Rest of July

Summer has been filled with not-so amazing weather but we've managed to have a few decent days. Here's a few shots to sum-up a few of the activities we've been up to.

We spent some time at the Canada Day party at our church. (After the party, we tried to take Callum and Max to see the Cars 2 movie, but Max's 1st experience in a theatre was rather short-lived. So Jeff and Callum watched it while Max and I hung out in Chapters.)


There was a free Snowbirds air show at White Rock beach that the boys and I thoroughly enjoyed.
Jeff was interested to see our local Tour de White Rock bike race that was actually a pretty decent event. Callum and Max met up with Callum's preschool friends and they had fun cheering on the cyclists.

I was oh-so pleasantly surprised to find out that one of the overgrown bushes in the backyard is actually a Raspberry bush, and a highly-fruitful bush too! I managed to make several jars of Jam from my harvest, not to mention plenty of them on my pancakes with whip cream and a dessert worth photographing.

They can just be too funny.

Oh, of course, more visits to Ikea. Turns out we will be buying that couch they are sitting on, tomorrow in fact.

And don't say that Callum and Max didn't want to take part in any of the renovations - I finally let them put a couple paint brushes to work to paint their new playroom chairs.



More to come later, after I go through our pictures from our trip to Ottawa.

It's been a while.

Where do I begin to sum up the past couple months? I think I'll just use the photos that I've selected to help me out. I will probably jump around chronologically, but the pictures of before and after Max's hair cut are probably the best way to tell when things happened. Let's see...

Dad worked his butt off to build as many cabinets as we could design before he got his own building permit. We really couldn't have done this house without him and his very useful skills!

Here's dad in his shop, putting the finish coat on one of our white-oak cabinets:


Callum and Max continue to impress me with their compatibility and resourcefulness. Here's a fort they were "sleeping" in:

I can't count how many trips I have made to IKEA in the last few months. Callum and Max love it there, though, so we will probably just keep going, even when all our money runs out! Callum is big enough to go into the Playroom, so Max gets stuck shopping with me.

Finally, the big day came - We moved!!!!!!!!!!!!

We first planned on June 1st as move-in day, but since there was still no functioning kitchen or shower, we postponed by a week. Packing up the basement suite was quick work (with my Mom's experienced hands at work!), but unloading at the house is still happening (as I sit here right now and count 7 boxes currently in my vicinity).


After we moved in, there was a particular day that I had a brief melt-down, and it was completely unrelated to the house. The photo below was actually from my 1st ultrasound of our growing babe, but after my 2nd ultrasound, I was informed that I am going to have another BOY. I have to admit that I sat in my car and shed many-a-tear - I really had myself convinced that it was a girl. Well, if my 3rd child ever reads this, I don't want him to think I didn't want him, but, c'mon, I mean, a girl would have rounded out the family nicely, don't you think? Nah.

Though, I do make pretty darn cute little boys, wouldn't you say?:

June was busy for Callum as he finished up his Preschool, soccer and swimming lessons before the summer.


And of course, Max ended up getting a haircut (while watching TV and eating Jelly Bellies).

Living in a big house with a big yard is quite a change for this previously-urban family. Jeff doesn't seem to mind all the outdoor labour, though.

My Dad did get his building permit and is trudging away on his own project now. Callum liked to visit his grandpa at "the hole", as he called it, because the site really was a big hole that was being filled with a lot of foam blocks as infill (I know, I know, foam as infill? Don't ask, just have faith). Callum and Jeff helped out for a bit one Saturday, though most of Callum's help was as supervisor from the excavator.






Now that we are moved in, there is still plenty of work to do in and out of the house, but summer has arrived and Jeff and I are trying to have some fun with the boys. Jeff's job-life is particularly frenzied right now, so the boys and I are grateful for any time he has to spend with us.

I have to say how glad I am that we still live so close to the beach, (about a 3 minute drive). We have been down nearly every sunny day, some days with Jeff, some without.





We have fabulous neighbours on either side of us, both with young kids. However, this means that their backyards look way more fun than ours. When we first bought the house, I didn't think I would stoop to buying those ugly plastic outdoor toys... well, as you can see, the boys will play on whatever hand-me-down toy we can get our hands on! And I did splurge on a $10 slip'n'Slide!



I know I should have a selection of post-renovation shots of the house, but I guess I don't feel as though we are "done", so you'll just have to wait until it's "done" - which may be in a few years...

Let's pause a moment.

I took this picture the other day at the playground near our house. Max wants to do everything Callum can do and it is almost to the point where he actually can. He can climb pretty much anything now, eats as much as Callum (or more) and he is speaking more and more each day. He is very polite as he automatically says "Dank-oo, Mommy" all the time and "Doory, Mommy" when he is apologizing. Now if I could only convince him that he also wants to use the toilet like Callum, but he assures me he is quite uninterested.

