Do you see that? Just a matter of hours until Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

funny ideas

Jamin: Mom do you know what this is?

Me: hmmm

Jamin: It's a popcorn egg

Me: No it isn't, it's a popcorn kernal.

Jamin: No, it's a popcorn egg, and it must be hatched under our warm bottoms. (he then sits on it)

It didn't work.

New Arrival

I know it's late, but I just had to share. This is a picture of my new nephew Jeremy Nicholas. Congratulations Duane and LeighAnn and Stephanie on your new little baby boy. He is such a cutie. Can't wait to see you all again this weekend!

The best job

For the past week and a half my family has been sick. In my last post, I mentioned that we were on the mend, but then Ethan ended up with an ear and chest infection and Aaron with an ear infection. Thankfully Aaron wasn't too bothered by it. I think we caught it early enough. For a few days I've had 3 kids on antibiotics. But after a couple of almost sleepless nights, getting up with Ethan, I think he's starting to feel better. He was happier yesterday and finally had a decent nights sleep last night.

Being a mom isn't easy. I think the hardest part is seeing your kids sick and feeling so helpless. You want to help them and you do everything you can to make them more comfortable and in the end, it just takes time. And it doesn't help when you're completely exhausted yourself. I'm sure all you moms know exactly how that is.

And through all the sickness, and exhaustion, I just cherish those moments when all the boys want is to sit with their mommy. I'm their mom, and even though I'd rather that they weren't sick, I'm thankful I'm the one who gets to take care of them when they are. It's all part of the job, the best job in the world.

It's not every day you get moments like these. Moments of quietness. And with that, the moment passed. Na, it's still pretty quiet in here, Jamin just walked up behind me and said "boo" and "did I scare you?". I just put the two youngest boys down for a nap. They don't always nap at the same time. In fact, lately Ethan has been having a nice long nap in the morning and early afternoon but by the time I get Aaron to sleep, Ethan is waking up or soon will be. So today, they are napping at the same time. We'll see how long this little break will last. But for the moment, it's mostly quiet.

So I know, I haven't been blogging much lately. In my defense, the last couple of weeks have been busy and if not busy then someone's been sick around here. We've been to Winnipeg to have our pictures taken, then back to Winnipeg for Christmas shopping and to pick up pictures. Then to Austin to spend a Sunday afternoon at a dear friends baby shower (hi Lyla!). What a sweet little boy they have and what a nice afternoon it was. I got to hold a wee little baby!!! And then on Monday we had Jamin's birthday party. Then Tuesday Tiffany had an Avon party. (if you get the chance to go to one, you should, it's nice to see some of the products they have before you order) Tuesday was also the start of our not so fun week at home. To keep a long story short, between fevers, coughing, healthlinks, coughing, fevers coming back, healthlinks again, more coughing, a trip to the doctor, antibiotics, a Christmas party and of course more coughing, I think we're on the mend now. Trust me, you don't want me to bore you with the details of the last sentence.

So hopefully you'll hear more from me in the next little while than you have in the last month or more. I will try.

Yesterday we celebrated Jamin's 5th birthday! I can't believe that 5 years have gone by already. He's grown so much and learned so much over the years. Jamin has been a real blessing in our lives and is such a joy to have around. My life wouldn't be the same without him. Happy Birthday Jamin, we love you so so much!

Here's the pics, finally!

Before:

After:

It's been done for a while. I'm just late with the pics. What a job it was. Thank you to everyone who had a hand in helping us! Jeff's Uncle, his dad and my dad helped us a lot and we couldn't have done it without them. And Steven and another one of Jeff's uncles helped with the cement work too. Thank you so much everyone, we appreciate everything so much!