the ridge line where he died (around 5pm).

I’m blessed to be able to shoot him on the first day! I had a hand (two hands actually) in gutting him and have some gory details if you really want them! I can even show you pictures, but those are upon request!! We went up the next day (in the snow) to quarter him and bring him down to camp.

I have included pictures of the burn area, hunting camp, me (I know you Canadians like my orange hat) and my elk!! You’re welcome to come over and have some steaks with me!"

Here she is with her elk! Congratulations Pamela!and with her group of fellow-hunters; she looks like a natural with that weapon, eh?

Alexa is going hunting too this coming week... we shall see what she has to tell us about her time out in the bushes with Andy, her hubby, and her FIL (Father-in-Law)!!

Pumpkin Fun

This morning I pulled out these wooden pumpkin shapes I picked up last year after Halloween for the boys and we painted them up! They enjoyed this activity. (excuse their smocks; I had to grab these 2 grubby t's from my drawer, a bit girly, there regular t-shirt smocks are in the room where Samuel was sleeping; and I wanted him to stay sleeping!)ElijahJaydenand we did some stamping with foam stamps and paint too!

Family Night Open House at the Fire Hall

Last night Jason took Elijah to our Fire Hall for an Open House. I believe it is Fire Prevention Week, so Abbotsford Fire Halls have open houses this week to create awareness and fun for the kids!They ran into Danika and Luke... here is Danika and Elijah! I'm sure you can see Alexa's blog for more photos of their experience!Stop, drop and ROLL! Apparently Elijah wanted to roll and roll in the little 'course' set up for the kids. If I remember correctly, from what they were telling me happened last night, the kids first crawled under a tarp, then rolled down this part, don't know what happened next, but I assume the Trick or Treat candy was at the end of the 'obstacle' course:

This is a highlight of ours!

Welcome to Matt's Hermitage!

So another link was just added to my list! In fact, I had to change the title from "links to my friends sites" to "links to my friends and FAMILY sites"!! Yes, meine Bruder (brother) has joined us bloggers! yea! So he would love it if you would visit him at his blog. He knows most of you, that visit my site, so stop by and read about his life. Leave him a comment; like all of us bloggers we LOVE to hear from our readers. Welcome Matt (click here to go to his blog now)!!!

Thanks Mr and Mrs Dyck ~ our neighbours!

So our neighbours came over this afternoon to Jason while he was waxing the truck and gave him some presents for our boys! They each got a t-shirt and these moraccas! Our neighbours, who we don't know all that well, did this! I was so 'impressed' (not the right word, but you know what I mean, maybe). We put the shirts on as soon as Jason gave them to us in the house and went out to say thank you to this wonderful couple. They just celebrated 45 years of marriage in September! Wow! So now they are going on a series of trips to celebrate. These t-shirts came from Cancun! They will yet go to New York, California and on a cruise! All to celebrate their many years of marriage! That's awesome! Bless you neighbours! Thanks for the gifts!

puzzles, puzzles, puzzles

My little 3 year old is quite excited about his new puzzles he got for his birthday. I was excited that he rec'd them as gifts because I thought it was time he learnt to do 'harder' puzzles, like those little 'box' ones (if you have kids, you know which ones I am talking about). He got one Backyardigan's box one with 15 large pieces that he can do 90% by himself! I'm so impressed, b/c before he rec'd that he'd only done those simple puzzles that you begin with. Thanks Annabel! Brock also gave him a box puzzle with 24 pcs, Veggie Tales! Thanks Brock! And Alex gave Elijah this bucket puzzle with ABC picture and word matching puzzle. Love it, thanks! He's been sitting at the table a tonne this Thanksgiving weekend, doing puzzles! Thanks!! I found another box puzzle for him at Sears on Clearance the other day, Dora, so now we have a total of 4 puzzles that he is doing over and over again! Good for his little brain!

Second Visit to Willow View Farms

This morning we met some friends at the Pumpkin Patch! It was (is) the most perfect day to go to the patch! The sun is shining and it is hot, actually! Dave, Deanna, Bailey and Chloe; Joanna and Jenna; Leo, Julie and kids (!); Miriam, Travis and Bradley; Alexa, Danika and Luke all met us there for some Pumpkin Daze fun (by the way, Aaron and Jen, we missed you guys)!

We ate a picnic lunch first, then headed to the animal barn and hayride out to the patch to pick our pumpins!Samuel eating the hay!it is sooo bright Elijah can't open his eyes for this cute shot.

Still makes a cute enough pic though, I think!Travis, Bradley and Elijah1, 2, 3 throw up the hay and watch it fall all over Samuelhow fun, driving a tractor!Danika makes a great face for the pumpkins...! (Elijah is in there too a bit)Hayride back from the patch...see Luke's cute little pumpkin?

Thanks for a great trip to the Pumpkin Patch friends! Sorry to D, D, B and C; L, J & kids and J & J... I got no shots of you guys to add to this post.

Also, see Alexa's blog at some point for more photos! click here: Alexa

Can we go to the park after dinner?

Sure! So off we went to the park again, like last Wednesday!

When we arrived, this duck was waddling around the playground...

I think it forgot the way to the 'lake', so Elijah guided her in that direction!Daddy has fun on the play equipment too!Elijah got a number of fantastic gifts for his birthday! He is having fun playing with, reading and watching all of them! Here he is on his new roller skates from Alise (thanks!) paired with his brand new helmet from Uncle Matt (thanks!) at the park! He just loves these skates, as I knew he would... he rolls around the living room and at the park I helped him along on them. He did well.
(last new post today! There are 3 more to read below! Happy reading!)

Red "berry" Trees

What could 3 big trees like this be good for in a back yard? Hmm... no idea! Not for all the red berries all over the grass this time of year; not for the berries on the grass that the kids pick up and try their hardest not to taste them... I don't like these trees in the Fall until this week! Why? Well, these trees are bringing birds and birds and more birds into their branches all the time, I guess to eat the berries or gather them. It's very entertaining for my boys during our mealtimes, as we sit and watch out our glass doors. And a Squirrel keeps visiting too, even more entertaining! He jumps from branch to branch, scaring the birds away...it's very captivating for little eyes! (and mine too, I admit) So, we'll keep the berry trees and just count our 'blessings' rather than the drawbacks!

My Little Sweethearts

So not only did Elijah have a special day this past weekend turning 3, his little brother aka Samuel turned 9 months on that same day! Here he is, smiley as always!(Korinne, like his PJ's? I love them! Thanks!)PJ Picture! Elijah and Samuel just adore one another 99% of the time. It's so fun to watch. Elijah is already very protective of Sammie too, for example if I haven't got the gate up quite yet and Sammie is in the area, Elijah will hold him back and say quite hastily "get the gate up Mommy!"

Ring Around the Rosy

On Sunday we had my Family over to celebrate Elijah's birthday. He just loves all of them, it's great! His 2 Uncles, 1 Aunt, Grandpa, Grandma and Beppe Beppe (Beppa - meaning Grandma in 'Dutch', my Grandma). Here he got all of them to do ring around the rosy with him in our living room! He had a blast and it looks like everyone else did too!we all fall down! (including Beppe Beppe [Great Grandma!])