Callum is quite the little swimmer now as he has lessons every Tuesday and Thursday. He can jump into the dive tank off the diving board and swims to his teacher, without a life jacket or anything! I actually cried when I watched him be so brave (it was a satisfying 'mother' moment). Max and I come swimming once a week too, but Max is surprisingly cautious in the water - at his age, Callum was already putting his head under without concern, but Max will have nothing to do with holding his breath. Jeff and I think maybe Max will be more of a team-sport player than the solo swimmer type. Callum also has soccer every Friday afternoon and Max is not impressed when he is not allowed to participate in the class, similar to how he feels every time I take Callum to Preschool and Max can't stay, or even at IKEA, where Callum is big enough for the PlayPlace but Max isn't. Poor guy, (though I admit to making little comments about how one of the reasons he can't stay is because he is wearing a diaper...).

I have been feeling our little creation moving around in my belly quite a lot and I am still convinced it will be a girl, despite the fact that the Ultrasound technician wouldn't give me any hints (apparently it is their policy to give the results to the doctor and the doctor can decide to tell you or not), so I may find out this Friday at my next appointment (though I'm not sure I really trust the results anyway if they do think it's a girl). I am mildly concerned about how big I am already (I have gained 10 pounds and I'm only 22 weeks), or at least I certainly feel big... unpleasant memories of previous pregnancies are becoming less memory and more reality very quickly... Sigh.

Well, it's 11:30pm and Jeff is still at the Blackburn house installing the tile in the laundry. I was there all day (installing the railing pieces and fixing the flooring where the counter top guys damaged it) while Callum and Max were at Kami's all day, but they fell asleep on the drive home, so we didn't get much time together. Tomorrow I take them to church in the morning but then I haul them off to Scott and Samantha's (so I can finish painting the front foyer and start installing our stair treads)... I know there is only 1 more week before we are moving into the house, but with so much left to do, I am finding it hard to get excited. We decided to hire a guy to install our wall tile and I am glad we did - he did the kids bathroom today and it looks so great that I did manage to feel a bit giddy! Yeeay.

Less journey, more destination, please....

I'd like to say, "Is it May 8th, already?", but I am very aware of the date, actually, and particularly of our impending move into the Blackburn house! I have given the landlord of our current accommodations notice for June 1st, so the renovations have been on 'go-go-go' mode!

So, Callum and Max have spent the past several weeks being carted off to various babysitting situations I have organized between friends and family so I can work at the house. I really only see them on Tuesdays and Thursdays (between swimming lessons and Preschool), but I guess that is still more than Jeff sees them. I miss hanging out with them over pancakes in the morning or just taking them to the park, and I grieve over the fact that so much of the little time I do have with them now is spent either convincing them to get dressed and get going or to get on their PJ's and get to bed. I suppose this is a little taste of what it is like for those full-time working Mothers out there. Hm. Sucky.

According to those closest to me, I have been exhibiting slightly higher-than-usual stress levels at times, leading to comments such as "you should enjoy the journey, Kelli" from my Dad, but between feeling guilty about passing off my kids to anyone who will take them and feeling guilty about lack of attention to healthy meals, piles of dirty dishes and laundry, or to my husband, all I'm shooting for is the destination! So... Tomorrow- baseboards and door trim, Wednesday- painting doors and trim, Friday- install stair treads and sliding door sills, Saturday- grout entry and bathroom tile........etc, etc.......

I would post some updated pictures of the house, but I haven't picked up the camera in a while. Luckily, my brother has been using his, so I thought these 2 pictures of my super-awesomely cute boys were well worth sharing on the blog:

No apologies

I think I'm going to stop feeling bad about not blogging as frequently as I would like to.

It's been a little tiring this month - With the Blackburn house, we had to cram in everything that had to get into the walls before we insulated and drywalled - At home, I've been particularly sleepy and nauseated due to my "condition": I'm pregnant (!) (due end of September, and I've decided that it WILL be a girl) - For the boys, we've been trying to get outside as much as possible with the little glimpses of Spring we've witnessed...

So, let's see, what have I documented in photographs...


During my moments of exhaustion or sickness, Callum and Max have spent a bit of time in the following position: Callum at the computer and Max at the TV:
As we have "employed" the services of my brother at the Blackburn house, my niece Lorelei has graced us with her presence a couple times. Callum likes being the big kid and pretends he can read them stories:


Back on the bikes, we've only made it to the park a few blocks away. I must say, though, I felt less-than kind feelings towards White Rock and it's lack of sidewalks as I am trying to train Callum and Max to "Stay on the side of the road!!"


Callum was proud of himself for finally getting down the park pole all by himself. I would also like to declare that Callum really is the best big brother I think there could be - he is so great at including Max and showing Max how to do things. I said to him the other day, "Thanks for helping Max, Callum" and he replied, "That's my job, Mom."



Here are the most up to date photos of the house. The front entry addition all done, with concrete front step, and the house siding almost complete (though it won't get painted until the summer, so now it is rather drab).





The interior at this point was drywall-ready. Here is the font entry addition from the top of the stairs.

Our master-bathroom shower is ready for tile.

This is downstairs, looking at the short wall where our TV will hang and the room behind with the window and door will be our office.

Callum and Max are excited about this big room, as it is all their Playroom.

As it is Spring Break now, we've spent a bit of extra time with Callum's cousins. Yesterday we ventured to Bear Creek Park, where they have a train, a mini-golf course and seriously decent playground.